Mr. Jolly's Sidewalk Market In April

Mr. Jolly says,
 "Oh, dear! It's raining again!"

"I like rain!", exclaims the little boy.

I like rain, too.
We've been lucky this week - we actually have gotten some rain.
But, oh, how I wish that April would bring LOTS of showers here!
Because, unfortunately, we need for it to rain much more than a day or two here and there, in order to help out with California's drought.
One can always hope.
(From "Mr. Jolly's Sidewalk Market", an adorable book by Laura Jean Allen.)

Wine and Painting Class in Folsom

Good morning. Tina here.

Last week my sisters-in-law and I went to a cute little shop in Folsom, called Paints, where we painted and drank wine while we followed along with the instructor creating an island landscape. It is rather like paint by numbers except you end up with differences since you start with a blank canvas. 

The instructor would show us how to go about painting the sky, tree, hula girl, etc., on a piece of paper. I like the way her samples turned out. She showed us the painting below in the beginning to give us an idea of how our paintings would look.

Everyone immediately got into the spirit of the class, even before the wine was poured. It was fun to look around at the walls and see all the samples other classes had followed.

The instructor completed the painting below. She even showed us how we should sign our paintings.

Before the class we ate at a great sushi restaurant just down the street, and sat next to a family, a couple and their two daughters, who ended up sitting next to us in class also.

I didn't think I would like the idea of painting what everyone else was painting, but it was fun, and the interaction with the other artists and the instructor made the evening even more enjoyable.

When we were all done we all took photos of each others work and everyone was so proud of what they did!

I guess the hula girl will join all of the other paintings on the wall.

When we had a spare moment we would chose our favorites out of each area.

Budding artists at work as their efforts are preserved on cell phone cameras.

Above is my sister-in-law Cheri's fairy and sun fantasy.

My sister-in-law Megan's had a dancer who wanted to fly away with the sea birds.

My hula girl with her dread locks offered a pineapple to the gods.

I thought the family below was cute, one daughter painted like her mom, and one like her dad.

This group below had so much fun! Strangers became friends.

When we were done, Megan tried a little bit of shopping and tried on a dress which didn't work out, but it was still fun.

We are planning a return trip the next time sisters-in-law come to visit. I have four of them so it probably won't be too long!

Patterns From The Past: Simplicity 9712 - A Dress And Bib-Jumper

Today's pattern is Simplicity 9712 (from 1972), a cute dress with a jumper to wear over it:

Shown above (in the advertisement for Cone Fabrics from a Simplicity pattern magazine/catalog), and also below on the front of the pattern itself,  both versions feature a red dress, whether solid or a calico print, and then each is topped with a blue bib-jumper in denim or a similar fabric.
They also added either an applique or a pin, as you can see:

You can change things up so much when you make it yourself - the possibilities are endless!

It's very cute as shown in the photos on the models, both on the pattern and in the magazine.

However, I actually like the drawing on the pattern front the best - the one with the shorter dress in pink gingham and the green floral print jumper worn over it:

And what a lovely an old-fashioned look, as well, with the black velvet jumper layered over the dress done up in a sheer white fabric!
Last of all today, I always like to show you  the back of the pattern,
when I can:

Oh - and just so I don't leave anything out, here is pattern number 9648,  for the jacket and pants worn by the second model in the top photo:

 That one just happens to feature an applique, as well.
(Ice cream cones always look good to me!)

One Of The Reasons Why I Love Blogging

Back in January of 2014, I wrote about finding this sweet painting of a fawn done by an artist named Jean Crist at a thrift store:

Flash forward about fourteen months, and the great-grandson of the artist contacted me after having found my post during a Google search.
He wanted to know if I still had the painting and if I might be willing to sell it.
We corresponded back and forth through e-mails, and he shared with me a couple of photos of two other paintings his great grandmother had done.
Here is a  lovely floral painting she created:

And a majestic elephant:

This young man was able to drive to my area and pick up the painting, as we had arranged, at Mountain Treasures.
I was out of town that weekend and did not get to meet him.
 He is planning to surprise his mother with it on her birthday later this month.
He was kind enough to leave me a lovely note and even an original hand-painted card he had done himself, which you can see below:

So, you see, had I not found the painting and written about it here on this blog, and included the name of the artist, he would never have known it existed.
And now, because I did - and because he searched and found it - the painting is right back in their family.
Which, I believe, is precisely where it belongs.
And THAT, my friends is one of the reasons why I love blogging.
Because endings don't get too much happier than that.

