house wren studio

the creative connection

Excited to tell you that I was invited to teach at this year's Creative Connection in Minneapolis. September 15-17. I developed two new classes just for this event. Home is Here Textile Banner is an art quilt project, such fun to design and build.

The second class is The Book Bag, a clutch handbag fashioned from an old book. As it was coming together in the studio, both Mo and Maggie pronounced it "very cool" which around here means everything. Looking forward to sharing both of these new classes with you this fall.  

Registration opens soon and I'll remind you once they announce it. In the meantime, check out the site and jot down your favorite classes. So, so much to choose from! It's going to be a fantastic weekend!

bridal bouquets, boutonnieres and a brisk walk down the aisle

Still trying to wrap my thoughts up about the wedding. It's funny how we rush headlong into the flurry of the excitement, hardly feeling the full effect and then afterwards, the emotions continue to swirl, even stronger than before. I'll be washing a vase or putting away another pair of forgotten shoes and it gets me again. That little girl of ours is married. She is so happy and so fully in love with James. True soulmates. 

I'm starting the wedding story with the flowers because many of you offered so much help when I was wondering how I would make these bouquets. Maggie is easy to please and gave me the go-ahead to do whatever I wanted, but you know I wanted it to be perfect, beyond her expectations. My friend Suzanne and I went to the flower market and chose the flowers early Wednesday morning. We picked white ranunculus, yellowy green blupernum, white mini-callas, yellow berzelia, ivory stock, white and pinkish waxflower, white lilac, buttery yellow tulips, white roses, pitosporum, aster solidago and that grey to lavender globe thistle. Love! All! 

I conditioned the flowers and put them in the cool garage overnight for arranging the next day.

The first thing I made were the boutonnieres. Faced with those big buckets of blooms, I was a little intimidated. Starting with a few tiny sprigs fixed that. How much did I love making them!

That romantic little waxflower was so sweet matched up with the rustic berzelia, solidago and rice flower.

Suzanne arrived and we started pulling Maggie's bouquet together. She has an amazing talent with flowers (and food!!). I'm so glad she was there to do this with me. Who knows what they would have looked like if left on my own. 

We made Maggie's first and then the bridesmaids' bouquets. In the end, I changed from the originally planned burlap wrap to a softer, more elegant linen wrap. That night I cut rectangles of linen, frayed the edges and bundled them around the floral tape wraps on the stems. The tacky floral tape helped hold the linen snugly and then I just put in some of the boutonniere pins to hold it in place. Not very Martha, but definitely Us. Erin gave Maggie the wide satin sash from a dress she loved. It made a very pretty "something borrowed" finish to the bouquet.

For the four bridesmaids' bouquets, I used some of my studio seam binding tape to cinch the linen. I love that color green and the way it drapes so softly.

So that was Thursday. Then everything went back to the garage for the wedding on Saturday. Oh, that's such a long wait. I checked on them about every hour. Had to have something to fret over. 

Goodness, aren't those ranunculus magnificent?! (Have to tell you that all these photos of the bouquets were taken here at home on Tuesday after the wedding! Almost a full week after our trip to the flower market.) 

Saturday morning at 11:10 on the banks of the Hudson River. In spite of the unexpectedly chilly 40 degree spring morning, everyone managed to stay focused on the tremendous warmth of spirit and love.

The flowers were no doubt quite happy with the day exactly as is!

Here's a quick walk down the aisle. Glowing, goosebumps and all.

easter sweets

If there's time, we'll be making some yummy frosted cookies for Easter. Click here for the best ever sugar cookie recipe!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend full of sweets and treats! xoxo

bunny lumps

Before I revisit the wedding details (so many!), I want to share this sweet Easter craft with you. As we say around here - quick, quick like a bunny!

I made this hutch full of Bunny Lumps for Amy's spring issue of Inspired Ideas. The whole issue is chock full of clever, darling projects for the holiday and spring. These little guys are super easy to make with CelluClay, a fast drying papier mache pulp mix. You could substitute another quick-dry clay or a saltdough recipe if that's easier. 

Make several little lumps of clay and flatten the bottoms. Imagine where their tiny faces will be so you can smooth and sculpt them into shape. Bake or air dry. I bake mine on a foil-covered cookie sheet in a low temp oven.

With a bamboo skewer, pierce two small holes for ears. (It's still soft enough after baking to do this step then.)

Cut a pair of tiny ears from felt. Different sized mixy-matchy ears add more quirks and personality.

