in good company

Have you ever turned on your computer to write a post about some awesome secret amazingness, and you open up your gmail to find your Bloglovin daily feed has a blog featuring the exact item you were thinking about posting on? Isn't that always the way? Oh well. Rather than deviate from my original plan, I'm just going to acknowledge it and revel in the good company.

I've been swooning over the work of Lucky Jackson of 365 Lucky Days for a couple months now, but apparently, I was way too lazy to dedicate any time to writing a post about her, so my discovery claim--obviously--cannot be staked. Boo to me. Let this be a lesson to you my lads and ladies, seize the day...even when the only thing it entails is writing about someone whose work you admire.

Not that coming late to the party diminishes any of this in any way. So, wolf eyebrows just featured Lucky in a delightful embroidery roundup. (Also included was the pure delight of Children Playing With Fire, which Catherine gushed over a couple months back.)

Basically this is what I'm embroidery lusting over:

Bill

Pee-Wee

Clean, simple lines juxtaposed with vibrant, energetic fabric choices. And personality for days and days. OK, let's be honest here, probably more like years and years. Lucky's blog documents 365 days of embroidered bliss--one creation for every day. And they're not all dreamy gents and funny men, but I think I'll let you discover that on your own.

Leonard

Paul

Johnny

Lucky's blog, which is--honestly--one of a handful of blogs that makes me grin ear-to-ear each time I check in (That's without fail, people.), can be found here.

You can also purchase several of her works (and even patterns) in her shop.

And view a zillion of her embroidery endeavors (including Ms. Amy Poehler!) on her flickr stream.

Still hankering for more? There's also a little video documenting the stitching of Iggy Pop.

I'm feeling a lot of giddy admiration right now, my friends, a lot of giddy admiration indeed.

Found Nest.

You may remember these pictures from Christine's Instaweek: California Edition 1, I have borrowed them to set the scene for my brief story about how I found a birds nest. It all started at a little park in Burbank...

Overlooking Forest Lawn Cemetery, final resting place of Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, and Walt Disney,

to name a few.

The park also borders the LA River, majestic, no? Anyway the very brief story goes like this; Ben and I took the scooter to this park to eat our Healthy Bites (amazing Mediterranean food), and enjoy the weather. I got to enjoy more than that because on the way to the picnic table I found a abandoned bird's nest!

It was on the ground and there was no sign of its owner. I would never take a nest out of a tree, but if the nest is empty and laying on the ground, then yes, it will become mine. I love it because you can see all sorts of different materials that the bird used to construct it. Little amazing birds.

This little dear now lives on my mantel under a glass canister (you know so the bird lice can't get out), on a pretty plate. Maybe I should set some of my ceramic birds next to it...hmm, I just might.

intergalactic planetary

Here's where yesterday's space musing led me... Why, if it isn't a bleach-dyed black clutch! The beginnings were in two black bags found at JoAnn's. They were on clearance for $3.00 or $4.00. I just purchased them like three days ago. So, it's probably something you can still find in their store.

Productive weekend

This weekend I sewed myself a skirt, finished knitting a sweater (albeit for a baby), and completed my Master in Public Administration program.

I'm glad that I have Mondays off.

SPACE:

The final frontier. You knew that was coming, right? Well, I bet Monika did at least. She could probably feel me typing those words through the invisible sister tether the three of us have. (Monika's activates when I engage in nerd activities, Catherine's when I think about knitting and making cookies.) Monika is probably pausing right now, thinking: Something's up. I wonder if Christine is watching Battlestar Galactica... Oh I will be, sister, soon enough.

Not the point though--the point is: SPACE. It has everything, right? Science, mystery, danger, energy, darkness and light, and the essential components of all life (let's just call it stardust). Oh, and a dash of romance. Wait, you say, romance? Ugh, yes. Any time you have that combination (science, mystery, danger, energy, darkness and light...stardust), you're going to have romance in there. I don't care whether it's space or sewers. OK, maybe not sewers. But then again, maybe sewers.

The secondary point is that I'm way covetous of any space-related item. Is it stellar? Is it cosmic? Love it and love it even more. I'm a super nerd that way. Here are a few of my current outer-space needs/wants/desires/obsessions:

1. This meteor silk scarf by Anabela and Geoff of Fieldguided

2. This Crab Nebula quilt by Jimmy McBride of Intergalactic Transport

3. This full moon stamp by Stephanie of Extase

4. This astrological necklace by Julie of Julie Nolan Jewelry

5. This star projector from Infmetry

Le sigh. To all of it. 

Of course, I can't justify spending $112 on a scarf right now, or dropping $13,000 on the most amazing quilt ever. Which is definitely not to say, on the off chance that one of the artisans of these lovely items happen to stumble across this post, that I don't think those items are worth their price tag. I do think Jimmy McBride's quilt is worth that much, and if I had tens of thousands of dollars to play around with, I would sure as hell buy that badass quilt. Know that. So, what is the point? I'm not entirely sure I have one, but I would like to note that I'm inspired by all these items. I think it's time to make something! 

SPACE: an infinite source of inspiration. 

storage

Confession: I don't have a system in place to keep track of a good many of my craft supplies. A large chunk of this seemingly unorganizable stockpile is yarn and wool roving. I don't know if it's just that these items are the bulkiest and therefore take up the most space, or that I refuse to shove them into a  cupboard or drawer because I don't want them to end up smelling like pressboard or something. Anyway, a decent portion of my fiber supply has found a fairly permanent home in this bag from the now defunct Pacific Fabrics. Witness my shame below. 

Pacific Fabrics in Puyallup was bomb. Giant frown over the fact they no longer exist.

Normally, the bag is shut up tight because I don't want my crafting shit to get all dusty. 

Spokane is very dusty. Truth. 

I decided to combine my surplus fibers with my surplus collection of cleaned project-ready glass jars. Yes, like my grandmother (who was a consumate saver of plastic margarine tubs and Cool Whip containers), I also save jars and jugs. Sometimes I have a project in mind, and sometimes I'm just preparing for a disastrous future event. I imagine that old pickle jars will have great value in our apocalyptic future times. I mean, what future bandit wouldn't be thrilled to trade a clean pickle jar for a pint of petrol? Well, I suppose a bandit wouldn't trade--he would just take the pickle jar. Damn him. 

Please ignore all the wrinkles in my fabric. I honestly can't be bothered to iron a thing. Some homemaker I turned out to be. 

For a great tutorial--I mean, why should I make one when a perfectly practical tutorial already exists? Plus, it always seems to be night in Spokane, making workable pictures quite difficult. How is that possible?--grab some bits and pieces of paper and your trusty Modge Podge and visit the lovely and amazing ladies (and gents?) at Design Sponge. 

Here's a link to their super-easy tute: paper scrap recycling. Always make things beautiful all the time forever.

Create, my darlings, create!