I've just updated my shop with a new selection of tree ornaments!
Won't you take a look?
(Sorry, but I am unable to post photos on my blog right now!)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
PICNIC
On September 12 I took part in my first art festival!
The Picnic Music + Arts Festival was held in Portland's Lincoln Park on a rainy and chilly mid-September day and I love, love, LOVED being a part of it.
The Picnic folks will be having a holiday festival (I won't be a vendor but I'll surely be attending!) so please check it out if you can!
The Picnic Music + Arts Festival was held in Portland's Lincoln Park on a rainy and chilly mid-September day and I love, love, LOVED being a part of it.
The Picnic folks will be having a holiday festival (I won't be a vendor but I'll surely be attending!) so please check it out if you can!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A Yo Gabba Birthday
My son turned two in June, and I had planned a fun Yo Gabba Gabba-themed party with awesome handmade decorations and a big awesome Plex cake.
Something happened the week before his party though, which I'll talk about later, and I was sidetracked and unable to make the decorations or the dream cake. I settled with a yellow tablecloth, a smaller cake and I drew the game the kids played with a dry-erase marker on the front of my washing machine. *shakes head*
My son may not have had the perfect themed 2nd birthday party but he and his friends had a ton of fun, and no one seemed to mind the lack of construction paper Brobees or Munos. :)
We played Pin the Antenna on Plex! The kids made antennas by coloring short Popsicle sticks and gluing glittery pom-poms to the top.
And they "pinned" them to my impromptu dry-erase art. The kids were totally cute and luckily too young to judge me!
The won stickers, bubbles and slinkies for doing such a good job.
I made a chocolate-banana cake that ended up smaller than my original plan, so I had to compromise Plex's actual features- but that didn't make him any less yummy.
Lesson learned: make decorations and plan cake two to three weeks in advance.
In this photo, I am showing my son the artwork I made for him.
Once I add the jellyfish, it's going up on the wall over his new big-kid bed, which he's getting this weekend. It says "Everything you want to be/ I can't wait to see you be," which is from the matt pond PA song "Everything Until the East Coast Ends," from the 2007 If You Want Blood EP.
Close-up of the finished version coming soon.
Happy happy birthday to my sweet, awesome son- I can't even explain how excited I am that I get to spend my life being his mom.
Something happened the week before his party though, which I'll talk about later, and I was sidetracked and unable to make the decorations or the dream cake. I settled with a yellow tablecloth, a smaller cake and I drew the game the kids played with a dry-erase marker on the front of my washing machine. *shakes head*
My son may not have had the perfect themed 2nd birthday party but he and his friends had a ton of fun, and no one seemed to mind the lack of construction paper Brobees or Munos. :)
We played Pin the Antenna on Plex! The kids made antennas by coloring short Popsicle sticks and gluing glittery pom-poms to the top.
And they "pinned" them to my impromptu dry-erase art. The kids were totally cute and luckily too young to judge me!
The won stickers, bubbles and slinkies for doing such a good job.
I made a chocolate-banana cake that ended up smaller than my original plan, so I had to compromise Plex's actual features- but that didn't make him any less yummy.
Lesson learned: make decorations and plan cake two to three weeks in advance.
In this photo, I am showing my son the artwork I made for him.
Once I add the jellyfish, it's going up on the wall over his new big-kid bed, which he's getting this weekend. It says "Everything you want to be/ I can't wait to see you be," which is from the matt pond PA song "Everything Until the East Coast Ends," from the 2007 If You Want Blood EP.
Close-up of the finished version coming soon.
Happy happy birthday to my sweet, awesome son- I can't even explain how excited I am that I get to spend my life being his mom.
gardening update
I started my garden almost three months ago now, and we've been enjoying some homegrown peas for the past week or so.
They are sweet and snappy and perfect.
