Star's Fault

Star's Winter Flowers ~

The house is feeling much more nest-like these days, a warm cocoon away from the cooler weather.   Since I've been back from my trip I've been doing even more fall/winter decorating, and with Halloween just around the corner, I confess to leaning a bit towards the Gothic with some of my furnishings and finishes. 

I love faded millinery flowers, vintage papers, tattered tulle, sparkly old jewelry, beat up silverplate and threadbare linens that have seen better days.  I love the drama of black accents in my home. 

Because everything has this lovely faded quality, Fall's bright colors inside my nest seem a bit off, too colorful, a touch too loud.  So, as usual, I took matters into my own hands and made something that felt just right to me. 

Star and I made bouquets of rumpled winter flowers, each bouquet has 6 paper blossoms in shades of sepia, old paper, deep brown and rusty black.  Made of scrapbook and vintage papers, gold foil and brown felted centers, rich stampings, vintage floral wire, a bit of silvery moss and tattered tulle, they look perfect in my old silver cream pitcher.

I'll be putting 4 bouquets on Star's Fault Etsy this evening, but I would like to share these lovelies with you dear ladies too, so it's time again for another give away.  Star, of course, will help select a happy winner. 

Just leave a comment on this post, and tell me what your fall decorating looks like, how you get your home ready for the winter season, what do you do to make your space cozy and nest-like? 

Do you bring out wool lap blankets, swap out summer's curtains for warm, lined drapes, or lay soft rugs on cool tile floors? 

Here is the reverse side of each blossom.  As usual, nothing is left unembellished, and even the backs of these lovelies have pretty details. 

Of course, Star "helped," right?  [sigh]  Now you know why our blog is called "Star's Fault."  Things happen when Star is in the art nest.  Her contribution to our art projects is always unpredictable, but completely wonderful.

I have my weekend project all planned out too.  I finished the burlap tablecloth, and will post photos of that, plus I'm doing my winter kitchen "counter-scaping" and hanging handmade curtains in the dining room and kitchen.  Come see!

Eileen

 
 
 

The Year She Turned 50 ~

A girl's gotta pause to celebrate those important milestones in her life, you know?

Marriage, birth, a new home, career, faith, and yes... those pesky decades.  I made this box when I turned 50, which was a good thing.  Inside I wrote about how I felt. 

"Turning 50 required a look inward. It meant she should check her inner compass and make sure she was still on track."

"Of course, she wasn't, so she made those small changes, and after buying new furniture and redecorating her life a bit, decided it was all good and went back to the business of growing up."

"She is more soft and fragile than before, but somehow more whole."

I like being 50.  I liked being 40 a whole lot too.  I did not like being 30.  My 20's are mostly a blur.  I found an old picture of myself at 23.  I showed it to my son and told him that mom was a smokin' hottie.  He laughed, and then gave me a big hug. 

I don't mind my wrinkles, those little smile lines around my eyes and mouth, or that I'm a bit more sentimental than before. 

I love how comfortable I am with WHO I am at 50.  Its a powerful, beautiful, amazing decade. 

And so this altered cigar box is to commemorate this transition, this new life stage.

I layered on such pretty images and a few vintage items.  The button that holds the dividers inside is beautiful, very old, perfect.  Aged gold braid around the outside edges. 

[sigh] I just love the sepia images layered next to those with deep, intense, colors.

On Star's Fault Etsy. 

Blessings  ~

Eileen

Star's Victorian Puzzle Blocks ~

I'm totally crushing on these wooden puzzle blocks lately.  If I was a kid in Victorian times, this would be a favorite toy, nooooo doubt.  Okay, I confess, I've been playing with them for the last two days and I can't stop. 

The fun I've had playing with them is closely followed by the fun of actually making them.  I loved making these for my shop.  I've spent the last several days cutting to my heart's content.  Cathartic.  Hypnotic.  Binx, curled up in her tiny cuddle ball, purred next to me the whole time. 

