Waiting for Spring

I am longing for springtime and the time when I can get in the garden and start digging. Meanwhile, it is still cold and wintry here. The chilly temperatures aren't keeping me from doing some spring painting however and I want to share a few pieces with you.

The first is a door crown that is a Terrye French Design. My dear friend, Diane, who lives in England is the new owner and I know it will look lovely in her home. We exchange notes about the comings and goings in our lives. Her writings of trips to Sweden and working in her cottage garden just sweep me away!


I have another friend, Linda, who is suffering through the long winter as I am. Living to the north, she is receiving more than her share of snow and frosty temperatures. We both talk of how spring is surely around the corner and how we are waiting impatiently for its arrival. She recently purchased this "springy" prim bread board. Don't you just love the black bunny and the little robin's nest with its blue eggs?

Wendy, who lives in Japan, is getting her share of snow too. I hope this prim sheep skillet will give her a glimpse of springtime. We have become fast friends through our convos on Etsy. What a dear she is!

Snow is in the forecast for today so my beloved pup, Suki, and I will stay inside my warm little studio. I tell her to be patient but she wants a warmer, sunnier day. Hugs go out to all of you from the both of us!!!

Harvest Moon Clock Box

This is a clock in name only.... I removed its non-working parts and replaced them with a new face painted as a Harvest Moon. I saved the hands from the old clock and attached them to Mr. Moon (aren't they pretty?). I love to rescue items and give them a new life. I always think about that old holiday cartoon about the island of misfit toys where they are all broken and unloved. Well, this clock box is feeling feisty with his twinkling eyes and rosy cheeks. The wood finial that I attached to the top is painted to resemble a pumpkin. This was a fun piece to construct and paint!

Hurry Up Autumn!!!

I am surrounded by pumpkins, vines and dried berries in my little studio. I love painting anything to do with my favorite season. Today I found an old vintage cheese box at an antique store and couldn't wait to get started on it. I love the three crows sitting primly on the fence. Don't you wonder what they are thinking? This was great fun to paint (my design).


And speaking of crows, this old lunchbox was just the ticket for the perfect piece to paint one of Terrye French's designs on. I love the way the colors "pop" on the black background. Wouldn't the person who carried his lunch in this think it is so funny that it is now a piece of folk art?

I think aromatherapy is a great concept. My precious Megan brought this to me as a little surprise last weekend. It is a plug-in from Bath and Body Works and is just the best thing for getting you in the mood to bake pumpkin pies and think of Fall being just around the corner! It is not overpowering at all.... just perfect!

The Frost is on the Pumpkin.....

It is beginning to look like Fall has arrived, or at least in my studio anyway!!! I love this season for its glorious colors --- all the crimsons, golds and bronzes just make everything glow. Here are some of my latest pieces:

The first is a kerosene can. I love the curly stemmed pumpkins and the little saltbox village. I would live in the red house, if I could, and give the sheep names like "Maggie" and "Estelle".Here is an old sewing machine drawer that I painted up with the most prim jack-o-pumpkins ever! I love their toothy smiles!!! The drawer is filled with frosted pumpkins, gourds, berries, leaves and cinnamon sticks.

Finally, this is an old vintage leather suit case I found while I was on vacation. Don't you just love those black crows that are flanking the banner? I used real antique shell buttons on the pennies down each side.

I have more ideas rolling around in my head and more items already primed and ready to paint. I wonder what it will be today? Hmmmmm, another sewing machine drawer or a coffee pot? I never know until one of them speaks to me and says, "Me, me!!!! Make something out of me!!!"

Primitive Angel Psaltery

As you have probably already read in my blog, I love to poke around in all my favorite antique stores and thrift shops for treasures to paint on --- the more unusual, the better. When I found this psaltery, I knew I had a jewel!

A psaltery is an instrument in the harp family. It is mentioned several times in the Bible and can be pictured in old manuscripts and woven tapestries. This particular style is called a "plucked psaltery" and has 2 octaves.

I antiqued and distressed it before painting a prim angel on back. Her wings are cut from an old hymnal page and antiqued. A rusty bell and rusty star are hanging from homespun tied to the top. Also attached is a laser cut wood key. This was a really fun project to paint... now I have to get busy and see what else I can find!

Little Building Block Houses

I found a bag of the most precious old building blocks at "the yellow house" antique shop last week and I am just now getting to play with them. Isn't it fun to take something and turn it this way and that until that little light bulb in your head goes off and you have idea??!!!??? That is exactly what happened with these little houses. Actually, my work space was a huge mess with buttons and snippets of papers scattered here and there. Out of that mess came my idea for the blocks and since my band saw is only a paintbrush throw away from where I work, I was sawing then sanding to add even more "age" to the blocks. Here is what I came up with. A little prim village of cottages covered with ephemera, antique buttons and stamps. I think I am going to make a set for each season.... Christmas, Halloween, Easter, 4th of July!!!!! FUN! FUN! FUN! The workspace will stay in disarray for a while longer ---- I am having a swell time!

What an inspiration!!!

Do you ever fall in love at first sight? Oh, I don't mean the "romantic" kind of love, although I do believe in that phenomenon having been a victim 30 years ago myself! I am referring to the kind that you feel when you see a little vase, a piece of silver plate or, for me, a precious antiQue doll trunk. I found this gem at an estate sale not long ago. The outside showed that it had been well loved by its previous owner but the inside is in almost perfect condition with the original paper and hanging rod still intact. I used one of my Terrye French patterns for inspiration and painted this "twilight" angel on front. I cut her wings from my collection of vintage sheet music and applied another piece on the back. All that was needed for finishing touches were the ribbons and lace tied to the handle along with a cast iron key.

Old Sifters --- New Life!

I am drawn to old kitchen utensils. I love to find old flatware and serving spoons that have been well loved and well used over the years. Old teapots and coffee pots are my delight!!! I go back to my childhood when there were no coffee makers and my mother would perk coffee every morning on the stove top. Who needed an alarm clock when the smell of fresh brewed coffee did the trick? I can see my grandmother even now as she baked in her kitchen. My job was always to sift the flour and, even though I got more on me and the surrounding work area than in the bowl, she never lost patience.

Sifters of all sizes are perfect pieces to breathe new life into for me. I love their knobby cranks and handles and the indentations for the measurements. It is so much fun trying to decide what do do with each one that comes my way. Here is a tiny little sifter, only one cup, that I found at my favorite thrift store. It was just the perfect size to hold pencils and maybe a pair of scissors. I think a bunny and rosemary make a great design for this little guy.




Sometimes it's not what you paint on the sifter that is important, but rather what you put in it. Using an old sifter as a container for a little kitchen Christmas candle light composition was just the ticket for this piece. Cinnamon dough ornies, little apples with evergreen and "candies" formed the perfect compliment to the cinnamon coated light. Even the silicone bulb had that fabulous spice in its coating.


My latest repurposing started with an old Bromwell sifter that had seen a lot of use. I decided to try out one of my new designs and use it also for a candle light. This time a wooly sheep surrounded by a verse from Psalm 100 seemed the perfect thing to paint. I have pieces of an old antique quilt that is so worn the cotton batting is coming out. I used a piece to cover the top (and the bottom) of the sifter. The candle light is stained to make it blend in with the old pieces. And the hang tag???? What better than "This Little Light of Mine"? I have always told my friends I have never been bored a day in my life. How can I be when there are so many sifters to paint?