Friday, December 24, 2010

it's almost christmas!

The time is closer and hopefully you're ready. I am finishing up some things while The Muppets Christmas Carol keeps me feeling festive and reminds me it's Christmas Eve. All the sudden these last few days it hasn't felt like Christmas to me for some reason.

Are you in need of little boxes for baked goods or small gifts? You can print out the cutest cuckoo clock boxes from My Paper Crane.



If you are finding yourself without gifts and running out of time. Here is a free printable you can use to create some really impressive coupon books for folks, brought to you by the Just Something I Made Blog. She does lots of printables, so check out the blog for more options.





Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you have a especially nice time this year.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

christmas forest

Today has been all about Christmas and I still got stuff to do. Christmas came way too fast this year and I have taken to doing things like printing out new Christmas tags instead of trying to go through my packed closets and find the many, many I already have. Yeah, it's been like that.

tree display 2010

Last Sunday I did finally get to the decorating. My nephew came by and kept me company while I untangled Christmas lights and set up the Christmas Forest display. I'm pretty happy with this years new additions (the bright green and turquoise tree - bought to go with the new snowman - and the small orange and pink tree). There are little white lights under the "snow".

trees and snowman

The snowman and small trees were purchased from MagpieEthel who I wrote about earlier this month. I just love this little guy and I love the yellow and green colors on him.

snowman close up

The Christmas tree I put up is the same artificial one I have had for the last ten years. It's narrow and small and it works for my small space. But it's getting old and every year I say it's the last year for it, but then the next Christmas comes and I pull it out again.

cuckoo clock

This cuckoo clock is my newest ornament. I got it last year at that all Christmas store in Lincoln City. I 'm pretty fond of it.

Below is one of the oldest ornaments I have. When I was a kid my mother got a queen ornament (with a hot pink long fluffy skirt) and 2 princess ornaments. Every year my sister and I would put on "our" princesses. It's a very sweet memory. This princess here is about 40 years old! She looks pretty good.

princess

Hope you all are having a nice time getting ready for Christmas. Here it comes!


Thursday, December 16, 2010

christmas tag printables

Christmas is a week away! I can hardly believe it. I haven't started wrapping presents and don't even have everything yet. Once again, I resolve to have all my Christmas gifts by September next year. We'll see how that goes.

I think my favorite thing about wrapping presents is the tags. I sort of have a thing about Christmas tags. It's no wonder considering my old paper and ephemera obsession. Oddly, I didn't even think of it as a collection until I saw this collector's book and wow. I sure would love to look through that.

So, as you can imagine, I'm not really in need of Christmas tags, but these new and vintage printable tags make me wish I was.

Here are some really cute printable tags from the illustration Orange You Lucky blog.

From the blog That's Happy, some pretty little birds that could be tags or ornaments.

Creature Comforts blog has a download from some printable tags in 3 color schemes.


And here's some vintage ones on flickr that you could print up.

Friday, December 10, 2010

inspiring christmas journals

If you are interested in starting a Christmas Journal I recently came across some great reconstructed blank books that would be great to use.

Attic Journals is a Portland company and they have some good options. Here are a few I found.
You can do a search on their site for Christmas, Holiday or Santa and you'll get a number of options. If you are in Portland, you can also go visit them at Crafty Wonderland this weekend. I am betting they will have even more journals.

There are some journals on here also made from old craft books. A good idea for a the crafty person on your list.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

restocked

I've been really slacking on the zine printing lately. And by lately, I mean all of 2010. As of right now I finally have all three Current Residents back in stock, including issue 3 which I have been out of for quite a while. Yay!





















I really like doing Current Resident. I think working on a new one would be a good project for this winter, don't you think?

Next up on the list is to get some old Figure 8 issues reprinted. Here's hoping it won't take as long.

Monday, December 6, 2010

a reinvintaged christmas

Spent most of the weekend treating myself as if I was sicker than I was hoping that that would make my cold not get much worse. It seems ot have worked. I am sick, but not that sick.

Besides my work holiday party Sunday night, the only other thing that got me out of the house was a craft show at a local elementary school. There were a good amount of vendors, but I have to say that it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to craft shows. Maybe that has something to do with being on Etsy everyday. I either like really unique things or classic old school type crafts. For example I bought a needlepoint Santa ornament from a senior citizen. Love that stuff.

Besides the always enjoyable crafts of Jenn and Jenny of Chet and Dot, Robot Candy and Plants and Animals, the other vendor that made me wish that someone would force me to spend all my money on myself was MagpieEthel.



Magpie Ethel
takes old vintage findings, pieces of other decorative vintage items and rearranges them, fixes them up and adds on a bit and ends up a very fresh vintage item. Everything was so sweet. I got a snowman and a few other items. I love her generous use of pipe cleaners.



