Trading Post Treasures

My friends at the Trading Post in Amherst, Louise and Gina are having a sale! I stopped in and came home with a van load of fun pieces to quench my creative thirst. Now, for a little time to get things underway..... and I think I need to build myself a spray booth. I can't say when, but eventually you'll be seeing some "Before and After" shots here on Terra Nova Design. To fuel your curiosity, here are some sneak peaks. Check back!

I'm Adoring Adore

Yes, I have discovered a new magazine to Adore! It's named just that, Adore and its from Australia. What's even better is that it's fully online, with all 126 pages of its fabulous ideas and gorgeous photography. This issue is the British issue full of all things Brit inspired. Makes me long to return to England -- hopefully this summer. My fav section of this issue though begins on pg 46 with an article called Vintage Shopping! Ooolala! I'd love to spend some time (and cash) in these shops. Check it out...what's your favorite section?

Playing with Red Blue and Yellow

It's about 8 degrees Fahrenheit out there! What better to do on this frigid day than begin Judy Perez's online Color Theory class? I ventured down to my sun-filled studio, cleared off my old slate printer's table, got a out all the supplies and jumped in. I've never worked with Setacolor paints before but they are lovely! I'm really looking forward to using them on fabric. Judy's work - hand painted fabrics - amazes me. Today, I got started by building my color chart with combinations of Red, Blue and Yellow. Such fun you can have with just these 3. I used two red, two yellow and two blues....and look at al the beautiful variations that emerged. Isn't color wonderful? After the chart was completed I had little puddles of color on my palette that couldn't go to waste. So, I painted myself a little bit of Spring. It' a hopeful garden scene for a day like today. It makes me smile.

Aluminum Leaf on Furniture!

Oh, I do think I feel a project coming on! Last week I was at Mass MoCA and saw 2 artists working on an installation. They were applying what looked like silver leaf but told me it was aluminum leaf, which is significantly less costly. Hmmm....my interest was piqued. There's just something about leafing that has always drawn me in. Then, tonight i was catching up on reading art and design blogs and followed a few links to find myself at this Little Green Notebook post that jumped out and I heard that internal voice speak, saying "You must try this!!" So, sometime soon, I imagine I will do just that. Not sure when, as the new college semester just started but, I'll post some pics when I do.

Snow Day in Amherst Mass.

Finally we have snow! I think this may be the largest snow fall we have had in some years.... looking at at least 20" in my driveway. We took a couple hour stroll through town, stopping at the Freshside for lunch. Quiet, peaceful and absolutely beautiful! A sampling of the 100+ pictures I took include: our house (Sweetside), Emily Dickinson's statue (her house is in our neighborhood), me standing in front of a huge snow pile in town that appeared over night, the beautiful Congregational church across the street from us, our snow covered deck, view from our living room bay window (a maple), snowy bench and info center on the town common, our puppy, Mia, on Main St, view headed into town from our house and a couple of pics of the Snow Alien in my garden (aka, the spot light that illuminates the large wreath on the side of the house).

Work for Free?

I don't know about you but I am one of those people who puts so many hours into my "job" that my hourly rate (if I dared to stop to figure it) would be less than I made as a babysitter back in the 70's. I am also a sucker for doing things for free (or at least I was, when I still had at least 1 hour available to me each day). I'm not knocking doing things for free.... indeed, I think it's an essential part of being in the human family but, sometimes I need to stop and think more carefully about when and how. Anyway, I think that is why I love this Should You Work For Free chart by Jessica Hische so much.

Until next year......

Taking down the Christmas tree is always bitter sweet... sweet because it is a time to recall all the memories, from this past Christmas as well as the decades of Christmases that have gone before. Many of our ornaments have been with me for years, like the little blue snowman that I received when I was in kindergarten in the early 60's (yes, I am really that old!). Quite a few were acquired when our children were young, though many of "their" ornaments have followed them to their homes now that they are both married and have their own trees to decorate. Some of the ornaments here have joined us since we moved to this house, 4 years ago. The "bitter" part comes because I am putting them away for yet another 11 months or so. There are a couple of my birds that I leave out year round but most of these sweet little memory prompts are now packed away, with dozens of Christmas balls and other decorations - safely tucked into the attic until some time after Thanksgiving 2011. Goodbye little treasures, until next year.