Doll

I had breakfast with Lilla this morning. It is such fun to spend an hour or two with someone who speaks the same language- you know, art and the internet and all. No explaining. We blabbed about our families, then moved on to show-and-tell. First me-

Then Lilla- she had all kinds of goodies from the artists she represents-

A wonderful way to start the day!

I’ve got plans for my long weekend. No, I will not be relaxing in a beach chair. I will be planting my tomatoes, making containers this way again. I might experiment with some wool sweaters- the cotton started to disintegrate very quickly although that didn’t actually cause any problems. I will be planting the following varieties- one plant of each- noted for my records.

-Carbon

-Bush Goliath

-La Roma

-Nepal

-Taxi

-Washington Cherry

And, I am hoping to make some major progress on my studio/former bedroom project. As of today, all the walls and baseboards are primed. The windows are close to being ready to prime… as you’ve probably noticed, I get overly obsessed with details and it makes getting a project like this finished practically impossible.

Lastly, in the best of all possible worlds, I will make myself some summer clothes. A skirt, shirt, jumper? We’ll see. I’ve got the fabric… that is the easy part!

let me see. We had loads of snow- that was last Sunday. I love it when it snows like this- it looks like cotton balls in the azalea bush.

The snow made for lots of icicles on every house-

There was the wonderful day of the inauguration. I loved watching it on TV and then a neighbor had a celebratory tea- such fun. The day took a turn though- a bit before 5 I got a call that my son had cut his hand at work and the rest of the evening was spent doing the adrenaline mom thing. Table saw + finger= bad combination. It really wasn’t bad but I totally freaked. My husband took him to the ER. I am such a wimp. I couldn’t even bear to hear him describe what happened. So now I will probably always remember that as part of Obama’s inauguration.

And, what else? I have been working very hard on a project that you’ll know about in a few weeks- so that is boring to blog about. I am planning to do a class on tiny worlds but have been too busy with that other project to post the info. I will try to do that tomorrow. And, lastly, I am going to New York City (and Brooklyn) next week- Wed. 1/28 to Saturday. Got any great ideas for what I should do or see?  I am planning to go to this embroidery show. And, if anyone is interested, I am always up for a meet-up.

I have had a very exciting week. Lots of great stuff going on that resulted in me not spending enough time in the studio. Although that was more about me being distracted as opposed to being out and about.

You know Craft Magazine? Hee hee- I’m in it!

This is what it actually looks like when I open it-

hence the action shot above. Diane and Rachael did an amazing job on the article- I am so proud to be part of it.

Another exciting thing… I got a request for some hi-res images for a project (one more exciting thing that I will tell you about when there is more information) and that made me realize how totally inadequate my camera is for many fun things I’d like to do. I spent tons of time on Amazon, looking at many, many cameras. I went from thinking I’d buy this one (Canon A590IS) for $115 plus or minus to knowing I NEEDED this one (Canon G10) for $500. How does this happen?! I went down to Harvard Square this morning to see if I could find a copy of Craft Magazine. While I was there, I thought I’d go to a camera store and see if they had a G10 in stock that I could touch. Well, sure enough, they not only had it, it was on sale. I’ve got a new Baby! I’m just doing my part to help with the US economic crisis- hee!

a third exciting thing- new threads-

Yesterday I spent more hours then I thought possible picking out beautiful threads. These are danish flower cotton and I also got crewel embroidery wool. I am so grateful to receive such bounty. When I am given a gift like this, I feel it is my duty to make something beautiful from it- my way of saying thank you. This was my haul 2 years ago. I have enjoyed my bounty every time I have opened my drawer full of color!

There is other stuff too… not ready to be posted about though.  So many distractions! I will leave you with a flower photo taken with my new camera.

Yesterday was spent in the garden because frost was predicted for last night.

I picked all the tomatoes- maybe some will ripen before they rot. I brought in all the flower pots and houseplants that had been out all summer. The porch is now a jungle! And I cut flowers. This is pretty much the only time of year when I bring flowers into the house. In general I like them better in the garden. But, for a while, I will enjoy my bounty. Aren’t those (slightly out of focus) dahlias amazing!

Here is a link to some amazing dolls and other wool work- PezziUnici

Tropical Storm Hanna came through- we got lots of rain and my sunflowers sort of tipped-

Not so bad, and by Sunday we were having a beautiful day. I went down to the South End Open Market to see friends and do booth research. I will be showing there during the South End Open Studios weekend on Sept. 20 and 21. On  Columbus Day weekend, October 12, I will be part of a Boston Handmade event at the market. I’ve been very busy doing all the little (and mostly annoying) things that need to get done before a show. Today’s big excitement (doesn’t take much) is that I will now be able to take credit cards- I’ve got my very own card imprinter- otherwise known as a knucklebuster.

