Friday thoughts -

Guess what. Yesterday, after searching a few places for a readymade 'floating frame' for the 'Singer' bird cards mentioned in my previous post, I ended up at Hobby Lobby knowing I needed assistance. I love that store. I headed through aisles of craft supplies, shelves heaving with knick-knacks, candles, ready mounted art, fabrics, yarn, masses of faux flowers and greenery etc.  A book title by an author whom I knew personally long ago came to mind, "Everything That's All." The Hobby Lobby store could qualify!

Arriving at the custom framing department way at the rear, I saw pony-tailed Cody (a photographer in his other life) still there doing custom picture framing. Thrilled, as he did such a great job for me last year, we got down to business and made a decision on how to frame the six trade cards. We agreed on vertical framing, between glass rather than acrylic, arranged the cards and, when I asked for frame suggestions, he placed two on the counter. One was perfect. I really wanted something 'antique', not modern or metallic with a glitzy shine. As the cards are almost 100 years old and the paper is showing a little age by turning a bit yellow in spots, real wood with a little antiquing was perfect. I should have the finished project in a couple of weeks and will look forward to sharing it with you then.

Meanwhile, today started out dreary with fog and misty rain so I baked

 blueberry muffins to cheer things up a bit.  

The world news is frightening and what is happening is horrific for the

 people of Ukraine. Feelings of hopelessness pervade the mind and we

 feel useless. We question so much and are getting no good answers.

Does prayer help? It must because nothing else will right now.

The birds are busy on the porch and continue to bring joy.

 We purchased new cushions for the three porch chairs this week but

 will save them until spring. Current ones are faded and have been

 gnawed and clawed by the pesky squirrels so are looking a bit tacky. 

With another weekend upon us I'm thinking of friends up North where

 snow is falling yet again and a severe winter weather advisory is in effect.

Stay safe and warm everyone . . . and please take photos of your beautiful 

snow-covered landscapes to share with us later.

Singer Sewing Machine Birds -

Words on a Singer Sewing Machine Co. Inc. trade card ~ circa 1927.

Personally, I grew up around my dear dressmaker mother's treadle

Singer machine and she was my sewing teacher!

I took a few hours this past week to work on organizing and getting rid of stuff!

Now and then I find myself doing this, mostly on good days when my back

and right leg aren't hurting so much. I'm actually getting some relief at last.

We need to have some work done to refresh our upstairs - mainly replace

 10 year old carpet in two rooms, the landing, and the staircase itself. 

If this was an empty house it would be such an easy project, however it's

 thirty five years old and holds thirty five years of our life including some

 heavy furniture! 

Some items need to be sent away permanently to other places, such as

 Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and a thrift shop, the remainder packed into

 boxes and stored somewhere out of the way of the carpet installers, 

a big job for us.

While searching through several boxes of supplies from those long ago

 creative endeavors such as scrapbooking, card making, decoupaging

 terra cotta flower pots etc., I came across these really beautiful

 Singer Sewing Machine Co. Inc. 'trade cards' depicting American Song

Birds . . . . . . six out of an apparent total set of 16 and printed in 1926-27.

You already know garden birds are a big hobby of mine - I really love

birds, watching them, photographing them, feeding and caring for them.

The cards are in good condition for being almost 100 years old. Each bird is 

shown against a lovely background, and its egg is shown in a little twig frame. 

The reverse has small b/w illustrations, a little story, and details of

 Singer sewing machines. 

The artist was J.L. Ridgway.

John Livzey Ridgway (February 28, 1859 – December 27, 1947), 

was a nationally prominent bird illustrator who worked for

 many years at the United States Geological Survey, as well

 as the Smithsonian, the California Institute of Technology, 

and the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, 

and Art.  

via Wikipedia

Each card measures 6 X 4-1/2 inches and could easily be framed

 individually, however I'm on the hunt for a collage style frame, 

preferably with clear glass so that both front and back are visible

 between the two pieces which would be great. That way, anyone

 who may own it in the future will also be able to read the backs of

 the cards and learn their history.

If I can't locate a readymade frame, another option I will consider 

is having them framed by a professional.

 I will then have to decide whether to display them vertically or

 horizontally. . . . . any thoughts on which you think best will be

 appreciated of course.