Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Happy Holidays!


2013 is winding down and I'm still trying to find balance and time.  I'm not quite there yet but I'm working on it.

I want you all to know how much it means to me to have been able to share my work, my life, my journey with you all.  Your insight and input, words of encouragement and humor, have enriched my life in countless ways.

I'm looking forward to filling the coming year with so much more.

Wishing you and yours much love, health, and happiness in the coming year.

xo
Lil
aka
Lisa

Monday, December 16, 2013

card giveaway winners


Thanks so much to everyone who entered, but my youngest has picked two winners from the hat and came up with 
Elizabeth who said: "I love them all!  But my favorite is A Gathering of Stones.  I'd be so happy to win!"
and
Marlene who said: "I've always admired your creativity with stones.  I love stones also.  My favorite set is Gatherings of Stones."

Ladies, please email your addresses to me at lilfishstudios(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll get your sets out to you.

Thank you all for playing along!


Sunday, December 15, 2013

a card giveaway


It's fun at this time of year to open the mailbox and find handwritten holiday greetings from friends.  I was thinking how nice it would be if I could, myself, send more handwritten notes out throughout the year.  Email is nice, but there's just something about an out-of-the-blue letter to hold in your hand, isn't there?

So with that thought in my head, let's have a little giveaway, shall we?

Here's what you need to do...go to my shop and look at my card sets and come back here and leave me a comment telling me which is your favorite. 

This giveaway is now closed.
I'll draw 2 names on Monday evening (Dec. 16th, 2013) and the winners will get a set of cards of their choice.

Thank you, everyone, and good luck!



Saturday, December 14, 2013

sending the sniffles packing

The sniffles have found me.  I've been trying to outrun them but alas, they were faster than me.  I'm employing the healing power of my foraged teas, some raw local honey, a warm blanket, and a handmade mug and hopefully those sniffles will be sent packing in no time.




Moments like these make me very happy that I spend the time gathering and drying all those helpful herbs (commonly referred to as weeds) from the yard.  Stinging nettle, mullein, yarrow, dandelion root, pineapple weed, raspberry leaf, blackberry leaf, strawberry leaf... they're all here to help heal in one way or another, even if only in their ability to get one close to nature.  I personally think that sort of medicine is incredibly powerful.

Wishing you all a warm and healthy weekend.


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

it comes through

A stone completed.  Less a meditation on nature and more a reflection of my current state of mind.  I'll leave it up to your interpretation, but it had a working title of 'it comes through'.



Grey wool and thread courtesy of some acorns, twigs, and leaves gathered from the woods and given an iron afterdip.  Shocking red glass beads surrounded by little glimmery stitches of silver.

In my shop.

Sunday, December 08, 2013

making acorn ornaments with the kids

With the weather so dreadfully cold, and the kids getting squirrely from cabin fever already, I thought we'd do a little crafting to help keep their fingers busy.

I had some of these acorn caps left that I had painted with metal paint a few years ago and a bag of beads that I thought would make good acorn bodies so we put the two together to make ornaments.

I had hoped to sew through the beads and cap but the kids found it a little too difficult to manage so we compromised.  First, I drilled holes in the caps and put a hanging loop in.  Then I sewed the tiny bead on to the bottom of the large bead, a step I could have skipped but I liked that it made them look more finished, and the kids glued the bead into the cap.

The results are pretty cute, I think.  They each made enough to hand out to some of their friends, with a couple left over for the tree.

I think that glass marbles would work well too, in lieu of beads.  Wouldn't they be pretty hanging in front of the window like this?

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend.  Happy Sunday.

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

a quick check-in


I saw that Lark is sharing several free felty craft projects over on their site, including my very own penny rug bouquet.  There are some stocking plans, ornaments, a wreath, and more.  If you need a little crafty inspiration, you might want to stop by and take a look.


Thanks so much to those of you that have taken some of my new greeting cards home.  I'll continue to offer them in the shop so if there are any images of mine that you would like to see in greeting card form, just let me know.

