merry christmas!

hope it's a good one!

all i want for christmas....

can i just say that one of the most difficult things about not having any extra money-especially this time of year-is when i see things like this, or any number of books like the one pictured above, and have no way of making them mine, but want want want to buy them!

it's so frustrating because i love handmade things, especially big chunky rings with cuteness, class and style...and as for books, (especially about art!) i am a sucker...plus i love to support other artists...unfortunately most of these things are just too pricey for me these days. i am such a whiner because truthfully i know life is better without "stuff", but some stuff makes life a little sweeter. *ugh* the paradox of it all!

i have however come up with a way to curb my appetite for "thingness" and wanting. i will be sticking to the smaller lovely world of zines, which I can actually afford once in a while. I just got Gracia and Louise's zine=Postcards from...A Key to Make Your Own World Visible, which will be pure eye candy mixed with thoughtfulness....and the newest issue (full color might I add) of Mixed Tape which is just a darn good read. These come from Australian artists/publishers and are the best way I can think of helping other artists at the moment.

Another art related want is a subscription to the Compound Gallery's Art in a Box. It's super cool-every month you get a box with some art and you have no idea what is in store! i just love this concept. it's an interesting exercise in art, community, and subjectivity. i mean honestly, i really would not know what to do with a bunch of art with my small dwellings, but the thought of getting one really amazing piece in there somewhere is tantalizing. sort of like cracker-jack toys when i was a kid...you may get something mildly entertaining, totally lame, or just plain cool. either way you win because you get to play with your inner critic.

well, that's enough of that. i am going to get to finishing up some handmade Christmas gifts with all of the lovely repurposed fabric i have collected over the year. thanks everyone who donated-it will probably be coming back to you in the form of something awesome. (hopefully)

One more week!!!

x

handmade christmas/etsy post

I am excited to tell you all about the handmade goodies I am making for presents, but for fear that readers are recipiants, I will show the only thing I know I can...fishing lures!!!

Philip and I worked on these yesterday for my buddy Matt and brother in law's gifts:

a very special thanks to Dickson for giving us lure fever and a quick demo. He wrote and illustrated a book on lures and flies called Every Angler's Guide to Lures and Flies. It's super witty and fun, much the same as he is.

In addition to all things Christmasy, I managed to post a bunch of new gear on etsy! it's all of the leftovers from the holiday sale, but new projects nonetheless. I am obsessed with the cross stitch pins. so obsessed that i am hoping to save up for this really nice button maker so they can drop in price and time to make. (and become circles!! )

Hope you are all getting in to the holiday spirit! I know I finally am. Between putting up the tree and going to a Christmas folk/sing-a-long/performance thingy, it would be hard not to. Impossible even. 11 more days!

x

catching up to christmas?

how (dare i ask) is it only 2 more weeks until christmas?!?!?!
i know i was just in an obsessive mode between work and work, but honestly, i think i am about one whole month behind schedule! yikes....*sigh*

in hind sight i did have a ton of fun in between all the chaos.
here are some highlights:

-halloween: we went to the city with chase and dennis to see a live sound effect/percussionists and an organist perform to 'Nosferatau'! Philip and I went as ghouls. at one point we were in the lobby hanging out waiting for our friends and had random people ask to take our photo. that was odd considering i saw 20 or so men dressed a lot like Philip...i highly recommend a night at the symphony on halloween-a great crowd indeed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-thanksgiving weekend we went to the zoo!! the oakland zoo to be precise. going to the zoo always has the paradox of so fun, yet so sad. i myself enjoyed the petting zoo in the kids area. meet my new friend balthazar the pigmy goat. i wish i could have stolen him! too cute.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

well that's the highlights. now i am just coming down off the high of the craft show trying to get into the joy of christmas. we managed to get the tree and ornaments out of storage today. next will be the trimming of the tree, cards, gifts, etc etc.
this year is a 99% handmade christmas. every year i aim for ALL handmade gifts to give and always end up at about half made, half bought. this year only one gift was actually purchased. amazing i tell you. i only have 5 more to make and i am DONE.
and for my next trick? trying not to gain any weight....

happy holiday bliss!
x

Richmond Art Festival!!

