how i spent April 1st 2010

It was 19 years ago today that my son, Tucker, suffered a severe brain injury due to medical negligence. That day changed our lives forever. we've suffered through heartache, depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress syndrome. It is a tough day for us and I spent the day doing fun things to keep myself from thinking about that ill fated day. I was going to do some art, but it was so gorgeous outside that i decided to spend my day outdoors.
I recently left a little shop where i was selling things and the van was full of booth and product stuff to put away. So after emptying out the van, we needed to find a place for an old shabby bookcase and an old medicine cabinet. So i decided to make room on the front porch for them. (it was perfect timing as i needed to clean the porch up anyway)
i put the old medicine cabinet over my yummy green farm table and then decided to "merchandise" it with some of my nature findings. (nests, shells, sea glass, driftwood, etc.) So i went shopping in my house and dragged out all sorts of fun stuff.

here's what the cabinet looks like with the doors open:


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this is actually a tiny little hummingbird nest. it is as big as half dollar. I found this nest in Arizona when i was traveling with my mom. i made little nest holders out of rusty wire springs. (the white eggs are from our finches)
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this is a robins nest that Dillon's friend, Jimmy, brought to me. It had been made inside a wreath on their porch and the flowers from the wreath are still embedded in the mud. (jimmy also brings me heart shaped rocks - how sweet is that?) i filled the nest with these tiny little egg rocks that i like to collect when i am at my mom's in Bass Lake, Ca.
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this is a heart shaped rock that i found in California when i was visiting my sister in feb. i was walking the beach and said to myself, "i really want to find a heart shaped rock" and viola! like magic, it appeared. (true story!)
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not sure about this bigger nest as it is part mud and part stick - probably another robin nest. it gives you good perspective on the size of that sweet little hummer nest.
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this is a Japanese beetle that Dillon found last summer. he was sitting under a tree and it fell next to him. he saved it knowing i would want it. i think it looks awesome displayed on one of my grandmother's old floral frog.
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here is a wren nest that i found just yesterday in some brush off our driveway. it is very sweet and holds a few bluebird, a cardinal and a mystery feather.
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after i was done with this project, it was almost time for tucker to get home from school. We all went into the backyard where jeff, dillon and friends played some volleyball while i made some nests out of grapevine. i want to add some of kirby's fur to them and then display them around the house. then we brought tucker outside and did some yard work around this area in the middle of the yard that is nicknamed "flower island". it needs a lot of work as last summer we had a terrible mole problem. flower island looks as if it is sinking since the earth underneath it is all torn up. so we raked and tried to rearrange and level things. we've decided to replace the old pergola with a new one as it is rotting and tilting from the weight of the wisteria on top of it.

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so you see, i ended up having a lovely day and tried to focus on the small stuff that makes me happy instead of spending my time in sorrow. as i was raking, i saw this in the leaves and it reminded me to find love in all that i do.

butterfly visit

mother nature always has a way of making things up to you. after my bout with a yellow jacket the other (which is still itchy and fire red, mind you!), i noticed this little guy flitting around my garden. i figured he was heading for my butterfly bush, so ran, got the camera and waited for him to show up. sure enough, he gently glided in and started enjoying a mid day snack. what a beauty. so quiet and peaceful he was as he moved from flower to flower.

i've discovered some newborn baby squirrels in a bird house right next to my front door. it is surrounded in ivy, so it is quite safe for them there. they are darling! as they get a little bigger, i'll try and get some pics.

typesetter drawer shadowbox

(hint: click on the picture for a nice close up view of the goodies inside the box)

for awhile i have been collecting the old typesetting drawers. why? i don't know, i just like them. i had come across a bunch that were very inexpensive, so we picked them up. they've been sitting on my front porch in the "wood shop" section just waiting to be played with. a few months ago, Lynn Perrella (see her inspiring piece, "Summer Sampling" here and then when you are done, look at her assemblages they are stunning!) did a type setting drawer art piece and then it was in Somerset Studio which is where i saw it. immediately i thought, so that's why i've been collecting those! the funny thing is though, as many of my friends have also been collecting these (before the article came out). it's interesting how my friends and i are drawn to very similar things. i keep wanting to coin a term for this type of girl that i am, but also that i see in my friends. i know jane has some of the drawers, kim has some, a new blog friend, beth has some. and it doesn't just stop with the drawers. i was amazed at the similarities that i found between Jill and i (i met up with her at Handmade Faire). even down to random personality quirks and the fact that we both grew up in the military. my friend jane and i are constantly buying the same things (separately unbeknownst to us), wear the same perfume, stuff like that........ i was thinking of calling us "modern prairie girls with old souls". anyway, kim, of art dog's life recently created a drawer, which made me think of doing some for the country living fair. i gesso'd a few and then have been waiting to get back to them. then i was reading new blog friend, beth, of gypsy fish journal and was amazed to see the drawer she just completed. they both are stunning. so last night i decided i would make the one that i have been envisioning in my mind. i titled it "Nature's Bounty" and it is all things from nature that i have been collecting for over the last year. i love how it turned out. i'll be metal stamping a faceplate for the front of as well. the projects are fun and easy to do. it's a matter of gathering and gluing. i'm going to go back to my source and see if he still has any more trays. if he does, i'll pick them up and sell them for anyone wanting to do a project on their own. i'll keep you posted on that or let me know if you'd be interested in a tray and i'll contact you later. i also have a HUGE one that i 'll be creating with next. finding stuff to fill it up will not be a problem. this one will be more along the lines of using flea market items, dolls, fabric, or whatever i deem worthy to go inside!

in other fun news, my advanced copy of Altered Couture has arrived with my new article in it. it will hit the stands late July at Barnes & Nobles, Borders. my article is on page 125, 126 & 127. i'll scan pics of it later today.