Waiting for Ruby

Wicked Garden

I told myself that I wouldn't post about anymore painted "patches" on my wall until one half of the wall was finished-but with everything I have on my plate right now,the wall is all I can do creatively, or I will never finish it! This one is a painting of a wallpaper,that I don't know the make of,that I saw on a design blog(just a tiny snippet so I had to copy and paste and make a whole square to reference from to paint it!)

And this "patch" is so appropriate for this post because it reminds me of a city garden.

My husband and I now rent two garden plots at a community garden nearby. They were dense with thick weeds so we have been quite busy there! We have been so busy,the only fun we have had lately is seeing Wicked in NYC this past weekend.But all the work is so worth it,and the plots have so much potential,there was already an apple tree,and gooseberry and blackberry bushes on the plots. We planted vegetables and strawberries.

Eating local is so important because it is one of the things that has the most impact on one's Earth footprint. Click the link to find your own footprint on this Earth.

We also now have a tumbler-composter and countertop composter so we will have compost for our plants,and we will be able to cut down our garbage even more! We often don't have to put our barrel out for collection because we throw out so little,now who knows how seldom it will be out there!

J'aime les blogs Francais!

I have been inspired by French blogs a lot more than English blogs lately. I can only read portions of the writing accompanying the pictures,but the pictures are eye-candy and inspiration enough. I took French up until college level but that was years ago,and you know how it goes "if you don't use it..." I haven't added my new favorite French blogs to my sidebar because there are just too many that I have added to my favorites list, and I can't choose just a few!

I especially love all of the Liberty fabrics they tend to incorporate into their projects. I have found many great prints for my patchwork wall.

Such as this painted "patch" on my wall,found here, it is a fabric by Kenzo that I wasn't able to find a clearer picture of,I left the scale-textured print out of my painting,though,because I think it looks busy enough as it is,I wanted the birds to stand out. I love the birds so much,they look like a cross between penguins and bluebirds!

My hand-painted "patch"of Kenzo Bird Fabric ::

The French blogs also love to use purple and grays,a beautiful combination! We have beautiful old, but in perfect condition, gray tile in our upstairs bathroom. I used touches of eggplant in there and I love it. I planned on painting Liberty's Mirabelle in the pink color-way,and I might use that color for another patch,but I fell in love with the violet color-way that I saw on a French blog. I didn't even know that Mirabelle came in that color-way!

Here is my hand-painted "patch" of Liberty Mirabelle ::

I am obsessed with a fabric that I saw here,that I really wanted to buy to make pillows for our living room,but after many attempts to communicate with the site owner,I have been unable to order it. I guess I will have to settle for it being a patch on my wall! I am SO disappointed,and if anyone knows if there is another place that it can be purchased,please let me know,I can't stop thinking about this fabric!

I have been so busy with many things,including starting a new part-time job,that the only crafting that I have been doing is painting my wall-but that is enough! I am anxious to sew my shirt pattern ,that I purchased months ago, in gray with Liberty trim! I think I will take a break from my wall to sew it soon.

Nostalgic Bike Ride

Dear Ruby Claire,

Spring is here and it is time once again for Dad and I to get back onto our bikes. The park here is so beautiful and vast,there is even a covered bridge to ride through.

I loved riding my bike around our cul-de-sac  when I was small. Especially if a neighbor had their sprinklers on-that was the best! I loved timing my ride so that the sprinkler would spray me as I rode by!

And speaking of "water fun":As comedian Bob Marley puts it "Nothing says success like the above ground pool". Well,when we got ours,and your Grandpa wasn't too tired to clean it,we certainly thought so!

Of course,our favorite water activity was our slip-n-slide! We wore that thing out terribly! Nana has the best sloped yard for a slip-n-slide-I can't wait for an excuse to buy one and use one in her yard!

More things to look forward to......

Love,

Mom

What is missing from this picture!? A bike basket! I am waiting to find a small chip basket! When I find one,I will paint it white and add little felt flowers to it,vintage style. That is how it will be in the shop.Originally,I thought I would sew the "spokes" like patchwork,but I will save that for another since this one is so busy as it is!

