little BIG pants

artist, Domenica More Gordon

seeing these needle felts by domenica more gordon reminds me how much i miss my dogs...

she really captures their sweetness and innocence...

via yatzer

art vs. craft tomorrow!

tatoo girls are just a few new creations I'll be packing up in about 1/2 and heading out of town for art vs. craft!

deer tatoo

halloween recap

carving pumpkins

h. is obsessed with armies so he wanted to be a soldier...o. didn't much care, so i dressed him in last years costume and painted his face like a skeleton

highlights of the night....
the house that always offers hot cider to the parents trick or treating with their kids...
the old frail man that invited us into his house and insisted the kids take a piece of candy and an apple. with a slight german/swiss accent he exclaimed with a large smile "an apple a day keeps the doctor away....i should know, I was a doctor!"
h. exclaiming over and over again "have a good afternoon" trying so hard to remember to say "trick or treat" , then "thank you" and then "have a good night"
seeing peoples faces light up when they open their door to see what kind of cute costumed kiddies await their generosity...love it!

holiday sales - where to find me

my 3rd trip to Milwaukee and 2nd time at Art vs Craft...so excited for this one.
Milwaukee School of Engineering (click on link for directions)



just a short week after art vs. craft is CRAFTACULAR in Madison, WI. it will be my first sale in Madison so I'm really excited to see how it goes!


and representing the hometown, the fine craft collective in downtown northfield. we will be in Digs retail space for the months of november and december. 
sew baby sew....


 

night surfing

Nightsurf from iker elorrieta on Vimeo.

 this is so beautiful, the night sky, the color of the water at night with just a hint of light...i've been landlocked for almost my entire life...reminds me how different the world can be....via emerald son

jane eyre

have you seen the 2011 jane eyre yet? i must confess that i have not yet read the actual novel but now i will....
i knew alittle of the characters and as i watching this rochester i found myself saying 'what a bastard'

ok yes, this pic is a bit over the top, but if you looked as good and fit as this man, wouldn't you submerge yourself in water waist deep , after working out (of course) for a photo shoot? the other night i watched the jane eyre version with william hurt and he played it much less harsh...i confess i prefer michael fassbender's rochester....darker, more brooding.... 

artist, jennifer collier (again)

 
this is the 2nd time i'm lauding the work of jennifer collier. she is just amazing!
 
cameras, typewriters, dresses, shoes, phones...is there anything this girl can't do with paper?
 
make sure you visit her site for closeups of these amazing pieces...
 
a sewing machine???? ...this one is truly stunning!

bright star

 
remember all the buzz this movie got when it came out. well i finally saw it and as the scene above shows (albeit small-ly) it is a feast for the eyes and heart. almost every scene looks like a beautiful painting. so rich...
 
the costuming is so yummy, although i couldn't pull off the ruffled collar but still...
 
the fabric of this dress had me drooling...and could abbie cornish be any cuter!
 
and the love story is soooo sweet and soooo tragic.
 
here she grabs her sister and tells her she loves her...so damn sweet, made me all teary-eyed.

creative connection

 
this past weekend i was in st. paul at the creative connection. i didn't know what to expect from being a vendor at the marketplace but it was wonderful and i met the best women eveR! My booth mates included lesley from odoodo originals who had me in stitches with her spunky wit, stephanie rubiano who makes the most beautiful antique collage/encaustic images and janine from uppercase along with Tif of dottie angel. If you haven't subscribed to Uppercase yet, what????? it is so well done and the woman is a design hero of mine...serious talent! and Ms. Tif...ohhhhh words cannot describe how sweet, sincere and original this gal is....dottie angel book is a MUST OWN! thanks to everyone who bought a little BIG pants original and those who gave me such kind words and compliments. it really means alot!

365 knitting clock

 
artist siren elise wilhelmsen is so talented it is sick!
 
this "clock" knits a scarf in one year, they are absolutely gorgeous!
 
and look! her latest design is in a grandfather clock frame! ugh! they are so beautiful they make my heart hurt!
don't think they are mass produced yet, but i'm sure they will be judging from the response she is getting in the blogosphere...

artist, Kristin Vestgard

 
i love the dark dreaminess of these paintings by kristin vestgard...
 
 
via jealous curator

 

artist, samantha bryan

 
artist, samantha bryan creates these adorable little fairies which she calls "brains fairies"
 
love the pieces with the ballons and gliders...
 
love the little pateches and stitching detail...

back to north dakota

 
this blog has been majorly missing my personal side...so here it is...we recently had a celebration for my aunt celebrating 50 from taking her vows as a nun. it was a wonderful day. the picture above is my immediate family and not pictured, my dear niece h. and brother-in-law trent taking the photo... what happened, you may be wondering?  she was pooped on by a swallow and is not seen in the picture because she was freaking out....ahhhh love pictures with a story...
 
my brother doing his best dieter impression....niece h. in blue sweater...recovering...me in pink sweater...
 
the cutest couple evah! my dad and mom checking out the flooding...
 
as we left the festivities this is what kept our interest....north dakota has some of the most amazing skies i've ever seen. i have to admit this was scary...the middle was dropping down and i thought for sure it was going to turn into a tornado. what was even scarier is my super h. was in the car in front of us, waving...and i thought...omg, we are going to go up in this funnel and my baby isn't going to be with me....what an awful feeling...thankfully nothing happened....

artist, tara babcock

 
i've spent the last few days seriously envying the talent of artist, tara babcock...
 
i love her color schemes, her use of machine and hand embroidery and  silky, scrumptious fabrics.
 
french, embroidery and silk...just stop....stop...you...are...killing....me!
 
so....damn....good!

foundlings

 
this is so crushingly sad, my heart hurts...these pieces of ribbon and fabric were left by mothers along with a surrendered child in hopes that she could one day reclaim him or her in better circumstances.  between 1741-1760 the London Foundling Hospital cared for 16,000 children, sadly most of them were never reclaimed and many of them died. the hospital believed that the children's best chance at a new life would be to wipe away their previous existence, giving them new names, thus the system was put in place of cloth to match a child. there is a wonderful article here with further details....via the jealous curator