LOTS going on...

One of the things I grump about is the county where I live's obsession with "being busy". Actually felt like we joined the ranks last weekend. Belated Mardi Gras party on Saturday-

Blew up TWO HUNDRED balloons for the Cub Scout's 100th Anniversary Blue & Gold dinner. Worked,worked,worked and then neglected to make the basket I promised for the Marshall High School all night grad party Fund Raiser . OOPS! Luckily Tatiana was patient and I am happy with was we donated. Give it a bid!

need a DC Souvenir?

As requested, here are some examples of Washington DC area pillows I make from vintage postcards.

Had a great time at the Falls Church Arts opening last Friday. My blue haired girl collage titled "It's not just a Phase was one of the first pieces sold. Hooray!

The Ladies make their debut!

The Ladies are making their debut this evening at the Annual All Member Falls Church Arts Show. The opening is this evening if you care to join me! For details go to www.fallschurcharts.org . I had a blast treasure hunting earlier in the week. But I. Must. Stop. I have GOT to get through the intimidating MOUNTAIN of paperwork I have been accumulating. My resolution for next week is to just systematically go through all of the papers, requests, forms, etc. and take care of each one as I touch it as opposed to just shifting piles back and forth, dragging them back and forth from home to studio to shop. Wish me luck. And if you have any hints, do let me know!

A sense of accomplishment!

This go round we didn't so much shovel snow as chisel it! Good neighbors Phil, Sheila and Bill came out yesterday and helped me pry (literally) packed-into-ice chunks of snow but with a little help from the snow we got the bulk of the sidewalk clear, Whew! I am glad I don't have to be concerned about pedestrians being impaled by our monster icicle installation. The shop is set back far enough from the street that we can just enjoy them.

As most of us are in cabin fever mode it amused me to make this "nesting" oriented collage. Hope you like it!

Here it comes again!

Thank you to all of the brave souls that ventured into the shop in the last couple of days. ALMOST made the shoveling worthwhile. These icicles are out of Angela's studio window. Energy efficient, no but beautiful, yes!

The weatherman says we are due for another 10 to 20 inches between tonight and tomorrow. As you look at this pile under Jane & Sandy's studio window I am not sure WHERE we are going to put the snow. *Sigh* Please check in here for the latest shop info. Be safe.

More Re-Birthday Photos

more Re-Birthday Party Photos

Record snowfall, lots of muscle.

Hey I made it! the view out my window this morning seemed rather impassible but having friends that live on the main drag helped me sweet talk Phil & neighbor Jane over to the shop so we could our "obligatory so we don't get fined business shoveling" this afternoon. WHEW! What's intimidating is that they are talking about freezing rain on Tuesday and more snow on Wednesday; eek! Don't know that DC can handle it.

This weekend is the anniversary of when my husband Bob had to have his leg amputated to save his life after suffering complications from a strep infections. What does one do to commemorate such an occurrence? Well, at the Stifel House we throw a party! With the snow 30 inches deep outside our surprise out of state guests couldn't join us but our awesome neighbors made for a rowdy, loving evening. The industrial sized bottle of Advil (for shoveling aches) is blocking the third candle but this is indeed the third year since Bob was hospitalized. Hard to believe that it has been that long. I will always be grateful to all of my friends and neighbors for all of the care, love and support they showed me and the kids during the long ordeal and even now.

I love you honey. I am happy you are still here!

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

It's been snowing since 11 and I can still see the roof of my Explorer so I am feeling confident I can get home from the store when we close at 4. Gotta tell you though, I am having a blast here. I am thoroughly enjoying all of the ladies who are preemptively conducting retail therapy to forestall the upcoming cabin fever! As you can from the stalwart customers modeling "new" Stifel & Capra fashions the storm door that Bob & Phil have installed is working so well that Lucy can show off her painted toenails!

I am bumming we will not be hosting FIRSTfriday this evening but will rely upon you to come out in force next month! Tell me if you think we should do a rain check in February...

Here is the companion piece I made for Vera. This collage uses a lot of the same elements. It is not quite finished. I need to decide how to treat the loose gold thread that is hanging from the bingo card. Beading perhaps?
The plan now is that we will be closed on Saturday and ride out the storm at home and then battle our way in, shovel out and then open for business on Sunday by noon. Will keep you updated!

Meet Vera! (But not this Friday.)

