off adventuring

we've been off adventuring.  can't wait to fill you in.  see you here tomorrow!

xo *s (& a)

over a year.

tuesday/wednesday and part of thursday are now my "work days". on these days, i've been spending the majority the time up in my studio & i've been making a point to not go on the computer at all. i find, & i'm sure you can relate, that it can be so hard to NOT get sucked into email and other things online, so my new rule is don't even turn on my laptop until after i've had a full day of other creative work. so, on my 2 + 1/2 days to work, i'm beginning to find myself back in the swing of things in my studio... making messes, trying to organize & feel settled in the "new" space, getting sidetracked by making funny little vignettes on the chalkboard, painting a big canvas (feels so strange to be painting big & on canvas again!), filling up my sketchbooks, and overall, just feeling like i'm getting things back on track. it's been almost 2 years of book/computer work and that whole "ah!, i'm pregnant"/"i just had a baby" thing. oh yes, that. so yup, it's taken over a year post-baby to feel that i can truly be back to work in the studio & fully present on a regular basis without feeling like i'd rather just curl up on the studio floor and take a nap. no more sleep deprivation=lots of creative ideas. yup.

that's the equation to remember.

phew.

well, it's 4:30 in the afternoon, so i'm off to pick up my little gal at grammy's. i miss her when she's not here, but i know how important it is to get my alone/work time in.... lots of new ideas are finally flowin'. & that's always a good thing.

it's still a balancing act, this stay at home & work part time mama thing, but lately it finally feels as if something has clicked. i'm thankful for that.

see you tomorrow with some summery scenes from our recent travel. (another way to jumpstart creativity, that's for sure!)

summer sketchbook O N E

i'll be posting lots of summer bits this week... i've been busy soaking up the sunny days with ada, but finally have so much to share with you! i promise to make up for the long absence!

more soon, so stay tuned!

xo

ps: summer newsletter going out soon, so don't forget to sign up over on the right ---> !

flower, girl & field

since it's thursday, i'm off to the fields... just like this girl.

a new, summery print. flower, girl & field. find it in the shop.

where women create magazine

i'm thrilled to be featured in the current summer issue of

where women create magazine!

my interview is in the new "women create" section of the magazine.

big thanks to christen, amanda and everyone at somerset!

hello july!

there are so many posts in my head i don't know where to start... but i wanted to say hello to you, and hello to july, my favorite month of the year! would someone please tell me what happened to may and june?

i'm trying to squeeze in a busy work day before the long forth of july weekend here in the states. we have a few plans- strollering and ice cream eating being the top two on my list. i'm also hoping that ada takes some more steps! she walked as if she's always known how the other night, but now she's acting like she has no idea what we're talking about! stubborn little gal she is. good thing we caught it all on video.

i hope you have a lovely weekend and i'll see you here on tuesday.

xo *s

ps: hello to a brand new blog header too. :)

book, baby & balloons!

hello hello!

here are the"civilized" pictures i promised of ada and "her" book

so happy to be here and to announce that we are now on the other side of the flu/fevers/colds that went around our house for the past couple of weeks. ugh! first ada, then mama (that's me) then dada. oh, did i mention that the twist fair was in the midst of all of this!? i survived, but barely. fever does not mix well with art show preparation! you know what else happened? my little baby turned ONE! we had a fun-filled weekend of parties full of cupcakes, new dresses, friends (little and big ones), family gatherings, frog catching, and "boons".... that would be balloons! they are her new favorite things, well, next to climbing up the stairs! i think i may officially have a toddler on my hands!

here's the birthday girl *early* on the morning of her birthday. she seriously would not let go of that balloon! :)

so as you may have guessed from my absence, that we've been quite busy these past few weeks! in addition to all of the fun, (and not so fun sickies!) i've been working like a crazy woman on book promo and event plans. LOTS of that exciting news coming up for you next week...

but, truth be told, i think i might have to call it quits for the day today... it's the long weekend to kick of the start of summer! yay! an iced coffee is calling my name...

i wish you all a happy weekend!

i'll be back here every day next week! what the what?! really, seriously!? yes indeed ;) there's so much to share with you and i've missed you!

see you then! xo *s

{8 favorite things about summer}

(see bigger here & here)

we've been staying close to home with the peanut lately, but i wanted to celebrate summertime with you here by sharing some of my favorite photos... these really capture what i love about this special time of year. i'm hoping to get out and about to take some more polaroids like this soon...

thanks so much for the baby congrats! we feel very lucky to have such wonderful friends out there! thanks for your sweetness...

a lot happening around here, keeping busy with baby and a very big art related project! (will spill the beans as soon as possible... ) spending most of my free time in the studio, thank goodness for baby swings and my super helpful mom and husband! please forgive the light posting, i'll do my best to pop to share some more summer inspirations very soon.

xo & happy july!

*s

a summer evening escape.

