Welcome to the New Brown Gingham!

I'm glad it's premeire week for my new sites!
I'm tickled pink to debut my new Blogger and Website on Pink Saturday!
Woohoo it'll be a red letter day! It's Rednesday Wednesday at Sue's It's a Very World
Holy Cow It's Thursday already! It's time to do a little traveling over at Brambleberry Cottage and to see some vintage thingys at Colorado Lady's and Friday theres more vintage things to see over at the Thrifty Groove. See the Weekly Blog Parties page at the top.  Can't wait to see you!
 Sorry I've been gone sooooo long and thanks to those who've e-mailed to make sure everything was alright. Yes everything is fine. I just decided it was time to redo Brown Gingham here in Blogland. It was creativity Under Construction., actually to combine all my sites under http://www.brownginghamcreations.com/

 I've added new music to all the pages, added new pages to the blog, and added a whole New website, but it's still filled with favorite vintage things........and I did all by myself!!! Yes, the computer disfunctional.....and believe it or not it was relatively easy...time consuming, but worth it in the end result. At least  I hope you think so too.

Here at the Brown Gingham Cabin we'll be able to really sit and visit.






There are more pages on the Blog......E-zines that will be added too frequently........Apronation, a small Etsy site tied to Brown Gingham by apron strings, that is my vintage inspired apron collection that is all one of a kind and usually come with a vintage cookbook......Brown Gingham Exclusives at Etsy is another Etsy site that I have with special price creations.........Blog Party is the page of fun. It contains links to sites that really know how to party.......Links are to sites that have great info sites........Tablescapes is a pictorial collection of all my table designs.....and I Love Cabins and Cottages is a pictorial collection of buildings and places I'd love to visit. I have some other ideas to add to my Blog in the future to keep it fresh.
Now I'm really excited to debut my Btown Gingham Creaations Shoppe.........................

.

              Just click this picture and follow the path to my embroidery world.

.You can visit my 'Design Room' to see how my creations come to life. Of course there's 2 more links to Apronation and BG Exclusives at Etsy and there are many new designs I'll be adding in the coming weeks.The new Brown Gingham Shoppe is open with new creations and more to come There is Angelic Inspirations (vintage inspired angel), which includes Angelic Lights (nightlights) , and Angelic Music (music boxes). Brown Bags (totes and purses), PillowTalk (vintage inspired pillow), Table Linens, and still with creativity under construction......Flourishes and Broadstrokes (hand-painted home accents) and Home Decor (wall accents and more) and BGC Sandwich Glass (servingware with a fabric twist) There is a special Custom Order page, which I love to do...the picture I used...............

was for a lady who brought  me the vintage lirish linen handkerchief. She asked if I could embroider her new Granddaughters name on it so that it could be placed in a large shadowbox with other vintage irish items. It was so fragile I was afraid it would shred, so I created a medallian using a newer peice of Irish linen and hand-tatted rirckrack from another project I did and embroidered the name in matching green of the Shamrocks. It worked beautifully. Be sure to check my ideas on that page. Then come some fun pages. I have 2 libraries.......an Emboidery Library filled with vintage and classicv embroidery and sewing stitches and the other is a favorite, the Antique Textile Library, which contains information about everything you ever wanted to know about textiles. There is a BGC Gallery still under coming, which will showcase items previously sold such as this.................................

and this.................................

and that.

As a thank you for visiting I hope you visit the Free Embroidery and Other Sewing Patterns. It will be filled with  new and vintage patterns sure to sure to please the beginner and expert sewing enthusiast. Well,
I'll be quiet now and let you browse.
I hope you enjoy your visit to BrownGinghamCreations.com both at the Blog and the website...and be sure to let me know what you think
Oh..and don't forget to stop by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.....her link is in the Weekly Blog Parties.!

Tea Party Chic

I was soooo excited when I found this vintage 1960 dishtowel..........................................................

                        I love the colonial motif and the colors  are so popular today....pale to medium shades  of

pinks, colonial red, soft browns........and  it lends itself so easily to become a small tablerunner.

It just cried for some hand-embroiery to make it pop!

I hand-embroidered the the leaves with a satin stitch that wove around the candle and throughout the design

I used a myriad of daisy stitches to create the flower petals by the spoon

and I outlined the Grandfather Clock

It needed a finishing touch, so I found a matching rickrack for the ends of the runner. It's the perfect colonial brown.......................................................................

