Thank you

A quick, but most sincere thank you, to all who have taken the time to comment on my postings. It warms the heart and renews my faith and hope in the kindness of strangers.

Suzan

White Wednesday #3

In my home white is everywhere. It is:


In small shelves in sets of three


In jars inside cupboards


In florals on top of cupboards


In folk art faces


and wings and dresses


It is in wool and cotton and ivory, bisque, cafe au lait and cream


It is for tea


and favorite angels


And contemplative angels


It is for collections and for every day use. I have used many colors in many homes but I have never been as content with color as in this house of white.

I will be listing Primitive White on Etsy 7/29.

Please stop by the other White Wednesday Folks by clicking on the picture at left.

Naked Boys Singing

Friday evening Hannah and I went to see my "surrogate son" Ivan perform in Naked Boys Singing now playing at the Onyx Theatre in the Commercial Center.

Although I had some trepidation about seeing Ivan naked on stage, within minutes of the show's opening number I was laughing so hard and appreciating the talents of the cast, (out of the gutter people, I mean Singing talents) that all nervousness about the whole nudity issue disappeared.

The play is delightful and sweet and laugh till you're crying funny. We had heard stories for weeks from Ivan about rehearsals and a smattering of tunes from the show, and although I was prepared to be proud of Ivan, I was delighted by each new scene performed and the audience reaction to it. Favorites include "The Bliss of a Briss", "Window to Window", "Perky Little Porn Star", "Robert Mitchum", " The Entertainer " and "Members Only", but we really did enjoy every single number.

Hannah and I attend the Shakespeare Theater in Utah every year and have watched many a musical comedy. At none of those have we laughed as hard, and as long as we did Friday night. The only comic relief is three very sentimental scenes that were beautifully presented.

I cannot recommend enough to all of you to make the time to go see this play. Granted, the theater is in the rear of an adult store, but do not let that deter you, in fact some of you might have fun shopping? I actually found a cute pair of striped pants. Hannah thought that was hilarious.

Naked Boys Singing is currently running off Broadway so this is not some Vegas/Nudity play for titillation purposes only. It is only set to run through late August, but as word gets out, and the reviews have been very good maybe it will run a little longer.

This is a fabulous "Girls night out" event and if you are too nervous/shy/embarrassed to go, I would love to go again and plan to. The "boys" will be happy to autograph your program after the show. hehe

And Ivan...we love you.

Where Bloggers Create

Welcome to oldgreymare's studio. This space is a tiny 9' x 9' loft. So small that I could not get a broad shot of the whole room. It certainly is cozy, and one of the few rooms in my home with color and I have been fortunate to create in this space for 16 years. I covet anything with cubbies and multiple drawers; I need them for storage and I seem able to always make room for just one more. Out of photo range is another set of cubbies and another primitive small white table. Outside the window is a big old lush ash tree always filled with chattering birds and a nice distraction for musing over the next project.

The studio stores my children's childhood teddy bears, treasures of my parents, cards and letters from my children and friends. I am surrounded by warm memories and good thoughts here, the perfect retreat for oldgreymare.

50 drawer apothecary and ancestors


Some of Hannah's black and whites




Old chicken coop filled with fabric


Favorite browns and spoon/fork chandelier


Found this pincushion with the hat pins in Orange, CA


One of my favorite pieces/drop door desk


Inside the desk


More cubbies and wonderful old cabinet filled with fabric


Everything within reach


Favorite ribbons and wool roving




Big comfy chair


Aw shucks, c'mon in


More storage


My work table

White Wednesday #2

A bit of Outdoor WHITE at oldgreymare

Front Door Greeting





Nearby pond and lovely residents


Found this artist studio in TN, tucked behind an enormous
home out in the country. It took my breath away.

Oh, you've noticed it is not Wednesday? I can't get anything by you.
It's a busy week with clients and working in my studio, so I figured I had better get White Wednesday posted ASAP or it would not happen. I also will be posting a White Primitive on Etsy on the 22nd, and I haven't created it yet. YIKES! Then please come back on the 24th for studio blog party. Hannah has promised to help me with photos. Right now the studio looks like someone turned an industrial fan on at full blast, then walked away. It'll be back to pretty? OK, maybe primitive, aka junk pretty by Friday.

40th anniversary of Moon Walk. I turned 16 the same day way back then.....

SALE TGIO

As in "Thank God it's Over". I haven't talked to Suzi this evening but I imagine she must be as stiff and sore as I am. I can barely move.

It was simply blistering out there today but we sold off carloads of stuff and we all were thrilled with our profits..if you can call selling things for 1/100th of their original price profits. But my garage and Suzi's studio area will be much improved with less stuff so all in all a successful day. One big carload to Goodwill tomorrow and it is all a distant memory.

Thank you to all who stopped by and a bigger thank you :-) to those who left their money!

Garage Sale Preview Night

We are off to a great start! Tonight was preview night from 6-8 and quite a few ladies came by to get dibs on their favorite stuff. Thank you ladies for stopping by and for your patience as I tried to get you all totaled up and bagged up and on your way. There are still many great bargains waiting to be discovered tomorrow at 7am. It is only going to be 117 degrees. We're not crazy? We will be closing by noon, no ifs, no ands, and certainly no buts.

I always do preview nights before garage sales so if you wish to be included send me your email by clicking on that little letter symbol at the bottom of this post, and you will be notified of all the latest happenings on OGM.

Etsy is on vacation mode because I am selling my Etsy items at the sale. Many have already found new homes tonight but there are a few left.

