It’s been a while since I’ve done an Etsy post, so why not start up again by featuring my mom’s new shoppe? Before starting out on Etsy, she sold quality, handmade clothing for Himstedts, as did I. You can still buy a few of her ensembles here {KinderCottageKeepsakes}, as well as see past creations.
Her new venture on Etsy is made up mostly of handmade, anime-style, felt dolls. We have decided they are so weird that they’re pretty cute! She also sells upcycled rings made with vintage earrings and buttons, plus fabric covered button earrings. So stop by and look around. She’ll have new items up soon! 🙂

www.TheWindyHill.etsy.com

Well, this is my first post about me in a while. 😉 I have been busy with Umbrella Ave. and work, even though very neglectful of the poor little blog. I hope you’ll all forgive me when I show you some peeks at what I’ve been working on. I’ve decided to add a new line of miniature stuffed animals to my shoppe. They won’t premiere until the art show in November (wait………I didn’t post about the art show?…….wow, I really have been neglectful), but I want to show a few photos here. These are only progress shots of my newest stuffie addition, but you can see the other animals I’ve made in the last photo. These will be sold separately in little jars with lids. The inspiration came from the last issue of Where Women Create, which I will try to post photos of next week. Don’t hold your breathe, though. I would hate for anyone to pass out while waiting for me to get in gear. 😉

Lovely spools of thread which were used in my new line of embroidered footwear art.

(see last photo)

Cluttered workspace

The stuffies are completely sewn by hand with reproduction fabrics!

3 new lines: Owl-themed mirror necklaces, Vintage Stuffies & embroidered footwear art

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Well, I’m here in Vegas. We had a safe trip, even though there was some turbulence………….but after much prayer (and some excitement) we touched down in one piece. Just look at those clouds!
Tomorrow we will be shopping for clothes, but for now I want to share some photos of the vintage bed sheets, curtains, table cloths and other linens that I bought at the garage sales. 😀

Enjoy! And sweet dreams………


Wow, I’ve been very silent in the blogging realm lately. Between finishing and listing a couple of things, my regular work schedule at a local boutique, shopping in the city for my sister’s b-day, trying out some new items for the shoppe, and just plain laziness…………I have not made the time that I should. I apologize to any regular readers. But I promise to try and do better this week!
For lack of anything prepared, I am going to showcase a really neat idea that my friend, Sasha from thegildedbee, just posted on her blog.
{I know, I know………..I’m such a cheater}

Here are a few photos of Sasha’s homeade, vintage bookcover postcards. Click here to see how she did it. 🙂


My family and I went on a garage sale run today; the first this year. I got up at 6 o’clock and we started out around 7:30, shopping in 3 different towns and along the highway until late afternoon. We found SO many treasures that our van’s trunk was completely stuffed with packages….even to the point of blocking out the back window. It seemed that there were better sales this year, as well as some ridiculously good prices. I took $100 with me and came home with $25. THAT is saying something when you consider: #1. It’s me. #2. I bought a TON of stuff.

The day started out very nicely with comfortable temps. and no rain. By afternoon the sun came out and it was almost unbearable at times. But there was a nice breeze and all-in-all, today was a perfect day for garage sales. The only thing that put a damper on it was knowing that I had to clean everything up once I got home. 😉
I hope to post some more photos soon, but for now here’s a peek at some of the treasures that I can now call my own. 🙂

The family’s collective garage sale finds— We were thoroughly joyful and yet disgusted with ourselves for the excess of “junk” that we drug home. 😉

My packages (I had some more in other parts of the room— my family kept finding them while they went through their stuff)

My perfect size 11 Oxfords, brand new =$3 (I have been craving a good pair of oxfords)

Darling retro clock = $1.50

Wonderful, whimsical pincushion = $.45

A huge tub of vintage clothing patterns. They are all a size too small, but I figure it’s easily remedied by using a smaller seam allowance or adding a bit onto the pieces. This woman had great taste……..almost every pattern was adorable! I just hope they aren’t missing pieces……….

I have a long list of things to buy. It’s so hard to wait and budget…………*sigh*

Now here is a unique, eclectic set! I just love these designs by Etsian Scotatto……..all handmade of leather and other materials. Yes, even the shoes (scroll down). There were so many darling items in her shoppe that I had a VERY hard time choosing which ones to showcase here. So be sure to stop by check them out for yourself!
What a neat, chunky diary cover! I love the old-fashioned phone, stripes and calming color tones. *sigh*

I love glasses necklaces, but have never seen one with eyes……..until now!

