Pamela Jane's Studio

anna griffin gingerbread house

2009-12-08T11:40:00.022-05:00

.
Snow is still glistening across the sloping landscape outside my windows. Inside, I'm busily packing kits of Anna Griffin's new Flora line of glittery and flocked papers with an old-fashioned gingerbread theme for my next class at Scrapbooks Plus. Are you in the mood for making a gingerbread house for the holidays? This one is made of paper. So is the iced cookie tree on the shadow-box frame. You can come join us in class and make one, too.

Lately I've been finding a few vintage cabinet cards for my slowly-building collection. With a fondness for children in exuberant poses, although they are not so easy to find among staid Victorian photo albums, I've been chuckling at this pair of cabinet cards featuring some little personalities on the same amazing wicker chair. Until I have my own family photos from this holiday, they add a happy note to my class layout. In keeping with the glittery winter theme, I couldn't resist adding a trail of silvery glass glitter to the photo edges.

On this coordinating layout page, the two beautifully colored vintage photos came from Ranjini's blog, where she always shares lots of lovely images. With just a little color manipulation, these photos fit my wintery scheme so beautifully.
.

surprise auction on eBay

2009-12-03T13:16:00.021-05:00

.
Last week, during our family Thanksgiving celebration, a friend in Germany emailed me some surprising news. He'd been involved in my painting years there and wanted to alert me. An old 1981 exhibition catalog from a group art show called "American Artists in Berlin" (Amerikanische Künstler in Berlin) was being auctioned on eBay. That show had featured 6 young American artists then living in Berlin, including Lynn Bowers, Jimmy Clark, Gary Rieveschl, John Schuetz, Christina Viera, and me. In the eBay bidding window was a two-page spread from the catalog, showing Jimmy Clark's pottery and one of my paintings (both a bit cut off).

Since my painting career preceded the internet access we so enjoy now, you'll realize what an unexpected glimpse this was to see a work of mine online from almost 30 years ago. My large paintings were very colorful, as were the works of the other artists included in the show. But the exhibition catalog, funded by the Amerika Haus in Berlin, was printed in black and white, an indicator of the expense of mounting shows before artists could help their own publicity using home printers and a free and expansive internet. The critical reviews were printed in both German and English, adding another expense.

I didn't bid on the catalog, but I should have. Although my own copy resides somewhere in my archives (I hope), my youngest son wishes he had known in time to buy this one. Growing up in my peripatetic studio, nevertheless he had missed those early years of my career. Already it's hard to remember which of my paintings were in that Berlin show. The large painting shown on eBay was "Femme Nue." I think there was a huge painting called "Berlin Boogie." Another painting, "The Odd Couple," was purchased by the State Department. I hope my records show who bought the rest. I do remember how young I felt then, exhibiting next to Lynn who also had his New York studio, Gary who made vast Lifeforms following his Harvard/MIT studies, and Christina who was probably at RISD when I was but had already exhibited in Greece, Great Britain, and Italy. :)

.

rainy day in december

2009-12-02T23:02:00.005-05:00

.

It's raining again. Several times already, our lawn care company has cancelled leaf removal and mulching on our acre of leaves fallen from our trees, the neighbors' trees, and all the leaves blown down our long driveway from who knows where. So today they did the job in the rain. While I was laboring over writing kit instructions for the a class I'm teaching soon, they brought in leaf blowers, a mulching truck for the leaves, a truckload of mulch for the gardens, and various pick-up trucks. Parking them up and down the driveway, they made sure I wasn't leaving the house.

So with the rain coloring the day gray, I returned to my computer to edit photos for my instructions. And photographed, in the dim light, my supplies for another project waiting patiently for completion. And remembered I still haven't unpacked my Silver Bella swaps and class projects. And the dining room tree is the only one trimmed so far. Outside, the men shouted back and forth about heavy leaves and mud and how soon could they go home.

We always need the rain, I guess. But the weatherman says to expect more snow here this winter than during recent years. I'm so in the mood for a white Christmas.
.

little angels all in a row

2009-11-28T07:57:00.001-05:00

.

I've lots of blog catching-up to do after a busy couple weeks. Here's something that went into the mail this morning for a swap up north at Danielle's. So happy to be sharing the holiday spirit!

.

blessings to you

2009-11-25T13:34:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving and many blessings to you!

off to silver bella

2009-11-08T19:47:00.018-05:00

.
It's Silver Bella time again, so I'm finishing up swaps and gathering supplies and packing up my red slippers for Omaha. There's just time to slip in a couple peeks at some of my swap offerings.

