Happy Birthday Occy....

Here's a doll I made for Octavian out of one of my old handbags (the brown micro suede part), his 1st birthday is tomorrow- the party was today. Rachel-Marie's sweet son.

I love FreeCycle

I think I started using FreeCycle in May? I love it!
it's crazy how much stuff we have that we don't really want, and how people in the Lancaster County Freecycle group are so giving.
It has been not only fantastic for cleaning out my house, but I've gotten some things that I would never have expected. Like a large tin barn star which are popular here- I hung it on the side of my garage. Yesterday...the Hunter baseball ceiling fan for Max's room, and over the summer Max had more shorts from Freecycle than I could fit in his dresser.
Whereas before, I would have bagged things up and dropped them at Goodwill, now I give them to real people directly! and no one pays anything for anything. how great is that!

The price of making your house unique

I need a new bathroom vanity and sink but the ones I've found near me, are made from particleboard. I can't use particle board cabinet doors in my art, so no way am I using them in my bathroom!
So, I'm redoing the existing vanity, replacing the doors with beadboard ones, and replacing the sink and faucet with a set I found on the side of the road. Amazingly, it fits my vanity, and has cottage-ey "hot/cold" faucet knobs. However, the cost to install this top and put new pipes in under the sink (they are old and noisy)...$239!
The parts I found retail for $300, so it's worth it. And what a story...the plumber says, "so you find your plumbing supplies by the side of the road?"

Last night at Goodwill I found a pair of milk glass bedside lamps. A PAIR! I am infatuated with the lamp in the little girls room in the new Charlotte's Web movie. The decorating from that time was all about texture. I love it. The pair I found was rubberbanded together with that scary Goodwill appliance price tag "Sold AS IS"...for $3.99.

It felt daring to take this old lamps home, all dirty, but they are SO cool! and isn't that what all the cool homes in magazines have? really funky cool old lamps?

So I cleaned them in the sink with a brush (the dirt was all in the grooves), they gleamed. Then today my husband bought two rewiring kits for $30. Ugh. Then we went out tonight for shades, and I ended up with pleated ones, that might be all wrong, I don't know, but the white of them works (I'm really working towards all CLEAR colors in my house, no beige). The shades were $14 for the pair.

Today, when my husband took the lamps apart, I had to repaint the brass "look" bits. Brasso didn't work, so I don't think they were brass:-)

When I was at the dept store, a woman next to me in Lamps was buying a set of wrought iron ones for $30 flat. When I got home tonight, unsure of the shades I bought, I almost threw in the towel. But then I thought that in two years the dept ones will look boring, and I'll still have my ones that are at least 50 years old. That are so hard to find. That are as old as the house, and are unique like me.

And of course, down the road, when the house is in Cottage Living :-), they'll be a little notation about my lamps. "Found at a Goodwill for $3.99, Maggie's husband fitted the lamps with new wiring, and Maggie added the ball fringe to the shades."

You can't write stuff like that boring new lamps!

Etsy chair

my Etsy chair with beautiful hand spun yarns from knittydirtygirl.etsy.com!
it turned out so bohemian, and you gotta love that:-)
Add your own Etsy pins and things to it!
available soon,
on... you guessed it!

my new Grocery!

oh my....heaven....!
Stauffers of Kissel Hill's new Rohrerstown store- opening day today (the biggest SKH is the county)...it's right down the road, and looks like a really big version of Whole Foods (which for some reason hasn't come to Lancaster yet).
the produce aisles and aisles and aisles are so tidy .... the prepared foods are gorgeous, it's just great.
I am partial to SKH because when we moved to Lititz when I was 17, from a tiny town in Massachusetts, the SKH was so close to us and we thought it was fantastic. We went there nearly every day and came home with tasty things constantly. We took our guests there...it was kind of a joke, but they loved it and would go back the next day too.
now I have my own store and it's better than that one. there is something about having a really really really nice food store near your home. It makes you just feel good. I think it's because it's one of those places that you go to all the time, so the nicer it is, the nicer your life is.

