TDIPT~New Offerings

To Dwell in Primitive Thymes will be updating on Sunday. Above is a glimpse of my anticipation of spring! Please come back on Sunday to see more! (Two presidents' birthdays are celebrated this month....hint,hint).

A Dog, a Computer, and a Bed

I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. On one hand, I would hate to be without it. I love the internet, I sell on the internet and my little 'puter helps me do that. I love visiting websites, blogs, and doing research on the internet. And, of course, our school is online.

But then, I also love the "past". Love the romance of handwritten notes (although my handwriting, if you've ever seen it is not exactly "romantic".....more "early physician" than "early 18th century".)
I love the seemingly slower pace of the past, but I'm sure they had LOTS to keep them busy! And if the truth be told, I'm not sure I'd be able to move around in layers of petticoats, hoops with panniers, corsets, and dainty little slippers...I'm kind of a klutz!

So, I've embraced my 21st century technology and even gave it a mini-makeover this weekend!

My little Mac was not mine originally, it is a hand-me-down from my husband. It came to me with some of the letters worn off of the keys, and I have to admit, I contributed to some of the faded and disappearing letters myself. You really had to know where the keys were on the keyboard to type on mine, or you would type some "creative" spellings!

A few weeks ago, it had a little "accident". Now, I'm not blaming anyone but myself, but let's just say the "accident" involved the dog, the computer keyboard and a bed.

Two of the keys came off the keyboard and couldn't be replaced. So, in order to type a "d" and a "3" I had to press really hard on the space where the keys used to be . This was getting old...fast! So, we ordered a new keyboard and my "Geek Squad" (aka: husband and older son) replaced the old with the new!

And now I'm happily typing, surfing, updating, and blogging away!



Moral of the story:

"To err is human - to forgive, canine." - Anonymous

10 Minutes of Fame.....

Well, I *think* it was at least 10 minutes.
I'm not sure, since I didn't even know it was happening!

~*~*~*~*~

Here's how the story goes:

On Tuesday I checked my Etsy Shop and noticed that I was getting a lot of views on the Red Dress Girl, and thought this very strange, very strange indeed. I also checked my hearts (a feature on Etsy where other shops or shoppers can "heart" your shop for various reasons, ie. they like your offerings, they want to bookmark you for future purchases, etc.), and I seemed to be getting a lot just for one day.

I just couldn't figure this out, no idea what was going on, it was some weird internet glitch and my itty bitty Etsy shop had somehow been caught in the vortex...... until Lana showed me this:

The Admin of Etsy had put Red Dress Girl on the front page!

I'm not completely familiar with the ends and outs of it, but as I understand it, different people, (artists, Etsy administration) compile photos from Etsy shops based on themes, and these rotate every 10 minutes or so throughout the day. Red Dress Girl was chosen for an Americana theme. Although, I think they may have searched using the word "red" to find her.

And see the cute doll on there? That is a sweet prim from Lorraine of PieCake Primitives!

~*~*~*~*~

So, no glitches in the vortex, no rip in the time-space continuum, just a nice person in Etsy administration that was kind enough to choose Red Dress Girl for her 10 minutes of fame. Thanks Etsy Admin! ☺

Have a great weekend everyone~

~Another Give Away~

Another Valentine's Give Away is happening over at Lana's. She is giving away some of her beautiful handmade note cards....with a twist. Well, the give away has a twist, not the note cards.
Uh, here is a link so you can see what I'm rambling on about:

Honeysuckle Lane Give Away


Oh, and Lana is opening a new Etsy shop for her pretty paperie potpourri.....



(click on the Simple Joys Banner to visit...grand opening is Jan. 24th!)

Izannah and The Glue Factory

A few posts ago, I showed a photo of some paintings I wanted to complete. In one of the photos was a drawing I had finished. It was my interpretation and compilation of several photos of antique Izannah Walker dolls that Dixie Redmond kindly let me peek at from her collected images. You can see those HERE.

