Never Before

Never before have I seen a miniature orchid until last week. All of a sudden, I had to have it.

Sure I've had several orchids. They always look healthy and then it happens. The first leaf drops, then the second and so on. I water/lightly feed them once per month and spritz them with water and supply them carefully with filtered light. Simply put, they hate me and I'm not sure why. I nurture them and tell them how beautiful they are. Some have even never bloomed again, but seem to be happy, growing new leaves.

All this talk about orchids is making me want to watch Adaptation again. If only I could master the keeping of these delicate beauties. I know several people who have given up on them and I have an adopted one here now. This little miniature orchid amazes me and I'm going to carefully primp and try my best to keep it happy and healthy. If you have any advice on the care of orchids, I'd welcome it.

Nestrest

I need one of these! They look so relaxing and inviting. Can you imagine an afternoon nap in one of these? They're designed by Daniel Pouzet and Fred Frety for DEDON. Well done!

Underneath it All

If you ever wonder what is on the inside of my dolls/creatures, besides time and love, I can assure you each of them has a hand-stitched cotton tubing inside. It takes time, but I want to make sure my creations are super durable and hold up to play and your little one's curiosity. These two new dolls even have little hearts. No one will ever see that, but it's there, lovingly sewn underneath it all.

Ai Weiwei, Artist

The Chinese Government has destroyed the studio of Ai Weiwei, a protean artist who is one of the most outspoken critics of the Chinese Communist Party. Even though he said officials told him that the demolition would not take place until after the first day of the Year of the Rabbit (which falls on February 3rd) he was shocked to discover that workers had begun knocking it down today. 

Sad news. They also knocked down a neighboring studio he had designed for a friend. Mr. Ai's studio was to be used as an education center and a site for artists in residence. 

Weiwei compares the seeds in his current installation at the Tate Modern to Twitter "...a vast sea of ideas and communication contributed by individual people." Weiwei had the seeds made in the southern Chinese city of Jingdezhen. Each of the 100 million seeds was molded, fired, and painted with three or four individual brush strokes, often by women taking the objects home to work on them. One thousand six hundred people were involved in the process.

Although the installation was intended to be interactive and in the fist few days of the show people were allowed to walk on them and pick up the seeds, this has resulted in the release of dust from the individual "grains" rubbing together. The dust could "be damaging to health following repeated inhalation over a long period of time." Visitors are now limited to looking at the installation from behind a barrier and they are not happy. I personally would assume the entire 'feeling of the installation would be pointless without having the interaction with the piece.

New In The Shop

I listed this sweet pair of baby mittens in the shop today. They keep selling out and I'm trying to keep up. Each pair is different and the colors are so bright and happy.

New In The Shop

This super sweet pair of fingerless mitts were created from a vintage wool sweater and now have a new useful life ahead. I love the shade of green and the hand stitched flowers really give them a lovely touch. More photos and info is here.