Paint the lumps white and when dry, use the skewer to gently push the ears into the holes. You can put a titch of glue on the tips first so they stay. They pleat just enough and fill the hole snugly. 

Use small paintbrushes or toothpicks to paint eyes and a pink nose. For a tail, pull a small piece from a cotton ball and glue it to the back.

And that's pretty much it.

Aren't they so sweet sitting on little thread spools in their hutch? 

Hoppy Easter! What's in your basket?

just married!

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Natarelli!

It was Fabulous, Fantastic, and so, so much Fun!!!!

More to come later when the photos roll in. Not a one from me. Too busy hugging, crying, dancing, crying, toasting, crying, laughing, crying and trying to get a turn in the Smilebooth. (Thanks to Jeff, Anne and Dede for all that!)

Like I said ..... !

my mother's veil

I've had it in a box for years. Although I wore her dress, I did not wear the veil. I kept it safe though, thinking one day ..... 

It's really beautiful. Still.

The head piece is made out of my mother's christening cap and the bridal shop perfectly matched the lace to that in 1952. The newspaper account of my parents' wedding described the veil in detail as "a Juliet cap of Brussels lace to hold her matching lace veil of illlusion to her hair." 

Happily, Maggie has decided to wear it, but without the cap. Like my mother's dress that I shortened for my day, we (gingerly) altered her veil for Maggie's day. 

Beforehand, I asked Mom how she felt about me changing it. Practical woman that she is, "Why wouldn't you? Do whatever she wants. Give it another twirl!"

Fitting, that just like Mom, the veil gets another dance.

the decorah eagle nest

We are big fans of raptors and large birds here. I found this link on Facebook and we've been mesmerized for days now by the live feed action inside this eagle nest in Iowa. There are 3 tiny eaglets - just days old - growing rapidly, fed and tended by their devoted parents 24/7. You don't have to watch very long to see the parents feeding them- about every 30 minutes or so. Yesterday I saw Papa land and deliver a big rabbit to the nest, today a starling. Mama is larger than he is and spends most of her time in the nest covering the little ones in the "bowl". They are out in the air more now though, exploring the nest, flapping their tiny wings and testing Mama's tolerance for adventure. In the background you can hear the cackle of starlings, cars driving by, the wind whistling as well as the trill of redwing blackbirds, my favorite birdsong. Just the peacefulness of the spring sounds in rural Iowa is lovely to our midwestern ears.

I went to Mom's yesterday and got her laptop out which never sees any action. Putting this on and watching her light up made me realize that each of us (120,000 at a time tuning in) immediately feels an affection and personal connection to this little family. It's an absolutely fascinating scene. And if you are up at 3 am thinking about all the things you should be doing instead- it's still watchable thanks to an infra-red camera. 

Click here.

Screen shots below catch a shift change. 

there's that

I finished this happy sampler piece at yesterday's physical therapy session with Mom. Kind of like that built-in hour of daydreaming and stitching. So good for everything. 

Have a wonderful weekend making time for the creative minutes that recharge you for all else. The time is whipping past us like little blue swallows looping through the dusk.

stacking up

Spring brings plenty of projects every year. This year it's all about the wedding which is now only 10 days away. We've got lots of things stacking up here- to make and do. It's been wonderful though and a very organized process thanks to Maggie's hard work (and spread sheets). She has thought of every little thing and it promises to be elegant and lovely- in a simple, stress-free way. Just worried that it will go by too fast!

My mom is making great progress at physical therapy and spends the last part of each session practicing walking down the aisle on her therapist's arm. They wave to us like royals, turn and go back again the other way. A little dancing side to side (tricky way to get her to walk sideways and backwards) and she's good to go. So excited!

A few notes for you-

I'll be closing the Etsy shop for awhile as we get closer to the day. I have lots of samplers here ready to go now. 

I wanted to tell you about my friend, Marcie's new blog, Mossy. She is a neighbor and maker of things. Her blog is beautifully presented, generous, informative and heartwarming. I know you will love it.

And this would be right up her alley- a sweet felted egg project and cute tutorial found recently through Amanda's Loving list. Darling!

registration is open for MEHC workshops!

Craft party at Mary's place! Read all about it here and here!

I'll be there teaching two new small group classes at Mary's studio on her birthday weekend, June 4 and/or 5 in St.Louis.

Use this link to register for a day or weekend of craft fun and birthday celebrations with Mary Engelbreit, Barbara Martin, Kathy Curotto and me. See you there!