thirty one.

It is finally snowing again and I am practicing the fine art of doing only things I love on my birthday. I  spent the day mostly alone thinking about all of the years ahead. Coupled with sweet touches, thoughtful notes, a little yoga, a latte and a new mary oliver book everything looks luscious and love filled and ready for new shifts and changes. Scrolling through a few images from the last year, I realize how much has to do with light. And love. And a little space to figure it all out.

Here's to more of that. And to all of the people who fill the space between and make my world full.

(1. my christmas gift from O, a hand sewn grey pillow, adorable; 2. sun and snow a few days after our wedding - oh Vermont!; 3. Milkpod exploding - photographed on a ski; 4. Heart in the snow; 5. My great-grandma's wedding lace; 6. Peony opening; 7. Wedding linens; 8. green washed wall & dogwood in Brooklyn; 9. Blurry drive home from Lake Champlain)

Winter Flowers

Stray Cat Flowers grow their summer bouquets at the Intervale in Burlington and sell sweet quirky bouquets at the farmer's markets. They also generously donated flowers to our Cinderfella event.  I didn't realize they could do winter flowers as well.  I sent Diana a few images of what I liked and we met at their great new design space on Intervale road.

She dropped the flowers off as we were whirling around the Firehouse Gallery setting up on Saturday afternoon. I was in love. Ranunculus, peonies & spray roses in pale pinks, blushes and whites with the grey green lambs ear and a few ostrich feathers. Elegant and whimsical, I just can't say enough about how fluttery perfect they were.

My only disappointment is that I only held them for about 2 minutes, so they followed us around from the Burlington hotel to Stowe to home. And I had my new camera* to keep them alive a little bit longer.

*Remember how I hadn't been holding my breath for a new camera? I didn't, but one showed up under the tree anyway. I was completely surprised and love love love it!

Peonies: Real & Sewn

I bought peonies a few weeks ago. I love bulbous fluttery flowers and peonies never let me down. I snapped a few photos to catch them as the petals started threatening to fall:
They managed to photograph with a lot of fluttery drama, which is saying something considering the lame cantaloupe color of our kitchen (of which I am really not a fan) and the fact that in person they were well on their way to decay. Never underestimate the beauty you can get with $9 at the grocery store.

Since taking them, I've wanted to recreate some textile peonies in some way and started a little project. First up, some 3-d petals wired together to make flowers (or, more accurately: A flower)
Project two: sewn peony pillows. They took some planning, but managed to stay pretty organic and roughly formed:

Each petal is topstiched to the linen. Here's a shot of the underside that belies the process a little: