ruby crowned kinglette

love

i love the evenings and the sounds of birds singing with the sun on the trees, the traffic hurrying by, the taste of wine, the smell of summer as it awaits right around the corner, ... it's all so damned good.

i feel the breeze and hear the robins sing fervently their last songs of the night as the sun sets and the traffic grows more muffled in the low light of the setting sun when i look at this... but can you?  if i had chairs enough, i would invite you all over, to share my wine, my fading but still beautiful wisteria, and the songs of the evening.  this feeling of content? it's the same i feel at 4:30 in the morning in the early summer when i wake to hear the birds and the new sun -  and it seems i do hear the sun - as they both greet the new day....

it's lovely, isn't it?

where is the justice?

i am trying to chase away the nasty pigeons trying {successfully} to nest in the eaves of my home while i listen to the high pitched whistle/call of the extraordinarily beautiful cedar waxwings across the street....the birds that seem to be keeping themselves quite hidden and which refuse to come into my yard. but why would they, really? i have what is considered - in my view anyway - the trailer trash of the bird world hanging far too close for comfort....

what do you think the karmic retribution is for killing pigeons? it can't be that bad... they're pigeons for god sakes.

photos available upon request....

purple

it was pretty yesterday.... so i spent a little time outside appreciating the spring, now that it is finally here.  my wisteria is in full bloom and the day had just the right warmth to fill the house with it's heady perfume.  there were lots of honey bees flying around trying to fill themselves up... they didn't ever stay at a flower long and i wonder if they found what they were looking for?  the ones i saw didn't seem to have any pollen on them, but they certainly were working the plant over.

see? not much pollen... but they were persistent. a good thing considering the enormous loss of hives in the last few years.

this little unspotted beauty landed right in front of me, demanding i take a photograph of her.... so i did.

and this? is looking straight up the raceme. i love how the light is filtered a lovely wisteria purple.

i have more photos... but it seems that i should just stick with the purple today. we are having some rain here now so that means inside work and completed tasks are on the horizon...

how a collaboration is born....

alice was in a funk, i was uninspired and i was also a little bit jealous of the exchanges she was participating in with others {read: not me}.   so i did something about it...

alice!!!

how about this... thought of it while in the shower.

once a week we have a word or idea we have to interpret in our own way.... but.

it has to be done during our lunch hours, while at work.
it might take only one, or all five, hours a week.
and, it has to be 6" by 6".
in fabric or felt.
and embroidery floss.
and anything we might find in our lunch room... or desk, or wherever we eat lunch.

ok, so there is a reason i like this too... it will give your new fellow employees a reason to approach you and you a reason to tell them how freaking wonderful you are....

what do you think of this one?

-s

 

Stephanie,

I totally love this idea, especially the part where I have to reveal myself to my co-workers.  You are an evil genius.  But ... I don't take a lunch.

...I love the size and material constraints.  6" x 6" is super portable, as are needle, floss, fabric, and felt.  I was thinking that it would be interesting if we only stitched half our block and the other person stitched the other half (or just filled part of it ... not necessarily splitting the block along a straight line). 

... might need two weeks per block, though.

...How should we pick the words?  Maybe they should be related to the subject of time, work, play, crafting, creating, stress, balance, etc.?

...Do you have any idea how much I would love a pillow we hand embroider together?  I can barely imagine it.  It would be the pillow I grab when I want to cry myself to sleep.  It would be the pillow I grab when I'm going to sit on the couch and watch a good movie with a glass of wine.  It would be the pillow I whisper my secrets to.  It would be my favoritest pillow.

xo,

Alice

 

alice

oh my god... i love you...

i was thinking of combining our efforts on the piece too so i would totally be excited to do that...  and, frankly, i don't care where it gets done but i do like the evil genius angle.  so, since this will be an on-going effort you will have time to lure them in... and me too, i haven't don't any crafting at the work place yet.

now, i remembered after emailing you that i have a shit-ton of linen in almost 4x4 squares...   you could have yourself a queen size quilt for your bed if you want... but, let's start smaller, shall we?  colors are good, but limited.  and, i know you are allergic to wool, and me (in kind of a snotty way) to acrylic.... and two weeks per block... perfectly fine.  i was also thinking about that and although i like the idea of one a week i think it would kill us. this way we still have our 52, and that is certainly enough for a gallery show....

...i was wondering if we shouldn't have a third party pick the words for us....?  maybe andrew?  ...he might pick some goodies for us. think he would be interested?

and... the idea of you whispering to our pillow is the sweetest thing in the world....  so i am going to have to make it good.

love,

-s

 

Stephanie,

I would *love* to use your linen bits.  Limited fabric colors are a-ok with me...