This would be soooo pretty on a tea cart or table all accented with a pewter or ironstone teapot and floral teacups! A fluffy coconut  cake,  hot buttered scones, fresh baked shortbread........the menu could go on.

This TeaParty Tablerunner is available. If you're interested just leave me a comment or e-mail me at melody@brownginghamcreations.com

Don't forget to join everyone at How Sweet the Sound for

And, Southern Lady's Vintage for

Vintage Love Saturday

This Weekend and coming Monday join everyone over at Etsy Cottage Style for................

Hope to see you there!

It's Rednesday and I have a surprize!

Almost every one visiting Susan in her It's a Very Chery World shows a little cherry something. I love red, but  I'm a strawberry girl..what can I do? Well, I am happy to say I have come to the cherry side of the world....and didn't even realize I had.....you see I've had these items for quite a while....actually before I started blogging.

This 1940's plaster fruit wall plaque was bought many years ago and I just realized there's cherries in the mix...see! And this summer shirt............................

is a fav of mine. It's filled with flower and produce seed packets reproductions. I found I bought it years ago cause it has strawberries, but upon closer inspection last week, I found one seed packet of cherries! I was so excited to have 2 things. Oh, I guess I should've split em up...done two posts, but heck I'm so excited. Does this mean I'm part of the official club? (This is not the surprize)
This week I made a couple of fun purchases for my crafts area.

First, keep the eye jokes to yourselves....I found this great red task lamp at Wal-mart for $9 and.....

This whimsicle fabric sewing machine cover at JoAnn's for 50% off with my coupon...it was under $12:)
(this is not the surprize) 
I also found some wonderful things with red recently...no this isn't the surprize either......

These transfers are  from the 40-50's. The sewing store I found them in was in a small town and they were having a sale on embroidery transfers they had found in the back room...gotta love those little small towns.
And, this apron.......

was a little plain so I added some vintage hankie accents. As you can see by the hoop, I decided to kick it up anotch with embroidery too.

Now for the Surprize!!!!

I'm having a little givaway.

A while back I found some great old mini hoops, quilt scraps, and lace. Well I also found some retro cherry fabric..at the same shop  found the transfers....and I hand-embroidered one of the cherry bunches and created an applique. Here's part of the giveaway.........................

It's a wallhanging for the kitchen or dining room. It also fits over a small compot as a lid. I have a few other cheery cherry things to go along with it, but I'll leave that for the recipient's surprize to open.

This giveaway will be open till next Rednesday...er.... Wednsday Sept.8th When I'll announce the winner.

All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog.

Now, let's go over to Susan's thru Here and visit all the other Rednesday  posts!

It's a Red Letter Day!

If it's Wednesday, it must be Rednesday! And, that means today I'm going to visit Sue's Very Cherry World where every one is showing their true color....Red.

These are 3 of the newest vintage apron creations over at my new Etsy shop, Apronation. I think Sue has probably stopped by and seen these before, but I hope you stop by Apronation and take a peek. Who knows, there may be one that shows off your apronature!

Now I'm on my way over to Sue's Very Cherry World to see everyones true Colors!

Etsy Cottage Style is having a blog party. Not just any blog party, but a Blue Blog Party!!!

Click this link to view the fun.

http://www.etsycottagestyle.blogspot.com/

When I think of blue ...a Robin's egg comes to mind. The vast blue sky comes into view and a deep azure blue sea calls, but when I think of blue some of my fav creations come to mind.

I think when one has the blues it can be a beautiful thing. Please follow the link above to all the wonderful blue finds.

Spring is Sprung

" Spring is Sprung, the Grass is Riz
Brown Gingham Creations

is Bloomin All Over!"

Remember this 1940-50's hat I found way Back in January?

Well, after searching for a vintage doll to go with this dandy topper, I finally found her. She was in the bottom of a box in a dealer's booth at the Florence Antique Mall with various doll parts and other more modern dolls. She looked a little frightened, but seemed relieved when I pulled her from the her dolly nightmare. She was in amazing shape, despite her ordeal and only needed a little repair, and, embellishment of course.




