My Aunt Diana has the most beautiful antique farmhouse with the prettiest things. The are a household of artists and sailors and I think they combine the two very nicely! The other weekend she hosted the most amazing baby shower for my cousin Deirdre. The event was so beautiful I just had to share…

Nests and delicate little blue and white eggs were the theme. These found treasures were lined up on the white mantle (along with found sea shells, a ship painting overhead, crystal from the chandelier and a little pink bird perched above).

The kitchen has a giant blackboard and we doodled and wrote Deirdre messages.

A side table in the dining room was adorned for spring and baby! This just makes me long for spring!

For favors my Aunt Diana stitched up heart sachets stuffed with lavender and sewn with vintage buttons.

We ate yum carrot cake cupcakes. They were so pretty! And I am just noticing all those pretty antique books behind the cupcakes (I was a bit distracted at the time) on a folksy shelf my uncle crafted.

Just like a natural history museum. I snuck off during the present-opening to oogle over my aunts fantastic nest and egg collection, the best and biggest I’ve ever seen.

And another sweet corner from the house (that has me longing for the colors of spring)

And back on the home front…
Been busy sketching, preparing. Sunday painting clothes include old jeans, cardi’s and vintage aprons.

Wall behind desk (I am a bit obsessive about making tints from my favorite paints and swatching them out on paper for future reference). The painting with the girl and the gypsy cart was recently removed from my sketchbook (ouch!) and will be made into a print very soon. I wish I knew where the picture of the bobbed girl is from, she is a favorite.

Have a blissful, beautiful rest-of-the-week, all!
~*~*~

clockwise, from right:

? work in progress
? stack of Christie’s auction catalogues with a cover drawing by Matisse that’s inspiring me to pieces
? Grandma’s wedding China with a faded floral design that is, well, inspiring me to pieces!
? rose fabric snippet that I collaged into my sketch book the other day (snip snip goodbye roses)
? colorful, loose tea cans that are just so pretty (and perfect for holding things!)
? a beautiful white fox that my hubby brought home last week from an estate sale. He knows my style so well.
Clearly I need a bigger table!

Please excuse the absence. Work schedule changed and for the next few months I will be very, very busy with other obligations. In the little free time I have I’ll be taking some quiet, creative time out for myself to sketch and develop new ideas. It seems during my busiest work months the most ideas surface!

? visiting my favorite little seaside town
? walking on the boardwalk oh so briefly with a cup of hot coffee and a good friend
? eating yummy veggie food, out
? cooking yummy veggie food, at home
? sorting through things in my studio and taking out new inspirations
? visiting my grandma and bringing home some of her treasures!
? being inspired by (and longing for) color
? nonstop journaling
? perusing bookstores
? taking a road trip to my favorite little river town in pa, walking the streets and meandering around in shops
? dancing!
? scanning tidbits of lace and lace collars before I glue them into my journal
? treating myself to a long, flowing (and very colorful!) summer skirt that smells of nag champa
? browsing a favorite flea market and buying more vintage lockets (I just can’t kick the habit) and other vintage adornments
? taking in the last half of february 2009

the ocean and lace are a very inspiring combination!

I am now offering cards of my painting “Pulling on Our Ribbons and Hair” in my shop.

These are nice because they can be framed as smaller prints. They also come with an envelope and sticker.

Special thanks to everyone who left sweet, encouraging comments on my swan painting and fox broach. You just don’t know how much you inspire me here. Thank you.

To honor the red fox, I present to you…

This necklace is now up for sale in my shop.

Just because he was clearly the winner in my last giveaway (and because I found just one more vintage pendant amongst my huge jewelry stash to reclaim).

Finished and a print is now in the shop.

“To Be A Songbird” oil on panel, 11″ x 14″
I am loving all the little details! Take a peek…

I don’t know what it is about the ocean and ships, as I am more of a mountain person. Actually, both would be nice right now.

