cake & pie

April already...

My, it has been awhile. Hello everyone. It is good to be back. February was a rather long, arduous month, and March it seems flew by in an instant. But April...April is just beginning and it is already very busy, but full of potential. So far this has been a year of huge change—really good change, and quite a few more changes are still on the horizon. I can't quite spill all the details just yet, but soon!

In the meantime I am afraid my blogging break is going to have to last just a little while longer, but hopefully I will return very soon with lots of big news and creative things to share. I thank you all for your patience. For now I will say so long again, but first Cooper wanted to say hello...

A very happy spring to you all!

Together

At holiday time I am a serious online shopper. It has gotten so my younger self, who lived for a day out at the stores, has retreated to our cozy living room, by the light of my laptop and our newly decorated Christmas tree, to pick out all the holiday goodies to go underneath. Needless to say I've been perusing about every shop I've ever bookmarked in the past few weeks, and this evening I happened upon some work by Lorena Siminovich at Doe that I think is so simple and sweet and beautiful...

On the left, we are in this together is such a nice sentiment, and kind of hits home on a number of fronts this year...(not to mention the type.) On the right is lonely red leaf.

Speaking of a Christmas tree, ours finally went up last night. Everyone helped...Cooper looked on in his typical "concerned that something different is happening" Cooper-way, and Oscar, well...

After hiding under the tree, trying to eat the tree, and my yelling "no" so many times I think he might think that is his name now, Oscar retreated to the sofa for a post-tree decorating snooze while I shopped online—all together a perfect evening.

Have a lovely Friday everyone.

Good day

I am so thankful this year for loved ones...and furry ones...

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the US celebrating.

Off I go...

We had quite the activity filled weekend. On Saturday the Mutt Strutt for the Nashville Humane Association was so much fun. I don't think I'd ever seen that many dogs in one place before. Cooper got a ton of exercise and met a lot of other pups. There was so much going on, that I didn't even think to take my camera out. But here is Cooper anyway:

This afternoon we headed over to a friend's home in East Nashville for a pumpkin carving party that was also a lot of fun. I can't remember the last time I'd carved a pumpkin. I carved a spider, using a template. Below is my slightly "type A" spider pumpkin.

This week I'll be freelancing on site, which means I'll be away from my studio all week. I haven't worked on site anywhere in over a year, so hopefully it won't be too much culture shock being back in a real office with more than my dog and cat as co-workers. I love working from home, but sometimes you've got to go where the work is. Since I have yet to teach the pets how to blog, there might not be much going on here at cake & pie for a bit, but I hope to be back soon. Have a lovely week everyone!

Strutt for a cause

Bright and early Saturday morning I will be out in Centennial Park with Cooper participating in The Music City Mutt Strutt Benefitting the Nashville Humane Association.

Organizations that aid homeless animals are near and dear to our hearts around here, since both Cooper and Oscar are rescues. People always tell us how lucky Oscar and Cooper are that we found them, but I think that I am the lucky one. They are always the best part of my day. If we had a bigger house I'd love to rescue more animals and give them the same loving home that Oscar and Cooper have, but since that is not the situation now, we can try to help this way, and Cooper can socialize with some of the other pups along the way.

If you are in the Nashville area and have a dog, come on down to the Mutt Strutt on Saturday, it's not too late to register. The walk is followed by a Dog Day Festival in the park, which is sure to be fun. If you don't have a pet to strutt with, but would still like to help, consider contributing, and Cooper will proudly strutt for you. If you live outside of Nashville, be sure to check out what your local animal shelters are doing to help pets in need. Most of them always need contributions or volunteers.

Thanks friends, and Cooper & Oscar thank you too!

Art and the other...

The opening of Rachel Salomon's work at SQFT already feels like it was ages ago...but in fact it was just last Saturday night.

Rachel installed a wallpaper/fabric pattern she designed on one entire wall of the gallery, and then hung a series of etchings. Everyone was just blown away by the installation, (bravo Rachel and her boyfriend James,) and really drawn in by the narratives in Rachel's etchings.

The other side of the gallery featured large paintings that were blown up versions of the wallpaper/fabric pattern. Their size and vibrancy of the colors made them really powerful, and I loved all of Rachel's little trees. I'm going to take some more detailed shots of the etchings and her smaller paintings the next time I'm down at the gallery, but for now you can check out photos from the opening on the gallery's flickr site right here.

