Flying Time…

You know those extra vacation days I talked about last time? Well, they're over! I had a five day weekend and I have no idea where all the time went. Today, at work, everyone asked how my long weekend was and my response was that it wasn't long at all. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish that I didn't get to!

Really when I think about it, I did do a lot:

A trip to the copy shop, 2 trips to the post office, 2 trips to Hobby Lobby, a trip to Target for a last minute kid's birthday party present, a trip to the Holiday Inn for the birthday party, several trips to the school for district music contest, a trip to the grocery store to buy breakfast for the three girls my daughter invited over after contest, another trip to the grocery store for all the stuff I forgot to get the first time, supper out with my mom and… a trip to the gas station. OUCH!

I baked and decorated, photographed, packaged and blogged (at Sugar and Meringue) 3 dozen cookies. Made about 80 cupcake toppers. Read the whole third Spiderwick book to my son. Listed a couple new things at my Sugar and Meringue Etsy Shop. Started gutting Regi (our '64 Avion Camper). Swept the dead mice out of Regi. GROSSSS! Washed some clothes, mopped the floor, vacuumed, emptied the dishwasher several times, took out the trash, made some appointments, checked some favorite blogs, looked at pretty pictures on flickr, drank way too much coffee…

I know everyone is busy these days, so thanks for taking the time to stop by and read about all my silliness. I really appreciate it!

Trying to get organized

Trying to get organized, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Organization is an issue for me. Getting organized is one of those things I dread doing but once I start the organization process, I actually kind of enjoy it. It feels so good to be organized. You would think I could get organized and then stay that way, but time gets away from me, I get a little lazy and things end up in chaos all over again. Ugh! One thing I have learned is that I'm more willing to work on organizing if I can find a way to make it more fun and pretty. This binder and dividers I found at Target did the trick this time. Love them! I have sections with:

• contact sheets with photos of everything I have listed, need to list, or sold at Sugar and Meringue.
•master copies and CDs for my recipe cards and cupcake toppers.
•labels for packaging
•a catalog of my vintage illustration scans that I can refer to as I design new recipe cards and cupcake toppers.
•Invoices and print-outs of e-mails that I need to refer to.
•receipts
•a SPREADSHEET! I'm so not the spreadsheet type so this is really good for me. It lists all of my income and expenses for each item I have listed at etsy. Now I just have to keep it up-to-date. We'll see how that goes.

I'm still posting lots of new things at Sugar and Meringue. I made some May Basket cupcakes and I'm just about to post them. So, if you're bored with the whole organizing thing come visit me over there. That's where the fun stuff is at the moment!

A Mystery and a Give-away!

Long, long ago in the land of cubicles, I was listening to a podcast interview with Alison Houtte, owner of Hootie Couture, a vintage clothing shop in Brooklyn. It's been so long since I listened to this podcast that I hope I've got my story straight, but I remember them talking about how they make up a little story about the each items' history and put it on the tag. Like a leather jacket that said, "I tried heroine. It wasn't worth it." (something like that) I LOVE that idea. Whenever, I aquire some vintage item, I always wonder what its history might be.

So, I'd like to borrow the "story" idea for my very first blog give-away. I found this baby card in my collection of ephemera announcing the birth of baby Dwight. Leave me a comment with a couple lines about what you think happened to Dwight. For example:

Dwight grew up to be a lawyer, and sued Flying Time Designs for slander.

In one week, I'll put the names in a hat and draw a winner! The winner will get Dwight's vintage birth announcement along with the other fun little baby things shown in the photo. Good luck and have fun!

Disclaimer: All comments regarding Dwight are fictional. Any resemblance to the real Dwight are purely coincidental. I do not know this Dwight.

Analise's Button Challenge

I was invited to take part in Analise's Button Challenge, so…here's some of my favorite buttons! I like bright, happy vintage buttons. They look like candy!

I have to admit I'm beginning to question my sanity. I spent way too much time sorting and "posing" my buttons for this challenge. But, it's so much fun! How could I resist.

The Farm House

Imagine going to your great-grandparents home, abandoned in the early '40s, but (almost) just as it was when they left… full of furniture and household items and with food still in the cupboards! My mom got to do just that in the early '70s.

My great-great grandparents (Clother Allen and Mary Susan C00k) moved into this house in Lowell, Nebraska in 1894 and 4 of their 5 children were born here including my great-grandfather (Allen Cook).

Old age made it difficult for Clother and Mary Susan to live in the farmhouse during the winter and summer months so they stayed with family, often my great-grandparents. When my great-grandparents moved to California in 1939, Clother and Mary Susan came to stay with them. Mary Susan died and Clother was advised not to travel due to poor health. Consequently he spent the remainder of his life with my great-grandparents in California, never returning to the farmhouse in Nebraska.