Shoes with a Turkish flare!

Align Center

Telephone Brooch
This is the first item I saw from her shoppe………it drew me right in.

Align Center
You know me and owls………… 🙂

She has some great photos, too……….

This diary cover reminds me of a circus……a theme that I’m really fascinated with right now.

This reminds me of my sister, Amanda. Hahaha! I love it.

I got a some fabric from my Grandma a while back (as seen in a previous post) and almost as soon as I saw the striped cotton, I knew what I wanted to do with it. I’ve been seeing those cute, bubble-ish, pleated skirts around lately and have WANTED one. But I can never find a pattern for a style that is similar. So I finally decided to modify a pattern that I already had. The Simplicity pattern #2758 worked really well for a project base because of the already fitted-with-pleats waistband. And it had enough fullness at the bottom that I could easily pleat and tuck to my heart’s content without taking off the wiggle room for walking. I decided to back the cotton with another one of my grandma’s vintage pieces to give it some body and keep it from being too sheer. It worked perfectly! Below you’ll see the finished project, complete with two cute, but almost non-functional pockets that I designed myself. They are lined, as is the waistband, with a cute, retro-style cotton that I bought at one of my favorite shops here in town. The same fabric is just screaming to be turned into another necktie necklace sometime soon. 🙂

I added some vintage buttons (I recently purchased them at an antique store in Walnut) to the front for interest, and because I plan to add suspenders eventually. When I do, two more buttons will be added to the back to hold them in place. But for now, I thought adding buttons to the back might look funny. 😉

As you can see, there were still a few strings that needed to be clipped, and markings that needed to be washed out. Other than that, it was completely finished. 🙂

I hate that the horizontal topstitching doesn’t match up once the zipper is closed. They did before. 😕 Other than that, I’m quite pleased with it. I’ve made three skirts with zippers so far, each with a different method. It’s a learning experienc for sure!

And some inside views; because I have a fascination with the insides of garments.
I love patterned facings or linings. 🙂

The same thing with stuff matching up on the inside. It must have something to do with how the zipper zips and exactly where the teeth intersect.

Also, the instructions didn’t explain what to do with the side of the skirt where the facing folds over, COVERING THE ZIPPER TEETH (see the right side? If the facing had been folded straight down, like the other side was, then it would have kept the zipper from zipping all the way up). So I had to improvise and try to manipulate the fabric. I think it turned out well, though.


Once I finish my blouse, I’ll post some pics of me wearing the completed ensemble. Hopefully next week…………..

I’ve been waiting to post these photos for a while now, and am finally getting around to it. But first, a little story. 😉
My grandparents (on my dad’s side) have FINALLY moved out of their horrible, disintegrating little house in the country, and into a very nice apartment in town. It has been long-overdue. This all happened several weeks ago, and my parents went down to help them clean some things out of their old house. A lot of the relatives were there dividing things up amongst themselves; things that grandma no longer wanted or needed. My mom got in on all of the good stuff and brought home at least two boxes that were stuffed to the top and overflowing. The best treasure…….this dresser drawer filled with vintage containers (both plastic and glass), which in turn, were filled with antique buttons. Most of these were my great grandma’s. WOW! It took a lot of sorting, throwing away of things that were unusable, and cleaning (everything had been neglected and was SUPER dirty…..see pics ;), but we finally ended up with a box full of buttons and beads to be split between my mom, me and two sisters at a later time.
Another treasure that Mom brought home was a box with fabric and aprons. Each of us girls got to choose an apron and the fabric was divided between Alayna and I mostly. I’ll have to post pics of my fabric pile at a later date. 🙂
For now, I hope you enjoy these before and after photos of our buttons, and other miscellaneous stuff gleaned from Grandma’s house. 🙂
This bag and box are both full of fabric, with aprons laying on top.

More fabric, patterns, zippers and other miscellaneous stuff.

The button drawer!

Every container was full of buttons…….yummy. 🙂

Gross! Look at all of that dirt……..

The buttons all washed and laying out to dry.

Ooops…….where did this “before” photo sneak in from?

Some of the really pretty buttons. 🙂

…….Only superficial happiness, of course, but happiness nonetheless! I just scooped up these goodies on Etsy. 🙂 I can imagine the first ones appliqued onto a piece of clothing. It would have to be something that doesn’t generally need to be washed……or I could make them removable somehow. Only time will tell…….
Photos courtesy of shopangelico