sigh...

I did it again.

I found this irresistibly adorable little vintage dress (with bloomers!) at the thrift store. Can you believe that print?! I'll have to pack it away in my "girl clothes I couldn't resist box" other wise known as the "maybe someday box".

Hey Alison, can you help me out with this?

hop hop hop

Three bunny brooches in the shop.

for my boys

Thanks for the advice on the Easter Rabbit Situation. I'll be helping him out this year with these little rabbits I made for my kids. The Easter Rabbit is still in charge of egg hiding and the most important of Easter basket components...candy. Speaking of candy, the most beautiful candy store opened up practically across the street from our house. Look for a post from me about it soon...

vintage easter cuteness

This pair just arrived in the mail today. I found them here while looking for cute stuff for Easter baskets.

In the past I've tried to keep the Easter baskets really neutral so as not to expose myself as the Easter basket preparer. This year I've made rabbits for the kids and started collecting things for the baskets that are probably obviously made by/ picked out by me. I don't really feel like keeping up with the Easter Bunny charade but then I fear my whole web of lies (namely Santa) will come unravelled....Should I come clean and spoil the magic or weave an even more complicated tale?

shadows

Our son Jude is kind of obsessed with shadows right now. It started out as a fear of them but it has grown into more of a fascination now. When I saw this shadow made by our two sweet dogs touching noses I had to take a picture. Our puppy Leroy is about five months old now. Dog babies grow up so fast!

treats for rabbits

I've been making fake vegetables.

My friend Megan has started a lovely and very thorough blog called Seeds and Sprouts about gardening up here in the north.

We usually grow a few veggies in our own yard but the bulk of our summer produce will come from my friend Rama's CSA Turnip Rock. Last year was so bountiful and delicious!

busy fingers

I had to hold myself back from showing you every single page in this amazing book I just found at the thrift store. If this doesn't inspire me to get going on the drawings I need to be making I don't know what will...











Busy Fingers Drawing Primer by Cobb X. Shinn 1923

couverture

I'm very excited to have sent this crew off to a lovely shop in London called Couverture. If you are in the Notting Hill neighborhood stop by and visit them!

coffee please

I have some serious brooch making to do today...also some serious coffee drinking is in order.

two bears in shop!

These fellas are in the Etsy shop now.

my day

This sweet gray bear will be joining the black bear I showed you a few days ago in my Etsy shop tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit scattered at the moment...bears, rabbits, brooches and a class to teach today but it will all get done. I've declared Mondays to be My Day.



These two are off to start an adventure together overseas...bon voyage!

from the beginning

Hey guess what...One year ago today was my first blog post. It amazing to think of all that has happened in a year. I started this blog as a way to record the things I make and do. As a stay at home mom (perhaps work at home mom is a more accurate title) it's not always easy to quantify your accomplishments. So that's why I started it and it has been really good for me in that regard. As I look over the things I've made and the fun stuff I've done with my kids over the past year I feel proud.

This year I've found new passions and deepened my commitment to making things. I've also gotten better at the business part of being an artist/crafts person but I have much much more to learn. As my work changes and evolves my focus and my practice may shift from drawing and painting to toy making back to drawing or to something totally new...who knows. I've tried to make this little blog of mine an unpretentious and friendly place to come and share in the work I do and the things that inspire me. I also try to make it an honest portrayal of who I am and how I spend my days. I can't do it all all of the time. if I get some work done, get outside for a bit with the kids, make some good food and only make a handful of minor parenting mistakes in a day that is a pretty good day for me. Sometimes I look at a blog or a story in a magazine about some perfect stylish family who achieves perfect balance between work and family has a perfect house and a casual easy approach to parenting. They seem to have it all... Surely they never get mad at their kids or have an attack of insecurity or career panic. It's not easy but I have to remind myself that it's just not real. My goals for the next year are to keep trying to be a real person here on this blog, keep making things I love to make, and keep trying to be a better mom to my kids, wife to my husband, friend to my friends...and and and...

Thank you for visiting me here this past year. Your support (both the quiet ones and the comment leavers) means a lot to me.

happy birthday dear jude!

My little guy turned two today! Here he is dressed as his Mom which is funny because we look so much alike (according to everyone I know and many complete strangers). What a great kid.

I get a little crazy about birthday parties. It's not that I want them to be extra extravagant or anything but it's in the little details of something like a birthday party that I am best able to express my love and appreciation for my kids.

Over the past few years we have developed some birthday traditions in our house that I love. Every family has its own way of making a child feel special on his or her birthday but I thought I'd share some of our family traditions with you.






After the kids go to bed the night before the big day I put up some decorations. It's not anything super fancy or complicated, just something cheery to welcome the birthday boy when he comes downstairs in the morning. I've started making a little birthday still life in the center of the table. These things are not presents but rather little objects from around the house that I think the birthday kid might enjoy. This year for Jude I put out his bear who was wearing a new sweater, a little vintage brass bell that says "happy birthday" on it, some daffodils and a couple other figurines etc. that are not always out in the house so they feel special.


A homemade cake is a must! I'm not a big baker but the extra effort is so worth it. Again, it's not something we do regularly (bake cakes) so it's a signifier of a special day. This year my husband Benji was in charge of the cake. When we asked Jude what he wanted on his cake he said "brother" so voila! Oscar's face on a cake! Way to go Benji!


Usually on the night of the child's birthday (okay sometimes a few nights later) my husband and I each sit down and write him a letter. Neither of us are very good about writing in baby books so this is a way for us to take some time at least once a year and write about our feelings for the child and recount some of our favorite memories from the past year. I'm not sure when we will give the kids the letters...maybe just when they ask for them.

Today was such a good day. Thank you family for making Jude's birthday very sweet!

last night

The couple of hours after the kids go to bed and before I do are so precious. Why, yes that is a pretty big cocktail you see there...I earned it!

black bear

I just finished this bear today! I've been wanting to make a black bear for some time now and I'm super happy with the way it turned out. I even knit it a sweater!

Do you think this bear looks like a boy bear or a girl bear? I hesitate giving the toys I make names because I remember being annoyed as a kid when I would get a doll or animal that was already named. I'd give the toy its own name of course but then I'd worry I was creating identity confusion for the poor creature...even worse if I'd switched the sexes up! Yes indeed, the neurotic tendencies were there from an early age.

I'll be putting this bear along with a cute little gray one I'm still working on in the shop sometime in the middle of next week.

coming up

Two new bears in the works...

and look what that crazy Venus Flytrap is doing now!