Etsy Treasuries for March

For those of you who are interested... here are the beautiful Etsy treasuries that featured my "stuff" this month...

I love the subtle shades in this Peach and Aqua set... which is why I made up a set of washcloths in those colors:

The "Ya'll Come On Over Now..." treasury featured my white dishcloths:

Ahoy Matey! features a darling vintage sailor dress pattern that I had listed. It has since sold. I love vintage patterns, but I don't sew enough to justify keeping them. So I enjoy looking at them awhile, and then list them on my shop.

I just love seeing the variety of treasures available on Etsy.

Vintage Sugar Bowl

I am just dying to show you my bedroom makeover, but until we start having some sunny days around here I'm having a hard time getting pretty pictures with natural light. I'm trying to appreciate the spring rains but I have to say the sunshine will be very welcome when it finally comes.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you the latest addition to my mix-and-match violet tea set. I haven't been actively looking for pieces to add to it, because I have enough cups and saucers now to host a pretty good size tea party.

I was browsing a thrift store a few weeks ago and spotted a violet sugar bowl. I didn't have a sugar bowl!

It even had the lid with it. I've seen other sugar bowls at thrift stores and garage sales that are missing their lids. As I picked it up to examine it, I realized it went with the snack plates sitting under it, and they were priced as a set-- $6 for 5 plates and the sugar bowl. 

Now I ask you-- what would one do with a set of five snack plates (complete with rings for the cups to sit in-- but no cups) and a sugar bowl, except add it to an eclectic tea set? I couldn't pass up a deal like that, could I? Of course not.

The plates are shell-shaped and I thought they would match the one snack-set that my friend Denise sent me awhile back. It turns out that these plates are slightly bigger and the pattern is a little different. This isn't the first time I've added to my set thinking one piece matches another piece I already have, and then they turn out to be different. That's one aspect I enjoy so much about this collection.

I've also added a couple of vintage violet greeting cards that I came across among some old family letters. And my sister-in-law recently gave me a beautiful vintage hanky with embroidered violets to add to the display. (I had taken this picture before she gave it to me.)

I wonder what will be added next? A cream pitcher would be at the top of my wish list, but we'll see.

Since it's Thursday, I'll join in with Vintage Thingies Thursday @ Colorado Lady... and hopefully by next Thursday I'll have some pictures to show you of my "new" vintage bedroom furniture.

Silver Screen Blog Party

My friend Natasha Marie @ Day by Day is hosting a celebration in honor of the 1-year anniversary of her Etsy shop, Wool & What-not. She is offering lovely giveaways from several sponsors (including me). Be sure to pop over and enter her drawing.

As part of the celebration she is also hosting the Silver Screen Blog Party with a tag-style list of questions. While I'm not the classic films aficionado that she is, I thought I'd see how many of her questions I could comment on. Here goes:

{1} 

It seems to be standard procedure for blog party questionnaires to begin by asking you to introduce yourself to the rest of the party goers. Far be it from me to be remiss in my duty, therefore, do tell us a bit about yourself, in as many or few words as you wish.

 I am a millinery model (i.e. wearer of many figurative hats) with a wide variety of interests. If you've missed some of my posts "about me" feel free to catch up. 

{2} 

What are a few of your favorite classic films? 

Let's see... Some I've especially enjoyed are: 

It's a Wonderful Life

Harvey

The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Sound of Music

The Wizard of Oz

Meet Me in St. Louis

Gone With the Wind

Sabrina

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

{3} 

Out of those films, who are your favorite characters (not actor, character)?

I love George in It's a Wonderful Life, and Maria in The Sound of Music.

{4} 

Share one of your favorite movie lines... 

I can't think of any. I'm more likely to quote lines from books or classic radio shows than movies, probably because I don't watch movies over and over.

{5} 

What is your opinion on remaking classic films? 

I like to see remakes, especially if they do a good job of it and don't spoil the story or the charm of the original.

{6} 

How about colorizing black and white films? 

I prefer the original black and white usually, though I will watch the colorized version if that's what's available.

{7} 

Name a few of your favorite silver screen actresses. 

Doris Day, Judy Garland, Donna Reed.

{8} 

Now a few of your favorite actors. 

