A New Hat

Each year around this time there is a phenomena called March Madness that involves baskets and balls and colleges. In this there is a time when out of a field of all the college basketball teams the field of all gets narrowed. First you must be invited to play in the tournament at all, then there is the "Sweet Sixteen", then the "Elite Eight". Now...think about that ,only the parents of  students of 8 colleges or universities in the USA can boast on any particular year that their child's current school is part of the elite group. We were so privileged to be one of those very parents two years ago when Mary Moore was at Davidson. She gave her father a hat commemorating the event.

Well..what are the chances that if you fast forward two years to today and our Catherine Clare would be needing to buy her father that same hat, but in green and yellow and reading "2010 Men's Elite Eight BAYLOR".
We got to host 17 of Catherine Clare friends last night to a sleep over after the game as this year it was played in Houston!
And then there is tomorrow when Baylor plays Duke in this very game. Maybe Clark will get a chance at a "Final Four" hat. We shall see .

Easter Sweaters

White cardigan children's sweaters with bunnies and birdies at Etsy.

Oh Lily

Today my little friend Lily told her mama that her green frog appliqued t-shirt was just a little too silly for a six year old to wear to school. Lily is one of my favorite all time people. She just is just so sensible and not afraid to share her wisdom. 

Lily and her dad so graciously wearing my hat creations at the Christmas Play "The Donkey Project "last December.

Lily showing me her "Fancy Nancy" birthday costume maybe on her 5th birthday back in the days when a frog applique was still okay to wear to school.

Tiles are back

I have been working on a really fun tile project that was finished yesterday!

Here are the guys installing it.

The inscription by Ralph Waldo Emerson is a favorite of my client it reads:

Life does not move so fast that there is not enough time for courtesy.  Let there always be time, too, for sharing, and for gratitude.

The same house has some fun additions in the breakfast room that we recently added to.

I painted the cutest light fixture red with white details, monogrammed some lampshades, made a pleated edges and trimmed the monogram with taffeta checked ribbon and old buttons.

My very creative and fun client had seen a wooden valance that I had done for someone else and envisioned the same thing in her breakfast room. She already had the cute curtains and the red tray ceiling.

The framed print on the wall is a darling Christmas Card from the White House since she once worked for First Lady Laura Bush. It was where all the fun colors from the breakfast room came from!

There is more to come from this house soon.

 

A Boy Named Sue

Mary Moore, my daughter who is at the Glasgow School of Art created a puppet show for her last self initiated project. It's up on her blog. You will enjoy it!!

Gonzo and Camilla

One of my favorite blogs is Juniper moon Farm in Charlottesville Virginia. She always has the most incredible photos of her little friends!! These are her new twins!!

Suzy is the shepherdess and these are the little twins right after they were born. If you go to her site there is also a video with the two babies!! Called "Portrait of Cuteness".

Missing Mail

I bought this cute book on embroidery and sent it to my oldest daughter who is in college at Vanderbilt. Today she received the USPS package I sent it in. Only one problem....inside the package was a book on flute and piano duets....and some packing tape closing it (which I did not put there).  Is anyone you know missing a book on Flute and piano duets??

Confidence

I think we can at times think too much and do too little. Sometimes success comes after much failure. but it might not have come at all if had we not tried.

So go forth and try....and have confidence! In the end it will all work out.

            

New Lamp

My Etsy shop finally has some new items. Here is one I am excited about.

I really have always liked functional art. And this handpainted wooden lamp does indeed work.

Character

Mother's Day in the UK

Yesterday was Mother's day in Britain and my daughter Mary Moore who is living in Scotland celebrated by making dinner for her flatmate whose mother died five years ago. Mary Moore's blog wished me the sweetest Mother's Day!! Thanks Birdie!!! So sweet!!

In front of the Vicarage in Headington Quarry where we spent the summer of 1994.

On the ferry to the Isle of Wight 1994

An English Carriage ride.

The summer  got to be a mom in Britain! So sweet to remember and be remembered!

Evie times 2

I have two friends that both named their little girls Evelyn and call them Evie. The two Evies just happened by chance to both be at my house one day and I sat them on my red checked sofa and took their picture. They are both so cute that I thouht you might like to see what Evies look like!!!

Tiles

I am immersed in tiles right now. I am working on a tile fireplace that will be revealed next week, but in the meantime here are some house number tiles.

These live outside my house.

These are in the mail to a house in Dallas.

They are painted brown terra cotta tiles then covered with 3 coats of white glaze, then painted on top of the glaze with the design you see and then put in the kiln and fired at a million degrees for lots of hours. The process of painting on top of glaze is called Majolica. It does not allow for mistakes....

Inspiration with Fabric

Last November at the big International Quilt show in Houston I found some adorable fabric that I thought I would do a new line of children's clothes with. But I woke up yesterday with a different idea. I stretched the fabric on some frames and gessoed and painted it. So the cute fabric is now my painting canvas!!

It reads"Behold a child is a blessings of the Lord"

It reads "All creatures great and small

The Lord God made them all."

My friend the Hero

My friend Ronda was a true hero this weekend as she took care of a household of 5 college students home from college for spring break. The dear ones brought home with them a nasty stomach bug that took bags of IV fluid from the emergency room to recover from. And my dear friend made four separate trips to the emergency room with four sick ones throughout the weekend. She never caught the contagious bug herself, barely got to shut her eyes before the next trip and kept her sense of humor all along. For this I think she deserves an award.

Lovely Liberty with Tartan

I think if I were a child I would only want to be dressed in these clothes. I love the way she mixes Liberty of London with Scottish tartans!! Here is the site Papo D'Anjo.

Inspired by Eric Carle

This is him with his sister who is 20 years younger.

I think that it is really great that the author of "The Hungry Caterpillar" Eric Carle has  a blog. I hope when I am 80 I will want to participate in the cutting edge of whatever technology is around then!!

The Creative Connection

Check out this event which is going to be in Minneapolis in September! It looks like a not to be missed time for anyone that loves Country Living Magazine and such. I got an invitation to be a vendor and am planning on being there. The former Editor of Country Living Magazine Nancy Soriano is the creator of the event. She was the Editor in November of 2008 when my backpack picnic basket was in the magazine.

The Creative Connection

Child and Animal Photography

There are some amazing photos on this website. pawsnpix

Oh Honey

One of my favorite artists has a very good blog

http://mmlowenfield.blogspot.com