past and present

Remember last October when my mom, sister and I went to Atlanta for the Country Living fair?  Well, finally, FINALLY after a whole year, I've been selected as one of the "Pitch Your Product" winners, and a snapshot of one of my pillows will be featured in the upcoming issue of the magazine, due to be on the newsstands around November 20.  I just wish my sister were here... but she is in the army, stationed in South Korea.  We've already decided that when she comes back home, in about a year, we will live next door to each other and cook up all kinds of artistic endeavors!  I miss her so much.  My mom is still here, thank goodness, and has been so nice to me as I go through a wild range of moods in preparing for the magazine to come out, and at the same time moving out of my bedroom/studio so that the ceiling can be torn down and repaired.  I've made bunches of new stuff for Christmas, and have updated my Etsy site.

Pillows are piling up! 

The good thing about moving is that it's great for material object evaluation and control.  If you don't love something, clear it out of your life and give it away to the Goodwill so someone else  might have a chance to discover and love it.  William Morris of course said it best: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."  That is a real northern star of a principle... so basic and straightforward, makes so much sense, and is the foundation for anything you would ever need to think about in regards to creating a living space that can support and comfort you through life's trials, joys and in between times.  So many people don't give proper weight to the connection between our outer surroundings and inner emotions.  Anyway, having to consolidate my home from two rooms to one is allowing me to experience new combinations I'd otherwise have missed.  I've got a lemon tree in my bathroom...

along with rosemary and chocolate mint (growing on the toilet)!  And who knew that talking on the phone while sitting in the middle of a doorway could be so comfortable?