Sketchbook: Some Herbs

Some herb-y herbs I've been drawing lately, its amazing ... when I was little I didn't think I could draw, maybe I was just going to fast and looking with an over-critical eye. But now, whimsical is loved and simple is sweet; and my perfectionism has developed into joy and appreciation. I am just blow away with thankfulness that I can express myself this way nowadays, how amazing!

New Release: The Pursuit Project - EP

Let me tell you a story...there once was a fellow named Chris (Bell), who was about to graduate from school.  Chris loved music, Jesus, and all that succeed (as in "come from") such things - he also had a huge senior audio project due at the end of the year. 

Chris was a jovial dude with talented friends who were all invited to join him in this endeavor and from this marriage of loves and talents, they birthed: "The Pursuit Project". 

One day, one of his gifted friends took this author down to their recording studio and played a song for her about Peter - she was taken by the honest-grittiness of the lyrics and fetching quality of the stringed rhythms coming off the guitar. Fluff aside: she like it, a lot. Never mind that the talented friend was her boyfriend, it was good. Turns out there were more songs  .... 5 more ... so she listened. Over and over in the car, on the way to work, and she smiled. 

Artist Spotlight: Brielle Macbeth

This summer I met a beautiful girl named Brielle - she had sun-kissed blonde hair and a really kind heart. A few months ago I ran into her at school/work and she took me down to her studio - a labyrinth of senior sculptures, misshapen faces and whimsical wall doodles in the old college gym. I turned the corner and saw the loveliest, white ceramic bowels, I was enamored. So I asked, "oh my gosh, they're gorgeous! Who's are these?!" Sheepish smile from Brielle "oh, they're mine!"

Ok, you got class girl - her modest pieces are rough ceramic on the outside and glazed glass inside. Each one plays on continuous lines and dents, waves and curves. They wouldn't be out of place in Scandinavia. 

Sketchbook: Kinfolk

Tomorrow dawns on  Mother's Day, as you know, and I find my favorite way to show my love to my own travels the same path it did when I brought home my first "Mother's Day" gift from Kindergarten: art.

My first 'Kinfolk' magazine arrived this week and I've been gawking over its pages on, this, the first day off I've had in weeks. As my voracious eyes scoured its minimalist pages, I found the most delightful pen sketch: and there it bore the inspiration for my Mother's Day gift. 

Sketchbook: on safari

As you can see, I've been pondering on Africa these days. I cannot fathom its only four months away. These are a few watercolor sketches I've been playing around with the past few weeks. I love the simple silhouettes and bright colors - and of course my signature: contrasting leaf(ves) on the tail. Fifty points to who-ever can tell me in the comments why I chose these particular spellings...!

When I was little I used to get so frustrated with painting, particularly watercolors - I didn't have any vision or imagination for it - now I love it - funny how that works.

Fabric Design

In honor of our upcoming Craft & Wine Night, when we will be designing our own fabric, I wanted to share some of my favorite conception de tissu. (Yes, that's French, get with the program folks - I'm going to Africa!)

I really enjoy the bright red and nature motif of this design - its organic-in-your-face  cubicle refugee

I think this is probably my favorite fabric right now - its also got an "earthy" vibe with its handpainted strokes - I am in awe of Jenny at Wiksten - she has an eye for this stuff. wikstenmade

I believe this is a Liberty London print (aka most expensive fabrics....ever...most beautiful fabrics ever....I think I've seen a couple in "Call the Midwife" this season. whitneydeal

Floral, Asian, 'nough said. found here

Its like a painting for your legs. found here

Surprise, I like the hand painted look, also partial to pink. ashleyg

I find the hand-drawn pattern pretty interesting - and the dots, dots are cool. found here

Simple, sweet, elegant = my love nazara lazaro

Hand- drawn fauna - very sweet and simple. Bethan Janine

Wow, will someone please teach me how to do this? Sierra Leone Heritage

Liberty Art Fabrics

I really enjoy the simple prints - I think I'll try my hand at the blue birds for Craft and Wine Night. If She Sleeps

The rustic/ethnic prints get me too - they make me ask questions and wonder about the history of their threads/patterns.  Do they have meaning? Where did they come from? Moods of the Moon

This weekend

Blithe - what a great word. I'd say Pippin was rather blithe, wouldn't you? Sometimes I wish I were a boy so I could smoke a pipe and wear britches without awkwardness - maybe if I were on safari or something else rather rugged, they'd have to let me. Ill have to get new boots for that. Well, I didn't go on anything so exciting this weekend, but I DID watch an awful love of British television whilst sewing and painting. Also played some silly games with the nanny boys - their favorite is "tackle Shasta" - you know, one of those things you start when you have a freak episode of energy and then the kiddos ask to play every time you're over?? Yeah, that's "tackle Shasta".  

