crafty musings

C U L8r!

2008-07-25T17:49:00.003-04:00

I have an announcement! (This is so exciting!)

I’m still ironing out the kinks, but from now on I plan to blog on my shiny-new wordpress blog, lauriecoyle.wordpress.com, instead of here at blogger!

Blogger has become a little bit of a headache lately, and I think I'll have a lot more freedom to design my own site and will really just be having much more fun over on wordpress. All of the old posts have been imported to wordpress, too (and be sure to bookmark or blogroll my new address: lauriecoyle.wordpress.com)

So go on over there and tell me what you think!

Likey?

Hope so! Thanks for putting up with Blogger with me all this time, and I hope you like the new site.

xoxo

Laurie

New Little Print

2008-07-25T17:09:00.003-04:00

There's a new little print for sale in my Etsy shop:

I used the same type from my chickadee print, but this time it's the hero of the image, with a little pair of sprouts drawn in the corner for good measure. This is a quote from one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Ani Difranco. It's from one of her newest songs, Present/Infant, written about becoming a new mom. Too sweet.

Mod Birdie Takes the Cake

2008-07-24T23:03:00.004-04:00

My little Mod Spring Birdie Gocco print keeps making people smile. Which, in turn, makes me smile.

Today we made it to an Etsy Treasury, (see below, first column, third row down) which is a collection of favorite items by an Etsy member (buyer or seller, in this case a fellow gocco seller). The number of treasuries on the site is limited each day, so they are quite competitive, and is exciting to be featured! Thanks FreshlySkweezed!

Oh, I forgot to mention that someone from Etsy H.Q. ordered from me last week -- three sets of Chickadee cards and a Spring Birdie on a Branch Gocco print. Hope they are a hit!

And then...

2008-07-22T12:40:00.006-04:00

I found some new crafty goodness from an awesome little hidden scrapbook store in Quakertown, PA: (Now to finish my homework so I can get to work on some new stuff!)
We also made it to Ikea, where Becky picked out some great baby cribs, and I got this awesome fabric: and of course lots of other fun things, including a chair that matched one I already had for half-price from the As-Is dept!

Another highlight of our trip was Chanticleer Garden where the lotus were flowering -- stunnning! (more pics soon on my flickr, watch out!)

Yes I did!

2008-07-22T12:33:00.003-04:00

It's true, we went tubing. But not quite white water rafting like my dad thought we did. :) It was splendiferous fun, tubing the Delaware River. It was about 100 degrees and humid the whole time I was in PA, so that was a nice respite from the hot hotness. We almost perished from the heat on the bus to the drop-off spot on the river, but we persevered. Aren't we cute??

This is a shot of us riding the rapids. (me, my mom and my cousin Becky)

That's my mom and me, enjoying the cool coolness of the river. It was actually about 80 degree water, since it's super shallow. So maybe not so much cool, as wet. :)

Can't keep me down!

2008-07-16T21:19:00.001-04:00

what a busy busy summer this is turning out to be!

So, I'm off again on another inspiration-absorbing minibreak, this time to lovely Pennsylvania!
Going to see my cousin Becky (who's having those twins), to maybe help decorate a nursery or something. As well as float down a river in tubes and maybe visit the Jersey shore. Yeehaw!

Will be back Monday with much to report.
Maybe this should actually be called a travel blog? heh.

Hi!

2008-07-14T13:08:00.003-04:00

Little Miss Goaties have been very vocal, making lots of noise lately, and are demanding to have their photo posted:
aren't they purdy?
:)
Spent the weekend working at the garden tour in Great Barrington (perfected my parking directional dance!) and hanging out summer-style at BBQs and poolside. Life is good. And now I'm doing my homework, as it's rainy out there. Well, ok, NOW I'm going to do my homework.

And tonight is the Berkshire Fringe opening gala! So much fun and we get to dress up! I have been told that I will be dancing, too. Watch out!

Update: She's Ok.

2008-07-11T10:27:00.003-04:00

"everything will be ok."

what a day!
Let's just say the people at the vet still think I'm crazy.

But she's fine. She had to be put under and of course it cost ridiculous amounts of money (ok, under $300, but STILL.) and now we have some antibiotics to dispense to the poor girl.

And then, this morning, she got herself covered with tiny burdocks, so the poor thing keeps getting her hair pulled out when we try to get those off of her before they create huge dreadlocks. ugh. maybe we do like winter around here! no ticks, porcupines or burrs! :) wow, I didn't really say that. I love summer!! BBQs and swimming and hiking and SUN! right? right.

Our Poor Girl; aka The Power of Positive Thought

2008-07-10T10:34:00.004-04:00

Happy had an 'incident' yesterday with a meany Porcupine! Oh, bother.
I heard her yelping outside and I came out and saw her sitting there all sad and scared. John had taken her for a hike in the woods, and she took off on her own, which occasionally happens; this time she found herself some trouble!

A snout full of quills! We got most of them out ourselves with pliers and our fingers. Those buggers are SHARP. and they do, indeed, have microscopic barbs, which hold on for dear life. Even once they're out of the dog, they can maybe find their way into your finger if you're not careful. So... there were about 6 we couldn't get last night. She had had enough of us holding her down and yanking them. I don't blame her. She got lots of treats, though. And much lovin'. But it wasn't enough. A few made their way out last night (she kept licking them and scraping them with her paws), but there was still a big bugger IN her nose, and a few others that we just couldn't get. We conceded to bringing her to the vet, which is where she is RIGHT NOW. I am quite worried, as I was told they would have to sedate her to get them out. She was very upset at me leaving her there. It's been about 2 hours since I left her there, and they are just trying to fit her in between other appointments.

I tried to argue that they didn't have to anesthetize her and that we didn't want to spend too much money (I KNOW, she's our love, but come on!) and we had almost gotten them all ourselves! But no use, they think I'm crazy and said they might even need to give her a rabies shot. man. why did I take here there? And I don't really want to argue with the people there because it's really the best vet for us, as it is about 2 minutes from our house...Don't want to make them mad!

Well, I'll let you know how she does. Mickey came over to visit her and is sad she's not here, but has found himself a nice place to nap under my chair instead of playing with her. He's not really all that broken up about it, turns out.

Happy July!

2008-07-08T15:37:00.011-04:00

Things have been oh-so busy around here the last few days, and of course that means lots of catching up to do this week. I am working on my midterm for my summer class at AAU, which is a super fun class called "Photography for Graphic Designers"-- that means my homework and midterm are taking photos! Love it.

We've had a lot of rain rain rain the past few weeks, and a little bit of hail, too. my garden appreciates the rain, but not so much the hail. no, not so much. I was able to grab this shot after a freak hailstorm showed up and blew through in all of 15 minutes:can you see the rainbow? right in my backyard!

We went to the Pittsfield 4th of July parade and then had a great time at the giant picnic my parents throw each year for the 4th on their farm in Richmond. Some of my friends got to meet the cows for the first time, and we all had some rollicking fun playing T-ball and pool volleyball. John and Alex helped man the grill:

And my baby brother Brian got a wonderful pirate cake from Sarah and an awesome present from his favorite sister (ok, only sister, yes, me) for his Graduation from RIT. Congrats, Bri! (and thanks, Sarah, for the photo!) Yes, it's an inflatable Moose Head (maybe actually an Elk, named Moose?) that hangs on the wall! It was from Scribbles(!!) in Burlington.

On Saturday we turned the 4th of July party over into a Baby shower for my cousin Becky who's having identical twin boys in November! We had too much fun oohing and aahing over the adorableness of baby clothes and such. My mom made these super party favors with her sister Pat; Two Peas in a Pod, where the peas are actually mint chocolate Lindt truffles. Can you say YUM? and doublemint gum, of course.

the theme was Noah's Ark (get it, Two of everything? GET IT?), and this is the smashing cake adorned with plastic animals. yummers.
Becky and Peter Rabbit. :)

I had to post this shot just because it's hilarious. Doesn't Mick look a little suspicious or something? He got to spend most of the weekend at our house with HappyDog, since he's sort of a menace with new people. They had a good time together, and didn't bite anyone too hard.