{tonight}

we've escaped the heat of the "city".  luckily the "country" is only a short drive away.  

cool breezes, hot dogs on the grill, red sox (winning) on the radio, a gin & tonic with lemon balm in my hand and my best (canine) pal by my side.  it's a perfect summer evening.  a little snapshot to share with you.  

long road & a fresh start

lordy loo!  what a busy last couple of weeks!  (actually, insert stronger language than lordy loo if you'd like here  _____! )  

since the last time typed to you here i've turned a year older,  am able to walk (wobbly) again, we've moved AND i am no longer married to a graduate student!  although, i should proabably stop saying that last part since i scared a friend recently with my facebook status which announced that same thing... she of course just got the "no longer married" part and panicked! (oops) what i mean to say is that jesse, my darling husband, defended his dissertation, which was just about 7 years in the making.  we did it. hooray!  it's been a long road... but we are so happy that it has ended in a wonderful new job and a favorite place to settle down in and call home once again!  

so where have i been for the past 2 weeks?  well, we stayed longer than expected in the land of grad school for a few days as there was much celebrating to do and paperwork to be signed.  we then returned to home to pack up our things and move on out of the wonderful little house in the country that we'd been living in for the past 7 months and into our new apartment in the "city."

i think i've actually started about a hundred blog posts to you in my head, but this is the first time i've actually been able to sit down, concentrate and write. although i'm not writing from our new apartment, but from my husbands office, since don't have the internet at our place yet. not only do we not have the internet, but we don't have any of our furniture or stuff!  you see, it's all been in storage in ithaca since january and although moving is such a chore, i'm kind of enjoying the new space sans "stuff!"  it's a beautifully sunny, old fashioned apartment with hardwood floors and tin ceilings and i can't wait to share some photos with you.  

well, instead of a list of {8 things}, i feel as if i could write a list of {800 things} to you since it's been so long!  i began feeling bad for not blogging, but when i read this post i realized that i wasn't the only one.  now that things are truly settling down a bit, i'll be setting up my *new* spacious studio and being here with you to report in on a regular basis from now on.  i have lots to catch up on, so i'm signing off for now.  i'll be back this week to fill you in on some new artistic endeavors and some exciting new creative projects in the works.  

it's nice to be back.  thanks for all of your good wishes!  

xoxo, *s

 

8 things for today.

*  *  *

today.  i realized that it's been a while since my last {8 things}.  so here it goes...  

today.  

i turn 32.  my mom always tells the story about how she had to get the doctor off of the softball field to deliver me.  apparently, he was the pitcher in the middle of a tournament and was not too thrilled about this baby who was ready to come into the world two weeks early! 

today. 

honestly, i am not feeling particularly festive due to the weather and my knee.  neither of those rascally things are cooperating!  the weather is rainy, dark and cool.  my knee is swollen, sore and covered in an ugly new rash.  (i see the doc tomorrow, so i'm trying not to worry)  

today. 

i declare that official birthday celebrations will take place this weekend instead!  

today.   

we are heading to ithaca this week for my husband's thesis defense!  on friday, he'll earn his PhD and will no longer be a grad student!  hooray!  i think we'll end up here for a celebratory/belated birthday dinner.  

today. 

{day one} of twodaysinjuly is here!

today.  

sending birthday wishes to stephanie!  have you seen her latest venture called kitchen sketches?  she is such a sweet and talented superwoman!   i'm not sure how she does it all, she continues to amaze & inspire me with all of her projects and adventures~  happy birthday to you, dear stephanie!  

today.  

i'm loving this old photograph of my grandmother.  my mom is the little girl on the left, she's shown here with her two cousins, and my uncle (on the bike).  the infamous family dog called "skid" is leading the way, heading off to the beach for the day with the kids.  growing up, my summers always included days like that too.  i feel very lucky for those special days on the cape.  

today.  

i am heading into my 32nd year.  looking forward to seeing what it has to offer!  

8 reasons why,

i love july.  (& it rhymes!)  

 *    *    *

 1} my favorite beach.  2} we watched the fireworks from here last year.   5}  birthday cakes with flowers & friends...my 32nd is coming up on the 21st.   7&8}  fireworks and celebrating 3 years (!) on the 8th. 

 *   *   *  

just looking at these july pictures makes me oh so happy.  it's been a bit of a hectic summer so far... i don't see it getting much easier due to the fact that we are still living out of boxes, an upcoming knee surgery, followed directly with a thesis defense and then (breathing in and out) we move.  yikes.  i'm going to do my best at trying to savor the little bits of summer goodness in between...  

we spent yesterday in the car... driving in the rain.  it was tiring.  and since we had gotten up before 6 am (totally accidently because the clock was set wrong... that's another problem with living in other people's houses....)  AND had a broken muffler, well, that made the trip all the more fun.  when we finally got back to massachusetts, i was planning on popping in here to say hello and posting my {8 reasons} but i completely collapsed when it started getting dark out... i think we were asleep at 9.  the good news is i'm totally refreshed with a good nights sleep. hooray.  

tonight, we'll visit with a good friend who we don't get to see very often because she lives in France... we'll laugh over sangria and pizza here.  other than that, the holiday weekend is looking pretty quiet... just exactly what i need!  my plan is to sit in the garden reading this alongside my stinky dog friend (he got skunked while we were gone!)  but i love him anyway and i'm totally looking forward to it. 

happy holiday weekend to you if you are in the States!  

see you next week!  

xo,*s

ps:  i LOVED "away we go"... did you see it too?  