PrimaVera that is. If her face doesn't ring a bell from last week that is because she got a new one, face that is. The other face didn't seems sassy enough for this chapeau so, "Off with her head!" Not really, the other face will reemerge elsewhere down the road. Except for her stuffing, Vera is made with all vintage and salvaged materials. As a companion piece I also started a collage with some of the same elements. The photo below is a "in process" shot. Will take another when I am finished.

If it is the week before FIRSTfriday you will likely find me rearranging the shop and all of the elements therein. I enjoy giving the place a fresh look. I will say the job was bigger than normal this month. Last month was "clear out the Christmas trees" tidying so everything else just got kind of shoved aside. This week it was pull expired consignments, find the fallen treasures, sweep the hidden dust bunnies and put out the new merchandise. Eek, some of those bunnies were more like dust cows. It seems all my primping and fluffy efforts are in vain though as we are having a (pick one: 1foot, 2 foot, 3 foot) snow storm tomorrow.

The hysteria is so widespread that the County has cancelled school for tomorrow and the snow is not supposed to start until 1pm. This from a school system that has already used up all of its snow days and is now scheduled to be in session during federal holidays. Oy.

I DO plan on being in the shop tomorrow until it seems sensible to leave or 5,whichever comes first! If the weather pundits are wrong, and there is no snow, we WILL have FIRSTfriday festivities. Please tune in here for the latest info!

Your tax dollars at work

Work up at 5ish on Monday morning to the sound of multiple transformers blowing. Oddly enough I didn't actually hear the tree fall. I guess all of the power and phone lines must have broken the big tree's fall. This looks like a quiet residential street but let me assure you there were a LOT of cranky commuters on Monday when they couldn't drive too fast across their favorite cut through street! Lots of muttering, cursing and detouring to get to work! Many thanks to Debby & Howard who provided auxiliary power to the assorted laptops and cel phones on the street. Kudos to Dominion power who had the tree cleared and three to power poles installed and switched back on by 9pm that night. They were working steady through all of the onlookers distracting entreaties. We all gave a "hip, hip, hooray" to celebrate the fact we had heat (and refrigeration!) for the night...

Life is disjointed. And so at the moment is my latest project! My latest art doll's inspiration piece was a beautifully embroidered appliqued fingertip towel that seemed better suited as a fancy bodice than to hang unused (because it is far to pretty to actually use) in some one's bathroom. Stay tuned to see how she progresses.

It takes time.

My sister Robin (known to all far & wide as the left side of my brain) gave me a Amaryllis on Christmas Day. I think hers is about to bloom but as you see mine is poking along. It will get there, eventually. I get impatient and then I think of the fact that I have daffodils in my yard into April, tulips until May or June and azaleas until summer. I guess there are some advantages to living on the shady side of the street but I don't always see them when I am impatient for thing (plants, flowers, events) to happen.

I guess it's like my innate disability to do almost anything physically right the first time. I took tennis lessons one time and my teacher told me delicately that I had "poor muscle memory" meaning it took a looooooooooonnnnnngggggg time for my body to "remember" how to do something "correctly" (in this case, poor man, swing a racket). It's hard for me to try new things because it takes SO much effort, especially when I am comparing myself to others. I need to remember even the things I AM good at now it took me a long time when I first started to get up to speed. Why is this a topic of thought this am? Maybe when my phone got stolen I just bought a new version of the same one I had before. Maybe because I got a new laptop and and all I have done in 4 days is take it out of the box and look at it because I don't want to be tortured by new technology. I seem to forget that it will save me time in the long run if I learn how to do it right in the short run. I can hear my mom's voice saying that in my head. Of course she was talking about scrubbing the bathtub (do kids even have chores anymore?). Of course I am lucky, I can call Mom and get more advice whenever I want. In the last week my friends Janet, Beth & Jodi all lost their fathers. Time to remember what they taught us. All my regards-

It's not unusual (well, maybe a little).

So our (young) friend Mark is turning 40 and decides to throw himself a costume party. The theme was come as your favorite rock star. The birthday boy dressed up as Tom Jones, complete with chest hair, swivel hips and various under garment purportedly thrown at him. Not surprisingly my husband Bob was Elvis.

That's me on the left dressed like Kate Pierson from the B52's. Now if only I could sing like Kate I'd be all set!

My weekend was capped off by taking a truck load of girl scouts down to the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater in Wood bridge. We had a blast critiquing the time warp 60's decor but the production (of Agatha Christie's Spider Web) was first rate. The leading lady in particular was superb! How was YOUR weekend?