.

autumn banner tutorial

2009-11-03T10:37:00.062-05:00

Lovely requests for a supply list or project instructions for my Autumn Banner have prompted me to share a quick tutorial here. There's still plenty of time to make this project while the leaves fall, right? Originally, I made this seasonal banner to hang from Halloween through Thanksgiving, so the pennant colors include black, white, orange and gold. You can substitute more autumn colors to suit your taste. Add photos of your ghoulish ancestors or your cute kids to the glittered frames and hang it above your Thanksgiving buffet.

First, here's my supply list. A few items are custom or vintage, but you can easily replace them from your own stash.

• 12x12" paper Graphic 45 Renaissance Faire Collection "Masterpiece" (double-sided)
• 12x12" paper My Mind's Eye The Spider's Web "Haunted Parlor" (double-sided)
• Jenni Bowlin Scalloped Banner Set Large 6" (4 pennants)
• Jenni Bowlin Border Stickers Black
• Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Buttons Old Time Photos
• 7Gypsies Metal Page Edge, Lace, Antique Silver
• Maya Road Velvet Puff Flowers, Orange and Cream
• May Arts Ribbon, 1+1/2" wide black/cream stripe (30")
• Martha Stewart deep orange glitter (I mixed mine from 3 shades of her glitter) and glue
• Martha Stewart glow-in-the-dark glitter
• Baker's twine, black/white (for small spool, Layer Cake Shop)

• Mini cupcake liners, black/white striped (Layer Cake Shop)
plus:
• Chipboard pennants (3) cut with Stampin' Up Pennant Die (or substitute Jenni Bowlin Banner Set Small)
• Chipboard frames and hearts (3 each) cut with Stampin' Up Pennant Die
• Upholstery fabric chrysanthemums cut with Sizzix die (Joann's fabric)
• Thread and needle to gather ribbon flower
• Vintage rust seam binding
• Vintage charcoal grey seam binding
• Acorns and dried statice
• Black/white photos, small

With your supplies gathered, the first step is to trace and cover the 4 larger pennants with Graphic 45 patterned paper, using and alternating both sides of the paper. Add Jenni Bowlin border stickers, including at paper seams, using the striped sticker background, too, if you like. Ink edges of pennants as desired. Glue an orange velvet blossom to the bottom of each scalloped pennant. Use a crop-a-dile to punch 2 holes in the upper corners.

Tie vintage rust seam binding through 4 large JB chipboard buttons. Through 2 small chipboard buttons, tie vintage grey seam binding. Tie one or two small chipboard button with black/white twine. Ink edges of buttons.

For the two scalloped end pennants, make a ribbon medallion: Sew a basting stitch along one long 15” edge of striped ribbon, gather tightly into a circle, overlap and stitch the ends together. Glue a large tied chipboard button to a fabric chrysanthemum, then glue the flower to a striped ribbon medallion. Glue the ribbon medallions to the center of each end pennant.

For the other two scalloped pennants, staple a small dried flower sprig to the center of each pennant where chipboard buttons will cover the staples. Using single and double layers of foam adhesive, arrange the tied chipboard buttons over the flower stems. If you wish, add a Dresden gold foil cobweb to one pennant, or substitute another button with twine. You can also recycle fun "found" items, like the small “B is for Boo" flap that is an inspection sticker from a garment.

(By the way, these photos taken back in September show the Halloween elements, like the dried black heather, black cat, etc. Since then, I've replaced them with more autumn colors. Sorry I didn't have time to edit the photos for better color quality . . . please click on them to enlarge for detail. )

Next cover the 3 smaller chipboard pennants with MME black paper. Glitter the 3 chipboard hearts and 3 oval frames. Fold the mini cupcake liners in half. Glue cream velvet blossoms to the folded cupcake liners, then to the glittered hearts. Glue the orange glittered heart tassels to two smaller pennants. Glue the glow-in-the-dark glittered heart tassel to the middle pennant (or glitter it orange like the other hearts).

Carefully cut a 7Gypsies metal border in half. Remove the inner protective layer and adhere each half to the top of the orange-heart pennants; trim to fit. Trace a scalloped pennant edge to cut a Graphic 45 scalloped border for the middle pennant. Use a crop-a-dile to punch 2 holes in the upper corners.