Jimmy Stewart. That's it. Just Jimmy Stewart. 

Nobody else comes close.

{9} 

Why are they your favorites? 

I don't know. They just are! 

{whine} This is hard, Tasha.

{10} 

Do you enjoy westerns? Why or why not? 

Oh, sometimes. Especially if there's a girl in the story. Long, long ago, when I was a teenager, we used to get 16mm films from the library for an occasional Friday movie night at home. (This was in the early 1980s, lest you think I'm old enough to have watched these old movies when they originally came out. I'm not.) Our family didn't have a TV and that was before VCRs were popular, so that was a rare treat. One movie our library had was called Northwest Stampede. It was a western romance, and my sisters and I loved it. We checked it out from the library several times.

{11} 

Are you a purist when it comes to adapting a book you love to the screen? 

To a certain extent. I really appreciate it when the film sticks close to the book, but if it deviates I can still enjoy it-- just not as the "same" story.

{12} 

Are there any film adaptations that you enjoyed more than the original book? 

Not more than... but I thought Anne of Green Gables (the first movie) came awfully close. That's not a classic, though, unless you consider the 1980s to be vintage. And you might. But I don't.

{13} 

There are a lot of wonderful classic TV shows, but which one is your favorite?

The Andy Griffith Show. 

{14} 

After watching a musical, do you hum and singing snatches of the songs as you go about your day? 

Yep.

{15} 

Assuming the answer to the above is "yes", which song, without fail, get's stuck in your head? 

Any of the songs from The Sound of Music.

{16) 

What's the corniest film you've ever seen?

Probably The Princess Bride.

Welcome, Spring!

"What with all this snow and one thing and another, 

not to mention icicles and such-like, 

it isn't so Hot in my field about three o'clock in the morning." 

-Eeyore

It's the first day of spring and we get snow? Lovely.

Oh, well. I take comfort in the fact that it's a wet snow--not sticking much, so hopefully it will melt soon--and that my lilac bushes have some teeny-tiny buds, finally. The big bush behind the car, and the two along the sidewalk-- the ones that just look like dead sticks? They're lilacs. I promise. I am greatly looking forward to their lovely blossoms and fragrance in a few weeks.

I'm tired of winter.

In spite of the weatherman, I'm going to believe the calendar.

It's spring!! I'm taking it on faith.

Writing

You know how I've said for awhile that someday I'm going to write a book? Within the last couple of years I have set some specific goals for myself in that regard, and I am very excited with the progress I'm making. It may not seem like much, but the baby steps are better than just wondering if I ever could, don't you think?

The first question I get when I mention I'm an aspiring writer is: What do you write? Well, right now, this blog... oh yeah, and occasional posts for the Sonlight blog. Other than that, not much. But I'm gonna write a book. I really am.

Next question: What kind of book? That one is easy. Fiction. Probably women's fiction. Maybe young adult. But fiction is what I like to read, so fiction is what I long to write.

Then: What's your book about? Up until just the last week or so my answer has been, "Umm... I'm not really sure. It will probably be set in the mid-twentieth century. Maybe in a small town... And that's all I got!" I really sound like I know what I'm doing, don't I?

Last week on our road trip, it came to me. The subject of my novel!

I'd like to say the Lord gave it to me, but that kinda sounds like I think my book will be divinely inspired like the Bible, or something. On the other hand, I know I could never do this without His help, and if He is truly calling me to write He will give me the story and enable me to do it. So yes, I think God helped me come up with a subject that I am excited about.

So, to repeat the question: What's your book about? It's going to be set during the Great Depression on a road trip across Route 66. I'm still working on the characters and plot. You know The Grapes of Wrath, right? Well, it will be nothing like that. Except for the setting, of course. John Steinbeck, I'm not.

When I shared my idea with Lyle his immediate response was, "We'll have to research that, won't we?" We had traveled across a segment of the old Route 66 several summers ago, and we have often talked about how much fun it would be to travel the whole length (as much as still exists). I don't know if or when we'll be able to work that in (because we live nowhere near Route 66), but it would be neat, for sure.

Anyway, I'm off to the Inland Northwest Writer's Conference in Spokane today. I'm really glad the Lord gave me this idea last week so I can be thinking about it as I learn more about the craft of writing.