The infamous Art by Leah cow made quite the appearance this weekend…this time with feet!

Julia and Natalie were styling and cow-holding, respectively.

Julia (painter extraordinaire), moi, Debbie,   Natalie,  Robin  and  around the table getting some fuel before our big day.

It was a pleasure to shoot with Robin this weekend. We worked well together and got all of the shots covered that Leah needed. Robin and I were accused of talking shop a lot this trip, but it was just a blast to have someone to compare toys with!

Natalie, WonderBaker, made this little treat that appears to have landed straight on my tush…sigh…I can’t resist cake with pink frosting…it’s just so pretty.

Princess Fauna came out to play with Leah’s dogs. She did great—seen here (in her usual Queen fashion) taking the most comfortable and the LARGEST seat in the house.

Leah the Fabulous makes a rare appearance in my images (posing with Simon)…she’s a little, shall we say, HARD on herself. A more lovely designer you’ll never meet. Kisses Miss L.

Okay, lovelies…ON TO THE CLOTHES! I can personally attest that these garments make you feel like a million bucks. Of course, Debbie, the face of Belle Blanc, looks incredible in them—but the brilliant part is everyone looks great in these clothes. Thought you could never wear white? Look again! Thought you could never wear fitted clothes? Behold the power of the RUCHE…an optical illusion brought to us from this clothing line.

Sir George, another important part of the brand, poses here with his usual royal-ness….I love this boy.

So wonderful to see this dream come alive for my friend. For me, Leah is the one that is always building me up…helping me take leaps and jumps into the creative unknown. I’ve grown more brave because of our friendship…all of these women bring joy to my life. Thank you, ladies, for everything.

OX.

Off to the Oregon Coast to shoot Leah’s clothing line with my special girls. It’s been one year since we met at Leah’s fab beach house and I can’t wait to fall into a sea of white with some partners in crime today.

Looking forward to sharing next week~

Have a wonderful and SAFE Labor Day weekend, lovelies…

OX.

OX.

Love these from  Fryd and Design…

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Buy it here.

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I loooove this one below…nice and subtle.

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I think I might need some horns in the abode…waddyathink?

OX.

p.s. Had the most incredible “Alice in Wonderland” photo shoot last night out here on the compound complete with the characters…

…it was a dream come true for me. ‘Will be working on the images this week and will have lots to share.

So clever! I would imagine it’s a bit like playing dolls when you’re little…so fun to dress up the figures and think of themes for the story inside. I loved making dioramas when I was a kid—shadow boxes are a bit like grown-up dioramas.

I’m feeling the need to make more “Shadow Chic” box jewelry for my Etsy store. I’ve got some interesting silhouettes cut out–they just need occupations and a background to live in.  This is the one I wear all the time and it makes me happy.

 I’m thinking about bringing some to Brave Girl Camp in October and giving them to women who inspire me…because we really need to remember that “we had had power all along”.

Happy Wednesday, Lovelies…

OX.

Beautiful NW water views, amazing purple sunsets, rock collecting, sandcastle building, bald eagle sightings, campfires & picnics and….

Navy Growler fighter jets roaring violently overhead…

Huh?

Such is a vaca on a Whidbey Island naval base. Not just any naval base–one plunked right on the beach at Cliffside. My retired Air Force father-in-law hooks us up with a lovely spot next to the ocean. We look forward to it every year. This year we actually had some warm weather to play in the sand.

Whidbey Top 13 FAVE list~

1) The quest for heart shaped rocks. PH and and I have a game to see who can spot one first. Wouldn’t you know that we hoofed it up the beach about a half mile before we found one…and OF COURSE it was huge and heavy….and OF COURSE, we found another one the same size. I was a happy camper as my lovin’ man trekked his way back with both rocks on his shoulders. He was saying that those lurking Growler pilots must really think that crazy guy loves his wife!

2) Rachey and her annual “bakery on the beach“.

3) An imagination that’s on vacation and comes up with nifty projects to take home…I smell a driftwood theme in my immediate future, lovelies…

4) Fab antique treasure finds in Anacortes, a cute little town with some great restaurants.

5) Watching my children play with wild abandon on the base and feeling perfectly safe to not watch them every second.

6) Sunsets with tree silhouettes that blow your mind.

7) Cliffs and the stunning view they provide.

8 ) Windblown trees and winding paths…so many metaphors come to mind here, I just can’t get them out fast enough.

9) JOY and more JOY. Ken, the campsite host finds these incredible driftwood pieces to make our favorite word. It’s all over the camp and makes you smile when you see it catch the sunlight in the morning or evening. He is a magician and creator of wonderful things.

10) Time alone to do a “walk about” with my camera…no agenda…just being aware of the beauty around me. Peaceful and sweet…

11) Fort Casey State Park and all that the former artillery post and lighthouse has to offer in terms of photo opps…

12) Barns and quaint little gardens in town

13) Uninterrupted time with people I love…

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How does that song go? “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter…”

I did that this week while my mind was on vacation-mode. It was surprising.

Lovelies, sometimes getting away provides something unexpected. First of all, I was calling a sleeping bag a bed for the duration and I couldn’t get my tuckus out of bed to do my Morning Pages. Funny thing…I missed them! I’ve been doing them long enough now that I really think I’m having some breakthroughs as a result. Lots of stuff to share as I go, friends…so many matters of the heart coming up (all good stuff!).

I’m making some changes.

I’m excited about it

and am

sure of my footing.

I hope your summer is wrapping up nicely—I wish for a few more lingering-on-the-porch days for you, sweet MPG’s.

OX.

I. must. have. some. of. these. one. day.

fabulous, fabulous…

I found a few of my own that I’m coveting…

(the ultimate!)

