Finally Finished.

As a mom I am generally extremely good at multi-tasking but come to find out when it comes to art, I am not. I finally finished two homemade paper and fabric collages that I started ages ago. TAda for your review...

I have been working in series lately. I read a great article recently (think I can remember who wrote it or what magazine it was in so I can give credit? NNOOOooooo....) where the author mentioned that if you were paranoid about "ruining your art supplies (always a hazard of the trade when you work with one of a kind ephemera) to do multiple pieces at the same time. She mentioned if you have one or more "practice works" cooking along side your "real one" you were more likely to go for it and not hesittae when you were creating. Of course the amusing part is your "practice one" usually ends up being a favorite!

Today was my studio day. I am supposed to create all day. Instead I:
*Spent a panicked 20 minutes looking for a lost comission piece (found it!)
*Did 6 loads of laundry
*Did NOT exercise
*Got into a fight with my daughter for serving her the dinner she requested (don't ask)
*Spoke to my sister the Beloved WebMaster 6 times
*Still haven't given her the answers she was looking for and
*Reprinted a comission invitation 3 times becasue my printer thinks navy blue should turn purple when you heat set it.
*Wondered where my day went.



Hope your day was productive.

Happy Friday!

Everyone that came into Stifel & Capra today was referred by someone else. That makes me feel really great about the shop and knowing that people feel positive enough about it to tell their friends. Yay!

We have the most glorious selection of things with flowers on them. It's like spring has busted out in the store! Vintage clothes (eco-friendly prom dresses anyone?), a plethora of Hawaiian shirts, and Merry Stitches personal and home accessories look like flower beds.

My mood is clearing not sure if it is the referrals, the sun coming out or Stan Getz playing piano in my ear but hoping you have a happy Friday too!

Viva Italia!

I think it is funny when I am treasure hunting I tend to find things in clumps. Like Italian pottery for example. In the past week I have found wonderful, unusual pieces for the shop. And then researching is like taking a little mini vacation! I learned de Simone the artist of the first 2 shots studied under Picasso (as if we couldn't tell!) and came from the aristocracy in mid century Italy.

The plates below are signed and are apparently from a resort town if my surmise of s/ means Sur Mer or by the sea is correct. Pardon the glare in that photo; the plates are more handsome in person.

I had a busy day of meetings. One of my vintage jewelry buyers confessed to me that she does repairs as part of her jewlery business. THAT opened a BIG can of worms as you could well imagine. We made an appointment and I brought Hazel and bag o' loot. Things that needed clasps, and wires and glue and re-stringing and re-working. She is working up a service contract for Stifel and Capra so if you have things that need to be repaired we should be able to accomodate you! Please let me know if that service should be an asset to you.

I also had a teleconference with a gentleman about beefing up our fine art reproduction capabilities. That raised more questions than it answered frankly but I guess I will learn! I'd much rather just wave my hand and say "let it be done". Hmmm, guess I am not charging enough for that kind of attitude!



Stop in this Saturday if you get a chance! The weather is supposed to cooperate and we have TONS of new items in for you to shop through. Plus if I drink a whole pot of coffee I get a little twitchy and Lord knows I don't need any help there! Enjoy the colors of spring.

A belated Happy Mother's Day

I decided my tension was showing among my friends when they kept asking "So how was YOUR Mother's Day?" in that tone normally reserved for people asking "How ARE you?" when you are really ill. You know the tone I mean! The one that says "I know it's miserable and tell me all about it so I can regale others with the details..." OK, so I know that is a mean and cranky thought and that pretty much sums up how I have been feeling lately!

After 2 weeks of less than charming temper tantrums, an exquisite overarching feeling of being done wrong in every facet of my home life, a crushing sense that I am the only linear member of my household (therefore the only one who can walk in a straight line to get from point a to b), and a general feeling of crushing fatigue I have come to the conclusion today (poor family that it took this long) that I am finally allowing myself to be overwhelmed because my convalescing husband is finally feeling better. Not sure what the psycologists would say about that, but I do know that I do not enjoy being overwrought in any way. It is so not my style. Ask my friends: I am the calm, sane one. That said, thank you, Judy for coming over and helping me on Saturday. I needed it!

