inspiration wednesday....


1. Majesty, 2. Spontaneous Revolution 2, 3. the walk, 4. solo, 5. tiny flakes, 6. Hide, 7. winter sky, 8. Untitled, 9. Monster Addie,Monster Edith and little Monster Therese, 10. Uful on Eb..y, 11. return address, 12. sisters

this sort of captures the way i've been feeling lately. the mood of mid winter. of january. of birthdays quickly approaching. of gazing out the window and trying to navigate the landscape of your own mind.

the sun is out today, though. it tricks the mind and reminds you of what is coming soon. thinking of how far i have gone and how much is left to go.

blue bird of happiness...


hmm, i may have had this title before? oh well, i hope this little bird will bring some happiness into your day. can you tell i am seriously dreaming of spring? i'm turning into such a wimp... it's not even that cold here in atlanta but still i am hibernating. katy has a lovely post about spring you should check out. my little nest in the photo is real, but if you are looking for a nest and eggs to go with the bird, katy makes wonderful needle felted ones! perfect together!

hopefully these photos do the bird justice. with two little ones home all day, i have to squeeze in photos between "mommy, will you please read another book now" and "mommy, can i please have a snack... now"! that is what i hear all day long. sometimes i can get a good photo session in and sometimes it's a quick job while the sun is still out. i still haven't found the perfect spot in this new house for photos. i will keep trying to sneak them in though.

** ps... my facebook fan page is looking a bit dreary:) i hope you will add me. i promise to make it worth your while! shop news and updates, plus special surprises! doesn't that sound enticing?

** pps... here is a taste of what happens when i take too long at the photos...



and these are the good ways they keep themselves occupied!

dreams...


hello... after a bit of stomach flu, i'm back. it wasn't too bad, but left me feeling uninspired to do much this past week. so i thought today i'd share a few of the things i am dreaming about lately, to hopefully encourage me to get back on track. the title of this post is perhaps a bit inappropriate, given this is the week we celebrated martin luther king jr. i don't really mean "dreams" in that sense. i do have many of those kinds of dreams, of course, but i'm thinking more in everyday mundane terms for the moment. when my daughter's preschool teacher asked her if she has a dream like martin luther king did, she replied "no... but i do dream about butterflies". well, those kind of dreams are important too:)

some beautiful images inspiring me this week...





click on the picture to find out more about these images. i'm also setting up a facebook fan page for the shop. it's a good way to keep updated on shop listings. if you are on facebook, i hope you will become a "fan"... oh, i always feel back in high school asking these sort of things, hoping not to be rejected!

pigeons...


i finally finished the special order pigeons i started last fall. you can see more images on my flickr site if you like. i have also listed another sheep, and a little yellow chick.



i enjoyed making the new birds. i haven't really made any birds in a while, and i am suddenly excited to make more!

a little skunk...


"If ever an animal served as an example of how to live in peace by being perpetually prepared for massive retaliation, it is... the skunk."- wild animals of north america

this is inspired from one of my favorite vintage animal books put out by national geographic in 1960. i am having a lot of fun going through it for ideas for new animals. this cute little skunk is what jumped out at me first. my friend noelle suggested a skunk quite awhile ago, and i have always kept it at the back of my mind as a future project. look for more original animals coming up. i also listed several sheep and have another one as well. looking ahead to spring!

copy catters...


what an insult that was a child, to call someone a copy cat! of course as you get older, and when you work in a creative field you begin to realize there are very few completely original ideas. it's impossible, and probably not even advisable. we all learn and are inspired by those who work in a similar field. as our world grows, we no longer sit in sewing circles or work in artist communities perhaps as much as we once did. our communities have expanded to an online world, where boundaries of "inspiration" and "copying" often get blurred. i know of many artists who have been frustrated to see their work appear in other online shops, made by other hands. recently, however, i have seen something much worse. i visited a local shop before christmas and immediately recognized the work of two artists i admire, ashley anna brown and stephanie congdon barnes. i asked how much the shop was selling them for and was told 9 dollars!! i knew something wasn't right, so i came home and googled it and found ashley's post. sadly, someone has purchased many items from etsy in order to copy and mass produce them. apparently there is a catalog of these items sent to stores, who knowingly or i suspect most often unknowingly, purchase them wholesale for their store.

this is such a sad occurrence, because i know how many hours go into each creation. i know how little money is actually made from these endeavors. to see a company knock them off and sell them for so little, is truly disheartening. having to compete against another handmade seller is one thing, but a large seller manufacturing your work cheaply in china isa much larger issue. i could really go on and on about this, but i just wanted to help raise awareness about this. ashley is doing a lot to try and stop this company from ripping of not only her work but others as well. i appreciate her efforts. she contacted me personally to let me know the same buyer had purchased some of my work, and i know she is doing the same for others. she has hired a lawyer to help her through this process. i really hope it works out well.

i also think it is important to keep educating everyone on the difference between buying something that is handmade, and something that looks handmade. i see the "handmade" label used everywhere these days, including large chain stores. i know that the handmade movement has grown incredibly over the last few years. it is wonderful to see true handmade artistry honored, and to see artisans hopefully making some sort of a living from it. sadly though, as it gains popularity it loses everything that makes it special... it goes from buying unique hand crafted items from the artist, to a marketing concept to sell mass produced "handmade looking" knockoffs, that are made from shoddy materials, in questionable conditions, by who knows who? i am not guilt free in this, none of us are. it makes you realize how important it is to think about what you are buying and whether it better to have more for less, or less at a better quality.

happy ewe year...


sorry... probably not the best way to start of the new year, with a bad pun! sorry for the absence also, but i had a lovely long break from work and blogging to spend time with family. i'm glad i did it because i am feeling really excited about getting back to work! this is my first little creation for the new year, and i have more in process. i am full of ideas and for the first time in a while, i am really anxious to be working again with my hands.

i hope you had a lovely holiday? ours was very low key and relaxed... in other words, very nice! we kept presents to a minimum and the holidays were much more about spending time together with family. i'm not sure i am ready to get back to our usual everyday schedules... i like being all together but i guess it's time to embrace the inevitable. looking forward to a wonderful new year for us all, and looking back with gratitude for all the support YOU have given me over the last year and beyond. it was a very big year of transitions. a year ago i could never have imagined where i would be right now! thanks for sticking with me. i hope this year to be much more artistically productive, and i look forward to sharing this process with you.

happy new year!