HAPPY THANKSGIVING...

-Give thanks with a grateful heart-

(Images courtesy of Karen's Whimsy)

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.

-Ray Stannard Baker- (David Grayson)To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

-Johannes A. Gaertner-

May you and yours enjoy the best of blessings that this holiday season has to offer!

A WEE BIT OF HEAVEN...

A WEE BIT OF HEAVEN

A wee bit of heaven
drifted down from above-
A handful of happiness,
a heart full of love.

The mystery of life,
so sacred and sweet-
The giver of joy
so deep and complete.

Precious and priceless,
so lovable, too-
The world's sweetest miracle,
baby, is you.

-Helen Steiner Rice-

There is something so infinitely sweet about little baby shoes where tiny feet are sheltered as first steps are taken, adventuring into the world with exploration, hesitancy, and exuberance. In the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of watching my precious granddaughter take her first steps. The pride and joy on her face as she toddles to and fro is thing of beauty to behold.

I stopped in a flea market yesterday and found these darling little baby shoes. They belonged to " Tammy" or at least that is what was written on the side of the box , probably her first three pairs of shoes. Sweet satin ballet slippers with white satin ties and gauzy ruffles...Sweet silver jingle bells tied to the toes of these soft white leather shoes must have kept baby amused as she kicked her little feet cooing and smiling at the magical tinker bell like sound...And when Tammy was ready to toddle a sturdy pair of Red Goose Shoes stood at the ready, scuffed heels, scuffed toes, and even a little dirt left on the soles...These precious shoes make my heart melt. The bright white has faded to an aged cream, like a precious memory, a sweet yesteryear dream. Precious and priceless, sacred and sweet, a wee bit of heaven are the steps that are taken by new little feet.

I am linking to Faded Charm for White Wednesday, thank you Kathleen for hosting. I hope you will enjoy vising all the wonderful links there.
Have a wonderful Wednesday dear friends!

HEARTFELT THANKS...

Oh my goodness, I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for the bloggy love you all sent my way in regards to the new studio. You have had me fairly dancing with joy!
Thank you so much for the encouragement, it is deeply appreciated. I don't know why I have been so nervous to show it. You have spurred me on to get busy fluffing and show you the rest! Many of you expressed interest in the coffee filter topiary lamps. Someone requested a photo without the light on...The first one was fun, the second became tedious, after about 300 coffee filters I quit counting so I am not sure exactly how many it takes, it would depend on the size of your topiary form. Anyway, have fun to those who try it!I had the pleasure of being cloistered away in the studio over the weekend creating away making some thank you gifts...Getting a tutorial ready to share with you on Friday...And making plans for what I hope will develop into an online workshop...
Not all plans pan out. Last week I met the the shop owner about the venue for the live class I have been fervently working on and things are not going to work out after all with that location so the class is on hold while I check my options. I have decided to hold off on that until after Christmas and just enjoy this time of celebration. I admit I am disappointed but I am not discouraged, timing is everything.I feel like I am swimming in ideas right now...And it is exhilarating! I love when I hit that creative stride that keeps me up late into the wee smalls creating by the light of the moon...I think, no, I know it is in part due to all the support and encouragement of all you precious blog friends. I am so grateful for the this community and count you among my most special of blessings. I hope each of you have a bountifully blessed day!

A SWEET PLACE TO DREAM...

What does this little girl dream of, dream of,

Oh, what do I dream of?
Tattered Linens and Shabby Lace,
In my Hillybilly Chic studio space,
That's what I've been dreaming of!
I have a dream. Over the past six month I have been watching it take shape in a new space. As I stood at the threshold of the studio this morning I realized that this dream was a long time in the making from my crafting on TV trays days to an entire room dedicated to the pursuit of making art. There is one area, although not yet complete and probably the most impractical part of the room, (besides the carpet I wanted to rip out before I moved in, but that is in and of itself a tale best saved for another day), that has become my favorite dreaming spot...I could have put my sewing station here where it would have been bathed in wonderful natural light or I could have added another work surface with storage underneath, either of which would have been quite practical...but, to me...dreams are never practical but based on the improbable. That's what makes them dreams.
I had a vision when I moved into this space six months ago and it is still being fleshed out and realized, a cherished desire to step into a workspace each morning where a succession of images of an artfully placed room brings about thoughts of creativity. My desire is for a soothing and sweet place to dream.

I want a creative space to evoke the emotions of serenity and quite calm. I envisioned a space filled with tactile textures and layers where castoffs are crowning jewels. I wanted something wholly feminine yet with a rustic elegance and earthy grit that gives a nod back to my hill people heritage where you learned to make it do, make it over, or do without it. And I wanted it to tell a story, each piece has its own history and tells something about the person who now inhabits the space...me.
(OK, so maybe I am slightly older than this portrait but 11 3/4 was such a wonderful age. This portrait has one of the happiest memories of my life attached to it, a time when a fondest dream came true and I am pretty sure it will make it into the studio decor.)

