Curious Bird

show and tell

Hey there,

Okay, so first I have to rub in the fact that it's supposed to be in the mid-70's in the city of brotherly love tomorrow. I am going to ride the wheels off my bike if it gets above 65 and that's a promise! Heck, I might even try to join in on a round or two of that strangely interesting game of slap the ground and pass the ball I mentioned yesterday.  {does anyone know what I'm talking about when I describe this game? surely someone does. if so, I'm really curious}

I've been busy creating lots of special orders lately and I thought I'd show a couple of things off. The Imago Series was quite popular and the piece above was a special commission I did last week. I have created nine so far and I'm considering revisiting the series a bit more. Perhaps I'll explore that in the weeks to come...
I think it would be nice to have some  pieces available at both Art Star and Renegade this year. Speaking of Renegade, it looks like I'm going to be sharing a booth with the super talented Linda of Little Flower Designs. I'm really excited about this and loving the idea of putting our work together under one tent in Brooklyn this summer.




And here's one of the bi-fold wallets I've been making recently. This one is off to it's new home in someone's back pocket or bag in Brooklyn. {If anyone is interested in a wallet, drop me a line. leya(at)curiousbird(dot)com}

Okay, gotta run...it's meet up with my peeps night.
More soon.

Happy Spring,
l.

beet stained hands

just a quick hello before I take a little weekend blogging break. I have so much to do in the next couple of days and all I can think about is making elaborate salads. salads with toasted nuts and loads of colorful ingredients. salads with grated beets {like the one I'm making above} call me a salad freak if you want to, I can handle it. besides, spring is coming and I have proof called daylight savings time. isn't it a little early this year? anyhoo, don't forget to "spring" forward on Sunday morning.

if you're in Philadelphia this weekend, don't miss the Shadow Craft Fair at the ICA curated by the talented and lovely Sue. I'm definitely going and I'm sure there will be tons of handmade goodness.  I would have loved to participate, but couldn't due to my trip. The idea of getting stuff ready for a fair after being gone for almost the entire week before was just too stressful for me. Perhaps next time. Speaking of craft fairs, I'm all signed up for Art Star as of today. I had a great time last year and can't wait to participate again in June, this time as a local Philly crafter. wow, we've already lived here for 7 months.

have a great weekend.
l.

1000 miles later...

After a five day trip down South to lovely Virginia (Charlottesville, mostly) and then on to North Carolina, we're home once again. The trip was lots of fun and quite a whirlwind of activity. We saw everyone we planned to see, although we didn't get to explore any real nature in the form of camping since we overplanned a bit on this trip and simply couldn't squeeze everything in. Actually, it got pretty cold where we intended to camp and camping in the cold pretty much means going to sleep at 8pm in order to get warm and not have to be five inches away from a smokey fire. We'll get up to the mountains once Spring comes. It's coming, right?

Highlights of the trip:

*O Suzannah in Charlottesville {great shop, but I can't seem to locate a website. darn}
*Artichoke Pate' with toast points
*a ton of great fabric was scored
*AND a new sewing book
*a visit to Carolina Thrift
*listening to this, this and this on the drive.
*seeing babies and hearing plans and names for two who are very much on their way.
*being able to invite faraway friends to our wedding {in person}

Well, that's it for now. I have a few photos on flickr with more to come. 

Be well,
leya

back in a flash

Photos from a fantastic day spent with lovely friends who mean so much to me.
I miss them already.

The move is only two days away. I'm managing the chaos pretty well considering our house is filled with cardboard, the refrigerator looks sad and deserted inside, and we're in the packing stage that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Please tell me you have encountered this stage and it's not just happening to me? Here's what it entails: today when surveying the room, I saw several taped and labeled boxes but there was also a board game, a jazz record, some random cords, legwarmers, and a pair of horse bookends just lying around. Why these random items haven't been packed already is beyond me? Perhaps D is playing a trick on me?  The box that all that stuff ends up in will certainly be hard to label. I think I'll just write: Dustin/Misc. on it and call it good.

In addition to all of my/our moving drama, I think the cats are definitely starting to disapprove of the cardboard world we've created for them.  I'm sure they will be elated when we begin the 10 hour drive north. Poor boys. So many moves, and still so well adjusted. Philly is the last big move for a while, we promise.

Before I get back to work, I wanted to say adios and mention that the shop will be closed for a while. Mid August to be exact. As far as the blog goes, I'll be checking in every so often --hopefully once or twice a week, but won't be back in full blogging swing until August due not only to our move, but also my yearly New York summer camp position. Yes, for those of you who aren't in the know, I co-direct a summer camp for 200 amazing kids ages 13-17 every summer in the gorgeous Hudson River Valley. This year will be my fourth year (hard to believe). Dustin has been my camp side-kick for three of those four years and he's in the mix again this year. It's tons of work, but we get to do figure eights in the golf cart, speak trucker lingo on the walkie talkies and laugh hysterically most of the day, so it all evens out.
Stay tuned for camp tidbits and photos, which I'm certain I won't be able to resist posting from time to time.

Bye for now, my friends.
L.

clouds taste metallic

I hope your weekend was beautiful and relaxing and all the things you needed it to be. Mine was excellent -- the sky was breathtaking and we ate very well thanks to our lovely friends Brooks and Sherri. Speaking of good food, I recently started reading a few food blogs. I know, I know, it's crazy, I have enough to keep up with in the craft/design blog realm, but I was introduced to one by a friend (well, it was more the delicious plum sauce she made but whatever) and as you probably know, one blog leads to another and another....eeeeeek. 
Here are a few I love so far: (careful, your blog favorites are sure to increase)
Orangette
Seven Spoons
Toast


After today, I'll be pretty blog free this week due to a wonderful camping adventure we have planned.  Have a great week.

