plastic bunny girl

This little bunny girl got my attention recently as I was hunting for more old pocket watch

 faces.  I think she will travel with me to Briancon and be waiting on Julie Arkell's pillow one night as a surprise!  There's just nothing like a good surprise every now and then to keep life interesting!  Hope all of the Violets are doing well and surviving winter around the globe.

                                                               LOVE-  Julie/Oolie

thank you

When I won the readers survey and ended up in Briancon I would never have believed how many good things were going to come my way. Without sounding too gushy, I am amazed at what a talented and wonderful group you all are and so happy to still be friends with you all.
Just look at what I am now the proud owner of.....Thank you so much Becky, I am thrilled to have this charming girl gracing my garden wall, the colours inspire me....

more **SNOW**

Mom is here and we went to the Teahouse for lunch.

Here she is in front with all the *SNOW* falling.....

And at home, the rosemary bush in the front is loaded down with the "white stuff"......

.... and the icicles are all over the place! Check the thermometer below for the temperature...

It isn't that cold, but plenty of "melt-freeze" going on.....
Hope you are warm and cozy where you are......  xo

Beautiful Vintage Dresses

Start packing your bags to Briançon!

For more beautiful dresses visit the Etsy store

Timeless Vixen Vintage

Enjoy!

Becky

Lisbeth Zwerger

On Sunday, Danielle and I spent some time sharing our collections of books and talking about one of our favorite illustrators - Lisbeth Zwerger. She is Swiss and has the most wonderful style - in watercolor. She has long-inspired me and I look through her books when I need a gentle nudge on a project.

This picture is from her version of "The Nutcracker" and I have loved it for a very long time.

Her colors are so gentle and her imagination sooo appealing. I would like to live in the world she paints...

Maybe this will inspire a week of creative juices........

I MISSED IT!

I feel like such a loser!

I awoke at 5 am and should've gotten up to finish the Spoonflower challenge for the week.

Instead, I did my morning stuff and then came up. 

I found a bit of a glitch that needed to be fixed, so I fixed it. 

When it was finally ready to go, I pushed the button ...and.... it was 10:02!

I missed it by just two tiny minutes!

......bummer.....

Anyway, here is the design that I was to submit...

whatdya think?

Julie Arkell inspired watch

Good A.M. Violets-

Like Jone, I had the urge to sew something.  I recently found a few old pocketwatch faces that inspired me to create a Julie Arkell type fabric watch.  I set it to 5:00, which is when my 89 year old Mother asks for a glass of wine each night...like clockwork!!!!!  Have a creative week!

LOVE-  Julie/Oolie

LOOK!

I made a bunting today!

CELEBRATE!

Used some of the fabrics I designed a few years ago.

I love the colors and patterns so much.

This is the perfect use for them.

I gave it to my friend, Cheryl, for her birthday today.

I think I need to make one for myself, too.

I am so happy with how it turned out and can't wait to sit down at the machine again to stitch up the other ones that I have all cut-out and ready to go.

de-flowered hat!

Jone- Here is the vintage hat that I have been systematically "de-flowering" as the papier mache boxes slowly come to life and get posted!  There's a great joy in ripping apart a goofy hat to come up with a garden's worth of petite velvet flowers!!!!!  LOVE-  Oolie

stuff for friends

This is a box that I covered today as a gift for a friend....

(too bad about the photography)

I hope the recipient likes it, though...and its' contents.

These packages are ready to go to the post tomorrow.

I enlarged the "BIRD" design that I did for the Spoonflower challenge a few weeks ago

and cut out the individual birds and put them on the packages..

FUN!

BiRdS

Here are the fruits of my day in the studio today.

Unfortunately, I am not a photographer!

You must use your imagination....

These are really nice, I think, but you can't tell by this photo..darn

Okay, here they are a little bit "closer"

There is something a bit "Scandinavian" about them

(what do you think, Becky?)

I like the reverse out - so cool!