A tenant farmer living in a neighboring house kept an eye on the house and it was never broken into or vandalized. Great-grandfather always intended to move back to his boyhood home one day so he left it as it was. Finally, in the early '70s after the death of my great-grandmother, Great-grandfather re-married. He took his new bride to the farmhouse and suggested that they live there. By then the place was pretty ramshackle and very primitive so of course she wasn't crazy about the idea. At that point my great-grandfather asked my grandpa to clean it out and tear it down. My parents were just married and helped with the clean up.

I grew up with many items from the farmhouse decorating our home. My parents still talk about all the fun things they have from there and regret all the things they chose to get rid of either because they didn't know any better or because they didn't have room in their tiny apartment.

On Easter, my grandpa gave me my own memento from the farmhouse. It's a croquet box that my grandpa built little shelves into. On the front is the original shipping label from Montgomery Ward. It bears my great-great grandfather's name and the date, 1914. The quilt in the picture below is also from the farmhouse. It was passed down to me by my mom a few years ago.

I've always enjoyed the idea of being able to walk into an old house, full of great stuff and being able to take almost anything I wanted. Wouldn't that be fun? But after talking about the farmhouse with my grandparents, I see everything that came from the farmhouse as more than just cool old stuff. It's a way of connecting to the stories from my family's history. I will treasure the things that I have that came from this house and the stories that go with them.

I Love Slippers!

I Love Slippers!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Ok… I've given myself a March 1 deadline to start selling things on etsy. I'm also considering doing a local craft show in April. That means I've got to focus, and make the things that I plan to sell. The problem is I keep finding things I want to make for myself! I absolutely love slippers and I've wanted to make myself a pair ever since I found this pattern in an old book I bought (The Complete Guide to Sewing ©1943). Then I found these patterns from Sew Green & Stardust Shoes (as mentioned in my New Year's post) and today, I bought the February/March issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and found this slipper pattern!

A Cure for the After Christmas Slump

Inspriring Junk Collection, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

A trip to the "junk store" was just what I needed to get past that "January Christmas is Over" slump. I found lots of bright inspiring things to decorate with and to use in upcoming projects.

A Happy Birthday

Weekend Fun, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

My birthday was Monday and my best friend, since preschool, came to town for the weekend to help me celebrate. We had a great time shopping for junk while our kids (teen, tweens, and two seven year olds) stayed home with my husband and made graham cracker gingerbread houses!
Then on Monday, my mom made me fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and cake for supper. My favorite!
Except for the getting older part, my birthday was perfect!

Grandma

Grandmaplane.jpg, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs

Today was my Grandma's 80th birthday. This picture is of my grandma and her dad. After high school, she got her pilot's license and even flew competitively when she was in college.

She and my Grandpa have both done so many interesting things. It's so much fun to hear all of their stories.

Last weekend was also my niece's first birthday and Handmade'ns so we got to eat a lot of junk food and do a lot of celebrating.

What fun!

We Proudly Announce the Arrival of…

Regina Louise
Weight– 2740 lbs.
Length– 21' 4"
Born– 1964
Adopted– September of 2007
Place– Pella, Iowa

Labor Day Flea Market Finds

Labor Day Flea Market Finds, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Here's what I found at the flea market in Lexington this year. It's always so much fun!

Bark!

I promised some friends I would post pictures of these barkcloth drapes I found at an antique store last weekend. Right now I have them hanging in my living room. My hope is that one day they will be converted into pillows/cushions/curtains for my Airstream (if I ever get one).

Cooky and the other puppy book were added to my "vintage puppy collection" last weekend as well. My mom bought me all the ceramic puppies when my son was born because my intent was to decorate his room in a puppy theme. However, his love of tractors at the age of two replaced the puppy idea with plans to create a farm themed room. Now he's into superheroes and I have elaborate plans to paint a cityscape on his walls in bright comic book colors with speech balloons and the whole shabang. We'll see if he stays interested long enough for me to get that done. Anyway, the puppies have found a happy home in my living room.

Sorting Some Things Out

sorting, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Busy Weekend

It was another busy but nice weekend. Tried to work on some paper mache stuff, but kept getting side tracked.

Went to my favorite "junk/thrift/antique" store with my dad and got a bunch of cool vintage fabric, a cute red corner shelf, a patchwork quilt, and a red wooden divided tray thing. Then dad and I ate lunch at a small town cafe. I had a delicious hot beef sandwich.

Mom & I decorated cookies for my cousin's bridal shower.