Millie by Nathaniel Wilder

Our Friend Nathaniel Wilder was in town last month for the inauguration and stopped by enroute to boston.  Here are two pictures he took of our dog Millie. He's a very talented photographer, and I have a cute dog so it was the perfect combination!

a few of my favorite things on Etsy!

As I work on my own shop on etsy I have found some fantastic things - here are a few from this week that I would like to share with you!  This first one is a gold ring by "thebeside" shop.
This is an awesome felt lampshade by "MIXKO". It would look darling in a children's room!
This is a cool concept. Its custom you just send her a profile shot of your loved one and she creates a silhouette! You also pick from a selection of rings for your image to be framed by- and she pours resin over the image and ring and poof your own custom charm is born. I thought about doing this of my dog Millie.  Shop name "luckymebeads".
Here's another cool idea by "domesticconstruction". This would look great as lighting in your kitchen, or over a breakfast nook or for a funky twist over your desk, or work station!

I still have artwork for sale on my etsy shop- shop name "grayday" there is a direct link on the top right side of my main blog page.  So have fun bopping around on etsy over this long weekend- if you have one!

is it spring yet?

Cameron mentioned to me- sometime after christmas that he missed having something hanging on our front door.... so I got to thinking and went to Michael's today en route to the grocery store- and picked up a few faux flowers to make a door hanging with.   NOW I am not too big on fake flowers, but they do come in handy and can look nice when done well.

PLUS our door gets a lot of sun, and as we learned with our christmas greens- something "real" can dry out and look sad rather fast- hence the fake option I went with.
After laying my collection out on my table- where I arranged it in a way to look some what natural and freshly picked, I adhered all of the stems together with flower wire and then wrapped some blue ribbon I had kicking around. Then I looped the wire through the ribbon and made a loop of wire to hang the arrangement from our hook on the door.
And here is the final product on our front door. I decided to throw in some yellow to add a little color and to make it "read" from the street.  Looking at the photo now I am seeing some ways I could tweak it a bit... and maybe I will, but for now its nice to have something spring-like kicking around as we wrestle ourselves free from winter in the next few weeks!

every little bit

Here are two embellishment projects I have been working on this week! This first is another v-neck sweater I decided to spruce up.

1st I picked out some dollies from my mom's collection and dyed them pink. I chose to dye them in a bucket in my sink, because I didn't want to interfere with Cam's on going laundry! Plus this way I could have more control over the dying processes- leaving some dollies white at the center and pink at the edges, etc.  

I have not attached the dollies yet (this is going to take some time since I will sew them on by hand!). But this is the placement on the back of the sweater. I think I might put one or two small ones on the front- at the hem or peaking over a shoulder...  I'm also considering adding a bright yellow collar to the v-neck, something ruffly... I'll post the final product when completed!

Here's my second embellishment project. I took some old green felt and cut out leaf shapes. I then sewed each leaf at the center- creating a seam and making it look more leaf-like and also more interesting.  Then I attached them by hand to the shirt using pink thread to add another element- its all about the attention to detail with these projects! 

Now to be honest- I hadn't worn this shirt in a long time because there was/ is a small but OBVIOUS grease stain! yah know one of those stains that comes from no where and will NOT GO AWAY!  Hence the green sash detail around the waist of the shirt.  I used my sewing machine to attach the ribbon.   Its not completed yet- I think I am going to take it all the way around the back of the shirt.  But CAUTION if you do try something like this- do not make my mistake. I just willy-nilly pinned the ribbon to the shirt and sewed away!  But since its a knit I basically turned it into a corset at the waist- it was not pretty as I struggled to stubbornly get the dam thing over my head! AND hence why the ribbon is now no longer attached all the way around... seam ripper, seam ripper! so I will have to problem solve this one to a nice resolution...  I will keep you posted!

Here's a detailed shot of the leaves at the neck line.

I have at least 2-3 other shirts down at my sewing station in our basement- waiting for a little something! And with this 65 degree day here on the east coast- its nice to start focusing on t-shirts, although my knitting is still focused on the bulky cold weather accessories... but soon enough!

Thee Shrug sweater part 1

I went to the yarn store this weekend and bought this great eco yarn for this shrug pattern I found online for FREE! Yes indeed- I am tackling a SWEATER!
This is the picture from the pattern. I figure it will be a nice staple to have in my wardrobe! Of course by the time I am finished- it will be warm outside. Ah well.. I'll keep you all posted!

Another DIY sweater!

I finished another embellished sweater. Actually I finished this a while ago... but I haven't posted it yet because I wasn't sure if it was actually "finished". So today I decided to take it out on its maiden voyage. To wear it a bit and see if I need to add anything to it! (shows up a bit better with the hair up!)
This was another one of the cashmere sweaters I inherited from my grandfather. It was a v- neck and a bit boxy, so I knit this collar out of left over brown wool- from my grandmother's knitting stash. I knit it on regular straight needles and I dropped a stitch as I went- making up my own pattern- as I do! SO up close it is a bit more interesting. Then I sewed it to the sweater using the brown yarn.  And then I added this pin.

The collar is only attached along the very edge of the v-neck so I can prop it up and it looks rather elizabethan.  This would be where I would alter it if I find it is too boring. I would "pop" the collar up... we'll see!

a face is a face

SO I am still working on selling my artwork and on getting some side commissions going. I thought I would post some images to make me feel like I have been making progress as well as to share with everyone what I have been doing.

This first painting is NOT finished- yet! Its of my niece and was a christmas gift to my brother and sister-in law.... its been taking me some time to actually finish it, but I figure I have another three hour session left.  Just have to punch the highlights a bit more, tune up the background etc etc.... (6x 4 inches, oil on panel)

My hope is to use this painting as a promotional tool to bring in portrait commissions! 

This drawing I am selling on Etsy ... so check that one out.

This is an old self portrait I did for a certificate class I took at the Academy before going on to their MFA program. I am going to add a portrait page to my artist website once I get all of my ducks in a row- and this will be one of them.. This portrait was done in 4-5 hrs. Its oil on a panel.

This is another drawing I am selling on etsy. I completed this while taking a certificate class at the Academy.

In the meantime- I am working on other little projects that I will be posting once completed.

If you want some cheap-ish art- check out my etsy site where I am selling paintings for around $40!