Open Gate - Weblog of Lisa Cook

Time for Valentines

The Etsy shop has packs flying out of there.

Stop in and see for what you might want for your Valentine creations.

I also started a newsletter that I will send out about 5 times a year.

Sign up on the righthand sidebar!

My Valentine Etsy Shop

 

HaPpY NeW YeAr!

Merry Christmas Vintage Style

A Time for Thanks

Thanksgiving indeed. I think my dad would have loved this magazine cover...the young soldier returns home to the farm after the war is over. He pauses to give thanks and his dog, who recognizes him in a heartbeat, runs to greet him.

May we all feel so welcome and loved this Thanksgiving Day.

ChRiStMaS Time at Etsy

I have my Etsy store loaded with vintage paper packs especially for Christmas.

www.lisacook.etsy.com

For some reason the links are not working, so copy and paste the above or just look at the left side bar and click on "lisacook"

Wallpapers

Dennison pack

Interesting color combos like red and gray

And adorable ANGELS.

Come Visit and start creating for Christmas!

Oh How I Tried

I really did. I wanted to show you some Halloween packs before they got sold on Etsy, but I could not keep ahead of the game. Here is a sample of what you missed. So sorry. Hope you got one if you wanted one!

BUT! Hold on!

If you like Vintage Christmas...I am starting my packs early this year and have a few in MY ETSY SHOP so get them while you can.

Traditional Colors:

Even Red White and Blue inspired by a flag carrying angel:

Come See!

 

KC Willis

It is always fun to get something for free, so hop on over to KC Willis blog to get a chance to win a box of great stuff from the artist herself.  She also has them for sale for a great price if you can't stand the wait. Visit the KC Willis blog for details. Act quickly~ They will no longer be available after August 25th.

If you like the idea of a live workshop with KC, then check out this link.

And online workshops are here.

Always fun to see what other artists are doing!

Why I Garden

This is what greets me in the spring as I look out my window:

This is what I see in July....although the monsoons of the midwest have made it a much soggier place lately and the mosquitoes are threatening me every time I try to take a stroll, let alone pull some weeds.

This is why I garden and why I probably don't post much in the summer. But I am also busy creating and I have some wonderful new vintage French Collage Haute Couture packs in my Etsy shop! They are filled with yummy old wallpapers, French ephemera, vintage trims, labels and fabrics. All kinds of unique goodies. Come visit!

Red White and Blue Time!

I have two different 4th of July packs listed in my Etsy Shop.  They are packed with vintage goodies and great red white and blue fun.  They don't last long...hurry over!

ETC. by Sibella Court - Pinch Me!

 

I am one lucky mom!  My incredible daughter sent me this book for Mother's Day.  I am lucky because this book is not available yet in the US, except at the flagship Anthropologie store in Manhattan!  And Abbey works just a few blocks away so she bought me a copy.

Pure heaven.

 
 

Indigo...my favorite favorite color of all!

I am SWOONING!

This gal, Sibella Court speaks to my creative soul. I sat with a cup of tea to start the book the day I got it,   Ah, bliss – vintage alphabet stamps (I own at least 6 sets myself); flash cards, glassine envelopes, old labels, shells, lace, ledger paper,….I feel some new inspiration for my Etsy shop!

Well, if you can’t get the book right now take a peek at The Society Inc. Sibella’s website where you will get a taste of her style.

Here also is a peek into Sibella’s actual store from a blogger down under who visited it.  Too bad Australia is so far away.  Sibella changes her theme in the store four times a year.

Spring Tulips and Bird Nests

My favorite time of year.  The colors are coming on strong.  The birds are all back building nests and welcoming the morning.  I keep the window open each evening just to be able to hear them begin the day with their calls.  What is happening in your back yard?

A morning dove found refuge for her nest on top of the trellis.  They build a scruffy little nest!

And a robin has settled in by the front porch in the wisteria vine.  She will need to get used to used to us letting the screen door slam!

The rose breasted grosbeaks are back and the little wrens have hurriedly built a nest in the box by the trellis.  Mother Nature certainly is in a flurry!

Spring Magic

Even the lowly box elder tree holds a certain magic in the springtime.

Japanese Washi Masking Tape

I love this stuff. 

OK, I have not used it yet, but I just ordered a little set from this awesome Etsy shop:

Little Happy Things

Here is what I got in the mail. Didn't she wrap it up so yummy?

TOO pretty to open (but I did). Such eye candy!

 

My favorite colors.  Now what will I do with it?

Almost my 1,000th Sale in my ETSY Shop!

I can't believe it.  I will have my 1,000 sale in my lisacook Etsy shop soon. 

I am at currently at #992.

I am going to give away a custom collage pack to lucky # 1,000.  Tell me what you like and I will put together at least 20 vintage items!  Will it be YOU??

Come visit my ETSY shop. 

Everything is coming up roses!

The Wedding in the Barn.... Part 2

We enjoyed decorating the barn ourselves. 

Weeks ahead of time I planted rosemary and other green plants in pots for the tables.  I made the table numbers and stuck them into sawed off branch pieces.  I painted floor tiles with blackboard paint and wrote on them with chalk markers.  Guests were encouraged to write messages on the tiles with chalk.  A candle in a canning jar and the menu card completed the centerpiece.

I constructed planters out of rain gutter covers and wired them onto the beams.

The barn was radiant!

The menu included a pig roast!

and cupcakes created by a good friend.  Child size chalkboards labeled each variety.

My garden girlfriends created all the lovely flower arrangements in the wedding colors of lime greens, purple, white and dusty blue.

A Barn, Garden Flowers, A Wedding....... Part 1

Our lovely daughter got married here late last summer right before school started for me.  I have been wanting to post pictures for a long time.

It's time!

Best friends helped us clean up a beautifully restored barn.  My husband hung the lovely chandelier that I scored at an estate sale for a mere $20!

The flowers arrived from New York City

  Boutonnieres were made.  Tiles for the table centerpieces were painted with blackboard paint.

The neighbor's porch became the flower shop

The chairs were set in the garden

Part II is next....

stay tuned....

 

A Happy Pink and Green LoVe Day!

An easy fun Valentine to make.  Watercolor paper background; hand marbled paper (by me!); a band of vintage wallpaper; color copy of a gal; heart die cut; a bit of machine stitching and green hearts for a change!  You can do it too.  Hopefully you bought one of my Valentine kits which had all the parts!

 

And a special card for my dear mother created from a vintage postcard and bits cut from my favorite old pink and green wallpaper.

ViNtAgE Valentine Time on Etsy!

I have a number of different Valentine Packs available in my Etsy Shop

I have some French inspired ones:

as well as retro red and black and pink and pink and green and ...you get the picture.

Stop over and visit!

Christmas Time is Here

My favorite village pieces.  My dad bought a set like this for his mother back in the early 1930's.

 
I love collectin boxes of tiny old Shiny Brite ornaments.  This sweet little snow girl was created by Vintage by Crystal

Believe....

Etsy Christmas Gifts

I have been so negligent.  I really don't mean to be.  I have been selling a lot of fun kits for Christmas on Etsy and they go so fast that I hardly have time to show you.  But it has slowed down now and I just have two left.  Here is a unique red and silvery grey one.  Come visit my Etsy shop

I have been doing some shopping there as well.  I bought this wonderful piece from Kimberly Laws who creates lovely vintage yumminess.  Shop HaNdMaDe and shop ETSY for Christmas!