i could never see too many large, lovely, bursting at the seams, brightly colored and beautifully textured fruit and vegetable markets. i found this image on the photographic dictionary website via marvelouskiddo. the site organizes words and related images together. this photograph is "abundance" by david warren.
"the guy"
our sweet little friend sage made this beautiful drawing of "the guy".
first bloom
the first bloom of the season on our nasturtium plant. i love love love these....the organic shaped leaves, the vibrant orange flowers, the whimisical dancing stems, the whole dang package.
halloween party
frances was a puppy
chris was a military pilot and i was a geisha
jade was a toilet, geisha, and erin was sarah palin miss alaska
mike and marianne were beth and dog the bounty hunter
chocolate & pop rocks
i'm intrigued and must find time to make this curious little cake.....a chocolate cake made with pop rocks. say what??? i found this recipe via cup of jo
click on chubbyhubby for the recipe
yesssss!!!
i saw one of these brussels griffon pups at an airport about a month or two ago. he was being taxied around in a wheelie duffle bag and lovin' every minute of it. the fuzzie bud was standing on his back legs with his head out the zipper and his ears and tongue flapping in the wind. it totally made my day....so did this little guy. yeah, scrunchie face.
picture from cuteoverload
sweet wee one...
a couple practice wee little rings i made this past week. the faceted stones are a black diamond and a white diamond.......or a sapphire. the clear stone i'm unsure of because it was amongst a hodge podge of stuff i had from years back when i was setting faceted stones amongst slices of sanded wood or rusty metal. this was a little refresher course test & experiment to brush up on my faceted stone setting skills. i am making a special gift for someone i love that will require using a small-ish faceted stone. i figured i would start small...i mean, really really small. these stones are 1.5 and 2 mm or 2/32 of an inch & 3/32 of an inch...approximately. if i can set these little ones then the slightly bigger one i will be using for the "gift" piece will come a bit easier.
round top
one of my favorite events of the fall is round top antique and flea market halfway between austin and houston. my folks typically come to town to visit and we all head to the best flea market around. it's everything from grandma's attic goods and not-so-goods to high end antiques...there is pretty much something for everyone. i love that my mom and dad come for this fun filled adventure. my mom will look for vintage toys, quilts, or new additions to her flamingo collection. chris will be on the prowl for pink rose of sharon depression glass for his mom and fine pottery pieces for himself plus whatever the rest of us are looking for. my dad is interested in anything cowboy, leather or western related including books....when he finds his way into a book collection it's pretty tough to get him out. my dad, is a looker....that's where i get my "i want to look, touch and read everything that comes in my view" approach. as for my interests, well, they cover a fairly broad spectrum and include things like vintage linens and glassware, to vintage beads, glass & sequins, to vintage furniture, most old things that are pink, things with good texture, old dollhouse goods, and so much more. since chris and i have pretty much filled our house up with vintage or seconds furniture that pretty much leaves room for adventure to be all about items i can use in my work, the "vintage beads, glass & sequins, random plastic toys that can be cut and shaped. i can pretty much go to just one little white house and spend all day there just digging and searching for the right textured and solid colored glass and plastic specimens for my work. but, this time i decided to go there last just so i could enjoy the rest of the show as well. did i mention my mom and dad are here with me too, yeah!!! :O) here's a few highlights from our all day extravaganza at roundtop....
the nicest fella from colorado runs this "coffee bug" and he serves up a fine glass of iced tea....so we can keep up maximum shopping stamina :O)
christmas, NO, vintage christmas, HELL YES!!! this was the first booth i walked into as opposed to just glancing while walking past. she had such a delightful assortment of vintage christmas goodies. the collection was sweet and soothing and not strictly red and green which i loved :O)
i couldn't resist these sweet little baby shoes.
some of my treaures: some red bakelite buttons, a creme textured button, some gray/black found pebbles, an old peachy velvet powder puff, vintage photo that came with the old jewelry box, and an old velvet ring box.....i wish i had a whole collection of little vintage/antique ring boxes. i have always liked small spaces & boxes, i use some of these shapes as well as shapes from vintage salt and pepper shakers as inspiration for my beaded boxes.
