Ah, Fall.

This past Sunday was Marblehead's Artisan Festival---my first time having my own booth at a craft festival. It rained the WHOLE day and only like 12 people came. But thankfully most of them bought something from me so I did come home with a small profit (that, and a cold from not getting any sleep the night before and being out in the rain all day....ah, for the love of art)


There's little time to recover because I'm doing it all again this Sunday at the South End Open Market's Baked Fresh event. I really don't know how I'm gonna work it all out--juggling all my stuff, a nursing baby, putting up a tent while holding said baby, one car that's not big enough to hold my stuff and the family...eh, details.

So there's a billion things I want to have ready for this next show but my first job, mommyhood, beckons me to just sit in the grass and enjoy the crisp fall air and brightly-hued leaves. See, Captain Jude here knows how to relax and enjoy the foliage. I should take notes : )

Late Night Inspiration

I don't know what it is about the wee hours of the night that inspires me, but at around 1:00am last night I had an idea. And the most exciting part?---I FINALLY had a reason to BUY something at this great little shop here in town, C'est La Vie (which, surprise to me, is NOT pronounced "ka-est-la-vee-ei" like I called it for the first 6 months living in this town. Sad, I know, but I took Latin in school, not French. How was I supposed to know?) So I've got my little bundle of new ribbon and a cup of tea, the boys are asleep, and it's cozy and rainy outside----conditions are perfect for working out last night's brainstorm. I hope to show you the final products soon!

Oh, and if you're local, come by my booth at Marblehead's Artisan Festival this Sunday!

If I Were A Rich Girl

I know that, compared to the rest of the world, I AM rich. But Anthropologie rich, I am not. Nonetheless, these are the fall fashion pieces I'd pick up if I was headed out with deep pockets for some "Back to School" shopping : )

From left to right, top to bottom:
Forever 21's Shandi Knitted Cardigan in mustard
Forever 21's Ruched Sleeve Cardigan in rust
Anthropologie's Sprinkle-on-Top Cardi
Anthropologie's Distant Cousin (or as we with Kentucky roots call it--"marriage material") Cowlneck for loungin'
Anthropologie's Sprinkle and Sow Trousers (though they are dry clean only which means they'd always be dirty)
Anthropolgie's Mustard and Sage Necklace
Forever 21's Meryl Wide Leg Trouser
Anthropologie's Last Harvest Coat
Anthro's Prana Yoga Pants for more loungin in style
A hat from The GAP--but when I went to get the link, GAP's site was down...your lost, GAP, your loss..
Anthro's Fringed Suede Flats
and Forever 21's purple Crochet Scarf to go along with my Last Harvest Coat

and now I'm off to do my REAL fall fashion shopping--a nice value pack of white crew socks from Walmart......(single tear) ; ) ; )

Representin'

We took our first crack at peanut butter Buckeyes in honor of the home state--Ohio (a moment of silence as I pause to salute : ) ) These peanut butter and chocolate nuggets of goodness are supposed to look like Buckeyes (Ohio's state tree).

Here's how:
Peanut Butter Buckeyes

1 3/4 C creamy peanut butter
1 C butter, softened
4 1/4 C powdered sugar
2 C chocolate chips
1 TB vegetable oil
toothpicks

In a large bowl, cream together peanut butter and butter until light and creamy. Add sugar, mix well. Roll into small balls, place on wax paper and chill for 8 hours / overnight (although mine only chilled for about 3 hours and it was fine). Melt chocolate chips and oil in a double broiler or in the microwave. Using toothpicks, spear each ball and dip lower half into chocolate and return to wax paper. Refrigerate to harden and keep stored in the fridge between layers of wax paper.



mmm...nothing says "Midwest" like butter and sugar...

The Old Fashion Way

For a year during our dating/engagement period, I lived in Japan while Daniel finished school in Ohio. The long distance thing was hard but one of the keys to helping us stay connected was good old-fashioned letter writing. Of course I loved the speed and convenience of digital communication, but when I found a REAL LETTER in the REAL MAILBOX I stopped what I was doing to find a quiet place to read it (and read it, and read it again).

So for those times when email won't do, perhaps you'd like to say "HELLO" with one of these new stationery sets. Or get a set for the letter writer in your family. Each set comes with 10 sheets of 8x10 paper and 5 sweet envelopes with tie closures.

SHEW!!

What a weekend! It started early Saturday with the 5K/Kids's Fun Run. Being my first 5k, it was overall a good experience. Although it did NOT awaken the inner competitive runner in me. It turns out, I like running but I'm not huge in to racing (that's why I'm showing you the before picture and not the after. I have this "I hate life" look on my face in all the finish line photos) ; ) My time was 27:40:9 -- and while I'm not waiting by the phone for Nike to call with sponsorship offers, it was my best time to date, so that's cool.



Hudson's race was hilarious--he came in dead last without a care in the world. While the other kids sweated and grimaced across the finish line, he brought up the rear with a nonchalant trot. Granted, he was one of, if not the, youngest kid running. That's him in the video in the blue sleeveless shirt and white shorts closest to the camera.





