gray-marle aviator

I finally found the time to knit one of my popular hats to have in stock (they are usually special order only.) It's a beautiful, soft, gray-marle wool. Arlie and I went out to shoot for our stores today, and she got some beautiful pictures of it for me. The scarf in the last picture is one of Arlie's lovely shredded pieces which you can find in her store. Check it out:

terrariums

For my lampworking midterm, I decided to make glass mushrooms and "plant" them in terrariums that I made from thrifted containers and moss harvested from my parents' yard. It was a relatively easy and inexpensive project, and it got a good response. Several people are interested in buying them from me, so I'm pretty excited about that. I think they are adorable, and it's cool that the moss will keep living and growing in there forever if you take care of it. I also made a whole army of terrariums from baby food jars that I saved, and I'm hoping to make some tiny mushrooms for those soon. If I get around to that, the small baby terrariums will probably make an appearance on Etsy. Check them out:

mbgvintage

I have a new store! I had a few vintage things lying around, so I opened MBGvintage on Etsy. Check it out! http://www.mbgvintage.etsy.com

sold!

My cowl of many colors that was in the Etsy Gift Guide sold! It was a quick and easy knit (I basically knitted a short, wide ribbed scarf and sewed the ends together) and an equally quick and easy sale. I need to make more of them! I have a ton of scrap yarn in beautiful colors, so I can make a lot of variations. Maybe when I finish all of these hat orders. One down, two to go. . . I realized that I never posted pictures of the cowl on my blog, so here are a couple below:

etsy gift guide

Oh Etsy, I love you. I don't have enough time to put into my store and it doesn't get much attention, but every now and then I get a pleasant surprise. Arlie texted me today and told me to check out Etsy's Winter Accessory Preview Gift Guide. Sure enough, there I was on the bottom row! It's my "Cowl of Many Colors" which I knitted from scrap yarn. I'm so excited to be in a gift guide, and I'm hoping that a bunch of people will place orders soon!!! Below is a screen shot of the guide:

the happiness project

I just posted about this on my Senior Portfolio blog, but I know that some of you don't look at both. Anyway, it's kind of self-explanatory, and pretty cool. Charles Spearin pairs the natural melody of the voice with musical interpretation. Check it out.

Matt Schwartz

I discovered a new photographer today. Well actually, his images seem so familiar, but I'm sure I have never heard his name before. His photographs have such a beautiful, vintage vibe. Check out his store/website and a few of my favorites below. Oh and I hear his prints are for sale at Anthropologie as well.

the lace-edged blanket

I spent my entire summer knitting this baby blanket. It was custom made for Ellie and Sami to send to their cousin in Miami, who just had her first child. I had never knitted lace before, and I was really happy with the way it turned out. It was knitted entirely on size 3 needles, fits a crib perfectly, and it felt like it took FOREVER, but it was beautiful and worth it in the end. I hope she loves it!

lately

So much, so much, so much. I haven't blogged (on my personal blog) in so long it's ridiculous. I've been so super busy going to class and blogging for class, and being a mom, and knitting a blanket(!), that I haven't had time. And some of the motivation is gone since Mom is here every week and she doesn't rely on the blog to keep up with Henry anymore. But anyway. . . You can see what I've been blogging about and what I'm working on for my Senior Portfolio class here.

So, I'm posting some random recent pictures below. You can see how long Henry's hair has gotten, see us playing at the park, check out what the dining room looks like these days, and look at a couple of things I've made recently. I decided to tear my duvet cover up into strips, stain them with tea, and tie them together to make fabric yarn. Crazy, I know. I'm knitting/crocheting tote bags out of it now. They are extremely sturdy, and I think I'm going to be able to get several out of it. I will probably keep one and the others will appear in the Etsy shop soon (I hope.) I've also been taking a lampworking class, and I've posted a picture of my first attempts at glass beads below. It's an awesome class - the teacher is Emilio Santini, straight from Murano, Italy, no less. I hope to be at least decent at making beads by the end of the semester. . . and maybe some other cool things. We'll see. Oh and - insert drumroll here - mom reupholstered the loveseat! If you never saw it before, it was black plaid with holes in it. NOT attractive at all. Now it's a gorgeous green for only $9 and hours of work. Thanks mom! Enjoy the photos. Hopefully I'll post again soon!

