Island in the sun

If you squint really really close you can almost spy our little green house, nestled there, in the green, surrounded by the vast blue...

New counters, and the handmade backsplash, finally up~

Get ready for photo overload.
After many weeks, and many variables we finally have both our wood counters, and the handmade tiles I painted up in the kitchen.
Here we were, trying to figure out the layout of them. I decided while in process that i did not want a predictable, geometric repeating pattern, but rather wanted to mix up the tiles just how i pleased, imagine that!
Can you see how dirty and splattered the wall already was?if you don't i'll tell you, it was.

our good friend, and tile guy extraordinaire Alirio, doing his thing.

Ta-da!

yes you did spy my lentil soup

the vegetables the kids and i are re-growing, a very cool experiment

I should really mention a bit more about the counters, they are maple hardwood butcherblock,  custom made for us made by my talented cousin Emiliano, you can see more of his work HERE. 

Trust me, he is awesome, call him up!

 There used  to be horrid cream formica before.

Thats it! 

quite the improvement from THIS, RIGHT?

A prize if you can spot the wallpaper

What we have done here to make this kitchen our own has been an exorbitant amount.. 

from removing above awful dated wallpaper, to repainting the whole kitchen, replacing the old aluminum windows,  putting in an entire new porcelain sink, new faucet, new plywood underneath the sink where it had rotted away, taking down a wall and adding soffit lights, new counter tops, new light fixtures, adding a dishwasher, new fridge, running a gas line to the (new) gas stove, painting the cabinets, removing the awful old black microwave and adding a white range hood, re-grouting the floor, adding knife magnets, and finally, tiling.

 Aah, i feel a little ill just thinking about it all, 

can we rest now?

Happy wednesday!

Bird wings (and a chance to buy your own)

I love these, they are whimsical, colorful, they lend to great imaginative play,and they were fun to make.

Baby M wants a pair too, and if  these seem perfect  for your little one, and you would like to purchase one from me,

message me for details!

 I am going to do a trial run in selling some of my handmades, wish me luck~

Happy thursday

A day home with Imani

This little girl is a whirlwind, from the moment her feet hit the floor she is off and running, full of her own ideas and projects,absorbed and ecstatic when things work out, frustrated and howling when her physical capacity cannot correspond to her vision. 

THIS PICTURE, born completely out of the originality of her little mind, really astounded me when i first glimpsed it on her easel, thankfully i managed a quick photo before it was swiftly erased and replaced by another.

her playroom during intense play sessions, and thats what its meant for!

taking a break to read my childhood copy of on the shores of silver lake 

(mostly because the picture on the cover of Laura, racing wild and bareback, with her hair blowing in the wind, utterly fascinates her)

oh, just another 3 foot tall paper doll, this one's mouth talks, like a puppet

by pulling the string in the back, how clever, I personally would like to own her floral print pencil skirt

this became a project of many hours, making a teepee, where she and her little brother read books and played with their dolls, it was adorable

and then there are fairy gardens, and rock gardens, and shell gardens being built

This was all in one day, all I can do is catch her sometimes, feed her a hot lunch, and rub her feet at night to try and pull her into her body.

Now who does that remind me of? ( ahem, yours truly)

That's a triple Gemini for you!

And I am so glad to have her.

Happy Tuesday