can you feel sad and happy at the same time?

how on earth am i going to leave this?

this weekend i spent some time sitting by the fire out in the blue room, as it's come to be known - not to be confused with a bar by the same name in a little middle-of-nowhere town in the upper midwest. i tried to soak it all in. of course, the house has been for sale for awhile and i've known that i will have to part with this room, and in many ways, that's ok. there are things we learned from it and will do differently the next time (more square meters and better lighting). but oh, how i have loved this space - i have literally whispered "i love you room," upon entering on more than one occasion. there's just something so right about it. something that it's hard for me to define. it is at once light and roomy and yet cavelike. that must be the combination of lots of windows on both sides and the dark, rich, turquoise paint i chose. but it also has to do with the creative corner, where i sit, completely surrounded by art supplies - stamps, tape, paint, paper, fabrics, you name it, it's there.

these essential ingredients all come with us. when we go, all that will stay behind are the little wood burning stove and the blue walls. i haven't even decided if i'll leave the linen shades. i was always going to make them longer by adding some fabric to them, but i never got around to it. i've got to check to see if i need them on the windows in the new place (we still haven't heard whether our offer is accepted - there are some challenges (which may or may not involve morse code, telexes and possibly a dog sled team) reaching both parties to the sale).

although i'm sorrowful to leave this space, i am already scheming and planning the new space. i want that end wall that needs to be torn off anyway to incorporate various reclaimed windows, i want a balcony with a little office/computer space that overlooks the big room below, i want more space for books and better shelves for the fabric stash. i want a bigger table that's better for cutting out fabric and patterns and a big wall for laying out quilts. and the colors, just imagining the colors is exciting.  it might not be turquoise this time around. maybe it will be white with purple accents. or green. or a completely different blue. or a hot-blooded magenta. i don't really know. yet. but i think having all of these exciting possibilities is what will get me through the sorrow of leaving this beautiful space behind.

* * *

i've just drastically marked down everything in my etsy shop. i really don't want to have to pack these things up and move them, so do check it out. i'd much rather package them up all pretty and send them to you! there are a few helleristning stones, a couple of pillows, a baby quilt and a scarf. i know winter's almost over, but then you're ready for next fall!  there are a few of the spice line of clarity birds left as well in the big cartel shop, so if you'd like one to fly your way, go there. there will be a new line of clarity birds for summer (after the move). i'm also putting off the art journal course that i mentioned that i was planning until after we're settled into the new place - i had never announced dates anyway so we should be cool there. i just know my time will definitely be limited in the coming couple of months. we've got a LOT of stuff to pack!

rearranging in the blue room

blue card translation: "one has an opinion until one blogs a new one"

the pink one, i think everyone can read

green card translation: "'god is dead' - nietzche 'nietzsche has just been erased from facebook' - god"

as soon as i felt better yesterday, precisely 36 hours after beginning to feel sick, i went on a cleaning and tidying frenzy in my studio, aka "the blue room." blog camp approaches and it needed a good tidy. i changed out the things that were hanging on my inspiration wall and so now these postcards, which i picked up in a café not long ago are there. i thought they were all pretty clever. also changed out the MOO cards, putting up some different ones.

but the biggest project was sorting and folding my fabric stash and making some "shelves" for it out of the wooden crates that our weekly organic veg comes in. since we are, after all, making an effort to consume less this year, it seemed like it would be good to put those boxes to use. you can see them beneath the iPod HiFi. makes it MUCH easier to assess the color ranges when it's all visible like this.

i think you can actually learn quite a lot about your taste when you organize your fabric and see it all in one spot. i tend to like bright, fresh colors (lots of teals and greens, surprise, surprise) and rather scandinavian prints on white. and i've bought a lot of fabric in ikea.

and i finally hung up the little copper whirling dervishes i bought in istanbul last october. aren't they sweet? and they have a little evil eye bead to ward off any bad vibes that might try to get into the studio.

i'm working on my blog camp prezzies today in between getting some letters ready to go about my freelance writing business (yup, i'm available for writing assignments if you know anyone who has a need, especially someone who wants to tell stories about ships).

#1 in the 2010 year of creativity

a little viking ship stamp carved from an eraser.

i forgot how much fun it is to carve stamps!

#2 - cloth goody bags for blog camp 3.0
i won't spoil the surprise by telling what's going in them.

ok, i'd better get back to work. i'm not quite done out there. hope you're enjoying your thursday. the giant ball of fire (what's it called again? the word has fallen from use around here) actually put in an appearance in the sky today, so my spirits are lifted considerably.

picture inspired by spudballoo's far superior pylon picture.

these aren't really pylons so much as the light poles on the street in front of our house.
taken at 9:20 a.m. this morning. (thanks char, for asking whether it was sunrise or sunset.)

glorious weekend

it was a glorious weekend. sunshine and definite scent of spring in the air. time spent with an old friend i hadn't seen in ages. freshly-baked bread for dinner. a major clean-up/air-out of the studio. gathered a whole lot of stones on the beach (some of the ones below we had before, so not ALL of those in one go), but plenty of new materials/inspiration.

why yes, that is a metal basket full of rocks hanging out conveniently just outside my studio door.

do you think it's possible to fall madly in love with a rusty old pickup that's sitting by the side of the road?

gorgeous polish embroidery found at det blå marked in haslev. major treasure!

evidence of sunshine in my studio today. it looks so beautiful shining on my sari. i had the sari out, looking at and wondering if i should just have a bollywood party or turn it into something else...

and these, the coolest (and starting to be biggest) 8-year-old feet on the block. she's so hip with her red converse all-stars.

and the first report of brazil just in from husband: "so far, brazil looks like the balkans in the jungle."

