{this moment} - I am making this a Friday ritual for the spring and summertime. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Helping me to slow down, take notice and enjoy these longer days and warmth out doors.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Beginning
I have been transfixed by the pictures of her, gazing at them, trying to discern which parts of her I recognize. So far she looks so markedly like both my brother and I at birth, rosy with a full head of blond hair.
Where exotic horses keep watch,
Dream boats sail on the wind,
and through the window you can see far and wide.
Welcome to our Book Nook, a place where we've spent quite a bit of time over this past winter. We converted the unused top bunk of Jasper's bed into a cozy den of cushions and blankets to snuggle and read in. We've been back there lately as the past few days have been gray, cold and rainy...visiting magic gardens,
and fairy lands.
After my big weekend with the craft fair last Saturday, I have needed some time to re-group. One thing that I realize every time that I do a fair is that it is so physically exhausting! Talking to people all day...like the lovely people who come by my table at a fair, totally exhausts me while it is fun at the same time. I think much of the problem is on my end, I get so caught up in the whirlwind of it all that I forget to give my self breaks to get up, walk around and have a bite to eat. I am reminded of how I felt when I used to teach art, I'd be just totally exhausted at the end of the day from being so "on" as the art teacher, using all of my energy to excite the kids about the projects that I was doing with them. I have also heard a theory that some people get energy from being around and talking with lots of other people, while some people are drained of energy in that same situation.
7th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Horizon
I just added this new original painting to my shop, prints will be available soon.
Here it is after...
We added a claw foot tub (I'm a sucker for those) and shower, on the left as you enter the room. This "before" picture of the toilet area is pretty scary, I apologize, but now you know what we were dealing with!
Here is the toilet area after...
Frank made that beautiful slatted radiator cover, and I continued the turquoise tile theme with a small light blue glass tile all around the lower half of this room. I absolutely love this tile, it makes the room feel spa-like to me. I also chose a large slate tile for the bathroom floor that feels good under foot. In the next picture you can see how we bumped out the room to make a space for the sink.
Along the same wall as the sink we added a storage area with lots of built in shelving, along with space for a stacked washer/dryer. I can't tell you how much of a luxury it is in NYC to have a washer/dryer at home. Most people have to take their clothes to a laundry mat. After years of apartment living in my twenties, I still feel so lucky whenever I am just able to throw the kid's clothes right in the washing machine in our own bathroom!
In the next part of the tale of our home renovation I'll show you more of the upstairs. I hope that your week is off to a good start!
Soul DancerWe spent this afternoon exploring one of our favorite places in NYC, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Nine years ago Frank and I had our first date to the annual Cherry Blossom festival there, and every year we go back when the Cherry Blossoms are blooming to remind us of the beginning of our relationship. We also were married there, which was amazing...and something that I'd like to post on eventually! Today we reveled in the glorious splendor of everything in bloom, these really are some of my favorite weeks of the year.
I'll be back tomorrow with a peek into what I've been working on in the studio lately.
For Carys's birthday she opened a special present from me this morning. I made her this cute Flip Doll, which I ordered as a kit by Umbrella Prints, and was a very satisfying sewing project for someone like me who is not an expert sewer but enjoys it!
Umbrella Prints designs and hand prints all of their fabrics which are so inspired and whimsical. For those of you that have never seen a Flip Doll, basically the skirt of the doll can be flipped up to reveal another face and another skirt underneath. This one has 3 layers, there is the laughing face...
the smiling face...
and the sleeping face...
They are all just adorable and Carys seems to think so too. I am excited that the kit came with fabric for 2 dolls, I'll be making the other one as a baby gift for my brother's baby girl, due at the end of this month!!
P.S. On Sunday one of my wood mounted prints was featured as an "Etsy find" in one of their shopping guides! What a nice surprise, and has resulted in many sales and lots of traffic to my shop, which I am just catching up with! I feel very blessed and thrilled!
Frank and Carys, about a half hour after her birth, in our bedroom.
My little girl turns 3 tomorrow. We celebrated this past weekend with a Fairytale Fiesta, there was so much pink and so many tutus and fairy wings.
Frank and I, along with my parents, stayed up late the night before creating a fairy village out of cake and candy which was complete with the cutest herd of deer, that I found here. Each guest got to leave with a deer as part of the favors after the party.
We had a marvelous Fairy-fantastic time!
Waking up early and having some quiet studio time before 7AM, the light coming in at that time of day is so soft and open, delicate even.
Smelling flowers on the air, with all of the Magnolias in bloom in our neighborhood and Prospect Park, it is so uplifting.
Loving this heavenly lotion by Indu called Nectar of the Moon, can you believe that name! It is hand made with the essential oils of bergamot, lavender and geranium, and the woman who makes the lotion mixes it with one essential mantra "om namah shivaya" which means "the thought that liberates and protects".
I am feeling so inspired by this photo shoot in the sands of Morocco, completely transporting and energizing my fashion ideas for the coming summer.
Loving that light!
The Parlor
All through this winter Carys has worn the mittens, and each and every time that she puts them on I think of my Grandmother. I think how amazing it is that something that she touched, knit together with her own hands, is now keeping my little girl's hands warm. My grandmother died the summer that I turned 16, and I don't have many things left in my possession that she touched. She was the kind of mother and grandmother who showed her love through making things for people. In most of my memories of her she is either at her sewing machine or working in her kitchen. I think that she would feel so proud that her great-granddaughter wore these mittens all winter...especially because truly nothing was waisted, not even a bit.
