Monday, February 28, 2011

Pottery

I am seriously considering buying a kickwheel that is on Craigslist for a ridiculously low price.  I'm thinking I could make my pottery and take it to one of the few local studios to get it fired at a reasonable price.  There are still so many things I want to make.  My pottery class is coming to an end, I have only two more classes to go, and still so many more things I want to make.  I also feel stifled in a room full of people, and a teacher watching and judging.  I mean I know I am suppose to be there to learn skills and techniques, and I still definitely have a ton of learning to do, but part of me kind of just wants to experiment on my own.  Anyways, here are a few inspiring pieces.  I especially love the hanging tiered bowls, I could soooo use this.  And I've always wanted/wanted to make a ceramic collander.










Friday, February 25, 2011

Knit

I just ordered some yarn from Pickles.  I have never ordered from here before, but their yarn looks amazing, and they have really decent prices.  I ordered two coral cashmerinos (I have never knit with this type of blend before) for a scarf.  I also ordered one Merino silk in velvet, and a baby merino in cocobean, both for socks.  This will be my first attempt at socks, luckily they had some nice bamboo circular needles in the perfect size.





Vacation

Vacation?  More like staycation....So bummed.  Woke up to a terrible blizzard and terrible roads.  It took me an hour to get to work (usually only takes about 25 minutes).  This weekend was suppose to be our trip to the Catskills, I've been looking forward to it for weeks.  Anyways, there is no way we can travel in this - we wouldn't get there until 3 in the morning.  So we are going to try and postpone it until April.  Waiting to hear a response back.  Looks like another weekend in snowy Buffalo.


Thursday, February 24, 2011

Art

I love these paintings by Verna Vogel.  She mostly uses acrylic on stitched canvas.  You can see all the stages and processes on her blog (linked above and below).  I think the stitching is genius, it adds such great texture and emphasis to the geometry in her cityscapes.







Knit

Came across Cristin Rae's Etsy shop.  Her knits are inspiring.  I immediately put her knit shopping bags in my ideas folder on my desktop.  They remind me of the mesh beach bags I loaded all my sand toys in when I was a kid on vacation.




Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hahahaha

I haven't actually watched this show yet, but I want to, badly.  Hilarious.  I found this video on Yarn Soup.

Prints

I am finding inspiration for stamp designs everywhere.  I have 10 yards of muslin fabric to print on, and an iron on the way (how embarrasing is that... I don't own an iron).  Now all I need is time.  I've become so desperate trying to find time anywhere to do the things I enjoy doing.  It's been near impossible recently.  Anyways- I'm going to take these next few minutes to try and sketch out a lace or crochet doily pattern for my first stamp.







Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Vacation

I'm soo looking forward to my weekend trip to the Catskills, I'm so run down, over worked, and in need of a vacation.  It will be nice to be surrounded by the country and good friends.  There will be lots of watercoloring....

...lots of Tito's...


...lots of fires and cozying up...


...lots of records...

...and lots of the boys cooking and the girls eating...


Friday, February 18, 2011

Neato

It's Friday, which makes me happy.  The images below also make me very happy, in fact some of them make me laugh, they're so creative and beautiful.  Cheers to Friday and to having a beautiful and creative weekend.

via: flickr






Thursday, February 17, 2011

Etsy

So I feel like it's been forever ago since I decided I wanted to open an etsy shop.  It has taken me forever to get things together.  I really wanted to stick with a core group of projects, and I wanted to make sure what I was making was good... not just good, amazing.  I've finished my initial set of scarves, I've even completed hand printed tags for them (I'll post pictures soon),  now I have to work on my little bags, and hand block printed napkins, and dish towels.  I ordered 10 yards of muslin, which I got for a steal on ebay.  Eventually I'll add socks to my knits, and placemats and tablecloths to my block prints.  Sometimes I think I've gone crazy - I keep buying supplies and supplies and wonder what am I doing... but hopefully something will come of it.  I guess even if nothing does, it's been really fun learning how to make all of these things, I mean I would continue to make things regardless.  Below are some inspirational images from Philadelphia's, Galbraith & Paul-  who do handprinted textiles and wallpaper (link below, with images).



Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Clothes

I came accross totokaelo ( where all images were taken).  So many great designers, with great jewelry, clothes, and shoes there.  Below are a few of my faves.


Monday, February 14, 2011

Last Minute Valentines

Instead of going to pottery class, I decided to skip and come home and make/eat dinner with Petey Pie.  It was a great decision, and a great way to end a bad day on a positive note.  For valentines day I recieved one Girls, Broken Dreams record, yayyyy!

I also tried out a new dessert, Rustic Apricot Tart from here.  It is in the oven, as I type.  But here are some pre-bake photos.  I ran out of flour, so I couldn't roll it out as much as I wanted, which is why it is more a ball, than a tart.


I also bought this delicious bottle of wine.  I don't usually buy bordeaux- but I got a great deal on this one.  I will have to remember it, because it's quite tasty.


And I also got some of the valentines presents I purchased for myself including, but not limited to the items below!




Valentines Day


Today has not been great so far.  Our furnace broke on Thursday so we've spent the whole weekend in a freezing cold apartment.  I've been sick as a dog.  All of our electric heaters blew our fuse and my clock got messed up and I showed up an hour late to work today.  And I guess the baby has been throwing up all weekend so I will probably get even more sick than I already am.  Unlike everyone elses posts which are most likely very chipper and full of lovey dovey, happy images, here are some kind of sad and miserable pictures to reflect how I feel on this holiday. (But my boyfriend makes me smile and he is the greatest, so deep down I really am quite happy and generally like Valentines Day okay)