What started out as something to put in the big gaping hole until I could find something better because I didn't have anything else on hand, has now become a favorite element of the room. An antique iron crib turned daybed is a sweet place to dream...And if you happen to be a four year old boy, it makes a dandy pretend pirate ship! Clearance items, flea market finds, and what I had on hand make up the mix and match bedding ensemble. I am working on a few more pillows and then the daybed will be complete. The carved tray belonged to my late mother-on-law and it allows me a space to set a cup of tea while reposed there. " Baby" is the rag and composition doll who keeps her eye on my journal and all its secret thoughts and dreams. I can't really say what drew me to her but I love her, my family does not, they call her " Frankenbaby" and say she is creepy because she stares... The rag rug was a flea market find that still has the tags on it, never used. I stitched on some vintage pillow case lace to the ends and I love its shabby soft t-shirt like texture...Same thing with the coffee filter topiary's. I'd rather have had little tables with drawers for storage on each side but alas my furniture stash is down to one lone piece and a child sized wardrobe is a bit large for an end table. What I did have on hand were two old lamps, two tin planters, two wire topiary balls, some white paint, silk cording, lamp wiring, coffee filters and a little ingenuity.My style is shall we say a bit more " fluffy" than my daughters but when she saw these she gasp and said, " Mom, when I get married I want those in my wedding." I take that as very high praise. They smell delicious too when the light warms the filters, the ones that have been dyed give off a light coffee scent and the glow in the evening is just dreamy!Little Inez stands guard in her flea market found gauzy handmade gown of yesteryear. Some of you might remember when she came to live here as a simple brown torso adopted from Ebay, which got me grounded. Well, shes got herself all gussied up now and wanted me to be sure and show off her new gift wrap decoupage...Inez is named for my beloved aunt who was a seamstress. Her jewelry is a little Avon cameo given to me by my paternal grandmother when I was very young and her door knob finial came from the maternal grandmothers old house. Her stand is also a flea market find, I am not sure what it was used for but there were three exactly alike in graduated sizes for $1.00, maybe a candle holder without the holder? I flanked the window with two old white chippy columns that were salvage pieces a friend gave me from a renovation from her former house. Old door knobs salvaged from a house in Romance, AR (don't you love that town name?) serve as hangers to hold empty frames waiting for artwork. In the meantime they have become artwork, every piece on these is removable when the time comes to use them for something else...The only thing left in this room when my daughter moved out were the carpet and the blinds...matchstick blinds...see through in the dark when the light is on inside blinds..that I detest, but, remember this is a make due room so I have to make do with them until I can afford the ones I want. Darling Daughter had lovely heavy curtain panels to pull closed over them, I do not, nor did I want any. Studio spaces need lots of good lighting so I wanted to keep the airy feeling with a little something pretty...I was so inspired by an online fabric collage class by Lisa that I created these fabric collage panels for my windows as a base for a rotating art instillation. I wish the gauzy white tulle, mummy cloth, and cheese cloth in the background showed up better in the photos, trust me, it is there and it looks awesome! All embellishments are removable and can be replaced with anything I can pin to the base panels. I still have a few details to add to the base design. I want to put old worn brown braided leather buttons over the tack heads that hold them in place, until I find enough I am using small pearl buttons but they don't show well. I recently purchased some old glass tear drop chandelier crystals that I want to stitch onto each point as well. Painted canvas lettering, crinkled seam binding, and a few old millinery flowers grace this panel for now.I have a little something else planned for the columns and for the lovely popcorn space above the daybed but those will have to wait until after the holidays. I still have a dream and it is ever so slowly taking shape one little addition at a time.

What inspires me? Just seeing this little slice of a dream taking shape by making it do (it is not the perfect or even ideal space), making it over (using what I have on hand or can thrift when the budget allows), and in some cases, even doing without (I dream of heart pine flooring, dull carpet is what I've got). Just this one little area inspires me to dream...

I hope you have been inspired by this little slice of a studio tour, today I am joining Debra of Common Ground for her Vintage Inspiration Friday post. There are many lovely links to visit and I hope you will enjoy them as well. Have a wonderful weekend!

PAPER CHRISTMAS TREE TUTORIAL...

(Images property of Susanne of ZUEEUZ, used with permission)

While cruising through blog land last evening I came across this FABULOUS paper Christmas tree tutorial and I was so excited when sweet Susanne gave me permission to share her tutorial and photos with you all. I can just see it now, holiday mantles and table tops all over the land of blog adorned with these darling trees.

