Retro Straws

I love these retro paper straws. These would be great for around the house for for a vintage-themed party. Hmmm. I'm considering them for a little party I'm planning for a certain someone. Get them here.
Image from ModernLola.

Party Hats

Wouldn't these baker's caps make great birthday party hats? Particularly if you have a baking/cupcake theme or a soda shop theme. You can find them here.
Image from Bake it Pretty

2 blue

2 blue, originally uploaded by m a v.

I love this photo; it's been a favorite of mine for a long time. It's by Mav...
She resides in Portland, ME (by where I grew up) and something about it just reminds me of home. Maybe not MY house, but just home in general. I think it's the old painted door and the patchwork looking curtain. There's a weathered look about it that is so homey and so "Maine."

Color Inspiration

Image of cupcake liners on stand from Darlybird.

Clementine Art

Hi there! A few months ago, I ordered these environmentally friendly supplies from Clementine Art. Can I be honest and say that the packaging is what drew me in? It's lovely up close too. Then, I saw that the materials are all natural, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly. I know Paige is too young to use them right now, but I actually had fun coloring with the soy crayons. They feel so silky and smooth to color with! I loved them (much more than the traditional wax kind we all use). The colors are more vibrant as well. Sometimes I find it relaxing to just sit with crayons and color in a kid's coloring book. I find that it helps me clear my head when I focus on something so simple and easy. The items are a tad pricier than what you might expect, but it's a quality product and I've been enjoying them for myself! I guess I can share with Paige once she's older...I GUESS. :)

Accomplishment

Hi there!
Well, since I last wrote about wanting to cook and sew I have:
1. Made a banana bread. Yum! It came out great and I used my Mom's "Maine Banana Bread" recipe. It made for nice breakfasts each day.

2. Made a potato soup for dinner. That's shredded cheddar on top. It was very easy, but I made it too salty by accident. Oops. It was edible though. Better luck next time I guess!


3. Signed up for and began my first sewing lesson. My teacher is guiding me through making a simple skirt. So much to learn! I need a lot of practice, I'm already forgetting how to thread the machine and wind the bobbin and such. I have a hard time with my short-term memory so things that require a lot of steps take me a while to catch on to. I need to keep doing it over and over I guess. Too bad the machine I have here is nothing like the one at the classroom!

These are small steps, but I'm proud of myself for setting goals and making moves towards them. My next sewing lesson is next Saturday. In the meantime, I plan to make some sugar cookies from scratch this week. Just in time for Valentine's Day! It's another thing I've never made so I'm looking forward to diving in. I think some cupcakes will be on the agenda too. My stomach is growling already. I hope all is well with you!

The Last Painting

Hi there!
I finally took a photo of the last painting we did in class back in November. Here's my version.
It's of a house on the Cape...I added an extra chimney to make up for mistake I did in making the house too long. Oh well! :)

The Challenge

Hi friends!
It's been such a long time since I've written here! I'm so bummed about that fact. Not much has been going on in my creative life. I did finish that watercolor class back in November...I need to take a photo of the last painting we did and I'll be sure to post it. I enjoyed the course and it was great to get out once per week for an activity I could enjoy just for me. This year I haven't bothered to make any resolutions, but I do like to think about the directions in which I'd like to better myself going forward. One thing? Cooking. I have no clue what I'm doing. I did well in Home Ec back in seventh grade, but that was a zillion years ago, so that isn't much help. I always found it frustratingly boring and then I hated the cleanup afterward. So, when I was single, I stuck with canned food or frozen dinners. Nothing healthy in the slightest. Chris is the chef of the house and he enjoys cooking. He makes wonderful meals and is even able to make things without a recipe. He's very talented. Anyway, I'd like to be more brave about cooking and try my hand at some meals for the family. I know Chris wouldn't mind coming home some nights during the week to a hot meal already prepared. I just have no idea how to clean up meat, trim fat, etc. It's so embarrassing to admit. So, my goal is to find out how to do those things and venture forth. I know, people out there are rolling their eyes and wonder what rock I've been living under...or are saying that it's not rocket science. But for someone like me who survived a long-ass time on Ramen Noodles...well, it's a challenge. My poor Mom always begged me to pay attention to her lessons in cooking as she worked in the kitchen. But I was all "women don't ALWAYS have to be the cooks of the house MOM!" as I gave vague attention. Why didn't I try to pay attention more??
The other thing I want to learn is how to sew. Again, we made duffel bags back in Home Ec, but the teacher did most of it for us and I have no memory of how we did anything. I know how to stitch by hand. That's pretty much it! I have access to a sewing machine and would LOVE to use it, so I'm going to enroll in sewing lessons that are given in the town next door. I'd love to be able to hem my own jeans and pants, create softie animals that I design on my own, make little dresses for Paige, create valances for our living room, and create throw pillows. Not all at once obviously. But, I figure I need to have some projects in mind if I'm going to learn, right? When will I have time to do all of this? Who the hell knows? I'll find it I guess. Other people do it, so I can too, darn it! People don't learn to play a full piano concerto overnight; they learn the scales first. But, over time, they become fluid players. I suspect the same will be true for cooking and sewing...with some time and practice I will improve and be making magic. At least in my fantasy.
I don't have a plan for a CHALLENGE per se. I plan to chronicle my attempts toward my goals here to breathe some new life into things. It's a way of holding myself accountable. So. Was this post boring enough for you? Do YOU have some goals for things you've always wanted to learn? Are there skills you'd like to acquire this year? Feel free to share. I won't judge. I can't cook, remember? But NOT FOR LONG!

