m e s s y b e d s t u d i o

happy

2012-02-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

i've just finished the fafsa form for middle son for college next year! if any of you have college age kids you'll know how happy i am right now. to celebrate here's a few treasuries.

take that, winter

2012-02-24T19:29:00.000-08:00

it has felt like spring the past few days but seems winter is not over yet and had to rear it's ugly head this morning, with a dusting of snow and windy, gray skies. i hear we were supposed to get around 8". i shouldn't be complaining but.

here's what i say to that...

beauty

2012-02-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

i'm in love with tisane infusion. the text is in japanese so i understand none of it but the characters are lovely, just enhancing the photography. and that photography... is gorgeous.

this is just a taste of what's there. go see it.

and here's something new in the shop

this is me

2012-02-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

i was checking out baban cat's blog and saw the inside of my head. had to share it.

too graphic, too much information? sorry.

it's from a commercial for sudafed. think i gotta get me some.

2012-02-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

i love this song. maybe i should have posted it on valentine's day?

still sick and spending way too much time on the computer. it's better than watching sponge bob all day, right?

sunday

2012-02-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

one down, one to go. ginger brew to help this cold go away.

leftover homemade soup in yes, a cool whip container, for lunch, to help this cold go away.

my daughter's pearls, unstrung

i sat, with youngest son, in the wreckage that is my studio, and listened to him laugh on the phone with his friend. his complete abandon, his joyful laughter made my sunday. oh those little moments.

nope, it's friday

2012-02-17T09:32:00.000-08:00

i've had a cold this week so my days are all mixed up. here's some new vintage kitsch at the messy bed

vintage florida souvenir salt and pepper shakers shaped like an orange and a lemon! what could be better?
find them here

and have you seen these?

i'm hoping to hit an auction this weekend if this cold lets up. that's my idea of fun. hope you have some fun this weekend too.

is it wednesday already?

2012-02-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

blue eggs on my kitchen counter make me happy. a gift from a friend.

northeast classic car museum does anyone else think we should go back to pastel mint green cars? this is just one of the many gorgeous cars at this museum.

a treasury of spring colors

worth

2012-02-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

here's the third in the inner constellation series. worth. what is our worth and how do we measure it? who determines it?

the penciled in words on the inside of this vintage book cover read - the circumstances under which these lines are given and what they mean. these words evoked some deeper meaning for me and so i used the cover as the canvas for this one. again, i'm using vintage faux pearls given to me by my father. i now realize he may not have completely understood my way of creating but he was always there with anything from rusted old keys to books and maps to help me do it. boy do i miss him.

please read here and here about courage and forgiveness, the first two in this series.

you can find it in my shop

a gloucester, ma. sunset and shell art

etsy lookbook

2012-02-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

did you know etsy has a lookbook? i didn't. i found it while checking out la.daridari's blog. don't you just love checking out the blog list of a favorite blogger, which leads you to another awesome blogger with a blog list which leads to another... and suddenly it's 2 hours later and you can't even remember where you started? so i can't exactly tell you how i found la.daridari but i'm glad i did.

because of this.... you can find other colors here

and this

and then there's this... keep an eye out for la.daridari's page

the lookbook is gorgeous and again just reaffirms for me how important product photos are, on etsy and any other print or online venue. it's inspiring to see these etsians looking so professional. i have much to learn.

practice, practice, practice.

2012-02-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

potato leek soup deconstructed

view from my back porch

valentines

2012-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

i've been making these cards for a few years now. i can remember when i first started, sitting around with my daughter, coming up with ever more ridiculous combinations - you're the lima to my bean, anyone? one that got rejected for being just a wee bit over the top was - you're the sid to my nancy. yeah, very bad taste.

i got the idea from a song that i don't know the name of and i can't remember who sang it. but this is the line that inspired the cards - you're the chocolate in my pocket (sound familiar to anyone?) so i love this idea of having this little treasure, this gift of chocolate, savoring it, anticipating it, and you keep it real close to you, in your pocket where it's comfy and warm. and then you finally take it out and... well, it's soft and melty and now you have to work for it, you have to get a little messy to eat it. and i feel love is like that, being in love, being married, being with someone for the long haul.

