I've decided to join a club

you might remember that Lacey, Becky, and i were in a book club once. we took turn picking out books and had semi discussions about them. needless to say, that club is over. i feel less and less motivated to actually read...or FINISH any book i've started. i've been so busy that the only times i ever pick up a book is right before bed and by then i am completely exhausted and would only get a few sentences in before snoozing...if i was lucky, i might get a paragraph or two at best.

i've decided it's time to slow down and get motivated to read...and expand my literature horizon a bit. my solution was to join the Slow Readers Book Club. one of the organizers/founder, Diana of Our.City.Lights writes:

"Don't let the name fool you- it's not for literally slow readers (although, if you are, we don't judge) and it's not as exclusive as a 'club'. This is an opportunity to take part of a movement that needs a revelation to slow down and take a few minutes in our day to disconnect, reenergize and even be a part of helping our communities and environment, via The Slow Movement."

the first book will be Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. my excitement for joining this club is heightened when i realized that i will have almost two whole months to finish it! our first group email discussion will be on March 4th! i think i could totally be able to finish. now i just have to go to the library and grab it!

it's not too late to join. contact Diana if you're interested!!

procrastinating

i have no idea what to do with myself now that i'm on winter break (working with little C). i had planned on cleaning the studio (in dire need!), but after grabbing a smoothie with Lacey and some of our friends this morning (she's visiting from France!), all i want to do is built a cozy fort in my living room and snuggle up with Remy.

i decided to check my email, then got sidetracked...which led to browsing through numerous beautiful and inspiring pictures. now i want to share:

it's days like these that i wish i still had a girl roommate. {image via}


between J and i, we own a few books. one day when we own a home, i want to have a
library as colorful and beautiful as this one. {image via}

what a lovely dress. looking at this photograph makes me want to wear my vintage dresses...
but it's too cold! {image via}

i want to have a tea party and decorate like this! {image via}

yumm...homemade marshmallows! {image via}

where can i get some Macarons in the MD/WV area?!?! i might have to send some money back to France with Lacey so she could send me some...i am dying for these! {image via}

i absolutely love this shot. {image via}

hmm...getting hungry, i should probably go do something with myself...or cuddle with Remy...tough choice! hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Oui Oui!

last week (was it?) i got a special package from Limoges, France. Lacey sent me a box of goodies filled with prezzies and snacks and I was so delighted when I got in it the post. I was a little worried though, that the contents inside where a bit banged up cause of the state of the box...it was dented and tapped on one side where it looked like it had ripped or been ripped opened.



When I opened it, I found:


and antique dish Lacey got at the flea market for me to take pictures with, how thoughtful and some blue porcelain goodies. she said Limoges is known for that stuff...later i found out that the little box actually belonged to a friend, sorry Rachel!


some yummy snacks like the pre made, chocolate filled crepes and the Madeleines, which were Lacey's favorite.


i couldn't help myself and opened the crepes right away cause she had been talking about it for weeks and i was curious!


this books was the piece de resistance for me! which literally translates into "The little naps of Polly" ...am i right?


the illustrations in it were pretty amazing. like this monster poking it's head out of a bush


and the face that Polly makes are hilarious! reminds me of the funny/weird faces i make.


thanks Lacey and Merry early Christmas to me!

to see what she's been up too in France, visit her blog! she comes back for a visit next week!

i love books!!

every year, there's a great used book sale here in town. my friend Brian and i decided to meet up this morning to go check it out.

i'm so glad we did cause i walked away with lots of great finds for less! i got a few older children's books with beautiful illustrations and even picked a few out for J! man, i love books!

(#215 in my 365 self portrait project)

Happy 3rd Birthday!

what a beautiful fall day to turn 3! for little C's birthday, we donated a book to the local library! i thought it was a great way to give back, and teach him the kindness of giving/sharing, even on his own special day.

