self portrait tuesday...crossbite

today's the last self portrait tuesday focusing on the things we don't like about ourselves. besides my nose, my crossbite is what i struggle with the most. it makes my tooth look like it's missing. i've consulted lots of orthodontists about it and they all tell me "no way." guess i'll have to live with it.

one down...

this is it...my very first finished sock! i knit it from the pattern in the december 2004 issue of martha stewart living. it wasn't at all difficult, but it did take a loooong time. i suppose i am a slow knitter. i was telling becky that the most difficult thing to remember when taking on a project like a pair of socks is, well, that you have to knit two of them. words to live by.

i have two other projects "on the needles" right now...the other pair of striped socks and a cotton kerchief scarf from last minute knitted gifts. i think i'm ready to knit myself a sweater with some stretchy forgiving yarn on needles bigger than a size 2. more words to live by!

old, new, borrowed, blue...

studio friday's theme...

old...a dress form, vintage lace dress, and prized old apron.

new...10 (yes, 10!) gingerbread house kits.

borrowed...my great aunt polly's buffet. when she passed away, i guess it became a gift.

blue...a pair of favorite pants that need to be repaired. i noticed a sincere lack of blue in my studio.

see other artists here.

something new...

knitter extraordinaire and great friend, becky, made this neat-o knitting needle holder for me and gifted me with it last night at my "knitting lesson." (i swear this picture didn't look this blurry when i took it this morning.)

also, last night, i turned my first heel (with much assistance from becky) on this, my first pair of socks. it's like a little bit of magic, making this happen.


it was a lovely evening of chit chat, lattes and laughing. thank you so much, becky!

silence...

is not what we heard on wednesday night when we attended the ursuline vs. nerinx basketball game. these two all girl catholic high schools have an age old rivalry, so it was "on like donkey kong" wednesday night. imagine hundreds of girls dressed up in their school colors, crazy outfits, outrageous hairdos, a giant bear wearing a school girl skirt, and rock concert noise levels. that image will only represent a fraction of the excitement that happened in that gym. my ears were humming on the car ride home. did i mention that it was crazy loud and that they had t-shirt tosses (of t-shirts specially made for this ONE game)? and did i mention how much i wanted one of those t-shirts, because i'm a freak like that? coming from a high school at which school spirit was high, this was nothing in comparison. those girls cheered themselves hoarse. in addition to three basketball games (freshman, JV and varsity) there was a half time show with dancing.

the cutest redhead in the world is who we came to see...she's at the very end on the left in the front row. oh yeah, did i tell you it was LOUD?

tradition...

heart-shaped pizza of love...and

a platter full of sugar cookies.

happy valentine's day to us!

breathe in...breathe out...

i decided to look fear right in the eye and go forth...my creations are now for sale on the internet.
go here--it's my official sales page with complete descriptions, or you can click on the flickr link below right to see a slide show.

also for sale--fabric appliqued cards.

coming soon...jewelry and small zippered bags.

{hey, this is fun...}

Your Candy Heart Says "Cutie Pie"

You always seem to have a hot date, even though you never try to meet anyone. A total charmer, you have a natural appeal that keeps you in high demand. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: multiple dates with multiple people Your flirting style: 100% natural What turns you off: serious relationship talks Why you're hot: you're totally addicting

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

i don't think this is really me, but i thoroughly enjoy being referred to as a "cutie pie."

word cloud...

there's a great website that will scan your blog for the most used words and make a word cloud out of those words. here's mine...

studio friday...fear

today's challenge is to show what frightens us most...creatively, speaking, that is.

and here it is. no, it's not laundry, it's a pile of work. sweaters to be felted and felted sweaters ready to be cut into bags and bags that are already cut out ready to be sewn and embellished. it seems like the larger the mound of sweaters, the more daunting the entire process is. add this to the fact that my lower level studio (see the laundry hanging in the background?) is a year-round 60 degrees and the creative process really gets bogged down. not to mention that i put this out there and then the fear compounds upon fear. it's about confidence and rejection and a bunch of other pop psychology issues i'm sure many other artists deal with every day. time to confront the fear and push on through to the other side, don't you think?

