It's A Dream, It's Magic

Beyond a threshold of scattered telltale glitter is a magical place,

where creations are dreamed up and breathed into being.

It's waiting there for you--something that will own your heart,

only after soothing your mind and dazzling your eyes.

It's dressed up in the holidays' most enchanting finery

and plainly sitting on a shelf

for you and your friends to discover

at the Christmas Open House in Wendy Addison's Theatre Of Dreams.

Bring it all home on your last chance: December 10th & 11th from 10:00 - 5:00

#11 Canyon Lake Drive

Port Costa, CA (510) 787-2164

Think Small

Talk about a Merry Little Christmas! I'm a big believer in small thinking. Take care of the small stuff and the big stuff will take care of itself. It's all in the details. Oh, and often it's much cheaper since less materials are used!!!



I had big fun making these miniature candy canes and popcorn garland from Divine Twine in Cherry and Lemon, and decorating a 4 inch vintage bottlebrush tree.



(Photo from whiskergraphics.com)



It was super simple. I love working with this twine--it's unlocked a new area of my brain full of ideas! You can go HERE to see the instructions for making these tiny non-caloric treats.

Tweet Little Yarn Bomb

(Photo from Divine Twine)

Have you heard of Yarnbombing, Knit Graffiti, and Guerrilla Knitting? Yarnbombing is a collective response to the urban and mass-produced. From light poles to buildings and everything in between, nothing is safe from being wrapped with yarn, string and twine!

I work for a very creative woman at Room With A Past and recently added a second creative woman as a client in my Personal Assistant venture when I started working for my friend, Whitney Beard, who has developed a business out of her desire for brightly colored, 100% cotton baker's twine. Now that I'm working at Divine Twine HQ, I've got my hands on her product and I couldn't wait to get my fingers into it too!

I'll leave the Yarnbombers to do what they do best while I, as the saying goes "not try to change the whole world, just my little piece of it". Here's just one of the ideas that popped into my head on how to craft with Divine Twine:

I wrapped a twig found on one of my daily walks with the new Brown Sugar twine, used the Green Apple for the leaves & stems and made roses from the Cotton Candy. It's all wrapped and glued on with plain old white glue, which the twine quickly soaks up, making the twine a breeze to work with!

The leaves are cardboard with a thin wire glued in the center, to hold a shapely bend. I lightly "serrated" the edges of the leaf before wrapping to give the twine a little guidance on where to go.

The roses just sort of appeared on their own as I wrapped the twine around a wire!

The little curly vines were made by wrapping the Divine Twine around a wood dowel, rubbed with wax paper for easy removal, spraying it with a stiffener (I had my Bedhead hairspray handy, so I used that!) and waiting, waiting, waiting ever so patiently to let it dry before I could pull it off and play with the "SPROING"!

I think I need to make a nest to put it in the crook of the twig for the birdie! She's got the newest addition of color to the Divine Twine family in her beak~PLUM!

Brown paper packages tied up with string, these (and more to come) are a few of my favorite things!

Too Early For Spring Thoughts?

More photos from the "Car Cam"! I hit a sale a few weeks ago being held by a woman with HUGE vintage love and SMALL house ownership. Lucky me!

I got quilts/chenille spreads in different sizes, embroidered shams, pillows, and other goodies. Some will be kept, others will be going into Room With A Past. My only question is....

Is it too early to sell these spring colors?!??! What do you think?

Have A Shabby Shriek Halloween!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my fashion show. Every October at Room With A Past the "Roomies", of which I am one, get our hands busy making a decorated witch hat to wear to the Thursday evening opening. It's the latest fashion statement for those who like to stand apart in a crowd, snag low hanging chandeliers, and scare small children.

And now without further ado, I'd like to present to you this year's hat:


It stands 14 inches tall, and is comprised mainly of (non-flammable) black sateen polyester. The cone is stuffed with tissue paper to retain it's fashionably rigid shape.


Here we see a skeleton crew of pink tutu'd, pom-pom bandeau topped skinny minis and their black arachnids pets. Such little angels aren't they...?

They sweetly hold a banner while hovering over a lovely garden of pink cabbage roses and fresh, spring daisies, which are bordered by a few vintage floral hankies affixed to the wide, black hat brim.

Please notice how their pearly popping eyeballs perfectly accentuate the sparkly pink glitter in their tibia bone-length garments. Thank you ladies...

The tippy top is embellished with a single pink, black widow-infested daisy, atop a frothy pink tule boutonnière medallion.

