house wren studio

moving the blog to a new home

After more than a dozen years blogging here, I'm moving this content forward and starting fresh with a new look and a new location. Please visit me at housewrenstudio.com.

I’m excited to share my workshop schedule and teaching dates along with new projects and blogposts about life in my Vermont studio. Thanks for all your support over the years. Let’s do this!

 

living in blue

Read this post on my new site at www.housewrenstudio.com!

I'm listening to the Canada geese flutter and honk out back on the mill pond. They are making their plans to share the water, the air, the shore. Won't be long before the season changes again. Up here in the studio, I feel it too. 

The summer was full of blue and white, inside and out.

My work table is heaped with pieces of dyed remnants. 

I stitched up a new bag from some of the pieces I indigo dyed and repurposed the strap from a bag I wore out. And it's just what I hoped it would be.

It has been such a sweet summer with my family and friends. I didn't get to tell you about Mo and Matt's wedding, the delightful June retreats with Jenn McGlon and August Wren. Betsy's first birthday. (Maybe you saw some images over on Instagram.) Thank you for staying with me here though.

Vermont life is so good. I am grateful every day to be here! 

paper flowers for springtime

Read this post on my new site at www.housewrenstudio.com!

This weekend, I taught a workshop on how to make paper flowers at Mohonk Mountain House for their Girlfriend's Getaway Weekend. In a little under an hour, everyone made at least one lovely, unique crepe paper flower—and many of the students made several. 

 

Paper flowers made by students

Jump to supplies | paper flower template | instructions

The Victorian setting of this "castle on a lake" resort was perfect for this easy craft project, which was a traditional craft in 19th century Europe. The room filled with peonies and roses and poppies and bright pops of greenery and, with the light rustle of paper petals and lots of laughter, we almost forgot the late winter snow outside.

 

The porch and lake at Mohonk

 

Lisa Marie works on a poppy

 

Judy, Lisa, and Leslie are ready to tango

 

Laurene presents her handiwork

 

Sisters who craft together, laugh together  

 

Paper Flower Supplies

For these paper flowers, we used special German-made crepe paper by Lia Griffith. This paper has unique properties, different from the crepe paper carried by most stores for streamer decorations. One pack of extra fine crepe paper gives you enough paper for hundreds of these flowers. 

 

You'll also need floral tape. Lia Griffith makes this tape in several colors, though any standard floral tape will do. For this project, we used roughly 12 inches of standard forest green tape per flower.

  

 

This 50-pack of green floral wire also yields roughly 100 flowers, because you can cut each 16-inch wire in half for an 8-inch stem. 

 

Tacky Glue is my favorite brand of craft glue. You need less than a teaspoon for one flower.

 

Needle-nose, or long-nose, pliers aren't essential for this project but they are good to have in your craft arsenal. If you plan to make lots of flowers, I recommend getting a pair. If you don't have a pair for this project, I've included a substitute trick in the instructions below.

 

 Paper Flower Template

Flower Patterns Key 

A. Poppy petal 

B. Dogwood petal

C. Pointy leaf

D. Center fringe

E. Covering for ball center

F. Tall leaf

G. Chrysanthemum leaf

H. Snowdrop petal

 

Instructions

To make a simple poppy, you'll need:

For the stem

• One 8-inch floral wire 
• One 12-inch strip of floral tape

For the petals

• Two strips of crepe paper, each 4 inches wide and 19.6 inches long (the full length of the paper). Cut these length-wise so the grain of the paper is vertical. I recommend choosing two complimentary colors, like light pink and peach or white and ivory. 

For the flower center (or stamen)

• One strip of crepe paper, 1 inch wide and 4 inches long, cut length-wise so the grain of the paper is vertical. I recommend choosing a color that contrasts your petals, like plum or cranberry or rose red.

For the leaves

• One strip of green crepe paper, 4 inches wide and 8 inches long, cut vertically. 

Print-out of "Flower Patterns" template

Scissors

Glue (Tacky Glue or any white glue)

Needle-nose pliers

Assembly instructions:

1. From the "Flower Patterns" template above, cut out shapes A, C, and D.
2. Fold both pieces of your petal crepe papers in half, then in half again. 
3. Lay shape A over your folded petal papers and either trace the shape in pen or just cut around it. You should end up with 8 petals (four in each color).
    
