#146 Art for a Sunday afternoon (and lots of links to click on!)

Nice day today. We went to the 1015 service at church and then to brunch at Cafe Bruges with a group of friends we don't see very often since we started going to the Saturday evening services. (I had eggs with smoked salmon and caramelized onions - yum!) After a brief time at home, just long enough to scratch Jake behind his ears, I walked to our little theater to meet three girlfriends and see The Young Victoria - a wonderful film I highly recommend seeing if you have the chance. (Click the link to see the trailer and other goodies!) It's a feast for the eyes and a refreshing treat for the heart:

After the movie we walked to California Cafe for a spot of tea and sweets. (Gotta have sweets with tea.) Then...home...to get out of my fancy duds and into my jeans. Aaaaaaaah!

I'm just about ready to continue the relaxing with a martini, but wanted to share this picture from a site I found recently. The picture is one of many posted on the Little People blog, and it seemed appropriate for a Sunday:

I encourage you to go to the site and view more of the work. I really enjoy seeing the world through someone else's eyes for a bit, don't you?

#145 I never "Lack" for things to do...

Several years ago I bought a Lack coffee table form IKEA. For a whopping $44.99. I've loved the size and style of it, but the finish was scratched within days; not surprising since it was finished with  a thin layer of vinyl over paper. And then the genuine vinyl "veneer" started peeling back from one of the side edges. Our attempts to glue it back - repeatedly - proved frustrating and uesless.

Yesterday I decided I couldn't take it anymore, so I marched off to Michaels and came home with several rolls of duct tape - in red and purple! Woo-hoo!!!

It only took a few hours today to transform the table.

Here's what it used to look like (minus the scratches and loose edges):

And here's what it looks like now:

 

  

 

I'm really happy with it! I'm debating whether or not to add the shelf underneath - I haven't taped it yet - but I probably will since it makes the table more stable. And I like having a place to put all my magazines.

Maybe someday we'll bite the bullet and spend the money for a real "grown up" coffee table.

But maybe not. 

I really like this one.

Amazing what a few hours and $12 worth of duct tape can do, huh?

Update: I went ahead and taped the shelf, going lengthwise this time:

 

  

Good to have it all finished!

#142 The Ache of an Empty Nest...

Every year around this time I catch a glimpse of a display of little girls' Easter dresses and my heart stands still.

Sigh.

I love having big girls. But every now and then I miss the little ones they were - and having all their busy-ness around me...

#141 Digital Drawing

I love to draw. The making of marks on a pristine surface thrills me in a way that's hard to explain, but that's the way it is. Recently I've been really enjoying doing drawings in Photoshop - with my finger. I have a laptop, so controlling the cursor by moving my finger on the touchpad is even more difficult than moving the cursor with a mouse, but I like the thread-like effect of the thin lines. And I'm feeling the urge to start doing more drawing with thread on fabric again - sewing by hand and sewing machine - and inspired by the digital drawings. There's a real tug in me to keep working like this and see where it leads. Maybe I'll find that the digital drawings are actually sketches for larger fiber pieces. We'll see!

I've put several of the digital drawings on my main site, but here's the one I did today:

Rite of Spring

The process is becoming a bit addictive and, as a result, I haven't gotten any woodwork painted in my studio.

Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

#140 Nesting/Creating...

The day before yesterday I was taking a walk and there was something about the quality of the air and light, the temperature, and the sound of snow melting that sent me flying back through time - and I felt as though I was 6 or 7 years old again, living in Norway, and feeling the joy of the first day that held the promise of spring. I felt just as I did when I realized that finally, finally, the snow had melted enough that I could hop on my bicycle and go for a ride. The dark winter was ending and the long days of summer, lit by the midnight sun, were just around the corner, bring with them a world of possibilities.

The feeling has stayed with me today, and I felt the urge to start fresh after a winter of hunkering down - but where to begin?

A new look to my blog, for one. And a new business card for another (I may do some tweaking) :

(click to view larger)

Do you like them? I think they were inspired by the baby shower I went to yesterday, and a conversation I had about nesting. (Thank you, Shannon!) How wonderful it is to be a woman and feel that urge to nest - and to create! Those urges, those callings, a part of our lives whether we are a Maiden, Mother, or, the role I now happily embrace: Crone. I love this role; sweet in different ways than the others, and filled with a deep, deep richness.

Today is a good day.

#139 Thinking about stuff...

I'm feeling the urge to do some sculptures based on the pen and ink drawings I've been doing. I want to use wire and wire hardware cloth...maybe build up the wire with paper pulp before painting the whole thing in a matte white or black. Just thinking right now, but here's a sketch of the kind of thing I have in mind:

Hmmmmm...I'd love to do some really large (6 feet tall and more) simplified flower forms that would define the negative space around them in a wonderful way. I love the power of negative space...

#138 Remember using paper and pens?

Well I do. (Yes. I'm that old!) And, furthermore, I'm predicting a surge in the use of both! Yup - your read it here first, folks! Letter writing will became all the rage again - in spite of stamps costing what a cup of coffee used to! And note writing will become especially popular because who could resist writing a note if they could use a note card sporting one of these spectacular dandelion designs? (Drumroll, please....)