On a happier note, Sunday morning we participated in the yearly Pinewood ritual "muffins for Mom" basically it is a pot-luck brunch with some of the neighbors. Lots of coffee, juice, tons of dad-made or bakery goodies, no crazy restaurant lines and great company. It is LOTS of fun! After church my family DID make it out for the annual Mother's day event of buying Mom flowers for the porch. As you can see we picked out some doozies! Our favorite nursery in the area is Craven's http://www.cravensnursury.com/ . They are not the biggest but they have fun things that you don't see everywhere else, not unreasonable prices and super nice staff. I was thinking of my mom a lot this year because her mother passed away recently so this is her first Mother's Day without her mom. It reminded me of my mother-in-law saying she felt like "an orphan" when her adult brother died. It reminds me to appreciate my family, even when they are driving me CRAZY.

These are a few of my favorite things....

I love old lables! They really add to the history AND the mystery of vintage clothes. Washington DC is not exactly considered the fashion capital of the world but its ladies HAVE dressed well for quite a while! I adore vintage hats. Some are frivolous, some are excuses for headware but all have a story that generally the modern admirer will never know.

I made the mistake of counting my hats one day this winter. The number is in the 200+ range. I am not incriminating myself as Bob was present when I was counting the last time! Some are gifts that I will never part with. My friend and fellow artist Valarie was down sizing her home last year and gifted me with lovely cocktail bonnets that her mother made. The cocktail hats especially have so much style. I wish more people wore hats these days. I have some hope as a lot of my daughter's friends wear hats although I will say the their collection of hats with anime animal ears isn't exactly what I had in mind when I am thinking fashion ensemble!

We had a great weekend at the shop. Hilary Barbour had a successful trunk show. I got to introduce a lot of new clients to her unique style. The worse thing that you could say about the weekend is that I wasn't in it much as we open extra hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Hubby Bob took his best bud Jaimey and their sons to the Nats game on Sunday. What a GLORIOUS day for a game. Cotton candy was consumed by the boys, cold libations by the men and the Nats won! Bob was full of tales of woe getting to and from the stadium. HE had to use his wheel chairs because he isn't up to long distance walking yet. Subway cars that weren't even with platforms, out of order elevators, and towering escalators were some of the hurdles the gang had to wheel, over, up and through to get to the game. If one WAS wheel chair bound you would have missed half the game trying to detour by accesible station or bus I suppose. Makes you understand why some people shell out THIRTY-FIVE dollars for a one day handicapped parking pass. eek! Regardless the boys took it all as high adventure and a good time was had by all! The genral concensus is that the park is beautiful on the inside and the fans are the best!

Today was a semi-productive day. My beloved sister and webmaster Robin came over to educate me on the rudimentaries of file copying and left her with four HUGE bags of items to post on the web site. That will teach her to tell me she doesn't have enough to do!

Look for those beautiful vintage items soon. And look for the newest organic lavender sachet collection by this weekend. I took a sample book and cut, stitched, clipped and turned the individual items today. I get my lavender from a family farm from my home state of Washington. It is pure and aromatic. The oild last in the sachet the better part of a year. Yum!

First Friday and Saturday AND SUNDAY!

The sun is shining , the weather forecast is perfect and we are fired UP for the weekend. Hilary Barbour from belle et bonne jewelry is here setting up her trunk show (YUMMY goodies, just in time for Mother's day) and I am actually ready ahead of time for tonight's FIRSTFriday of Falls Church event. Ok, well, not quite ready, I still need to buy more food and beverages for tonight, oh and blow up multiple balloons, and. Ok, so I am not ready. But the shop looks GREAT. Lots of new art and vintage treasures.

I am proud of my wondrous friend and artist Beth Loftis. Her painting made the Washington Post as the signature piece in Falls Church Arts opening announcement in the Regional Fairfax edition yesterday. Page 35 if you are interested!

We have special hours all weekend, so if you normally can't stop in because your schedule doesn't allow it please visit www.Stifelandcapra.com/events.php to get all of the scoop on this weekend aAND the rest of the month.

3 days, 3 doctor appts. All Good!

Bob & I went to the orthopaedic surgeon on Monday to get his 6 week evaluation following his hip replacement surgery. Those doctors are pretty clever. Bob really turned a corner 48 hours before the appointment. A few days earlier and the doc would have heard a lot more whining than he did on Monday! The news was all good. Bob is cleared to exercise, drive, frolic, pretty much anything his artificial leg will let him do.

