Liquid Paper

happy birthday jill

a post for michelle

This is for my sister-in-law who kindly sent me this postscript to a recent e-mail:

"I will talk to you soon. And put something new on your blog already!"

Subtle. No?

Alrighty then... how about some pics of the latest addition to my office space? It's a 2007 calendar from Lisa Wong Jackson of Good On Paper. I totally love it + I can't wait to get to the other months. I'll try and remember to post pics of them too when the time comes. In the meatime, you should go and check out her shop where you'll find tons of cute things to see and buy.

digs

Gather ‘round my friends and prepare to take a little peek into digs: the previously mentioned and heretofore most favored shop of me + many other fellow obsessees. The proprietor is Linda Schneewind. She is lovely + extremely helpful + has a great eye for color and design. When I was there in December to see the shop decorated in all of its holiday finery, she was kind enough to give me permission to take these pictures. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of the lower level, which is where all of the fabric is found. I don't think that I can be held responsible for it though because I spent most of my time down there combing through the racks in a semi-delirious state. Ahh, those were some good times.

the sidewalk sign

front of the store

a display of felted wool garland

back of the store

p.s. If you're a fan of the shop too, now would be a good time to delurk by telling me so + just saying "hi".

i am weird

The talented Nicole of freshly{blended} has tagged me! Here is what I gotta do:

People who get tagged need to write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I can’t stand getting my hands dirty. This is not something new. As a baby I would hold out my hands to my parents and whine if my fingers got sticky. Yuck! It bothers me to write about it -- I am literally shuddering with disgust at the mere thought of it.

2. I easily learn and remember the words to any song. Sometimes I only have to hear it once and I’ve got them. However, I cannot and will not sing in public. In fact, Mark and I were married for over five years before I’d even sing along in the car with him. Oh, and yes I am one of those people who mouth the words in church because I’m so self-conscious.

3. I can’t sleep if the sheets aren’t tucked in at the bottom or if there are any specks of dust on the sheets. Eew. Having same reaction as I did with #1. My husband calls me the princess and the pea. If I wake up during the night and the sheets have gotten untucked I will get up and fix them. Sometimes I’ve even made him get out of the bed too so I can get them done correctly.

4. I do not like my bare feet to be on the floor -- ever. I always have socks, slippers or flip-flops on, except when I sleep. Then I can’t stand to have anything on my feet.

Oh-my-goodness, I am such a freak and I still have to talk about two more things.

5. For years and years I would only drink my water at room temperature and eschewed cold water. Then last fall I was in the hospital and they gave me ice-cold water with lots of ice in one of those big cups with a gi-normous straw and now I can’t stand warm water anymore.

6. I have a very expressive face and people can always tell what I’m thinking. However, I worked as the director of a customer relations department and corporate event planner for years so I had to learn how to adopt a non-expression. While people were freaking out or complaining I would be thinking to myself things like, “Soften your forehead, don’t raise your eyebrows, relax your jaw.”

Okay, I’m just tagging a couple of people: Lauren + Sarah

do you see what i see?

Sometimes I feel a little bit like I'm drowning in inspirational images -- they are everywhere and I can never make my way through them all. That's when I take a deep breath and doggie paddle my way to a tiny handful of trusted and calming sources. Here are a few of them (in case you feel the same way today):

Amy Butler's studio.
Victoria Smith (a.k.a. sfgirlbybay): photos + blog.
Camilla Engman's studio + home photos.
Fresh New Spaces photo pool on flickr.
Sally Shim's blog.
My flickr favorites.

I also look to my own inspiration board. You can click on a photo to go to the flickr page where you'll find details about what's in each image.

another day...

My new favorite book + my new (thrifted) coffee cup. This book is amazing. It has instructions for 16 easily adaptable skirts -- great for those of us who are pattern-challenged. I found it in Northfield, MN at a lovely little shop called Digs (which is also my secret fabric source). You can get a copy of the book here.

Two deliciously vintage smocks from the thrift store. I could cut them up and use the pieces for other projects, or I may alter them to wear myself. Hmm…

some things i'm doing

playing

reading

eating

looking

i just had to have it

It was $5.83 in the after-Christmas sale section. I'd seen it in the front window of the store for two months; every time I went inside, it caught my eye. I'm not a sparkly girl, but I have to admit it was the glitter that captured my attention. Then today, as I passed by on my way home, I noticed that the display windows were completely bare. Ack! The tiny tower in all it's glittering glory was gone. I hurried in and, after a furtive glance to my right, I spied it -- there it was, slightly de-sparkled from careless fingers and the flag was drooping, but it was mine. *sigh*

So, how was your day?

Above: the well-lit version. And below: the dimly-lit one. I couldn't decide which one I liked better so you get to see both.

gift bags

Here are few of the bags I made for Christmas gifts last year. It's so odd to call somthing that I did a couple of weeks ago last year.

"k" small gift bag for Kim.

"a" small gift bag for Anna.

"orange" lined tote bag for Natalie.