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!