Well now this is embarrassing - where has the time gone since my last post?
I haven't abandoned you, dear readers and friends, just lots of other things in life have gotten in the way.
But here we find ourselves in January, a new year, a new beginning. Things should be looking up, right?
But what's so great about January?
We begin in January announcing why we didn't like ourselves or our lives or our decisions during the last year, pledging to make changes in the New Year. The reality is that those pledges known as, 'New Year's Resolutions,' only remind us of how we failed to live up to our own expectations of ourselves last year. They will soon offer us reinforcement of just how bad we are at keeping the resolutions, and will make us feel down on ourselves once again. It's just one of the reasons I hate January.
Another reason to dislike this month is that my birthday is in it. Yup, that's right. I am a birthday hater. Yes, I know that having another birthday is better than the alternative, but, birthdays are reminders (especially at my ever-older ages) of our own mortality and that, in my case, there are more years of living behind us than there are in front of us. The clock is ticking so better hurry up with any plans!
Then there's the boredom of the winter season in which January resides - the holidays are behind us and there is nothing exciting happening until spring. Of course, this makes us think of the lousy, gray, depressing weather and how we must endure it until spring arrives to grant us with a sunny, fair-weather day.
To make life in January more bearable, I've decided to abandon New year's resolutions - all but one - in which I have a blanket given myself a blanket purpose; to be a better person this year than I was in the last.
My children have given me a magazine subscription to Mollie Makes so that I might get inspired and rediscover some creativity that seems to have gotten lost this past year. I've begun some new projects, plan on revamping my shops and this blog and generally speaking, keep myself busy in the creative world and look forward to the end of January and the beginning of the months ahead that are going to be filled with excitement this year.
We are expecting a second grandchild with our daughter, Elizabeth, in New York, and two of our children are planning weddings. So pretty soon boring, dull January will be behind me and exciting, busy, creative days are ahead. That is something to look forward to as we head into February.
I'm so happy to be writing again!
xxx
Maggie
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Lucky Me!

Lovely Ali, from 'Message in a Teacup . . . Tales from Betty and Violet' (http://bettyandviolet.blogspot.com/) has given me this creative award
and I am now giving it a go as to how to carry out my duties and honour others with it, as well.
So first things first; here are my seven favourite things:
- I love it when my husband says, "Mind how you go" to help keep family and friends safe on their journeys.
- I love memories of my childhood and memories of my children's childhood.
- I love the scent of spring flowers - lilacs and bluebells and daffodils.
- I love the tiny, yet strong, little forget-me-not blossoms, and beautiful wild violets, springing up wherever they choose, year after year.
- I love the beach at Lake Erie on the Ontario shore: the bon fires and starry skies at night, the water spray, the wild weather with wind that takes your breath away, the sand and sun and pebble beaches, the fireflies in June.
- I love the excitement at the beginning of a holiday knowing not what adventures are ahead.
- I love people who care about others and give of themselves.
This was so easy - - - I could go on naming things I adore, but I was limited to only seven!
I would like to share my award and pass it along to these lovely women:
Susan from Hometown Girl (she gave me a similar award when I first began blogging but I didn't know how to use it! Thank you, Susan!)
NatalieJo from Piccalilli Days
Sunny Bower from Vineyard Painter
Liz from The Washerwoman
Isabelle from Suzy's Vintage Attic
Elizabeth from The Brooklyn Clothesline
Phyllis from For the Love of Vintage
Lili M. from Lili M.
Happy Blogging and Happy Creativity!
xxx
Maggie
Friday, 13 March 2009
Happy 1st Year Anniversary, SweetScarlett!!!

I am so excited!
Today my little Etsy shop, SweetScarlett is one year old!
I am generally not a superstitious person, but this is, after all, Friday the 13th!
Not to mention that the Ides of March are fast approaching!
Of course, St. Paddy's Day will offset all of that, with a bit o' Irish luck!
It all began when I wanted to sell the little clothes I make for American Girl dolls.
My goal was to have my couture for dolls have the quality of 'people' clothes, using vintage fabrics and trim, and also be unique, one-of-a-kind clothing.
Special, so that the little girl receiving them would know she was the only person to have that outfit for her doll.
This pink silk nightgown was a custom order from the A
The same customer ordered this robe made from 100% cotton Laura Ashley rose print, Bibi.
It features self-covered buttons and Victorian styling.
A dear 'new' friend from Northern Ireland purchased the Shamrock dress from me, after I had purchased the vintage embroidered linen from her, with which I made the dress. Its photograph is at the top of this post.
The 100% Irish linen dress featured antique buttons, and hemstitching along the hemlines of the sleeves and dress, as well as a lovely hand-embroidered shamrock.
Trish also was so kind as to carry an American Girl doll back from the states for me. Emily has been waiting for some time to be a model . . . I must sew some clothing for her to model!
I made another new friend, Irina, who lives now in the UK, but was originally from Russia.
I purchased some hand crocheted flowers from her to adorn my couture, eventually asking her to design some eggs for me, too. Her little Easter eggs embellished my 1920s style Egg Dress, pictured here.
And finally, a coordinating set of pajamas and robe were made and sold - but sadly, not on Etsy.
In fact, none of the doll fashions ever sold on Etsy, and that was so deflating,
I simply gave up and sold them on ebay.
It was important for me to remove the negative feelings I was having about my work and move on to create other things.
But like most things in life, my shop (and me) is ever-changing.
Right now I am working on some small objects that I do hope will bring a smile and a bit of warmth, charm, and and history to you all. These are your only hints!
I am hoping to have them ready to sell in my shop in a few weeks - maybe less -
as I am having a bit of trouble sourcing some of my materials for them.
I believe they will be a unique product on Etsy, and maybe just about everywhere else, too.
Please keep checking back to have a peek at them, and when you do, let me know how you feel about them. I need feedback!
In honour of the 1st anniversary of my little shop, I am giving away a set of eight bookplates.
All you need do to win is to comment with your name and/or shop/blog on one of the previous messages about the give-away, or, on this post.
Everyone who send me his/her name will be entered to win. My daughter will draw the name from a hat and I will post who won after the drawing.
In order to give folks a bit of time to comment, I will wait until the weekend has passed before compiling a list and conducting the drawing.
I would like to send out a huge "THANK YOU" to all of you. You have kept me going with support and friendship and even a few purchases, here and there.
Bless you all!
Maggie

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