Remembering Mom

As the calendar page turns to May, one cannot help but be reminded of Mother's Day...
          and to think about Mom...

My mom passed away 8 years ago but still holds a strong influence in my life...
she taught me a love of sewing and a desire to create...
           to make do with what one had at hand and to take the initiative to figure out problems...
           to try new things and not give up when the going got tough...


In my bout of purging earlier in the year, I unearthed a box of clippings, photos and mementos...I came across a photo of my mom and dad in the early years of their marriage...and decided to play around with it...
and I'm thinking about having it printed up so I can hang it in my studio...SocialPrintStudio has some great metal prints...perfect for my metal mania...

I like this photo mostly for the expression and attitude of my mom...young, fresh, full of anticipation. My parents settled in a small Wisconsin town and that's where I spent my childhood...and throughout the years, my mom continued to have a healthy dose of anticipation for what was up ahead...whether it was raising 6 kids in a small house, moving across the country to Oregon when my dad lost his job, rebuilding her life in a new town after my dad died and finally coming to live with me in her final years.  She wasn't one content to sit by and let things be...

Unfortunately, I don't have many photos of her...I guess we were always so busy that one didn't think about stopping a minute, reflecting on the moment, and taking a photograph to capture the day...

So to honor her memory, I'll take the time this weekend to stop and reflect...shoot a few photos...
and be filled with anticipation of all that still lies ahead...

Rustic Luxe - Christmas morning

I know its not quite Christmas morning...but if I wait to post, what good would this quick and easy gift bag idea do you later...because if you're like me, I'm now scrambling to get presents together and could use a couple of quick ideas...because how is it that Christmas is just a week away?!

I recently had to say goodbye to two of my flannel pajama bottoms...one torn all the way down the backside (had them over 10 years - guess they don't make them like they used to!) and the other had the elastic give out in the waist.  But rather than toss them out, of course I thought of making something with them...

A simple bag was my idea...since the bottom of each pajama leg is already hemmed, there's only one seam needed to sew...I cut off each leg for a small sized bag...

tip here...notice the ribbon tied onto my scissors handle...since I have several pairs of Fiskers scissors and they all look alike...I tied a ribbon on the pair that I save for only cutting fabric so that they are always sharp when needed...the other two pairs I use to cut whatever...and that may mean paper, cardboard, wire or even tree branches...

After sewing the cut seam, I trimmed the edge with my pinking shears...this will keep raveling to a minimum; turn the bag right side out and iron the seam flat.  For a little bit of luxe, I tacked a length of silk ribbon onto the side seam...this ribbon will be the tie that keeps the bag closed.

A button hides the place where I tacked on the ribbon...
and provides a spot for hanging a gift tag...



















We don't do a big Christmas here...pretty low key...so a small gift, wrapped inside of one of these bags will be perfect...a low key setting also means plenty of rustic not too much luxe (it is morning after all)...

The rustic is the simple setting...including a view of my back garden that is very rustic looking at this time of year...a tablecloth made from a canvas painter's dropcloth; blue ticking napkins and my workhorse ironstone dishes lay the groundwork.

the luxe comes from a few shimmering vintage ornaments...

Forced bulbs in vintage canning jars tied up with twine get a bit of luxe with a shiny metal bell...

the handmade wreath crafted from birch tree limbs blown down in a recent winter storm adds another layer of rustic...the metal rim from a deconstructed lamp shade provided support for the branches as I molded the wreath...a few more metal bells hanging from a length of twine is another touch of luxe...















Simple and sincere...that's what Christmas morning should be...

joining Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk...always a good time...

in the moment

Last week I spent a couple of days at my sister's home...one last trip before the snow flies which makes travelling over the mountain pass less desirable...

Even though I have a million and one things to do, it was good to take a moment...
to ponder...to observe...to consider...to contemplate...

The drive is just about three hours...and after spending the first hour getting out of the mess of Seattle and all the surrounding suburbs, its a clear shot up and over the mountains and across the wheat fields and apple orchards...turning on the radio, there isn't great reception...just one country & western station...rather than turning it off, I left it on...one of the recent exercises in bestill52 is about changing up your routine...and though it was in reference to photography subjects, I thought this idea had merit in other ways as well...

I love the little things that my sister picks up for me...one perfect feather...a dried flower pod...
old photographs...vintage hair clips...instant inspiration...

Throughout my visit...lots of eye candy photo ops...
just the simplest of compositions...changing up my routine a bit...

Once home, the two little bottles I picked up...with the feather and dried flower bud...
and a few more of those precious old photos...

Joining the group over at kim klassen's Texture Tuesday...
all of my photos were edited with kk texture - tuesday...

reflections of a man

Composing a portrait of a person...without an image of that person...but rather a composition of a still life that reflects who this person is...a still life family portrait...this week's exercise in my bestill52 class...

I immediately embraced the idea and my mind went racing...thinking first of my mother and the things I have that would represent who she was...her skill and talent as a seamstress, her ability to cook and to knit...her willingness to fix/repair/remodel whatever was needed around the house...but then I stopped...

and thought...what about my dad...

In my office, on my bookshelves, I have a large stack of paperbound play scripts...they belonged to my father...who was a devotee of the theater and active in an amateur theater group while I was growing up...

The vintage wire rimmed glasses were a prop for a character he was playing...I no longer remember which play...but when my mom said she was getting rid of them, I quickly snatched them up...you'll notice that they show up often in my photographs...