this might be why i'm single now.

but i love the contradiction, which i think is closer to real life. so... you're the itch to my poison ivy is the itch that you love to scratch but it can be a bit annoying too.

birthday in gloucester

2012-01-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

massachusetts, that is.

as i mentioned in an earlier post, my kids took me to see the ocean for my birthday. the weather was amazing for january, a perfect day for the beach. so many people had the same idea. it was as if we all recognized what a gift a day like this was and we all couldn't help smiling at each other. even the dogs.

the top picture is the view from our motel room. i was happy.

i have to give some love to the 2 restaurants we went to. it's always tricky for a celiac to eat out, so we are always thrilled to find places that have gluten free items, let alone a menu. the bottom two pictures show gf pizza from guiseppes (ask for the gf menu!) and gf waffles from mamie's kitchen. if you're ever in gloucester you've got to try them. to be honest, we'd be at mamie's every sunday for breakfast if we lived in the area.

new work new studio

2012-01-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

a while back i started a series i called inner constellations. these pearl constellations looked like stars that would guide and show the way to things that need to be learned or found again. this second piece is called forgiveness. to forgive ourselves seems to be so hard.

some photos behind the scenes, pearls from my father.

2012-01-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

i just discovered wanelo and i'm having a blast wandering around. while virtual window shopping, i found this. i love it and just had to share it here.

then i saw this

these lovely prints are by bianca green. check out this neat project she's started.

i just might have to own one or two of these.

more goodness

2012-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

love, v - another blog, has featured the humble hand drawn calendar and so i must (happily) spread the love with a mention.

this picture is from the post titled belly. even if you're not a dog lover, (i am) this has got to make you smile.

i love the look of this room, so warm especially on this cold january day.

thanks love, v.

oh, yes, and i had a birthday yesterday. i'm not talking age here but it was a big one, one that i might have wanted to forget but my kids made it awesome. one of the best moments was while i was upstairs and they were all downstairs in the kitchen, cooking, preparing, listening to music. i could hear their laughter and feel their unity in the making of a birthday dinner for me and it was a beautiful thing. as they get older i see them growing more and more into themselves and life taking them in other directions, and these moments of togetherness happen less and less. and what i liked even more about it was the fact that i was not a physical part of it. it was somehow like knowing that they were going to be alright no matter what, that they have each other, separate from me. that was an unexpected gift.

another unexpected gift was an overnight trip to gloucester, mass. middle son thought i needed to see the ocean for my birthday and he was right. also got awesome music and a book about making art from books. perfect, i'd say.

and those kids made a dinner to die for. soft, cheesy polenta, perfectly cooked steak, salad with grapes, (love grapes in a salad) and cheesecake for the singing bit. i took pictures but god are they terrible, so i will have to leave it up to your imagination.

mad awkward

2012-01-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

is this mad awkward, as my youngest son might say, or just healthy self-promotion? i don't know but i'm so thrilled and proud that i can't help it. the humble hand drawn calendar was featured in 2 very neat blogs and a handful of etsy treasuries!

the first blog, such great heights is geared towards empowering teens. there are beautiful photos featuring awesome teens and the self-less, inspiring things they do.

spin. sew. sketch. features finds and projects by kate. she has an amazing eye (not just because she found the humble hand drawn calendar) and i particularly love her very own calendar project below.

now for the treasuries. thanks to all for including the humble, etc.

a little bit of christmas

2011-12-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

here's the last bit of our gluten free chocolate bark that we made for christmas. i saw a recipe at poppytalk by lyndsay sung of coco cake for pretzel toffee chocolate bark and was inspired. while out shopping, i managed to remember the gluten free pretzels (we used glutino) and the chocolate, but not the toffee. oh well.

salty-sweet and chocolaty, what's not to love?

happy new year everyone!

what do you think?

2011-12-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

i think i'm really loving this...

love this!

