Back in the Saddle

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After the big push to get TO the National Stationery Show and then get home FROM the show and unpack, decompress, etc, we then hopped a plane to Boston and spent some time exploring much of what New England has to offer. My baby brother tied the knot (I was a groomswoman!) in New Hampshire and then the entire crew went to York, Maine for a day trip to unwind. After that we headed to a college-friend's farm and hung out with her family which includes two horses, six guinea hens, a herd/school/smack/murder of ducks, a dog and a cat. Three days of bird calls, owls at night, fresh air and good sleep = delight. AND I have a huge new crush on the Maine coast.Now we're home and the reality of filling all those awesome orders from the Show is setting in. I also have some projects that I really want to dig into while it's still 2011. We'll see how it all plays out. In the meantime I just got word that one of the projects I worked on a few months back is set to launch imminently. I was hoping to have some behind-the-scenes photos and all sort of good details on said project but life got in the way. I'll have to sit on my hands and wait to see what the company rolls out.Until later.  

Still here - I promise.

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Oh, little orphan blog. I haven't forgotten but I have been wrapped up in living. Whistle and I took a week-long trip to New York and upon our return I jumped into preparing for the National Stationery Show next month. And Spring is springing so I'm constantly outside checking out the progress of the perennials.The sort-of-secret project I was working on is coming to fruition and I hope to have some new photos and info about that soon.I also swear that we have been making progress on the house. I just have been terribly remiss at posting pictures. Well, actually I've been remiss at cleaning enough to take pictures. No sooner than we get a room "done" we fill it with our messy life.So - thanks for your patience and I swear to get busy on this soon. In the meantime, some NYC photos.Whistle took this one.(and this one)

Before and During

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You may remember that when we bought our house it had two kitchens. "Ooh la la" you might say. You would be wrong. Both were/are totally gross (but workable). The upstairs kitchen is now well on it's way to being a super awesome big-boy room for Whistle. I'm too busy getting ready for my show next week to go into much detail but here are some pictures of the before and during. The after will have to come later.Kitchen: before. To me this was the cutest room in the whole house when we bought it. But we didn't actually need two kitchens, let alone one on the second floor.These cabinets/counters/sink caused  a small bidding war on Craigslist. Believe it.Steve took up the vinyl flooring and we had the floors redone and the plaster walls/ceiling repaired. The former owners used 3" nails for every home "improvement" project so when we removed the cabinets we destroyed the walls.View where the cabinets used to be. Steve cut new baseboards and put down new 1/4 round in the room. The after pictures will show that.Now, back to work for me.

Prints Charming

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Opening Friday, NOV 19, 2010I am busy busy busy getting ready for my upcoming show at Wildcard in Lawrenceville. I am collaging and sanding boxes and burning screens and mixing ink and printing and repeating. And repeating. And repeating. I am so thankful to Rebecca and Brian for giving me this opportunity.Now, back to work.More details and photos (maybe NOT from my phone?) to come. Until then...

On how to draw a hay squeeze

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Recently a super terrific woman contact me through my etsy store and asked if I would be open to creating four "boxes" for her son's room. The jumping off point was this print:She requested that I use this and another illustration of a tractor that I had already done. Additionally she wanted a hay truck and a hay squeeze. "Oh sure, a hay squeeze," I said. Of course. A hay squeeze. Who doesn't know what a hay squeeze looks like? I could draw one from memory, with my eyes closed - like those art class exercises where you had to do "contour drawings."  But fret not, Fox, she was kind enough to send me some photos of the very hay squeeze that her husband drives.I loved this project. I was super bummed to package them up and ship them off. But just last week she sent an email and said (and I'm for real quoting - hope she doesn't mind) "they are perfect! My son and husband are completely mesmerized with them."I am blushing.14"x14" screenprints on wood. Four coats of varnish.

Home Improvement - Back in the Saddle

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It's been a wild summer around here. As you know, I work for this fine group and we exhibited at the National Stationery Show this past May. All went well and we came home with a suitcase full of orders for our cards and such so I've been packing and shipping like a mad woman since then. As such, we took a little break from house projects. I am feeling the itch though so I'm dipping my toe into the water this month.We painted the bannister this weekend (don't yell at me for painting over wood - it's been painted a bunch before and the wood isn't in terrific shape and we don't have it in us to strip the newel posts and spindles and such!) and that feels major.Not sure if you remember the upstairs kitchen? Here it is:I considered it the cutest room in the house when we bought it. Our plan is to turn it into Whistle's Big Boy Room so I started by tearing out the cabinets and sink because no four year old needs a stainless sink in his room. My husband hates demo. I love it. This wasn't truly demo since we put the whole thing on craigslist and soon had a bidding war on our hands. So we gingerly removed the units from the crooked wall and some nice guy hauled them away AND gave us cash. What a wonderful world.Look what caused such a ruckus on Craigslist:I'm not sure what's next. We've put a few things on hold until next year (rebuilding the retaining wall, building some raised beds for gardens, etc) but this year's list still looms large.I have Fall Fever like crazy and I thin I'm sort of "feathering the nest" for Winter. Our first delivery of firewood happens this Thursday. It's really happening...

