captured - verdigris toadstool

 

Aww, look what popped up on my table yesterday.  The first mushrooms of the year.

I do so love making these little guys.

Needle-felted wool complete with pebbles, sprouts, and even a velvet mite.  I set it into a base I made from aged oak.  I left a little character in the wood, including some bug trails and knot holes.  The mushrooms have stitched caps.  All in all, only 4" tall.  Just a tiny bit of happiness.

The sun is out today so I'm feeling cheery.  Hope you are too.

new brooches and zen

 

A few finished brooches are on my table.  The wood bases made this weekend from walnut, hickory, mahogany (a new one for me), and a piece of chokecherry.

 

 I always say that working at the sander and saw brings me a little bit of zen.  It was really cool to see that same thing happen for my 7 year old when he turned his first piece of wood on the lathe yesterday (closely supervised of course).  Who knows, perhaps we'll need to make a little more room at the workbench soon.

I'm planning to have another shop update soon, after I get a few more pieces completed.  Details to come.

Hope you all have a great start to your week.  Find some zen.

still needling

 A big thank you to all of you that stopped by my shop update earlier this week.  The last of the packages left with Marv the mailman yesterday and I hope they'll soon be in your hands, and that you'll enjoy your new pieces.  I am humbled by the response to my work.  I know some of you weren't able to snag the pieces you wanted but hopefully there will be something else that speaks to you in the future.

 

After the packing and mailing was finished I dove back into needling and I have a few brooches on my table.  There may just be another shop update next week.  Yay!

There will be a little of this, too, as I feel the need to switch gears creeping up on me.

I also feel the need to get out in the woods.  The weather has made a turn and suddenly there's sunlight.  We still have gobs and gobs of snow, but no matter, I have snowshoes.  The woods call.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

new brooches today

 

Over the weekend I finished needling those brooches I've been working on, and cut and sanded the wood bases too.  These 7 pieces will make their appearance in my shop today at 3pm CST.

 As always, they tell stories about places I'd like to be, places I've been, places where I imagine one could find some quiet peace.  You might have noticed there are no man-made structures in my pieces.  That's on purpose.  There might be fields and meadows, but you won't see barns or red balloons.  Not in these pieces, anyway. (some other time, maybe)  These are all very quiet.

 Some tell of moonlit swims, some of trips to the mountains with my father.  Some remind me of flying on cliffs above Lake Superior (remind me to tell you of my "flying" habit one day).  Others of quiet places I've only dreamed of.

If these move you, or if you know someone who might enjoy them, I'd be so grateful if you'd spread the word.

I do have a number of other pieces started, I'm still in the mood for making brooches, AND I have babysitting help this week so you just might see another update before too long.

Thanks everyone!  Have a great start to the week.

more brooches in progress and a shop update to come

 

Earlier in the week I mentioned that I was making brooches and that I had several started.  I mentioned that I needed to be in a certain "place" to focus and finish them.  Clearly that "place" has been a little hard to find because I now have many brooches started but only a few nearing completion.

  

Can't get the quiet time you need to finish some?  Start some more!  Like, 23 more!

 

I'm optimistic that this weekend will bring the respite I need to finish some of these and to get out to the barn and make the wood bases.  So optimistic, in fact, that I plan to have a shop update with the ones I finish on Monday afternoon.

I'll put them in my shop to preview as soon as I finish and photograph them, but then they'll go up for sale on Monday the 25th at 3pm Central Standard Time.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

 

back to it

 

Spring break is over, my boys are back in school, and I'm back to my routine.  Over the break I've been working on some brooches-to-be, shaping them and laying out some backgrounds.  In order to finish a piece like this, to give it details and feeling, I need to be wholly present while working on it and that's not something that comes easy with 4 kids running through the house.

 Over the break I finally treated myself to a little pack of these sodas I've had my eye on, and I'm so glad I did, they're a great treat.  Different, in a delicious sort of way.

 

My youngest discovered she could climb walls.  Which pretty much sums up a good portion of the week.

I've been told that spring is swiftly approaching but it seems Ma Nature hasn't gotten the message.  We have well over a foot of snow still on the ground with more falling as we speak.

Starting next week I'll have some help with childcare and I'm hoping that will translate to a more productive me, work-wise.  I'm hoping to have those brooches up there finished and ready to share, soon, as well as other pieces I have in the works including project stones.

There is much to do.

So off I go.

Have a good start to the week, everyone.

wordless Wednesday

A working breakfast.

bunk bed tent

  

I thought it would be fun, on this home project-filled spring break to make my younger boys a tent for their bunk bed.

