swallowfield

dream shack + other pretty things

the rest of our weekend on mount desert island was really nice. i saw this little place, which i quickly decided to call the dream shack:

isn't it lovely? i want to move right in.

the kids and i went on a sea urchin hunt just like last summer, and found a bunch: 17 to be exact, plus one heart rock. we won't talk about the moderately heated argument i got in with a 4 year old friend if the family who 'really, really' wanted to squeeze + break them. it wasn't pretty. i was a petty and small person.

here are a few other pretty shots from here and there:

and our dessert at the burning tree restaurant in otter creek, my favorite restaurant in the entire world, the home of many a summer's employment back in the day and owned by good friends. if you're ever in the neighborhood,  it's a really special + delicious place. yum.

in other news:  i am sad to report that jena at modish is closing the doors to her lovely online shop for a change of pace and there are some great sales + deals to be had if you purchase by june 30th. i am happy to know that she plans to keep blogging, and i am grateful for the support and encouragement she has given me over the past year.

in still more news, my kids fell off the no tv bandwagon in two days. two days! totally pathetic.  i have to admit we all love arthur around here. we'll try to watch in teeny doses i guess.

have a nice night.

i love june

we're visiting mount desert island this weekend. it's foggy and drizzly and the colors are lovely.
i love this time of year so much.
not sure if i'll post again this weekend, so happy solstice! yay for summer nights.

ps: don't forget to leave a comment on my last post if you would like a chance to win one of five necklaces.

butterfly garden

this is a collage i made a few days ago. it's loosely based on a photograph of the butterfly garden at the charlotte rhoades park in southwest harbor, maine. we went to a butterfly release there last summer and it was pretty special - i had never seen that many butterflies at once and i loved it. (while i was trying to take some pictures during the release my kids made a few visits to the sweets table of refreshments, spun out of control and we had to beat it out of there in a hurry, but but that's another story. and probably why i never posted any pictures from that day. it wasn't pretty.)

there are a lot of lovely flowers around right now. i can't stop taking pictures of them.

some thanks:
i was honored to be a part of design for mankind's gorgeous e-zine this month. take a gander if you haven't seen it yet, it's chock full of great inspiration.
and i was flattered and really appreciated being written about on the hallmark magazine blog.

oh! and thanks for your nice comments on my last post - glad you loved the cake! i hope it turns out well for you if you make it.

ps: meg is so funny. this is part of the reason why i love her so.

a happy day

my friend susan from sulu-design wrote a surprise post about my art today and i am blushing all the way from this portland to her portland. thank you, susan! (i have written about her earrings here before, but if you haven't seen them yet, go and look at them right now - they're gorgeous and affordable and you should own several pairs.)

today is a pretty big day for several of my friends:
it's the publication date for amanda soule's creative family! and there are some lovely illustrations in the book by betsy thompson and photographs by jessie fields. congratulations, women! i'm so excited for you all.  amanda is having a book launch party along with an art opening for some embroidered pieces she's been working on at edith and edna this friday night - i will be hiding over in the introverts corner, quietly celebrating while trying not to get in anyone's way, because i predict it might be a little bit crowded. just saying. :)

easter weekend

dial up users might want to run from this post - it's heavy on pictures and light on text.  i'm not feeling very talkative today. 
we took a trip down east + visited my parents for easter this weekend.

we did some egg decorating

and took a lovely hike in acadia

enjoyed dinner out

and had a nice lunch with my aunt and uncle.
i was happy to notice signs of spring and lots of pretty shadows along the way.

happy monday!

final guest blog appearance with edith + edna

phew! i'm wrapping up my week of guest blogging at modish with a visit to a favorite spot:  portland's edith and edna.

i'll be back later today or tomorrow with  some regularly scheduled programming. thanks for reading along over there this week and for your great comments and feedback. it was fun!

:::happy new year:::

happy 2008!! i hope it's starting out well for you.

things started out sort of inauspiciously here this morning.  a giant tree across the street fell down, almost hitting our house. it knocked out the power, internet, phone, etc, and needed to be chopped up into many, many pieces which are now still sitting in my front yard...on top of yet another dumping of snow, bringing the snow total this winter to, well, a basically absurd amount. the special cherry on top of the sundae was that the kids had a snow day on what was meant to be their first day back at school. good times. i am craving a bit of routine in my life again, and feeling basically done with the holiday vacation, even though it was lovely and mostly relaxing.  anyone else feeling similarly?

on another note, one of my many goals and dreams for 2008 includes making more patterns and getting them onto fabric and/or wrapping paper by the end of the year. if anyone out there has ideas or suggestions for me in getting started with this process, i'd love to hear from you. here are a few i've been working on over the past few days - they're india ink and marker, + one is on a vintage dictionary page.  see you back here tomorrow, hopefully saner and with the kids tucked into their desks at school, because my list of to-dos and work is long! cheers.

a merry little christmas

we went up the coast a ways for a few days to see family for christmas and had an unprecedentedly mellow time. i felt grateful and very happy to just hang back and watch things unfold. december has felt like a bit of blur for many reasons this year, and it was extra nice to find time to lounge about and dream for a bit.

if you celebrated, i hope your holiday was wonderful. i'll be back in a day or two with more to share and tell you about, but until then i'll share just a few photos from our travels.  cheers!

a two hour snowflake making session

my mom's gift to my stepfather - a handcarved wooden herd of caribou by an artist in canada - they're absolutely incredible

the view from my dad's house in the late afternoon winter light. 

shop-a-do

did you know that christmas is in 14 days? holy smokes. i just realized it and had a bit of freakout. i don't feel ready!  luckily, i will be participating in space gallery's shop-a-do  holiday sale tomorrow  (wednesday) night from 4-10 with some friends and local crafty folks. i am so excited to do my holiday shopping while i'm there - last year i bought some of favorite gifts to give at the sale and this year there are even more wonderful vendors.

on the non-making-things, non-business-y side of things, i did get manage to get some twinkle lights hung up outside. they're very cheerful.  and my kids say they saw an elf in the fireplace, checking on them for santa to see if they were being good or not.  i noticed an  increase in piano-practicing and good manners this evening, and i didn't say a word. it's magic.
 

spied in november

we took a quick trip up north this weekend.
it was spare and quiet and still - but there were a few bits of color left here and there. 

a trip to the thrift/junk store inspired me with unexpected  patterns and forms everywhere.  i hope you enjoy them too.