Furnace of Love

It really all started here...I mean the whole idea of 'furnace of love'. Last year it occurred to me that love is much like a wood burning furnace.  I know not too romantic huh. But here's the truth. If you don't feed it everyday the fire starts going out and the warmth that is produced leaves you running for a sweater. What's worse is that if it goes out or almost goes out it takes hours to get it burning again and lots of tending and effort.

Occasionally I do get stuck with loading this beast when my husband is traveling. Let me tell you it is far from glamorous. First off can you see the smoke in the air? Right, well that smoke permeates every fiber of clothing and EVERY hair on your body, along with a nice coating on any exposed skin and has you smelling in a twink. Not to mention you run a very high risk of losing your eyelashes and eyebrows in the process. Are we feeling the love...? Ahhh....NO! But a remarkable profound revelation came from a very ordinary basic and primitive chore...

I realized that love takes work, daily, and often times we get singed and burned. In order to keep it burning we have to keep going back to the task. Sometimes we might prefer a low grade fire and settle for an extra sweater instead of nice warmth that blows from a primed furnace. Interestingly this beast heats our whole house and water too. So everyone benefits from this raging fire...get the point?

This year I had an idea to start making random hearts and instagraming them just for the fun of it and honestly to see if I could start a little love 'heatwave' and have a fusion of ideas come together. My first heart started here at the 'furnace of love'!

 

 

'Your love is like a fire...my one burning desire Valentine!'

I added a filter on 'befunky'

Did my two boys have a great time making this Valentine!

'You dropped the bomb on me baby!'

'With every piece of my heart'

 

'Come on baby light my fire'

 

'I'm losing my marbles over you Valentine'

 

 

'I spy you Valentine'

This assortment was found in my two couches one day...I know embarrassing!

 

'We're on a roll Valentine'

'Your tearing up my heart when I'm with you...'

And this one was inspired on a morning when we were running out of this precious commodity.

 

'Your voice is music to my ears!'

 

'we definitely go together valentine'

 

So here's a fun way to keep the love and fire burning in your family by making your own original memory making Valentines. Or if you want you can visit here on Feb 1 and justdawnelle.blogspot.com, she's my oldest daughter and has a super fun blog, and download 24 printable Valentines. We would love it if you would make a heart and hashtag #homevesturesvalentines to join us our friends and family on instagram @stechev or @homevestures or @dawnellesarlo and be a part of the fun!

 

vicki

 

 

 

 

 

Cadilac Pin Cushions

I have to call them 'Cadilac Pin Cushions'...I mean look at them...can't you see yourself working on your little sewing project with this piece of work to put your pins in? Not only that, but it's like a little tabletop accent piece, curious and tactile. I like them. There are some areas that could be perfected. And I might get to it...but in the mean time...here it is! Enjoy! Create! Beautify!





 



I used some vintage candlesticks, scraps of vintage fabric, trim and tacky glue. The tacky glue is a little harder to work with it takes more patience than hot glue but the end results are smoother. For the 'cushion' part I used old Styrofoam ornaments. I'd like to experiment with other sizes but that's what I had available. I like using stuff I have instead of making a trip to the store. Then I used that E6000 industrial strength glue in clear to cement the ball on.

So these little wonders would also be amazing for merchandising brooches! Right?!

Have a fantastic week!
Vicki
I have a super fun valentine project on instagram @homevestures mostly projects and @stechev for family and fun! Please come check it out!


 

Believe in yourself

If we think about our lives and kinda look back just a wee little bit..., we might notice things happen. We think about things that help us, we might realize there is someone bigger than us that has our backs..., or not, and 'just take the money and run!'  Now we might be down right wicked and think there is no way that celestial guidance will come to me (those are my thoughts often). But then, the angelic side of me believes as long as we breathe the breath of life, there is always divine assistance waiting in the wings.

 

 ''You got to change your evil ways baby...''. If you think about it we can and have the ability to change from moment to moment. So one moment we can be engaged in rottenness and the next moment there we are... helping an old lady with her bags... or walking her home...

Here is a metal can I made this week with a folded vintage Womans Home Journal Page and my stab at graffiti art! I used all kinds of befunky filters and have some expanded ideas I'll share later...

Sometimes my wickedness gets in the way of believing in my work, or what I'm doing, or myself. So this thought came to me...it was like a whisper, soft, and gentle...I was working on a project that I have been thinking about for at least a year, and that is as far as it got, just thinking. So Saturday I began...and that is when the thought came to me. "Believe in your work...Believe in what you do...Believe in yourself...".





Just a couple days earlier another thought came to me "what would I give up to accomplish my dream?'' I looked at these two early 1900's chairs in my room that me and my family have cherished... and thought, 'would I give those up?' Yes of course! Sometimes, because of our divine nature, we are able to see things as they really are, and as they will be. Is there risk? Yes! Is there fear? Yes! Is there uncertainty? Yes! Is there doubt? Yes! Does that mean 'forget it', throw in the towel', 'it's going to be too hard'...? I believe that when we believe in our work, and we believe in what we are doing, and we believe in ourselves, and move in that direction, we experience a feeling, enthusiasm! Passion!, excitement!, belief...