I've had some mishaps in gardening though, which I expected since this was my first garden and our weather has been very strange this year. Because of the weather and uncontrollable indoor climates, the seeds I started indoors failed twice, so that leaves me with no tomatoes, peppers, carrots or spinach this year. I also learned to plant my pea seeds further apart, which I'll keep in mind when I plant for a fall harvest. In the garden, the cucumbers and lettuce are taunting me with nothingness.
The broccoli, summer squash and cantaloupe seem to be thriving, though, so that's a good thing.
I can't wait to find new vegetables waiting for me.
They are sweet and snappy and perfect.
I've had some mishaps in gardening though, which I expected since this was my first garden and our weather has been very strange this year. Because of the weather and uncontrollable indoor climates, the seeds I started indoors failed twice, so that leaves me with no tomatoes, peppers, carrots or spinach this year. I also learned to plant my pea seeds further apart, which I'll keep in mind when I plant for a fall harvest. In the garden, the cucumbers and lettuce are taunting me with nothingness.
The broccoli, summer squash and cantaloupe seem to be thriving, though, so that's a good thing.
I can't wait to find new vegetables waiting for me.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
July already
It's been nearly two months since I last updated; my apologies for such a delay. Life has been throwing a good deal of distractions at me (both good and bad ones), such as migraines, swimming, a death in the family, a weekend trip to Brooklyn, my ability to concentrate again on reading novels, gardening, bike theft, my son's second birthday and the party associated with such an occasion, his blossoming vocabulary and conversation skills and a great need for housecleaning.
I need to get back on track in order to whip my Etsy shop back into shape and start making art a habit again. I did start making a collage for my son for his birthday, which is almost finished. As soon as it's done you'll be able to see it here. My mind is brimming with ideas for new work, and I'll be cracking down soon in order to share it.
More posts and pictures to come soon! Thanks for checking back in after all this time!
I need to get back on track in order to whip my Etsy shop back into shape and start making art a habit again. I did start making a collage for my son for his birthday, which is almost finished. As soon as it's done you'll be able to see it here. My mind is brimming with ideas for new work, and I'll be cracking down soon in order to share it.
More posts and pictures to come soon! Thanks for checking back in after all this time!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I missed the fiddleheads.
I've been seeing them unfurling on the roadsides, spreading into great green ferns. I somehow missed the point when they are still tightly curled and edible.
Fiddleheads remind me of my paternal grandparents.
Specifically: ten years ago this spring, my parents and my little brother and I went to Bethel one Sunday to visit Grammy and Grampy. After lunch, my mum and Grammy stayed in while I went with the guys to pick fiddleheads. Grampy led us across the street to the farm his friends owned. We passed the house and the barn, following an overgrown path cleared by farm equipment to the great sweeping field. Squinting across the green, the field stretched perfectly flat until it met the foot of a strong gray-blue mountain.
I watched my dad and Grampy gathering the tight green coils into their folded paper bags. They looked so much the same- tall, serious and quiet, but warm, too. They stood and bent in the same manner, almost like watching a man and himself stand side-by-side, a comparison of his ages.
We went back to the house when Grampy grew tired. My dad held onto his arm as we slowly made our way back to the house, where Grammy cleaned the fiddleheads in the sink.
Grampy passed away later that summer, and Grammy followed him five years later.
I see them in the glowing green fiddleheads.
.Photos by Courtney at Lake Andrews, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine.
Fiddleheads remind me of my paternal grandparents.
Specifically: ten years ago this spring, my parents and my little brother and I went to Bethel one Sunday to visit Grammy and Grampy. After lunch, my mum and Grammy stayed in while I went with the guys to pick fiddleheads. Grampy led us across the street to the farm his friends owned. We passed the house and the barn, following an overgrown path cleared by farm equipment to the great sweeping field. Squinting across the green, the field stretched perfectly flat until it met the foot of a strong gray-blue mountain.
I watched my dad and Grampy gathering the tight green coils into their folded paper bags. They looked so much the same- tall, serious and quiet, but warm, too. They stood and bent in the same manner, almost like watching a man and himself stand side-by-side, a comparison of his ages.
