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.
happy halloween
halloween is my favorite holiday. i'm not sure if it's all the sweet little ones that dress up, the official fall like nature of the crispy cool evenings, the fun filled festive halloween parties or all the beautiful pumpkins that surround the holiday that i find so appealing....i guess it's all of those things that i love about this orange and black holiday. i hope you all enjoy halloween as much as i do.
dressing up as a rubix cube is probably my favorite halloween costume ever. if i find the picture of me and my sister i will post it. i think i was probably 5 0r 6. my favorite house to visit on halloween was a corner house on 2nd street, just a block over from our house. the little old women that lived there would have her house totally decked out in halloween goods and she would give out home-made popcorn balls....still a favorite of mine today. the best things was after halloween she wouldn't take many decorations down but would just add the christmas decorations in and it would stay that way most of the year. :O)
don't you love the carved squash above from martha's site.
hope you have a candy filled ghost & goblin day. happy halloween, i'm off to go get the remaining details of my costume for this evening.
a cup of jo
visit this whimsical, fun loving blog that i visit often.....a cup of jo by joanna goddard, such a delightful daily read :O)
yellow shoe pic from here via smitten & ink
pinkfpuffy.agave.seeds
beautiful little puff balls that are blooming on our fairy duster plant and our variegated agave with its pretentious sharp blades.
here is a picture of our front yard with our new bed of fresh dirt in the foreground. we planted it full of lettuce and spinach seeds in hopes to share the bounty with our interested friends and neighbors. we made a pattern out of the lettuce and spinach seeds.....i hope it turns out.
ursula hargens
i fell in love with this platter when chris, my folks, and i went up to georgetown to see the current ceramics show that chris and patrick veerkamp curated. this piece is by ceramic artist ursula hargens
if you click her name to see more of her work scroll about half way down the page.
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
pink inspiration
for more pink goodness and inspiration, check out this entry from my friend margaret's blog......love the pink crocheted bunny. p.s. wish her a happy "pink" birthday....it's her birthday on monday 8-)
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.....
bunns...
these made me smile with glee.....the bunny font, love the "i" find more clever bits at folksy
susan collis
As good as it gets (Detail)
2008
18 carat white gold (hallmarked), white sapphire, turquoise, onyx
Paint job
2004
160 x 45 cm
Boiler suit, embroidery thread
Waltzer (DETAIL)
2007
127.5 x 37 x 11 cm
Wooden broom, opals, turquoise, garnets, seed pearls, mother of pearl, black diamonds, white diamonds, fresh water pearls, coral, black onyx, marcasite.
above works by susan collis.
i am excited beyond words to see this show open at the lora reynolds gallery here in austin. in susan's work the seemingly forgotten or easily overlooked is a labor of love and is, actually, the artwork on view. one may think when walking into a gallery displaying susan's work that the artwork has yet to arrive. this flirtation with what is art or what is on view is just the stream of thought susan chases and fully captures. the seemingly splattered paint on fabric or pencil line and hardware denoting the space where a piece of art work would hang is actually tediously hand stitched details on a pair of overalls or strategically placed and inlaid white gold wire and a carved coral grommet.
i enjoy the dance between using materials that are precious and mimic completely average, mundane materials with a material that one would expect. susan's pieces that seem laden with dribbled paint like the construction broom or the table piece are actually precious materials like inlaid opal, turquoise & mother of pearl. i use a similar vein of logic, but in reverse, in my work. rather than using the precious materials like gold and diamonds in my jewelry i am inspired by the every day and typically discarded materials of everyday that have a previous history or story. some materials may be a found piece of plastic from a busy street or a fragment of glass from a car windshield. using the random and recycled materials in the context of jewelry i hope to offer viewers another voice to what is considered precious and beautiful. my hope is to evoke a bit of curiosity. this is what i love about susan's work, the element of seduction and surprise. upon first glance the instinct and expectation is one in the same, but with a bit of time and attention to detail you are given a broader story and in some ways a little secret.
this is my favorite show i have seen in austin to date. susan's show at the lora reynold's gallery is her first solo show here in the u.s. WelComE SuSan!!!!!!!
olivia jeffries
illustrations by olivia jeffries the dream-like imagery is done on found and repurposed paper....you, know i love that
she currently has a show at pulp in omaha, ne it's good!!!
here kitty kitty....
i hung out with my good friend trisha for a bit today and photographed some of her art cards and also some of my other friend christa's crochet and ceramic pieces. here's a few to feast your eyes on....... check out these clever little "fish" cat treat cards. artist, trisha allen utilizes containers that would typically "meet their maker" in the landfill and puts them to use in her original card making whimsy.
www.badfruit.etsy.com....coming soon by friend trisha allen
also, these great egg cards made from a reused plastic egg and paper. what a hoot!!! i just can't get enough :O)
love thy finger puppet
i couldn't love this little guy more if i tried.
finger puppet by christa mares is made by hand of crocheted yarn. i think she should do a whole backyard of them and have them displayed on tall dowel rods so you could walk thru them. oh, the joy!!!! she's a peach and you can find her on etsy. www.yellowbaby.etsy.com
also....by yellowbaby is this really sweet beaded bag. i love how the beads and type of yarn make it seem like a treasure found at an antique store....
another beautiful piece by christa (yellowbaby) is this amazing lil ceramic box with full on quirky japanese goose decorated lid.....love it!! who could deny this :O)
these eclectic little boxes coming soon in her etsy store.
"unflattering portraits"
i really enjoyed window shopping my way thru these "unflattering portraits" by the misanthrope specialty co.
chris and i have a similar, yet different, version of this same concept in a piece of artwork done by photographer, ben aqua and artist sterling allen....i'll upload the photo and drawing when i photograph them.........stayed tuned.