Vintage Violet

I spent a better portion of yesterday whipping the basement into shape. Not the corner where my sewing machine and accoutrement have refuge, but the rest of it. The part where the laundry, sports gear, beer making supplies (not even out of the box in 3 years mind you), camping flotsam, canning shelves, bags intended for donation, the pair of groovy vintage boots I keep meaning to take to the cobbler, a gifted Mexican hammock, my craft books, his engineering books, Belgian waffle maker, clumps of hanging garlic and shallots, a 40 gal. bin filled with baking flour (all sorts), extra chick-chick feed, the detritus of my former life in boxes, delicate things put up when Lil' Hurricane Nova was born - learned to crawl - began to walk - started to climb - turned into a rock star of the utmost kind, power tools, old paint, vacuum cleaner, furnace, water heater, lumber, travel cases, fire wood, and 327 spiders share 290 square feet of raw discord. It had gone way beyond the pale. Whew! Lord, let's hope I've got that out of my system! I have the occasional bent for a tangent; I can 'run on' a bit.

Where was I? Oh yes, change of seasons, freaking out..er, I mean tidying up, sorting piles to purge and what not. In the midst of my dusty labor, I came across my box of old photos. I have a small tip to share with you – when one has limited time and a serious goal to accomplish (such as cleaning up one’s basement), it is not wise to open a neatly closed up box from the past. I’m not suggesting anything akin to the whole Pandora debacle; still, it is bound to be trouble of the most distracting sort, leading to a significant divergence from the task at hand.

And so…apropos of nothing - but for vanity and a case of rusty nostalgia, I present to you a glimpse into my past. Just file it under ‘getting to know you’.



I chose these photos for the fashion. A devout fan of the vintage from way back. The black and white photo shows a 1950's 'Ladies Lunch' dress, red and white silk screened fabric with hundreds of tiny hand sewn silver sequins. The shoes don't look like much and weren't vintage, but rather the most perfect pair of Italian boys oxfords, outlandishly expensive (a gift) and possibly one of my most loved pairs of all time.
In the color photo I am sporting an early 1960's Harley Davidson motorcycle jacket, a 50's petti and some righteous vintage cowboy boots. The Buddy Holly glasses are fakes by the way. Loving those poses!
I may immediately regret my decision to post these as I don't care to share many pics of myself, but for whatever reason, here you are.

Oh, and of course, I hinted at some gossip last post. No, it's not the big news but, I have set myself a real deadline for my grand Etsy Experiment. Regardless of whether I have 3 items or 10, I have given myself until September 30th to open shop. I mean it! I will keep you all abreast of the situation.

Have the greatest of weekends!

Oh My Darlin'

Oh my darlin'

Oh My Darlin' Clementine Skirt from Lola Nova.

As the last of the light begins to seep from the sky, a barefoot girl in braids runs pell-mell through the woods. She 'whoops' and 'hollers'; she leaps after dragon flies, and sings a song her mama taught her (she changes the words). She hops and twirls in her skirt of many colors. She spies a spider and and exclaims, "Oh, he's so beautiful, he's my best friend!" Just then, her mama shouts from the garden yonder, "Clementine, come here a minute and try this on for me, I want to take some pictures!" Suddenly, the brown eyed girl bursts out from the leaves - scattering the chickens with a squawk and a huff. "No thank you," she says sweetly, then turns on her heels singing back into the trees.


Original design and pattern from Lola Nova. Girls size 6. This makes item #3 completed for the 'Etsy Experiment'.
...and oh, on that topic, I have a wee bit of gossip for you! I'm afraid it's going to have to wait 'till next time though, I'm a woman pressed for time.

Mama Needs a Brand New Bag

Do you see this beautiful piece of vintage fabric? Gorgeous isn't it? It's not quite a barkcloth, but similar. This is from my mother's collection, in absolute pristine condition. The story goes like this; my mother entrusted this fabric to my care in order that I should make her a bag. Once the commission was complete, I was to keep some of this beauty stuff for myself, very generous thanks mom. I believe the bargain was struck well over a year ago and still, no bag. Oh woe indeed, I am a neglectful daughter of the most confounding sort. Considering that my mother (who reads this blog regularly - Hi Mom!) has been contributing to my fabric collection on a regular basis for years. She has nearly single handedly supplied me with a vintage fabric stash that is the envy of all my chums.

I'm not quite sure what the hold up has been. Of course I want it to be perfect, of course I don't want to mess up her 'favorite piece of fabric ever', and well...to be completely honest, sometimes I am easily distracted.

So, this is my current mission; to create a bag of the loveliest kind. A bag worthy of this stellar fabric and of my stellar Mom. I think I can, I think I can...
Thank you mom for being so terribly patient and for enabling my fabric addiction. I love you lots!

Making History

My Creative Space

Seasonal changes often spur me on to organize, rearrange, move the furniture and generally cause the other inhabitants of the cottage to shake their heads in consternation. Today, I set about taking on the daunting task of going through my ribbons, trims and lacy bits. These things were all crammed and confused in the bottom drawer of my old dresser in the studio, making it quite a pickle indeed. I began sorting and untangling, overcome by the ungovernable task - I was just on the verge of throwing in the tea towel and calling it an exercise in futility. It was then I came across a small tattered unmarked box. Hmmmm, 'what's this?' I wonder. Inside was a length of lovely hand crocheted lace in spotless cream. A small note accompanied it, written in that sweet old fashioned ladies penmanship. The lace was a little Christmas gift to my grandmother, Harriet, from an old friend. "It's just a bit of crocheted lace to fit a 42 inch pillow case," the note rhymed. The note was dated 1947.