"Gator" is about a forgotten carousel alligator who goes on a journey to bring laughter back to the carousel and his friends. C and i read the other book to this series and i remembered him loving it...so why not add another to the library's collection.

i still can't believe that he's three. i mean, i still remember my first day with him so vividly. now he's this little man who loves Pad Thai (we celebrated his birthday with having some for lunch) and sleeps on a big boy bed. wow.

this just made my day!

now, i don't know if i'm late in discovering this today...but it doesn't matter, i'm STOKED!!
Tim Burton is coming out with Alice in Wonderland!

and as usual, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter will be involved! it's set to come out in regular theater and in 3D in 2010! who's excited?

this is what i do

usually, my days with Little C consists of us doing these things...

watching construction. C is obsessed with trucks (especially backhoes) and has a special place in his heart for jackhammers, rocks, and two crew members named Randy and Micky...yes, we are on a first name basis with all of the guys. everyday when the weather permits, we walk into town and 'hang out' around the construction site. yesterday, we spent a good hour sitting in front of the library watching the guys tear up a stop sign. there's been so much construction going on (the town is renovating the sidewalks) that i wonder what we/he would do when it's done. he'd be so devastated.

C and i frequent the library quite a bit. he loves to be read to and i love to read children's book so we have a good match up. everyday, we go through a routine before nap time. we read about three to five books, then turn on the music (he has been listening to the same nap time music forever!), turn off the lights, then climb into the crib. as i've mentioned before, we have both been on a Mo Willems kick. right now there are at least 5 of his books circulating through the house. of course there are other books he's really into, but i'm pretty sure he loves Mo's books the most.

another book bites the dust

have i already mentioned that it's hard for me to finish a book? i'll start one, get bored, start another, get bored, then find a book i really like, then try to finish it...et cetera, et cetera. well, after finishing the Graveyard Book, i went back to this book...

...and finished it. rather good i must say. J actually recommended it to me (more like nagged me for months to read it cause he thought it was good...and he was right...dang). i was going to suggest it to the book club, but i'm not sure what our book club is up to right now...i'm pretty sure we've been on a hiatus.

anyway, the book is about a time traveling man who spontaneously goes back in time to meet his future wife as a child. he discovers he can time travel at a pretty young age, but doesn't go back to meet his wife (then a young girl) until his thirties...following still?...when he does finally meet her in real time (he's 28 and she's 20), he doesn't know her.

if you're still following and like what you've read so far, you should check out the book. and maybe we can even discuss it using the Group Questions in the back. but if not, you can just watch the movie i guess. it's scheduled to come out in 2010. i can't wait!!!!

oopsie!

i actually finished The Graveyard book earlier this week and i really loved it! it's a story about a boy whose family was tragically murdered by a mysterious man named Jack. the boy defies death and wanders into a graveyard where he is welcomed and adopted by the inhabitants...ghosts.

ok! so i admit it! i totally blow at writing book reviews. i've never been good at it at all, so just take my word for it. it was a GOOD book. let me know if you like it, k?

inspired

i just picked up a copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (the author of Coraline) yesterday and i've already finished half of the book. if you know me, you know that this behavior is unusual. (i'm currently reading three other books...haven't finished any) it's a rather good book and i should probably be done within the day or two (crossing my fingers) so expect a good write up.
in high school, i grew up near a cemetary and i used to run circles around it trying to get fit for soccer. not only that, i used to go there to walk to relieve whatever teenage stress i had at the time. i'm not sure why, but i've always been intrigued by it. there is a cemetary nearby that i pass while walking Remy and today i just felt inspired (i'm thinking it's because of the book). i'm very pleased with these...

i hope you are having a good weekend. off to work i go!

it's expanding!!!

i'm talking about my children's book collection of course!

last week J got me a bunch of Dr. Seuss' books (10 for $10) and Lacey got me a really cute book called My Dog's Brian. you can see pictures of it here on her blog (i couldn't get any good shots!). i love this book, the writer/ilustrator, Stephan Huneck used wood block prints inspired by his own dog Sally and had made them after a near death experience. it totally thought me a few things about my own pupperoni, Remy.

i know i've probably already mentioned this, but i absolutely love children's books. i find it very easy to get inspired by them. every other month or so, i like to reward myself for working hard by purchasing some children's books. so here's a highlight of the ones i picked out!