Recently my cousin's wife gave me five silver candle holders from their wedding. She was in the process of getting ready to move and decided to get rid of some things and these were one of her discards. (Luckily she kept the groom and only gave away the candle holders!) They have sat around empty for quite some time now and I cannot wait to fill these with Susanne's paper trees! These will be one of the highlights for my holiday table. Thank you so much Susanne for sharing such a fab idea!

Be sure and check out this post too, you will LOVE the window idea, hey, cruise the whole blog, some really good stuff here.

Have you come across any must see must do holiday crafts? If so, leave a little linky love in the comments for the rest of us. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

THE TALE OF THE BLOG FAIRY GODMOTHER...

Fairy Godmother: (singing) Salaga-doola, menchikc-boola, Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Put them together, and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Slaga-doola, menchicka-boola, Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. It will do magic, believe it or not, Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Now, Salagadoola means, A-Mechhicka-boola-roo, but the thingamabob, that does the job, is Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

-Cinderella-
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a little blog named Quill Cottage. Quill had a secret dream of being dressed in the latest of blog designs. She longed for a custom tailor made ensemble that would show off all her assets like lovely links to friends and labeled categories to all the history of her posts (still working on relabeling all 500+ posts). She wanted a little something that reflected her love of art, writing, and nature. She wanted something that would garner admiring looks, yes, she is vain like that. She could not quite put her finger on it but she wanted something to reflect the roots of her hillbilly chic style but alas, she was a poor designer.She tried, she really did, her brocade brown background fit pretty nicely but the placement of her banner and sidebar photos never fit precisely. Her attire was kind of boxy and getting drab. She had all but given up hope of ever sporting a true designers label until one magical evening when she logged off, falling into a deep sleep, where she dreamed a most enchanted dream.A sparkling Blog Fairy Godmother named Karen appeared carrying a magical mouse wand. In the dream the Blog Fairy Godmother spoke, " I have come to make all your designer blog dreams come true but here is what I need you to do." She gave little Quill a list of questions to answer and then told her that she must wait patiently while she worked her magic.Blog Fairy Godmother Karen clicked and clacked over her charmed keys. She copied, cut, and pasted with the latest of technology using so many of the personal precious images little Quill sent her with her questionnaire. She zipped emails back and forth, she even listened to the chatter of little Quills two phone calls without once remarking on her slow twangy drawl for she is a very good Blog Fairy Godmother.

Little Quill could hardly sleep for wondering if her dream of designer blog-wear would come true and when she did sleep she wondered what the finished design would look like. Would it really be tailor made to fit her tastes? (Please forgive her, but little Quill is a bit of a control freak, she is a little crazy like that.)
As it turns out, little Quill had nothing to fear, for her very own Blog Fairy Godmother knew even better than she exactly what it was she wanted. Little Quill had a vague idea but Blog Fairy Godmother Karen had a full fledged vision and with a wave of her magic mouse wand she brought it to life.

Little Quill slept for one week while the fairy worked her magic. One morning little Quill decided that she perhaps she should post something and clicked on the computer keys to open her program. What to her wondering eyes should appear but the best shock of her life...her new frock was completely designed and spread out in all its splendor before her very eyes. She gasp! So stunned was she by its beauty that she had no words and happy grateful tears spread to her eyes.
She was all atwitter as she gingerly began to explore her new look, hardly recognizing herself. She could not get over that all this beauty was just for her, a dream come true, a custom designed one-of-a-kind Blog Fairy Godmother Karen original! She even gets to display her designer label with pride, Valentine Design, on her sidebar for all to see!

Oh, but sweet Blog Fairy Godmother Karen was not finished yet. She also did a custom design for little Quills quite defunct shoppe which is now proudly ready to hold artful treasures! And if those were not enough, she is also making little Quill some matching little calling cards to enclose with her wares or to hand out at classes!Little Quill pinched herself not once, not twice, but thrice to be sure twas not a dream she had dreamed. As all fairy tales should, this one has a very happy ending. Please feel free to push all the new buttons and explore all the links, as stated above I will be working on relabeling all the past posts and adding links to the new visible blog roll. I hope you, dear and precious readers, will enjoy this new design as much as I do!

And what of Blog Fairy Godmother Karen? She is residing in her darling desert cottage granting wishes for designer blog-ware of all shapes and sizes. Want a wish from Karen? She can grant them large and small, exactly what your heart desires. Blog dreams really do come true!I'd love to hear what you all think of the new design here at Quill Cottage!

Have a wonderful week!

P.S. The photos you see peppered throughout this post are one of the upcoming live class projects I have been working on. This is my version of a snow angel tree topper. She can be used on tree, as a centerpiece for a table, or left out for icy winter decor after the holidays are over.