mmm.... coffee.....

yes, it snowed again today

tara of plainmabel came down to providence today!  tara & teresa & i went for breakfast and, oh, look, the fabric store was just down the road...  so we went & i bought batiks because there were all these beautiful new ones & the fall ones were on sale.  it could not be helped.  we met up with allison & patricia & elizabeth and visited kristen at the AS220 bizarre bazaar.  there were so many neat crafty ladies there (voz of fishcakes, deb of if'n books, roxanne of persephassa, jess of paper treasure  & many more)  the fashion show was really awesome, too. 
i spent yesterday indoors, refusing to leave the house, in my studio working.  it was wonderful.  please keep your fingers crossed for me because, if all goes well, i will soon have much more time to spend in my studio.  i don't know yet & i don't want to talk about it too much in case it doesn't happen, but, man, if it does i'm going to be so happy.  scared, too, because i'd be making a lot less money, but then i'll have time to get all this stuff made so i can sell it & make more money!  i hope i hope.  so i made these little cards for tara to sell: i hand-cut little stamps & embossed them with matching envelopes.  click for a super close-up, the one with grass is actually a nice sage green card, but it was snowing again today & the lighting is weird.  there's also a blue & white set with a leaf of graph paper sewn in, but you'll have to wait for a sunny day so i can show you the clear embossed details!

 

 

mint & lime

teresa & i trekked to the Paper Source again & i came home with lots of goodies!  i had fun with an embossing pen & tiny glassine envelopes (they became the above 2" thank-you cards for the sampler).  i also bought a ton of cards & envelopes to make some fun little stationery sets for teresa's new shop. 

the responses i've gotten for the kitty golightly have been awesome!  thank you so much everyone, you've inspired me to try sewing some more animals.  usually i'm sewing my strange creatures, they're much more abstract, but it was a fun challenge to try to make a stuffed animal that looked like something! 

someone that i used to be

the blue valentines are up in teresa's temporary shop! they're gocco printed blue & silver foldover cards with matching envelopes. i also handcut little swallow stickers to seal them with my handy new orange sparkly xyron.  i've already sold some & i'm super excited because i wasn't sure if anyone else would like them. so thanks to those of you who decided a couple of blue valentines were just what you needed this year!

frosted donettes

my friend isaac sent me a little christmas card with a 3-d santa kit like a chris ware comic. it took a while to figure out that glue stick didn't work, tape looked awful, & tacky fabric glue was fast enough, but doesn't stick to your fingers like crazy glue. i think he looks cute, but his legs aren't on properly so he's a little crooked! i spent my 3 day weekend cleaning my studio, 3 bags of trash so far. i decided to toss a lot of the scraps & such that i think i'll use, but clearly i don't. i have a pile of fabric that other people gave me that i don't know what to do with. i'm never going to use it, does the salvation army take fabric? or maybe someone out there wants this? some of it's pretty scary, some of it's amazing, most of it isn't 100% cotton, but it's free... i followed along & organized my buttons into a type-tray like wee wonderfuls & it fits just right under my sewing table! i have officially run out of room for my fabric. oh! here's the rest of the goods from maine & south carolina & check some pictures from maine in my shiny new photo album to the right!

i quickly stitched together some mod curtains last night during the commercials for the west wing.  they still need to be hemmed, but i couldn't wait to hang them up.  i took this picture in the morning with the foggy light peeking through.  i noticed them from the street when i got home from work today & they looked inviting.  i was using scraps for the tan part from this weird velvety blanket a roommate left behind so i was hoping the bottom part would be shorter, i think it's a little overwhelming, but it does match the room.  the pattern is called "wurlitzer" & i adore it.  it would make an amazing dress...

teresa said i could use her new little gocco to print something & i want to make litle valentines.  i'm such a Tom Waits dork, but i don't care, i've always wanted to make blue valentines!  i dream about it every year & it never gets done.  i've been drawing this tattoo bluebird, like a sailor jerry bird, with a ribbon in it's mouth.  sometimes i forget how much i like to draw, mostly i just don't know what to draw.  so i draw coffee cups. 

art of the handwritten note

i learned today that you can find this journal when typing relevant searches in google.  such as "good ideas for christmas" or "bizarre bazaar boston."  i also learned that i am "light emo" & i'd rather be painting.

What Type of 'Emo' Are You?

sadly, the present-making isn't going so well. i made another santa string ornament to send to my sister, but i don't think i can get it to her in time.  i'm going to have to give books again.  it seems so predictable since i work in a book store, but the 30% discount this month is so inviting.  i have some secret plans for a present for teresa & i picked up some little things to give her.

i was a cookie faerie myself yesterday, i baked oatmeal craisin cookies for the boys in textbooks who've been helping me out a lot a work even though they don't have to & don't have health insurance.  i followed the recipe this time & they come out better when i don't!  hey, i should be getting dressed for work, not typing & thinking about baking.

paper & thread

i did a little paper christmas decorating saturday night inspired by weewonderfuls with snowflakes from a punch.  i ran them through my sewing machine to make a long garland then sewed some strands sideways.  i made this santa for my roommate to bring to her christmas tea.  the idea came from this paper santa that we always hung above the dining room table.

"button button

who's got the button?" it was a very late night & another early morning sewing & making buttons.  (there was also some candle-lighting for my neighbor susan squeezed in there somewhere)  i have lots of little buttons with tiny drawings of mostly coffee cups that i watercolored.  i brought them to work & everyone thought $2 was a fine price.  so maybe i won't have enough creatures, but i've got lots of little buttons...