in it to win it....

just a heads up...marvelous kiddo is hosting a little giveaway today for my message in a bottle letter service. visit here to enter. good luck! i love leigh's (aka marvelous kiddo) finds. check out her post about forts!!

stamps, planes, and thanks...

i'm packaging up orders today....

these little bits and pieces are some of the little extras i include with my book and letter hybrid. i loooove paper ephemera and collect stamps. so many stamps. while its nice to share sometimes i have force myself to put an extra nice/weird/beautiful/interesting stamp in a my thank you paper packs. each tiny pack is unique, and i hope exciting to pour over and discover!
so i'm off to cali tomorrow, home for the holidays. can't wait to kiss and cuddle these little fatsos:
may i introduce you to buddy lee and dexter luny. are you jealous yet? look at those faces. dexter has a crazy eye and snaggle tooth, come on!

i'm thankful to be going home........

MR holiday press

if you just happened to be at barnes and noble in union square when i first saw this- i hoped you liked my dance....recent features in BUST and DIY magazine have got me silly happy and pumped for the holidays. these are some picks by Lisa Butterworth, BUST's associate editor. there's a little love for for me, for you up there too!

i've limited my custom embroidery offerings, to ensure that the orders i do have get to their holiday destinations on time. the last day i'm offering custom hearts will be monday the 23 and i'm just about to list a few. so get'em while you can.....

in stitches....

hooray! in stitches is opening at Renegade Handmade this saturday on the 21st. be there if you are in chicago! all the participants work look so good together on this post, which also has all the dets. i'm excited to be part of this show with such great company, AND jenny hart is doing a book signing and workshop too! see chicago, you should be there! i would if i could.

here are the pieces i sent off...and just a few works from some of the participants...my lady friend lisa aaron of lou lou and oscar. bugs!cross stitched smith lyrics. hell yeah. by chez-sucre-cheztoo tute. by my new crush the pin pals. these girls are cute and i want a beau!

my dæmon....

is a little cat. my constant companion, the biter of ankles, the knocker-overer of the thread, the waker- uper of my computer from sleep mode when i am trying to sleep, the best trouble maker, The Bug....
ps just finished his dark materials on audio book. i really wish i could have a little dæmon, but i guess buggy is a pretty good alternative....

do you have a dæmon?

lost in a sea...

...of embroidery. thread and linen abound and am working, working, working on these hearts, stars and trees. here are but a few of the recent pieces i've completed....this one is kitty names. oh, how that kills me. somewhere there is a little cat named tater who loves a little cat named tottie. sweetness.

whatcha working on?!

art wall...

katie stephenson has opened a new site called Art Wall. she wanted to create the experience of exploring a well-styled display online, so she has curated a collection of prints and handmade goods in a beautifully designed site with drawings by jessica gonacha swift. like this....each frame takes you to the item and i'm lucky enough to be featured. see me on the top left...

katie also runs of save gocco and has an esty shop with her gocco prints. i want to gocco more than ever after browsing the save gocco site. i've never done it, but it looks like addictive fun. i found this gocco print on Art Wall's studio that i'm loving.....

postcard set winner

thanks to everyone who took the time to write a comment and share their book suggestions. i wrote everyone's name down on little strips of paper and had jeremy ceremoniously pick a name out of knit cap while i made that drum roll sound (are you doing it now) and he picked......

squidinkie! thanks!!

via peralton

i love these! by hayley carmo on flickr and etsy....

Here also is a list of the recommended reading left in the comments for you to check out. i wish i had more time for reading. it seems like i'll never have the time for everything. i think i decided to listen to Middlesex since it's been on my list for awhile and three people recommended it. here are the others.....
The Year of Magical Thinking
We Need to Talk About Kevin
The Learners by Chip Kidd

Middlesex
Madonnas of Leningrad
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G
Dharma Punx by Noah Levine
Alice in Wonderland
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I wish someone were waiting for me somewhere by anna gavalda

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
She's Come Undone

Stuart: a life backwards by Alexander Masters
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
White Noise by Don Delillo
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
A Clockwork Orange
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

a halloween recap....

we went to queens county farm museum to pick some pumpkins for carving and maybe some pie making. i was pleasantly surprised to find there were animals to coo over, pet and pester. i love petting goats! i chased around the poka dot feathers, which i learned are from female peacocks, and was generally happy to play in a farm and watch all the little kids in their costumes.

later jeremy carved the cat pumpkin and roasted the pumpkin seeds. the ears kill me. we watched a bunch of horror movies and i worked on a new batch of books to prepare for the my shop update yesterday.

what did you do? did you dress up?

ps thanks to all the comments with book suggestions below!! i'm going to compile a recommended reading list.

update and give away....

Miniature Rhino shop update 11.2.2009 at 2pm eastern time...

really excited about this!
i have a few new things for this shop update including these postcards. they are images of little collections and come with something special- a set of vintage stamps enough for mailing one postcard. each set in the shop will come with this little extra.

receiving mail is one of the best gifts and i equally enjoy sending and receiving it. so to celebrate this update i thought i'd share the mail love and offer one set of postcards to, maybe, you! just leave a comment here and i'll pick a winner randomly 2.7.09. tell me about the book your reading or recommend a good one. i need to pick a new book since i forgot to cancel my membership to audible.com just like i said i would.

i hope you can stop by for the update! and thanks to all in advance for your recommendations!
i'm reading The Road currently....