Never Loose Your 'Muchness'...

I never cease to be amazed at how the universe sends certain people into our lives...or how without knowing it, we will end up playing a special role in the life of someone else. Amazing, I tell you.

Without betraying any specifics, I will only say that I made a new friend this autumn through a slightly unusual set of circumstances! Don't worry, I am not withholding anything scandalous...I suppose the simplest explaination of what made our paths cross had to do with a of a combination of my belief in the healing powers of certain foods + my compassion for those who are struggling?
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Little by little, the universe revealed that this artist-mama friend + I have so very much in common! I admire not only her artistic talent + bravery, but also the way she applies those same characteristics to motherhood and life in general. And you can only imagine how bowled over I was when MJ said that she wanted to offer me one of her artistic creations; as a sort of Thank You. You could have knocked me over with a feather...nothing like this has ever happened to me before {especially not through the land of blog}. The wearable artwork {my Never Loose Your 'Muchness' Necklace} she created for me could not have been more right on, in terms of really being ME...and so I just had to share her blog + Etsy shop with you!

http://www.mairedodd.blogspot.com/

These lovely little moments in life really do serve as a reminder that when we live and authentic life; never giving up our 'muchness' does not go unnoticed.

My many, many thanks MJ.

xo.

Fancy Wearables

It was always my intention to take some of my paintings and transform them into fancy wearables; things like brooches + lockets. But as is often the case, life got away from me and my good intentions had to be put on the back burner until a more opportune time. Well wouldn't you know, that time came just this past weekend! It was one of my dearest friend's {and biggest supporters of my art work} birthday and I instantly thought that I should get to work on making something for her!

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So here is the Little Fawn Girl! I actually made 2 of these brooches, the second of which {is a bit darker} will be up in ye olde etsy shoppe. But while I was at it {and having such success!}, I thought I might as well make something for myself too...

My friend loved her gift! And I was pleased enough with how these turned out that I'm feeling really excited about making some more of these fancy wearables after the holidays!

xo.

a spot of tea

Here is a little something I put together an embarrassingly long time ago now. After my post on the feathered coiffure, you can probably tell that I'm a big fan of putting the hair in an updo with some kind of random adornment. This is a little brass filigree headband with a ceramic tea cup + saucer on top. It's funky, but sweet...and not too over the top that it cannot be worn on your average thursday!

This week has been a complete whirlwind! We've been day tripping to the beach + pool, hosting and attending playdates for both littles + grown up folk... and all the while these activities have been sprinkled with other more autumn like responsibilities; like back to school shopping, doctor visits + meetings for me over at the college {gulp}. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row; and that includes getting some things {including this tea cup headband} up in ye olde etsy shop! It's likely that I have more projects going on now than I did all summer, only because I would manic-ly start whatever poped into my mind, thinking, " I only have a week left of summer before I am working!" Needless to say, these projects will have to wait in the cabinet until I have more time to come back to them! When being creative starts to feel too much like work, that is usually my cue that I have too many going on at once!

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I would be remiss to not mention that we are celebrating my Mister's birthday this weekend! His gift was an overnight trip to Deleware to visit his favourite beer brewery, Dogfish head, dinner out, sleeping in... NO LITTLES! It is the first time that we have been away from all of them, completely childless, in almost 7 years! We are leaving tomorrow morning + we could not be more excited! It is just one night...but a much needed one night before school + work begin next week. I have a feeling we will be planning our next couples get away on the drive home!

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See you tomorrow for {This Moment}

+ Happy weekend!

Children of Lir: cards for a note

I haven't mentioned my painting series, Children of Lir, in a while, but that doesn't mean that the wheels have not been turning! I kind of hit a road block when my computer was out of commission for those couple of weeks, not so very long ago. Just to catch up on the happenings in the Monked & Fifed shoppe, I have some fancy wearables that I am working on, featuring some of these designs, which I should be able to post sometime next week. However, in the mean time, here are some new notecards!

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I have never had cards {for sale} printed before, so this is a learning experience for me. These cards are one sided + are printed on heavy weight stock. The images have a lovely matte finish + are blank on the opposite side, {except for a small type print which reads: www.monkedandfifed.etsy.com}. The cards will come with white envelopes, just incase you don't want everyone spying at what you have to say! All in all, I am happy with how they turned out.

Happy Monday friends!

xo

Folk + Sunshine

After III days of rain + being cooped up in the house with III littles, the sun is finally shining! Seeing that beautiful glow outside my window when I opened up my eyes this morning has me feeling like a kid on Christmas. And so with that, I thought I would post on something else that also gives me that warm happy feeling... I am so unbelievably smitten with the etsy shop Folk, {the folks responsible for the design + sewing of the fabulous cuffs I am wearing in these photos.} I think I was browsing, looking for something along the lines of what "Alice" is wearing in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, when I happened across these cuffs. These are for sale to wear as singles, or as a set...so far I have bought a total of four.

So I think I might end up sewing some of these myself... for ye olde shoppe, ofcourse. Research. That is what I tell my mister when he sees the yellow puffy shipping envelopes in the mail. The cuffs are simple enough, so if you are handy with the sewing machine, give them a whirl! However, if you are not, head on over to Folk.... + to Monked & Fifed as there may be some of these lovelies in stock this autumn! However, there will not be any sewing happening on this beautiful day! Today, you will be able to find this mama + her littles will be out- of- doors, soaking up some much needed sunshine!

