About Me

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Sublimity, OR, United States
****WELCOME FRIENDS****
I am artist of texture and color. I enjoy working with textiles, mixed media and the graphic arts. I am an avid cottage gardener with a love for pass along plants and big fluffy pink peonies and pink roses. Many of my tangible creations reflect my love of the garden and all its wonderful colors. I have been selling my creations online since 2002 beginning as a hobby. After 10 years I quit the day job to pursue my art as a full time passion.

30 November 2010

The vintage alphabet party for November

The party has already started and I am a little late!

This month the letters were W and X

First a Washboard, no clue if this a reproduction, it was a found object by my hubby, he loves these as long as they look old!


a vintage sample box Washing soda!

for X, I  took a cue from Melody because I could not think of anything!
So here is X-mas....a vintage 1958 Napco candle and floral set that was my grandma's. I display it every year. I treasure it so much, it reminds me of Christmas's spent at the farm.

Want to join the party??
Hop over to Etsy Cottage Style blog to get the details!

27 November 2010

Sharing Christmas Art

click on pic to enlarge

Every Christmas season at my church the artisan group I belong to is asked to display some holiday art. I usually submit something I have stitched up, but this year I decided to do some a bit different. With a 25 cent frame I picked up last summer at a tag sale, vintage sheet music, printed copies of vintage greeting cards, vintage lace, glitter, crystal and pearlized beads in a pile....I came up with this lovely wall display! It felt good to do something a bit outside the box. Most of the church members will have no idea I made it since they will expect soft art from me! Opinions and critiques please...I am just a beginner when it comes to mixed media art:)

24 November 2010

from my family to yours

Thanksgiving Blessings to all!

isn't this banner gorgeous??? no I didnt make it, a blogger friend did and she made me a Christmas one as well...I will reveal that one and who she is next week:)

19 November 2010

Give thanks!

A "Give Thanks" party at the Vintage Nest blog has begun today!


I have so much to be thankful this year, I could almost write a book! But I will spare all of that and simply say a little prayer of thanks

Thank you Lord for my good health, and the gumption to get up and work out 5 days a week and the energy to work a day job, and come home to work on my art passion for my website. Also a husband that understands my need to always be busy and not complain too much when I am in my studio hours on end.

Thank you Lord for my my daughter, son in law, son, and 2 lovely little granddaughters that bring so much joy to my life, that they all live close by.
Thank you Lord for giving me the strength to deal with some of the tough times I have endured this year along with the many new friends I have made along the way.

And thank you Lord for pink roses, as they are most favorite!


18 November 2010

My website is featured today in 
Rose Haven's Annual Christmas Stroll the shops!

The 2010 STROLL  began on Wednesday, the 17th and runs through Thanksgiving Day


Make sure to become a follower of Jan's blog so you can stroll all the featured shops everyday!

Coming soon---a giveaway for the holidays~I don't do these too often, but when I do, they are fabulous!

15 November 2010

a tribute to a special lady

Recently a special friend passed on to heaven. I felt I needed to share the fond memories and the way she impacted my life as an adult. Alena was 95 when she passed, I expected a few more years out of her because her mom lived to be over 100...but Alena was one of the lucky ones who was of sound mind and in great health ~ the Lord took her in her sleep, a woman of great faith.

Alena hired me to work for her at Montgomery Ward in 1971. I was the tender age of 18. I was only going to work there a few months because I had plans to marry a guy in the Navy. Well, that didn't work out, so I stayed. In fact, I ended up working for that company for almost 25 years. Alena in a way was sort of a "second mom" to me. Being single and a gal who loved to party, I would drag myself into work some mornings with little sleep the night before. Sometimes she would scold me, other times she would send me get something to eat before I started work. My coworkers always told me that Alena would be so worried about me when I would go out of town driving long distances. Alena did not have any children of her own, so I guess she took me under her wing. The lady was a fabulous seamstress. She constructed some the most beautiful tailored clothing I had ever seen. Those were the days when it was cheaper to sew your own clothes rather than buy them. Often she would critique my own work, telling me ways I could improve on my sewing skills. Alena knew I would not eat Asian food, but took me to a restaurant that only served chinese and I had no choice but to try it. Need less to say I eat it all the time now. What both she and I didn't realize at the time, was that her influence was shaping my adult life. Her zest for life, attention to detail,  strong work ethic and faith were rubbing off.

A few years later Alena retired, and I took over her management job. When I was married she played the music at my wedding. (also a talented organist and played right up until she passed) She was there to visit me after the births of each of my kids. We kept in touch often. Thru the years the contact was less often usually only thru Christmas cards. Or I maybe ran into her out shopping. A world traveler, Alena continued to travel until last year, it was one of her passions to see and experience all there was out there. Her husband died in 1993.   It was there, at his funeral, that I witnessed her strong faith again. I hope she now knows what a remarkable impact that had on me. I was so impressed on how she handled his passing, as if he just moved on and she would see him later. Since then, I am no longer afraid of death, knowing my soul moves on to something more glorious.

So Alena, this is for you. I know you are basking in his glory, reunited with your loved ones.Until we meet again my friend!


09 November 2010

My stress free Holiday shopping strategy

 
I recently had lunch with a long time friend who worked in retail management with me several years back. We relished the fact that we both can relax now that we are now not the poor souls that have to work those awful retail holiday hours. I even had a few years that I actually hated the holidays. After I left the retail zone, it took me a few Christmas seasons to really get back to enjoying the traditions again. After reminiscing, we compared shopping strategies for low stress holiday shopping. I decided to share some of mine with you. These are just my opinions, maybe not yours. I have been on the other side of the counter, so many of these are tried and true. If you are into low stress Holidays....try them!

*Veterans Day is traditionally the retail kick off day to holidays--this is when everyone decides they should get started shopping. The stores will be busy on this day and most likely short handed in help. You will probably have long checkout lines. If you must shop this day, go very early at opening or after the dinner hour. If you can get all your shopping done before Thanksgiving, you are a true hero.

*The day after Thanksgiving (often referred to as Black Friday) Unless you are into crowds, shoving and total chaos, forget the early bird specials. Not worth the trouble in my book. If you keep an eye out in the ads prior or later in the season, most of the same stores have coupons and specials that you can get the items at the same price. My daughter and I do shop the day after Thanksgiving, but we treat ourselves to a tall latte  then hit the stores about 10am...most of the crowds have thinned out.

 *The first week of December. This is the hands down best week to shop. Best selection and the stores are relatively quiet and the sales are good.

*Best time of day to shop is early before noon or the dinner hour, this goes for the weekend days also.

*The last weekend before Christmas. Probably the worst time to shop. Shoppers are starting to panic, items are picked over, and the clerks are pretty much toast.

*Christmas Eve....this always cracked me up. The guys are all out buying at the last minute. The lingerie and housewares departments are their favorite haunts. Not a good time to shop. Shelves are wiped clean and many unhappy shoppers looking for what they can't find.


*The day after Christmas....crowds again all returning what didn't fit, or they didn't like. There will be some good buys but not many. The stores are all picked over. Maybe a good time to buy next years gift wrap and decorations. Your returns can wait a week, or go during the dinner hour when foot traffic is down.



Some options to not ever having to use the above strategy~
*shop online! I do a lot of that and many of the sites offer free or discounted shipping. Best to order no less than a week from the holiday so no one is disappointed.
*Handmade or homemade items. I do lots of this too, but there are those who don't appreciate those kind of gifts so retail shopping is still necessary. My husband still brings up the shirt I made him in the 70's
*Last resort--and my brother did this many times when he was single. One stop shopping at the Liquor store!

Here's hoping you have a wonderful Holiday shopping experience! (feel free to help yourself to the vintage images too)



04 November 2010

Vanity bench reborn

Some of you may remember my $5 find early last summer....I was so excited to find it and the ladies selling it thought I was nuts to buy it. But so much potential:) and it had the most beautiful, but dirty barkcloth fabric on the seat.

Here is the"as found"


Viola!

Stripped, sanded and a can of Heirloom white spray paint did the trick. Added gold shimmer acrylic paint on sides really brought out the vintage style, and the fabric colors popped.  I washed the fabric, it was in pretty good shape. There was also 2 more layers of fabric underneath that I removed. I added extra padding, and this vintage bench is ready for it's new digs. Stay tuned, because this was part of a total makeover of my guest room that my granddaughters will use when they stay with us. I have given you a couple of narrow peeks in the last post. But the total reveal will be in the Shabby Lane Shops Magazine New Year edition. If you haven't heard of the magazine, there have already been 3 editions jam packed with great articles, recipes and tutorials. You can purchase them thru my website too...Marionberry Cottage.com

01 November 2010

Cinderella and Tinkerbell....

Disney paid a visit with two little characters! They are my two little granddaughters in real life:)




Every Saturday

Where we reside

Where we reside

The Oregon Coastline

The Oregon Coastline