A Walk In The Forest Hastypearl

A Walk In The Forest

Hastypearl

I suppose its true for everyone, but when your familiar environment lacks something, 

its such a welcomed novelty when you finally see it somewhere.

A mostly dry South Central Texas where I live, seldom sees mosses growing on rocks.

We have some wonderful lichens on our trees and stones, 

but nothing like you see in a moist and cool environment.

We were blessed to purchase a home in Redstone, Colorado in 2013.

Those words still ring Fresh and New, to my ears. 

I hope that they always will.

I'm working really hard to ensure that they do, 

along with other things when we travel there.

Like, when we step out of the airport building, in Aspen, 

I always breathe in DEEPLY the fragrance of ancient foresty smells.

They are always there waiting for me.

While, many of the days during our trips, 

are still "working" days for me, I try to make my 

way outside as much as possible..

This year, was unseasonably cold for us.

We had snow sometime during every day but two, 

even though we are headed for June.

This is the Walk In The Forest, 

down to the Crystal River right behind our house.

I thought that you might enjoy seeing the things that I LOVE seeing.

Its not a long walk, but it starts right behind the house.

It falls steeply, but zigs and zags along the way.

Happily, the native plants are all still on the property, 

and were just waking up with their beautiful fresh colors.

I cant help but study the tiny living plants growing on each rock.

Just think how many microscopic residents there are.

The sun was stretching its rays as it crept over the side of the mountain.

This pointy rock, reminds me of the snow capped mountains nearby.

*

*

*

This is a spot where you can stop and rest a bit. 

Cook a fish.

Listen to the river rushing down, down, down.

I guess it wouldn't be fair, not to show you our bit of the Crystal River.

Snow melting, hurrying somewhere else....

Everywhere you look is amazing and is another world, for me.

We happily share this property through Vacation Rentals By Owner(VRBO)

It brings me great joy, to read the signed guest book 

and hear the stories of staying there and what it has meant to our guests.

You are welcome to click this link, or the one on the right, 

to see if taking this Walk In The Forest, is for you :)

I hope that it will be !

I say on VRBO, that the house is perfect for a Group or just Two.

You can use your imagination:)

Thanks for stopping by...

Its good to be Back with you.

Laura    

Who Is In Your Tribe? Hastypearl

Who Is In Your Tribe?

Hastypearl

We all have a tribe.

Family. 

Friends.

Co Workers.

Some remain the same in your life, but with others, it can change from day to day.

Some days, I don't see any of those in the list above, but if I'm open, 

it could surprise me who could be a support to me.

I'm fortunate, to have my mother and sister, niece, nephew and kids, 

cousins and in laws, 

that live near by.

As a result, we cross paths with them more.

Mothers Day, 2015, turned out to be one of those kinds of days.

I met my mother and sister and cousin where else...

at a favorite Mexican Food Restaurant.

I ran into some friends from my youth at the restaurant.

Important tribe for many years.

Our garden is in exceptional form, due to surprisingly mild and rainy conditions, 

so I invited them over to my house for a garden tour.

Its fun to set up a special dessert party away from the restaurant...

and I like to pull out my pretty things. 

I love to include hastypearl art work when I can.

This is  Amelia Birdheart.

Aviator, extraordinaire!

I used flowers from the garden for our centerpiece.

I thought they looked great with my Anthropolgie lampshade.

My sister knows me so well.

Referring to a recent blog post that you may have already read, 

she gave me a bag of...

Butterscotch Candy :)

My BIL, SIL, mother and sister, toured with Larry and Darcy Doodle and I.

The weather was perfect for a flowery stroll. 

Finally, we usually end our visits, with a family photo 

that I can share with the rest of my family.

My mother is headed towards 87 and is still entirely independent.

Again, its wonderful to have family nearby.

Tribes change over the years, but your core, 

are the ones that love you regardless.

Tribe times can be easy or hard, but its still wonderful to know 

that there are people to build us and encourage us and love us,

 no matter what.

Tribes take work.

Just because you are family, doesn't mean that you can take advantage.

I hope that you have people in your life, that are worth it even in the tough times :)

If you are a Mother, 

I hope that your Special Day was one you'll remember....

And a message to the Many Women, some my age and some older 

that have served as Next Tier Mothers and Sisters to me, 

I want to say how important you have been in my life.

I appreciate how you have ministered to and fed me.

I wouldn't be the same Without YOU! 

THAT Tribe is Large and Extraordinarily Special... 

and Never stops growing!

As always...Thanks for stopping by hastypearl....

I hope that you will...often!

:) Laura

How to Sew a Pouch ! Hastypearl

How to Sew a Pouch !

Hastypearl

So, in typical Hastypearl form, I got the idea on Mother's Day EVE NIGHT, 

to make a pouch for my sister's Mothers Day gift.

She is the All Time Best Mother and Grandmother, 

so she certainly deserved the attention.

If you are a perfectionist, seeing my style and process may be challenging for you:)

I'm a bit of a "squint and look over the end of my thumb to measure", kind of girl.

If you love using patterns, I'm sure that there are plenty out there to use.

