I Must Have My Share in the Conversation....

So I didn't exactly feel like Lady Cathrine D'Bourgh sitting back at the dentist after two huge shots and two hours of dental work, but that sentence did cross my mind a couple times. It can be difficult for a somewhat chatty person like me to sit there in silence while the Dr. and assistant go back and forth on politics, history, recent local events, and even places to which I have traveled . I made a mental note to refer this book, mention this event, etc, as soon as I regained the capacity to speak. But you know how it is. By the time you are upright and rinsed out everyone has moved on to another room and another conversation.
Even worse are the questions they ask you that you can't begin to answer with the suction tube there and a sharp plasic thing inexplicably shoved over here.....
You know what I mean?

Austen Inspired Dollhouse Project

Today I have a picture of the most recent work on my dollhouse. The Yellow Room is roughly modeled after Jane Austen's room at Chawton Cottage, seen here.
It's wallpaper only, no floor yet and I just set in the window so you could get the idea. The wallpaper is lovely scrapbook paper from K and Company. It looks so old, patched, marked, and worn that I fell in love with it and new it would be perfect for the house. I wanted something that looked like it could have been in the house over 30 years ago when I got it. Look how worn the edges look!


My next step is to work on the windows and order flooring. I will get that from Dollhouse Collectibles, where I got the cute sofa bench you see here. If you love miniatures you can spend hours on that site. While most furniture is very inexpensive, there are bedroom sets that cost hundreds of dollars- more than I've spent on my actual bedroom!

In other news, my DD 12 and I are in a production of The Music Man. I am one of the 'Pick-a-Little Talk-a-Little' ladies. Things are starting to feel a little busy around here, and occasionally I wonder WHY I stepped out of my comfort zone.... But I know why...I blame it all on Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way book that I told you about.

So, while most of my time is spent in cooking, laundry, working out, and housekeeping, I do get to play now and then. And it's good for my soul!

La Apronista

I realized I still hadn't put up any pictures of the cute etsy style apron I made this fall, then one of my sisters had the idea of all of us girls making cute aprons to premier on Thanksgiving. These can be seen on her cute little Thanksgiving apron video. The night before Thanksgiving one of my sisters and I had the idea of running the Thanksgiving morning 4 mile race in our new aprons. Our other sisters weren't on board for one reason or another (competitive about their running maybe?) But here you see a sister-in-law, three of my sisters, and me, two of us ready for the race in our apron finery. (I'm the one flashing the gang signs). And, to be fair, all of my sisters were faster than me- but I did have the ruffliest apron, so there!














After Thanksgiving I set about designing aprons for my daughters and my Mother-in-law. I like to make handmade gifts. Mixing and matching the fabrics was really fun. The challenge was that school kept getting cancelled, so finally I had to have the man of the house take the kids away so I could get some sewing done. That day, plus a very late night, up until 2 am. sewing, and Viola! My Christmas masterpieces. It's fun to know they could be using these aprons years on down the road!

















I think I've got the sewing out of my system for a while!

Romantic Home

The Februrary issue of Romantic Homes has got me dreaming! This is one of those magazines that I need to subscribe to, I usually love it cover to cover. This month the actual front cover didn't appeal to me, but inside was treat after dreamy treat. There was a special annual section on people who live a creative, romantic life. Eighteen people were featured, mostly women, each with photos of their homes, workspace or vignettes from their stores.

Something in there inspired me to make a romantic little display for my new shelf. I wanted roses, and opted for silk so they would last. Then I really scored at the thrift store where I found a silver plated coffee pot and serving tray, each for five dollars.

Here are the results of my creative play today. Above you can see the lovely serving dishes I got at TaiPan Trading Co. (see my previous post) set up with the silver tray I found today. On the left is the shelf in my entryway, the favorite of my TaiPan finds, and the romance inspired roses in the silver pot. Now all this shelf needs is some artwork behind it to complete the picture.

My New Favorite Store

While I was down in Utah for Thanksgiving my sisters introduced my to my new favorite store, Tai Pan Trading. There's not much on the website but here it is anyway...
http://www.taipantrading.com/
Forget the smiling Marie Osmond on the site with her arms full of delicate Christmas gifts...picture me in a state of shopping...euphoria/panic, clutching a shelf thats too big for the cart but I'm not setting it down for anything!
I had a great day shopping with Mom and a few of my sisters, and though I didn't stay within budget, I wasn't too bad for a first timer.
Picture me entering a huge store full of cute must-have housewares, being offered a free piece of fudge, that can hardly compete with the smell of the cinnamon rolls....
I did score some cute Christmas decorations, but the fun part is that the other things havent even been unpacked yet. I was waiting for Christmas to be over before I worked them into the decor. So I still have some of the exitement ahead of me!

Moving Day

This is my first post on blogspot. Those of you who know how technically inept I am can understand that right now I'm just hoping the whole thing doesn't get messed up beyond help. Here is a link to my previous posts over at livejournal:
http://fittoseejane.livejournal.com/
A lot of my family and friends use blogspot and I'm hoping they can help me out when I run into problems. I have big goals for my blog this year!
If you followed my link over from livejournal then thank you, thank you, I hope it will be worth your while.
If I'm new to you then follow the link to see older posts containing: Costume and pictures from the Jane Austen Society 2007 AGM, pictures of crafts and home decorating, a flouncy home-made apron, my comments on Jane Austen and her novels, and movies inspired by her novels, along with my attempts to bring art and creativity into my home while still completing all my domestic duties. Enjoy!

Welcome to 2009

My first post of 2009.... I am excited for this new year. I have a continuing list of projects, and a few new things I hope to work on this year.
I am on week 8 of my The Artist's Way book, and the program by Julia Cameron designed to help creative people work through blocks or become more creative. My goal in following the program is to try and bring some of my ideas into fruition.....and maybe even completion, a big step for me. But the writing exercises and artist's dates have been a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend the book to anyone wanting to make way for their inner artist! Right now I'm headed over to the HGTV website to look at the Dream Home. For a few years this has been a New Year's pleasure of mine, but the houses have become more and more 'rustic' (boo) and so expensive that even people who win them can't afford to keep them. So I kind of forgot about it, then last night I saw the tail end of the show with the 2009 home in Sonoma, CA. It's a cute farmhouse, just adorable. While I'm not in love with the decorating, I am excited to go view the full house on the website. I wish they would put out a little magazine! The HGTV show usually has too many fast pans across the room and weird camera angles, more suitable for a rock video than for house lovers who actually want to soak it all in. The indoor colors all pretty bright and bold. I'm a color person, I have lots of color on my walls, but the particular colors they chose look a little cheap and don't appeal to me. But I'll take a second look. What would you do if you won the Dream Home? The last one I really even wanted to win was the house in Tyler Texas. But they are too expensive to keep from a tax perspective. I always figured if I won I would take the family to stay down there as long as we could, make a long vacation out of it, then take my favorite furniture pieces and sell the rest. Just think of all the pretty dressers and night stands and mirrors oh my......