Show Me Your Form

Wow - I'm late...sorry about that! Here is my dress form, unfortunately not vintage, but still a great way to show off some of the vintage clothing I have. I've posted about her before - I named her after my four great-grandmothers - Ruby Malinda Beatrice Nell . She is modeling a dress belonging to my grandmother, Helen. It's an original beaded dress from the 1920's. My grandma was a "flapper" and a model. I will try to find a photo of her to post! 

Quilt Giveaway at Old Red Barn!

Dana at Old Red Barn is giving away this delicious quilt! Check out her blog for details! Wow.

Garden Inspiration

Some inspiration from my garden!

Show Me Your Form

Thanks to the info on Maija's blog I am signing up for Show Me Your Form! I have earlier posts on my dress form, Ruby Malinda Beatrice Nell, but I will make sure to dress her up in something new for August 1! Check back!

Summer Time

Wow - where have I been? What have I been doing? It started in June with a visit from my daughter, who's living in Michigan. She is pictured here with her little sister! A trip to Yellowstone (only a 90 minute drive from us...) was next. Here are pictures of the Paint Pots and Old Faithful, of course. It was blizzarding that day, with only a few moments of sunshine! Also had a trip to Kalispell/Whitefish/Glacier Park - no photos of me playing my first-ever round of golf... but I did manage to get a cool waterfall scene and this awesome barn just out of Browning on the Blackfeet Reservation. Then a fantastic 4th of July in Ennis, MT... very fun. Parade and breakfast... Did fireworks with the neighbors later on. Oh, did I mention I have a full-time job as well? Yes, I do try to work occasionally...! Throw in some gardening, and a home/garden tour - and I can't believe I've still got some summer left! Needless to say, all of my art projects have been put on the back burner. I am going to try a fun project - some dyed fabric - I'll share the results when I'm done! I hope you are having a fun summer!

Cool Giveaway - again, not mine...

Yes, I know - I keep promising a giveaway but I haven't had an hour of free time this summer to make anything!!! So, go visit Kristin Hubick's blog to enter this fabulous giveaway!!! She creates some beautiful things!

I've been too busy to blog!

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Let’s see – 1998.... oh, I was pregnant (at age 38 ½ ) for the FOURTH time... 11 years after the birth of my 3rd child... I was working in the Entomology Department at Montana State University.

What are 5 things on my to-do list for tomorrow:

Work (try to catch up – it seems I’ve been traveling for work a lot lately – here and here most recently)

Shakespeare in the Park (to see All's Well That Ends Well)

Shop for snacks to take to Shakespeare in the Park

Contact more people for my High School Class Reunion

Walk around in my garden


5 snacks I enjoy:

Ice cream (Wilcoxen’s mint chocolate chip)

Red Licorice (not Twizzler’s – red ropes!)

Trail mix with cashews, choco chips, raisins

Dark chocolate anything

Homemade guacamole and blue corn chips


5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Create an outdoor center where kids (and adults) could create art, have a garden and have no need for TV...

Take a vacation to Paris, Egypt, Ireland and a bunch of other fun places

Build 2 small, but awesome homes – one near the ocean, the other in the mountains

Help single parents

Help my family


5 places I have lived:

Marysville, CA
Chico, CA
Chester, CA
Bozeman, MT
Shelby, MT

A giveaway - but not mine...

Check out Martha's blog for a most spectacular giveaway! I LOVE Americana... I am keeping my fingers crossed for this one!

You know you're in Montana when...

... you can still see cowboys on a daily basis! I love it! This photo was in our local newspaper today.

Ranch hands brave the rain on a recent afternoon to check on cattle on the Milesnick place north of Belgrade. Cool weather, more rain and mountain snow are predicted for the next few days. that combination prompted the National Weather Service to issue flood watches, or warnings, in Gallatin and Park counties. This is a photo by Diedre Eitel of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Chain of Blogs/Inspiring Women

I love how blogs work. You start at one place and end up connected to many blogs later! After looking at Sarah's fabulous blog (which I visit often) I noticed she had mentioned Jude's blog, which I also visit often and absolutely love. Jude has been using tiny fabric scraps to create the most beautiful little quilt squares... lovely. Jude then links to Jackie's blog, who is someone I'm not familiar with... oh, wow. That's all I can say. You have to visit her flickr pages. She creates the most spectacular embroidery and textile confections! So now I am inspired by Jude's Tiny Tuesday project! I really think it's cool how this all works! So, as you can see from my header and this photo (bottom shelf), I have lots of little pieces of fabric to use... oh, and I guess that's why my blog is call - REMNANTS! I can't wait to get started!