Sarah Moon, a rather famous photographer, paired her photographs to the story of Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault. the pictures in here are creepy and stunning at the same time, the reason why it caught my eyes and i needed to have it.

the next book i got is a Mo Willems book called Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. (if you not familiar because you're not a nerd or you don't have or are around kids, he's the author of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and Knuffle Bunny...and if you must know, he's one of my fav authors/illustrators)

this book was too cute to pass up! i also got Goldie Locks has Chicken Pox by Erin Dealey, illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama. C and i recently checked out this book from the library and i ended up loving it so much that when i saw it on sale at the local book store, i had to have it. i love this book because it incorporated other fairy tales/nursery rhymes (and i am a huge sucker for that!)...the beautiful illustration doesnt hurt either.

wow, i am totally geeking out about kid's books right now! sorry, but i hope you guys enjoyed it as much as i liked writing about it...so could you guess what i would do if i had a million dollars?

new-ish books

i got Invasion... while Christmas shopping. it's chalk full of cute monsters! i'm thinking about taking it to Claire and spending the day making them with her. Stuffed, the magazine is great! i can't wait for the next issue.

not only am i loving all of the above, i'm super stoked about Handmade Nation. i'm even more stoked about the MOVIE! not only is Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane featured in it, i'm really excited to see more of Knitta, a group of anonymous guerilla knitters who tag public items. neat, huh? makes me want to learn how to knit (a lesson soon Becky?). anywho, here's a peak at the trailer...



aren't you excited?

sidenote: can anyone teach me how to make good coffee. i have no skills in that department what so ever. i tried to make some (yep, in a coffee maker with a portioned pouch) the other morning and it tasted like sugar water...a little help please?

now that we are done with our November book, Lacey has posted some discussion questions on her blog. if you've read the book before, feel free to join the discussion or post your own questions in her comment section. we'd love to hear from you!

December will be a free month for all of us, and in January (WOW! 2008 went by so fast!) we will pick back up with Then We Came to The End by Joshua Ferris...This Chickadee's choice!

like i've mentioned before, this is an open book club, so we'd love to have new members if you're interested!

This is...

this is my favorite children's book!

i'm pretty sure i've mentioned this book before. but i just love the message it gives out to kids. it's about a boy who looks like Lincoln (obviously). everyone teases him and he doesn't fit in. well, his parents send him to a camp for the summer to meet other kids that were special like him. and you probably know the rest, he learns to love himself and his features and appreciates his uniqueness, as well as others. whew! not only do i love the book itself, i also love the quirky illustration.

he got to meet new friends at camp

i think that's what draws me to children's books. this week's theme is right up my alley since i have a small collection of children's books (i pretty sure i've mentioned this also) that i'm working on expanding. i'm always looking for new books, any suggestions? Potty Mouth Mama!

here's a peek at my collection!

Pottery-by-me!

to relieve a little stress, Meg and i went to Pottery-by-me and painted, well, pottery! i haven't been there since i was little, so i was as giddy as a little girl.

Meg painted a set of square coasters while i painted a butter dish to match a set of salt and pepper shakers i had purchased a while back. we won't be able to bring it home til next week, but i thought you'd like to take a look and see.

we came home and played scrabble (i haven't played this in forever!) where she completely crushed me in all three games. is "Zil" really a word? before she left, we took a quiz to see how white we were...yes, i said it, a quiz to see how white we were. J and i ordered a bunch of books from Amazon and Stuff White People Like was one of them. if you're not familiar with it, SWPL originated as a blog that listed things that white people like, duh! the list has gone as high as #107 on the website, but #150 in the book. after taking the test, somehow i was the most "white" out of Meg and J. i came in at 53%, while J and Meg rounded out the quiz with 48 and 44%. how did that happen? i'm not really sure. i'll read further on into it another time, but in the mean time, i shall go and read Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins; the first book to be read from Lacey's book club. (ok, we are nerds)i'm a bit of a slow reader, mostly because i feel like i have better things to do (like crafting), than picking up a book in the middle of the day and reading it, so i just read before bed (usually about a couple of pages and sleep overcomes me) or read while i'm at work. so i need this head start, cause Lacey is a marathon reader...what a bookworm! (i kid!)

and speaking of crafting, i better get my butt in gear. my list is getting longer everyday i'm not crafting. now that the show is finally behind me, i can start working on the giveaway prizes, the robot for the swap, and things to sell at Downtown Live! it's hard to craft when it's been so nice outside and i get distracted. i need to train myself to be better. i'll work harder next week, haha.

