Grandma's Vintage Sewing Machine

Hope everyone has been having a great weekend!  We've been receiving yet more snow here at the Chateau, 3 or 4" yesterday, and more today!  I say "Enough already"!  While I must admit that it's pretty, I am longing for warmer temps and green grass!

Today I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite things, my Grandma's antique treadle sewing machine.  When she passed away many years ago, I was fortunate enough to inherit it.

I keep it in our sunroom, where I can enjoy it every day.

I've accessorized it with two metal pitchers that are also some of my favorite things.  I found the tallest one on the left a year or two ago at Home Goods, and I got the beautiful rose one last fall on a trip to Mackinac Island.

I've also added a bundle of vintage books (which I have added to my Etsy shop, but thought I would enjoy them for a bit here!).

 Look at the beautiful details of the drawers!  I love the nobs, too!

 My Grandma never used an electric sewing machine a day in her life!  I can remember going over to her house, and she's be working the treadle with her feet.  She sewed many, many quilts in her lifetime on this sewing machine.  She used it right into her 80's!  Grandma must have surely had some strong calf and thigh muscles!

 I even have the warranty of Grandma's machine! She purchased it as a young woman way back in July of 1913, before she married my Grandpa.  The warranty said that it was good for 25 years!  Can you believe it?!  Now days, we are lucky to get a one year warranty!

 I hadn't opened the machine up for many years, in fact, I had forgotten just what it looked like! 

 A bit rusty, a bit dusty, but still very pretty, I think!

 Grandma even kept the original manual.  Below you will see the parts that were available for re order, most of which were just pennies a piece!

 I just love these old graphics!

Thanks for letting me share a few of my memories and favorite things with you today.  Hope you have a great week!

Glittered Valentine's Day Cards

Happy Friday, everyone!

For those of you living in a cold climate like me, and who were on the receiving end of the "Blizzard of '11" (also like me!), I hope that you have fared well this week!  After my stressful day yesterday fighting with the snow blower, and our furnace going out an needing repair, I thought what better way to relieve that stress than to break out the glitter!

 So I thought I would share with you today the Valentine's Day cards that I created and will be sending out to friends.   With all due respect to Hallmark, I think that there's nothing better than making (and receiving!) a hand crafted card!!

 I made these from both pre-made blank cards, as well as heavy cardstock that had a pretty raised damask pattern.

 Paper doilies,  a generous dusting of glitter (of course!), rhinestones, and wonderfully crinkly seam binding add to the romance!!  I also used bits of vintage sheet music on some of the cards.  I just love the sheet music, and I guess you could say it has become one of my trademarks!

 I printed out the "be my valentine" on the computer, then cut out and applied with dimensional adhesive squares. All of the pretty images that I used came from a book.  I know, you may be upset that I cut a book apart, but I have a small stash of books that I keep specifically for crafting projects!!  Don't worry, I would never cut apart any books of value!!

 You can click on any of the photos to get a closer look!

 For this card, I resisted the urge to add the pink seam binding, as it is going to my sweetheart hubby (shhhh, don't tell!).  Can you guess what I used to create it?  The negative that was left behind from a sheet of heart stickers!  Yes, I kept it, as I knew that it had future crafting potential!!  All I did was stick it to a page from a vintage French book.  I then glittered some of the hearts, then mounted it to my red card.  I also cut out two hearts from the red cardstock, and two smaller hearts from the vintage French book. I added some more glitter, then applied them with the dimensional foam squares, and viola, a fun and easy card!

So now I feel much better after working with all of that glitter!  And my latest copy of Romantic Homes magazine just arrived in the mail this morning, so it is going to be a much better day!

Have a great weekend, and stay warm and cozy!!

How To Beat The Winter Blues

Yes, it's true!  I officially have the winter blues!  After being slammed by a major snowstorm this week and finally getting unburied , our furnace decided to quit today, of all things! So a furnace repair guy is coming in 1/2 an hour or so, I sure hope he can fix it!  Luckily we have a fireplace and a space heater!!

Well, nothing makes me happier than the color blue!  All shades of blue!  From Light blue, aqua, turquoise, and everything in between!  I know, you may think that I paint everything in site heirloom white!  While it's true that I am in love with creams and whites, there is just something so calming and soothing about blues!  So I thought I would share with you some of the projects that I have been transforming with paint!  All of these lovelies have been added to my Etsy shop, which you can visit here if you would like!

