Friday Feature....MoonStoneDesigns

        

     It's that time of year again when pumpkins show up on front porches, leaves get raked up, and the candy aisles are fully stocked: that's right, it's Halloween. What better way to celebrate this spellbinding time of year than with a STATTEAM artist who specializes in making one-of-a-kind hats! (Which, incidentally, could be a perfect accent for your little ones' Halloween costume this year!). Meet Kristin, the seamstress behind MoonStone Designs...


"Where (or from who) did you learn to sew?"
I learned to sew in High School. I was the President of the Art Club and my teacher taught me how to sew. I keep teaching myself new things all the time and it is a process that just keeps growing and growing one skill on top of another. That same teacher now rebuilds vintage sewing machines and I go to her all the time for sewing machine advice and parts.


 "Where does your inspiration to create come from?"
My inspiration comes from my world around me. I love my kids and I love nature, and I try to put the two together when I make my hats. I like the things that I make to be realistic and fun, and warm is a plus! The fleece animal hats really started after my 5 year old had brain surgery and a shunt placement in the spring of 2010. We spent an entire month at the hospital and when it was time to leave, his hair was gone, he had horrific scars, and a bump from the shunt. I really didn't like having to explain to everyone in the grocery store why his head look liked that! People really couldn't help stare. So, I started making fleece animal hats for him. They turned out amazing and I kept making new designs, people really liked them, and then I started selling them on Etsy. I now sell them around the world. I keep making them for my kids and because I love to see people wearing the hats and having a great time. They are the perfect mix of function and fun. I continue to be connected to the Seattle Children's hospital and I regularly send hats to children there as well. On my site, you can purchase a hat at a discount and I will send it directly to a child at Seattle Children's Hospital on your behalf, or to the hospital of your choice!

"Where would you like to see yourself/shop in 5 years?"
 In five years I would love to see myself/my shop have a more useable work space. A wonderful room that is dedicated to all my creative processing and projects would be paradise.

       

So check out this talented artist by clicking her logo below... Perhaps you'll find a little critter you just have to take home with you!

 

Thursday's finds...

...I'm in love with these rich, warm colors and textures!

Chestnut brown plaid cloche, bonniesknitting, $85.00

An Early Snow Aspen Trees, SimplyLodge, $30.00

Primitive Skep Fall Trio Candles, HortonsFarm, $11.00

Candy Bar Leg Warmers, Abhayafibers, $40.00

Orange Wrist Cuff Arm Warmers, vaivanat, $33.00

Original Owl Gift Box, ybnorml, $14.00

Autumn Felted Wool Fox, WildRoseHerbs, $42.50

Pumpkin Orange and Brown Glass Earrings, lillyandlulu, $16.50

Dear Doris, part two...

It's Sunday morning...perhaps the best morning of the entire week. Why not grab a hot cup of coffee....

Best Way to Start the Day, cherrycreek, $25.00

...and dish up some yummy and delicious cake....

Mary's Marble Mocha Coffee Cake, SimplyDivine, $18.50

....curl up in a cozy blanket...

Oatmeal Wool Blanket, joycebuckley, $110.00

...and sit back, relax, and read where Leif/Luigi/Ivanovitch will take us today....

For those just tuning in, you can start at the beginning of this saga in my July post, "The Reinhewitz Tower", where I found a vintage postcard addressed to a Miss Doris Geenan...and then view the "Dear Doris, part one" post to get the rest of the story. Here's where our story takes us today...

"Dear Doris-
        This is the largest city in Switzerland & and home of the German-speaking Swiss- or "Svizza Dicha" as they are called. The city is one of the cleanest, most modern, & most picturesque in Europe - but my friends here tell me that the "Svizza-Dicha" are a hard nosed group at best & very difficult to get along with. The German they speak here is a far cry from any other German anywhere else.
                                        Wm. Tell"

"Dear Doris-
          Back in Suisse again & I take it these are ski cabins on front- looks sort of cold. Some day I'll have to check this skiing out- you're just a guy who doesn't rate, with some of the dollies here, unless you participate in "the sport".
          Right now I'm tired of traveling & when I get back to Grenoble- I won't move for at least a week.
                                             -Trigger-"

"Dear Doris-
            This is Munich prior to the air bombing. In the whole picture I don't think there is even one building they missed. What is amazing is the speed with which reconstruction has proceeded. All the rubble has been cleared away & new buildings are going up daily.
             The G.I.'s here aren't helping the American name much as far as one can see. Too bad the Army sends kids over here.
                                               Heinrich"




I've tried to put them in order as best as I can tell their date on the cancellation, but sometimes it's hard to tell...come back next Sunday to follow our Mystery Man on his next escapade through "the old country"!