In other news, WARMTH! Did you know I spent the whole of this evening drinking spiked raspberry tea on the veranda (and by that of course I mean our 3-season porch in back that I like to call "the veranda" in my head) drawing and watching some bootleg 1940's espionage movie with my roommate. Oh summer, you were missed.

This Earthly Tent: Danae Moran

Meet my sweet friend Danae - we only shared one year of school together but she's made a lasting impact on my life. Danae loves Jesus, a lot. She is pretty crafty too, a knitter and purveyor of vintage goods - she and her husband let me crash on her couch during a handmade fair in Fargo a year or so ago - we both displayed our goods and had a lovely evening. She recently wrote a post about change and I wanted to share it with y'all. 

Cote d'Ivoire - April Update

Right now I find myself hibernating in the library, jamming out to "One Direction" with my friend Elena.  We're attempting to escape the winter that has made my furry boots relevant once again. It makes me wonder what kind of hibernating I'll be doing a year from now...heat waves, freak monsoons...do they get monsoons in Africa?? Locust plagues?? The internet suggests that the most likely event will be an epidemic of the biological nature, maybe Malaria (but its ok mom, I'll bring my meds). Probably not winter storms, though. It'll be an entirely different climate than I'm used to - the little adventurer inside assures me this will be no problem, but I do wonder what sort of adjustments will have to be made: emotionally, physically, spiritually.  The verse on my lips today has been 2 Corinthians 12:9. Craft & Wine Night has been a huge success and this month we're making our own fabric designs - if you'd like to join us in crafting, details here. I've felt a renewed excitement for serving in the coming year and learning about what God has in store, long-term. You can learn more about Cote d'Ivoire here. God has provided approx 80% of the support I'll need for Cote d'Ivoire. If you feel led to help in the last leg of the race, follow me here. A few weeks ago, a very talented friend of mine put together a video explaining more of what my team and I will be up to in Cote d'Ivoire this year. Have a look!

Four months to go until we leave! Thank you all for praying for me during this waiting and support raising time; thank you for giving your time and money to make this year of service possible. If you have any questions about what I'll be up to in Cote d'Ivoire this year and next, don't hesitate to ask! Love, Shasta {Send some love} to Shasta's Africa Fund

this weekend....

This week has been quite the meteorological struggle - this morning I dug my Camry out of 2 feet of snow before work, listened to coverage of the Boston Marathon Man Hunt and guzzled down a glass from the tap - and all I wanted to be doing was reading a good book in bed. Mmm, reading in bed. 

The sewing studio has been a flurry over the past month: building the bodice of a wedding dress, creating a veil from scratch for a friend, slowly putting together a rucksack for Cote d'Ivoire, and planning the next Craft & Wine Night. 

I think I need a breather, one evening when I can sit and work on all the lovely things I've been meaning to get to with the guy in close vicinity. I love creating. There is just something about being completely absorbed in a project, thanking, truly thanking Jesus for being able to make pretty things. It gives me so much satisfaction to have the time to just dream and create. To love what I've made and be comfortable in my own skin. 

Creating is stressful too, especially when you have two separate creative visions at play. 

image here

Multiple Personalities

Yup, you got it - it's off, been chopped. I may or may not look like Audrey Hepburn gone soccer-mom, it depends on who you ask. It's ok, it's lovely as long as my boyfriend keeps telling me I remind him of Emma Watson - I mean, I love Hermione, a girl could do worse!

If you're a girl, you may feel this way - admittedly, it's a little vain - but I've always tried to communicate a piece of who I am, what I believe, what I'm like, by my hair style. "Lovely and gamine" according to my friend Kurt - (don't worry, I had to google that one too) and for me, having short hair, though not a hard and fast rule, is about versatility - I can be a woman, but not helpless, I like being brave and vulnerable. I don't have to fuss over locks and curls every morning - I can work like a man and walk like a woman. I were a lot of hats, and I find myself in many different places - "metaphorical hats", if you will.

Most days I'm an office girl - I have heels and a pencil skirt - and four hours later I'm wrestling on the carpet with two little boys, ripping holes in my cords, playing pirates and having wooden spoon wars, then it's off to the coffee shop - brown stains everywhere, delicious aromas, spilling day old milk over my shoes and swabbing the latrines at close (longest run-on sentence for the win!). Next, you'll find me with a mouth full of pins leaning over the latest wedding design fending off loose threads that stick to my leggings like leeches. The day is punctuated with phone calls from bffs, walks with Micah and silent prayers. I love it. 

The weird

I wouldn't say "all you need" but it surely goes a long way...via here

Badlands...

