OH - so cute Doohdles

Check out these adorable rubber stamp sets by Jenny Doh of Stampington & Co.
I just thought they were so sweet and fresh I wanted to share them with you. They would be great to use on wedding shower or birthday invitations.
I love the postcard made with the stamps...check out the stitching accent too.

studio design

I have wall envy! This past weekend me and my friend Karen spent a fun day installing new design walls and inspiration boards in my friend Cathi's studio! She has taken over her living AND dining room for her studio and has wonderful wall space that I am absolutely green about. Don't get me wrong, I love my new studio space but OMG look at this great design wall.


The panels are each 8' wide and 6' tall. Of course, she also has some stunning projects to go on her new design wall. Above that she has a small ledge that now showcases two very cool art doll's that a quilt artist friend Cindi Goodwin made. It shows them off very nicely.



Then next to that, we hung two 2' x4' inspiration boards that we covered in a
great neutral fabric. Actually it's from the Deja Brew collection by Studioe fabrics. However, since we've left Cathi has been filling it up with inspiration so the fabric may not be visible now!
The picture is crooked not the boards.



We still have one more project to finish in her studio that is also going to be really great but we ran out of time this session. We had to go out for lunch to keep up our strength. :) We did find a new place for her ruler collection at the end of a bookcase. Much more accessible than where they were. There's just a peek at her neatly folded fabric inventory....more envy!


We also had a lot of help from Cathi's Rhodesian ridgeback, Clancey. He's very good at washing ears and nosing through purses for treats! That's Karen teasing him with ice in a cup.


Can't wait to get back to finish what we started and then it's on to Karen's studio!
Do you have wall envy?

Jack and the beanstalk

It's planting season again in Florida and things are starting out pretty good.
This season I am growing green beans, Roma and beefsteak tomatoes, blue Hubbard squash, jalapeno peppers, broccoli, spinach, scallions, cilantro and basil. That's if they all survive!
So far the beans are doing great and reaching for the sky. As fast as they are growing, there just might be something to the story of Jack & the beanstalk! I did find 2 little caterpillars on them, (note the holes in the leaves) but I took them off and moved them far away. So far I haven't seen any more.
My bell peppers made it through the hot summer so I just trimmed them back and they have blossoms like crazy - it may be a bumper crop of peppers this
season. The Hubbard squash is off to a great start as is the basil and cilantro.



The beefsteak and Roma tomato seedlings are getting bigger, but I had to reseed the spinach, scallions and broccoli. Something got to them. Oh well, I have more seeds.



I can't wait for harvest time to start but it'll be a while. The first picture is a blossom on our shrimp plant. I just love these. They are so cool looking and they just keep blooming all the time. Plus the butterflies seem to like them. We've tried to plant our yard with a lot of butterfly friendly plants and it worked. We have so many different butterflies around and in large numbers too. They can be pleasantly distracting outside my office and studio windows.
I had a fun weekend helping a friend put up new design walls and inspiration boards.
Watch for the post in a day or two. It turned out really cool.

inspiration

I have finished another project out of the overflowing project jar!
You remember the jars don't you? (May 2009)
Well, I was finally inspired to make my inspiration board. I guess I had been putting it off because I really don't have a wall for it right now. But I really wanted to get one put up. So I went and bought one of those over the door hooks, and hung it on the door that goes from my office to the studio.
I was just going to cover it with a neutral fabric but when I came across this piece of damask I decided some simple thread painting would be fun and add some interest to it.

All I did was roughly stitch around the leaf shapes that were on the damask. I wasn't real fussy about it. I used a variegated thread, Sulky Blendables in fact. I really like the way it turned out and because I used a light color thread it is a subtle effect.




I did decide however that I wanted a bit more color on my board. So, I paired it up with this great green and blue batik print and then I added an orange print pocket to hold things that I couldn't pin on the board. BTW, my board is just heavy corrugated cardboard that I covered in cotton batting first.
I wrapped the batting to the back and hot glued it and then did the same with the fabric. I also hot glued on a length of Grosgrain ribbon to hang it form the door hook.
I found some really cute little glass push pins from an Etsy shop (kimiko611.etsy.com)to add some fun.
All in all I am happy with my new board...now I just have to dig out all my inspirations to pin on. I have a feeling I didn't make it big enough :)

What size is your inspiration board, and do you have more than one?