purple and shiny, rhinestones a +

These days, Lio's favorite color is purple, and he's into the glitz factor of jewels. Love this about him, but not so sure how it would translate to a pair of glasses. For him.

We went to the eye doctor yesterday after his teacher mentioned he had trouble seeing some words from across the room. I really didn't think he was going to need any, so was super surprised when the exam was over and the doctor gave me a prescription for his nearsightedness!

We looked at some frames for a bit, and he was very attracted to the purple, shiny, gemstone studded glasses...that I'm pretty sure are for girls. I wish that I could let him choose what he loves, but he's so nervous about wearing glasses and all of the attention (good and bad) that he's going to get. Getting teased about his flashy girl glasses would not help.

We're going to go later to pick out some frames - and hopefully steer him towards some cool glasses that are a bit more subtle. For a kid that wants to blend in, that's probably the best bet for now.

Oh, and if you do see him in his new glasses, maybe comment on how smart and great he looks, but in private. He would be super embarrassed if a big deal was made out of them in front of a lot of people.

branching out

I was contacted by an old friend from highschool about ordering some doveylove things for her daughters. She wondered if I ever did pins, and since I had recently made some for The Spotted Goose's line of clothing, I told her that I would be happy to branch out and create some for her!
I really like how they turned out with the touch of ribbon, and am thinking of adding different materials to make them more dimensional and more interesting.
They just may be the newest addition to the line of doveylove accessories. I'll keep you posted.

last year's work

Just one year ago, I was hired to create a display for a Holiday Market that The Spotted Goose (the great boutique that carries doveylove pieces) was participating in. It was a whirwind project that kept me super busy and had a quick turn around, but was also one that I was very proud of.

I created a floor plan of the space that was alloted, and relied on my super rusty perspective drawing skills, from when I studied interior design, to help me give the store owners a look at my vision.

And then got to work on making things for the display space - paper mache framed signage, painted tree limbs, painting a fireplace mantle (thanks to Tom for building!), and creating a custom painted rug in The Spotted Goose's signature color and pattern.

Just today, I was asked to create another custom rug for one of the store's customers. I was super flattered, but had to say no. The work that goes into getting the materials and creating the rug is way more than I can handle right now. But nice to know that someone out there liked it!

beautiful

Last week we had an amazing Indian Summer day. It was almost 80 degrees out, windy and warm. Lio wanted to play outside as soon as he got home from school, and specifically requested jumping in huge leaf piles.

He had so much fun and was so happy. He helped rake the leaves in between running and jumping, told me it was "hard work", and that he'd help rake some more after a bit of a rest.

I loved that beautiful day, and I love my beautiful boy.

getting in the spirit

OK, so I've mentioned that John and I aren't really into Halloween, but I have to admit that it is getting more and more fun each year with the kids! I haven't ever "decorated" for Halloween before, but last week, at the last minute, I decided to work on that a bit and make the house a little more festive.

I love the look of silhouettes, so just by using black paper I was able to cut out some bats, owls and skulls to hang over the kitchen island. I also hung up all of the fun art that the kids brought home from school all week.

Paloma helped me make the "BOO" decorations that we hung from our indoor tree branches and we also made a "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" banner in the same style. My favorite part of the decorations were the flying bat garland and the bats in the mirrors around the house.

We had all of our pumpkins in the house until Halloween day, since our first set were stolen from our porch a few weeks ago! :( That helped make it feel a little more festive as well, and makes me want to bring them back inside again. But I won't! :)

I had read somewhere about how it's important to mark the passing of time - change your surroundings to celebrate the time of year and the different seasons. Paloma and Lio did love getting in the spirit and seeing the decorations, and I did, too. Time goes too quickly these days, and it is important to make each occasion a memorable one.

Halloween

On Saturday we spent the day getting ready for Halloween! In the morning we carved pumpkins and finished up last minute costume details, all in preparation for the big night of trick-or-treating. Lio and Paloma were sooooo excited this year!

Lio designed his pumpkin as a bat to go along with his costume idea. (You can see the finished pumpkin with him in the picture below, and Paloma designed the owl.)

For Lio's bat costume, I found ideas using an umbrella as the wings, added the fur belly, and made some big bat ears (worthy of echo location) on a hat. He kept telling me how much he liked his costume, and slept in his hat that night. :) I felt really good about that.

Paloma wanted to be a skeleton, so we made her as cute as we could with glow in the dark pajamas and some accessories we had on hand.

John completed the looks with face paint.

They had so much fun collecting their treats, and sampled a few before going to bed. What they were most excited about is the visit from the Halloween Fairy. They left most of their candy out for her on Halloween night, and she exchanged it for a gift. I love that tradition!

portraits

Paloma has really been into drawing and writing lately. Here is her latest portrait of us together - we are in our birthday suits in the shower.