She's mine

I know
I know...

I don't need

more large furniture

No

I

Don't

But will you just look at her?

Do you see what I see? lol

She's the kind of chair that just wraps itself around you...

She's the  kind of chair that takes away the 'all day in the studio on my feet' aches

The kind of chair that says 'stay awhile, think, sketch, no you're not wasting time'

(what? your furniture and various other objects don't speak to you? oh my.... what you're missing! :-)

She's the kind of chair that has stories to tell

She's seen a lot of life, a number of homes most likely

and now she's mine...

(see my coffee-cup = turf marker?!!)

But here's the question - any all help appreciated!!

She's flocked (material) with original horse hair stuffing

I've done scads of inter-netting for the best ways to clean  her

but I'd LOVE to hear from any of you with hands on (literally, lol)

experience with referbing an oldie but snugglie such as this

lest I do her harm and make both chair and I sad  :-)

Thanks for any suggestions you can wing my way!

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

On a hill & long forgotten

a good life lesson found....

ADAPT and be CREATIVE

(use whatever is around)!!!

~ ~

Life isn't easy, not for sissies to be certain.

The day to day routine

can be just as challenging

as the crisis moments.

This little building with it's 'twig lock' 

standing on it's tall and windy hill reminded me

ADAPT

 BE CREATIVE

USE what you have

Don't just think outside the box

cut a hole in it..... 

& climb thru

You won't always find 

the answer/path/solution you want

but you will (almost) always

find 

a 

solution.....

fdferris 2010 

Random Inspiration Pictures

All winter long (or is that all long winter, lol) I've been taking pictures that inspire, evoke emotions, capture memories ~ random inspirations.

I though that you'd enjoy seeing a sprinkling of these images, so I'll be sharing them here thru the Spring and Summer.  I'd (of course!) love to know if/how any of the images whisper to you, and if so it'd be wonderful if you'd share what they say to you in the comments. Love to know what the image stirs in your mind/heart/creative soul..... Or what memory it lifts to mind?

**This picture is of a vintage beaded handbag that was my grandmom's, then my mum's. Mum passed it on to me ~ and now I'm sharing it with you  :-)  The detail is amazing. Even more surprising is the fact it survives in nearly perfect condition.  I love the colors and the combination of floral design within geometric pattern(s).  Such opposing design elements, merged beautifully in this piece. 

I think the combination of lines and florals for bead embellishment could be really interesting....  What do you think?  :-)

Sometimes You Get Lucky

Some of you may have already seen this

mothers day post to my  mum (last year)

Still... I wanted to share it with her
(and you)

again  :-)

Love you Mum....

 In fact, sometimes life allows you to be astoundingly lucky.

My longest running, best bit of luck began with having the remarkable woman you see here as my mother, my 'mom' or as I call her now, Mum....

Looking at the scrawny (nearly) hairless, too thin to even fill out a pair of plastic diaper pants baby I was, it's hard to know what she saw in me. LOL a beauty I wasn't that's for certain. Allergic to milk as it turned out, for months I never slept. I seldom smiled. Instead each day I cried, I screamed. All day. All night. Still, she loved me.Once it was determined I was allergic to milk and put on soy, I stopped screaming. Then I didn't gain weight (worrying her out of her mind). Smaller than the gladiolas, still she loved me...She loved me thru my confounding hatred of dresses. Confounding because I had an endless fascination and passion for accessories! Jewelry of ANY kind, beads, purses, sox, bows, headbands. (Even then I was a jeans with jewelry kind of girl). She loved me thru years of my constant "can I take the dress off yet mommy?!" She also loved me thru a lot of realllyyy bad home perms. She never lost patience with my love of 'prizes' (photo above is a christmas gift). A trait that persists I have to confess, lol She still admitted I was her daughter even when I made some 'unique choices' (and if admitting I belonged to her in THIS outfit isn't love, I don't know what is, lol) All thru my life I have and continue to make 'unique' choices. She continues to love me. And thru all the years she taught me by not just word, but by example. She didn't just talk the talk - she walked the walk. She taught me to be kind. To be honest. To be brave. To BELIEVE in myself. To know that I could do anything. She taught me the to find great joy in small everyday things. She taught me you must renew yourself to continue to give. She shared with me her love of poetry - so much a part of who I am now. She shared with me her love of the sea - one of my great loves. She was tough when I needed it, stern when I deserved it, proud of me when I earned it. And always, she loved me. All thru my life she's been and remains my best girlfriend, my confidant, my rock. She's always there for me. We laugh and cry together, adventure together, ponder life together. She's still teaching me, encouraging me, hard on me when I need it. Proud of me when I deserve. And the best part of all? She loves me still.

