old work

In lieu of not doing much journalling recently, I have been taking on the project of documenting some of my older journals. These are some pages from the preceding journal to the one I am keeping now. Someday I hope to have scanned all of my journal work and be able to see it all together in one place, rather than in individual journals.

30 days of happiness :: 25

PJs with feet...
and kisses nigh-nights...
and picture books before bed...

new work

Here are some more of the ornaments I have been working on this past week. They will be shrunk down, printed, and glued on 2" thick glass tiles. I think they will look very nice, but it always a little scary not knowing for certain. I suppose that is why some people do samples or trials before they jump headfirst into making 200 of something. Well, I think trial runs are just for scaredy-cats. ;)

30 days of happiness :: 24

Michigan

I flew solo to Michigan to visit some dear girlfriends this past weekend. It was way to quick, but really nice to have some quality old friend time. My friend Carrie lives in Ann Arbor and she showed us around downtown (including a Greg Brown concert!), took us on a beautiful walk along the river, opened her home to us, and brought us to the most spectacular paper store I have EVER seen. (Click here to see Hollander's online store. Um, It is heavenly... you should peek.)
Here we are taking our long walk along the river with non-stop catching up that would drive our partners crazy... It was so beautiful out...
There is nothing like time spent with older friends to shine clarity on your present life. And there is also nothing like a little space from your home life to make you appreciate it. It was my first overnight away from Lili and she did great~ barely missing me. Supposedly she said on the first morning when she woke up and I still wasn't around "Mama at work? and Alex replied, "Yeah, I guess so" and she just said, "Oh!" and that was that. ♥

holiday time

So I have begun making holiday things. I must say it feels very weird. I am savoring all the bits of fall that I love, and then painting images of snowflakes and Christmas trees... it just feels wrong. But, each year when I wait until the holiday spirit prompts me to make holiday goods it is too late to sell them. So even though it would have been practical to start this endeavor in the summer I am quite proud of myself for not waiting until Thanksgiving. I went out to do my errands the day after Halloween and was inundated with all the stores busting out the holiday stuff already. Maybe it is just me, but I find it disconcerting. So on that note, I am sharing an image I created to make ornaments from. One of the not-so-Christmasy ones. I am sure I will show you them all at some point, but not yet. I am still enjoying the Halloween-y-ness around here...

30 days of happiness : 23

22 weeks!
Some facts about the baby's development at this point: "Your baby is about 11 inches long and weighs in at about 1 pound. The eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed, and the fingernails cover the fingertips. Sounds from a conversation are loud enough to be heard by the fetus in the uterus. If you talk, read, or sing to your baby, it's reasonable to expect him or her to be able to hear you."

30 days of happiness : 22

Halloween

Halloween was a rainy, foggy day, but we stayed festive by carving pumpkins inside. The rain cleared up just in time to go trick-or-treating!
Auntie Ema took a shift bringing the little dragon to the doors:
When we got home Alex had our pumpkins all lit up waiting for us!

We finished off the day by having a homemade pizza and dance party with our neighbors. I hope everyone else had an enjoyable day too!

30 days of happiness :: 21

Grateful to have a beautiful dirt road to live on...

our yearly Halloween package arrived!

The last several years my mother-in-law (Also affectionately known as Nene) has sent out a crazy Halloween package before Halloween. The kids are ecstatic when it arrives... Okay, we are pretty excited too... This year's package had a distinctly Beachy theme going on. It got pretty silly with all the grass skirts, foam bikini tops, and crazy accessories. Thanks Nene!
Click HERE for last year's silliness...

a family day at flat rock bakery

The days of sitting around on a weekend morning, drinking coffee, and listening to "This American Life" together seem to be a thing of the far distant past... So when we we woke up on Sunday to a beautiful fall day we decided to take a family trip to our favorite bakery.It is a bakery that is owned and run by our friend Dave. He used to be the manager of the bread department at the bakery where Alex and I worked. He started this bakery a few years ago, and not only does he make the most incredible bread and wood-fired pizzas, but he also makes amazing pastries... (which happen to be a pregnancy downfall of mine)It takes about 45 mins to drive there, but it was well worth it. Plus it was such a lovely day with all the leaves... On the way home we stopped and picked out some pumpkins to carve. hooray for family days...

new work

This is a painting that I finished this month. A friend of mine commissioned me to paint it as a wedding gift for her husband on their wedding day. It was a lot of fun to make. I incorporated maps of where they met, and an inscription from a letter the mother of the groom sent her, and the date of their wedding typed on my typewriter.

This is the best picture I have of it, and you can't see any of the details. You can get an idea of what it was like though, and in a way it is perfect, as it was such a personal painting for them. Here is to a happy marriage Kristi and Jeff!

12" x 12" x 1.75"

summery

Monday: Unpack from LEAF. Go to my women's circle at night. Alex starts to feel sick.
Tuesday: Alex goes to work. I pick him up at noon because he feels terrible. Lili and I go to Gita's birthday party.
Wednesday: I have no recollection at all of Wednesday. Oh right. Ema kindly fed Lili and I dinner. It took an hour and half to put Lili to sleep.
Thursday: Kindermusik class with Lili in the morning. Pick up 2 bushels of local yummy apples. Survivor tv night at the Carmonas and we eat tacos.
Friday: Alex still feels sick. We all hunker down inside and eat homemade chicken soup because it is raining outside. Lil and I are trying our hardest to stay healthy. Come up with a new bedtime plan, implement, so far so good.

That is the week that flew by in a nutshell. Mostly it has been a lot of quality time with this one as Alex has been down and out.

leaf festival

Here are some pictures of my booth from the LEAF festival. We had a wonderful time despite the frigid soggy weather much of the time. Overall it was a success, and I got to have all sorts of interesting conversations with people who stopped by over the course of the weekend. My booth overlooked the beautiful lake, and we could clearly hear the music from the main stage of the event (Cowboy Junkies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Arrested Development, Mamadou Diabate, and much more) clearly.
Something that has started to happen as I attend more fairs is that people stop by to tell me that in seeing my work they are inspired to start creating or re-creating artistically themselves. I think these moments are the best part of putting myself out there in the public eye. Nothing feeds my soul like hearing someone say they are so inspired and can't wait to go start something. You know???

We were recovering from the weekend quite well, until unfortunately, Alex came down with the flu today. Please send any well wishes his way~ he could use them... Thanks.