Filling the Days

I thought I'd show you a few of the things that have filled my last few days. We finally made this itty bitty spot out back a little more comfy...

Made treats for thank-you bags...

Experimented with blueberries...

Visited with Freckles (he lives nearby)...

Worked on a few lacy projects...

And came across the most delightful cottage in the woods!

You've GOT to go see it.

Where Blogger's Create

It's all about the good junk!

Some of you might remember my studio in the trees...

We call it the Servant's Quarters because 100 years ago it was an actual third floor servant's quarters. I'm incredibly humbled to have this space where so many other women have worked and I'm delighted that I get to share it with you.

I'll start from the entry...

Entry from the second floor

Going up the stairs

Work area (please ignore the dust on the rusty bin - it's fresh from a barn sale). Lots of people commented last year about our rough old barn board floors. They have been splattered with paint and who knows what in the last 100 years. The general consensus was to keep the floors as-is so that's just what we did!
Ribbons! And also my makeshift desk. It's the perfect size for a laptop.

I added some Button Drawers.

(The brick chimney is a great backdrop for rustic pictures.)

And a few trays for organizing the lace and millinery items for making cuffs.

My sewing area - It's a little messy so just a peek =)

Mom found a fireplace surround curbside so this year we have an actual fireplace instead of just a hole in the bricks. We still haven't had a real fire but we fill it with candles!

Because we use the other side of the attic as our homeschool classroom, this part of the room is my favorite. In the cold Winter months, it's such a joy to sit here and read to the kids.

Even though the room has it's own walk-in closet, this old steamer trunk is great for storage. Like most attic spaces, the closet is not insulated well so it's cold in the Winter and Hot in the Summer and nobody likes to go in there (except one or two wasps that always seem to creep in every year). The steamer truck is the "on the way to the closet" storage area.

And finally, the multi-purpose chalkboard from Hobby Lobby. It gets used for everything from reminders and school work to menus at barn sales.

Thank you so much, Karen, for hosting this amazing event!

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White Wednesday

Do you remember when we used to refer to our non-virtual life as our "real" life and our non-blog friends as our "real" friends?

The key to not becoming a blogging vegetable is to maintain a non-virtual schedule. I guess. *smiles* I'm the first to admit that I can easily lose my day to blogland. I do think there's good reasons maintain a non-virtual schedule. If you have a family, it's so much more important to cultivate the garden that is your children than it is to blog about your roses... to share passion with your spouse rather than blogging about your passion for the Victorian Era... to create a home, not just inspiring home decor. However, never have I felt that these blog friends are not "real" friends. We do share something special, don't we? It's a different life than what I experience when I walk outside my back door but it's every bit as real. It's been 3 years this week since I began blogging and I have been blessed by you! Thank you for being real!!

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Second Hand

Last week I got an email from my friend Ann at Nellie's Barn letting us know about some shows coming up this weekend that she thought we might like to attend. I had previous plans to visit shops of some friends but my mom took Ann's advice and went North to hit the annual Northwinds Perennial show. That's the booth of Chippy-Shabby above.

One of the shops that I visited was Second Hand Rose. She doesn't have a website any longer but you can view some of the pictures of her shop on my flickr page. Mr. Blessing and I have been working long days lately but I am planning some time for reloading my shop, playing with my camera (and my sweet babas!) and cleaning my house. While that may not sound like "down time", I'm looking forward to it.

The first weeks of Summer are such a blessing!

Vintage Balm

May God be your healing balm today.

Vintage Black Friday

This piece of vintage black gorgeousness is from Vintage Living. Mr. Blessing and I visited Rebecca's shop a couple weeks ago. I wanted to LIVE there!

This old hat (also Rebecca's) caught my eye because of the millinery flowers (you know my affinity for vintage millinery!) but under it all is a tattered silk hat. Ever since the Mad Hatter hat project, I've been noticing old hats everywhere.

Isn't this vintage pin cushion precious? I think I got it from ebay a few years back.

It even has a rusty old pin stuck in the netting.

And this is my newest vintage black. My mom picked it up for me over the weekend at a garage sale. And she filled it with pieces of an old wedding dress!!

Hope you have a vintage-y weekend.

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The New PORCH Magazine is here!

A year! It's been a year since Tracie and I began gathering photos for the issue that we have lovingly referred to as the issue "on porches". We're all professional and technical like that, ya know. We're so excited to share it with you - And I know the gals that contributed pictures are excited too (or maybe just relieved that their photos were not lost in a black hole for the last year).

If you'd like to check out the new issue - Click Here to visit the PORCH site.

And just a quick reminder that this Friday is Vintage Black Friday over at the French Cupboard blog! It's one of my favorite days of the whole month.