Paper Yum

I'm in love with these assorted papers from Mieke Willems in Belgium. They have an online shop and ship to the U.S.; the papers are small...origami-like sized squares. I've got a hundred ideas for the uses of the paper but can hardly bear to cut any.

Hi friends!
Since Paige was born, my art life has taken a huge backseat. Baby comes first, obviously. As time has gone by I've been itching to be creative again. If you read this blog frequently then you know that I've been taking a watercolor painting class to get me out of the house once per week so that I can focus on something that I enjoy and relax. It's been so great! I have so much fun and really have learned a lot. I've only got 2 classes left which leaves me wondering what I'll take next. Perhaps sewing? Anyhoo, I decided to incorporate painting into my life a bit more; but how to do that with a now semi-crawling baby? I need to be nearby to keep a watch on Little P whenever she is awake. So, we took one of my office desks and put it in the family room at a window overlooking the conservation land behind our house. I can see Paige's play area to my right as I work and I have the wonderful natural light coming in through the window. It's been a great solution to incorporating my time for painting with being with Paige. Why should the two be separate? Why go into a different space and treat my creative life as a separate one from my daughter? I love that I can dabble at my work here and there while she's around and I just feel happier in general. I like that she can watch me do something I enjoy and know that she can be a part of it too if she wants. Of course, the majority of my time will still be spent playing with her, teaching her, and tending to her needs; but it is nice to know that I can include my own needs into the day and I now have a place to do it!
Here's a painting I did on my own here at my desk...without the guidance of the teacher. It is of an old converted barn in Maine...from a photo I took one summer. The computer isn't normally going to be at the desk, but the photo I was using to paint from was on my flickr site and I was too lazy to print it out. Then, of course I had to check facebook! :)
Damn you addictive Facebook! Damn you! :)

Watercolor Painting 2

Thought I'd share the second painting we did in watercolor class. I'm happy with it; although we've had to work so quickly in the 2 classes it took to complete it. The teacher's demonstrations take up a chunk of the class. I'm looking forward to trying a painting on my own...now I just need to find a chunk of time for myself just for painting! You can view how my first painting turned out here.

Soap

Hi friends!
This weekend we were visiting Chris' family in Connecticut...we decided to head over to Greenwich Avenue to do a little holiday shopping. While at Kate's Paperie (of COURSE I had to go there!!!) I saw these gorgeous packaged soaps and picked a few up. Not only did each smell AMAZING (and unique!); I love the packaging. The label design is sophisticated and I especially love the different patterned papers. These ones shown are tiny mini bars (great for part of a gift bag or something like that) but there are also giant bars. You can get full bars or a gift set of 6 mini bars HERE.

Lonny Magazine

I am loving the new online magazine Lonny. I've been missing the shelter magazines Blueprint and Domino since they've both shut down. Lonny fills that void and then some! See for yourself and enjoy all the eye candy!

Bedroom Re-Do!

We redid our bedroom not all that long ago and I thought I'd share some befores and afters. Click HERE to see photos of our bedroom before the redo and the afters.
If you want to see it all via a slideshow, click HERE.