I'm looking forward to adding the new items to the Christmas display. I wonder when I will actually get in the mood to set it up. Not that much time left now. I really wish there was a month between November and December. Dear Santa...

Saturday, December 4, 2010

sickly

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. Think I've caught that cold that's going around. So, just a quick pop in to tell you about my new favorite food item. Don't you love it when you find some perfect meal that is easy, healthy and you want to eat everyday? For me, in the summer it is always a salad with salmon and fruit and whatever else there is. But, in winter I want warm veggies.

The other day when shopping at Trader Joe's, I saw this guy reach out for this package near me and grab a few. So, of course, I wondered what it was. It was Tuna in Green Curry Sauce. Since I am a pescatarian and pretty much only eat Tuna and Salmon, I was of course interested. I got past the fact that it isn't refrigerated - which always kind of makes me wonder - and got a package.

I went back the other night and got 6 packages. This stuff is awesome and so easy to use. I saute up some onions and other veggies like mushrooms, red peppers, whatever I have and then add on lots of greens like chard, spinach or kale and then just put this on top and saute all together. It is so very good. I am making some right now for lunch.

The red curry is good, too.



Also, on my Trader Joe's hit list right now is their Black Vanilla and Cinnamon tea. It is delish. I recommend it.



So, I'm off to have some of both of these and watch a Christmas movie. Hope you all are having a good weekend.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

post thanksgiving

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I never participate in going to stores on Black Friday, but I do have my own little post-Thanksgiving rituals I observe. Right now I am watching Home for the Holidays, a movie I often watch after Thanksgiving. A great film. I recommend it.

I also break out the Christmas Journal and start my lists for Christmas. I love having a Christmas Journal. Follow that link to find out more about that.

Last week I got back from a sweet little trip to a nice river view cabin near Mt Hood. The first night we were there we got snow. It was perfect.

snow2

snow3

I was totally entertained taking flash pictures in the snow. The other worldly mist could be actual fog, my own breath or a snowflake right in front. Any ideas?

All night long I kept getting woken up to loud thuds of snow hitting the roof. In the morning this is what I got to see:

from inside

snoww

snowy morning

It was a wonderful vacation. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend. Next up, Christmas! I can't believe how fast it's come.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

printables for christmas

Maybe this Christmas you are funds poor but rich in ideas and a color printer. Then luck is on your side! Lots of neat designers out there design free items that you can print out yourself. It's the perfect inexpensive (and last minute) gift.

Here are a few to get you started:

This Owl Lover 2011 Calender is making the rounds and seems to pretty popular, and why wouldn't it be? It's a calender, it's owls - and best yet you get to choose which owl art you want with each month. I really like that part. You can choose from 30 images!

There's a nice selection of some neat little boxes you can make for your homemade food gifts or whatever else you may need to box up.

Maybe you might want to print up some of your family recipes to share with a friend. Here's a neat way to create them for a pretty presentation. Recipe Card Maker.

I love these adorable bookplates you could print out for someone. Bookplates from Orange You Lucky.

Got some neat old bottles or boxes? These labels would make a really neat presentation. Vintage Flowery Labels, and Vintage Luggage Labels.

Hope these give you some ideas. I'll try and be back with more before Christmas.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

the perfect fall outing

Yesterday the mister and I went out for a fall drive for my birthday outing. I've been on this drive a number of times, but it never gets old. The fall is the best time to go.

We took the Old Columbia Highway from Troutdale to Multnomah Falls. The drive is winding and beautiful.

old columbia highway

The Lodge at Multnomah Falls is always such a pretty sight.

lodge

Inside it's so cozy with a high windows with a view of the trees and the falls. The food is great, too. I had tomato bisque soup with the trout dinner. Delish.

inside lodge



multnomah falls

The falls are of course beautiful and the colors all over were so beautiful and saturated. In the shallow waters of the stream near the parking lot we got to see salmon spawning. Right there in front of us, they were jumping around and making quite a spectacle in the shallow waters. It was really neat to see.


view from parking lot

By the time we left it was almost dark and it was raining, but the falls still looked so beautiful I couldn't stop taking pictures.

It was a lovely day and capped off three days of birthday fun. If you want to see some vintage postcards of Multnomah Falls take a visit to my other blog The Cedar Chest.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

pin it

These days they call them inspiration boards, but I call them bulletin boards. I have always had more than one, even when I was in my teenage room and mostly tacking up pictures from Tiger Beat and Seventeen.

Now at the age of 46 (well, 46 next week) I have many in my craft den and one big one in my bedroom. Sometimes I feel odd about that. Like I haven't grown up. But, as much as I love little pieces of paper and design, not to mention souvenirs - how could I not have several boards?