Vintage paintings I'm using for a project.

 
Here is a Collection of Vintage brooches that are inspiring ideas...

Everything we do in this life involves people...like it or not. That is the phenomenon...we choose how we will be in and around them. We choose our work, we choose what we do, and that always involves people...

 
Part of my work is seeing these cute faces off to school.

 
and having lunch with my son in Philly. Happy Birthday Christian!

Whitney Houston sang it so beautifully in the animated film "The Prince of Egypt" just believe...

...for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay... Moroni 9:6

Believe in your work...Believe in what you do...Believe in yourself...

Vicki

All photos in this post are originals and taken by me Vicki Stecher for homevestures.

 

Creation is a Collaboration

 

Sometimes getting the spiritural side of ourselves to work with the physical side ourselves calls for major intervention. So what is exciting is when we do have a idea or inspiration it actually affects us physically. Divine influence or action on a person...is one way of defining 'inspiration'.

 

'The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul..'says Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He also says "Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment' and 'one of the ways...we find a fullness of joy... and eternal happiness... is by creating things'. 

 

I also love what Brigham Young said...'Progress and improve upon everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitation, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that the angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations.

 

I'm excited about the constant opportunitiy that we have to create! This year I'm working on a line of fabric made from original artwork that me and my children have done together. We will begin a introductory roll out this spring!

 

May God Bless us all this new year as we fulfill the measure of our creation!

 

Vicki

 

 

 

The image at the top is a painting that Dawnelle did as a child, I did use filters on instagram. Dawnelle and I will be working together on the fabric project. The quote came one day while pondering and was first posted on instagram. Follow me there @homevestures to see design projects or @stechev for more personal and family stuff. Also, justdawnelle.blogspot.com for all her insights and projects. 

Sculpting 'Miss Fitt' China Plates In Hurricane Lanterns

Brigham Young said "use it up, wear it out, make due or do without". For me it was easy to embrace the first two parts...but the 'do without' part...well I confess deep down inside I am thinking really..., is that necessary? Let me find a way. So, maybe finding a way is a form of using it up, making do. By that I'm not really having to due without. It has been said that 'necessity is the mother of invention'. Therefore, maybe while in the act of 'using it up and wearing it out' we are actually in the act of inventing or creating something?

So here is my latest 'use it up, wear it out' creative invention.

Yup,that's right, stacked, cast off, miss matched china plates and undesirable cast off glass pieces, in a super sized @ikeahurricanelantern. (Did I ever mention to you that my maiden name is 'Miss Fitt'?) So... maybe it's that I really have a soft spot for things that don't fit in. (And did I ever mention to you that I have really BIG curly red hair?) I think my hair was bigger than my body growing up...yeah...insight to my inner psychic...

 

 Here's more, stacking plates in an artistic fashion is not for the unenthusiastic artist, designer, merchandiser, or attemptee. One must approach this with sculpting in mind, which could take hours. Oh... I've lost you now...Seriously, I think this project took me four hours or more to get the edges 'right' which is a relative term. And further examines my inner psychic.

 

 

The time was split for me between mocking it up outside the lantern then placing them inside...and occasionally pausing for a snicky snack and to cool the jets!

 

 

Key to my vision of this leaning tower of porcelain was interesting scallops and edges along with creating or fashioning recesses that graded in and out with smooth and fluid transitions from plate to plate.

 

 

My daughter featured 'A Little Homevestures Christmas Inspiration' on @justdawnelle.blogspot.com there you can view more photos of my home this year.

 

 

We entertained for a group of friends and added a short hurricane lantern to this scape and incorporated candlelight on the stacked towers of plates. It was stunning! 

 

Merry Christmas!

I look forward to sharing more of my ideas and inspiration this coming year!!!!

See you soon!

 

Vicki

 

 

 

 

Vanity Kins

Hello....! It's been so long. But hopefully worth the wait on this one after all it has been brewing for a year now and like Frankenstein has been brought to life. Don'tcha wanna watch that movie with your kids for Halloween. OMG! It's soooo... sad and strange.

Well without further adieu...here's what I made this week and I've got to tell you I had everyone looking and entertained by the strangeness of these beautiful models and handsome men stitched up into my 'Vanity Kins'. Ok... so you CAN do this with your children. But...it is always helpful for us as parents to give them a vision. Otherwise the whole project washes down the drain. Sounds simple, and it is, but there is some manipulating and some coordinating, and some juxtaposition to be had. So why not use this little magazine/cut-out/arrangement/decoupage project to teach some basic cohesiveness, or not cohesive skills? See... cause the eyes could eat up all the room and leave nothing left for the nose, if you want one, or a mouth.

For me to get the inspirational juices flowing I have to have a stage or space or wall. Otherwise I just kinda feel lost...here's the space I chose, it's in my foyer. Well there is a straggler bat there in the picture. We ended up with a over the head hovering branch and about 40 upside down bats. Anyway...here's.....'VANITY KINS'!

