My Tuesday morning.

I think I need to renew my AMSA membership so I can continue to get New Physician magazine, it's pretty decent. Also, Vogue came in. It's supposedly the "Biggest Issue Ever." We'll see....

I do this thing where I rip out all the advertisements in magazines that don't have articles/magazine material on the opposite side. I usually exclude perfume ads and any that I think are fun or attractive. Below I show a before (w/ads) and after (w/out ads) picture of the magazine. The once phonebook-sized magazine is now hollowed out with loose binding. How much do we pay for advertisements? I'm never going to wear Oscar de la Renta or Gucci anything...that's not me. I still love the magazine though.

BEFORE AFTER

Some antique dishes

I've been collecting for a couple years now. I just love the look and wear of these mix-matched dishes. I particularly love plates and teacups with gold and silver guilting, roses and rich colors.

Flower drawing....again.

I think I've drawn one too many floral pictures. I need some new drawing subjects. Any suggestions?

Completed quilt...

I finished the quilt last night. It was difficult to get a good picture of it, but here it is:

On the reverse side I added my sister and brother-in-law's monogram in the corner. I'm not very good at satin stitch embroidery, but I'll keep trying.

Marble magnets

I was running out of magnets on my refrigerator, so I made these:

Not Martha has a good tutorial on how to make them. I chose to use the blue/green magazine pages of the latest Anthropologie catalog. I've made some for my friends/family to match their kitchen decor....It's something to do when you're bored.

More knitting needles:

I've recently received several inquiries about/requests for the handmade knitting needles. I've made several more pairs, so please take a look here.

Cat and quilt

I'd like to introduce my cat, Marty. She's a 13 year-old, content, raven beauty. Her favorite pastime is laying in sunny spots and teasing the dog. I'm sure you'll see more of Marty in future posts.

I would also like to offer a a first look at my latest project: a quilt for my newly-married sister and brother-in-law. I've been using old sheets and pajama pants for the material. I am off to the store to pick-up some more thread, batting and fabric. I will post pictures of the finished project later.

Wedding flowers

Yesterday was a thrill...FedEx delivered over 3,000 stems of flowers for my sister's wedding. Many of the names I can't remember, but some of my favorites include: English roses, peonies, hydrangeas, eucalyptus, wax flower, ranunculas, spray roses and stock. I had a field day preparing her table arrangements and bouquets. Good times ahead tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes she's serving for dessert. :)

Crocheted Rag Rug Part I

Vintage Chica implanted the idea of rugs in my head a few days back. This blog shows a wonderful tutorial on how to crochet rugs out of old fabric scraps. I've been using old sheets (washed) from the thrift store. You can't tell in the picture, but the rug measures approximately 4'6'' in length. I plan to continue crocheting in the round until it is about 3-4' in width. My hands and arms have gotten a workout from this one...I have to put the scissors and hook down frequently to prevent cramping up. I should be on an Aleve commercial. I think it will be worth it though.

I love my local antique mall

I spent the better part of Thursday afternoon at the huge antique mall near my house. I could browse for hours in that place. The turnover of their merchandise is fantastic so I can revisit every month or so for 'new' items. I've been on a vintage tin kick for a while, and I bought two yesterday: one box ($3.5) and one bowl ($3.5). I also bought a blue Ball jar for $3 which I'll probably use to keep flowers. Not a huge spree, but a fun one.

Inspiration Wednesday:

Anthropologie is one of my largest suppliers of eye candy. So naturally I found some project/design inspiration in their August catalog. I particularly love this hodgepodge sweater. I remember seeing something similar a while back and having the same reaction to it; therefore, it must go on my To Make list.

The last time I visited the Anthropologie store I spent over an hour leafing through their collection of travel and design books. I'm going to have to commit several of these to my collection.