Lola Rue Open House

I really can't believe it is holiday open house time. Lisa sure does it up with the wow factor times 50! If you haven't been to any of the Lola Rue open houses you are missing out on a real treat. She shuts the doors down, papers the windows and then does her wonders for 2 days and then the unveiling occurs. This is something you will not want to miss. The holiday open house hours are Friday 6:30-????? for the unveiling and then 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. Saturday & Sunday. I even have a few baubles placed in the extravaganza.....unfortunately I have to miss the event as we have a hockey tournament this weekend.



This is an example of Lisa's displays....I have always loved it! Luckily for me.....she chose my hand cut silhouettes to display here. Really, I hope you can all attend the holiday open house. As usual, new and unique items are added to the inventory at Lola Rue daily....that is just one of the many special & unique touches that you find in a store as wonderful as Lola Rue. Lola Rue is located at 531 N. College Avenue.....Bloomington, IN.....hope to see you all there.

One Room Schoolhouse

Situated in the northern most part of Monroe County in Bloomington, Indiana is a place I am very fond of. Honey Creek school is a little one room school house. In second grade I was fortunate to attend this school on a class field trip to learn about what it was like over 100 years ago when children went to school. My actual second grade teacher was a real teacher in this school and she was instrumental in restoring it as a historical site and making it a learning place for children today. My own children went on field trips, camps, and filmed movies here at Honey Creek. Rachel Christy my beloved teacher passed away on May 14, 2008 at the age of 97. I have loved her almost my whole life and I think about her so much. After retirement she wrote children's books such as Wishing on a Star & Other Stories and Clowns Can Cry & Other Stories. At her retirement party in around 1977 we sang her the song Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley...it was her favorite. It was my idea because I loved her so tender.

This is where children still get their drinking water while attending Honey Creek. It is so exciting and fun to be the one to collect the water. I am sure it was drudgery when you actually attended school here. I remember how fun it was dressing up in my bonnet and prairie dress to pump the water.

One swing....but it was actually fun taking turns and pushing my friends. Another fun activity was playing a game where you threw a ball over the school house. It was something like Red Rover Red Rover....but for the life of me I can't remember what Mrs. Christy called it.

Oh yes....now here was a favorite place. I didn't ever use the outhouse, I was too grossed out....but I guess then I really didn't have to go. It is a very authentic place to attend and this is no exception.

The wood shed....because the school is actually heated with a wood stove. During the time the big boys got to chop the wood to heat the school house. Even in the spring months it was chilly in the old school house....but not when the wood stove was good and stoked. Honey Creek is a fabulous place. I love going to visit and it will be a fond memory for years to come. Thank you Rachel Christy for being instrumental in bringing this gem back so we can learn and remember what it was like long ago. I hope you have enjoyed my walk down memory lane and learning about a little history here in Bloomington. Blessings for an artfully creative day.

Halloween Whimsy

Here is a look at some Halloween Whimsy I have created. The photo really doesn't do it justice, but they are vintage checker pieces that have Halloween Silhouettes on them. Then I soldered around the edges so I could attach the jewelry hanger. I then added soldered pieces around the edges in black and silver polka dot 'bumps'. I really like the affect.

This vintage tray was a gift from Lisa last year. It is always up but I just change up the wording to fit my mood.....because it is a chalk board. Lisa has a shop called Lola Rue located here in Bloomington. If you are ever in town definitely check it out.....heck make a special trip over because it is that cute.

Here is a little Halloween vignette in my kitchen. This is where I do most of my decorating. Hey we are in this room the most of any. These are Poliwogs. I bought these about 1o years ago before his whole line was mass produced in Hong Kong. I hate it when this happens. These aren't originals....but I do have some of his signed pieces. They go great with my yellow ware don't you think????

Here are some more Poliwogs. I just adore them.

And this large pumpkin is my favorite one of all. Perched up top is a little witch. I just love my little Halloween vignettes. They bring me great joy. I hope you have enjoyed a little of my Halloween Whimsy. Blessings for an artfully creative day.

Black & White Petite Inspiration Box

I had so much fun participating in Heather's (Speckled Egg) Black & White Petite Inspiration Box Swap. Here is a little peek at mine all wrapped up and ready to be sent off. I really like to wrap them all up pretty. The girls should have received mine by now.

I know it isn't exactly white......but I think white is various shades of white to tan. I love an aged affect. Isn't that black rhinestone ring neat. You would have seen this if you saw my post on my craft room make-over. They are really like vintage tortoise with rhinestones in them. I got them off an old vintage sweater. I thought they were the perfect wrapping accoutrement. Anything is special when it is packaged with tulle....don't you think? And sheet music....well you can never go wrong with that.

It was fun to keep the girls guessing what was packaged inside. You just had to keep on taking the layers off. I don't know if I could have opened it. I would have just marveled at the beauty....ok....I am gushing about myself.....how selfish is that? I will let you know who my partners are when I receive their boxes.....I can't wait. I will post those later. I am sure I won't do them justice.

