i've come full circle.

i started this blog following my first retreat to squam art workshops in june 2009. as so many have shared their love and appreciation for elizabeth duvivier, i feel immense gratitude for so many of the dear souls that are now in my life thanks to my time spent at squam. this would take an entirely different post, thankfully lizzy house wrote a beautiful post about this back in 2013. she spoke of all the love that comes from shared connections. sometimes the joy can be overwhelming...all from one choice.

i am just coming back around to making the time to create full-time. my original goal with the blog was to offer ideas that we have found effective to be gentler to the earth with our daily needs. i am getting back around to this.

while i was away from the blog i spent much of the time learning to sew garments for myself.

i received a gift from my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. they returned from a trip to italy with a bag made from washable paper fabric. it took me a while to find a source and to discover how best to sew the material that in many ways acts like leather. i have created a few products and felt that i was ready to sell! i decided that squam art fair would be the perfect place to begin this new adventure. i knew that i would have lovely support there. virginia and noah from gather here were hosting the first squam modern quilt show and several other makers who i know and adore would be there too. i was thrilled that my very dear mother was available to make the trip with me.

we had a lovely evening as expected. received a beautiful reception, informative feedback and my favorite part of the evening was discussing the washable paper fabric that i have been making many of my products from. i feel strongly that this product is a game changer. i have so many things that i want to make with it and collaborations in the works. hoping to share more soon. thank you to those who have encouraged and supported me.

well today is finally the last day that i will be applying the first coat of paint on the outside of our house. what a summer it's been. so rewarding and challenging. we are not nearly close to the end...so much to do still but at least we won't have to look at a house with three colors (old, new, primer) anymore!!!

this is where i started from this morning

almost

amazing what a little brush and paint can do!

here's the reward!

i loved the summer office before but today it seems that much more beautiful and satisfying!

for the record it's beer:thirty where our katie...cheers to you katie and happy birthday week!

another thoughtful idea from soulemama

it's so challenging to know where to begin....well if you don't know about squam art workshop (saw) then please go and discover. it is held at the rockywold-deephaven camp-rdc in holderness, new hampshire.

i found this dreamy retreat last year when soulemama was blogging about speaking there. i was so fortunate to go and i know it sounds ridiculous but i really had a life changing experience. thank you elizabeth for your vision, persistence and the amazing teachers that you invited.

it was so lovely to see my dear, dear friends that i met last year. i've been so looking forward to seeing them and oh we had so much fun and laughed so hard...so good.

many new wonderful friendships have begun on this trip too.

my favorite shepherd was there too. if you don't have a favorite shepherd...you will soon...i just love susan gibbs from juniper moon farms can't wait to take our family there for a trip. my daughter has decided that she really wants to be a farmer, i asked her "don't you want to be a shepherd" and she said "no i want to have all the farm animals". there you have it...why limit yourself!

the weather was also wonderful. we had the perfect combination of sunshine and rain the temperature was just right! the weather has clearly been very warm in new hampshire this spring because the water temperature was beautiful. many of us took a lovely swim. the water was so clear and very deep, so nice.

this was the view from my bed. one morning we decided to sleep in just to enjoy the sound of the rain on the water...so soothing, what a perfect choice we made!

as if the location, classes, teachers and attendees were not enough...every night we had entertainment.

one night we heard a little from all who came to teach and from jenny doh.

the amazing jonatha brooke played two nights for us...so amazing...what a treat!

we were so fortunate one night she shared 2 brand new-unrecorded songs with us...looking forward to hearing those again real soon we hope...they were both so powerful.

the multi-talented lizzy house spent an hour learning an unbelievable gaelic duet with jonatha and went up and sang for us. her grace and talent were as always inspiring.

we also heard a great story from jenn lee who will be teaching a storytelling class at squam in september, she has participated on the mainstage of the moth if you have never listened to the moth podcast, you should. there are some really great true stories on there.

almost done here...

we also heard from jess and casey who are ravlery! they told about how it all began. they are a classic comedy duo with a really great story.

last one for now i promise...this is how it is though...all of this and more...

stephanie pearl-mcphee the yarn harlot also held court one night. it was amazing to watch almost everyone in the playhouse knitting and watching a "comedy" act...can't say that i've seen that before.

much more to come soon...

~sweet dreams and moonbeams

i know that many that attended last year were wondering if it was going to live up to our previous experience. my thought was it "is" going to live up to last year. in reality i was very nervous again because i don't see myself as an artist. i was very overwhelmed by how creative and talented people are. it was very interesting when i sat down for my first class painting in a day with the marvelous marisa haedike creator of creative thursday - marisa went around the room and asked everyone to share why they were taking the class. many said that they were not confident painting. that they had fear! here are the painting results from her class.

needless to say these artists need not fear. when we went around the class at the end everyone expressed an ease and expressed their joy in their finished paintings. thank you marisa.

am discovering (happily) that i enjoy trying new things (clearly the case with the number of barely used tools in our creative space)

i actually

clever mobiles taught by the lovely lizzy house

the class that got away... reinvention with the magnificent maya donenfeld creator of mayamade

http://lizzyhouse.typepad.com/lizzyhouse/2010/05/villagers-rejoice.html

color me kate

http://issuu.com/byfryd/docs/1._by_fryd

http://3191.visualblogging.com/archives/11518_1443007713/345463

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/05/a-tasty-recipe-my-grannys-chocolate-cobbler/

http://www.gardensmackdown.com/roll-call/2010/roll-call-native-plants-in-my-garden/

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2009/12/for-ever-and-ever.html

http://mayamade.blogspot.com/2010/05/pinic-bowl-cover-strap-how-to.html

http://jchandmade.typepad.com/jc_handmade/2010/04/make-it-yogurt.html