I love that you can just push a button and "ta da"

the colors just transform!

LOVE IT!

Little Red Riding Hood card

German wooden figure

Bon jour violets!  What a fun way to start the day!!!

I found this little treasure in an antique mall in Tucson and just now noticed that along with "made in Germany", the owner had penned in the date:

Oct. 11, 1955.........the day before my 4th birthday!!!!

I guess this little girl knitting away was somehow meant to find its way into my heart and home!  I have always loved these little German wooden figures, starting with the tiny angel candle holders that decorated all of our birthday cakes growing up. I have a few stashed away in a drawer somewhere which I must hunt for one of these days.  Today is:  finish up a certain papier mache project that is long overdue!!!!!!  Fondly-  Oolie

cloth mushrooms

I came across these darling little cloth mushrooms in my favorite store, "Bon" in Tucson, Arizona while visiting my Mom over the weekend.  Hope all of our pantry violets are happy, healthy and creatively productive in this new year!  Mark and I have our "empty nest" back so I hope to get very busy in the coming weeks.  LOVE to all-  Oolie

Almost a book

Hello Violets,

Here are some photos of my future journal I have been working on. Just have to sew the signatures into the book. It should be fun to write in it. Hope everyone is well. Miss you all.

Snow

You guys have all been so busy, I have had a life of snow and children as of late, so have been unable to be too thoughtful with my own work and have just embraced their world.

Beinn came home from school and had learnt how to make paper cuts outs. "They look like snow flakes", he kept cutting and cutting them, a mound of white paper littered the floor and the more he cut them out, the more that snow fell out of the sky. Large thick, heavy, wet Atlantic snowflakes covering the earth, the trees, houses and cars, showing us everyday objects in a new and beautiful light. In the morning Evan wanted to make a "piglet" his word for an igloo. So out we went and spent hours making our "piglet" the roof proved to be a little testing, but we found branches and covered them in a large old plastic bag and then added more snow on top. Beinn found an old Christmas Tree so we stuck it in front and covered it in snow balls to make it look pretty. They both went inside and had a snack.

I am now thinking about making cut outs to stick on a papier machie house. Beinn loved them and is encouraging me to make a quilt using the idea. I showed him lace on cloth which is very similar and am now mulling over some ideas. Hope you are all well and are being creative in the world. Joanna

I Have A Little Shadow

I love working with papier maché!

It´s really interesting to see what kind of characters that will show up.

You don´t want to meet Hannibal Lector in your hands, do you?

Becky

THE Guitar

I´m playing this guitar,

in The Vintage Fairy Tales.

Believe it.

Or not.

Becky

Hello Pantry Violets all!

At last, I'm able to contribute to our PV blog, so will now get photographing and posting - thank you, Jone and Sam for your help.

Happy New Year to you all and congratulations to Danielle, of course!

Linda

Spring?

So, Becky....

Your zinnias inspired me the other day and I was thrilled to find these beautiful tulips at Trader Joe's!

It almost feels like it is spring, just looking at these beauties...

Hope you are all staying warm and cozy (it was 58 degrees here today!!!!)

My son, Grayson, is unhappy that it has not snowed for weeks. 

I reminded him that it is just the beginning of January and there is plenty of time for the snow to fall.

I am enjoying the sunshine, myself....

xoxo

Melanie Bilenker

Next time you are in the bath, think about this incredible artist who makes these most beautiful images from hair! The images are obviously quite small and are then made into jewellery in the same way that Victorians did to remember them of their loved ones...wow!

Julie A House and Creature

Taylor-  here is the front of the house with one of my special creatures entitled "picking up twigs"!!!

Thank you for the suggestion!  Danielle- lovely to hear a "noise" from you!  Good luck with the house idea.  I hope to take one more papier mache course with Julie at West Dean next winter.  Really lovely to be hearing from pantry violet girls...this is very fun....until we meet again!!!  Oolie

Autumn leaves

Beautiful!

