i hope this round with watchin' the weight is successful enough that i just haveta haveta HAVE TO buy a whole new summer wardrobe. been polyvore-ing some ideas.
n-joy!
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
nagging...
had a headache the last few days. nothing like a migraine, another one of which i had a few days back. this is more like a nagging ache-like someone scratching the inside of my head right behind my eyes. i suspect it's a sign i need new glasses. in which case, i'm gonna get some craaaaazy frames this time to encourage me to wear my contacts more often.
i know i'm a little late to the party but i am looooving me some polyvore.
the possibilities are literally endless. i'm not a big online or catalog shopper, i feel the need to try things on and see how the fit, quality, and cut looks before i buy and i can't be bothered to return something via the mail or UPS. so i prefer to pre-shop online and go in person to the store to see for myself. and it's kept me from making many, MANY a bad purchase.
anyway-polyvore is a fun way to dream and put together outfits without stepping foot into a store!
i know i'm a little late to the party but i am looooving me some polyvore.
the possibilities are literally endless. i'm not a big online or catalog shopper, i feel the need to try things on and see how the fit, quality, and cut looks before i buy and i can't be bothered to return something via the mail or UPS. so i prefer to pre-shop online and go in person to the store to see for myself. and it's kept me from making many, MANY a bad purchase.
anyway-polyvore is a fun way to dream and put together outfits without stepping foot into a store!
Vivienne Westwood Red Label Check Blazer Pink - Vivienne Westwood...
485 GBP - hervia.com
Black blazer »
485 GBP - hervia.com
Black blazer »
Friday, January 21, 2011
-15 poppies...
it so, sooooooo, SO cold out there. how cold is it? it's so cold, our outdoor digital thermometer doesn't even register a temp! parts of MN are -30 below today. the suburbs are supposed to be about -15-18. i wouldn't doubt that one bit.
i decided to combat the cold with some GIANT POPPIES!!! i used this awesome video and tutorial from queen Martha with a few small tweaks of my own....
i used some good old scrapbooking cardstock sheets, and was able to fit four petals around the corners, i lost a wee bit of corner off the template but it's hidden by the folds anyway. and i used 8 petals instead of 7. AND, i folded the petals two at a time to save time-without using the bamboo skewer/pencil. i think my paper is stiffer than what they were using but it's the colors i was going for not the texture. it's still a good idea to condition the paper a bit before you fold so you don't get sharp creases but rather nice soft folds.
for the center ruffle-y part i folded my circle into quarters and that was SO much easier to make the fringe...for the center 'puff' i used a giant punch from ek success, drew a small circle in the middle about the size of a dime to know how far to cut, and that made cutting the 'wedges' a lot easier.....and i used my scissors to curl the pieces up like curling that ribbon you put on gifties.
these poppies are going into the studio. it's a mishmash of crazy color already so even though i tried to repeat the colors within these flowers, in the future i think i'll make the color combos even wilder!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
a midwinter lull...
95% recovered from my cold, i decided to visit my sis and bro-in-law and adorable (but sick) dora in evanston last weekend. i delayed my trip due to a storm in MN that ended up passing pretty quickly. got stuck in a massive blizzard through wisconsin on my way home. ugh. my shoulders still hurt from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.
i am ever so grateful to my boss for letting me take a sunday off-usually unthinkable when you work for a church-and thankful that the morning functioned well without me.
i love the creativity and flexibility my job offers me most days. i do miss being an artist though. it's a side of me i don't get to indulge as much.
while in chicago i got to meet aunt peaches-we shopped at uncle fun and paperboy, sharing ideas and stories. i can't wait to see what she comes up with-she bought some pretty hilarious stuff!
Monday, January 03, 2011
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick
i have a horrible, no good, very bad cold that i believe has turned into a sinus infection. i've gotten to catch up on some trashy reality TV though so that's been good.
nothing new to report in the studio unfortunately. will keep you all posted though. happy new year!!!
nothing new to report in the studio unfortunately. will keep you all posted though. happy new year!!!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
WHEW!!!
it's over!!!! the kids, congregation, staff, and pastors all had fantastic things to say. i'm so happy and so thankful that it went well! i really felt the power of the Holy Spirit today, honestly, in the support and encouragement of everyone in the house. it was so fun to see the church packed to the rafters and to hear the crowd reaction to the kids as they played their roles. yay!now i just get to enjoy christmas like a normal person. i don't even have to repair the star again this year! since we made a new one last year, it's holding up a lot better than the first one. it's construction foam (the pink stuff) which i painted with two coats of primer then decopauged with gold tissue paper. the old one was just painted and dented/scratched a lot quicker. the gold paper gives this one a nice crusty shell that is almost un-scratchable!
if you want to be moved to tears by a story of what freedom of religion can look like, go here now. i have been reading her blog for several months now and i feel like peaches is my sister from another mister.