2011-12-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

this is hysterical! so, so many talented, creative, brainy people on etsy!

http://handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com/

find out more about it here

humble hand drawn

2011-12-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

last year i bought a little art calendar and i loved the simplicity of it so much that it inspired me to make my own.

did you doodle when you were in your high school english class while discussing the grapes of wrath or do you pick up a pen and scribble while you're on the phone with your best friend who lives across the continent, who you haven't seen in over a year? that's the kind of spontaneously drawn calendar that i wanted to make.

so i'm happy to introduce my first annual humble hand drawn fortune cookie wisdom calendar.
hope you like it!

you can see it here in my shop. i hope to have better pictures soon. :)

even so we got included in a treasury! many thanks to Mandy from Moxiedoll.

happy, happy christmas to all!

free shipping at messy bed

2011-12-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

free shipping for the holidays! and some treasuries of my favorite things!

christmas wrapping

2011-11-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

i took my shop out of vacation mode on etsy and started making treasuries with a vengeance. here's one for my favorite christmas song - christmas wrapping by the waitresses. tried to be clever about it - maybe it's so clever it's unrecognizable? hope not. anyway i had fun making it.

enjoy!

in honor of halloween

2011-10-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

two posts in one day? oh my.

middle son, also known as, oldest son but middle child, aka dylan goodman has turned me on to google+. he is always posting videos and fun stuff and so far i've just been commenting. i am computer illiterate even though he has tried for a long time to show me how not to be. but i felt compelled to figure out how to post a video? upload a video? see what i mean, i just don't speak the language. anyhow, i love the song halloween head by ryan adams. i mean i love it. my kids may just tolerate it, i'm not sure. or maybe i should say they tolerate me listening to it. so in honor of halloween i had to figure this out.

i'm somewhat proud to say that i did it.
now i'm going to do it again.

version 1

version 2

i am so happy.

isn't this a great song?

there is a kitchen under there...

2011-10-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

i promise

it took us 2 hours to make breakfast the first morning in our new house. we were determined to have pancakes - we needed our strength after all. took us awhile to find the spatula.

just some pictures of the joy of moving, settling in and making a new nest.

a little celebrating

our first snow. the orange and yellow lights are our neighbors halloween decorations.

the morning after. 1 tree down. poor tree.

a little appreciation is due

2011-09-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

youngest son is pretty ~~pissed~~ ~~off~~ disappointed with me because i neglected to mention in my last post, that he was the one who informed me of the new snow patrol ep. and i call myself a fan, tsk tsk. anyhow, this is me showing my awesome youngest son some appreciation, giving credit where credit is due.

thank you sweetie pie.

did i totally embarass you?

new vintage in the shop

a preview of vintage to come

what would i do without you my youngest son?

feeling a bit like eeyore lately

2011-09-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

...even though snow patrol is coming out with a new ep sept. 4th. :)

truth be told i don't really want to move and i'm deep in the middle of moving. i miss middle son who's off to college and i'm sooooo effing proud of him. i don't want to go through all the tangible evidence of our lives and decide what to keep and what to throw out. i hate change even though i love change. maybe it's just too much change at once?

what would pooh bear do, i wonder?

mastering the art of the blurry photograph, a tutorial

2011-08-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

i love all those blogs that teach you something, whether it be how to cook gluten free or how to make drunken tiles. those bloggers are so generous with their time and knowledge and i was inspired to share something myself.

this is what i came up with.

i call it mastering the art of the blurry photograph, a tutorial.

first you must have a really, really good camera. one that does everything but click the shutter button for you. you must not read the instruction booklet and you definitely have to ignore all the symbols and lights that come on the screen trying to tell you something.

next you must set the object to be photographed in the most absolutely perfect position possible. this should take hours. start when the light is at its best, you know, when the sunlight is streaming in but it's not too harsh and shadowy. this way, you will have missed this gorgeous light because you have spent hours getting the perfect position and props for your said object. now that the perfect light is gone, you can start taking pictures.

now, for the perfect up close shot, the one where the best part of said object is crystal clear and the rest is beautiuflly unfocused. you must stand too close and forget to either turn on or turn off the flash. you absolutely must not use a tripod. that's for a different tutorial. you must also forget to use the correct setting on your camera, the setting that may get you the gorgeous, ethereal, unfocused background and the perfectly clear object.