We went back to the house when Grampy grew tired. My dad held onto his arm as we slowly made our way back to the house, where Grammy cleaned the fiddleheads in the sink.
Grampy passed away later that summer, and Grammy followed him five years later.
I see them in the glowing green fiddleheads.
.Photos by Courtney at Lake Andrews, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
chills
This trailer is magical, just like the book the movie is based on.
Anyone else counting down the days until October 16?
(Hmmm. Is there a way for this video window to be smaller?)
Anyone else counting down the days until October 16?
(Hmmm. Is there a way for this video window to be smaller?)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Memory Lane
My very late teens and early twenties have been haunting me lately, but in a good way.
*********
First, my brother found a mix tape I made when I was 19. I don't know where it was buried but he found it when he was visiting my parents. He listened to it before bringing it to me, and he laughed about New Found Glory and Showoff- bands we loved almost a decade ago but try to pretend now that we didn't. For about a week straight, I listened to it on my little stereo in the kitchen that I use every time I cook, clean and wash dishes. I cringed a lot. I chuckled. I got a little misty-eyed.
It's amazing how my 19-year-old self is still sleeping somewhere deep inside of me, awakened by the songs that used to always be in my head and in my lungs. Laura and I would sing at the tops of our voices on summer nights, driving with the windows down past gas stations and shadowy cemeteries and under overpasses. I thought about the things I used to worry about, the things that kept me up at night, the things that made me cry- and also the things I laughed about, dreamed of and the people who made me smile.
The tape contained songs I still love and always will, for one reason or another, even if it may be considered un-awesome to admit (Saves the Day, Thursday, Get Up Kids). There were songs I didn't even remember until someone started singing. Lyrics came back to me in fragments, my voice skipping over the words, fumbling. Some of the lyrics, though, are tattooed in my memory and in one case, tattooed on my arm (literally).
It had the Juliana Theory (eeek!) song that I used on my audition tape when a band in Ohio wanted me to sing on a few of their songs. It never happened- I think they broke up?- and I can't even remember their name now or how we ever got in touch with each other in the first place. The tape had a handful of other songs I'd sung at the Yellow Dog Cafe when I was 18 and a new student at Salem State College. My heart fluttered a little to remember the open mic nights and the smiling faces of my friends watching me the last time I sang there.
I wrap myself almost completely in the music I listen to now- in my car, in the kitchen, when I have living room dance parties with my son- but when I was 19... man. Reliving that was INTENSE.
********
For the past two weekends I've been excavating the clutter/memorabilia that has been building up across five or so apartments over the past six years that my husband and I have lived together. (I'll take responsibility for like 95% of it.) In donating eight boxes to the Salvation Army, setting aside six boxes for the consignment shop, filling two recycling tubs and three giant trash bags, I have been sifting through my early twenties scrap by scrap, box by box. It's been really freeing- feeling like I can finally let go of random, mostly meaningless things that were really just amounting to less livable space and dead weight every time we've moved.
(Age 21, complete with lip ring, self-cut and dyed hair, and a shirt I actually still wear but am ready to set free.)
I found photos I had forgotten about, love letters and cards from when my husband was still my boyfriend, aging mix tapes from Laura, concert ticket stubs and show flyers, embarrassing poetry, old artwork, my hospital bracelet from surgery at age 22 and forgotten craft supplies. I only kept the REALLY important stuff, photos and letters and ACTUAL keepsakes like ultrasound images.
(Age 22, in my Portland apartment.)
I'm still not finished but we just gained several square feet of floor space in the bedroom.
*********
First, my brother found a mix tape I made when I was 19. I don't know where it was buried but he found it when he was visiting my parents. He listened to it before bringing it to me, and he laughed about New Found Glory and Showoff- bands we loved almost a decade ago but try to pretend now that we didn't. For about a week straight, I listened to it on my little stereo in the kitchen that I use every time I cook, clean and wash dishes. I cringed a lot. I chuckled. I got a little misty-eyed.
