oh the layers of the yule log. perhaps a little too advanced baking for me but fun and funny in the end. the mushrooms were the funnest part. i love all things "woodland".

happiest holiday wishes!

xo

my daughter and i have been crocheting edges too.

18 days and 10 washcloth edges later my mom in law has flown on to other family. she left so much behind in her wake. crochet instruction, tamale instruction and a pace of slow and steady wins the race. i realize how much i hurry through it all when i see her movement.

...and my crochet thread collection has more than doubled in size. a textile and craft thrift store in sebastopol ca, afforded us new variety in very vintage colors.

feeling very much like i have been on a needle arts retreat for the past 2 weeks but it is on to the holidays and all the many layers of preparation.

my husband's mom lydia is visiting us for a few weeks from northern new mexico where she lives on a ranch that she owns with her 9 brothers and sisters. they share laundry facilities and that is often responsible for mix-ups in laundry ownership.

pictured is the graceful way in which she marks her territory:)

loving the creative view as she works hooking herself into home:)

i love tiny details!

winter has been released!

releasing lots of my tiny ceramics pieces out into the world this week in various shapes and forms.
a ring for an october birthday. so fun to try to get the little pom pom in the cup while wearing:)

larger pieces pictured are tea set for friend and collector of jess brown dolls. handles over sized so the dollys can slip their hand through and hold onto the cups:) dream catcher cup and saucer studies .

dream catcher complete...i think:) so many layers of tiny things, i never feel quite done. dangly bits of forget me not seeds, tendril message holder, bark journal for secrets and a teacup to hold tiny gemstones of choice. ....and a very shy butterfly who would not be photographed up close.

the hand bound innards of a tiny book i am making for a commission for kathryn who lives across the pond:)

kathryn has a lovely blog secrets of a butterfly where you may find her and her inspirations. she is so full of grace and faith and creative celebration, so beautiful, and i am making her a dream catcher inspired by her world of loveliness. more photos to follow of it if i can capture all it's tiny essences.

i looked up her city of newcastle in my old garage sale atlas and it was already circled (or ringed as she calls it). so curious! and all our common interests of spiritual pulls, contemplations, thoughts and quotes...a world away but in my heart she is right next door:)

yesterday my autumn collection went to cast away yarn shop. such a wondrous place for my creative senses. layer upon layer that i just want to stand in the middle of and breathe it all in...so i can capture it and take it home with me:)

ingredients of the week in the sea of possibility.

these ribbons for a crown collection for a little sea-maid inspired costume has been complete play for my mind and hands.

a dangley, floaty and intricate little world of textures and forms.

the ingredients of my week.

ceramics, yarn love, crochet hooks, wool sweaters, sitting and enjoying paper dolls more than ever.

soap...such a flurry of activity surrounding it this summer...wondering if i should put aside all else and just make soap:) totally usable product, no waste. wrapped in recycled pages from children's book library discards and hemp string to protect it from bumping on it's long journeys in the post. a simple castille soap recipe from "better basics for the home" has been made in my home for a few years now. i can't remember why i originally tried it...? i just love it's fragrance free simplicity but it seems to have provided useful benefits from itchy skin to acne to emollient shaving bar for those i have gifted it to.

but for now fall and winter collections await as well and the care and keeping of my lovely daughter maddy who has caught pneumonia...in the summer? she is so busy, responsible and so sensitive to the needs of others and i like seeing her able to surrender to rest. my son and i have removed all duties from her for the week, something she seems very uncomfortable with :) surrender and acceptance always a tricky mindset to sit in.


firing clay pieces this week for commissions and fall and winter collections and making felted things for fall. anxious to share and to post all that is happening in the brain world of miss t for new collections and commissions. sometimes i feel i can't get there fast enough but for now i will stay in today...in this moment where all is well :)

loving the light that comes around the back of flowers,

so glowy from the inside.

production is beginning again. a small fall and winter collection for cast away yarn shop and a small winter for the ark.

