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!