May 04 2009
Airing my Dirty Laundry…
… of sorts — LOL!!! Today while washing and hanging out some old kitchen curtains, I noticed they suffered damage in the washer — not to blame on mylaundering skills, but more the mere age of these curtains — OLD! I remember well when my husband’s Aunt ordered these from the catalog for her kitchen. She was an old maid, I guess you would say, who devoted her life to taking care of her farmhouse and many bachelor brothers. As we were looking at her new kitchen curtains, she explained to me that though she would have wanted ruffles for her windows, she felt this pleated trim on these curtains was more appropriate for this *man’s* kitchen — LOL!!! Funny the things you remember, but I do remember it as if it was yesterday, and I’m sure it wasclose to 25years ago. The occupants of that farmhouse are long gone, and today one of our sons is renovating the house, so Mom took the curtains home to wash. And today was gorgeously breezy and sunny, a perfect drying day. Here they are:
And yes, we do hang our clothes out in the summer! And no, I don’t even have clothes poles — LOL!!! One end of this line is hooked to an outbuilding and the other end is tied around a tree. And it’s probably been that way for 100 years, so far be it from me to change it!!! But, once realizing these curtains were destined for the rag bag, I KNEW I could use that pleated trim on some cards, so here’s my first attempt:
No stamping — none — just a quick card. My pretty image is from a sweet little notepad type of booklet by Crafty Secrets — totally darling!!! I distressed with my scissor blades as I couldn’t seem to find my distressing tool. See my pleated trim cut from those curtains! Gosh, I can makea LOT of cards with all that trim — LOL!!!! It is attached with double sided tape. The buttons are sewn on using the string I have in the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store and, of course, that’s where my wide silk is from as well. But check out my bow — I am SO excited over this one. I learned a new way to make a bow — this one is actually a double bow — and it is SO easy. I am running out of time tonight, but I will plan to share more on this bow tomorrow evening (Tuesday) when I post. Hope you can check back in then to see! Oh, this card is 5″ wide x5.5″ high.
Stamps: None
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream (backing image), Prism Suede Brown Dark, Frosted Orange. Birds and Botanicals Images and Notes by Crafty Secretes.
Ink: Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown
Accessories: Wide Silk Ribbon and String by May Arts from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, Buttons from Wal-Mart, Old Curtains, Zots, SU Corner Rounder, Glue Glider.
Shopping:
The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store has the silk ribbon and string as well as much more!
Stampers Dream is my source for Prism Paper.
Joan’s Garden is my source for my FAV adhesive, the Glue Glider. (And it’s Monday, so that means Joan just listed some fun, new things!)
Thanks much for stopping in — truly appreciate all your visits. Hope you are enjoying lovely days as well — see you soon!
49 responses so far
I can’t wait to see how you tied that bow. I am the most ribbon/bow challenged female that I know!! I can spend literally an hour just trying to tie a decent bow!! (hence, I usually just go for knot! hehe!)
Gorgeous! Will be watching to see what else you do with
the trim!
What a pretty card and great use of the pleated material. I need to order some of those scraps. Very creative-tfs.
p.s. That bow is absolutely STUNNING!
Beautiful! Recycling at it best!
What a fabulous memory!! Love this gorgeous card too! Your pleats and ribbon are fantastic!!
Incredible! Love the recycled trim!
Wow, that is a great bow. And you made me laugh because a few years back, we were pulling out the poles for my parent’s clothes line and I fell in the hole with one foot I was laughing so hard, I could not get out. Thanks for the memory!