My fingers are a little sticky, but I'll try to not make any mistakes as I type. Just remember as you read on, that I played with glue and Mod Podge this weekend. And I have to give kudos to those of you who work in "Mixed Media"....I need a lot more practice with Aleene's Tacky Glue, especially the one with the brush attached!

Sticky fingers not with standing, and since my middle name is "trial and error", I thought I'd take you through my first "mixed media" -trial and error- project!


First step: The easy part, I painted her. Although I still have some little touches and details to paint on her dress, etc., but the painting part is almost done. Oh, and I painted her on something I haven't tried before, it is called a Cradled Painting Board.




Second Step: Here is where my "great idea" turned into glue all over my fingers, and on the kitchen table! I thought it would be pretty to put "wallpaper" behind her for dimension and texture. So, I traced her outline onto some pretty vintage rose paper, and cut it out with an Xacto knife. That part went fine, but I must have not had the rose paper lined up accurately under the carbon paper, so I traced and cut it out a little lopsided! :)


So, on to Plan B....

Third Step/ Plan B: After my "wallpaper" didn't go on straight, I had to think of a way to camouflage my boo-boo. *How many times has that phrase been said by do-it-yourself homeowners?!*

Ding Ding: Idea! She needed to sit on a shelf! So I used decorative edge scissors and cut a scalloped edge for the shelf, then took out the glue/ Mod Podge mixture* once again, and glued the "shelf" onto the painting. This time with minimal glue on my fingers!

*hmmmmm?, this little scientific experiment I concocted could be the reason my fingers are still sticky!
Now, all she needs is the bottom of the shelf painted so she can sit without looking as if she is floating in air.When she is finished, I'll post a completed photo. But now I need to go peel, no WASH the glue off of my fingers, table, hair, clothes, the dog.......

Thrift Store Finds and Some New Paintings~

Happy Friday! I felt a lot better after Monday, although the sinus thing still lingers. I did get a little painting in this week, AND an afternoon with my hubby! (It was an afternoon spent taking his truck into the car shop for a new alternator, but any "together" time is better than nothing!)



Across the street from the car shop was a thrift store.....that took a little sting out of the not-so-fun-trip to get an alternator. I found a few things: A HUGE platter, a buttocks basket (this blog is now going to be PG-13 rated just for that word!), and some frames for paintings.



My little contribution to "going green" is to "recycle" sturdy wood frames from thrift shops and paint or stain those for my paintings.

I've used some of those "new" frames for my new paintings below, and I hope to get these up on my website and some on Etsy this weekend. We've had very cloudy and foggy days this week, so taking photos without any sun has been a challenge.


Little girl in a red dress and black apron, she carries her small green reticule. Inspiration for this painting is a watercolor by American folk artist Justus Dalee (1793-1878).

Felt a little "French Provincial", or "English Cottage" this week and painted a jewel-toned rooster.
A very primitive silhouette of a little girl with a basket of pansies. I did get two silhouettes up on my website this week, and they can also be seen on my Etsy. Just click the Etsy link on my sidebar. *The silhouette couple sold on Etsy~ Thanks!*


Update~ I've put these latest paintings on my website and my Etsy shop, if you'd like to view them in a little more detail:

Pear Tree Primitives~ My Website

(You'll find them under Silhouettes, and Watercolor Paintings)

My Etsy

(if you aren't familiar with Etsy and would like to inquire, just email me through my website)

~Have a wonderful weekend~

Elaine is Having a Give Away~

Talented Elaine of Alphabet Studio is having a Valentine's Giveaway.....just post a comment or email her to sign up!
She has made a cute Valentine Bunny for this giveaway. Hurry on over before Jan. 31st!

(Click on the banner to visit Elaine)

Never Enough Time

Do you sometimes feel like you have so much to do, and you're not sure how you will possibly get it all done? Maybe I need to be better organized, but sometimes you just can't plan for things like feeling icky. I had high hopes of working on and even finishing a few paintings this weekend, but my stomach and sinuses had other plans. (Not sure how I got so lucky as to have both!)