next you will want a shot of the whole object. you must again forget the correct setting and stand just a little too far away. also you must hold the camera well away from you because you have forgotten your reading glasses and in so doing, your hands will shake helping to create the perfectly blurry photo. but you will not know this until you load them onto your computer and finally find your reading glasses. then you will thank god for digital cameras.

i hope this was helpful.

here are some examples to inspire you

and here's a couple for those of you who have an appreciation for the unblurry photograph

photograph by William Waldron

i was lucky enough to see this photographer work. william waldron generously offered to take photos of my daughter for a cd she was making for a school project and i got to watch. it was an inspiring thing to see art being made not with brushes and paints but with cameras and lenses and light.

greetings from real life

2011-08-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

coming back to real life after being on vacation just kind of sucks. i kept trying to come up with a better way to say it but this felt so right and afterall i do live with teenagers. we all have our worries and what seem like impending disasters so getting away can be a much needed break and before we left i was dwelling (entrenched?) in the land of overwhelm. i do try to live in the moment but it is an intention most of the time and not my reality. so i found myself really, really, really looking forward to going away for a week.

we, my three kids and i, stayed in a cabin on a gorgeous lake in the adirondacks. there was very limited, almost non-existent cell service and no internet. it was a bit like being in the middle of nowhere. because of that i was able to let everything go. we didn't talk about college loans, car insurance, the housing market or doctor appointments. instead we swam, got minor sunburns, played games, did jigsaw puzzles, read and ate amazing food while watching the sun set. then we woke up and did it all over again. i was conscious of how lucky i was, how overwhelmed i have felt and that i didn't want to feel that way again. i started to allow myself to think about why i was feeling that way. notice i said started to allow myself... much of it is just out-of-my-control life, but i'm curious to know what is in my control and how can i handle that better.

we're a day and a half back and i'm almost there, almost back where i started. unfortunately everything was still here waiting for me to get back home. how do we move past overwhelmed to something better?

ok, ok, enough whining. i mean, look at that sky, right?

heavy thoughts

2011-07-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

i'm thinking about my dad more than usual because in just a few days it will be a year since he died. my intention is not to be sad but to try to really realize that for his sake he is in a better place - not tied to his body that caused him so much pain. it's been almost a year and i should be able to just feel that right? know it in my heart? but we who are left behind can't help but miss him.

last night one of my brother's dogs died. two golden retriever puppies, brothers, that he got last summer, shortly after my dad died. we went to help my brother dig a grave in the middle of this heat wave, in the dark. it's so hard to make sense of this. our animals are like people to us aren't they?

my father, who was an oil burner repairman as i was growing up, fixed everything. when i was looking for my first house, it was understood that it had to have oil heat so that he could fix it if need be. this was his identity for me, a kind of protector who took care of the mechanics of life. the day after he died, my oil burner did too. eventually i had to call a repairman. it was one of the hardest things i've ever done. the ultimate reality for me, that i couldn't call my dad, that i was on my own. i often think about that and try to make sense of it. was my dad trying to tell me something? show me that i could survive without him? on good days that's what i believe.

with these thoughts, i've been working on some mixed media pieces. i'm using old faux pearls that my dad gave me. some are still strung and these, when layed out, looked like constellations to me. i imagine them as beacons that show the way in an inner landscape. sort of like a guide to things that need to be learned or remembered. this is the first inner constellation called courage.

thanks for listening.

a table is born

2011-07-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

after much conversation with myself because of this, i decided that i still had to have these vintage porcelain casters from altered archeology. jessica has some very cool items in her shop, a great mix of unusual vintage items, assemblage and art jewelry. gorgeous stuff. so i bought the casters, deciding to treat myself. because i deserve it. so there.

do you treat yourself by buying vintage porcelain casters, i wonder?

they were lovingly added to my collection (they sat hidden away in a box with other casters and door knobs) until in a very happy and serendipitous way, my old printer broke. some mght ask why that would be a happy occurence. to them i say, keep reading, it gets better. so. this meant that... we had to buy a new printer, new one doesn't fit where old one did. we need table for said new printer. lightbulb moment! let's make one using that old door cabinet that has been sitting outside all winter (snow, rain, ice, wind) getting perfectly weathered, find legs for it and, you guessed it, use the casters! i felt vindicated!

casters from altered archeology

this is how happy i am with the finished table!