And I hope she knows how much I love her.........
I hope she knows how much she's taught me, guided me, given me strength.

Happy Mothers Day Mum ~ I love you......

TIED WITH A BOW

i like things

tied with bows

knots are stand-off-ish

tape is tear-the-paper-ish

bows are loops of intrigue

'rabbit ears' on surprises

bows tease

but they don't resist

if you approach them

in the right way

they allow you

entry

if you choose to ignore the way a bow works

the way it's best untied

if you ignore

 that

one

small

truth 

the bow will make you

work a bit harder

or

refuse to open at all

and simply knot itself

in resistance

but isn't that true of everything?

and of everyone?....

Copyright FDFerris April 2010

She Decided

Sometimes she wished she were a tree

So she could see into the distance

and hear the songs of the birds

note by note

all around her

If she were a tree

 high in the sky

 the perils of the ground

couldn't easily

reach her

Some days she longed to be

part of the leaves and moss

that covered the ground

below her

low lying and endless in number

so no one would even notice her

But each morning

she awoke to find she was

neither a tree

nor leaf or moss

She was not tall and safe

She was not short and invisible

She

Was

(in fact)

Yellow

Obvious

Delicate

 Embattled

She decided her best 

(and only)

choice

was

to be brave

to be cheeerful

and to look fiesty

(fiesty as hell)