Oh dear friends, we had such an amazing time at the Richmond Arts Festival! Sylvia Min, Chase Clark and I shared a table and it was sooooo adorable. I am exhausted, but this experience was rewarding in many ways. The challenge of organizing this with my life was a great exercise in keeping inspiration and motivation while juggling the everyday. It was so worth it and I owe a great amount of thanks to Sylvia and Chase for being such hard working individuals who were as determined as I was to get our art out in the world!

We had such great response to our booth, which I must say was super fun to put together and as one board member said "charming". All of the people at the Richmond Art Center are just fabulous! SO kind and generous. I have had the pleasure of working with them recently which led to us doing this event. They have a wonderful community there and I am happy to be a part of it. We all walked away with some sales and wonderful trades with each other and fellow artist Jenn Brazelton and Bryan Higgins.

Apologies for the post-event blog....not too much time before hand to tell the world via blog.

I will be updating etsy with all new items this week and will post again soon!

enjoy the photos!

x

thankful

I love Thanksgiving....
My dearest and I have a made it a tradition to go on a beautiful hike through his childhood stomping ground at Briones Regional Park on Thanksgiving. Rolling hills and vast amounts of gorgeousness and yes, even cows and horses roaming about. It's a nice thing to do before the giant feast ensues. (last year we were up in Gualala which was a hike with seaside adventure!) What a lovely tradition....being THANKFUL and connecting with nature's bounty in more ways that just devouring food. The food was amazing of course, but I must say the hike was more satisfying.

I am deeply thankful for so many things.
I hope you all had a day filled with love and gratitude.
x

new beginnings

one word:

GRATITUDE

another word:

FINALLY

oktober film fest

during the best month ever, (well, my personal favorite at least and i am sure many, many others),the Ringler household enjoys a halloween film-fest all through October.

since we netflix our viewing pleasure, we set up the queue to send us a nice combination of classic horror, comedy, and thrasher movies. last year was the first annual oktober film-fest and proved to be an amazing idea. this year we are challenged by keeping things as exciting as last year. we have had some ups and downs, but overall it is still super fun!

here are some of our favorites:

• anything Boris Karloff, but especially Frankenstein, 1931 and
• Bride of Frankenstein, 1935
• Black Sunday, 1960

• House on Haunted Hill, 1958 original with Vincent Price
• Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, 1922
• Nightmare on Elm Street, 1983 and NES Part 3, 1987

• Children of the Corn, 1984
• Pet Semetary, 1989
• Sleepaway Camp III, Teenage Wasteland, 1989

• Anything by Dario Argento (Phil's personal favorite)
• House of Wax, 2005 remake

cartoons

• Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, 1998
• The Simpson's Tree House of Horror (I-XX)
• Billy an Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, 2006

comedy

• The Fearless Vampire Killer's, 1967 (Roman Polanski-Spoof)
• The Worst Witch, 1986
• Zombie Land, 2009
• Zombie Strippers, 2008
• Shaun of the Dead, 2004
• Fido, 2006
• Evil Dead II, 1987

Apparently we find Zombie movies to be funnier than most. I swear Zombie Strippers was one of the funniest things we've ever seen.

Isn't Autumn the best?

Happy October!

x

back in the saddle

with rain and cancelations on my side, i managed to extend my weekend into a craft filled fun day or two. et voilà! coasters were born....

i managed to make 8 sets of 4 with small swatches of fabric donated to me from a S&B pal. (sadly i have not been able to make S&B for several weeks due to an opportunity to TA in a class with a former professor of mine.) I followed no pattern or tutorial, I just used fusible interfacing for stiffness, cut some 5 inch squares, pressed and sewed away.

quite simple. quite satisfying. i am gearing up for possible craft booths this holiday season. if nothing works out i will have plenty of goods for etsy and maybe even some gifts for some loved ones. that gets tricky though because not everything i make is necessarily the style of those i love.

