sunset at asilomar, a california (coastal) state park and conference center with it's roots in the ywca.  i love the history there!  i took a few of my doll's house pets with me on my time away because i wanted to photograph them in the white of that landscape.  they love each other those colors :)  brutis (french bull dog) and foofy (french poodle) loved their time away by the sea too!

gosh the weather was miraculous!  sunny and warm for all the days of my visit.  such grace in that holiday away!

everything seems possible when i am away, detached from the "not enough time or space" i feel when i am in my own realm. inspiration seeps in big crashing waves at the beach and i am under a temporary spell.

i am home now and back to all.

my tiny fairy forks  and coins of copper are almost completed as are a few more acorn nut boxes for hiding secret messages.  i love those boxes and i feel them the best thing i have ever made.  so natural with no glue or impure parts.  i could leave them in the wilds and they would join the earth quite comfortably.   

today's explorations

tiny copper forks for tiny acorn cap plates, and the use of a new to me product called "i dye" which i can't decide if i like.   lots of reasons to love it...local, modern and recyclable  lovely packaging and no dusty dye powder to mess with.  oh but the color results and the fact that i have to use the whole package even though i have such a small amount to process.  i need smaller amounts.  once you wet it there is no turning back.  dharma trading is still my most economical for dyes and predictable for outcomes.  for me it matters.  gun metal gray should be gray not blue and ecru should be natural not deep tan.  things have a way of working out though if i decide not to be so controlling:)

last year we went to disneyland for halloween/my son's 13th birthday/trick or treating.  it was fabulous there.  no streets to cross or cars to dodge.  fabulous changes in lighting and atmosphere to the park and surprising entertainment and "THE" haunted mansion:).  such a special place to celebrate that holiday.

so...for that event i was making him a felted woolen pinocchio hat last year at this time as well as his little reddish orange velveteen lederhosen (from a vintage textile piece) complete with large wooden buttons and cute brown trim.  i am glad we took pictures:)

he is growing up... and this year he requests a disco afro for his interest in dressing in 1970's disco garb.  a thrifting we will go this week as his request is to be a disco family.  my daughter has already found her ensemble and it is an amazing expression of a very peculiar era:)  i was there and it all seemed so normal at the time if not a bit daring too!

this was my meditation this morning...arranging tiny natural ingredients into a balanced artful form.  when i found these little, beautifully formed pieces of of kelp driftwood last april this has been their asking.  ikebana they say! :)and so it is!

we tent:) camped in the woods, behind the dunes, at the sea this past weekend.  it was wet and drippy with storm and all night long we heard the sounds of huge crashing waves from the high seas.  natural settings strain me but invigorate and remind me of how tiny i am in this world no matter how tall i try to stand.