A few years ago, my brother and I took a road trip out to Rapid City, South Dakota to visit his new college and Whit in the Black Hills. Looking at this photo I snapped of the Badlands outside of Wall Drug, you'd think we were rambling on the outskirts of Gondor...I wonder if Tolkien ever visited the Midwest??

It was rather an epic journey - we trekked across the whole of southwestern Minnesota, the length of South Dakota, past the Corn Palace in Mitchell....counted the Wall Drug signs, had a glass of water and a chai....and a few days later, I somehow ended up in beautiful log cabin up in the Black Hills on the edge of an active and flooding mine. I know you're thinking....there's a story here...but there's not. Sorry. ;)

Inspired by...

armas logo found here 

artifact uprising

Craft and Wine Night Recap + Wood Framed Map Tutorial

We had a smashing time making wood framed stitched maps on Saturday - thanks to Em, Sam, and David!

Emily gave a nod to her family heritage by tracing a heart around Sweden, I calligra-fied the Swedish word for "family" just above it. David mapped out the perfect roadtrip across Ireland and Sam marked every stop on his recent Navy deployment - but I can't tell you where, he'd have to shoot me.

Tutorial: Hand-stitched Wood Framed Maps

Materials: Map, Wooden Frame (large enough to house your map), Cardstock or Cardboard, Glue stick, Wood Glue or E-6000, Needle, Contrasting Thread, wine (optional).

Step 1: Stitch your design onto map with needle and thread (ex. a heart around favorite place visit, a route you traveled on a roadtrip, etc). Add any writing to your design at this time.

Step 2: Using a paper-friendly glue, stick map onto piece of cardstock/cardboard big enough to cover the back of your frame.  Make sure to center your map. **Note: You can skip steps 2-4 if you have a pre-made picture frame the size of your map**

Step 3: Using a wood-safe glue, stick cardstock/map piece to wooden frame, center.

Step 4: Trim any extra cardstock/cardboard from the edges of frame.

Step 5: Voila! You are now the proud owner of a beautiful custom-stitched map - hang according to frame instructions or attach wall piece found at your local hardware store.

Oh Maria...

Last night, I stumbled into my house, exhausted after nannying, lugging a bag, a beat up old guitar and a bag of bread - complete with a brown wool felt hat - and all I could think was, "Hello, roomie, my name is Maria Von Trapp and I'm going to make some clothes out of curtains now." 

Happy April!

image background via here

Bonjour and happy its-not-grey-outside-anymore-thank-you-April! I remember flying into Reykjavik back in May of 2010 - it was raining and so misty you could only see the shoreline as we glided past on the tarmac. I wonder, do they have colored houses because they rest of it is dreary? But, that can't really be so, there are volcanoes and thermo-springs and green and moss and ... and... well, I only saw the airport. 

Good Friday

Tonight I'm going to see this show with a friend: sitting on rugs in the front - they say its the best seat in the house. I have a few friends in the cast. Click the image to watch the trailer...

Craft & Wine Night VI - Handstitched Maps

Greetings folks - its about time for another Craft and Wine Night.  This time we're making hand-stitched maps to frame. For more info, you can head over the facebook event page and RSVP if you'd like to join us for an evening.

The Mount of my name

Source: web.stagram.com viaShasta on Pinterest

Someday, I hope to visit the mountain of my name. On this same journey, I want to traverse the north of California and see the Red Woods along the rainy coast. Camping will be involved. I like camping. I like smokey fires and the smell of pine. I don't like burnt eggs and soggy socks, but that'll have to wait for another episode.

The cooped-up-ness of this Minnesota March has my sober mind going twitchy and itchy. I am looking into the present with thankfulness, however and finding abundant gladness. For real.

Do you ever do that? Wake up and realize what an idiot you've been for not loving just where you are? ...something about chickens...heads...no longer attached-ness....I'm so silly.

A love letter to morning

Dear Morning,

I love you. There I said it, now you know my true feelings. I know this may come as a surprise to you - I've been so shy and subtle in my affections, but I've never met anyone as lovely as you. You make my day and your loveliness is soft and unassuming. I know there are others who either cannot, because of life circumstances, or will not, appreciate you; but I do. You are my favorite. I love it when we get up together slowly and quietly and sweetly. You come through my window and kiss my cheek. We dream together for a few moments and think of all the nice things that have happened yesterday. Morning, you are so peaceful - I love sharing my favorite things with you: my new brown hat that I wear to pretend I'm Anita in 1924, the journal where I write to my Father and sketch happy things, my cloth - lace - my rucksack - my favorite things. Morning, thank you for always being there for me - I'm so sorry for being upset with you, I know you come because you love me too.

Yours always,

Shasta.

Craft & Wine Night Recap

These are long overdue...craft night book box makin'. You can find the tutorial here