Bethlehem Summerfest

Summer is at it's peak with this spell of hot and humid weather.  Thunder storms, heavy rains and above average temperatures have wreaked havoc on my garden. The berries are prolific however, and soon the days will be crisp and dry.

 In between trying to save the garden,  and spending as much time as I can with my beautiful new grandson

I've been sewing and crafting.  Here is a little preview of some new items I will have at the Bethlehem Art Walk this Saturday, August 11th. 

 Pretty mix and match cottage bed pillow cases in vintage floral prints trimmed with lace and pom poms

 Garden girls hand embroidered lavender sachets and pillows

Some fun new towel designs useful rustic farmhouse kitchen art

Stop by and say HI!

Lovely June

Ahh June, all lovely in purple

Lilacs bursting

Lobelia pouring

Iris waving

What a delight!

Fields of Lupin Celebration 2017

Saturday and Sunday, June 3 & 4 2017

Welcoming spring in the White Mountains

Fields of Lupin Celebration

This year's open air market has more vendors than ever.

Open Air Market

I'll be at booth 23, in front of the Meetinghouse.  Stop by and say hello.  

Here's a sneak preview of some of my creations.

Autumn's Bounty

"How silently they tumble down

And come to rest upon the ground

To lay a carpet, rich and rare,

Beneath the trees without a care,

Content to sleep, their work well done,

Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly

Until they nearly reach the sky.

Twisting, turning through the air

Till all the trees stand stark and bare.

 

Exhausted, drop to earth below

To wait, like children, for the snow." 

-   Elsie N. Brady, Leaves

May you enjoy a bountiful autumn season...

Lupine Fields and Garden Picnics

God made a beauteous garden
With lovely flowers strown,
But one straight, narrow pathway
That was not overgrown.
And to this beauteous garden
He brought mankind to live,
And said "To you, my children,
These lovely flowers I give.
Prune ye my vines and fig trees,
With care my flowers tend,
But keep the pathway open
Your home is at the end."

God's Garden” 
― Robert Frost

Flea Market Finds and French Musings

 Happy unofficial start to summer!  The season for flea marketing, antiquing, and craft fairs has arrived!  Here are a few of my newest found treasures before and after.

Mid-century modern night stand before...

After a light sanding, fresh coat of creamy white paint, and some floral graphics* decoupage.

Plain Pine Cabinet before...

After... painted linen white on the outside and robin's egg blue on the inside.  I added a door lined with chicken wire and an antique blue knob.

The top is decoupaged with an antiqued French garden label*.  Boring cabinet becomes chic cupboard!

Clunky Oak Table before...

After... sanded and painted a fresh cream color

 The top decoupaged with an antique French postcard print*

70's chunky magazine rack before...

After...deconstructed, painted and reassembled.  Chicken wire and an antique French wine label* graphic hold wine bottles.  Simple screws hold the wine glasses.

*The graphic transfers come from The Graphics Fairy

See you at the Lupine Festival in Sugar Hill June 12th!

5 Custom Picnic Baskets

There is something divinely romantic about a summer picnic

 an afternoon in a country field, a Sunday drive up the coast or to the mountains

 in a park by a river, or afloat on a boat

Sure, you can throw some food and drinks in a cooler,

But the charm of an old fashioned picnic basket evokes by-gone days without full agendas, when all that matters is warm sunshine on a bright summer day, being with someone you love - friends or family, enjoying food that has been lovingly prepared and carefully packed, and perhaps some inspirational reading.

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold, 

And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; 

Round many western islands have I been 

Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. 

Oft of one wide expanse had I been told 

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne; 

Yet did I never breathe its pure serene 

Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: 

Then felt I like some watcher of the skies 

When a new planet swims into his ken; 

Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes 

He star'd at the Pacific — and all his men 

Look'd at each other with a wild surmise — 

Silent, upon a peak in Darien. 

“” 

The sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" 

October 1816 

Recipes for a Summer Picnic