Visit from Jaja

Jaja came to visit this weekend and we had a blast!  We went to an incredible workshop at the Center for Art in Wood, in Old City where we created a "cabinet of curiosities" out of a cigar box and with great instruction and inspiration from the staff at the center.  We created a portrait for the front, and of course I chose to draw my cats.  Yes, I'm a cat lady.  I really like how it turned out:

 

They had great supplies for us to use, and the boxes already had elaborately patterned paper around the edges that we could use as a jump off for inspiration.  Apparently cigar stores just smash these boxes and throw them in the trash, so it's easy to get them if you're there at the right time.  Which I will obviously be doing now that I know how beautiful these boxes are without any decoration at all.

 

We also went to a work day at Farm 51, which is run by my friends Andrew and Neal.  We destroyed some raised beds and harvested broccoli, then had a bonfire and ate delicious home made coffee cake and cookies.  Their house next door is gorgeous and another constant source of inspiration:

 

 

 

An amazing and inspirational weekend and a great way to start the new year!

Be My Savory Valentine

This valentine from Chloe came with two bags of tea and two home made biscotti, all of which have been consumed. My friends are so creative and so loving. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Be My Nerdy Valentine

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Possibly one of the most hated holidays, but I adore it. Making and sending valentines is one of my favorite ways to tell my friends and family I love them, and because I didn't send any last year I am twice as determined to get some out this year.

I found an old Biology text book in a free box on Baltimore Ave. and some friends helped me brainstorm these punny lines. They crack me up and I hope the friends who get them are equally as delighted. They'll be arriving late, as usual, but I don't think it makes a difference to most people.

So Happy Valentine's Day! If you don't have anyone special to share it with, just remember that romantic love isn't the only love that exists in this world.

Baby's First Surprise!

Two of M's cousins had babies this summer and I had a field day deciding what to knit for them. I've been ogling the amazing baby surprise jackets that everyone seems to be knitting (especially the ones that Amanda Soule makes over at Soulemama), and decided to have a go myself. I picked up 4 skeins of Koigu for $20 (total!), so I figured if I messed up I wouldn't be doing it with expensive yarn. I picked up "Knitting Workshop" by Elizabeth Zimmerman, where the original pattern is, and struggled through the pattern. It took me about 5 months to complete (I got married in the middle so I don't feel so bad about it) and I relied heavily on the "Knitting Nuggets" tutorials from Lorilee Beltman at City Knitting in Grand Rapids, MI. And here it is!



Raveled.



I really enjoyed making it and I feel like there are many more in my future (oh those stripey possibilities!). At the last minute I decided to embroider my new cousin's nickname into her jacket, and use buttons from M's grandmother's sewing kit.



The other cousin got another item from "Knitting Workshop" but I haven't photographed it yet so you will have to wait, dear readers. Hopefully I will take a photo soon so I can send the gift to them before the baby outgrows it . . .

Little Details

I now have a small collection of decorations for the wedding that I commissioned from artists on Etsy. I had a great time working with the artists so I thought I'd share so you can check out their shops too!



I got these adorable little butterflies from The Gilded Bee: I've been eye-ing her stuff for a while now and finally messaged her to make a huge custom order of butterflies in approximately the colors of the wedding (the color choices were a bit brighter than I'm going for, but they are perfect in every other way).



When I ordered them I had a specific purpose in mind, but things have changed a bit since then so now I just have them for extra decoration. I'm not sure how I will use them, but it will be guaranteed to be cute. Seriously cute.



I also ordered these incredible stamps from SugarSkull7's Handcrafted Stamps & Fine Art. She has a fabulous collection of adorable stamps that I chose from, in addition to commissioning this one:



I also got these Ball jar and hive stamps:





The hive reminds me of the illustrations in Winnie the Pooh books! I got three colors of ink so I plan to mix and match all over the place. These are going on the back of the table assignments, which will just be hanging from a line by the guest book. Kind of like this.

Just over two months to go!

White Christmas

Well, at least I can pretend.







Merry Christmas!!!

