I Collect Nature

When I'm outside, whether for a walk or even just to take the trash out, I automatically scour the ground for treasure. A feather, pine cone or maybe even just a twig, I can't help but pick them up. Because of this I have amassed a rather large collection of bits and pieces. Some are packed away in boxes, others displayed on a small round antique table in the corner of the living room.

My vintage rusty green tackle box. It cost 50 cents at a garage sale here on the island and is in my opinion perfectly wonderful! It houses the especially tiny and terribly fragile. The blue and yellow tin is home to Oliver's rock collection.

Inside the tackle box (above and below).

See that little plastic container labeled with green masking tape? It really does have mouse teeth inside! No worries, no mice were harmed to attain the teeth :)

Some cows teeth I found in Kamloops BC.

Sand dollars found last weekend at a trip to the beach.

My bird wings.

The matching skull to the above wings.

Feathers galore! The striped feathers are from an owl.

Tiny dried bird legs.

The Long Lost Landscape

I FINALLY found it! I have been under the impression that this painting was lost during our move and was truly bummed out after I had put sooooo much work into it. That and the fact that I really like this particular piece. Today I was going through one of our boxes, filled with my paintings and there was a painting that was just the right shape to be the long lost landscape! While it sounds a little silly I must admit that I was a wee bit nervous to unwrap it from the bubble wrap it was wound up in. I really had my hopes up! But it turns out that nerves were not necessary and now my favorite painting is sitting up on the living room mantle where it rightly belongs :)

This painting was started just days before I hurt my hand in that horrid fall I had back a ways. I actually did a good amount of it with my left hand which was an incredible challenge! The tiny wildflowers along the bottom were painted and then once dry I etched them with an art knife, which you can see a close-up of in the last picture below. I apologize for the truly lousy photos! I really did try to get better ones but I'm afraid I am cursed with shaky hands and am lacking in the tripod department :)

The Cover-up

Here (above) we have one of my vintage suitcases. The previous owner was a woman with children, neon orange pen wielding children. After putting the project off for some time I decided it was finally time to do something about the unattractive artwork on my suitcase. I had already tried scrubbing way back when I first purchased the suitcase but that didn't work much at all so something else had to be done. After some scrapbook paper, glue, and sandpaper were used this is what I had......

And this picture is here simply because it is lovely :)

Pumpkin Butchering 101

Saturday morning Oliver, Liam and I all headed towards Charlottetown for some grocery shopping and to adopt a pumpkin. We stopped at a farm just outside the city where they were selling numerous pumpkins and other interesting produce (seen above). Oliver chose two large pumpkins and I picked out one very small pumpkin and a large one that really only appealed to me because of a number of greenish warts that I felt made my pumpkin far superior to Oliver's :)

Liam was not at all impressed with the pumpkins and stuck pretty close to his daddy's side.

We had a good time and what made it especially nice was the fact that our three large pumpkins and one small cost us only $3.50! A good deal I think!

Once home we set to work butchering our newly adopted pumpkins.

Oliver's two (shown above) took him literally minutes to carve!

My one large pumpkin (above) took me 5 HOURS to carve! Yes, you read that right, I sat at the table and worked for a ridiculously long amount of time and all I got was a pumpkin that will most likely be rotten before the week is over, LOL! I have to admit, this is my first attempt at carving a pumpkin and I learned a lot. Next year I will be slightly more experienced and hopefully it will only take me 4.5 hours to complete one pumpkin! I am considering carving a square out of next year's. Just a square, nothing else! That might get my time down to 3 hours if I'm lucky! Okay, maybe two squares to make it more interesting :)

Happy Haunts!

Wishing everyone a happy Halloween! We're going to head to Charlottetown today for some groceries and a pumpkin. Yes, we really left the pumpkin to the last minute! There's a farm on the road we take to town that has really nice pumpkins for only $1 so that's where our pumpkin will probably be adopted from. Have a lovely evening everyone :)

Treasure Abounds

As many know, I have an affinity for old things. Antique or vintage I love them both. No need for perfection, chipping paint, scratches, dents and yes, sometimes even very obvious breaks. Nothing is too imperfect for my tastes, as long as it's old I can give it a loving home where it will be appreciated. My love of old things really is more of an obsession really or at least so my husband Oliver tells me. It's hard for me to pass by an old beat up chair selling for next to nothing, my proof? Many old chairs scattered around my home. While sorting some of my collections the other day I decided to take some pictures. Just a sampling of some of my little things, enjoy! :)

An absolutely adorable vintage spun cotton bird.

Some antique and vintage pocket watches and jewelry.

You think I have plenty of antique Victorian trade cards? You should see my antique postcard collection! I'm definitely obsessed with old paper, LOVE it!

