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In just a few weeks- I'll be teaching a workshop at Bloom hosted by Rose Mille in Stillwater Minnesota, just 40 minutes from Minneapolis/St.Paul ... This workshop will be a fun, open, 3 hour class where we'll make a little pom pom bird and create a personalized shadowbox for her to "nest" in. I love the idea that that we're all surrounded by so much love- so this little bird is nesting "in a family tree". I've written all the names of my loved ones on the leaves of this blooming branch. Come make your own with me on May 22...




Sign up for just my workshop or join in for the weekend and learn from Kaari Meng and Michelle Rose Jorgensen too. This event will be held at Rose Mille- a wonderful shop in the heart of Stillwater... come to create and stay to shop the many many antique shops which line the streets of this charming river town. Check out all the details here.

Ohhh and for everyone who loves fabric, loves to quilt, or just likes to be in the crafting know- The International Quilt Market in Minneapolis is the same weekend!

today on the worktable...

bears bears and more bears...

Things are Down and Out-

If you've tried to make your way over to my website today- and got an error message, Fear Not! I haven't really gone anywhere, I just made a few changes to my website and things are virtually moving around, so my website will be down for a day or two.

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In the interim- check this out...
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Letter Playground (via ungtblod)= Artists and Designers and Letters and Fun. The Best Part about this website? Anyone can participate- so not only are there hundreds of different styles, designs, and illustrations to browse through, but if you're so inclined you can join in. Here's a particularly cute illustration of my initials by Eric Comstock:

dreamy kid projects-

I found this amazing blog today- Manuales (via Fine Little Day). While it's all in Spanish and I have no idea if these projects are all taking place in school or in special workshops or how exactly they're being made or why other than the sheer and obvious pleasure in it all- All I know is I will be checking back here regularly- for a number of years. It's stocked with perfectly simple little ideas for afternoon projects. They're all really so good it was hard to choose one- but check out the wine cork animals...

Check out more photos here including images of these fine young artist at work.

here today, gone tomorrow!

The Special Order Bear Offer will be open for one last day... I've gotten so many orders and I can take a handful more- so if you've been thinking about it- now's your chance!
I'm already cutting, sewing and getting all the little ladies under way... this is going to be fun. ~JM

Let the ordering Commence!

All information and directions for ordering your Special Order Bear is now up on the website. I hope that everyone who wants to place an order has the opportunity. I will be taking orders until I have as many as I can fill before May 17th (which is the date that all orders will be shipped by). Needless to say this will be a limited offer- but fingers crossed it stays open to all for a little while! Ok- Have fun looking, deciding, and ordering!

How to place an order-

Hello All!

So, ordering will begin tomorrow - Friday at 12noon- and while it's really self-explanatory, I wanted to give you a sneak peak into the format so you know what to expect.

Step One:

Choose a color for your bear and a style for her dress from the drop down menus.

Next:

Type the message you'd like for a flag/flower and the Name for your bear in the space provided. If you don't want a flower or want me to name your bear just leave these blank or leave me a note. Fill out your full name and email address. Click on the ... continue... button and at the bottom of the page.

Step Two:

All of the details of your order have been sent to me, but your order hasn't been confirmed until you send your Paypal payment. Click on the "place your order" button to be directed to Paypal to send your payment. (I'll only be accepting Paypal payment for this offer.)

Send your Payment:
Log in to Paypal and confirm your order with your payment. THANKS!



Let me know if you have any questions!

combinations:

Here are my dress recommendations for each color of mohair. I know it's always tricky to make such big decisions without holding the real thing in your hands- so I thought it might be helpful if I narrowed down the color/dress combos I'm the most fond of. Plus they're just kinda pretty images- no?!
Once you decide which color mohair you're leaning towards, just click on the image above, to bring up a bigger copy to look at in more detail. Ordering will be open tomorrow (Friday) at 12noon CST!

all the lovely dresses...

Check out all the dress designs available for the Special Order Bears... I love these colors (sure would like one of each in my size). The website will be all ready and you'll be able to begin placing orders for your bear this Friday.

More color and dress combinations...

I've spend the day working on the new Special Order Bears and the Website- I hope to have all the info up on the New Bears page of my website soon and Ordering will begin on Friday! I'm loving these combinations- there are just so many good ones to choose from it's hard to choose which to photograph!

a flower can say it all...

I heard a mother say this to he son on the playground today and it kinda killed me. "Be Sweet" I think that might say it all for me. But- if you have a different set of words melting your heart, I'll be happy to make a little banner/flower/sweetnothing for your Special Order Bear to hold- Ordering will begin later this week! Check back for more info.

a handful of my favorite combinations!