'Tis the Season

Back in November I organized a make-your-own wreaths class at Urban Jungle and it was great fun! I had a great time gathering supplies (with help from my parents): we collected fir and pine boughs from their home in NJ, and then I collected cedar and many other interesting greens and natural materials for people to use, including pine and fir cones, bittersweet berry vine, rosemary, cinnamon sticks, dried mushrooms, star anise, holly, sweet gum fruits, moss, and lots more.





We used wire bases or grapevine bases - the grapevine worked better because it takes a long time to make a wreath and people liked doing half of it and having the grapevine show through for the rest. Plus, they're cheaper.

I saved a lot of materials with the intention of making my own wreath, but by the time I got to them they had mostly dried up. So I used fir cones, a pine twig, and dried mushrooms to make this little beauty:



I'm pretty happy with it, and since M and I are still in discussions about Christmas decorating in our interfaith house, I think it's appropriate. I got the mushrooms from a local Vietnamese grocery store and I LOVE them.



Happy Holidays!

Night Parade

Earlier this month I stumbled across the most wonderful bit of community art I have ever seen. I was walking with M in South Philly and we stopped to look into a store window that was full of white paper mache lanterns. It turned out that it was actually a studio space in the Fleisher Art Memorial, and the lanterns were in the final stages of preparation for a "night parade" that was going to happen that weekend!





George Ferrandi, the artist-in-residence at the Fleisher, had been working with the community for months making lanterns and developing a storyline for this parade. The entire project is called "Wherever There is Water." There were weekly workshops for volunteers to come and make lanterns for the parade (M and I went to the very last one, lucky!) and a choir had been practicing for months. I was so ecstatic that I found out about it right before it happened!





The Saturday night parade was incredible; there were almost 300 people processing down the streets of South Philly holding illuminated lanterns, many in the shape of animals. People came out of their houses to watch, many joined the parade, and there was just a wonderful sense of community and joy. I saw many of my own friends from different parts of the city, and I made new ones along the way.







I didn't get many photos of the parade, partly because I was in it, and partly because I knew I wouldn't be able to capture it properly on camera. But these are pictures of the workshop I went to with M, and the studio space pre-parade. Here's the Flickr group, with lots and lots of pictures. And here's a lovely video on Youtube (I'm there at 3:17, wearing bright green!):

Mystery Package

This week I got a lovely little surprise in the mail from Palo Alto with two amazing and bizarre pins in it (but no letter). I love them, but I don't know anyone in Palo Alto! Who are you, mystery sender? Whoever you are, I love the package (ahem).

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edit 4:46 pm: Oh geez, as I was walking home tonight I realized who sent the package - it was Meredith! Thanks Mer!

Happy Valentimes!

This year I decided to do something a little less time-consuming than last year, and I actually finished them on time (last year people were still getting them in March).

I had this great paper that I saved from an ad for an art school in Northeast Philly - I think it would make the most amazing wall paper. Check out the little pteradactyls . . .



I cut out some great illustrations from my seed catalogues and went all french with them. It was fun looking up the names of all the vegetables . . .



I wish you and yours a wonderful and snuggly valentimes day!

Beauties from Poland

I just had to share with you some of the adorable things I brought back from Poland. I was mostly enamored with small wooden things, both painted and natural. And the dollar is doing pretty well in Poland against the złoty so I came home with quite the haul.



Pretty wooden tulips.

Tiny painted wooden birds with metal feet, acquired over the course of the week because I kept going back for more!






The most exciting purchase, a painted wooden jewelry box. I've been looking for a good one for a while now and I was ecstatic to find this gorgeous box with a key, mirror, drawer and two levels on top.






Wooden tree, natural.

Burgh's the word

I finally finished M's birthday present oh, a month late. It's a hoodie sweatshirt with the skyline of Pittsburgh (his hometown) embroidered on it. I was inspired by the sweatshirts my friend Metthea has been making lately.



Carlene at Knitsquirrel also posted an incredible embroidery post recently, very inspiring.


***Pittsburgh skyline from a different angle, from here.***