SOME SOMETHING SATURDAY: KINDERGARTEN

The Etsy Bloggers Carnival, which I missed again, had two choices this time: Tell about a favorite kindergarten memory, or a Labor Day tradition.

Well, we don't really have any Labor Day traditions, so I'm telling about kindergarten, and showing you what I looked like w-a-a-a-y back then!

This is me:


I went to two kindergartens. We moved from California to Hawaii just before I turned six, which meant a new school. (It was so close to my sixth birthday, in fact, that I had my birthday party on board ship, with the captain presiding. How cool is that?!)

I remember Dad driving me to my first day of kindergarten in Honolulu. On the way, he told me my teacher's name was Miss Chu. "Chew! That's a funny name!" I said. Dad responded by telling me that mine wasn't any less funny, which gave me something to think about. I don't think I ever again thought of someone's name as odd after that. I'd just compare it to my last name--Pegg--and remember.

The school "room" was a quonset hut. Now that I think about it, that's pretty cool, too, since it basically meant we got a whole little building for a classroom. I remember the door step, and the rounded end of it as we walked up. We were living in a quonset hut at the time, so the building itself didn't seem odd to me.

That's not ours up there, but that's what they looked like, all right!

So what do I remember about kindergarten? The arts and crafts, of course!

I remember Miss Chu had a primitive mimeograph, one where she had sort of a jelly in the bottom of a 13X9" pan, and she's lay sheets of paper face down on it to print them. It fascinated me.

But also I remember learning how to made a picture of a bear that was "furry", using a cut-out of one as a reverse stencil, laying leaves on sheets of paper and then brushing a paint-laden toothbrush over a screen to splatter paint the sheet, removing the leaves when the paint was dry, and one craft I keep meaning to try again: We cut brown paper bags into strips, almost all the way across, but not quite. One bag was cut on the vertical axis, the other the horizontal. Then we wove the two bags together to make place mats, and varnished them. They looked really good, and were sturdy, too. I was quite thrilled with the result.

Oh, and another: Dipping strings in paints, and laying them in squiggly lines between two sheets of paper, putting the sheets in the middle of a big phone book and then pulling the strings out. The designs that made were rather like the aurora borealis.

Last thing I remember about kindergarten? Cockleburs! We didn't have them in California, but they were thick in Hawaii. I spent a lot of time pulling the prickly little balls out of my ankle socks.

Wow. Hadn't thought of that in a very long time.

School days, school days,
Good old golden rule days....

Featured: BEADED TAIL

This month's featured Etsy blogger is one special lady, Sharla, aka Beaded Tail, on Etsy and in her blog.

Sharla's Etsy store is full of things I love, so I'll show you a few of them:






Now, as you can see, Sharla has a great eye for color and form, and the skill needed to combine beads and wire into wearable art. What's even better is this: Sharla loves animals. Her blog is largely devoted to her furry friends and family, and a part of the proceeds from every sale she makes goes to organizations and charities that help animals.

Buying from Sharla helps support:


American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals .... www.ascpa.org
Humane Society for the United States .... www.hsus.org
Dogs for the Deaf.... www.dogsforthedeaf.org
Alley Cat Allies.... http://alleycat.org
Chintimini Wildlife Rescue .... www.chintiminiwildlife.org

Congratulations, Sharla, on being this month's Featured Etsy Blogger! No one deserves it more than you!

GOOOAAL!! One step at a time...

It's blog carnival time for us Etsy Bloggers. We get two subject choices each time, and I've chosen to answer the question: What are your goals? Short term? Long term?

Ah, yes, goals. Right now I'm totally focused on Mom's moving sale, and getting as much of her stuff sold as possible.


I type that, and it doesn't sound like much of a goal, but factoring in the work involved, all of a sudden it feels like my life's work. Just kidding! I think that's just how focus affects you--everything else fades into the background (where it lurks, leaping out at you from time to time to take bites out of your psyche, turning you into a quivering mass of "How-will-I-ever-get-all-this-done's"!)