So, now without further adieu, may I introduce




'Miss English Country Garden 2009'

Viole' The hat has been cleaned, fluffed, and placed on a cermaic base. Miss English, sporting her original hand-crocheted pinafore and hat has been accented by bits of vintage costume jewelry and a 1950's hand-crocheted hot pad for her wings. Porcelain and pearl roses also grow in her garden and butterflies abound. For a little whimsy, and surpise, she not only looks good, but she has her own song! When you look under the base, a music box movement has been added.
It plays,'The English Cottage Garden Suite".
This is the first in my new line of musical angels.
Since I now have an outlet for music box movements I'll be able to do custom orders for these in various themes and requested tunes.

I've also found carnations have sprouted in my creative garden.

These carnations are in perpetual bloom! I was surprised to find this 1950's hostess apron in great condition. It was taken very good care of. If you look closely I have hand-embroidered the fern fronds as well as the center bouquet, but my fav thing is the Carnation Milk Co cookbook. With spring entertaining beginning this apron would show off your individual apronature and your good taste!
Before I go I had to show how my floral garden flowers come together when 'arranged',


These flower baskets were created with French Knot roses, daisies, and other blossoms. Whimsical appliqued butterflies hover around. This bolster pillow actually began life as a 1940's stamped embroidery bridge table cloth. It just shouts spring!
Here's a closeup:








Please visit my website www.brownginghamcreations.com and Etsy often. More blooms are sprouting everyday.

Busy as a Bee

Phew! I have been as busy as a bee getting ready for Valentines Day, completing some unfinished projects and starting some new ones. One of the projects I just completed was 10 glass plates embellished or hand-painted to be sold as part of a fund raiser for a gentleman that was diagnosed with lung and brain cancers. Those snow days were really a Godsend last week or I wouldn't have gotten them done. (Put us way behind at the shop, but we'll catch up..we always do.) I was one of five local artists asked to donate our creativity. They could be done any way we wanted in any medium we chose. Here are mine.

The plate was painted a chocolate brown and I added a square of 1960's plaid wool and frayed the edges. The center is a 1940's hand-crocheted flowers accented with a vintage button stack

I wanted something a little modern so I painted this plate black and added a heart made of 1960's floral rayon and 1960's plaid wool. The center is a new heart button. I placed some batting behind the floral print so it stands away from the plate .

This Plate is all hand-painted . I gave the plate a brown base coat then added a black flecked finish. When it dried I I added a late fall garden scene . It reminds me of a place Hillsboro, Ohio where it's a bird and wildlife wetlands sanctuary with ponds where people can fish. I think Ducks Unlimited has taken it over. It's a quite place just

to sit.

I wanted a plate that was, simplicity. I left the glass clear and added a vintage 1960's round of calico and edged it with a complimentary rickrack. The center is a large daisy button.

This was a fun plate to create. I base coated it with white then added the greens for foliage's and the forget-me-not's. I framed the center with a blue monochromatic hand-crocheted rickrack to make it pop.

I used the reverse painting technique on this plate. I started by applying the lightest colors first and let them dry. I then repeated the process in varying saturations of color. When it all dried I coated the back of the plate in white. I then added a frame of vintage hand-crocheted rickrack to add some texture. The roses look like they're floating on the glass.

This is my Americanna/Monet-esque rendition. I hand-painted the farmhouse scene and accented by framing it with buttons. I didn't realize it until it was all done, but the farmhouse reminds me of my Great-Grandmother's farm, and, the painted gardens could be a picture of my Great-Aunt's carefully tended blooms in her back yard. Hope the people like it..I can smell the roses.

I again added a base coat of brown to the plate with black flecks. I dyed the 1950's doily a litter brown and added a raised medallion covered in natural cotton batting with an applique I created by taking a 1940's hankie and hand-embroidered a sunflower bouquet that was on it and carefully cut it out. This took a while to finish, but I think it was worth it.

This plate is folk art/country. The brown base coat makes the sunset coutryside stand out and the red gingham ruffle adds a little charm.

Now the paint has a to cure a little so it won't chip so easily, and, it's off to the fundraiser later this week. I get so nervous when I do things like this. I can't wait to see what the others did. I think I'll add these to my gallery page of my website. They'll give good examples for customer designs.

As a treat Sunday, since I've been stuck inside working so much, Jim took me on a ride. We went up to Columbus. I'll have some pics late of our excursion and vintage finds.