we are officially out of wall space.

I am so so happy these are finally done. Well, the paintings have been done for a while now, it was just the panels that needed finishing up.  And since I am afraid of power tools (why do they have to be so loud?), I got to fine tune my nagging skills as Evan worked on finishing them.

I did the square foot paintings a few years ago as part of a school assignment, and the cloud painting, inspired by a Maynard Dixon documentary, was finished just after we moved here (almost two years ago exactly!).   It was actually the painting that made me go into early retirement, but I am starting to like it better now.    

p.s. I found a new painting varnish that is as shiny as a piece of hard candy and I LOVE it, but it makes for very reflective photos.
*shrug

around here -- march edition

 

Grand Targhee

My dear mother was having a milestone birthday, and to celebrate, she wanted to have a big ski party.  I  thought that was super considerate of her!  We met up in Driggs, Idaho and had a very very very nice time skiing at Grand Targhee.  My baby brother who is at the Air Force Academy wasn't going to be able to come, but showed up on her doorstep right before they were about to leave--surprise!!  It was so great to have everyone together.  I have an unusually fun family.

Due to interesting snow conditions (dear weather, why ya gotta be so weird?  And what's up with all the rain?), we opted to spend a scheduled ski day in Jackson Hole and visited my wildflowers (EEK!!).  

Happy Birthday mama!   We love you so so much.  

Helena

 

 

 

Last week Evan had to last-minute go to Helena for work.  He last-minute invited me, and I last-minute decided to come along.  It was so nice to get out of town and I think I have a small crush on our state's tiny capital city.  Since everything was so last-minute, we brought Gesso along.  It seemed like such a great idea!  I mean, Evan would be gone all day and I would need somebody to hang out with.  And Gesso is getting more mature, certainly he could handle a hotel stay.....
After our first night, I sleepily dropped him off at a pet boarding facility.  Live and learn I suppose.

I'm not much of a city girl.  All the hustle and bustle wears me out in a way that hiking all day never does.  But I made a goal to be good at visiting a city.  I was going to work on being a flexible traveler, good at navigating traffic, people, and spontaneous decisions.   So I walked walked walked around all day, did a little shopping (for thrifted treasures and men (Evan I'm JOKING!!)), and tried to be very flexible about everything.   Not to brag or anything, but I think I got pretty good at it!

I picked up Gesso the last day that we were there and took him sightseeing.  He really appreciated all the neat buildings!!

birthday bunting

It's no secret that I love bunting/banners/garlands.  I think they are so happy and fun.  

Making some bunting to amp up our birthday festivities was long overdue.

This project was nice and simple.  I started by cutting 28 triangles out of some gender-neutral fabric.

I used a freezer paper stencil to get the lettering just right, and used squeezable silk screen paint to fill in the stencil. 

After sewing the triangles together, I connected them with some bias tape.  I just stuck the pieces inside the fold and zig-zag-stitched the whole thing together.

We just passed Evan's big day, and my Birthday isn't until the end of summer (and I'm pretty sure I'll have to remind Evan to hang it up for me), but I'm glad I finally got it done (I've only had the supplies to make it for a year...), and love how it turned out!
Happy Birthday indeed!

pillow talk

Every few months I find myself making new pillows for our couch.  It's like something in my mind just clicks and before I know what's happened, I've slipped off the two month old covers and I'm picking out new fabric.  Even I know it's an irrational habit, but I can't seem to stop.

Evan has had multiple pillow interventions with me, and we've finally come to an understanding: 2 pillows on the big couch, and 1 pillow on the love seat.  And he can't complain if they're new pillows, so long as they're the right number of pillows.  

For the first time in my life I used piping, and I thought it was kind of the worst thing ever.  I'm not a very precise sewer, and I rarely pin things together, so trying to keep the piping straight and in place was not very fun.  But I like how it turned out.  It makes me feel very grown up, actually.

And in case you didn't believe me about my pillow problem, I found this picture from a few years ago, back when we were living at the farmhouse.  I think it's really funny (and a little bit embarrassing).   I mean, besides the fact that there's really no where to sit, I can't get over all the pastel colors I used.  I've given away most of them (to live in a baby nursery--where they fit right in), but the one in the middle is still going strong.  

march-ing in

March is here!  Oh how I love March.  

::  I was unexpectedly struck with the Spring Cleaning Fever yesterday (highly contagious), and I thought our freshly washed winter woolens looked very cozy this morning.

::  In honor of Leap Day, my favorite thrift store had everything marked at 29% off.  My dream boots were staring at my from across the store.  I ran over as quickly as I could.  The only problem was that they were a size six.  SIX!  So they are headed to my tiny sister in law instead.  Which is probably for the best.  I'm not totally sure what I would wear with shiny turquoise boots anyway.  *sigh*

::  My studio chair died and while we debated on what type of chair to get (wheels? swivel? cushy?), we remembered that, oh yeah, we are just renting.  And what if, when we buy a house, I don't have a studio at all!?  Temporary solution: thrift store chair painted a cheery yellow.  I had to hold my breath as I walked past the blue paint swatches.  I had dared myself to paint it anything but blue.  But then I made a blue seat cushion.  Old habits die hard, I suppose.

::  Gesso is my number one sewing helper.  I was cutting out some flannel for a receiving blanket (I'm pretty sure everyone I know is pregnant/just had a baby), and I left the room for one second to get a drink (or a cookie, I'm not clear on the details), and BAM!  Gesso wants a baby blanket.  I'm pretty sure he would probably just eat it though.

Happy Weekend to you!!