stamps

I've been browsing quite a few antique stores lately, and at the Covesville Store, I found these really cool stamps from an old printing press. So of course I bought some. I got my initials, a fancy lady, and Henry's name spelled out in various fonts. I played around with them today, and decided to use my initials for my store. I want to stamp something for Henry, and probably put the letters themselves in a shadowbox for him. Here are some photos of my test stamping:

the living room gets a face lift

After living in the same apartment for three years, we finally got around to updating the living room. The walls were antique white when we moved in, the futon had a red slipcover, and the other color in the room was black. Black furniture, black rug, black curtain, bleh. I have had enough. Last week, Mom helped me paint the walls a warm brown, brought in new curtains, new rugs, new pillows in bright colors (orange, green, pink, turquoise), and - the best part - it's baby-proof!!! Henry has his own play space, and is free to roam the entire room. Unfortunately, we didn't get any exciting new furniture. We're still using all of Ricky's hand me downs from Grandpa Bill, and my few thrifted pieces from Goodwill. It may not be the most impressive display of interior design, but to me, it's amazing. Check it out:

Our Coors Cowboy has a new place of honor:

Henry's side of the room, complete with faux-fur zebra rug covered foam tiles (a kitty-obsessed toddler's dream):

The faithful futon and papasan have seen us through college:

My beautiful boy, loving on the rug he affectionately calls "kitt-y":

more booties

I completely forgot to post about these. I think they're adorable - very summer-preppy - perfect for the Boonsboro area, where I am currently spending my break. I just added these to my store on Tuesday, but I'll probably pull them from my inventory there and take them to Virginia Handcrafts to sell instead. We'll see. . .

hair

I was growing my hair out. I have some romantic idea about long flowing tresses. But that never happens for me. Long hair is beautiful. . . on other people. Long hair always makes me feel frumpy, so I got it cut. I was originally going to go a lot shorter, but my stylist was hesitant and I let her have creative freedom today. It's slightly asymmetrical, really layered, and longer than I wanted, but I really like it. I'll probably get it cut shorter the next time I go to her, in August. For now. . .

scouting

While I was out of town this weekend, I saw this:





These are not the best pictures, I know. I took them out the car window in a hurry as we drove by. This is an abandoned mental/children's hospital, and it is state-owned, so I couldn't get close to it at all. I am dying to get inside though. I would love love love to photograph the inside of it as a continuation of my Abandon Series. It's not a particularly conceptual body of work, but it's beautiful. And I feel the need to make beautiful art all of the time. There is something so attractive about abandoned places to me. They have such a quiet, secretive beauty that I find irresistable. Anyway, I'm going to find a way to get in to these buildings, and when I do you better look out for some gorgeous images! I hear it's haunted, so it's going to be a fun shoot.

staunton/stuart's draft

This weekend, I tagged along with mom and Asher to the Junior Bowling League state tournament in Staunton, Virginia. We drove there early Saturday morning and spent the night. After Asher bowled six games Saturday morning, we were left with a free afternoon, so we drove out to Stuart's Draft to see my good friend, Griffin. Griff was the first friend I made at VCU, and we're in the photo department together. His family owns a produce stand/country store, as well as a huge, gorgeous farm that I am completely in love with. We spent the afternoon touring the farm, and showing all of the animals to Henry. It was so much fun! Henry loved seeing the animals, I loved being out in the country (it made me miss my parents' farmhouse in Elon - I kind of wish we still lived there), and mom and Asher enjoyed it too. Mom took pictures of me and Henry, and then I took over my camera again to get some portraits of him in the hayloft. Thanks for taking us out to the farm Griffin! It was absolutely breathtaking. Below are some photos - I'm afraid they don't really do the farm justice, but they are pretty nonetheless.