Melting Snow

Lizzie and I ventured outside yesterday afternoon to view the remnants of our latest snowfall. There are only a few scattered traces of it and they are quickly disappearing. The forecast over the weekend here in Manhattan, Kansas is for a high in the mid 40's. Dare we dream of spring?

A leaf waiting for decomposition.


Back inside, muddy shoes off.

These toes are ready for spring!

Our weekend plans are simple: grocery shopping, studio time and a walk. What are yours?

Birds & Animal Puzzles

A selection of antique bird and animal puzzles are available here. I've never seen any like these before. The heads are removable so you can match them with the correct creature or mix the species up a bit if you like.

Happy Birthday Sis

Popping in this morning to send a birthday greeting to my little sister! This picture of the two of us was taken in 1984 while we were living in the Philippines. Yes....we're wearing matching orange jumpers....love 'em :)

Art of Gelatine

I found this small booklet of gelatine recipes, published by Knox Gelatine Company in 1930, on my last thrifting adventure. The lithographed images tucked inside were so delectable and I've created a set of nine ephemera blocks that will be available in the shop tonight.

These would be delicious displayed in a kitchen or dining area-- don't you think?

Cabbage Moon

Another favorite in our collection of vintage children's books is Cabbage Moon by Jan Wahl with truly magical illustrations by Adrienne Adams. The book was published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. If you can find a copy of this book it's a real treasure for any child or youth-at-heart.

Of course, the moon is a cabbage in this story.

The heroine, Princess Adelgitha (who walks on stilts), and her best friend Jennie are certain of this truth.

The villain in the tale is a miser named Lorenzo Squink (what a great name!) who steals the moon to make some cabbage salad.

Jennie and the Princess go to great lengths to save the moon from a bath of sour cream.

And yes....there is a happy ending.

A perfectly, perfect fairy tale for any age.

All About Objects

Patrick and I watched the documentary, Objectified over the weekend. If you are a "maker of things" and you haven't seen this film yet, I highly recommend it. Anyhow, now I'm walking around my house scrutinizing every seemingly banal object and thinking about its design, what would make it "better", more useful, more comfortable, more biodegradable, etc. Like I needed to add any more chatter to my brain! Then, this morning I was scrolling through Google Reader and saw Junk Culture's post on The Museum of Things in Berlin. This is a museum that "aims at directing the visitor’s attention - starting from today’s product culture - to visualize and re-experience 20th century’s history of things." So....now I'm making a mental note that one day we must visit this museum because why wouldn't I want to re-experience 20th century objects in a museum setting? In the meantime....the chatter continues....just look at this.

Couture Collage

So here's a glimpse of the project I've been working on the past couple weeks....Sushipot's Couture Collage pendants. Each pendant is unique and carefully designed with you in mind. Believe me--you won't come across anyone else wearing the same thing when you're sporting a Couture Collage pendant! These pendants are actually quite versatile (dress 'em up or down), light weight (wooden base) and they look good worn on a long chain or wrapped around your neck with a dark ribbon. I've designed these with extra large bails so you can get creative how you wear them or display them when you're not.

I was quite impressed with the photos that Lizzie took of me wearing one of the pendants and will be using her images in the shop listing. We both had a lot of fun taking these pictures :) The first seven pendants of the Couture Collage series will be up in the shop over the weekend but I wanted to make sure all of you had a sneak peek. Now you can wear a Sushipot original if you like!

Here's to a weekend of lots of rest and a little work (hopefully). See you back here on Monday!

Smiley Face

Still feeling a little under the weather but Lizzie has decided that it's time for me to be "all better". She keeps finding ways to cheer me up like being goofy with her smiley face eraser. I have found enough energy to finish up a project I started last weekend. Stop back by tomorrow and I'll share it with you :)

Visual Cures

I've been nursing some sort of viral crud the last few days and went to visit the doctor this morning to make certain my sore throat was not strep. The test was negative so the doctor's orders are rest and liquids. Decided to come home and rest by perusing my Etsy favorites for some sort of visual cure. If only I could eat soup from these bowls at ionesAttic it would be a magic tonic for sure!

Just looking at this would cure anyone. A beautiful, wearable piece of art, in design, color palette and texture created by spinthread.

And I need a dose of this floral brooch from badassbunny!

Of course a bouquet of pencils from SweetLoveVintage would cheer me up and get me to feeling myself again.

Oh well, hopefully it will move on soon. In the meantime, I'd better go refill my glass of water!