Enjoy your weekend and stop back for White Wednesday here and on Etsy and the 24th my studio pics are joining another group of bloggers and their studios. See the left column for link

White Wednesday #1

A few white vignettes in my home. It's hard to choose which to showcase on my introductory offering, since a few have been on prior blog postings, and well, because my entire house is done in Primitive White. Also, I need to save some for future White Wednesdays. So here is a petite selection, and I hope you'll come back for more next Wednesday. New Primitive White listings Wednesdays HERE starting 7/22/09

*** I had to come back in to do a little edit here, because this morning has been such a delight of comments and emails to me all because of White Wednesday. Thank you Kathleen! It's only a few hours into WW today, and I'm already planning next week's pics.***

White Wednesday

I have joined a group of bloggers who enjoy primitive white as much as I do. We will all be focusing on white themed blogs each Wednesday. You can link to Faded Charm under my blog list, for participants.

I am so happy to have this opportunity to focus my creative eye onto whites exclusively one day a week. In the near future, I plan to do the same thing in my Etsy shop, so "white primitive" will be the listings on Wednesdays. Give me a little time to catch up though. I am working at the most fabulous house and having way too much fun to think of anything else right now.

The garage sale pile is at five tables, one large clothing rack, and counting. I cannot believe the incredible prices that Susie is placing on her collectibles. I have a list of 10 things I want already.

I know it will be insanely hot Saturday, but that is why preview night is the way to go for you on the inside scoop. So come on by, and there are three ice cream shops within 2 blocks!

One Hundred + One

While trying, and failing to do some new things on oldgreymare, I noticed the numbers in the blog archive and with quick addition realized that I had missed an important passage in blog land. My 100th entry! It was about the stack of quilts piled up in the garage. Now, if I had known it was my 100th, I would have tried to expound on the meaning of life, ahem, yeah, right! Hopefully, I would have at least written something a little more memorable, instead of "here are some quilts in the garage, come and get 'em".

In the beginning, I never imagined that I would make it to 100. I have tried in vain for decades to keep a journal. Nearly every year, picking out a beautiful, richly textured, aromatically bovine, leather bound tome, I would write awkward paragraphs that sounded inane and frivolous, and within days abandon any further attempt, as I embarrassed myself with ramblings about my feelings and thoughts. I would have been more successful keeping a food diary and goodness knows that might at least have been helpful.

Perhaps it is easier here, because I have illegible handwriting, as did my Mother, and I was always self conscious about it. So much so, that I would try too hard to make it look pretty and in the end it would still all bunch together and slant up and down hill until even I couldn't read it days later. Oddly enough, I was one of the few who could decipher Mom's, and I received straight A's in elementary school, instructed in the Peterman Principle of writing. Remember the ovals? Eight times around one on top of the other, always ending at the top? You are too young to remember that? well, blpfft! to you then.

Here, all the letters are pretty and I can change them on a whim to something even prettier anytime I like. So, here is my first journal of sorts, not private, not sole searching and barely entertaining at times, but it is ongoing and it is legible. Not leather bound, but it has pictures as a bonus, and ultimately the important milestone is that I followed through after all the previous failed attempts. Even if I did miss the 100th, 101 is good, for dalmatians, and for me.

Quilts for Sale

Stack of quilts for sale in garage is growing. All are available for purchase prior to Hannah's garage sale. Email me if you are interested.

Never Assume

I am so excited to be working with a few new clients on Organizing and Design ideas for their homes. I am able to work with some of the nicest people, how fortunate to be able to do something you love.

Whenever the design and organizing ideas get flowing on their homes it always spills over into my home plans and I scold myself for putting off doing things that I want to do around here. Since I will be staying in town for far longer than I had planned...huge sigh.... it's time to implement some things I should have done when I moved in almost 16 years ago! It's not that it was too expensive, I was just always thinking "resale", and never imagined in my WILDEST dreams I would still be in this house. I love my house, I just wish the tornado would pick it up, and drop it somewhere a little green. Not as green as OZ, and certainly not with a flattened witch in the basement.

So, in between organizing client homes, I plan to do some re-design of mine. This means of course that another purge will be coming. I already have a large mountain in the garage of items Hannah brought back from her Dad's, in the pre-college purge over there. We inherited some of Ben's stuff (in storage 6 years) and I have even see some of Peter's...sneaky cuss.

Hannah will be in charge of this one, since she will be the recipient of most of the proceeds, and we will have to start at 6 am, so we can end by 11 or I will simply wilt.....I already sold off last time, my evaporative cooler I used to use out there, figuring I would never have another sale in the summer. I would be gone by then......never assume....it makes an ass, well, you know.

Another Studio Day

Another bottle mobile


5 inspiration bottles

Put these on Etsy today .

In the Studio

Bird Nest Primitive Cage with Glittered Eggs
So sweet and whimsical.



Making nests and having fun- One is on Etsy,
but there are more, in fact there is more of everything
as I begin to stockpile for fall show. See anything you like,
just email me.


Making dozens of ribbon tags. Gray Clouds, Green with Envy,
Make Me Blush, Neapolitan Ice Cream. Each collection
embellished with a metal tag and glass topped pins.
I will make custom colors, again, just email me.


Paula and I went antiquing for a short bit today.
Paula bought railroad spikes that she is going to use
for hanging curtains. This was what came home with me.
Grand total of $10.00. Woo-hoo.

The frame will be used for a Christmas Advent I'll sell
in the fall show. Similar to this one:

For those of you new to my Gathering classes,
we made these last year in "Christmas in July".

COURTESY PLEASE

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images are the sole property of the author and
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consent. All rights reserved.

JD

oh my