1000 Handmade Greetings....

is coming out a month earlier than expected!!! Hooray! Look for two of my cards in it!

ISBN: 9781592534739
January 2009

$25.00
$27.50 Canadian
£14.99

Flexi-binding
1000 photos/illustrations
320 Pages
Size (in): 9 x 9

1,000 Handmade Greetings

Creative Cards and Clever Correspondence

Laura McFadden, with Deborah Baskin

Even in this current day and age, where we are all senders and receivers of voluminous emails, handmade greeting cards, stationery, and invitations never lose their charm or fail to touch the heart. This book is a delightful showcase of 1,000 exciting and contemporary hand-designed greeting cards, with examples that feature a wide array of paper craft techniques, including: paper cutting, paper stencils, stamping, punching, stitchery, monoprints, screenprints, paper piecing, and more.

Laura McFadden runs her own graphic design studio, Laura McFadden Design, Inc., and has contributed to various craft books and magazines. She is co-author with April Paffrath of The Artful Bride: Wedding Invitations and The Artful Bride: Wedding Favors & Decorations. Her most recent book is 100 Ideas for Stationery, Cards, and Invitations.

Press today....

Claudia, aka reporter called me last night for info on au pairs and technology while they're working....it's fun to be quoted in the paper:-)

Fun night with the au pairs....

I met the au pairs from Reading and Lancaster tonight at Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant. It was really fun. People (ie. the waiter) find them all very entertaining...7 young people from all over the world. the place is a little bizarre but you remember going there, that's for sure:-)
Really really excellent service I might add and the salad was spicy! (but really good)

And YES! those are two boy au pairs!!!! Moritz and Tobi!

Yesterday I painted the kids table at Eastern Market with the kids...it is BEAUTIFUL! I can't believe I didn't have my camera. At one time there were about 10 kids painting it at once.

Very very hot here...I was enjoying our early fall!

I crack myself up late at night:-)

The edge of the seat has Lancaster street names around it!

Check it out....I'll have some art here....

Whales and stuff!

I had a dream of three whales!
Here is what they say that means:
'dreaming of a whale reflects a sense of calmness and spirituality within you"

The three of them looked like this Orca! It was startling because in the dream I was standing on the beach on a rainy day by myself and they appeared right at the shoreline.

I have had many revelations lately that are very positive to think of. My house is really coming together, I love being a local artist and spending time with a wonderful circle of artist friends, and I've realized since my son turned 3 last month, that I did a great job these last three years!!!! He helped make me who I am now...and helped define me. All the decisions I made for him or related to him or our family were hard at the time, but now things are fantastic and I am so proud of myself! It is hard to quit your job, but it was worth it...like a million dollars worth it! and I think now that pursuing my dream of being an artist has been so rewarding to me.
Whenever I had thought about "winning the lottery" (during my twenties as I sat in my cubicle as an admin) I would say, "I would be an artist." and the people around me would say, "you like art?" and it would floor me that they didn't even sense that about me!!!

I had a meeting with Lancaster Indie Arts on Wed...and what a wonderful thing it is to talk about art on a Wed morning at 11am and not weird office crap and politics! I feel like I'm in heaven. Like I did when I was at summer camp as a kid and we would be walking down a path to the Art Cabin for Art class.

It really really pays you back in a zillion different ways to just follow your heart, because when you do...things in your life will just move along..."swimmingly!" :-)

Saturday

Saturday Mary and my first Day of the Dead piece.
both are on Etsy now.
www.maggiefrenchfolkart.etsy.com

Little guys on my chair!

At artist Maggie C. Mowery's house:
...her new silkscreened stuffed critters!!!....www.happysilence.etsy.com.
A great artist and friend:-)!

Thursday...Friday....

A Week of Mary:

Monday Mary, Tuesday Mary, Wednesday Mary....

I could sit here all day....

