Lucky me

If you live within a 100 mile radius, you probably used to hearing my squeals of joy whenever a package arrives from a friend. This is partly because I love getting mail, and partly because I have really awesome friends who send really awesome packages.

Exhibit A: 

My dear friend Anna has been taking a letterpress class and sent me some of her lovely prints for my birthday. I found a frame this weekend that's just the right size for one of them - I'm so excited to hang it up... 

Exhibit B: 

I got an adorable birthday package from Gina, and when I opened the card, this sweet little charm fell out.

I'm going to find a nice long chain for it. Because I have a feeling it's lucky.

Oh, come on now.

I want to put that fluffkin in my pocket.

(via cuteoverload)

More paper mache bowls

I was trying to organize my photos from some recent paper mache adventures and came across some old pictures from Chicago. I was feeling nostalgic, so I thought I'd share what some other folks created when I led my paper mache bowl workshop. Check out all the different surfaces - tissue paper, origami paper, paint, book pages...

 And the interesting scalloped edges:

This one is covered in wallpaper!

I love them all.

this is yours

(note from a first grader)

Tape and foil sculpture

my art club kids have been working on some awesome tape and foil sculptures.

Fun times in art club

My art club kids made some really neat collages today using cut-up maps, magazines, and origami paper. As always, I was so impressed by the creative ideas they come up with. For example, here is an image of animals on land ("a square island") and animals in the sea - the three-dimentional piece is the sky!

And this little one used a beautiful layered mosaic technique to represent the earth:

And here's a proud artist showing off his work (an underwater scene featuring a family of cut-out dolphins):

They're pretty much totally inspiring.

some cuteness for a long day

Sunday Brunch

We hosted a little potluck brunch this morning at our house. I made a pancetta and leek quiche and a broccoli dill quiche, and guests brought pastries, porridge, crepes, fruit, breads, and more.

Before folks arrived I took some more photos of the new tabletop. Here you can see all the dining room changes from the past few months - the new light, the new built-in bookshelves, and the new table. 

Magical School Bus

I came upon this school-bus-turned-tiny-house and have been sitting here in amazement, just pondering it's loveliness, thinking about possibilities. The craftsmanship looks impeccable. And the wood stove, the tongue and groove ceilings, the windows... Just. Wow.

studio shot

i cleaned up a little.

color crush

We bought an old filing cabinet at the ReStore several months ago - it's covered in rust but has lots of neat drawers. Eli's been talking about refinishing it, and I think I'll push for this teal/green/seaglass color. 

putting a pin in everything

Do you use Pinterest? I just started using it this week and i'm obsessed. Which is ok, I decided, because it is actually a useful way to organize all of my other obsessions.

All those someday attic renovation photos - they go here now! And ideas for organizing the studio? Why, those live right here! 

I can make a "pin board" for whatever I want and collect my inspiration in one place. And it's all visually organized so I can keep track of it. And that concludes my glowing advertisement . But you can go see all my virtual pin boards by clicking over here.

(art by Beth Hoeckel)

table update

Have you seen our newly refinished butcher block table top? We got it for free because it was covered in hideous red linoleum affixed with tar - a really awful combination. When we discovered that there was hardwood butcher block underneath, Eli got to work scraping and sanding and when Michal Ann visited she jumped in and did tons of work on it. 

It's beautiful and shiny and sturdy and the wood is a million different amazing colors. A favorite feature is the zig-zag sutures that someone put in long ago to fix a separation in the wood.

Here it is all ready for dinner:

i think it's just so pretty.

hair inspiration

i'm thinking about blondish highlights, maybe underneath so when I braid it they show up like little surprises?

Adios, 2011!

here's one of the ornaments eli and i made for our families...

holiday week in review

the last week of december is crazytimes. so many places to travel, people to see, holidays to celebrate. it was a stressful whirlwind, to be certain. 

there was christmas at dad's...

hanukkah at mom's...

dinner with Mary and Dean...

a trip up north where we saw frank's guitars-in-progress... 

and perused some of Michal Ann's treasures with Sanya and Joe...

then it was back to Durham for my birthday dinner...

and reunion with Darby...

followed by a new years eve gathering at brian and anne's.

Tomorrow we're back to work. weren't we supposed to get some "vacation" in there or something?