Beautiful card Sharon – LOVE the story behind it!! You are soooo good to cut up those curtains – I have such a hard time doing that, even when it makes total sense! The story makes me think of my old family farm where my bachelor uncle lived with his old maid sister for many years! I can still smell the bacon cooking on that old cast iron cook stove! Thanks for the memories! ๐
somehow this story made me melancholy, just about as old of a word as those curtains! LOL! I love seeing laundry on a clothes line. Just so simple and beautiful! TFS…I am happy the curtains became beautiful decorations for your card!
heartwarming story and a very beautiful bow
Gorgeous! So are the rest of the curtains just rags now? If you were to mail this card, how would you keep the bow from getting smashed? Isn’t it nice, once in a while, to make a card with no stamping?!! I love the distressing too! Great card!
Wonderful story, Sharon…and your card is gorgeous!! Love the image, pleating…and gosh…your bow couldn’t be more *perfect*!!
What a beautiful card, Sharon….I love the story and am so glad you can keep the memory alive with this awesome design!!! That’s one gorgeous bow, too!!!
Your bows are always gorgeous, so no surprise there! The curtains on the line brings back memories for me too and it is wonderful that you can always have a smile and the memory by turning them into cards, what a creative mind you have!!
Gorgeous card, Sharon!!! And your story absolutely amazing. I know what you mean, Mom is hording all kinds of goodies from my great-grandma like old table clothes and bedding. You know European bedding is quite different. We have Ueberzuege which is like a duvet cover and Kopfkissen are what American’s call European shams. I love hearing stories like yours because they make you remember the times when little things like that were still treasured. Thanks for sharing your story!!!
Absolutely GORGEOUS!!! Can’t wait to see the new way of doing that stunning bow!!! ๐
Gorgeous! Way to recycle, Sharon! ๐
Thanks for the wonderful story Sharon, and I absolutely love the photo of the curtains blowing in the breeze. I have a delightful memory of Lempi that I will share with you sometime also. Fond fond memories. I would love to receive a card with that lace on!! Hint hint
Sharon, this card is beautiful!!! Love the story and the laundry photo is stunning, too!!! I can almost smell the breeze!!! Great use of a beautiful memory, too!!!!
this is beautiful sharon! i love those curtains and they look so summery and refreshing blowing in the breeze on your line!
Thank you for sharing the story Sharon – it’s lovely. Isn’t it great to share memories of times long gone with friends. The card you made with the pleated trim is so pretty, and as for the bow – I’m hanging out to find out how to make one myself. I love making bows – most of my cards end up having a bow on them some way or another, but nothing as pretty as your bow.
Hugs, Anne.
Oh my gosh…quit making these beautiful cards using Crafty Secrets…I can’t lift them as quickly as you’re making them…..LOL…Beautiful card again!
That gives some ideas about what to do with the old curtains I pulled down when we moved into this house. I never throw things away. And I too, hung my laundry out this weekend!!!
*THUD* Holy smokes girl!! This is breathtaking. I love the recycled pleated trim and that wonderful (as always) gorgeous yummy bow. I have got to get you to teach me how to tie a bow like that!!
what a BEAUTIFUL card! that bow is so pretty!!
( i line dry in the summer, and rack dry in the
winter. i have been married 27 years and grew
up without a dryer, so my children grew up
without a dryer. they now own one, and i now
own one
but the minute the warm air hits, my clothes are
on the line. )
LOVE that BOW!
Sharon,
This card is FAB! I love the pleated ribbon and all the added lace. The image is adorable and WOW, that bow is as my 7 year old like to say “to die for” LOL!
Ahhhhhh! The memory and message, the cutains blowing in the breeze, the beautiful card…thanks you.. Made me smile.
Sooo beautiful!
Sharon, what a fabulous picture of the curtains drying in the cool Spring breezes, I love it! We don’t get many breezes here, just hot, humid heat. I remember, as a child, my mom hanging the laundry out to dry. We had metal poles, shaped in a “T” fashion with three lines going across. Boy do I ever remember us running out to get the clothes down as quickly as possible when a sudden Florida rain shower would come down . . . LOL. Thanks for the memories! Your card is stunning as usual, I love the Crafty Secrets image and your bow is absolutely heavenly!
