So, of course I ordered Olivia the headband from Happy Find that had owls on it (she loves owls) and Venus just brought it over. It is even cuter in person, and I really didn't think it was possible. See?:
Well, I know it's not "in person" for you, but I just had to share. She's happy, I'm happy, it was totally a Happy Find!
Sofie will be placing a custom order in pink, I'm sure...
Morning, sweet friends. It's Monday, and that means it's time for some fresh cuteness. You are gonna love it.
My dear friend, Venus Perez, has recently opened an adorable etsy shop, called Happy Find. She is the incredible talent behind my aprons, seen here:
She travels all the way to Los Angeles (from here in San Diego) to purchase the amazingly cute fabrics she uses. She's got an incredible eye for fun, retro, spirited prints and combinations, and she designs all her own styles--no patterns!
So these are awesome, right? And she has many other darling styles in her shop, like this:
Totally adorable. But her latest designs are out-of-this-world original and fun and stylish. She has designed the cutest headbands seen thus far on planet Earth. Look!:
(All modeled by her lovely daughters Lily and Sophia. They, like Venus, are truly beautiful inside and out.)
I'm telling you, this is what I love. Somebody takes something that's already been "done" (we think) and then totally, completely re-invents it, putting heart and soul and love into every stitch. Go, go now, before they are discovered by the craft industry and we can no longer afford them. I fully expect to see these on the front page of etsy at any moment. Remember where you saw it first! ;o)
Oh, yeah, she has a blog, too. Check it out! I'm so lucky to have her as my friend. You will be, too.
Happy browsing, and have a lovely day...
When I woke up this morning, I knew. It's been awhile, and I've been waiting for this feeling. What could it be?!
I'm ready to paint. More paintings, more love.
Whew! And it's sunny here, so I'm going to get crackin'. (I have little "policy" to only paint when it's sunny. Quicker drying time, plus good vibes!)
May you be similarly inspired to do something you love...
Have a great one, sweet friends!
Morning, friends!
I was going to take some super-fun bracelets up to Paper Tales today, but I'm a bit under the weather, so we're stayin' home. Thank goodness for DVD's, as my kids are on Spring Break. I bought them the original "High School Musical"...check it out:
We watched it yesterday, and I thought that my mom and I enjoyed it way more than the girls, but they requested it again today...(I tell you, that John Travolta...what a cutie. I think he has a bright future in this business.) Jared and I made sure to make clear that Sandy was much cuter before she got all slutted-up to catch her man. That's not such a great message to send your girls. (Hey, at least we realize it now. I don't remember anyone mentioning that when I was in third grade and thought that Sandy post-makeover was the total goal of teenage-hood.)
So, it's lots of tea and napping for me today. As I said, thank goodness for DVDs! (Does that make me a bad mom? If so, I don't care. I'm tired.)
Have a great one!
Remember my love-hate relationship with knitting? Well, today I am only going to talk about the "love" part of it. That means we're talkin' yarn.
Authentic Fiction is my favorite yarn shop on etsy. (Why do I look at yarn, when I hate to knit, you ask? Well, I love yarn, and like lots of things, it's a way people express themselves and communicate. Don't believe me? Just wait.) It's my favorite yarn shop because they take yarn to a whole new level. Take a peek:
This is called "woodland strawberry" and I think it is stunning. (But more on that later...)
Authentic Fiction is the shop of "two young female yarn addicts located near Heidlberg, Germany (Tini) and Geneva, Switzerland (Teetante)." In their words, it's "a world of hand spun art yarns, inspired by fairy tales and fantasy, voyages to distant lands, past times, and science fiction." Oh, my. I think I'm going to like it.
Here's their take on the story of "The Secret Garden":
"This yarn tells the story of FH Burnett’s adorable children’s book. The first part consists of grey, white and black extrasoft merino, black and white fabric stripes, just as colorless and gloomy as the huge mansion Mary has to live in. Then it evolves to greens, browns (suri alpaca) and a little bit blue (silk and merino), just like when she explores the outside gardens, still cold and empty, until the spring returns. Red and brown lead to little green ivy leaves, and the secret garden is opend by a little silvery key. There first little sprouts and buds show up as green glass beads, and finally the garden is revived in red, violet, yellow and blue wool locks."
Here's another look at the same skein. There's so much in there:
I LOVE IT! There is nothing better, to me, than someone who can take something as mundane (sorry, but it can be) as yarn, and tell a story with it. Man, what creativity!
This is a flock of sheep...on a field in Ireland. Oh, how I love it...
And this is "finest china." For your best tea party.
