for now at least… I am away from the studio. In Ithaca, NY actually. I will be back home next week, frantically getting ready for the Boston Handmade Marketplace.
Another tiki-
view from the top-
And a streetscape-
I thought this angle was interesting-
And a tiny pond-
These pieces will be coming to the Boston Handmade Marketplace with me. If they don’t sell, they will be on Etsy sometime in the week after that.
well, I have been getting some things done… small projects that are taking much longer then they should because of all that other stuff. I am trying to make some smaller things to fill out my booth at the Marketplace.
Pin cushion worlds! This is the first time I’ve made any with the idea of selling them. Here are the first ones-
house 1-
house 2-
and Rapunzel’s tower-
Here is the back view- since that is what I always want to see-
I wanted to use the extremely flowery decoration on these tea cups as inspiration. I thought about houses with gardens. There are more in the works.
Remember the paperbag swag project? I finished a page way back in July of last year (2007) and then… nothing. The project went on a long vacation. Hopefully we are all back on track now. I am so happy to be finishing and I can’t wait to get my book back with all the artwork from everyone else! This is due in the mail on June 4. I spent the last month thinking about a design and the weekend actually putting it together.
My last page is for Kristin. I have enjoyed working on this page because I’ve met Kristin in person and so there feels like a real connection. Her theme is Journey.
Getting the color right in the photographs is a challenge. In the picture below, the blue is right and the green is wrong.
I am so impressed by people who embroider words- ack-hard! I did a mix of machine embroidery, hand embroidery and ribbon embroidery.
I did some little drawings that I was planning to incorporate into the piece but in the end, didn’t use them. I made a bookmark out of them. They are suppose to show home, family, art.
Here is a gluing it into the book photo. I always get nervous at this part- what if I totally mess it up!
And, the swag!
Some other links connected to this project-
Theresa most recent post about it. Kristen. Cathy. Amy. Ellia.
Three more men in vintage bathing suits, one sepia tone. I decided to wait and post these as a batch instead of one at a time, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… seems like that would be repetitive and boring. I think that the sepia fellow looks odd with the other 2. I took loads of photos and was not satisfied with any of them. He looks better when paired with his other sepia friend.
Here they are in the order I finished them in-
#1
#2
#3-
I recently got an updated version of WordPress. I hate trying to adjust to a new system. I get so frustrated, it makes me feel so stupid and I am right back in 7th grade trying to memorize a french assignment. As far as I can tell, what I get for this aggravation is tags. What I have lost is understanding how to put pictures where I want them (among other things). So, I am sorry about how spread out everything looks- I couldn’t figure out how to put the long thin photos next to each other. I’ll probably figure it out in a year or so- right before the next upgrade. Whine, whine, whine….
I’ve been thinking about some different ways of approaching the men dolls. I got this idea about old photos- black & white and sepia tones. And also trying some other characters- hence this pirate.
He is various shades of browns. It was harder then I expected to get the browns right.
Back views-
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.
I am back to work on fellows. I am exploring some new ideas/directions.
On Saturday we drove up to Vermont for a wedding. It was a beautiful day. The photo is of the floating bridge in Brookfield.
Sunday was opening day of the South End Open Market. Lots of friends were there!
Amy Burhoe and Beth–
Betsy of Stonehouse Studio–
Brian and Jen– yikes! They are moving to Brooklyn!
Louise and Amy Olsen, who had stopped in right before I got there-
And I saw Katy. She was there, of course, since she is one of the organizers. Amazing to think about- I went to the market early last year- maybe not opening day, but early in the season. I only knew one person there. What a difference a year and a little networking can make- hurray for Boston Handmade!
After the market we went over to Jessica’s open studio. Lots more great artwork to see. A wonderful weekend!