4. Holding one petal, put your thumbs in the center of and fingers behind it. The grain of the paper should run parallel with your thumbs. Press with your thumbs and stretch the paper outward with your fingers. This gives each petal a natural-looking, 3-D curve.
   
5. With your pliers, create a small loop at one end of the floral wire. It should resemble a miniature shepard's hook. If you don't have needle-nosed pliers, you can simply curl the wire around a pencil or some thin, round object. 
6. Lay shape D over your flower center strip of paper. Make small snips down the long side of the paper to create a fringe. (The template shape D shows how deep to make the cuts.)
7. Dab a very small amount of glue along the opposite length of the flower center strip (the side you did not snip). 
8. Lay the hook of your floral wire stem at one end of the flower center strip, over the glued area.
   
   
9. Roll/wrap your flower center strip around the hook, pinching as you go to adhere the paper and glue. The fringed edge should remain free. When you finish, it should resemble a paper tassle or a stamen of a flower. 
   
   
   
10. Dab a scant amount of glue at the base of one petal. Add it to the outside of the stamen so that the petal extends a half an inch beyond the fringe. (It's okay to trim the stamen if you would like it to be shorter.) 
    
    
    
11. Adhere the next petal slightly to the right of the previous one and repeat these steps, spiraling around the stamen center, until you've used up all the petals. (You can choose to alternate colors or use one petal color on the inside and one petal color on the outside.)
    
    
    
12. Lay shape C over your green paper and cut out your leaves. I recommend three leaves. Adhere your leaves in a similar manner, applying them to the base of the flower you have just created. These look nice when placed asymmetrically: two on one side and one on the other, but be as creative as you like!
    
    
    
13. To finish the flower, place the top of the floral tape strip against the base of your flower. Wrap it around the stem at the top, using the warmth of your fingers to activate the sticky wax coating of the floral paper. Once it is sticky and adhering to the base of your flower and leaves, hold the tape downward at a 45-degree angle to the wire stem and then twirl and stretch the tape around the stem to cover the wire all the way to the bottom.The action is like making a candy cane and the tape should become sticky as you work with it to wrap the stem.
14. Voila! Your flower is complete. You can bend, ruffle, and stretch the petals, leaves, and stamen more for a fuller, more natural look. 

 

Ideas for Using Paper Flowers 

Paper flowers are really cute on a wrapped gift, in an old glass bottle or bud vase, as a table arrangement at a bridal shower, tucked here and there behind a frame on a wall, as a Mother's Day Gift with a quote or message on a tag, or as part of a big bouquet for a hostess gift or get-well present.

They would also be lovely wrapped around a ponytail-holder in your hair or tucked behind your ear with a barrette or bobby pin. You can clip the stem short and tuck it in a bun as well. 

The art and history of paper flowers goes back thousands of years, according to a recent article in Architectural Digest. The craft has been popular in China, Mexico, and Europe for centuries. It's an easy craft to update and the results are so pretty and gratifying.

 

Paper snowdrops I made last week.

 

 

girlfriends weekend in Vermont

Read this post on my new site at www.housewrenstudio.com!

Just for the fun of it, I hosted a girlfriends craft weekend here in Vermont. Robin drove up from Boston area and Melinda came from Philly. Meleen joined us and my daughter Erin came over too.

Because it was almost Valentine's Day, I suggested we make tagbooks like this one I made years ago for Mary's magazine. Everyone brought personal photos and bits to add in and I have so much stuff in my studio to share. Wow, it was a crazy, fun craftorama.

We built the books from scratch making pockets to tuck tags into. Click here for another look at the book I made for Mo. (BTW our little Mo's getting married in June!)

Melinda brought this pretty stack of wool and the vintage card - her cats are actually named Bubble and Squeak!

Meleen filled her book with clever tags for recipes.

Robin delighted us with her cute bunny ears!

There was a fair amount of hanging out with mugs of coffee, simmering meals (and a Dutch Baby) and comfy evenings relaxing while catching up. 