Cover the 3 chipboard ovals with MME reverse pattern paper and/or black/white family photos. Using foam tape, adhere the photo ovals to the black pennants. Then glue the glittered frames to the ovals. Glue acorns above frames.

Finally, string the pennants together using the baker's twine. Tie loops in the ends and hang in the window or over the mantel until Thanksgiving.

Hope you enjoy making this Autumn Banner. If you have joined Kari's Year of Color blog, you can see Candice's smaller but similar Halloween banner there. If you send me a link in the comments section when you're done, we can all drop by to see your version.
.

happy haunting

2009-10-31T15:16:00.003-04:00

.

.

playing musical chairs

2009-10-21T22:11:00.067-04:00

.
On Friday, with my friends Amy and Hope, I'll be driving to New York to join Charlotte in her autumn house wren studio session. I'm totally excited to participate in the special day she has planned for her cottage class.

Meanwhile, in order to make the trip following my back injury, I've been paying careful attention to the flexibility exercises my chiropractor has advised me to do, wearing my back brace as needed, and using the cold pack often to minimize the disk inflammation. Sitting is still a problem (MRI re-scheduled at the end of October), and it's much more comfortable for me to walk around than to stay stationary. Painting at my new lightweight easel is therefore easier than sitting down to do small-scale handwork, like stitching on my tardy Silver Bella swaps. Walking outside in the beautiful fall weather today was even better.

It's been interesting to evaluate the chairs in my house from my temporary weight-shifting perspective. How much attention do you normally give to the angle or depth of the seat, the curve of the back, or how firm is the front edge of the seat when you choose to sit? My chairs all seemed comfortable to me before. Right now, ironically, the least comfortable are my Eames chairs (not pictured), whose relaxed span is just too difficult to maneuver.

So I'm hoping that my being a model patient will pay off this Friday, when sitting in the car for about 6 hours will be my first big test. Thankfully, my car does have comfortable seats. But I predict more pit stops than usual, if only long enough to stand up and amble around the car before sitting down again.

By the way, in case you've noticed, I've had a medical excuse not to vacuum or dust for almost two months. How cool is that!!
.

black and gold for autumn

2009-10-12T14:48:00.007-04:00

One reason I love the change in seasons is this warm color combination

pairing black and gold with the tang of orange.

Are you in the mood for autumn decorating?

.

just sharing . . .

2009-10-08T17:06:00.014-04:00

Today my mailbox offered me some happy mail instead of the usual

junk mail that gets wadded up in there.

I wish I could somehow pay to prevent junk mail from arriving, especially the stuff from every insurance company and medicare provider (all of whom know exactly when I turn 65 -- don't think your privacy is in any way protected from those who can make money by knowing your data), investment company, politician (it's soon November again), and so on. Do you have any clue how many commercial ventures have you programmed in their data bases?

Trash cans full.

With no redeeming scrapbooking graphics.

But today is a happy mail day.

So I thought I would share the hand-applied greetings on these delightful envelopes that arrived from two real people.

Hi, Brin and Judy -- you made my day! :)

heather's art journaling class update

2009-10-02T13:59:00.046-04:00

.
Last week I signed up online for Heather's "A Beautiful Life" art journaling class. It's taken me a while to find some bits of time to pull together the cover. Thank heavens Heather is leaving up her class for the whole month of October (and is still taking sign-ups), so I can catch up on the pages.

Besides all the beautiful vintage images that Heather is providing to download, this project appealed to me because I still consider myself a vintage newbie. It isn't often that I manage thrift shopping, and it's never thrifty when I do. Not yet for me those huge gorgeous salivating piles of vintage wallpaper, soft faded pearls, endless lace trims, timeworn millinery flowers, and so on. My meager stash did not come as bargains. So I thought it would be a fun challenge to see what I could come up with -- without.

First issue to contend with was finding the book to alter. In true urban style, I stopped by the book-sale corner of my local library to see what surprise might be hiding among all the well-thumbed recent best-sellers for resale. Luckily, off to the side as though nobody knew where to shelve it, was an old book of organ music. It's a little larger than Heather's suggested size, but it came with all those pages of music (even though organ music is a little strange on the page).

