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new

New tricks make her giggle and shout.

New (to me) sewing machine helps me piece soft flannels into a gift for a new to the world babe.

New banner shows just how far we've made it into spring.

heart rock

Exploring new texture by the lake today, we find a heart rock to add to our collection. 
I love happening upon this familiar shape in unexpected places - on the beach, on the trail, inside a seed.

what a hoot

Is it just me, or are there owls around every corner these days?  Here at home the owls are hooting and the little miss is joining in the fun.  Hoo hoo to you!

signs

Spring is in sight.  Pussywillows of many shapes and sizes were found on a recent hike along Hawk Ridge. 

   
Out on Superior, the ice has broken into millions of little shards; and when the wind is right, they make the loveliest music along the nearby shore.  Have a listen.

a year of color: red orange

A spanish tile rooftop in the upper Midwest.  Certainly not the first architectural oxymoron I've found in my neighborhood.

ex libris

Years ago I happened upon an exhibit of an amazing collection of bookplates at the Weisman Art Museum.  Ex libris.  Miniature works of art pasted inside books to identify the owner.  I was smitten.

When Marnie, whose blog Girl Number Twenty gets its name from Dickens, sent me a fantastic package last month, I decided to make her a little something in return.  It was time to create ex libris (libri??) for some of the special books in her library.  So, I printed up some bookplates on the gocco and cranked them through a xyron sticker machine. 

In addition to thinking about making more of these personalized bookplates for others, I have to admit that I couldn't stop dreaming about how different life would have been as a eleven-year-old had I been able to make anything into a sticker -- I mean a real sticker, with the peel-off back.  I can only begin to imagine the kitschy creations that would have neighbored the stickers in my book!

a year of color: spring green

I've been searching high and low for some spring green in my environment.  It's not that there isn't any to be found, there's just not any that actually sings spring.  The big lake is still covered with ice in places.  This week the mercury crept below zero (Fahrenheit!).  Snow flakes danced in the sky.  Spring green is still deep under the earth waiting, waiting.  I've kept the camera slung over my shoulder all week hoping to capture a sign of the season.  No luck.  So instead I'll share the artificial coloring found on a billboard.  It's spring green all right, but if I imagine that it had a flavor it would be akin to a chewy lemon-lime candy -- not at all satisfying, but instead just enough of a tease to make me realize exactly how badly I want the real thing.

four stitches

I had high hopes for the evening.  You see, I've been under the influence of gray, cold and lingering winter that hunkered itself back down on my slice of the world this week.  When in this state, all I can do is think about doing things, but can't actually do much more than is absolutely necessary to get through the day.  But today felt different.  The sun made an appearance, melted a bit of the snow and reminded me that I can actually move.  That movement feels good.  That creating feeds me.  I was set to climb the stairs to my attic/studio after cleaning up from dinner and putting the little miss down to sleep.  Set to work on one of the many sewing projects I've only been able to think about this week.  But the universe had something else in mind for me... instead stitching, I found myself in the ER getting stitched. 

Our ninety-something year-old home is often a bit chilly.  After using the oven we keep it propped open to squeeze all last bits of warmth into the kitchen.  Somehow, while closing the oven door after wiping down the stove top, I managed to slice a long and deep J along the knuckle of my middle finger.  I have no idea how exactly this happened, but I do now know what a tendon looks like.  Thankfully the tendon wasn't cut.  And thankfully it was my left hand.  I now have four neat knots up my finger.  They will stay swaddled in gauze and buddied up with the next-door finger to keep the joint from bending about for at least a week.  As it looks like the crafting will be sparse, I'm now in the market for a new book.  What was the last good book you read?

liquid craft

My sweet's latest batch of homebrew was bottled up this evening.  After breaking a half-dozen bottles with the capping apparatus as I 'helped' with the last batch, we agreed that filling was more my speed.  Now the IPA is safely tucked away to finish carbonating.  I am so looking forward to sipping glasses of the brew on warm spring evenings spent lazing on the front porch.  If only it would stop snowing...

celebrating

There's much around me that deserves celebrating.  A new babe and her now-big sister, the new abode of my sister and her sweet (and the new home of a friend and her sweet), an upcoming wedding, the fourth birthday of my niece, and my brother's graduation and transatlantic race.  I'm hoping to craft up some handmade goodies to honor these big events.  Stay tuned for works in progress over the coming weeks...