pamgarrison

...

oh my! a journaling post?!?

 

Yep, still doodling, and journaling and cutting and pasting, just not as much since I've been up to other shenanigans. Here are some pages from my current journal. I'm pretty much only grabbing these two these days. My hard cover journals have been left neglected, while these soft-cover, easy to grab and go journals are my current choice. This top one is really just scraps of paper sewn together. The cover is a lovely postcard received long ago from Wendy Addison and her Theater of Dreams shop sale. I've savored it for years.

 

See how haphazard the "construction" of the book is? It's sewn and taped and glued together, made from scraps. Here's the back:

 

I'm using this journal for my take everywhere notepad these days. Planning parties, fun ideas, and I've even printed out inspiration I've seen on the internet and glued it in. So many wonderful ideas that I love to look at again and again for stimulation. The internet and the creativity shared there is amazing.

 

 

In the other, more traditional journal, is where I've been putting the flotsam and jetsam of my life and mind. Here's a page I did for Teresa's journaling ezine this summer.

 

And pages from this last week:

 

And even some blank pages to work on whenever.

 

I've got another journaling post in the works, and it includes a good giveaway too, so stay tuned you journalers, or those of you that like to see the journal pages of others (yes, that was a giveaway hint)...

happy harvest

brocante carnival

What is it about a secondhand market, also known in French as “brocante,” that stirs our souls? It is where we search for weathered chairs, vintage books, and antique linens. It is where we find objects that sing to us as we invite the power of potential to unleash our imaginations as we seek to elevate how we live, what we create.

 

If the hunt for flea market treasures is something you’d like to discover for the first time, or enjoy in the company of like-minded friends, it is our hope that you’ll join us for a special outing as outlined below:

 

                         Heather Bullard, Pam Garrison, Amy Hanna & Jenny Doh

                                                       Cordially invite you to

                                     Brocante Carnival

                            Date: Sunday, November 8th
                                          Place: Pasadena Rose Bowl
                                   Start Time: 9:00 a.m.

A limited number of goody bags will be dispensed at 9:00 a.m. at the front entrance gates. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. After the goody bags, we will enjoy quick introductions, followed by a review of friendly flea marketing tips, and some fun surprises. And then, we will all enter the grounds to shop. You are free to roam the aisles alone, or with other guests, or alongside Heather, Pam, Amy, or Jenny.

 

Lunch Time: 12:00 p.m.

At noon, you are invited to join us at the green picnic tables with a lunch that you have packed for the day, or purchased at one of the food stands. During lunch, we will enjoy the best part of flea marketing, which is a “show & tell” of what you’ve found with others. After we have re-fueled, Heather, Pam, Amy, and Jenny will award very special handmade prizes to those with the best flea market “tote-ables” as follows:

·      Best flea market apron

·      Best flea market cart

·      Best flea market totebag

 

Notes:

• Brocante Carnival — in terms of the activities planned by Heather, Pam, Amy and Jenny — is a free event that will officially conclude with the best tote-able awards, but of course everyone will be welcome to continue shopping until the flea market closes at 3:00 p.m. Please note that in order to enter the flea market, regular admission of $8.00 per person will need to be paid at the gate. For details regarding admission, please visit the Rose Bowl flea market site here.
• You are encouraged to visit Heather’s blog post containing her best flea marketing tips to help you prepare for the event here
• Throughout the day, photographs will be taken as we aim to cover the adventures of Brocante Carnival in a future issue of Somerset Life magazine.

 

 

Will we be seeing you there? Let us know. We are looking forward to meeting local flea market loving people from the blogosphere! xo 

{Ed: No need to RSVP, just show up if you feel so inclined that day}

i'm fall(ing) for felt

  

Actually, I've always loved felt, but I couldn't resist the play on words since I used it to make a garland for fall. So simple and so sweet to me. I was inspired by Elsie's adorable fall garland, and also two rolls of garland leaves made of felt (seen below). I don't remember where I got these mass produced felt leave garlands, did anyone else get these last year? Maybe it was Martha at Michael's? Or Pottery Barn? Possibly from a friend that works at Crate and Barrel? Wish I could remember. Anyway, back to the handcrafted leaf garland. Want to make a fall leaf garland of your own? If so, you'll need some felt. Heather Bailey has some beautiful colors in her new felt line that you can see here. I'll leaf the rest to you, ha ha. And if you don't want to make your own, I'm going to make some for my vendor table at Silver Bella, so you can get one there!

Here's the mass produces felt leaf garland I was mentioning above:

        

janice lowry gothold

I was honored to attend a beautiful celebration for Janice Lowry this last weekend. The service was very special and included so many touching elements. There were eulogies (including a beautiful one by the art world's very own Jenny Doh, which you can read here), songs, prayers, and a slide-show to name just some parts of the service. Janice was such a big spirit in such a tiny little frame. It was never more clear than at her service, where her big playful spirit was clearly present. I'd like to share a video of her that celebrates her better than any words of mine could. I hope you'll watch it and spend a few moments remembering her.

so excited about this!

Episode 1 is showing on Sundance Channel now, and Cox on demand if you get that. If you watch it, be sure you read the end while they are running credits, cute ending to the finds.  All I want is more from Anthropologie; I hope that they will eventually show us how they make store displays, their creative team and processes. I'm not summing it up right, but you know what I mean: more of all the creativity that goes into the store, more behind the scenes.

and this looks great too...

          Thank you Sundance Channel. Yes, please, more more more.

what i'm working on these days

No. It's not the gorgeous embroidered initial P above, that's from a French sheet. I wish I could embroider like that!

What I'm working on is a new quilt for my family. You can see parts of it above. I've been wanting to make another quilt for my family for years. I made my first (and only big quilt) back in 1997. I wrote about that one in this post. We love that quilt and use it daily.  With two kids, I'd like to have another quilt that they grow up using and making memories with.  Since my son is 10, I best get on it!

Lately, I've been enjoying quilting posts in the blog world. I love Jennifer's gorgeous quilts and their small patches of beautiful fabric mixed so masterfully together. Jenny's tale of her first quilt is inspiring. And  Soule Mama's recent quilting; so lovely. Reading these stories cemented my desire to get another quilt started. I'm having fun. I ordered a book on patchwork quilting, but it is yet to arrive. I lost patience waiting and couldn't resist the desire to cut and stitch strips of fabric together, so I guess I'm going to make it up as I go along again. Hopefully, that book will arrive soon. Any recommended books for beginning quilters? Wish my Aunt Bonnie were coming out for a visit. She could school me on quilting in no time.

 

{All the fabrics shown are either from my stash, JoAnn's, SuperBuzzy, or purlsoho. }

I'll be back soon with an update. xo

 

a change of heart

Suddenly, I find I'm ready to let go of summer and welcome fall...

 

Thanks to these flickr members and their photos, I can sum up my feelings:

1. autumn, 2. treasure from uppercase, 3. .my thermos collection., 4. baby you're a star, 5. never a dull moment, 6. Ian's holiday gifts, 7. Autumn Browns, 8. collection, 9. fall acorns, 10. last look, 11. Fungus "bouquet", 12. acorns, 13. Untitled, 14. dancing flowers pendant, 15. color, 16. SolitO, 17. {five}, 18. ***, 19. Untitled, 20. Moslee, 21. Souvenir, 22. tricolore, 23. ♫ “Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?” ♫, 24. creepy circus house - miniature, sculpture, toy - 3" tall, 25. Untitled, 26. Compare them on white, 27. GLOBE DE MARIEE, 28. Yummy // Homemade // Goodness, 29. Untitled, 30. Undecided