lilypads

process shots of one of my projects. this is the one for the quilting studio. it's about my childhood and where i drew comfort from. which was nature. this is part of the bayou by the house where i grew up.

i heart ccs

remember when i did a few posts about ccs? well, i'm going to try to bring it back! maybe it'll be a thursdays thing? i think that would be nice. i need more regularity with this blog, especially since i don't always have time to post as often as i would like. i think a routine would make it a little easier. so, we'll start with i heart ccs thursdays. i like it.

the first one i posted was also from a figure drawing class. i just love it when they put their work up. the things some people can do with a pencil. amazing. i could never draw like that. i love the softness of these feet. i was reminded of diana's photos from her photography workshop and the assignment about feet. i am also reminded of summer. ahhh to be barefoot again.

snippets

my seed shelf thing. it's in the entryway. i just put this stuff on there when we were unpacking, but i like the groupings.

part of my window display above my sewing desk. beeswax candle, brass candleholder, and nice little card from carol at yorktown road.

little turquoise ring i got ages ago, martinelli's bottle with a wispy in it, ceramic thimble from brittni at paper n stitch, woodburning from an instructor at ccs.

beeswax candle, brass candleholder, carved wood owl from a garage sale, two beautiful pit fired pieces from audrey long.

my little work space. it feels so clean. i love the white desk. i feel productive.

an attempt at organizing my little things while still looking nice. it kinda maybe worked...

i put these scraps in this glass jar a few months ago just to keep them somewhere, but i like how they look. kind of like a specimen. but not gross.

of a home. in the process.

i took a walk

my weeping birch is getting buds! can't wait for there to be a curtain of leaves outside my window.

does anyone know what these are? they're everywhere in the front and back yards.

my wisteria vine is budding, too. i hope it blooms really quickly!

i found these on the side of a house on my walk. they were blanketing the ground, like snow. do any of you know what they are? because i love them.

the lilac at the wilcox house. i was scouting out where i would like to plant wildflowers. i found a few spots.

and it was spring

unforeseen circumstances

have prevented me from posting new photos of my apartment. Darn! We didn't get home from school until almost 9pm and by then all the light was gone. So, it'll be tomorrow or Wednesday when I can take more. Though, you're probably totally sick of seeing this place by now!

Anyway, I do have some photos to share. I made a piece of shibori fabric this morning. I really love it. Totally different from what I usually do, but very good.

it started out that purple on the top. then i bleached it out and it turned a fresh greenish yellowish.

then, i didn't want to keep it like that, so i rinsed the thiox (bleaching stuff) off and put it in a blue dyebath. because the thiox was still all over the inside layers, it kept the dye from getting in the fabric. at least, that's what we decided.

and the boldness is great, but the subtleties are by far the best part.

I dyed a piece of silk organza a deep teal color, like that teal-blue but darker. It's such a good color. The only good color I got today! And I'll incorporate that and lots of thread into this piece. Yay!

Canelle-Vanille

unknown
Originally uploaded by cannelle-vanille

If this doesn't make you feel good and refreshed, I don't know what will.

Canelle-Vanille takes the most wonderful food photos, but man can she do flowers!

moving is hard

really, it is! but so refreshing. and, when you're moving to a place you love it's very very rejuvenating. i feel so much better in this house. the light is incredible (so much that i can't stop talking/thinking about it!) and another thing that i've noticed: being next to the road (my building was away from the road) makes me feel so connected. i saw a couple of my customers at sbux run by yesterday! and i saw lots of people walking with their kids and dogs while the sun was out. and i'm only two blocks from downtown!

i took a walk to see chelsea and grace sunday morning and i saw two of my customers on the way there and back. people who i can hold a conversation with and who i enjoy seeing. it is a 6 minute walk each way. perfect. i'm hardly going to have to drive this summer! at least not to work or to the bakery or anywhere like that.

and we did 4 loads of laundry on saturday! and i didn't have to put a ton of quarters in! i wish i could calculate how much my laundry does cost per load. oh and the kitchen. it's awesome. we cleared everything out and cooked dinner yesterday. yeah, it was only macaroni but come on!

the morning yesterday was perfect. i woke up at 8, without the alarm i might add, and made some coffee, french pressed of course. i put my coffee maker in the don't-need-it-all-the-time cupboard because i am addicted to fp. i also made myself nutella toast with bread i bought on saturday. sooo good. i think i'll buy sandwich stuff today so i can use the half that i didn't freeze.

and after that wonderful breakfast, i walked downtown to see chelsea and grace. and we had fun at the bean (the other coffee shop). i got a delicious chai and a croissant sandwich. turkey swiss and hummus. it was soooo good. i'm going to make them for myself! it's nice being able to see chelsea more. for a while, we didn't see each other for months it seemed!

without further ado, here is a documentation of some of our moving adventure. i didn't get any action shots when we actually moved everything on friday, my mind was just not thinking of such things...

what will be the dining room. notice there are 5 or 6 boxes missing from the second photo!

the living room. hooray! the progress is really obvious between these two photos. hey, is that obama i see back on my wall? why yes it is! our first piece of art on the wall. haha.

oh yes, the stove part of the kitchen. still a lot of stuff in the second photo, but some of it, like the spices, is stuff in the right place. also the tea kettle.

i'll take more when i get home today, we got a lot of work done after i took these pictures! and there are some special little spots that i want to show you :)

Just For You

A bit of green{s} for the occassion.

it is spring and i am back in school

Well, that was a nice little break. Not much of a break, but whatevs. So, Eric's tierod fell off of his car yesterday while we were stopped at a light. That was nice. Got towed. Spent four hours (time that was supposed to be spent moving) at his parents' house while he, his dad and his uncle tried to get a bolt off so they could fix it. Grrr. Oh well, we got free pizza out of the deal! And it was pretty nice to just chill with Dawnine, even though every time I looked at the clock I cringed at time lost.

