Extra Virgin Olive Oil

My dresser in my studio got a a fresh coat of paint called extra virgin olive oil. It's a putrid yellow green, and it's part of a whole color scheme I have, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it just yet. For now, though, I'm leaving it, and hopefully it will grow on me. Now I'm off to paint a chair fire dragon red.

xo

nessa dee

Caterpillars + Boxes + Dragons = A whole lotta random

We've had a caterpillar invasion around here recently. After finding Elmo Yellow Tiger [and seeing five more of his friends the day before], the kids found this guy resting comfortably in the grass.

We almost kept him, but were forced to put him back outside by the authority [Dad] whose thoughts were along the line of "Let's see if we can keep the one we have alive before we potentially kill another." I don't blame him. And after researching this caterpillar to see what kind of beautiful butterfly it would turn into , I'm glad we didn't keep this guy. It turns out that these unusual looking caterpillars are Elm Sawfly larvae, a relative of the wasp. That would have been a bit disappointing.

Well, he was fun to look. As for an update on Elmo Yellow Tiger, he successfully turned into a cocoon about two hours after I snapped that picture of him. It was pretty amazing, and I wish we'd been watching him more closely. We've got about two weeks and Elmo should be a Monarch by then.

In other exciting news, we have our Fridays back now that our co-op is on break for the summer, which means that we'll be having Crafty Fridays again!! [or at least one this Friday.] This Friday's craft is going to be pretty awesome...maybe the most awesome craft we've ever done! Here's what you need to start gathering:

And finally, I found this dragon lurking in the hallways upstairs. He's wearing an apron, so I'm thinking he's one of those rare Chef Dragons with awesome culinary skills. I sure hope so because it would be nice to have someone cook a few tasty meals around here.  Plus the fire breathing gives food a nice smokey flavor.

Well that's it for random. Start gathering boxes of all shapes and sizes if you want to join us in some crafty awesomeness.

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

This morning...

::We are anxiously watching Mr. Elmo Yellow Tiger make his cocoon. We found him on Friday, fed him tons of leaves all day Saturday, he made his way to the top of the bug box on Sunday, and now we are patiently waiting to see his metamorphosis.  I don't know who's more excited, the kids or me.

:: I'm almost done with the robot painting for the baby's room, but I'm not sure I like it. I might have to tweak it quite a bit, or sell it and make a new one.

 ::We finished painting the baby's room this weekend. It's grey with stripes. It looks a little sophisticated right now, but I'm planning on adding a lot of fun colors with the art I have planned for the space, the fabrics and the furniture. How do you like his new dresser/changing table?

:: I'm not quite finished with this project, but here's a sneak peek of what's new in the hallway between the kids' rooms.

:: I'm going to be setting up his crib today [finally]! I bought the crib off Craigslist over a month ago, and it's been sitting in the piano room ever since.

:: And finally, we've been making so many changes to the house, and I wish I had a working camera to show you everything. It took having a baby to give us the kick in the pants we needed to get things done, but then something else came up. I am super duper excited about what's going to be happening in a few weeks, but you'll have to wait and find out. Until then, we'll be working like mad to get our projects done before mid May.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee 

A sweet little note

I came into the breakfast room today and found this:

I know that as his teacher, I should correct his spelling, but it's just too sweet.

xo

nessa dee

Getting Crafty

Saturday morning I woke up way too early and couldn't go back to sleep. It's always quiet in the wee hours of the morning because I live in a family of night owls who make up for their nightly escapades by sleeping late. But about an hour into my peaceful morning of doing laundry and stuffing my face with vittles, I heard a rumbling thunder from my studio. My progeny were awake and up to something. Curious, and slightly concerned, I went upstairs to see what all of the hustle and bustle was about. I found this:

My two children were excitedly working on a project for Baby Boy. I had mentioned a month or two ago that I wanted the kids to make a stuffed toy for their brother. For some reason, this was the morning they got the itch to do it. I found material strewn across the studio, an assortment of buttons laid out on the quilt top, and plans for several robot plush toys. The winning robot was this one:

He's not stitched together yet, but he's super cute, and I can't wait to add him to the room.

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday...sigh.

I am without camera right now, except for the one on my phone. And now my phone is failing me. It won't upload any of my photos. I have so much to share with you. There have been many changes to our ever evolving house, and we've been getting a little crafty around here, too. For now, all I have is this staged picture of my unfinished studio. It looks so clean and neat, but a little sparse.

I hope your Monday is going a little better than mine.

Here's to a happy Tuesday!

xo

nessa dee

A start

This is the start of a painting for baby boy's room. Right now, the plans are to paint his room grey with stripes adorning one wall. I have orange as the predominant accent color, and blue as a secondary accent. This canvas is going to be home to a robot, one of my favorite subjects to paint. And, if I can find special brass trinkets I've been reserving for an extra special project, they'll be a part of this robot as well.

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of my children might have carried my trinkets off to use for their own endeavors. I'm not naming any names, but I have a feeling the culprit might be the same little boy who used the trinkets in his own sculpture months ago.

Hmmm.

xo

nessa dee