An Inspiring End to Summer 2008

We just got back from a long weekend, at my husbands families summer place...my son is playing there and having the time of his life, and it is so neat to think that he's the 5th generation of his family that has summered here- over a period of 99 years!!!! This is Anne's cottage- a woman that really fascinates me...so much so that I've knocked on her door twice, not knowing her, and have been invited in both times- and she just talks with me like she knows me.
This weekend I asked if I could photograph her place- I got some great shots that I will use for a special show Lancaster Indie Arts is putting together. a "Home" themed show benefiting Habitat for Humanity, my favorite cause these last couple of years.
Anne's home represents a dream summer home to me. And if you think the outside looks cool, the inside gets even better. She really inspired me this time. I love the clear colors of everything in her house. She is so cool, I can't stop thinking about the whole thing...She's sitting inside wearing a red sweater, eating her dinner, surrounded by the artiest stuff, and next to her are her books, and her flatscreen. A woman after my own heart!
We are really lucky to have a wonderful place like this cottage community to take my son to in the summer. With towering trees and little paths and fantastic porches...no traffic...it is a perfect place to spend summers in childhood.

What I'm into at the Moment:

cottages. cape cod houses. sweeping my whole first floor of hardwood floors, with a broom, autumn, Lowes, beadboard paneling, rainy days, Rice Krispies, English muffins, Green Mountain Hazelnut coffee, reading, www.sesamestreet.org videos, new white socks, white dishes.

www.maggiefrenchfolkart.etsy.com
$150

I'm old, and I like it!

Here's a pic of me and DH last Saturday at my friends gorgeous wedding at the York Country Club!

I've been super busy this week- with German au pair Lena here- but I managed to finish my Night Night Sleep Tight Don't Let the Bed bugs bite end table.

available on etsy very soon!!!!

Today I went to IKEA after dropping off Lena (who is flying to Orange County, Cali!!!!)
Oh I love IKEA! So clean. So modern. But people should pair their stuff with homemade things. This week is art art art...nesting nesting nesting...maybe a little Vacation and lots of time to think about me as an older mom...I want to look comfortable and arty all the time (for those of you in the world that think I'm annoying and insane for wanting to look "arty" go fly a kite!)
My idea of arty is a gorgeous gray sweater and old dark wash jeans, Dansko shoes, and cool glasses. Iwould love to have crazy curly red hair though...but the heavens above gave that to Erica:-)

Paint a Chair with me (and a German au pair!) this Saturday

Saturday, August 16

First annual Eastern Market Tomato Festival from 9 - 2!
Salsa Contest (you be the judge!), Salsa Dancing, Tomato Golf, Tomato Toss, Taste testings and more! Live music by the Main Street Mystics. Tomato-themed chair painting with Maggie French.

I am busy getting this chair ready, and getting Lena's room ready (the German au pair that will stay with me this week) also, my son's 3rd birthday is Sunday!!!!...big party with lots of food, and some decorations from Etsy:-) (cupcake toppers from rockabyeretro.etsy.com.

Arrival of the Big Desk

I am now, officially, the proud owner of the biggest desk in the world. It wasn't really my goal to have such a huge desk...but I wanted a space for my fax machine, and I wanted it to have shelf space on the top of it.
The three boxes it came in, filled up my dining room and kitchen. It took me over an hour to bag up all the styro foam and fold the boxes that would have fit several kindergardeners in each!
Sitting here now at it...I feel like I'm at ski lodge or something in Colorado.
It's very nice, is real wood! (what a concept! :-) )and subsequently, it smells good!

Note regarding photo: Item appears WAY bigger when you get it home!

Hi Grandma....

This has never happened to before, and I rather enjoyed it. For two days, in different areas of my house, I could smell my Grandma's perfume, her hallway, her upstairs, her house, her closets...every time I turned a corner in my own home.
I know it was her, because this hasn't happened before. And it continued and continued. I might as well have been back in her house. Hi Grandma!

I have been busy busy busy cleaning the house this weekend, and fixing up my guest room (a mess since DH decided to install insulation last winter in our crawl spaces, and used the guest room as project central.) In one week, Lena, my German au pair - for - a - week! will be here...transitioning to LA. So Max will have a friend, and I'll have someone to talk to. She reminds me of myself when I was a nanny. Max runs up to the guest room now and chatters, "Me in Ena room, yes, sleep here..."

