color glorious color

All lined up in front of me today.

a collaboration

 

A wee collaboration between Kit Lane and me, a few of her fabulous 'Bobs given some stitchy love from me.  She'll be unveiling these in her shop this afternoon.

Both the pale yellow guy at the top and the pink one behind him were needled by Kit as we sat and chatted together one snowy weekend in April.  I had given her some wool that I had dyed, the yellow with strawberry leaves (I think) and the pink from lobster mushrooms, and she was trying it out on my visit.  When they were finished I tucked them in my suitcase along with memories of amazing conversation, bites of forbidden cheesecake, and San Pellegrino fizzy water, and brought them home to stitch. (the white one was hers to keep)

The yellow one was encrusted with knots and stitches, all of dyed by me with materials from my woods.  The pink one seemed to long for something a little more quirky.

Kit does wonderful work from these squee-inspiring Jacabobs to her sculptural pieces (and Jabba, we can't forget Jabba) and has a dedicated following.  I'm thrilled to have been able to collaborate with her.

If you're interested in owning one of these pieces, keep your eye on her shop.  They should be there some time this afternoon.

Thanks everyone!

a quick road trip

 

A quick road trip for me today.  A lunch with a friend for me and a reunion for these little guys with their maker.

I'm looking forward to some good chatter, the kind that happens when you sit down with someone who gets you, and to the rolling hills and farmland views.  And my favorite effusive welcome sign from one of the towns I drive through that says "Welcome to our area".   So generic, it always makes me laugh.

What are you looking forward to today?

working on some stones for the Art-o-mat

 

I'm feeling stitchy.

Working on the next batch of stones to send to Art-o-mat.

 I can't wait to find out where this next batch lands.  On my last stub from them it looked like stones had shown up at the Smithsonian, the Visual Arts Center in Richmond VA, the Whitney, the Cosmopolitan, here in Minnesota - in St. Cloud, and a Whole Foods in Texas.

I wish I could travel along with them and see the sights.

the landscapes are heading out

 

Thank you to everyone who stopped by my shop update yesterday, all of my new landscapes have found new homes.

And to those of you that receive my blog post via email, there was a delay yesterday and I'm not sure why.  Sorry for that.  Hopefully there won't be any more of those glitches, especially on shop update days.

The birds?

Well, their persistent parents started building a nest in my bird feeder this spring.  I thwarted their attempts three times before finally giving in and letting them build their nest.  Their first batch of babies has now fledged and mama robin has been back in the nest cleaning it out for what I imagine to be round two.  I've resigned myself to the fact that I will feed the birds over on a stump in the yard for now.  You kind of can't blame them though, what a choice spot.  Roof over their heads, feed below.  Location, location, location.

Happy Saturday, all.

new landscape brooches in the shop today

These new landscape brooches will be in the shop this morning at 10am central daylight time.

Sorry for the short notice.

They're here in my shop already for viewing.

They're making me crave a road trip.  Can you write off a road trip as a business expense if it's to gather inspiration?  hmm...

Thanks everyone!  Hope you have a great day.

the funk has moved on

 The little funk I was experiencing seems to have moved on.  I felt it starting to loosen its grip a bit the other day when I signed up to be a felting demonstrator at this year's Celtic Fest and by Sunday when we drove past an especially verdant field, I felt it let go completely.

Yesterday morning I headed down to my workroom to capture the feeling of that field and ended up making two more brooches after that.

 

 

Thank you, funk, for moving on, and to the sun for shining.  And to each of you that offered support in your comments here and on facebook and twitter.  It's rough when you're not feeling quite yourself but it was nice to know that many of you knew exactly what I was going through.

Hope your week is sunny and bright.

flew the coop

 It happens from time to time.  I'm not sure if it's because of the change in energy in the house, the added responsibility of having 6 bodies in the house all day instead of just two, or what but my focus, my art "mojo" has flown the coop.

When it happens it causes me great stress.  Not only is creating what keeps me whole and reasonably sane, but I have deadlines to meet, commitments to keep, and my income (as modest as it may be) contributes directly to keeping our household fed.  There is no good time for me to be unable to create, but yet here we are.

 

I've been down this road enough times to know that the best thing for me to do is set down the fiber and do something else non-art related, even if that seems counter-intuitive.

So for the next few days (or however long it takes) I'll be re-potting some geraniums, weeding the garden, tending to the sick guinea in the barn, maybe go out looking for some mushrooms, but I won't be working until this brain of mine decides to cooperate.  With lots of luck it will return with a flourish and I'll be right back in the middle of all these stones.  Or something new.  Who knows.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  See you soon.

campfire cooking with the kids

 

My kids are now on summer vacation which lends a different energy to the house.  Or rather, LOTS of energy to the house.  Since spending lots of time outside is what makes them happiest (and the tiredest at the end of the day) I thought we'd take our meal-making outdoors too.

 

We gathered up our ingredients for a hobo stew,

 

put them in foil,

 

seasoned well,

 

and headed out to the fire with our foil packets and bannock bread wrapped on sticks.  Declaring oneself "King Bread Stick", optional. (dressing yourself in multiple patterns also optional)

 

I nestled the foil packets down into the hot coals with a set of tongs while the kids baked their biscuits until they were golden brown and cooked through.

 

About 10 minutes later they ate their hearty stew and biscuit in the grass.

 

 They loved being able to make their own lunch and made dinner too (panfish, asparagus, and sweet potatoes, yum!).  I knew we were on to something good when one of them exclaimed "I can't wait to do this with broccoli!"

I imagine we'll be cooking on the fire at every given opportunity.  We'll be the family that constantly smells of woodsmoke but that's okay, I think we're gaining much more than an aroma from this.