It was great fun to see my dad perform on stage...so animated and alive...as I've grown older, I think perhaps that he was frustrated with his small town life, the trials and tribulations of raising 6 children, a nondescript middle management job, wanting something more...and that acting on the stage refreshed his soul.  He was an English major in college and instilled in me an appreciation of the spoken and written word...sometimes I helped him with his lines for the play...his notations in the margin remind me of his interpretations...and his decisive handwriting belied a stronger spirit...

It is interesting how just a few items can indeed define a person...and these many years later make me pause...
and reflect...on who this man was...

Linking up to kim klassen's Friday Finds...where my find is reflecting on the foibles of the human soul...

Now we are home

The Southern Man and I have returned from our sojourn to the South...
and now that I have my computer fixed and running, I am back to blogging...

The opening photo, taken from my kitchen window, really sums up the essence of our trip...we left to visit family and explore alternative places to live...there's been a nagging idea that perhaps it was time to move...

It was a productive trip...fun at times...trying at others...but all in all...we came back with a firm decision...
to stay right where we are.

We visited quite a few possible cities and towns...and looked at real estate...walked through neighborhoods...
read the local papers...talked to folks in the community...

But there just didn't seem to be that one place that inspired us enough to move 3,000 miles just for the sake of change.

To catalog this adventure, I took a blank journal with me...along with a small package of art supplies...I've never been one to keep an art journal...but thought I might start. So in between the directions to locations, receipts for expenses and jottings of phone numbers and addresses, I decided that I would create mini collages using only the scrap paper/detritus/junk pieces that we came across each day.  I also had my smartphone with me...and used its camera constantly to capture moments and moods. Combining my photographic images with my junk paper collages provided me with a creative outlet...and really began to reflect the progress of our journey...

I found inspiration everywhere...from the tiled floor of the diner where we ate lunch in Athens, Georgia, to the antique shops in Atlanta and Richmond, to the quiet country lanes of Scottsville, Virginia, to the beaches and endless skies of western Florida...

It was a long journey...but a good journey...and now we are home...at last...

p.s. - as for the broken computer...after more than one expert told me to buy a new computer...Gerrit at Office Depot performed a miracle and fixed it...he could have easily sold me a new computer...but instead was my saint...still have some work to do in restoring saved files...but dodged a bullet for the time being...

Joining the group over at Kim Klassen's Friday Finds...where my find is - there is no place like home...

On the road

Soon we will be off on a grand adventure...the Southern Man and I...
taking a step (or rather many steps!) to decide what's going to happen next...

We're taking a trip down south...as in southern US...to check out a few potential locations for moving, 
visit with family, see some sites, get a feel for a place or two...

Since I will be on the road, I'll be away from my computer...so blogging will be on a little hiatus...

But I'll be posting on Instagram (my new favorite spot to hang out...follow me - user name fourcornersdesign) 
and on my four corners design FB page...

I'll be back in early July...

Orange was her favorite color

remembering mom on this day...

Sisters

I come from a large family...I have three brothers and two sisters...we're a wide spread bunch...each of us living in different parts of the country...all with very different lives

We grew up in a small Midwestern town with the trials and tribulations of family life, the ups and the downs, the celebrations and the disappointments...all spaced with ages within a 10 year span...I didn't think much about my siblings growing up...they were just... there...

It wasn't until I went away to college...and was a freshman at the same university where my sister Stacey was a senior that I began to forge a deeper relationship with her...someone who knew my past while understanding what I was facing in the present as well as what awaited me in the future...

Years go by...school, graduation, first job...moves across the country, relationships start and end, marriage, divorce, new job, more moving...

As it would happen, Stacey and I both ended up in the Pacific Northwest and over the past 25 years cemented a relationship that defies words...we experienced Paris for the first time together...we both owned Saabs for a while...we cultivated a love for junking...and for ice cream sandwiches.  We took care of our mother during the last years of her life...and have wept over the loss of more than one dog. 

Today is her birthday...and I made her a special altered book to recognize how special she is...
this is the cover...

















And though we won't get to spend the day physically together, she knows that I am there in good spirits with her...Happy Birthday Stacey!

I am the one with the straight hair...my sister Stacey is the prankster...

All in the details

early Sunday morning...a quiet stillness throughout the house...
a holiday that celebrates home, happiness and harmony...

a celebration that begins now...and an appreciation that remains with us into the new year...

The tie that binds

There are many ways in which we are bound to one another...by relation or by contract...by love and friendship...by happenstance or effort...

If you read my blog regularly, you know that the Southern Man's daughter got married two months ago...it was a beautiful wedding...and for me, was a culmination of the ups & downs/ins & outs of a relationship that began with no designation by either one of us...but rather formed via our connection to the Southern Man...





Though the bride and I are not bound by blood, there have been plenty of sweat and tears, joy and laughter, hope and despair shared over the years.  I was as proud as any mama could be of a daughter on that special day...and to know that I was there by choice, a conscious effort on my part to participate and a heartfelt request on the bride's part...made the day all the sweeter.

In addition to preparing the table decorations and other wedding paraphernalia, I had to find something to wear...a simple black sheath would fit the bill...and to add a bit of bling (just a bit!) I asked my friend Jan Reingold of Izanna Jewelry to design a necklace for me...

The bride and her groom are both archaeologists...a 2000 year old piece of Roman glass was the perfect choice for the centerpiece of the necklace...complemented by an African circle stone and a piece of fish vertebrae, it echoed the sentiments of the couple.  To establish a connection with the my past, Jan incorporated a few pearls from my mother's cherished necklace...the necklace had broken...to have the pearls re-strung in its original design wasn't my style...but using the pearls as part of this piece, built on a new tradition, seemed fitting...
















Here I am explaining the bits and pieces to the bride and her sister...

One chapter ends...but another begins...
all part of the tie that binds family
together...