I had done two Eco Dye pots last week, 

so I was anxious to use some of the linen, that I had dyed in Saffron.

Its so soft and very organic, so it lent itself to a bit of a rustic approach. 

I measured/eyeballed out, what I thought would make 

a useful sized pouch and cut the linen in a rectangle.

This pouch could be for useful for holding so many things.

Think...art supplies, make up, pens, or really Anything that's not really small, 

that would work its way out of the open top.

If you wanted something more secure, you could add a zipper. 

I stitched along the outsides of the rectangle, in a contrasting color.

This will keep the edges from fraying Past the stitch line, 

otherwise, I think it will look great, to let the linen fray.

You can see the pouch taking shape.

Its basically just a rectangle folded up and stitched on the bottom, 

with a flap on the top.

Finish all of the edges.

I also ran a couple of extra lines across the front flap, 

just for decoration.

I used a contrasting thread, that I thought was 

really complimentary to the Saffron, 

and I selected three buttons from my Vintage Button stash, 

which Never lets me down!

So, I kind of have this More is More attitude in life 

or better applied to this project...

why would you use One Button when you can use Three?

I'll show you how I worked that out, later!

I cut a little slit in the front flap Just large enough to accommodate the buttons, 

and added a bit of support on the back side,

 by adding a small bit of the same linen fabric. 

Then I did a Very Rustic running stitch along the edges of the button hole.

Yes, I know that this free-styling is like fingernails on a black board for some of you, 

but I wanted the project to look very loose and organic.

*

So, if you want to use more than One Button, its really easy.

You start by sewing two of the buttons together, 

and then sew that pair to the next one.

I had the FANTASTIC Barrel button with one hole, 

and the red button with two holes 

and the Mother of Pearl with four holes, 

so you just have to add them one at a time!

I KNOW...its totally weird to many of you, to use three buttons... 

but its the kind of thing that I'm Just Going To Do...so...

Welcome to My World :)

...isn't that barrel button amazing?!?

 I don't have the matching snap portion, 

but I can just imagine a 1940's suit or coat 

that it once adorned! 

Fantastic! 

So, now, you can see the set of three buttons all combined and ready to sew onto the pouch.

I stitched some little vines and leaves in the corners of the flap.

In and Out. 

In and Out. 

What a relaxing therapy :)

Below, is what the finished pouch looked like!

It was done in the late night and early morning hours...

neither times great for photography, 

but you can see how it looked all finished.

And Below, is a perfect picture of my heavenly Button dilemma.

ANY of these great buttons would have looked great together or alone.

Aren't Vintage Buttons, amazing?!

So, you can see the pouch, in my Mothers Day table, vignette, 

waiting to surprise my sister.

I think that you can see, 

that I'm already completely in love with the colors of her pouch.

My Old Country Roses china, looked great with it.

It doesn't really effect me year to year what Pantone says are the years best colors.

I've probably already been using one or the other of them, 

my whole adult life and you probably have, too!

So, it wasn't really a surprise, 

when the flowers that I selected from my garden for a little table posy, 

ended up matching so well.

So, there you are!

Its a fun and easy little project to make, if you want to try it.

Perfectionists...I'm sure that yours will look totally different...

but it will be made with love, just like mine was.

When You have someone that you love...

its easy to create something special, just for them!

So as always, Thanks for stopping by! 

I'm so glad that you did :)

There are a number of ways that you can follow along with hastypearl.https://www.etsy.com/shop/hastypearl

Just tap any of the boxes on the right column of my blog...

I'd love to hear from you.

Commenting on blogs is fun and easy and its very encouraging to the blogger.

I've made some great friends, just by leaving comments, on the blogs that I read.

Hope you are enjoying your days...

Best to all...Laura

Love Letters! Hastypearl

Love Letters!

Hastypearl

I thought this rainy May morning, about how we are headed towards the month of June.

A month full of weddings and brides and flowers.

I was a little rebellious in my youth, and chose the last day of May to be married.

Sort of a stand for not being like everyone else :)

Valentines Day is famous for being a day of sending greetings of love to someone special, 

but again, who says that we have to wait for a day 

that someone decided would be THE day of love? 

I started looking through my Etsy Hastypearl shop, 

and saw a reoccurring theme of  Letters.

Of course for me, they are more Valued, 

when they are Vintage...have stood the test of time simply 

by not ending up in the dumpster somewhere.

I saw that I have them in different sizes....

materials...

and fonts.

My customers contact me asking for combinations of letters 

that mean something just to them.

These two were requested by a mother, for her two sons.

It looks like shes healthy because she wanted to 

include her Daughter In Law's names.

Very sweet!

I often use letters in my Mixed Media Art, 

like in this altered Cigar Box, that I have listed on hastypearl.

The box itself is beautiful wood, and the slight lingering fragrance 

of the wood and tobacco was wonderful and surprising.

I found an ancient poem and slipped it into a 

stained tea bag and wrote the word, yes.

Yes, is always a good word! 

hmmm...speaking of Always...

I hammered Love Letters in white faux leather and custom made envelopes.

