I am hopelessly in love with the garden bed featured on Liquid Sky Arts. She always has the most beautiful pictures. I love pictures of gardens, they are so inspirational. I love to see what others are doing and get ideas from them. An example would be Lori's WONDERFUL oasis. From her garden I have been inspired to grow baby tears in a pot. I also want a Japanese Maple as well. Every year I say "This is the year I am getting a Japanese Maple to grow in a pot" and every year I go to the nursery, look at the price of a Japanese Maple and say "Next year is the year I am going to buy a Japanese Maple to put in a pot."
Thanks to Anh-Minh for alerting us to the fact that there is a new magazine from the creators of Lucky devoted entirely to items for the home. It's called Domino. Strange name, but no matter. I have already signed up for a charter issue.
Update on my sewing rant of yesterday. First off, thank you to Erin for trying to explain it to me. I think I am one of those people that needs to see it in action. I just can't wrap my head around it. I called a place here in town that I have seen driving around asking if they offered sewing lessons. I explained my problem and to my delight, I was told that they offer a service that sounds like the answer to my prayers. You come in and they take 75 (!) measurements, they make up a muslin, you come back in and they adjust the muslin to your body, and then from that muslin they make a sloper (?) pattern that you can then use as a guide with commercial patterns. I have an appointment next week! Yay! Someone else gets to do the hard work! It's also good to know that there is a resource I can't turn to if I need it.
The Garnet Hill catalog was waiting for me when I got home. It was chock full of exciting things. (exciting to me at least) Most of the items are too expensive, but at least they offer inspiration and that is priceless.
I have been enjoying watching the beautiful quilts being made both Brandy and Hilary. I seriously loving Kingpod, again via Hilary, and can totally relate to her comments regarding Kingpod:
"Sometimes I come across things that make me shout aha! at my computer. Things
people have made that are the exact embodiment of vague creative feelings I have
stirring around in my head. As my grandma would say, "they sing to me".
I feel the same way.
But back to Garnet Hill. There are a couple of items in the catalog that make me want to bust out the sewing machine:
The Beanstalk comforter cover. The Broken Dishes Quilt The Vortex Quilt The Butterfly Applique Skirt The skirt reminds me of one of the millions of skirts I keep ripping out of the Anthropologie Catalog. It's always this time of year I get the clothes sewing bug, spend hours searching for suitable patterns, make lists (camisoles, blouses, skirts, dresses), wait patiently for a pattern sale at Joanns, buy the patterns, bring them home, shove them in a closet.
The last time I took a pattern out to attempt making an actual item, I realized that almost all of the patterns I have been hoarding for the past several years are THE WRONG SIZE. I seriously need to look into some sort of class around here that teaches you how to alter patterns for your body. I am very short and very shortwaisted (which is the REAL issue). I tried to make this dress and it almost complete cured me of my want to sew. The picture shows a fairly flat chested young lady, which would suit me just fine. However, when I made the muslin, it was clear that I needed a Mae West Chest to fill the sucker out. The worst part about all of this is that I don't know what happened, or how to fix it. I hate when the patterns say things like "Take your measurements, and make adjustments to your pattern." How? HOW?
When I was young, I used to scoff at all of the 4-H girls who took the sewing projects I would see at the county fair every August. I used to feel sorry for them..that they had to sit through all of that boring stuff about measuring and pinning correctly. I already knew how to sew. Who needs 4-H?
I have to go to Portland (Vancouver, WA actually) for a few days for a work meeting and next month, J and I are spending our anniversary at the Heathman!
In the current issue of Sunset magazine, for those of us in the Pacific Northwest at least, is an article about Portland that talks about the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children, and how you can visit the neighborhood was the setting for beloved Ramona Quimby books. I LOVED Ramona when I was young. I will not have enough time this week to visit the neighborhood, but it's definitely on my list.
Yes! I FINALLY bought a decent digital camera. This is a test shot of a flute playing pig that hangs out in one of my plants. I have entered the 21st Century!
I have to tell you about my mom's litterbox. Well..not my mom's litter box, but her cat's. Hojo is his name. Hojo is fat and fuzzy and as far as I can tell has spent the better part of his years being a cranky poot. My parents just moved into a new house and apparently this new abode suits Hojo just fine, thank you. I have been assured that he is very pleasant and almost, shall I dare say....loving? We got on the subject of his litter box this past weekend when I was lamenting the fact that one of the reasons I have not gotten a cat yet is because I have NO place to put a litter box. My mom said "Have I told you what I have done with Hojo's box?" She has the exact same problem, but with about 1000 or more square feet to work with. She began to tell me her solution and I listened with rapt attention and utter awe and amazement at her inventiveness.
