workin'

for fall pumpkin festival

(fall's almost here, right? come on cool weather)

and

to mail to my favorite KW shop, Wanderlust

(how I'd love to be in KW right now...)

In Memory

(image from pbs.org)

http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/meaning/war-casualties.html

Easter Colors

Last weekend (was it only last weekend?) I had the most lovely Easter tea with my family.

(We celebrate with food, in case you couldn’t tell…)

Here, take a look:

A rainbow of dye

Pastel

My niece’s first year dying eggs. She had so much fun. She was tossing the eggs in the dye with abandon. I started saying “plunk” every time she did, and she quickly picked up on that. Plunk, plunk, plunk. Luckily eggs of the hard-boiled variety are a little tougher than the raw ones.

In progress

The first dozen

Pink! My niece's favorite color. This dye took a long time to soak in though…not great for the impatient.

My rainbow (she shared the dying responsibility with us)

All twenty-four (pre-stickers)

Easter shards (following our traditional egg duel - does anyone else do that?)

Naked eggs

Egg purgatory

Deviled

Easter tea, courtesy of my mom and sister: meat pie, scones (with clotted cream and cherry jam), ham biscuits, pimiento cheese sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, babka, cupcakes, and a chocolate Easter bunny.

Cold cuts + fruit

Kielbasa, fresh and smoked

White borscht, with the fresh kielbasa (my dad's specialty)

Adorable cupcakes that my sister made. Cute and delicious! (She left some without the coconut grass for me…)

Easter rose

Easter is just around the corner!

I'm hoppin' down the bunny trail!

What do you think of these? Do you have a favorite?

The little chickees make me smile :)

Resolved in 2011

Balance

+Creative Process

-Processed Food

+Activity

-Idleness

+Restfulness

-Anxiety

+Giving (make time for volunteering)

-Dwelling on the (-)

+Take (at least the) first of AREs

-Putting off studying

Enjoying the moment,

seizing the day,

and taking the ups

and downs one at a time.

(And figuring out how to make my blog to let me single space paragraphs...help!)

Juicy

Healthy start to 2011: Yum. (Oh, Krystyna, you white liar [nibble nibble on the last of the holiday sweets...])

The First

A lovely slow morning, the first of the year. Breezy, balmy, and the clouds rolling in – there’s a twinge of cool in the air. Barefoot in the yard, picking a sweet, juicy tangelo. Indulging my love of books written for children and adolescents. Stacking up my quarter-a-copy books from the Friends of the Library store – on deck is Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Dreaming up dreams for new cards for 2011 – everything seems so light and airy right now. Can I capture that in my paintings and keep it throughout the year? What does 2011 have in store for you?

Christmas Tidings

Wow! We're already upon the next holiday it seems. Christmas is right around the corner. (And I've finished my present shopping!) (I have yet to finish my cards though, which I started nice and early and then...hit the pause button. I have decided to write them after Christmas day [still during the 12 days of Christmas] when I am on vacation and embracing lazy mornings. For someone who makes cards as a business I am setting a terrible example...) I try to celebrate the season by giving where I can - donating the extra bit when I buy my groceries (or tonight it was six-pack, I'll admit) at Publix; Christmas shopping from the Greater Good site; donating a book through Anthropologie (and resisting the pretty pretty shoes calling my name); and giving to St Jude...and of course the Salvation Army Santas! I sound like some sort of commercial for these places, but my point is...there are so many ways to help someone less fortunate. In my quiet little life I feel quite fortunate. It's only little bits here and there, but I figure, every little bit counts, right? I hope you and yours have a joyful, beautiful, safe and warm Christmas and New Year! Here's to a lovely 2011!

Holidays!

How was your Thanksgiving-2010? Here is a "moment of zen" from my family and laughter-filled holiday weekend:

Holidays are Coming!!

I think my Holiday Craziness started early this year, way back in early September. But I’ve been able to sneak a couple hours in between my crazy-day-job to work on my artsy-job (Pen&Paperie), finally! I’ve had a hectic couple of months, though I’ve just logged my last hours for my architectural license! Woohoo. (Now…on to those exams…)

With ambitions of putting out two calendars this year, I am…half-way there. I’ve got one done! Check out my little 2011 Garden Calendar on Etsy. I’ve made the pictures tear-off note/post cards so you can use them when the month is done.

And, hey, I think some of these can count towards my 1,000,000 Leaves project too…double-duty crafts! How efficient.

Next up: zodiac calendar and Christmas cards!

Have your holiday crazies started yet??

Dashing Through the Snow...

I have officially begun my Christmas shopping. I am a nut, I know, but the opportunity presented itself... So, in the holiday spirit - when you do you start buying Xmas Cards? And do you actually manage to mail them all out before the big day? I've got to get in the holiday frame of mind so I can be prepared when the holiday greetings flurry begins! Also - I need ideas for calendars. Last year I did "Sunny Days of 2010" which was well received. I may do another Sunny Days, but I want to have a couple themes for customers to choose from. What do you like to see handing on your wall?

What Do YOU Think?

So...I painted this ladder, and I thought it would make a fun card. And I still think so, having printed it. But...what occasion would beg for someone to give someone a card with a ladder on it?? I can only come up with "Climbing the Corporate Ladder" for someone who just got a promotion. What other occasions can you come up with??

Valentine’s Day is coming!

I’m a little early, I know, but I’ve been making Valentines for my Etsy shop so I am in the spirit of the holiday… Though the roots of Saint Valentine’s Day are a bit fuzzy (the name is one of several martyrs of ancient Rome, and none were associated with the lovey-dovey we are familiar with today) I still think it’s a great opportunity to express love to those in your life. Romans celebrated the festival of Lupercalia, during which men would draw the names of women out an urn to select a companion for the year…precursor to online dating? Hmm… Then there are stories that February 14 is the day on which birds began to mate – LOVE BIRDS! Send a Valentine to someone you love – a family member, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, old friend, husband, wife…you get the picture. Love is beautiful in all its forms.