In other news, cake + pie has gone into serious flea control mode. It seems that the menagerie, despite receiving diligent flea control treatments once a month, has fleas! We have been bathing, treating, vacuuming, spraying, cleaning, doing endless laundry, and throwing things away...on the bright side our house is probably the cleanest it's ever been. On the downside I think Oscar & Cooper are a little traumatized by it all, as am I. This is my first Nashville summer with pets...and boy am I ever going to be doing my research about better prevention for next summer. If any of you who live in warmer parts of the world have tips on what you do to make sure fleas don't darken your doorway, please share! I am most interested in any natural or organic methods. We were using Frontline, (which crapped out on us,) and now Advantage because Advantix is poisonous to cats, (why on earth would a company make a flea treatment for dogs that is poisonous to cats, I ask you?) I am really concerned about the chemicals on and near the pets, so if anyone has found a natural method of eliminating this problem, I will be in your debt!

Tomorrow is another busy day, so for now I will say goodnight. Hopefully I'll be posting more frequently very soon, in the meantime, be well friends! 

Coming up for air

Yesterday really felt like a Friday. I was tired, a little burnt out...and today...well today feels like a Friday at 8pm and I'm on a deadline, not close to finishing—and it has kind of felt like that all day. But alas, it is Wednesday. Needless to say I am in the middle of a very long busy week, and I haven't quite managed to be busy at what I'd love to be busy at yet. But no matter how tired or frustrated I am feeling, these guys always remind me to take a little break and not be so serious...

Cooper, CLOSE UP.

Oscar—this "little" one just cracks me up.

(Yes, I am mildly addicted to taking photos of my pets...they are awesome, I just can't help it!)

Now its back to work for me. Hopefully, one of these days, I will return with news of new creations, or just news that it actually is Friday. Be well friends!

Please

Take care of your pets. Yesterday evening, I was taking a stroll around the neighborhood with Cooper, a black dog began to follow us, and kind of joined our "pack." We checked his collar—no tags—and as cars whizzed by, I took hold of him, and decided to take him home with us for fear he would be hit.

We fed him and then walked him around the neighborhood, talking to neighbors and knocking on doors, to see if anyone knew where this dog belonged. Two people said they had seen him running around stray for about a week—oy vey! Since our tiny home is pretty full with Oscar and Cooper, we couldn't keep him, so after posting a few ads we took him in to the Nashville Humane Society this morning. They have a really nice facility, and I know they will either find this sweet dog's owner, or find him a good forever home.

It makes me so sad when I think of what circumstances might have led to this poor dog running around stray and tagless for a week without food. He has a really calm submissive temperament, and just wants to be loved. If you are in the Nashville area and recognize this dog, or are interested in adopting him, please contact the Nashville Humane Society.

Now its back to work for me. I am hoping to have a chance to try out some of my new paper samples on the letterpress later this week...so stay tuned! Happy Monday friends.

Beautiful day

The sky is blue and its a balmy 72 degrees here in Nashville. Makes my complaining about cold weather not all that long ago seem pretty silly. Little blossoms are popping up on trees, and my walks with Cooper are getting longer. Its so nice having him to remind me to take a little break every day.

There has not been much time for making things lately, but I am hoping that will change soon. In the meantime I have been thoroughly enjoying things others have been busy creating...here are just a few:

Alicia at Posie Gets Cozy has finished her ripple blanket...it really makes me wish I knew how to knit, crochet...anything! Gorgeous.

Just about everything Julianna Swaney makes at Oh My Cavalier is amazing...check out the undergarment notecards. Clever clever.

Beth Howard has been busy turning out the bags for this weekend's Revolution of Craft...take a peek at her latest line. LOVE the purple bag with the polka dots.

Well, its back to grading projects for me. Happy Wednesday friends. 

Happy packages

We have been getting lots of exciting deliveries here the past few days, as art for the February group show at SQFT arrives. Our promo cards for the show arrived yesterday:

Cheaply printed by Overnightprints.com, but they came out ok. I also got some business cards printed for myself so I'll stop stressing about not having them letterpressed yet:

They're not as lovely as letterpress...but they'll do for now. They were just $30 for 250 count, so can't beat that. I have also been doing some work the past two weeks on my design business website and the gallery website. My goal is to have them each fully functioning in the next month or two...feel free to drop me a note and bug me about that. I need the nudging!

In other nice package news I received a belated holiday gift from Caitlin yesterday. I love belated gifts because my birthday and Christmas are so close together...it spreads out the gifting a bit. Amongst several other lovely things Caitlin sent, was a hand crocheted doll by Caitlin's sister, Sian Keegan. The doll is inspired by Alexander Girard's wooden figures. I just can't not smile when I look at it. Love it!

Sian has a few for sale in Lena Corwin's online shop, right here.

Well, its time to get back to work around here. Oscar has been helping me today in the studio by tearing up some tissue paper that desperately needed to be torn up. I was just way too busy to get to it! Thanks Oscar.

Happy Friday friends!