Friday, December 17, 2010
the week's big chop...
you know it's time when pencils and knitting needles substitute for hair bands and a hat substitutes for a shower. when you wash and dry it and that's it. it's time to give your hair to someone else who will make better use of it that you will. it's time to chop it off for locks of love.
three pony tails worth of boredom will be packed into a padded envelope and sent off to do something for a change. the longest one is destined to be made into a kid's wig, and the two shorter ones will be sold for toupees and the like, and the money will go back to LOL.
i feel SO much better with short hair again. it's been years since it's been this short-and people's reactions are hilarious. 'You look younger!' 'You look older!' the head pastor at work keeps calling me the 'new becca' which i think is hilarious since i've worked there off and on going on 18 years now.
tomorrow is the pageant rehearsal and sunday, it all goes down. due to snow and kids being out sick, we've only had one day of actual song rehearsal and only one day of rehearsing the lines with the kids, and i'll never have had the 'adult' cast together in one room before we perform it DURING WORSHIP on sunday. OH and Mary has to take her ACT's tomorrow since they got snowed out last weekend. it's fine, not like she has a huge role in the whole thing......... i'm terrified. if this pageant is a disaster i fear another big chop this week......
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Owls and Snowmen
As the storm of the 21st century blows into MN, I'm delighted to spend a third day in a row in my studio. I actually took a sick day from job numero uno on Thursday, what a treat!!!!
The Bibelot has placed a final pre-Christmas order, and my wintery stuff is selling well at I Like You so I'm in a mad frenzy to re-stock for all the non-big-box shoppers out there in the world. Thank you for supporting local artists!
The owls pictured are going to the Bibelot, they have four locations so check each one. These are ornament sized-they fit in your hand. I loves them! Each one turns out cuter than the last!!! Bigger owlies are also available at their stores, and ILY will be getting medium-sized ones (photos to follow). Find snowmen like these at ILY.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
my monthly gift...no...not that one!
ah ok so this whole regular blogging thing is not working out so great now is it?
if you'd had a glance at my calendar you'd see why.
highlights since we last spoke include (but are not limited to) the green gift fair at the midtown global market, the annual i like you ornament sale, then thanksgiving with a visit from my cousin jay and his family and a trunk show at the bibelot. oh and then that whole night in bethlehem business.
videos and photos follow. animal and ornament construction continues unabated.
Friday, November 05, 2010
recap of the last month....
got a quick visit to chicago in just before halloween. how adorbs is this baby?work is full-tilt crazy pace, charging ahead into christmas and the pageant and the advent fair and the star of wonder brunch and on and on and on. sometimes i miss semi-retirement but i love love LOVE my job.
i'm cranking out the christmas ornaments in the studio. i've come up with a pretty solid assembly line, where i'm still able to give each one personality and different looks but it goes much, much quicker! yippee!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
break out the glitter!!!
i'm going to actually have time to craft this weekend! what a revelation!
i have to restock my stores for the upcoming 'holidays' and get ready for my next bibelot trunk show, which is going to be BLACK FRIDAY aka the day after Thanksgiving. and this year, i've decided to get to work earlier rather than later. what a concept!
going to focus on the smaller ornaments, making more things in the 10-20 dollar range, for gifties and what have you. lots of birds, penguins, and little guys. not so many of the big guys. if these 'tough economic times' have taught me anything, it's that people aren't really spending much money right now, especially on things like ornaments. even super cute ones.
these ornaments were at the i like you trunk show last year. they did extremely well....and are identical to the ones i had at the state fair except for the scarves. is a scrap of yarn really what it takes to sell a bird? am i gonna have to add scarves to all my birds this winter? would a bird be able to fly with a scarf? am i over thinking this? yes, yes, no and yes.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Cabinet of Wonders...