Back from VT

2008-06-30T14:22:00.007-04:00

The HappyDog, Alex and I had a great time in Burlington, VT this weekend! (Thanks Sarah and Paddy for being wonderful hosts!). The car ride proved quite uneventful. HappyDog was interested for the first few hours, using her sniffer to desipher just what kinds of farms we were driving by on Rte. 22 through NY and into VT. She settled down for a nap about a half-hour from our destination. She didn't whine at all. Not even once.
It ended up raining most of the time we were there, but we were brave and took HappyDog to the dog park by the lake and did lots of walking under umbrellas. Despite a few doggy-related incidents, she was well-behaved. She even let us go into the gallery where Paddy had some art up, which was great to see and is super wonderful. She even helped him with his next piece:Paddy made us some tasty pizza and we got a little sleepy drinking some fresh Magic Hat (locally brewed!). Watched some Flight of the Conchords, though. Affirmative.
Yesterday we enjoyed the morning haze out on some rocky ledges on Lake Champlain. It was a pretty little place, and HappyDog enjoyed it too, though was a little unsure of the waves crashing (or more like lapping) at the edge. She did venture into the lake on a little sandy beach, though.

We spent the afternoon walking up and down Church St., doing a little shopping and saw a bit more art in a gallery there. I got to go into Scribbles, which is the local paper store and much like what I envisioned my very own paper store to be. I controlled myself and mostly got ideas and didn't buy too much. They have so many great cards there -- my favorite is the brand Uncooked. Hah! We also enjoyed some tasty Indian food. yum. It turned into a beautiful day, and the sun came out just in time for our trip home. :)

2008-06-28T07:52:00.003-04:00

The crafty blog is off to Burlington, VT this morning for some culture and Vermont summeryness. I'm taking the HappyDog for her first long(ish- 4 hours) car ride. We'll see how she does with that. I anticipate some whining but generally settling down after an hour or so. She often seems to be saying "are we there yet?" even on 20 minute drives. She doesn't get car sick or anything, thank goodness. There look to be some nice dog parks and even a dog beach there, though, so she should have plenty to do. Should be a fun time!

Mid-week inspiration

2008-06-25T17:50:00.006-04:00

I made this little collage as a sort of inspiration board for myself, to remind me of the aesthetic of some of my favorite designers. ever.
clockwise from top left: Herman Yu; Lotta Jansdotter; Andy Goldsworthy; Amy Butler; Ryan McGinness; Tord Boontje.

So what do we think the overarching themes are here?
Is it the color palette and organic shapes? Inspiration from nature? Probably so. Have we seen that in my work? I'd say yes ma'am, I do think so. :)

New Photos for sale

2008-06-25T13:08:00.003-04:00

I have a couple of new photos for sale in my etsy shop. Hope you likey.
:)
I think they'd make a nice series, maybe in a kitchen . They are listed as 5x7 prints, but I'd be happy to print them larger, even poster size for you. Veggies, veggies everywhere!Ok, I'm finally off to plant my beet, bean, and pea seeds. Better late than never, right?

Inspiration: Imogen Cunningham

2008-06-23T18:13:00.002-04:00

"Imogen Cunningham is renowned as one of the greatest American women photographers. In 1901, having sent away $15 for her first camera, she commenced what would become the longest photographic career in the history of the medium.
Cunningham soon turned her attention to the native plant forms in her back garden. The results were staggering—an amazing body of work comprised of bold, contemporary forms. These works are characterized by a visual precision that is not scientific, but which presents the lines and textures of her subjects articulated by natural light and their own gestures. Her refreshing yet formal and sensitive floral images from the 1920s ultimately became her most acclaimed work.
Cunningham also had an intuitive command of portraiture, but her real artistic legacy was secured though her inclusion in the Group f/64 show in San Francisco in 1932. With a small group of photographers which included Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, she pioneered the renewal of photography on the West Coast."

Happy Happy Day

2008-06-18T09:28:00.008-04:00

A big Hooray for same-sex couples in CA (and everywhere!)!! Joey and Ariel (who's wedding ceremony you may remember I was just in, in May) were one of the media-darling couples yesterday, as they were near the front of the line to make their vows legal in San Francisco City Hall yesterday, June 17, 2008 -- interviewed on the local news, as well as making it to Reuters, NY Times, and more.

Quote from NY Times:
"Joseph Barham and Ariel Owens in front of San Francisco City Hall after their wedding ceremony. Unlike the frenzy of 2004, many of Tuesday's ceremonies had a sense of calm and permanence for gay newlyweds."
Awww....
Hells yes! Love you guys! (p.s. love the suits!)

I'll get off the Goat thing one of these days...promise!

2008-06-17T18:31:00.010-04:00

They are getting more used to us and more brave every day, and I've been able to get a few good shots of the Goaties, as well as our hard working herding dog. She hasn't quite figured out that she is allowed to herd them, and certainly doesn't know where to bring them if she was to herd them, but she is ready. And very very interested in their every move.

doesn't she look professional?

Lulu Bell

And then, I got to garden. It was a good week/weekend. Oh and happy belated Father's Day to all you dad's out there! :)

Great-Grampa Piccini's Peonies. Say that five times fast.

Mick enjoys my "Dr. Seuss garden" (and a bumble bee); big puffs of purple Allium.

(above)The very beginnings of my veggie garden. I have to have faith that it will fill in, right? All herbs out front (from left: Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Rosemary, Basil and Cilantro), as well as onions, tomatoes and kale so far. I still need to plant lettuce and maybe pea, bean and beet seeds?

We've had some crazy weather around here lately, too, and I caught this shot that I think shows the foreboding "severe thunderstorms" from last night. Happy was none too happy about that -- she is a little scared of thunder it seems. But the plants didn't mind the break from the hot sun, and we were spared the golf ball-sized hail here in South Lee.

I love summer!

2008-06-13T16:17:00.004-04:00

my peonies (from my great-grandfather!) are about to pop into splendid fuchsia summeryness, and the goaties are emerging from their little shed, to explore their habitat more thouroughly.

I am sure I'll be able to get a much closer shot soon, but they are still a little wary of me. Especially because there's usually a dog or two following me each time I head down to say hello. They have been eating some of the grass in their pen and playing a little bit, as well as making a LOT of noise. Who knew old goats had so much to say? They were quiet and pretty still for the first few days, and I'm sure it had as much to do with the 90-100 degree heat as the new surroundings. They are appearing to feel much more comfortable now, though, and we are all getting used to one another. I have been contemplating some goat-themed craftiness, what do you think? Some Lulu Bell stationery? :)

Voyage Part 3: Seattle/Tacoma, En Fin

2008-06-09T22:54:00.023-04:00

So then it was on to the very beautiful wedding of Eric and Michele right on Lake Washington in Kirkland, which is east of Seattle, so we got to see a wonderful sunset, which served to dramatically back-light the ceremony. I was asked to videotape the bride walking down the aisle and anything else I could get (one of seven cameras, I believe -- can't wait to see that video production!) so I didn't get any photos of the service itself. It was lovely, though. And did I mention how great it was to see some of my favorite people in the world? It was great! Great, I tell you! The next pic is mine, but most of these pics are from Susan, I hope she doesn't mind! Thanks, Suz! :)

we clean up ok, right?

Jess, Suz and Erin. Jess sang a beautiful song during the ceremony!

Lisa as a lovely bridesmaid

Susan and Nik

Johnnie, Ben and me

Jeff, double-fisting it, cuz that's how he rolls.

Both the bride and groom are actors, so the tables were named after plays and each setting had a playbill with bios of all the people at your table -- brilliant! We were at "Into the Woods." (John Rindo's legacy lives on!)

That tiny person in the center of the photo is Eric, the groom. Isn't he tiny? :)

Josh, directing Ben and his speech.

Tiny Ben giving a speech that didn't make us cry. I was a little disappointed, I wanted to see those boys cry!

Michele and Eric cutting their tasty cake.

It was a great party -- thanks Eric and Michele! And Suz, Nik, Ben, Josh, Jeff, Jess, Erin, Josh, Lisa, Noah and everyone else for a great time, let's do it again soon!

