message in a bottle

The Plastiki Expedition is a handpicked crew of adventurers, scientists, and creatives drawn together with a single goal in mind... To sail across the Pacific on a 60-foot catamaran made from reclaimed plastic bottles and aptly named 'Plastiki'.  

But why? According to their website "their mission is to beat waste by inspiring sustainable solutions, while bringing awareness to the ecological damage being done to the world's oceans."

I'll drink to that!

puppy love

Oh, how I do love puppies! And when one of my handmade recycled creations - like my DogChow Tote Bag - was recently featured in a blog post along with an adorable pup... well, I just had to share the cuteness! Check out Murphy and his debut on Happy Day Vintage. And for some really awesome vintage finds, visit Happy Day Vintage's Etsy shop for cool stuff like this:

diamond in the rough

I'll admit it - I actually look forward to my weekly trips to the local... dump. I know there are far more politically correct words to use to describe this bustling hub of waste shuffling activity, but come on - the place is a dump. Anyway...

I was cruising the metal pile a few months ago looking for anything that might lend itself to being useful - I've found file cabinets (heavy enough to anchor the Queen Mary), desks, chairs, buckets of nails... and also stuff that was just to cool not to bring home with me but would serve no practical purpose - rusty tricycles without pedals, wood stove parts and pieces, duct work...

Well, as I was in kind of a hurry to get the heck out of there (someone had just off-loaded a heap of not-so-fresh crab shells into the adjacent dumpster) I decided a drive-by with the windows rolled up would have to suffice. But then I saw it... in all it's eye-popping aqua-ness... right there on the edge of that tangled mass of corroded conduit and battered bed frames as if it had been placed there oh so gently for me to find...

Admittedly, my first thought was "that will make an amazing door-stop" - I mean the thing is 50lbs of solid metal and the thought that it might actually run hadn't dawned on me. Yet.

So home we went, but not before a brief detour to the Sew & Save Shop in downtown Ellsworth, Maine and my friendly sewing machine repairman who gave Old White a thorough inspection, hooked us up with a reconditioned foot pedal and announced "That's a fine machine you got there!". You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I just pulled it out of the metal pile about 15 minutes ago.

Long story short, it sews better than any machine I have ever used. It feeds beautifully, makes perfect stitches in the toughest of material, has a separate bobbin winder - not to mention it's downright gorgeous!

Funny thing is, I had been thinking seriously about purchasing a new machine for months. My WalMart-special Singer (it was a gift!) had been balking at the paces I was putting it through - it was never meant to sew the kind of stuff I sew - and I was surprised it had held up this long. But lack of funds and that little voice that was saying "wait..." prevented me from making that purchase. I'm ever so glad. I don't think I could have  found a machine more perfect for me!

happier new year!

While I have no major complaints about how MY little world is at the dawn of this new decade... I'm healthy, have a (relatively) sane and loving family, am mortgage free (by my own design), and enjoy vast amounts of time to explore my creative tendencies in a beautiful and safe environment...Oh, I could go on and on with this list of blessings!
But ever present in my mind is the fact that for many, many living things all over this world, it really could not get much worse. Which is why I wish and pray that in some small (or HUGE) way, 2010 will be a happier year for all. Peace.

first snow

This was the view from my loft window at first light, Sunday morning.

Although I have witnessed a first snow every year for 44 years (some of which I, of course, don't recall), this blanket of whiteness which appears out of nowhere never ceases to at first shock - and then as the reality of it sinks in - amaze me. Its ability to render my once familiar landscape almost unrecognizable is delightful. Brown, soggy earth is made pristine and pure. The heap of compost is no longer an eyesore. My collection of rusting metal - destined to become 'art'- is transformed overnight into whipped cream spackled sculpture.

And before the snow plow turns and churns this blindingly white blanket into mounds of dirty mashed potatoes, I will try and retain every perfect moment of this first snow.

birds do it...

Yes, even birds do it!

God love the tiny winged creature who so artistically created this diminutive home, made entirely out of found, scavenged and repurposed material! I found it on the ground after a particularly blowy spell, and when I looked more closely, I saw pine needles, tiny sticks, and finely shredded birch bark all woven (using its beak, no less) around a single spruce twig- like a feather in a jaunty cap! No human has ever created a more perfectly exquisite piece of work.

unfaithful blogger

OK. I must confess. There's another blog in my life... It's the Etsy Trashion Team blog- and at the moment it's the object of my distraction.

Not that I don't love my own blog... I just like to spread the love around a little!

As I mentioned, I'm a member of the Etsy Trashion Team- and right about NOW you are asking yourself "My goodness, just what is trashion?!". Well, get your mind out of the gutter- it's nothing like that...

What it is is: "...a group of Etsy sellers who focus on recycling and upcycling all kinds of discarded and found materials. We are creative artists and crafters who are dedicated to making trash into treasure!"

And naturally we have a blog. And just as naturally I felt compelled to add one more task to my overflowing 'to-do' list and offer to be a guest blogger. Happily actually.

As some of you might have suspected by now, I am really into recycling and repurposing. In fact, I could probably talk 'trash' to you all day long! But why not let someone else have the floor for once... and that is just what I am doing in my TrashTalk series over at the Trashion Team blog.

Each month I'll  be interviewing a different Trashion Team member and getting a 'behind the scenes' glimpse into the trashion artists' world- their inspiration, insight and ingenuity- complete with photos!
Check out Octobers interview with perfume designer and trashion artist Magickal Realism.

sweet smell of autumn

Ah, yes... the nights are crisp, mornings are down-right nippy, and there has been frost on the pumpkin (leaves) at least once already! Get ready folks, it's all down hill from here... or up hill. I guess it depends.
Because Winter follows Autumn, I can't help but feel a twinge of dread for what lies ahead- snow, ice, huge fuel bills, having to spend 10 minutes getting bundled up in order to take the dog out for a 5 second pee- and longing for what is already becoming a distant memory- lots of daylight, home grown veggies, wearing flip-flops and not much else, loon calls in the night...
But on the other hand.... Winter has the bluest skies you'll ever see, is when I get to slow down and spend a lot of time indoors being creative, and it precedes Spring, which gives me something really wonderful to look forward to, and for me, that is the best way to live.
And you can look forward to more frequent blog entries from me in the coming months!

Slug Fest 2009

WHAT: A real down and dirty slug-fest

WHERE: My very own garden

WHEN: Every friggin' morning...

In this corner, wearing the yellow/orange slime... gastropod mollusk!
In the other corner, wearing a look of disgust and armed with a salt shaker... me!

The winner will be decided by the number of cucumbers that actually make it past the embryonic stage...

wish you were here!

Summertime, and the livin's easy... well, at least it isn't as difficult as trying to get through a Maine winter! But I can tell you last month was no piece of cake! We've just had the wettest June on record- I think it rained 28 out of 30 days. And I'm talking downpours- all day, everyday!

Which is why I'm taking a little time to bask in the long awaited sunshine, do some gardening (if the slugs left me anything), swimming, sunning, beach combing, and playing 'tourist'- I have a long, long list of sites and events that are beckoning me.
I also will be taking a break from blogging, but I promise to bring back all sorts of treasures that I have collected to share with you all!