Spring has Sprung!

We had a lovely FIRSTfriday night last week with DJ Gaskin (that's us surrounded by all of her glorious paper art!). There is still time to sign up for her workshop. Just contact me if you have any questions.

There WERE flowers coming up under that three foot snow bank. Hooray! Nothing like a couple of sixty degree days to beat back winter. Here are my first crocuses. The other chore that got accomplished this week was my beloved family cleaned off the debris of winter and fluffed the front porch for spring. Give me a couple of weeks ad I will have the vintage pillows and the big libation pitcher out there as well.

Come meet the Crazy Cats and the Lioness Poet!

My husband NEVER buys me "make-up" flowers but one of my artists that missed an appointment did. Thanks Bud! Certainly added a little sunshine to the desk during the yucky weather. They lasted a full two weeks, make that a lot of sunshine!

I found the craziest lamp the other day. Do you remember those huge console tv's in the 60's? Well it was all the rage to dim the lights to get the best view on your humoungous tv. The only light in the room should be the discrete glow from a small lamp on top of the television. Hipsters might have one like this cool cat lamp. Made by Kron, it has a bulb in its cutout back so the kitties cast an aura around their perimeter as well as through their funky eyes. Groovy!

Tomorrow is FIRSTfriday in Falls Church and I am featuring the work of Lioness Press founder DJ Gaskin. Dj is a poet, journaler, art book creater, card artist and beautiful person! Come meet her and all of our resident artists, have some snacks and see what is new from 5 to 8 tomorrow, Friday,March 5th. I REALLY missed everyone last month because of the snow cancellation so I sure hope you can come out and paly on Friday!

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.