it's how we roll

in February in Florida!

morning sun in a favorite corner

a late morning view from the hammock

80 degrees with an amazing breeze.

cloudy breaks to cool off a bit.

an afternoon of swimming

skim boarding,  boogie boarding 

and dog happiness.

early evening southern sun

the windows wide open!

Harlem Renassaince

Happy Black History Month.

I am off to Emma Love Elementary School to put together a presentation

of my favorite Harlem artists....

Palmer Hayden

Aaron Douglas

Romare Bearden

William H. Johnson

Lois Jones

motle

Have you ever

had that perfect sweater? that was the perfect color? perfect fit? so soft? 

went with like 3 of your dresses?

I have that sweater.  I wear it a lot!  Then the un-thinkable happened (oh, wait it is thinkable.... I have a 9 year old boy), it got stuck in my son's skateboard wheels. Um' yup.

I did manage to get all the black grease off. 

I must apologize for the bad (night time) photos,
 (I generally like to photograph by daylight).

I know most of you are thinking "trash it",
but really...  it is pretty close to perfect.

I have always been inspired by  these folk at Alabama Chanin.
This is a very, very simplified version of one of their most basic ideas.

I got into my stash of wool felt.  I chose a light pink, buttery yellow, and a dark teal.
Using a circle template I traced different size circles on each color, then carefully cut them out.

I arranged them to my liking....then pressed them with a hot iron.

Really the hardest part is next; sewing in circles. Super hard.

don't over think it....you really need to become one with the circle(seriously).
 Ask any of my friends, and they will tell you the first thing I say about sewing,
"it will never be perfect".

IT'S NOT PERFECT.....

BUT IT SURE IS CUTE!

So, I want to share with you one of my thrift-ing treasures.....
Thrift-ing has it's good days and it's horrid days! Well, on this thrift-ing trip it was a GREAT day!

all of my "designer" friends should recognize this as
the Herman Miller Aeron Chair.
I remember when they released this chair, all of "us designers" fell in love.
 However, if I remember right it was around $1000.00,
(for a short time they were giving designers a chance to buy it for $500.00)
still way out of my price range

hem..... yup $34.95.
You can buy it here on sale for $869.00
The first thing I did when I saw it,
was flip it over and check for the appropriate tags,
and of course the Herman Miller mark.
Yes, they were all there.

.....and I must say it is just as comfortable today,
as it was when I first sat in it 10 years ago.
YAY ME!

Happy Valentines Day!

Hola, I thought I would share an easy V-Days treat, since I hate those
manufactured boxed kids valentines day cards.

cute, huh! super easy! and inexpensive!

all you need are some cupcake papers,  some lollipops, 

and a little twisting motion.

fold cupcake paper in half

trim it up a bit, if you wish (this is totally optional)

Layer coordinating papers (optional)
Make a small snip in the bottom middle of the papers.

push pop through the little hole

twist and fluff...(add a bit of tape if needed)

create a bouquet!
(use file labels to adress them if desired,
write to: and from:,
and secure label to the pop handle, by folding it onto itself)
does this make sense? should I add a photo?

Ivan's class is full of boys.
 No worries, find boyish cups, and chocolate tootsie pops!

I guess I am Ivan's class mom.
Back in Scarborough, Maine, women would claw your eyes out to be the class mom,
down in these parts, not so much.

Happiness is...... cupcakes for a 3rd grade class!

"the boy" was suppose to be helping with all of these V-day treats,
but there were ZOMBIES  that needed slaying!

.....and hammocks to be rocked in...and spare lollipops to be eaten.

I found these adorable vintage children's prints at a local thrift store.
I think they are from the 50's

 They were $1.00 each framed.
I did take them out of their plastic frames, they were pretty horrible.

if you look closely, it appears that the picture was painted,
and the felt-type objects were placed on the painting,
and then a photo was taken.

The ribbons on this one look real, not painted. hmm

The mouse is most definitely fuzzy.

so cute.
 I thinking about sending them to Princeton,
 to adorn some little girls bedroom!!!


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!