Southern Vermont is such a magical place and I love to share it. Having this happy group of crafty women at my home was such a treat for me. Soon the weather will let us be outside on the deck where we can stir up a pot of indigo and dip dye our tag sale finds. We can explore the back roads of paradise. And when we've made the most of the day, we can build a campfire at the pond and let the laughter fly up to meet the stars.

If this sounds like fun to you, email me. I'm an AirBnB host and would love to create a special girlfriends weekend experience just for you. Summer is so sweet here!

well, hello, 2018

Wishing you all a happy new year! 

I just updated my sidebar date and cannot believe this is year 12 for the blog! I'm going to try to be more playful and creative this year. But I think my word for the year will be Focus. Really. I want to be more attentive to the hours, to the days. It all goes by so fast.

And I would like to be more present here on the blog. 

With the cold weather, most of us are focused on warmth and comfort. I'm letting the holiday decorations linger because they do help with the deep darkness of Vermont in January. And this is the prettiest and freshest tree I've ever had. 

Snow falls as I write this. So happy to be tucked inside with stitching, tea and twinkling lights. 

Over the holidays, my children and grandbabies were here for a visit. What a great gift to have them filling the house with giggles, stories and activity.

And little adventures!

Wow, it was 5 degrees or something and Vince could not wait to get out into the snowy banks. We walked to the library which is right across the street. Perfect escape. Still, it was intense out there. His dad and I were ready to get right inside again, but Vince loved being out there in it. Yes, he asked if he could drive one of the junkyard lawnmowers. Don't think any of them have moved even an inch in years. First chance he gets, he will probably repair one and drive it off down the street!

Hoping you all are staying warm and keeping busy with all the things that make you happy to begin a new year. So many possibilities! 

That grand old poem called winter.

~ Henry David Thoreau

xoC
 

 

vermont creative retreat with rebecca sower

Super excited to announce our October creative event in peak season autumnal Vermont. Returning artist, Rebecca Sower is our featured instructor. She's so awesome and we are so excited to welcome her back. Sketching outdoors in the colorful countryside, painting in the studio, stitching on the porch!

More information to come! Happy to answer questions - just email fallvermontgetaway(at)gmail.com 

register for our summer in vermont art weekends today!

Today's the day!

We are opening registration for this exciting pair of June weekends with two amazing artists here in southern Vermont.

June 14-17 with Jenn McGlon from Noodle and Lou.

June 21-24 with Jennifer Orkin Lewis who is August Wren.

Details for both events are in the post just before this one. Write to us at fallvermontgetaway(at)gmail.com at 3 pm today. Please tell us which artist weekend you would like to attend and which kind of room accommodations you would like.

We always have the best time and can't wait to see and meet you all this summer in Vermont!

 

augustwren :: noodle and lou:: two summer weekends in Vermont

Summer is going to be colorful and fun in Vermont!

Meleen and I are hosting a painting workshop with August Wren over the weekend of June 21-24. Jennifer Orkin Lewis is the noted illustrator known as August Wren. Her work is in Anthropologie, Kate Spade and a number of books including those with Chronicle publications. She will teach technique and lessons in painting with gouache and share our getaway weekend with guests. Before I moved to Vermont, Jen and I were neighbors. Recently, I visited her studio where I had a chance to admire her beautiful work with sneak peeks for future projects. We are so excited to have her join us as a guest teacher!

Two weekends. Two Jennifers!

We have added a second weekend with Jenn McGlon of Noodle and Lou. A maker of darling art dolls, she is one of our most favorite teachers. We always have the best time with her and she is coming back the weekend of June 14-17!

With these bathing beauties! 

Join us and make your own whimsical art doll to paint and decorate! 

Both weekends take place at Meleen's two charming, vintage 1850 farmhouses that are side by side in southern Vermont. Meleen and her husband just built an event barn which is now our spacious and lovely classroom.

We spend most of our time at the houses, making art, playing in the dye pots, eating, laughing, catching up, getting to know each other. Lots of time on the covered porches or in front of the fire, weather depending. It's a beautiful time of year with summer just beginning to bloom in village gardens, farmers' fields and the Green mountains. We also look for local adventures and tag sales to scout out. Meleen and I have gotten to know so many artistic friends, artisan farmers, makers and growers nearby. 

