New Presentation Method

I have now claimed another area of our house for studio space. This new setup shares our extra bedroom along with the excercise stuff.


I got a lovely vintage laminate table that is the perfect size to hold some supplies and some pieces to work on. (That's my drop-cloth underneath.) I've been working on a new photo product, and testing out methods and surfaces. I do believe I've found the one I like, and I plan to debut it in December (details in an upcoming post).

...testing in progress...


The end product will be ready to hang. I love the way this display method is clean and modern! Let me know what you think.

Pompeii

Awesome wedding video

Check out this awesome "cinema-style flip book" of a wedding shoot by Aves Photographic Design from Fort Worth, Texas. It is too cute... especially when the weimaraner joins them!

Click here

Meetup with Maria Thomas, Etsy CEO

Well, I said I would come back with a post about the meetup at Nye's Polonaise Thursday evening. I had a great time. I met many people from the HandmadeMN team that I've never seen in person before. Maria talked with all of us very honestly about how things work at Etsy, and specifically in regard to our questions. She was very personable and it was nice to see that she took our concerns seriously. For more on the evening, click here to view Corrin of Athena's Little Owl's report on the HandmadeMN blog.

Etsy videos

Etsy held a contest for videos promoting Etsy. I thought this one by Estellelle was too cute. It won 2nd runner up.

**Sorry, I had to remove this video, because it was forwarding my blog to Etsy.**

Around town

Last Friday, I went to the St. Paul art crawl with a couple friends. It is always fun to go around visiting the artists' studios, and finding some great art. Our favorite artist discovery was Mary Barrett. She had a large printmaking studio filled with many landscapes, primarily woodblock, but also intaglio, collage, and pigment paintings. Mary was very willing to talk with us at length about her work. She used to teach printmaking at UW River Falls. I'm sure she inspired many students!

Tomorrow, I'm going to go to a meet and greet with the CEO of Etsy! She's in town, and there's going to be an event over at Nye's. I'm very excited... will report back this weekend.

Welcome to MN Maria!

My new plants

Finally, time for my garden post... to share my newly planted perennials, and hopes for them all to come back strong and healthy in the spring. Unfortunately, my garden joy is tempered by a bout of very early snow :( We had near a half inch when we woke up Saturday morning. It melted off, and today it snowed for about 8 hrs or more straight. Much of that has melted as well, but more snow is predicted Wed. through Fri. It is really hard to enjoy your fall when there is already snow!

Here are some pics, possibly with the right name under them, and a few more names without pics.First off, in this little garden we made under the birch tree...

Meadow buttercup

Centurea Montana

Forget me nots

Valerian (Red Valerian?)

Lambs ear (which I have a tendency to call elephant ear!)
Also, daisies, and probably a couple other things.

Over by the mailbox I planted peonies and a trumpet vine. In front of the house are a purple coneflower and black-eyed susans.

Under the bay window we have hostas along with red and yellow creeping sedum.

And in the corner of the walkway, a Nishiki willow bush- very similar to the Flamingo willows we had at our last place and loved. The leaves change colors depending on how long they've been out of the bud. It is very interesting to watch.
Then on to the back yard. The perennials in the back are along the fence, to the right of the evergreen in this picture. I had to put a short fence around them, because my dog Toby thought I was making a obstacle course for him to roll his ball in, and Sasha thought I was making a bed for her.
Black-eyed Susan

Columbine (Honeysuckle)

Gooseneck Loosestrife

False Dragonhead - this one had a few flowers still on it, and the bees found it within minutes of being planted. They were just small enough to climb down inside each flower and suck out the nectar.

Monarda (Bee Balm), also Joe Pye Weed, Veronica, Liatris, Queen Anne's Lace

Many of these plants I had never heard of until the day I bought them. I am very excited to have plants ready to go for next summer already.

Additionally, we planted apple and plum trees, a couple maples, a weeping willow, raspberries and blueberries. If everything works out, we should have lots of exciting things going on in our yard next summer!