Easter Decorations - And Happy Wishes

Today's "thrifty" finds for Easter are mostly eggs and egg cups.
First up, this fabulous vintage egg box:

I was tickled to find it because it is like a few others I have, one of which was an Easter gift when I was a little girl:

I also found the yellow and green egg box front and center in the photo below - this one was discovered at Mountain Treasures in Sonora, where we have our booth:

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it - because I had recently added one exactly like it to my "Favorites" on Etsy!
This one was priced at less than one-fourth the price online!
Yay!
Look at those adorable little green bunnies around the sides:

I found this little egg cup guy at a thrift store, also.
He appears to have had a bit of a rough life:

But things are looking up for him since I paired him up with the little gal below.
It seems she only has eyes for him:

I decided this little man was a pastor preparing to give his Easter sermon, rather than a groom - what do you think?

 I'm calling this next little scene "Chocolate Eggs Under Glass":

I found this antique ceramic stand some time ago. It looks pretty nice filled up with a couple of plastic eggs and a couple of thrift store pomanders that I have filled with lavender:

I can't seem to resist china egg cups, especially vintage ones made in Japan - like this orange pair:

I found the orange chicken  cup last year after Easter, and my little egg-shaped rock fits perfectly. The hand-painted egg cup is a more recent find:

Here's the painted egg cup again, below.
 The Betsy McCall figurine and the ceramic eggs were found during the year, as well:

I found a little bag of painted wooden eggs, and I managed to use them in a lot of different places:

A new copy of "The Golden Egg Book" - thrifted, of course:

And last, but not least two cute Easter egg cookie cutters:

(I kind of wanted  to make some Easter cookies with some of the cutters I found, but I was afraid I might find them far too tempting.)
I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter day!

A Rockwell Postcard

My friend Faith sent me this Norman Rockwell postcard seen below.
She knew I would like it - and she was right.
(Thanks, Faith!)

"The Window Washer", by Norman Rockwell.
I like it because, not only because am I a HUGE Norman Rockwell fan, but also because this particular work of art reminds me of "Mad Men", which, of course, begins airing the (first of the very) last episodes tomorrow night.
I can't wait!
Although, I'm not looking forward to it ending - at all.
I can always watch the entire series again, though - if I want to.
And I just might.

Butterflies In The Lilac Bush

When one of our grandsons was here last week, he and I noticed there were butterflies all over the lilac bush in the back yard.

I don't know how many pictures I took trying to get at least one that was decent!
They move and flutter too much, they were too high up and - I am NOT a photographer, by any means.

He kept trying (in vain) to get one of the butterflies to land on him. But he was too loud, and he never stayed still, either!

He also kept saying "I wish I had my net..."
I was kind of glad he didn't.

And, oh - the lilacs smell SO good!

One Terrific Find

I found the lovely pair of salt and pepper shakers in the photo below at a shop in Jamestown, California.
I had walked right past them the first time.
Why did I not notice them?
That would be because they were FILTHY.
Are they not fantastic?
I took a closer look at a shelf of assorted salt and pepper shakers as I made my way back to the front of the shop, and they kind of jumped out at me.
 I think they were desperate for some attention, and they needed for me to rescue them!
I did, then, recognize them as being something special, though they have no markings.
They were made by Figgjo Flint of Norway, and I am VERY happy to say that I have put them to work in my kitchen.
They are sitting on top of my microwave.
LOVE.

They look much better now, after a good bath!
For the life of me, I can't understand why somebody wouldn't bother to clean things up before putting them out for sale on a shop shelf.
It's certainly not something I would ever do.
They hadn't even bothered to put a price tag on them.
(I wish I had taken a "before" picture. They were covered with years of greasy kitchen grime - I guess. Gross.)
Quite the fabulous pair, I dare say.

A Lovely Lady For April

Good morning. Tina here. 

Many of you may remember I collect nasturtium items.  Postcards are a part of that collection. I have so many now it is hard to find a postcard I don't have, but they pop up on eBay once in a while.

I was lucky this week to find this lovely lady surrounded by nasturtiums.  She is from Czechoslovakia. The artist is Franz Dvorak.

I also hope to have made a new friend, the seller lives in the gold country also and we have collecting "likes" in common.

An almost 100 year old postcard with a message I can't even read can still connect people in this internet day and age. Amazing.