*sigh* it does feel good to make-make-make again. between this project and some spontaneous felting with a client i had a lovely week on the creative front. i have also started on some pendants made from buttons and old buckles. i am looking forward to another chunk of time to finish them and start on some more brooches.

maybe now is the time? yes, i think so!

x

a new adventure

dearest bees,
i am happy to report that after much consideration and hard work, my husband and i are joining forces as..."Ringler Studios"! hence the main reason i have been away from the blog and had no real time to craft. that is all about to change now that some of our to-dos, like getting new equipment and filing business forms, has been accomplished.

so what, dare you ask, IS Ringler Studios? is it a studio of art? well, no. it is a studio for artists and collectors to receive individualized services to assist with their careers or investments. mainly our goal is to help artists with their promotions by offering high quality photography (a must in the industry), ways to navigate the expensive task of promotion oneself, and staying organized in the process. There is also an opportunity for collectors to use our organization service to store and record their investments better. mostly, Ringler Studios is and extension of work that we have been doing for years on a more focused level.

feel free to visit our website for more details! my personal website has since been changed to a place for my art and craft projects-both past and current.
until the next adventure....
x

another apron

it's quite addicting...

straight stitches till dawn!

it was really only a matter of time before i made an apron. a fan of the angry chicken, chase, and baking...how could i resist? i was first inspired to make one for my long life pal JZ who recently wed. when i asked her what her favorite thing on her registry was, she replied, "the girly apron". i knew at that moment i would bestow her with a handmade version of my own. i had so much fun making the first one, i made a second for another friend who will be married this fall. i swear i could sew straight stitches till the break of dawn! and i almost did!~

today i gave JZ her apron and she swooned. then let me photograph her in my kitchen. lucky for me she was already dressed for the occasion! add a bowl and a wisk-et viola! happiness!

since i am one for simplicity, being a beginner and all, i chose the very easy 'cocktail' or 'tea towel' apron. i did not use a tea towel, nor a pattern. i measured the fabric to the size i wanted and sewed away. i added some lace trim at the bottom and ribbon for the tie for JZs, the other i made double sided with matching ties (sewn like straps). i used some fun fabric passed down to me from chase, ashley and some i bought. for the trim on JZs i used vintage lace from my auntie and store bought ribbon for the ties. i am hooked people. if you plan on getting married guess what your getting from me? certainly not a toaster. something to look fabulous in while you toast!

no pictures, but i am thinking of them

i have stumbled upon an idea. i am taking this opportunity to place it outside of my head.

i want to start a series of photographs. i want them to be about our shadow sides, or rather my own. Carl Jung said that the shadow is the seat of creativity, it can be filled with layers and often overwhelms a person's actions when paralyzed by indecison, for example.

i know so well that no matter how hard i try to make art that is about something, it will never be about anything unless i reach beyond my surface level. this was proven to me in hind sight when i think of making art in school...it never felt like i was doing anything more than scratching the surface of something much more meaningful. i think i was often times paralyzed by the thought of what i was doing rather than just doing and being.

thus far i have been reading about the shadow side from a psychological viewpoint. as i read i am instantly transported to a personal example of my own-making me more curious about the mere definition of the shadow and how that relates to not only my own idiosyncratic bullshit, but others as well-essentially beneath that lies the collective unconscious or the universal truth that is human existence.

'they' refer to the shadow as psycho-dynamic repression or the disowned self. since i have spent years disowning my self and now am simply trying to understand and nurture it, i thought-what a better way to deepen my understanding than make art about it. something i feel i have been waiting for, that could come from this exploration is authenticity. as a result i have avoided making anything other than fun crafts and accessories. this enables me to make and be free from meaning, yet it still satisfies my creative fire.

as i absorb these thoughts and integrate them with my personal experience, i simultaneously working on a visual language that will bring in my personal style, color pallet, and vision to photographic work. i am thinking photography has everything i need to pull this off since i will spend more time building the idea and then the set can be reworked a number of ways without the limitations of painting. *sigh* i do love to paint. but...as the photographer cindy sherman came to realize while studying art- painting has its limitations and photography can set you free from them.

blabity blab blab. i am done now. thanks for tuning in-or out as the case may be.
sharing with you may just assist me in reaching my goal little blog. -x

