handmade sewing and somerset holidays & celebrations

today has been a fantastic magazine month! i swear, i will never tire of seeing my name in print. when i buy a pub that i am in, i have to try really hard to stop myself from telling the cashier all about my excitement!

i have talked about this before, but if your dream is to be published - what is stopping you? send in those submissions, write that story, it really is easier than you think!!! and the high you get from seeing the printed piece is indescribable.

a daisy and a muted palette

here's a new painting i made on wednesday of last week. this is my third flower painting with scalloped fabric at the top. for some reason, i need to do everything in threes.

each canvas is finished off with vintage trim that i found stuffed into a manila envelope at an estate sale. yep, i am the girl who finds stuff to do with the things people stuff in envelopes waiting to be taken to the trash.

ohio and country living

 

i feel like these days that i am one day late for everything. i have things planned, but oops, i missed whatever by a day. so weird! to honor this time in my life, i am a day late with this post letting you all know that i sent a box of goodies to travel with Modern June to the ohio county living show this weekend. 

if you are in or near columbus, ohio, take a day to explore the show - you will have the best time and will see the most amazing hand crafted work by all the creative vendors.

sculptures and frogs

another trip to the atlanta botanical gardens yielded some more pics.

they went through a large renovation a few years back and on my visit before last i could not find my favorite sculpture. i was honestly depressed about it's demise for the entire day. but do not fear - on this visit, i found it! there is a small pond on the right side of the building with a tiny waterfall. behind the waterfall are these beautifully sculpted faces coming out of leaves and blossoms. the largest face on the left utterly captivates me every time i see it, i have no words for why, aside from its obvious beauty.

on another note, frogs are all over this place. this little bugger stayed still long enough for me to snap his pic. i'm in love with his coloring.

brushes and bathrooms

do you follow donna downey? i discovered her free weekly video tutorials a few months ago and have been hooked. i love seeing how someone uses a product, especially when it is in a way that i have never thought of before.

a few weeks ago, she moved into a new studio/shop location and announced her altered brush project. the short story is she has two large blank canvas bathrooms that need decorating. which is where we come in. you order a paintbrush from her site, decorate it however you want and attach your biz card. the paint brushes she receives will decorate the walls. it's a fun, unique idea, plus it's great advertising!

i loved the idea immediately and don't think i have ever hit the purchase button so quickly. but then, i sat on the paintbrush for a few days, not knowing how to begin - it was the same kinda pressure of creating on the first page of a brand new journal. then one night, i was trimming up 40 aprons that were on my sewing table and looked over at all the fabric scraps and was inspired. the white banner is lined with wire which i bent into waves but you can't see that very well in this pic. i crocheted a bakers twine flower to embellish the brush and added a scalloped felt backing and i was finished.

my Linwood Avenue paintbrush is currently on its way back home - can't wait to see what everyone else does!