Cheers, L.

living out of a suitcase no more

Hello friends! I'm officially back from Philadelphia and Art Star. We rolled into the driveway late last night after spending ten long hours on America's highways. I have always loved a good road trip, but somewhere along the way I forgot how exhausted they can leave me.  A little more rest would suit me just fine.


So....Art Star was fantastic even though it didn't look so great in the beginning due to heavy rain and lots of wind. (Thank you Mitsuyo for loaning me the canopy, I would have been a little crazed without it.) Luckily the downpour stopped, I was able to set up, and the lovely supporters of handmade goods came out to play. My favorite part was getting to cross paths with several people I have become friends with through blogging and/or curiousbird.com
Sue, Mary Beth, Linda, Rebecca, and Joy to name a few.
I even had the pleasure of meeting readers I never knew were out there reading.
I really appreciate those of you stopping by to say hi.

In case you're curious, here are some Philly highlights since we had several things to accomplish in addition to spending two glorious days at Art Star.

• We found a place to live! The process was very exhausting -- think rain, bad directions, too little for too much money, etcetera,  BUT we found a place we like -- it has it's issues (all of our places do) but the location is sweet, I will have a studio space, and sunlight pours in, so all is good.
• We had numerous wonderful dinners with friends.
• Trader Joes
• I ran smack into an old friend from San Francisco. He lives in Boston now and was visiting Philly making it all the more strange. We had drinks and caught up. I love it when that happens.

Okay, now I must do laundry and regroup before settling back in to my routine. Only three more weeks living in North Carolina. I can feel the stress starting to build a little.

Take Care,
L.

Hello friends! I'm back from a short, but very sweet (and much needed) camping adventure. Why we don't get out in to nature more often, I'll never know. It was wonderful heading out of town and creating a little place in the quiet to spend time with our lovely friends, chow on some pretty excellent camp food, (that's prep work going down in the photo) and wake up with the birds -- oh how I love that.  I'll take smokey campfire clothes and bad coffee any day to wake up like that. As you can probably tell, I'm feeling pretty refreshed.

I'm keeping it short today...too much to do and I'm trying to prolong my computer-less weekend a bit. By the way, Dustin says a big Thank You for all the sweet thesis comments. He's pretty blissed out right about now. Aren't we all? He deserves it for all the hard work and dedication he put in. Go Dustin. Go Team.

Until next time...
Here are a few links you might like. I sure do.
This lovely glass ring. Oh my.  link courtesy of Cally
Pure zakka loveliness to be found here.
and Lisa Stickley's marigold collection.

More soon. Be Well.

I struck gold...when it comes to friends

You've probably figured out by now that I recently had a pretty great 30th birthday. It was such a terrific birthday for numerous reasons -- Dustin was super sweet, and I had a great party, but to top it off, I received some of the best gifts from my friends, both handmade and purchased.  I don't want to brag. Actually, yes I do.

A Pirate Ship embroidery from the talented Laura. She did such an amazing job...and she just started doing needlework. Look out world.


This sweet little painting on wood was done by my lovely friend Liz. Mortimer (see part of him in the upper left) is really smitten with this painting. Not as much as I am, though.


Mitsuyo brought me this amazing hand-etched Owl cup from her recent trip to Japan. eek!  owls.

And those are just the gifts I have photos of. Leah, my lady in San Francisco picked me up a new work by Jill Bliss, although I have to wait until Jill's show comes down at Doe. Thanks, Leah. I can't wait.

Have a lovely Spring day.

shadowplay and sailboats

Every so often my friend Jessie and I like to get together for a lovely afternoon walk -- we take our time strolling and chatting and usually end the whole adventure by getting some type of beverage. Now that spring appears to be in full swing (at least I think it is), I hope we can find more time for our walks because I truly enjoy them. I took the shot above when we got together last week. I suppose it's no secret that I have a thing for silhouettes and shadows.

Other things that make me happy: Fabric. Here's my most recent fabric score, which was found while thrifting yesterday. Although it isn't actual cut yardage (it happens to be the most hideous jumper/dress thing imaginable) I still love and have big plans for it. I suppose I'm a sucker for boats of all kinds these days. Perhaps I was a sailor in another life.
here are some other nautical-themed items I've had my eye on recently.
a link to this fantastic card by Jezebel was sent my way by my friend Mitsuyo. she sent me the link thinking I might be interested. she was right. and you can never have too many sweet tshirts.

ta da!

wow, what a whirlwind these last few days have been--a lovely whirlwind, I might add. the spectacular crafternoon took place on saturday and boy was it, well, spectacular.  lots of talented crafters showed up with quite a variety of lovely handmade items, and the space we were in was really beautiful. oh, and the kicker for me was, I basically got to hang out with friends eating fancy treats and drinking coffee all afternoon while at the same time selling stuff I have so much fun creating. here are some shots from my scene at the crafternoon. also, a great big thank you to my boy Dustin for all the curiousbird display help he offered. he is quite handy when he's not being a mad scientist. quite handy indeed.



a closeup of my table. the shadowbox collages were a big hit, which made my day.
also, at the last minute (typical) I screen-printed some peacock cards, made a few wallets (also big sellers--none left) and crafted owl, tooth, and bluebird magnets (the kiddos loved these).


pillows galore.


I'm sure I'm scheming about trying to trade something...

the lovely laura was my neighbor and I think our tables looked fabulous together. we had fun and I was lucky to be gifted with not one, but two of her fantastic coloring books. thanks, laura.

okay, so that's the play-by-play. have a great day.