30th bee day

hello my beeyatches...
much gratitude and love for those who helped make my 30th Bee day such a tremendously wonderful experience. i feel renewed. revitalized (perhaps it was the massage??) and ready to move ahead into a new decade. for those who were not there...geography is such a bitch and i surely missed you more than you'll ever know! and if you are just tuning in, and perhaps are not a part of my day to day world, i had spa day (spoiled, i tell you) followed by a night in a private karaoke lounge with some friends and delicious cake (handmade by JZ and Russ)!

here is a little snippet of the night:



i still cannot get over the random song selections at this place. think tenacious D, ABBA, journey, michael (of course) and sprinkle a little judas priest in there for fun. they really had an assortment ripe for comedy. and oh yes, there was comedy. fortunately no tradgedy.

favortite moments;
-singing ABBA's 'gimme gimme gimme' with chase
-philip blowing people's minds with his ability to shape shift from johnny cash to dave mustaine
-the challenge song for the girls, megadeth, 'tornado of souls'...amazing job by ashley and JZ
-the challenge song for the boys, patrick swayze, 'she's like the wind'-thanks to dennis for being a good sport!
-the finale! dead or alive, 'you spin me right round', chase and dennis leading the mics, me and ashley on tambourines, everyone singing their hearts out to the finish!

holy crap that was awesome.

and presents? nothing but BEEEEEs. not true, but a TON of bees, some very wonderful artwork and other lovely things.

i am not kidding, two bee brooches, bee matches, a wind up bee, a bee purse, a protein bar, a jar, and a sweet ceramic dish! natalia gave me my favorite print of hers and matt gave me a charcoal rendering of toilet paper and philip bought me a walrus photo by elizabeth soule.

my goodness. needless to say i am a gratful little bee.
here's to 30!

nocturnal surise...a reflection on suffering

Delay. Delay. Delay. It has been a while. All of this time i have been waiting to collect my thoughts and some images for Philip's exhibition, Nocturnal Sunrise. With the exhibition at a close and all of the hard work behind us, I am taking the time to reflect on his dramatic and stunning series of photographs.

The many times I have spent looking at his work, seeing his vision and philosophy come to light has led me to ponder further his art and how art in general impacts life. For those in need of introduction, my husband Philip makes large-scale black and white photographs that are graphically stunning and possess a lusciousness that is hard to ignore. Nocturnal Sunrise is a series he completed for his Masters of Fine Art thesis.


He has photographed all over the map, from New Orleans to Tahiti and compiled an abstract, high contrast visual language that acts as a metaphore for human suffering. The images are dark and stir up a mixture of emotions, from sorrow to humor, yet they all provide an entrance or exit into the light beyond this darkness. Upon first glance you cannot help but ask yourself what you are looking at. The longer you look you get transported into the experience of the image.

The experience of looking at this work can be overwhelming. It can also be uplifting. I found it interesting to watch people connect to different photographs for different reasons. It was exciting to hear their reactions because they were all so personal. Similar to the way one starts to see things in an abstract painting, I saw people feel things with his work. Even though the work is on the darker side thematically, photographing cemetarys and decaying anything as a general rule, it still possesses a lightness that makes it approachable and beautiful.


I feel a significant importance to placing emphasis on darkness because our society-American society-is constantly aiming for superficial positivism. We see it all the time with Hollywood starlets showing us how to look, government officials holding high a facade of how to act, and the many products of commercial, consumerism showing us how good life can be if you use their product. In the real world-the world of humanity governed by the complexity of emotions-we struggle with our own personal lives and while we aim for our individual pursuit of happiness, we do suffer. Dealing with the suffering does not come quick or easy.

We live in a world of over-prescribed medication and if we are not given permission to sedate our emotions by our doctors, we can run to the nearest store for liquor to self medicate, or worse, our local drug dealers. I believe in the power of art to open our subconscious minds and bring forth our hidden emotions. I believe that Philip's work does just that and so do many other artists, musicians, and poets alike. What is more poignant, whether we are aware of this power or not, is that we truly are affected deeply by our art of choice. The way a song can move you to dance or even to tears, or how a book clings to you as you read for endless hours, or a visual work draws you to deep contemplation-art sets part of us free.