Sonic

This is one of many crazy and fun things about my au pair job...
I can do things like...randomly take a girl from Switzerland who has only been in America for two weeks, to Sonic at 9pm for an ice cream blast. Her first time experiencing 1950's style car window restuarant service. Too bad the waitress wasn't wearing roller skates:-)
She laughed so hard when I pressed the button to order, and then said, "OH ONLY IN AMERICA!!!!"
It is so fun to experience things through my au pairs eyes. Americans in general don't get to hang out with people from a variety of other countries. Me on the other hand....I get to do this kind of stuff anytime...and just for the record, it's really cute when they accidently start talking to me in their native language. My au pair said, "I'm going to open my own drive-in, in Switzerland!!!" all smiles of course:-)

Back to painting furniture....

I have finally gotten a nice amount of work done on my "Night Night Sleep Tight Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite" bedside table. it's really cool. Pics are coming soon.
I want to finish it in the next couple days and then...get this...start painting an Etsy chair.
And yes...it will be Etsy ORANGE!

Max's Room

i think it's finished...I want to add a few of the
vehicles applique things to the road and hills-
I've been thinking this week, "boy, I really have to do some art, I'm slacking!" and then I remember that THIS is what I did this week :-) I think it's a special thing that I did for Max, and that feels good. He walks in his room and says , "Ta Da!"
it even looks cool from the hall! He doesn't know he's getting a train table for his birthday, it's replacing the little IKEA table.

Hit the Road mural...

I am nearing completion of Max's "Hit the Road" room, based on the bedding collection from Target- I've been working on this mural the past few days.
I will post more pics soon, but here's a little peek.
I based my paintings on the trees, etc in the print of the curtains, and the lamp.
Today I finished a couple of trees and he just sat in his bed and smiled, looking around the room. The cutest thing is when he's playing in there, it looks like he's in an outdoor cartoon- really cool:-)

Me and my beautiful au pairs!

I am so lucky that working with these girls is my job. From all around the world, my au pairs are from...Germany, Colombia, South Africa, Romania, Mexico, and Thailand. This was taken on a roof deck in Lancaster City Saturday night. They all have such a sweetness in their eyes, this pic is a keeper.

Quote of the day from my mom: "Don't look now...but that's the man that mugged me."

Earlier this year, my mom was mugged at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia on her way to Florida. The man was caught on surveillance and has already been to prison for a similar crime this year.
Today I met her at the train station and we made our way to court for the preliminary hearing.
Let me just say, that I had no idea we would have to sit in the small court room, in the pew type seats WITH the defendants! (no handcuffs on them, no lawyer next to them, just us and them HANGING OUT!) and that the judge would be late, by like an hour and a half...and me and my mom would be stared out by the mugger for that long. (and let me just add, that this is not a guy who randomly mugs people. He does it all the time, according to detectives is "a REAL BAD GUY and a lifelong criminal."
He kept leaving the court room and going out into the hall. There were plenty of cops around, but they weren't close enough when I headed to the ladies and there was Mr. Mugger alone in a hall and standing about 2 feet from me...do you think I was going into an empty restroom with him outside the door? think again!
Because a piece of evidence was missing the trial was postponed until September.
Don't worry Mr. Mugger, I'll be there so you can stare at me and my mom all you want again. We might be the last women you see for a long while.
If you are ever a victim or a witness in a case like this, bring someone and watch your back. We had to watch ourselves regarding what elevator we took, that we left the courthouse after he did, that we got a cab right away etc.

PAUMES books

I might faint I want these books so bad!

www.paumes.com/book-e/book-e.html

if anyone has any concerns about what to get me for Christmas...

look no further...

This is: "Lady artists' studios"

It's gone!

On Friday my "Be a Local Hero" Buy Fresh Buy Local chair sold at the Buy Fresh Buy Local dinner in Central Market Square for $250, with the proceeds benefiting this great group.

