My family kidnapped St. Patrick

I now know that I am Irish down to my genetic core.

Lucky Irish horseshoe

Lots of people have Irish heritage here in Oregon, and all over the U.S. I always knew I had Irish ancestors on both sides of our family, but we've been here for a long time. I never had a grandpa with an Irish accent or anything.

In high school lots of my good friends had names like O'Keefe, McKeegan, McCrea and Mulloy, along with me, McCafferty.

St. Patrick's Day has always been big with us- we decorate our houses and we not only took the day off from work but the day after too, and celebrating started about 11:00 am. Don't have the time or energy to do that anymore.

Irish straight shot trophy

We have funny little Irish traditions in our family like hiding a ring, a baby, a coin and a thimble in our birthday cakes or mashed potatoes. When I was little, the sayings were that whoever got:
    the ring:would be the next to be married;
    the baby: would be the next to have a child; 
    the coin: was going to be rich;
    the thimble: was going to be an old maid or bachelor.

As we got older those fortunes seemed outdated or didn't fit who was at the table, so we revamped them- whoever got:
     the ring: would have a romantic episode;
     the baby: would have a child come into their life somehow;
     the coin: would come into some money;
     the thimble: would be given a wondeful gift.

Irish fortune telling charms

We always chewed very carefully when we ate birthday cake.

When my kids were little they would write little notes to the leprechaun that lived in our house and when they woke up on St. Patrick's Day, the leprechaun would overturn the furniture and leave them powdered donuts next to a green plant. You mean, that doesn't happen in your house? Hmmmm....

We decided to get my dad Dennis' genes analyzed to see what it would tell us about how Irish we really were. 

We found out that he is related to an ancient Irish king named Niall Noigiallach, or Niall of the Nine Hostages who lived in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He is famous for being the one who kidnapped St. Patrick.

MY FAMILY KIDNAPPED ST. PATRICK!

Niall had 8 sons who were very prolific. Today 21% of the men in NW Ireland are related to him, and 2-3 million males worldwide, including my dad and my son.

When I say I'm Irish, I mean it!

(And on a side note, my mother's side is English, Welsh and Scotch-Irish, and she always said her people were Scots who raided the Irish in ancient times, then got cut off by the Irish army and so stayed in Ireland and married Irish women. Think Braveheart kind of guys.....sigh.)

This explains so much.....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish whiskey menu board

Plant an Easter Garden

This amazing idea is from Melissa Holt. Plant an Easter Garden!

Start this planting project at least 10 days before Easter, so this year 2012 no later than March 29th- great Spring Break project for kids!

Take a flat terracotta pot base and fill it with potting soil until you have a small mound.

Nudge a small terracotta flower pot under the high part of the mound so just the mouth shows to act as the tomb.

Put some small pebbles in front of the mouth of the small flower pot as shown, then add one large rock to the right side so you can still see the mouth of the pot.

Make three small crosses with natural twigs and jute or wire. Stick them on the top of the mound.

Sprinkle semi shade or full shade grass seed over the top of the potting soil (which do better in a tabletop garden), following planting directions from the package.   Moisten grass seed several times daily with a spray bottle. Set it in a warm sunny location. It will sprout in 7-10 days .

Would be a wonderful natural centerpiece for Easter brunch or dinner and a beautiful explanation of the empty tomb and meaning of Easter. He is risen!

Elsie's House

Elsie was 101 years old when she died. She had hardly ever been sick, and when she didn't feel well at the end of November everyone thought she'd recover like she always did. Instead, she died peacefully after 3 days, probably from a stroke. Her husband had died in May at age 95 and she followed 8 months later. She lived in a little house on Happy Lane in Eugene off Cal Young Road.

Walking Fort Bragg blog by Ron Bloomquist

It was evident that Elsie had many interests and hobbies, including putting dioramas inside of real eggs, doing miniature oil paintings, sewing, needlepoint, cooking, reading, calligraphy, making silouhettes, decorative wreaths, and making Christmas ornaments from sequins, glitter and trim.



Miniature oil painting by Elsie

Elsie (like me) collected all kinds of things, among them cut glassware, Christmas kitsch, miniature animal figurines, Chinese mudmen, postcards, dishes, owls, miniature handblown glass, silk scarves, craft supplies, local cookbooks, and tea cups.