I took a class with the amazingly talented and sweet Jennifer Murphy at The Creative Connection. We got to make TWO lovely ornaments in the class! She was a fantastic teacher, and helped a group of women of all skill levels through to beautiful finished products....with all the teaching I do it's always a treat to take a class from a wonderful teacher!The wee little blue bird comes from yarn that she hand-dyed for the class (here you can see her photo of all the samples lined up for class) and is so stinkin' cute! I decided to give my guy a mohawk which might be hard to
see in the photo....and we also made a little bird standing on a tree clip with a nest of tinsel and wee mercur
y glass 'eggs' at his feet! How adorbs, eh?They'll join the other handmade goodies in my 'never sell' cabinet in my studio.....prototypes, one-offs, things I made from patterns and won't sell because I didn't design them myself, things like that.
It's great to see the oldest Duckies and how far I've come....If you look closely you'll find a hand-jointed rabbit made from a book on teddy bears, two Steiff mice, owls and penguins of all sizes, Porkchop the monkey, and Duckie Ugling himself!
Friday, September 17, 2010
A day of thanks...
My boss forced me to take a day off after last week's marathon-THANK GOODNESS!!!!I volunteered at The Creative Connection in downtown Mpls. A little bit of a hike from the 'burbs but OH so worth it. The Handmade Market was mindblowingly awesome. I had to resist buying everything I saw. I did snag a few treasures and more than a few ideas!
I met amazing women/artists/businesspeople/bloggers that i have admired for YEARS, including the lovely and amazing Jen O'Connor of Earth Angels Toys. Even ran into my sister's husband's aunt and uncle and cousin in law! What a small world, eh?
And tomorrow, I'm taking a class from Jennifer Murphy! I can't wait!
I also got the FANTASTIC news that one of my dear friends gave birth to a healthy, happy baby boy. Welcome to the world little Kagan! I can't wait to meet this little guy....
I've also broken my vow of no craft shows for a year and committed to doing a Saturday show during the St. Paul art crawl. No booth fee, no pressure. Maybe some of the billion birds I have left over from the State Fair will make it on to the table. Or maybe some old jewelry spiced up for new eyes. Who knows......
Saturday, September 04, 2010
double rainbow, all the way!!!
you've no doubt seen the double rainbow video by now, and it's hundreds of tributes/spoofs.
and now, he's makin' money at it. go bear!
we had a fantastic storm earlier in the week, and i got to introduce my parents to the double rainbow phenomenon. they LOL'd and loved it. this is our double rainbow, yes it did reach all the way across the sky. started and ended on our property. i know there's no pots of gold out there, but there are acres and acres of lovely trees, swamp-y creatures, and beautiful wildflowers. i am eagerly anticipating the color show when all those trees turn gold and red.
Monday, August 30, 2010
where does the time go?
no...seriously....where does it go?
summer is wrapping and sunday school is about to start up again, up but the weather here in MN hasn't gotten the memo. it's been 80-90 these past few days. and just about unbearable. so glad my new office at church is airconditioned like a blast chiller.
the state fair is on, and i dearly love it. the great minnesota get together is one of my favorite events of the year. i've only missed it a few times in my 34 years on this planet. i went yesterday (by myself) and found amazingly adorable rabbits that i was THISCLOSE to stuffing in my bag and running off with, so-so deep fried food items, and then handed out postcards and talked up the store to anyone who wandered within 10 feet of the i like you booth. sold a few t-shirts and other fabulous items as well, but no one wanted or needed a duckie ugling ornament in their fair schwag bags. who knew!?
if you go, visit the booth in the lower level of the grandstand, on the back wall. you can't miss it. i wish we had these shirts in adult sizes.....
summer is wrapping and sunday school is about to start up again, up but the weather here in MN hasn't gotten the memo. it's been 80-90 these past few days. and just about unbearable. so glad my new office at church is airconditioned like a blast chiller.
the state fair is on, and i dearly love it. the great minnesota get together is one of my favorite events of the year. i've only missed it a few times in my 34 years on this planet. i went yesterday (by myself) and found amazingly adorable rabbits that i was THISCLOSE to stuffing in my bag and running off with, so-so deep fried food items, and then handed out postcards and talked up the store to anyone who wandered within 10 feet of the i like you booth. sold a few t-shirts and other fabulous items as well, but no one wanted or needed a duckie ugling ornament in their fair schwag bags. who knew!?
if you go, visit the booth in the lower level of the grandstand, on the back wall. you can't miss it. i wish we had these shirts in adult sizes.....