Dear Doris... part one

Ok...so some of my viewers might remember a few posts back when I found some really cool vintage postcards at my local store (August, "The Reinhewitz Tower"). One in particular caught my attention, because it was written to a young woman, from a man touring through war-torn Europe in 1950. The woman's name was "Doris", and the young man's name was "Leif"......

....or so I thought.....

Last week as I flipped through hundreds and hundreds of postcards, I suddenly saw a snippet of familiar handwriting....and a familiar name....

Could it really be? Out of thousands and thousands of postcards, was this really another postcard written from Leif to his beloved Kappa Alpha Theta-ite?

"Dear Doris,

           The ship in the foreground is the one we came up from Palma on (filled with seasick Spanish soldiers & boot sailors). Barcelona turned out to be not such a good idea for New Years Eve. Drinks cost $3.60 a piece & I guess you know I just about left this dear olde worlde when they preseuto-ed me with a bill for about $25.

                          Once Wealthy Roberto"

My heart started racing, and as I looked at the address, it was the same as the one I had bought back in July. The handwriting was the same, the address was the same, even the quirky charisma was the same. There was only one difference....

This card wasn't from Leif.

It was from Once Lucky Roberto.

I tried to understand how all these pieces matched up, but not the name. A little later from the same shoebox of postcards, came another card addressed to Doris Geenan...Only this time, it was sign "Ali"!

"Still Salaam Doris-

               This town is actually far more colorful than any post card can do justice- it is 250 kilometers south of Algiers on the edge of the Sahara- but cold.

               Played typical tourist today & went camel riding in the sand dunes- tres-gai.

                                                               Ali."

I sat at this antique store the rest of the afternoon, sifting through boxes of cards, and in total, I found 14 postcards addressed to "Miss Doris Geenan" of Madison, Wisconsin.

Each one, carefully marked to Doris.....and then suddenly, the identity of the man who wrote them became a little clearer.....

...when this man was in Sweden, he signed them "Leif"

...when he was in Algiers, he signed them "Ali"

...when he was in France, he signed them "Lucky Pierre"

...when he was in Vienna, he signed them "Ivanovitch"

So the "Leif" who I had wished a happy life only a few posts earlier on my blog wasn't really a "Leif", and I have no clue who he was. Somehow this group of postcards survived...together...and ended up in a giant collection in the middle of Washington state...Each card is unique in the picture it paints of a time long ago...

...So join me, as I post each card on my blog, and follow Leif/Ali/Once Wealthy Roberto on his journey across Europe. I've put them in order as best as I could, based on the dates on their postmarks. From what I can tell, this young man was in the army, working on reconstructing Europe after WWII. He arrived in France right after the new year in 1950, and corresponds with Doris until May....What does he write? You'll have to wait and see!

We may not know who this mystery man was, but we know that he had two words on his mind as he traveled so far from home:

"Dear Doris..."

September surprises...

I love making treasuries, and seeing what I can find...here are a few of my favorite listings this week...

Chickadee and maple leaves lid, JimAndGina, $35.00
Traveller's hoops, Summerone, $24.00
Green trees on table runner, krycza06, $55.00
Clay house for dwarves, Koroneczka, $8.00

Indian corn-fall harvest photo by shannonleighstudios, $40.00
Birch tree embroidery hoop by erinf115, $32.00
Twin barns photo print by DragonFlyandClover, $20.00
Raven with candy corn painting by Corvid337, $16.00

Just a rock...

If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I love rocks.

I love looking for rocks. I love reading about rocks. I even love painting rocks...

Every year for spring break (that elusive week that teachers dream about all winter), we pack up the dogs, hop in the truck, and head down to the high deserts of Southeast Oregon and Northern Nevada. While we're there, we find agates, opals, sunstones, petrified wood, and even once, a meteorite. Last year on our annual pilgrimage, we went to a location in Nevada known for a special type of rhyolite, called wonderstone. Wonderstone is indeed wonderful, for the many different patterns accenting each rock (you might have seen some of the items in my shop photographed with some wonderstone in the background!).

One rock in particular caught my eye. To me, this remnant from some extinct volcano was more than just a rock....it painted a picture in my mind.

I looked at both sides carefully, and then slowly began shaping this stone into a square form...I had initially thought I would place this stone in a lapidary setting, but then I started painting...

....and painting, and painting....

