collections in windowsills

and walking in the dreamy woods…

But first I would like to say that I just put a larger, ORIGINAL drawing (11″ by 14″) of “From Within” in my shop.

It’s a darker version, similar to this one, from a few post’s ago, with the birch trees at night. Yes, I sketched a third one! I wanted to try her without the ribbon around her neck. I am so happy to offer it in my shop (and it is so hard for me to let it go)

I’ve been thinking about wildflowers and all things green and lush (yes, very unfall-like of me). I pulled out one of my favorite found embroideries and hung it on my wall. I’ve been thinking about it ever since I received this package. I took photos of the queen annes lace embroidery and posted them here last year, but I just love it so much, so here’s more!
Beautiful detail.

And knowing that winter will soon be here I have been adorning my windwsill with this and that, summer memories and other things, found.

The sandy bottle was a wash up at the beach. It’s very old! The other, smaller bottle I found in the early spring during a walk through the woods. Did you know that the frost pushes old bottle and other discarded items up out of the ground in the spring?

I have been painting too. This is a piece in the earliest of stages…just the underpainting and I’m sure it will change and morph into something totally different. But the concept will stay the same for the most part. The raw umber scribbles you see in the right hand corner are actually a grove of willow trees with a piano in the middle. I imagined a procession of birds soaring out of it.

The leaves were in their glory over the weekend! They are now falling. To everyone in the northern hemisphere, enjoy the remainder of autumn bliss !

milkweed pod nest and other things

…inspiring me today. It’s Friday and I have been painting the day away, which is so blissful! Taking a bit of a different direction with acrylics now, painting up little (or very big) scenes of surreal things in earthy colors.

Also been playing with arrangements of favorite found things on my shelf, inspiring the paintings…

The feather was found last week. Do you know what kind of bird it is from?

Also, this nest is the most compact little thing to behold! I think it is lined with milkweed seeds. I found it on the ground in a meadow by a pond in February. It looked as though it was freshly made, and had fallen from the tree. I need to know who made it!

Yesterday I went to a lovely old mill (which has been converted into an antiques mall) with my mom and shopped for old things. I think this print emits the most pretty, etherial vibe. And the colors are so inspiring. Golden, earthy browns and blues.

And the reflection in the photo make it even more so.

The purchase of the day was this giant woven doctor bag-ish purse, the perfect summer bag which I have search and searched for.

A little side note…I am putting together a sweet giveaway which will be posted on Monday!

getting ready for a new year

In cleaning my studio room today I came across some additional lockets that I had stashed away (and you can preview three of them in this post. I’ve already decided that my mini print locket days are near over, as time to source is scarce, and I am not out thrift and antique shopping much anymore. So I’ve decided to use up the lockets that I already own and offer them in my shop within the next few days…so keep a lookout if you are interested!!
AND…(in the theme of cleaning out the studio) I found a few sketchbooks/ journals that I was meaning to customize. So look forward to that shop update too!

Some time off and I’ve been playing nonstop with paints! I hope this new year is more productive for me. I’m off to a good start though… A little peek of one, unfinished and waiting for paints to dry…

And a scan of today’s inspiration, winter ferns found peaking out of the snow today and pretty vintage lace.

And sketches and sloppy notes

A beautiful new year to all.

grey day

Rain, bare branches and grey-washed skies today.

Enjoying the novelty of being able to see the bark and rocks and mossy texture on the ground (as I am quite sure this delight will wear off by mid winter!)

Despite the rain (and to wonder why I am feeling a bit under the weather) I decided I needed some fresh air. The little stream directly behind us was a-flowing!

Squeezed in a little walk today. Have you ever watched raindrops as they slide down bare braches and drip slowly from berries and wild rose hips?

A sneak peek at a few paintings in progress, they are coming along s-l-o-w-l-y.

There’s images in these compositions you may recognize…some maybe not. I don’t want to say much about them because I don’t want to give anything away (and I change my mind a lot so they might not be there when the paintings are complete).

I’m working on so many things right now, I just keep jumping from one project to the next. Today I put these aside and worked on a book binding project I am currently obsessing about.

I got this in the mail today! I have three gals from the same family. I am just as thrilled with the delicate embossed border as their faces. It just amazes me that these little tintypes were around during the Civil War. Holding them is like holding little gems (and please try to ignore my horribly dry, chapped hands!).

They are from the ever sweet Oh My Buttons! and I am so happy to add them to my ever-growing collection of old photographs.