After the dust settled from the big party, we were off in our zippy rental car to downtown Seattle to meet Lacey at the Gordon Biersh Brewery for lunch. (warning to the hungry, the rest of this post is mostly focused on food!) The brunch was tempting, but John got the crab cakes (we were in seattle after all) and Lacey and I ended up sharing goat cheese ravioli, which was super yummy! Then we strolled around Seattle a bit and took in the sights and sounds of crazy-busy (it was Sunday, what were we thinking?) Pikes Place Market:

We spent the night and the next day in Tacoma, where I went to college. I wasn't sure I'd remember how to get around, but Lacey happens to still live in the neighborhood where I lived for two years, so I found my way pretty easily. I hadn't been to town in about 3 years, but it still seemed like home. Very comforting. Things have changed a lot, though, and there are condos popping up seemingly everywhere!

Lacey works downtown at the Broadway Center, so we met her for lunch Monday at India Mahal, which was fantastic as ever, and walked around a bit, checking in at one of my favorite Tacoma stores, Watermark. I might have bought some cards, but I promise they're mostly for inspiration purposes. :)

We also sampled the bounty of the location formerly known as Queen Anne Thriftway, but more savvy youngsters now know it as "Metropolitan Market" (yes, that is what the sign says, but I don't think even if I lived there I'd ever call it that). The one thing I wanted to do in Tacoma was to eat the Queen Anne Marionberry Pie, and I did, and it was as amazing as ever. Seriously. If you are ever in Seattle or Tacoma, find some Marionberry Pie! Or Marionberry anything, for that matter...You can't get that around here. (A subtle flavor that is faintly raspberry meets strawberry. yum!)

We also made it to Rock Pasta and sampled their delicious pizzas and posed for some last west coast photos.

Lacey and Matt

we are tired. but very happy. we miss our dog.

An 11:20PM flight got us into Boston around 7:30AM. Vanessa was kind enough to pick us up and take us to Diesel Cafe in Davis Square for some breakfast before she had to head off to work, and we made it home by about 2 or 3 (I might have been looped on Ambien from the plane ride, so I'm not sure). But I am sure we were happy to be home and our dog was happy to see us. So Happy. :)

Voyage Part 2: Portland

2008-06-09T22:30:00.022-04:00

After a very short 8AM flight from SF with friends Sam and Jeremy, we arrived in Portland and my brother Tom met us at the airport and whisked us away to his amazingly cute neighborhood in southeast Portland, where he lives with a lady couple, a small dog and a damn fluffy cat.

We also got to see another friend from our area here in MA, who introduced us to two small squirrels he had saved from his cats' grasp and was nursing back to health -- so cute!
He and his girlfriend also made us a great dinner -- thanks Ellie and John!

We spent the next few days exploring the city and getting to know Tom's neighborhood and his local cafes, video store, food co-op and maybe a few bars/brewpubs. What a great city! I can't believe I never spent any time there while living about 2 hours away for 4 years. I have no good excuse, but that I just didn't know how great it was. You can ride a bike anywhere since it's supremely flat (especially for a relatively costal West-Coast city, I assumed they were all the hilliest!), and there are great shops and restaurants everywhere, everyone has a great garden, and everyone we met was super friendly and welcoming. Not to mention socially/politically progressive, which doesn't hurt. ;>

Below are some shots of Tom's neighborhood and apartment and scenes from around the city, as well as our trip to the Rose Garden with Sam and Jeremy. More pics are on my flikr page.

And then, we rented a car and jetted off for Seattle and other Washington destinations -- a fun, somewhat quick drive later, we were there!

Voyage Part 1: San Francisco, volume 2

2008-06-09T22:06:00.008-04:00

Ok, back to our travels. And I promise we'll get back to craftiness soon, too, but I know there are a few of you who are currently more interested in this trip we took than things I might or might not be making, so bear with me. :)

So after the mountain wedding, we spent another half-day sunning by the pool and napping in the hotel before heading back to San Francisco via the really cheap CalTrain which happened to run right from San Mateo, little did we know! It was hot, the pool was very cold. fun was had. Then we headed into the city and spent a few days exploring this city we both love so much, and visiting some of our old favorite places, such as Burma Superstar (Burmese food, YUM), the Bitter End (Irish Pub in the old neighborhood), Boogaloos (best brunch in SF, possibly the world), Dog Eared Books (best used bookstore on the planet, I hardly got away without spending all the money I don't have. I have a great husband!), and more I can barely think of now.

Then we got on the BART and made our way thru the east bay over to Richmond to Joey and Ariel's CUTE house in a wonderful neighborhood in an otherwise sketchy city. Their realtor was right! :) We got to meet their brood of doggies, including Snowy, the one-eyed boxer, Gypsy, cutest chihaua mix ever, and Jax, the Chinese Crested crazy dog. They were all super sweet once they got to know us, and we even made friends. lovely!

Joey and Jax (with awesome Crispina wedding present blanket!)

Snowy

Gypsy

Jax

Jax singing us a song

Baby Jax with Ariel

Then we got back to the city a little late after eating tasty Japanese food with Joey, Ariel and some of Joey's friends from Utah, Natalie and Ben. We decided to spend a little bit of our last night in town enjoying Chinatown and North Beach just a little bit, so we took a walk from Market Street on up the hills, and bought some cheap t-shirts and soup spoons, and enjoyed the bustle of downtown, even at 10pm on a Tuesday. (in contrast, it happens to be 10PM here today on a Monday, and it is very quite here, except the buzz of Junebugs and the chirps of the 'peeper' frogs in the swamp nearby. hah!)

The Coppola Building, North Beach, SF.

Goaty McGoaterson!

2008-06-09T15:06:00.006-04:00

It's true, we are becoming homesteaders. Seems silly to me because I wasn't so much into the farming side of things growing up on a small farm, myself. But darling Johnnie is totally into it, as he grew up in the 'big city' of Great Barrington (pop. approx. 8,000), with only a cat after he turned 14 or so. So Goats it is, and two old Nannies at that (I swear that's what they call them!). They are now named Pepper and Lulu Bell, though as of yesterday they were owned by a semi-redneck family out in upstate new york and named Chaucer and Mist. hmm... so, we think it's an improvement. They are both female, sisters, about 6 years old. The capturing of the goats was quite traumatic, and as they are Pygmy (though large for Pygmys) they fit into dog crates in the back of John's truck!

Goat butt, from the cab of the truck.

John, admiring these beauties.

Pepper

Lulu Bell

I wasn't really able to get any good shots of them after they came out of the crates, because it was a crazy debaucle and then they went and hid in the corner of the barn. But they have been venturing out all morning and I caught this shot below as Lulu Bell was retreating back into safety.
We had a very sad and scary moment when one of Pepper's horns came right off in John's hand. The previous owner was using their horns to get ahold of them and drag them to the truck, and she only had one long horn anyway since the other had fallen off previously. YIKES! After much calling of vets and my farm-savvy parents, and a little internet research, we found out that this is not super uncommon, and with a little TLC it will basically heal and grow back on its own. This is part of the reason many people "debud" their goats as babies (i.e. stop the horns from growing).

I have learned more about goats in the past 24 hours than I ever thought I would know in my life. And I'm sure I will continue to learn more as these ladies grow old under our care. I should also point out that this was a rescue effort, and the previous owner was about to, ahem, harvest these darlings. So sad. But not uncommon, either. They aren't milkers, and are basically usually raised as pets. These two aren't the most affectionate, and therefore weren't such great pets. But we think we can turn them around with a lot of patience and kindness. It seemed to work for our dog, who is the best and was certifiably nutso when we got her. We'll see. I'll keep you posted!

more travels...

2008-06-08T16:29:00.001-04:00

I will continue the posts about our trip in the next few days. I have to stop now because we are off to pick up two old Pygmy goats that are coming home with us.

crazy.

Voyage Part 1: San Francisco

2008-06-08T12:28:00.027-04:00

Ok, so first we went to San Francisco. It was wonderful to be back, and I instantly felt at home. We went to the beach on our first full day there, after eating crepes at the Crepevine and strolling around the Inner Sunset. We took the N-Judah down to ocean beach and it was sunny and lovely and like old times. Although I didn't know the beach off the Sunset was more dune-y than from the Richmond district, where I used to live with Davey and Joey. It was super beautiful!