Now I know what you're thinking: "But you already did that!" Well, yeah. But that was in April, and it was Step 1. This is June, and we're on Step 2. Believe it or not, I think there's more this time!


In spite of the fact that we had a very good sale in April, we hadn't yet delved the depths of either the garage or the office. When Mama starting pulling out stuff in those areas, she discovered even more glass, and all of the crafting supplies.


There are piles of quilt squares and fabrics, and yards and yards and yards of lace and trim, plus dozens and dozens of other supplies.

Tomorrow is the kick-off for this round. Sunday at 5, we'll wrap it up.

It's a very short-term goal, but it works for me, and will be followed by others: Get home and use the next three days to get ready for the two shows I'm doing next weekend. This will be the second time I've done two shows at the same time, running back and forth between towns an hour's drive apart to set up and tear down, and be present for as much of each show as possible. Thank goodness, my daughter is subbing for me Saturday at one, while I do the other. I may not want to do that again. We'll see.

Now, if we could just sell Mama's house while we're doing the moving sale....Man, that would be awesome!

By the way, this is Mama:

I think you can see just by looking at her photo why I love her so much and why this is all very much a labor of love.

MONSTERS! ON ETSY!

I got such a kick out of this treasury, Monsters Around Etsy, put together by my friend and fellow Etsy Blogger Patch, that I decided to copy it here. I'm sorry the photos aren't clickable, but if you click on the link (Monsters Around Etsy ) it will take you to the treasury itself. There, if you like, you'll be able to click on individual monsters and visit the shop where it was found.

So tell me: Which is your favorite? I love them all, but....uhm...oh...drat! I can't decide, but I do love Tilt's Mini monster, and the shoes, and that last onesie, and...Patch, yours takes the prize for scariest, lol!

FEATURED: MAGDALENE JEWELS

This month's featured Etsy blogger is Pamela Baker, who goes by the name Magdalene Jewels on her blog and one etsy shop. Her other etsy shop is Magdalene Knits. Can you tell she's multi-talented?

I want to show you just a few of her shop items, but let me tell you, choosing which ones was not easy!



I love Magdalene's eye for color and proportion. If I had money, my jewelry box would be full of her jewelry!


Isn't this coat for a baby girl adorable? I especially like the length of it. It adds an unusual, and fashionable, touch for a little one.


And this. Of course, I've fallen in love with scarflets, or neck warmers, anyway, but this one looks especially luscious, doesn't it?


That's the banner for Pamela's blog. I have to tell you, her banners and avatar make me smile every single time I see them. There's just something about them that does that to me!

Pay Magdalene a visit if you get a chance. I think you will not regret it!

TILT!

This month's Etsy Blogger feature is on Tilt! I love Tilt's creations--bags, duffles, and wrist wallets in such beautiful, funky, or zany fabrics that they're like candy for the eyes. I mean, just look at a few of them:






Tilt has a website, Tilt Creations Too, where she talks about her work, a blog where she features other artists' treasures, Tilt Treasures, another blog where she talks about her own art, other people's art, and the aventure that is life, and an Etsy shop . Every single one of them is worth visiting--I think you'll love what you find as much as I do!

MY DREAM DESTINATION

It's Etsy Bloggers blog carnival time! I've chosen the topic, "If I could go anywhere...."

Now, that's kind of a tough decision, when I start thinking about places like New Zealand, where my stepdaughter, granddaughters, and darling great-grandson live, or Edinburgh, Ireland, England, steeped in history and the music I love, or white beaches verged by turquoise seas.

In point of fact, though, it's simple: My dream destination is anywhere I take my camera!

I'll illustrate with some of today's crop of photos. I spent three and a half hours in a basement, helping a friend with her mom's estate sale. (Don't worry; her mom's still very much alive, but recently moved into a retirement center.) I had a great time, because every chance I got, which was anytime there weren't shoppers down there, my camera was clicking away.