My (ahem)Studio

One of my most favorite rooms in my house is a room upstairs, at the end of the hallway. The farthest room from everywhere else in the house. It has a walk in closet, a built-in bookshelf and a large window overlooking my favorite "outdoor" room (which I like to call my courtyard) as well as a beautiful view. And right now, it looks like a craft bomb exploded in this room. Imagine a huge craft pinata broken open by a giant, it's contents splattered everywhere, in heaps and piles and dribbles.

This is the place where I love to escape. The men-folk of the household hesitate to set foot in this room. It's clearly my space to create, design, stitch, play...and there's only one chair, which cuts down on visitors for sure. And since I believe that "collecting" is an important part of any craft, I have collected to the point where it's become difficult to "contain". So, my (ahem)studio is undergoing a make-over.



I spent some time lately thinking about what was working in the room, and what was not (besides me!). What wasn't working was a huge outdated TV and matching huge outdated entertainment center. Those unsightly things are gone, and in their place now is a really cute re-purposed/re-painted hutch. Since you and I probably have a few things in common, I'll assume you can imagine how much fun I've been having lining up my numerous jars and baskets of buttons, ribbons and embellishments on the shelves of the hutch.




And in addition to the hutch, I've added a very cool shelf. It's vintage, it's heavy, and I sure hope it never falls off the wall! It came from one of my favorite local places to shop, Chic Antiques in downtown Lake Orion. But don't feel left out, Lori has an Etsy shop too: www.chicantiques.etsy.com. Filled with spools of ribbon now, I just love looking at this shelf!







It's only fair to give credit where credit is due, and this is the part where I have to thank my husband (commonly referred to in my internet writings as 'dcw') for painting the hutch and shelf. Especially since he HATES painting stuff. And especially since I gave him yet another project to paint - an old dresser that's been in the basement for ages. I've found a purpose for that in the (ahem)studio as well...

I'm off to a good start. Can't wait til it's all finished!

Pickles and Larry. Two friends. Their Adventures.

Pickles.



Larry.



"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. This is the life..." thought Larry.



Spring in Michigan.

I Got a Tree in the Mail!

I grew up in a house with a big back yard. Right smack dab in the middle of that yard is a great big willow tree. That tree is the focal point of the yard, and the source of many fond memories of playing there with my three big brothers. We climbed the tree often, and for many years a tire swing hung from one of the branches. The willow withstood many storms, and survived losing branches both large and small. My oldest brother was married near that tree. And it became a "rite of passage" for our children to climb that tree. And climb, they did - in fact, sometimes, despite them all being teenagers and beyond now - they still do!

My parents still live in that house. But someday I know they will move. And what will I miss the most about the home where I grew up? The place I know as "home"? Yes, you guessed it, that wonderful old willow tree. So how could I resist when I came across this willow tree from Intres on Etsy?



Made from felt, all the way from Spain - just a tangible little reminder of one of my favorite things. It came wrapped so sweetly, with a hand-stitched and stuffed little green felt heart.



And look! Three cute teeny tiny little birds to nestle in the branches.



Now how adorable is that. Thanks, Intres!