Raised In Cotton

Embellished Pottery and Glass

I just had to back away for a couple of days from the website preparations and create! So I made a little project for you to try~You know all those old bottles or pottery pieces that you pass up at flea markets because they may be damaged or just a bit dirty? Well don't! Scoop em up and embellish them. I love to do this with white dishes and bottles~just take some of those fun transfers you can buy at the scrapbook section of your local crafts store and go to town:)  

Take some glass cleaner and clean them up and dry. Then cut out your transfers and place on the front. I just held mine and then took a popsickle stick and rubbed them on. You can lift up the edges to check and see if all the design has transfered before you are finished. I have done this with monogram transfers that are fun to give as a gift. The best part is, if you don't like it, just take the glass cleaner and remove.

Another vintage embellishment project just for you to try!

Shop Greetings

We finally got some much needed sunshine over the weekend! Seems the Midwest just can't get a handle yet on Spring. At the shop on Saturday, I dressed our old dress form up to greet our customers.  To start, I put one of our egg garlands around the top of the form to make a Spring wrap. I then took some old glass beads around a piece of aged lace and added a pretty blue pin for the neck. Making a skirt from a vintage tablecloth I wrapped around the waist and pinned a little birds nest to hold everything together.   

Online Shop Photo's

Taking photo's for the online shop is sometimes very challenging given our lack of sunshine here in Missouri. The weatherman said we have not gone three days without some sort of snow or ice this winter. I like to shoot photo's with as much natural light as I can find then I don't have to worry about editing as much. I am not an expert by any means when it comes to photography. My digital rebel camera is finally much more user friendly and that has come by much trial and error on my part. The great thing about shooting digital is you can see the photo right after shooting and use the erase button which happens to be one of my favorite buttons on my camera.  So taking advantage of some partial sunlight, I snapped a vignette photo of some of the goods we will be offering for sale on the new website.

Love these old battery jars filled with flowers~

Tiny wheels from a buggy of some sort, a pair of lamps with the old paper cones for the bulbs, a "Bistro" sign. Baskets filled with eggs and of course paper!

More photo hints to come;)

Roses and Thank You!,

Yesterday morning I sleepily came into my kitchen and headed straight to the coffee (as I do every morning) and was surprised to find a dozen beautiful roses from my sweet husband.  How thoughtful of him to place the flowers right beside the coffee pot! I think he knows me well. I hope your Valentines Day was just as lovely as mine.

The winner of my drawing is #25 Nancy~Fete et Fleur Congratulations Nancy, I will send the book to you just let me know your address!  I have to say "Thank You" for all of the comments you left regarding what you like to buy when shopping online. Overwhelming response was VINTAGE! I knew we were all kindred spirits! You love everything from old china to  paper. "Handmade" was mentioned a lot which always has a special place in my heart. The goal for the online shop is to offer a unique selection of vintage and vintage inspired goods with a sprinkle of handmade creations. Also, I believe even though you are not shopping "in person" the personal touch can still be relayed through whatever you purchase. Great packaging with attention to care and detail mean so much to the total online experience. Because I so appreciate all of you and your kind help I am giving you this vintage ballerina picture! Just right click on the photo and save it to your computer. You can print the photo out and paste it to some card stock. Add some ribbon for a gift tag or hang off your memory boards!  Please enjoy and use to decorate your life.

Lastly, I have to say how my heart aches for the tragic loss that was suffered yesterday at another campus shooting. What is going on? Can we not send our children to school and not worry about their safety? As a mother of two sons that are in College, now I have the constant fear that some deranged person is going to come into one of their lecture halls and start shooting. How sad that we have to say a prayer for the safety of our own children when all they are trying to do is get a better education and live the American dream.

Online Shop Update and Book Giveaway!

I promise the online Shop for Raised In Cotton is really coming.  I have been diligently working to get the site launched, getting inventory unpacked and taking a ton of photo's. Not to mention I then have to load the photo's of the products into the site and write the descriptions. I found myself behind because of my "brain fry headache" episode and then last week my dear sweet Mama, Stella Mae was in the hospital, she is out now and doing much better. Thank You to everyone that left beautiful comments on the Vintage Memory Board project and the slide show of the shop. To all the emails inquiring about ordering crown soaps, I will be offering those along with some yummy other hand milled varieties on the online shop.  Since ecommerce is so huge now, I was wondering if you could leave me a comment and tell me what kind of products that you would love to see offered online.  Then on February 14, I will draw a name and the winner will be sent this lovely book from Mary Carol Garrity, Feather Your Nest! It will be my reward to you for helping me with my own market research.

Purple!

Have you noticed how "hot" the color "purple" is right now? I never considered myself a "purple" person but I may have to rethink that after taking notice of things around my house. I have collected vintage bottles with interesting shapes for years. What I didn't realize was how much purple glass I have in my stash. Not until seeing the latest issue of Country Home did it hit me that I too gravitate toward the color purple, the front cover of the magazine is beautiful. I have a couple of vintage quilts that are made out of old feed sacks with touches of purple. One of my favorite flowers is a purple hydrangea, they are beautiful fresh or dried. Or just taking a little glass bottle and filling it with cream roses and touches of lavender sprigs~simple and lovely~