upcoming workshops

Just wanted to do a reminder about the upcoming guest artist workshops happening here at Lemoncholy's Studio:

Lesley Venable will be here July 18th & 19th. and on the 17th, Lesley and I have decided to do the show "Handmade Faire"; which will be much fun! Lesley is teaching 2 classes. the first one is an assemblage angel and the second is an altered tin














and then Leslie Marsh will be here on Aug. 1st to teach us how to create and bind our own book.

Also, on July 9th, 10-2, i will be holding a class on soldering for a student who missed my last one. if you'd like to join us, let me know!





please email me at keeshagirl4@aol.com for more information

what's happening

i haven't been blogging too much in the last few weeks after tucker's illness, because my hands have been bothering me alot (sore joints, low hand strength, pain in the wrist area, etc -and computer use just aggravates them more). could just be a severe tendinitis episode or something else. i did get a lyme's test yesterday since i was bitten by a tick about about a month ago. he also did some arthritis tests too, but wasn't leaning towards any of these things, which leads me back to tendinitis. i'm wondering if how i was holding tucker during those 3 weeks he wasn't well, just aggravated my hands. i've been trying to stretch them alot, which is helping. anyway, that's that.

for a project not related to small hand work, i decided to revamp my cabana, which is now being called "They Gypsy Cabana". i found a darling umbrella at Pier One for $42 on clearance (one part of the umbrella was broken). it reminds me of a circus tent. on a whim, i decided to put the umbrella inside the cabana as the roof part was now open (the roof collapsed over the winter) i got a new outdoor rug, changed out the chairs and added some colorful fabric lanterns that i found at kmart. i dragged over some plantars of grass and put in some candles. finally i added a little Chinese desk that i had bought at Country Living Fair last oct and that was that. you can't tell from the pictures, but in front of the cabana are 3 bird feeders, so it is great fun to sit inside and watch the birds come and feed.

(kabana kitty)
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this is a picture of what i am slowly working on (taking breaks as my hands bother me). i still have some soldering to do on them and then i will cover them in Ice resin.

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finally, here is a my pictures from the warbler nest that i've been watching since i found it several weeks ago. i went down there on monday to check on them and the nest was no longer in the tree. i found it on the ground. hopefully that means that they grew up and flew away.
cover them in Ice resin.

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and finally a collection f shots fm the yellow warbler's nest. i nt down their progress and e nest was no longer inflew away.

Mermaid Parade, Coney Island, 2010

yesterday Dillon, Alana and I drove to Coney Island to attend the Mermaid Parade (10th year, i believe). all i can say is WOW! we really had a great time. got some sun, had some fun and saw some spectacular costumes. some of the costumes were quite elaborate and impressive. there were all sorts of folks participating as well. The colors were amazing, some groups played music and danced, some were marching bands, lots of people on stilts. and the backdrop of Coney Island couldn't have been any better. i heard there was upwards to 40,000 people there.

if you want to see the individual pictures, from the event, you can see them here on flickr.

2nd annual "Where bloggers create" blog hop

karen valentine, of My desert cottage, is hosting a blog party, "where bloggers create". it's a big blog hop, where everyone shows off their creative working areas. you don't have to have a big studio - it's about you and your environment and how you make it work for your needs. if you go to her link, you can see all the bloggers that are participating in the right hand column. have fun looking at all that inspiration!

My art is infused all over the house. i have a little spot in my room where i make jewelry. My bedroom is my sanctuary. it is part art, part gypsy, with a big fluffy bed with lots of pillows and decoupaged (by me!) little lights/lanterns that hang over the canopy. To keep the jewelry mess from impending into my sanctuary, i put up a rattan screen to hide it. this way if i am relaxing in bed, i'm not looking at my computer or stuff i didn't put away.

I also have a small studio across from my bedroom where i do painting, mixed media and mosaics. (this use to be dillon's room til he moved to the basement). it is a small, narrow room with a low ceiling, but it is a perfect art space. the finches live in that room sitting in front of the window in their vintage bird cage on top of a dresser i found on the side of the road.


i also have a section downstairs where i do my sewing and where i host workshops. i have stenciled and handpainted many of my walls, closet doors, my bathroom and more. my house is mostly decorated with flea market/vintage /thrift store finds. it is eclectic, interesting and fun. the most common thing i hear about my house is how comfortable it is. it is inviting and soothing. it represents my outlook on life.

so you see, my creative environment is all around me. i did a little video, which i thought might be easier than scrolling through all my photos! however, all my photo "stills" can be found here on flickr.

off to the dog beach

on Sunday, i took advantage of having help with tucker and got out of the house. my main agenda was to check on the eggs in the Warbler nest that kim and i found when she was here visiting. i figured it was close to those eggs hatching. i took a nice leisurely stroll about the beach, watching the dogs playing in the surf, chasing sticks and tennis balls and in general, having the best time of their lives! i found some cool rocks and weathered bricks for my rock garden and took some photos as well.
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as i was walking along looking at all the darling paw prints, i couldn't help but think of hansel and gretel. my thought was, "lose your way on the dog beach? just follow these.

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found this heart shaped rock

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how can thistle be so overlooked for the beauty of that purple?

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i have no idea what this flower is. it was the only one growing and it was back in the dunes away from the water. big black bumblebees were intensely attracted to it and the fragrance was amazing.