Bob went to visit his prosthetist (artificial leg creator, mechanic and counselor) on Tuesday and Charlie gave him a thumb's up for proceeding with the building of his new C-Leg http://www.ottobockus.com/products/lower_limb_prosthetics/c-legproduct.asp . The "c' in C-Leg actually stands for "Canada" (where it was invented) NOT "Computer" which is what most people think! It is fascinating. Bob will strap a bracelet transmitter on his right leg and it will transmit information to a microprocessor in his prosthetic knee and will actually mirror Bob's gait and the slant of his step! This will enable him to walk for safely on stairs, slopes, just about everywhere! Needless to say, Bob is VERY excited to be moving in a forward motion again. 2 Round of physical therapy to go. One pre-leg to build up strength and one post leg to learn to walk on his new leg. Again.

You know your child has a little to much time on her hands when she can carve her vegetables into food purveyors before she eats them... I guess I should be impressed that she eats veggies. I know other parents are impressed when my son tells them he can't choose between asparagas and Brussels sprouts for supper.


Oh, and doctor appointment number 3? I went to the dentist yesterday and for once in my orally begotten life, everything was fine!
I did LOTS of treasure hunting over the past 2 days. Stop by and see what is new!

A Sneak peek for Jennifer!

I do so love making things! And it is even more fun when I know they are already paid for. It's hell being a middle class capitalist rather than a starving artist, or rather I should say an aspiring middle class entrepreneur! These pillows are for my fellow artist Jennifer for sundry gift giving occasions in her life. My personal favorite is the first one but I think it is because I am impresed with Grandma's arm muscles as she surf casts. We should all look so good!

As you can see, you can make a pillow for just about anything. To decorate your kid's room, mom's day, weddings, babies you name it, I have probably made a pillow or ornament to go with it! I really enjoy people's reactions when they see the pillows. It makes the occasional misstep all worthwhile!

Today is my birthday so wish me a happy day if you see me!

TA da!

I got a little crazy last night and "re-did" the guest room. My husband breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when he found out that just meant changing out the bed linens and art in the room and not painting nor busting out walls! Doesn't it look pretty? My aunt Maridel made me the lovely quilt folded at the bottom of the bed. It has great thirties inspired fabrics mixed in with the solids. The Pieceing and the quilting are first rate, just like my aunt!

The yo-yo quilt is a rare find I discovered at a church rummage sale last year. My friend Justine thought I was nuts to buy for the princely sum of 75 dollars but I couldn't resist all of the work that went into each and every round. The colors work beautifully in the room I do believe!

892 sixth graders, holy moly.

I look back and realize I haven't written in a week and I wonder what HAVE I been doing? One BIG thing I did last week (seemingly even bigger than my son's all school field trip!) was attend my daughter's concert in the Fairfax County Honor's Chorus Concert. It was very impressive. Not only the kids singing, which was sublime, but the logistics of getting almost NINE HUNDRED six graders in one place at one time, opening their mouths in unison was simply amazing. A lot of us parents want the conductor to come to our homes and tell our kids what to do! My daughter sang with half a dozen kids from her elementary school plus we knew four other children- friends from different schools that were singing as well. As a matter of fact, my angel friend Gretchen saw me standing in line for the ladies room (because of course although my daughter went when I asked her to before we left I neglected to go) and said "Friend, we have room for you!" and it was a good thing too or I never would have found a seat! Kudos to all of the music teachers in the county for working so hard to get the kids ready and to Hayfield Secondary for hosting. The school did an amazing job getting the kids and their parents (!) in and out.

Found these crazy pineapple pillows when I was out treasure hunting. Aren't they a hoot? Anybody have a surf bedroom out there?

Spring is in full rage in the Washington DC metro area. The famous cherry blossoms are on their way out but my first azalea is in bloom down in the back yard. It's funny, my house is on the shady side of the street and our flowers come out weeks after out neighbors across the street. The good thing about that is the spring last longer. The hard part is waiting for my blooms to emerge! Hope your spring has sprung!

13 steps but who is counting?

This last week has been a bit of a blur. Hard to believe it's been a week since I have posted. I have been full of good deeds done and received and been impressed by all of the good that is in the world (more on that later). I have been dodging the nightly news so I can concentrate on said good! On the Bob front he is feeling just well enough (3 weeks from tomorrow from his hip replacement surgery) that he is getting to be a pain in the back side. Actually really no, but he IS a lot perkier and feeling his oats. Wanting to push things physically and really go for it so it is all good. As long as he doesn't fall and mangle himself or others of course!