i found that hilarious beyond belief. 

if you've been to the balkans, you would too.

more tomorrow. our time changed today, so i'm going to try to adjust.

so far, it's been great, but i'll be sorry tomorrow morning.

all is quiet

we woke up this morning to a winter wonderland of snow. it's still gently coming down, but it feels awfully warm out there, so i don't know how long it will last. it was enough that i had to shovel in front of our house and the neighbors' (they're in turkey). normally, husband would do that, but he's away all week, attending a course. it was so magical being out in the gently falling snow that i didn't mind shoveling. in fact, it was a rather invigorating way to start the day. and i felt justified in having bought purple furry bumper boots, since you totally need such boots in the snow. and they leave a pretty footprint:

it's funny that it's actually no quieter than usual, but because the world is white and the contours softened  by the snow, it feels even quieter. the only sound i can hear is the crackling of the fireplace downstairs and the cat snoring (she's really got a problem, i wonder if we should have that checked). it feels like it will be a productive day.

yesterday was productive too. i had a knitting lesson from a very nice lady who works at sabin's after-school program. she has wednesdays off and we agreed to meet down at a cafe and have a coffee and she'd teach me to knit. she did help me quite it a bit on how to hold the needles, but it still feels like a stressful activity to me. i tried to knit last night while watching t.v., but found it very difficult. but perhaps it will come. i love the materials of knitting--soft yarn of natural fibers in beautiful colors, wooden knitting needles. they feel so good in your hands that i am drawn to it, despite the tension and what i call the retarded monkey stance i end up in when i'm knitting. i'm sure once i get the hang of it, i'll relax. because knitting is supposed to be relaxing, right?

i also finished my mad quilt-in-a-day project . i guess i didn't actually succeed in making a quilt in a day, since all i finished was the top that day, but i do blame my old sewing machine, which simply couldn't handle quilting together a layer of fabric and a layer of fleece. fleece is actually rather temperamental in its behavior towards a sewing machine.  but yesterday, i made the binding (after a couple of false starts involving my (in)ability to see angles and envision how they will turn out) and sewed it to the quilt. because i was "cheating" and not really quilting, but sewing a quilt top to a fleece, i was able to sew the binding on with the machine too, rather than by hand as the last step. that made it much faster and it turned out really well. for a first attempt. and i really do love these fabrics from ikea.

it will be comfy and cozy to snuggle up under in the writing house/studio/atelier these days. tho' the fireplace was installed last week and it's WONDERFUL. it warms things up quickly and i haven't subjected my hair to flames in over a week!  i hadn't yet shared a picture because i keep hoping for a day when the sun is shining and the light is better, but that hasn't come, so here's the picture i took last friday of the first fire.

although i had intended to tell travel stories today (memories are coming out of the woodwork as i read paul theroux's pillars of hercules), i guess you get domestic homey musings instead. i blame the snow, it has me nesting and hunkering down inside. i think i'll go get materials to make a fairy costume for sabin's upcoming school play. she plays a little fairy in sleeping beauty. my travel adventures will keep 'til tomorrow.

seeking inspiration

as the paint shapes up on the walls in the writing house, i find myself increasingly thinking about how i want to decorate out there. i chose the dark colors (the ceiling will be even darker) because i want it to have a cozy, almost cave-like feeling and i chose the rich turquoise because i want it to have a moorish/turkish feel. i'm going to have all kinds of creative supplies at hand and yet another sideboard (with 12 drawers) to use as a work surface. but, i'll have quite a lot of wall space to do some interesting things.  so, i've been looking for inspiration and finding it...

in an interview with artist kat mcleod on design files ...

and this cool stuff by artist jeff canham on design for mankind...

and here ...on danish art group superflex's website

and this fresh, funky embroidery by megan witmarsh, also found on design for mankind

my latest obsession and daily visit is design for mankind, erin does the best tumblr i've seen yet. and she has a cool magazine too, that's a free download. totally worth checking out next time you need inspiration.  i'm not sure yet how i'll put all of this inspiration together, but i am confident it will gel in my head and come together somehow. perhaps i'll embroider bold statements on small canvases and group them together on the wall....so many possibilities.

lazy weekend at home

a blissful weekend at home. an autumnal sun is shining its golden light. we've managed to restart our energy for finishing the house. we sort of lost our steam after the big party and the place is far from finished, but our energy and creativity are returning.

the electrician was here this week, so we finally hung the fabulous tom rossau lamp in the dining room. the other one will go in the kitchen later today.

then, i put up several test spots on the wall in the writing house to try to determine what color to paint it. i want it to have a very moorish feel and i've bought gorgeous anna maria horner fabrics for pillows and such, so i want to match the rich colors of those.

i got to smash up some lovely black tiles to make a mosaic for around and underneath the fireplace. very cathartic once i got past my squeamishness at smashing them with crow bar.  i came to a bit of a standstill yesterday and have to return to it today with fresh eyes. that happens sometimes.

and finally, a few blissful hours looking through inspiring books acquired in singapore last week.

although i like to fancy myself quite the career woman, it gives me an enormous sense of contentment to have a weekend at home, nesting. puttering around, cleaning, straightening, roasting a chicken, making breakfast juice with the juicer. there's just something about being home, sitting at the dining table on sunday morning with the sunday papers and a big pot of tea. maybe i appreciate it all the more for not having been here much for two weeks. absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

hope your weekend was a good one, wherever you were.

what a difference a day makes

july 5, 2008

july 6, 2008

july 7, 2008

july 8, 2008

july 9, 2008

it won't be long before i'm writing this blog

 from inside the "writing house" above.

i can't wait!!!

but first, i have to decide what color to paint it on the inside...

ahhh, luxury problems.