i know this is gross, but...

my first batch of kombucha molded!

Apparently adding fruit to the mix is supposed

to happen after the brewing process is complete.

storage makeover

 

As the craft closet gets more and more cramped and our household

cleaning supplies cry out for a hiding place, I have started plotting out

a storage overhaul. It requires moving things around between five

spaces in our home but will hopefully end with a nicely organized

storage system (for the first time ever) and some breathing room

for painting and sewing. I was very excited about leaping into this

before the coming of the summer heat until I got the flu last weekend

and landed flat on my face. But like the dandelion, I will rise.

Speaking of which, I just finished the 100 Cupboards trilogy, by

N. D. Wilson. I highly recommend it, but only if you have either a

great deal of discipline or some time on your hands -- it's hard to set down!

 

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journal cover completed

Here's the final version of the mother-daughter

collaboration on my journal cover.

While I think the accessories all look like acorns,

my daughter assures me that they're nuts, as in,

"I am nuts for nuts and ice skating."

So I suppose this is the winter elven nut fairy!

 

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out and about

 When I was at Target a few weeks ago, I happened upon this

Kleenex box with linework that somehow looked very familiar.

I was excited to discover that it had been designed by an artist

I follow online -- Cori Dantini. Now, how fun is that?!?

journal cover, take 2

If you recall, I started re-covering a journal a while back

with a paper collage foundation. Here's the next stage:

I've done some painting and blocked in one of my

daughter's lovely drawings. I'm using Kelly Rae Roberts'

technique from Taking Flight of coloring the skin with

oil sticks and the background with fluid acrylics.

 

Believe it or not, the oil sticks in the book looked familiar to me,

so I dug around in my mom's shed for a while and found all

the colors I needed from an art project we did when I was a kid --

in the 80's! They were barely used and still worked great.

It's not the first time my mom has come through with the right

tool for the job from her well organized shed-of-crafty-delights.

 

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redecorating: room 1

 We have been dancing our way through room redecorating 

this spring. The kids are shifting into new rooms, 

and it's been many years since the last fresh coat of paint. 

So it's up with the linoleum and down with the concrete stain.

 The kids got to pick their accent colors,

and Elliott went for teal.

We also put in a few functional accents, like hooks

for all the bags; a hamper that has a handle and wheels (!);

chalkboard paint on one of the walls; and a magnet board.

Ashton's room is up next, with pictures coming soon!

corvallis snail, take one

This colorful snail was one of our friends on sabbatical last year.

We were all captivated by the little guy.

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waiting in the lobby

It seems ironic that the bust of the man

the place is named after has been 

relegated to the row of free periodicals.

Poor Morris.

jury duty waiting room... ceiling

If you've had jury duty in Tucson during

the past 10 years or so, you'll recognize

these enormous, beehive light fixtures.

jury duty

Hiya, Peeps! I have yet to figure out

how to get a decent scan or even a 

decent photo of a pencil sketch, so 

I suppose this will have to do. 

 

Last time I had jury duty, it entailed

a delightful lunch downtown and six

hours of waiting in a fairly uncomfortable chair 

which was, however, located in a sunny patch 

of winter light. I was never selected for 

a jury, so I headed home after learning from 

a fellow waitee that America's Test Kitchen 

has a superior recipe for crunchy-but-chewy 

gingerbread cookies. True, but make sure you cut 

the cooking time in half. The six hours was well

worth finding a good recipe, but as you can

see in the sketch, I grew tired of the waiting.