Who's Got the Button?

I used to sew. Daily. I made clothes for myself. The kids. The shirt Colin wore when we got married. Curtains. Toys. Costumes. Quilts. I'm hoping to start again soon. So I recently went to a fabric store, coupon in hand to actually invest in a real, final, for good and all never to be used for ANYthing else, pair of cloth cutting scissors. Even with the coupon they cost --- well, a lot. I told myself I wouldn't even look at another thing. Except. When I sewed I was a button addict. The overalls I made for the kids never had plain buttons; I searched high and low for the grooviest ones to be had for Small Change. I replaced all the standard ones on thrift store finds with motley and sundry. So, back to my foray at the fabric store. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the latest buttons and knock me over! La Mode, one of the original button manufacturers is at the artistic edge with a line of fabulous, inexpensive graphic plastics. AND far effing out! They have brought back some of the coolest of the cool - popular vintage styles, labeled as to era, and manufactured in Italy. Buttons. They're SO worth the splurge.

Fair Encounter, Not Forgotten. . .

I haven't forgotten - will do the drawing
(s - you know me, I can't do just one) tomorrow.
Yup, you all know your books -
it IS True Vision by little Miss LK Ludwig.
Here's a little tide-over that you ALL can have
for reading the right books,
and another one as a thanks for playing.
Oh, and a third for Patience.
Just click 'n' save.

Thanks for coming. . .

To everyone who did a little shopping at Julie Joliat's South Street Designs last week, thank you! I know when you get the goods from her, you'll absolutely love them.
For those of you who were asking to see what I have been making lately, well this is just a quick fix of a vintage brooch I stumbled upon at a garage sale last week - I also made some earrings to "go" with it:

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

We had our holiday party last Saturday night (the 8th); our little house was comfy and cozy, filled with candlelight and the sweet smell of hot cider. Snow fell thick and fast all day and throughout the night - no one much made it in from Boulder, Denver, Hygiene, or Loveland. Even a few friends in town decided they would curl up at home rather than venture out. Those who did brave the elements all seemed to have a good time. We had retro green and turquoise lights (the big ones) in the little aspen copse in the SE corner of the yard, and glitter light snowflakes artfully "fallen" onto the pretty cotton-batting "snow" filling the clawfoot bathtub. This will be our last year to create that particular effect - we kinda decided it might really be a fire hazard - don't ask! - but it was pretty while it lasted. Caterina's Lakshmi (not quite paid for) hung above the cd player and received well-deserved attention. There was wine, cider, soda, tea, hard berry, and swamp rockets to drink, lots of nuts, tangerines, chocolate, rugalach (3 kinds) and even more delicious treats. A few of Colin's friends from swimming were here, and a few artist types, and neighbors and friends and family.

I really looked forward to and enjoyed the party, especially after the troubles we had that week with our little old border collie, Josie. She had a rapid onset of idiopathic vestibular disease and we didn't think (at 14) she would survive. She did though, but now has a peculiar head tilt and a seemingly permanent list.

Then, there's the weather. Bad enough to worry over one's kids who live nearby, but now Silver and Heather in Vermont, and Sierra-Marie, Gina and the kids back in Massachusetts are being inundated with blizzard conditions, too. Silver called this morning to ask me to look up the weather in the Brattleboro area on the computer, I said, "Baby, look out your window!" He said, "Everything's white." I said Heather had better take a Snow Day. (When my kids were in school we had a family tradition of Snow Days called by - well, me.) Then SM called to say Gina and Kayla were stuck somewhere between their house and Gina's mummy's rather than at the airport or on their way to Seattle, and that she (SM) had locked herself and Marcus out of the car, they had no food in the house and she had never made it into work, so had to get there tonight to pick up things she needed to work from home. Oy. No wonder I am looking so aged these days. No wonder people move to - well I'm not sure where - maybe Over The Rainbow. . .

Here it is less than two weeks until Christmas and I have yet to finish much of anything on my list. I have been feeling rather like crrrrap for the past few days, just when I really need a burst of energy to finish out the year. Haven't yet made good on more than one promise, and have a feeling my name is going to show up multiple times on a certain Naughty List for laying on the couch looking pale, alternating with flushed and feverish. But as Scarlet said, Tomorrow's a Brand New Day, and though I may not be a Brand New Girl, I bet the world will still be waiting for me to make good!

Until then, here are some more pics you might want to borrow from my vast
Image Resource library! More images can be found here. You'll be able to find the original photographs and postcards of some of them in my etsy shop in the next few days.