new "hire"

Imogen's Garden has a new *staff* member. i put her to work this morning.

Promise the mermaid

just had to show her to you...i finished up a custom doll last night! i had the best time working with this Mama to make just the right doll for her daughter.
this little mermaid's hair is primarily made of handspun (overspun by me to give it a funky twirly look...the roving came from Chimera on Etsy). the rest is deep brown lopi, for depth of color(direct from Iceland!), and pink and purple mohair from a sweet little knit shop right down the street.

flashback

we've been having a blast lately! into the wee hours of the night, James has been sifting through an embarrassingly large plastic tote of photos. he's scanned dozens and is dutifully attempting to identify and label each one.
last night, he found a bunch of *vintage Anna* photographs. this one is my favorite from that particular batch of photos. i remember posing for this shot! it's the early 1980's (can't you tell?)

Happy 8th Birthday to My Littlest Boy

what happened to this?

sweet Jack, maybe it's the quiet way you move through the day or the intelligence that belies your years...or is it the tender heart and thoughtful repose that leads my wistful mommy-heart to believe that you'll be tiny and loving and hand-holding forever?

whatever it is, i am grateful for it. i am grateful for the thousands of ways you show me each day to simultaneously question and embrace this wonderful world and for the unexpected and forceful *i love you*'s that you dole out like penny candy. in so many ways, big and small, you make me proud to be your mother, but you also help me to see the beauty in the world and the good in humanity and to be proud of my place in it.

on this day, especially, the day of your birth, i am so grateful...grateful that 8 years ago, God gave me you.

grama's garden in july

oh, i am homesick today.

a warm companion

my girl Helen hasn't been feeling well, and yesterday, after a supreme bout of the mulligrubs, i wanted to make something special for her, but i was stumped.

i tweeted my heart-felt desire, and Gail of Guurrrl Designs had just the right idea. "How about a microwaveable plushie/doll heat pack?" she suggested.

funny how serendipity plays in our lives. a few weeks ago, i bought a wool sweater from the thrift shop and felted it down...it screamed *Helen*, but i had no idea what to do with it. this little project was perfect! someone Helen could talk to, cuddle with, and who would keep her warm and ease her achy belly.

i decided the sleeves of the sweater were a fantastic size for this doll (it's gotta be small to fit in the microwave and to tuck under an arm). then, i searched my cupboard for the perfect size cup to use as a template for the head. serendipity again...Helen's baby cup was just the right size.


i used cotton jersey for the face, wool felt for the hair, and wool felt scraps for the facial features. a red-orange crayon was employed for the rosy cheeks. i sewed it up and stuffed the head and base with pure wool(wool won't heat in the microwave, but it retains heat nicely...i thought i could get more mileage from the rice if it was packed in wool rather than in some other substance), then used my fingers to create a cavern in the wool for rice. i packed more wool on top of the rice, and whipstitched the opening closed. voila...ready for gifting!

we tested it in the microwave...heats up perfectly in 1 minute in our oven.

Helen's not up to modeling for me at the moment, but her green-eyed monster of a little sister is...thank you, Clara, for standing in.

looks like i'll be making at least one more...


and, Gail, this is your brain child...let me know if you need one, too! (and this counts for the 365 Day Creation Challenge, right??)

for the birds...

someone suggested that you wonderful people may want a glimpse into the ways i grab my inspiration. lemme tell you, it comes from all over the place, but usually, my children have a large part of it. today's example: Billie Bird

when we lived in Alabama, my youngest son Jackson had a major nail-biting problem. nails bitten down to the quick constantly. sometimes, if his little world was rocking, he'd bite them so much that it hurt him to hold a pencil or his fingers would bleed.

Jack had been begging for a new pet for a loooooong time, so i made him a deal: stop biting your nails for 6 weeks (with daily inspections by Mom) and you may choose a new pet...rat, bird, or guinea pig. i thought it would take him some time, but it took exactly 6 weeks. so, i helped him research his options and he chose a parakeet.

we brought home a green parakeet who quickly informed us he (she?) needed a playmate, so we brought home a second bird. Jack and Clara named the little guys, and since we couldn't tell gender without a DNA test(must be true, Jack looked it up), we named them Billie and Sammie...names that would be good(and "so they won't feel weird, Mom")whether they were boys or girls.

these little feathered friends brought so much joy and noise and mischief into our lives, but disaster struck right before Christmas...

Jack had been in a bus accident and developed a migraine that lasted for over 14 hours...i gave him his meds and put him to bed. the next morning, i took the cover off the cage so that the birds could sing Jack awake, and to my horror, i found Sammie lifeless on the floor of the cage. all his (her?) song was gone.

the next morning, Billie suffered the same fate. and Jack was heartbroken.


not too long after our tragedy, the kiddos and i were looking at the basic shape of my *Anya* pattern from the shop and brainstorming the other people and creatures that we could see in it...Billie and Sammie seemed to spring forth! so, i whipped up a few stuffed birds(we think they're parakeets...but really, they could be just about anything) and got the notion that you might like to make your own.

wait 'till you see what Clara saw in *Anya*...(i'm still a little grossed out!!)