for as long

as

she

possibly

could

~~~~

FDFerris

February '10

Copyright 2010 

Here's my order

*If this post makes no sense, read here first :-) *

 Here’s the order I chose!

Sox 
I love sox! 
Warm, sunggly, oddly colored, short, tall

Books       
For we who love books no explanation is needed eh?

Food
Ah yes (and may I add   'yum'!)

Blankets/throws   
Winter makes this a fav category

Pillows/Cushions    
Who ever heard of a new blanket without a neato pillow? 

House/Home    
 I wonder what they put in here category treasure hunt

Bathroom  
Mostly scanned for the pix to get ideas for a pretty bathroom

Bed linen  
Nothing changes up a bedroom  mood better than new linens

Kitchen
 I am a gadget-a-holic  lol. When I do cook I bake - gadgetfest!

Tableware              
Silver-ware-aholic  (just ask my husband)

Household             
Another I wonder what's been tucked there?  category

Rugs     
I love the look of rugs I HATE HATE DETEST keeping rugs swept

Nightware
I often (hate to admit) sleep in studio rejects (things with holes but are oh-so-comfy)
 
So there you have it!    Now isn't it reallly interesting how we all had  books and food as a priority, lol . Blankets and pillows  ranged  midline priority for all of us.... Hmmmmmmmmmmm
 
Sooz, lol what happened to rugs and household? Think I wouldn't notice eh? LOL
(do you hate rugs too? roflmao)  come on - tell where rugs go on your list  :-)  pullleeezzzzeeee (hug)
 
Jus,  I can see in your list the poet/cook/winemaker/baker you are shining thru  :-)  (hug)
 
Heather, roflmao I said EIGHT comments (trying to pull a fast on are we)? Gotta keep my running shoes on to keep up with you babe, lol  (hug)
 
Hey, this is a lot of fun guys - thanks to u,  my loyal readers!!!  -  and I'm so glad you shared.
Anyone else want to join in? If so you have a few weeks, so leave your list in the comments!

 I'll keep checking to see when I have 8 comments  (and no MINE does not count, lol).  We'll give it till the end of March and then I'll draw a name from however many comments there are  - how does that sound?!!?

TTYA soon!

I wonder why.....

An interesting question..... curious indeed .....

I just rec'd an online catalog with these page link categories listed.

House and Home

Bathroom

Bed linnen

Blankets & Throws

Books

Pillows & Cushions

Food

Household

Kitchen

Nightwear

Rugs

Slippers & Sox

Tableware

Choosing and rambling thru the sections out of order I suddenly wondered

WHY I chose to poke about in each offering in the order I did?

 Never thought of it before...

Why did I pick_____ before______?

Why did I look at _____next and ______ last?

I Don't think it makes a tiny bit of diff - but on the alternate hand,
kind of interesting to consider what order one views the pages - dontchathink?

So here's a bit of mid-winter wool-gathering
(if you'd like to play along, lol)

If you leave a comment sharing what order you'd go thru the list above then at this time next week
I'll post a comment sharing what order I went thru the list  :-)

(kind of a silly little blog game to pass a bit of time in this dreary part of the winter)

And to sweeten the game, I'll make it a contest/adventure of sorts!

Leave your 'what order' comment and when I have 8 comments I'll pick one totally at random
and choose a lampwork bead from my studio (with or cord or ribbon) to send to

who (or is it whom?) ever left the randomly chosen comment!

Sound like fun?

Good!
Comment away!

Hmmmmm......

Sometimes ideas, long before they become coherent in concept, simply simmer. Somewhere in the background or underground or on the ethereal plane they cogitate, marinate, and filter. They stretch, they fold. The expand and contract. Thicken and thin. They leap then they stand as still as a the moment between the beats of a heart. Ideas. Passions. Pathways. The warp and weave evolve direction long before the course can be perceived.

Still, somewhere, somehow, you sense it happening. You know something creative 'inside' your mind is pushing at the edges, scoping out the parameters, preparing to emerge in the form of a framed 'actionable' idea. It's a time, when if you were to try to assign it a physical equivalent, you'd be inclined to say it were an itch that can't be scratched. A vague ache. An unsettled stomach.

You know something vastly creatively significant ~ some alteration or addition or layered direction is coming. You know, you know it with sure certainly. Sometimes an edge of it surfaces in a passing thought, a color flashes, a word or phrase comes to mind. Alluring, intriguing, painfully tempting. You can almost touch it, feel it beneath your feet, smell it in the air. But you can't visualize it clearly.

Not-just-yet.

So you wait. You watch. You listen.
With intensity.

Something...... Something is on the wing....