Next challenge was turning the deep green cloth book cover into something a little milder. Lacking the desirable wallpaper stash, I decided to use some of my Carolyne Roehm embossed wrapping paper in this delicious buttermilk color. One advantage: since it isn't crackly old wallpaper, it wraps easily around the edges and corners to give a nice finished look. And I love that deep textural feel, although much of the paper surface is eventually covered. Adding to Heather's blog discussion about which glues to try, my glue of choice for this large scale was Golden's Gel Medium, slathered evenly all over the book cover, followed by smoothing on the paper with a brayer. I used this same gel/brayer process for all the papers.

Since my cover was rather large (10" x 14"), I felt it needed more embellishment than Heather's smaller example. So I attached a row of creamy pompoms and lace trim down the side, using red line tape. Then I collaged my papers, including Heather's terrific cover download and some organ music, with gel medium. A little distress inking softened the torn edges.

With no big gorgeous floppy vintage millinery flowers, I tried to match the scale by assembling a bouquet of newly-made ones to arrange across the top of the cover. My layered flowers use cream Prima paper flowers and white felt flowers cut on my Sizzix machine. In the center of the two silk flowers from Michael's, I inserted some pale blue flower stamens left over from my recent layout class. All the flowers were spritzed with Glimmer Mist in gold and topaz to add some "aged" color and just a little shimmer.

Then I stacked up a "real" vintage collar and a folded doily to drape as a base for the flowers, attaching each layer with red line tape. To help with dimension, I slid some chipboard in between the lace layers. Heather's "A Beautiful Life" title banner is sewn onto a printed stack of old tags. In the leftover tag space, I wrote the word "creating" to augment the title. The banner edges are highlighted with Stickles.

At the bottom of the cover, I added more buttons, part of another white felt flower and, channeling Rebecca Sower, a gathered ribbon with pink pearls. Except that my white twill ribbon is from the wrapping of my Williams-Sonoma napkins and the pearls are fake. Actually, I split one pearl in half trying to thread it on my tapestry needle, so I glued it up on the title banner.

Although I was pinch-hitting most of the way, it sure was fun using Heather's guidelines to assemble this vintage-style cover. Now I hope to start on the pages before Christmas. :)
.

putting my back to it

2009-09-12T15:45:00.003-04:00

.
Returning from a recent trip, I tried unsuccessfully to hoist a filled-to-capacity suitcase with my soon-to-be-65-year-old back muscles. Years of military-wife practice at packing, including boxing up the entire house some 26 or 27 times, have made me a pro at getting all 50 pounds into that suitcase with no wasted space, no sweat. Ask Carol, my hotel roomie on another trip not too long ago. (By the way, Carol is having a super giveaway on her blog right now. Go see.) It should have been the usual quickly-done chore, fulfilled easily on so many other trips.

Instead, something went crotchety. You know, went stubbornly in the wrong direction, regardless of clear intent, a perfectly good plan and practiced execution. After several days of lower back pain, accompanied by sitting bolt upright on the slimmest edge of chairs, or pacing endlessly while thinking deep philosophical thoughts because walking was infinitely more comfortable than propping myself here and there like a grouchy orangutan, I gave in to my husband's plea. We went to the local chiropractor.

In case you detect some hesitancy on my part, you should know that my grandfather, who lived with us back while I was in school, called all doctors "quacks" and would go only to the chiropractor -- for any and all ailments. Now I have two sons studying to be doctors. One goes to the chiropractor. So off I went.

Among the things I learned from the chiropractor (after 3 visits in 3 days):

1) The average life expectancy of white women in the US is now 96 years, so I better get used to preventing as many creaks as possible with 30+ years to continue my trips.

2) Artistic types like me may be good at sublimating or working their pain into their art (any kind, read any famous artist's biography). But the fix for my back problem would have been quicker and easier if I hadn't waited so long. (Yes, he said ALL that. He also called me a "tough old bird", by which he did not mean all sinew and no fat.)

3) The reason my butt has felt like a ton of bricks that takes an agonizing forever to slide in or out of bed is thanks to the inflammation around the pivotal compressed discs in my lower back. It's interfering with muscle control, bladder control, and general self control. Coughing is not the least painful among the excruciating responses to that loss of muscle control. Did you know so many brain messages went through that part of the lower back? Inflammation around a compressed disc interferes with it all.

The good news: My husband has to do the vacuuming for the near future. And I'm much improved after 3 visits.

The surprise: I should seriously consider getting back into my tennis duds as soon as I'm recovered. It's important to keep the synovial lubricant moving fluidly over all your joints. Walking is good, but not really enough.

