Monday's Mudpuddles

After a rainy weekend the sun has emerged, making a fine start to Monday.  The rain provided plenty of puddles to jump in which made the kids happy.  You can see that my daughter is extra prepared and wearing her life jacket.  (she dresses herself, it's not my fault)  So far we've kept the flooding at bay in the basement which makes me happy. (giant piles of wool and buttons and whatnot are NOT fun to move around when wet) 

Three new auctions are up on our EcoEtsy Team blog this morning with more fabulous eco-friendly goodies.  The proceeds from the auction this year are going to Habitat For Humanity's work in Japan.  So let's recap...great handmade goodies that are easy on the environment AND they benefit charity?  Perfect!  Please check them out if you get a chance. 

I made a special wearable vessel out of Osage Orange wood and it's in the following auction:

Mother's Day auction

and don't forget these beauties:

Girl's Night Out auction

Jump Into Spring auction

Today will find me climbing Mount Washmore and engaging in other fun household duties, taking some photos of a few wearable vessels and (hopefully) putting them in my Etsy shop, then I'm hoping for some time at the saw.  I found something spectacular this weekend...but I can't share quite yet.

I hope your Monday is off to a good start.

The Book On Mushrooms (or mushrooms on a book perhaps)

I finished my latest needle-felting project yesterday.  You caught a glimpse of it in this week's Wordless Wednesday, but here it is in full.  I was too excited to wait for good indoor light so I hauled it outside for a few shots.

It's a pair of yellow amanitas growing out of a vintage textbook, Physiology Of The Fungi, circa 1951.  The whole scene is made of wool and while it's glued inside the book, there is no other glue used.  Just lots of poke poke poking with the felting needle.

There are of course some sporophytes in the moss.

And gills.

You'll be seeing more in this series soon I think.

What are you working on these days?

Wordless Wednesday

A Particularly Nice Day

Yesterday was just as I hoped it would be.  I chilled out, played at my workbench, and took a walk in the woods.  It was lovely and long overdue.

I even made myself a little treat, a ring made of giraffe wood.

Here are some shots I took on my walk that I am finding particularly inspiring.  For those that can't get out for a walk in the woods, these are for you.  Enjoy.

I was suprised to see a patch of deflated puffballs peeking out from under the snow.  I poked one to see if it would puff, but alas, it was puffless.

I love how this rotted pine has begun to fall off in cubes.  Isn't the structure amazing?

And life starts anew, a pinecone in the middle of a rotted out stump.

This is the birch I de-barked last year.  It's now completely engulfed in mushrooms.  Isn't it fantastic?

Check out how the wood in this pine has split at the growth rings.  You can pull them out in pieces like shims.

Chick chick was waiting for me when I returned home.  She likes to sleep in the sun on the porch.

Then she and her friends did some synchronized dance moves for me.  The pics are a little blurry because I was giggling.

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Slow Saturday

It's a slow Saturday.  I've been sanding things while watching Julia Child on PBS.  I've been sipping a second cup of coffee.  Today I think I'll play out in the barn for a while.  Maybe bake something that will be applied directly to my hips.  Slow down for a bit.  The kids have a bad case of cabin fever and need to get outside so maybe a walk in the woods is in order.  We still have lots of snow so momma will probably get to be sled dog, which is okay because she needs the exercise.

I'd really like to make one of these if I can figure out how to make a box braid.

I'm looking forward to this book reaching my mailbox.

I finally set up a facebook page but I'm not sure facebook is my thing.

One of my wearable vessels is in this soft and lovely treasury.

What are you doing today?

Giraffe Wood

I've finished up a few of the "giraffe wood" vases, which I believe is Acacia wood (thanks Bonkers, for the tip!).  I'm in love with this wood and a little sad that Mr. Giraffe was kind of small.  You can bet I'll be watching for his relatives at yard sales this year.  Anyway, the grain on this wood is beautiful, the color is nice and warm, and it finishes silky smooth.  Really wonderful stuff.

I've made a few vases from it already.  I cut this one so the shape would follow the contours of the grain, in sort of a raindrop shape.

This one I cut so you can see the grain as lines across the piece.  Stripey.

Both of these are in my big cartel shop (the 'shop' tab at the top of blog) at the introductory price until tomorrow, at which point they will move to my Etsy shop at regular price.

I hate to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but I think spring may be on its way.  As proof, my hens started laying again this week and are giving us 7-9 eggs a day, yay girls!, the sun has been shining more, and we're entering this season:

Ah yes, the season of mud begins.  Let's just hope the season of "flood" gives us a break this year.

It's not all bad though, because making rivers in the mud is great fun.

Happy Thursday, everyone.

Wordless Wednesday

Annnnd so much for wordless...

I am so flattered to have been interviewed on Indie Fixx today, please stop by and give Jen's amazing site a little love, and read my interview too, if you're so inclined.  I'd be ever so grateful.

wednesday indie artist fixx - lil fish studios

Happy Wednesday!

Decapitated Giraffes and other fun band saw games

My husband has had this giraffe in his nightstand drawer for a while.  It's not my taste necessarily but it was his from before we met so I dared not throw it out.  It was a gift from his mother and therefore special...or so I thought.  Turns out he bought it a few years ago from Waccamaw Pottery several years ago (on purpose!) and thusly had no particular attachment to it.  How lovely!  I had designs on this little wood giraffe and had just been given the go-ahead.

You know where I'm going with this, don't you?  Yes, that's right, to the garage!  If you're squeamish, avert your eyes.

My kids came out and asked what mommy was doing cutting the head off of their (suddenly) precious giraffe (that had been in daddy's nightstand drawer for 5 years, undisturbed).  They were a little upset until I made them a giraffe finger puppet, and then all was forgiven.

Voila!  Finger puppet!  I am no longer bad mom.

I cut into the body of the giraffe and could tell right away that the wood was going to be lovely.  It also smelled of cedar and black pepper.  It reminded me of meat on the grill in a way, which was not something I've encountered before.  Some woods smell sweet but this was the first peppery wood I've smelled.

I roughed out a piece and put a quick layer of tung oil on it just to see the grain.  Here you see it next to a finished piece of oak (oak is on the right).

It will need to be sanded several times then oiled, sanded, oiled, sanded, oiled, sanded...you get the picture, before it becomes a pendant.  I have no idea what kind of wood it is so it will now be dubbed "giraffe wood".

Here's proof I'll never be hired to be a hand model but I'm still watching for a gig that calls for a mask-wearing middle aged woman to be covered in a fine layer of sawdust.  I can totally do that.

Photos of the completed pendants soon.  I'm excited to see how this wood turns out.

Have a great start to the week, everyone.

Sunday

Just a quiet image of the happiness that was in my inbox this morning.

Thank you, dear friend, for sharing it.

A happy Sunday to you all.