Pinhole Press Holiday Cards- Reader Discount!

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Pinhole Press Holiday Cards- Reader Discount!

So here it is, the official 2013 Jennings Family holiday card.  When they arrived in the mail last week I tore open the package and did a little fist pump. Yes, my dudes look very handsome, and the design of the card is my kind of understated, but the best part about these cards is the way they feel. They delight the part of my brain that appreciates high quality paper. When Pinhole Press contacted me to see if I'd be interested in using their site to create my holiday cards I knew I had to get the ultra-thick stock. Look closer...

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Gold and Light

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Gold and Light

I have a real thing for gold leaves right now. It started with the lantern, but as I was thinking ahead to the holidays I liked the idea of using gilded fall leaves with candles for this year's late Thanksgiving, which is also the second day of Hanukkah (Challah stuffing), and continuing the look through Christmas and into New Years, when I'll be hosting a fancy dress party for Adam's 40th birthday. I love the understated look of naked wood, white ceramics and gilded bits of trees. They are neutrals that play with light, and when you add a secondary color, like crimson red for Christmas or a royal blue for New Years it completely changes the mood of the design. I felt pretty validated about my obsession when I got the new Dwell Studio catalog in the mail yesterday and this was on the cover:

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Term Paper: Making Natural Dyes

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Term Paper: Making Natural Dyes

Did you know that simmering avocado skins and pits in water for about an hour will render a dusty pink dye?  I'm making all kinds of nerdy discoveries this week as I work on a term project for my Textiles class.  I'll share the finished project with you next week, but in the mean time here are some pictures and a little bit about what I've learned so far...

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Warm Fuzzies

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Warm Fuzzies

Introducing Snow Ball, our papier mache rabbit, rescued from the rubbish bin of the Anthropologie display room. I brought her home for the boys and as I suspected, they immediately made "SB" our pet. Here she is modeling for this year's first holiday decor DIY: Woolen Trees. I've been working a lot with wool yarns for my textile class, and it's becoming my new favorite material for decorations.  For this first project I wrapped wool yarn around cardboard cone bases to create a textile forest. See tutorial below!

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Entry Level

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Entry Level

Three days a week, I make the trip to Marin County for my dream job. I work in a cramped art room, painting in an alley, atop high ladders, doing visual display for Anthropologie. I was lucky enough to win the opportunity, a revamp of their internship program that allows me to own whole projects, due in some part to the work that I've done on Poppy Haus, which makes me so happy. Today I am sharing my first completed installation "Baubles" one of the centerpieces of the holiday narrative that Anthropologie created for their stores this year. 

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