Dogs

I've always had a dog or two and they've always been great dogs.  Bella, our current Lab, is no exception.  We rescued her when she was two and the whole family agrees that she's probably our best dog ever.

Dog In The Hood


She always loves us no matter what.  She does have a few "habits" though.
  She carries throw pillows around the house and even greets us at the door with them.
Yes, most of my pillows have dog spit on them.  


She also likes to carry shoes around.  She doesn't chew them thank goodness,
but it does make it hard to get to the school bus when you can only find one shoe.


Lately though, Bella has become obsessed with the wild life in our yard.
She was only outside for a short time, but she'd been very busy.
 Our gutters and downspouts  are main travel routes for mice, chipmunks, and snakes.
 We think this is what happened since she's not talking.
 She was after a chipmunk in our downspout.  I guess you could say she was determined to get that animal.
Here's what we found.

When we discovered the damage, the chipmunk was inside the downspout squealing.  She had chewed above and below him and he was trapped.  My son and my husband had to pry the metal apart so the chipmunk could escape.  Chipmunk and dog are fine thank goodness.
 My son and I were laughing that the chipmunk probably thought he was in the equivalent of rodent Jurassic Park.


Now she's focusing on the deer in the back yard.

I wish she could intimidate them enough that they'd stop eating my hostas.


I want all my cat-loving friends to stop gloating right now.

Kathy

Way Too Many Vintage Finds

Get ready for tons of vintage finds.  This month at Sweet Clover I'll have quite a lot for sale.

This cupboard was plain oak.  I gave it a coat of black paint and detailed it in gold.  

Now it has a frenchy vibe in addition to being a great size for storage in a small space.
Love the angled sides too.

I dangled the calipers in a row on my chalkboard. 

 Although I would never have any use for calipers, I thought their shape was very artistic.

I updated this vintage buffet with some grey paint. 

 It's such a compact size and has that extra shelf.

Here it is in my booth.

Don't you love the applique on the drawer?  

Great legs on this MCM piece.

Map print is resting in the MCM magazine rack and a Shakespeare folio is on the desk.

I hit the mother lode of pop out cameras.

Behind the shelf on the wall are map transparencies.

More cameras and maps.

This metal table can be used as a bar and it folds flat for storage.

This knee hole desk is perfect with so many drawers. 

 Secret surprise:  I lined the drawers with a leopard print.

I dressed up this manly dress form with a vintage hat and pearls.  

That chippiness on the mirror is all natural and the hatbox is faux snakeskin.

Frenchy night stand with more gold detailing.

I always have some jewelry somewhere.

This teapot didn't have its lid so I asked my husband to make it into a lamp.  

So have you had enough?

Please come see me at the barn.
I'm working Sunday.

Kathy

Sweet Clover

4051 Stanford Ct

Frederick, MD 21703

July 18,19,20 

10-5

More photos from all the vendors on their website here:  https://www.facebook.com/SweetCloverBarn

Directions:  http://www.sweetcloverbarn.com/p/directions.html

Collections and Containers

Unfortunately I seem to always end up with multiples of the same thing.
 And fortunately, or unfortunately, I've come up with a solution for keeping them all.
 I gather them together inside cloches, stack them in glass containers, or put them into bottles.
I do this in my home and also at my shop in Sweet Clover.
 I don't like to call this hoarding but rather collecting.

Feathers in a Bottle on My Porch

Jewelry Dangling on Bottles in My Booth at Sweet Clover

Brushes and a Paper Fan in an Old Parfait Glass

Zebra Grass in a Pharmacy Bottle at Sweet Clover

I had some uniquely shaped bottles with corks.  I rolled up sea life prints and fed them into the bottles.  They unrolled inside and were framed in the glass.  I added some shells and pieces of coral before I put in the prints.   If I did it again I may have put some sand or sea glass in the bottom.

Bottles with Sea Life Prints in My Booth

I put some artists' brushes in a wire-covered jar and wrapped an old bracelet around the neck of a lab bottle.

Brushes in a Wire-Covered Bottle at My Shop

I filled a glass cylinder with brown mottled orbs in my living room.

Orbs in My Living Room

Another glass cylinder displays brightly colored orbs in my booth.

Orbs in Primary Colors in My Booth

Resin antlers overflowed a jar in my booth at Sweet Clover.

Resin Antlers Tangled in a Cylinder

On the top shelf is a jar filled with some small spheres with letters of the alphabet.

Spheres with Letters for Sale in My Booth

My Bleached Turtle Shells in a Glass Jar

Old Thermometers Gathered in a Glass Jar at My Shop

My very favorite way to display my treasures is with cloches.

Sea Life in My Family Room

Shells Inside a Cloche and Rope Gathered in a Bowl At Sweet Clover

Last Fall I stacked some mini leather books, topped them with a velvet pumpkin and covered it all with a mini cloche.

My Fall Mantel in My Family Room

More shells in a cloche in my booth.

Shells and Shell Prints for Sale

Whenever I see unique artists' brushes I always purchase them.

Cloche with Brushes in My Foyer

Bottles and Cloches at an Outdoor Market

Clock Faces and Clock Parts Inside Cloches at an Outdoor Market

Covered Bottles Under a Cloche at Sweet Clover

A Ceramic Octopus Under Glass at Sweet Clover

A Nest Inside a Mini Cloche on a Pedestal

This cloche with a mercury glass bird and coral has been on my screened porch forever.

Cloche on My Screened Porch

I also have this lantern on my porch.  It has some old books, an iron bird, and more coral.

Lantern on My Porch

Cloches don't have to be glass.  This one is wire.

Moss Orbs Spilling Out of a Wire Cloche in the Cottage at Sweet Clover

So what do you hoard collect and how do you display your treasures?

Kathy

Copy Cat Design

I'm always amazed by the creativity of the bloggers I follow.    I regularly check in on New Orleans blogger, Ron, at Uptown Acorn for some design inspiration.  When I saw what he did in his foyer with turtle shells and orbs I immediately told him that I was stealing his idea.

Shells in Jar  at Uptown Acorn

  I loved how the apothecary jars gathered the shells and stacked and balanced them.

Recently I found some small bleached shells.

Originally I tucked them in with the other sea shells and coral in my faux clam shell.

  Since they're so fragile, I thought that Ron's clever idea was a better solution.

I placed some sea glass in the bottom of a glass cylinder.
 I let the shells tumble and climb upon themselves.

Do you display your treasures under glass?

Thanks Ron.

Kathy