Favorite things that share our home

tramp art frame with photo collage of my mom (age 4)

and a tiny balsa wood house sit atop our mantle

As a result of watching the series Man Shops Globe (besides totally wanting Keith Johnson's job as the buyer at large for Anthropologie), I've been thinking about the many items that we have on display in our house. Certain things speak to me and I feel compelled to own them. I am our family's artistic "hunter-gather." I relish the good search and trust that the items I cart home will be enthusiastically received by my sweetheart and dear daughter. Most of the time I succeed, although there have been a few 'duds.'

I believe that when we wake up every morning to a house full of visually interesting objects (either to use or just admire) we begin the day right. It's like a really good breakfast for our souls.

part of a wonderful assemblage

made by an artist whose name escapes me

bird duvet cover and my cozy soft pillowcase,

I'm still working on one for my sweetheart,

he's getting a mockingbird

Olé! Rick rack saves the day.

Custom postage stamps will be printed for the fiesta invitation I'm working on. Layering confetti on rick rack creates a colorful but simple collage perfect for this project. No glue makes it easy. Olé!

Los timbres de la costumbre serán impresos para la invitación de fiesta que trabajo en. Estratificar confeti en el anaquet de almiar crea un collage colorado pero sencillo perfecciona para este proyecto. Ningún pregamento lo hace fácil. Olé!

How I spent my Sunday afternoon

lots of boxes to break down

One of my big projects, before I leave for Paris a week from tomorrow, is wrapping gifts for a client's event. First I had to unpack all the gifts and make space in the studio to stack them, no small feat, I assure you, since my studio is already crammed to the gills.

all un-boxed and ready to wrap

My afternoon was spent un-boxing everything, cutting open the boxes for recycling, folding them flat, loading them on a cart, taking them down the elevator and out to the commercial recycle bin that's shared by all the people in my building (many of whom DO NOT smash or in any other way make their cardboard take up less space, gggrrrr....).

today we wrapped the largest item . . . here's one finished gift

only a ga-gillion more to go

at afternoon's end, I rewarded myself by making a series of postcards

for my art buddies, not a bad way to finish up the day!

rainy day photos taken at Ravenna Gardens

French Bistro tables . . . a little of Paris in Seattle

Walking around in my RED shoes

going out the garden gate

I'm totally loving my new red shoes so I took them walking through my backyard garden and neighborhood. A good time was had by all. We can't wait to visit Paris and Amsterdam.

visiting gnomes and snails

icky green hydrangeas will have beautiful blooms soon

red shoes, polka dots and pink blossoms

my lovely blue bird bath

What on earth was I thinking????

I am fortunate to work with a wonderful event planner who gives me free creative rein on invites and the like, but I have to say that I lost my tiny mind on this one. Confetti, mylar, sewing, double-sided, three builds on each side, plus the center layer. It looks easy, but it's complicated - the mylar has to be sewn in a manner that allows the confetti to slide around somewhat so that the invite text can be read.

The text is in English on one side/Spanish on the reverse. There are little sombreros, chili peppers and swirly doo-dahs all over the studio, and the static electricity is making them stick to my sweater . . . whine, whine. whine! I am very happy to have the work and my next job, a simple menu with two layers, is looking mighty good right now.

Relaxing at the beach in Manzanita

Rose, our wily Irish terrier, always scouting ahead

We spent this past weekend at the beach house in Manzanita. Horrible weather on Saturday, but Sunday was glorious . . . went on to Portland in the afternoon for a lovely dinner with family & friends. Back home now . . . but beach images linger . . .

Bob, my sweetheart

JS, my dear brother

me

Robin, my best friend & sister-in-law

Don't our feet look swell?

Robin and I couldn't resist these lovely red shoes . . .

We feel like cowgirls.

Yippee - Kye - O - Kye - A. Get a long lil' doggies.

A little name change for me

I just bought the domain name "mystudioview.com" so hopefully that's where you'll find me as soon as I change everything over.

Only here until the wind blows . . .

Cherry trees surround our neighborhood park. They are in full bloom and it's an amazing sight. We left for the beach this morning and I only had time for a couple of photos. Hopefully they'll still be in full dress regalia upon our return. They are glorious . . .

Glitter glue - what's not to love?

