simplesparrow

tree house

I really enjoy drawing. I don't do it very often and usually when the inspiration strikes I need to drop everything and get out my pens and paper. The urge kind of takes over and it's all I can think about until I bring it to fruition. That is just how it went with this one, my tree house.  I was thinking of Noah when I added the owl and just as I thought he zeroed in on it right away. He even thought it was nice of me to give the owl a home with the hole in the trunk. Um, I hadn't thought of that when I drew it, but I thought I should just play along anyway. So--the hole in the tree is Mr. Owl's residence :)

I would love to offer this as a print in my Etsy shop. It might be cute for a child's room, ya think? I'm working on how to make prints from home. You need a scanner, right? I have a pretty good printer I think for the job. If any of you could point me in right direction with any tips I would be super appreciative. I have only had prints made in the past at the copier and I'm not wanting to go that route anymore.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far!

black bird

While I was up at my parents house last month, I came across an old linoleum block printing kit my mom had bought years ago. I had always wanted to try this and now was my chance. It's quite tedious and the joints in my fingers were pretty stiff afterwords! (old age?) Lots and lots of carving and digging. Still, I would do it again if the inspiration hits. Once it was ready to be inked making the prints became very addicting! You can't just stop at one. I mean, all that work for one print? No way. I ran out of paper long before I ran out of enthusiasm. All of that means that I'm offering a few in my Etsy shop, at my mother's urging. Okay mom, are you going to be my first customer? ;)

Pods

Another collage (I still sew, really I do)
This one is available in my shop.

Busy day ahead--starting with getting a big pot of oatmeal on the stove.

Have a good one :)

where did it go?

Recently, a large pine tree was cut down behind our house. It was diseased, so I guess it was just a matter of time--but with it being spring and all, I couldn't help think about all the birds that might be nesting there. Spring doesn't seem like a good time to take down a tree and as far as I could tell, it sure looked well enough to leave until after the nesting season.

I've named this collage "the day the apartment came down". I'm choosing to believe that the tree was empty of any nests or baby birds. That they were all out for the day looking for food and doing other birdy type things. Since I had no control over the decision, it's just easier to think of the perfect scenario.

Thanks so much for all the nice comments on my last post. It was fun to share it with you, and the new set up is working out very well. I love it. I've also spied another piece of furniture that is going to get the asparagus green treatment ;)

Owls in the house

Noah is in love with owls. He wants to read about them, talk about them, ask questions about them, watch documentaries about them, sleep with them (he has a stuffed toy owl).

As I looked through the many books we got from the library, I became fascinated with them also. I was quickly enchanted with their cuteness too. My particular favorite is the burrowing owl. With their long skinny legs and quirky expressions, they are very comical. My first experience with an owl was in fact a burrowing owl. I was visiting my grandma in New Mexico and while playing a round of miniature golf I spied a hole under the concrete with several pairs of big yellow eyes peeking out! I guess they are common in that part of the country, but we didn't have them in southern California. Another reason grandma's house was so interesting.

Noah's enthusiasm for these special birds has inspired some collages I made over the weekend.

I also did a small collage that has nothing to do with owls, and everything to do with my quirky imagination. All 3 are in the shop.

I'm finding that doing my own artwork is immensely satisfying. I am very fond of these three pieces, but also anxious to grow in this skill. I think there are more collages in my future.

By the way, back to the subject of owls and also birds of prey, Noah highly recommends these two youtube videos:

Owls in the orchard. Very, very charming. and Birds of prey are cool. The tune is going to stick in your head, just warning you. Have fun watching these with your little ones. Mom approved :)

Colorful spools and some more artwork

Finished my spools. They were fun to embellish, but I must confess what I enjoyed most was winding the thread around the spools. I'm a cheap date :) Something about the rhythm of around and around and around, etc... As you can see, they have various 'little somethings' on the tops. Some I left the spool plain with just an added rhinestone or some paper flowers. The others have felt or paper, vintage buttons, paper flowers and a couple with vintage earrings on top. I will try to list these in my
shop at some point, but for now I'm offering them here. US 5.00 each, plus 2.00 shipping, 2.50 international. Each spool has about 10 yards of cotton mercerized crochet thread (can be used for other projects other then crochet) You can email me or leave a comment with your choice. Thank you!

