COLLECTING............

New Work

Just added in my etsy shop!

Featured in Stitch Magazine

Hello all! Long time.......since I've seen you here on my blog. Life is keeping me hopping to say the least! Just wanted to pop in and let you know about some exciting news........... I was contacted about a month ago by the editors of Stitch Magazine to send them one of my totes to get photographed for the fall issue. I just received a copy of the issue and there I am on page 18. This is such a cool magazine! The photography is beautiful..............plus... it's packed full of all kinds of stitchy information..........besides the fact that I am featured inside, I highly reccomend picking up a copy!

The Slow Days of Summer........

Summer is slipping by before my eyes and before long both my children will be in school......then I begin the internal struggle of a mom and teacher. The desire to home school and the need to have time to make art will flow through my mind a million times over and over....... the summer is slowing to an end but not without making lots of memories....

>>>>We joined a local organic co-op this summer that has become the highlight of our week! The kids have experienced life on a farm by milking cows, chasing piglets and feeding the horses. Each week our basket is full of fresh organic blackberries and veggies of all sorts! We have made some great friends too.

>>>>Our chickens are growing up and we check every morning for eggs.....not yet. The bunny has decided to live under the chicken coop and amazingly enough the chickens don't mind.

>>>>We all have been playing golf together in the early evenings after the temp. has cooled a bit. It has been a little frustrating for me since I haven't picked up a club in about 8 years. I'm hanging in there.

>>>>We have had time for lots of craft projects and I have been working on making my kids lunch Eco-friendly by making re-usable snack bags and napkins. Time has allowed me to make some new clothes for my children and work on some domestic sewing too!

>>>>Weekend trips to Louisville to see what traffic is like and enjoy some time with family!

>>>>Started a butterfly and moth collection. Which is sometimes sad for my sweet L.....she has to spend time with them before we put them in the freezer.

>>>>Weekly trips to the library to get out of the heat! (oh, and the occasional snow-cone after)

>>>>In the fall, I will be teaching a class for Murray State......Elementary Art Ed. which I am very excited about!! Now I am planning my projects and working on my syllabus.............

Hope you are enjoying your summer making memories too!!

Beach Time!

These are just a "few" of my favorite photos from our trip to the Gulf Shores! The beach was beautiful and the water was perfect........no signs of the oil spill....yet. It really was the best beach trip ever! We got to spend time with out great friends living it up on the beach and drinking daiquiris after the kids were zonked out. Good memories.

Chicken Coop

Happy Chickens! They finally have a place to call their own. It took about three, half days one of which we worked in the rain. I didn't get to take pics on that day, sorry. This project cost all of 245.00........it's completely made from pallets and recycled wood from an old building and playground. The linoleum flooring was given to us by a friend and the paint was a miss-tint from Lowe's that cost 5 bucks. On the inside I made the perch ladder with rondo found at my husbands golf course which works perfect! There is a door at one end where my daughter is standing that opens up for raking the bedding and cleaning..............and oh, the most important part...egg collecting!! I know what you are saying...."it looks kinda big!" Well, we have 4 chickens and two are silkie bantams so they have plenty of room and we can add about two more chickens to the flock! We have added the nesting boxes made from milk crates and the food and water. Whatcha' think?

Recent Happenings.........

Well Hello! Enjoying the beautiful weather outside has dominated my time as of late. Sitting at the computer (even to blog) has been scarce. I just wanted to catch you up on some recent happenings.....

-Chickens are growing quick!

-Building the coop is top priority.....and happy to say it is almost complete!

-Went to Mammoth Cave National Park for a weekend of exploring.

-Working on several "made to order" Discovery Totes, the ant tote is getting more popular.

-Canoed down the Green River.

-Planting lots of flowers and herbs, and wondering if the veggies will get in this year?

-Visited Grandparents in Louisville, KY and sat in some traffic which reminded my why I love living in the country.

-Turned some snake gourds that my husband grew at the golf course nursery into planters.

-Went to Dinosaur World in Cave City, KY.

Can I get a PEEP PEEP!!

So, where have I been you ask? Well, the answer in short is......spring! I love spring! We have been busy working in the garden, starting some seeds inside, preparing the backyard for a cool play area for the kiddos.........and we have chicks! We have three right now but I plan on adding a couple of silkie chicks when they are available. Right now we have a Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red and a Rock Barred. They are so cute and growing super fast! Learning all I can about raising chickens and can't wait for our first eggs....most likely late summer.
I didn't get a chance to blog about our trip to St. Louis.....I did the Indie Craft Revolution there at the Art Guild. We made a family trip of it, although, I worked most of the time, I still managed to have some fun! The show went good, I got lots of "your so clever" which is the most common thing people say about me/my work. I made tons of new stuff and have not been able to set aside the time to take photos of for my store. This week. Anyway, I apologize for being gone for so long and I hope you all are having a productive spring too!

IN THE WORKS: I am working on creating a short animation using my work. This was a suggestion from Jesse Kuhn of Raw Toast Design whom I met at the show. His work is pretty amazing too!


Have a great day!

PBS interview

Shortly after moving to Kentucky......before I was even totally unpacked.......I received an email from KET about doing an interview with me. Of course, I was super excited, so regardless of not being completely settled....I agreed. Not being with outsome personal issues....after moving my studio from a lovely 300 sq.ft. space to a laundry room that I had to share with a washer and dryer and dog bowls. Needless to say the space was small and cramped. The KET producer assured me this would not be an issue. And it really wasn't......most of the shots were of me and my work. The shots of me actually working were cropped in very tight. The whole interview process took about 5 hours with the actual segment being about 6 minutes. The crew was great and the producer really knew what he was doing in order to complete his "vision" with the piece. It was a really great experience so I hope you will catch it tonight on KET at 7pm or tomorrow at 3:30 and 6pm.



Special thanks to Catie Bates who kept my children occupied throughout the day!!!