And speaking of gems and collections, I am loving this sweet 50’s tuxedo blouse I bought from
The dusty Dog Vintage Boutique

It’s perfectly fitted and is the best shade of gold with little ruffles and mini buttons…I wonder why the 1950’s is my favorite clothes period to collect and wear?! It’s getting harder and harder to find these fashions, but when I find the perfect piece my heart jumps! I have quite a collection going (and yesterday evening was spent organizing it all in my closet so it’s within reach to wear!)

And for those of you who are wondering…there will be a print giveaway sometime next week…but not here! For now it’s a secret but I’ll fill you in when it occurs so you can have a chance to win!

Have a good day, and for those of you in the northeastern US, stay cozy for the rainy weekend!

feathers, herbs, and sunflowers

…and all the nice things from this weekend! First let me say I have been working on customizing a beautiful Italian journal that will be in my shop tomorrow, around 8:00 pm eastern time. I will give a little hint…“One Misty Morning” is the theme of this lovely journal/ sketchbook.

This weekend I took a picture of my collection of various feathers collected over the summer months.

The blackbird wins as submitting the most feathers to my collection (probably due to an unfortunate incident but I won’t get into that now!) And the biggest feather, from a hawk found during a forest forage…

This weekend we visited an organic farm in the Hudson Valley. They had the yummiest veg food and it was so pretty! After eating brunch I stocked up all my favorite delicious greens, such as kale, mesclun, and a new one for me (which is actually a yummy weed!) perslane.… I am set for the week!

The quaint barn was a hodgepodge of old windows with a tin roof…

The inside was an absolute earthy dream! Look at the drying Yarrow, the Black Eyed Susan’s and the stainless pails filled to the brim with sunflowers…

A bountiful selection of amazing herbs.

Sunflowers were everywhere in colorful recycled cans.

I find this sort of place so incredibly inspiring. I am searching for more of it’s kind.

orange marmalade, embroidery and other things

Yum! Part of Saturday morning breakfast.

I opened the fridge the other day to find the most delightful jar of orange marmalade (put there by my husband who is quite the foodie). Besides the marmalade’s amazing taste and subtle orangey zing, the jar is so pretty. My paint brushes are sure to find a home in it when empty. It’s made from a thick milky-white glass and the antique-inspired labels make me feel like it’s from very long ago (and the label says established 1797 so I’m in).

Inspiring me the past couple of days…

Rich, fall-like embroidery, velvets and wool. So perfect for September!

Went to a bag sale yesterday and thrifted these little vintage white gloves. They are completely hand sewn and I am in love with the delicate little bow details. They found a home clothes-pinned to my inspiration ribbon, behind my desk.

I have been thinking about goats since last weekend when we visited a farm. They must enter my painting sometime soon! The snippet above is from the book Heidi by Johanna Spyri.

I so wanted to take this little guy home:

It’s a rainy night and I am tucked away in my little room sorting through boxes of wool and calico. I am thinking about making a few totes and picking out the fabric is half the fun. Looking forward to tomorrow, we are visiting an organic farm (and I hope they have goats there!).
A good weekend to all!

wild by nature

Was searching online for animal stories of old and I came across this lovely, lovely old book which is online in it’s entirety full of inspiring, sweet little images.

So now stories of spiders and moles, beetles and bugs and silly nuthatches are going through my head.

I have been collecting feathers! I think I get a few new ones with every trot through the woods and field (and sometimes even in town)! At the beginning of the summer my dear little collection looked like this:

Just a few feathers (although the yellow one was quite a rare find). As soon as I receive my new camera from the postman (the faeries got a hold of my precious old one and broke it!) I will have to share! That goes for the jewelry update as well, vintagey goodness and my mini print cameos are sitting on my worktable without a camera to capture their image! So for now I leave you with my favorite things, calico quilts, feathers and ships.

honeybee forest sea

A peek at a painting in progress, Honeybee Sisters

Yesterday I decided to put this painting aside and paint the pair into more of a setting with bee imagery (recently I have had a craving to paint more detailed settings as opposed to portraits). I’ve been researching bees and hives and they hold a vast amount of symbolism and meaning which is interesting. Interpret it as you will honeybees are pretty too and I love to see them buzzing around the flowers. Wasps and hornets are interesting as well but I was stung a few weeks ago and I’m still bitter!

While I was roaming around the other day I noticed that they fungi in the moss carries similarities to certain sea treasures, white coral and sea urchin:

How I would love to dangle these forest sea treasures from my ears.