i thoroughly enjoyed my time off this july, letting myself putter instead of the bombarding myself with of a long list of studies in new ideas.

also beginning a few commissions for delightful people far and near.

i love the challenge of that and the way ideas bubble up when i am not looking. the creative process so fascinates me...the inspirations and where they come from etc.

so excited to try new clay and glazes for small pieces for fall and winter and use all my new collected thrift store yarns. will try to post photos as things emerge.

hand dyed delicate voile and drapery trim of pom poms aplenty finally complete. such circusy play in movement. imaginings never quite meeting my expectations after spending intimate time with them. wanting to feel more positively positive of it's outcome but oh well...thinking it will be very well received and put to good use by dear fuloflyfe :) and then later when i discover it anew with her photographic eyes my heart will be singing :)

8 jars of hand salve left today via post for lynnwood, washington and my sister's segway into a new business in a farmer's market booth. olive oil (infused with herbs) and beeswax, so simple.

i never get tired of the sensory part of using natural materials, always beautiful, perfect and precious.

so many good things on earth to savor :)

more crown babies for dolly adornments. so sweet. their tagging is just the miniature finish work that makes my heart sing. these are almost identical to the previous versions from a may postbut i chose to dangle the strawberries and pom pom precipitates instead.

loving their movement and delicate nature.

a commisioned project that will be a gift to the artisans of jess brown dolls.

lucky me :)

finding myself tangled in so many places this month...travel, illness, birthday's, father's day and of course...my summer collection. lots of thoughts to blog about but no mental space to articulate it all.

so excited for my summer collection's opportunities to try new materials and forms...ring and bracelet sized pieces (with miniature tags:), oak gall ink for signatures, compostable paper ribbons for tagging and 100% recycled content paper with flower bits. so many layers of love...sweatering, hand sewing, handdyeing, knitting and pom poms aplenty. cast away yarn shop in santa rosa ca got a summer solstice delivery yesterday. the rest will be off to the ark before the end of the month.

next up 3 more tiny doll crowns and a fluffy skirt with pom pom trim. will try to post the results of these and other explorations this summer.

hitting the ground running today as i make soap, infuse the oil for a new batch of lotion and fire the glaze on my tiny teacups for my summer collection. i am not an multitasker generally, only a procrastinator waiting for the perfect unfolding of moments, which...never quite happen unless i make them happen. so today is the day as my family complains about the dwindling soap supply and i notice i may not have enough lotion to make it through the week and my pending vacation to zion and the grand canyon.

my summer collection should be titled "pom poms aplenty". i have lost count of how many i have made. pictured are a few : ) i must be off to continued work on summer including tags of 100% recycled paper with flower bits, knitted things, tiny wrist and ring sized pieces, ceramic wee teacups and saucers. Summer will be complete and at the ark and cast away by the last week in june.

yesterday, my first trip ever to angel island. i can hardly believe i have never been and walked the 360 degree view of the bay. still savoring, so good!

not a giant thimble, just a set of tiny sized spring pieces.

thimble included for scale.

these doll sized crowns...a total inspiration to my world...inspiring a wrist corsage version of a crown for my mommy for mother's day. thinking more will follow with my summer collection. miniature crown versions for the wrist : )

no less work than head size pieces but maybe more workable into everyday adornments for the wearer?

just finishing up 3 miniature versions of my spring collection. a commission of doll sized proportions for mom and daughter collectors of adorable

jess brown dolls. http://jessbrowndesign.com/index.php

now their dollys can play dress up too : ) so sweet!

1/2 size, mini strawberry crown pictured... and when i finish firing my tiny clay pieces i will post the other 2 mini crowns too.

a recent train trip that brought me to denver colorado also brought inspiration, filling me so completely and so unexpectedly. a fenced off construction site...?

