Wordless Wednesday

Rollerskating at the Palace Rollerskating Rink in Philadelphia.

To paint!

Remember when I asked if I should paint the buffet in my dining room? The results were interesting. I also posted the question on my personal Facebook page, and all the artists who answered said "paint", while everyone else said "absolutely do not paint it!! Leave it alone!" Or something along those lines. Interesting, huh? I've decided that I'm going to paint it, probably some kind of wash, or antiquing method, but definitely not a solid paint color. Now I just have to wait until this rain stops! I did sand a bit off of the side of the buffet, and it seems as though it'll be easy to do. I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm finished!

Photo Friday

Let's say you're getting ready for an important meeting. You're printing some things in your office (just one room away from the living room) and you realize that your 7-month-old puppy is awfully quiet. In fact, she's usually so close to you that you've thought of renaming her "velcro" but now she's actually off on her own somewhere. Hmmm. What could she be doing?

Here's a tip: quiet puppy = bad stuff.

Don't leave tissue boxes on the table, and don't trust the quiet.

______________________________________________________________________________

In better news, I'm happy to announce that milkshake clocks, wall squares and magnets can be purchased at This Little Gallery in Jenkintown as of mid-April. I've loved this shop since we moved here 11 years ago. Go visit - the place is filled with handmade goods! I had a really nice meeting with the owner, Trish, yesterday (after the tissue incident, above). I'm excited to see my work in her fabulous gallery!

Speaking of clocks, I added a few new ones to the website yesterday. Go take a look!

{almost} Wordless Wednesday

Yeeeee-haw! My girl loves her hats.

To paint or not to paint

We have a large antique/vintage buffet in my dining room that we bought years ago for a steal. It's always had scratches and imperfections on it, but that doesn't really bother me. It has lots of storage, with two huge drawers, two small ones and two side "cabinets". I've been thinking lately that I want to get rid of it and buy a smaller one, but maybe I can satisfy that need for change with a paint job. However, painting vintage items always scares me. What if I hate it and then it's ruined?! But it's not like I'm going to try and sell it - I wouldn't get a great price anyway because of all the scratches.

Here are some (bad) photos of the piece. I feel like it's too dark and painting it a lighter color would brighten up the room. We only have one window in the dining room and it can get a little dark.

What do you think? Should I paint it (what color?) or leave it as is?

Blanche pendant

{The Blanche pendant.}

Blanche Ames was an artist and outspoken feminist. She created botanical drawings for her husband's research on orchids, and thanks to them the Orchidicae is now the best researched and classified of all the large plant families.

Ames published an article in The Birth Control Review that stated, "The long arm of the Catholic Church is reaching into our legislative halls and is directing our legislators to act according to its will...We have all been troubled by the fear that this Catholic threat to our free institutions would materialize if Catholics were given positions of power in our government, but never before in so short a time have events developed in such irrefutable sequence as in this case of opposition to the Doctors' Birth Control Bill." Because of the ban on distributing birth control information, Ames encouraged women to teach their daughters how to protect themselves, and provided instructions on how to make their own spermicidal jellies and diaphragms.

Blanche Ames died in 1969 at the age of 92.

Betty pendant

Did you know that March is Women's History Month? It started back in 1987; before that there was just a day to celebrate the contribution women made to history, then a week. You can read a little history (or HERstory if you want to get technical) on the National Women's History Project website.

I was in an all-girls high school in 1987 when Women's History Month started. I don't remember hearing anything about it. Then again, I went to a private Catholic school - they're not exactly known for celebrating women. After high school I went to an art college just for women, and what a difference! Every day was about women. I learned about female artists, saw working female artists and lived among incredibly talented female artists every single day. What a wonderful way to spend four years.

Last year I started writing about the bird pendants I make. I named each one after a woman who made a significant contribution to feminism in the US. In honor of Women's History Month, I'm starting that up again! (You can read the previous posts about Abigail Adams, Alice Paul, Amelia Bloomer and Bella Abzug.)

Betty Friedan is best known for being the author of The Feminine Mystique (credited with starting the second wave of feminism) and co-founder of the National Organization for Women. Some of her other contributions include: organized the national Women's Strike for Equality, founded The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, founded (along with many other women) The National Women's Political Caucus.

"She is credited for starting the contemporary feminist movement and writing one of the most powerful works in America (from Wikipedia)."

 {The Betty pendant can be found here for $15.}

What are you doing to celebrate Women's History Month? Does your child's school do anything special?

Photo Friday

{Love.}

The yummiest homemade salad dressing ever

A friend of mine gave me the recipe for this yummy salad dressing over the summer and I've been hooked ever since. It's delicious and so easy to make. I love it on spring mix with sliced almonds, feta cheese and cranberries. Enjoy!

Salad Dressing with Agave
3 tbsp walnut oil (I got mine from Whole Foods)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice (I use balsamic vinegar)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp Agave (got mine from Trader Joe's)
2 crushed garlic cloves
salt & pepper to taste

Be sure to whisk well before serving.