I am enjoying being in my studio with the sunlight beaming through my windows. Days off are nice too!

I woke up to a dozen red roses and a beautiful day visiting favorite places and yummy food.

And in the theme of Valentine’s day, a photo from yesterday…

Another quaint (and very romantic!) cottage that I often admire in our wanderings-about in our favorite local town.

And a found treasure, a spoon with a little ship yard scene in blue enamel. This seems to resemble an ocean portal of sorts, far away from the frosty moss of this morning.

There will be a shop update coming very soon, with a new print, cards, and a special vintage pendant to honor the fox.

journaling under antique lace, on cold press deckle-edge watercolor paper (in my process album).

miss these days…

a few more months till we are knee-deep in wildflowers!

Congrats Noreen!

And let’s not forget the fox, who won overall as your favorite!

I want to say thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway, I feel truly honored to have such wonderful readers! I really enjoy reading your thoughts and stories here, as they leave me with much inspiration and creative “juice” to continue to paint, sketch, and share little, beautiful bits of life. I would absolutely love to offer more giveaways much like this one, so please check back soon!

???PAINTS???

I have been slowly but surely painting away. Here’s some work in progress from a painting from weeks ago. Getting all the details down…work in progress still.

I added some golden harp-inspired embroidery on her hat.

And remember the feathers that my father found from this post? Initially, I thought that they were from the American Goldfinch (which has such a pretty song!) so I added them to the painting (birds still need to be tweaked, but have a peek).

It turns out (with the help of my awesome readers) that the feathers are from, almost definitely, the Northern Yellow Shafted Flicker.

So the story is slowly unfolding in paint. I hope to finish this tonight, and as soon as it is dry it will be offered as a print in my shop.

???TREASURES???

I was quite sick the last couple of weeks, but I managed to find some amazing treasures. Attempting to de-clutter has put most thrifting efforts to a halt, but sometimes it’s a real mood-lifter.

Vintage maryjanes, broaches, a silver locket on a chain (for me this time), little hair combs and white gloves with red polka dotted trim, and a sweet embroidered bag perfect for springtime.

Of all my treasures from last week, the most inspiring was a bag of faded, multicolored, wide silk ribbons, all hand embroidered with women’s names. We can’t figure out what they were used for. The embroidery also includes their home town and state after their name. Here’s one, which I pressed and put on display. I’ll show the others later.

???BOOKS???

I love the cover of this book, from 1905, which is a real treasure too!

More books…I have a giant, deckle-edged watercolor album that has been capturing my treasures as of late. I make these pages for myself to use as reference, for inspiration, to record my findings, and as a catch-all for all the little things I find. Otherwise, the boxes and baggies pile up and are impossible to sift through! So I guess it’s a process journal of sorts. I watercolor-wash it’s pages with subtle color and glue in little fragments of things I find on my travels and treasure-hunts. I don’t put too much care into the pages…I love to keep them loose and free as I don’t want to attempt to make this an an end product. Just a journey, recorded. The only rule I have for myself is everything has to be genuine and found either on the ground or in a thrift or antique shop, given to me, etc. Today was so nice and sunny I decided to snap a few pictures and share (along with my personal collection of vintgagey necklaces). Private inspiring things…why not?

The little chick-a-dee necklace above is from Found and Made.

Absolutely in love with this lace collar. I have two. Sometimes it’s hard to paste things down so it helps when there are duplicates.

I found a roll of old wallpaper on a rainy day walk. Thank goodness for my umbrella! I just love the pale yellow roses on the grey polka-dotted background.

Little notes on pretty blue scraps.

And finally, has anyone read this book? I have been meaning to read it for a long time. I read “The Lady and the Unicorn” by the same author which was interesting. Anything Historical fiction floats my boat. Last week I found a copy in the thrift shop and I couldn’t resist. I didn’t see the movie due to the fact that I wanted to read the book first:)

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway! There’s still time! It ends Monday at 8:00 pm eastern time.