Happy Day = Quilt Day

My mother is officially addicted to making quilts- she is finishing one every few weeks at this point. So as is inevitable - my mother has made me a new quilt! I just got it today and am quite pleased. It is made entirely out of Civil War-era reproduction fabrics. It was so much fun picking out the fabric for it - I needed five or six patterns and ended up with a dozen.
Here it is:
These are a couple of my favorite patterns!

Before and After...

I love these kinds of shots - the pieces waiting to get put together into something grand! SO here we go: The before shot -The after shot. Ta Da! Hopefully I'll get them photographed properly and up on etsy today!

Embarrassing Confession -

I can't figure out how to make the pictures on the right side of the blog (Handmade Arcade and Trunkt banners) into links. Help? How embarrassing.

time machine 2 finds

More things I would love to get my grubby little hands on....

Trilobite Pendant by Neurasthenia

Gocco Bear Monster Print by Matte Art

Ninja Espresso Cups by Lobi's Shop

Birch Bark Tubes by Small Stump

beautiful but deadly

Aren't these beautiful? They are our haul from our bush of Thai chili peppers. They are only about 1cm long from top to bottom, but they are unbelievably hot! At least they are good lookin', even if I am a little scared of them.

Trunkt!

I got into Trunkt! AHHH! For those of your who are not familiar with the world of Trunkt - it is a self-described "buyer's guide to independent art and design" where you apply for porfolio positions to highlight your work for potential buyers. It is a lot of fun to look through - tons of great work to drool over, so make sure you have a chunk of time before you dive in.

The jewelry catagory is super competitive and I thought that I didn't have a chance! You can see my bare-bones porfolio here. I'm gonna have to add and edit a lot over the next couple of days! Who needs sleep!

fanciness at the walters

The Walters Art Museum is holding "Timeless Treasures: Jewelry Fair at the Walters" Nov. 15-18. They are going to be having a fair where 25 jewelers are going to be selling work - including Carla Reinter whose work is pictured above.

They are also going to have a lecture Fri., Nov. 16 entitled "Great American Jewelers 1930-1980" at 10 a.m. for those of you who don't work a 9-5.

There are other events including demonstrations and group tours of the Walters jewelry collection.

curtains, curtains, curtains

I am picking out curtains for my new studio and have a couple of finalist. I do quite like this guy from Urban Outfitters.


Or maybe this curtain panel, I do love the old lady color and pattern.....

hmmmmm......

lovely!

Last night I ditched the closing reception that I was suposed to go to and went and saw Regina Spektor instead down at Ram's Head Live! I chose wisely. She was so wonderful and charming. She is AMAZING live and I highly recommend you see her if you get the chance. I am embarrassed to admit that I was so into the concert that when she started playing my favorite song as the FIFTH song of her encore, I squealed and jump up and down. (that was Samson, by the way) I loved it.

While I was gone....

So, I finally have my computer back, thank goodness! While I was forced to be off-line I got my butt into gear and actually started getting my home studio going! I have only really painted so far, but what an improvement... the people who sold us the house had painted EVERYTHING upstairs this awful orange sherbert color. Why? They loved ugly, apparently.

I'll post more "in progress" shots as it comes along!

You can see the last little bit of orange sherbert peaking out here. Goodbye, forever!

Craftland!

I just found out that I was accepted into Craftland! It is a consignment gallery that goes up in Providence for the holiday season. My stuff will be there from Dec. 1-22... joy!

Handmade Arcade!

AAHHH! I got into Handmade Arcade!

I am terribly excited! The show is in Pittsburgh November 10th and 11th.... yey! I'll post more details later - but I wanted to share the good news immediately!

Zoop! Zoop!

If you could not easily recognize the title of this post, here it is: that is the sound of me defending the world from SPACE INVADERS. I just found this awesome mobile at Pixelparty's Etsy shop and had to share!

Corey Ackelmire

I was just thinking about her work LAST NIGHT while I was brushing my teeth and today I find out (thanks to Megan) that she has a new blog and and etsy page! Ha!

Time Machine 2

Some fun things from Etsy's Time Machine 2:

baby goat print by yumiyumi

Mixed-media artwork by HiCutiePie

lovely scarf by Scissorstitch

Steel Earrings by gemmafactrix

look at all these things i didn't know i needed...

You Are My Sunsine - 5 X 7 print by Fraskedesign
This is at the same time both endearing and really quite creepy.


Letterpress blocks by Sweetkate's Shop
(I REALLY want these....)
Zombie messanger bag by Cipolla - I mean, come on, I gotta do it!

beer, nachos, beer, ice cream, beer

We went tonight and saw an O's game. They got their butts easily handed to them by the Red Sox... and I missed the dirty pitch that led to an almost-fight. (sigh) At least I got a $5 can of Natty Boh out of it.

good for a restless mind

I love this print from Restless things on Etsy... now how to convince Kasimir I need to add it to our pile of unframed prints for "someday when we get around to framing things...." hhhmmmm....

it's like facebook for your books...

Just in case you were itching to join another social networking group - I recommend Goodreads. You keep track of what books you are reading and have read and get to see what your friends are reading and look at their reviews. I was hesitant to join - but I love it! I can now keep track of what I just read and when... before if you asked my what the last book I read was I would say "uuummmm...." but now I know. I just added The Omnivore's Dilemma this morning!

Velvet da Vinci - Karen Gilbert

So, Karen Gilbert and her husband have a new show up at Velvet da Vinci - a gallery in San Fransisco. It is mostly wall installation that they collaborated on - cement castings of everyday packaging. Nice, but not what makes me buzz inside. There are also some more traditional Karen Gilbert-esque pieces on display. They are great and SO nicely photographed. So much eye candy. You can see the show here or her website here.

Lovin'

I am loving these Blossom Earrings by Lake. They are made out of fused stainless steel wire. You know she balled the ends and squished them. God, there is nothing more satisfying than squishing metal.

Imogene

Annie over at Imogene just posted about one of my pieces that she bought yesterday at our lovely Pickle Party! Thank you Annie for the shout-out! This guy is totally one-of-a-kind, but something similar could be made. hmmmmmm......

Hellloo!

I am finally getting my butt into gear and starting up my long overdue blog! Hurray!
What finally pushed me over the edge? The purchase of my new, beautiful camera..... no excuses anymore!