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i love this little shallow section of the bay. i usually see great birds here, but none today; tide was too high...
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petite little daisies. so sweet

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more thistle about to bloom

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and as you can see, the Warbler babies hatched. i sure wish i could nab a photo of pretty momma (she's a light yellow/green color)

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also in the midst of tucker being sick, we discovered a nest of baby bunnies in a vintage wheelbarrow (now a plantar) out front. one of the babies was sickly and momma bunny had tossed it out of the nest, so i took care of it all day and into the night (feeding it pedialyte and kitten replacement milk). the next day i drove the sweet little bunny out to a bunny rehabber. she thought the bunny might have a head injury. i told her i didn't want to know anymore. i know she will do the best she can and what will be will be.

a few days after that, we noticed that momma had moved the nest to another section of the wheelbarrow, but hadn't covered up the babies, so i was suspecting that they would be leaving the nest soon. and sure enough, within 10 minutes or so, they were hopping out. i got some video of the last guy before he took the plunge.

a big thank you

i just wanted to send big thank you out to my friend, Gail, of Creative Workshops and Shabby Cottage Studio, who has been working her butt off to put tabs on my blog (the tab links that are now showing underneath my banner. i can run my blog and add photos, but that's about all i can handle. my brain in full and i'm having a hard time reading directions, understanding codes, etc. so i've admitted defeat and have outsourced to friends to help me (and they either get paid or we barter!) anyway, gail has had to study codes, find tutorials, etc. all so that i can have it the way i want it (i sound spoiled...) - but she 's finally gotten them in and i'm just so appreciated of all her hard work. friends have been going above and beyond for me with this sort of stuff and it is a huge relief off my shoulders.

another friend, Myrna of FoxgloveTonic, is helping me behind the scenes of my website to simplify it and make it more user friendly for me. When i got a peek at it the other day, i felt a huge relief and now some of the weight on my shoulders is lifting (as in me feeling pressured with all the things to keep up with; etsy, website, blogging) my brain really can't deal with all this techie stuff, i'm maxed out! i was so impressed with her descriptions of my work that will appear on the home page. Myrna has also gone above and beyond what i was expecting and i am grateful we stumbled across each other.

so heartfelt thanks to Gail and Myrna; especially after these long 3 weeks! i don't think either of them (or other friends that have been pitching in) will ever know how grateful i am. i would recommend both of them in a heart beat for any sort of computer techie/blog/digital sort of question or website design help. (and check out some of the classes that Gail's site has to offer. they are diverse, fun and interesting!)

getting there

well, unfortunately, my friend, kim, has come and gone. i told her in an email, "i waited so long for you to come visit me and it went by so fast". i feel badly that i was not 100% in a present state of mind, but i do realize that it could not be helped. she had a rare glimpse into the struggles we go through and it was hard to move between the two worlds of playing hostess and worry. she was a shoulder to lean on though and i'm glad she understood the circumstances. she knows me well and knows that i internalize all this anguish, sorry, worry and angst. she's a sweetie though. she left me a little gift in the camper that jeff only found today; a beautiful necklace that she made just for me. during her visit, she updated her facebook status, which read,
"spending the weekend at a darling faerie cottage....it's magical"

while she was here, i took her to the beach, to my favorite restaurant, Pete and Elda's, to my really junky flea market, to the Ocean Grove Flea Market, to the dog beach, Gee Gee's for pizza and skeetball and we even hit the movies (Iron Man 2, where we both declared Robert Downey, Jr. to be "hot").

we also tried to go geocaching, but the gps kept getting us lost. along the way of getting lost, we saw the cutest young man (Orion) on a skateboard, wearing a fedora, being pulled by a pit bull (kai). of course we had to pull over and take his picture. (see very last photo)

while she was here, i discovered a nest that has 6 baby wrens in it. that's a lot of babies! and then also when we were walking the dog beach, on our way back to the car, i found a nest that had 4 eggs in it. inside the nest is a beautiful blue feather (see 2nd to the last photo). the momma bird was a tiny beautiful little yellow/green bird. when i got home i got out my NJ birding book and found out that the bird saw was a yellow warbler. cool!
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ocean grove flea market
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out and about locally
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we noticed this guy right before kim was leaving. he was chirping up a storm. when i moved in close to take his pic, he hopped inside the bird house for safety!
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6 little wren babies in a house just outside my back deck
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yellow warbler nest
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Tj, Orion and Kai

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i think tuck is almost there (knock on wood for me please). we had a pretty good day today, with very little coughing. i'm hoping this is a good sign.

quiet

tuck has been quite sick. it's been 12 days now. 12 days of coughing, sneezing, suctioning, stress, fear, angst, heat, exhaustion. it's just an upper respiratory thing brought on by seasonal allergies that has gotten out of control. the air quality index around here as been alarming high and he just can not tolerate whatever it is that is outside right now. i use to joke that he was on lock down; but seriously that kid is not going outside until the weather improves. he has no fever, but an uncontrollable cough. try coughing 12 days straight in a row with very little relief. try listening to it as a parent and not be able to stop it. he cannot take any sort of codeine to quell the cough. finally yesterday, as a last result, i opted to put him on steroids since the cough is more inflammatory. today, so far, we have very little coughing. on the downside, the steroids will affect him and give him that "roid rage" as i like to call it. with tuck it will manifest itself through his body tone, which will get tight and rigid.
my friend, kim, is here visiting so i am dividing my time between showing her around, going to flea markets, etc. all at the same time as trying to maintain control of the fearful feelings i have when he is sick. it's very hard to put on a brave face and she was sweet and asked my to stop trying to be so brave. i appreciate that.
today we are going to do some art and we all know how therapeutic that is.