house wren studio

transformed

April 15th. Arghhh.

April 16th. Much better.

spring cleaning

Bags packed again. We're heading off for the weekend to visit Mo at college for parents' weekend.

But if you are thinking about cleaning around the house Saturday or Sunday, add this one to the list. ** Pull the refrigerator out and vacuum the coils from behind the thing. You know, where the wall is, where no one ever looks.

It's not just where you see the dirt...ooooooooo, really? It's where the last few years of disgusting stuff has decided to make a landing, settle in, happily multiplying in darkness. Until one day, the filter and coils are so covered with ick that the thing stops running. Got my attention now.

So, don't wait. Get back there while you still have a chance.

Most expensive and embarassing housecleaning ever. Argghhh.

See you Monday. 

get to it

Digging deeply into studio and general household layers of things to clear out. I seriously need to go on a new year's diet of things. And when not feeling pinched by all this stuff, I'm trying to get some of the work done to meet deadlines on the calendar. The new year looks to be an exciting one, certainly a busy one.

Another class at Tinsel Trading is coming up Saturday, January 19th- this time we will be making a felt tote decorated with trims and other findings from the store. They are waiting for my sample to put up on the site over there- yes, yes, on my list! Getting the felt out now. Right now. Just as soon as I figure out which crate-basket-box-drawer-bag-cubby it's stashed in. Here somewhere. O, there, there it is, right behind the vintage flowers, under the white trims, next to the button jars, to the left of the.....!! Seriously. I'm working on it. xoC

just kitting

You know that feeling of coming home from an amazing getaway and being so "away" that you forgot where you came from. A fleeting moment when you are wondering where is it that you live, the green house or the pink one, what does that old life look like? The spell breaks when you walk in the door....oooooooooo, it's here, this house, that stack of mail, that message blinking, this is YOURS, not that. And then it's all there, clear as can be.

My reality this week is making the kits for Silver Bella. I can't wait to be there- to share the projects, the kits and have the fun of teaching the workshops, but omigoodness, so many of them, so many parts and pieces, so much work! This is why I need at least 6 more children- so they can each have a job here on the assembly line. And then I give them/they give me big huggy kiddley kisses when the job's done and we get to go out and play again. O, come on- REALITY is more like they tiptoe out when I flop on the glittered couch and take a nap. Quit kidding, start kitting. Dream over, back to work.   xoC

found my shoes

Re-entry is always hard after vacation, isn't it? Please can I have a few more days of lying around, reading, laughing, talking, wandering, eating, sipping lemonade? Those daily tasks that are lost to leisure seem mighty hard to take up again. I love doing laundry on vacation, why not here? What I do want to do is edit 526 vacation photos, blog all the details, catch up on everyone else's blogs, get to work on all the art and craft I imagined and sketched while staring at the sea....and more than anything- have my kids back here next to me. I did put my shoes on though. That's a start.

Food, laundry, mail sort, emails, details are standing at the door. But all the sweet memories of our wonderful 2 weeks by the sea are still twirling around the atmosphere. Mo and I are making a scrapbook for my mom. She dropped in for the second week and was over-the-top blissed by the joy of family, the sea, the big adventure. Who wouldn't be? It was so much fun, I don't know where to start. Hey, I said I got my shoes on...I'll get my blog groove on too. BRB...xoC 

monday, monday

Well, that was fun! I can think of a few silly captions for this photo following our weekend antics, but will leave it to the imagination. The reality is that daily life awaits the other side of escape...no Housekeeping? knocking on the door this morning to make up the bed and refresh the towels. No get-together lingering over coffee to map out the day's agenda. There is plenty to do now that we're back at home- though it's with a stronger spring in my step and lots to inspire even the small tasks. Hope you had a weekend full of delight, adventure and laughter- in your back yard or someone else's. Sure helps power through the week to come.  xoC

battle of the banner and other small things

Even after all these months, I still liked my original, very basic blog look. It was simple, but it worked as a starter kit and more. Lately though, I have been suffering from blog banner envy, loving all the collagey banners everyone was making. But tinkering with the depth of Typepad scared me off every time. What if I can't go back? What if I can't remember what I did? What if I have no idea what I clicked- where I clicked- at all? I'm at the point where if I don't do computer skill tasks repeatedly, everything's totally lost. Confusion combines with intimidation and foggy memory and there it goes. Throw in some panic and a hot flash, it's a trainwreck. So it took all my nerve to get in there and go custom. But I do like it. Do you?