My Weekend

Autumn is very obviously here and I couldn't be happier! The cold crisp air, the colors, the leaves scattered across the lawn, it couldn't be more perfect. And yet I feel a slight tinge of sadness knowing that it will only last so long and soon snow will cover the ground and the leaves will be gone from sight. Already we've heard rumors of snow in the forecast, thankfully the weather man has been off on his predictions thus far but it's only a matter of time. Not that I'm dreading winter, I love looking out the window at snow and the blast of cold wind that will hit my face when I step outside to face the elements is more than welcome. I have always been a cold weather person. Often times I find myself too hot when everyone else is too cold and the thought of finally being able to wear a sweater in winter without breaking out into a sweat is a happy thought at that! The BC winters I'm used to are cold but nowhere near as harsh as a PEI winter, or at least so I have been told. In BC I could walk around outside on a snowy day in a tank top with no coat and be perfectly comfortable. I'm hoping that will change now that I'm on the island.

My yard is showing the tell-tale signs of autumn!

On Saturday Oliver and I headed to the vet in Montague with our little Boo. When weighed we found that she had lost about 3 pounds. Considering that normally she weighs anywhere from 6-7 pounds we were more than a little concerned. I really liked the veterinarian we saw. She was very nice, gentle with Boo and she didn't talk down to us like some veterinarians sometimes do. She didn't try to get us to spend ridiculous amounts of money on tests she knew wouldn't help Boo which is something that happened to us every time we went to vets in BC. She was obviously concerned about Boo. And according to the vet Boo is a very sweet and well behaved little Chihuahua. She was so good and put up with being poked and prodded by a stranger very well. The vet suggested we put her on a mild antibiotic and try de-worming her. So Boo is at home now, I think she's doing a little better. While I do have to coax her to eat she is finally eating her food now which is such a good thing! We managed to find a store that sells small bags of her old food (the food we were feeding her in BC). It's going to be a tad bit pricier to constantly buy small bags instead of the large ones we used to buy but if it's whats best for Boo then we have no qualms about spending that little extra. I'm very happy that we are seeing some improvement in her, especially since Oliver is so very attached to his old girl. If she were to pass away he would be heart broken I'm sure. I love being married to a man with such a big heart :)

On our way home we stopped to take some photos of two old abandoned houses. The first was a yellow Victorian style home and the other an old white farmhouse. These sorts of houses are so common on the island. I always feel both sad and in awe of them. I find their state of decay to be so beautiful yet I wish they weren't slowly dieing. Knowing that one day they will collapse and be forgotten is heartbreaking to someone like myself, so in love with the past and the things that were. If I had millions I would snatch up as many of these beautiful old homes as I could and restore them to their former glory.

Squirrels, Crafts, Antiques and a Sick Dog

He's still here, our resident squirrel. He seems to have found a way out of the house so now he spends some of his day outside and then comes indoors to his new home with us. What does he do in his spare time? Well often times he enjoys sitting in the tree beside the window where my desk happens to be. He likes to sit on the closest branch and curse at me for rather long periods of time. Apparently I've done something to offend him. I don't mind having him around though, it's like having another pet, one that doesn't like me and enjoys letting me know daily LOL!


The Christmas ornaments are still underway. I'm beginning to wish I were wealthy and could just go out and buy ornaments! I am still working on the bird nests and I've also made these button ball thingies. They're basically just Styrofoam balls covered in glitter and then covered in vintage and a few new buttons. I have three red ones and two white ones so far. After making these I can easily say that my hot glue gun is the devil! I can't be the only person that really doesn't like hot glue guns. It's unfortunate that they are so necessary. Ah well, such is life!

I recently made this (above) for my living room wall. I covered a damaged canvas with vintage hankies and two doilies, coated them with three coats of white gesso and some watered down brown paint for an aged look. I have SOOOOOO many doilies and am constantly trying to come up with ways to use them. I like the simplicity of this project.

Last night Oliver came home with this loverly bit of antique goodness! It's my new project. It needs it's interior paper stripped and then re-papered due to a very small mold issue. I'm going to use vinegar to clean inside which should kill the mold. This trunk was brought to PEI by ship from Belgium in 1938. We have the key to the trunk and the leather handles are still in tact which is not all that common with these old trunks.

The inside has a tray that lifts out for more storage underneath.

And here is the other special gift Oliver brought home last night! This basket trunk is a fairly rare item, there aren't many around these days. Oliver got it for a steal! This one is so huge I could easily fit inside with the top down! The photo makes it look a little warped but it's much straighter in person, it's probably just the angle I took the photo at that made it look that way. I'm a little nervous about cleaning this trunk. It's very dusty which will take quite some time to clean off but what makes me nervous is the small amount of mold on the bottom interior. I'm thinking that vinegar is the best way to attack the mold but these old baskets are so fragile as it is so I am a little worried about how well it will stand up to being cleaned. Unfortunately mold is something that can't be ignored so I am going to have to just go for it and hope for the best. I once saw one of these in a magazine and wanted one so badly but never came across any until now. This one was purchased from the same woman that Oliver got the above trunk from. It belonged to her mother who brought it over from Belgium long ago.

