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.

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!

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!

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 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!

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.

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!

The Met had a bookshop set up outside the exhibit but I was not interested in carrying around any purchases for the rest of the day. I wrote down all the titles that looked good to me and later, checked out which ones are available from my library. I  ordered the catalog to be sent.

And, just in case you can’t make it to the show, here are the books that appealed to me-

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (this is the show catalog)

Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed

Pattern Magic 2 by Tomoko Nakamichi

The Corset: A Cultural History by Valerie Steele

Fashion At The Edge by Caroline Evans

Poiret by Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton

High Style

We were staying at a hotel out by the airport. On Friday, the RAT was in front! I have to admit, I love that rat. I thought it was just a New York thing, but it turns out that Unions use them in a lot of cities. It is hard to ignore but unfortunately, once you are booked into a hotel (usually online), you are unlikely to leave because of it. I can see how it works better for places like restaurants.

On Monday, we went to Soho so I could pick up some goodies at PurlSoho. It is always a treat! We had fun wandering around the neighborhood and stopping into Pearl River. After that, we took a stroll on The High Line. I’ve been wanting to see it for a while and we lucked out because not only was it a perfect day, but a new section of the park had recently opened . It was very crowded and we enjoyed seeing how well it was being used.

Before we left for New York, I made myself a long list of places I’d love to go to. Unfortunately, I had to limit my walking. Remember back at the New Year I mentioned my  hip/back issues? I’ve been going to the Physical Therapist and doing my exercises but the body did not really pass the visit to NYC test. It turned out that one day at the museum and I was pretty much done. And that was before Renegade.

We had planned to leave New York on Tuesday afternoon, but we left in the morning instead. I was too tired and sore to do anymore walking. We stopped in New Haven to have lunch with my Dad and brother, then drove up to Springfield, MA. We drove along part of the path of the tornado that hit Central Massachusetts, 2 weeks ago. I’m not sure if it is rude or morbid but I really wanted to see. I’ve never seen tornado damage in person and I don’t believe I could ever have gotten the idea from photographs. I was left with an impression of severe violence. It is a very different feeling from hurricane damage, although the blue tarps that cover damaged houses are the same. It was shocking.

So, now I’m home and trying to get on with things. There is still a big pile of stuff, unloaded from the car. I have to sort through everything, wash what needs washing, reorganize everything that got shuffled. Then, put it all away. I have gardening to do and woolens to wash. And, my studio needs a big clean-up.

Here are 2 things from the market days that I keep thinking about-

- 2 people came up to me and told me their last name was Kirchner. That doesn’t often happen.

- I’m not sure if this happens to everybody, but is sure seems like people love to give me advice! The people tend to be older- my age really ie 50′s or early 60′s. I believe they think they are giving me a compliment. And that they say these things because they don’t understand that selling and marketing online really does work. I have to assume that they think I have never considered or thought of (and rejected) the things they suggest.

Examples: you should do this other (much more expensive) high-end show. I interpret that as- I think you are good enough to get into this other show that I like and understand- unlike Renegade where I don’t know what to make of a lot of this stuff.

and:  Your work would be perfect for this retail venue (I don’t do any wholesale).

and my favorite- You should donate some of your work to Museums. ??? Okay, that one is strange!

I think these guys are going to look fantastic on my table at Renegade!

My favorite flowers in the back of our house are getting devoured by Winter Moth larvae. The trees are also, but I don’t take that so personally. The tree peony managed a few pathetic blossoms and now, my favorite rose, Abraham Darby, it looking completely mutilated. Bummer.