A collection of vintage jewelry that I sell in my etsy shop is displayed here to punctuate the vain.

 

Last little tid bit, see if you can find Obama's nose, and eyes. Ooooo....

 

Vicki

 

Captivating the Coterie

We have learned in our family that if everyone cooks, prepares, and sets, then we will have a captivating and broad culinary feast  that will include all delectable delights.

On these occasions when everyone is cooking and checking, dicing and researching, someone has to set the table. So... based on who sets the table will actually determine how the dinner not only functions but also how it is perceived, (as in lets hurry and eat), or my version (lets stay for awhile).

From the darling movie 'Kate and Leopold', Leopold tells Kate...  "Food should be the result of reflection and study..." and so it is with 'Captivating the Coterie'.

Captivating-1. to attract and hold the attention or interest of, as by beauty or excellence; enchant: Her blue eyes and red hair captivated him.

Hence the whole idea of having family meals together... Think of what we can accomplish in all our relationships once the table is set.  Wasn't it Ester who put together the life saving feast that saved her people?

Coterie [koh-tuh-ree] 1. a group of people who associate closely. 2.an exclusive group; clique. 

Coterie also means the like minded people... and for me... those that love and share similar passions.


At our house the throw together table means, "get the fun napkins" and that becomes the table setting statement. It actually signifies 'something special is happening or going to happpen'.

 
One of my favorite breakfast foods...fresh strawberries, bananas, coconut, and macadamia nuts.


Simple can be intentional and captivating at the same time.





All things are created spiritually first...in our minds and hearts. So, just as we think, plan and decide in our minds what we will eat and drink, we can apply the same principle to the table setting. You wouldn't forget a special ingredient in a favorite dish, hence the table needs the same planning and thought. If you find that your table is being neglected or at the last minute your rushing to bring together that vision you had, but didn't gather what you needed or wanted, try getting a large attractive wicker basket and begin gathering items as you pass by, this will help when the time comes to set the table.


When we incorporate the creative parts of our being into something so constant and necessary as eating, we experience joy. I challenge you to try this... and promise you that a very special joy will come and not just because your table looks beautiful...but because you have captivated the coterie. Then watch how the meal unfolds...



Really a little... and I mean tiny bit... of planning can change the whole effect (power to produce results), affect (to impress the mind or move the feelings of...), and experience (encountering).

So here I'd like to give some of my personal tips on the expandable table. Which in my house is important because we can go from 3-11 people everyday, and on special occasions 18-25 maybe once a month.

BIG TIP: I like to have a basic pallet of dishes and service ware to work from like white then I can accent with decorative dishes depending on the occasion. Here are some new dishes that are trending right now from West Elm and of course Anthropologie.

  

With decorative plates like these you don't need a whole set...I kind of look at these plates as a spice item, you only need a few pieces to heightened the fusion into your table setting.

Below is a collection I am so drawn to. It feels like vintage, new cottage chic/grandma's old swag mixed with chinoiserie and botanical...hummm!

And here I tried my hand at mixing patterns with some vintage dishes I'm selling on etsy! I hope to begin a collection of individual settings that can be mixed and matched.

 

BIG TIP: Or you go with nothing matching, as in all the settings are different. Caution- this takes some serious moxie to pull off.

The lacey rocks below I have used for so many merchandising installations and I brought them home for a Easter table setting that just kept evolving from simple to elaborate.

 

 

There is always that decision as to whether to use a table cloth or not. Do! Or NOT do! Paper, fabric, flowers, boards, place mats, all work to add comfort and interest. A wonderful trick is juxtaposition (placing side by side) totally different things. It works well if you have an old table and new dishes, or vice versa.

 

Both these patterns tempt me to use table cloths in my settings more than I do...but atlas, we know that is not always practical, so I usually reserve this kind of drama for the holidays.

 

BIG TIP: Ikea sells this great set of kitchen utensils for $.99. So if you buy several sets you'll have what you need to put together a cohesive setting. This was a great discovery for me because I was always so distracted when the miss matched serving spoons came out and I would cringe at the old ugly silver spoon with black handle that was meant for the bean pot or camping.

Here is where I dropped the ball for so long...I never had matching tongs, and you can find them for as little as $.99 on up but these from Ikea sell for $4.99.Then again don't you hate when your tongs are way too big for the dish or better yet too small and they fall in!  If you invest in different sizes you will always have the right pair that will fit the scale of the serving dish which is nice...

Also this set of 3 trivets from Ikea sell for $2.99 and sure beat the old food smeared pot holders.

I can' help but get all mushy inside when I think of lighting... good background music...and the rest...

A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner.Samuel Johnson

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. —-Virginia Woolf

Oh... the table..., neglected for the mear satiating urge. Vicki Stecher

Remember this can be applied to 'Captivate the Coterie' in alfresco dinning as well.

Vicki

 Visit me on pinterest: alfresco, and captivating the coterie for some amazing inspiring table settings. Also my new shop homevestures on etsy for vintage items. Vicki Stecher on spoonflower to check out some fabric designs I've been working on.