Saturday Succulent Success!

On Saturday, my mother came down and we ran a bunch of errands. One of those errands was to go by the bark and garden store across town. Wouldn't you know it, I came back with two new succulents! Adding two more succulents meant it was time to shuffle things up a bit. I also purchased a couple of new pots since I had big plans to combine lots of little pots.

Without further adieu, Peanut proudly presents...the succulents!

I picked up some charming little plastic animals in the Target dollar bin last month,
and I finally found the perfect place for my little giraffe.

 She's about to eat my burro's tail succulent!

I noticed after these pictures were taken that the little price tag end is still sticking out of the giraffe.
(It almost looks like a giraffe penis...ssssshhhhhh.)

 I made sure to mix it up a bit.

 This is one of the new additions. It's a sedum and also a form of donkey's tail. I love it.

The yellow pot was picked up at an antique store in town. The pale green and the yellow compliment each other nicely.

Peanut approves!

In case you were lucky enough to pick up some of these budget-friendly animals at target, 

here are a couple of other crafty ideas I've found on Pinterest:

Animal valentines (actual Target animals)

Painted animals

Glitter animals

(my favorite) Animal bookends (actual Target animals)

$1.50, well spent.

I got this plastic pencil pouch at Micheals for $1.50. Cute, right? 

You should maybe get one. But be warned, it does smell like plastic. But it was $1.50! 

urchin necklace

I made Monika and Catherine necklaces from some of the sea urchin spines I collected in Malibu. This is Catherine's necklace. Yes, I did have to twist the spines from the urchin's shell and scrape a little tissue from the ends, but it's not like I didn't clean them. The last time I was home, I plucked another bagful of spines from my urchins because I'm formulating some plans for earrings and more necklaces. And when Catherine and I head out to California in April...oh, you know we'll be collecting more gifts from the sea and turning them into wearable treasures. Guaranteed. 

St. Valentine's diorama

I wanted to make sisters Monika and Christine Valentines dioramas for February the 14th. I wasn't exactly sure what scene to display, but after I found some cute little polar bears (picked up last time I was visiting Monika in Burbank), I knew that a lovely little arctic scene-in-a-box would be just the ticket...

fortnight

I was poking around on my usual blogs, as I tend to do in the evenings (when I should be sleeping), and came across this sweet video on Fieldguided. I thought it was really neat to see someone handcrafting a bra. It was sort of a tender, delighted moment. Did I just make things strange between us? I surely hope not. 

MADE IN CANADA from FORTNIGHT LINGERIE on Vimeo.

The video is super-tiny. I don't know how to make it larger! Another awkward admission. Any advice? 

MONSTRO!

Youngest sister Catherine does quite the oil paintings, as you probably already know if you follow the blog. Note the recent post Amateur oils. Luckily, I am her sister and get to benefit from these lovely oily gems.

This most recent Christmas she painted me a picture of one of my favorite scenes from Disneyland. Monstro, the monstrous sperm whale from Pinocchio! He opens his mouth up wide to swallow the charming little boats from the storybook ride. The trick is not to be scared because when you emerge from the darkness of his belly, you are in a magical world of miniatures, which I love!

"Pinocchioooooo..."

The Christmas prior to that she gave me this sweet little portrait of Miss Olive B!

"Oh Olive."

If you love pet paintings as much as we do you should definitely check out these other painting posts by Catherine!

You should probably paint your pets

Cats and corgis!

Whiskers on kittens!



new plant best friend!

I made Mom accompany me to Watson's Nursery in Puyallup because I wanted another tillandsia.
And isn't it lovely? I don't know if it's evident in the picture, but this tillandsia has a wonderful fuzzy coat.
New plant best friend!

Small Town Saturday Night

I was very homesick this weekend--yes, again--so I risked a trip to Tacoma. I knew there was a snow situation in Snoqualmie Pass, but I thought I'd be able to sneak through unscathed. Unfortunately, as I neared the pass conditions worsened and I finally resigned myself to either turning around and heading back to Spokane, or finding a place to stay over. Thus, I ended up spending the night in Cle Elum, WA.

At the Traveler's Inn. My room smelled like horse dust. From a very, very dusty horse.

I had to buy a bunch of necessities, like contact lens solution and toothpaste and beer, all of which I didn't have with me because I thought I'd be at Mom's house by 6:30. Obviously, I wasn't prepared for the possibility of weather delays. What a terrible former Girl Scout I am.

But the weather was fine on the eastern side of the state. See? Columnar basalt cliffs along the Columbia River. 

Here are the wind turbines along Ryegrass Summit on the other side of the Columbia. Doesn't everything look promising?

But the pass was all "compact snow and ice and multiple accidents due to adverse weather." Boo. This is entering the Wenatchee National Forest the next morning. 

And heading up the pass. Pretty, right? But let me tell you, the roads were not pretty. 

I tend to allow myself to get really worked up when my plans are foiled. It's annoying for others, I know. Usually when my plans go awry due to weather conditions, I attempt to get myself back on a reasonable track by thinking about Lewis & Clark or fur trappers dealing with similar weather. Something along the lines of: I could be in this exact situation but with a mule train. More often than not, this little exercise puts things into perspective. 

Still, I regret nothing! 

And I rediscovered my Hal Ketchum cd. 

Up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear...

Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and I love hot air balloons! Even though in Mary Poppins no one sings about hot air ballons, they do sing about kites, and hot air balloons go to higher heights than kites--so I think it's fitting to invoke those movies. Also, does anyone else remember in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when Grandpa Potts sets to the skies in his little house?

1,000 PINS!!!!

Yup, just hit the 1,000 mark on pinterest. Kind of impressed with myself right now. And what exactly did I pin?

how to make origami koi

 Aren't they neat? This was actually a repin, which I found via Bianca Chi, via Whip Up, via Mabona Origami's flickr. So, that's the whole lineage. Super nerd!

pocket totems

Seriously. I love these sweet pocket totems by Danielle Pedersen of Handy Maiden. She sculpts her animals from polymer clay and then meticulously paints each one. Their vastly different expressions, some serene, some hesitant, some perturbed, are incredibly endearing, and I think Danielle makes wise animal choices, too. I want to live inside her tiny sculpted world and hold hands with her hedgehogs and servals and lynx...and hold trunks with her elephant.
Dream come true. 

hedgehog pocket totem

serval pocket totem

lynx pocket totem

And I think everyone should receive an Extraordinary Mallard medal. 

extraordinary mallard medal

I've been admiring these for a couple months and even though I don't need a pocket totem, I just keep thinking my life could only improve if I had one of these little beasties riding in my pocket. I'm sure you'd agree. 

tiger pocket totem

For more sculpted clay sweet babies, sweet babies, visit Danielle's etsy shop.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

+

=

Compass valentines for the sisters. 

Cardstock, gold paint, watercolors, game spinners with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Compass valentines accomplished! I hope they arrive in time...

you + me = we

Happy St. Valentine's Day!!

Turkey & Peanut

My cat Penelope (Peanut) doesn't really know how to sit like a cat. Instead, she resembles a butchered turkey. 

Her little legs don't quite get tucked under so they look like turkey wings sticking out from her body.

Plus she's on the toilet in this one...

 She sort of did this as a kitten, but as she grew older, her "wings" definitely became more pronounced.

Because this brings me such enjoyment, I decided to felt a mini Peanut-Turkey in her honor.

Peanut loves her look-a-like.

Capturing a photo of Peanut in turkey-mode has become something that Nicholas and I try to achieve
each and every time. She's a quick one that Peanut, so we fail more than we succeed.