Also going into my shop some time soon is some new artwork. These watercolor/ink pieces were so satisfying to make. Don't you love that? When you have an idea, and it all comes together smoothly without any major mishaps. I think I'll be calling these 'hood-babies'. Not really feeling a lot of inspiration for naming things at the moment. The minimalist in me is showing up quite a bit in these two I think. The idea of clean, sparse spaces overtakes me every-time I walk into my kids' rooms...maybe one day they will have that idea too. Wishful thinking?

BE

Because I just placed a large order at Les' Bon Ribbon , and because I also just ordered 5 new Japanese craft books  , I really need to sell something to make up for it! It's true, this collage was not the result of a surge of emotion, or a revelation of inspiration. I just need to make some money. That's the short and simple truth for this one. But, I am very pleased. I won't ever sell any art that I'm not very pleased with. Available in my shop now. More pictures there too.

I'm planning to to take part in WIP (work in progress) this Friday. Doesn't that sound like fun? I love to see what everyone is up to while in process. See ya then with my WIP pics.

(typepad is cutting off the edge of my photo. you can click on it for the full image if that bugs you like it does me!)

Domestic Kitties, The Happy Valley

Today (tonight rather) is May 1st.  My challenge to Use what I have  for the month of April is officially over...and I celebrated by going promptly to the thrift store. That is after I got my chai latte first at the coffee shop next-door (what a perfect set-up, no?)  I want to do a post just to reflect on that challenge, and of all the neat things that have come of from it. That will be a little later in the week. For the moment, I want to share these with you....

Three very domestic sleeve kitties. One has been working in the garden, the other is doing a little spring cleaning with the vac, and the middle one...well, what has she been doing all day?  From left to right we have: Poppy, Millie and Fern.  All 3 are in my shop  now. Sold

I finished a new collage too. "The Happy Valley...a pretty path between the hills."

I really love the feel of the colors in this one, although I made a mistake with it and rather then toss the whole thing, I did my best to work around it. So, I'm not quite as happy with this as I was before the mistake and the covering up of that said mistake. Comprendo?

I sewed on one of my fabric patches that I made with my gocco stamper. The ink was getting thin at this point, but this kind of look can be appealing in its own way I think.  This is also in my shop
tonight. Sold

I'll say goodnight with this random thought-- There are SO MANY great blogs out there, and SO LITTLE time to visit them.  Such is life in the blogging world.

Sweet dreams*

Tea cozy and new collage

I finished my tea cozy that had been laying abandoned on the ironing board for well over a week. I've had snails in my mind for quite a while now, and this is my first project to feature one of the cute little things (not so cute though in your garden) My original plan was to embroider the mushrooms and snail onto the cozy but, as time slipped by I got l-a-z-y and just wanted to get it finished. That's a tiny butterfly sitting on the mushroom, and this is the fabric I lined the inside with...

And...I got to make another collage! I've been so stoked about collages these days. I think I love paper almost as much as fabric. I certainly wish someone would take some of the beautiful papers out there and turn them into fabric! That is exactly the thought I had while I was making this new collage.

Oh I know I said I would do one or two more to go with GROW , but the inspiration for HOME struck like lightning when I saw the black and white drawing you see in the lower right corner.  And you know, you have got to go with inspiration, otherwise it's just work, work, work. I was planning on selling this (still may) but I'm feeling kinda attached to it at the moment. Maybe if I made prints, then I could keep the original. Then again, the original of anything is always so nice. Decisions, decisions.

button packages

A big Thank You to everyone that left well-wishes for Noah! He is all better now, with the exception of a dash to the bathroom here and there ;) I guess the last of that bug is leaving his system. Good-riddens, and I hope you never return you nasty thing you!

Remember my button packaging dilemma? Well, I have settled on this for now. The heart is a piece of fabric that Autum sent with the bag she gave me. I like the idea of a little fabric heart or something attached with a pin to the envelope. It can be useful and of course it's pretty...that's important, always.

I've tucked the buttons into a nest of tissue inside, and now they're ready to go off to their new home.

In my Etsy shop are now prints of my drawings , and coming up the bird pillow  I made. Just waiting for a few spare moments...as always :)