So I'm wishing you an actively-enjoyed weekend!
.

i think i'll labor in the garden this weekend

2009-09-04T14:42:00.016-04:00

.

Have you been making plans for your extended Labor Day weekend? Will you attend a traditional parade, or maybe gather family and friends for a fine-weather barbecue before the end of summer?

With all the talk in the news right now about our high unemployment rate, I've been thinking about why we celebrate Labor Day in the first place. Did you know this observance started in Canada following labor disputes there, then was transported to New York City by American labor leaders in 1882, and was proposed as a national holiday by President Cleveland following the widespread railroad Pullman Strike (started in Pullman, Illinois) in 1894? During high school, I spent a school holiday laboring intensely over a term paper on labor unions, labor strikes, and Eugene Debs, first a Democrat and then a Socialist who, after being imprisoned for his part in the Pullman Strike, was ultimately nominated 5 times for President.

Our labor laws have come a long way since. It's interesting, too, to see how we've adjusted our social attitudes about labor in this country as our population and the size of our federal government have grown. Regardless of our uncertain economy today, we seem now to take it for granted that everyone should have access to a paying job -- or to federal subsidies like unemployment and welfare paid for by those who do work. Even in the best of times, job guarantees obviously can't be the case. In a week-long series of articles back in the booming mid-1990s, The Washington Post quoted a Pennsylvania trucker, saying "I've never met a poor man yet who could offer me a job." While working for someone else is nothing new or even always desirable, when did it morph into an American right? Happily, this country does seek to allow us to work how and where we please, including for ourselves. Surely that's what our holiday parades should celebrate.

If you have any spare time this long weekend, perhaps you'll enjoy visiting Brin's blog, My Messy, Thrilling Life. Please read it from the beginning, back when she started in 2005. It's a well-written story that will capture your emotions as you follow her labors to build her dream at Freeman House. Be prepared. As she quotes, life is not always tied up with a bow, but it is a gift nonetheless.

Wishing you a leisurely weekend!
.

jenni bowlin at town square

2009-09-02T21:28:00.006-04:00

.

Although I'm in no hurry to see summer go, the cool weather this week has been whetting my taste for autumn. With night temperatures dropping low already, maybe we'll have a beautiful range of foliage colors this fall to make up for all the leaf-raking that inevitably follows. So this seems a good time to welcome the cozy days of autumn with Jenni Bowlin’s new “Town Square” line of papers. A little bit outdoor country fair, a little bit indoor cozy pattern, this double-page layout makes the season’s transition by adding pleats, bows, flowers and vintage-style stickers, plus a little distress inking, if you choose. Come join me in class at the end of September at Scrapbooks Plus.

.

creative escape in the desert

2009-09-01T17:11:00.005-04:00

.

Last week while I was visiting in Phoenix for Creative Escape 2009, its desert temperatures hovered around 113 degrees. Phew, it was hot! While the beautiful deep blue skies closely hugged the flat desert city, the bright sun refused to allow much shadow to angle its way around anything without a roof. So we did our best to simply stay inside with the air conditioning. Today I'm happy to be back home in northern Virginia where the forecast predicts more welcome 70s all this first week of September.

However, in spite of the desert heat, Carol, Debby and I were determined to venture out treasure-hunting before CE started. New to me was Rust and Roses, a corner store in the Melrose district of Phoenix that houses a large assortment of vintage iron pieces out back and lots of shabby chic furniture, chandeliers, jewelry and more vintage stuff inside. If only I'd had a magic suitcase with bottomless compartments!

Then a couple blocks down at Melrose Vintage, I finally found the missing letter for my studio wall motto. Over time, I've been collecting large marquee letters, mostly in red or black enamel, which so far had spelled only "REATE DAILY". That critical first letter was still missing.

But there it was, sitting outside Melrose Vintage, a vintage aluminum C in shabby pink. And it fit in my suitcase. Although it's a bit larger than my other letters, I hope it will add its gentle presence as that important first letter in my creative prompt: CREATE DAILY.

In this left photo, my new pink C is leaning in my front hall against a French chair I still have to re-upholster, and grouped together are some of my other Phoenix purchases: two doll heads from Rust and Roses, and yards of button lace from Melrose Vintage. The "Journey" mini book is from Tim Holtz's class at CE. (As always, you can enlarge any photo for a better look at these shops.)

