Wednesday, January 27, 2010

puppy love



Oh, how I do love puppies! And when one of my handmade recycled creations - like my DogChow Tote Bag - was recently featured in a blog post along with an adorable pup... well, I just had to share the cuteness! Check out Murphy and his debut on Happy Day Vintage. And for some really awesome vintage finds, visit Happy Day Vintage's Etsy shop for cool stuff like this:

Friday, January 15, 2010

diamond in the rough

I'll admit it - I actually look forward to my weekly trips to the local... dump. I know there are far more politically correct words to use to describe this bustling hub of waste shuffling activity, but come on - the place is a dump. Anyway...
I was cruising the metal pile a few months ago looking for anything that might lend itself to being useful - I've found file cabinets (heavy enough to anchor the Queen Mary), desks, chairs, buckets of nails... and also stuff that was just to cool not to bring home with me but would serve no practical purpose - rusty tricycles without pedals, wood stove parts and pieces, duct work...
Well, as I was in kind of a hurry to get the heck out of there (someone had just off-loaded a heap of not-so-fresh crab shells into the adjacent dumpster) I decided a drive-by with the windows rolled up would have to suffice. But then I saw it... in all it's eye-popping aqua-ness... right there on the edge of that tangled mass of corroded conduit and battered bed frames as if it had been placed there oh so gently for me to find...
Admittedly, my first thought was "that will make an amazing door-stop" - I mean the thing is 50lbs of solid metal and the thought that it might actually run hadn't dawned on me. Yet.
So home we went, but not before a brief detour to the Sew & Save Shop in downtown Ellsworth, Maine and my friendly sewing machine repairman who gave Old White a thorough inspection, hooked us up with a reconditioned foot pedal and announced "That's a fine machine you got there!". You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I just pulled it out of the metal pile about 15 minutes ago.
Long story short, it sews better than any machine I have ever used. It feeds beautifully, makes perfect stitches in the toughest of material, has a separate bobbin winder - not to mention it's downright gorgeous!
Funny thing is, I had been thinking seriously about purchasing a new machine for months. My WalMart-special Singer (it was a gift!) had been balking at the paces I was putting it through - it was never meant to sew the kind of stuff I sew - and I was surprised it had held up this long. But lack of funds and that little voice that was saying "wait..." prevented me from making that purchase. I'm ever so glad. I don't think I could have  found a machine more perfect for me!


Friday, January 8, 2010

happier new year!

While I have no major complaints about how MY little world is at the dawn of this new decade... I'm healthy, have a (relatively) sane and loving family, am mortgage free (by my own design), and enjoy vast amounts of time to explore my creative tendencies in a beautiful and safe environment...Oh, I could go on and on with this list of blessings!
But ever present in my mind is the fact that for many, many living things all over this world, it really could not get much worse. Which is why I wish and pray that in some small (or HUGE) way, 2010 will be a happier year for all. Peace.