finished

yankee hotel foxtrot

behold - a samsonite carry on. a little over one dollar from the thrift store.

it's in good shape. i'm going to embroider something fun onto it with yarn

and use it either for a camera bag or a work bag or something of the sort.

for valentine's day this year, i bought will some really sweet tee shirts, but i also spent a couple of weeks making him a book called 10 things i love about you, which was inspired by elsie of a beautiful mess.

i've posted parts of it.  enjoy.

from the exclusive company today:

i've always enjoyed wilco, but i also chose this album because of its chicago references.  notice the "corncobs" on the front cover.  these are parking towers downtown that are called something other than corncobs, but, like many other chicago landmarks, it was best known by its nickname.  on the back cover and inside i found pictures of the skyline, michigan avenue and the lake.

we've listened to it twice already.  it's amazing.

tomorrow evening i'm practicing with the bar tab band in preparation for a gig on saturday the 20th at st. brendan's in green bay.  if you're reading and you live in the area you should come.  i'm really looking forward to it. 

cheers. molly

decoratories.

preliminary planning for a wall cluster. 

the album frame will be used for the diy faux polaroid project from elsie's class.

an accumulation of instruments makes for enjoyable clutter.

two violins (electric and acoustic), three guitars, a keyboard, a djembe and a didjeridoo!

here is my wreath for the bathroom, with appropriate bathroom colors (white, gray, turquoise). 

and my wreath for the entryway.  (our living room includes lots of reds.)

later: inside my style file.  it's time to go to work.

the sound of friday

the friday sigh.

yesterday, i drove with knuckles the color of the snow that carelessly fell on wisconsin.  i was sure i wouldn't make it to work, and then i was just as sure i wouldn't make it home.  when i did, i unlocked the door, drank tea and breathed deeply.  we got our new teapot [seafoam], and will his new gi [bright red]. 

my diana came.  i had to remember how to load film.  [i'm just old enough to have done it for a couple of years when i was younger.]  i took some pictures.  there's nothing to look at outside, right now.  white snow and barren trees.  that reminds me, i should buy some vitamin d. 

style school begins on sunday.  i'm so motivated, and so very excited.  tomorrow i'll finish my binder and practice using my new sewing machine.  sunday, i'll pick up the supplies i need for the first few projects.

i've started on one of the thrifted purses i have.  the gold one.  i plan to add some more to it.  have a look.

supplies

will and i are expecting a porcelain teapot (with infuser!) in the mail soon.

that lovely new teapot, along with these pretty little thrifted teacups, will help support our enormous tea habit.

  

also from the thrift store.  i thought these purses had some potential.

i don't know what to do with them yet.

  

from my mom.  a giant jar full of buttons and some clothespins.  thank you. :)

  

also from marcy - a 45s box from the record store. 

take a peek at the inside.

  

this year, i want to paint more,

learn to knit and crochet,

use my sewing machine lots,

take beautiful pictures,

and keep writing.  i've got to always keep writing,

because it's how i stay sane.

molly.

back and forth forever

fabric from joann's.  two great prints and two rich solids.

(these will most likely become pillow skins.)

katherine's leather bow key chain idea.  they were really fun to make!

i made the black one for emma for christmas. 

the brown ones are coming with me to my parents house so that my mom can choose one for herself.

my first embroidery project!

if you've seen me and you and everyone we know you're laughing right now.

if you haven't, i'm hoping it still carries a little bit of meaning.

i'm working on collecting some nice, small, round things. 

i'd like a nice little cluster of them on one of our walls.

will decided to make something of his own. tuna noodle salad. it was delicious.

semi-homemade gifts

though i haven't learned how to knit (yet), i adorned these myself. 

i was inspired by the cowls that my cousin made.

on the left is tricia's - will's brother's wife who is pregnant with her second child,

and on the right is katea's - will's younger sister, who's in the fifth grade.

my camera doesn't do the colors justice, it seems.  tricia's is a chocolate brown, and katea's is purple with pinks sewn onto it.  neither of these wondeful ladies read my blog yet.

today i'll be making more gifts.  i bought paint and paintbrushes yesterday.

no one else has them

when all of the fun, artsy blogs i've been following insisted there would be owls at the thrift store,

they weren't kidding.  look at this fun one i found.

robinson crusoe + jane eyre = owl pedestal

his new home.  i wonder where he's been before.

an inexpensive assortment of fabrics. 

the men's shirt and the yellow floral bed sheet are my favorites.

front and back of pillow number 1

pillow number 2.  spawned from a delicate pink pillow case.

i'd like all of this to result in an eccentric gang of living room pillows. 

a conversation between me and will.

-do you like them?

-yes.  no one else has them.

i was blog surfing, as i often do, and came upon this one.  this woman was once working with orphans in haiti, and while what i did in chicago doesn't come close, what she said in an interview really tore me open.  she's placed glasses over my blurry eyes.  this is how said blogger answered the following questions.

1. Why did you start your blog?
-I went to Haiti to work with orphans for the first time three years ago. When I got home, I remember sitting on a closed toilet seat in my house and bawling my eyes out because I felt like I couldn't make a difference anymore. My life since that night has been a process of learning how wrong I was. That trip was the beginning of my whirlwind - three years, six transfers and five moves later, I've come to believe that you can make a difference from wherever you are, no matter who you are. This blog is 1. my way of blooming wherever I am planted and 2. my way of celebrating normal people making a difference from where they are at.

2. What do you hope to achieve with your blog?
-I hope to notice the little things. I hope to think less about myself, and more about the causes other people are promoting. I hope to tell the stories of people who don't tell their own, whether that be the orphans I've met, the friends I have that are devoting years to working with human rights overseas, or the way my grandfather makes me laugh, every single day.

3. Describe your blog in one sentence.
-I think I could better describe it with a quote. "This is the urgency: Live and have your blooming in the midst of the whirlwind." - Gwendolyn Brooks

blue garland and bits of lace

some nice yarn i picked up tonight.

i made a second string of finger garland. 

now i just need printed pictures to use. 

that'll come soon. 

until then, a postcard of a bridge in france works as inspiration.

    

this began as a bacardi keychain, buried deep in an old purse.

i adorned it with bits of lace and felt.

and i hooked it on one of my favorite purses.  [urban outfitters]

will and i are going to watch a movie.  i can't wait to try my new sewing machine one of these nights.  maybe thursday.  i have a video tutorial to watch.  i want to find some fun fabric at the thrift store this week to make a few more pillows with.  i hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

pillow + garland

will drove me in horrible weather to walmart so i could pick up some supplies for my first project, which was so nice of him.  i was feeling ready to tackle the pocket pillow. but no doilies at walmart - so sad.  and too much snow to go to the craft store.  this horrible "lace" had a plasticky sheen to it, but i had to get creative.

a close up on my button closure.  i loved that brown fabric.

my pocket.

i was starting to get a feeling that there's too much fabric when i was stuffing the pillow. 

will claims to have noticed, too, but didn't want to say anything.

and it turns out i was right.  that evening i ended up with a "manute bol" pillow. 

the next morning i woke up and fixed it before i went to work. 

[just don't look at the blanket stitch on the bottom.]

here is my thrift store suitcase and its contents.

following katherine's tutorial, i tried some finger garland.  lots of imperfections,

but then i've got a lot of practicing to do.  it's the fattest yarn ever and this bright yellow caught my eye.  i made it while watching it's always sunny in philadelphia, which i think is appropriate.  :)

today i'll be making some things, but they're meant to be christmas gifts,

so i'll post them privately until after they're opened!