When I Should Be....

I've been up to my knees in receipts, graphs, packing slips and invoices. End of the year bookwork dontchaknow.  Mind numbing. I am not a person who loves bookwork. I do it. I do it well. But I can not find a way to enjoy it (except for when it's complete, lol).  So inbetween studio work and bookwork this time of year I build in other productive breaks, distractions, sanity savers.

I found this oversized ottoman on the side of the road for free. Poor thing he'd apparently failed to keep his original home and worse still for him he'd failed to find a new owner at a yard sale as well (see the masking tape price tag on his right leg?) His fate found him upside down as you see here on the curb. He was awaiting his demise a la garbage day. Poor ottoman. Till I came along, lol......  It isn't the first (or likely last) time I've snatched a waif from the maw of the garbage truck crew. And after all this ottoman was solid, large surfaced (for extra seating or coffee-table duty as needed).  So home he came with me. I could feel his relief and happiness. Mine too. Recycling is good. Free recycling is faboo!

The only problem (aside from a bit of dirt and cobwebs) was that his material wasn't quite my style. But I'd rescued some heavy duty material a few weeks earlier as I loved the pattern. I draped a corner of the material over the sad little ottoman and voila - the two were perfect for each other!   I needed only to remove ottomans legs, and with a bit of cutting, tucking and a staple gun I was on my way to a really nice new (to me) piece of furniture..... 

More pictures of the process below

A few of my tools. Two of his legs removed alongside my trusty phillips head screwdriver and his price tag  (of a whopping $2.00) He really deserved another chance....

And here he is, after my re-do (with a before picture right next to it for comparison). I'm happy.  Stool is happy. Landfill is happy. I love it when a plan comes together lol                                                                       

What do you think?  :-)

Hypothetically speaking

Hypothetically speaking if you have an old fridge that doesn't self defrost you really may want to consider defrosting it -  you know before you (hypothetically) hear a loud crash and (hypothetically) run to the kitchen to find a slab of ice has flown out of the freezer door. And skidded across the floor. Then you could (hypothetically speaking) discover it is so cold you would have to get winter gloves to pick it up. And upon (in theory) picking it up finding it is almost as heavy as you are so you can't carry it to the door to pitch it outside (in fact you can barely get it to the sink). 

As it turns out you (hypothetically speaking) could have to put it in a little snow sled you use for pulling UPS parcels. But first you would have to place the sled on a towel and then put the ice in the sled and drag the towel/sled/ice thru the house to the outside to place the (hypothetical) iceberg out-of-doors. 

Yep, I'm just sayin....
hypothetically that is.

Hello 2010

 A new year reminds me of looking thru stained glass windows

Some aspects are clear and defined.
Geometric and reliable.

Others teasingly appear, yet cannot be seen in discernable fashion

Only vague colors and shapes reveal
a hint of what may be

Hopes, fears, dreams and goals in fuzzy conglomeration
defy specific assignment

You'll just have to wait and see - literally

Light streams thru the fixed and fuzzy framework of the year-yet-to-be-lived

Welcome 2010....
**

Merry Happy & Kindness

Be it towards humans or creatures, pass on

some good will and kindness

(on christmas and every and any other day you can.....)

Have a peek at this - and merry happy holidays!

In Surprising Places One Finds....

No matter where you live, I imagine you've heard tell that the NE has been tortured is enjoying astounding snow or remarkable cold. On top of my little hill amid the fields and trees we've been spared the snow. But oh my shiverin' kaboose, the cold has been what we normally only see in the depths of February (imagine the insides of your nose sticking together - I know, a horrid example, but true none the less, roflmao And it's one way to let you know how cold COLD is here) And there is no hope for you if you forgetfully lick your lips or go outside with damp hands or hair, lol

Yet still..... 
Amid the struggle with the wind, and the frightful chill there are bits of beauty. Art via nature. Stunning really. The reward, if you take the time to look, is often found in the harshest and most unlikely places. Below, I give you an example of such I noticed recently. This very old single pane window in our house ~ festooned with swirls and curls, flows and rivers, ferns and blossoms of ice that whisper "beauty"....

Water, ice, bitter cold ~ basic elements combined ~ and created this...  

