Waiting for Ruby

Etsyshopopeningaphobia

Yes,I have a fear of opening my shop. I think that's why I am working so slowly. So in order to delay my shop opening again,I have started a massive project. A project that I have wanted to do for over ten years-a painted patchwork wall. Actually, originally I wanted to paint a patchwork ceiling,and friends would joke that when they'd come over I'd wave to them from scaffolding. I will tell people it is a dream of mine to paint a patchwork wall but I want to wait until we are in our "permanent" home to do it because it would be so much work. But as it is I am waiting for Ruby,so why wait for things that I can do today? I told Ron that this will be our permanent home after this project is finished! I have chosen mostly Orla Kiely and Liberty prints to duplicate,some designs will be my own (such as the green bird-outline print).

Circles Patchwork Painting

Well,here is the first patchwork painting that will be in the shop. When I saw the Purl loops I was inspired to paint a different style of patchwork painting,with the patchwork framed in hoops.

Perhaps it is a portion of someone's wall? Wallpaper behind their embroidery?

Everything is handpainted,except for the felt bird swinging on his "perch" and the bottom left corner snippet of Liberty birdsong fabric. The hoops aren't attached to the painting yet,they will be neatly attached after a print is made. The print won't make too much sense without the hoops,I know,but I have other ideas. I decided to have prints made because the original painting will be costly,as it takes a lot of time to redesign inspiration wallpaper and fabrics for the prints,and then the time they take to paint.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Birds of a Feather Stitched Together

Another "bird themed" patchwork project! This time a pillow to coordinate with my patchwork ottoman cover. I embroidered feathers in one corner,and a simple bird on the center patch. Bubba Chic made a patchwork pillow with embroidered birds,and I was inspired to make one for myself!

In Her Shoes

 

Dear Ruby Claire,

Shoes are such a personal article of clothing,sometimes symbolizing something extremely sad,sometimes symbolizing living happily ever after. The ruby slippers,as depicted in my blog banner,symbolized finding home. Tears come to my eyes as I look at the picture of our shoes,all in a row,because when this is a familiar sight in our house,you will have come home.

Love,

Mom

When I started this blog,I thought I would talk more about children's fashion,something I am interested in,but soon realized that it was not something I wanted to dwell on. Since this is a post about shoes,I must show these amazing Liberty baby shoes from Petites Maloles that even come in an adorable drawstring bag:

   

Easter Peek for All of my Peeps

Here is a little sneak peek at one of the paintings I am working on. I was inspired to do this painting when I saw these. Previously,my patchwork paintings were almost faithful copies of fabrics that I loved,because they were for personal use, or for family. Since I decided to sell some paintings,I wanted to come up with more original prints. I researched vintage fabrics and wallpaper to come up with some designs. All of the prints in this painting are separated by embroidery hoops in unique new ways (one of which is shown above!). Enjoy the weekend and Happy Easter!

Faith

This is a miraculous story that happened this past Autumn. I have been waiting for the perfect time to share it,and this week seems appropriate being St.Patrick's week(yes,week ;) since we are planning a trip to Ireland to see the special lady this story is about:

My mother's brother Nicky passed away in the 1970's at a young age. When he passed, he left behind a little daughter,Jackie. My mother and her family only saw his little girl as a baby because Nicky and his wife's marriage ended, and his wife left Southie and moved to her native country of England with the baby. No one knew where she was.

Growing up,my mother would mention her brother and his daughter often.

When I was a teenager,I searched on the internet for Jackie Nickerson,but never found any promising leads. When my mother's sister and her daughters were visiting from Boston, we talked about Nicky and his daughter. We talked about the unfortunate time that we just missed her when she came to Boston from Ireland in search of her roots(another long story)

Pretty much as soon as they left,I began searching the internet for Jackie Nickerson. I clicked on the first site that I saw, it was from an art  gallery,the description for this amazing fine art photographer read "Born in Boston,raised in England,currently living in Ireland". All these things we knew were true about our Jackie.