My shopping partners Carol and Debby (left of me) both taught at CE this year. Diane (right of me) and her daughter Wendy own the magical Melrose Vintage.

anna griffin peyton last of summer

2009-08-21T21:29:00.014-04:00

.

It's been a few months since I've shared my Anna Griffin layout class. Before I head off at the beginning of the week to fly to Phoenix and Creative Escape, here's a quick glimpse of my September class, using the warm reds and ivories, accentuated with black, of the Peyton papers. We'll be making 3-D butterflies, a pleated frame, a paper ruffle, and photo pockets with hidden journaling tags for this "last of summer" 2-page layout. And since I'm always asked, yes, I've hand-written the "Sisters" title banner for this layout.

.

weekend in manhattan

2009-08-14T14:01:00.074-04:00

.
After deciding on the spur-of-the-moment to spend our free weekend in NYC, my husband and I left early last Friday morning, unfortunately driving 6+1/2 hours instead of the expected 4+1/2 hours to get there. Apparently everyone else had the same great idea and had jumped in their cars to drive north, too. Nonetheless, we arrived just in time on Friday afternoon to meet Boruch, who wisely bicycled to meet us at his home in Brooklyn. Boruch "sells things for people." The thing that had caught my eye was a delicately scrolled crystal chandelier that had hung for some time in an old Brooklyn apartment. How long? Boruch and the woman who was selling the chandelier were guessing that it could be 100 years old, but it is electrified, so I doubt it. Still, it will add a lovely glow to my studio once I clean it up and reassemble the parts, and I'll enjoy telling you the whole story when you visit.

From Brooklyn, we drove into Manhattan for dinner. After checking into our hotel on W 39th Street (we agreed it wasn't worth driving home that evening, so we pulled over behind a street barricade on W 37th and used our iPhones to find an affordable room in a nearby hotel -- amazingly easy), we walked to Montenapo, the new Italian restaurant behind the New York Times Building, for an elegant dinner. The spacious dining room was sparsely populated, perhaps still too early for the after-theatre crowd, and we had several waiters at our elbows. Outside the windowed wall next to our table was an atrium garden with beautiful slender birch trees lit up for the night. My very leisurely dinner began with cappesante, jumbo scallops with fresh black truffles.

Then we spent the rest of the evening walking some 30 blocks around Times Square, checking out all the sidewalk caricature sketch artists selling their quick images for $5 each, the live music and live comedy shows, and wondering why one long section of Broadway had been sealed off to traffic so people could sit out in lawn chairs (they all matched, so they must be city property?) on this pleasant night. Of course, I also checked out the store windows, like anthropologie. Their junk-to-art approach to display always intrigues me. In this series of windows below, the backgrounds are made of rough cardboard pieces painted in fallen-leaf colors and stacked in a falling cascade. Occasionally, some unpainted cardboard is stacked to mimic a birch tree trunk. Ingenious. A few letters also peeked through the paint, like the "E" (3rd photo - maybe the initial of the crafter of this display?) and "She" (4th photo - enlarge photos to see).

In the summer, in place of the famous skating rink, Rockefeller Center sports an outdoor Rink Bar in the well next to the Prometheus fountain. Did you know that until it was resurfaced and permanently closed to traffic, Rockefeller Plaza was closed to traffic for just one day a year, allowing Rockefeller Center to continue claiming it as private property? Or that the promenade between the skating rink and 30 Rock was initially supposed to go straight through to 53rd Street, to the doorway of MoMA, co-founded by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller? It was blocked by the owners of the "21" Club, on 52nd St, who refused to budge.

Saturday morning we made a reservation for brunch at Balthazar's, a Keith McNally French brasserie in Soho. It's an extremely popular place. Even our taxi driver, when we gave him the address we wanted (without mentioning Balthazar's), replied, "Oh, so you're going for brunch." And he seemed to know the way by heart, zipping us there so quickly that we were 10 minutes early for our table.

With dark wood paneling, amber-colored ceiling tiles, racks of bread loaves and a large wine collection on display, the atmosphere is very French. And, as you can see, very crowded. We were fortunate to have a table at the leather banquette along the mirror wall and near the large front window. Instead of an entree, I ordered two appetizers, the warm goat cheese and caramelized onion tart, plus the Balthazar salad with haricots verts and asparagus. Both were delicious.

