When I was a kid I really wanted an erector set – my mom said that was a toy for boys, not little girls.  Everywhere I went this summer I found pieces of old erector sets…I had to buy them.  I especially like the wheels.  The older cast iron spoked wheels are not from erector sets – just old toy cars, tractors, trucks.  I was stuck on wheels and tiny spoons all summer long.  These are old ice cream spoons about three inches long, the tinier ones are salt spoons. Little wire hangers were out there too.  These are just two inches long – a good size for a fairy dress!  The numbers are cut from used license plates.  

Feathers from Jan

  Jan from laughingdogarts sent me these blue jay and peacock feathers last June, a very special summer gift.  I put them in this little box with a bird on it.  Jan and I met around the time Lynne Hoppe sent me one of her muslin books.  Jan sent me a letter that inspired me so – what a wonderful summer gift!   And just what I needed to hear that early summer day.  Later she sent me some CD’s of Greg Brown who is very cool.  I love his very masculine, yet intimate voice, and his humor! A gift of music for the summer!    

Grape vine

 I planted this grape vine three years ago, and this year it grew taller and stronger than ever before.  I always wanted to have a vineyard!         

Muslin journal from Lynne Hoppe

 Lynne from lynnehoppe.blogspot.com  sent me this very beautiful little handmade muslin journal, and a dark blue jay feather, and a pogo print of one of her painting on muslin faces.  This was such a neat summer surprise in the mail!   

 The purple flowers in this photo brought the gift of a little brown hummingbird, oh how she loved those purple flowers!  I couldn’t take her photo because I didn’t want to scare her off, so I just stood very still and watched.  She already felt out of safety bounds by coming right up on my porch to kiss the purple flowers.  

 Summer silver days, a new fascination this summer for me, old silverplate utensils – not to cut up and turn into fad jewelry, but to use for their intended purpose!  Feeding those I love.  The rounder ones are sugar spoons – but I use them for serving.  

 A magic key, and an old wrought iron key plate – this must surely have been on a secret garden gate in France about 100 years ago!  I will probably use  it on a collage at some point, but until then, it reminds me of secret gardens and summer days.   

 Summer whites!  Paint chips, here they kind of look like dental color chips, who knew there were so many different shades of white.  I did some furniture painting this summer with several different shades of white.  I love the names they put on paint chips.  Click on it to read the names! 

  Summer time under glass!  Old clock faces – so much time to be saved,shared, and remembered!  

  Summer windowsill roses!  My daughter said they were like those boxes of tissue ( I think it was an 80’s thing) that every few tissues offered a different color shade.  So we named them Tissue Roses.  This one produced four different colors of flowers all summer long!  

Ten  little dolls from Egypt, barely two inches tall, what an interesting little object for a collage.  Summer dreaming, planning, thinking.  

This is actually a large brass brooch costume jewelry I found on ebay.  My thought was to use it in an artist book I’m working on, but I liked it so much I’ve plans to mount it onto a birch panel and hang it on the wall with a grouping of other objects I have been gifted that have a celtic theme.  

Summer smiles.  That’s Cookie Moon sitting in an 8″ wicker doll chair.  She doesn’t really like it when I get these ideas for posing her, but you can see she is still smiling!