Wow that is an awesome card. That bow is fantastic and the trim is being recycled so you are green in that way too. I love the smell of clothes hung outside. So fresh and clean!
Your card is beautiful. I love the way you incorporated the curtains into them…I am sure you’ll cherish the notebook since it has a piece of your family’s past in it.
This is so beautiful. Love all of your work..
Absolutely beautiful card Sharon!
Clothes hanging on the line brings back great memories of my Mom
hanging laundry out every Monday and sometimes running to get them
when the rain started. Thanks for sharing your story.
Gorgeous card Sharon, but who could you give a card filled with so much memory to- I would have to keep it in my “permanent” file, LOL! Thanks for sharing the story- I can recall the smell of outdoor dried sheets after reading it- a lovely memory for the day!
Now this is my kind of recycling! I’m getting ready to buy a “freestanding” clothes line that can be taken down and brought in hoping my neighbors won’t report me to my HO association. Hey, we’re saving energy right?
Gorgeous as usual, Sharon…thanks for the beautiful memory and the elegant card.
Before I even read further down i thought to myself – “What a beautiful bow!” I would love to see and read detailed instructions on how you made it look so perfect!! Gorgeous card and it looks like the beautiful spring weather has found your house.
On a side note – i had posted before about info on a beginners recommendation for Just Rite stamps. You had mentioned that a friend was going to be posting about that soon. Has that been done and if so could you provide a link?
Thanks :0)
Oh wow! That bow is stunning! The whole card is gorgeous!! I sure how you are going to show us how to make that bow!!
Such a pretty bow and card Sharon! Love the picture of your laundry as well!
Sharon, what a fabulous post! Your laundry line photo is sensational and I adore your card. No, wait. I love love love your card. There, that’s better. Even more better! I hope you are able to do a little tutorial on how you tied that bow. Although it seems like a daunting task to me to try to explain it. Nevertheless, your card makes me so happy that I hear it calling my name. Can you hear it too?
Wow… I’ve never seen laundry look so good… Great Picture!
Thanks for sharing that story.. it made me smile!
The card if beautiful!
Very talented you are!
Thanks again,
Jackie
I just love seeing those curtains blowing in the breeze. What a beautiful scene. Thank you for sharing this memory. In this disposable age, it’s nice to have those things that bring us back to simpler times.
Wendy Gorton
What a lovely card and a fabulous way of using the very pretty trim off those curtains.
Your bow is spectacular so I am looking forward to you revealing how you have tied it. I so love the ones many people do on their cards, mine unfortunately never look anything like those ๐
Absolutely AWESOME card Sharon! LOVE, love, love the story and especially the way you salvaged the pleated trim … wonderful!!!!!!! That bow is outstanding and I too LOVE hanging my clothes outside … too bad the housing plan I live in doesn’t allow it!!! Love sheets that have been dried in nature … smell so good … mmmmm!!
Wonderful card, story and laundry….over here we hang out clothes all year if the weather is favourable….I don’t have a dryer either, probably never will now. You wouldn’t have hung these out here today….we are having rain and wind and the cherry blossom is lying in drifts like snow.
Joyce
[…] for joy!ย It’s the same double 1.25″ wide silk bow that I made on yesterday’s Dirty Laundry card.ย But I think I cut my tails a bit differently, giving it a slightly different […]
What a sweet dirty laundry story! Love your vintage card made with your very special and old curtains. How wonderful that your son is going to continue the family tradition of caring for an old family farmhouse. TFS
Now that is a very special card that should be sent to a very special person who will cherish it as part of the family heritage. Perfect in every way, not the least of which is that gorgeous silk ribbon bow! Love the laundry photo, too. Isn’t it wonderful to be welcoming the fresh Spring breezes? When I was growing up, my Mom always hung out the laundry just like this. Thanks for a wonderful post, Sharon.
What a fond memory…and to use recycle the pleated trim is the true nature of the way things were done!