I love the world I live in.

Specifically, my little corner of it, and the things that happen here.
I feel a little sad about it, but Christmas is hardly on my radar at all this year. With a budget-less wedding four months away, the hunt for a "day-job", and my craft/art work, it's just one more thing to do.

I'm enjoying the season, don't get me wrong! Christmas tunes on Pandora.com, the tree is up, and I've been visiting all the places I usually go shopping for gifts and inspiration. I'm just not buying anything. If things go well, we'll take an evening to go see the lights. We're planning to have the holiday we have every year, and I'm doing my part...but my focus is definitely elsewhere.

Tonight, I hauled out the boxes of vintage lace to make my garter. A little thing, of dubious necessity, but the kind of small thing that lets me feel like I've "Done Something". As I was playing with layers of laces and ribbon, looking for the right combination, I looked up and saw that my iPhone had become engulfed in bits of lace that my grandmother had stashed away, saved from worn garments.



It struck me funny, charming, and very appropriate. I like to think that Gram would approve.

Oh, and the crane count is somewhere around 675.

Just a quick check in, smack in the middle of one of the busiest weeks I've had in, well, weeks!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving with family and friends, I ran across this post by one of my favorite bloggers... Shauna over at Gluten-Free Girl has a way with words, and frequently says things more elegantly than I can...so for the "GF-ers" and those that love them, and love to feed them, I offer you this bit of wisdom.


As for the rest of life, school is nearly finished...mid-December will see the end of the semester, and the end of my coursework, for this round at least.
I've been in the studio, working on new designs that I may save for 2010, and a few custom orders.
Wedding plans are moving nicely, the dress project has begun, and I approved an invitation proof just this morning!

The blog, clearly, is in transition. Is it a wedding blog? A GF blog? A bead blog? All of the above? Finding a way to incorporate it all, without flinging bits everywhere is a challenge, one I hope to have resolved sooner, rather than later.

Just because I've been quiet, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

I tackled summer school for the first time, ever. Not so bad, just 8 weeks of eating and sleeping my political science text. It's over, and I have a couple weeks of downtime before the fall semester starts. I'm using it to finish a few projects, start some new ones, and oh yeah... BLOG.

We've taken time for a couple trips this summer..camping in Big Bear, and a run up to San Luis Obispo to spend a weekend with friends. Not to mention all the dinners, late-night LOLcats, lazy patio afternoons, job-hunting, wedding research, and sunshine naps.

That's pretty much what's been going on here, but it's been enough to fill the days and keep me from posting.

I'm also guilty of perfectionism... if I can't post glorious pictures of where we've been and what we've done, why bother? Until I log in and see that I last posted on 6/25. Ouch. Dangerously close to 60 days....all for want of follow-through.

Sort of an unitentional summer vacay....and one I think I needed.

What have you been up to this summer?

I'll never stop getting excited about this kind of thing...






I submitted a brooch to Piecework Magazine's 2009 Excellence in Needle Arts Awards this spring....confirmation came today, that while my piece wasn't a winner, it was selected to be part of the travelling display, and for publication in the July issue of Piecework!

Here's the proof!

Scroll down a bit, and there she is. In living color. Surrounded by 43 other beautiful, inspiring tiny works of art.

Of course, we'll be picking up an issue ASAP, for the "scrapbook"...I just survived my first jury!

It's grey and rainy today...no kidding.
We've been working on the garden this week, fluffing it before the big party next weekend. New plants, most of them purely decorative, with attention paid to butterfly, hummingbird and bee draws. Lots of salvia. My tiny "courtyard" is finally starting to feel green and cozy.... the kind of space I want to invite people into..the kind of space that invites people all by itself.





We're throwing our first party of the season next weekend...A's work peeps for dinner in the garden. I can hardly wait to set up the shade, dress the tables, and feed a fun group of strangers that are becoming friends.











Today, I got to spend the morning baking cupcakes for a party tonight, celebrating our friend's 15 seconds of fame on Wipeout. The party has a "black and blue" theme, so... Devils food, with blue icing just. made. sense.
I used started with this version, substituted my gluten-free flour mix, tinted the cream cheese icing blue, and had a party with a pastry bag....The rum dissapears into the chocolate, and the coffee gives it the slightest, elegant, bitter twist. Duncan Hines, eat your heart out.






The semester is nearly over, the art class has been eye-opening, and I've registered for summer school. Political Science and Pilates, four days a week. The excitement hasn't worn off yet..the sense of finishing something, tying off a loose end. There's some paperwork to do, and three dance classes to take in the fall, and then...graduating. Finally.

What a whirlwind these last few weeks have been!

Since the big announcement, we've thrown ourselves headlong into planning our wedding..where, when how... finding solutions to sticky issues and finding ways to craft a celebration that is authentically, genuinely ours. And of course, the BIG question....what to wear?! Needless to say, this won't be the typical white dress/tuxedo affair! I've been frequenting a couple of new blogs: Offbeat Bride and A Practical Wedding predominantly...with the occasional side trips to Martha Stewart. Too much fun!

We spent Mother's Day (which also happened to fall on A's birthday) with my mom and some close friends at brunch, followed up with a trip to the Renaissance Faire.
I made MS's meyer lemon coffee cake, modified to be gluten free (of course), and it was a huge hit! It was our first trip out to faire in a couple years, and we shopped and drank ourselves silly.

Memorial day weekend, we spent both days out at the Highland Games in Costa Mesa....the plan was to take mom on Saturday, watch the sheepdogs, the drum majors, and the dancers, then head back out on Sunday to watch a friend compete in the heavy games. Plans changed on Saturday, when said friend talked A into competing as well! He did well for a first-timer, coming in 17th overall, out of a group of 24.

So yeah... a busy (but hella fun) few weeks. In between all this, I've finished a sweater:





...whipped up a couple of necklaces for the hand-cut pendants we've had sitting around for too long:





...and put together a bracelet and an anklet out of the "broken bits" jar:





Today, I'm working on the second half of a pair of socks.

Do you see a theme here? They're all personal projects. For me and mine...bringing it home, in a sense. My poor Etsy shop has been neglected lately.... It's on the list for next week, believe me....I just need to look at one. more. page. of wedding gowns first.....

It's taken me a week to come back down to earth.

We went camping with our tribe last weekend...four days in the desert, hot springs, food, libations and magick....good stuff, and an annual tradition. We got to the site late Thursday, set up, settled in, hugs and hellos. Windy, cool in the evening, warm but not horrible during the day.

Friday 5/1 (Beltaine, for those of you playing along at home), we had a VERY bawdy maypole circle mid-day. At the end of it all, someone asked if we (the assembled company) were ready for a surprise.... which is when my dearest beloved stepped up, and in front of 80 of our closest friends, dropped to one knee, offered me his grandmother's ring and aske me if I would be his wife. Oh yes, yes, yes.






We've set a general date for April 2010, and have spent the last week planning our party, and the getaway ceremony that will precede it. Laundry from the trip? Dishes? Cooking? Pffffttt....we've been too busy dreaming together and making plans.
Who, what, when, where, how.....the most fun I think I've ever had daydreaming, because I get to do it with him.

So I'm sorry that there's truly nothing studio related to relate today.... I'll be back at it this week though! For the moment, I REALLY need to sort my house out and catch up on the work we didn't do last week....