And now turning your attention to the back of the hat, you can see how the entire base is wrapped and anchored with more sparkly, tule confection and the trademark pink with black polka dot ribbon gathered up in a bow.

This concludes this year's showing. Please remember to pick up your free anti-venom kits on the way out the door, and we hope you've enjoyed the show!

Haul-A-Lujah!

I feel so lucky to have found two great estate sales last weekend that were virtually deserted so I had lots of time to nose around through all of the vintage finds! At the first one I found this great sewing basket with a few odds n ends inside,

a peach taffeta prom dress, some old kids records, kids school science book, a game, a cake decorator,

a doll's closet with two sliding doors and a drawer below, an old photo album with mat inserts, a hat box (from Capwell's!) with two vintage hats sill in their tissue packages, a blue tutu for my pal Carrie at Hip Chick,

an old toy cash register, a huge aluminum lazy susan with handles and a few bits of ephemera.

My second lucky stop was at a house that was built in 1816, and was the "country" home for the Weaver family from San Francisco. They were in real estate, as were the Bundy family who had a small house on the same property. I wish I had taken a picture of "the big house". It was a modest, two story house with fish scaled siding and was painted purple. Lots of arched windows with thick, white moulding surrounding them. My kind of house! There I picked up a huge vintage abacus, glass cake stands, a red & white quilt, some Victorian silver pieces (a bird-topped sugar bowl with 12 spoons, a bride "basket" and a huge silver handled tray), and a huge ceramic pitcher with roses on it. I didn't have room to store it all at home, so the second haul went straight into the shop, hence no photos of these lovelies! Guess you'll just have to come see them October 21 - 24th!

XOX 4 U

Been busy painting, hauling, arraigning and working the sale at Paris Flea Market, and getting ready for the sale at Room With A Past, so there's just enough time to blow you a kiss...


Talk soon!

Silhouette Painting 1.0

My Saturday started here in the quaint little town of Benicia, CA. as the owner of Hip Chick, Carrie and I met and started setting up for students who were on their way.



You can always expect an inviting welcome when Frances is stationed at the door!


When everyone had arrived and settled in, we got right down to work picking a customized pattern and learning the reverse painting techniques.

As we painted, the art become visible. Carrie C. chose a pattern with a tutu (no surprise there!) but didn't realize how her art was imitating a (still) life in the corner!

Taking a break to let the paint dry between coats gave us time to explore Hip Chick and shop a little, eat our snack of the day, and

form exciting epiphanies for other applications which the silhouette painting could be used!

Everyone went home with a finished project, a how-to/resource sheet, contact info for my favorite shop, Room With A Past, and lots of inspiration for the next silhouette painting they'll be making at home!

I had so much fun showing them all the tips and techniques. They all got so "in to it", that they were coming up with lots of ideas of their own which they couldn't wait to try out! It was like a party with friends in my own living room! Thanks so much for coming!

The graduates included:

Carrie and her shoes (clothes and shoes were on her brain as she is expanding a small closet in her new home!)

Rebekah, the bird lover, Jes the Raven fan, Carrie C. the tutu addict, and Joni, another bird fan!

Stay tuned for RSP 2.0!

It's The Little Things

I do love a sweet silhouette! Here's a vignette in my hallway of a few small ones I've collected:




I love this one best. It was done with ink (not by me!). Click on the picture to enlarge it.


I can't wait to teach how to make reverse silhouette paintings on glass tomorrow at Hip Chick Designs! I'll let you know how it goes!

Reverse Your Thinking And Learn Something!

How would you like to make your home a little sweeter and end your summer feeling like you learned something creative? Then you'll definitely want to sign up for a class I'm SO excited to be teaching on Reverse Silhouette Painting on Saturday, August 28th from 10AM - noon at the fun & funky location of Hip Chick Designs, in the beautiful little bay side town of Benicia, CA!


HIP CHICK DESIGNS--Owned by Carrie Clayden



In this two hour class you will learn hands-on skills and tips that will inspire you to paint your own future one-of-a-kind works of art & signs, from elegant to whimsical on framed glass, old windows and mirrors.


Reverse painting is an a very versatile, easy (really!) and forgiving art, with possibilities limited only by your imagination.


You'll complete a framed 5" x 7" project in the studio, then partake in shopping for unique treasures at Hip Chick Designs . Make a day of it by heading to nearby First Street in downtown Benicia for more shopping in lots of quaint little stores and a bite to eat in one of the many cafes and restaurants!

All supplies, and a resource sheet are included in the $25.oo fee. For more information and to sign up (by Wednesday, August 25th) contact me at mackely@astound.net.