Oh well, it was a self-imposed deadline anyway....just wanted to get a few things up on my website for the 15th. And maybe I'll rally and get some things done by then.

~*~*~*~*~

In the meantime, I recommend a new blog to help chase away the ickies. Lana has started a "Simple Joys" blog with posts of inspirational poems, prose, quotes and Lana's beautiful photography.

Lana's Simple Joys

And Lana has some gorgeous new Love Token charms just in time for Valentine's Day......HERE
(or click the heart photo)


p.s. To all I've sent packages/purchases to this week, my sincerest apologies if you come down with something! I really hope you can't catch something via mail...surely any germs would be gone by the time it arrived. Well, at least you know who to blame!

What are you reading?

The literature curriculum for my sons' online school is well-rounded and we've enjoyed reading books such as, Huckleberry Finn, War of the Worlds, The Outsiders, The Hounds of Baskerville, and many more. So, during the school year, I've not had a lot of time to read for pleasure. But, when I do, I tend to devour several books in a row. [Is that called "Binge Reading"? :)] Over our Christmas break, I was given two books by an author I really enjoy, Alexander McCall Smith.

He writes two series that I am following, The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, and Isabel Dalhousie Series. Over the summer I was able to catch up with Mwa Ramotswa and her sleuthing. BBC made a movie of this series, and it aired on HBO. We don't have cable, so I missed it. But I will be watching for the DVD!

And over our Christmas break I caught up with Isabel Dalhousie, a philosopher and observer who also seems to find herself in interesting situations with subsequent circumstances to solve.

The photos show some of those books in each series. The photos also show some of my new finds: a new braided runner and round braided placemats . I found at a cute store in town while waiting for my oldest to finish his 1st semester finals this week. When I found the shop, I didn't have a lot of time, so I will have to find another day to have a longer visit.


But, I did spot these. I already had a few throughout the house and love them for putting under lamps on tables, under candle holders, and glass vases, etc. They also help with keeping dust off of furniture! They add a little color, and (at least for me), they don't have to match!

So, what are you reading? Any favorite authors or series? or genre?

Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you find some time to read!

Already Behind in 2009

I've been on a little blog break just enjoying our time off. We had a wonderful Christmas break...lots of relaxing and creating when I "just felt like it".
But now we start home school again, and my hubby goes back to work full time (he is part-time music/Choir Dir. at a local HS). And everything returns to "normal", *s-i-g-h*.

My husband and I don't usually exchange Christmas gifts, but this year we did....just one or two things. Let me show you what he gave me, he was really paying attention! :)


I had mentioned that I thought this little machine (Xyron 510) would be great for making labels for my packaging and shipping, and maybe making some items for sale. And he shopped around and found one for me! He had to order it, because they were sold out in our local stores. (Guess they are a "hot" item?)
So, he definitely gets extra points for that! It makes stickers, magnets and laminates things, great for when I want to make a fake ID....(just kidding!)

(please ignore the icky paint water jar and painting "things" in the background!)

I've been making stickers using my new Sepia paintings, and some of my Valentine offerings. I haven't put the magnet cartridge in yet, but I will soon!

(I made some Valentine offerings for TDIPT on the 1st. Please click the link if you'd like to take a peek. See how behind I am?)

Me on TDIPT

And while I'm talking updates, I figured out how to change the background pages of my website. It's only taken me a year and a half! lol! So, if you'd like to peek at the "new look", please click this link:

Pear Tree Primitives

While you are there, you'll see I started a new page "Watercolor Paintings".There you can see some of the things I've been creating while on our break. And the Valentine offerings are on "Early Wares 1 and 2".

Ok, back to thinking about school. Hmmm, maybe I'll get the boys busy on an assignment and then slip away to play with my new toy?!☺

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are starting out with a very Happy New Year!