Last Day of School

School's out for Summer! And I can't wait! Hold on to your hats and socks and shoes and anything else, because Summer Break HERE WE COME.....

Christmas in July

I know, I have written about this before on my blog, but in the States, it is a big thing to have "Christmas in July" sales and events. This is not the case in England, where people look at you, as if you are half mad to even mention such a thing. As school is shortly coming to a close for us (tomorrow is our last day, Yipee!), I thought this would be a good time to use a bit of the Summer break to begin working on a few Christmas/winter-y projects.

One, being my crocheted granny blanket, which I have yet to have the chance to begin, with all the craziness of school going on around us. But, also to possibly start a few Christmas projects early. Here were a few things I came across and I might just try to make some of these, or at the very least be inspired by them, especially the sock monkey coffee cup wrap, he has personality!

Do you begin your Christmas making projects early, or are you a last minute kinda gal (or guy)? Enjoy!

Now is a good time to start collecting vintage cookie cutters at thrift stores and yard sales. These "frames" would be gorgeous to have up all year round!

These mice would make perfect teacher's presents or classroom gifts. If you changed the colors they would even be cute for an Alice in Wonderland Themed Birthday Tea Party.

Want to make your own granny square blanket to stay cozy with when the weather turns frosty, go to Meet me at Mike's for a granny square tutorial.

This sock monkey coffee cup wrap is too cute. Perfect for your coffee lovers, any time of year.

(All images copyright their respective blogs)

Tents

We have ONE week left to go of school and I am so ready for it to be over! This last term has felt as if it has gone on forever. It feels too long to still be in school, I am ready to enjoy a little bit of a Summer break.

Summer meant a lot of things and happy memories in my house growing up. One such memory in particular was the summertime rituals my sister and I always did. We played outside, creating bike "roads" out of chalk on our drive way. We went swimming, we went to the library and signed-up for the summertime reading list.

We ate ice-cream and fresh peaches from the farm. We played an endless game of monopoly that we made span the entire length of our Summer break and we built tents. We built huge tents with old blankets and sheets, sometimes encompassing a table and chair and part of a couch in our giant fortress.

We played underneath it, hung out, read, watched movies through our special "spy" hole aimed at the tv, we just had FUN. When I saw this tent tutorial, I just loved it. It brought back all of those little memories. This is a lot fancier than what we built, but I think just as magical.

What a fun summertime project for you and your little ones. I can just see it strung with fairy lights, filled with cozy blankets and pillows and the perfect place to lay down and read a book on a rainy day, falling asleep to the gentle pitter-patter of the rain, with the magical glow of the twinkling lights overhead.

For the how-to click here.

All images are courtesy of Grosgrain Fabulous. Original Post from Cakies.

The Enchanting Lotte Reiniger

Right before Christmas, one of the Art teachers in my department, decided that she would have the students create shadow puppets as a nice little wind down to the week that we were breaking up for the holidays. I love shadow puppets, there is something very magical about them!

She showed the students a video by Lotte Reiniger, so they could get an idea of what kind of final outcome they were aiming for and to see how the process works in actuality. I had never seen these Reiniger videos before and I fell in love with them. They are beautifully crafted and absolutely enchanting.

She was a true visionary, ahead of her time in innovation and even beat out Walt Disney in the designing of and use of a multi-plane camera to achieve distinctive visual effects. She was filmed to show her working through her creative process and it is truly astonishing to see how quickly she sketches and expertly cuts the puppet she is creating.

As a group of digital Art students are now working on a similar shadow puppet project, it made me think of these bewitching videos, so I thought I would share them with you! There is such a sweetness to them and they are without a doubt, timeless interpretations of beloved fairy tales! Enjoy!





(Still images courtesy of the Animation Archive)

Hear Me Roarrrr....

I am roaring into the week. We put our clocks forward this weekend and suddenly everything and everyone seems to be "springing" into action.

There are exams and meetings and yoga classes to attend this week, cleaning and laundry that has to be done and somewhere in there, time to just sit and be with Mr. Michie; because that is more important than anything else on my "To-Do" list. So, I am just going to keep on roaring and go with it!

(Image by Christine Hale, "Roarrr" added by Jennifer Michie)

What Big Teeth You Have!

"What big teeth you have!",exclaimed Red Riding Hood, to what she believed to be her ill Grandmother, lying in the bed, only to discover that it was in fact, a wolf! This seems to be the week of grandmothers turning into wolves, where all is not what it seems.

A week where everyone seems to be baring their teeth. I do not know if the "new" moon has made people crazy, or if the stars and planets are simply not aligned this week? Is there something in the water? Have people begun to drink the Kool-Aid? Has the long Winter finally made people just snap? Or does everyone have Spring Fever? This past week has been a week where almost everyone I have crossed paths with seems to be completely off kilter.

People have been snappy, or in an unusually odd mood that is out of character for them. I am so happy that it is the weekend. Hopefully, next week will bring with it a sense of calmness to everyone, because the franticness of this week was almost more than I could take.

This has been a week of being with "wild things"! As Maurice Sendak, wrote in one of my favorite books (Where the Wild Things Are):

"And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws." 