May Day

Happy May Day! May 1st falls directly between the solstice and the equinox - so that's part of the reason for the celebration - check it here ... no, the photo isn't from this year - it's from last year when we actually had flowers! Though many of you having been seeing your garden grow for a month or two, I am just now in the planning stages of what I'm going to plant - I would like to plant some cutting flowers - straw flowers, gerber daisies and such. We have a particularly short growing season here in SW Montana. As I work for the Extension Service I am always promoting their virtues - if you have questions about yards and gardens, canning, family finances, and a bunch of other interesting stuff - check out your local Extension Office - nearly every county in the country has one!

Finding things to make me happy...

I'd really like sunshine and warmth, but since I can't have that I'm searching ETSY and I found some really awesome things to inspire me! Here are a few of my favorites. I haven't got the photo-thingy down where you can tile a bunch of favorites. I need to work on that! So - my theme is paperdolls.... I love Danita's artwork (bottom) Her little girl drawings remind me of me when I was little! Also - I really think Bird and Flower dolls (middle) are exquisite. One more - tho' not found on Etsy are Donald Hendricks paperdolls (top) This is the coolest site. You can look at tons of paperdolls and dress them in different outfits - plus you can order them... delicious stuff! Ok. I need to find more paperdolls. Any suggestions?

I'm very SAD

I think I have SAD. It's snowy AGAIN... a few days ago we had a 70 degree day, now it's back to snowy and cold. Later this week it's supposed to be lows of 11 degrees and highs of 32 degrees. I'm so over it. But, this is typical for SW Montana. It's making me grouchy and I don't feel very creative. I had my quilt group meeting the other night, and I got very inspired so maybe that will help! I'm still pondering my giveaway. Stay tuned...

I won a "giveaway"

I won this very adorable flower brooch from Isis at Paper Flower Girl. She's a Belgian jewelry designer! I love her work! I have won quite a few treasures lately so stay tuned - it's about time for my own blog giveaway! Happy Friday!

Speaking of the outdoors and camping...

In my previous post I mentioned that I love camping and the outdoors. I grew up in Northern California (yes, I mean the true northern part of the state above Sacramento) and spent every summer camping with my family! I now live in one of the most awesome 'outdoor' places in the country - Montana! We're only 90 miles north of Yellowstone Park. It is truly a gift to live here. If you're kind of an outdoor girl or long to be - how about this? I love visiting the Mary Jane's Farm website - she always has something new going on. I found out she has a bed and breakfast right on the farm - wouldn't you just love to stay in one of these? Doesn't really resemble the camping I've done but I definitely want to check this out! Follow the link for more photos of her farm! (PS - it's in Idaho)

Out like a lion, too....

March 1 started with lots of snow and March 31 is ending with lots of snow. Guess that's the way it goes here in Montana. Last I checked it was 24 degrees... I'm so over it! I have several projects in the works - first, a paperdoll swap with Tammie Moore. Then I signed up for a "Gypsy Caravan" swap with Red Dog Scott. I'm sure I don't know what I've gotten myself into, but I've always wanted my own Gypsy Wagon or Sheep Wagon to put in my back yard as a studio!! Here's a photo of a sheep wagon I'd love to have. Doesn't that look fun? I'm sure it's not for everyone but I'm an outdoor, camping sort of girl, so this really appeals to me!

View from my backyard

We've had some brilliant sunsets lately. This is the view off my deck in the backyard - the Bridger Mountains in the background...

Spring in Montana?

Though Spring is a few weeks away I am surprised at the tulip blossoms pushing their way out of the ground ... I know we have much more snowfall due before June but the sight of green is making me very happy! Here is a picture of the tiny buds and also a picture of a few flowers I grew last year!

Something Else You Might Like

This is a photo of a vintage beaded 'flapper' dress from the 1920's. It belonged to my grandmother, Helen. I keep it on a dress form in my studio. I have four different dresses which belonged to my grandma and I like to rotate them to show them off instead of leaving them to collect moths in an old trunk! I think I want to name the mannequin as someone had mentioned on another blog (I'll find that post and link to it...). That person had named it after some relatives. I think if I named mine it would be Ruby Malinda Beatrice Nell after my four great-grandmothers. What do you think?

Banner Swap Photos

Wow! I participated in a Banner Swap hosted by Sara from The Fabric of Meditation awhile ago and I just got them back! What a treat. They are all so awesome. I really can't get a close-up photo of them all so I'm showing them in sections.