Category Archives: nature

what happened to June?!

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wow- I just realized that I will have gone a month without posting a new doll. What a crazy month! It is not that I haven’t been working.

Sage (my intern) and I have been working on a big pile of girls. We’ve got ten going. When I get home from Paris, these are going to get finished up. I also was working on a project that is one of those fun things that I can’t tell you about quite yet… actually, just having a project that I can’t mention is a thrill in itself! And, of course, there has been all my Paris prep. I am making myself a few new skirts and shirts. Hopefully I will actually finish them before we leave tomorrow.

If you are interested, here is the google map I am making with all the interesting suggestions people have made. I sure I won’t get to everything, but I have a lot to choose from.

And the garden is thriving. I’ve got my tomatoes in, using my containers, but this year I tried lining them with corrugated cardboard before stretching the t-shirts. So far, so good.

I am growing Carbons, Pink Brandywine, Copia, Bonny Best, Opalka, and Isis Candy.

Well, see you in Paris!

busy times

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That week flew by. And now a new one begins. Happy Mothers Day!

My tree peony bloomed- always a treat.

We’ve had some crazy weather in the few days since I took the photos- wild thunderstorm, torrential rain and now some very windy weather. The plant is looking a bit tussled today. The flowers rarely last more then a week so I appreciate them while I can.

On Friday night I went to the MassArt Senior Fashion Show: Current 2010.  I was offered complimentary tickets (not sure how I got on that list!)- it is not something I would ordinarily think of going to. Well, it was so much fun! I have never been to anything like it- there was the runway, the models, the collections. I tried to find photos but there wasn’t much. I did find this one of my favorite dress of the evening. I hope I can go next year- it was a blast!

Saturday, doll club. We did needle felting. I will not be changing over to needle felting any time soon. Sorry about no pics- the photos I took were too awful to post.

And today. Working on- gladiator sandals.

Maybe too much fiddly work. Piled on the table are men in progress, paper pattern pieces, fabric marking tools, trims…

And the desk, looking cleaner then usual.

This coming week will focus on finishing those guys and then I’m off to Minneapolis on Thursday for J’s graduation. Life seems to have suddenly shifted to high speed.

other goings on

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walking around town- it’s Spring!

I wasn’t the only one taking photos.

I love these antique slate gravestones. There are some very interesting geometric and repeating patterns around the words, willows and urns.

On Wednesday, I went on an Arlington “craft crawl” with 3 friends. The first stop was Balich’s 5 &10. That store never ceases to amaze me- all the crazy old stuff they have there. I bought some snaps that were originally priced at 35 cents. That had been blacked out and repriced to .65, in pencil this time. All ready to raise again in another 10 years or so. They also have some of the funniest clothing ever and it is no wonder it never sold back in the 70’s or whenever it was new stock- like the chartreuse and white plaid bellbottoms size 10 girls. I was thrilled to find the peach Rit dye that has been discontinued- 4 boxes! Yes, I snagged them all. Here are some photos from Kerry, since I forgot to take any pics at all. We also went to Playtime and ArtBeat. Never made it to the Fabric Corner so we’ll save that for next time.

I am trying to be on a stats diet- I think once a week is a good idea. No blog or Etsy stats, no google alerts. I’ve been totally addicted and it is not good for me- since I can’t really do much to determine what direction they are going on any given day.

Peter is coming home for the summer next week. That means that I should take advantage of the open floor space that is available for just a few more days. I’m thinking I’ll cut out some clothing and possibly move the quilt to the next stage. Life seems to have switched gears around here and all of a sudden my calendar is filling up and there are travel plans in the offing. Busy!

past week

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It’s been a weird week. When I finish some pieces that I really like, as with the forest girls, it can be very difficult to get on track again. I started a number of new girl dolls this week. They are in a pile on my desk. They have had faces on, faces off. Then on again. And off again! Legs on. Legs off. New legs. Legs reattached. Clothes made and rejected. Hair on. Now I am sure it needs to be redone. A very frustrating week. Jodie is very eloquent about it here.