I e-mailed the gallery,asking for Jackie's e-mail address,posing as my mother because I knew that she knew my mother's name. Meanwhile,I called my mother and told her to come right over,to see what she thought. We found a self-portrait Jackie snapped of herself,and we thought we saw family resemblance. My mother went back to her house,thinking it would be a long time until we'd hear from the gallery. Pretty much as soon as she left,I saw that I had an e-mail from Jackie Nickerson herself! When I read her e-mail I nearly fell off of my chair! It read "I don't know much,but I know my grandparents names were...." . I sat there gobsmacked as I read my grandparents names. I called my mother crying and screaming- It's her,it's her!

Thank goodness she kept her maiden name! And as luck would have it,right when we found her,she was scheduled to be in the U.S. in the near future because her exhibit "Faith" was showing at a NYC gallery. Faith- how appropriate! We all met her and her husband for lunch, bringing a scrapbook that we had sewn a patchwork cover for,filled with copies of all of the older pictures we had of her father and family. Sadly,she had never even seen a picture of her father. It was so emotional for everyone but especially for her. After all, she never knew anyone on her father's side of the family,and then all of a sudden,she had an instant family!

Patchwork Dreaming

Dear Ruby Claire,

This is a picture of me when I was four years old,wearing my favorite skirt. It had many different pastel colors,sewn like patchwork strips. I guess I have always loved patchwork. I wonder what your favorite item of clothing will be? Will you like to wear dresses or will you prefer to wear stretch pants and t-shirts? When I was little I only wanted to wear skirts and dresses,it drove Nana nuts!

I have been painting patchwork tile back-splashes,painting patchwork furniture,patchwork paintings,begging Nana to help me sew patchwork slipcovers for furniture,and sewing patchwork pillows and small crafts for at least ten years now. So it was no surprise that when I made an outline of things that I wanted to compile for my shop,they all contained elements of patchwork!

The first piece that I am showing in this space,that will be for sale in my shop,is this room scene that comes with a mini felt doll. It is made on a canvas,with 3-D elements. It is artwork that can be gently played with. I tried to incorporate all the things that I have loved,and continue to love doing with crafts. Of course,there is a lot of patchwork,with some Liberty and vintage fabrics. The mini doll is Waldorf inspired,and she wears a removable patchwork strip skirt,reminiscent of my favorite skirt. The "floor" in the room is made out of popsicle sticks that I have clipped the ends off of(when I was little I made cardboard dollhouses and used popsicle sticks for the floors and mouldings-and when I was not so little-Confession-I still made some elaborate ones as a teenager). The "wall" is hand painted,cardinal red with white polka dots. Some other details are the rug,it is made from all natural hand dyed yarn,and the doll carriage,it is like a pocket,so that the doll can be taken out to play with.

 

My favorite thing about this artwork is what I came up with for the mini doll's hair. I threaded ribbons through buttons,and then I braided the ribbons.

So,Ruby,what do you think ;) ? I wonder,will you like to play with dolls and dollhouses,or will you enjoy something else? When I was little I liked to play with dolls but especially dollhouses,and cars,but my favorite thing to do was to play in the dirt(and make dirt house villages) in my skirts and dresses!

I can't wait to find out what you love!

Love,

Mom

 

Vote with your wallet

While browsing in a local book store a while ago we came across this really cool little book. I thought it was appropriate to share on a primary day.It tells you how much money companies have given to support political parties. We are a household that likes to support local businesses and such,but sometimes we shop at the big box stores,we're not extremists.

They did get one thing wrong in this book,though, and if you are a fan of Anthropologie,you might be interested in this article.

Spring Ahead

I feel so Springy but yet not,springy. I have been under the weather, but thinking of Spring weather.

My butterfly paintings,inspired by paintings that I saw that cost $600 each,prove that you can make something beautiful for next to nothing. I used scrap plywood,moulding,and paint and ended up with these.

I have been thinking about making paper flowers for so long,so when I saw Martha Stewart's paper flower kits at Michaels I had to get one. They are all so pretty,but I chose the dogwood blooms. They were so much fun to make!

Sorry about the blurry picture,for some reason every picture I took came out this way....