Last night I spent the evening watching the first four episodes of the first season of Project Runway while I packaged up my magnet sets. That was a great way to get a boring job done. I have to line up all the jobs I can do while watching and then I’ll be able to finish the season- ahhh, inspiration!

Anyway, in between the other stuff, I have been trying to finish up some more dolls. Today I got one done. My brain must be totally fried because I can’t think clearly enough to come up with a name. Maybe later.

The good photo light is gone pretty early these days- mostly due to the angle of the shadows and how they hit my house and yard. I waited late enough to do these photos that I was working in shadows. I did find one place where the sun was still shining- I like the shadow of her hair.

okay, I went back and fixed the tails of the luna moth on the first baby-

Here is the fix I did-

Now the tails are thinner and hopefully more graceful. The new official baby picture-

And this one because I like it-

And now for some garden photos. The sunflowers are starting to open. The bees love them!

And this was what I was hoping for when I planted the tomatoes, 2 months ago-so exciting!

remember the tomato plants I put into containers in May? Well, they are amazing! Better then I ever expected. They are growing like crazy-

The “containers” are holding up pretty well although one has a hole in the side. It is not causing any problems as of yet. The plants are covered with green tomatoes.  And, this morning, I pick the first tomato off the cherry tomato plant-

You can ignore the dirty gardening hands…

In the front of the house, the flowers are looking great- crocosmia and poppies- perfect reds.

coreopsis “moonbeam” and a self-seeded lavender-

and the alliums in the garden-

and the ones I’ve been pulling out before they drop any MORE seeds!

We left Ithaca and we drove to Chicago for another event. 675 miles- 12 plus hours in the car… what a day. But, once I was there, I had a chance to meet up with Jan of Be*mused who has just recently landed in town. What fun that was! We planned to meet at the Bean and so I had my husband come with me to take a photo- I knew we’d one.

He asked me how long I would be with Jan and I said- I’m not sure but I have a feeling we have a LOT in common. We went and saw a show at the Chicago Cultural Center of the work of Tony Fitzpatrick. Amazing work- so inspiring. I could see applications for quilting, embroidery, collage, so much. I had never seen his work before… it has stuck in my brain.

Then we went off to have lunch… Wow- did we talk! For almost 3 hours! And, I can honestly say we hardly scratched the surface. I know I will be back to Chicago. Now I can’t wait. Hopefully Jan will find the perfect new house soon. I am looking forward to a studio visit.

Well, nothing else on the trip really lived up to that visit. I kept thinking (and talking) about all we’d discussed for days afterwards. I think my husband might have been getting a bit tired of my enthusiasm?

Anyway- some other photos.

I want to grow tomatoes this year. I want to have a LOT of tomatoes instead of a few very precious and expensive ones from the farmers market. Unfortunately I live in an old house with toxic soil around it- not unusual in New England urban and suburban areas. The soil has years of lead paint scrapings, car fumes (more lead) and who knows what. It is not soil anyone would want to grow edibles in. The solution is raised beds or containers. I am going to try to write a tutorial about how I planted my tomatoes based on the excellent suggestions of Bella Dia.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I have a house full of stuff. That makes me reluctant to go out and buy more stuff- like containers to grow tomatoes in. Here is how I made my own, hopefully biodegradable, containers and got my tomatoes started.

material list-

an old cotton T-shirt, size X-Large

some garden fencing that was stuck up in the rafters of the garage, already starting on the biodegrading part- ie rusty.

compost from my compost pile

commercial potting soil

tomato plant

Step 1: Cut the label out of the shirt since it is probably not cotton and wouldn’t decompose.

Step 2: Make a circle shape out of the wire fencing. Mine is about 16 inches across.

Step 3: Place in the garden and push the wire prongs into the soil.

Step 4: Put the t-shirt into the circle, collar edge down. Stretch the bottom edge of the shirt around the top of the fencing. I didn’t worry about weeds underneath- whatever was there will be dead soon.

Now there is a “pot”!

Step 5: Fill it half way with compost or other clean filler dirt, like all last years window boxes that you are replanting. I used compost from my compost pile. Push and stretch out the sides of the t-shirt as you add dirt.

Step 6: Center the tomato plant on top of the compost. Loosen up the root ball.

Step 7: Use the commercial potting soil to fill in around the plant and up to an inch or so from the top. Yes, you are burying 6 inches of stem and leaves. Trust me, that is a good thing. Water thoroughly.

Step 8: Wait 2 months. Hopefully, tomatoes!

I’ve got 4 done. One more to go.

these photos are for the family who know where this is-

That’s the roof of the gazebo.   And the island is back to the way it was when I first saw it.  I wonder if the beavers are still in the lodge on the right.

Pieces of the gazebo are now part of the beaver dam-

On the other side of the street, the water is really low-

Lots of water coming through the culvert though- we were surprised the beavers weren’t working on the dam.  We didn’t see any sign of freshly cut wood.