I'm still gathering everything for the Very Special Order I'll be offering later this week- but here's a sneak preview of a few combinations I really like... I'll be posting more tomorrow including a few additional dress designs. I'm thinking about adding a little flower for each bear to hold with a sweet message of your choice- could be cute cute cute.

I'm so Excited!

I've just gotten off the phone with Michelle from Rose Mille in Stillwater MN and I'm going to be teaching a workshop next month at Bloom! Both Kaari Meng of French General and Miss Michelle Rose Jorgensen herself will be teaching classes all sent in the beautiful Rose Mille Shop Classroom. For anyone who's never been to this shop or to Stillwater in general- it's well worth the trek. Plus the International Quilt Market in Minneapolis is the same weekend!

Stay Tuned for all the details or check out the Bloom Website (I'm not up there just yet- but hey, we just decided everything today!)

pick a color any color-

It's been quite a long time since I posted a Special Order Bear- hmmmm the last time was December 2008? Wow- It's been a long time. So for those of you who don't know what I'm taking about, I'll be offering a Special Order where you can choose:

• the color for your bear (from 6 beautiful hand dyed colors)
  
• the design of your dress (from 8? different designs)
• the Name for your one-of-a-kind Bear

I'll take your order and add just the right finishing touches and send her off to you in the middle of May (hopefully by Mother's Days for those who'd like to gift this little lady!). Usually I'm able to keep the offer open for a specific amount of time, but with my limited amount of time in the studio and mothers Day quickly approaching I'll only be able to take as many orders as I can fill within that time- so Once the offer is up get your order in right away!

I hope to have everything ready to start taking orders in the middle of next week- but stay tuned for more info.

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Good Lookin' Lables

I've been getting very antsy to get out in my garden. It's been a very early spring here and although our general frost date is somewhere around May 20th- it's been hard to hold back from putting things in the ground here since everything is coming up and grow grow growing.

When I found these beautiful old spoons labels via Oh Joy today I couldn't help but share. Nice work HammerMan.

Hand Dying-

Making new colors and planning new projects inspired by the colors outside my window:

"Hello Spring! It's so good to see you again!"

Hello Again World!

After well over a week of being sick (yup. I think we had the dreaded H1N1) I woke up this morning feeling almost well. It's a miracle. The sun is out- the flowers from my front yard and those a friend brought by yesterday are on the table- I'm drafting a pattern from one of Claude best but nearly outgrown shirts- and he's happily playing with blocks. Ahhhhh I think life is starting to look and feel a little like it used to. Hello old and wonderful life. Here's to Good Health- Cheers-

recent project - foot mail

We're all still pretty sick here, but I've been meaning to post about this project Claude and I made last week...
We have so many friends and family who live out of state, so I try to send out little bit of mail whenever I can. This is the first "art" project Claude and I made together and it was remarkable how excited he was in seeing his foot on the page. In fact, I had to get the red stamp pad I used to ink his foot out twice. Each time I put it away he rolled across the room to grab it. Ohhh yeah, he doesn't crawl- he rolls everywhere. To finish the cards I just used pen and sepia ink to write out "hello" a letter on each toe. Such a simple but very sweet note to find in your mailbox. What could be better than a "Hello" from a baby?!

Sorry to be MIA~

So- My parents came out to Minneapolis for a visit! They arrived for an extended Easter stay last Thursday and we've been having a really nice time, except for the brutal Cold that hit me on Friday. Grrrrrr. That's an inaudible "grrrrrr", since I've nearly lost my voice. I could get a job for ladies with sexy voices- but the sporadic coughing might be a little problematic. Here's to hoping I'm feeling tip top soon..... Hope you are all well!

Where have the days gone?!

My ohhhh My- where has this week gone? It's been really beautiful here- 75F and sunny all week, and I've been neglecting my blog and my studio. Let's see- what have I been doing?

• I did my taxes- hurrrrraaaahhh- so glad to have that done.
  
• Went to the park with Claude and a few friends to swing (he loved it!)
• Looked at house?! We're daydreaming of moving.
• Fell in love with a house we can't afford- ohhhhh heartbreak.
• Hosted a dinner party OUTSIDE with my Mom and Dad who just got in town.
• Witnessed springs arrival in Minneapolis.

In other news- Gay from I Dreamed I Saw featured my Ceramic Rabbits in one of her collections. See them all here on her website... it's a great resource of beautiful and unusual things.

Hoping to be back in the studio workworkworking again soon- hope you all have a very good Easter Weekend!