Friday night one of my neighbors wanted to host a neighborhood happy hour and called to see if Bob could come out and play. When the answer was "no". They brought the party to us! So we spent a very pleasant Friday evening munching, and drinking and talking. We are so blessed to be surrounded by folks that we actually like! Most people that see our 'hood in action really don't quite believe it is for real but it is!

The weekend was a real turning point for Bob, pain-wise. He has been able to drop his pain meds by 75%! So, thank you to all of you who have been praying for his healing. It is really having an impact!

Bob's big event for ths morning was he got to climb the stairs to the second floor of the house with Bill the physical therapist! Bill was really impressed with Bob's physical strength being able to manuever with both his operated hip and his prosthetic leg so king size bed and full size shower, here he comes!

One of my Fun Things To Do last week was put together a donation for the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry's annual fundraiser. NOVAM (http://www.novam.org/) was founded in 1987 by members of concerned faith communities in Northern Virginia who wanted to provide a compassionate response to the AIDS crisis. I put together this kid oriented donation because NOVAM does a lot of work with kids who are affected by the disease, whether they themselves are infected are perhaps have parents or caretakers who are.

IMAGINE is NOVAM's signature event featuring a fabulous evening of dancing, cocktails, dessert, live entertainment, and live and silent auctions. Many of Stifel & Capra's artists donate to this event. Just maybe because our good friend & neighbor Jane is the Children's Services Program Manager! The event is at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria on Saturday, April 26 at 8 pm. It is a high energy festive event so if it sounds like something you would like to find out more about please review NOVAM's web site for all of the details!

The sky's the limit!

One of my lovely teacher friends comissioned me last year to turn her annual six grade tshirt into something more useful (as she is not a tshirt wearing kind a gal) and I started to iron it and melted the decal, and ruined my iron. THIS year I am happy to report the 2008 version of said Tshirt is now successfully a lined totebag that is reversible to a pop art abstract (for when she doesn't want to admit she IS a teacher, I suppose...). Luckily my custom project sewing disasters are few, if you don't count the paint that got "put away" by an unnamed member of my household that leaked into a bag of finished projects waiting to be delivered. Note to self: if you had delivered them as soon as you were done this would NOT have happened. Luckily they are reproducable.

Not that I would have been reproducing ANYTHING on my printer. It died. When I have orders due. Past due now (see above). I determined through exhaustive research, that... oh I didn't actually DO the research I was just exhausted listening to the research that my lovely, analytical beyond my wildest dreams, husband did. I am more than a bit braindead from exhaustion these days anyway so when my brother-in-law offered to come over and buy and install the printer for me I was thrilled to take him up on his offer! Turns out that all the models highly recommended in "Consumer Reports" magazine are not actually carried in most major stores in the Washington DC metropolitan area. So Glenn and I soldiered off to the nearest big box retailer where I did exhaustive (there is that word again!) copy tests with an 1887 postcard of Thanksgiving turkeys (don't ask!). Picked a winner, wouldn't you know , it was out of stock. ugh.

Luckily Glenn has more perserverance than me at this point in the evening and shepherded me toward another batch of machines. One of these machines was an all-in-one that we saw boxed up in "printer row" without a model. Turns out that it was featured in the front of the store on an endcap. Of course I am thinking hhmmmm, could of just walked in a bought it but no, no I didn't dare let my thoughts go that way! The happy ending of the story is that I liked that machine, Glenn snagged the last one on the shelf (so if you are looking for an HPJ6480, don't) and I even got an instant $50 rebate because we turned in my old printer for recycling rather than take it up to my parent's house for target practice! Glenn got it set up like the tech guru he is, and say and drank a glass a wine and watched him, handing him wires occasionally. Now THAT is what I call teamwork! Thanks Glenn.

It's good to be 12, part 2

And 12 year old's receive some great gifts! Here are my some of my daughter's newest birthday treasures!

Bob Update: Well, apparently he did too much over the weekend and the therapist told Bob to "give it a rest" for the next 48 hours. We aren't sure whether he twisted his knee slipping or the fact that he has cut his painkillers in half are contributing to Bob's knee pain. Of course, right after Bill said to take it easy Bob asked if they could practice stairclimbing. This is what I am living with! No wonder folks are saying I am looking tired....