see the fears of other artists here.

a banner day...

a glittery "hugs & kisses" banner i made to hang in the dining room window

AND, do you see what's on the ground outside?

yes, that's right, lovely snow.

here's a pic from my drive to work this morning.

please pardon the blurriness, i was actually driving when i took the picture...i know, shame on me.

spt...learning to accept

february 1992...me and my nose

i have never liked my nose. in grade school the mean kids called me eagle beak. in this picture, my sister caught me in a rare profile view. i usually avoid this at all costs. pictures are head on or not at all. i've flirted with the idea of a nose job; but after so many surgeries, the idea of electing to go under the knife seems ridiculous to me. besides, this is the nose of my mother, of my grandfather and many of my relatives before me. how can i deny my heritage by changing the way i look?

other self portrait tuesday photos are here.

it was 20 years ago today...

okay, it was really 20 years ago on saturday (but you get the idea), that kelly and i had our very first date...we call it our "meeting day."

he invited me to his house along with, oh, about 20 of his closest friends, for a tuesday night ritual called spaghetti night. each tuesday night bunches of kelly's very monetarily challenged friends either went to cicero's for all you could eat spaghetti or ate spaghetti at the house of one of the group members. it was kelly's turn to host, so i had my first "date" with kelly and lots of folks i had never met before. we played charades and laughed and ate and when he took me home, i wondered if i was going to get a kiss...i didn't.

the next time we went out was that friday. we saw stevie ray vaughn at the kiel opera house and ate cheesecake for dessert. i hoped i would get a kiss after that date...i didn't.

sunday i wormed my way into kelly's plans and steeled my courage up to ask him, why, oh why i hadn't gotten a kiss and at that moment he decided the time was right and then he kissed me. that evening i went home and told my grandma i was going to marry him. she asked me if i was going to date any other boys from st. louis first. i told her i didn't need to...i knew all i needed to know from that one kiss.

this saturday kelly and i drove around town to all of the places we went to in those few weeks of young love...

no one we know lives in the house on washington avenue anymore.


cicero's has been moved down the street to make room for the expanded blueberry hill.


stevie ray is gone and the kiel opera house hasn't held a concert in well over a decade.

the gyros restaurant in the loop we liked has been replaced by a florist.



the ever changing schedule at the tivoli has been updated to accommodate first run independent films.



the sandwich shop we ate at on our first valentine's day together is boarded up.



some things change...but we are still here.

studio friday...accidentally...

these vintage glass jars were left on the basement shelf by the previous owner...along with 5 antique quilts and numerous linens. we contacted the owner's daughter after we moved in, but no one was interested in these items. so their accident was our fortunate windfall. i use the jars to store pens, punches, crayons...a bit of everything. the quilts were too damaged to use on our beds, but i've sewn them into table covers for my display tables when i exhibit at art shows.

see other studio friday participants here.

groundhog day...

i've been in hibernation mode for the past week and am sticking my head out to see if there will be 6 more weeks of winter. this winter has been the wussiest one ever, with hardly any snow and 60 degree days. it's enough to put a winter lover in a real funk. i think that's what is happening this week...not enough cold weather which means not enough reasons to put on a big bulky sweater and snuggle with a good book and a cup of coffee with cream. makes me feel sad and wistful for the winters of my childhood. once it snowed 12 inches overnight and the entire city was out of commission for two days. all the neighbors around us helped each other shovel their walks and driveways. the kids rejoiced because we got two snow days and my mother made potato pancakes and chili. i keep hoping for even one day snowy enough that we all have to stay home, but i'm not holding my breath.

and to prove my love of winter weather, i offer this picture of... my dining room chandelier...decorated in hopes that the snowflake theme will bring giant droopy snowflakes.

***
and on a "hey, this is so weird, i just have to ask" kind of way...there was a comment left on my entry unexpected differences from someone named chris who said they had a baby grand piano and no furniture in their living room. and the person who left this comment has the same name as the person to whom i was referring. if you visit this blog again, chris, please let me know if you're the same chris who i dated in high school. if not, maybe all the chris-es i am destined to know will have had baby grand pianos and no living room furniture, but i find that very unlikely.