Shrinky dinks

Do you remember shrinky dinks? They were so much fun! When I was a kid (in the 70s), we bought kits with pre-drawn images which we would color. Now you can buy plain shrinky-dink "paper" and draw your own images on it, or use the inkjet paper and print things from your computer. I even found instructions for making your own shrinky dinks with the styrofoam that comes in meat packages. Ew.

When Malayna started preschool last year, she had a very hard time being away from home. Sometimes she would be okay, but mostly she would get upset when I had to leave her at school. I wanted to give her something to make her feel better when she was at school, so I made her a necklace from shrinky dink paper that said, "mommy loves you." She wore it every day that she went to school, up until last week. It broke in half, so she hasn't worn it for a few days. She would come home from school and say, "I don't even care! I felt my neck when I was in school and I didn't feel it there and I didn't even care!" Hmmm. She mentioned it so much that I think she actually did care.

{Playing with shrinky dinks and sharpies last year.}

Yesterday I printed a few designs on the inkjet shrinky dink paper. It took a few trials and errors before I got them to the correct size. It's not as easy as it would seem - sometimes the paper curls in on itself while it's baking and it won't unstick, or the images get printed on the wrong side of the paper (duh), or the colors don't look quite right. Here's what I ended up with:

 

{Loved.}

Photo Friday

We had about two feet of snow fall over the past few days, on top of the other two feet of snow we got last week. That's a lot of snow!

Lola's favorite spot is up on the windowsill, overlooking the porch at the front of the house. This morning she was up there, looking out the window and growling and barking with her fur standing on end. I thought maybe a cat was on the porch, so I went over to see what she was so interested in. Um, it was the birdbath. There's so much snow on top of it that it fell over. Apparently, this is extremely threatening to Lola. She's been barking for the past 25 minutes and counting. Good watchdog.

Snow, snow and more snow

WIP*

Some new 12" clocks are in the works. These will be pretty much like the 10" clocks with a couple of differences: they're 2" bigger (duh), and they're 1/2" thick as opposed to 3/4". Look at that pretty leafy paper! I found that paper before Christmas, but I'm just getting around to trying it out. It's great - looks almost leathery.

We got about two feet of snow this past weekend and we're expecting another foot on Tuesday night. Would someone please stop this madness? Thanks.

{*WIP stands for works-in-progress.}

Top 10 reasons why you should not get a puppy

10. They trash-pick.

9. They eat the plastic things that plants come in.

8. They eat rocks.

7. They dig.

6. They steal magnets off the fridge.

5. They eat more rocks.

4. They rip apart your landscape fabric.

3. They dig some more.

2. They steal plastic bags.

And the #1 reason: This doesn't last long enough.

I nominated milkshake crafts to win a $35k #smallbiz grant on LoveALocalBusiness.com. Help them win!

I nominated milkshake crafts to win a $35k #smallbiz grant on LoveALocalBusiness.com. Help them win!

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I see spring!

Well, maybe not exactly. But when I was in the yard yesterday trying to make sure Lola didn't dig any more holes (I was unsuccessful, by the way), I was noticing buds on lots of the plants out there. I also found some Easter flowers my mom & dad gave me last year. I always intend on planting them, but they never seem to get into the ground. No worries, though - they're growing in the plastic pot they came in!

Spring can't get here soon enough in my opinion. Here in the Philadelphia area, we're expecting a snowstorm this weekend. Forecasters are calling for about 12" of snow. But you know how that goes - they're often wrong!

{Lilac from my aunt's garden.}

{Dogwood tree.}

{Not sure what this bush is. Maybe some type of crabapple.}

{Another lilac.}

{Chives.}

{Hydrangea.}

{Butterfly bush.}

Birds, butterflies, flowers and…?

I love the chickadee image I created back in September to use on my clocks. The butterfly's not too shabby either. The flowers have been very popular, even if someone once told me that they looked like cells. (Cells are cool, right?!) I'd like to create another image, but I'm drawing a blank.

Would you help me out a little? What other images would you like to see on my clocks? I'd really appreciate it if you would fill out the poll below (click on "view survey"). Pretty please?

Can't wait to see what you come up with! Thank you! {Click the link below to take the survey. You don't need to sign in or give your email address. It's totally anonymous, though I wouldn't mind if you signed your name!)

Don't forget!

{Chickadee wall clock in yellow.}

It's February! Can you believe it? My four-year anniversary sale is still going on until the end of this month. Visit milkshake, place your order for good stuff, and when you're checking out enter code four years to receive free Priority Mail shipping and a little thank you gift from me :)

In other news, I'm still working on my fun project. I've painted, printed, collaged, transferred and painted some more. But now I'm stuck. Or just waiting for the final bit of inspiration. The piece still needs something, but I'm not sure what that something is. I've placed the piece in a spot that I pass several times a day, thinking that if I keep seeing it, the answer will come to me. Of course I'll post it here when it's finally finished.

Have a good Monday!