From This to That

The past few months of my life in one big stack...

I *finally* finished my semester last week and am thrilled to be able to divert my attention to other things for a while without feeling guilty...even just being able to listen to whatever I want on my laptop as I type without getting distracted is completely freeing! I really enjoyed my classes  and feel I've found the right path, but have been eagerly awaiting the freedom that the summer months offer to a student. Between the gallery and the historical society, I am still working a ton but at least have some room to breath a bit between projects now and am geared up to spend as much leftover time as possible sewing up a storm and getting my etsy shop ready for the holidays so that I don't have to worry about it once the fall semester starts up in August.

Curling up with all good things in the falling light
(ahem, yes that is the new special edition of DOMINO!!! Hark, do you hear the angles singing?)

Since submitting my last research paper, I've been indulging in so many of the things  I love that I haven't gotten to enjoy much of these past few months...lots of extravagant cooking, a weekend camping get-away to the cape, a little lot of fabric stashing, and staying up late with my favorite magazines, embroidery, and darning work, while curled up with my cats, husband, and several seasons of How I Met Your Mother. The rewards in life certainly are so much sweeter when you know you've earned them several times over!

 

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...some yardage and fat quarters of AMH's loulouthi velveteen, cotton laminate,
and quilting cotton, Heather Ross' FFAIII in the  pink colorway, some Liberty of London from my Purl Soho trip,
AMH's pastry line and rare centerpiece, and a whole yard of Michael Miller's Vintage Stroll

Ok, so yeah, the above stash hoard is a bit more than I was planning on when I began picturing the reward I'd planned for myself upon the completion of a successful and utterly crazy semester. Luckily I was able to hunt down some sweet deals and it is lovely, ya?! It pretty much just has me smiling every time I look over at the freshly piled stack on my worktable and all I want to do is fondle it and ignore all other responsibilities. THERE, I admitted it!

   Soupe å l'Oignon Gratinée

One of the more elaborate cooking adventures we've managed as of late was Julia Child's recipe for cheesy onion soup, or Soupe å l'Oignon Gratinée, if you're feeling fancy. It's the third recipe I've tried now from her classic "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" and every single one has been superb..of course. The other two were the ratatouille and the riz a l'orientale, which is basically a rice bowl (but o so much more than that and my favorite so far)—who knew such a thing as French comfort food existed and was so completely amazing? Umm...ok so probably lots of you but yeah, I'm learning here folks.

I'm looking forward to being able to blog more often again now and hope to be sharing some finished pieces with you soon...until then, wishing you all just as many good things to be distracted by!

domino withdrawals

two of my favorite inspiration photos from domino
(copyright domino magazine, condé nast)

i just need to lament a little...i'm going through domino withdrawals....has it really been almost a year now since it's cancellation by Condé Nast?

you see, i've been in overdrive attempting to get my craft room (and the rest of the house) in order since we are expecting some out of town guests in march and my fiance has promised them "non- to semi-squalid" living quarters for the duration of their stay (geeeeeeez louise, kind of a tall order, huh?! haha). in doing so, i have been archiving my magazine collection and filling bookshelves, organizing materials in a practical and pleasing way, and unpacking those last couple stubborn boxes of indeterminable "stuff" that seem to lurk around after a move.

so today i share with you what i've drummed up for inspiration in lieu of domino...and i think i might have hit the spot!

(photo of Ellen Luckett Baker's craft room by Laura Malek for craftzine.com)

this is the color of paint i'd like for the walls in my workroom. i'm told it's from martha stewart's lowes paint line that is no longer available. let's hope her new line (coming this spring) has a similar color!

(from annaleahart's flickr stream, but you should also check out her blog)

this is perfect as eventually, my workroom will also have a pull out futon bed thingy in it for guests. alas, with a complete lack of funds, our guests will be staying on the trusty blow up mattress we use for camping. i'm big on colorful pillow arrangements myself...some anthro ones and some homemade.

(another from annaleahart's flickr stream)

o bunting, how you tempt me. I want to make some as decoration for our wedding reception (we're still going to have something of the sort at my parent's farm after eloping) but this photo makes me think that i could make a miniature version and then use it as edging on some bookshelves. Also, if you flip through her flickr stream, you'll see that one of those embroidery hoops is a c.s. lewis quote...quality!

and finally...

(this is actually a movie still from the biopic Sylvia Plath, screen capture thanks to Sweet Sunday Mornings)

I love me some Sylvia Plath, maybe not quite so much this movie, but it does indeed have beautiful costumes and set design. I love the simplicity in this still. My spaces and I get consumed in color amd chaos sometimes and as i sit here typing looking out my own northshore massachusetts window, i think i could indeed do with a bit of simplicity and clarity.

so now i've posted the inspiration...stay tuned for my decorating updates...albiet on a poverty row type budget!