Jen Bowles Design

Meet Daisy and Dippy

Aren't they the cutest mosaic duck couple you've ever seen??
These adorable waterfowl were created by Cuyler & Bubbe and Will & Bubbe this week during their respective sleepover nights.  Daisy (on the right with the larger heart at the neck) belongs to Cuyler and Bubbe, while Dippy is the work of Will & Bubbe.  Initially Bubbe had one of these wooden ducks on a stick, purchased at the Mill Store for $2.99.  When all of the mosaic materials were out earlier in the week, Cuyler found a glass marble he especially liked and showed Bubbe that it would make a good eye on the then plain wooden duck.  And so it was glued on.  A few days later Cuyler had a sleepover and Daisy was born.  Cuyler designed one side and Bubbe designed the other.  They worked together to cover the flat outline parts.  The process was the same for Dippy, designed by Will and Bubbe just last night.  How did they manage?  After all, Bubbe had only one wooden duck.  Did she clone Daisy?  Not quite, she actually took a trip to the Canton Mill Store yesterday afternoon in search of another duck.  She combed the entire store and even had an employee tell her that they had no idea what she was talking about (duh, duck on a stick, how hard is that to picture).  Just as Bubbe was about to leave the store, she spotted the lone unfinished wooden duck that became Dippy.  Ph-ew!
Of course Ebby will have to wait a bit until she can design a mosaic duck at Bubbe's.  But have no fear, we will search every Mill Store from here to Cape Cod in order to complete our flock.  I mean, how could we not?  Dasiy and Dippy are totally cool!
{See more pictures of D & D here in my flickr photostream}

Izze at the beach

We both had a very nice time.

So Sweet

Spotted these adorable favor boxes at AC Moore the other day.  They had several designs but the birds and cupcakes were definitely favorites.  Priced at $6.99 per package, almost makes me want to have a party!            

The rain held off long enough for us to get crafty at Bubbe's house yesterday.
Typically, 'Crafting Day' has been a once or twice a year get together with my cousin Penny and her daughter Audrey, with guest appearances by assorted other crafty friends and relatives.  Now that we're back and soon to be permanent residents of MA again, we're looking forward to much more frequent artsy (and just plain fun) get togethers.
 While Audrey was not able to attend yesterday's event (to Ebby's extreme disappointment), Penny did arrive bearing delicious homemade granola bars, fruit and oh yes, tons of art supplies.  Bubbe's dear friend, the wonderful Miss Pam, also arrived ready for action with an endless variety of soft drinks, 3 bags of ice, a galvanized tub and oh yes, tons of art supplies.  Ebby did have a friend join her and our own dynamic crafting duo, Will & Cuyler, was also in attendance.
On the docket for projects:  mosaic birdhouses for the kids, wallpaper people for Pen & Pam (my mom made one in a workshop with Anahata at ArtFest this year, see the flickr group here), and beaded butterfly mosaic for Bubbe.  As for yours truly, someone had to take the role of kid art facilitator, supply gatherer, food critic and photographer...  
Of course the kids were the only ones to actually finish any pieces (heck, I didn't even start anything) but that's not the point anyway.  It was a very nice afternoon of art, friendship and inspiration.
And next time, I'm getting my hands dirty ; - )   
                                 

Gather ye stones...

We (me, Ebby, Cuyler & Bubbe) went on a materials gathering mission to the beach this morning.  We are having summer crafting day tomorrow and wanted to get some beach stones and rocks for mosaicing.
It was quite a delightful trip:  mostly sunny, breezy but not too much, no crowds, low tide but coming in, lots of exploring and not a cross word for nearly 3 hours.  Pure contentedness.
Have I mentioned that I love the beach?

My Chair

Last week while browsing at the Derby Street Shoppes, I stumbled into a wonderfully colorful home decor store called Company C.  Oh my.  It was like finding a long lost friend.  I liked just about every single thing I saw in there and the color palette was right up my alley.  I had the whole family with me but was able to look around long enough to be given both a rug catalog and a bedding catalog to take home and drool over.  Have I mentioned that our new house has hardwood floors in the entire downstairs?  We have a few rugs but they are way too dark and dreary for the sunny, open, beach cottage inspired vibe I envision for the new place.  I have several corners folded over with faves including this Dandelion in Cornflower beauty.  It just so happens that my new favorite chair was displayed on this very same rug in the store.  The fabric is called Kharma and the color is Indigo.  I even love the throw they have on it.  Not only do I love the lines of this chair, it's very comfortable as well.  Amazingly, my dear husband agrees (!)--and it's not even made of leather or an over stuffed recliner.  So on my second trip back to the store, I took down the info on my chair including the price (not exactly IKEA...).  We'll be taking a look at the budget once we get into the house and maybe, just maybe, this chair (or a close relative) will be coming to live with us.
After all, the kids don't really need a finished basement to play in right away.  I'll buy them a nice, soft rug to play on down there.  Perhaps from Company C...

Arts Festival

Last Friday we headed over to our (current) favorite seaside town to the annual  Arts Festival.  As always, there was a nice mix of juried and member artwork, vendors, food, live music and kid's art activities.  Although the kids were whining about something for a good deal of the time (being hot? tired? bored?) they perked up when we went to the kids tent and they got to experiment with watercolors, pipe cleaners and coffee filters.  I took advantage and went around snapping some photos of my favorite children's art pieces that were on display.     Love the self portraits.  I'm trying to convince Ebby, Will and Cuyler to do some for the new house.  We'll see.  First we'll have to practice painting and drawing on a larger scale.  The boys especially tend to do small drawings with tons of detail.
There were also some very nice pieces of art by grown-ups ; - )

       

 

Scenic Drive

We went to the beach (again!) yesterday and I was lucky enough to be a passenger, not the driver.  And looky here, my camera was right at my feet--how convenient!  Due to a slight detour to the bank (I think the mortgage company is going to want some umbilical cord blood from our first born next--what's going to happen when we can't supply them with that?!), we took the extra scenic route to the beach.  A beautiful, sunny, clear day along one of our favorite roads.  From these photos it's almost hard to tell if we are driving along the East Coast or the West Coast.  I was definitely feeling a Carmel-by-the-Sea vibe with the tree between the houses shot.  But alas, we aren't in a spot 3000 miles away--just lucky enough to enjoy this scenery 10 minutes from home!
Happy Friday...

Hearts and Flowers

A few quick pictures from yesterday... The beautiful flowers are from my mom's garden.  The peonies and roses are just beautiful right now and smell sooo good!  She keeps cutting bouquets and every time you walk in the door there is more loveliness to behold.  Love all the shades of pink.  The sunflower painting by Ebby is I don't even know how many years old.  It's hanging on the door the the laundry closet at Bubbe's.  It's so cheerful and child-like, no wonder it's stood the test of time. 
And finally--decent stamps!  I may have written before about how I love good postage stamps.  When given the choice of Liberty Bells and flags or something interesting and colorful, is there really any choice?  I think these heart stamps are great.  Too bad the only thing I've had to mail lately are bills!  Oh well, new address cards will be going out soon enough and I spied some very interesting new stamps that are coming out just in time for those.  Sometimes, like when I don't have to wait in line for 10 minutes because 1 of the 2 window clerks is at lunch, I love the post office : -)

Saturday Morning Walk to the Farmer's Market

Saturday Morning Walk to the Farmer's Market
Originally uploaded by fertree33

A few of the sights along the way to (and from) the Farmer's Market on a pretty Saturday morning