I started out with 9 blank wooden blocks for each set.  Six images all total, including this little chick in her egg boat, and a Victorian garden scene. Hubby peered into the art nest several times to see if I was interested in coming out for food, air, anything to get me away from the glue and scissors. 

No deal.  I wasn't budging until I was done.  Well, I did budge long enough to clean house and get groceries... but otherwise..... art called. 

Oh dear, the cover of an old flower catalog and a pretty robin red breast singing outside his house are just so pretty.  I love the contrast between sepia tones on the left and the rich hues of this old chromolithograph on the right.

One set has these yellow peeps in a basket full of violets, while the other set has this loving couple in a row boat. 

While I was taking pictures, I noticed that the wind had knocked a sprig of this little trailing flower from one of my hanging baskets... it sort of volunteered, so in the photos it went too. 

I did one overlay puzzle for each set, this fat robin for one. 

I used a Victorian rose scrap for the overlay on the other set. For each set I made a base out of cardboard and scrapbook paper, adding a label and tiny bow at the top. 

I took the finished puzzles outside to take pictures in the natural light.  It's been a cloudy, fall-ish day, and the lighting cast these harsh, but interesting shadows on the vintage child's garments that I used as background, laying them down on an old wicker chair on the front porch. 

[sigh] Such a good day ~ Tell me, what did you make this week?  I'd love to hear about your projects ~

Eileen

In My Dreams ~ On Etsy

Have you ever had one of those dreams that is just so real that, even once you're wide awake, the feelings and images stay in your mind and with you for hours later?   It's as though you were actually there, and could still see the sights, hear the sounds, and breathe again the smells of your slumbered adventure.

I frequently have these flying dreams.  I think they're supposed to have special meaning, as though my subconscious self is trying to tell me something, but mostly, they're just beautiful, and I am content to leave it at that. 

After one particularly vivid dream I knew I would have to capture it somehow, and, pen in hand began to write. 

"In my dreams I swiftly fly, to storied places far away.
Past tranquil waters, calm serene, thru shady forests, cool and green.
To flowered meadows scented sweet, and guarded mountains' tall retreat.
As fragile bird I take to flight, and touch the earth in slumbered sight.
And when the tide returns to shore, awaking brings me home once more."

Was this beautiful blue butterfly in the meadow?

Could I write more of what I saw on this tag and hide it in this little pocket?

Surely, this quiet stream was there too?

Or did I fly over the streets of long-ago Paris?

Sweet sheep following their shepherd, safe in his care, their field sheltered by tall mountains. 

Her face is soft, curious, the hint of a sweet smile.  She looks back to make sure nothing is missed.  I love the flowers in her hair. 

A feather is found along the way.

Her feet never touched the ground.

The air was filled with the scent of flowers. 

Past amusement parks by the shore. 

Until she was gliding over the ocean, blue water and sailboats below. 

A pearly sea shell was captured for display. 

Another, this time a tiny spiral. 

Now awake, the memory so vivid, so real. 

But a dream nonetheless. 

Later, in the art nest, I worked to sort out the tangled images in my mind, and so this little book was made.  It is richly embellished from cover to cover and waiting for you on Star's Fault Etsy. 

Star, of course, helped with the photography today, the dappled light under the Korean lilac bushes made her amber eyes glow, her soft fur a beautiful silver blue. 

Blessings ~

Eileen

 

Etsy Garden Books ~

I finished several projects this weekend.  I can't figure out which one I like best. This one with a blue themed cover...

... or this one with an ivory themed cover.  Love the old millinery flowers, tatting scraps, vintage buttons and muslin ribbon closure. 

Each book holds three hand-tied signatures, 6 pages each, for a total of 18 creamy ivory sheets to store your all garden memories.

They are a modest size, approximately 6 x 8 inches tall.  Filled with scrappy goodness, old ephemera, hand-pressed paper, tags, my favorite labels, a bit of string.

