we're all mad here!

what are U up to today? - wednesdays - no. 3

did'ya miss me?

I've been CRAZY busy, and enjoying every minute of it!
{well ... let's be honest, not EVERY minute, but a heck of a lot of 'em}

I have so much to talk about I hardly know where to start, but  my what are U up to today? photo seems like a good enough place. As you can see this week I'm earning my messy nest title wholeheartedly. blech ... what a mess I have to clean up after Artfest!

I know I'll get right on it though, cause I got lots of ideas goin' on upstairs & my fingers are itching to sew some more. One of the wonderful things I've been working on is the pillow above as a congratulations present to my friend Melody on making her Brave Girls Clubhouse a dream come true! I just kinda made up my own wonky house pattern as I went, and I love these colors together! I used a felt tip fabric pen to write little messages of encouragement all over for Mel and all her Brave Girls. Today, I packed it up and tomorrow it will be flying off to it's new home soaking up love & tears of all the future Brave Girls to come.

I had lunch with my best girl Holly today, so I'll update the what are U up to today? blogroll tomorrow which means you still have time to sneak your post in today!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

thinking about summer vacation

here's a peek inside my sewing bag today:

 

      

I'll tell you what everything is tomorrow :)

NOW GO MAKE ART!

SNOW DAY!

 My kids are home with me today because of a snow day, and while they're too old to go outside and build snow forts, they still love the day off! Today's snow day was celebrated with re-runs of the Millionaire Matchmaker, a Family Guy-a-thon, the movie Smart People, and an evening of Little Big Planet {which I love to death}. It was so wonderful to stitch away to the sound of the two of them laughing out loud and threatening each other in "adult" voices.

Even though the ground in covered with snow, I am dreaming of spring. Two days ago it was freezing cold, but the sun was shining, and I could hear birdsong coming from the bare bushes around our home. It seems that I've had birds on the brain lately, and they keep growing from my fingertips in ink and fabric form. One of the things I've had difficulty with is the wing forms, so I've been sketching them to try and work out how to sew them from fabric for a special Valentine.

 Every year I try and exchange handmade Valentine's with different artist friends. My hope is to one day have a collection from as many of them as possible. This year I'm exchanging them with Kristen Robinson and Catherine Witherell, and making a very special one for my new friend Melody Ross as a thank you for coming along just when I needed her most. There's a Buddhist Proverb that says, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears", and this is so true for my stumbling upon Melody. In the short time I've known her, she's touched my heart and soul in ways I can't describe without sounding cliché or corny. She runs a wonderful retreat called Brave Girls Camp, and I'm so excited to be going there in October!

I've talked about hiring Laura Bray as my Art Coach before, and I can't tell you enough what a wonderful job she's doing! I sketched this a couple weeks into our "job", and just after "meeting" Melody. REACH is a word that has so many important meanings to me {the most common being the literal since I'm only 5'5" & have to stand tippy-toed to reach just about everything}. One goal that Laura has helped me reach for is the long-time dream/goal of publishing in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. I'm so proud to say that I shipped off a very special handmade book to them this week, and it will be in the May/June issue :) I can't tell you how exciting this is for me - a big thank you to everyone over at CPS who gave me the thumbs up!

NOW GO MAKE ART!