Sam and Jeremy were wonderful, gracious and generous hosts, and they even took us to a Memorial Day BBQ back out by the beach, where we got to play with dogs and miss our dog, who stayed home with my mom and her buddy Mickey.

It got a little chilly when the fog rolled in (ok, it was cold, I was wearing a jacket!), but down south of the city where Joey and Ariel's wedding hotel was (in San Mateo) was sunny and warm. The Wedding location on the top of a mountain in Woodside, CA, was not so much warm as really really cold. But we dealt just fine in our groomsmaids' dresses, thankyouverymuch. It was fun to see some old friends from The College Years (yes, I was on that Saved By the Bell season. it rocked). I didn't get a chance to take any pics of the wedding, so you'll have to make due with these professional shots... And normally I wouldn't post so many pics of myself, but I had some requests. So, here's a little photo-essay of the wonderful-est wedding ever (ok, 'cept ours of course!). Aren't they the cutest (handsomest!) couple?

yay! Thanks Joey and Ariel, for a wonderful weekend!!

and We're Back

2008-06-05T14:13:00.004-04:00

from the land of sun and fun...

(more pics soon, promise!)

One more thing...

2008-05-20T10:44:00.007-04:00

My darling hubby and I will be off to some far-off locations in the coming two weeks. We fly out on Thursday and will spend tomorrow night in Boston. I have the summer off from work (as the store is closing... sadness.) and will only be taking one class, so I plan to have many crafty exploits to discuss in the next few months, so stay tuned! Come fall I will be back in school full-time, but until then, can you guess the two places we're going based on these two photos?
yup, you guessed it. Back to my homes-away-from-home, San Francisco and Seattle (ok that second one isn't Seattle, exactly, but it is nearby). We will be celebrating the weddings of some very dear friends, and enjoying some west-coast goodness along the way. We will also be visiting my very talented little brother Tomm in Portland, OR. We'll be back in early June, and like I said, I should have some more projects to talk about here. I'm hoping this trip will allow me to absorb quite a bit of inspiration for those upcoming projects!

Below is a silly shot of me from the first week I lived in San Francisco back in 2004. Everyone has to have this picture, right? It's taken from the little park below the Golden Gate Bridge in the Presidio.

I'm so excited!

finally, some crafting

2008-05-20T10:37:00.006-04:00

There's nothing like a deadline to get me to work on into the night! And a newly (almost) organized studio doesn't hurt, either. I don't want to show the design just yet, because it's a gift for a friend, but will soon. It was a fun one to come up with, though. Cuteness abounds!

I will show off the backs of the cards drying atop my new library table/desk, though. Note the swanky new ikea bookcases and paper chandelier. love!

Spring has sprung...

2008-05-12T19:23:00.006-04:00

...or some other equally cliched phrase?

:)

so it is officially spring and it's awesome. Ok, it was really cold and windy today, but we DID have a great BBQ/potluck this weekend and it was lovely (pics on my flickr if you're interested). We were able to sit on the deck and have a fire in the 'pit and it was an all-around good time. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, I know I did!

Jane enjoying the view from the deck

some pretties from the nursery (or maybe the grocery store?)

this is my garden at the beginning of spring

and the same plants a few weeks ago, below. My camera battery is dead, but these are Allium and they have gotten even bigger by now -- they will be huge!

i do not heart inappropriate-apostrophe's and hyphen's

2008-05-06T14:44:00.002-04:00

but i do heart this guy's smirk and toothpastefordinner.com

toothpastefordinner.com

letterpress the world!

2008-05-06T14:42:00.003-04:00

Answer to previously posed question: It's a tiny tiny (print size is 3x5" max.) tabletop letterpress!!!! Kelsey Excelsior, to be precise. Guess we know what I'll be doing this summer...now only to convince John to fabricate/replace the missing parts for me.

oh brother!
;>

uh oh

2008-05-02T01:41:00.004-04:00

what have I gotten myself into?

I might have just bought this on ebay!:

Do you know what it is?
(hint #1: it is missing some parts and is very very dirty.)
(hint #2: it's really old, and coming from NV! ok that's not really a hint...)

why didn't i think of that?

2008-04-28T00:02:00.001-04:00

something like Andy Goldsworthy meets gritty European City meets my childhood...

via Jan Vormann

Happy Anniversary

2008-04-20T11:35:00.006-04:00

Today marks the one-year anniversary of our silly dog coming to live with us!

You may know that her full name (as it was when we took her home at just over one year old) is Happy Anniversary. The family that raised her for that first year was obviously nutso, but we will be eternally thankful that they brought her to the Berkshire Humane Society, so we could take her home and enjoy a dog-full life with her. If you love HappyDog (or dogs, in general...) as we do, you can see a little collection of pictures of her first year with team Coyle here (including a few cameos by her best friend Mickey), and a little preview below:

HappyDog, we heart you! We are dog nerds, and we love it! Yay for dogs -- if you don't have one in your life, I highly recommend it.

yes

2008-04-17T22:37:00.002-04:00

from ffffound (my new favorite website)

Blog Love Tuesday

2008-04-15T20:52:00.004-04:00

My Alphabet Soup print was featured today on the blog "Simply Embellishment" with some other fun Alphabet prints.

---------

Many thanks to Karen for the mention!

version 2

2008-04-13T23:52:00.003-04:00

I decided these prints need a little sumthin-sumthin'...so I brought back out the sewing machine (I'm having too much fun with that contraption!) and gave them a facelift. Available in the shop now.

mistaeks

2008-04-13T15:07:00.001-04:00

from a Paul Arden book, via AceJet170

first time's free

2008-04-10T09:27:00.003-04:00

I really didn't need a new project, but this idea has been knocking around in my mind for a while now, so I finally sat down to it last night. What fun! I love the idea of creating something with this kind of character. And so tactile.

this is Carl

this is Lucia

no I didn't have a pattern, I know you were wondering because they are so *perfect.* haha. but that's part of the fun, the messy mushy look of the fun little budgies.

Not sure where this will lead. I have some fun patterned fabrics that might need to be used for creating some more of these, which will eventually make it to the shop... Do you know anyone who might want one?

Spring is coming!

2008-04-08T00:05:00.007-04:00

These are still drying, but they're also up in the shop.I'm having a little trouble getting the colors right on the computer, but the birdie is tangerine orange, and the branch is a color called 'avocado green' which does sort of look like the inside of a ripe avocado. yum.

{fyi, these are the same colors (minus the blue eggs) as the Mod Spring Birdie print, they make a great pair!}
Get yours here.

Don't forget to have a good time.

2008-04-06T23:03:00.006-04:00

New cards n' prints up in the shop:
Good Time Chickadee Gocco Screenprintsthese didn't turn out exactly as I'd imagined them, but I've decided that I still like them and they are cute, and perhaps someone wants to take them home? I still love the message and I will probably be printing more with that sometime soon.

I am currently taking inspiration from and loving this print from keep calm:

the container store

2008-04-06T16:19:00.005-04:00

I'm starting to become afraid of losing.
That is, losing all the creations housed here on my lil' computer.
So I'm contemplating buying one of these:

SmartDisk ByteSize Portable USB Hard Drive (8GB)

Ultra-portable yet with enough capacity to back up videos, music and photos, the SmartDisk ByteSize hard drive offers a minimum of clutter and a maximum of convenience.

it costs about $40 or $50 (depending on the storage size)... so probably worth it. I don't need more space than 12GB, do I? I have mostly photos and projects such as InDesign and Illustrator files, as well as the occasional word doc., etc. Maybe a movie or two, as well, but nothing fancy. Oh and a bit of music.

I actually have an external hard drive, which I bought last year when my PC was dying. But soon after, I gave up on it all together and got this lovely MacBook. The clunky PC hard drive (Maxtor, to be specific) doesn't work on the Mac. I can get stuff off of it, but can't put anything on it. Such a bummer. But that bad boy is huge, loud and needs to plug into an AC power source, which is a real pain in the butt.

I think I should think on it for a day or so. I have a 1GB flash drive in the mean time. Knock on wood.

dressing on the side

2008-04-03T10:15:00.007-04:00

Something totally non-crafty related (honestly haven't done much of that this week...but will soon): I went out today and got my groomsmaid dress for my darling friend Joey's wedding, which reminded me that it's really happening, and so soon!

