filling a hole

Since our sweet, beautiful greyhound Joey passed away last year, certain places in our home have been very loud reminders that he is gone. The place in the kitchen where his food & water dishes stood, the places upstairs & down where his beds lay. It took rearranging the furniture to make these areas less glaring, less talkative to me. I am certainly not trying to remove his memory from this home, and cannot from our hearts.

Sometimes a void needs new life, that's all. The small wall area by the back door and kitchen windows was such a place. Walking by the empty space where his leash & collar hung always left me sad. I stared at it on a Saturday morning and decided to change the conversation. Vintage acorn hooks from a can in the basement (years ago found at a flea market) were perfect. One for each boy. Just right with the bead-board. And they're learning to hang their own coats.

Now this space is happier, livelier. It's a place where we mark how much our babies are growing up. It still reminds me of our sweet boy Joey, but now it makes me happy - not sad.

fun in the (mostly cloudy, chilly) sun

It's the coldest weather the gulf coast of Florida has had in 20 years. Couldn't very well miss that, could we? For two weeks. It was still fun, and the upside is that when we piled in the car (yes, we drove) it was 18 degrees at home. The drive went really well, about 90% of it. The boys did great, they are such good travelers - it wasn't them. We happened to leave the day after the epic snow storm that walloped the mid-Atlantic coast, delayed because we would have driven through the thick of it, in areas ill-equipped to process said snow. Thinking the next day would be fine, they'd surely be all plowed by then, we set off. Yeah.

Lucky I was behind the wheel (I am the more patient one). Understanding that this was alot of snow for an area that doesn't see much, still, it was unbelievable how utterly awful it was in DC. I would not have believed how bad it was if I didn't experience it myself. The 4 lane roads were unplowed in the center 2 lanes. ????!! The 'cleared' lanes were inches deep of slosh & ice ruts that constantly changed your tire path. And the locals - by their license plates - who aren't accustomed to these conditions, drove like it was bare pavement. The most interesting part was a dead standstill on 95 because 4 plows ahead were stopped blocking all lanes, drivers walking around outside apparently on a break or something. I just bailed then & had Garmin find me a new way. So, what should have been 30 minutes on the beltway around the DC area became 3 hours of stress. 

We still arrived in one piece, none the worse. The weather was less than sparkly, but it was no frozen north. We were outside a large chunk of each day, visiting various parks, taking lots of long walks, and even a couple beach days, although a bit bundled up. Nothing beats the powdered sugar of Siesta Key Beach. Spending time with lots of family members we hardly get to see, a birthday party, visiting beach towns, art fairs, a farmer's market, a flea market, lunches & dinners out along with great dinners cooked in; those things were more memorable than the weather. The boys loved it all, as did we. It tides us over until we reach spring.

Thank you Auntie Lisa & Cousin Jordan for putting us up (and up with us, too), and to Grandma Audrey & Joe for your hospitality, as well. Looking forward to next year!

sunshine and kalanchoe

After four straight days of cold and grey, it was so nice to see a happily blooming plant soak in the sun yesterday. A little something to brighten up my world. 

If only it were that easy for everyone.

Take a look at what the craft community is doing to help, at Craft Hope.

time for thanks

While every gift and giver was fresh in our brains, I made a list and started on cards. I looked to Molly Irwin for inspiration - she does wonderful things with her photos and this card needed to be special. I love the feel of her design. After browsing around I just went to work on something simple but textural. The polka-dotted pages were all the spark I needed. Ovals are more my thing so those were used instead for the background pattern. Add the photo, type, & we're almost there. My pics do not do these much justice. I have to say - this is the first time there were two boys sitting nicely for a picture! Mason usually presses his face up against the lens with a goofy grin, and Nate turns away, or runs away. And only one take! I'm still amazed.

Next they were printed out (on our not-so-great-quality-printer, ugh) and off to find some card stock. Paper samples from a former life fit the bill. The photos just had to be stitched on - love that detail & texture. Kind of like strings of lights. So very easy, fairly fast (depending on quantity) and very worth it.

it's a new dawn, it's a new day...

After having a sick household for the middle half of December, and then scrambling to finish preparations for Christmas, this in between week has been welcome respite. We had a very lovely time with friends and family, and the boys were spoiled by everyone. The best part of it all for them was seeing and playing with their cousins, Aunts & Ankles, and friends. They jumped up and down with excitement for each gathering. Thank you all!

