in my spare time

 hah!

is there such a thing?

in my not so spare time

I've been

.... making matchboxes 

the idea is to see how much treasure can fit in a little matchbox

it's fun!

(here's a fun flickr photo pool: matchbox stuffing)

these 3 matchbox treasures have been added to my etsy shop

3 more are on my desk

***

do you do the oscars?

our family fills out ballots 

the middle brainy child decided spend a week memorizing the picks as previewed on indiewire.com

talk about spare time

this is NOT how I would spend it

but if you're 13 - that's another story

(she got 16 right - me? I got 11 - pretty good for guessing eh?)

here's her list:

a sunglasses kind of day

... not today, but yesterday,

look how gorgeous it is:

(north everett looking east over the water plant)

so I cleaned up my sunglasses and realized I need a new case for them

I found a very very easy tutorial for this zippered pouch on Design Mom

(link is HERE)

it took five seams and only 2 of them are visible

I used scrap oilcloth fabric from sewing up lunch bags,

batting, lining fabric, and a zipper I never used from another project

15 minutes easy peasy (if you sew)

*

and look at this little beauty:

a crocus in the sunshine - is there anything sweeter?

seedtime

my husband has been going through seed catalogs

making his plans for the coming summer

happily, I inherit the old seeds which went unplanted from years past

some of my seeds go back to 2003

I knew in my heart that I would use them in my art somehow

"we sowed seeds"

I've stitched them between layers of teabag paper and onto antique linens

my inspiration really comes from the photos though

it makes me sad that I don't know who these people are

I have a habit of picking up old photos at the local junk shops

some of the faces and the scenes I just cannot turn away from

it seems like life was harder then

the clothes are worn - the faces are lined

but they chose to pause and pose for the camera

a certain pride in family, friends, work, possessions, places

we are no different and the camera connects us

"in season"

* * *

speaking of posing

the blue sky made an appearance today

as photogenic and beautiful as I remember her

sending love your way

(a few of my heart shaped stones that haven't been painted as birds yet)

... and the paperwhites which have been exiled to the front porch due to their so-called fragrance

(all I can say about that is:  P U !)

transform

my favorite thing to do is to take a mundane object and transform it into something beautiful

a n    a l u m i n u m    p i e    t i n

a n    a r t    p i e c e

the photo is of a woman posing with her dog - all it says on the back of the photo is "winnipeg"

(probably the 1920's)

I'm amazed at the number of photos from this era which I find of women posing with their dogs

and men posing with their cars

I imagine friends asking friends to snap a picture while they pose with their beloved companion

... be it a dog or a car

***

and another kind of transformation beginning to take place:

s n o w d r o p s    i n    f e b r u a r y

peace

staying in and getting out

back to that ball of luscious raspberry colored yarn:

I've got one sock done and one on the sticks

this is my 4th pair of socks this winter and I'm happy to say that after knitting 6 socks, my 7th is perfect and my 8th is (fingers crossed) coming out perfectly

(thanks to: Judy's Magic Cast On;Wendy's Short Row Heel;Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast Off)

meanwhile:

this afternoon is supposed to turn sunny

(after this fog burns off)

and then I'll be headed down to the beach collecting flotsam and jetsam 

(actually, I'll go whether the sun makes an appearance or not)

.... are you able to get outside today?