We recently purchased a cheap electric heating pad for the dogs to keep them warmer in the coming winter months. As you can see from the above picture, they love their new warm spot!

Poor little Boo is feeling under the weather. She won't eat and she's getting rather thin. Everything else seems fine. She is a very picky eater and we are wondering if she's just being a twit because she doesn't like her new dog food. Tonight I'm going to make her a steak of salmon for dinner with pear and peach chunks for desert (her favorite people foods). I figure if she eats her dinner then she's obviously just being picky about her dog food but if she won't eat her meal tonight then I think we need to bring her to the vet. We shall see.

My Home is Infested!

Yes, my family and I are not the only ones living in our home! It turns out there is another resident, but not the sort you're probably thinking! Yesterday a very cute very small red-brown squirrel now dubbed 'Nutkin' fell down the chimney and into our house! He seems perfectly fine but apparently our house is a much more pleasant place to live in than his house is because he won't leave! I left the door open for him today for a really long time and what did he do? He just sat right there in the doorway, not budging an inch. He keeps coming up the stairs to the main part of our house and scratching at the door. He wants into the living room apparently! Maybe he wants to watch old Disney movies with Liam? It's very strange, I can get really close to him and he takes it pretty well. I can't say I mind him being around, I just wish he would keep it down at night. Squirrels throw really wild parties and he woke me up last night at around 1AM :)

Glittery Christmas Tree Ornament Tutorial

These are some of the Christmas tree ornaments I'm working on. The bird on the left is finished and the other is almost done. If you would like to try your hand at making a glittery dove ornament you will need the following supplies:

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
White Glue (I use Aleene's Tacky Glue)
Styrofoam Balls (they're cheap at Walmart)
Brown Paper Wrapped Wire (found at Michael's with the florist supplies)
Galvanized Wire 20 GA (I found mine at Home Depot)
Yarn (I chose red)
Dried Moss ( I also used birch bark and twigs all found outdoors)
Small Silk and/or Velvet leaves (I used both)
Foam or Spun Cotton Doves (you can find these at Michael's)
Martha Stewart Glitter (any color you want)
Wire Cutters
Needle nose Pliers
Something to hang the nest with (I used antique lace and vintage seam binding for mine)
Any Other Bits and Pieces You'd Like to See on Your Nest

1) First I started out by cutting a Styrofoam ball (I used a kitchen knife for this) in half and hollowing it out a bit by pressing on the flat side with my fingers.

2) Next I wrapped the bottom and sides of the Styrofoam ball with the paper wrapped wire, the yarn and bunches of moss, using hot glue to secure them to the Styrofoam. Remember to keep the flat side of the Styrofoam uncovered.

3) I wrap the Styrofoam a couple of times making sure to cover up all of the glue. When your nest is finished there should be no dried hot glue showing. You can add all sorts of other things to your nest tucked into the yarn and wire. I added spun cotton mushrooms, silk leaves, velvet leaves, beaded berries and bits of lace among other things. I find it best to attach these items with hot glue to make sure they stay put. These are also handy for covering up glue showing through the yarn.

4) Put your nest aside and get to work on your bird. First cover any part of your bird that you want glittery with white glue (leaving the bottom of the bird glue free). Try to get this step done as quickly as possible as some types of glue can dry very fast.


5) Once covered in glue, hold the bird over a clean piece of paper and sprinkle glitter all over the glued areas. I like to tap the bird a couple of times somewhere there isn't glitter to get any excess glitter off. To save the excess glitter simply make a funnel out of the piece of paper you glittered your bird over and carefully pour the remaining glitter back into it's container. Set your bird aside to dry.

6) Once your bird is dry, place a decent sized blob of hot glue on the flat side of your Styrofoam ball nest (this is of course the top of the nest) and place your bird into the hot glue, thus attaching your bird to it's nest.

7) There should be areas around the bird where the Styrofoam is not covered. Use hot glue to adhere bunches of moss around the bird making him (or her) nice and cozy.

8) Using your needle nose pliers make two small loops of the galvanized wire, twisting the ends as shown in the image above. Next take a length of ribbon or lace and tie each end to one of the wire loops.

9) Push the twisted ends of wire into the nest, one on each side of the bird. I secure these with a small blob of hot glue which is then conveniently covered by my birds wings. Now all that's left to do is to set your newly finished Christmas ornament aside to completely dry before hanging it on your tree! Hopefully that wasn't too confusing! This is my first attempt at a tutorial :)