Oh, and always, always, a silver clothespin. 

In this photo, and the photos below, the white garden book is on the left, while the blue garden book is on the right.  Both are nearly identical inside, with only a few tiny differences. 

Fly leaf page, with a prayer to "grow."  Old newsprint scrapbook paper behind.

The white book has this sepia label on the next page. 

Both have one half of an 1898 invoice from a wholesale grocery store.  You could buy seeds, nails, eggs or even yard goods in these old stores, and while I am not THAT old, I do remember old stores in rural Alaska that were still like this only a few years ago.   

Say it with me.... "Ooooooo..."  I like this page, shreds of an old garden book line the whitewashed pocket, a red edged label and garden image adorn the front, while 3 extra garden labels and tags are nested inside.  The left page of both are halves of a large garden catalog cover.  I love the honey tones offset by black graphics. 

A folded page from an old garden book offers tips for your summer garden. 

A big journal label and vintage wallpaper, leaving lots of room for your photos. 

Specimen labels offer a place for you to attach a pressed or dried flower or herb. 

More of that incredible tatted lace, and a picot edged layer of scrap paper, background for a pic of the kids playing in the sprinkler? Or perhaps a prize rose?  Magazine clippings of your favorite garden ideas?

A bit of Victorian Scrap and old seam binding.  Pretty colors. 

Birds and Blossoms bird tag, a bit of ribbon, handmade paper with a lovely old gold paisley print.

Vintage fabric, a very French label and a scrap of printed kraft paper. 

Love the old wallpaper.  I'm always thankful when I can find such nice patterns. 

A generous tag, a big bee stamp and a tiny cut out of a rose. 

Do you grow apples?  I do, and last year my baby apple tree made five whole apples!  The blue garden book includes a large journaling tag with pretty daisies. 

You an barely see it, but the white garden book includes another specimen tag with pink seam binding ribbon, while the blue book has one of my favorite sepia images, the back of an old cabinet photo. 

Real seeds in each. The white garden book includes Alaska's state flower, forget-me-nots, a stamped tag and rose, and a reward of merit label.  The blue garden book includes seeds to plant a variety of vintage leaf lettuce and another rose tag.

Pretty in back too, with a Victorian image on the white garden book, a vintage catalog cover print on the blue garden book.  Each book closes with vintage buttons and a generous length of muslin ribbon to tie together no matter how full you stuff its pages. 

So pretty.  On Star's Fault Etsy Wednesday morning. 

Blessings ~

Eileen

Hooked on Garden Tags ~

Through the magic of Typepad, this post will arrive on my blog while I am far, far, away from my home, nestled in the lovely state of Virginia for the week.   Ah, the history.... the antiques.  There is just not enough room in my luggage to bring hardly anything back, so I know I will have to be content with window shopping. 

One can tell from my last several posts that I'm seriously hooked on these pretty labels and tags for my 2009 Garden Journal.  I mean, before I hopped on the plane for an exciting 12+ hour trip, I just wanted to sit at my computer every free hour and make pretty things on PhotoShop.  I love these ivory and clay colored tags with dark blue, sepia or black graphic images, all shapes and sizes, some with a lacy edge.  Be still my heart.....

But in deference to my back, I'm trying to keep my computer time to something resembling sanity.  I have a thing for technology. Obviously.  DH complains...

But I feel like I'm really ready for the riot of growing things this year.  Plus, it keeps me occupied productively until I can actually plant anything.  Seriously, no one dares put a single shrub, tree, hanging basket, veggie or flower start out until Memorial Day.  It's such a rule around here that, if anything does fail to thrive one need only say "I planted just before Memorial Day", and everyone will understand perfectly. 

You will, however, get those looks, and you just KNOW they are thinking to themselves...."she should've waited until after Memorial Day..."  Ack.  Here in Virginia it's a riot of green everywhere.  My last trip it was Cherry Blossom Festival.  This trip, its azaleas and rhododendrons.  So beautiful. 