Mardi Gras Day

Today is Mardi Gras Day, also known as Fat Tuesday, and this is one of the cultural traditions I miss from the years we lived in Mobile, Alabama. Just a few weeks after moving to the Gulf Coast in the fall of 2003 I responded to an "Artist's Wanted" newspaper ad. Days later I found myself immersed in the "behind the scenes" of Mardi Gras culture working for a float building company. It is a year round endeavor to build, craft, sculpt, paint and decorate the floats used by local Krewes during the weeks of celebration. The floats are housed in large warehouses along the Mobile Bay and working inside these buildings the hot days seemed hotter and the cold seemed colder! My stint at this company lasted only one season, around 9 months, but I have many lasting memories.

My very first assignment was to sculpt the faces for a barber shop quartet themed float.

Getting the hats on these guys was quite annoying, it involved some precarious ladder situations!

First painting assignment was to help paint a Willy Wonka float.


Detail of one of the many seagulls I sculpted for this float.


Airbrushing this lady from a ladder was tricky.


A daytime parade with a Dr. Suess theme.


Painting Horton was a ton of fun. All the water below was not.

And that's it for now folks!
Happy Mardi Gras Day--go eat a moon pie!!

Weekend Thrifting

It worked out to do a bit of thrifting around town on Saturday. A much needed respite from the studio, house and the computer! All in all it was a successful outing and many treasures have been added to the Sushipot trove.

More scissors for my growing collection. I have no idea what I'll ever do with them but I still add to their numbers. One of these days I'll photograph the entire collection to share with you.

A couple pieces of religious kitsch. I can now create another one of these!

The faded camouflaged tones of this vintage military issue sewing kit caught my eye. I've decided to part with this one here. (I must support my habit somehow!)

This used watercolor kit will probably be put to further use as it is the perfect size to keep with my sketchbook.

And last but not least I'll leave you with a bit of sunshine on this wintry Monday.

PS: Yes, Lizzie did make her Daddy pink cupcakes for Valentine's Day. You can see one of her masterpieces here :)

Tiger and Hearts

This Sunday marks the start of the Chinese New Year (2010: Year of the Tiger) and it's also another much awaited holiday in this house--Valentine's Day :)  I've been informed by Lizzie that our top priority this weekend is to bake pink cupcakes for Daddy and decorate them with many, many rainbow sprinkles. Crossing my fingers that I get to do a bit of thrifting too. 

Wishing you a HAPPY Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day and of course weekend!!

Lego Daze

One of Lizzie's current obsessions these days is Legos. She is always busy creating fantastical worlds and elaborate stories with her ever expanding imagination. Whenever I set up to photograph work for the shop we usually document some of her work too! Thought I'd share some of her recent creations.

Sushipot Parts

After a long (much needed) hiatus my 2nd Etsy shop, Sushipotparts, has reopened with more vintage ephemera, unique objects and all the unusual parts 'n pieces a mixed media artist could desire (well maybe not ALL!). Everyone that knows me can see that I'm a collector and a hoarder of objects and this shop helps support my addiction. When I come across a good find in my junking, thrifting, antiquing ventures I can bring home my treasures, use some in my own work and share some with you. Enjoy!

Sealed With A Kiss

Valentines are on my mind today. Lizzie spent the morning addressing valentines to her cousins and they are now in the mailbox awaiting our postman. Aren't these the sweetest little SWAK stamps ever? They were gleaned from a 1950's Doubl-Glo Valentines booklet.

Surprise Package

Where did the weekend go? This one flew by although I did manage to accomplish my top 3 plans. Friday evening a surprise package appeared on the doorstep and among other goodies it contained these collections of objects. Thank you Mom and Dad :)

Don't forget to leave a comment here for a chance to win a Sushipot Valentine block. The giveaway ends tonight at 9 pm EST. Good luck!

Good Soup

My top 3 plans for this weekend are:

1. Arrange bookshelves that have been sitting empty in the living room since the first week of January when the Christmas tree was taken down and they were put up in its place (this is so embarrassing to admit).

2. NOT watch the Superbowl.

3. Make a big pot of GOOD soup.

Wishing you a GOOD weekend! See you back here on Monday.

Bricolage Preview

Three new collage pieces from my Bricolage Series are hot off the press and will be in the shop by this evening.

Etsy Interview & Giveaway

A big thank you to Krissy of B. Inspired Vintage for featuring me on her new blog Etsy Interviews! You can read the interview here AND be sure to leave a comment for the giveaway of a Sushipot valentine block.

Ephemera Samplers

Sushipot ephemera samplers are back by popular demand (i.e. I finally found the time to compile a new group of them). They are available for purchase here. Enjoy!

Friday Night Leftovers

I spent this past Thursday creating a new grouping of collage art blocks. I tossed all the leftover fragments of paper into the trash but then retrieved them on Friday night to create this collage in my sketchbook.