special thanks go to middle son for all the work!

dinner night, a collaboration

2011-06-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

this is an open invitation to our virtual house for dinner. about once a week, middle son and i will find inspiration from a cookbook, magazine, our pantry and our csa veggie share and make a meal. we thought this would be a neat way to document his last summer home before he goes off to college. and we like to share.

middle son has had his own blog for a few years now where he creates his own recipes and talks about all things gluten free. why gluten free? his brother has celiac disease which means that gluten is really, really bad for him. for a better description than that, check out this. since we never wanted our celiac to feel like some foods were off limits all our meals are gluten free. and they're good enough that even the gluten eaters are happy.

so our first dinner will be at middle son's blog and next week it will be right here. our dinners are very casual, flip flops and dogs are welcome. enjoy!

tonight's dinner

2011-06-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

gluten free pancakes, homemade whipped cream, strawberries. after a long day of painting, scraping, nailing, fixing, we thought we'd do dinner and dessert in one. yum.

books - our friends

2011-06-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

stopped in the salvation army the other day to donate some things and of course had to look around. "isn't that a bit like taking one step forward and two steps back?" i thought to myself. "we are trying to move, you know," i muttered, silently, irritably.

but i ask you, can you resist shelves upon shelves of books?

i only brought home a small stack. ok, maybe it was a little bit bigger than small. but here's how i'm rationalizing this, once i finish them i will pass them on. i think that makes it all better.

here's one particular score i'm thrilled about.

isn't this just a beautiful cookbook? look at the size of it! can not wait till cucumbers are in to try this recipe.

and here's a happy father's day to all the dads out there, including mine.
miss you.

changes

2011-06-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

So much has been happening - a graduation for middle son, a party and house guests for his graduation and a firm decision to sell our house and a list of everything that needs to be done to sell it.

First the graduation... so happy and proud am I and we got to share it with good friends, you know, the kind that are family.

So the decision to sell our house is a bittersweet one. We love it but it's just too big now. So on the market she goes. The list of things to do is long and we've set a date to put it on the market, which isn't far away. To both challenge and treat ourselves for all the work, middle son, a very good cook and baker has promised a new dessert for every few things we check off the list. Strawberry shortcake was our first treat. We plan to get sick on strawberries while they are in season.

Middle son and I plan on starting a blog within a blog thing where we will cook gluten free and post recipes and pictures to share. Our dessert treats will be a part of this. Here's what we have been snacking on from our first quart, strawberries and nutella. Yum!

I'm not hungry, I'll just pick...

While middle son was replacing outdoor light fixtures, he found this nest tucked on top of one. We will have to wait till the babies fly away to cross that chore off our list. But how sweet is that?

The work that went into this beautiful little nest is just amazing to me. Look how soft it is. A perfect home for these eggs. A little gift for us.

seriously adorable treasure (at least to me)

2011-06-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

i have a thing about old childrens chairs. their miniature size just gets me. the more age the better. worn finishes, paint spatters, some rust - that's all just glorious patina, right? so i convince middle son to stop at a yard sale because they have lots of big people chairs lined up and so maybe there's some little people chairs too. there is lots of old junk, stuff my father would have had stashed in his work room - i love it. the problem is, is that we are trying to declutter to move into a smaller house. but then i saw this little blue chair. and a neat old book for inspiration. i just had to have them. so middle son suggests to me that i should give up one of the other little chairs at home that i've collected. i am outraged. i tell him that if the house was on fire, he and his brother and sister would be the first things i would get out and then i would go back for those chairs.

i'm kind of joking but i'm also kind of not.

middle son probably thinks i'm crazy.

seriously adorable little blue chair and 1912 tennyson book

two kinds of cute

2011-06-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

preview of some new things for the shop. cute 1

and cute 2, but if you actually knew him you might not think so. this is blue eyes a.k.a. fluffy, fargus and bro as my youngest son calls him.


look at those claws - and he's not afraid to use them. i'm calling him ninja kitty.