Happy Wednesday, all.  I hope today is memorable.

shop update today

 

Just a reminder that the little mushrooms in spice jars and 4 stones (I finished this one yesterday) will be on sale today in my shop at 11am Central Time.

If you'd share the word, I'd be so grateful.

Though there might be thunderstorms tonight, right now the sun is out, the ducks are paddling, the chickens are pecking, and I'm clutching a hot cup of tea.  I see the leaves on my crabapple are really starting to pop.  The lilacs should be blooming soon.  It's a fine start to the day.

Hope yours is off to a good start too.

a whole bunch of mushrooms coming to the shop

 

I've finished with my little mushrooms in spice jars for now.  8 will be for sale in my shop tomorrow morning.  Each of these little guys have been made of wool that I needle-felted and were tucked into a small vintage spice jar and given a special handmade wood stopper.  Each is unique, with different finishing touches.

 

There will 3 stones in my shop tomorrow as well.  I had hoped to have more work done but it seems that the gardening chores have kept me busier than I anticipated.

If you're interested, I'll be putting up the listings for these pieces today and they'll go live at 11am Central Time tomorrow, Wed. May 29th.

my shop

Have a great day, everyone!

tippity toppity toe

 

I love these kinds of mornings.  We were all up and outdoors early, each of us working on our own projects.  Except, of course, the teenager who is likely to rise at the crack of noon.  With the threat of more rain on the way, I think we all wanted to take advantage of today's sun.

 

I've been wanting to put a little tic tac toe game (or tippity toppity toe, as my daughter calls it) on this stump for a while now, so that was my project.  (As you might be able to tell, my yard has had plenty of rain lately)

 

A few quick swipes of paint and the kids were off and playing.

 

The boys even gave their sister a turn but as you can see, she cheats.

The stump sits right outside of my gazebo where pea plants are slowly reaching up towards the metal and twine.  I'm hoping they grow to cover it soon and give us built-in snacks.  (I shall call it my pea palace)  I think it's going to be a lovely little place to sit and watch the kids play.

I hope you are all enjoying this weekend too.

a couple more

For those who were checking in here, I've just put a few more small stones in my shop.

here

little stones, a little fun

 

The rain we've had the past few days has given me a break from working in the garden.  While the skies drip I've been stitching and felting in my little workroom.  I've finished some work that will be in the next shop update (coming soon) and have started on my next edition for the Art-o-mat.  Rumor has it that they're completely out of my work.

 I got an email the other day from Colleen letting me know that while she was visiting the Smithsonian, she checked the Art-o-mat there.  The machine was being re-stocked at the time and although they did have my stones, they were out.  She was sweet enough to snap this pic for me though and send it to me.

 

I was thinking, since many of us don't live near an Art-o-mat, I would offer up a very limited edition of small pebbles in my shop today.  I'll put up a total of 10, five this morning, and five later this evening.  They'll be a surprise, just as if you were kerplunking them out of the Art-o-mat, and will be in these little muslin bags.  These are smaller versions of my stones, all around an inch or so long.

Anyway, I hope you find it fun.  And can I ask if you would only purchase one, so more people get a chance at them?  Thank you all.  Have a wonderful day.

wordless Wednesday

freakish

The weather is supposed to be freakishly warm today, hitting almost 90.  Now, 90 is an odd thing where I am, but odder still when you look outside and there are still snowbanks by the garage and ice tsunamis blowing off the lake.

Speaking of freakish things...

 I had been soaking a cotton t-shirt in some soy milk to prep it for dyeing and somehow forgot about it.  Until it started to smell funky, then I said "oh yeah!"  At which I put it outside.  And forgot about it.  It sat in a crumpled up lump, only partially rinsed of its soy.  When I remembered it (again) and picked it up I noticed that it had splotches of a gorgeous royal blue.

I found a thick patch of it and the blue appeared to be a mold or fungus or slime of some kind, but I'm not sure.  It left imprints on the fabric where it had been folded up and the layers touched.  How cool is that? 

 I have no idea if this fungus mold thing will degrade the quality of the fibers, or even if I can get the stench out.  I do know I plan to fold it back up and see it if will keep producing color.  

Just maybe a little further from the house...

 Hope your day is interesting too.

gliding

 

 Last night as I was making dinner, my husband was outside taking down a dead oak next to our driveway.  It had been dead for a few years and was starting to drop limbs, so it was time for it to go.  When he dropped it with the chainsaw it shattered in to pieces, it was that dead.  When it hit, shredded bark material was littered on the ground.  He wasn't immediately sure of what it was but then a little flying squirrel crawled out of the remains of the tree and began to look around.

A nest.  A flying squirrel's nest.

My youngest boy came running in the house shouting "Mom!  A sugar glider!  With BABIES!"

 

 I grabbed my camera and approached my brood, who was standing stock still about 15 feet away from the downed tree.  We watched as the momma flying squirrel picked up one of her tiny fuzzy babies in her mouth and walked over to the nearest pine, seemingly unsure of what she was doing.

 

 

Suddenly she was off, running up the tree, this giant tree well over 60' tall, with that baby in her mouth.  I wondered aloud if she had another nest in that tree but she kept running, fast as can be, to the very top of the tree and without hesitating...leapt.

 

 

We watched as she glided through the air some 100 feet across the driveway to the trees on the other side of the barn, with the baby in her mouth.  It was awesome.  And by that I don't mean in the flip way of speaking like when we talk about shoes or sandwiches, I mean I was quite literally awestruck.  And a little teary-eyed.

There was still one little baby on the ground so I pushed some of the bedding material over him to help keep him warm and pushed part of the hollow log over him to block the wind in the hope that his momma would come for him too.  And when I checked on him this morning it looked like she had.

A wonderful day to all of you.  Glide on.