There was a little town fair following the race--carnival rides, balloons, games...we even got to touch a tarantula in the science club's booth.



And as usual, Jude spent the day being chubby.



Sunday I shared a booth with my friend Cascade at the Melrose Victorian Fair. I'm still new to the world of festivals/fairs so I'm figuring out what works and what doesn't. But hanging out with Cascade was definitely the highlight of the day : )

Little Chocolate Donuts and Sweet Vintage Finds

I snatched these up at a yard sale today--my last chance to grab some vintage-y containers to display my work at the Melrose Victorian Fair this Sunday. Hopefully those two pieces of wood will be paintings by Sunday and that sweet "Booth's Sliced Pineapples" crate will house all the prints I need to print, sign, and package in the next 36 hours. (And I think there's some vintage soup that needs to be washed out of those bowls--yikes.)

But before that, I'll be running my FIRST 5K TOMORROW MORNING! I was doing fine, not nervous or anything, until last night I bit it hard while running on my town's ridiculously uneven sidewalks in the dark. So tomorrow I'll be sporting my new running shorts and two bloody knees---awesome.

Hudson will be doing the kids .25mile run. He's psyched. He got new running shoes for the occasion and has since then, often tearfully, INSISTED on wearing them every day. "(with great emotion) I NEED to run EVERY DAY, mom, not just some days EVERY DAY!" he tells me.

In preparation you can bet I'll be following the wise advice of the late great John Belushi....

I See Cool People (and thunder thighs)

I 'm so glad to be friends with a healthy handful of really great musicians that are getting out there and putting out great music. My friends, ELLERY, are one of the top 20 finalists in PASTE Magazine's Rock 'N' Reel at Sea Contest (go vote here!). I hopped on PASTE's website to vote for them and low and behold, my friends MAEVE ( see previous post here) were at the top of the page in an ad for their upcoming concert with Sam Phillips.

And if you've caught ABC's promo for their new series "Pushing Daisies" either online on on TV, you've heard my new friends' Seabird's song "Rescue". (btw-- My Seabird inspired print can be found here and here and I'm currently working on some t-shirt designs for them. If all goes well, you'll be able to grab one of my t-shirt designs next time you see them on the road : )

Yay! They're all very nice people so make sure to stop by and check out their websites!

And in an unrelated note, my dad wanted to see a pic of Jude's infamous thunder thighs. When he got his shots at his 6-month check up last week, the nurse, who sees thighs all day long, was like "Good heavens, those are some big thighs!!" So here ya go, dad : ) He's in size 4 diapers...only one more size then he's gotta start wearing Depends.....Jude, that is, not my dad : )

Little Green Monster

The first art festival of the season is this weekend so I'm trying to finish up some originals. Here's "Little Green Monster" (acrylic on reclaimed wood). He'll be available this Sunday at the Melrose Victorian Fair in Melrose, MA and in print form in the shop soon!

Mailbox...Open Mailbox

I finished the whole alphabet in my new Font Supply shop and I'm starting to add numbers. Eventually I will have several styles of each letter to choose from, numbers, and a set of children's lower case letters. (Scheduled to be completed in May 2015 so mark your calendars! : )

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Speaking of fonts, to get the "Mailbox...Open Mailbox" thing your juuust gonna have to watch this video...hilarious. Mailbox! Mailbox! MAILBOX!!!

(sorry the video bleeds over the menu, not html saavy enough to fix it...if only I had paid more attention in geek class ; )

I Love Loft

With my love of small living spaces comes my love of creative small living space solutions. Since I saw Ikea's full size loft bed in the store's tiny 500-ish sq ft apartment model, I've been wanting to incorporate the space-saving loft idea in our apartment somehow. But Hudson often crawls into bed with us when he gets up in the morning and nothing spells disaster like a groggy three-year-old and a 6-foot ladder.

So I freaked out today when I saw this post on Ohdeedoh.com. How cool are these rooms?! We're TOTALLY going to use these ideas in Hudson and Jude's room. Weighing in at a hearty 22lbs, Jude is READY to move out of his little bassinet and into a crib in Hudson's room. (the poor kid can't even straighten out his legs in that thing). But til today I wasn't sure how we'd be able to fit two beds + toys + clothes + bikes in that little bedroom and still have room to walk and play in there.




For us grown-ups, I love low-to-the-floor beds but don't love how much room they take up. And since our bedroom houses, not only our clothes and bedroomy stuff, but all our art/craft supplies as well, we need a lot of storage space. Something like this would totally work. Just roll the bed under the platform during the day and TADA! look how much space it saves!


Yay lofts!

Daddy's Boy(s)

Hudson is such a daddy's boy. It's been so great this weekend to watch him conquer fears with daddy by his side. From scaling this mountainous boulder : ) while picnicing by the water to his first ride with his new bicycle trailer.


Right now, he and Daniel are out on their first tandem big boy bike ride--a proud moment indeed. : ) : )

And it won't be long til little Jude is riding right a long with them.