 

Each weekend, I will be leading an afternoon of indigo dyeing. From our creations with various textiles, we will be making indigo-pieced zipbags for paintbrushes or sewing things.

 

 

 

 

Meleen and Kana, our friend and assistant, prepare all the home-cooked, locally grown food there at the house and it is amazing and delicious! There are several posts here on my blog about past retreats. (Use the sidebar link for Vermont Getaway.)

 

We have accommodations for single rooms at 1095, double occupancy rooms with twin beds at 950 pp and a loft room (wide stairs) with twin beds at 875 pp. All are shared bathrooms. All prices include class materials, meals, lodgings, goodie bags and art instruction for Thursday at 12:30 to Sunday at 11 am. Flights go in and out of Albany, NY, about an hour away. 

 

On IG you can follow us at #meleenandcharlottesvermontgetaway - and write to us with questions at fallvermontgetaway(at)gmail.com.

 

Registration opens on December 3 at 3pm EST. Send us an email to that address with your room preference if you would like to sign up for either weekend. Spaces are limited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

mary engelbreit and i had a workshop

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Mary's artwork, Mary and I hosted a number of enthusiastic guests for a weekend workshop at her studio. We invited several talented teachers and welcomed a very happy group of art-makers for a few days of super-fun-crafting. It was soooo fantastic. (Forgive me for not posting earlier.) 

Cathe Holden taught everyone how to make these darling luminarias. 

Jenn McGlon from Noodle and Lou led a workshop making these adorable blue birdies.

Crystal from Vintage by Crystal brought her beautiful spun menagerie and shared her skills with the makers. Little flower girls everywhere!

Jone Hallmark taught stamp carving and introduced her handmade miniatures to an adoring crowd.

We lunched at Bowood and enjoyed a terrarium workshop using Mary's garden fairies.

I led a felt stitchery session. Love the variations they created!

Nicki Dwyer conducted a studio tour of all the fine artists in the building where Mary's studio is.

Treats and a fabulous tote!

A coloring demonstration by Mary!

Shopping at Mary's warehouse.

And dinner at her beautiful home - which was the icing on a very sweet cherry-full cake of dreams!

Visit Mary and her site for more about her brilliant career. Honored to say that she has been my friend, collaborator and inspiration for 40 years!

A good time was had by all and we are planning an event for 2018. Stay tuned!

Visit the Green Door Gallery in Webster Groves for Mary's anniversary show beginning September 8.

 

beautiful days together

Meleen, Kana and I hosted our weekend guests with so much excitement! Meleen and John's barn is up! I wish you could stand inside and smell the pine, feel the Vermont air and imagine all the good times to come. But first, this good time!

We made the most adorable art dolls with Jenn McGlon from noodle and lou! Jenn is an amazing and generous teacher and so much fun to be with. We love her!

Meleen and Kana whipped up delicious meals and treats to enjoy throughout. One magical evening we enjoyed dinner and a chat afterwards with Liz Putnam, the founder of the Student Conservation Association - the very first national service organization - and recipient of the Citizens Medal from President Obama. Her story is incredibly fascinating and inspired each of us to volunteer, to persevere and accept the small and large challenges we all encounter. Her greatest message is to get our children outside as much as possible so that they learn to love the world and nature. 

In the craft room and on the porches, we made pet portrait pillows with folk art adaptations of the critters we love.

We visited Studio Hill Farm and the darling family that is regenerating the land with a tradition of nourishing the earth without chemicals.

We laughed and shared our own stories, gifts, skills, friendships. 

Our friends, Lori and Julie, surprised us with a sweet project all kitted up and ready to make. Tiny travel suitcases to decoupage and fill! 

It was the loveliest weekend. Perfect weather. New adventures, new friends. Thank you everyone for all the happiness you brought to the event. It was just delightful. Wishing you all blue skies, buckets of love and a super sweet summer to come! xoxox 

Shoot us an email at fallvermontgetaway(at)gmail.com if you'd like to join us in September. The prettiest time of year in New England!