Swapped a pencil for a needle.

Getting some long-languishing projects much closer to completion...
feels good to use a slow, grey day this way.

Modern Arks

I absolutely love this little local shop, and not just because I heard about him through a dear friend (who I think is at least cousin-close). It's modern, rustic, green, vintage, everything I love combined! And they make prints... about type... and the Roman Empire... what is freakin' NOT to love. Check out Modern Arks on etsy and at their site. So great, I sure wish them lots of success...but if they happen to NOT sell that awesome Egyptian-motifed table, well, I will happily take it off their hands.

Tiny handmade leather books

I happened across an amazing Etsy artist recently and thought I'd share. The amount of work that goes into her finely-made reclaimed leather journals is astounding, and the results are gorgeous. Who wouldn't love a hand-sized journal like this to fill with traveling ephemera and sketches, or even better, a teeny little version of it worn around the neck? The books on the necklace chains are barely 1 inch tall!

So unique and lovely.

Check out her etsy site and blog, where she shows a little step-by-step of one of her creations. All handmade on Waiheke Island, New Zealand, le sigh.

My Hen Friend

My friend the Urban Hen is having a giveaway! I love her and have said so here before, multiple times. Not only is Sharon a talented seamstress but a loyal friend and one of the most genuinely friendly people I have ever known. And she will be a fantastic mom!

Check out her etsy shop too. Support handmade!

Recipes for Homemade Useful Items

Homemade Shampoo -

More DIY How To Projects

Clean Green - More DIY How To Projects

Homemade linen spray

Homemade fabric softener

Homemade laundry soap

Disinfectant/Cleaner

Homemade Soap

Hope you enjoy the list of supplies and home-assembled items I've been accumulating. My personal favorite is the laundry softener; easy, nice, clean, cheap, etc. Sometime I'll do the laundry soap, if I can ever find fels Naptha or borax or whatever it calls for. Do you have any similar items to share? Always on the lookout for great DIYs like these!

Sari Bari and springtime

Still a few items left after the good folks at Sari Bari reloaded their online store this past Wednesday. Such a great organization, nice people, and wonderful product. I've been the lucky recipient and buyer of a number of bags and blankets... so much so, that I was told "no more" (you know who you are, Melinda)... yet, what goes around comes around and I was given a beautiful new one during a recent bout with the flu. Hee.

If you've gotten one of these items before, let me know what you think, and felt, after seeing their story. I'd love to hear it. And the fact that there is presently sunshine enough in which to photograph them is beyond words. Hallelujah. Happy first day of Spring!

Spring begins with the vernal equinox on March 20 at exactly 7:44 A.M. EDT. The word equinox is derived from the Latin for “equal night” and is used now because the days and nights are of nearly equal length.

The vernal, or spring, equinox is the point at which the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from south to north, signaling the beginning of nature's renewal in the Northern Hemisphere.

After the equinox, the Sun will appear higher and higher in the sky, and the days will grow longer. The tilt of Earth’s axis as it travels around the Sun causes the change of seasons.
— www.almanac.com

On the first day of spring,
I dig my fingers deep into
the soft earth.
I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.
–Helen Hayes (1900–93)

Good news for Etsy

Looks like someone important piped up! Read here for news about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

Almost done.

About to wrap up my little project due this month, and thanks to anyone who helped out by donating fabric and paper! I have lots left over for another project or two, and hopefully the "client", my church, will want to fill up some new building wallspace with something else by me, someday in the future. So if you had items for me held back, I will still happily take them for future use.

Anyhow, here's a bit more of it along the way. It reeks of glue smells and has stringy bits all over it, but it's almost done and ready for delivery and framing. The goal is to have it hanging before next Sunday, when the new building will be ready for inhabitation. Forgive the photo quality, they're from my phone.

Thanks for your comments and help, it's been fun.

Indian Block Printing

Look at this slideshow! It's incredible hand work. Worth your time! And the textiles available are so lovely. Thanks to Heather for the link to www.saffronmarigold.com.

Like appliqué on clay...

This is some of the most creative, most appealing work I've seen in ages. Simple, unaffected, and beautiful work, found via the ever-productive Beth at stitch.rip.repeat. What adorable things on this site. And speaking of lovely clay work, I really love what this woman does. She has been at the local TACA fairs, but I've never been to her booth; my loss! I would want one of about everything. So lovely.

Project update.