auction finds and some new work in my shop

2011-06-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

so we went to an auction for a car and came home with books. it could be a long story. i'll make it short. teenage son wants car. auction has car. car has long list of undesirable qualities - bad battery, burned out fuses and likewise, burned out front seat. looks like someone was trying to set fire to their crotch. smoking is bad. so instead of leaving by nearest exit, we stay. and that's how i got these fabulous books. i'm so excited. not the least is the fact that said son, who wants car, has actually read the divine comedy and liked it. i had to get this book for him - it's a 1944 special edition with engravings by william blake. they all have beautiful illustrations and lovely aged pages. one of the books has lost its covers, so it's ripe for the picking. i'm thrilled. even better, i got them for 2.50 each.

this is the new piece called a way out that i added to my shop. many times i'm inspired by a poem or song lyrics so i start by writing these words down on the canvas. in my own very non-religious way, i think of it like a benediction and a way to start. then comes the color and the paper and the glue. sometimes the words show, sometimes they are completely covered but i like knowing they are there. the words in/on/of this little canvas, actually a vintage book cover, are lyrics to the song wounded by third eye blind. if you don't know it, it's about love and friendship and hope and missing someone and more. just go listen to it. they do it better than i could ever describe it. to me, the song is ultimately hopeful and empowering even though it begins with violation and powerlessness. that's just my take on it. so playing around with the strips of blueish green painted paper, they became a ladder to help find a way back, or a way out, even a hand up.

proud mama

2011-05-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yeah so... this is the album cover my daughter did for the band Barbacoa called Heavy Like Bears. Check out those bears. I think she's pretty good at this art stuff.

And here's something I just listed in my shop, called yearning.

some new old at messy bed

2011-05-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

some vintage and a hand painted pendant at messy bed studio

mother's day

2011-05-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

sleeping in, sun, spring, museum art, dinner not cooked by me, wine, olive oil, aged balsamic from Italy, kids, love

the reasons I'm lucky enough to get to celebrate this day

something new

2011-05-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Just added this to my shop. I have these vintage maps that are like works of art themselves that I just love using in my work. Some are hanging on the walls of my studio and the rest are torn and faded - perfect for collage! This piece uses just a bit of them.


from FreakyPeas


from tsifcaonline

And here are two treasuries I was included in by FreakyPeas and tsifcaonline. Some very talented people in Etsyland.

sales just in time for mom's day

2011-04-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

One of my pieces was included in another treasury, this one with a sale theme. The curator, EarthMotherMosaics is having a sale herself and she is donating 25% to relief efforts in Japan through the Red Cross.

She has beautiful mosaics, I bet your mom would love one.

This is one of my favorites at EarthMotherMosaics

houndstooth still life with swirls

2011-04-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Finally finished some pendants. I think they're pretty neat and I hope you think so too. I will say that I have even more respect for all aspects of jewelry making and jewelry makers.

Go on, go check them out!

mother's day wish list no. 1 and spring sale at messy bed

2011-04-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd indulge myself by making mother's day treasury wish lists on etsy. Here's the first. Hope you like it as much as I do. And check out the sale at messy bed studio.

day dreaming

2011-03-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

It's been one of those weeks. You know, where you feel like you're just keeping your head above water, only to wake up this morning to find that the scent of oil in the air you've been smelling for a couple of days now, is in fact a problem and not just your imagination. It means that the oil burner is breaking, about to turn off and leave you with no heat. Of course it is Saturday and the repairman will be getting time and a half.

I do try not to get too cranky (my kids might see things differently) and not to let things bother me too much but sometimes it all feels very heavy.

I picked up this collection of matchbooks at an auction a while ago. I was just fascinated with these mini advertisements of restaurants, bars and motels from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Utah, Mexico, New Orleans... I imagine them to be a road map of a time gone by and today I'm day dreaming of taking a road trip with my kids in a new car (that has no transmission problems) and hitting every stop on the matchbook trail. Especially Terry's Waffle Shop.

And here's a piece I added to my shop!

can't wait for this

2011-03-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

This winter has been very snowy even for upstate NY, so I'm already past spring and onto summer in my mind.

enjoy the scenery

2011-03-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

Aimee, over at Artsyville, included my fern in another etsy treasury and I just had to show you. It's a beauty and so is the theme.

