you’re going on it

January 18, 2012 | Filed Under ordinary | Leave a Comment 

fifties, almost sixties, the january of dreams, green grass peeking out, daffodils confused, early. these are pics from the coldest day i’ve felt in a long time, a model rocket day in illinois with grandparents and cousins and kids wearing the gloves of grownups, moms and a rotation of kids staying in a heated van for much of it. i’ve turned into a southern girl when it comes to winter. give me daffodils in january, a sky blue sky after a day of eternal gray rain, the dog napping in an afternoon sun, his brindled fur shining, kids out more than in; give me these, any of these instead of snow dusted fields and cold white sky.

nothing too special this week, schoolwork, housework. i’m working on a paper taxidermy giraffe for a new baby’s nursery and i really hope to put the smaller pieces in the shop (no moose, just rabbits, deer, giraffes, birds) before long.  also, i found an amazing pink sofa at the thrift for a mere $65 and it’s sitting in my living room with chairs and things all around it. when it looks more at home and less like a used furniture store in here, i’ll take some pics. have you noticed my lack of instagrams in this space this month? i’m trying to take more pictures with real cameras. as good as an instagram can be, it does still feel like a cheat sometimes.

where you want to get to

January 12, 2012 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | Leave a Comment 

i had a commission last fall for a set of five alice in wonderland themed mobiles for a little girl named rosy. they were super fun to think about and sketch out and cut and string up on wire. i’ve listed them on etsy and can’t wait to make more.

the sun is lost in gray, it’s still wet and cold, days of rain and mud and kids who don’t want to be outside in it parading by. oh, january. you’re not going to get me down.

but i’m a watcher

January 10, 2012 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | 1 Comment 

to illinois and back again, cousins and uncles and grandmas galore, cold winter winds blowing us into this new year, blowing all around us before we close ourselves in our rocket and launch ourselves south, mud and gray skies and rain for the taking.

we’re back into the school of things, the first full day of bookwork that sends me over the edge with boys who just want to run, to build, to make mouth noises that drive a woman to coffee, beyond. the house is an ever mess, the dog has come to sleep at the foot of our bed, his usual place too cold for the winter. black beans for dinner, grits for dinner, homemade pizza for dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, make dinner, what’s for dinner, a ringing bell i’m caught inside, constant, loud, abiding: what’s for dinner!

in pretty news, there are valentines in the shop, mostly the age old royal buffet classics because after a christmas i don’t have it in me to produce many new lover things in time. i did a re-make of the lady & gentleman mobile, a heart that beats on the breeze instead of the butterfly of before. it’s going in the shop tonight. valentine orders for delivery in the USA need to be placed by january 31, so plan ahead, friends and lovers.

this week we’re doing school, afternoons one after another of one boy after another trudging through math and handwriting, feigning boredom through geography and history, silent and begging for more chapters in the hobbit. if all of school could be books read aloud while kids draw or build or string beads on a thread we’d have nothing to complain about.

thin, bright claw

January 2, 2012 | Filed Under lists, ordinary | Leave a Comment 

a few resolutions for a new year

read 52 books
become very skinny
spend less money
mop more often
learn to linocut
memorize a little erik satie
minimalize the stuff in my life
plant trees