I have come to know art as a way of releasing my inner fire, allowing whatever needs to come through me come out into the world, rather than get stifled and suffocted inside me. This is not only for making art, I think the same of being with others artwork. I know Philip's work holds a intimate place in my world because of my love for him, but I still must thank him for simply getting his art out into the world.

website of my very own

I finally got around to making my own website after landing another archive client this week! This time for a private collector whose house is overflowing with art! *gulp*
check it out: thecuriousbeestudio.com
now i just need to order the biz cards-way too much delay on those puppies...
what can i say, i am a busy bee!

flower clips for sale

well, i completed the first batch of flower clips and with a lovely model took some great photos last night. i just posted 6 of them on etsy for sale, the other two went to their new homes. i am so excited about these cuties, but I am in need of making some more sweet little birds since the coop is dwindling fast!

on a sad note, the minnow and i have agreed to separate....but it is all for the greater good since she is off to live in London!! (i am sooo jealous, but very happy for her) As soon as I know what her new etsy store is named I will update you. I have decided to keep 'minnow and the bee' as my store and adopted my husband as the honorary minnow since he often helps me with tough decisions, like what button to pair with what fabric. that and he technically came up with the name for us.

That's the report from the bee. Thanks for stopping in:)

projects & happenings

it's been a minute (try millions of minutes) since i last posted. things have been happening! too many to account for here so in an attempt to summarize i will focus on the art and the projects.

• new web commission for the talented Oliverio Quezada, a ceramic artist here in the Bay.
  
• hubby had his master's thesis solo-exhibition. we had just over 100 guests! incredible turn out with a ton of warm fuzzies, delicious food, and wonderful-wonderful people.
  
• thanks to my sister, the etsy shop has had a few sales from my collection. the seal, a bird and a mushroom! i am so happy the seal remains in the family.
  
• new mini paintings/necklace charms are in the works -sorry no photos yet-
• inspired to add some pizazz to my outfit i made a lovely hair clip that is now my new obsession. tonight at stitch and bitch i had two commissions!
  

The black and white was my flare the other night at the opening for Phil's show. The orange and blue gem is going to Chase by personal request. The smaller black with red center is a bonus one made tonight. Now I need to make the other one requested by a fellow S&B gal and a billion more to sell on etsy.

Also in the works, I am going to make several cowl-neck scarfs out of this luxurious, hand dyed, bamboo yarn from Chase. It came directly from her former co-workers at Art Fibers. It will be modeled after a lovely light blue one I made this winter and I hope to make enough for a pre-fall sale late this summer.

Oh goodie-back to work!
With everything going on I was beginning to wonder if I would ever have time again! Seriously though, making things keeps me sane. I am sure many of you would agree.

x

cross stitch trio

i am a busy bee with these cross stitches. they come in handy for stitch and bitch tuesdays. otherwise i'd have to learn how to knit or something...one day i am sure, but i cannot take on another craft at this point in my world.

so here is the cross stitch trio...

it all started with 'subversive cross stitch' by julie jackson. i perused a copy that chase had and fell in love. unfortunately i am a broke little bee, so i did things the hard way-by hand-no pattern. it rally was not hard at all, just painstaking! two of these came directly from her book, but just the text not the embelishments. (i feel bad enough! at least it was just for family fun)

'of course i care' came first. i made it for my sister for her office. (she works in non profit doing medicare stuff...) then came 'beeyatch' which of course was for me! then i got comfortable and made one of my own designs, 'the golden girls'. this is for my mom who lives with two of her sisters and whom we nick-named so.

i am caught up on gifts for now and ready to get back to minnow and the bee! i have some fun necklaces planned and look forward to the weekend already.

joy!

my sweet little smock

oh my curious bees, i am happy! i made the sweetest thing for my sweet little god-daughter who just turned 3. although i am late (a hazard of living so far away) i know she will just adore this princess art smock with matching crown.


i have many thanks to offer for the success of this gem...

first amy karol and her amazing book, 'bend the rules sewing' which gave me the pattern for the smock. also her blog archive for inspiration for the matching head piece. although i used her pattern for the smock and pocket, i had to carve my own path on the finishing because i had no binding tape. so i used some wide, pink, lace that my dear friend chase gifted me for the edging and made my own ties out of pink teddy bear fabric, also used for the pocket. the lavender fabric also came from chase as a hand-me-down. as for the princess crown, not easily shown here, i simply stitched some decorative trim that came from my aunt (who recently sent me in a giant hat box filled with goodies!) to the pink lace.

i owe all of these ladies many thanks for keeping the projects rolling! i would also like to thank the ever so full moon for giving me an excess amount of creative energy. (i heart full moons. so beautiful.) and of course, my dear friends jodi and matt for having such an amazing little girl to make things for.

i am so happy when projects come together so well.

yeah for happiness!

home again...