If you're the one that bought it, let me know! I'm curious...:-)

My welcome sign

really fun to paint, but very heavy to
1. carry from it's secret previous location to the trunk of my car
2. carry from the trunk to the porch (this is when I dropped it on my foot)
3. carry off the porch to the ground...
but a week later, I forgot all about the pain! :-)

the neighbors flowers...

taken this evening-

Win a Cross from me!

This cross is made from a craft store wood cross, and in-laid in it are parts from a wooly handbag.
It measures: 6.5 inches wide by 9 inches tall.
The handbag I used has featured in several of my recent projects and was also used in a greeting card that will be published in the upcoming book (Feb. 2009): 1000 Handmade Greetings by Quarry Books.

Here's how to win!

Comment on my this blog by telling me the top 3 ways you make your house smell good!
I'll pick the person with the most unique answers that I'll want to actually try out!

(my house isn't stinky, but I need to establish some tried and true measures to keep it smelling truly lovely all the time)

Contest ends July 17 and the winner will be picked and notified July 18!
Thanks and good luck!

A Lobster in my shirt...and I didn't even KNOW IT!

(I took an online decorating style quiz. Can you believe I'm cottage/tuscany? I thought I was more modern or something, guess not!)

Oh here's the funny story:

I went to the auto store with Mr. French and Mr. French Jr....I looked down and my chest looked lumpy under my shirt. I thought, "what the heck, this isn't my necklace..." and in front of the male cashiers, out of pure curiosity, I reached down the front of my shirt and pulled out a 7 inch plastic toy lobster!!!!
That Max! He laughed his head off, and so did the cashiers!

Indie Arts meets tomorrow morning downtown at Dosie Dough Bakery on Lemon Street, I am excited to GET OUT!

Be a Local Hero Chair to be auctioned this Friday!

Help Launch Lancaster's Buy Fresh Buy Local week and make your reservations now for the kick-off celebration in historic Central Market Square.

Bid on my "Be A Local Hero, Buy Fresh Buy Local Lancaster" folk art chair, and other unique local items!

Friday July 11 from 6-9...enjoy local food by Carr's Restaurant, local beer from Stoudt's Brewery, and live music by the Vinegar Creek Constituency.
$50 per person, includes beer, local wines, and other beverages.
Make your reservation today by calling 717-291-4293 or email Linda at
linda.aleci@fandm.edu.
Rain date is Saturday July 12.

DogStar Books Indie Art Exhibit tonight

July 4...1st Friday downtown. Stop in and see the Lancaster Indie Arts group show...my first group show since college!
a cool eclectic mix, great food, music, in a cool downtown bookstore:-)






(after show note: LANCASTER CITY BIRD has a new home!!!! sweet thing, I wonder who bought you and where you are moving to?)

How cute is this...

From Storia Home, www.storiahome.etsy.com
and on it's way to my house, where it will celebrate many a birthday with us...

Clean House Messiest Home in the Country aired tonight. I love this show. Did any of the locals catch the "dejazzd" box amongst the mess? That was kind of cool...in a way:-)

Beautiful weather here in Pennsylvania...I went hiking with my son yesterday. We threw stones in a river for half an hour. tonight we played in the water from the garden hose and ate popsicles.
Life couldn't get better:-)

Storyteller Chair

available at the DogStar Bookstore... If you are interested in buying it for yourself, your library, or bookshop, convo me, or contact Brian at DogStar books. $275 www.dogstarbooks.com/
Perfect for a story hour for kids, author readings, or in the corner of your own library...:-)

