just for fun

Just for fun I have been playing around with making jewelry out of mica, grommets, vintage lace, handmade papers, and resin. Nothing significant has come of any of it, but it is always fun to tinker. :)

dancing with shadows

captured moments of the kids dancing with their shadows at the beach...

one year!

Over the weekend Seed & Sky had it's feature on the SouleMama blog. Orders and questions started rolling in while we were at the beach. We were checking in on our shop with our smartphone, trying to keep tabs on what was going on while also trying to relax. All in all I think we did a pretty good job of it.

I had hoped for a good response from this sponsorship, but I didn't know what to expect. I was overwhelmed with gratitude at all of the heartfelt positive feedback and orders.
wow...
When we got home we immediately began putting together and packaging up the multitude of orders. Normally I pack orders solo and up at my desk~ but we moved the operation to the living room floor for this project.
To read our interview & feature click here.

It feels serendipitous that yesterday marked Seed & Sky's one year anniversary too!

small vacation

This past weekend the family drove to Hunting Island SC to celebrate my sister's 31st birthday camping at the ocean. It was such a long overdue treat to leave home and work behind and spend a weekend playing in the water and sand...We could look out at the ocean from our campsite and listen to the waves crashing as we fell asleep. Dolphins, s'mores, beer, long walks on the amazingly beautiful beach, the smell of campfire embedded in your clothes... 

*sigh*

fermented veggies

I have recently started making lacto-fermented vegetables. 

I found THIS whey-free version on The Whole Life Nutrition blog. I love this recipe because it is so easy. All the batches I have made so far have included beets which add this luscious pinkish purple color to all the vegetables. I will say that it smells pretty bad though. (a little like stinky feet) I had to move the jars out to the tool shed for the final days... but... when they are done they are tasty, and so good for your health. And they last for 3 months in the fridge. And my kids will eat small portions of them. 

the recipe:

1 glass quart jar with a plastic lid

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt

2 cups filtered water

veggies

(check out the tutorial video too!)

whoops

We were taking down some trees today. The very last (and biggest) poplar tree went the opposite direction it was supposed to go, and it directly hit our house. It took out part of the fence, our gate, and the top of our stovepipe. The kids and I were looking out the big window in the living room when I saw the tree falling directly toward us. I grabbed a kid in each arm and darted for the opposite side of the house.  Lil was especially shaken up, and I spent a long time reassuring her that the fence doesn't matter, what matters is that everyone is okay.

happy spring

a detail of that  same painting I have been working on for weeks. 

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley 

grandmother

Aren't these the best photos of these two? I love them both so...

view from our bedroom window this weekend

1. The Corner of the Carmona's house.
2. The newly planted peach tree.
3. Grandma Nene, Atticus, & the girls hoola-hooping.
4. Cherry trees in bloom.
5. Muscadine grape vines over the gate. 
6. The yome (and several trees) is GONE!
7. Noah's half pipe (for skateboarding)
8. Our garden cast iron bathtub. Maybe this is the year we build a little privacy fence and have a bath!
9. Trampoline.
10. Newly planted bed of cilantro, scallions, parsley, and dill.
11. Snap peas. 
12. Raised garden beds with kale, spinach, beets and carrots.
13. Newly transplanted gooseberry bushes. 
14. Fig tree just starting to bud.

big

Print from ProjectType on Etsy

Part of my dream last night I was trying to run up a paved road that had been torn apart. Boulder size chunks of pavement were strewn in every which way. It was extremely difficult, but I made it to the top of the hill. I did not stop to relish in the moment because I was onto the next part of the weird dream immediately. However, in retrospect, it seems significant. 

new work

 Find a Safe Spot to Dream

Kelcey Loomer

8" x 10" on panel

acrylic, antique papers, pen, ink

2012

I listed my new painting in my shop tonight. It feels good.

Next on my to-do list before bed is to blow up our air-mattress on the living room floor for my Mother-in-law who is visiting from Arizona. Alex is picking her up from the airport right now!

and here is a detail:

some of my favorite things

A small selection from my stack of tiny mismatched plates. Some of the plates were thrift-ed, but most came from my Grandmother's kitchen after she passed away. Aren't they so pretty?

I always feel more in love with whatever I am eating if it is on one of these plates...

Every Possible Wild Space  20" x 20"  :: Kelcey Loomer 2007 (sold)

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true...


Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” 

Steve Jobs (Stanford commencement speech, June 2005)

inspiration :: marisa seguin

 I recently came across Marisa Seguin's art on Etsy.  Being a lover  obsessed with maps myself, I fell in love with her map illustrations instantly. I love the balance she creates, and the colors are fantastic.

and my favorite:

I wish she had a map of my town!  :)

You can also find more of her amazing work here:
Her Blog
and Her Website

garden prep

 photos from my Mom's visit

We spent a lot of time prepping the garden this afternoon. Raking, trimming... I always love the act of pulling back the brown from last year and exposing the soil. It always feels like a hopeful act. Seo is at a much better age to actually get work done in the garden this year too~ so that is hopeful. Today was the perfect weather for it. Breezy and brilliantly sunny. The kids played in the dirt and jumped on the trampoline.


After the sun set behind the mountain we came in and washed up. We put on the "Let it Be" album while we made dinner. Kale, roasted root vegetables (in coconut oil), and fish sticks. Seo wanted to eat straight mayonnaise with a fork. We didn't let him.

It was a very special & plain day.

on my desk

I keep working on this painting then setting it down for awhile.  I keep wanting it to be a little more edgy... but "it" seems to want to be a sweet painting.
*shrug*
Do you ever have a piece that seems to want something different than what you want? I am trying hard to let go of my expectations and let it be pretty if that is what it is meant to be.  I will say that I am loving the colors that are coming out!

spring cleaning

Swallow Print

I spent all day today working on my sorely neglected Sweet Mess Shop. (My art has really taken a back seat to Seed & Sky lately) I took some new photos and started editing my descriptions and tags. I knew deep down how discombobulated it was, but I still found it shocking. There is a lot of hidden time in the upkeep of an online shop that is for sure. 

Hopefully over the next couple of days it will get 100% spiffed up ~ just in time for spring!

studio

An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. 
An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. 
Charles Bukowski

baby goats

One of our neighbor's goats just had three baby goats. They called us up in the morning to ask if we wanted to walk down and see them. Seeing those leggy fluff balls made me miss having goats. Atticus followed us down, and he seemed to miss our goats a bit too... :)