Oh My it's October!

Oooof. Things have been.. BUSY.

Cory & I moved to a smaller town outside of Portland in Late July, finishing up in August at the old place. Cory started a new job at the same time & I unpacked and set up my new art room!

Our new place had nothing going on with the landscaping, save for a few trees in the large side yard. Our backyard was barren and tiny with a falling-down rotten fence. The little front yard was totally empty. We have started gardening up the place- but maybe best of all- we replaced the falling down fence and I painted a mural & Cory built a raised bed!

Here we had started work on the yard, planting seeds, starting a raised bed in the tank, etc. You can see the fence is bowed out. It moved around easily and was at a bad angle, waiting to fall.

Tah dah! Replaced.

Here the fence and raised bed are done. We do still have to make a new gate, which I will also paint.

This was right before we built the raised bed- but we added uplighting! It looks so pretty at night instead of disappearing.

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This is the front where we added a flowerbed!

Ceramics

Our friend Danielle invited us to do some ceramics with her at the studio space she is a member of. I had one idea in mind and my hands had another. I made a flower which reminded me of my favorite rose bush, so I glazed it to look like it as best I could. It is a trinket bowl or I may put a tea light in it, but it is a way of keeping my favorite rose.

May 2026

The sun is out, flowers are blooming, and I am sharing some of the fun I have been up to.

I painted this lil Mt Hood mini as a thank-you to someone.

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Our flowers are poppin’!

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Our friends Emerald & Teresa gave us a bunch of plants to transfer from their garden to ours. Our backyard had a tree taken out and the front walkup as well, and with all this new sun we needed some new stuff to fill in.

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I made a necklace using mostly components friends have given me, and not buying anything new, but using the bead stash I have.

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We went hiking at one of our longtime-favorite trails. We have an annual goal of 100 hikes/year.

The mountain was out on the way..

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We got my art up at Agger Chiropractic.

Cory made it a great frame.

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Our livingroom got a little upgrade with the rug I made, a new (old) chair given to us, and putting some of our plants up in macrame.

Schreiner's Iris Gardens-2026

Schreiner’s Iris Gardens are my most favorite flower farm around. These are the pictures I took this year. I WILL be painting some irises!!

The Flower Girls

I had this idea pop into my head and had to hurry and finish it in time to hitch a ride with my parents to my mother in law’s house! It is the silhouette of my two nieces that are her grands. The purple is for her mom (their great grandma), the orange for her. The flowers are ones I see here in gardens, and the butterflies are natives here, including Oregon’s state insect- the Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly and its’ caterpillar. The frame was made by her son, my husband Cory. It is a picture to have all of us there together, if not literally.

Flower Girls

I had this idea “pop!” into my head like maybe I dreamt it. I wanted to paint bright silhouettes, on colorful backgrounds, the whole thing filled with flowers. I wanted to make them of my nieces.

I painted the background first so Bird could start painting flowers while I painted in her silhouette. This painting, unlike the others planned, is done as a collaboration as we are making it for her mom for Mother’s Day. She picked the neon pink for herself and at first wanted lime green for the background- but when I reminded her it was for her mom, she picked some blues and a green (and I added another couple shades to blend).

I helped guide her with encouragement to add something in spots, but she did some really good work! I like the flowers we both made and how they all have come together.

This is probably the most accurate of the colors, esp. the neon pink.

Frame by Cory!

Mt Hood - Finished

Having finished the Mt Hood painting, I had to share it with you! I am eagerly waiting on my husband to finish the frame, which will be ready in another day.

Outdoor lighting

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Indoor lighting

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We learned a thing

I saw there was a free workshop to learn how to make rugs at Pendleton while my folks were in town. We all went and had our friend come along for a fun time learning a handy new craft. There is something so addicting in learning to make things by hand. I love it!

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This uses selvedge- leftovers from the weaving process.

This was the first rug I made, started while at the Pendleton class.

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My dad picked out this wool, started a rug, and just didn’t quite get the hang of it. He said it was mine to finish, but instead I totally remade it after he went to bed so he had it to take home with them the next day. He was so happy with it!

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We made this one for our friend across the street. He makes the coolest furniture so we figured he would appreciate it.

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This is my experiment in washing and drying one of the rugs. I made this one and it was a rougher texture, so I felt a want to wash it and see what happened. It came out napped and fluffy, like a sherpa texture, and stretched a bit more evenly than I had managed pre-wash.

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Made for a friend.

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Mural Update

I had to show you the mural (I did) with the wood paneling finished below. While I was picking out colors and had a vision of the outcome- seeing it realized is a whole other level of awesome. Teresa did a fantastic job on the paneling! Doesn’t it frame up the mural so nicely? So. Proud. Now I want to invite myself over to hang out in her cool room!

Some Sewing Projects

I am a big fan of Tula Pink, and her Graywork line this October was the first time I have preordered fabric. I am a complete color person- black, white, gray, are barely in my vocabulary. These illustrations of hers though are why she is my favorite fabric designer. She does such detailed drawings, grounded in realism and then colored with whimsy. Even though the animals are in grayscale, there is a rainbow through the details in the background. Love it! So, this material has been giving me the same feeling as cash burning a hole in my pocket.

I made a banner (these window box things always just feel too white for me and require some fun-lights or a banner, etc).

Of course it is reversible because I love a 2-for-1. This side has Tula from some previous collections and a pink floral Kaffe Fasset on the end.

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I also made a tote as my birthday gift to myself! -Added in some (Rashida Coleman Hale) Moda speckles and Kona purple to the Tula fabrics. Wolves on one side, and seals and a bear on the other!

Inside!

… and the (Robert Kaufman) white stripes have tiny glow in the dark skulls!

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~The birthday tote I made for my bestie, Emerald~

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My bestie’s daughter has been doing her school projects on wolves- her choice- so I had to make her a banner with them!! I will give it to her for Valentine’s Day.

The back is some scrappy fun and a bear, because boring is not an option.

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My favorite tablecloth had holes in the center and a few small stains. I made it into a quilted runner instead to give it more life.

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Lastly- finally sharing the pair of tree pillow covers I made for my friend’s Christmas present (late, oops!). She has a pink Christmas tree, so I was keeping on theme.

.. to better show the buttons.

Both backs looked the same.