I need to buy plane tickets! And we are thinking of taking the train from SF to Seattle between his wedding and our next wedding near Seattle a week later. I think I can wait to reserve the train tix though, for a while, anyway. Can't wait for this big west coast vacation extravaganza! Did I mention that I'm excited?

This is my dress:
yeah, that's pretty much exactly how I look in it, too. Riiight. America's Next Top Model, here I come. ;)
I was dreading going to buy this, for fear that I had to order it and it wouldn't come on time, and also how painful is trying on 'maids dresses? In my experience, VERY. But this time was actually sort of fun and almost painless. I got to take mine with me, it was in my size and everything. My mom helped me out, we went on a weekday so had the store practically to ourselves, and I treated myself to trying on this lovely ball gown:
hahaha it was hilarious! I felt like a princess...
I think it also helped that I have gotten married since last setting foot in one of these bridal stores, so there was no desire to even glance at wedding dresses, nevermind ironically try them on. Or seriously, for that matter. So it wasn't as painful as I had expected, afterall. There wasn't even a bride in sight. Not that there's anything wrong with being a bride, but as this wedding is bride-less, I find myself less focused on that part of the hype, and instead enjoying the fact that my dear friend is marrying the man of his dreams, who loves him very much, and that we all get to share in their bliss for a super-happy day and great party. And that's a good thing. ;>

Alphabet Soup Print

2008-03-29T12:28:00.002-04:00

New in the shop today: alpahbet soup print. I made this as a gift for some one-year-olds in my life, and thought others might enjoy it too. This is a new attempt at digital prints in my shop -- will still be goccoing, but the printer has been working lately (knock on wood!) so I thought I'd put a few of these up. Check out the shop for more details. Custom colors available, too.

speaking of custom colors... do you have any designs you want created? I'd be happy to give it a try for you, just e-mail me!

a bit of spring greening for the planet

2008-03-28T19:33:00.007-04:00

tomorrow is Earth Hour!!

"Earth Hour will bring millions of people around the world and across the United States together on Saturday, March 29, 2008 to make a bold statement about climate change. Together they will turn out their lights for one hour—Earth Hour—from 8 to 9 p.m. local time.

While the lights are out, people are encouraged to replace their energy-wasting light bulbs with new, energy-saving compact fluorescents and think about how they can help slow climate change and trim carbon dioxide emissions at home, in their neighborhood and city, and at their workplace.

Earth Hour will show the world that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in the fight against climate change."

think

2008-03-28T15:31:00.005-04:00

A haiku written by John Maeda, found at the Flickr Inspiration Boards Pool -- definitely worth a check out if you haven't ever (or lately).

Also, for a bit more inspiration, please do yourself the favor of listening to the HayHouse radio show "you can have what you want" with Michael Neill -- you can get it via iTunes or from hayhouse which is a free web radio thingy which appears to be all about self-affirmation, as new-agey as that is, how bad can it be? as sheryl crow says, if it makes you happy, it can't be that bad.
:)
(super plus, he has a great voice and is pretty funny. seriously.)

a week in pictures

2008-03-27T08:47:00.016-04:00

I miss you, St. Augustine!
Florida is a great place to visit -- I highly recommend it!

coming back from Florida

2008-03-24T07:20:00.004-04:00

ok, I was sure that I left a note here about my trip to Florida this week, sorry! I was in Florida! well, actually, I still am. Our flight leaves in an hour and it has been a great time of fun and sun!

I will post some of my own pics later this week, when I get back into the swing of things.

It's 7:22 and still sort of dark here, which is pretty odd. But it stays light longer and was sooo much warmer than 'the north' -- we had a super fun time visiting friends Courtney and Gerrit (and Sadie-dog) in Gainesville and Jaclyn's family in St. Augustine. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, and it was waaarm and sunny. I might have a sun burn. :) but it felt good to get some vitamin D, and swim in the ocean!

blog love

2008-03-14T15:13:00.015-04:00

One of my creations was mentioned on another blog -- this time on sooziebee cards and illustration -- She bought a set of my orange gocco thank you cards. You can get some too, in the shop.

Sue makes lovely little stitched watercolor paintings, which I love!

(thanks, Sooziebee!)

Also, Perfectbound mentioned my print again, this time in a post by Kathryn (there are two fab ladies who write this blog), who ended up buying one of the prints. Thanks Ladies!!!

quoting from awesomeness

2008-03-10T14:32:00.004-04:00

spied over at the Extensis Community Blog:

In honor of the International Day of Awesomeness, I’m happy to officially pronounce that you are awesome. You, yes you, because of everything that you are, and everything that you do, you are awesome.

So, take some time today to revel in your awesomeness. You deserve it.

Just remember that no one’s perfect, but everyone can be awesome."

couldn't have said it better myself.

miracle, indeed

2008-03-10T13:55:00.003-04:00

I just finished the audio-book of Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver et al. It was GREAT. I highly recommend it. seriously.

She notes that if you are listening to (or reading) it in the cold of winter, to put it aside for a little while, because it's virtually impossible to eat locally through winter without a lot of pre-planning -- but even though I was doing just that, I found myself looking at the food in the grocery store a lot differently, and though I will probably still continue to eat the occasional bananna, I might just think a little harder about what it took to get it to me.

Their website is www.animalvegetablemiracle.com, and it has lots of tasty recipes, including a sweet potato quesadilla we made a few days ago and it was delish! Nothing there is too complicated, we even learned how to make our own pizza dough using 4 ingredients. Of course it's that easy, but we didn't really ever think about it. And it doesn't have to rise for a long time, so, as Martha might say, that's a good thing. ;)

Maybe next we tackle making cheese? could it be as easy as she says?

oh my

2008-03-08T10:15:00.005-05:00

My Mod Spring Birdie Gocco Print has been featured on one of my favorite blogs! Perfectbound likes my print! (thank you!)to get your own visit my etsy shop.

'nother little drawing

2008-03-07T19:50:00.004-05:00

Word Bird 2008

might try making this into a gocco print, but I'm still trying to master the multiple color thing, which is pretty challenging on my little basic machine.

I may also put them in the shop as a digital print, but I need to get my printer fixed. It's always something, isn't it? :)

in amongst my research

2008-03-07T15:05:00.002-05:00

starting a new project this week for my typography class, and I came across this little smile-maker among the random design research I was conducting. (you might want to click on it to zoom in)
enjoy!

spring might be on its way

2008-03-06T15:47:00.005-05:00

I just heard a little bit of honking outside, but not the city-cab-car kind, rather the country geese-returning from warmer places-kind. It is so inspiring and heart warming, to think that we might just rise up from under our ice-sheets and snowbanks and twisted-on-the-ice-ankles. Might it actually happen? the sun is out today, which helps. and it rained yesterday instead of snowed, so I think we might be in the home stretch. that is not to say that we won't be getting another nor'easter or two, but maybe we can see the light at the end of this cold, dark tunnel.

(no, i didn't take this one...nice tho, eh? yeah, i found it via google images)

OH! and i put a few new things in the shop: a few cards (that didn't quite come out how I'd envisioned but I'm learning and they're cute enough) and a few new photos. Hopefully will be doing some more gocco prints soon, as long as i can get my homework done.

In other spring/birds related news, [do not read on if you're feeling squeamish!] our cat Jane is a cold-blooded killer, srsly. She has spent all winter sitting inside watching the songbirds visit the feeder on our deck, and on this first nice-ish day she decided to watch from outside. no sooner did I look away, but she had a sad little finch in what seemed to be a death-grip. I will spare you the gory details, but let's just say I'm disturbed. I have never seen her do anything like this (ok, the occasional mouse, but not often or recently). I'm so sad for the little birdie -- I really hope this was a one time deal. Then she tried to bring it inside! I decided she'd stay outside until she stopped trying to bring it in, which thankfully she eventually did. How can such a sweet cuddly animal do something like this??

Yeah, she's evil. The soft, pretty fur is just a disguise.

mini break

2008-02-28T09:34:00.005-05:00

...as sweet (yet zany) bridget jones would say, I'm off on a mini break this weekend. well, actually today. I'm headed to New Hampshire to visit my dear friend Sarah, where she has just moved not too long ago. I'm excited to see her new place, and help her figure out how to nail pictures up on the wall which are proving impossible to penetrate. (any suggestions?)