These envelopes wont get tossed in the recycle bin, 

but rather will be kept to pass down to our granddaughters.

With words like Friend, Enduring, Boundless...Always, 

the lavender filled pouches wont Wither, 

but rather remind us forever of the sentiments 

hammered on the envelopes.

These are available at hastypearl.

*

This XO, was purchased by a bride for her groom.

They have been married for 39 years.

That's a long time to be in Love.

*

I'm patiently waiting for the day, 

that this set of Letterpress Letters is purchased.

I cant think of anything more wonderful, 

than for hastypearl to be right in the middle of a proposal!

Apparently, I have a bit of Match Maker in me:)

I was contacted by a lady, that told me that she had an 8 inch Letterpress Letter S, 

and could I help her spell the word, Scott?

Well, yes I could 

and we even celebrated Scott with an Exclamation Point [!]

Then there was the customer that bought an A and an S, and this set of letters.

I hope that she will write me and tell me her story :)

Recently, I was asked for these three Letters.

I send pictures to my customer, to show them what Letters I have, 

and then we play until we get it like we want it.

Love Letters are so much fun...

*

So, We don't have to wait until June or Valentines Day, 

to tell someone that we love them.

We can tell them all year long.

This weekend, there will be lots of people telling their Mothers, that they care for them.

Maybe there will be candy, or flowers...but above all ..there will be Letters...

Lots and Lots of  Letters from the Heart....

I've sprinkled in lots of hastypearl links for you to find your way over to my shop!

I hope that you will. 

You'll see lots of ways to express yourself.

  

Thanks so much, for stopping in today...

I love writing these posts and staying in touch...

I hope to see you again, soon.

Laura

39 Things About One Photo Hastypearl

39 Things About This Photo

Hastypearl

1. I've lost my mind, to have sold these amazing 1940's Lucite Butterscotch Buttons.

I cant help it! I find amazing things and then list them on Etsy hastypearl. Of course, its only a matter of time, before the Smartest Persons in the whole world find them and buy them.

2. I don't know if the color of the buttons is really called Butterscotch, but doesn't it just Sound delicious?

3. I have sellers remorse. Almost every time I sell something wonderful.

4. I think I'm going to buy some Butterscotch candy, tomorrow.

5. The two rocks are from Colorado.

6. I pick them up on the banks of the Crystal River near my house.

7. I don't know how many different kinds of rocks there are represented by that river, but I own many of them.

8. I don't know why they look like they do, but I want to.

9, They both have a heart theme. One is shaped like a heart, and the other has a heart shape embedded in it.

10, The one with the heart shape embedded in it, is the color of Butterscotch.

11. Now, I really want some Butterscotch.

12. I Eco Dyed the paper in a pot of water, yesterday.

13. I collected the plant material from my garden.

14. I laid it on the paper, rolled it around a copper pipe, dropped it in a tamale pot filled with boiling water, two black walnuts that a friend shared with me, and a piece of iron pipe.

15. When I took the paper out of the pot, I hated the lilac color.

16. I lay the papers on my lawn to dry under a mostly cloudy sky.

17. When I looked at them again this morning, I loved them. I'm pretty sure that there is a lesson about waiting to judge things in there.

18. I got to have an impromptu phone conversation with the person who gave me the walnuts. All because I didn't like the purple. I should remember that and call her again, when I don't like something. It was fun.

19. I photographed this collection in front of a window in my kitchen on a cloudy day. I will do that again, soon.

20. I placed everything on a Vintage French Cutting Board, that was a generous gift from someone that I hardly know.

21. Generous gifts from someone that you hardly know, effect you.

22. Generous gifts from someone that you hardly know are hard to receive.

23. I'm not entirely sure why, but they make me want to give generously.

24. Now that I think of it, the color of boards in the cutting board look like Butterscotch.

25. I think that the grocery store opens at 7 a.m. 

26. I'll set my alarm for early and go there to buy some Butterscotch.

27. I used some yellow Coreopsis flowers from my garden, in the Dye process.

28. You can see the Butterscotch stained color on the paper.

29. There is even a little bit of the petal left on the paper.

30. A generous and talented artist casually mentioned Coreopis to me on FB this week.

31. Maybe I should send her some Butterscotch.

32. I have left the C out of the word Butterscotch every time that I have typed it in this posting.

33. I'm pretty crazy about these photographs.

34. I'm sure that I will think of something that I left out of this list, when I hit the publish button.

35. I think I'm going to publish now, and head on to the grocery store, tonight.

36. I haven't tasted a Butterscotch in at least 50 years.

37. Apparently, seeing this photo, the colors, and writing the word Butterscotch over and over, can be a powerfully persuasive thing. 

38. I thought that I would think of 40 things about these images, but I'm done.

Thank goodness for words...A picture is worth a million of them (That Could count as 39.)

Thanks for stopping by...I'm off to buy some Butterscotch...:) Laura

*******************************************

additional picture added below two days later...

********************************

I thought that you might enjoy seeing what my sister just gave me for Mother's Day....

She is THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!

I mean....THE BEST....

Laura