Contrite Spirit

The day we spent walking through Big Bear Lake city was "one of those days" as a mom where I felt like I was destining my kids for a life of therapy on my account. When I saw this statuette in a gallery we walked through, I began to cry. Fortunately, she was a price I could afford to spend to bring her home.
It is a limited edition copy of a carving made by (I'll find her name...). It's is called, "The Contrite Heart". It refers to a verse in the Bible that is great at reminding me even on my worst days that God won't reject me... It goes, "the sacrifices of God are a broken heart and a contrite spirit.- These, oh God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17
This beautiful woman is a sweet reminder of a God who will pick me to be with, even when no one else would do that by choice.

Profile charms

Just some new pics of the sterling profile charms.

Camp project - rANsoM LetTeRs

Today's project for Camp Mommakiddo is ransom style letters. (yes, it is on our to-do list) Mimi made a welcome sign for a visiting cousin.

a happy day in oak park

Today was spent strolling through Oak Park, popping into my favorite boutiques, meeting my pal Anita for coffee and generally just getting inspired. We made our way from downtown Oak Park to the Harrison Arts District (where I used to live and walk around daily... Where I first bought the vintage skirt that inspired Libby Dibby!)... And we waltzed into Bead In Hand... Which is a treasure of a bead store. I used to walk past the store so often that I finally started buying beads, unable to resist... Which led to selling jewelry, which led to leaving my corporate textile design job, and when I was selling jewelry, I traded necklaces for sewignlessons from an OP friend here who taught me how to make the skirts... Yada yada... And here we are.
Anita was adorable and wore her Libby Dibby skirt to meet today and I loved it when she got stopped on the street by a girl who complimented her on it. (it felt so anonymous and unsolicited!)...
I also was the recipient of this fabulous little beaded heart that she made for me... Oh how I love it! Oh how I love friends. Sigh. I'm happy.

Momma daughter crafting

This morning I was showing Mimi and her pals (who are hosting us in Chicago) a little lesson on vintage yoyos. I showed them how I brought a little pile of them on my trip to sketch... Here is the Design Director working on a flower she saw on one of the yoyos.

The other pic is a book I picked up at the American Girl store yesterday full of great re-purposed crafts right up our alley. Can't wait to do those as projects...

Guerilla Knitting

I've heard and read about "guerilla knitting" and "Urban Inoffensive Graffitti"... But I've not seen the knitted lampposts for myself until just now. We just happened to be driving by the Art Institute and right outside the window was this happy "graffiti".  I have to say that I love Chicago for loving (and leaving) stuff like this.
Another amazing happy accident was yesterday when we were driving downtown and we paused under the el tracks to let j out for a quick errand and as I looked to the left I was staring right into the doorway to the School of Art Institute of Chicago...where I studied (and worked on a certificate in painting) while i lived and worked in Chicago. It was that doorway I walked through to study and learn in my collage class... And also my art journaling class... When I found I loved mixed media and collage more than painting, I nervously approached my advisors... And in true artsy "Art Institute" style - they informed me I was still painting... Just with different materials... And they were perfectly fine with me as I embroidered paper and wove magazines together supported by bamboo frames... And basically laid the groundwork for what I'd be doing these days...
Kind of reminds me of last year's happy excursion to my textile design studio in Florence, Italy.
I love the journey. And I love revisiting the landmarks, too.

Camera app jokes

We spent the other day walking through an adorable town in NJ with J and his cousins... A few of the more artistically inclined were snapping artsy photos of everything they saw ... One of the guys started a joke about taking pictures of everything making the ugly artsy. He stopped and pointed his camera phone at this mess of wires as a joke. I did too and then showed him what fun even the wierdest pic can be when subjected to the iPhone apps. (I used camerabag and tiltshiftgenerator)
All these are the same exact picture.

Rock pets

One of our "Camp Mommakid" projects in the mountains was making these silly rock pets from random items in Mimi's art bin and rocks we found on our walks. The more we made, the funnier they got.

Coco in Love goes to Jersey

I'm not a Jersey girl, but the Worth family has roots in rural (beautiful) New Jersey. On our trip to visit them this week, we've gotten some nice pics of my #2 favorite Libby Dibby skirt. (#1 is Out & About) Gotta say, I love those big dots..

Caramel latte, anyone?

As we've been traveling around this summer, it's been a goal of mine to get some decent pics of some of the skirt patterns we haven't photographed yet. Last week, we were at Big Bear Lake in the SoCal mountains and got these pics of Caramel Latte. 

(still to come: Coco In Love - as she travels along the East Coast and into the Midwest)