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Not sure what it is about bringing the outside in, but I am craving the barn door thing, but also a windmill in my living room…

I saw one in one of my fave books, “Found Style”

par example’~

Lest you think (by the scale of this to that random child up there) that my ceilings are 20 feet high…I would like a smaller version of this.

I’m not kidding.

I almost knocked on a farm house door out here in the sticks and offered some cold hard cash for their weathered, antiquey looking windmill that was about 6 feet–perfect for my house! I chickened out though.

They had a not-so-cuddly-looking dog in their yard…

and a truck with a “Insured by Smith and Wesson” sticker on the bumper.

I am peeling these eyelids back though—look out if you’re out in your yard in Vancouver, WA and you’ve got one of these dad-gum things in your yard.

I’m ready and I am not afraid to stuff it in my minivan…in exchange for cash, of course.

What are some strange or random things you would like in your living room, lovelies?

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So far the swing, the barn doors and the windmill are rounding out my list…I just may find myself single. Ha! PH is not a fan of hardware in the living space, but he will learn to deal, as he always does..bless his little PH heart.

I hope you have lovely weather wherever you are for the weekend (supposedly 97 here today…we’ll see…)~

OX.

Another book to carry with me everywhere I go. Patti Digh, writer of this book and 37 Days blog, has an amazing way with words…and ideas…and philosphy…humor…you name it. I love her writing style, and more importantly, she’s really made me stop and think about the important things.

Her mantra is to be mindful and live intentionally…something I, uh, struggle with sometimes. So this week I had two moments that stopped me in my running-100-miles-an-hour tracks.

One involved string cheese.

Seriously.

String cheese.

I was having a there’s-nothing-in-my-fridge-to-feed-the-kids-while-we-fly-solo-without-PH.

Tired and I must admit, a little cranky.

Well the mood didn’t improve as I reached in the refer for some pizza cheese as I had a very heavy-with-sauce waiting Boboli on the counter.

Bugga! No cheese.

So the Blair women began scavenging for something to finish our dinner and voila’…we had an idea.

Yes, lovelies, that is string cheese in rows on our pizza. I was about to be sad about our pizza predicament, but instead we took a picture and got a good laugh out of it.

In fact, we laughed a lot that night. A little “Wipe-Out”, some funny dogs chasing around the kitchen island antics, mixed with some bedtime tickling and I came out of my funk.

Truly a mindful evening and I just wanted to eat up my daughters, because they know how to do this so much better than me.

Most kids do, in fact.

We could learn so much from these sweet creatures.

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Mindful moment #2 was simply a beautiful sunset (pic doesn’t do it justice..point-n-shoot being the only vehicle of sunset-catching devices on the seat next to me). We were rushing around like the activity hopping chicks that we are and almost missed it. I was at the stop sign, going through the mental list of all of the things that didn’t get done that day…and WHAM…

Mr. Sunset called to me and said “Halt, Activity Hopping Chick…LOOK AT ME.” It was a nice moment to remind me of all the blessings that summer has brought.

The MPG reading gals I met at BH Flea…thank you for your kind words…that moment was special for me.

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On a side note, got wind of a new book today that looks very, very good—cute cover too.

I heard about “The Handmade Marketplace” on Kimberly Wilson’s podcast and fell in love with Kari, the author’s, vision. If you sell on Etsy or at craft/art shows, she seems to have nailed it. I can’t wait to get it!

Book-buying…

yes…I have a problem, friends…there is just too much talent out there and I want to devour all of it in one big bite!

I hope this summer is winding down for you in a smashing way~

OX.

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Thought it would be fun to show some faces of our local flea market vendors (who also show around town at antique shops and other shows)—we love them all!

Sweet smiley-faced Debbie (Laurie too ) from Worthy Goods~

Joann and her pal from Camas Antiques~

Lisa and Isabel–our girls from A Thing for Roses and Maison Douce~

Our Tarte-girl, Cindy–who, btw, is hosting something that sounds fabulous called “Artsy Tartesy”

here with some Worthy Goods…

Sylvi (and Layla, the sweetest blond this side of Texas) from Little Cottage~

Duchess gals…

One lovely from Kindred Roses

Auntie Joy and her joy-filling booth…

Camera-shy Natalie from Sparrow…

Calamity Jane had a very cool booth…no one was ready for their close-up

Of course, our BOYS never disappoint…I got the sale of the day (in my opinion, anyway) of a rustic white farm table that is road-trippin’ over to my kitchen. Can’t wait to play “dining room” with my new chairs! I’ll show it when it’s all done and purdy.

Again, it was a perfect day and I was blessed to be there. Just wonderful…so long to wait for next year.

I hope your week starts out well today, Lovelies~

OX.

p.s. some serious happenings going on in the new art studio  at work…was flinging paint and moving stuff this weekend. I am one motivated cookie..can’t wait to begin to work on the pieces I’ve been dreaming about…also can’t wait to share them with my MPG pals.

To live in a firehouse

(with the pole, of course.)

Well, lovelies…one came up for sale in Portland, and although I am not anticipating a 1.8 million dollar move, a girl can dream out loud…

Firehouse for sale

Just for the record…if I was going to live in a firehouse, I would HAVE to sleep in this bed from Anthro (who else?)…

Seriously…is that not one of the coolest things ever? (wiping drool from my mouth corner)?!

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Firehouses…fire trucks…it’s a red thing and I do seem to have this color come up a lot…

So..why not do a styled photo shoot around it? My plan is to use of these images for a collage piece…just getting that studio space ready so I can begin. ‘Bought some wood blocks at Home Depot yesterday to get myself going!

Check out the rest of the red images here.

Happy weekend, lovelies!!!

OX.

p.s. very excited to be on Kelly Rae Robert’s post this week