I present:

 

and:

and:

 

Cute, huh? I rest my case.  Now go write someone a note!

#137 Uno. Dos. Tres.

Daaaaaaaan-deeeeee-lions!!!

 

This basic design I came up with can be repeated on fabric in various colorways like this:

or this:

or this (or????) :

So much fun to come up with designs and have them actually printed on yardage over at Spoonflower.com! The site lets you see the design in different repeats, with color changes, and a whole bunch of other stuff! So cool!

#136 Mega-oops!

Things are beginning to melt and s-l-i-d-e. As I write, there are periodic thuds outside as the snow comes off the roof. I'm staying put, determined NOT to be buried/knocked out/killed! The snow on the roof of the huge garage that borders our property let loose sometime early this morning and greeted us as we tried to get to our garage. The slide ripped out the snow boards and bent the snow birds that had been installed to prevent this from happening. So much for that plan! It was a pretty amazing sight:

Note that this is the snow from just half of the roof - the other half will probably slide off soon and bury the rest of the walk to our garage. Grrrreat!

And here's a view of the mini luge run outside our back door:

Dean's been knocking off the icicles several times a day, but they keep coming back! I definitely do not go out the back door. Fortunately we can get out via the summer kitchen - but it appears that the snow is about ready to slide off the roof back there, too. Sheesh...more shoveling is in our future!

#135 It ain't easy being a Gemini...

Today I did a bit of blog hopping and ended up taking a tour of several lofts thanks to an entry on Loft Life magazine's blog.

I just love these two photos.
The quiet elegance and utter simplicity of the space speaks to my minimalist side:

 

 

I love sculptures of birds and find this an elegant solution to
to incorporating art in a functional way!

#134 And just because...

I think all this white - the snow, the studio walls - is affecting me! The answer, as always is color, color, and MORE color:

This piece and the one I did of lemons will be in an a show (called "Lemon") opening at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center this Friday.

#133 For the day after Valentine's Day...

Everyone needs flowers on the day after Valentine's Day...

 

Pas de deux

 Hope yesterday was a nice for you as it was for me!

#132 Making progress!

I've been getting a lot accomplished on my studio and figured it was time to share what I've done. I love how it's coming along, and realized as I was working today that the loft I've always wanted but figured was a far off (if ever!) dream, is actually coming into being on the third floor of our home! The light up there is incredible and now with ceiling and three walls painted a pure white (Valspar's Ultra White) it feels like you're floating in a cloud when you're in the space. I can't wait to see what the effect will be when all the trim and and the floors are painted a high gloss version of the same white that is on the walls and ceiling! Today I painted the wall opposite the windows a super lovely shade of lavender/lilac called Wild Vinca. It's a warm lilac and looks great with the orangey red touches I plan to use for some accessories. Here's a similar version of the palette I'll use with the white:

(via coco+kelley)

Since the walls and ceiling were finished, I went ahead an hung the Stendig calendar my sister gave me for Christmas - an old enamel topped kitchen work table will go beneath it. I clipped skirt hangers temporarily to the bottom to try and get it to hang flat since it had been rolled up:

 

I had fun with the brick wall we exposed, and instead of using mortar to fill some of the empty spaces between the bricks, I used wine corks! Can you see them?

I also painted the radiator white to match the one on the opposite wall:

And here's a view with the colored accent wall - the contrast with the trim will be greater when the floors and trim are painted:

 

Tomorrow I'll wash the trim and start priming it - and maybe get started on the final coat/s of paint. I'm taking my time and trying to enjoy each step, so it's taking longer than I anticipated it would...but, hey, I'm retired!

#131 One day closer to summer...

... and the joys of a refreshing glass of ice cold, freshly squeezed lemonade supped on a hot, humid day. Which will be here eventually. (Unless, of course, the two snowstorms we just had signal the beginning of the next Ice Age that I read we are 10,000 years overdue for.) At any rate, I had lemons on the brain last night and came up with this:

Does get one in the mood for warmer weather, doesn't it?

#130 Snow Days/ Dog Days...

Jake resigned himself to the realities of another snow day, and since he couldn't go play with his buds at Puppy Daycare, he took full advantage of a snooze on the couch:

 

Then, after a nice bit of "helping" Dean shovel some snow, he accepted a good Scratch and Rub :

I love my guys!

#129 Welcome, little one!

Little Lyndon Alexander Huddle, little brother to Bennett, made his arrival yesterday morning. He's the newest member of our family (my sister's second grandchild) and one sweet little munchkin!

 

 Lyndon Alexander Huddle

 

With his Grandma Huddle (my sister Kristan Lynd - her middle name inspired his first!)

New little ones can sure make the world seem like a better place, huh?

#128 Let's waste some time!

Okay, this is a fun way to not do what you're supposed to do. Click here to see what your name would be if you were a piece of furniture from a place like, um, well, IKEA for instance.

Guess I need to get back to work now...

#127 Snow Day!

We had a lovely snow - 19 " when I checked before lunch. I didn't correct the colors on the photos; the blue matches the coolness of the snow :

 

   

   

 

This is the snow piled up outside the window in Dean's office - what a surprise to see when I walked in the room!

I've got fresh chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate made - wanna come to my house and play?