love love love

Hello! Hello!

I just got home from Alt Design Summit. I feel so inspired!  I will be sharing some of the fabulous people I met and things I learned over the next week.

I also wanted to tell you about Margie's Spark online class she is doing for Valentines, called Love Love Love. She will show you how to make some of her whimiscal Valentine projects.

You can sign up here! It starts today!

Rhonna is also crafting it up over on her blog. Check it out!

the farfar project

I've started a little project that I am enjoying immensely.

I stumbled across a cash of old portraits taken of Swedish men in the early 1900's. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I have become fascinated by these men and the lives they lived.  I love the character etched into their faces. I love the lines and creases and angles of their cheeks.

All these men were laborers of varying sorts.  They must have worked hard during their life. I stole them from their dark back drop and have given them joyful surroundings. I think it changes how you see them.  I think it allows their countenance to transcend their position.

As I have worked on each portrait, I have created a sort of one-sided relationship with each man. They may not be the people I imagine them to be at all, but I will never know. It's neither here nor there.

I am currently half way through this project. There are twelve portraits. I have finished the first six that are below. I have given their name and occupation.

 I'm not sure what I will do with them once the project is complete. I'm not even sure why I feel so driven to complete it. It's been a little like escaping into a really good book. The characters follow you throughout your day and you can't wait to find time to pick up the book again to see what will happen next.

In Sweden there are two words for grandfather: Your mothers father is called "Morfar" Your father's father is called "Farfar".

Lars Erik Pettersson: Miner

Anders Wedin: Postman

Carl Bohlin: Carpenter

Karl Oskar Lööw: Crofter

Ollas Per Persson: Yeoman

Oskar Almgren: Blacksmith

the obligation

photo taken by my dad

I was born of goodly parents.  Salt of the Earth types.

Hard working people.  They love God, each other and their nation.  

They are extremely predictable, never risk takers or booty shakers, but they are happy, and they taught me how to find happiness in my own life.

The blessing of such parents has a magnitude weighty enough to set a person firmly on the right path.

My mother taught me how to be a good mother. She has a knack for finding joy in life's small moments. She laughs at herself often and she's easy to please. She used the same wooden spoon to cook delicious hot meals and spank our bottoms.

My father has many interests and hobbies.  He works hard at his job and harder at his hobbies.  He's an aerospace engineer, runner, mountain biker, back country skier, photographer, kayak maker and at one point he was a world renown pigeon raiser. He also has a fierce streak of OCD and ADD.

Obviously.

With each passing year, I see the traits of my parents in myself.  Some I'm happy about. Some I'm not. 

But there's this:

Because they have lived honorable lives, and done the things which are right in the sight of God, there is an unspoken obligation.

It says that I am obligated to carry on the good name. I have no excuses. I've been taught.  This obligation is a weight on my shoulders and the ground that I stand on all at the same time.  It's strange. I hate having to live up to someone else's standard, but I firmly believe freedom is found in knowing who you are and where you came from.

I was born of goodly parents and I pray everyday that I can be one too. 

It isn't easy.

tangerine tango

1. Delicious, 2. orange and aqua, 3. pixie tangerine and fennel pots de creme, 4. Dana Knit Fingerless Gloves - Pure Cashmere, 5. Bird pouch closeup, 6. a tank full of gold 

Do you follow color trends? 

I do.

I eagerly await the announcement from Pantone to see what the color of the year will be.  Experts in all fields of design report on what the hot colors are for the coming year and Pantone makes the official announcement.

This year it is Tangerine Tango. A delightful reddish orange. 

Which makes me happy. Because, you know, it's a happy color. And I think the world could use a little more happiness these days.

And free stuff. More free stuff would be nice.

Here's a free wallpaper for you to download if Tangerine Tango makes you happy like it does me.

Download this free wallpaper here.

I had to get a little Bellflower dot in there. It's one of my favorite color combos.

Tangerine Tango Pantone color 17-1463
Bellflower Pantone color 18-3628

new set of photoshop brushes for the new year

I have a new set of photoshop brushes for sale. They were inspired by my recent trip to Sedona and they happily coincide with the current Native love trend sweeping the design world.

You can find them for sale with my other brushes under the brushes tab at the top of the page!

getting fresh

1. Rubber stamp practice - Simple leaf in Olive Green, 2. spring green yarn, 3. freshly picked, 4. vintage buttons

One last hurrah and then onto the new.

I hope you have a nice New Year's. I will be at home with my family. Doing seemingly boring things by the World's standards.

I've never been one to make a big hoopla over New Years.  After Christmas I just seem to move onto the new, always eager for a fresh start.

See you in 2012. I like that number, by the way. It has good feng shui. As if I know about such things.

the thing about owls...

Have you noticed the owl craze? Is that a stupid question?

I like owls. Not in the way most people like them. Not cutesy owls. Not cartoon owls on onsies.

