the shabby buffalo one...

goodness, gracious, the months just slip by quickly don't they?  i had some free time one day and on a whim i decided i needed a new journal.  i wanted it to be simple, which is not always an easy thing for me.  most things i do end up looking very neat.  i get that from my father.  he is a very precise kind of guy.  but really, i told myself...you got this.  i worked quickly.  i pulled out a shabby piece of leather - buffalo hide.  it was wrinkly, distressed and dirty on the back side.  kind of like it was run over or something.  so i cut a piece.  i only measured once ok.  i found a rough scrap to use as a closure.  i pulled out paper.  not good pristine paper.  old papers and scraps and things with paint already on them.  i started folding.  not all the same size.  i tore some fabric.  added a piece of lace that was on my table from something else.  

i found a shabby piece of sari silk and tied an envelope in the back to keep notes and scraps for adding in later.  i bound it quickly and simply.  sewed on the strap.  and then i immediately started using it.  like, the minute i was done making it.

i have it halfway filled already.  it's a very free wheeling kind of book.  no worries about "messing it up" since it's already pretty shabby.  i've stitched and stapled and glued.

added dried up leaves and bits of nature.  and lots of string.  i love string.  shabby string.  

and random bits that i've kept around for one reason or another.

the fabric pages are ongoing works.  when the mood strikes.  i just tuck the needle into the fabric and leave it there for next time.

lots of words from books, some poetry, collage, old lace.

experiments, gesso and paint.  don't like it?  cover it up with paint.  and then more paint.

special bits from cleaned out drawers.  reminders.  to create happiness.

to let things go.  to just wing it once in a while.  you know what i mean?

poem home...

so...you know i've been decluttering a bit this past year.  and i've made a lot of progress...so much free space now!  but i'm not aiming for minimalism...my true goal in all of this clearing out is simply to whittle my possessions down to just the things that i truly love.  the things that are special and meaningful to me.  it can get tricky with sentimental items.  sometimes a little re-do is necessary.

i have had this dollhouse since i was a tiny girl.  my older brothers built it for me and i had many years of enjoyment out of it.  it had grown a bit shabby and had been relegated to the cellar years ago.  but it was always in the back of my mind.  i definitely couldn't part with it.  so for a couple of years, i experimented.  i painted it green.  not crazy about that.  back to the shelf.  then i painted it pink.  not great.  back to the shelf.  then i painted it white.  better.  i discovered chalkboard paint.  i painted the roof with that.  then i considered painting the whole thing with chalkboard paint 'cuz you know i love that stuff.  but no.  back to the shelf.  i don't what the final inspiration was...perhaps it was from falling asleep while reading a good book.  i woke up one day and decided to write on it.  four ultra fine sharpies later it went back to the basement.  not finished, but it needed something.  then one day i wrote myself a note.  "stop overthinking it...finish the damn dollhouse already", it said.  so i dug up a couple of thick sharpies and added some more words.  added some vines around the windows.  put a tiny chair inside.  done.  done enough.  

now...i love it again.  it wears a collection of some of my favorite poems and lyrics and ramblings from books i've read.  and yes, even books that i've fallen asleep while reading.  it's a new life for a very special memento from my past.  a better life.  not on a far away shelf.

after i took these photos, i put it on the small table in my foyer.  yes, i have a foyer.  it is small, but there is room for a small table for keys (and dollhouses) and some hooks for jackets and a place for shoes.  on a side note, i love my foyer because my tiny house (the one before this one) had no foyer and in fact, only one person at a time could fit in the tiny space just inside the door.  so yes, i am really darned grateful for my foyer.  

anyway, my little house is the first thing i see when i walk in.

an unusual piece of art.  to inspire me every day.

with a chalkboard roof for impromptu notes.

it's a happy little poem home...

a tribute...

my little buddy, Dexter.  14 years and 2 months of friendship.  he was one of the happiest dogs i ever knew.  his barking was a song, an ode to life.  his tail constantly wagging...iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou...it seemed to say.

he was there through thick and thin, never wavering in his loyalty.  he was always eager to celebrate in the good times, sharing our joy with enthusiast leaping.  he offered quiet comfort in the dark and sad times...nudging me with his wet nose and staring up at me with his soft brown eyes, imploring me to pet him.  a wise distraction that worked every time.  

this past year he was a warm, sleepy, lump of love.  wherever i went, he went and i made sure he had a soft bed in every room.  he was the perfect companion in my quiet life.  i have an empty feeling deep within me that is going to take some time to heal.  tears spring up unexpectedly.  a little tuft of fur drifts across the floor.  no early morning greetings.  no click-click-clicking across the hardwoods...the house is silent.  i miss him.   

"He taught us the art of unqualified love. How to give it, how to accept it. Where there is that, most other pieces fall into place."

- John Grogan, Marley and Me

trust...

trust your heart if the seas catch fire,

live by love though the stars walk backward

-e.e. cummings

walk in the rain...

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.

-Roger Miller

i'm walking in the rain today, cuz these boots just make rain more fun ☔.

hope you have a nice weekend!

happiness...

Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.

-Walt Whitman

happiness is the smell of these coffee stained tags that i found here.  this is a little project i recently started.  it involves these coffee tags, favorite words and a big stick.  i will show you when i finish of course.  i like the happiness one a lot...the idea of being happy no matter where you are in life.  makes sense, don't you think?

light chaser...

hi there...how are you?  it has been awhile.  have you ever had so much to say and yet, nothing to say, all at the same time?  that's kind of how i have been feeling lately.  i have been keeping myself quite busy.  there have been lots of home projects as well as art making.  there is always art making...that never stops.  i am finally painting all of my rooms that nice fresh white i have been dreaming about.  and whenever fresh paint gets put down, it makes me want to change all sorts of other things.  i have been "decluttering" in a big way.  figuratively and literally.  some of my treasures have been making their way into my shop.  lots of pictures to take.

i saw a commercial on tv last night with a guy trying to be ferris bueller.  he said, "life moves pretty fast. if you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."  so true right?  so today i stopped and looked around.  the first thing i noticed was the way the light came in this morning and illuminated this little corner of my living room.  and i became a light chaser.

a little bit later on...the light cast its magic down the dark hallway leading the way to our bedrooms.  after its fresh coat of white, i painted a rough band of chalkboard paint all the way around this hall and i have been writing poems and lyrics on it.  just for fun.

i had this lace on my table and the when the light came through at lunchtime i noticed the way it can make pretty things even prettier.

and the way it makes simple things look kind of extraordinary.

my little furry buddy needed to go outside, so i popped out back for a little while and wow.  a few days of rain and now sun.  we have a jungle and the flowers have burst open.

it is time for me to plan my dinner, so i have wrapped up my light chasing for now.  i hope you are able to find some time to stop and look around this weekend.  who knows what you will find...

mend...

                                mend

                                /mend/

                               verb

                                 1. repair (something that is broken or damaged).

                                   

                               noun

                                 1. a repair in a material.