We are going to go see the little folksinger, ms. ani difranco herself, this evening in Concord. I'm really excited, though (embarrassing fact alert!) I've seen her approximately 11 times already in my little life. But she keeps on playing and I keep on listening, so it's a symboitic relationship, really. :) I think it will be a great time. It's been a few years since I saw her last, in which time she had a baby girl, who I hope she talks about at great lengths. who doesn't love babies?

Then I'm off to Somerville, near Boston, to see darlings Jaclyn and Vanessa, for a rockin' Leap Year party and possibly some rollar skating. I will attempt to get some more homework done in the time between these wonderful events. We'll see how that goes.

Oh and if you did, thanks for buying one of my new prints over on Etsy -- I've sold a few now, which is really encouraging. I will continue to create some more fab gocco goodness, as I'm really enjoying it and people seem to like what I'm cranking out, so it's all good.

new print for sale

2008-02-24T21:52:00.001-05:00

birdie print 3, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

new gocco (screenprint) for sale in my etsy store. This little mod birdie is helping us look toward spring, standing amid 5 robin's-egg-blue eggs and a big mossy green leaf. It's spring-in-a-print, and would look great on your wall!

(I love to gocco) Did i mention that I love my gocco? :)

spring colors

2008-02-24T13:11:00.005-05:00

ok, I lied when I said I needed more spring color -- I do have some lovely forsythia branches growing in the kitchen, brightening every day here in the cold, old farmhouse. I really need to get back outside and cut some more, because they are doing so well, and the bush really needs a haircut anyway. The first winter we lived here I tried the same thing and nothing happened, which was kind of depressing. But after John gave the whole shrub a good trimming that spring it Popped the next year around, and now I'll always know I can get a shot of yellow in the dead of winter.

My mom also bequeathed to me a huge pot of amaryllis which I am just hoping, willing to grow, but they're not as happy here as on her windowsill, I can gauruntee that.(john took this shot of me and Jane enjoying the yellow flowers and a nice mug of hot chocolate. She really likes to get cuddly when you're trying to work, especially when you're writing or working on a computer.)

Geeking out on typography

2008-02-22T15:34:00.003-05:00

hahaha!

no really, it's funny!
this was posted by one of my classmates, and cleverly created by Ironic Sans; you can buy one if you want, or even buy one for me. ;)

did a little drawing

2008-02-20T16:29:00.003-05:00

narcissus on my mind?

i need to find something more colorful to bloom in this, the depths of winter, though. I made up the color of the pot, the one I actually have them in is very much the same color as the blossoms, which looks nice in person, but not in this drawing.

maybe i'll make it into a digital print on a card? or a gocco?

well, regardless, enjoy the thoughts i'm sending of almost-spring!

David Berkeley

2008-02-15T16:08:00.004-05:00

I just re-found this great musician (singer/songwriter, folkskinger?) David Berkeley. I downloaded his album The Confluence, and it's super lovely. you will like it, promise. I discovered him way back in San Francisco when I was gently dragged along to a seemingly impromptu performance in an odd little space that appeared to be the first floor of someone's house in, oh, Western Addition maybe? The Haight? I'm really not sure where it was. but i remember the room and the amazing music and the good company like it was yesterday. I was with a bunch of people I had just met, and one good friend from the shire who was living out there, too.

I have to say that it was a pretty magical night-- one of those 'times' that are just like you might imagine living in San Francisco is supposed to be, at least wonderfully streotypically, not actually really like that, at least not if you have a job (or three, like i did). Anyway, we walked into this big little room (maybe it was an old storefront, actually), with some crude sound equipment, lots of pillow and maybe 5 chairs? We all sat around leaning on the walls and one another and listened to the really wonderful sounds of David Berkeley. And everything was good. on into the night... :)

Mass MoCA

2008-02-11T18:26:00.001-05:00

this saturday we took a trip up to Williamstown and North Adams to absorb some Berkshire culture. The Williams College Museum of Art is always free, but in my mere 27 years living in and out of the berkshires i haven't actuall set foot inside, so I decided to change that. My favorite parts were the giant warhol in the stairwell (below) and a pretty aaaaahhhmazing set of marble (?) slabs from, oh, 5,000 years ago with Sumerian Cunieform pressed into their surfaces-- one of the earliest form of analphabetic writing. this was particularly exciting for me because it is pretty much the first graphic design, ever. astounding. and they still exist for me to look at. no i can't read it, but who cares how many barells of grain one old dude sold another old dude? (channelling bill and ted....)

the eyeballs watch you as you come and go from WCMA...
and meanwhile, as i sneakily took pics inside Mass MoCA...

this piece is by Spencer Finch-- pretty cool.

this exhibit was pretty great, too-- tho i think i'd like it better if it wasn't moving. the text was projected in a rotating fashion around the room, and you got to sit on these giant HYPERCOLOR (yeah, i know, we're lucky!) beanbag chairs to view it. Helvetica not really used to it's best, though.

blurry, but super neato icon of North Adams these days-- the upside-down Maple trees. They even sell syrup tapped from them....

and then, behold, winter wonderland once again-- this is from yesterday, Sunday, just down the street from our house. ('On account of that frosting....)

gocco my world

2008-02-06T17:03:00.001-05:00

how goes the gocco? it's so much fun, i'm pretty much addicted. but i have done a TERRIBLe job of keeping my studio clean this winter, so i'm having a tough time making room for wet prints, and keeping supplies organized. Kari was nice enough to lend me some great inks she had, and i'm waiting on my very own new stash of colors to arrive any day now from the paper source. I think they are comparable in price to those on ebay, and i'm pretty sure they'll arrive sooner, tho i can't be sure. They were really slow in sending wholesale stuff to the store, but I'm pretty sure that's a somewhat separate beast, at least that's what logic tells me and what I remember from working there.

these fun lil' cards are for sale in my etsy shop-- I am going to do three more from drawings Thom made one day on a placemat. We'll see if they sell in a set?

funny memories

2008-01-30T12:31:00.001-05:00

IMG_2694, originally uploaded by Sherilyns.

i just found this happy pic of us on my friend sheri's flickr from her wedding this summer-- how fun!

shop fun

2008-01-24T15:21:00.001-05:00

some of the fun stuff we have going on at Fuchsia Home:

this guy is a little Doxie doorstop made from vintage fabrics-- if I knew my furry friends wouldn't enjoy it more than i would i'd bring one home, but they would make quick work of him!
more pics here

I'm doing a little work today on my gocco swap items-- fun times! I am getting excited to go back to school at the AAU, but I'm also enjoying having some time off! I worked about twice as much as I usually do last week and the week before, but now i'm back to my two days (well, until next week when I need to cover when Kari goes to NYC to the gift show!) a week and it's nice to have a bit of free time. My mom and I even re-started scrapbooking my wedding, which was over a year ago, and which we started working on in August... oh well, someday it will be complete.

OOH i forgot to mention that the whole reason I have these new pics of the shop are because i got a NEW CAMERA. I'm so enamored with it. Srsly.

goals and dreams

2008-01-15T11:05:00.000-05:00

So i lied. well, the printer lied when they said they knew what they were doing. So i've been having some, let's say, "issues" with getting my work printed. But I am working on it, and now a few unsuspecting souls will get a super-awesome hot-off-the-presses desk calendar instead of the wall version. So there!

I knew it'd be a headache to get things printed, and always on a deadline, right? But this is sort of rediculous. So I will turn to my trusty (or so i hope) gocco and get working on printing my OWN work on my own printer. It will have a different look alltogether but that's ok, right?