Back to spring. Found my vintage bird book, lost, forgotten, but of course, right in front of me. It was a good day to be outside. No goldfinches right now although we do see them migrating 2x a year. The purple finches are fighting the sparrows for possession of my wren house. The finches are having a good laugh watching the fat sparrows try to get in that too-small opening. They just wait til they move on and then flutter around like it's theirs. Not so fast. Hoping my wren comes back and lets everyone know who's really boss bird here. It is her house- always has been. She's a tough little bird for something so small. I miss her song. We'll see.

Check in at etsy to see updated bunnies- hoping they get in the mail in time for Easter delivery (or maybe Mother's Day). USPS is open on Good Friday which surprised me. Have a lovely Friday evening. I'm heading off with the girls! xoC

art effect- part 2

 

It's time for another serious cleaning out. Blogging is making me more attached to the cool things I have (sorry, Dede), especially when I see you all thrifting the same stuff and posting about it. Just come on over here and fill a bag. We would all be grateful.

A new issue is that my art has multiplied with licensing- a wonderful thing in itself. Samples to approve arrive in big boxes and then sit around filling more small spaces. What to do with all that? There are 8 of these paintings licensed to Oopsy Daisy as giclee canvases for the wall. As much as I love them, I haven't any place to hang the originals in my small house so when the samples arrived I put them in storage. Another project. I need to clear that out too.

I gave one set of samples to Olivia for her room after the fire, but there was another set too. Then one day at the pond Jake and I walked with Peter who is on the board for a daycare center in the Bronx. They had just moved into a new facility and he was telling me how exciting it was but that it needed so much. I offered the other set of samples thinking they might as well live on a wall rather than sit in storage. So sometime last fall we went down there and delivered the art, toured the classrooms and I met the director. We talked about where to hang them- at the eye level of a 4 year old in a long hall where they line up to go outside. It was a little awkward being fussed over by the kids and teachers --Hello, Miss Charlotte-- but it was wonderful to see where the paintings would go. And I loved meeting the children who spend as much time there as they do in their homes-- to think they would look at my art and maybe be inspired to make their own. Then a little while ago I got these adorable thank you's in the mail. So glad I did that.

What do you have that you could share somewhere? Extra art in the garage, the studio...would it inspire, brighten a bare space? Maybe ask around. And then it gives you a reason to make more art too!  xoC

   

   

red books, random valentines

An unexpected discovery in my messy studio, this scene looks like a surprise valentine. For me? Good reason not to clean up.

 

I do love old red books, especially if they have gold stamped titles. A stack of these makes a nice pedestal for a lamp or a picture frame. Remove or add one for the right height.

   

Must get my valentines finished and packed up for the post office tomorrow. xoC

journalkeeping, housekeeping

   

I am on empty today. Nothing to make or show for my post. Wandering through image files, I was hoping to find something that would be of interest to those of you who read this blog. Because I didn't make anything today. (Please do tell me what you like to see, what should I make and show you?) I was reading a post over here about inspiration and remembering another that Pam put up a few days ago about her fabulous creative journals. I made one of those too, but couldn't find it. I still can't ...it's buried in the paper case somewhere I think. I'm sure it is somewhere in this room but who knows where. There are now too many places to keep things- the art journals get lost easily. I'll come upon it someday when I am not looking for it anymore. But there is a picture in my file of the inside.

Some day I want to make all these sketched ideas into real works- collages, paintings, stitchery, hooked rugs. Until then, maybe just keep filling the various notebooks with scribbleys. These notepads and composition books from the office supply are super cheap and easy to decorate-- my favorite part. Make a paper or digital collage, size, print and attach to the cover. At least the thing is pretty enough then to leave OUT somewhere....uh, where you could find it when you need inspiration. So, I didn't make anything, but you can. The couch awaits.  xoC