I'm still trying to find my footing with my new job.  My days are long and there isn't much time for art once I get home so I've taken to sewing on my lunch break.  I'm working on my third batch of Art-o-mat stones and though I'm working at a snail's pace, my goal is to get them done before the new year.

I hope you're all doing well and staying safe and warm.
Happy Wednesday.

Sunday, December 01, 2013

greeting cards are in the shop

Just a quick note to say that my new greeting cards are now in my shop.  They are available in sets or singly.  Each is professionally printed with one of my images of my work on them and are blank inside for your own sweet note.

Want to have a look?  Click HERE.

Thanks, all!  Hope you have a great start to the week.




Saturday, November 30, 2013

weekend, volunteering, and cards

Ahhh, the weekend.  Hard-earned after my first week of (outside-the-house) work.
Today my youngest boy and I are volunteering at the Crossing Arts Alliance and visiting my favorite potter to show some support on Small Business Saturday.  I'll take my helper for a treat afterwards, a little mom and son time that we'll both appreciate.

Later I'll be packaging up more greeting cards that will soon be in my shop.  More information, and photos, coming soon.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Happy Saturday!



Monday, November 25, 2013

a winner and some news

Thank you to everyone who played along in my giveaway.  I love that so many of you make compliment-giving a regular part of your day.  I can't say I'm surprised, I've long known that you are all a kind and caring group, but it was still so nice to read all of the affirmations.

My kids picked a name this morning and Traci J is the winner!  I've sent you an email, Traci.  I hope you enjoy the stone.  It brings my warmest wishes with it.


And a little news...  Starting today I will be working full-time in a job unrelated to lil fish studios.  We've met some unexpected challenges this year and I need to make a more consistent financial contribution to help keep our family afloat.  I will still be tinkering with wool and wood, dyeing with plants, wandering in the woods, and sharing my experiences here, but I'm not yet sure how frequently that will be.  I'll figure it out in time and I hope you'll stick with me while I get my footing.

If you have extra, I could use your happy thoughts.

Thank you, each of you, for joining me here under the poplar and pine.  Your support has meant the world to me.
 I hope you all create a wonderful start to your week.

Happy Monday.
x. Lisa

p.s. the kitten doesn't have anything to do with my news, he's just there to lighten the mood.

    

Sunday, November 24, 2013

little shrooms in the shop today

A trio of tiny terrariums will be heading to the shop this morning, right after I finish photographing them.

Each scene made of wool with a few stitched details.  No wire, no glue, just fiber.

They each come with a small glass dome to help keep them safe from dust and kitty claws.

They're sewn to wood bases that I make by hand of oak and poplar from my woods.
Little labors of love, they are.

I appreciate these captured moments from the woods on these cold wintry mornings.  Even on days that I can't venture out to be among the moss and mushrooms, I can still conjure up that feeling when I'm surrounded by these pieces.

If you'd like to have a look, check HERE later this morning.

Thank you!  Happy Sunday!



Friday, November 22, 2013

a stone giveaway


"If an apple blossom or a ripe apple could tell its own story, it would be, still more than its own, the story of the sunshine that smiled upon it, of the winds that whispered to it, of the birds that sang around it, of the storms that visited it, and of the motherly tree that held it and fed it until its petals were unfolded and its form developed."
Lucy Larcom
***
I am reminded lately of how my life is impacted by those around me.  I have people in my life who lift me up, who remind me of the good in life, the good in me, even on dark days.  I've been showered in good thoughts and kind words and their sunshine has shaped my story.  I hope my sunshine smiles upon them to impact their stories too.

So, in reflection of this, I'd like to have a little giveaway.  
The winner will be sent this little 'Bloom' stone, all wrapped up and ready to be gifted to someone you love (and that person can be you, if you'd like).  All you have to do to enter is go pay a compliment to someone - it can be a simple "I like your scarf" to a stranger or a heart-felt expression of appreciation to someone you love - and leave me a comment here on my blog letting me know you've done it.  I don't need details (though if you want to share, that's fine), I just want to know that you've helped make someone's day brighter.