I remember, just after my grandmother died, my mother and I spent a harrowing week going through my grandparents house, sorting decades of stuff that she had accumulated. While much of the questionable items went into a garage sale, there were precious things given to family. I was happy to take home all the vintage lace trims I could find. Oh, how I love the vintage!

So, as I was doing my own sorting, I thought about my grandmother and her friends, my great grandmothers and their friends - coming across more antique lace, hand tatted intricacies, unfinished crochet and other little pieces of the past. I imagined their hands moving in rhythm, creating... making history. I carefully washed some of the stained pieces and hung them on the line to dry. As I did so, I was thinking - I am touching my history, generations of women from my family have made these beautiful things with their hands. Certainly, there are some bits that I have picked up from garage sales or second hand shops; I thought about those unknown women as well, how I am now connected to them, albeit in this tiny way, to their history.


It is no wonder to me, that we seem to be experiencing a renaissance of the handmade. In a world of disconnect, of automated options, of self-serve, of the disposable...there is a need to connect. When I receive something handmade, I feel connected to the maker. I can imagine the time and care (the heart and soul) that went into it's making.

In the back corner of the drawer, crumpled and stained with age, is an old 'Red Rose' flour sack. Inside there is an unfinished blouse, also yellowed and stained. It was made by my great grandmother, possibly 100 years ago. I never met her, I don't know much about her but, I can imagine her. She is sitting in a room, needle at hand, working the thread through the fabric. She does beautiful work. She sews from necessity still, she takes pride. She has looked up for a moment and pricks her finger, staining the collar. The blouse gets put aside, forgotten. Somehow this discarded or forgotten remnant has made it's way to me, has remained when so much has been lost. I love it, it connects me to her and to myself.



Now, at the end of the day, the ribbons remain all 'a-tangle', the trims are staging a coup, and little 'organizing' has been accomplished. I tell you what though, 'I've lace on the line under the last of the summer sunshine' and I needed this more than I can tell you. I feel humbled and tired and so good. I needed reminding and maybe a little whisper from the past. I needed to connect.

Now, go connect with the creative souls over here!

The wheels in my mind keep on turning

The weather is changing, we have had some rain and cooler temps these days. My wee summer toes are bucking closed in shoes and I am not quite ready for fall. Along with the incoming season I am having a heck of a time keeping my head straight. So many ideas keep popping into my mind that I am waking up a few times a night to sketch or jot down a note. Of course when they come - they seem absolutely brilliant but, by the time I am doing the laundry or making dinner, it hits me, "Nope, no good at all!" I say to the stir fry, "It'll never work."

I am working on things for the much hinted at Etsy endeavor, not nearly where I want to be. I look around my studio and think, 'Is that all there is?'...'then let's keep dancing.' Above is a photo of a little Day Of The Dead piece I have been messing about with. I have some more embroidery and beading to add. At first, I thought I would make a few postcard size pieces, now I'm wondering if I should work it into a larger piece. I don't know.

My schedule is about to change and my studio time will be less. I may have to take up night time coffee drinking to kick up the pace. What I should be doing is filling my freezer with stews and soups, you know, gathering for the coming winter. Ah well.

Today's odd little post was brought to you by the misty shivers that are creeping in from outdoors. Oh, just a few more days of sun please, then I promise I'll be good.

We Got A Groovy Thing

Photo 2002

Today is our anniversary, Mr. Nova and I celebrate our 6th year of wedded goodness.

We had planned a joyous backyard BBQ for yesterday with all our friends and family (the very same back yard in which we were married), alas the rain poured and the wind howled. BBQ canceled, instead we had a lovely inside dinner with family. Today, it's a lazy day with just our little family of three, so nice. We are hoping for a volunteer baby sitter for this evening, so that Mr. Nova and I can have the rare and elusive date. Keeping fingers crossed.

It has not always been easy, but it has always been good.
To my sweet: I love you madly. Thank you for the best 6 years of my life!

My Creative Space

My creative space today is shared with the wee one. Not being able to settle on just one art project, we decided to go all out. We are having a grand time of it!

More creative spaces here.

Whatcha Wearing Wednesday... and a thank you

So, the smallish one has decided to get in on the WWW fun.
One sateen cape/curtain
One satin princess dress by Lola Nova
One Tulle puffy skirt by Lola Nova
Puddle Boots (on the wrong feet) handed down
Purple and White Dahlia hair embellishment from the garden
Lovely


To all of you who stopped by via the creative spaces on kootoyoo, thank you for dropping in and leaving a note about my creative space. It was lovely to hear from all of you and I am looking forward to exploring your creative spaces as well.

To all of you dear folks who helped me through my silly goose identity crisis concerning the name game, I thank you! It's awfully nice of you all to let me ramble and use this place as a sounding board. And yes, I have fully embraced Lola Nova as the one true name. I also thank you for not laughing and pointing (at least not so I could hear or see), though I am pretty sure one of you rolled your eyes dramatically.
You all are tops!

I will be back with news from the studio soon.