...How sweet of you to think of Andrew.  I'll ask him.  It seems like the kind of fun challenge he'd enjoy.

Gallery.  Wouldn't that be grand?  Not too much pressure ...

xo,

Alice

 

alice!!!!
excellent!!!

ok, after dancing with the stars (!) is over, i am going to root through the bag and get a package together to send to you....
brb... my show is on...

ok.... back

...i will send some of what i think will work together best and then we can use whatever we want in each square, whatever color we want... at the end, they will all coordinate but there won't be a designated color for each square so it will be a bit random... and then of course the color floss we use is WIDE OPEN...

...and, then as far as andrew goes... i am game if he wants to.  and he can be as abstract as he wants to be, the more esoteric the better - i think we are up for that, don't you???

so fun!

-s

 

...I was thinking we should do a limited number of collaborative squares....Also, although we'll get our word on a certain day every other week, can we be a little fluid about end times...

honk shew (that's the sound of a Merlino snoring, in case you didn't know),

Alice

 

alice

oh my god... fluid.  i am shit at deadlines.

...give a little 'hey there' tap to the snorer...

-s

 

stephanie,

yay for fluid deadlines!!

...andrew has already started the list of words.  i told him to avoid concrete things like "bunny" and "sunshine" and focus on more esoteric and conceptual words.  after I told him he couldn't tell me the words up front, he wouldn't even discuss examples with me.  he just pulled out his notebook and started thinking. :)...

xo,

alice

ps.  suddenly 2007 stinks much less

 

first, i am going to assume you mean 2008....

and, i am so excited for andrew to be so secretive... that is excellent...

-s

 

s -

...um, yes, i guess it *is* 2008 ... there is no hope for poor 2007 ... oh well

...don't let the bitches get you down.

xo,

alice

the fabrics will be in the mail to alice tomorrow... you can see what we are up to here, but don't hurry, we are not up to anything yet.

the questioning pig{lette}

she is wondering who stole all my time???

who?

crafting has commenced...

nevermind....

i now have an even newer, more classic obsession.

actually, it is more like obsession version 1.2 - and i am only a little bit surprised in my almost constant imagining in owning this....

or this. it's this one that distracted from the beach cruiser and although these are much more expensive, i think one or the other is going to be mine.... soon.

i will also be needing a dog to ride in a basket attached to the back. a woven wicker basket - with loaves of french bread and and arm loads of tulips... i am, right now, seconds away from tears of pure joy and excitement.

i have a new obsession....

ok, what else is new... i live my life hopping from one obsession to another.

let's see...

genealogy
birding
gocco
embroidery
gardening
photography
dieting (hahahaha, not really)
cooking - well, buying cookbooks anyway
sewing clothes
monitoring spending - but short lived, of course
and now....?
i want a beach cruiser

i won't go near a beach with it - maybe, but i would ride it to work, and back (which is why i need a 3 speed, so i can haul my ass home).  i only have 2 miles to go either way and i think it would be good for me... and the earth.  and! i want it to be orange. not all of the ones i am looking at come in orange, and i suspect that choosing one based on color alone might not be the smartest way to go.  but, my god, a tangerine colored bike with a pink or red basket?  i mean really, why would i consider anything but orange? 

am still considering streamers to fly from the handle bars... but i bet they would be stolen immediately.  streamer stealing bastards....
i have 6 decks of cards and some old clothes pins in the cupboard so i am set there.

this one is the single speed, i would need multiple speeds - you know, so i could make it home without killing myself, or my pride (ha, pride?)

this one, this one is at the tippy top of the list. you can see why, can't you?

this one is pink, i am not sure i can get it in orange, but i can get it in a vanilla color with a saddle brown seat - if i remember correctly. 

and this one is nifty too....

ohhhhhh, man..... thoughts?

it's finally paid for itself.... or, at least it would have if it was charging

this garland is made of thank you notes, still in production... i have several more garlands strung between doorways. suzy and i have begun making her wedding invites, and all the goodies that go with them.  we have drunk two bottles of wine and had thai food the first night, boca burgers and margaritas the second.  we are not done, and have had only two misprints and one broken glass so far... damn fine record i think.

she bought the paper from paper source and we are using inks and supplies from think ink... the gal that owns the business is local and super great and real nice too.  i would like to think that i will be doing more gocco, and therefore more business with her... you should too. both.

this here is what the rest of the living area looks like... a nesting ground for printed pieces of white paper.  that little gocco'd bird in the back? it is a piece by evan b harris, something i bought almost as soon as i began blogging, could have been before, can't quite remember. but i have to say, that one day i hope to produce a gocco'd something as great as that... i mean, besides the art itself? what in the world could be better than a gocco'd bird, in a dress? sewing???  nothing, that's what.

forks... and plates, of course

more....