plaid leaf

I'm putting the finishing touches on the 2013 Calendar, and I want to share the new drawings with you, one at a time.
HEY CALIFORNIA! I'm heading to L.A. at the end of the month to be in the Renegade Craft Fair. I would love to meet you there.

Family Reunion

Uncle Mac

Hay pile


This weekend we had the opportunity to visit the farm my dad grew up on. I had seen it before, but I was very young and uninterested in the trip down memory lane. This time we arrived on a tractor ride en masse and it was easy to feel the nostalgia by proxy. I tried to imagine my dad and his siblings working and living on this farm, my grandmother hanging laundry, grandpa driving the John Deere. I always pictured it to be much larger and apparently my dad shared that feeling. He stood in the space between the barn and the house and marveled that the distance between the two was so small compared to his memory of it.  Funny how the years between here and there can expand the spaces of your childhood.

beautiful weekend for a wedding

We celebrated a friend's wedding in Door County this weekend. Here are a few details from the day...

Dodgeville, WI

A brief weekend in Dodgeville, tippin' cows and makin' trouble.

snaps

Some shots from my trip to Austin for SXSW. The people watching was, for me, the best part. So many great cowboy boots and fantastic eye wear.

sxsw or bust

spring green, wisconsin

family time in appleton

tea party in madison

packing for austin, texas

I'm hitting the road for Austin, Texas tomorrow in a shuttle bus of Altos (Group of the Altos, that is). I'll be back in a week with a full report. Or at least some type of photo essay... 

happy hallo - AHHHHHH!!!!

dear old dad, seconds before I became terrified of clowns.

Tomorrow morning I will head to Miami for 4 beautiful days. My etsy shop will remain open, and I will be checking email, but less frequently than usual. I would love recommendations on where to eat or wander, so send them my way!

For those of you who have placed orders this week, I will be shipping most things next Friday.

THANK YOU so much for your orders! I have many more things coming!

hodag

I went with my family to Rhinelander this past weekend! I have a pretty...shall we say...vocal family, so we were lucky to have a spot far from other people and with a beautiful view. I was pattern- hunting, as usual.

hot

hooray for sunshine and warm breezes.
hooray for sprouting greens and flower buds bursting.
hooray for walks and birds chirping and herbs cut from the garden.

I have been a busy bee getting my etsy shop update in order, sending out resumés, finishing projects, and making new drawings.
This weekend will be our inaugural camping trip on the Mississippi River - I hope this weather holds out...

back in full effect

Costa Rica was a dream.
I have been back for a few days but am only now really coming out of the fog of traveling.

1. Dogs rule in Costa Rica, or at least in Montezuma. The dogs ran free, but I wouldn't say "wild". They were very polite and loveable. On our first full day there, a dog guided us into the forest to a series of waterfalls. His name was Java. The dog in the image above prevented Bez from swimming in dangerous water by jumping in after her and pulling her out, seconds before the water turned rough. Seriously. The dogs are amazing.

2. Taking allergy medicine before embarking on a mountain hiking expedition wherein one scales the side of a mountain in flip flops is not advisable. I did this, and the result was me scaring myself half to death unnecessarily several times, and then spacing out once we reached the desired location. Still an adventure though!

3. Howler monkeys sound SCARY.

4. Joaquin Phoenix has a house in Montezuma and I visually stalked him hanging out in the street. He looks kinda crazy but had an agreeable demeanor from what I could tell. He DID cut in front of everyone in line at the beer store though, and that got me going on a "who does he think he is" rant. Aye, actors who rap.

5. Wave-jumping is fun until the waves become so big that you actually consider death as an imminent possibility. Apparently I am not a strong swimmer because what was a leisurely float in the ocean quickly became a battle for air as the waves overcame me so strongly and repeatedly that I did not know which way was up. We all survived but I didn't go back in past my hips after that.

....
Looking at the list above, you may think that I spent a week in Costa Rica in sheer panic, but really I spent most of the week laughing and trying to come up with the sound that a hermit crab makes as it scuttles sideways to get away. I ate a lot of fresh fish and read a book and plotted ways to make a life in a place so far south that the moon turns on its side and the stars multiply by the second. I love you, Costa Rica.
....

Back to work this week, busier than ever. I am going into my shell and scuttling sideways.....

pura vida

on vacation for the next week, friends. I'll be back soon!

what the

I don't know what happened, guys. I have been working on a new series and I wanted to work differently than I have been - trying something new. I didn't have a plan, I just got started, and the first image shows the direction i took. the colors and landscape got me really excited until i fell into a pit of doubt and painted over it all. it didn't feel like "me", even though I liked it. I wasn't ready for a change so i brought it back to my comfort zone, and now i am wistful for the rolling hills and bright rays of happy color. you live and learn, right? This will reappear later - maybe that was just for practice.