Aboriginal-like Autumn leaves handpainted by Geninne.

www.geninne.com/

Taylor, this could maybe be a craft activity to do with the kids in school!?

I know it´s winter, but still...

Becky

Julie Arkell house

I did this posting all by myself....please bear with me...it does takes practice!!!!!!  I accidentally knocked over this gorgeous papier mache house in Julie's studio in London this past Sept. and promptly fell in love with it!  Sadly, it was on its way to the John Derian store in SoHo, NYC.  Lucky me...I found it in the store waiting for me while in NYC in Nov.!!!!!!  Julie's unique method of sewing words, flowers, trees, etc. into paper with yarn, and then papier mache-ing them onto a creature, or in this case onto a house, just captivates my imagination and love of folk art.  The "sidewalk" leading up to the front brown polka-dot door is varying sizes of wool sewn together.  On one of the "thin sides" of the house she has sewn:  In My House.  I can't wait for our next phone conversation to let her know that her "In My House" now resides in MY house in a place where I see it many times a day!  Fondly-  Oolie  

snowman

This wee little snowman is part of a long garland that hangs near our fireplace mantle.  Even though I am ready for spring, he and his buddies make me smile and appreciate certain aspects of winter.  I have to admit, this "blog business" is kind of fun once you get the hang of it!!!!!  Fondly- Oolie

"Bittersweet End of Summer Challenge"

Jone, do you remember the "Bittersweet End of Summer Challenge" ?

Well, after only five months I´m here with my contribution to the challenge.

I picked the last Zinnias and made a bouquet.

Now I have given myself a new challenge, a really hard one!

I want to become more active here in "The Pantry Violets" than Jone.

Almost impossible, I know...

Anyone else who wants to try too?

Love to you all

Becky

Another apron

Hi Violets,

Here is my finished apron.

Margo, can you believe I made all these french knots? I think I get it now...

The apron was easy to make just time consuming with all the stitching.

I guess my next apron project will be one following a sewing pattern. Yikes.

Have a great week everyone.

xxoo Taylor

Fun in the Mail

So, the New Year's cards are in the mail. (most of them)

I have been feeling pretty happy, so the envelopes are painted up a bit. I have not sent cards in a very long time. It sure was fun printing them...and writing them...and sending them. 

I love getting mail.

Before Christmas, I had found this little box with a heart in it and fell in love.

I have always loved the art that Patience Brewster makes. Her style and whimsy are 100% HER and I smile just thinking about it.

She and I have a mutual friend, Debbie, whom I finally met last month when she visited Santa Fe. After her visit, she sent me this incredible towel with a dachshund on it! I could not believe it. 

(my first "child" was a dachshund)

Apparently, Debbie told Patience about my dachsie thing and in the mail today I received this little box from Patience - 

with a dachshund in it!!!!!

I feel like a very lucky girl. I wish that I had taken a better photo, but can't you tell how magical it is?  Thanks to you, Patience, for sending this little treasure to me.

I LOVE it!!!

mushroom tree

Dear Pantry Violets-

With my daughter's help, I am "MAKING A NOISE"!!!!!!!!  I hope this will not be a one time effort on my part....please have patience with me!  Featured here is my holiday mushroom tree....the last of the decorations to get stored away until Dec. 2010!  You are all in my heart and thoughts and my conversations with Jone, who I will be visiting soon.  Happy New Year.  LOVE-  Oolie (Julie H. in freezing Colo.)

January Birthday....

JANUARY 17th

Taylor's Birthday

Hope it is a wonderful year for you!

All the very best to YOU!

xoxo

(I like this photo of you - hope you do, too)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

All the BEST to all of YOU! in this New Year of 2010.

I cannot wait until things begin to happen - all that magical stuff that I have long been anticipating. I know that a LOT is going on and it is just a matter of time before our wishes and dreams come true!!

Here we go, everyone!

xoxo