You may think this next photo is peculiar, since it doesn't feature the well-presented food we ordered. But their place setting will remind me to use at home my "new" old red-striped linen towels recently brought back from Auty. Having faced this question often in Paris, I was prepared when the waiter asked, "Do you want still or sparkling?" I opted for still, which came in the plain bottle you see. My husband said he wanted just regular water, please. :)

It was another beautiful day, so we walked some more around Soho, while I catered to my obsession with photographing interesting doorways and window casements. Nearby, the Chanel store displays in classic black and white were worthy of another close-up.

Later, during my much anticipated first visit to Tinsel Trading to see their remarkable collection of vintage and reproduction trims, my camera card was finally filled. I managed only a few photos of the wonderful bolts and spools on wall shelves and display cases. Guess I'll just have to go back again.

Can you believe the length of this post? I think I'll wait to share the Tinsel goodies I brought home. But here's one last photo. This is the "before" view of the chandelier, still in its makeshift carrying box, with many of the crystals loose on the bottom. Lots of work to do on this diamond in the rough.

.

id check

2009-08-13T11:40:00.008-04:00

.

Yesterday evening, while my youngest son is home visiting, we ate dinner with my second-oldest son and his wife at La Côte d'Or, a charming restaurant near their house in Arlington. My daughter-in-law, who speaks fluent French, is planning on an école militaire in Paris next summer, and we all plan to visit her. So she is encouraging us to get in the mood, starting now.

Our youngest, of ex-bartending fame, decided to be in charge of ordering the bottle of wine for our dinner. This precipitated a rash of ID requests. By the time the waitress and the maître-d' had asked not only our 24-year-old to show his, but also my 33-year-old daughter-in-law and then my 38-year-old son, I was feeling pretty young myself. It didn't take long for everyone to be exchanging pleasantries in French -- except my husband. Although he speaks several languages, including German and Finnish, French isn't his thing. As we left, he bade the staff farewell with a hearty "Cheerio!" that kept us laughing till the parking lot.

Hope you are all enjoying a pleasant week shared with family!

friends and other treasures

2009-08-11T18:39:00.060-04:00

.

On Sunday evening, Sue wondered if I could join her for lunch and some shopping Monday morning. She was heading to Lucketts to meet Karen, the Graphics Fairy, who was donating a basket of her Fleurish shop goodies to the Michael Weiss Foundation, a charity that skater-mom Sue supports.

Sue and Karen were waiting just inside the door of the Lucketts main store, where the hottest day this summer was already testing the limited air conditioning in the huge old building. After sorting out our day's plan, Sue surprised me with a charming gift. Inside a little polka-dot bag, in a box filled with shredded book text and tied with some of Sue's vintage lace, was her delicate hand-stitched cuff bracelet in my favorite color. Of course, I happily wore it all day and showed it off whenever possible.

For the rest of the morning, Sue and I shopped the outside and inside vendors while Karen tended her "French room" at Lucketts. Then Karen joined us for the drive to Leesburg for lunch at her new find, a shoe repair shop recently converted into a coffee shop-with-character called Shoes Cup and Cork Club.

Along with its retained signs and other retro industrial design fixtures, this quirky shoe chandelier hangs from the awesome tin ceiling. Black buckets shade the other ceiling lights, and a floor-to-ceiling blackboard sports a crazy quilt of customers' signatures. Emptied burlap coffee bags serve as window valances. We can all vouch for the roast beef sandwich heated in the sandwich press, the unsweetened iced tea, and the berry berry smoothie (none of us is a coffee drinker).

Since Karen usually drives south to her shop at Lucketts and goes no further, we finished off our afternoon with her first visit to The Antique Emporium and The Cottage.

My found treasures for the day included this old green iron lamp base. The color reminds me of the lamp posts on the bridges in Paris, but this will hold a fat white candle. I love the red and pink painted chocolate tin, perfect for my studio colors. A mercury glass goblet is just the right find for dripping strands of pearls, labeled from the Berlin flea market. Sue has the eye for pearls, and helped me add medals, prize ribbons with boullion, and old photos to my stash. Karen found the "Paris" embossed bottle for me, of course.

On the drive home, I stopped at Brossman's, a local farmstand on Rt 15, for their fresh garden produce to make a light supper on such a hot day: open-faced sandwiches of thick tomato slices, goat cheese, fresh tangy parsley from my garden layered on Balthazar's crusty bread from Manhattan, chicken-noodle soup from the freezer, with sliced peaches and crumbled almond cookies for dessert. Yum!

.

rushing to the post office . . .

2009-08-06T19:33:00.011-04:00

.

Before heading off to NYC tomorrow morning, I'm squeezing in a few more RAKs to send to ladies attending Creative Escape at the end of August. Two of the ladies are coming from Norway, so I better hurry these to the post office today. No fair if the little packages get to them late.

Keeping with this year's CE color scheme of black, lime green and pink, I used some of my Anna Griffin stash, like the flocked zebra paper for die-cut butterflies, the black crown brads to close the Bazzill Parakeet folder, and the black felt flower border (tucked inside). The handwriting is done with a Sharpie marker. Along with Prima flowers in lime and pink and other surprise goodies, I used Cari Kraft's idea to make a pink Bazzill "escape" flash card to add to the fun. Fun, too, that the cloth under the glass on my painting table coordinated with the overall scheme. Sometimes it's the little things that keep you going.

In just a few weeks, I'll be checking in with good friends in Phoenix, searching for some good shopping, and, oh yeah, taking some great classes.
.

old photos

2009-08-04T13:02:00.011-04:00

.
During the past couple months, I've been happily using my passport again. Even after all these years of traveling, it's still fun collecting the stamps to fill the pages with reminders of where I've been. As I carefully replaced my passport in its special drawer today, awaiting its next opportunity, I looked through some of my expired passports in their little pile. In one passport, I'm pictured with a tired and none-too-happy infant in my arms. Below is my passport photo from my early 30's, when I was on my way to live in the Middle East -- with three little kids.

The other photo is my younger brother's high school graduation photo. He became a nuclear engineer. We joke that I became a nuclear-family engineer. See the family resemblance?
.

french pinks

2009-08-03T21:43:00.022-04:00

.

This summer I've been taking both long and short trips and enjoying the beautiful scenery in quite a few places. But my next big trip, scheduled to start last Friday, then this Friday, has now been postponed again for a month. Good thing we had refundable plane tickets, because the flight to Bangkok is long and expensive. I have my fingers crossed that this third scheduling will stick, and that I'll have lots of photos to share with you from there.

Meanwhile, since I do have a huge stash of photos from the south of France, here are a few more cheery ones for today. I guess I will have to unpack my suitcase for now and see what there is to see around home.

.

french lavender

2009-07-29T01:49:00.001-04:00

. . . just outside the door, a bed of lavender and a canopy of grapes . . .

walking to Montpezat

2009-07-23T14:21:00.067-04:00

.

Our 6 km walk on Thursday to the medieval village of Montpezat-de-Quercy took us past fields of giant upright sunflowers turning their faces to follow the sun and French farmhouses drowsing in the middle of rolling sunny fields, cooling behind their blue window shutters. We enjoyed another blue-sky day in a week of wonderful weather. The narrow country road wound about, with quite a bit of uphill, not so much downhill to compensate, and not much room for both us and the occasional passing car. Where trees lined the road, there were signs posted usually saying "reserved for deer hunting" (a highly-regarded rich-in-tradition French sport), and once I noticed a sign indicating an area reserved for truffle hunting.

Montpezat is a protected historic city, due primarily to its remaining 14th-century college and chapel, where the apse is filled with a long 16th-century tapestry relating the 13 temptations and miracles in the life of St Martin. The tapestry hangs unprotected except by the dark, so after depositing our 2 euros to turn on the dim lights, we were rewarded with a close-up view of the intricately woven designs and remarkably well-preserved colors. Our guide related the various temptations, pointing out the devil in many panels, along with the "scribe" who inserted himself often, too, identifiable in his black hat.

. . . taking photos of the chapel on the ramp down from the priest's home . . .

After a refreshing picnic in a small park next to the priest's house (the old priest is retiring and will be the last), we continued our weaving lesson with a visit to the village studio of a retired but still active weaver, Janine Dassonval. She is one of the last remaining practitioners of le basse lice or low-warp horizontal weaving in France. During her career, she told us, she collaborated with French artists like Jean Cocteau, Jean Lurçat, Commère et Volti to transform their paintings into tapestries. Three years older than I, sitting upright at her large floor loom which she warps and wefts herself, Mme Dassonval explained why it can take her over 2000 hours to hand weave and cross over the wool threads to blend a beautiful wall hanging, plus another 200 hours to tie off the loose threads on the back. Her current project is an Aubusson-style tapestry full of soft blues, greens, and earth tones, proceeding from a color enlargement and her drawn cartoon slipped under the threads for placement.

.