It's amazing how my 19-year-old self is still sleeping somewhere deep inside of me, awakened by the songs that used to always be in my head and in my lungs. Laura and I would sing at the tops of our voices on summer nights, driving with the windows down past gas stations and shadowy cemeteries and under overpasses. I thought about the things I used to worry about, the things that kept me up at night, the things that made me cry- and also the things I laughed about, dreamed of and the people who made me smile.
The tape contained songs I still love and always will, for one reason or another, even if it may be considered un-awesome to admit (Saves the Day, Thursday, Get Up Kids). There were songs I didn't even remember until someone started singing. Lyrics came back to me in fragments, my voice skipping over the words, fumbling. Some of the lyrics, though, are tattooed in my memory and in one case, tattooed on my arm (literally).
It had the Juliana Theory (eeek!) song that I used on my audition tape when a band in Ohio wanted me to sing on a few of their songs. It never happened- I think they broke up?- and I can't even remember their name now or how we ever got in touch with each other in the first place. The tape had a handful of other songs I'd sung at the Yellow Dog Cafe when I was 18 and a new student at Salem State College. My heart fluttered a little to remember the open mic nights and the smiling faces of my friends watching me the last time I sang there.
I wrap myself almost completely in the music I listen to now- in my car, in the kitchen, when I have living room dance parties with my son- but when I was 19... man. Reliving that was INTENSE.
********
For the past two weekends I've been excavating the clutter/memorabilia that has been building up across five or so apartments over the past six years that my husband and I have lived together. (I'll take responsibility for like 95% of it.) In donating eight boxes to the Salvation Army, setting aside six boxes for the consignment shop, filling two recycling tubs and three giant trash bags, I have been sifting through my early twenties scrap by scrap, box by box. It's been really freeing- feeling like I can finally let go of random, mostly meaningless things that were really just amounting to less livable space and dead weight every time we've moved.
(Age 21, complete with lip ring, self-cut and dyed hair, and a shirt I actually still wear but am ready to set free.)
I found photos I had forgotten about, love letters and cards from when my husband was still my boyfriend, aging mix tapes from Laura, concert ticket stubs and show flyers, embarrassing poetry, old artwork, my hospital bracelet from surgery at age 22 and forgotten craft supplies. I only kept the REALLY important stuff, photos and letters and ACTUAL keepsakes like ultrasound images.
(Age 22, in my Portland apartment.)
I'm still not finished but we just gained several square feet of floor space in the bedroom.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
spring green
It feels like it was only last week (although it was nearly one month ago) that the bare trees were showing small, budding signs of spring growth. With the rain, everything's exploded- the leaves are now open and stretching like ceilings, casting bright green shades on everything. Even the lilacs are blooming and some of my pea plants are four inches high!
(same trees)
There's a reason that green is my favorite color. And this is it.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Today is a very good day.
The three best things about today:
1. My pea seeds have rooted and are poking up through the soil! Thanks to two days of spring showers.
2. Governor Baldacci signed LD 1020 to establish marriage equality in Maine. !!! I'm so proud to live here.
3. My son said "I love you" for the first time WHILE I WAS EATING SPAGHETTI, making the moment so unbelievably perfect. My favorite person, my favorite food, verbally declared affection from my toddler. Sigh. Nothing better.
xoxo Courtney
1. My pea seeds have rooted and are poking up through the soil! Thanks to two days of spring showers.
2. Governor Baldacci signed LD 1020 to establish marriage equality in Maine. !!! I'm so proud to live here.
3. My son said "I love you" for the first time WHILE I WAS EATING SPAGHETTI, making the moment so unbelievably perfect. My favorite person, my favorite food, verbally declared affection from my toddler. Sigh. Nothing better.
xoxo Courtney
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