Anyway, I had my car looked at yesterday because it sways when I go 40-70mph. Yeah, probably not a good thing. Well, it isn't. The thing that connects my car's frame to the suspension is going bad. Hmmmm... I wonder what happens when that is bad? Don't wanna know. So, I have to get that fixed. I think I'll go to Eric's uncle, because he was just laid off and needs the work. Plus, he won't mark the part up. The car place that I went to was excellent, though. They were nice, didn't talk to me like I was stupid (most places do, because I'm a girl) and didn't tell me it was going to fall off if they didn't fix it on spot. So basically, way better than Belle Tire.

I did a crazy discharge shibori sample yesterday. Well, I bound it over the weekend and then discharged it yesterday. Check it out! It was originally that dark purple then bleached out to green! Weird.



Also, I'm weaving again! Hooray! Remember that warp that I painted a couple weeks ago? Well, it looks so nice on the loom. A little less variation than I would like, but that's why I made a sample. I'm having fun just playing around. I did a bit more after I took these photos and then my camera died. So, I didn't get the last part. It's pretty cool though! I'll show you tomorrow :) If only I could spend all of my days weaving the hours away. With a gentle breeze blowing through the open window...








Well, I have homework to do, then I'm going to move some stuff.

visiting

Going home for 24 hours is not long enough. Especially if included in those 24 hours is 3 hours of driving. But, it had to be done. Next time I'll venture across the state of Michigan? May. And the last time was in December. Soooo, it was much needed. I had a great time though, as always. The kitties are getting so big! That's Oliver in the first photo. Being cute.










I just went to Home Depot and now loaded with seed-starting stuff! Well, really not that much stuff, but you don't need a lot to start seeds. I got a couple trays with dividers, some potting mix and perlite, some seeds (the best part!!) and a grow light. Hooray! I can put them right in the south-facing window of my house. Yes, house. It still feels weird to say that. But oh so good. Like a popsicle (100% fruit juice of course) on a hot summer's day. Which is something I'll be able to enjoy in my own backyard. Anyway... so I'll start growing some seeds soon. I will however, have to wait until the rest of my seeds arrive until I can start the veggies. Mmmm!

How will my garden grow? Awesome!

aha! got you!

So, to get some inspiration and maybe find some cool stuff, I went a-Pouncing on Etsy yesterday. Little did I know, Pounce is an awesome tool! No having a very big budget for buying cool stuff that I like (read, almost none!), I rarely search Etsy like that, with the intention of buying. However, I will be saving my pennies and dimes for one of these:




I think it should be said that I have searched Etsy for the perfect needle organizer before. And came up with a couple that I liked, but nothing that I wanted to really buy. However, this one is made with cute fabric (something I hadn't seen that often) and look at all of those pockets! This would actually carry ALL of my needles! Oh my goodness, I have to remember to breathe. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you guys. This was fun to find, so perhaps I'll do this more often :) I'm sure you're all sick of looking at shibori by now...

Which reminds me, I have to photograph some hand painted scarves I've been working on :)

Oh, and this headband from the same shop is really cute. I love that fabric!




Thank you to Sarah for having such an awesome shop!

I just read the first whole page of her blog. She is funny! In a witty kind of way. Even more reason for me to have one of her needle cases! Oh, and before I forget, that was meant to read like this: fuuuuunnnyy! You know, in that voice that you would say it like that. It's hard for me to write in the same way that I would talk to you, but man does she have it nailed.

Also, I'm hungry. I want toast, but have no bread. Boo!

Also, I can't wait to style my photos in my new house! Oh baby baby. B-baby baby. You know, like that song. The jock jam song. Yup, that one.

I'm done now.

Happy Friday! Go check out Amber's Happy Friday post! She always posts awesome pictures.

way better

photos! hooray! warning: lots of photos ahead. really. lots.

stepping in the front door. notice giant window to the left and closet ahead. there are hooks to the right inside.

turn right and enter the dining room. doorway to the left is the living room and to the right is the kitchen.

gas stove! and a window above. spices and cool stuff will go on those shelves. cool stuff like my sheep-shaped cake mold!

new cabinets on this side. dishwasher and double sink and cabinets and fridge. washer is in a secret closet to the left.

awesome barn door cabinets! this will be the pantry, for sure. they just open up so big and you can see everything inside. oh man i love it.

the little cabinets below the big ones. cleaning stuff and tools down here i think.

my corner of the living room! my desks (one sewing and one computer) will be there. sewing one to the right more, by the skinny window. i'm going to make an awesome piece of fabric to hang in the skinny one. probably silk. something sheer...

corner of the bedroom where the bed will go. by the window for lazy reading. except i never get to do that. maybe in the summer?

the throne! look at the shelves! and that window looks out to the backyard. big closet to the left where our clothes will go. there's not closet in the bedroom, but i have a dresser.

back into the bedroom for a better view. window to the right.

i love the floors. the color balance is weird in this one, but the light that comes off the floors is awesome. it warms everything up.

view out the window in front of my desk. weeping tree of some sort. no idea what kind. it will be all leafy in the summer!

view out the skinny window. down the street, toward the library. i can spy on innocent pedestrians!

rose of sharon outside the dining room window. i love the pods being everywhere! i can take mystical photos like this!

the floor. and my boots.

exposed beam by my windows! i'm going to line up all my vintage photos along the bottom of it. then, we're going to grow and dry herbs and hang them. yummy.

the front door. that is actually on the side...

the backyard and back door. also on the side... siding to the right is the garage.

shed and back of the house. we have a hose!

needs a lot of work, but i will grow things!

my landlord's creative locking device. a pretty stick.