 The concept is really simple, which is good because my machine-sewing skills are equally so.  I used some canvas drop cloths that I had on hand.  I washed them first, then sized them to the bed, cut some door flaps, and sewed a panel for the side of the bed that is exposed (the other is against the wall, so I didn't do a panel there).  The tent is tied to the metal bed frame in several places, which will make it easier to remove for cleaning.  The door flaps hang down when the boys are sleeping and button up on the inside when they want to let the light in.  I zig zag stitched around the cut edges of the fabric to help keep it from fraying.

 

My oldest boy attached the tent to the ceiling and back wall for me, with help from his brother.  As you can see, it isn't exactly even, or lined up in the corner of the tent very well, but when they were done the two younger boys exclaimed "it looks great!" so I decided not to worry about it.  If they're happy, then so am I.

I also made them each some hanging pockets for their books and a couple of corkboards to put inside their respective tents, and outfitted them each with a reading light.  They were happily reading away before bed time last night.

 

And this morning... they were sleeping in late.  Which makes momma happy.

sweater slippers

 

Well, first day in of my week of home projects and my daughter reminded me that she's been asking for slippers.  The painting of the walls waited while I whipped these up using a couple of sweater sleeves.

 I say "whipped up" because they really only took me about 30 minutes.  The perfect project to fit in between a trip to town and dinner-making.  I cut the sleeves off of a lightly fulled (shrunk on purpose) cashmere and lambswool sweater that I had been saving and sewed up the toe with wool yarn.  I put them on her feet to figure out where the bend in the ankle needed to be, and sewed that too, cutting off the excess on the inside.

 

I stitched a faux cuff and tacked them in place with little roses made out of some wool rope my friend Odile sent me a while back and called it good.

She's slipping and sliding around the floor at this very moment, quite happily.  For that, the walls can wait.

extra eggs

My chickens and ducks have started to lay with gusto so I find myself with a glut of eggs.

I've already boiled up the older ones, traded a dozen and a half with my neighbor for some panfish, and last night I made that custard cake that's making the rounds on pinterest.

This weekend I plan to poach some and make some hollandaise.  And maybe some more gnocchi to freeze.

Okay, what was I saying?  I'm so hungry right now I've lost my train of thought...

This coming week is spring break and since my kids will be home, I'm planning to finish up some neglected home projects and lay low.  I'll pop in here if I finish up anything fun, but if you don't hear from me you can just assume I'm painting walls and eating flan.

Have a great weekend everyone!

off they go

 The Art-o-mat stones are finished.

The packaging has been stamped.

 And painted.

 

And stitched.

 The boxes have been assembled and the "about me" has been printed and folded.  

 

The stones have been wrapped and packed.

 

The boxes have been wrapped in acetate and packaged up and now off they go, to an Art-o-mat somewhere.

If/when I find out where, I'll be sure to spread the word.

Have a good almost-Friday everyone.

wordless Wednesday

I am acorn, hear me roar

 

Whoa.

Proof that they really do grow 'em big in Texas.  A gift from Christine at Rustic Carvings and Creations, some enormous, mutant acorn caps that have my mouth agape.

 Just look at it compared to an acorn from my yard- a decent-sized one even, and a smallish double acorn cap sent to me from Trish in Florida.  Huge!!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these yet, but I need to make something with them because they are awesome.

I'd love to gather some of these at acorn season for bread, it would cut my processing time in half!  And I bet my ducks wouldn't be able to gobble these up and leave me without acorns either.

So cool, thank you for sending them, Christine.

Art-o-Mat visit

 I had my first Art-o-Mat visit yesterday on the campus of the College of Saint Benedict in St. Cloud.  I liked that the statue next to it was pointing at us as if to say "You there, kerplunk that $5".

 No problem there.  The only problem I had was choosing from all the handmade goodness.

Ultimately, the promise of a Little Minnow lured me in (pun totally intended).  Isn't it cute?

I'll be finishing up my little stones to send off to Art-o-Mat this coming week and I hope that whoever kerplunks them has a much fun as I did.

bound to be a great weekend

Thank you to everyone who stopped by for my shop update yesterday.  There's a little stack of boxes waiting for the mailman right now.  I hope you all enjoy your pieces.  For those that weren't able to get a piece, there will be a few more coming soon.  I'll keep you posted.

Tonight I'll go to the artists' reception for a small show in town, where my 'Stepping Stones' piece will be displayed.  I'm looking forward to seeing it hung on the wall next to other artists' work.  A little nervous too, but the post-reception cocktails should take care of that.

Tomorrow I'll be heading out of town for the day to check out an Art-o-Mat machine, some fabric and thrift stores, and have some lunch with one of my favorite people.

It's bound to be a great weekend with a start like this.

I hope you enjoy yours too!