THE CATNAP COTTAGE: my space

I am just tickled pink to be a part of Where Bloggers Create hosted by Karen at My Desert Cottage. So I have dusted off the lint (most of it), vacuumed up the threads and offer you a warm southern welcome into a little piece of my world. In my studio, I surround myself with things I love, some cheap and some not-so-cheap, some old and some new - my happy place to go and create....

Let's start with where I plant myself to sew - a mid-century sewing chair that I scored for $20 - the seat comes off to store stuff for my singer. I had it painted by my cabinet maker to match the furniture he built for me then I covered it with an earthy upholstery flax linen - I am a bit of a vintage textile junkie. The chair seat is kinda flat, but then so is mine! Oh, well - it is just perfect - the chair, that is! And the desk has eight shallow drawers, one for cutting tools, one for thread, one for packing supplies, you get the idea - What is it my mom used to say...There is a place for everything and everything has its place.

Awesome Mid-Century Globe that I scored for $8 at the Salvation Army Store - Basket is handmade and

was given to me by my Aunt Jane.

Wonderful Folk Art by my friend Carol aka Bailey Jack - I am lucky enough that she loves my pillows, so we trade a lot. One of her paintings was in an HGTV dream house one year! I love trees and snag up everyone

that I can of them that she paints!

Rembrandt Etchings - a gift from my Aunt Jane

More art from Carol that I just adore - could not believe how well it went on my blue walls - no planning, just one of those happy accidents - I am in love with this color blue - I painted so many "stripes" and "patches" of blue that it looked like graffiti gone bad - finally settled on this color - reminds me of the sea and blue skies. My mood totally changes when I enter in and turn on my vintage tube radio to the local AM station that plays Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra - same songs that I play on my blog. It is my therapy -

still cheaper than a shrink! :-)

Vintage Lamp I scored from a tag sale for $10 - I love the patina
and the shade is fabulous, linen outer and lined with silk - what a find!

And it is a 3-way to boot!

An antique basket that belonged to my grandmother gives more storage - an old chair I am working on and one of my places to stash all my stuff - furniture was built to suit my needs - lots of cubbies for storing necessary things and those not-so-necessary things that I love!

I love the ocean and old jars and neat stuff to put in them.

My Papa gave me this little piano music box

when I was a wee girl - it is very special to me.

Mid-Century Tea Cup and old Ball jars - one filled with old marbles.

Old jars are great for storage and yep, I have a problem with them, can you tell, and vintage buttons, buckles, clothes pins and that is my youngest daughter's hand print we made in Brownies - she is now 27 and lives in Europe, but I still see her as being 5 years old!

One of my favorite baskets - handwoven by a Cherokee Indian - it is an inside-out basket - looks the same inside and out - and some more stuff I love - yes, that is yet another jar with old skeleton keys in it!

Who knew a $2 umbrella basket from my favorite thrift store would be such great storage for vintage grain sacks! They just roll up and fit right in.

And a tool box to hold ticking, hemp linen and barkcloth - three of my favorite vintage textiles - and yes, that is a wool camp blanket peeking out.

Another great find at the Salvation Army store - it holds all my receipts and stuff and usually has a pile of something on it - today it is burlap coffee sacks.

Both ends of my cutting table have 9 cubbies for storing lots of supplies.

Please don't show this to my mom - she took one look at my fabric stash and said I could not buy any more and I am 50 - little does she know, I haven't stopped buying it - this is just one closet full of vintage barkcloth - I have more! I really need help! :-) Maybe it is not cheaper than a shrink. I have closets full of chenille too and about 50 vintage peacock chenilles that will have to be pulled from my cold dead hands! LOL!!

I kinda got a thing for old quilts and quilt tops too - guess

all those days on the farm are ingrained in me!

The other end of my cutting table - it is bar height so I can stand and cut - I put barkcloth curtains to hide lots of other stuff under the table - we won't go there! :-) I topped my sewing table and my cutting table with a slab of safety glass and put family photos and memorabilia underneath it - so I get a little glimpse of my favorite people when I am working, well it is really playing!

One thing I learned a long time ago, if you see something you are in love with, buy it. You will quickly find a function and a place for it - I spent years over-thinking everything - a room had to have a theme or a piece I found had match something else - took me most of my life to break free of that - and as you can tell by my eclectic style, I am as free as a bird! :-)