Friday Finds

This Weeks Friday Finds are some great vintage reference books found in a funky fun local used book shop.  At $2 each I could not resist this classic illustrations and funky quirky motifs. They Both deal with the same subject but use it in a completely different manner

Fun Vintage Reference books for the Artist  

Beautiful Classic Illustrations 

Fun Motif Ideas 

Motif Ideas in Use.

  Decorative Plant and Flower Studies for the Artist and the Craftsmen, is a beautifully illustrated book by  J.Food of many different types of plants, flowers, and trees. It was originally published in 1906 but this republication was printed in 1982. The original had beautiful colour plates and that was sadly omitted in the current publication (Second photo from the top). 

Flowers and Designs to Copy is a fun retro book full of charming paining and images to copy! Yes Copy! As a graphic artist I think this gives me free reign to go wild appropriating motifs and ideas. Some of Lola Ader's  suggestions for use are cupboard panels, decoupage and TV Trays... 

I can't wait to start playing around with them... and though I will not copy them directly- you may see some elements from both books pop into my work!

Monday Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek 

What do we think of this for a nice spring design?

I haven't figured out colours or background yet, just playing around with pattern.

And what would I put it on? 

Friday Finds

I have a favourite shop and I have to show incredible restraint when there.... but some times I give in and I am usually right about it... So please Husband forgive me. 

Here are my Friday Finds!

If you are ever in Bellingham WA check out Penny Lane Antique Mall! I walked away with the mid-century modern bar cart.

I love making creative whims!

I love making stuff and therefore am always happy to support my daughters creative whims... because really who am I to talk? Macrame, knitting, sewing, felting, printmaking, painting, ceramics,  illustration, fabric dying etc? well I've tried it all (most)... some have stuck and I continue to grow those skills and others (to my husband's relief) I have dumped... One thing I am happy to support is origami, it is more of Miss B's thing than mine, but I appreciate the tactility, folding and construction of taking a plain unassuming piece of paper and turning it into a thing. So perusing the internet one day looking for lettering examples I found a paper alphabet that intrigued me enough to file away in the back of brain/pinterest to use as reference. And this is what I did with it....

Alphabet

This is for a Spoonflower competition- Calligraphy... Would love it is you checked it out, maybe even vote for it...

Gather Free Printable Wednesday

The word Gather was floating around in my head and this is what I am came up with....

If you would like your own Printable version click on the bird.

I am not normally a sentimental person...

I am not normally a sentimental person but...

While watching an online class* (on November 10th) and doodling I guess I was subconsciously thinking about November 11th...  Growing up it was always observed with a poppy and a poem. Today I will wear my Poppy....

In Flanders Fields

by  Lieutenant ColonelJohn McCrae. 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

      Between the crosses, row on row,

   That mark our place; and in the sky

   The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

   Loved and were loved, and now we lie

         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

   The torch; be yours to hold it high.

   If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

         In Flanders fields.

 *for those that are curious I was watching a pattern design class (why the poppies are repeated) taught by Molly Hatch on Creative live.... Well worth the time to check out!!!

Have you Hugged Your Chicken Today!!!!

We had a very exciting night.... 

Someone (me) forgot to secure the chicken coop.

Hug Your Chicken

We woke to a terrifying sound, a cross between a small child and a cat screaming, but muffled. It was 3 am and it took a few minutes to register that it was an animal in distress.  With in moments my husband and I were out in the yard looking towards the chicken coop as three of our four birds walked the plank to safety... What ever the sound was, was no longer coming from the coop, in fact it was quiet, too quiet. Then we saw a large grey fat body, striped tail and a smattering of feathers. Our hearts sank. I cursed myself and kept reassuring my girls who were now huddled underneath a board. 

But the question remained what to do with the remaining birds with the big fat raccoon hanging out on top of the coop roof? My husband threw stones at the fence hoping to startle it, that just made it advance, it had its eyes on the three hens, probably trying to figure out which one to pick off first.  So my husband found the biggest rock he could and hurled it at the intruder. With  reluctance the bandit ambled off. 

Shovel in hand (we had now armed ourselves with yard tools) we threw open the coop door. We didn't know what to expect, violent murder scene, more beady eyes? But nothing. The coop was empty. Thinking that it had already made off with one of the birds we bundled our girls up and returned them to the coop, blocking both entrances with heavy bricks... All was calm for now, Jeff canvased the hood to make sure we were not abandoning an injured bird but there was no sound. Whatever had been done was done and it was silent.

We admitted defeat and our (mine) negligence and crawled back into bed. Sad, sad that an animal in our care was carelessly treated and sad that we were going to have to tell our children. What were we going to tell our children? It took a long time to go back to sleep and once, when we almost were there was another large bang and shuffling in the backyard... instantly awake again Jeff checked the yard and sure enough the raccoons were back (2 of them) checking on the bricks that were luckily holding their places. Reluctantly we fell asleep, dreaming of hens and racoons.

Some time around 6:30 as it was getting light we heard our remaining girls making their morning sounds, they sounded loud and mad and I was envisioning them hollering at me to let them out of the coop of death and mourning their lost comrade. We also heard the pitter patter of feet (more like thump thump- my children are not graceful) running from room to room doing what ever kids do when they are trying to be quiet. 

They were totally unaware of what happened during the night. As my husband I were getting dressed to face the day we started to have the preliminary conversation of how/what is the best way to tell them.  When I looked outside towards the coop and there pecking and clucking next to the door was our fourth bird... Dora.

PS... Hug Your Chicken

is a PDF if you would like to download it...

Let me know if you do!!!

We all Have Rituals.... How do you Measure Your days?

We all have rituals and mine is coffee in bed, made by my husband of course....

There are very few mornings that go by when this does not happen... He is traveling (and I have to make it myself) or we are both travelling and he goes to the nearest coffee shop. I am truly both spoiled and lucky.

But aside from that...

Ritual

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,	50
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume? T.S. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

As for measuring my life out with coffee spoons this is a true thing.  So many

life events revolve, change and slip away but I can attach them to this one ritual.