I Demand Spring

This is it- I've had it. It's March 24th and it's 30 degrees. I feel like even the people working at the post office are sick and tired of seeing me in the same coat, same hat, same never-ending winter uniform that I've been trudging around the city in for the last four months. Enough already, people. If there's anyone in charge of this, I am demanding, not asking, for the warm weather and birds and leaves to be released immediately. My window-side arrangement of green things is no longer cutting it. I'm ready for the real deal. Please.


But on a more positive note, I'd like to direct your attention to Discover Interior Design, a blog authored by the lovely Kristin Edenfield, which today happens to feature an interview with me! What a coincidence. Besides getting the pleasure of reading my ramblings, I would highly recommend Kristin's site for its unique approach to tackling all things design-based. She focuses on a wide variety of areas like furniture, art, photography and architecture- and does so in a really intelligent and well-informed way. There seem to be so, so many design blogs out there all doing very nice, but very similar things these days, so Kristin's comes as a truly refreshing read. If not for me go for the Design Jargon index! So great. Thanks again, Kristin!

(image via decor8)

I also need to mention that Holly from decor8 did a post yesterday about Antler and used a few of my images from the magazine, including one of the Magic Mantle, (see above). I found this very exciting. That is all.

What is Happening

It's Sunday and it's 3pm and I'm still in pajamas and it's pretty great. But I'm not just sitting around- I'm cutting while I sit around. A LOT of cutting. I'll share the results of this new project when it's complete, but I won't lie- it could be a while.


In other news, I'd like to say hey! and thanks! to the lovely Liana for featuring my Nesting print over on her blog Mixed Plate. There's a whole bunch of other cool and pretty things featured there as well, so I'm very happy to be among them. Aanndd, I always like discovering a new spot on the internet to distract me from the work I should really be doing. So Aloha, Liana!

And thank you also to Jan from Poppytalk for giving the Lucky Feather some love this week. It was featured in a post titled "Beautiful Things" which also included two of my personal favorites- Paloma's Nest and Fox and Clover, so that's pretty cool. Real cool!


Last but not least, the latest addition to the Magic Mantle: It's a limited edition letterpress print by Julia Rothman that I was lucky enough to snag from Little Paper Planes a couple months back, but hadn't framed until last week. It involves deer and birds and a whole bunch of folkloric charm so how could I not give it a spot on the mantle? That means The Beatles, unfortunately, were kicked out of the forest but don't worry, there's a good home for them elsewhere in the apartment.

Now back to my scissors.

Some Things

I really should've made that title "Some Things!!!" because I'm actually pretty excited about what I'm writing about today.

We Grew Together

First thing! This painting. Remember this? I think the last time I talked about it it was still just a drawing, but it's been a drawing collaged onto a painting for awhile now. And I'm only showing it to you in crappy picture form because I have already had it professionally (and I use that word loosely) scanned TWICE and still don't have a decent digital image of this thing. If there were large-format scanners available for less than $900 I would be all over that, because leaving this stuff up to the folks at my local copy shop is just not cutting it. So I guess this first thing is not that exciting, but I wanted to start things with a visual aid. Keep you interested, you know.


So onto the second thing! I am so, so psyched about this one. The debut issue of Antler, a new online magazine came out today, and I'm very very excited to be featured in it, (I'm on p. 36-42). Andi Strand, both the Editor In Chief and Art Director, put together a really amazing collection of fashion, art, design and photography for this first issue and I'm SO impressed with her work. Everything in it is just gorgeous and really cool, and I'm truly flattered she asked me to be a part of it. I'm also super-excited to have something new to read every month! It's really right up my alley. PLEASE have a look, and spread the word! I can't wait to see more. So a big thanks and a big congratulations to Andi for her great work. And by the by, Andi is also a handbag designer, using repurposed leather to create her very cute bags. You should probably visit her website and Etsy shop.

Alright, third thing. Poppytalk! I'm participating in Poppytalk's Handmade Market again for this month's Green Pop! market, an "Eco, Spring and Easter-themed Marketplace featuring recycled, upcycled, spring stuff and things that hop!" Well, then. I'm not sure any of my work "hops" but I still made it in, so go have a look, will you?

And I think that might be it. The exclamation points were just flying back there. In the next few days I plan on having a more than decent digital file of We Grew Together and hopefully by week's end a print for the ole shop. Also, there has been an exciting addition made to the Magic Mantle which I will be sharing after I take a proper photo. Bye for now.

xo

The Dream is Real!

So I've finally created and collected all of the items necessary to complete the little story I've slowly been developing on my fireplace mantle. It wasn't intentional at first, but just recently I noticed that the objects I had placed there over the last few years were really lending themselves toward a narrative of sorts. A walk through a magical forest, anyone?


