a new challenge...

inspires me!

so i'm trying to come up with a design for my very first class assignment, which requires that we hand-quilt a design within a 20"x20" piece of fabric.

i've been playing around with different repetitive designs -- something organic like repeating pea poddish things in a stripey pattern. (?) but then i got to thinking that i'd rather do something more figural and centrally-oriented.... hmm...

so now i'm pulling inspiration from this, one of my favorite poster designs by Scott Hansen from the campaign season:

so we'll see what i can come up with.... wish me luck!

you make me wanna...

SHOOP!

so i found my calling on on saturday nite-- karaoke!

check out my supersmooth (ha!) moves:

my pal hil and i did salt-n-pepa proud, for sure.

quilts!

are like hugs of the fabric variety, and therefore i know i'm gonna love my class this quarter!



(a wonderful little quilt i found on etsy!)

so i went to my first "art quilt" fibers elective course last nite-- with my most very favorite SCAD professor ever: the lovely Pamela Wiley. she is amazing and inspiring and and creative and hilarious and wonderful all wrapped up into one tiny fireburst of a woman. i have a hard time expressing, truly, how incredible she is and how much she shaped me, without knowing it, during my undergrad experience. this class is going to be such a great reunion for me-- to Pam, to the fibers department, and to making things uniquely "mine", with my own 2 hands.

hooray for Pam. hooray for all things quilts. and hooray for all the fun things i'm about to create.....!

march madness...

(particularly watching Carolina play while I'm at work)
makes me happy!

go tarheels!

flying solo sometimes...

is the best way to go!

with kevin working, i made the decision on St. Patty's Day to avoid all of the drunken madness and debauchery of the parade and downtown Savannah. (no green beer for me after all!) instead, i took the dogs to the park, got some sun (my freckles popped out) while listening to an audiobook, and then cruised out to tybee for a peaceful, beautiful (!) afternoon....

(i was also on a quest for a North Beach Grill mojito-- but they were closed. alas....)(note the green shirt-- i was festive, a little bit!)

there's not much i like more than cruising down tybee road with the sun shining, windows down, and good tunes a blarin'-- past the marshes, headed to the ocean...

problems? what problems?!? just enjoying the NOW. :)

soundtrack for the day: railroad earth, particularly "bird in a house" (http://www.railroadearth.com/)

bring on the green...

Happy St. Patty's Day (tomorrow)!
i love savannah--
no work on the 17th, ever, thanks to the parade and festivities!
hooray for green beer!

a 'good for the soul' weekend with family...

makes me grateful. and happy. and refreshed.


(my trusty travel companion)

ate good food, drank tasty wine, and watched the ACC basketball tournament all rainy weekend long. all in the company of my wonderful family, whom i definitely don't see often enough!

stopped in NC on the way up to VA, and saw granny and papa-- who loaded me up on people magazines, sweet potatos and 'nabs' for the road. went shopping with mom, drank beer with my sis and some old friends,



(my sister, angie, and all her beverages! haha)

went to my favorite grocery store in the whole world (Ukrops! www.ukrops.com) and soaked in how wonderful it was to be in the places where my 'roots' are-- with some of my favorite people!

but i missed ol' kev and riley, tremendously. and after 3 days away, i contentedly drove that long stretch of highway, back to my new home, where i'm putting in new roots: to my husband, my dogs, my colorful little house (dishes waiting, of course!) and to the balmy swamp i've come to love, good ol' whitemarsh island, georgia.

ahh... breathe in the salty, humid air. home indeed.
exhausted, i fell asleep with a smile, i'm sure.

new Orla Kiely placemats...

make me (and my kitchen) smile!

so, after much purposeful avoidance, i finally went to target the other nite to check out their new line of Orla Kiely products. Orla Kiely is a an Irish-born, 'internationally adored' fashion and textile designer of whimsical, colorful and bold, simplistic patterns. (http://www.orlakiely.com/usa/) back in february, Target started selling a line of housewares/and other products featuring her designs.

to my chagrin, i could barely find any of these fantastic products-- they were wiped out (i guess?) save for 2 lonely pear placemats, sitting at the end of an aisle, on clearance. (!)

and so now, yes, i am the proud owner of these 2 pear placemats--
which look fabulous on my 1970's goldflecked table in my stop-sign red kitchen!

some more of her goodness:

this gooey stuff....

is like rubbing andes after-dinner chocolate mints all over your lips!

(minus the mess)it's tastily amazing and i love it so much it gets it's very own posting on my blog. ha!
(available at a walmart near you)

Pixar's finest....

makes me so proud!

so my dear friend (and former SCAD bball teammate) becki came to town for a few days last week. and while there is so much i can say about becki in backstory (i've been knowing her for about 10 years now) the bottom line is that she is downright amazing.
period.
(see for yourself at: www.beckitower.com)
(one of my all-time favorite becki drawings: our teammate gillian)

anyhoo, my superskilled friend was recently hired on as a full time staff animator at Pixar Studios out in California. yes, that Pixar. (http://www.pixar.com/)

turns out she has some time off before she launches into Toy Story 3 in a few weeks, and lucky me got to whisk her out on the boat for a fabulous sunday afternoon while she was here in Savannah for a few days...(that's tybee island behind us)

it was gorgeous, so awesome to spend time with her and hear all about how the job's been going. she just finished working on Pixar's newest film "Up"... coming to a theater near you very soon!
becki is such a great person, with a huge heart and so much talent it's staggering... and its good to know that she's happy and carrying out her potential in the job of her dreams--

i'm just so darn proud of her!
xoxo(and look what i managed to find: becki, circa 2003. ha! nice!)

innovation and recycling...

so nifty-- love, love, love the cacti!!!
i'm gonna have to make one for myself!

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/03/david-stark-for-west-elm.html

my mini art quilt...

makes me so proud!

so i took the art quilt workshop this past saturday-- part of SCAD's new community education workshops they're putting on. the instructor was jessica pope, who i've been curious to meet for quite some time now. she's kind of a rock star from the fibers deptartment who now plays a big role in Working Class studio...(http://workingclassstudio.com/) though i'm not sure of her exact title... regardless, i really dug her energy, her knowledge and her out-of-the-box, laid-back productivity. she made such an amazing little art quilt as a demo, in no time at all!

(me and ginger, hard at work)

(some of jessica's creations and fabric goodness)

anyhoo... it was fabulous! and i made the nifty mini-quilt for lilah, kevin's goddaughter. she's getting baptized in a few weeks, so it will make a nice gift. i'm contemplating whether or not to try and find a frame for it (its only 12"x14")... or maybe they'd want to hang it on her door or something? it's not exactly made to withstand wear and tear.....

so after the workshop, it was such a beautiful (!) day-- i got outta there quick as possible so i could go for a boat ride! sean and ryen met me at the house and we met up with kevin and the dogs... went for a nice little cruise. so perfect. couldn't have asked for a better Saturday!

(isn't he adorable?! i only wish i could get riley to sit this still--
hence the many pictures of pete and barely any of my other busybody dog!)

His angry face....

makes me smile!

Kevin doesn't really get angry too often. In fact, he's probably the most laid back, easygoing guy I know. But sometimes, I just feel like fighting! So he does his best to humor me, angry-face and all. and, best part of all, he let me take pictures of it!

Such a special fella. Ha!