 Remember the vintage floral still lifes that I showed you the other day?  They originally were in dark wood frames. Well, I just knew that they could be brought back to life with this lovely light blue!

 I am loving all of the carved details of the frames, which really shows up after a bit of distressing!

 I can't believe how much prettier these prints look now!  I'll show you the "befores" in a second!

And this is what they looked like before!  The dark frames really did nothing for the prints.  I think the blue really makes them "pop" now!!
Ok, here is another before and after.  Remember the giant vintage wooden spoon and fork that I showed you the other day?

 I bet you thought I was going to paint them cream!  Oh, no!  I knew that they were just begging for some turquoise!!!

 I think they are so fun now!

They are really big, 29" long!  Don't you think they would look neat in a kitchen or eating area?

 Ok, I forgot to take a before shot of this tall candleholder.  It was originally gray.  I love the way it looks now, with the same light blue I used on the picture frames!

 If you visit me on a regular basis, you know that I am always on the hunt for vintage Syroco pieces that I can transform.  Well, I was thrilled when I discovered these gorgeous wall pockets awhile back!  Of course they didn't look like this when I found them!

 I really love they way the turquoise gives them more of a current look, and the distressing and glazing brings out all of the details.

 This is what they used to look like!  Big difference, huh?

 I found this really tall pair of wooden candlesticks while out thrifting a few weeks ago.  They may not look bad in these photos, but trust me, they needed some serious help!  Not only were they really dusty (I don't think they had ever been cleaned!), but the finish was terrible!

  After lots of sanding and cleaning, and more of that great turquoise paint and some glaze, they now look like this:

Much better, don't you think! 

Speaking of much better, the furnace repair guy stopped in while I was typing this, and fixed our furnace, yeah!  I am so relieved, to say the least!  With temps in the low teens outside, this is no time to lose your heat!I was a nervous wreak when I discovered the furnace wasn't working, and was on the phone with hubby trying to do some trouble shooting, but that wasn't working!  So now I can breath a big sigh of relief, and I am starting to thaw out a bit! 

Hope your day is going better than mine has!!
I have linked up with the following terrific parties:
My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday
The Speckled Dog Favorite Things Friday 
Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday

The View From My Back Yard

Palm trees swaying softly in the breeze, the sound of gentle ocean waves, me hanging out in a hammock almost ready for a refill of my pina colada.....................

Ok, where was I?  Well, that day dream was nice while it lasted.  The above shot is of St. Croix, where we were  2 years ago about this time.  And that is where we should be now!

Instead, this is our view:

 Yikes!  A couple of hours ago, I bundled up and ventured out to take this shots.  This is what crazy bloggers like me do for the sake of a good photograph!  I'm not sure how much snow we've gotten so far, suffice to say:  alot!  Thankfully the wind from last night finally died down a bit , and we didn't receive the freezing rain that many did.  But, they have been calling this storm "historic", and it is still coming down!

 There are steps under here somewhere!  The drifts were nearly to my knees in some spots!

 And yes, I had to take a picture of my foot in the snow.  My neighbors must think I have lost it by now!

 A shot of our backyard.  I could barely get the backdoor open this morning so that our doggy could go out and do her business.  I have since shoveled a pathway for her.  I think our shovel and snowblower are going to get a good workout over the next day or so!!

And this is a view inside, looking out.  Lots and lots of snow!  Did I say that I am so ready for spring?!

Isn't this blue bird sweet? I took these next photos while safe and snug indoors.  We have a heated birdbath, that the birds just love!  When I awoke this morning to discover all of the huge icicles hanging from it, I thought maybe the heater stopped working.  Well, it's still working, thankfully!  I guess all of that wild wind we had last night blew some of the water out, to produce all of those icicles! 

 This is one of the most popular spots in our yard!  We love watching all of the birds here and at our many feeders, and get especially excited when we spot "our" bluebirds!

 I bet they are wishing that they had flown south for the winter!

 I know that I do!

 Isn't he gorgeous?

 We have several peanut feeders, this one is right up by our window, so it's so fun to watch them at work!

And a cardinal is posing in our Christmas tree, that we have propped up in the backyard.

I am so glad that I don't have to be anywhere today.  The snowplow hasn't even made it thru, and I have a feeling they won't for awhile!  So, we are staying nice and snug indoors.  I hope that you are, too, whatever the weather is like where you are!

And, after all of these snowy views, I leave you with this parting shot: