poet's pouch...

i had this idea.  i think it started with the leather.  so rough and interesting, this piece.  i worked on it.  put it aside.  thought about it overnight.  worked on it some more.  a little more thinking.  what did i want it to be?  

i always seem to have loose bits of paper floating around me...filled with inspiring words i've heard or little sketches of ideas i would like to explore.  i wanted it to be a way to contain these scraps.  i wanted it to be a beautiful vessel for random inspirations.  i wanted it to be like a deconstructed book that can be carried out into the world and filled with one tattered page at a time. 

i gave it a head start, by filling it with a stack of the prettiest papers i could find.  rough, torn pieces of handmade paper.  and i made that even more beautiful with some silk and a feather.  because feathers are hopeful and we always need that.

i call it a poet's pouch.

i just know there is a poet or artist out there that is meant for this one.  if you are the one, you can find it here.  

of course, you might have a different idea for it...and that's ok too.

needle, paper, thread...

rain.  and rain.  and rain.  it's been raining here for a few days.  a hard driving, roof-thumping, soaking, drenching rain.  the kind that continues to drip from the trees long after the sky stops weeping.  although i do like the rain...it's been so dark.  maybe i don't like the darkness as much as the rain.  it's making the air a bit chilly, but steaming hot cups of coffee take care of that.  i started this meditative stitching a while ago and then set it aside, but i picked it up again when the rain started.  what is it about rain that makes me want to stitch?  the stitches are tiny and they go round and round.  and round.  it's just a little scrap of handmade paper and some red thread.  but it's turning into a little work of art.  i guess i like the simplicity of it.  drip, drop, drizzle.  needle, paper thread...

resilient.

the world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stong at the broken places.

-ernest hemingway

use it up...

been busy using up some of my wonderful lace stash...

in difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart.

-blaise pascal-

Ida's book...

some of my new lace stash which i mentioned in my last post.  i always like to get a few pictures before i start using it...or as my daughter says "before i chop it up".  it's a very pretty pile, i think.  the pearls are gorgeous....a nice antique color and four strands of heavy glass beads with a knot between each.  i usually buy broken necklaces, but this one is fully intact, clasp and all.  it will be difficult for me to chop this up, bu i most likely will at some point.  

this little book is a true treasure.  it belonged to Ida from Maine.  in it, there are pages and pages of autographs from 1877 to 1899.  i'm amazed she kept it going for 22 years.

i love the swirly bird pages.  there are several throughout the book.

the signers usually incorporated their name and date somewhere in the bird design.

i love the faded and sometimes imperfect sepia ink.  if you made a mistake, you just had to go with it.  handwriting was so beautiful then...a work of art many times.  each person has written dear Ida sweet notes.  some are quite poetic.

others are a little funny.  this one says - "Autograph writing is hard and tough, i will write my name and that's enough." 

and on the last page, this one says, " Last in your album and last in your thought, last to be remembered, first to be forgot."

each and every page is just so amazing.  now i have to decide what to do with it.  i used to buy these treasures and tuck them away, maybe admire them once in a while and sometimes forget about them altogether.  but i don't do that so much anymore.  instead of just "collecting", i try to use my finds.  in fact, my new motto is to only purchase treasures that i will use.  besides, treasures lose their magic when they are tucked away.  so, i will take it apart and use the pages to create new magic.  some may end up in my collages.  others in one of my fat lace/ephemera books.  perhaps, share a few.
i think Ida would really like that...

joyful blooms...

nature never did betray the heart that loved her.

-william wordsworth-

spring has blossomed here.  the grass is so green...or perhaps it just seems so because of our recent trip up north to visit family.  there, they still had snow on the ground and no spring colors yet.  on my walk this morning, i stopped several times to pick up fallen flowers, a bit shabby, but still so beautiful.  i arranged them on a little glass plate and set them on my dining table.

i can't believe over two months have passed since i last updated my blog.  life has been very busy lately.  too many responsibilites, not enough art.  although things are looking up.  i visited my favorite antique shop when i was in NY and i found a gorgeous pile of lace and some pearls.  and yesterday i received a huge box of leather that i had ordered in the mail.  all of that has sparked some inspiration for me.  so, pictures of what i'm working on... soon....