lamp shades with ribbon

Wanted to show you the finished lampshades (actually, I had made them already and just switched them out.) But look what a simple change in altering the flash does to a pic.

The above pic was taken with a piece of regular white paper over the flash. Below, is the pic taken WITH the flash. A very big difference. The pic above is more true to life. The below pic comes out looking harsh and cold. The white actually looks blue, doesn't it?

And after just 1.5 years of blogging with photos....I figured out how to take a better picture. Sigh....doesn't take me too long, now does it??? ;-)

What a delightful situation..... TWO antique Singers

Wow - When Mr. Artistic Shoestring brought home the Craigslist Singer machine, he asked a neighbor for help bringing it in from the van. The neighbor, who is very, very nice, said sure and helped. Then he asked if we wanted ANOTHER one, just like this one. Heck yeah! sez I. (He just GAVE it away, happy to be rid of it!!)

Now I have 2 very beautiful, though very grimy antique Singers. The neighbor's wood cabinet is nicer, having 6 drawers, instead of the 4 on the other one. I looked up their serial numbers and both were made in 1919.

Isn't that a lovely appliqué?

I have been researching how to properly clean these and I'm pretty confident that I can get them looking pretty great.

Since I don't need 2 sewing machines, some lucky family member will be gifted one of these beauties..... Who? Well it just depends on who can spoil me the most! ;-)

Old Singer for an old gal..........Update

I apologize for the blurry pics. These are from the Craigslist posting and I will take better ones later.......



I kept thinking about this sewing machine (for only $60) all night. It looks like my
grandmother's, who has turned 103. I used to play on the treadle by
climbing on and rocking. Good thing grams never caught me! Then, in
high school, I learned sewing in Home Ec on one of these old Singer
machines. My BFF, Deb, and I would have a race with ours to see who could get theirs to sew the fastest. We were both on the treadle. I laugh now to think how our feet looked, pumping that fast and us giggling the whole way!

I've convinced myself that I need this machine and I will
start sewing again if I had a treadle (I hate electric sewers - they
get away from me and get the thread all knotted up.)

So.....I emailed the person on Craigslist to see if this is still available for an antique of a gal, like myself. We exquisite antiques stick together like that. Huh, Lori E? LOL

Update: I'm getting it! Yippee! I can hardly wait to try it out. I'll let you know how it works very soon! From my limited research, it's called a Singer Model 66 Red Eye Treadle. Here are some pics from a website:

Wish me luck on this Craigslist piece - update

Isn't this just beautiful? I sent an email of my interest - just hope I'm the first in line!

Update: I opted to pass. Here's why: Even though I was the first to respond to his ad, there were others interested in this piece, too. So, the guy tells everyone to meet at his place at 3:00 today. What did he expect us to do as we're all standing around wanting to buy the same piece? A bidding war??? (or a small riot) I told him "no thanks". This was nice and the price was right ($150) But there will be others. The fun is always in the journey!

Your library is now selling off their magazines...

Every January, our library district (and perhaps yours?) sells their old mags at a dime each.

I don't spend money on mags or rags, but I will fork over 50 cents for these. Hurry on over to your nearest library branch to look over the selection - let me know what you found.

always a project....

I sometimes go around the house and take pictures so that I can examine the scene through the camera's eye. It's strange that way....I see things that I don't see with the naked eye. That's where my project list comes in. In this pic, I notice the crooked lamp shade. It's vintage and I'm not exactly sure why it's leaning, but it's on my list of things to repair. And now that I think of it, I will cover the shade in an interesting fabric, too. I LOVE to fabric shop.....

I see another project in this pic.....

It's the old oil painting that my mom gave me. I need to buy the solvents that will remove the dark varnish so that we can finally see what this painting is about.

This pic was taken to remind me to finish the painting on this chandy. I want to add an antique wash to it, but had forgotten to get back to it.

And this pic is to show you what time it is that I'm up and walking around the house taking pictures. That's "a.m." Sigh. I'll sleep later. Right now, the house is quiet and I'm enjoying some iced tea and dark chocolate cookies.

Tropical Birdfeeder

Just another little painting I finished tonight. Tried to keep a simple visual.

Virgo ......... redone

This painting was done for sister KK, who took a strong disliking to it originally because it looked exactly like one of her unlikeable friends. So, it has taken a while, but I changed the face and hair and ta-da! Let's hope it now looks nothing like someone else she knows. So kk - if you want it back, let me know.

Martha?...... no, I'm not.

Okay, so I tried my hand at making a cake from scratch. It smelled good while baking. But then the fun began. I used a bundt pan and the cake stuck to it. (I greased, but forgot to flour it.) I managed to get it out in pieces and kinda glued it together with icing. I had to use ALOT of icing. Did I mention this was a birthday cake for my DD? She's taking the ugly cake in good humor - we're calling it the "Exploding Volcano" cake.

After Christmas Cleaning and decluttering going on...

I'm cocooning during this winter blast of snow and bitter winds and you know how it goes when you start organizing: one thing leads to another. I changed the lamp on this table.....

And then moved the library table next to the front door, with the matching lamps.

I'm not done yet, since I'm moving all the other pieces of furniture now. And it all began with changing out one lamp......

Adorable, couldn't resist, Thrift store side table

What do you call this? Victorian, maybe? Anyway, I was at the thrift store today searching for a large luggage piece on wheels. Didn't find that, but I did happen to pass by this little beauty for $45. I took off the tag and stood in line to pay for it. Meanwhile another guy walked up to the table and was closely examining it, running his finger over the superficial scratches and deciding whether to buy it or not.

He even picked it up to move it to another spot in order to get a better look. All the while I was paying for it and keeping an eye on him and the table, lest he walked away with it to another part of the store.

After I had the receipt in my hot, grubby little hands, I went over and picked up the table, right in front of him. I had to lean in front of him to get it. I didn't dare look back at his face, but was listening to anything that sounded like a dirty word aimed my way. Guess I could have said "sorry" or something like that to ease the sting, ya think?

Even with my bad back, I got it loaded into the van by myself and that guy was parked near and I saw him get into his truck at the same time. So he must have walked out right behind me when he realized he just missed a good buy. (LOL - all that yard sale shopping techniques really pay off - if you want it - better grab it!) Poor guy, he was out-smoozed by a pro. LOL!

I haven't gotten it cleaned up yet. Should I leave it as it is or paint it white?

$5 Craigslist Chair

Want to see my next project?


This baby is just $5 and the seller says it needs to be reupholstered. First, I'm going to see if it just needs a good cleaning. I love the lines and I can see that it needs a new seat cushion. I'll show you the finished project in a few days. With the cold weather coming on, I'm looking forward to working on this. Wish me luck!