Enjoy the silence

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I was talking with a new acquaintance recently and she said "I checked out your blog. How's the house renovation coming?" and I realized I have been terribly remiss in posting before/afters. And remiss in posting at all. But I won't let it become an orphan, I swear it. There are at least three people who would notice.It's early in the summer but it's already jam-packed with art festivals, screen printing, poster shows, house renovations, husband-making-a record, maybe a little light traveling, and worry about the future of our planet.I swore when we moved into this house and tackled yet another renovation project, that we would not jump into new projects until existing projects were complete. What a funny joke that was. We have a minimum of four incomplete projects right now that show no signs of imminent completion. I was thinking about the house and this post and realized we have made great strides in the exterior of the house (repointing, fence, deck, glass doors, planting, pruning, etc) but not a ton in the interior. I love color and mixing inks and picking paint colors but for whatever reason this house has proven to be a wooly-bugger in terms of picking wall color. Not much works. Maybe it's the light? The color of the pine floors? Not sure but nothing works. I've been stumped and, as a result, crabby about painting. So all of that is on hold. Currently we're thinking about ceiling fans and dishwashers - I miss the finer things in life like an energy-efficient dishwasher. Or any dishwasher. I think this horrific oil spill has me sensitive about all the areas in my life where I am less than gracious to this planet. Hand washing dishes seems water-wasteful to me. I digress.So, I have one wee little before/current (I won't call it an "after" as we still plan to paint the trim and downspouts, plants more stuff, add railings or "cheeks" to the front stoop, hand a light fixture, yadda yadda yadda) of the front of the house. I promise we have been working on the rest but this is what I can offer you right now. And now I have to wrap up - the boy just announced that he is "a crabby man."Cheers to summer and you and yours.ps - it always bothers me in those weight loss (or any) before/after photos, the model is wearing some crummy outfit with greasy hair in the 'before' photo and then all dolled up in the 'after' photo. You can't help but think her extra pounds wouldn't have looked as bad if she'd washed her hair and replaced the NFL jersey in the first place. So I know the "after" picture above is sort of cheating: the peonies are in bloom, the front beds are filled in, etc - but it DOES look a little warmer and lived in, right?

You didn't get mad when...

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My brother sent this to me and then I did a little Google search to find more to make sure I was giving credit where due. These are things I've thought but never took the time to put thoughts into words. Thankfully someone else did.You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.You didn't get mad when you saw the Abu Grahib photos.You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.You didn't get mad when we let a major US city drown.You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all ok with you but helping other Americans... well f$%^ that. That about right? You know it is.

New commission finished (!)

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A woman asked me to create this for a friend's baby shower. I get so excited when strangers contact me. I think I've mentioned before that of course I love when family and friends show their support but somehow, when it's someone I don't know, I feel like "they must really like my work...not just pretend to since they know me." Terrible thought, I know. I can't help it.Anyhow, I loved doing this piece. Thank you for asking for it, great customer. Now I need to do a bunch more because my stores are pretty well cleaned out and what remains is looking a little stale to me. Tell me to get on it, will you?

Handmade Arcade 2009!!!

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This is it - tomorrow is the big day. It's time for another Handmade Arcade and I can't wait. Hours and hours of meeting new people and being surrounded by so much handmade awesome. I'll be at the L2 Design Collective booth showcasing our holiday cards and banners, totes and gift tags and whatever else we happen to make today (this morning I've just put the last coat of varnish on these little test print boxes, for instance).Stop on by (and I wouldn't be too too upset if you brought a cup of hot chocolate with you) and say hey.And here's one more little idea - this Christmas when you're thinking of how to spend your money, think handmade.

Texture

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DSC_0004This new old house is filled with texture. Cracked plaster, new plaster, sanded wood, stained wood, cracked paint and on and on. Overall the feeling of the house right now is a little bit mayhemish but there are these tiny bits of beauty that I love. I think they keep me focused on what this place will be for us. I think it's the first place we've lived in that we truly see ourselves living in for - well, a long time. Recently I clocked the distance to the high school (there are no buses here. Kids walk to school - gasp!) to make sure it'll be manageable for the boy. He's almost three. So we're thinking long term for the first time. I love the calm I feel about this.DSC_0013DSC_0011DSC_0016DSC_0010DSC_0012

 

Keeping Secrets

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I have been printing journal covers for the last few days. I'm pretty sure my favorite part of printing comes at the end of a run when I've successfully printed my stack of paper and filled my drying rack and I start looking around for anything else I can throw on the table and pull a print on. I have printed the walls and posts in our basement. I have printed cereal boxes, shirts, aprons, cardboard boxes, envelopes, shopping bags - anything that'll take the ink. A couple of weeks ago I printed the tractor on a wooden "box" frame. I liked it so much that I've decided to keep a stack of boxes handy. I started printing bits of the screens I've been using for my journal covers and out came this test print box!DSC_0004I love the test print randomness.I'm throwing a few coats of varnish on this and giving it to my best big brother for his birthday in a few days. He flies in tomorrow so don't say a word. Swear to it.DSC_0006