Stunning isn't it?

Dear Santa

Those who know me are aware I spend a LOT of time mowing lawns in the non-snow-seasons (and those who didn't know that fascinating fact know now, lol). With that lawn-fact in mind, here's an admittedly clever item that I hope Santa does NOT bring to to me - ever, roflmao

In fact, the threat of this under the tree could even cause me to behave all year! (ok, that's a lie as nothing could cause me to behave) lol but if something could this would be it! And may I just add that I have a  new respect (and love) for my riding (but not pedal powered) lawn mower....

Some days are like that

Some days just go that way

(not down the toilet but.....)

There I was, you know, just doing the

typical cleaning - the blue scrub and swish...

My mind I admit on the next 20 things

 on the list needing to be done.

Absent-mindedly I began

Blue - check!

Scrub - check!

Swish - yep!

Flush & done!

But....

As I went to put the toilet brush back in the holder

I somehow managed to slide the bristles against the foldover

edge of my cute little bathroom trash can I had out for cleaning.

Do I even need to say it? Oh hell yes, next thing I know I feel

a gentle but oh so horrifying spray of piss water** from the toilet

brush all over my face. Oh please, no!

 Pppppppttttttt!

Numerous face washes, alchol wipe downs, gargles and naughty words later

here I  am tell you because, well, who else would I tell? lol

Not to mention that when you do something really stupid (but funny)

involving a toilet it just has to be shared, right?

I'd whine more, but right now I have to go check

webMD to see what horrid things I may catch, roflmao

(and note to self: next time don't leave the trash can near toilet brush holder)!
**Well, not really piss water, lol - it was clean water ~ but still... ick!

CUTE 'N Funny!

In an email from my mum today - isn't it the cutest! (thanks mum!)

http://www.house-mouse.com/

And from my all time fav housekeeper-babe Maxine...

And save all that money on stickey notes, lol

Have a good day everybody

A Holiday Confession

As a kid it was hard for me to let go of the idea of Santa. And the flying reindeer. A reality check that eventually had to be cashed.  Time goes by and perceptions change.

Now here I am letting go of another holiday fallacy idea. I'm admitting in writing that I don't adore complex, time intensive holiday preparation.   The look and outcome - yes! But the fiddley fussing, not so much.  I know... (insert image of me hanging my head for a micro moment) this admission is terribly un-matha (perhaps even un-female, lol).

I can't confess share all my shortcuts at once (I do have some estrogen based pride, lol) But I will admit to my first get the look without the fuss trick. Hold on to your pantyhose. Sit down perhaps. Ready? I NEVER undecorate my little fake alpine tree. Yes, fake tree. Never undecorated.  Just breathe. Honest it's not as horrible as it may at first seem.

On Jan 2 or so each year my little tree (which looks astoundingly similar to the one in the image) is loving, carefully draped and wrapped in a sheet of filmy plastic (the kind used as a drop cloth for  painting). Lights, tinsel, ornaments all intact. Away into storage he goes. Once or twice thru the year I see him, say hello to him as I pass by for other things that live in storage.  He doesn't seem to mind at all.

For my part it's wonderful not to have to find and upack all the lights, ornaments every year. I enjoy not having to place the lights on the tree from scratch each year. I do switch off an ornament or two as I like which is fun and veryyyy quick.  To me it looks just as pretty when it's done (outcome vs process remember, lol).

The bonus is that the time saved since I've approached the tree in this oh-so-un-martha-way is that I now have time to string lights on trees outside if I like. Or bake cookies (bad for my butt but wonderful for the holiday mood! :-)   

Embracing my short cut to holiday outcome self (like admitting there was no Santa) changed the hoilday a bit of course. But for the better. For me there's more enjoyment not less. All I had to do was get past the previous expectation(s)!

I wonder if I'm the only one with holiday short cut confessions I mean tips? lol

You Have To Love Maxine

LOL ain't it the truth!
Personally, I anxiously await the days being back on the path of growing longer!

"WITHIN"

WITHIN A BOOK ~ WITHIN A SKY ~
WITHIN A SONG ~ OR PIECE OF PIE....


AMID A WOODS ~ AMID A WAVE ~
AMID A HUG ~ OR LETTER SAVED


BENEATH A LOOK ~ BENEATH A SIGH ~
BENEATH A HOPE ~ THAT NEVER DIES


SOMEWHERE WITHIN ~ SOMEWHERE WITHOUT ~
SOME BIT OF STRENGTH ~ IS 'HIDING OUT'


SEEK IT FIND IT ~ WHERE YOU MAY ~
RENEW 'WITHIN' ~ STRENGTH USED EACH DAY...

Verse and Images by FDFerris Copyright 2009