Not What I Imagined...Vintage Aprons, and a Little Advice...

Good afternoon, everyone!

It's a beautiful day today--the sun is peeking through the clouds, it's still overcast, but it's not raining right now...easier to get the errands done!

My husband called me this morning after he left for work & said, "Quick! Grab your camera and look out in the backyard!" I wondered what on earth he could be so excited about, but did as he asked, and saw the most glorious sunrise! Of course, the camera (mine, anyway!) never could capture it properly, but here's what I saw through my kitchen door:

Lots of vintage fun to share today!

First off, I'll show you some cards I've been working on the last few days--busy days lately, so sometimes it takes a while! These are all images from Crafty Secrets--they have so much wonderful stuff to work with!

Apparently, I've been in a housewifely mood lately, because here's what I've done:

This image is from the "Domestic Goddess" Creative Scraps. The paper I used here was SU! Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette (both retired), and PTI True Black--love it's thickness! Of course, a liberal serving of my silver glitter was needed, and topped it off with some lace, a little black grosgrain & a silver button.

This one just cracks me up! This is pretty much how I feel whenever I ATTEMPT to can anything--doesn't happen very often in THIS house, I can tell you! Love her face, don't you? This is from Crafty Secrets' new "Kitchen Mail" Vintage Postcard Kit. I used Real Red, Summer Sun, PTI White, and June Bug's "Vintage Plaid" here. A little strip of Battenburg lace some Real Red grosgrain, a darling little plaid grosgain I found at Michaels ($1 a spool--YES!)
and some buttons. Oh, yes, and the silver glitter. I'm afraid I'm going to be using it in my next card, as well...prepare yourselves!

This image is perhaps my favorite! I love the look on her face and her little thought bubble "This isn't what I imagined!" Perfect! This image is also from the new "Kitchen Mail", and I used 2 Crafty Secrets' stamp sets--"Little Chef" for the mixing bowl used as the background (hard to see really well--an attempt made for a challenge on Splitcoast to use any resist technique--I'm not very experienced with this, but I tried!). Also, the "Party Girl" set for the thought bubble and sentiment.

Here's a close-up of her face:


All these vintage images reminded me of my long-time love of vintage aprons--love them, but can't find any of mine! (Must still be in boxes in the garage--dang!) I have also wanted to make some for a while--so many great patterns out there right now and fabulous vintage-inspired fabric (I actually have a lot of this squirreled away...time to use it!) I've decided to make some for gifts for Christmas this year so I'll show some when I'm done. This kind of commits me, doesn't it? If you're someone I give gifts to at Christmas, please don't read this paragraph, okay?

I bought a wonderful book a couple of years ago called "The Apron Book", by EllynAnne Geisel. Oh, what a treat to look through! Filled with great images, ideas, etc. Today, I also found that she has a website and a blog--you've gotta go see what she does! It's called Apron Memories. Trust me, you'll love it!

I also love the apron motif that The Farm Chicks use on their blog--Serena has a really cute one on in her profile photo!

One more thing to leave you with...a little advice.

When I was at my Mom's a couple of months ago, I was going through some of her old cookbooks and making LOTS of copies. I found a cute little book she was given at her bridal shower that was thrown by her grandmother, my great-grandmother Estella Stapley. Inside the book were notbook pages filled with handwritten recipes by the guests--and the best part--advice for the bride! So, here's a bit of newlywed advice fresh from 1960--doesn't get much better than this!

"Make each day the most important day in your life and enjoy it! Keep a delightful sense of humor."

"Don't!!!!!!!! Unless, of course, you want to!

"Share your problems together as well as your joys."

"Never go to bed or end a day until you have forgiven each other for misunderstandings."

"A sense of humor is a priceless ingredient in a happy marriage."

My mother's mother said: "Always listen to your mother's advice. Consider it well, then...do what YOU think is right."

The last one I'll leave with you is from my other sweet, tiny great-grandmother, Anna Ostlund, who said, "Karen darling, take good care of Clayn but don't spoil him."

Good advice, indeed!

Clayn and Karen Smith, my wonderful parents, on their wedding day in 1960.