these were a steal.... i love vintage salt and pepper shakers, they are grouped amongst my affection for small containers that come open :O)
another vintage pink jewelry box with really awesome flip out sides to hold rings....the box was a sure pleaser!!! also a few old plastic curlers for a possible bracelet idea, some random shells, a found balloon, (did i mention i have a thing for found balloons), some single clip earrings with great plastic cabs. & a few empty matchbooks.
a new discovery in the little white house, vintage sequins from france.......can't wait to come up with some designs for this lil' babies
a real highlight was hanging out with these cute great dane puppies....if they didn't get 200 lb + i think we would have been bringing home a new baby. the one on the left with the pink and blue eye was pretty fond of chris and i. he was pretty irresistible!!! but would have destroyed our home...it's small and filled with a lot of breakable things. i think brinkley would have loved him, though. at just 7 weeks old they were already about 40 lbs. twice the size of brinkley.
more pics. to come.....
new banner for etsy......
today, i found myself in the mood to create this new banner for my etsy page. i was suprised how fast i was able to get it to this point. wow, i guess i did learn something in college about photoshop after all. i may make a few subtle changes but for now it's struttin' it's stuff on my etsy shop. this has been on my to do list for quite some time and now it's finished, well, almost........yeeeaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
okay, my pillow is calling :O)
sweet dreams,
xoxo
pics. from st. louis
chris and i just returned from our trip to st. louis to hang out with my family and go on our annual float trip down the merimac river. as much as i love austin, there are many things i miss about living close to st. louis: * my family & remaining college friends that still live there....obviously
* the thrift stores in st. louis, namely SVDP on forest park blvd.
* carpooling with my mom to work.....but i don't miss the crummy 9-5 secretarial position....yikes!!
* the little house i lived in after i graduated from college which was the same house i grew up in. my parents held onto it just in case my sister or i needed it. yep, i needed it.
* the breath taking color in the fall & the crispy crunchy leaves by halloween.
* going to antique stores & the belleville flea market with my mom and dad
* shopping and lunch date with mom and grams on saturday morning
* india rasio, cafe natasha & sen, my three favorite restaurants there.
* being close to edwardsville.....it's such a great little town with so many amazing people and memories.
* monday nite dinner at grandma fisher's. my grandma makes dinner for the entire family on monday nites. we have to call and make reservations early in the day unless ya don't mind having pb&j if nothing is left when one arrives. sometimes there would be 18 or so people and sometimes just 4 or 5.
* the lush green of spring and summer....especially down bluff road out to my folks and sister's place.
* seeing my sister and her family grow and change as the little ones grow up.
* a healthy midwest thunderstorm
* driving thru forest park.
* the incredible architecture in the city limits.
* going to the contemporary art musuem, craft alliance, soulard market, mezzanine, the cenral west end and the loop for an afternoon.
* seeing my dad ride his horses and the farm where my folks live.
* going to b & j rockshop.
* driving down the highway and having that indescribable feeling that i am in a place of comfort and familiarity that encompasses home.
bubblegum swim cap
this photograph makes me smile. when i was growing up i had a bubble gum pink swim cap but not with all the fun sculptural plastic flowers like this vintage photo. the saturated color, the texture on the swim caps, the teal blue eyeshadow and the all around prettiness make me love it so.......artist:Koto Bolofo.
gomer
this piece "gomer" was made by an old art fair friend of mine, betsy youngquist. she makes these amazing and incredibly ornate sculptures made of glass beads, vintage glass and refused vintage doll parts from old doll factories. we met my first year participating in the laumeier sculpture park art festival in missouri in 2001. can gomer come out and play, a.k.a. come live with me :O)
flies are small
when i saw this at my grandma's house on my last visit home (for her birthday) i thought it was totally hysterical. her dog got ahold of her fly swatter and used it as a chew toy until the outside perimeter was eaten away. hahaahhahahaaa!!! i had to get a picture of it. i have much appreciation for the earlier generations that will use everything until there is not an ounce of use left in it. after all............................. flies are small!!!! cheers to you grandma...you're the best, xoxo.
innocent.eerie.beautiful
i am completely smitten with the work of loretta lux
her images are sweet & innocent and yet eerie all in the same breath. click her name to see more works.