birds on a wire

...or a stick...but who's getting technical?
i am enchanted by birds sitting upon wires. it amazes me that they teeter back and forth, beak nearly pointed to the ground, but never fall. during springtime, houston sees a major influx of birds migrating back north after the winter. i wish i could say i knew all the varieties, but we'll have to ask my friend jaime about that....he's a nature wiz!
as a small homage to my love of birds and springtime  and all things handmade, i created these little guys on their own perch. i love the shadow they cast in the bright sunlight.

thanks to my sweet friend alison, who led me to the pattern for these lovely, sculptural birdies. you should see the mobile she made! my son loves to touch it.

cupcakes with love

i think i've noticed a cupcake fad lately. or maybe my eyes are big as saucers when it comes to any bite or two or three sized goodie made with chocolate. my guilty pleasure lately seems to be just happening by crave cupcakes in uptown park. they claim to have no preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, etc. they are not exactly organic but not exactly unnatural either. i suppose it's a better fetish than cheetos, which i am still known to indulge in if they are given away for free post fun run or on an airplane. yep, hand over that yellow #9! to my body's relief, i do find barbara's organics even yummier than chester's. anyway, back to cupcakes...
i've been making quite a few of my own as well. aside from my first ever adventure with butter cream frosting for a friend's baby shower, i've made some 100% natural, zero fat, super fudgy mini cakes that last forever. before you read and re-read my words in utter disbelief and go asking for the recipe, check out the photo.


my sister sent me this lovely little still life after she received her fancy cupcake for her birthday. another dear friend got an endless dessert on wednesday for her special day as well. i've attached little tags with a simple birthday message to the tops. i can just imagine myself behind a counter selling these by the baker's dozen. maybe i should make a felt chef's hat too! i am trying to figure out how to actually make money selling handmade goods. i don't know the best venue - online or in a physical space - but i keep having fantasies of a little store that sells all handmades by fabulous women. please please send along your ideas...and a yes or no as to whether you'd crave my cupcakes!

a whale of a day!

okay, so maybe that's the most overused way to put "whale" into a sentence but it kind of fits here....
shouldn't we all have a whale of a day on our birthday? i love love love birthdays and think we all deserve that one day...or week...or month to be celebrated! i got to have lunch with my mom and sister at a place called haven. it's my sister's fave, and quickly becoming a family spot. it's green from head to toe and everything on the menu is from within a hundred miles of houston. go local food movement! such an important thing for local farmers and small businesses. plus you know what you are eating and it's more likely to be real food versus all the fake stuff allowed in our diets these days. i mean who goes up to the counter and asks for some red lake #9 and a side of fries? of course you don't, but trust me it's in there...but i digress.
if i could have one birthday wish just for me, it would be to go whale watching. my friend katy and i are currently dreaming about it, so to make my wish come true i am posting my recently finished "jonah the whale" softie. it was fun to photograph him and make a little collage for the background.


and here he is from the starboard side of our ship.


has anyone seen, by the way, the movie "the science of sleep" with my movie star crush gael garcia bernal? making my whale collage reminded me of the beautiful scenes created with moving toys, felt telephones, and cellophane pieces. i would love to help create a movie like that. sigh. maybe someday, jonah the whale.
for my birthday my sister linsey gave me some cute little hair clips she found by an artist named mai mckemy. the care she put into her packaging is so splendid i almost didn't want to unwrap it! inside the tiny envelope is a little note in little letters reading "thank you!"


so it was indeed a whale of a day! here's hoping katy and i get to go whale watching someday, and we really will be in our little red boat on the sea...

hoot!

not too long ago, my husband and i were walking our mutts through our very regular (albeit wonderfully funky!) residential neighborhood. we don't live in the burbs, nor do we live among barns and woods. most nights we're lucky to see A star twinkling. that's houston for you. we are lucky enough to battle LA and mexico city for the most polluted cities in north america. three cheers for us. BUT on this seemingly regular night on our normal walking route, we looked left to see a small barn owl staring unblinkingly at us through the slash of light made by a street lamp. i thought for a moment it was one of those resin owls designed to keep pestering pigeons away, but it's head followed us...probably keeping a watchful eye on our frisky dogs. even though owls are pretty regular birds, it was one of those gifts from the universe to see one in our part of the world. kind of like i mentioned before, a little present that felt like it was especially for me.
i love owls. i love their silence and the whispering flutter their wings make when they spot food. i love the fact that their heads swivel 270 degrees, but not in a freaky exorcist kind of way. instead in a way that makes you feel like a weirdo for NOT being able to swivel your head! completely elegant, in fact, when owls do it. as of late i have been drawing a lot of owls and they have even worked their beautiful way into my wardrobe.


it started with a skirt. it came from anthropologie over a year ago. i love to wear it with my cowgirl boots!


then a batch of onesies i made to sell at my sister's open house featuring her beautiful stationery and my mom's fun necklaces.


then a little guy i made from felt (and on the back some beautiful african cloth with XOX stiched in).


just the other day i purchased this silkscreened t from the lovely and generously wise theresa o'connor at hello lucky!


and finally, i experimented with wool roving to make this handheld little guy for my 9 year old niece. he's my favorite! don't be fooled by his cute exterior...wool roving is done by incessantly jabbing very sharp, long needles into a bundle of fiber until you have the right shape. then you continue to jab details like the heart, eyes, and beak until the top fibers blend in with the body fibers. poor guy. i htink he understands a thing or two about beauty having a price!