Wishing everyone a wonderful day!

a feathered coiffure

When I was deciding what to wear to my best friends wedding a couple of weeks back I vacillated between a couple of outfits, but in the end, settled on the tried + true little black dress. I'm not sure if it is from wearing uniforms in catholic school all of my life or that I feel that my tattoos clash with certain colors + prints, but given the option, I will usually choose a more tailored style of clothing that is, well, a more subdued color.
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But this was a non traditional wedding that called for "beach chic" attire. In the end, I went with the little black dress because I could not quite wrap my head around the exact right outfit and as a rule of thumb, would rather be overdressed than under dressed. Knowing that it could quite possible be wicked hot and/ or windy as could be on the pier, an updo was the way to go. I paid a bit of a homage to my bff by including her favourite color, purple, in my hair arrangement.

I had bought these great little clips + two black feathered patches on Etsy for less than $10. I picked up the branch of purple leaves in the floral section of the craft store. Initially, I was going to hot glue them all to a headband, but then I realized that wearing a headband and sunglasses would not be very comfy for my noggin. Instead I used clips and was able to place the one feathered patch exactly where I needed it. Then I glues together little trios of leaves to scatter here + there in the updo. What can I say...such a fun way to dress up a more traditional outfit!

FYI: Day III of rain with III littles in house. Dear God, let the sunshine come back soon!

a painting

Water color on bristol board, 8x10

Here is the last painting I have to post from my Children of Lir series. Despite his coloring, he does look a bit on the tough side! When thinking about this grouping of paintings, I could not help but to keep comming back to the water. Perhaps the summer season has influencing my creativity?

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In any event, while there are a couple more paintings in progress, I'm not in any rush + usually feel that my work is best when it is not mass produced. {That is true for so many things in life!} However, I will have some 'wearable items' featuring these designs to show you soon. For the remaining weeks of 'summer vacation', I am going to soak in doing as little as possible, which is not all that easy for me to do! For as you know, life with 3 littles is anything but dull!

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vintage button pinwheel brooches

When I'm doing alot of painting, I try to make myself completely available to my littles in the evening. However after a busy week with lots of playing in the heat, my littles hit the hay + I found my fingers free to stitch, sketch or do not a thing at all!

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However, one evening I whipped up these fun little pinwheel brooches. They are hand stitched + made with thick wool felt, vintage buttons + pinback closures... These will be headed over to ye old shop...

Happy weekend!

Aodh

Aodh. Water color on Bristol board, 8x10

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This is the second part of the Twins paintings I had referred to from my Children of Lir series. This is Aodh, the eldest brother. He and his sister were said to have extraordinary swimming abilities, even before being transformed into swans! I can't help thinking that this young master has just the sweetest little face...even if he is getting ready to dig into his lunch!

Don't these two look so well together? Prints will be available in the shop next week!

Hooray!
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cards for me

Something very exciting came for me in the mail this weekend... business cards! It feels strange calling them business anything, as I was not really thinking of my endeavor with blogging and etsy as a business. They are more of, "hey, check out these paintings I did that are for sale + come and chat with me" cards.

As per the card, I am officially a Painter + Maker of This's and That's. You know, I have dabbled in many an artistic medium in my {almost} 30 years, but I never really thought of myself as an artist...in the classical way that we usually think of artists. After finishing up this last series of paintings, my opinion of little 'ol me is quite changed! I finished + and am pleased with not one but THREE pieces of art! Some folks might be wondering how such a feat is accomplished with 3 littles in tow and a new job about to begin in September?
Well, I will tell you.

I kid that I have more hours in my day than everyone else...but this is not true. After my third baby was born, I felt different. We were done + I was me again. My head was no longer half in my uterus, wondering: Would we have another baby? Would the pregnancy be ok? What if it wasn't? Should be try? Could I VBAC? And while having a job about to begin also has me divying up my time, it is also something I used to fret about that I no longer have to. So I suppose that is where I find the time to paint + make =during the hours I used to be preoccupied with worry. I manage to allow myself the time for what seems like the impossible task of being creative on a regular basis, however I feel that I am more present as a parent than ever. Because while I can easily put down the paint brush, turning off one's brain is not always so easy to do! So cheers to me; replacing old woes with new happy things, business cards + all.

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Hoping everyone had a most wonderful weekend!

Fionnuala

Fionnuala. Water color on Bristol board, 8x10.

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This lovely little lass could not be any sweeter, sitting in a meadow singing to her bird friend. Quite a curious little faun child, I thought she fit in rather nicely with the other transformed Children of Lir... and as such, she has been given the name Fionnuala, after Lir's only daughter. More to come this week! Happy weekend to you!

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a shop!

I am so happy to announce the opening of my Etsy shop, Monked & Fifed.
http://www.monkedandfifed.etsy.com/
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I must say that it was never my intention to attatch an Etsy store to the Monked & Fifed blog. However, it seems as if the planets have aligned themselves in such a way that I have been feeling more inspired than ever to paint and create. And truth be told, the only thing that I enjoy more than shopping for unique and curious items is making them!
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I am in the process of completeing my first set of paintings, Twins, which I will be able to show you here in the next week or so. Prints of these curious little people will be available in my shop shortly there after! And just to keep you at the edges of your seats, I've already started on my second project; a series of five paintings I am rather smitten with. Last, but certainly not least, I have some knobs, papergoods + a few fanciful notions {lockets + brooches} that will be on their way as well!
Are you beyond excited? Because I certainly am!!

Thank you all so much for the kindness you have shown me; I don't know when or even if I would have made this leap without seeing your sweet comments. More news to come!

~a.