Go on over there and check out all the talent at etsy and visit Aimee's shop for some artful words of wisdom.

bittersweet

2011-03-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

My daughter has graduated from college and will be leaving home to live far, far away and I'm going to miss her like crazy. When she graduated high school I made an altered book of memories for her. I say for her, but really it was for me too. It took me a year to make. She was already in college as I was working away on it. It represents all my hopes and dreams for her, all my love. As corny as it may sound, it felt like a prayer. Every element in the book has a meaning behind it, a memory it awakens and I got to relive it all through the making of the book.

Here's a peek at some of it.

The book has become a tradition in our house. My son is graduating high school in June. I look forward to the year of reliving memories as I create his book.

This parenting thing is bittersweet.

this is lisa's brain screaming in frustration

2011-03-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Where are my glasses, my scissors, my blade, my electric bill?!!!

ok ok ok, breathe...

As usual I'm working on 6 things at once. I was lucky enough to get this awesome, and I do mean awesome, stainless steel food prep table from my parents awhile back. It allows me to spread out. But looking at this mess, I'm thinking maybe that's not such a good thing.

I think I need an intervention....

whoopie pies and treasuries

2011-03-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to have my mixed media collage, silver lining, featured in a treasury, by Chris Galli at Spoonful of Sugar Bake Shop. I happened to find her while searching on Etsy for gluten free bakeries. She makes Italian cookies, gluten free, dairy free and low protein cookies. All of her creations are beautiful and I can say, having had a few of her gluten free items, that they are delicious too. Chris knows her stuff and I felt confident ordering gf from her for my son who has celiac disease. Her whoopie pies and truffle cakes are so good, I mean so good we ate them straight out of the box after our mail man delivered them. They were so good that the gluten eaters in my house fought for them too. I can't wait to try her rainbow cookies and chocolate torte.

Go over there and just look at those pinkalicious cookies and tell me you don't want them...I dare you.

sister diane and ginger, company while painting

2011-03-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

I decided to paint my living room, well I should say I decided to start with the living room. Both the inside and out desperately need some love, but since it's only 30 degrees today and some of the icicles still hanging from my roof look like they could kill someone, the inside is where we begin.

So I had heard about a website called Craftypod and Sister Diane. I am not terribly computer savvy so I had asked my son, who really is, to download some of her podcasts (first I had to ask him what a podcast was). Then we discovered that you can listen to them right from her website. So with paintbrush in hand, I clicked play. Now, I realize many of you have probably already heard about Sister Diane but this was a first for me and I have to say, I just love her. From the sound of her voice, the music she uses, to the content, I'm hooked. Such great information and practical advice in such a creative way. Really love it.

I started with a couple of her newer ones, Craftypod 125 - Talking SEO with Cory Huff, (raise your hand if you knew that seo stands for search engine optimization) and 119 - Why Should You Plan Your Blog Posts Ahead? (now I know, but will I actually do it?) If you are like me and have apparently been living under a rock, and haven't yet heard of Sister Diane, then get your butt over there to check it out! If you know her already, then you know what I'm talking about.

I've decided to go back and start with Sister Diane's first podcast. After all, I have a lot of painting to do.

Now if only Ginger, the wonder dog, had opposable thumbs.

treasury

2011-03-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

I love making treasuries on Etsy. But what I love even more is being featured in a treasury on Etsy. Thanks to Artsyville for including lollipop trees.

Aimee also has a website/blog that, on first view, looks to be as beautiful and inspiring as the work in her shop. I'm heading over now to read about how she made, what she calls drunken tiles! Scroll down, you'll see them in the sidebar.

one woman's fashion...

2011-03-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

is another woman's thrift store find.

Just listed this in my shop and decided it was a great tie in to this website I found. I think I may be the last person to have heard about it but just in case I'm not, it's called New Dress a Day and it is so clever and awesome I just had to mention it.

Marisa Lynch's idea is simple, to remake a thrift store find for $1 into something hip and cool and to do this every day for a year. First of all, I love the idea of challenging yourself to do something, whatever it might be, everyday for a year and documenting it in this way so you are accountable. But what I think I like best about this website is Marisa's sense of humor. Check out the before and after photos. The faces that she makes in some of the before photos while wearing some of the ugliest clothes ever, are great. They are honest and funny, like family pictures and I just love that.

