Randomness This Morning of the Eve

My friend Mary stopped by the other day with this gorgeous stem of orchids. This variety, 'though I can't remember the name, is my favorite. I love the pale chartreuse and deep maroon color combination, and the stems and flowers are so large and hearty looking!

I loved the choice of wrapping and ribbon, too.

This palm plant is really doing well since I brought it in for the winter. It's actually doing better than it did this summer outside. I think I might leave it in next year. It seems to be trying to play my piano, which is the wooden structure hidden at the bottom, lol. You can just make out a book of Mozart sitting on it and the red and gold silk runner on top of it under the flag. Other vintage items include children's games, top left, and of course, the hand painted GULF GAS sign from the 1950s.

Three dishes of an appetizer I made up the other day wait for the oven to preheat. I mixed equal parts ground chicken and ground unsalted sunflower seeds. I added a few herbs, spices as well as a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil, a little cheese and an egg to hold the mixture all together. I formed them into these mini meatballs, and baked them in a 375° oven. After turning them halfway through the baking process, and rolling them around a bit, they were left in the shape of a small meatball and were very light and tasty. I served them with a very simple peanut sate dipping sauce—basically unsalted peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, 5-spice powder, rice vinegar and water cooked until smooth and of a "dip" consistency.

This is part of a "lawn" I created this week for the 2-year old daughter of a friend or mine's Calico Critters dollhouse. I started with a new Ikea occasional table, and added felt, paper and polyurethane to create this garden path and flower borders. This photo just proves that I can't take a photo anywhere inside and not have a scale model car, or an unfinished piece of art in it. At the top you can see one of my new pieces, one of what I call cardboard "quilts." I've made 35 new cardboard quilted bases, in several sizes, and am working on them with bits and pieces of preprinted paper meant for craftbooking. All of the patterned paper reminds me of those huge books of wallpaper the local paintstore had when I was a child, books I spent hours perusing with my aunt Hoohoo, for just the right color and pattern for whatever room "we" were redecorating at the time. On the right is a 1:18 version of the 2005 Mustang prototype in silver with a red interior and black glass roof. You can also see three painted rocks behind it. I painted those when I was about 8 years old. They're white river rocks I picked up on a family vacation in Vermont. I've also painted other furniture and toys for children, or grandchildren, of friends.

• Vintage, floral child's rocker for my little friend, Deja. 
• Patchwork Hobby Horse for a little boy named Thomas.
• Dinosaur-themed vintage chest of drawers for Nicholas, age 8.

Deja View

My little friend, Deja, stopped by on Monday afternoon with her grandmother, my close friend. We walked around the yard and I snipped some Zinnias and Ageratum for her, and you can see the colors were an exact match for her festive Madras sundress. Deja is my youngest collector, being the proud owner of the Princess Rocking Chair I posted two weeks ago, and also one of my paintings, posted in May. You'll notice Deja somehow matched her outfit to the gift that day, too. It was not planned! 

I love this photo, the absolute epitome of childhood innocence and happiness. It reminds me of this piece of mine, a photo of my mother as a child. Her eyes are closed in the same expression of childhood giddiness and that feeling of complete safety and happiness. Approximately ninety years separate these two children's photos, but children are children are children. As the Talking Heads sang in Once in a Lifetime, "Same as it ever was, Same as it ever was, Same as it ever was..." (Note: This video is from a live performance in Germany in 1980. Where did those thirty years go? This is not my beautiful life!!!)

Nita's Little Hood Ornament, 27 x 32 inches on layered cardboard. Childhood innocence personified ca 1920-21.

Repost: Fifty Year Old Child's Rocker Rejuvenated for the Next Little Princess

Vintage children's rocker dates back to the early fifties and had seen it's share of wear and tear through three generations of child's play. Click image to see all of its details better.

M Y  A R T — This post first ran February 27, just about a week after I started this blog, when no one was actually reading it, lol. I thought I'd repost it now since it shows another piece for a child I've done. This "rehab" was created for my friend Vicki's granddaughter, Deja, and was once Vicki's childhood rocking chair. It came with lots of memories, and I felt the burden of not screwing it up! The chair had seen better days though, with several coats of paint and much wear and tear, but I think I made it fit for the little princess. Deja is also my youngest collector, owning one of my paintings you can see here. My writing has definitely improved since I first started, but you'll get the story anyway.

Repost:

This small child's rocking chair from the early '50s had seen a few generations of my friend's family's children come and go. It had also been 'redone' several times, lending a soft, thick, chunky look to the paint, scratches revealing 'interesting' paint choices through the years, lol. I was remaking this chair for a 4-5 year old granddaughter of a great friend, so I definitely went girly girly here. Well, in my own way—I'm more of a peach or apricot than a Barbie Pink type o'guy  : )

The chair was stripped down to the wood for an even 'canvas' and then after priming, I started by painting flowers. The chair was then painted in several layers; flowers, squares of colors, striping, stipling, some of which I eventually sanded off to reveal the underlayering.  I bought premade wooden letters in the little girl's name, D-E-J-A, afixed them to the back top slat, and gave them their own paint treatment.

The seat was just a piece of wood, but looked like it might have had a padding once. Again, I went the premade route, and bought a beautifully feminine silk-covered, goose-down-filled pillow for the seat. It was fit for a princess, but one a princess could grow older with and still appreciate. I carefully undid the fabric seams on the back and after removing the wooden seat from the chair, upholstered it with this down and silk concoction. The results were pretty spectacular if I do say so myself, lol. Clearcoated with 6 coats of polyurethane, this is one family heirloom that just might not need redoing for quite a while.

Click on each image to enlarge.

Youngest Collector Stops By

My youngest collector, Deja, stopped by Sunday and picked up her newest piece, Pretty as a Picture. Deja also owns a commissioned piece of mine, a paint and upholstery treatment on her family's heirloom child's rocking chair, Fit for a Princess.

For Deja—or Deja Vu? Children's Rocking Chair Updated for the Next LIttle Princess

Vintage children's rocker dates back to the early fifties and had seen it's share of wear and tear through three generations of child's play. Click image to see all of its details better.

O N   W O O D — Another of my furniture revamps. This small child's rocking chair from the early '50s had seen a few generations of my friend's family's children come and go. It had also been 'redone' several times, lending a soft, thick, chunky look to the paint, scratches revealing 'interesting' paint choices through the years, lol. I was remaking this chair for a 4-5 year old granddaughter of a great friend, so I definitely went girly girly here. Well, in my own way—I'm more of a peach or apricot than a Barbie Pink type o'guy  : )

The chair was stripped down to the wood for an even 'canvas' and then after priming, I started by painting flowers. The chair was then painted in several layers; flowers, squares of colors, striping, stipling, some of which I eventually sanded off to reveal the underlayering.  I bought premade wooden letters in the little girl's name, D-E-J-A, afixed them to the back top slat, and gave them their own paint treatment.

The seat was just a piece of wood, but looked like it might have had a padding once. Again, I went the premade route, and bought a beautifully feminine silk-covered, goose-down-filled pillow for the seat. It was fit for a princess, but one a princess could grow older with and still appreciate. I carefully undid the fabric seams on the back and after removing the wooden seat from the chair, upholstered it with this down and silk concoction. The results were pretty spectacular if I do say so myself, lol. Clearcoated with 6 coats of polyurethane, this is one family heirloom that just might not need redoing for quite a while.

Click on each image to enlarge.