Today, however, I will be spending the day rearranging the store, which I started yesterday after packing away all the holiday shmady-shma. I want to find a particularly lovely place for these:
I've also been here alone for a few days (and i mean ALONE-- i think there were 4 browsers in the so-called blizzard yesterday...) and giving some thought to my non-existent new year's resolutions. ok i'm getting a slow star this year; calendars in February, resolutions on the 15th... oh well! I guess it's because i know i'll not even ever think of them as something to really stick to, so i don't really ever make them. We've also had a particularly trying first few weeks of the year with crazy & sad stuff going on with John's family, too, but I do have a few goals for the year, and things to look forward to (in really no particular order):

1. Organize Studio
2. Make selling art and craft a priority -- and therefore:
2A. Begin to think about getting out of debt
3. Enjoy schoolwork
4. Get outside more
5. give, love, and laugh more
6. stop worrying about the small stuff
7. plan a trip to Italy with the May girls-- it's in discussion phase right now
8. go to california and washington to see many fabulous people i love while celebrating the weddings of amazing friends (!!not a goal, it's a reality... but i do have to make plans, buy tickets, convince John it's a good idea, etc.)
9. Plan a trip to Arizona to see the fam
10. Enjoy the cultural bounty of the berkshires this summer-- we were hermits last year!

2008

2008-01-05T15:09:00.001-05:00

FYI, I have a few more of these calendars available for sale on my etsy shop-- the cover might look a little different in the actual one (as in, the etsy address is much smaller) but you can see all the various illustrations over there. They're all botanical illustrations made from photos i've taken. Of course if you were/are lucky enough to have one of these, you can buy them for your friends, too. I actually have a couple more than what's listed in the shop-- so just let me know if you need more than that.

the next project will be getting the studio cleaned out from the holiday messes and really up and running, and getting some goccoing going!

a lucky girl

2007-12-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

(from Kari and Eric-- does no one else see how awesome this is? i will be building the color scheme of my studio around this now, yes i will)

dear friends,

you are the best. thank you for my "27 on the 27th" birfday party.
:)

some of the best b-day gifties ever!

(from Seth and Sylvie via Hats and Jewels in Lee, MA-- represent!)

(from Jaclyn via Magpie in Somerville, MA-- i think it's shrinky-dinks and i love it!)

this is my grateful happy face. can't you tell? or else maybe it's an "i'm really tired but still rocking out cuz i'm 27 years young" face? you tell me. :)

(heheh you all are so cute!)

mr. grinch

2007-12-26T16:28:00.000-05:00

took the year off!

what a great holiday-- and it's really just getting started, as tomorrow is my B-day-- 27 on the 27th!!! yeehaw! i think some friends have sumthin up their sleeves for tomorrow.... should be a fun time. and then new year's eve with a few of the best friends-- not sure what we're doing yet, but that's part of the fun.

santa brought us a vacuum, which i believe is the highlight of my year. John reminded me that i don't really ever vacuum, but i promised that this new one will make me a vacuuming madwoman. in a good way.

we also came home with all sorts of tastey treats that will be eaten by you if you're comin' to the b-day celebration, all made with love by moms and grandmas and aunts and cousins and even brothers.

we ended up sleeping at my parents' house on christmas eve, even though we only live about 15 minutes away-- it was really late after partying down at grandma's, and we were gonna be back again at 9am (ok well, it ended up being 10 that we all finally were roused, but that was after staying up way too late because we didn't end up going home) anyway-- it was fun to be able to wake up there x-mas morning to the yummy smells of breakfast being cooked for us, and Happy-the-dog was thrilled to be able to play with her best friend Mickey all day for three days straight. fun times were had by all. and all my brothers and sister-in-law were in town for the festivities which made it extra special fun.

hightlight of the present-receiving was a brand-spankin-new off-the-boat Gocco screen printer for lil' ol me--- i picked it out myself but John made it happen and i'm eternally grateful. I will be printin' up a storm come the new year. You just wait. and watch lauriecoyledesigns.etsy.com for more fun things to buy for your very own self!

the highlight of the present-giving had to be Thom's Bear-Feet slippers-- they were all he ever wanted his whole life. at least that's what he said. and the dogs didn't even try to eat them, which i was a little afraid of. Oh and i got john the Bartlett's book of quotations, which is the one Kirsten Dunst has in Eternal Sunshine, and we all know John loves quoting. but doesn't want to be quoted, ok?

i'll post pictures later. yay for presents!!!

wrapper's delight

2007-12-21T11:13:00.001-05:00

here we go again.

i love wrapping presents. but i always end up wrapping them too well and they're a pain for my recipients to open! oh well. that won't stop me. i love doublestick tape!!!

I also get a little depressed when they just get torn into, as i spent, well, a whole day wrapping them. yesterday, all day. oh my. well i did a little homework, too-- done with school until end of January. yay for minibreaks!!! maybe we'll even do a little roadtrip. who knows? (yeah, right)

a little craftiness

2007-12-15T00:52:00.001-05:00

been busy busy.... making a few holiday cards for some friends to send out-- what fun! It's been a great learning experience, figuring out how to get them all printed, folded, cut, etc. I hope their recipients like 'em!

and this here is my "Visual Concept Book" for one of my classes. It was a final project, and I had it printed on big 'ol paper and cut it down and bound it as an accordion book, adding a simple bookcloth spine. I wrote and curated the content, all about Creative Reuse. It's only 24 pages, but took about 2 months to design and create. yikes!

winter wonders

2007-12-10T14:57:00.001-05:00

crafty's birthday...

2007-12-06T16:44:00.001-05:00

yes. buy it for me now.

Birds; ornament swap 07

2007-12-02T21:06:00.001-05:00

Birds; ornament swap 07, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

I made 14 little paper birdies-- cut from bristol board, stuffed with recycled tissue paper, sewn on a machine, and modge-podged for posterity. then embellished with a sparkly faux olive leaf, cotton lizi boyd ribbon, sparkly embroidery floss tails and embossed silver wings. oh and don't forget the sparkle sticker for a cute little eye!

Jane Says

2007-11-27T23:40:00.001-05:00

"aren't you done with your homework yet?"

"don't forget to have a good time"

2007-11-26T19:15:00.000-05:00

no, i can't stop listening to this new(ish) song from ani difranco-- performance here--

Present/Infant

lately i've been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart
you'd think at my age i'd of thought
of something better to do
than making security into a full-time job
making security into an art
and i fear my life will be over
and i will have never lived it unfettered
always glaring into mirrors
mad i don't look better

but now here is this tiny baby
and they say she looks just like me
and she is smiling at me
with that present infant glee
and yes i will defend
to the ends of the earth
her perfect right to be

so i'm beginning to see some problems
with the on going work of my mind
and i've got myself a new mantra
it says: "don't forget to have a good time"
don't let the sellers of stuff power enough
to rob you of your grace
love is all over the place

there's nothing wrong with your face
love is all over the place
there's nothing wrong with your face

lately i've been glaring into mirrors
picking myself apart

hard partying

2007-11-26T13:47:00.001-05:00

mikey had a looong day of thanksgiving antics, overeating, boardgame-playing and hard partying. and still manages to be super adorable.

Friday we went on over to Club Helsinki for an AMAZING show by the Amity Front, which featured Lyon Graulty (brother of Sarah, see below) on Clarinet, Harmonica, guitar and maybe more..... really great bluegrassy folky fabulousness. We did some tipsy dancing, too, which is a testament to the wonderfulness of their music, since both John and i can rarely be convinced to get up and strut our white-people-dancing awkwardness. what fun!

then Saturday we had some friends over for what was billed to be a 'thanksgiving leftovers' party, but as it was saturday instead of the original friday, so we had to make some new yummy treats. over-indulging at it's finest. more pics here.
please be careful when opening the champagne. or Andre, as the case may be. $5 bubbly is classy, with clear instructions of what NOT to do:

be careful, sarah!

what the?

2007-11-26T13:46:00.001-05:00

dogcatsnow...turkey?

2007-11-21T19:55:00.001-05:00

books

2007-11-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

yeah, i'm super cool and drew that. it's for a class-- 2D abstraction of a 3d object, er whatever.

crazy trying to get work done before the holiday... lots of old friends rolling into town in the next few days, so i need to not have homework to do so i can play and enjoy the company.

took a hike with courtney and gerrit and happyDog and john sunday up Monument Mountain... i'm still feeling it in my knees, but in a good way. should do that more often.

oh and we had our first 'real' snow of the season-- slushy and pure white, pretty fun, if treacherous.

contentment

2007-11-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

soooo.... i just became overwhelmed with happiness and contentment with my current life and such.... not that it's all that great, really, and i'm always thinking about ways to change and improve everything.... BUT i saw my former boss earlier today, and after absorbing that experience for a few hours, i came to realize how fortunate i was to escape that path... i was working in such a draining workplace, and had such a demanding job with no appreciation or breaks or joy. So now i'm living my own life, with eyes toward the future, rather than living in a hellish present.