Vintage buckle collection in frame by aVelvetLeaf

Whenever Elsie needed someone to tell her troubles to, she would call her neighbor and tell her to meet her at the wailing wall, which was the fence between their yards, and they would talk through the fence. The fence had two little white dove ornaments hanging on it, and when I met the neighbor in line to go to the estate sale in Elsie's house, the neighbor told me about the woman who had lived there and how she hoped people running the estate sale would let her have the doves from the fence to remember Elsie by.

Doves on a Fence from Rick's Green Grass Blog

I hope they did.

As much as we enjoy the treasure hunting and reuse/recycling aspects of estate sales, we need to remember that these things were the personal possesions of  a real person who has recently died and show respect and gratefulness for that. I think Elsie would love that other people appreciated and loved what she loved and that her wonderful things will be cared for and about.

Here is just a small sample of some of the things I adopted from Elsie's amazing collections. I'll keep some, and some I'll put up for adoption soon in my etsy shops aVelvetLeaf or velvetothepage as vintage or reworked and upcycled into something new. Maybe there will be something there that Elsie would love you to have.....

Oregon Centennial metal tray 1959

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Vintage metal trivet from a wood stove

Vintage outdoor Mary shrine

Vintage floral metal miniature tray pair

Vintage 1960s bird ornaments

Neon mushroom tole painting by Elsie

Vintage 1950s art-influenced salad servers

Various vintage mirrors and decorative metal

Handpainted owl family plate 1951

Lots of ceramic birds and owls

Vintage deer antler meat fork

My humble studio abode

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My humble jumble of a studio is cozy, rather messy and very busy, which is appropriate since many of my friends would describe ME exactly that way, so I feel very at home there.

It is quite a step up from my former headquarters in our unheated garage- brrrr.....

image from ergonomics news

 ....although Mark Rothko painted in his garage so I guess I shouldn't have complained.

Mark Rothko in his Long Island studio (image from parrishart.org)

I see blogs that showcase beautiful home offices and look longingly at them, but do people really work in there? They must be awfully neat. I just don't think I could keep up the appearance. I would go to a fabulous junky estate sale or find a big stash of dirty barn wood and that would be the end of the elegant organization until I found a way to fit it all in. Still, aren't they beautiful....

Sewing studio by Tofu Studios

......and elegantly minimal and industrial?

vintage industrial workplace by mod nest on etsy blog

 I work in many different medias with a large array of materials and tools, so I need lots of storage and organization, as well as a place that feeds my creativity.

 My space is not elegant (note the plastic bins) but it does work pretty well. My beat up second hand office desk we got free is not beautiful but works beautifully as art desk with handy storage complete with drawers for stationary supplies, files, tools, jewelry findings, sewing supplies and paint. Various bookshelves (non-matching) do the rest. Add in a stereo, internet hookup and a tv with TCM showing old movies and this messy artist is happy!

Drawing and painting tools and inspiration board

Old fashioned calendar and office tools

Art, reference and church books, supply bins 

Ridiculous but not redundant supply bins

Stereo and more idea boards

What room in your house feeds your soul?


I would still love some fun things to decorate my office- here are some things I love from etsy:

Perpetual desk calendar by Olive and Frances on etsy

Make it sparkle repurposed sign by AWESOME fortress on etsy

vintage rotating stamp holder by Gaelianna on etsy

Local handmade and vintage reuse movement thrives

My artistsan friends and I were worried about our little local sale we've had in one version or another for 12 years but now known as Hidden House Artists' Gift Sale and held the November weekend before Thanksgiving. 

The economy still sucks....

Image by Carrie Sloan via Flickr

People around my age who come to the sale care less about aquiring things.....

Photo from accesstotools.com blog

There is a lot more competition on all fronts......

http://www.flickr.com/photos/apoptotic/2346929658/

And it wasn't even Black Friday yet!

Photo from crackfunny.com

But our friends and their friends proved that if you pour your heart and soul into something and invite people you like to come and share your artistic vision while getting some holiday shopping done at the same time, people will respond.


It was a fabulous three day party! All the Hidden House artists are so grateful to everyone who attended and now know that the local handmade and reusable movement is better than ever and right for our times. We had the highest sales of any year so far.

Here are some glimpses of Hidden House 2011.

It was quite a party! Thanks to all of our wonderful customers and hope to see you in November 2012. Lots of Velvet Leaf's treasures sold, but some are still available in my etsy shops at www.aVelvetLeaf.etsy.com and www.velvetonthepage.etsy.com. 

Like Hidden House on facebook: www.facebook.com/hiddenhouseartistsgiftsale