2009 wasn't so hot in many ways, but we are all well and happily watching our little boys grow. We're better off in some some ways than this day last year, and not so much in others. We said goodbye to our beautiful, sweet, greyhound Joey. We said hello to some new friends, and many new experiences with a pair of 2 year olds. This space came alive. I am grateful, and only want to make it better going forward. No wasting time with what didn't get finished, or what the clock left behind - I'm moving on.

I thank each and every one of you who came to visit, I hope you enjoyed your stay. Lots of ideas on tap, so much new to lay out this year - so stay tuned!

photo courtesy banyantreebiketours.com

for sale by maker

These are the first 3 of a series of limited edition bags that I've been working on for sale, and I'm so excited about how they're turning out! I really enjoy working on them. Each bag has a common element which sparked this whole project - the velvet leaf appliquéd on front.

About 7 years ago my sister gave me a curtain panel with these leaves attached at the top. I didn't really have a use for it as is (was), but liked the parts - removed the leaves, and the panel became a tablecloth we still use today. The leaves surfaced recently in a materials search, and the idea came together for the bag series. It is very fun, and a challenge, to design & gather the parts for these. As with all my projects, they are made with leftover and repurposed materials. Each will be completely one-of-a-kind, can't be reproduced. There are only a certain number of leaves, each a different shape/color combo, and all the fabrics are in limited supply. I really like that aspect. If you've ever tried to mass produce a handmade item, you know what I mean. They'll be siblings, each with it's own personality - but not twins.

Perfect for a commuter, going shopping, yarn & knitting, just shlepping all the stuff we seem to carry here & there. Carry your cookies to the cookie swap & give it as a hostess gift. Great for the office yankee swap, too. Replace those plastic bags your Mom carries all the time! There are still more in the works, and a little time to work on requests, so contact me if you need something special, have questions, etc. (at upper left or see below)

Each is fully lined with an interior cell/keys, etc. pocket. Front side has velvet leaf and fabric detail, back is solid unless noted. Fabrics include canvas, heavy upholstery fabric, cotton twill, cotton & cotton/linen linings. Sturdy and reinforced; machine washable (inside out) in cold, reshape & hang dry.

#1 (top picture) Green Leaf East is 16"wide x 15"tall x 4"deep - in greens, tans and naturals. Natural color twill handles. Natural color lining. Detail below. $35.

#2 (second picture) Deep Green North is 18"w x 14"t x 5"d - in caramel, greens, brown and brick. The back of this bag is half solid, half patterned fabric from the front & handles. Natural color lining. Detail below. $35.

update  #2 SOLD Thank You!

#3 (third picture) Cranberry Leaf West is 19"w x 15"t x 5"d - in cranberry, tan and multi. Tan canvas handles. Striped lining. Detail below. $35.

Thanks for checking them out, & pass it on! Happy shopping...

gathering treasures

I've mentioned before that Mason always comes home from our walks with something in his hand. Be it a leaf (the last of the 35 he's picked up & discarded) or twig, pine cone or pebble, always something. Not to be outdone, of course, Nate has followed suit. It's funny to note the differences - Mason always picks the 'Charlie Brown' leaves, etc. and Nate goes for the big size or impact.

All these treasures need to be carried, and my hands are full with the hands of two boys, so... the Gathering Treasures Bag was born. The idea was kind of an old newspaper-boy's bag/messenger. It goes across the body with an adjustable strap for hands free use, and closes with vintage button & elastic loop. Simple construction, there are no pockets to get in the way of small hands filling & emptying. It's lined with fused grocery bags, which give it perfect structure & support. The fused material was a dream to sew & use. I've posted about this before here and here.

All the materials were of course gathered from around the house. The fabric is left over from my friend's curtains that I just hemmed, the straps are twill tape that came tied around a rug I ordered years ago & the colored stripe is seam binding from my Nana. (the green will be for Mason, and a blue striped one is in the works for Nate) The hardware I've kept from something taken apart who-knows-when, and the buttons are from my dad's circa 1950s hunting jacket. I cut that up when I was a kid, and the buttons remained. The elastic loop came from something I unwrapped a week or so ago - and can't remember what the heck it was. I know where things came from that have been around 20 years, but last week? No clue. I blame it on my kids.

I've been using all my spare time for work projects lately, but so many ideas have been flooding in, too.  I'm planning on a limited edition project for sale, post to come soon...