It's Cinco de Mayo!

but i'm not in any mood to celebrate. we just finished watching "An American Crime" (starring Ellen Page) and i just feel so drained and depressed. (it's based on a true incident that happened in Indiana in 1965. you can read more about it here.) don't get me wrong, i think it's a pretty good movie, but i really got into it and i felt so moved, yet disturbed. (i was in tears for most of the movie.) alright, i won't get into anymore details, so on to lighter things...

...i finally got my embroidered tags from ETSY in the mail today. yippee! they're a little bigger than expected (i'm no good with measurements), so i might cut it into a square when i use it. i feel so profresh now! ...but i haven't got anything to put them on just yet.

after work today i stopped by Howard's (a local art supply store and apparently one of the oldest businesses in H-town) and picked up a few things. i went to town as soon as i got home and made some rubber stamps thanks to this tutorial from Weirdbuglady's blog and this book by Lotta Jansdotter. it was pretty easy, when i wasn't carving the small parts, but it took me close to two hours to make these four stamps.

these are the tested images. i chose silver ink so that it would show up better on colored paper.

i don't know where i got all of my energy from, but after the stamps, i moved on to plushies. i sketched and finished this little guy...

i haven't made an owl plush in a while so it was really refreshing when the finishing product kind turns out looking like one. i have an idea for a series of birds i'm doing using these fabrics...
...but i haven't decided on the pattern or the type of bird yet. i started making a prototype with an older sketch and started on it right before i sat down. i think there's going to be pretty cute. hopefully i'll be finished with some of them sometime tomorrow so i'll post some pictures.

well, i'm feeling pretty tired (and so does Remy)...

guess i'll be seeing you again tomorrow. goodnight world.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

occasionally, i like to turn my phone on silent and just sleep until my body can't take it anymore. today was definitely the day, especially with the rain...oh, the rain...where did the sun go?

such a dreary day it was

even though it was monsoonal around these parts, we weren't hindered by it. since we ended up not going to Philadelphia for the tattoo convention as planned, we went out to grab a few things.

i needed to go to an art supply store to get inspiration and supplies for the plush i'm making for Softies for Mirabel. while there, i also grabbed a few spools of ribbon and some rubber stamps for a little side project (more on that in a later post).

our next stop was to a discounted store called Ollie's. i absolutely love Ollie's for all of the books that they carry for a very low price...well...they carry a lot of other things for a very low price. anyway, i got a few children's books to add to my growing collection (a-hem, and by a few i mean nine...for only $25!). i'm a fiend for children's books. there's just something about them, the illustrations, the colors, the simplicity of it all that draws me to it.

here are some of the titles that i got...(for your curiosity)

• Squids will be Squids by Jon Scieszka ("rhymes with Fresca") & Lane Smith
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett & Ron Barrett
• Animal Grossology by Sylvia Branzei
• Gorilla! Gorilla! by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross
• Lu and the Swamp Ghost by James Carville, Patricia C. McKissack & David Catrow (an amazing illustrator)
• Hello, Robots by Bob Staake
• Mars needs Moms! by Berkeley Breathed
• Baloney (Henry P.) by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith (the duo responsible for the Stinky Cheese Man)
• Science Verse by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith (can you tell i love their books?)

as a child, i remember my mother reading to me quite a bit, especially pictured books and cartoons (Thai and Japanese ones)...and we would color together. i guess i got it from her, cause she still loves kiddie books...and that's probably who i got the crafty genes from too! you name it, she's tried it!...and speaking of crafts, once we got home, i got started on my sketches for the plush. the first few didn't really satisfy me (or JR), so i finally came up with these...a little girl and boy lovebirds.i haven't finished it yet, but here's a sneak peak at the goods. i seriously can't wait to get them done so i can ship them off to Australia. (i'm sort of aiming for Wednesday) i hope some lucky kids really love them! i know i do already!