The Advantages of House Sitting

Opening Night, originally uploaded by Sweet Moss.

Since moving to Portland my boyfriend and I have become expert house sitters. I would say we've spent more than 4 months of the last year in other peoples' homes. Yes, it does get old, and we miss our apartment, but then there are the advantages.

When the little theater I work for got wind that I just took a bunch of floral design classes, they asked me to do the flowers for opening night. They're a small operation with a tiny budget, but I told them I could do a lot with a little bit of cash. Spring is in full bloom here, and both of the yards I'm sitting right now are overflowing with flowers.

Everything pink in this arrangement (and its companion piece you can see on Flickr) came out of the yard. The dogwood is so beautiful I couldn't resist using it. I love the way the bright green foliage makes the dogwood centers pop. By using what I had on hand I was able to transform a $20 budget into two arrangements that could easily have cost $90 from the florist. It's good to be thrifty.

Sunday Special

This morning I made a super cute etsy treasury of unicorns for my crazed little sister. You should check it out asap because it will expire Tuesday morning.

A new release

Today I turned over a new leaf for Sweet Moss, pattern selling! I have made many many of these weird little wormies, and now it is time to share the joy. If you have basic crochet skills and want to work on one check out the pattern in my etsy shop.

Flowers for Friends

Fabric Poppies, originally uploaded by Sweet Moss.

Living on the cheap means being extra resourceful. I have been admiring the neighbor's poppies for the last two weeks, and decided to try to recreate them in fabric as a small gift for two good friends.

They were so quick and easy I think I will have to put together a tutorial on how to make them. It's time to do a supply round up!

The Journaling Project

March- April 2010 pages, originally uploaded by Sweet Moss.

This is my journal/weekly planner. It was inspired by Geninne. I love love love her style. Something about her reminds me of my Aunt Jeanne. Her journal pages are beautiful.

This two week spread is pretty rough looking, and the imagery changes from week to week. I played with a new poppy and ranunculus stamps (can you tell I'm OBSESSED with these flowers?), and some Japanese masking tape which is a brand new obsession. I totally forgot to add Easter to this coming Sunday (shows how long I've lived away from home) so I had to that in with Picnik. Note to self: watercolor does not work on non-porous surfaces.

Keeping Track of Time

March 2010 Calendar, originally uploaded by Sweet Moss.

I find myself constantly trying to keep tabs on time, throughout the day, the week, the month. I like to make my own calendars to keep me organized and have a creative project with a purpose.

This calendar went on the wall of the box office at the theater where I worked last month. It was painted with watercolors, the leaves were drawn with colored pencil and then the ranunculas and dates were filled in with markers.

Tomorrow I will post some of my journal/weekly calendar pages...