I resisted the urge to add one of these. If you grew up in the 1980's I am sure you had one that either had your name or said Super Kid USA!

This is the first patchwork painting that I sat down and painted without inspiration from other fabrics and wallpapers. I thought about things from childhood,and what would be in people's front and backyards and went from there.

Nature is Visually Cluttered

I have been working on my wall whenever I get a chance,and my arm and hand are going a bit numb from painting the repetitive designs! The "patches" so far are Oilily's Kimono,two of Orla Kiely's,Liberty Kinnear and Fairy Flowers,and two Liberty prints that I am unsure of the names of.

I was thinking,it is funny that I like such busyness on the walls,because I don't like a lot of clutter,but then it occurred to me-I love to be out in nature,and nature can be very visually cluttered and overstimulating! All of the clashing colors of birds and flowers,the graphic shape of trees and their branches,the blazing yellow sun in the indigo-blue sky.... (you can see I have spring and summer on my mind)

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!

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!

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....

Deck the Halls Forget the Malls

I am so excited about our new wool bedding! We're supposed to put the sheet on top of the wool,and we will,but for now it feels so good to run our fingers through! Besides,I love how it looks uncovered! I need practice with photography,that's for sure. Our pillowcases are red gingham,not pink! The walls aren't pale blue,but robin's egg. I painted the swan painting hanging above our bed. In the movie "You've Got Mail" she has this painting above her bed, I put the movie on pause and tried to copy it! I love her apartment in that movie,and her little shop. But of course,the fact that it stresses buying from small shops,is the best part. Speaking of that,I won't step foot into a mall this year. Walking around looking in little shops is so much better.

Yesterday, while searching through baskets at a second-hand store I found these adorable ornies(2 look as though they were once part of a crib mobile) and hankies. I am actually using hankies right now,so it was great to find some under $2! I even found one to start Ruby's collection.I love the picture of the ornaments on the wool because it looks like they are in deep snow!

The butterfly shadow boxes were copied from one I bought from Anthropologie,but go figure,the butterfly fell from it's spot from the purchased one-and the ones I made are fine!

Our tree doesn't look perfectly decorated like the ones I see on other blogs,our ornaments are like "The Best Loved Doll" (one of my favorite books as a child) worn and loved.

All Seasons Patchwork Painting

I am back to blogging! We visited family on Long Island, NY, for Thanksgiving for four days, and when we came back we had a lot of adoption paperwork to update and submit to the USCIS. Since the adoption process keeps lengthening, paperwork is now expiring. I have been very busy this week,painting, holiday crafting, and babysitting. The painting pictured was finished today, there are very familiar prints along with hand stitched details like the butterflies, bird embellishment with real twig legs, and some wool felt flying birds and a felt stitched tulip. Other than those little details,they are not fabrics, it is all hand-painted.When I paint a patchwork painting,I freehand the fabric inspirations, always with a Liberty print in there,and border everything with bamboo(I love the crooked organic nature of bamboo-plus it is very green). I painted a print for every season, but my favorite(of course!) is the Liberty Dittany, it reminds me of the purple twilight of Autumn. I wish I had major yardage! There is a baby dress made from this fabric by Caramel Baby and Child that I would love to hang in Ruby's closet! But I would love to have everything made by them! I was lucky enough to get some very gently used Caramel outfits for unbelievable prices on ebay. http://www.caramel-shop.co.uk/

Most everyone in the crafting world has seen Purl's blog with the embroidery loops,displaying fabrics. I did my first patchwork painting before I saw it, and ironically, I had the Liberty birdsong print in my painting!! Though I must say,the next patchwork painting I will paint is in fact inspired by the Purl loops!

My first patchwork painting, that hangs in our dining room. It is my dream to have an entire patchwork wall, painted on canvas, and hung on the wall like wallpaper. Maybe someday!