I am home from my adventures at sea. drawings were produced, although one a day was not achieved. I managed to make four, but really spent more time making photographs....here are some of my favorites...enjoy!

oh canada oh canada

well, this bee is off to sea on an adventure north! Our itinerary changed due to the dreaded swine flu! Cest la vie-I was not ready for full time swim suit weather and seriously...a vacation is an order! So instead we are headed up the coast. I will fly down to LA to meet Amber then we will cruise north, pass by my home of the oh so lovely San Francisco Bay, then up to Astoria, OR (they filmed GOONIES there! Here I come Chuuuuunk!), then to Victoria and Vancouver, BC.

I am ex-cited.

woot woot!
I shall report back soon my fellow bees.
xo

a lovely full moon of inspiration

I heart full moons. so much. they are great days to take on the unordinary and also promote the extraordinary. Philip had an opening last night in San Francisco for a group show with a total of 5 emerging artists. It was held at the California Institute for Integral Studies and sponsored by the McKinley Art Solutions who does the artwork for the W hotels-which we so love. It was nice to see his new work out in the world, out of the studio, and in a beautiful space. There were also some other fabulous pieces of art, another photographer in particular just blew our minds!

His name is Gordon Beebe and he does these elaborate photo shoots and then merges the photos together to create a landscape of the mind. Surrealism meets modern technology....

Gordon Beebe, "Now Playing", 2006, Inkjet Print

This was one of my favorite pieces shown by him. I just love the detail and thoughtfulness that went in to creating this piece. It really emphasizes the nature of the human mind to just race and race and that movie that gets looped inside our heads, playing until it drives us a bit insane! Philip and I both had the chance to talk with him about his work and how elaborate his studio set up gets, the billions of shots he takes and then the cutting and pasting of images together before printing.

What Philip and Beebe are both doing is subverting the way people view photographs by making them about places inside the mind rather than places we visit and document. You cannot help but wonder where or how the images were taken, but that is not what striking about them. It is the way they make you feel. The way your senses respond. There are many of Philip's pieces that are haunting, nostalgic, deeply dark, almost sinister, yet the longer you stay with it the more hopeful you feel because you are not there or maybe you are, or at least have been. There is always a light that comes in to rescue you.

Philip Ringler, "The Great Depression", 2008, Silver Gelatin Print, 60 x 40 inches

The thing that really struck me last night was the amount of intimacy that artists have with their process and how artists view other artist work much differently that those who have never spent time with art. We stare longer and take in what is before us. We notice the way colors play with one another and how shapes either flow in harmony or create visual barriers for the eye. We see all of the subtle things that can only emerge with time and true observation. So many times people just glance at artwork. I feel that abstract art and photography suffer from this more than other media because many people do not "get" abstract art (or thought) and people are trained to see a photograph in a very face value sort of way. Landscape, portrait, fashion shoot, snapshot, etc etc.

The full moon is a great time to harness creative energy. I felt very comfortable with the group of people who attended the opening. (If you aren't familiar with art openings, they tend to lean more to the awkward side of things, at least for us.) I felt very grateful to have so many friends and family come out to support my talented husband. After a few days of crabbiness, I needed to be around art in a supportive environment. I was so filled with creative consciousness that I went home and worked on some mother's day gift projects!

art is good.

stitch 'n beeyatch

i may have mentioned before about the weekly stitch 'n bitch meeting that my friend chase hosts at l'myx tea shop in oakland....we meet every tuesday at the lakeshore location and it is fun fun fun! if you are in the oakland area you should come hang out. any how, what no one realized, including me, is that chase pays monthly dues to keep the online post and since times...they are tough, i encouraged her to make a donation jar to help the cause. so this weekend me made it happen and let me tell you we should be ashamed of ourselves for making something so f'n cute because it may prompt people to give us their life savings! how could they resist....