Remeber that strawberry yarn? Well, one day I was browsing etsy for a scarf, and found an adorable one that was made right near me, in Carlsbad, CA. I bought it. Only when I got it in the mail did I realize it was made from Authentic Fiction's yarn...small world, eh? But look how cute (sorry, if you know me at all, you know I don't like to be photographed. But I found a very willing model):
Like I said, it makes me so happy when someone can take something not-so-exciting, and trasform it into a whole new way of expressing...That's what I TRY to do with my bracelets, sometimes more successful than others, but that's always my goal. It's not just to make a bracelet (because who really needs another bracelet?), it's to gather the elements from all over, old and new, handmade and pre-fashioned, combine them in a new way, and tell a new story, in a new way. And hopefully make someone smile, or laugh, or feel.
That's what it's all about, right?!...Have a great one...
Morning, friends! I don't have a whole lot going on creatively right now, so I thought I'd just share some cuteness from around the house. Always gets my juices flowing to move things around, and pull out collections that I haven't seen in awhile...Come see!
Love my Pinocchios. A couple of them even have long noses that you can switch out. I found most of these on eBay. They make me laugh...That's my number one requirement in a man.
Got me a new body part awhile back...the torso is my mother's, but the head I picked up a few weeks ago. Holds the girls' cowgirl hat nicely. (I always like a girl to earn her keep...)
New awesome burlap buckets from Mayamade . They are fashioned from old coffee sacks. I was lucky to snag them from her shop, as they are becoming all the rage. You know I love the numbers and letters. I'm becoming a junkie, but on the upside, my girls are very good readers...
Nesting dolls I painted to look like our family--my momma, me, Olivia, Sofie, and an unspecified baby that was painted by my youngest. (No, this is not me telling you there is to be a new addition to the family. Absolutely not.) And the backs, which are also cute...
Don't be too impressed--they had all the woodburning already on them. But I did them in my favorite colors, so they make me pretty happy...
And, if I could pull off a look like this, I totally would. But for now, I'll just dress the dolls I make in striped stockings with red mary janes. Meet Abigail, after a particularly rough night (we're not talking about it...)
Okay, enough silliness. Gotta go get ready for a lunch date with my best friend. Woo Hoo!
Have a lovely day, dear ones...
Hello, sweet friends! Happy Monday! It is an absolutely beautiful day here in Southern California. I hope it is looking spring-like where you are, even if it is only in the smallest of ways. Spring is in the air...!
I had to share this totally rockin' necklace with you all that I first saw on Flickr. It's made by Viv, of Dear Dodo. I immediately jumped over to etsy to pick it up:
An antique doll leg with hand-painted tatoo. I cannot explain how much I love it. Whimsical, quaint, and a kick-ass sense of humor. Find your own here at Dear Dodo and don't miss her lovely artwork, too. And then, she has another shop, Drawing Room, here where she sells her beautiful felted work. It is so, so lovely to look at:
"pocket garden"...
"band aid" ring...
All so fresh and clean. And fun. Enjoy!
Have a great one.
Back when I was little (oh, so long ago) we used to watch "The Wizard of Oz" like clockwork, once a year, when one of the three major networks put it on TV. Every single year. And my dad, when we were tiny, would give us a bath at night and we would sing all the songs. To this day, I know every word...
We recently watched it with the girls, for the first time. Because it is so inextricably linked with memories of my father, I hadn't watched it with them ever before. I found it to be almost comically old-fashioned, but delightful just the same. I am so happy to be creating new memories around this old standby--hearing my children sing the songs and play with the toys of Oz has been a strangly healing experience.
Here's my favorite part. Can you guess it?:
Dorothy: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
Glinda: You don't need to be helped any longer. You've always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn't you tell her before?
Glinda: Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.
I know, no surprise there. But it is brilliant, if you ask me. Simply brilliant.
The power? What is it? Here's what I think: the knowledge that everything, literally everything we need is right here before us, and within us. Nobody else can take us where we need to go, nobody else can make our problems disappear. But there is help out there, if we ask for it. I know that. Help in all kinds of forms. Ultimately, though, it is up to us to realize that we already have everything we need. Absolutely everything.
Click your heels.
I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to show any more bracelets. But, technically, this is showing some specific charms, so I'm not really breaking my promise...I just really love these, and I wanted to share...
More of my favorite vintage button ever. Who would think to put a face on a button?! I don't know, but I am ridiculously glad they did...
And I finally found my eyelet-setter (well, my mom did, truth be told. I never find anything. My kids know all is lost when I say vaguely, "Well...it'll turn up." Literally lost.) I made these sweet little fabric charms from this book that I showed you a while back called "Custom Cool Jewelry."
I just like how simple they are, and I have lots of super-cute unused fabric around here...so there you go.
While I was putting this bracelet together, I kept thinking of one of my very favorite quotes. "Here are hearts, flowers, leaves and branches / and here is my heart / which beats only for you." I went to look it up to find the author, but Olivia had cut up the book I found it in, this Sarah Lugg book (I gave her permission to collage with it):
It wasn't in there anymore! Sorry, whoever you are...
I'm off to Paper Tales to do some shopping! Have a lovely day, where ever you may be.
I'm a lucky wife and mom of two lovely little girls in San Diego, California, trying my best to grow up.
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