I couldn't erase this beautiful scene from my mind, and I could imagine it being a sunset in the desert, on some remote and dry barren land...

I painted it in acrylic...

...and I painted it in watercolor...

I painted this scene over and over again, each time playing with different blends of color.

Then one night, while coasting around Etsy looking for new items to favorite, my eyes came upon this scene, and I recognized it immediantly...

However, I couldn't have recognized it, for this was a real photo...of some unknown place that just happened to look like the world I glimpsed while looking at a rock. This photo was taken by Patty Stafford, and when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. So now my collection is complete, at least until I pick up another rock, and take a closer look...

Feel free to check out Patty's shop at the link below, and see what other treasures might be lurking within the wardrobe...(but that's a story for another day...)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CountryDreaming?ref=pr_shop_more

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

-Michelangelo

New work....The Renhewitz Tower

   Here in my small town of Leavenworth, Washington, I am inspired by many things....from the rolling hills to the east, to the mountains that hold up the sky to my west. Even the architecture in this quaint tourist town can be inspiring to me....but that's a story for another time.

   Recently I went antique shopping at Apple Annie's, just to see what I might find. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon boxes and boxes of old postcards, some dating back to the early 1900's. I sifted and sifted, trying to find some that piqued my interest aesthetically, and some that caught my eye because of what had been written. I ended up with a handful, but these two struck me with a combination of enchantment and awe.

   The first was a gorgeous monochromatic depiction of some unknown lake...probably across the ocean in Europe. The fine lines captured the feel that particular day, and I found myself falling in love with it...

On the back was a stamp from Switzerland, unused, and ready to be mailed to some unknown recipient.

And then there was this one...

It is addressed to Miss D. Geenen in Madison Wisconsin, and reads:


"Dear Doris,
    After leaving Holland- went thru Northern Germany - Denmark 8 1/3 of Sweden. Even the Germans have given up trying to clear away the rubble in some sectors of Bremen & Hamburg. What a terrible pasting they took.
   I must have been out of my mind to give up the warm spring of Paris for the mid-winter cold of Stockholm.
                     -Leif-"

I found my mind trying to understand what history this postcard records....a man, traveling through war-torn countries, seeing firsthand what Europe looked like in 1950, only a few years after WWII had ended. His word "rubble" paints for me a pictures of bricks, mortar, statues and more, still strewn about the ground, taken apart, just as they had been put together. My mind then travelled back to the brick tower in the first postcard....and that's where my next project was born...

I did a quick sketch, just to give my mind someplace to start.....I thought perhaps this would become a necklace that opens to hold a secret message inside...


So I set about making my "bricks" and "boulders". On the base, I carved the word "Dream", and added a small natural white topaz gemstone.

As carefully as possible, I began to add one brick at a time with my fine tweezers. I began to build....

....and build....

....and soon I needed more bricks....

The doorway on the postcard looked like an arch built with rounded stones, so I carefully and painstakingly created mine the same....

"Please don't fall over again!"

...more bricks....

By this point, I realized the tower was becoming a bee-hive shape, which was not what I anticipated. However, with art and with life, I think we can only control so much....so the design continued...

Looking inside, you can just catch a glimmer of the white topaz gemstone, hidden away from the world.

...and then, the final bricks of the top of the tower! It's difficult to see how the tower in the postcard was finished, but it looks like this could have been one possibility. I was finally done, with only a few bricks to spare.

The piece was then ready to fire....as it heated up to become a permanent piece of metal that would stand the test of time, I pondered who the actors were in this untold story....Doris, most likely was a college student, judging by the Kappa Alpha Theta address on her postcard. Leif could have been a suitor, trying his best at painting a romantic image of his life abroad in Europe. And finally, there is the author of the tower postcard, which I can only make out to be "T. Renhewitz". All searches on the internet lead me to a dead end, so perhaps I won't know who this artist was, or when he lived. But I will know how he lived, by the beautiful day he painted at some idyllic lakeside.

Let's check the kiln....

The Renhewitz tower is done! After some antiquing patina and a little shine, it stands tall and proud, just like the tower in the postcard.

My initials are carved into the bottom...

...and this little tower takes center stage with my other fairy-house/watchtower pieces.

I can't wait to get back to those boxes of postcards at Apple Annie's, and see what else awaits my imagination. I hope that Doris and Leif went on to live long and happy lives, and I hope that T. Renhewitz would be proud that his postcard still paints a picture of a sunny day, long, long ago.

"To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your life depends on it; and when the time comes to let it go, to let it go."

 ~Mary Oliver