chase made most of it, she did all of the fabric and interior coverage plus the front embellishments, I am responsible for the back side embellishments and the lid. needless to say, we are quite smitten with this over the top beggar jar. ciao!

viva la mexico

hola mi amigas y amigos! i am headed to Mexico!! Today marks the 28 day count down and then i shall set sail along the Mexican Riviera with my long time travel companion and friend Amber.

why?

well....we are both turning 30 this year and many years ago had made a pact to travel somewhere for the big 3-0 if we were still in fact friends. i am happy to say that we are and now we get to see this teenage day dream come true. although the funny part is that we always said something along the lines of france or a villa in tuscany. i suppose we thought being 30 meant having money! ha! well thanks to some good fortune and a persistent pal, we are taking a cruise to Mexico on the cheap cheap cheap. otherwise we'd still be dreaming.

so i am inspired to do an art project for this journey. off the top of my head i hope to do a drawing a day type of thing. knowing that i am often intuitive and spontaneous with any creative endeavor, i will only promise to pack some art supplies and go with whatever comes to me. of course, i will report back with details and photographs!

in other news i have been a busy little bee, building web sites, making tons of brooches, experimenting with my knitting loom and cross-stitch, and i finally have some sort of logo up for minnow and the bee. the business cards are lagging...it's quite difficult to decide on a few components and i may just put the whole thing on hold for a while since business is good right now.

keep on keeping on little bees...spring is here and summer is in the air! xo

beauty, in this world

i just finished this gorgeous, wonderful, spectacular, poetic and oh so inspiring book by Muriel Barbery called, 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog'. this is my homage to this novel....
i wish it was a croissant instead of a crumpet, but that leaves some room for hilarity because of part 4, chapter 6...and seeing as though i do not wish to ruin the gorgeous details of this book by trying to explain what it is about, or how i responded to its brilliance and humor, i will say nothing and keep the deeply personal meaning and loveliness i got from it to myself. instead i shall give you a few of my favorite passages with no context in hopes that it will suffice. maybe you will then grab a copy for yourself. (my copy will go directly to the chase/angela household for immediate consumption.)
-------------------------------------------
"The only purpose of cats is that they constitute mobile decorative objects, a concept which I find intellectually interesting, but unfortunately our cats have such drooping bellies that this does not apply to them." -pg 51

"The camellia against the moss of the temple, the violet hues of the Kyoto mountains, a blue porcelain cup-this sudden flowering of pure beauty at the heart of ephemeral passion: is this not something we all aspire to?" -pg 101

"At the door stands a courier, chewing on what must be a piece of gum for elephants, given the vigor and range of mandibular activity to which he is compelled." -pg 164

"...I'd like to remind everyone that Colombe washes her hands three times a day and screams the moment she gets the slightest suspicion that there might be an invisible hair in the shower (visible hairs are more improbable)." -pg 237

"...does this mean that this is how we must live our lives? Constantly poised between beauty and death, between movement and disappearance? Maybe that's what being alive is all about: so we can track down those moments that are dying." -pg 273

"I remember all that rain...The sound of it drumming on the roof, the paths running with water, the sea of mud at the gate to the farm, the black sky, the wind, the horrible feeling of endless damp weighing upon us as our life weighed upon us: neither consciousness nor revolt."
-pg 287
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i should stop here, even though much of what moved me was in the bigger picture, which was of course revealed at the end. this is a stunning novel. quite funny. quite charming. i hope you seek it out sometime and let me know your thoughts.

a special Bee day

i am very excited! i just finished my nephew's birthday gift! he is turning one this coming week and although i have never met him, i know he is the sweetest little guy and wanted to get him something special. since this crafty gal is short on clams ($) these days i consulted some craft books and found a sweet turtle pattern in Amy Karol's 'bend the rules sewing'. Since his dad loves turtles (who doesn't?) i though it would be perfect....
so here he is...(i named him mortimer...)



here is the very special bee-day card i made to go with it:



oh happy day!