And here they are.....my little Frozen Charlotte black & white match boxes. I sure do love to participate in these swaps. It is fun and manageable to decorate these large kitchen match boxes.....and it isn't overwhelming to fill them up with items the girls would love to use in their future creating endeavors. So I hope you like my boxes because I had a ball making them. Blessings for a creatively productive day.

A Little Piece of my Heaven

All though I can't say that my week was particularly stressful.....because I try to not allow stress into my life.....it definitely was trying. As we head into the month before Silver Bella everyone is scampering around to finish up last minute swaps....meet mailing deadlines.....prepare for vendor night.....and the numerous shows many of us participate in during the holiday season....life can appear stressful. So I like to enjoy the tranquil beauty of the surroundings around me. Jeff & I are huge yard people. Now let me for warn you....we have many areas of ugliness.....but many of them beautiful. It is a work in progress. I just adore my many varieties of sedum. About 2 years ago I planted my barrels with a sedum I fell in love with because of it's drape. I love the way it hangs down. It comes back every year and I just plant something behind it. This year I did an annual grass. Last year I did a pale pink geranium. Look at it next to the lambs ear....don't the colors just make you giddy?



We have been working on this waterfall for about 2 years. Jeff created it & has this vision. Right now it doesn't even work & that is fine by me. Do you know how much water flow a 15 foot water fall creates? I can't even enjoy my Koi because they don't appear to like the water fall. They never come up when it is on. So I am happy it isn't working properly right now. I must say it is pretty and serene when it is on. They say every garden should have a water feature.




Here you can see a few Lily pads. I love them. I have cream flowers and fuscia flowers. I usually get about 2 or 3 blooms a day. I know nothing about Lily pads....but they are working out beautifully. They also provide shade for the Koi and I think that is really neat.

There you can see my large gold fish. I love her. She is so graceful. She really is like a pet to us. We talk to our fish and they come up when we approach. Jeff says they only want to be fed.....but I think he is wrong.

I love my little bit of heaven. It is peaceful.....serene.....and a joy just to go out and sit for awhile and read a book. We are out here a lot. I hope you have enjoyed my little garden area. Come for a visit and we can catch up or just leisurely read a book in peace. Blessings for an artfully creative & relaxing day.

Some Vendor Night Creations

Here are a few of the things I have been working on for Vendor Night for Silver Bella. These are vintage keys with tiny frozen charlottes. They are blinged up with tiny vintage rhinestones and book paper.

These are silver soldered Eiffel Towers on vintage french book paper. They are kind of like a small shadow box.

These tiny frozen charlottes are encased in glass and have vintage German book paper. The German book paper that I have came to me by a gentleman who escaped Nazi Germany before WW2. These are deep and it looks like the frozen charlotte is floating. The photos really don't do them justice.

These are just whimsical flowers. They have various book papers, and whimsical fun scrapbook papers. They have been really fun. I gave one to my mother and she literally wears it every day because she thinks it is so fun. I apologize for the poor quality in the photos. Friends have been requesting that I post photos of the things I create.....and I really don't do too much of that because I never get a good quality photo. Jodie LeJeune of Everything Vintage I am not....Love you Jodie! I hope you have an artfully creative day. Blessings.

Cast Iron Seasoning

So you think I am crazy huh? I do cook with cast iron cookware. I love the way it cooks our food....it makes it taste so much better. It gives the food such a nice texture and flavor. I started using cast iron about 20 years ago when Jeff and I first were married. There were several pans in 'his' kitchen when I moved in....left over from his mother's cooking days. It is a little hard to care for and some people are bothered by the fact that you NEVER use soap on it. But I thought I would share with you the task that I go through every so often to season it. I SHOULD do this after each use but who has the time for that and the clean up is so easy since nothing sticks to it. Cast iron is the original 'non-stick' pan.


First I line up all my cast iron cookware on the counter. I have a really long island and just sort of move my way down the line. Then, I pour in some olive oil....umm maybe about 2 tablespoons or so....that is really not important at all.

Next I pour in some kosher salt. The kosher salt is important because of its coarseness. It is abrasive and that helps restore the finish. The pale yellow circle in the center of the oil is the kosher salt....it isn't really yellow but when mixed with the olive oil it turns the pale yellow color that you see.

Then with a thickness of about four paper towels I give the oil and salt mixture a little elbow grease and start scrubbing. I keep my kosher salt in the little salt box on the counter. I just use it out of that container as opposed to the blue box it comes in. I like period pieces and that is the container they used before salt was sold out of a box. I am a big container person....almost everything that comes into this house comes out of its original packaging and into a container I have here. My goal in life is to be surrounded by beauty.....however please note that I did not change the olive oil bottle....I like the one it came in and I just refill it from the large can in the pantry. See the nice shine on the pans....now they are properly seasoned. I hope you have enjoyed my little lesson on seasoning cast iron cookware. Why don't you fry up some potatoes....or make some fried chicken and let me know if your taste and texture isn't just like the way your Grandma used to make it.