...decorious with giant crocheted flowers, leaves and stems?
who does that?
a glorious curiosity i am still pleasingly, pondering : )

http://www.ladiesfancyworksociety.com/ftp/ftp/blogger.html

and

http://yarnbombing.com/

*granny graffiti and yarn bombing? i am so out of the loop :)

baby sized, silken fluffy study #2 in silk organdy is finally finished. she has such the lovely swing and fullness that i couldn't get with her delicate sister in silk gauze. my photos cannot capture it's remarkable silken ways properly but it will soon be on to it's rightful owner, kerri hamilton photography, who surely can.loving that i can find a home for imaginings of such ruffly, silken happiness :)

a very spare spring collection this year but just enough.... for all their layers of seen and unseen love and attention. 25 pieces are finding their way to new venues this season.

4 went to etsy with more to be added soon!http://www.etsy.com/shop/missteapotdressup?ref=pr_shop

9 went to a lovely, local yarn store called cast away. the local place that inspires me:)http://castawayyarn.com/

the layers of hand crafted details seemed so relevant somehow...so i took a deep breath and asked the owner if she would be interested in carrying my work. i was overjoyed when she said yes: ) it is a wonder after 10 years and 1000's of pieces i still feel so insecure about my work in the audiance of others outside of my world. creativity is such a vulnerable place in me, a direct link to the world in my heart.

and 3 spring pieces+ some other requests of past collections are going to a a delightful mommy in sacramento who's emailed compliments have been more than a bit of pep rally and encouragement to my imagination and handwork. i am so very grateful!

not as fluffy as anticipated but still a successful study of silk's graceful properties. this infant sized study in silk gauze. my ruffler and she did not get on well. ruffler is such a clunky tool for something so delicate and gossamer. i love it and hope it will still prove useful for fuloflyfe's photographic eyes. if not this one perhaps the next in silk chiffon?

today begins my continuation of the study of the fluffy or pettiskirt as it is commonly known. my order of silk gauze and silk chiffon arrived this week and i promptly stained it with a very dilute coffee wash to soften it's bright white. silk has just the bounce and float and natural fiber i was aching after.

i always feel more than a little sad for the silk worms who gave their lives for this beautiful textile but it also makes me savor their legacy of finery even more completely.

one (or 2?:) tiny sized fluffy for the beautiful photographic capturings of fuloflyfe's baby sized clients is now happening in my world.

precipitates of spring

tiny details of spring's tiny collection ( 25 pieces) emerging with only one more week of winter to go.

the landscape of my life has changed so much since the beginnings of my fairy adornments. my children need me now in ways that do not allow for the same sort of creative output. these days, educationally for them, there must be more guidance, more input, more thinking, displacing some of the mental places used for my creative run. we are taking on languages, geology and art history for our travels in the u.s. and abroad this year. my mind feels full of new information and things i must remember and everyday i think "where does the time go?" as i slip further behind schedule for my spring collection.

25 fresh pieces will emerge soon though: )

pondering where my art fits into my evolving life at the moment and all those new creative thinkings i want to try...little books, silken baby sized tutus, ceramic buttons and metal clay jewelry....

perhaps spring is their hatching time and not winter. i will craddle those little thinkings and keep them warm for a better hatching climate:)

ynp rocks :)

i am humbled and carved anew by wind, water and ice and almost ready for spring inspirations.

"when you have created a beautiful thing, that is happiness. but the next happiness is to find someone who understands what you have done and knows that it is beautiful."

- the wind boy, ethel cook eliot, 1923

thank you http://fuloflyfe.blogspot.com for your generosity and the capturing of your appreciation in wonderous, ethereal imagery of my tiny world of creative happiness.

love, love, love and deep appreciation.

escaping into children's literature in this darker part of the year.

the secret garden -frances hodgson burnett

the evolution of calpurnia tate -jacqueline kelly

the kitchen madonna -rumer godden

......some of my favorite recent escapes : )

beautiful stories of children blooming into new parts of themselves.

needing such hopeful, happy endings as i wait on the unfoldings of spring.