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
oh yeah it's too hot! too hot baby!
red hot art was last weekend and i scored some killer new earrings and a super cute jersey scarf from Lauren and Whittney of Spilled Milk Factory. they had ventured out to hugo earlier in the week to pick up my lucky red umbrella and visit the farm, and we had a delish waffle breakfast.
last year's red hot art was anything but, considering the pouring rain, however this year they lucked out with gorgeous weather and fabu music.
today i tech-d a fringe show then went to pick up the VBS supplies from the st. paul church and put them upstairs at my church. picked up my soldering kit (which i forgot after class the other night) came home and melted into a puddle. all thoughts of getting anything done flew out the window. i don't want to turn the A/C on because i love open windows and the sounds and smells of the farm. we've had intermittent rainstorms all day and it's absolutely magical to hear all the bird sounds.....
one thing that wasn't magical was the gentleman (!) who hocked a loogy on my hood on the way back from the church. i was driving in the left lane, going 10+ over the speed limit like the rest of the traffic, but OH NO he wanted to be in front of me so he could follow the car 20 yards ahead of me. so as he passed me on the right (after another car exited) he placed his head outside his window and spat at my car. YES. SPAT. disgusting. another human's spittle outside their body is one of the grossest things i can think of ON THE PLANET.
indignant rage threatened to grip my soul.
however, i thought, i'm driving a carload full of materials back to my church, from another church, were i spent the week teaching kids about Jesus' disciples in the book of Acts. Seriously. WWJD? i'm not gonna let satan (in an F150) get to me...
so as he slowed down to exit (about 1/3 of a mile past passing me) i made eye contact with the gentleman, smiled, and waved sweetly. he looked at me like i was insane. and yes, possibly i am.
i hope my smile and wave made him realize what an a$$ he'd just made of himself, how he really had accomplished nothing. he hadn't ruined my day, he had just soiled my vehicle with his DNA.
last year's red hot art was anything but, considering the pouring rain, however this year they lucked out with gorgeous weather and fabu music.
today i tech-d a fringe show then went to pick up the VBS supplies from the st. paul church and put them upstairs at my church. picked up my soldering kit (which i forgot after class the other night) came home and melted into a puddle. all thoughts of getting anything done flew out the window. i don't want to turn the A/C on because i love open windows and the sounds and smells of the farm. we've had intermittent rainstorms all day and it's absolutely magical to hear all the bird sounds.....
one thing that wasn't magical was the gentleman (!) who hocked a loogy on my hood on the way back from the church. i was driving in the left lane, going 10+ over the speed limit like the rest of the traffic, but OH NO he wanted to be in front of me so he could follow the car 20 yards ahead of me. so as he passed me on the right (after another car exited) he placed his head outside his window and spat at my car. YES. SPAT. disgusting. another human's spittle outside their body is one of the grossest things i can think of ON THE PLANET.
indignant rage threatened to grip my soul.
however, i thought, i'm driving a carload full of materials back to my church, from another church, were i spent the week teaching kids about Jesus' disciples in the book of Acts. Seriously. WWJD? i'm not gonna let satan (in an F150) get to me...
so as he slowed down to exit (about 1/3 of a mile past passing me) i made eye contact with the gentleman, smiled, and waved sweetly. he looked at me like i was insane. and yes, possibly i am.
i hope my smile and wave made him realize what an a$$ he'd just made of himself, how he really had accomplished nothing. he hadn't ruined my day, he had just soiled my vehicle with his DNA.
Monday, August 02, 2010
studio time!
i can't believe it. i'm back to makin' stuff!
here's a cabinet full of owls and birds-destined for the bibelot
and here's my soldering setup. i'm teaching a class tonight, and another one soon in northfield, so i'm making class samples.
feels good to flex my creative muscles again!!!
here's a cabinet full of owls and birds-destined for the bibelot
and here's my soldering setup. i'm teaching a class tonight, and another one soon in northfield, so i'm making class samples.
feels good to flex my creative muscles again!!!
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