three things

it's such a pretty day here - our jasmine is starting to smell so delicious. i have three things to post this morning: #1, this great picture from anthropologie. do you think it would be hard to make that bird lamp? #2, a print i made of 2 mushrooms, and #3 a print of a bunny running away. probably from an enthusiastic three-year old.

flea market fancy

I embroidered and quilted this little picture of my girl months ago. I had intended to put it in her bedroom, possibly sewing it into a pillow, or a little quilt, but it didn't really match, so I stuffed it in my messy linen closet and forgot about it. A few months later, it reappeared. This time the quilt square would have a new chance in life, as a pillow sitting on my dining room sofette: quite a cheerful little face beckoning all to come and sit and relax and eat a bite of yummy food. I finally finished sewing the pillow together today. The border fabric is Dennis Schmidt, Flea Market Fancy. It was originally ultra bright, so I softened the colors with a bleach bath. I found the ball fringe trim years ago in a country store in Idaho. It is genuine vintage stuff; I only wish I had bought more of it!

I think there are beaucoup de possibilities with the embroidery-of-loved-ones motif. Maybe I could do the whole family, or our house, or the dining sofette itself. Now I'm going to be up all night thinking about this one...

Anyway, I loved Lynne's tee-shirts. Can you make me one?

bird shirt/onesie

my friend cheryl was nice enough to sell me some child t's and onesies at wholesale prices (she has a very great toy/embroidery business. check her out at www.wokits.com) and nice enough to share her booth with me at an upcoming craft fair this weekend. so i've been making shirts printed with this bird design. i think it will be fun to try and sell a few things. i am also planning on making some little prints that would be nice for a child's room. we'll see if i actually get around to it!

spring blossoms

I loved Lynne's bird print and leaf print. We are all about the earth and nature these days, aren't we! A few days ago the tree in front of our house was dressed in its full array of fluffy, white blossoms. It was enchanting to watch my girls play in them. So I decided to paint this scene. This is a watercolor on 9x12 cold press paper. I think it looks better in real life, as it is fairly small and meant to be seen close up.

my press

i just got an inexpensive little press for linoleum block printing. even though i have only had a chance to steal an hour or two with it i can tell it will be an obsession. the moment after you press when you are lifting up your block to see what the image looks like - such a feeling. here's my first fledgling attempt - a bird on a branch - and then a little corner from my home.

corner of jennie's house

my friend jennie has been working hard, feeling spring -- check out these beautiful pictures of her backyard she sent. they are totally making me appreciate california nature! :) nice work, jennie!!

bright green play dress

I loved the play pants Lynne made. Here's a bright green play dress I made for my girl. It's a heavy canvas fabric that wears well. It has pretty capiz buttons and bead embroidery on the front.

Play Pants

These are a pair of play pants, in action, that i made for the little one. As you can see they seem to increase agility and resourcefulness.

George's Cocoon

From Allyson:
George caught a massive caterpillar last summer (http://
www.cirrusimage.com/polyphemus_moth.htm) and it spun a cocoon in a
jar in his room and stayed in that cocoon all winter. The monarch
caterpillars he caught around the same time spun their cocoons and
were back out in a week or two. But not this baby. Last week he told
me he thought it was probably never going to emerge. Yesterday before
church he came out of his room with THIS. Cool.

Allyson's AMAZING pictures!!

Allyson sent me these incredible pictures for us to post. They left me sitting at my computer staring at the clarity even through a crying baby... Our world is so amazingly beautiful. Thanks, Allyson, for capturing that. You have such a great eye.

a froglet and four hatching eggs

I love Lynne's beautiful branch painting. Luckily the winter snow has melted, and spring is finally here. We had gorgeous weather today. This made for some happy spirits. Our moods were also lifted at our house when we received some new friends in the mail: a froglet from Grow a Frog, and four hatching eggs from mcmurrayhatchery.com If all goes well they will hatch into fluffy little chicks three weeks from now. I'm taking a trip to Belgium in ten days, so hopefully I will get back before the chicks hatch, or my husband won't know what to do with them. He's already not too pleased. I'm sure he'll change his mind when he sees them. I hope.

Branch Painting

here is an old painting i did, maybe 4 years ago. i'm posting it because when i was recently at melissa's house i saw a branch painting she'd done that was oddly enough incredibly similar to mine! so here it is, melissa. we think a lot alike!

the yellow stranger

I added the third bird to my painting. Though I think he looks too estranged from the group. I may try again.

Emily's Nature Painting

Wow!! Our amazing cousin Emily sent in a picture of this painting she made -- it is beautiful!!! I love the colors, and the texture on the trunks of those trees is so, so lovely. Here is what Emily says about her art:

"OK, when I got your email, it just so happened that I had just finished this painting to go over our mantle. I hadn't been able to
find something I liked, so I just decided to make something. It's supposed to be a row of trees. Clearly I don't go for "realism". Bruce came down and said, "Wow! Lollipops!" I still don't know if it's what I want, but it's what we have for now! I'm having a shower at my house tomorrow night, so i had to put something there!"

Emily, you are GREAT!! I LOVE IT!

corner of my home

inspired by melissa's awesome dining room here is a picture from our bedroom. and a mostly naked baby.

corners of my house

Here are some corners of my home. I found the sette on Craigslist. We drove through the Holland Tunnel with the sofa poking out the back of our car. Luckily we used enough bungee cords so it didn't fall out.

I've been making a slipcover for it. I worked like a madwoman all Saturday, until the sewing machine broke. The poor sofa was left with a half-sewn blue slipcover, and a cushion from the original yellow upholstery. That was not the look I was after. Then I found some old maps that I bought ages ago, and hung them above the dining room table. Suddenly the yellow and blue on the sette seemed intentional. I might leave it as is.

I found some other old maps to hang above the shoe bench. It might be a little cluttery, but it's fun to reminisce about favorite spots in France as I'm zipping up my boots.

Monday Night, late

Busy weekend & busy day today!! I wish I had a lovely nature-y thing to post, but not yet. So here is a picture of a girl in a boat that I painted for Lily's room.

mother bird

Here's the latest painting I"m working on. I love long, horizontal paintings, so I stretched this canvas myself. It's 33 by 13 inches. I may add two more birds higher up on the branch, or I may remove the father bird and leave only the mother and her two babies. Last night at dinner the kids had a great time pretending like their spaghetti was worms. Yum!