But I do like owls and I'll tell you why.

First, when I was a kid, there was a owl that lived in the rafters of an old barn where I used to play with my sisters.  I think of that owl as the Cheshire cat of my childhood.

Second, owls are one of the very few bird species where the female is bigger, more colorful and more aggressive than the males.  I say damn strait to that.

Third, owls are the animals most associated with wisdom. In fact, a group of owls is called a parliament, study or wisdom. (I make it a point to learn what groups of animals are called. Not sure why. I just feel a need to know. Don't laugh. I might win Jeopardy some day.)

My personal theory on this is their silent nature.  People tend to think you are smart until you open your mouth and start talking.

I want to work on listening more and talking less. I want to be wiser in this coming year. I want to spend more time listening to that little voice deep inside that tells me what is right and what is wrong.  I want to sit still and observe instead of directing all the time.

I bought this piece of art from my friend Matt and hung it on my wall to remind me of these things that are my heart's desire.

I also like foxes.

But I'll tell you about that another day.

unfiltered love

It's not snowy here. On the contrary, it's rather warm and sunny.

It's not quiet here in our home. No, no. The children are playing loudly with their new favorite things.

It's not orderly or tidy or even neat here where we live.  There are too many blankets milling about the living room.  Too many plates of treats cluttering up the kitchen counters. The floor is peppered with small settlements.  The fort stands next to the book cases with Frankie's new cowboy hat dangling off the top.  It has been stocked with blankets and books. Ameilie's new miniature castle and "little people" are set up in front of the fire place.  A labyrinth of wooden train track snakes around the couch and laps out onto the kitchen floor.

It's not a picture perfect Christmas here at homestead Meeker. On the contrary. It's messy and loud and full of raw, unfiltered love.

“You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.” - William D. Tammeus

the eve eve

Hello Christmas Eve Eve. 

I'm a big fan of the Eve Eve.  Christmas Eve has its designated activities and so does the Eve Eve.

Eve Eve is the last preparation day.  If there are any last minute gifts to be bought or cookies to be made, this is the day.  It's a get things done day.  It's a business day for the business of making merry.

My business today is to boss the Sugar Daddy around.  He must go to See's Candy.  He must bring in all the Amazon boxes from the garage and debox everything so I can start the wrapping procedures. He must taste the gingerbread to make sure it is soft and delectable.  He must bath the hound dog and make sure all the good movies are in the que.

It's the one day of the year that I am allowed to be bossy.  Because, you know, I'm the Christmas foreman.  And the Sugar Daddy respects that title.

He helped me finished up my last handmade gift for the children.  It's a reading fort. Or eating fort. Or possibly a sleeping fort. It's really just a simple fort. Because forts are cool.

Sugar Daddy did the wooden frame construction. I handled the design and duck cloth sewing.

It was an inexpensive project. I got the idea here. I bought the duck cloth from an Army Navy surplus store and got it duper cheap.

I think the rug rats will enjoy it.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve.  I hope you have a productive day. Have some caffeine. Crank the music. Get er done.

with love, from czech republic

Children have been hard to come by in my family.  I personally went through twelve years of infertility before my children were all here.

My younger sister only has one child. She had to try for a while before she was able to get pregnant. Charley is five and they have been hoping for some time for another baby.

My older sister, Heidi is fertile. But she was born with a weak heart.  After her second baby she went into heart failure and had to have artifical valves put in. When she found out she was pregnant with her third baby, the doctors reccommended she abort the pregnancy. She would not survive. But this is not something she could do. It is not how we were raised. It is not how we think in our family.

Heidi survived her pregnancy, (barely) and so did her baby.  We gave praise to God and sighed with relief.  

Heidi wanted lots of babies. She is a big family sort of gal. She likes a full house.  She was heart broken that she would only have three.

So they decided to start hosting exchange students.  To date, they have hosted four students. They have enjoyed every one. But there is one kid in particular that they all fell in love with and adopted as their own.

Ondra Troup was a boy from the Czech Republic.  He became a part of my sister's family. She went into mourning when he left to go home.

Ondra's real mother is a phyician with an amazing talent for decorating gingerbread. She sends my sister a collection of cookies every year. I've drooled over these cookies every time they arrive and finally I just flat out asked for my own.  I offered to pay. She wouldn't hear of it.

This is what arrived in the mail.

I am humbled that a woman I don't even know would be willing to spend so much time to do this for me.  I can't even imagine how long it takes her.  

The Bird and I had so much fun unwrapping each cookie.  They were like tiny little gifts.  I need to figure out how to display them.  We can't eat them. We just can't.

Drahý příteli,
Děkujeme vám za kindess. Cookies jsou nádherné. Moje sestra má to štěstí mít takové krásné kamarády jako vy. Doufám, že máte velmi hezké Vánoce a Šťastný Nový Rok!

Hodně lásky,
April Meeker