The weather has turned beautiful though after all the rain. I found this on the road while taking a walk-

A little bird skull.

And at the park, all the turtles were out catching rays. It seems so early but really, what do I know about that.

Yesterday, Ben and I went to the Western Ave Studios in Lowell. We visited Liz–

Liz–

and Linda, who I forgot to take a photo of- sorry! It was a beautiful day to get out of the house and studio and go for a ride.

I did finish one doll this week. Well, I haven’t looked at her today but last night I thought she was finished. Hopefully I will get some photos later.

Happy Easter!

wet

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You may or may not have heard, but we’ve been getting a lot of rain here. Record amounts. Luckily for us, the roof is sound and the basement is dry. The backyard has another pool but that will be gone in a few days. I wonder how the flowers that have already come up will fare?

Yesterday, when the rain was really coming down,  I went to see how a local stream was looking. Pretty full-

Today we had a little excitement around a downed wire- it involved sparks, smoke, fire… The firemen showed up and kept an eye on things until the electric company arrived to deal with it.  We chatted. It came up that I am an artist. I showed them what I do and told them I needed a photo for my blog.

Thanks guys!

numbers and ice

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I’ve been trying to organize my various numbers to figure out taxes. Ben (husband) has been having fun with those numbers- he’s that kind of guy. Below is a map of all the places in the US that I have sold something on Etsy, total. I opened my Etsy shop in March 2006. Ben collected the zip codes, son Julian made the map. Thanks guys!

And I’ve sold to 24 countries-

Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States.

He made me up some other charts like the curve of my Etsy sales but I won’t bore you!

Today is a messy weather day. We started out with pouring rain last night. It changed to snow in the night. We woke up to an instantly recognizable pinging sound on the windows- sleet.

We call this slop. It is heavy and messy to shovel.

first meet-up

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What is that expression- “start as you mean to go on”- that is it, right? So the first thing to work on is my biggest goal- making more real life connections. I am inviting Boston area crafty business people to meet-up with me in Davis Square. The first meet-up will be Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Starbucks at 10am. If you can’t make it but would like to be notified about future meet-ups, send me an email (mimik(at)pobox.com). At some point I will start a google group or Facebook page or something. I need to come up with a catchy name- any ideas?

We had our first cardinal at the bird feeder- so pretty in the snow!

bird1

bird2

bird3

checking in

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This seems to be the time of year where very little posting happens here- too many secret projects. I looked back through some other years and yep, pretty quiet around here.

But, there is a lot going on. I don’t like post without photos near the top so I’ll start with the wildlife adventures-

mouse

Yikes! Mouse in the house! Mango assumed that Santa made an early visit, just for him. Our neighbor says about mice- there is never just one… I am hoping it came in when I brought the plants in from the porch.

And, we have rearranged the living room and put up a bird feeder. This is my view as I work on the computer now-

bird

We got snow from the big East Coast storm although not as much as a lot of other places. The kiddos are trickling in for Christmas. Peter has been home for more then a week- sleeping mostly or at least when I am awake he’s sleeping. Julian came home last night, just after the snow stopped. Pick-ups at the airport in snowy weather are becoming a new Christmas tradition. Eleanor is due in on Wednesday. I guess we should assume that means we will be getting more snow then.

I’ve got lots of projects going- enough that I am making myself crazy and they will never get all finished. Hey, another Christmas tradition! I want to try out this bleach pen technique, inspired by this post at Angry Chicken. I had a heck of a time finding a bleach pen. Then I did some tests. Now I am super nervous about the actual project- Silly me!

I am doing some baking and major mess making in the kitchen. We got the tree on Saturday before the snow came. It is not decorated yet. I no longer do Christmas Tree- someone else can do that job. I can be very Grinch-y around Christmas. It is a very stressful time for a maker. Especially when you also have a family that expects to have a Christmas. I find myself screaming in my head to everyone in my vicinity – If you want a f…ing Christmas, help out a little around here!! I keep it to myself though. My problem. Breathe.

Very soon I am off to the Boston Handmade Downtown Gallery. I’ll be working there today- 11 to 3.