This giveaway is now closed.

A winner will be randomly chosen and announced here on Monday morning, November 25th, 2013.  I'll ship worldwide, so everyone is free to enter.  Please be sure I have a way to contact you, should you be the winner.

Thank you, and good luck!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

found! acorns

While looking in my supply closet yesterday I found a few baggies of wool acorns and acorn ornaments that I forgot to list.  How did I do that?

I'll be adding them to the shop sometime this morning.  If you wanted some but weren't able to get any, here's your chance as I won't have any more this year.  Unless of course, I find some in the other supply closet...

Happy Wednesday all!


Monday, November 18, 2013

into the trees

It's deer hunting season here in Minnesota which means we haven't been out walking in the woods lately.  Since we're surrounded on three sides by hunting land, I get uneasy about letting the kids play outside, even with their blaze orange hats on.  All of this indoor time has made us all a little stir crazy.

I tried to quell some of that excess energy that was coursing through my kids yesterday by having them make some little tree ornaments for the upcoming holidays.  The older boys cut circles out of felted sweater and they all worked on stacking them for a while.  The activity held their attention in spurts but over the course of the day a small forest grew on our table.

The next job will be to sew them all together and add the trunks, something we'll work on together.

Since yesterday was the last day of rifle season we'll be able to venture back out in the woods today to be among real trees.  I can't express how much I'm looking forward to that.

***

Julie made some colorful little trees this weekend too.

Today I'm mailing off stones to their new homes.  A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to look and to those of you that gave my pieces a home.  Thank you.

I hope your week is a good one.


Thursday, November 14, 2013

stones!

Here they are, my latest stitched stones.  I think there must have been some extra magic attached to the stones I hauled home from gitchigami because these stones really flowed for me.  They're larger than most of my stones and feel really nice in the hand.  Visually, I find this batch really appealing, too.  I hope you do as well.


I decided to try something new and though I'm not sure it's something I will do after this, I felt it was worth a try.  Instead of putting these in my shop as normal, I have put these up on ebay.  You'll notice that they're priced below what I normally price my stones of this size and complexity so if you're so inclined to bid on one, you might just snag yourself a bargain.

The auction is only up for a short time, but for those that seem to miss out on the stones when I list them, I hope this will provide a larger window of opportunity.

Below are the stones I have available and their individual links to ebay.
You can see a list of all of the items I have for sale on this link HERE.  I do combine shipping for multiple purchases so feel free to bid on more than one. :)

If you would stop by and have a look and help spread the word I'd really be so grateful.












Thanks so much, everyone!




stones coming tomorrow

In the past few weeks I've stitched a total of 10 large stones, including this snowy stone I showed you a few days ago.  All of them will be for sale starting tomorrow in a different venue than my normal shop.  I'll have lots of photos and more information for you tomorrow.

Hope you're all having a great day.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

at the intersection of craft and snack

Pomegranates are in season here in the US and we're enjoying a box of them from California.

They're a favorite around here and we look forward to having these as a special treat.

It's a bonus that their skins give dye, a golden yellow.   I've been drying the skins atop the wood stove in anticipation of combining them with these locally-grown lincoln locks.  So while we may be disappointed when the last fruit is eaten, we'll enjoy them once again in the dye pot.

Hope you're enjoying your week.  Happy Wednesday.


Monday, November 11, 2013

snowy stitching

It's snowing this morning.  It isn't the first time this season but it's cold enough for me to think that maybe mother nature means it this time.  We're almost at our predicted high of 22 degrees so it seems a good day to stay in and stitch on a snow stone.

I've got my white thread, stone, and beads, and a cup of tea beside me so I'm pretty well set.

To the Monday!