Watercolor Class

Hi there!
In a step to find time to enjoy something that is just for me AND just for fun, I enrolled in a watercolor class at my local community center. It meets every Monday night for the next several weeks; last night was the first gathering. I LOVED it! The teacher is going over techniques and "how-tos" with lots of individual instruction thrown in. I took a course in college and the professor literally gave us assignments and then sat there as we worked. I had no clue what I was doing the entire time and just sort of figured things out as I went along. But, I struggled. In just last night's course I learned several things I'd been doing wrong that had been making watercoloring really hard and giving me crappy results. So, it's been worth it so far! As you can see in the photo, we've begun a one-color painting of a lighthouse (here it's about half-finished) to learn about shading, tone and controlling the water. All that aside, it was nice to get away and do something for myself for pure enjoyment. It's nice to have no purpose...there's no grade, no critique, no trying to sell the paintings, etc. I get to just sit, get lost in the project at hand, and play around with it. There was a mix of people in the room; old and young...experienced and un-experienced. There were no judgements (a long way from the scary and sometimes mean critiques I suffered through college...I have a great story of a professor who ripped up one of my projects into little shreds...sigh) It was so relaxing and the 2 hours went by like nothing. I can get used to this! I came home feeling so excited and energized simply from this one thing! What do you do that is for yourself and just for fun? It's something to think about if you haven't been doing it already. Have a great day!

Planner

Phew! I'm already getting appointments and things I need to think about for next year. Time to get a planner for 2010! I am now in LOVE with this Laurel Denise 2010 planner...it's beautiful and most importantly, functional. If you click on the link you can "look inside" the book and see details of the inside pages... Pretty cool stuff!

Noted

Hi friends! It's been quiet around here! I'm sorry for that; we've been filling our time with trips to the Minuteman National Park (nearby), visiting with friends, running errands, and overall life-living. I've been trying to enjoy the nice weather while we have it before winter comes crashing in a few months. I wanted to show you the thank you notes I designed and letterpressed for Paige; they are made to match the birth announcements I designed and printed. Now I have a custom card to send out whenever she gets a gift or needs to send a note. Of course, for now I write them but I'll be sure to get her into the habit of writing her own thank yous when she is able! Have a great day! I'm off to run errands and then watch Paige as she is, as of yesterday, finally grabbing her feet and inspecting them! She's a little monkey, that one.

Charming

I saw this book on the "for free" cart at the library and snapped it right up. Isn't it cute? I find the illustrations so delightful and charming. And isn't it fun with the price tag is so right? :)

Dorothy Skirt

Hi there!
I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I last posted here. *sigh* To be honest, I've been spending my days with baby Paige...snuggling and playing with her and enjoying the weather when it rarely isn't raining out. My creative endeavors have taken a serious back seat! It's strange not focusing on design and artful pursuits and I'm starting to get that creative itch again. But, for now, I've been allowing myself to focus on being a new mum and adjusting to this new life.
That being said, I thought I'd show you this new summery skirt (ahem, pardon the wrinkles, the iron isn't my friend!) I just got from Etsy shop Favorite Style. To quote her shop description: " "favorite" is a fun new line of women's clothing created by Genifer Goodman Sohr. Sohr previously led creative development for major retailers including Victoria's Secret, Old Navy, The Body Shop, and Oilily."
The one here is called the "Dorothy Skirt"...a cotton dream in a one-size fits all solution. It's got elastic waist at the back so it's very forgiving and comfortable. I think this is my new go-to summer outfit! You cannot lose, and with a price set at $38 it's a steal!
See you soon friends, I'm going to make a real effort to post fun inspirational finds here more often! Now that I'm getting the hang of caring for an infant I think I can swing it!

Paige's Birth Announcement

Hi friends!
I've finally finished mailing out the birth announcements I made for family and a few friends. They were quite the undertaking! But, I didn't want to skimp since I do this for a living and really wanted to do something nice for my own child. Also, these were very intensive to do and no client (or very few at least!) would ever order something like this (it's very cost prohibitive due to the time it takes to line envelopes, do a 2-color letterpress job, print and cut belly bands, etc.). Anyway, here it is! I lined most of the envelopes while still pregnant. I did the design while pregnant as well. The little insignia at the top with the "P" in it says "Little P est. 2009" And next to it says "P is for Paige".
After Paige was born, I updated the information in the design and sent out for the letterpress plates. I then printed all the belly-bands out on my inkjet printer and trimmed them. When my Mother in Law was here hanging out with Paige I finished lining the envelopes and even ordered a custom rubber stamp I designed to do the return address on the back of the envelope (and I can continue using the stamp for all my mailings now!) Then, on a Sunday, Chris spent the day with Paige while I letterpressed and trimmed her announcements down. I also assembled them all. And during her "naps" (they were short last week so I use the term loosely) or fussy evenings, I stuffed and addressed the envelopes. (that took all week!) It's finally finished and I'm happy with how it came out. Phew! I hope you like them too!