Our Alaska growing season is short, but incredibly intense.  We have about 22 hours of daylight during the summer months.  I love this.  If only I could bottle up enough sunshine to last the winter months, you know?  When we wake up, which around here is 4:30 am, the sun is streaming into the bedroom.  When we go to bed, somewhere around 9:00 pm, the sun is streaming into the bedroom.  If I were to wake up at midnight, still sunny.  It's only about 2:00 am that it will turn to this lovely twilight, and then 60 minutes later, the sun is on its way back up...!

Last year, our new cherry tree made 12 cherries.  Not quite enough for pie.  And the baby apple tree, only about 5 tiny apples.  Our Mountain Ash made bunches of red berries, food for flocks of Cedar Waxwings that live here all winter.  I had dried herbs, and rose hips, and pressed flowers saved for winter. 

I made 7 more labels and tags, 6 printed, and one delicious scalloped oval, all printed on an archival quality creamy white cover stock.  I am totally infatuated with those scalloped edge trimmers, and so added a lacy edge to one tag.  Best of all, I have this stash of vintage velvet ribbon.  They just don't make velvet ribbon like they used to, and this is wide, rich, in a beautiful raspberry shade.  I cut a 6" chunk to use as an embellishment.  A shot of rich, yummy color.

I can't wait to get started.  I mean, how many journal entries can you make where you say... "waiting for Memorial Day..." before you burst?  Hmmm..... maybe a trip to the greenhouse soon?  I bet it smells heavenly in there, warm dirt, tiny green plants.  Oh yes, I'm there.  Well, metaphorically speaking, 'cuz actually, I'm in Virginia until Saturday.  

Blessings ~

Eileen

Dreaming in Sepia ~

There are herbs in my summer garden. Oh, not in neat tidy rows in the manner of the kitchen garden, but instead jumbled in masses flowing out of large planters strewn on front and back porches, deep containers in the pergola, a big pot on the tiny deck outside my bedroom. 

If it rains, or if a summer breeze comes up, or should I drag my hand over the foliage, the leaves give off such a scent, such a glorious nose-tickling smell, that I can not imagine ever limiting myself to just flowers in my garden, I must always have herbs nearby.  I love lemon thyme, and spearmint, and rosemary.  The kitties chew on the leaves, and dearest Star eats mint all summer long. 

We put Nasturtiums in our salads.  I love their peppery taste and bright orange color. 

In the summer sun I make mint tea from a bed of peppermint and spearmint beside the garden gate.  It steeps in a huge glass jug along with a few leaves of Earl Grey, its color and flavor developing over the day, just in time for an icy glass at dinner. Rustic cubes of raw sugar and slices of sharp lemon or sweet orange are added and the whole is poured over cracked ice. 

Just what could possibly be better than good ice tea on a hot summer day?

Sweet basil and oregano and marjoram flavor stews or sauces, or even gathered up in plain bouquets with a few pansy blossoms to scent the kitchen table, placed hurriedly in a jelly jar next to fresh muffins and poached eggs. 

As the summer fades the herbs grow more wildly, their scent deepens.  They are harvested and dried for winter's use.  Small muslin bags are filled and used as sachets around the house.  It must have been a very wise person who said that memories are triggered by scent more than any other sense.  (I must Google to find out more  even it is is, perhaps, medical fact?)

I plan to pick the best specimens for my Garden Book and mount them on these beautiful sepia colored tags.  Can you imagine how the scent will greet me each time I open the pages? 

I've made more to share.  Eight beautiful tags and labels, 7 in sepia tones, and one richly colored - "Reward of Merit", all printed on high quality ivory cover stock, a lacy edge on the tallest tag.  I've included a old button (each one is different and wonderful), and a scrap of vintage wallpaper in a lovely green pattern, plus a few yards of red and white butcher's thread to tie your specimens to your labels.

Eileen