Glitter glue - can't get enough of it. I'm using it on my new tags, 'matchless friend' matchboxes, wishticket cards and more (all slow-moving objects could use a little sparkle). Gonna to have to restrain myself from putting platinum dots on my corporate jobs. Microsoft watch out, glittery glamour could be your new corporate look!

art4U tags - coming soon to a store near you

more tags with the stamps I created

Kitchen still life - caught this morning

Went to spread peanut butter on my toast and realized I'd bought the wrong kind - unsalted! What was I thinking? It did make a pretty picture. I like the reflection on the mixer bowl.

It's time to toss the tulips!

I'll let go of these tomorrow

I love having fresh flowers in my home and studio and I'm especially fond of tulips. But when it comes to flower house-keeping, I have a bad habit: I let them linger long past their prime. The more desiccated they look, the more appealing they appear. The petals become tissue-like and curl, the colors fade. There's something very visually captivating about dying flowers, weird I know . . . it brings out the "Morticia Addams" in me.

these red tulips hung around until all the petals fell off

these double-blossoms went into the compost bin tonight

Rain makes a very pretty picture

my favorite color way

I love these French bistro tables/chairs. If they weren't so bloody expensive, this red set would be gracing my balcony right now. My mission on Thursday was to whip to UVillage, grab more glitter glue (my newest crafty addiction) and whip home. BUT the sun peeked out and I decided to stroll a bit after making my purchase, which meant that I was compelled to walk by Ravenna Gardens to check out the newest plantings. The beaded raindrops on my favorite outdoor furniture was (almost) more interesting than the plants. I photographed all the color combos they had . . . tho' they won't make it to my balcony at least they'll have the opportunity to star in future artworks.

but wait, black is pretty cool, too

oooh, chocolate brown

pale blue would be coolest on a hot day

A couple more photos from Lucca

wish I had room in my house for these birds

Photographing at Lucca is such a treat and I'm excited to incorporate some of my pictures in collages and other artworks. The owner of Lucca and her staff are very talented display artists - every where you turn there are interesting vignettes. The decor changes on a fairly regular basis and I highly recommend a visit next time you find yourself on Old Ballard Avenue.

these antique Japanese dolls got the jazzy treatment

with Best Camera and Photoshop

"Fancy lady" chandeliers strut their stuff

I love the cherries, don't you?

Old Ballard Avenue is lined with great shops - my favorite is Lucca - a wonderful array of "visual candy" greets me every time I visit. I'm especially enchanted with the many chandeliers that temptingly hang from the ceiling. I think of them as fancy ladies, all sparkly and shining, dressed up and ready to charm everyone they encounter. Once again the trusty Iphone was called into action to capture their whimsical beauty.

this one reminds me of a wedding cake

two more grand dames - jazzed up even more with a little help

from Best Camera and the Iphone Photoshop sketch app

Amazing stuff we saw on Easter

these columns and turquoise cupboard drew us in

After our delicious Thai lunch on Easter we continued to walk through Fremont, and came upon the J.H.Terry Gallery, which before this past Sunday had never been open when we've walked by. We were quite thrilled to find the garage door open with wonderful items spilling out onto the sidewalk. Again, I went nuts with the camera. Too bad that all my moo-lah is dedicated to my upcoming Paris trip in May. I wanted to walk out with several items. Photos will have to do.

interesting items are snugged in every nook

and cranny (what is a cranny?)

this statue was reduced from $1800 to $500 - she's huge,

but I'd love to have her in my studio

this antique Buddha was quite large and the marble was so smooth

Indian wedding chest - beautifully crafted

my sweetheart wanted these lions - they'd look great at our front walk

fabulous carving on this column

amazing designs, woodwork and paint on this chest

Easter walk, so much to see

On Sunday, in-between the rain showers and hail, my sweet husband and I went walking to Fremont. Everything is so green along the Burke-Gilman trail. We kept stopping to smell the lilacs and photograph the wind-blown tulips. Our delicious Thai lunch was followed by more walking and photographing (my sweetheart was very patient as I kept saying "gotta get this photo, be with you in a sec").

isn't this a lovely wall flower?

in another week these will be in full bloom and oh, so fragrant!

i love this 'icky' green color

the more tulips, the better