Friday, March 28, 2008

Something Old is New Again



About 15 or 20 years ago I saw this little child's chair at an auction and fell in love with it. I fell further in love when the owner told me the story of the chair. She was around 80 at the time and told me that her father had made the chair for her when she was five years old.

I bought the chair and brought it home. I did not have small children anymore and did not yet have grandchildren, but the chair had a special place in my home from that day forward. After time, the seat split and it was no longer safe for little behinds to sit on. By now I did have grandchildren, so I kept a plant on the chair so my granddaughters would not sit on it and get pinched in a very sensitive area!

Ah! If this chair could talk! The stories it could tell. I look at it and imagine that father from long ago carefully handcrafting this chair for his beloved daughter. I can envision him in my mind carefully selecting, cutting and sanding the wood for this gift to his daughter. I can almost see him lovingly running his hand over the seat with that special smile that father's have for their children making sure that it is smooth and perfect. I imagine the pride and joy in his eye as he presents his precious child with this gift on a Christmas morning or maybe a birthday. A true gift from the heart.

Obviously the daughter loved the chair. She kept it long after she could no longer sit on it or have tea parties or do her embroidery or any of the other wonderful things she did on her special chair.

She kept it and passed it on to her children. My minds eye sees her children sitting upon this chair reading, having tea parties, or using it at the "kids" table at family gatherings. And then they too outgrew the chair.

But still she kept the chair. And then another generation of children used the chair - her grandchildren. Again, the old chair her father had crafted so many years ago hosted the games of childhood. Again the old chair was brought out and used to bring a little love and joy to the play of childhood. And perhaps there were great grandchildren - yet another generation to benefit from this wonderful gift from a father to his child.

Now the chair is going pass on to a new generation and a new family. Grampy has lovingly restored this chair to close to its' original condition. He took it apart, re glued, sanded, stained and varnished it so that it is once again beautiful. I watched as he lovingly ran his hand over the seat to make sure it was smooth and perfect. And, he had that special smile that grandfathers have for their grandchildren.

This chair is going to our grandson. We hope that he will find hours of fun sitting at this chair reading a book, drawing a special picture for mommy or daddy, or just sitting at the window watching the birds hop around in the yard. And who knows, maybe someday he will lovingly run his hand over the chair as he contemplates giving this chair to HIS child - and he will have that special smile..............

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The UGLY Bag

OK, so I made this bag and listed it in my etsy shop yesterday. It is a Large Farmer's Market Bag. I think it is a nice bag that features a heavy duty cotton canvas lining which makes it extra sturdy.

I sent a picture of it to my daughter. I always send her pictures of some of my new ideas just to get her feedback. I like to use her as my sounding board because she is very honest and does not just say stuff to make me feel good.

Her response to this bag? She said it was "lame"! She liked the concept but hated the fabric. What is wrong with me? When I saw this fabric it just shouted "Farmer's Market" to me. Do you think it is an age thing or is it really bad and I have really bad taste?

I have a feeling that this bag might run its' course on etsy and then become my own personal Farmer's Market bag. And when that happens, my daughter will just have to pretend she doesn't know me when we go to market. :)

I have another daughter and I am hoping that she will still go to market with me! I am pretty sure that my granddaughers will still walk around the market with me - they are 4 and 6 - what do they know about high fashion?

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

If You Need an Evening Bag........



you might want to check my etsy shop! I recently started listing some hand knit evening bags. Some of these I made a couple of years ago and had stuck them in a drawer and forgot about them. The small pastel clutch I made last week.

I see these bags as "special use" type bags. They are for when you need a special bag for an evening out. If you carry as much junk around in your everyday purse as I do, these bags are probably a little too small.

Anyway, give them a look see. And keep checking back to my shop as I have some more "found" bags and I have been working on some more of the small clutch-styles and will be listing these from time to time. Thanks!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

A Milestone of Sorts

Yesterday I reached a milestone in my etsy shop. I reached 800 sales! For me this is a great achievement. When I started this endeavor, I never expected it to be as successful as it been. I knew it would be (at least I hoped) a satisfying experience. But I never envisioned this level of success!

But getting up into this area of total sales puts me in a rarefied atmosphere on etsy except for those sellers who sell commercial supplies. So I am feeling good about myself and felt the need to pat myself on my back. pat, pat, pat.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

On Growing Old

We all know that there are many things about growing old that suck! "Support Bra" takes on a whole new meaning, headstands and cartwheels are but distant memories, there's only about 3 things left on any menu that you can eat and "taking a risk" can be something as simple as walking to the mailbox down an icy driveway.

But, I thought about at least one thing this morning that is good about growing old! I now have a built in excuse for every stupid thing I do and dumb thing I say! I just shrug and mumble "Let's just chalk this one up to old age!" and I am off the hook! Everyone just shakes their heads and say "Yeah, the old gal is getting old - Alzheimer's must be kicking in."

I now have a ready excuse for forgetting important dates likes birthdays and anniversaries. I just pull out the "I'm getting old" thing after I spend 20 minutes looking for my glasses that are resting on the top of my head. I no longer have to explain why I came home from the corner grocery with 27 items - none of which are the one I went for in the first place.

So my boobs may now be closer to my knees than they are my chin, my face crinkles have become full blown wrinkles and I take a one hour nap in my chair every night before bed but I smile with a small touch of joy when I realize that my days of being accountable for my daily foibles are diminishing.