{Real Life} just being still...

The clouds rolled in today after two days of sunshine. It's time to be still and regroup...  Hope you are all having a relaxing weekend! 

{Fabric Friday} quinnknits...

I first learned about Jess Quinn's textile creations via Kickcan & Conkers. I was so drawn in by her quirky & unique style. The legs of some of her characters reminded me of the artwork of my old roommate in grad school- which gave me a nostalgic smile. I've been following the twisted yarn blog ever since.

While I'm particularly fond of the quinnknits stuffed sculptures, the illustrations are gorgeous too. Excitingly enough, I just learned that Jess has been experimenting with Spoonflower lately!

I know I've mentioned this many times before, but this is a process that I'm particularly intrigued with - I love the idea of merging illustrations & textiles. I have had hopes to experiment with this process using my thread drawings, sometime in the near future. When I have a window of time open up (whenever that may be). Here are some examples of the fabrics that may be popping up in the quinnknits etsy shop soon. Aren't they cool? Happy Fabric Friday everyone! 

{Vintage Inspiration} four finds ~ PLAY

It's true, when I go to the thrift or antique stores, I'm driven by two major things- nostalgia  & Sayer. It's getting nice outside these days (finally) & when I found these vintage Fisher Price roller skates (circa 1984-86), I just had to snatch them up. I used to love to roller skating - well, I still do. So, I was thrilled to share this love with Sayer & we are having perfect roller skating weather now.

Chris & I took Sayer to the antique shop the other day & his eyes honed in on a big bag of toy tools. We ended up getting this bargain bag of tools only to realize when we got home, that he needed something better to store them in. The plastic bag wasn't cutting it. So, I hopped on down to the shop again (by myself) & found this great wooden carpenter carrying bin. It's the perfect size & he has been carrying it around with him all through the house. It's really nice to have an extra handy man around. I also found this really sweet sit 'n step chair. Sayer prides himself in his independence, so we can never have enough step stools around. This one is particularly charming. I have it in my studio for him now so he can have his own seat & step stool. He said it's his fire house step stool.

The fourth of the finds might be more for me actually. I did get it for him to play with, but I really couldn't pass up the wooden clown. It only came with one ring - which is fine, because I'm not very good at it anyway. Sayer is much better at it. I keep this in my studio as well - it's a perfect stress reliever & I like looking at him too. I'm a total sucker for clowns, wooden toys, & red stripes w/turquoise. So this find was a winner in my book. Isn't it cool how someone's junk is someone else's treasure? 

Hope you are having a great week! We are all just getting over colds & we have Chris' dad is visiting for a few weeks as well. So we are moving at a different pace these days. It sure is nice to have some sunshine.... 

{Everyday Inspiration} Busy day at hutch studio...

A few weekends ago, I had a chance to spend a little time at hutch studio. Chris was giving a demo in clay & hung around a bit to shoot some photos of the event. 

Here are a few glimpses of how he displays some klt:works items. It's always a treat to be able to see my work in that space.

Chris set out to do something that he had never done before...to throw a bunny on a wheel. Sounds cool doesn't it? It was really quite an interesting thing to view. It's the type of thing that only someone with his experience, could pull off with a crowd of people watching. Not to mention, the shop was actually open. So in between working on the rabbit, he was helping customers! 

The atmosphere at hutch studio is really wonderful. It's calm & creative with a sense of wonder in the air of what cool discovery might be around the corner. Chris has created playlists by subjects that are always playing - songs about  water, hands, boats, birds... etc which just adds to the "hutch" experience. 

So this is the final product! He (or she) was just unloaded from the kiln yesterday. Chris literally pulled a bunny out of his sleeve that day. Amazing! What I love the most about it, is  the process & that he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. I admire that...it is my favorite way to work.  Chris has demos & workshops set up all of the time at hutch & if you are in the area, I highly recommend attending- they are quite inspirational. Stop by the hutch studio blog or FB page to keep an eye on what fun new project is being worked on. 

Hope everyone is having a great week! It's finally sunny & spring like here. Boy does that make a difference!

{Music Monday} Tell Me Something I Don't Know...

{via here}

{via here} 

Herman Dune - Tell Me Something I Don't Know from City Slang on Vimeo.

I'm grateful that a few friends posted this Herman Dune video on Facebook last week because  I just love it.  I'm really lucking out when it comes to new musical discoveries lately. Happy Music Monday! 

{Everyday Inspiration} Paper attire for a dream date...

Ever since Cardboard Man's existence, I've been dreaming about what sort of outfit I could wear for a night out on the town with him. When I saw the work of Jum Nakao {via here}, my question was answered...

Incredible! Isn't the end nuts- can you imagine? Ah, the drama... 

Now the only thing left to wonder about is where should I take Cardboard Man in our paper attire (& would the end of our date be similar)? Hmmm.... Hope everyone is having a great weekend!