sweeping into the next
February 26, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | Leave a Comment
this little garland is now in the shop. six feet of chirruping goodness. i have several other things in the works, if i could just stay caught up on actual orders!
today, cold, the afternoon sun still cold. big dad took kahlil for a walk, so it wasn’t too cold, i suppose. ernie’s parents are coming for a few days and the clean condition of our house and the newly organized game cabinet (why yes, we do have all of the pieces to sorry. oh, bananagrams? yes, those are right here.) will tell you that.
tomorrow brings the weekend, blue and cold. i want to do things like make a fire in the barrel, take max for walks, eat pasta, play cards, loll about in my bed with a couple of kids and some books. wishes sometimes do come true.
many splendoured
February 11, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | Leave a Comment
i made this little valentine for annie and can’t stop thinking of phrases to write and clip and string. i hope i actually make one to hang here, in this house. you know how the baker’s children have no bread? and the cobbler’s children wear no shoes? well, there is a sad scarcity around here when it comes to garlands and paper fascinations. the kids are always asking, “is that for me?” when they wake up to a ceiling full of mobiles, paper birds and pennants strung from here to there.
and now you can make up your own phrase for me to string on silver and send your way, if you like.
we’re headed to the farm tomorrow. just one night to celebrate ernie’s grandpa turning 90. hopefully we can fit 90 candles on one of those dreadful millionaire pies grandpa loves to eat.
and the royal winner is…..
January 28, 2010 | Filed Under royal buffet | Leave a Comment
april dunn, comment 40! who said, “best thing to happen to paper since gutenberg.” thanks april, you’re way too kind.
and thank you so much, everyone for entering this little giveaway and even more for all of your nice words about my paper creations and my shop. i’m pretty much blown away.
cheers to two years!
animalskines
January 27, 2010 | Filed Under royal buffet | 1 Comment
these will be in the shop by the end of the week: little moleskines transformed into animalskines by royal buffet! there are a few animals and two sizes of books. i had hoped to have them really early for early valentine shoppers (a very nice, and quite non-commital valentine, i’d say), but we’re down to the wire. ah, well. i’m terrible about planning ahead.
tomorrow i announce the winner of the giveaway!
two royal years + one royal giveaway
January 23, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | 80 Comments
i’ve been selling royal buffet paper lovelies on etsy for two years and eleven days now (no comment on missing the actual anniversary) so i thought i should offer a little celebratory giveaway to my friends and fans and the foes few and far between. enter a comment in the comments section and i’ll choose a winner (by random selection, of course) on wednesday, january 27. and what will you be winning, should you be the lucky winner? well, the choice will be up to you, as the prize is any one item that is listed in the shop! mobile, garland, wired bird or creature, whatever you wish will be yours. so enter, don’t delay, and be nice and tell your friends to enter, too.
thanks so much for your support of Royal Buffet, it has been and is much appreciated.
singing women in three cities
January 4, 2010 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | 1 Comment
at the end of our vacation we decided to leap ahead and do some work in the house, nothing obscene, just lots of rearranging and taking out carpet. the sunporch of the house has a beautiful brick floor, the kind with chunks of bricks laid in the mortar. and now that the carpet has been hurled into the yard for another day of hauling, we can see the bricks and feel the smooth, cold surface underneath. we use the room for a school and art mess room, so it’s normally a big mess of paper and drawing utensils and books. the perfect place for me to toss in some of my own paper messes, especially now that ernie got the heat working and no one has to be in there with chattering teeth and blue fingers.
i’d been thinking about moving out of the studio i shared with ernie for some time now. he never complained about the snips and terrible piles that i had everywhere, never once. he even said he’d miss me, but i think he’s getting over that quickly since the paper is gone and the golden honey floor under his desk is shining and clean, and there is now room on his desk for his other synthesizer. i just felt like there was no point in having two rooms in the house full of creation messes. also, the sunporch has incredible light, is right off the kitchen, and has views of the backyard so i might actually get something made during the day while the kids are running amok through grass and garden.
when i get organized i’ll post some pics. but for now, a new garland: a starry bird garland, stars and birds, not much more anyone could ask for. i’m hoping to update the shop with new-ness in the next week or two, some little books, some valentine pretties, and a general update of all things Royal Buffet. so, keep your eyes peeled, as my mother would say.
dream of the bird
December 29, 2009 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | 7 Comments
really and truly, i am taking a vacation from all things paper. with one tiny exception: a mobile for first fridays “crossing borders” exhibit at art & light this weekend. it’s a group exhibition of works from mexican artists and also local artists whose pieces were inspired by mexican art. i’m really a wee bit mortified and quite humbled to be included in a group show with the likes of some really talented and amazing people. hooray!
my first piece, entitled, “dream of the bird,” is a giant and very colorful mobile (which is different for me, particularly the colorful part. i like colors, i really do, but i have a hard time using them and not being intimidated by them. i think that’s pretty common, isn’t it? it’s so much easier to stick to whites and blacks and grays and typed pages). i also did a piece of twenty smaller pieces, little birds in a flock together, but each piece is it’s own strand mobile that can “fly away” from the others, as it were. this piece/these pieces is/are called “flock of paradise.”
the show is this friday night from 6-9. do stop by if you’re local and support local artists and their work!
and now, back to eating too much and playing wii with the kids and putting away all of these christmas decorations…
all white and red
December 23, 2009 | Filed Under familial, royal buffet | Leave a Comment
when nothing is too pressing i have such trouble getting things done. i feel like i’m wandering aimlessly through the days this week, wrapping something here, baking something here, cleaning something here.
there is much whispering going on, especially after bed. i am so hyper about christmas right now, i just don’t know why. and i really don’t know how much more of my hyper behavior my husband and children can take. i just love secrets. and surprises. and giving.
we gave the kids the biggest secret of all on saturday, which i’ll post about tomorrow. it was early, yes, but a necessary early. if you follow me on twitter or facebook you’re probably already in the know. and if you don’t, well you can wait until tomorrow. or follow me on twitter. or facebook.
lola is asking for a bath, ernie is wrestling the boys until they scream and cry and beg for more. there are rolls rising on the counter and espresso nearly ready on the stove. i like this gray and slow vacation.
more days of christmas ornaments above, can you guess who they are? the birds are harder than the people….
love that is true
December 22, 2009 | Filed Under ordinary, royal buffet | 1 Comment
a mere few hours of driving away and the snow falls continuously, silver blues and whites until plowed and blackened into slush. here, the kids ask if the morning frost is snow, by afternoon they think it’s warm enough for short sleeves and bare feet. though it really is not.
lola is taking an early nap. there are lentils and rice for lunch. dinner? a mile of day away. today i need to finish gifts, clean in places (studio?), play some games, bake more cookies. even snowless these things can be done.
these pics are of ornaments that didn’t make it into the shop for the year: twelve days of christmas ornaments from vintage sheet music and glittered gloriously. if you’re the planning ahead type, you can let me know and i’ll make some for you to hang next year. more images in the days to come….
christmas order aftermath
December 21, 2009 | Filed Under lists, royal buffet | 4 Comments
royal buffet search + find
clothes, coffee, plates with cookie crumbs. paper, string, bags of all kinds. glasses, cameras, things that are mine. things that are not mine, things that are lost, multiple half used bottles of glue. trash, trash, more trash. clips to re-use, shreds unusable, bits undecided. tape, cards, glitter abounding. broken lamp, broken ornament, lonely sock. anthropologie bowling bag of yore, pencil sharpener, italian fan. rug? the bard? broken lamp?