Oh yeah, and the things she re-makes are pretty awesome too. Thanks Marisa for saving us from some hideous fashion.

summer crush

2011-02-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

This past summer I had a major, I'll call it a crush, on a famous donut shop's iced coffee. A medium Vanilla iced coffee with lots of cream and lots of sugar, to be exact. This relationship with an iced beverage was getting out of hand. Some might call it an addiction. I had to go cold turkey.

I just love these coffee cups. They are too cute. But they are just a painful reminder of my summer crush and I think I just might have to let them go. I have been thinking about selling some of my vintage stash in my etsy shop. I have to start paring down, terrible as the thought may be. But it's for my own good right?

The Messy Bed sells vintage?

art blooms

2011-02-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

So I get this email from my daughter, Rhiannon, that just has a link, no explanation, no hints as to what it is - very mysterious. I click and am brought to Space 47.

I had heard that my daughter and her roommate Abby, from college, were talking about doing some kind of long distance collaboration and documenting it somehow. Space 47 is it.

To see the first installment of this visual conversation between them is inspiring. The desire to continue their collaborations beyond college, so creatively, makes me proud of them both. The site is well designed, the art, thoughtful and so lovely to look at.

It is beautiful stuff. And that's not just the mother in me talking.

Go on, go check it out.

abundance

2010-12-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

so beautiful...yes?

gratitude

2010-12-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

It's the day after Christmas and I'm just feeling the goodness of it. Yesterday was lovely, but filled with feeding family, overcooking the roast beef, and lots of dirty dishes. Today is laid back, leftovers and paper plates. There's time to breathe and that's a good thing, I'm realizing, after this week.

Monday, I got, what has to be every mother's nightmare, a phone call from a stranger on my daughter's cell phone telling me that she had been in a car accident. I hear, but don't hear, that she's alright, that an ambulance has been called, and that her car has flipped. Flipped, hospital, accident, these are the words I remember and try to forget so that I can make my feet continue to move. I rush to the hospital, about an hour away, and she is ok, she is ok, she is ok. That's what I keep repeating to myself. Just a really nasty cut on her wrist, where she tried to protect herself as the car turned over. I can barely bring myself to think about that. As a parent, you want to be there to protect your children. It is a visceral thing. I know I have to forgive myself for not being there. Part of parenting is letting go, right? I can only be thankful that people were there to take care of her, that someone up above was looking out for her, thankful that she's here, resting on the couch, eating Christmas cookies. Today I can finally breathe and feel that I am blessed. I got the best Christmas gift I could ever receive. I am deeply grateful.

palette

2010-12-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

I am addicted to making treasuries on etsy. I particularly love focusing on shops that haven't had a sale yet, kind of like rooting for the underdog. I count myself as one. I find it very soothing, like creating a jigsaw puzzle with my own pieces, creating my own palette. It sort of feels like making an online collage. Anyway, here's one that features my daughter's print - Blue, third from the left.

Enjoy!

an introduction of sorts

2010-12-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

My friend recently said to me that when you walk into our house, you know who we are. So I thought I'd let my studio do that, try to tell you who I am, that is. I had to stop myself from cleaning it up, putting things away, you know, like you do for company or maybe, your mother-in-law. But the real me is just not that neat. My work is messy and gluey and requires lots of cutting and lots and lots of paper. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So while I do like to start a new project with the decks cleared, that 's just a temporary reality that doesn't last very long.

Hmmm...now I feel kinda naked.

Ok, so now I'm imagining all of you naked so I don't feel so embarrassed.

okay

I'm a mixed media/collage artist, which for me means, that I dabble in everything. Like a jack of all trades but a master of none kind of thing. Here's a bit of what I do.

This mixed media collage was inspired by the headline - I am my own house. I connected with those words in some way and worked without thinking, just allowing a kind of flow. So here I am now, thinking about it. Sooo...to me the house symbolizes the outer shell to the inner life. It's literally the shelter for the life within, my children, and figuratively, I am the house, I am their shelter. But the house is also my shelter, the protective covering to my inner thoughts and feelings.

Wow, that was like therapy.

Same time next week?