The little project I referred to here has had a deadline postponement,
so therefore I've slacked off a bit in my efforts to wrap it up. Which has
been nice, as it's given me plenty of time to cook, read, clean up in the
scary basement (ugh), waste lots of time doing nothing, read more,
and to avoid getting sick. The latter we're both attempting here in our house,
and not very successfully. So today is Chicken Soup Day, preparation of which will commence shortly.
Of course I'll still take donations of fabric or paper (always, I've no shame in asking) and hope to get busier soon and make more progress. This particular step involved lots of gluey ModPodge, which I had to peel off my fingers for about 5 days, and making a horrendous mess in our cramped limited-space hobbit-sized house. Oh well. It's fun to be in arts and crafts world for awhile, even if it involves laborious daily cleanup.
More to come later, if I get my act together...

Little project a cookin'.

I've been working hard on a little project that is due in January. In case I asked you for paper remnants, fabric leftovers, or any sort of similar items, this is where they were to go. It's just a peek of a part of the whole, but at least there's something to show. And I thank everyone who has given me items very very much...you know who you are!
Love on a cold, rainy, and not very Christmasy Monday...

One more paper adventure.

Oh this looks like fun. Bookbinding!

The only thing better...

...than making your own quilt is winning one! Given the number of entries, I have about a zillion to one chance of winning, but who cares. I can still go buy handmade soap from them! How fun... a combination of two of my favorite things.

Things I must try.

Fabric covered buttons.
Handmade booklets.
Sticky notebooks.
Stuff with rivets.
Making anything with this fabric.
Quilting.

Learning something new.

I had a great time learning to sew a little bit, with my mom here in town to help. Curtains. Super simple. Baby steps to an oven mitt, I suppose.

Humbling, to say the least.

Inspiration Monday

Don't we need some inspiration, especially on a Monday? Lord knows I do. Here's some that I ran across this evening on the porch, while Jay plays his new guitar.

I can't tell whether I love this stuff as much as I love the awesome name!


Here's an interview with one of my favorite artists-who-blog, on the blog of another artist-who-blogs. I constantly stalk this woman's blog. Can I say "blog" any more today? [I bet I do.]


This chickie is amazing. I want everything she does.


The most ingenious and original idea, here on this cool guy's blog. [There, I said it again.]

Well, I guess that's enough inspiration for me for one night.
Happy return-to-America to some of my favorite folks today: Zac and Amy from India, and my bro-in-law Chuck from his tour of the world via the USMC.

Yet another thing Aussie/Kiwi.

Though you wouldn't know it, I've always been obsessed with Australia and New Zealand and have been dying to go since I was a little kid. I remember having pen pals from Adelaide to celebrate Texas and South Australia sharing a sesquicentennial year [1986]. This reminded me again, and gives me even more reasons to want to go since some of my favorite crafty-artist bloggers are from the lands down under. And still loving everything I can find about New Zealand.... I made the mistake of looking up plane fare and got depressed. But who knows, it could happen someday.

Someday. When I have more time.

Too many things to stop and savor today, and I'll be danged if I waste it inside on the computer. So I'll save them for a rainy day... not a perfectly lovely warm blowsy spring evening.

Gorgeous. So interesting. I want everything here. And here.
Silly. Must do someday. Ugly but fascinating. So not ugly. Beautiful. So delicious. So amazing.
How've I not heard of him? Enthralling.


Enough. I'm still not outside.

A Mid-November Fall Day.

What a perfectly lovely fall day... and in mid-November. We still have color on the trees, but it won't last; had a good frost the other night, and it keeps getting colder and colder when the sun dips down, usually before 5. A pretty neat weather event blew through Wednesday while I was at a photoshoot at the Hermitage; sunny, close to 70, tank top weather until 2, and then it started raining sideways, wind a-blowing, and hail even in parts of town. And the temp dropped fast. Oh well, you can get this from the Weather Channel, but I do love a good storm.

Today a little handmade crafts fair was on my agenda. Purportedly I went to buy some early Christmas gifts; more likely I ended up getting myself a lot of little selfish treats. I'd post pictures of the lovely items, but my philanthropic side might resurface and I might actually give things away. 40% chance there. Their Etsy sites don't do their crafts justice; so neat and fun to hold things close up and try them on. It was great meeting the artists, too, especially Beth Howard, whose sewing and projects blog is listed on my faves sidebar. She's just as nice as she seems in her blog; thanks to Kerri for finding her online and tipping me, all the way across the country!

Hard to believe it's Thanksgiving time. This year has sped by, as years tend to do, and days and hours do as well. But who can complain when the seasons change, leaves fall, fireplaces crank up, and Christmas trees are decorated? Today my heart is grateful for a quiet mid-November day.

• Freshie & Zero handmade jewelry
• Beth Howard handcrafts
• His Hands broken china jewelry
• Tisra Fadely linocuts and handcrafts
• Babybearshop organic lip balms & more