5 things for today

it's a lazy, rainy, humid summer afternoon here.  

this is what i am up to: 

1.  loving my favorite bits of random inspirations (above)

2.  sipping homemade iced mint tea with lemonade ice cubes (so good!)

3.  feeling the cooling breeze of the fan (can't wait for our new apt with tin ceilings and overhead fans in each room) 

4.  listening to the typing of keys (my husband entering data, the end of the PhD is near!) 

5.  smelling the lingering sweetness of summer rain (no thunderstorms yet...)

after a long day (and week) of work, we're off to make a pizza and see this.  (looks good doesn't it?!)  

happy weekend & i'll see you on monday!  

*s

sunshine & more

sunshine high above. one of my new "mixed media minis," affordable little originals!  (sold.)

hello and happy friday!  

i've had one of those weeks...again, how did we get to friday already? earlier this week, we were driving, traveling, driving, working, driving and visiting in ithaca.  did i mention driving?! we went because my husband still has some work to wrap up there, and it was a chance for me to catch up with some friends that i really miss.  so while he was out in the woods measuring plants, i ran around like a crazy woman trying to have a chance to see lots of different people. there were coffee dates at gimme, lunch dates at the park, dinner dates with thai food, followed by after dinner dates for martinis and so on.  not that i'm complaining, it was really lots of fun, but it kinda felt like coming home for christmas, you know when you try to pack too much in?!   

it was especially funny, how on tuesday afternoon, i joked that my trip to wegmans with a friend made me feel as if i was on that old tv game show "supermarket sweep," do you remember that one? for some reason, i loved that show when i was little, and remember it clearly.  the crazy contestants ran around a pretend grocery store trying to fill their carts up in a certain amount of time.  well, that was how it felt in wegmans, with just 15 minutes and lots of ground to cover, only i didn't win any money at the end of the race... just came home with lots of our favorite treats.   phew.  i'm tired just thinking about how much we did.

anyway, we are now back in western massachusetts, and i am trying to tackle my mile long "to do" list on this rainy friday morning.  

*pick up new prints from printers 

*find missing paintings to work on (by missing, i mean they are here somewhere, just not sure where... we are still living out of boxes, so finding something can be a challenge)  

*listen to podcast for the new online class by the amazing marisa of creative thursday!  begin homework.  (love it so far!) 

*work on new dog commissions.  3 currently in the works!  

*photograph some new postcard sets to list in the shop over the weekend

* finish up some new "mixed media minis" for etsy!  (like the one above! check them out) 

* meeting with my website designer!  (yup! it's true!)

*return about 27 emails that i owe to people

* write back to you in the comments (this is what i'll be doing from now on... that way i can respond to everybody!  so be sure to check back to the comments... ) 

* pack up/mail out etsy orders

and last but not least, what i am looking forward to the most~ 

* get my hair done tonight at a salon that serves you glasses of wine! a little pampering will be nice!  i can't wait!  

what does your list look like???  

* * *

i also wanted to say thanks so much for your kind comments and feedback on the kindred project!  i'm so happy to be a part of such an amazing and talented group of ladies!  can't quite believe how lovely that whole collection is, really so beautiful and summery! 

and psssst!  don't forget about my kindred special offer!  i'll be adding more to the summertime prints too!  

* * * 

thanks for being here with me!  i'm so lucky to have you!  

xo, *s 

a june afternoon

a sun dappled afternoon, just some peonies and me. bigger here. {#8 from the morning list.}

june morning

#3 from the list

good morning! 

yes, the weekend got away from me and it is now monday morning as i type to you.  it was a fun-filled, action packed few days... hope you had a nice saturday and sunday too.

so, without further ado~ 

my {8 things} about june 

1.  some new paintings are beginning to take shape.  i have 10 new pieces in the works all at once. think sunny, painterly palettes,  that are bigger than usual.   i'm also wrapping up a series of some new, tiny ones too!  (remember these?) 

2.  flea markets and farmers markets abound!  (have you seen shanna's farmers market series?)

3.  the strolling of the heifers!  we woke up very early on saturday morning and drove up to vermont to stake out a spot at this parade!  (it was only after we left, that i realized the name is a play on the "running of the bulls")  "the strolling" was one of the top things on my "things to do now that we live here again" list and i'm so glad we went.  (more cows here)

4.  i've been sipping homemade ginger ale in the summer garden and trying to take time to relax. it is so delicious & reportedly good for knee arthritis swelling and pain!  what a bonus! who knew!?

5.  i've dusted off my polaroid camera~  i have a stash of film that my dad gave me that i have been saving and saving, but i've finally given in.  i'll share soon.  speaking of polaroids and loveliness:  susannah's new website debuts today!  love it!  

6.  i am very excited about one secret summery project that will be revealed next week...

7.  i've been drooling over the recent blog posts about the june session of squam.  cannot wait until september!  it truly seems like a magical, creative paradise like no other. 

8. my favorite flowers: poppies & peonies are in bloom.  

so what are your favorite things about june?  

xo, more soon, *s