DogStar Bookstore

Tomorrow I hang my work for the DogStar Bookstore LIA exhibit, that begins July 4. Originally I had planned to bring a few things I've made in the last couple months, as my inspiration was a bit low (but my housekeeping excitement was high!)
Then Friday came, and I'm typically excited to get creative on Fridays and during the weekend (don't ask me why, but I can really pound stuff out on those days of the week.)
On Friday I decided to paint "Carnival Night" and it's heaven to me. I am so happy because I've been making things I just love, and I don't care if no one else likes them! and isn't that how it should be? :-)
Then Saturday came, and H E R E' S the kicker: my Dad had bought me this giant "captains" chair a week ago and it's been in my studio (aka basement). So I decide to paint it for the DogStar event.
And then I'm at Lowes buying black paint, and up til 3am Saturday night, and working on it Sunday, and then at Lowe's twice today (Monday) buying sealer and more sealer, and painting and now the "Storyteller Chair" is sitting on my back porch with a fan blowing on it (that was a lot of paint and sealer, it's a BIG chair!) so hopefully it won't smell tomorrow at 10am!!!! when I bring it to the bookstore.
No pictures tonight, it's a secret. It is really a great match to my Buy Fresh Buy Local Chair, and they look cool together.
So here it comes....kind of nervewracking, whipping up an enormous painted folk art chair last minute.
Here's a quote from it, and special for the DogStar:
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

"Carnival Night"

Oh.....real architectural salvage. Thank you Dad!!!!!
This will make it's big reveal on July 4 at the DogStar Bookstore on Chestnut Street, Lancaster as part of the Lancaster Indie Arts collaborative group show.

Lancaster Indie Arts

I am (proudly) the newest member of Lancaster Indie Arts...a wonderful group of local artists that inspire one another and encourage the work of independent artists in Lancaster.

check out the site: www.lancasterindiearts.com

This is my bio:

I am an artist specializing in art made from salvaged things. I love using bold colors. At the age of 5, I wanted to be an artist, art teacher, and writer.

I grew up in an army family, and lived in Maryland, Alaska, Texas, Massachusetts, and moved to Pennsylvania the summer before my senior year of high school. My mother called us gypsies. Although my father was a Lt. Colonial, he was always extremely creative, as are many on that side of my family. As coal miners in the western part of Pennsylvania, they learned to use what they had. I was always fascinated that my godfather built 3 houses for fun out of salvaged building materials he picked up on his way to and from the mines.

As a child in Massachusetts, my mother signed me up for all sorts of art classes, and so I had after school pottery class, oil painting lessons, went to Art Camp at the prestigious Groton School, painted in the desert of New Mexico, and was in the "talented and gifted" artistic program at school, which I thought was insanely elite-ist but cool at the same time (as it enabled me to get out of class all day once a month and go to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, or backstage at the Boston Symphony.)

In 1995 I graduated from Alvernia College, with a degree in Communication and a minor in Art. The school did not have an Art major, so I took all the art classes they offered, most of them taught by Sister Magnifica. In my final semester I interned, and hated working in an office and wearing suits. Later that spring, I accepted a position to spend the next year as a nanny to four children in Connecticut- in a house with over 1000 American folk art paintings. During that year I traveled to Maine, Seattle, the Hamptons, London, Switzerland and Rome with the family, and loved living amongst that much art!

Following that year, I spent the next ten working in offices (ugh). When I had my son at age 32, I decided to quit work and I started to pursue art again.

In 2007 I began selling my painted and decoupaged salvaged cabinet doors in downtown Lancaster at Eastern Market, and on Etsy. I have started to make smaller things using salvaged wood and house paints, and have sold my work at the Studio and Art Bar of York, at the Spoiled Silly Children's Boutique in Lititz, PA, at the Art is Negotiable Gallery in Lancaster, and at Senorita Burrita.

Look for two of my handmade cards in the upcoming book, "1000 Handmade Greetings" by Quarry Books.

My work is constantly evolving and I am adding more and more materials to my designs, including furniture, buttons, twigs, and wool, textiles, and paper.

I love it.

check out this cute custom bag made for me! by friedokra (Etsy)
(Adrian in Oklahoma)

I am having them made for people, and it is so fun, picking their favorite colors, and patterns, and even the font for their name or nickname.

Lovely lovely lovely weather day. I got out our camping tent and set it up in the backyard for my son. He was so excited he was shaking. It's super roomy inside and has screen windows on each side...we were lying on the floor of it, looking out at the trees and bunnies, with a nice breeze blowing...

