Another Great Card...

...handmade by one of the family. Thanks P - we love it!

Friday Find - Full Moon Halloween Card

I know it might be to late to buy a Halloween card, but it is not too late for me to celebrate Halloween by sharing this wonderful art card from sushipot's Etsy shop. Fortunately there is plenty of time to buy any number of sushipot's great holiday cards like her Season's Greetings card.

Happy Halloween! Watch out for things that go bump in the night and crazy kitties in costume...

Holiday Cards on Parade

I spent part of yesterday and most of today working on my holiday card designs. I think I finally have them figured out. Tomorrow I will start printing and then I will try and get them up in my Etsy shop as soon as possible since the time to buy and send holiday cards is limited. Today I also realized there are a couple cards I never posted to my shop! I am a bit behind I guess. It has been super-crazy-nuts this fall.

These are the 3 designs I will be printing. I decided to do all flat cards this time around instead of folded, but 2 of the 3 are the bigger A6 size instead of the A2 size I usually print in.

I am still hooked on the bird silhouette with a pattered background as you can see. I think this is my last variation of this card. This is the smaller A2 sized one out of the 3.


I loved these brocade/swirly designs and thought they would be good snowflake/holiday starbursts.


You can't go wrong with a pine tree and pinecones. This is the most Christmassy of the three but I think it is a different enough perspective that it doesn’t scream out Christmas tree. This is also the most “manly” of the three. I have had a couple of male customers on Etsy, but mostly women.

I will try to post some photos of the printing process. Oh, and tomorrow I will be making some carrot cake cupcakes for Monday’s craft night. I’ll let you know how that goes if I am not in a cream cheese frosting stupor by the end of the day!

Friday Find - Terrarium

This little applejuice bottle terrarium is amazing. It looks like such a tranquil, self-contained, cozy little word. Maybe if McCain and Palin win I can find a giant terrarium to live in with all my friends and family and we can declare it a sovereign nation.

This mini world in a bottle is from TheOakLeaves's shop on Etsy. It is the perfect little gift. And the perfect little escape...

"What Day Is It?" Find - Summer Weeds

I've missed quite a few Friday Finds of late. I have lost track of time I guess. So today I give you my "what day is it?" find.

I absolutely love these tea towels from Skinny laMinx! This Summer Weeds design comes in smoke blue and burnt butter. Some day I want my kitchen to be in these colors, they are gorgeous together.

Skinny laMinx is located in Cape Town, South Africa and her shop is filled with really beautiful items. I also love her LAVA bag - in Petrol, her Borrowed Spoons tea towel in stainless steel, and her Specimens table napkin in yellow.

Be sure to check out her shop and her blog!

Gourd-geous

This is the full extent of my seasonal decorating. I love gourds - these were home grown in PA. Thanks P!

Back to the Fuller

Over the weekend I went back to the Fuller Craft Museum with my husband and his parents to see the rest of the exhibitions. I knew my mother-in-law would appreciate the Xenobia Bailey exhibit and the teapot exhibit as well. My husband and father-in-law weren't as excited about the prospect as we were, but both came away pleasantly surprised and I even heard the phrase "crochet is cool" uttered by one of them.

These are a few of my favorite teapots from the exhibit, Fantasy Teapots from the Arthur Goldberg Collection. Unfortunately I did not write down the artists' names...


More Xenobia Bailey...


We all fell in love with Gina Kamentsky's exhibit Mechanical Confections. All of her creations had such life and character. Not to mention they were all perfectly named. Below are Radio Man, Chicken is the Life of You, and another whose name I cannot remember. Other favorites were Bollywood Math Problem, Say “W” and Cat Toy Dispenser. Check out her website for video and photos.

Taking It All In

I have not gotten back to my poor abandoned Gocco. Aside from my drawing class and craft night last week (where I picked up a knitting project I started las Christmas) I have mostly just bouncing around and absorbing rather than creating.

My husband's parents were here this weekend and it was great. We went up to York and the day could not have been more picture perfect.

Autumn Tradition

Every fall for as far as I can remember I have gone apple picking with friends and/or family. This year was no exception. Yesterday my husband and I went to the usual spot, Carter Hill Orchard, in Concord, NH. The weather was perfect, crisp and sunny.

Here are some of my fall inspired photos from our outing...

Birdwatching

Here are a few gorgeous bird prints from some of my favorite Etsy sellers. I have birds on the brain!

Birdcage - Painted Ladies Series Print - pleasebestill

In the Orange Blossoms - hadleyhutton

Yellow Chickadee Print - karingrow

Little Robin (robin's egg blue) - yumiyumi

Will You Please Put Down That US Magazine And Listen To Me - mincingmockingbird

Touched by the Fuller

Yesterday I was at the Fuller Craft Museum for work. I had never been before and was really impressed. It is a little gem of a museum, right on a pond and the museum and the natural surroundings blended together beautifully.

I didn't get to see the whole museum because of time, but did spend some time in Xenobia Baily's exhibition, which was mesmerizing. The photo is of a piece called Bit by Bit, Little by Little and is from the museum's website. The museum describes the exhibition in this way:

Harlem-based artist Xenobia Bailey’s aesthetic is decidedly funk, a fusion of Afrocentrism, feminism, spirituality, communion with nature, drumbeats, motion, and energy. Her exhibition will include large scale wall mandalas crocheted in vivid colors and patterns made of cotton and acrylic yarns and plastic pony beads.

The pieces were huge and I couldn't help thinking of the artists sitting on her couch crocheting with a huge 8 foot circle on her lap. They must be so heavy and it must take so much time. I can see why the above piece would be called Bit by Bit, Little by Little just from the point of view of a knitter.

Road Weary

Since the frenzy leading up to the craft fair I haven't done any Gocco-ing. I am feeling very bad about that because I want to, but have just been feeling a little wiped out and haven't felt the creative juices flowing.

Part of it is traveling for work. Since the end of August I have been to North Adams, Provincetown, Chicopee, Medford, Gardner, Worcester, Everett, and had a meeting in Boston. This week I have Brockton and a work event in Lexington (on Saturday!). Then over the next couple of weeks I'll be in Fall River, New Bedford, and Springfield and psossibly another trip to Brockton. I do like going out to meet people all over the state, it just takes a lot out of you after work and on weekends over time. The photo is from our visit to PA, but since it was taken from the car, I thought it was fitting.

I did sign up for a drawing class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, which has been my creative outlet of late. Nothing to show you yet, just lost of drawings of cones, spheres, and bowls.

I do have two holiday cards in my head that I want to start on soon. Maybe this weekend - if I am not feeling tuckered out.