wow, mailart

so i've just discovered mailart. i know, i'm late.

through camilla's blog (which is one of my very favorite daily blogs - what more could one ask for, she has a CUTIE dog, makes adorable creatures, posts great links, is an artist, her blog has great colors and she's Swedish!), i found fripsmailart and all her great mailart links.

i'm afraid i could get hooked on mailart. the prospect of getting unexpected art through the mail from strangers is really enticing. i'm not sure exactly how it works, but i am definitely going to try it. i think i just pick a mailart person (or people) to mail something to and hope they mail something back. it's practicing letting go (of one's creations and expectations?) and possibly finding a treasure and a correspondent.

i've always loved the Griffiin and Sabine books, which are sort of like mailart, but in book format and with a great story. but this is a whole other, participatory level of mailart!

Gungor

i don't really have much to say today. looking for something to post, i picked through some random pictures i have in an envelope and found this one. it's from Vallsta, my grandparents' old summer house in Sweden. these were the swings behind the house. rusty and simple, but they sure worked! i can remember just how the little wooden plank seat felt. and the wildflowers all around - blaklockor, prastkragor (kalla den anglamarken eller himla gjorden...)- blommorna syns inte sa bra pa fotot. det har var val ca. 1977.

now i'm off to find a snack before American Idol. i didn't watch tv at all for about over 5 years and now i'm hooked on American Idol. and the L Word.

does anyone know why i'm getting a radio station through my computer speakers? it's quite irritating. even while music is playing, there's this faint radio also coming through. i think it's like an AM sports station or something useless like that.

IKEA stole my sheep!

Not really, but take a look at Ikea's sheep!!

My housemate spotted these Mecozy lookalike sheep at Ikea! Now I'm a huge Ikea fan (I'm a fan of most things Swedish), so this is really cramping my style! And they're only 2.99. I can understand that Ikea would make sheep though, bacause for some reason sheep decor has become a popular tourist gift thing now in Sweden. They have all kinds of adorable wooden sheep, sheep magnets, sheep placemats, sheep potholders, etc. I do think mine...


...are cuter than the Ikea ones - more character, but it's still a bit weird! more of my sheep
hm, those Ikea sheep are pretty cute, too...

Gee's Bend Continued

This is a Gee's Bend quilt postcard that I scanned. I have it up in my studio as inspiration. I didn't see it on their website, so thought I'd share it with you. It is:

Housetop -Twelve Half-Log Cabin Variation, C. 1975
by Rita Mae Pettway



This weekend is an East Bay weekend for me. Going with friends to the Milo Foundation store fundraiser celebration in Berkeley, where we hope to meet the siblings of my friends' rescued dog (also known as the cutest dog ever). And Sunday, I'm going to celebrate easter egg hunting! at another friend's house with her family, including her almost 2 year old son (also known as the cutest boy ever).

quilthead and links links links

i got a nice email last week from Amy in Oregon, who is the artist behind Kingpod. you can see her sweet little quilts there and her cute kids clothes and more. this cute cat quilt is hers:

and check out her blog where she's also posted her mom's beautiful log cabin quilt and a link to the terrific quilts of Gee's Bend (I had heard about the women and quilts of Gee's Bend, but didn't know there was a website about them).

it is funny to me that i've found the blogs of some of my SF neighbors through the links of far away bloggers. i found cheap girl draws and mati rose that way. wacky i tell you.

other cool links: sabrina ward harrison - her blog photos are so colorful
one of sabrina's links: muckism - more great photos

another crafty link: www.knitty.com - free knitting patterns!

that's it for now. my mousing hand is freezing!

necklaces and mormor

inspired by the lovely Frecklewonder necklace i got in the mail (after the post office lost it for a month and a half!!!), i tried to make my own knotted beaded necklaces. boy it is hard to get those knots close to the beads. mine are not as professional or lovely as Frecklewonder Jenny's, but they were fun to make.




on another note...

jag hade inte tankt aka till sverige i ar. jag har akt tre sommrar i rad nu, mest for att halsa pa min mormor som fyllde 90 i juli. jag skulle inte aka i sommar for att:
1. det kostar mycket.
2. jag maste anvanda alla mina lediga dagar.
3. jag ar skitradd for att flyga. aven med lugnande medel tror jag att planet kommer att storta. hur kan en sadan tung sak flyga sa langt upp i himmeln?
4. jag blir deprimerad nar jag kommer tillbaka darfor att jag saknar sverige och samtidigt kanner som jag kommer langre o langre darifran varje gang jag aker dit. o jag glommer mer o mer svenska.
men nu ar min mamma dar o jag onskar att jag ochsa kunde resa dit o halsa pa mormor. mormor ar en av mina favorita personer i varlden.
vad skall jag gora??

links

some links:

miele fresca - great knitted treasures and cute tshirts, San Francisco-based

two Swedish designer Lotta's in the U.S.: Lotta of Inleaf and Lotta of Lotta Jansdotter

ANWR information

fuzzy, skinny scarf - just completed 

Pinky-doodle
see more Pinky Leon pics at www.mecozy.com/about

Poodle High Horse

when i was younger i thought poodles were annoying because of the poofy hairdos. at some point i realized it was the owners who should be blamed for the hairdos. and i've now come to find poodles to be quite cute, with the curly hair and the goofiness. they're especially cute when they don't have the silly dos and they look like long-legged sheep.

in the mornings when i wait for the shuttlebus i stand across the st. from the Atlas Cafe. there used to be this guy (well he probably still exists, i just don't see him anymore) who walked to atlas in the mornings with his standard poodle. he was just this regular looking guy guy. with an old tshirt and short hair. sort of a casual/conservative guy. but his poodle had the do with the poofs! it made me wonder if he had a girlfriend or boyfriend who got the poodle trimmed like that, cuz it just didn't go with the guy. the poodle however was hilarious. the guy strolled to the coffeeshop and the poodle pranced. not like a snooty prance, but a completely glad to be alive and sniffin prance. totally goofy. and when s/he? got anywhere near other dogs, s/he did the play bow thing and then leapt up and down the sidewalk. it was pretty funny to see the big, poofy cut poodle run around like a puppy. s/he could care less about the ridiculous haircut!

i like the word poodle and all those mixed with poodle breed names..cockapoo, labrodoodle, goldendoodle. silly. if pinky leon were mixed with a poodle, would he be a pinkydoodle or a pinkyloodle OR a pinkystrudel? he is like a sweet German dessert (that is what a strudel is, right?)

purse i made this weekend. i have yet to figure out how to get this inside my post.  

finally

my new and improved mecozy website is finally almost ready. i forget how long these things take to make!

and here is a link via andrea to beautiful photographs by Gregory Colbert. when i realized these photos were actual interactions between these animals and people, i was moved to tears! the exhibit is currently on display in New York.

sheep n scarves table 

cozy table 

bloggy beginnings

although i am ambivalent about blogging and sharing with anyone and everyone (not that anyone and everyone will find this interesting!), i find that the sites i visit most, are those with blogs. i am so inspired by all the crafting and illustrating folks out there. so i'm going to try to be more a part of this crafting blogging community. i'll post mostly pics of the fabulous pinky leon (you'll meet him soon if i can figure out this picture transfer), pics of crafting projects, links to inspiring art/folks, and the occasional musings on color, maybe. we'll see.

trying to figure out how to get two pictures on one post. can you tell i'm new at this? hm... so i'm going to post two pics from my first crafty sale at Canvas Gallery. Canvas Gallery hosts a monthly sale put on by Feria Urbana.

an inspiring quilter artist: Anna Von Mertens

ok i havent' figured it out, so for now the pictures will go in a separate post i guess.