Doll

We took our annual trip to Logee’s last Sunday. It always feels like a mini-vacation.

whoa!

If you believe that I have control over how these faces turn out, you’d be wrong. I use a water-erasable marker to mark out where the features go and draw in a rough sketch. If I had any real control, all the faces would be the same. But, as you might notice, they don’t because I don’t. I start stitching and whoever it turns out that they are, appears!

And I think this one is particularly appealing!

I spent some time in the garden over the weekend. I worked on the compost pile- which is great news because it means my back is MUCH better- Hurray! My favorite gardening toy is my compost thermometer (I’ve probably mentioned that before) and you can see here that my pile was close to 130 degrees F this morning. That’s my idea of excitement!

We were up in Maine for the weekend. Having a son going to school in Portland has improved our life. It is a wonderful town with natural beauties and amazing food. And, only 2 hours north from home!

This group of dogs was waiting patiently next to the Scratch Baking Company, #1 bakery in Portland- and that is saying something!

And lastly, a perfect lighthouse- good inspiration for my next tiny world.

Here is the one that needed his eyes adjusted. He looks much better to me now. It is the littlest things that can make the difference.

I really like his beard.

Yes, that is snow in the background.

The backdrop for the other Santa looks like this now-

This really has been the year of crazy weather in New England.

We put up the bird feeders on Saturday, before the storm hit. I taped a branch to the shepherd’s crook type holder we use. I got the idea from my neighbor friend Mim. It has been a huge success with the birds and me!

We had an amazing Columbus Day weekend. This is the beach at Swampscott MA. That is Boston in the distance on the right of the photo.

Okay, I’ve got some big news. Drum roll please!

I have signed a licensing contract with Land Of Nod so at this time next year, if all goes according to plan, there will be *something* in their catalog of my design. How fantastic is that! The exact nature of what I am working on with them is all hush hush for a while, but obviously, when the time is closer, I will be shouting it from the rooftops! I am excited and nervous about heading off in this new direction. Deep breath! This has been brewing since Renegade in Chicago. As I often repeat to myself, you never know what will happen (or who you will meet) when you leave the house. Hurray!

The weather has been beautiful. Here is a garden photo to end this post. Asters and seed pods of butterfly weed, alyssum in the background.

Now, back to the studio. The Holidays are right around the corner!

I will be in Chicago in just a few more days- I’m flying on Thursday morning. My dolls have been shipped and all the show supplies are on their way. Renegade, here I come! Please, if you read my blog and you come to the market, tell me- It will make my day!

Mostly I have been doing show related chores- labeling, packing, delivering boxes to shippers, etc. Boring. But, I’ve been have fun with my IPad camera. Here are some pics-

playing with Instagram-

my desk-

and a few days later-

A sunflower in front of the house. When I returned a few hours later, there was a chunk out of the flower. I’m trying to imagine what kind of animal could/would do that! Probably a squirrel or a teenage boy.

I’m hoping to finish at least one of those girls before I leave town. I’d better get back to work.

This past weekend was dominated by Hurricane Irene news, but Saturday in Maine was beautiful. A lot of friends from my Crafty Biz meet-up group were participating in the Portland Picnic so I headed up north for the day.

This photo booth had the coolest props ever! Look at those masks!

Here is Laura of Pansy Maiden, with her vegan bags.

Eling of Rhinofluff.

Danielle of The Merriweather Council-

Lisa of RedStaggerwing Designs-

Jen of Zooguu-

and Melissa of Pressbound-

I also saw Jennifer Judd-McGee of Swallowfield fame. It was a beautiful day, a fantastic selection of artwork, the crowds were out, and everyone was talking about the pending hurricane and enjoying the event. After a few hours, I left the park and walked to meet-up with my husband and son. I saw this weather vane along the way-

Before leaving town, we took Peter out for a great Mexican dinner at Zapoteca- Yum! Great day all around. We left Portland in the early evening and headed back to Boston. We hit the first rain right at the New Hampshire line and a steady downpour once we were back in Massachusetts. We had rain, we had wind, but where I live, we came out mostly unscathed. We are lucky and thankful.

This oak leaf was on the porch this morning. The thing is, I have no idea where there is an oak tree any where near us. Yes, it was windy!

I like her face-

In the jungle-y part of our backyard.

And the Queen Annes Lace I mentioned yesterday-

I got a lovely email from Jane who sent me this link with a wonderful story about Queen Annes Lace and that spot in the middle. Thanks!

Chugging along slowly here. I finished this lady yesterday. I love how her breasts and corset work with the stripes. (that line will probably get me some disappointed visitors from google search!)

I’ve recently finished reading The Corset, by Valerie Steele- inspired by the Alexander McQueen show. It is a very interesting book. I thought I’d just skim it and look at the photos, but I got sucked in and read all about the history of women shaping underwear. Yes, very interesting! And, by the way, this is not an accurate corset of any kind!

We have a big patch of Queen Annes Lace next to the driveway. Looking at it takes me back to my childhood. I remember being curious about why some of the flowers have a black dot in the center. The mysteries of nature.

and not much is happening around here! Things are going on in my life- they just aren’t showing up here.  I’ve been doing boring projects like cleaning and weeding, projects that I forgot to photograph before I sent them out- sleeves for some computers, and secret-for-now projects- gift type things.

The garden is looking amazing. So many colors!

Lavender-

Poppy season!

The crocosmia are just starting.

Coreopsis “moonbeam”

and Butterfly weed.

Daylilies-

And in the back, my favorite combination. Blue lace-cap Hydrangea and anything.

And an oakleaf hydrangea.

My desk is not completely bare of dolls. Now that I finished the *secret project* (I’ll tell later), I pulled out some partially finished dolls from before Brooklyn and I’m giving them faces, and hair. And life.

Speaking of Brooklyn, I will be going to Renegade Chicago in September- hope to see you there!

Okay, what else? I’ve been going through my scrap box, thinking quilt thoughts. We’ll see if anything materializes. Tomorrow I am driving up to Vermont for a few days. I am going to visit the Shelburne Museum. It looks like there is a lot of interesting goodies there- I’ll give the report when I get back. I think that’s it for now. Hope you had a great long week-end (in the US). The Boston fireworks were amazing!