Crazy clothes

Last night was the 12th anniversary of a car accident that nearly killed me. Each year when this time comes around, I feel a sense of nervousness, and I feel that I could be seconds away from the end. It's a chilling time for me, right when the weather starts to really heat up, ironically.
With no one knowing how long they will live, why do we spend years being uncreative with our clothes?
This year I have become more aware of my appearance in that way, and after being creative every day and loving it, it feels so odd to wear boring things and colorless things, and I realize how it will negatively effect me through the day.
Listening to people's reactions in the movie theater about Carrie's clothes in Sex and the City was so funny. Her character feels freedom to wear what she feels like.
Shouldn't life be more like that, and not so restrictive? why do people feel they have to be plain and pompous? it's kind of boring if you think about it.
if each day is more important than we realize, shouldn't our clothes be memorable and interesting to at least ourselves?
Need some inspiration?
Check out Carrie's most outrageous outfits:
http://www.hbo.com/city/sling-back/Carrie-outrageous-outfits.shtml

Upcycled Tin Can Pen Cup

This is a great example of how I've been inspired by other etsy artists, and their use of color. If you look at my favorites on etsy, all of them together are like eye candy. Looking at other peoples work and identifying what I am attracted too, has really helped me discover what I like.

Spending ten years in tan cubicles must have wreaked havoc on my mind :-).

here's my etsy description:

Made from a tin can . 3.75 in diameter, 4.75 inches tall.

made with felt, buttons, wooly goodness from knittydirtygirl, flannel cloud fabric, and parts of a wool handbag.

(The same wool handbag was also used for one of my greeting cards that was selected for the upcoming book, "1000 Handmade Greetings" by Quarry Books.)

I've wanted to make pen cups for some time, but I just finally got enough stuff (the buttons, handbag, etc. to make a cool one:-)

Too Hot for Socks

oh my God it is HOT. Eastern Market was empty yesterday, but the chair I made with the kids turned out great. Inside the open building, I was just warm, but loading my car back up, crossing back and forth across King Street, I nearly blacked out from the heat.
(loading my car after a show, is like loading the luggage of a family of five for a two week trip).
Sometime, around 10:30pm I passed out in my bed. I awoke in my clothes at 11am, the house was a mess. I still had barrettes in my hair. :-)
It is still nearly 100 degrees outside. DH is removing my black dining room chandelier with handpainted poka dot lamp shades and replacing it with a ceiling fan, the air conditioner is on, curtains are closed and I am happy as can be inside cleaning and drinking gatorade.

Look for new things added to my etsy page this week, CUZ I'M NOT DOING SHOWS FOR A WHILE! :-)

Button

I was feverishly working on three little mini pieces today during Mr. French's nap- (wood block, painted, decoupaged with fabric creating my own flower, topped with felt tabs, and a twig for hanging).
I was eating graham crackers and going through my containers to find just the right button to finish them off...
I stopped suddenly, confused...was this a bit of my graham cracker or a button?
I almost ate a button!!!

Things Recycled/or Upcycled:

so here's a list of what at my table today has been..."upcycled"

art painted on cabinet doors using salvaged house paints
pen cups made from tea containers and tin cans and parts of a knitted handbag
a table made from a pot rack, stair spindles, and a beautiful glossy cabinet door (the top)
crosses made from twigs from my yard, some made with my mom's old yarn, and vintage buttons
my sign is made from an old wicker thing my mother-in-law found
necklaces made from mahogany wood trim
personalized kid signs made from my Dad's scrap wood and my left over fabric
plaque holder box is a drawer left at our house when we moved in that I repainted
small birdie plaques are made with pieces of that same knitted handbag (a piece of that bag can also be seen on one of greeting cards in the book "1000 Handmade Greetings" due out in Feb 09.)
crosses also made with parts of handbag, left over yarn, vintage buttons

I am going to teach a class to Girl Scouts in September (a recycling art project). If anyone wants to be an artist, but is worried about the cost of supplies, and that is hindering you, remembering that you can create neat things from found objects too!