I find even so many beautiful images on the internet. I mean it really is endless, isn't it? When I find something so beautiful or inspiring or stunning I want to save it, but often all I can do is just save the blog post or article.

So, as you can imagine I was pretty happy to find Pinterest. It's an online personal inspiration board and you can create many different boards. If you know how much I love a theme (and I kind of think you do) then you know how much I love that.


You can also follow other people's boards and see what they are pinning. It's pretty great. The only thing that would make it better is if you could see a larger version of the image with just a hover over the pic. Maybe they are working on that.



Above is a screen shot of one of my boards. You can see my boards here and follow me if you want. I don't have too many as I have just started. I really love the boards that my friend Jenny does. Maybe I'll see you on Pinterest. Looking forward to seeing your boards.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

summer to fall

Like many people, I love fall. I wonder if it really is the most popular season or if I just tend to be friends with people who like fall best.

I love the season for the reason most people do, but also because the fall brings a number of celebrations including my birthday and anniversary.

Here are some pictures from the last month. The end of summer to the first few weeks of fall. The days here are still pretty warm, but the nights are getting cold. Unlike the eastern states our tress aren't brilliant yet, but the leaves are changing.

farmersmarketbag

Here's a pic of my bag from the last farmers market of the season. Included inside is: goat cheese from Dee Creek Farms, jam from Packer Orchards and Bakery and kombucha from Oregon Kombucha.

lightsintrees

A pic from a lovely night in a friend's backyard when the nights were still warm- just a couple weeks ago.

bearcard

The anniversary card to my mister (do you see the pumpkin shaped cake in the background?). I got this awesome letterpress bear cut out from Blackbird Letterpress. And then I made the little card to fit inside his paws. The card is one of the most important things to me when it comes to celebrations. I love them. My cards seem to be getting smaller and smaller. I made one that was about 3" x 2" for Valentines Day.


flowersonmantle

Here is what I did with some of the flowers that I got for our anniversary. I got this vase for about 3 dollars at a garage sale I went to a few weeks ago. They had tons of beautiful vintage ceramics. This is from West Coast Pottery of California. I love seeing flowers in it.

The wood hummingbird is new to my house as well. It was something in our house when I was a kid and my mom recently asked if I wanted it. It'd been in storage about 20 years, so it's neat to see it again and have it in my house.

flowerontable

I hope you are enjoying the fall so far. What's your favorite season?

Sunday, October 3, 2010

sand, sea, september

beach

I took such a huge amount of photos on the trip I took last month to the Oregon Coast. I think the volume of them is what made me put off editing them, choosing them, uploading them and making this entry. But, I definitely wanted to because I had a wonderful time and they're so pretty.

I love this one of my friend Chelsea walking out to the beach.

sunsetwalk2

You can see the whole folder full on my flickr page, but here are my faves.

I hadn't spent much time in Rockaway Beach before. It was nice to be on a new beach and in a new town. Rockaway Beach is very typical old style tourist beach town. It's not posh at all. There is a strip with the usual beach shops - fudge, kites, souvenirs, salt water taffy.

shells

I realized on this trip that the reason all beach towns have the same kind of shops is because that is the only time you buy fudge, salt water taffy or fly a kite and so doing things kind of reinforces that you are indeed on vacation. It's a ritual.

otters

And I did it too. I ate fudge, I wrote a couple postcards (even if one was to myself), I got smashed pennies, I went to the souvenir shop and I bought a kite and a cedar box.

cedar boxes

There must be other people besides me who love cedar boxes, especially the souvenir kind. It can't all be 12 year old girls buying them at the tourist shops. I actually haven't bought myself one since I was a kid, but I always think about them and desire them. Why haven't I let myself just get one before this, I have no idea. I do have a few people have given me. The smell sooo good.

70splant

The house my friend and I were staying at had not been changed since the 70s'. It was filled with magazines from the early 80's. The decor was both kooky and cool. This climbing plant was growing through the ceiling and was even coming through in the other room. It was a little creepy. Despite this, we both felt really comfortable there. The super close proximity to the beach was perfect.

porch


One day we went into town and heard a steam engine come though. We went to investigate and found out that it was a scenic train that went from Wheeler to Garibaldi and we could get on if we wanted to.



So, we got our ticket and hopped on. There was a old train car from the 40's, a partially open air train and an all open air train. We rode outdoors and took lots of pictures.

inside-train

trainride

treesgoby




We got one good day of sun and I had a lovely day in the dunes, feet in sand, staring at the clouds, singing songs to myself, playing with grass reeds and flying a kite. It was perfect.

grassandsand

grasswreath3

kiteflying

There was good food (we made it all, Rockaway Beach is not the best for good food - groceries or restaurants), sunsets, walks, sits, exploring relaxing and pretty much all you would want plus a old timey train ride. Pretty nice.

behindkitepartial

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