I always think i should live more in the moment... and today, this moment, i'm happy. excited by the prospect of creating more artwork and stationery of my own, take some interesting classes, enjoy the exchange of ideas with coworkers and peer students.

and, it doesn't hurt that Mickey is sleeping below my chair-- sighing in a cute puppy way every few minutes, just generally being super-cute, as is his station in life.

Fuchsia Home Postcard

2007-11-10T13:20:00.001-05:00

FuchsiaHome_W07_front.jpg, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

since i stopped working at the art school i haven't had much of a reason to design anything that would actually get published. no more! This is the front of my first (and hopefully not last) postcard for Fuchsia Home. It was fun and i learned a lot about printing-- well, we haven't even seen it printed yet, so we'll see if I learned what i needed to. cross your fingers!
here's the back:

yeah i did it. and durn proud of it!

2007-11-09T16:06:00.000-05:00

deskwork

2007-11-09T12:07:00.000-05:00

what i say to myself is "self, either DO work or relax, but don't pretend to do work and then slack off and make yourself mad by not getting anything done while pretending to do work for hours and hours."

that's what i say. but do i listen? nope. i even have myself a new desk from which to do work, but i have this DUMB paper to write that's not even hard and i've had weeks that it's been needing to be written and i just can't get myself to do it. and there's lots of other stuff to do, but if i do that first then the other work never gets done and keeps being forgotten. or not forgotten but pushed aside. dig?

wo is me.

wedding memories

2007-11-05T20:03:00.001-05:00

Us with Coyles/Dewketts, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

came across some wedding pics today.
some day i will make us a wedding album. not today tho. not even this week. or month probably. going on one year and one month since the day.... but like i said, someday.

well pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs!

2007-10-29T13:56:00.001-04:00

"...Even the first manuscript of On the Road by Jack Kerouac was made with a scroll the famous beatnik assembled with glue so he would not have to stop typing."

2007-10-26T18:46:00.000-04:00

i swear they're best buds!
(you ask for more, i give you more....)

glory shots

2007-10-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

yup, we live here. many a city-ite make a pilgrimage up here to The Shire each fall to see 'the colors'-- and we get to enjoy it for free! Took the pups on a nice afternoon hike on recently discovered (as in, I found it today!) Nature Conservancy land in Stockbridge-- it was gorgeous, if a little odd because you could hear the highway. It was really warm and sunny and they loved splashing in a little brook/waterfall. I was a little worried to be out there alone with them because the trail wasn't marked and pretty much covered with leaves, but we made it home safe and sound, and my reward is two tuckered out pups. (we are taking care of my mom's puppy for the week while she's away-- he's a terror but super cute so we have to love him!)
[and yes, i was driving while i took those above. it's one of my hobbies, steering while photographing. the one below is from our back yard]

history of photography

2007-10-17T15:45:00.000-04:00

Been working hard hard hard on school work-- just finished a group project on the History of Phtography... click here to see it! I did the Historical Examples slideshow (collected the images, but no, i don't know how to make a flash slideshow, i'm not that cool...yet!) and edited all the text and helped design the layout/flow of the site.
(Pepper, by Edward Weston 1930)

was fun to learn how to collaborate long-distance with 4 other people flung around the country-- a great learning experience for sure. i think it came out pretty nice.

Fall-ilicious

2007-10-10T14:15:00.001-04:00

Indulge me

2007-10-05T21:46:00.001-04:00

I just can't help it. I'm so enamored. sorry if this is getting old, but it's my life. well, it's the part of my life I can't help but love-- muddy dog paws and smiling puppies. they're my FAVORITE.

homework

2007-10-03T16:24:00.001-04:00

here's a few of the (VERY) random things keeping me busy lately. they're some of what I've done so far for that MFA in graphic design program I'm doing online. they all have specific assignments behind them but I'm not going to get into that. not quite what i might have created without the assignments, but successful execution of those there assignments, nonetheless. :>

yup. that's me. i'm an ALIEN, ok? didn't you know?

front door color

2007-09-27T10:55:00.001-04:00

DSCF2285.JPG, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

hard to get a good pic without a dog in it, oh well.

he's getting big

2007-09-27T10:54:00.001-04:00

DSCF2305.JPG, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

ok maybe he's more like 4 and a HALF months old. almost as tall as Happy. he's gonna be a bigun.

best friends

2007-09-27T10:53:00.001-04:00

DSCF2306.JPG, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

HappyDog and Mickey (my mom's 4 month-old aussie) are such BFF. so cute. they like to play directly upon that dog bed-- which is barely big enough for both of them-- pretty funny.

sneak peek

2007-09-17T23:35:00.001-04:00

i'm such a dorky proud doggie owner. but ISN'T SHE CUTE??? she's smiling at you.

so here are a few pics of the work i've been doing around the house. this display is far from done, mostly i used screws that were already up and just trying things-- but it's coming together.
\
(my little world-- dog, computer, couch, phone, snacks-- what more do you need?)

mums-- must be fall!

AND my mom came over yesterday and helped me finally rearrange the living room, which is the first room you see when you come into the house and has been somewhat neglected for the past, um, forever. But now i'm really happy with it for the first time ever. and someday we'll get rid of that horrid light fixture in the middle of the ceiling, oh, and the hand-me-down furniture... someday. (ooh ooh-- check out the super fancy Turkish Rug made my Mehmet Gurgic with natural dyes--- i'm a lucky girl!)

fabulous wall stickers from Fuchsia Home-- how wonderful! they fabulously match my Tord Boontje lamp-- yay!

one of today's horoscopes, yup.

2007-09-11T14:47:00.000-04:00

NumeroScope - Today, September 11, 2007

You are coming into a less active period now. Indeed, you are letting yourself go with the flow and will be starting a new career as a beginner, Laurie. You want the idle life, relaxation, escape and running away from responsibilities! Concretely, you have the impression of having let go of things and this doesn't bother you a bit! But you have a desire for knowledge and an exacerbated curiosity which should allow you to keep your head above water. Your health is good, you eat well and have a balanced diet...

i suppose

2007-09-09T17:03:00.000-04:00

i'm good at procrastinating.

i keep having this feeling that i'm forgetting something. i keep having it, like once a week. what am i forgetting? i'm not doing anyting important enough to forget! laundry? dishes? garden? homework? the dog reminds me to walk her, so it's not that. i was going to paint the front door this weekend (red/orange!!) but it's tooo humid to do that. i wanted to cook today. but it's only 5, i will wait a few hours or at least one for that. what is it? was it to tell you you are awesome? maybe. you are. whoever you are. as cupcakeshow says, 'i'm glad you're here, too. i love your shoes!'

hehe.

the tails of summer

2007-09-09T13:17:00.001-04:00

HappyDog seems to not want to test the fence, so it should still be working even if it's off--so she can be outside even tho we don't want to since it's hot and rainy and cloudy and muggy! Below are a few more shots from the last few days, when it was hot and summery-- yay september!

Lightning

2007-09-09T13:04:00.001-04:00

we came home yesterday to hear some sort of beeping... was it coming from the car? from the house? from a neighbor's? no... from our garage. from our new electric dog fence transmitter. oh bother. it wouldn't stop beeping, so we turned it off. haven't heard back from the installer, but HappyDog (AKA doggie#1) seems to be staying in without it-- she hasn't tested it in days.... so we'll just wait and see. but yes, we think it got hit by lightning. Hubby was here when it happened, said he thought something got hit near our house, and he smelled 'burnt toast' outside, then we discovered this:

DSCF2031.JPG, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.

a flattened grass, which is usually standing tall, at about 5 feet high at the bottom of our hill. the fence wire runs right behind it, so maybe that was where it hit? so odd tho cuz it's supposed to be lightning protected and def. not the tallest thing in the lot!!!

Happy the happiest Dog

2007-09-09T13:03:00.001-04:00

DSCF1989.JPG, originally uploaded by Crafty Maven.