1. This is the current Cat Box Solution. She took one of those round particle board side tables that you can get at Target for super cheap and cut a straight edge so it would sit flush against her large bathroom wall, behind the door. She then made a cover out of some leftover drapery fabric and plopped a plant and what have you on top for some visual stimulation. The litter box is under the table, wedged between the table's three legs. What you can't see in my quick rendering is the back entrance which is hidden behind the door. She tacked an opening in the tablecloth "You know, it looks like a theater curtain drawn back" so the cat has easy access. I hear that Hojo is very taken with this space and I can imagine it's a very lovely place to poop.
2. This is a rendering of a cat box solution my mom created for Hojo in a house previous to the one they just left. (does that make sense?) It's very similar and you can see the propensity of my mom using (usually fake) plants to jazz up his private space. This particular Cat Box Solution was also in a bathroom, and this is the view you would see if you were sitting on the toilet. She had a folding screen obscuring the box and in front of the screen had placed and old stool/bench with a plant, something like an antique tackle box and a Gone Fishin' sign she tolepainted on a old saw.* It was a very impressive tableau and I had no idea there was a actually a litter box behind that screen until Hojo sauntered out behind it while I was using the restroom with a look of utter disdain on his face. Aside from the stink eye look I got from the cat, I was extremely impressed.
Mom, you continually amaze and inspire me, as you always have.
* Actual details may have been changed due to the fact that I can't really remember exactly what kind of decorations she had, but I assure you they were something like what I described.
I thought I would mention some of the Christmas gifts I gave this year because they are so cute! My best friend Carrie is going to have a baby this spring and I am so excited! I gave her a set of these baby socks in an egg carton from Red Envelope. I gave them to our friends up in Seattle last year at their baby shower and have since learned that these socks are the only ones that will actually stay on their baby's feet. I know that Carrie reads Dooce and her struggles with a sockless baby, so I had to get them. I also gave her a puppet from Sammii that is the cutest thing ever. Unfortunately they do not have a picture of the one I gave her. I was a red puppy dog. They are made out of hand felted wool by a collective of women in Nepal? (I can't remember) and you really have to look at them in person to appreciate how wonderful they are. There is a store in downtown Olympia called Drees that had a whole bunch of these puppets. Cats, monkeys, chickens....they are fabulous.
I think we are pretty much in agreement that the Oversized Scrapbook is extremely cool and extremely expensive. How would one make such an item? I am sure it can be done. I have to think on that. I think the hardest part would be to find an oversized binder spine, but if you weren't concerned about adding pages, I suppose you could make a really large book and bind it yourself? Bookmaking is an art I keep meaning to look into, but haven't quite gotten around to it. It's always on my "list of crafts to learn in (insert year)"
I saw an episode of House Beautiful on A&E a few years ago that featured the home of Pottery Barn's head of design Celia Tejada. Here are some pics of her wonderful home. They really don't do it justice..it's so very eclectic and funky and stylish and creative and everything I want my home to be. Here is an article of her design tips that talks a little bit about her home. The article talks about her chandelier being on a pulley, but it doesn't mention that she also had large artwork pulleys also. I found some very large antique wood pulleys at a junk shop near here that I almost bought. I didn't want to lug them up the big hill on my walk home, so I didn't buy them. I really wish I would have. I think my favorite thing about the Pottery Barn catalog is seeing all of the "knick knack" type things in the background, the things they don't even sell. I would really like to have the design library. I have the bathrooms book and I love it.
Oh..I finally updated my main page. FINALLY. I kept getting emails from people telling me my link to my portfolio was not working (thank you). Somehow I managed to delete the flash source file I used to create my button animations so I had to start all over. I still need to finish my about and shop pages...slowly but surely.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I am finding it hard to get back into the swing of things myself. I sort of ignored the computer and the internet over vacation, so sorry for the lack of updates.
I like to make resolutions, I hardly ever stick to them, but that part doesn't bother me. Making resolutions appeals to the list maker in me. I like the idea of taking stock of my life thus far and seeing what needs tweaked. It's like taking inventory. I recently bought two new cookbooks The Tassajara Recipe Book and The Greens Cookbook. I think it's a response to all of the CRAP I have been eating lately. I just feel gross.
I got a million catalogs in the mail yesterday, just when we have decided to go back into rigorous saving mode. Talk about temptation. I am seriously in love with this oversized scrapbook from Pottery Barn. I won't even get into the Anthropologie stuff. I recycled that catalog almost as soon as I got it. I can't stand the torture.