So I've had this glass head that my dad gave to me since I was like, 14, I think. I believe it's actually from Pier 1 Imports, weirdly enough- not sure what my dad was doing there. Anyway, it's been a mantle fixture in almost every apartment I've lived in over the years and has donned everything from sunglasses to sweatbands. It's been naked for the last year or so and has now been cast as "The Woodsman". And what does any proper woodsman have? An amazing beard, obviously. This is the work of Erin from I Made You a Beard and I could not be more thrilled with it. Beardy perfection!


So maybe this woodsman stumbles upon a magical mushroom. That could definitely happen! Mine happens to be porcelain, and was purchased at the very cool Grand in Somerville, Massachusetts. Johnny's pick, actually. Nice work!


Now I've spoken about my beloved Deerman before, but just to remind you, this beautiful creation is from Melabo. Imagine running into that guy in the forest. Whoa.


The golden geese were my grandmother's. They're really exquisite and quite heavy and I coveted them since childhood when they sat on a side table in my grandparents' den. I always imagined them as a couple in love. Still do.


And my porcelain log vase from the Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco now holds a feather tree! We stole the stray branch from the banks of the Charles River yesterday and it ended up being just the right size. And perfect for hanging a few of my Lucky Feathers.


Last but not least, a flock of paper birds overhead. I made these when we first moved into this apartment 3 years ago, and they're still going strong. Scotch tape- who knew?

Not sure yet how the Beatles and Frambroise fit into this story, but Johnny is a huge Beatles fan, the Revolver album cover is really cool, and the Lindeman's bottle is from the night we got married. So they're staying. Also, I wouldn't mind coming upon a clearing in the magical forest where the Beatles were playing and there was enough raspberry beer for everyone! That would be a good day.

Be Back Soon...

Seems I've fallen off the blog-wagon these last couple of weeks but I seriously intend to return in the next few days with all sorts of things to say and show. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

xo!

I Was in the Mountains

I was! And it was pretty awesome. So sorry for not posting in a bit, but like I said, I was in the mountains.

This past weekend was Johnny's sister's birthday and her wonderful husband planned a super-secret surprise party for her which included the surprise of us!- little old Johnny and Angela. So off we flew to Denver, Colorado, where neither of us had been before, for the big event. Unfortunately our connecting flight from Kansas City was delayed so we actually missed the "Surprise!" part, but our late arrival mid-party was still pretty surprising to Johnny's sister, Maureen.

We spent the next two nights at their amazing home another 1000 feet up in the snowy mountains from the already pretty high "mile-high city". That's up there, folks. I was floating for 2 days. We really felt like we were in a separate universe up there. Their house, for instance, is a 3 mile drive from their mailbox and can only be accessed by 4-wheel drive. Bears and mountain lions are a very legitimate concern. Kind of scary, but awesome! There are no bears in Boston. Rats, yes, but no bears.


So we spent the day Saturday just enjoying the atmosphere with the family, some friends and the 3 happiest dogs I've ever met in my life. I've decided all dogs should live on mountains. Johnny rode an ATV for the first time, which TERRIFIED me, and then I was somehow convinced to ride it with him. Again, scary but fun. I am such a city mouse. And at night after dinner we sat around a fire pit outside, under the stars and sang songs while Johnny played guitar and our cute nephews roasted marshmallows. This really happened!

Wish we could've stayed longer and that we remembered to pack our camera, (the few so-so photos we got were on a phone) because it was truly a superamazing time. It was nice, though, to return to ye ole Boston yesterday afternoon even if when we got home the cats didn't seem to have missed us at all. Those little shits. Not even a bit like mountain dogs.

So today I lounged about and tomorrow it's back to business. It's been crickets for the last week in the shop so I decided I better get some new stuff in there quick! I'll be back to report on my progress. Oh, and before I go many thanks to Kristen from Paper Crave for her very sweet mention the other day. She features some really fantastic paper-related work and I'm quite flattered to be included. Thanks, Kristen!

Just a Few Things

Afternoon, people! It's Tuesday again. And it's a very snowy Tuesday here in Boston. I'm not psyched about my trek to the post office in a few minutes but it's gotta happen. Besides that I'm just working on churning out more Ruffles Note Sets and getting that new print ready for its Etsy debut.

I also just finally finished up matting and framing some prints I bought a few weeks ago from the very talented Olivia Jeffries of Restless Things.


I'm sure you've seen her work before because she's kind of a big deal. And I am sooo excited to finally have this print set hanging in our bedroom because I'd been envisioning it for months! Pretty nice, eh?


Also! Thanks to both Chiara and Janick for the especially nice mentions here and here. I appreciate it, ladies! And, a big thank you again to Holly from Decor8 for featuring my work for a second time. The golden touch of this powerful blog triumvirate brought a lot of Etsy views and nice emails and sales, of course, in the last few days so again, thanks! THIS is for you. Happy Tuesday.