Mimi's morning projects

Nearly every day now we are waking up to some new artwork from Mimi. Today is Z's birthday party and before mom, dad or Z were awake she'd made these crowns for them. She had designs for evereyone at the party to make them too. (if you haven't guessed, his theme today is dinosaurs...)

Backyard Sale - date changed

Ok. I sent out a message to everyone on the list and got a ton of responses requesting I change the date of the sale to April 24th.
So it's changed!
hope you can come.

Quilt #6 - a car quilt for ze artiste

A really simple square quilt for Ze Artiste's birthday today. It's backed with a very garish but soft boyish truck flannel. I bought a great fat quarter pack that I used for this and Ace's quilt. (he loves it)

Yellow quilt - finished

Well, it's done! The yellow and grey quilt is happily complete. I think this is my 5th complete quilt... :) and many more in the works!

Collage... Streams of Mercy Never Ceasing

Um... Where have I been, you ask? (I'm still here.) What have I been doing, you ask? (trying to catch up on sleep and get over a sinus infection and a broken heart)
Nutshell: Ace is gone. Transferrred down to a home close to his momma, who thanked me profusely for all I'd done for her and her baby. Still, I'm exhausted... Emotionally and physically. Not thinking we will attempt fost/adopt another time after two heartbreaking situations with AJ and now Ace.
Today after Palm Sunday services (and a little detour to get a certain 5.5yo's ears pierced)... I came home and worked on collages, slept some while J took the kids out for dinner and then spent another 3 hours working on this collage.
It's based on the old hymn, "come thou fount of every blessing"... And the imagery is based on experiences I had while doing archeology one summer in Israel. We were digging in Northern Israel where the source of the Jordan River springs out of a dark cave in some cliffs not unlike this one I made. Today I felt the need for the "streams of mercy never ceasing"

Momen+ (Moment Plus fabric store)

Oh wow. My pal, Lauren, told me about a Japanese fabric store in Olde Torrance (crawling distance from my family's toy design studio). It's blocks from where I grew up, but miles and miles from where I live now in Los Angeles. So I made a special trip to the design studio today,
visited my dad and sister and left Z for a playdate with some cousins... And off I went to candyland. As I told the shop owner, "this place is SPECIAL!" wow. Everything is imported from Japan... And it was nearly impossible to spend a mere happy half hour in there. I picked up some adorable fat quarters and please note that laminate fabric in the lower right corner... Smokin', isn't it?

Oh, momen+ is totally a destination for fabric shopping. I was delighted to support this little business - and can't wait to come back! (you should too)

Liberty of London

How am I supposed to resist vintage Liberty of London patterns on adorable products at Target prices? I mean, seriously, it has my name on it...

Another upscale backyard sale - April 24th!

So I've been talking about it for a while and have found a good week for my second Upscale Backyard Sale. Those of you who came last time should already have an evite in your email... if you want an invitation, let me know via email and I'll send one!

A birthday smile

You may be sensing a theme here, but I have had a REALLY hard day. And today I opened my door to find a package on my porch... (earlier today I tweeted that each time I open my door I secretly hope a package is there for me)... And THIS was in it! My pal Tori sent it for my
birthday... And I'd even commented on it on her blog... About how she had this cute piece of artwork that -um, reminded me of, um, me... That sounds really self centered, except for those of you who know how much I love red and white polka dots... And my red and white polka dotted rainboots on top of that!...

come to find out... it was actually inspired by this pic.... the one I posted here...

Tori, you're awesome. What a cool fabric collage... Do tell your process... And thanks for the smile today, Lord knows I needed it.

Backyard sale, anyone?

Hmmm. Now what to do with all these pouches and this new pile of fresh yoyo hairclips... I'm sensing that it's time for another upscale backyard sale... Anyone? Anyone?