Under a Blue Moon

Decor, cooking, organization, all the pretty things

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Friday Favorites

Photo mosaic

 Untitled   ◊  Muffin Tin Candle holder   ◊  l is for light pink   ◊  vintage rose plates

Happy Friday everyone!  My mother in law is coming to stay for the weekend so the house is all sparkly clean.  Why is it our house is only really cleaned up when we are expecting someone over?  It’s generally tidy and we aren’t slobs or anything but the realization someone else will be viewing the space makes one notice the grubby door jambs and dust under the furniture.

I do need to figure out what to cook while she is here….Do you ever get in cooking ruts?  I find myself there right now and  I’m not inspired to cook anything.  I need to pull out some of my old cookbooks I haven’t looked at for a while and see if anything catches my eye.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea Filed Under: Favorites

A few bits and bobs

Etching by Elizabeth Quandt

Over the past couple of months I’ve picked up a few things at antique stores.   I thought I would share them today.

The first thing is an etching by Elizabeth Quandt (top etching).  I thought it would look nice grouped with my etching of Pirate’s Alley that I picked up in New Orleans a couple of years ago.  I don’t know anything about Ms. Quandt except that she was born in England but lived in California at the time of her death in 1994.   The few pieces of hers that I can find on the internet show she had a fondness for chairs as subject matter.

Note to self:  Get non-glare glass for the Pirate’s Alley etching….

Lace tablecloth

The next thing is a beautiful lace tablecloth I ordered from @bluelinencottage on Instagram.   It is about 36″ across and I don’t have a table that it will fit on (and drape properly) so at the moment it’s just a giant doily on our kitchen table.  Goodness I do love me some lace work.

Here’s a close up so you can see the details.  Also pictured is a chandelier bobeche I bought to pair with candlesticks.  I actually bought two of them.  I think they add a pretty, sparkly detail to an otherwise ordinary candlestick.

My next two finds were rather serendipitous.   A few months back I had favorited the small Homer Laughlin platter on Etsy.   Fast forward a month or two later and I picked up the little Homer Laughlin pitcher at a local antique store.  I didn’t realize it was the same pattern until I saw the Etsy seller (whom I also follow on Instagram) feature it in an Instagram post.  I snapped it up immediately.  The floral design is exactly the same but the platter says “Hudson” on the back and the pitcher says “Republic.”  The only difference is the platter does have a gold ribbon detail on it that the pitcher does not.  I do not know much about Homer Laughlin except if a piece of iron stone catches my eye nine times out of ten it is a Homer Laughlin piece.

Another view of the etchings.  See?  They do look lovely grouped together.

The hallway you see here goes out to our garage.  I’m thinking of making a gallery wall on the side with the sconces.  The opposite wall has a big window looking out to the backyard.   I always thought the pair of sconces were kind of in a strange spot.  I think the previous owners had a picture of some sort between them.  I want to do a grouping of ornate frames with family photographs in them.  I have been going through my stash of frames and have about nine of them in various sizes that I will paint all the same color (a bronzy gold color).  Stay tuned for that project.

Andrea Filed Under: Shopping

New weekly Bullet Journal spread

bullet journal

I’ll be honest.  Since I have been unemployed I find myself struggling to keep up a bullet journal routine.  My job was very much task driven and it was crucial to stay on top of what needed to be done and to be able to keep track of due dates.  Bullet journaling was essential in keeping me organized and sane.

But since I haven’t been working I find myself forgetting to update and follow my weekly journaling.  The irony is I could really benefit from a bit more structure and organization to my days.  With this in mind I’ve been playing around with different layouts that will work better with my current situation.

I’m also trying to allow a little more creativity into my bullet journal.  When I was working I didn’t think it looked super professional to have a notebook festooned with washi tape and color coded inks open on my desk.  Now that I’m really the only one that might see it I’m trying to be a bit more creative.  I’ll always be a minimalist when it comes to my journal but I am trying to add some color and areas to include inspirational quotes and reflections of the day.

I’ve created a really terrible YouTube video showing the products I’m currently using and a speed through of setting up the layout.  I want to get better with videos and the only way to do that is to practice practice practice.  The talking part is awkward but I’m sure I’ll get better at it.  I’m also figuring out my equipment and editing software.  It’s all a journey – and to pull from one of my quotes “The expert in anything was once a beginner.”

If you want to skip directly to the speed through go to 6:28.  I list all the products I used in the description box.

I love the medium of videos so I hope to do more.  Rick made an overhead stand for my camera so I can easily record crafting, bullet journal and cooking videos.  I doubt I’ll ever show my face but I hope to get more comfortable talking on camera.

If there is any topic you would like to see let me know.  And if the videos aren’t your thing that’s okay too.  I’ll always have a companion blog post to go along with them.

White desk with flowers and pink tea cup

Andrea Filed Under: Organize

Friday Favorites

Duchess  ◊  Warm. White. Lacy.  ◊  Barely There  ◊  Pearls of Wisdom

Happy Friday everyone!  We made it through another week and are that much closer to Spring.  I shall be spending the weekend building an ark.   I may just have to go out in the rain to prune the roses otherwise they will never get done.  On the plus side our water bill has been really low.

Actually we are supposed to go to my nephew-in-law’s new bbq restaurant but I don’t think the weather is going to cooperate.  We postponed it from a couple of weeks ago because of the weather and now they are supposed to get 6-8″ of snow today.  So we may have to put if off until, I don’t know, August or something.

I hope where ever you are, and whatever your weather is doing that you have a fabulous weekend!

Andrea Filed Under: Musings

Dreary Wednesday

Valentine Roses

It is so dark and rainy here it feels like it is evening and not 8:00am in the morning.   And rumor has it the rain won’t let up until later this evening and then will pick right back up again tomorrow morning.

As a Californian I really can’t complain since we are still coming out of a drought.  Every drop is precious.  And at least I don’t have to dig myself out of a snowbank.

I was fully intending to do a post about a gilding project I worked on but the light is so bad that I can’t take a decent picture.  And to be honest I need a bit more practice before I go offering up any sort of tutorial.

No news on the job front.  I had a panel interview a week ago and heard back from the recruiter that they were still mulling over the candidates and would make a decision by the end of the week.   Then about an hour later I got a system generated email saying “thanks but no thanks” because they found someone that was a better match.  THEN two minutes later I got another email from the recruiter telling me to ignore the previous email as it was sent by mistake.   What a roller coaster of a day that was.  I’m still hopeful.  I know that I would be a perfect fit for the job but I’m not so certain I was able to effectively convey that during the panel interviews since I was rather nervous.   I would so love to work for this company because they provide invaluable services to our community and I would love to be some small part of that.

Ah well – what will be, will be.  I’ll just leave it up to the universe.

I hope you enjoy your day and early Happy Valentine’s Day wishes!

Pink Roses

Andrea Filed Under: Musings