Speaking of rolling happy landscapes (sort of), I am heading to Costa Rica next week! I will post a hold on my etsy and email accounts during that time, but if you are looking for me I will be in a beach house on the Nicoya Peninsula with a big smile on my face. Pura Vida!

mondays

continuing to update my etsy shop today...

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we are in the midst of planning a trip to Costa Rica in March - any tips on where to go would be much appreciated!
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*screen print in top image is by Milwaukee-based artists Little Friends of Printmaking.
**the images are cropped oddly by Blogger, feel free to click on the image to see it fully.

Three Lakes, Wisconsin

this was my view as I worked this weekend. I went to Three Lakes, WI with Tom's family, and it was the perfect time to see the colors changing. I brought my laptop to the beach and worked away!



i was also quite taken with the natural pattern of the needles and the leaves, the water, the piers pulled in and stacked until next spring.




I am watching the debate, and my running commentary is always - Why does McCain insist on acting like such an ass? I just don't get it.

more to come soon!

Mary Flanagan Woolens

As I was saying, on Friday I had the pleasure of visiting the workshop of Mary and Scott, of Mary Flanagan Woolens. I have been using their wool exclusively on my pillows for about a year, purchased from Purl.
They are located in Pickett, WI in a house surrounded by farmland and green fields with hay rolled up neatly and cows grazing quietly. As my mother and I navigated the back roads, we relied on a GPS tracker/map/stern voice of reason "No, turn RIGHT on Hwy B! You missed it! Turn around!" Of course, looking at a tiny screen in my lap (I was not driving) rather than the real life scenery and directional signage caused us to drive in the wrong direction for 20 minutes, but oh well. It was still pretty. I love driving through the country and imagining rebuilding the interior of a beautiful barn to be a multi-functional studio with sky lights and vast fields of wildflowers and maybe a few chickens.


It was so interesting to learn a bit more about the process and background of Mary and Scott. They hand dye all of their wool, giving it a consistent dye saturation and reliable color. I am always drawn to the "Party Mix" collection myself, but the range of other colors is really impressive. I brought home a 6-pack of patterned wools, dyed to match my usual solid Party Mix collection - I think it will be perfect for the Fall collection of pillows.


If you would like to catch up with Mary and Scott, they will be at the Hand-Hooked Rug Show in Green Lake, WI. It is open to the public and will be at the Green Lake Conference Center on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm and all day Wednesday the 17th from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm. You can also see their traveling schedule for trade and non-trade here.


Thanks again Mary & Scott- I hope to stop by again in the near future!

hi there

This past weekend was a really fantastic one. I will be sharing more about my trip to visit Mary and Scott of Mary Flanagan Woolens later today or tomorrow morning, but I wanted to let you all know that I am here! I have just been too busy to write a real post lately, which is a good thing.

I finally made it to the Farmer's Market at Cathedral Square park on Saturday. This is something I have been meaning to do all summer, but for one reason or the other it hasn't worked out. It isn't a big market by any means, but it was great for flowers and produce. Of course it started raining the minute i got there, but that was not a deterrent for me!
Other activities from the weekend include an awesome estate sale where I picked up great vintage tea towels and wire baskets, hanging out with my mom whom I don't see enough of, setting up a projector and having movie night in our backyard and watching "Wet Hot American Summer" with friends, setting up a tent and camping in our own yard, and swimming in a pool that overlooks the beautiful lake while sipping mimosas with girlfriends. Yep, I packed all that in.

More to come...

lake winnebago

my mom lives with her hubby on Lake Winnebago, and I wonder how they get anything done with all that beautiful water lolling around back there. Each year she has a "back yard camp-out" for my sisters and I and our respective families, and every year I wonder why I don't spend every weekend there.
Thanks mom and Bernie for a great weekend!

Today I have so many things on my plate, I am not entirely sure where to start. I will try to share something with you today or tomorrow though!

wednesday

a pair of images from my weekend at the Dells. Wisconsin Dells is a very funny little town that is really geared for children. Waterparks, trinkets to beg your parents for, haunted houses, fudge. Fortunately for my father, I am well past begging for things like small fuzzy bunnies (however tempting it was), and we actually stood in line for fudge before deciding we should have a blended tropical drink instead. If you ever go to the Dells, here is a tip - a bar called "the Sand Bar" with a slogan that reads "Get Marooned Here!" does not have blended tropical drinks at all, no matter what you might assume from the clever naming of said bar.

Also, here is a peek at my latest print:

I also printed it on a few Moleskin notebooks to test it out as a new product option. I would love to get some feedback from you guys! i will be adding them to my etsy shop this week.