There has been a lot of roaring and gnashing this week. There is something in the air, others I have spoken with have noticed it as well. I am just hoping that all this windy weather we are getting at the moment, will blow it right back out of here, because I would like an easier, calmer and more peaceful week next week, then this one has been! 

Cramped for Space

Our little cottage is getting very cramped at the moment, we seem to be running out of space! We worked so hard cleaning and organizing while we were on 1/2 term, last week and the house looked so clean and cozy. You have to stay on top of things in this little house, or it will attack you!

But, this first week back at school has left it in a sorry state. There are piles of papers to grade, more things I have fished out to bring to the Art Cupboard, just waiting to be taken, projects I am working on...

It looks like my weekend is planned. Saturday morning, I am tying my hair up and getting to work, this little cottage needs to be put back in order!

(Image: Vintage Alice in Wonderland Illustration by A.A. Nash, found on Flickr)

Art-O-Mat

When I was in College, they installed one of these in our Art Department. It was there on a trial basis to see if something like this would work! Well, we all loved it! What is it? It is a refurbished cigarette machine that sells art instead of cigarettes. I adored the fact that in keeping with the style the design was still very much the "old cigarette case" look, that very 1960's-esque edge to it.

I don't know if they have changed this part or not, but we had to use a special "token" to get the art out. You handed in your money to the Art office and received a chip that you would use to collect your chosen piece.

You really had no idea what was going to be in the boxes. The images used to "describe" it, was either just the Artist's name or a very brief line, like, "man in a box". You didn't know what was going to pop out and that was half the fun. There was all sorts of things from mini oil paintings, to a book of photographs that told a story, to miniature statues, sometimes it was just typed text that had been pasted down and decorated.

I love the idea of "Art for the Masses", and I mean this in the best possible sense. Not mass produced cheap art, but the Andy Warhol idea of mass production, in the sense that you were creating 20 or 30 of the same thing and quite possibly something to never be created again, but for $5, everyone had a chance to own a little piece of Art. It made it accessible and Art should be accessible. (I know I stray here a bit, in that Andy Warhol was mass producing to make a point about Art, but I think you get my point as well.)

I have the very lovely Sherry to thank for tweeting out this pic to me, it made me smile!

If you don't already follow this gal through twitter, you certainly should, she is a sweetheart! Thanks for sending me this image, Sherry!

(Image Copyright: MerrieSherrie "Art dispensing vintage cigarette machine, Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas")

To learn more about Art-o-mat, click here

A Trip to the Tate

I had the great fortune of leaving the cupboard for a little while on Wednesday and I got to accompany an Art trip to the Tate. It was a treat walking around with the students, getting to sketch some things in my sketchbook and taking as many photographs as I could.

I haven't been to the Tate in quite awhile. Mr. Michie went on a school trip before Christmas and he inspired me to want to go again after such a long absence. However, they were hanging so many things that a lot of the rooms were closed, so I didn't get a chance to see as much as I had hoped.

One piece I did see was by the conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans. Who had a stunning, ballroom size Venetian chandelier hanging in a room; that lit up very slowly and once warmed up the lights would flash on and off. It was so beautiful and yet surreal to see in white this room, the bold colours of the chandelier's droplets and flowers were all that stood out, against the blinding light when the bulbs reached their highest power.

My minor in College,was Arts Management and one of the courses I took was a gallery class. One area we focused on, was how do people use the space they are in and interact with the space they are in.  I always think back to that class as I watch people in a gallery/museum.

There was no way around this chandelier it was so wide and hung so low it almost touched the floor. You couldn't miss it. Yet, I stood against a wall and watched people breeze past it, give it a wide berth, as if there was nothing of importance to see, or, they would quickly glance at it and move along. Maybe its sheer size unnerved people, they felt it was too big to interact with, it isn't as "simple" as standing in front of a painting on a wall. Who knows? It was just something that fascinated me.

I had a lovely day out and I think the students did as well, a lot of good ideas for their exam theme of "Similarities & Differences". I just thought I would share a few of my favourite images from the day with you:

Theodore Von Holst, The Fairy Lovers, about 1840
Michael Ayrton, The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1942-3
Henry Fuseli, Titania and Bottom, about 1790
William Blake, The Book of Thel pl. 7, probably 1796
John Linnell, The Last Load, 1853
Cerith Wyn Evans, Chandelier

I picked up these two postcards as my treat. I thought they offered an interesting perspective on "Similarities & Differences", so I am just going to pocket them away as an idea for a student in need:
 

{Self Portrait with Fried Eggs, Sarah Lucas, 1996 (left) Honeymoon Nude, John Currin, 1998 (right)}

Vacations

It is only Monday and I think I need a vacation! What a crazy hazy day this has been!

I am loving my new job, always something different, always moving here and there and I like that. I have been busy designing a few things for the big Art trip happening in a few weeks, so Photoshop and I have been in full swing creating an interactive type guide for the students to use.

I am also finding more and more goodies to photograph for In the Art Cupboard, the pile is growing bigger and bigger so stay tuned...

(Image: Found in Mom's Basement)

Crab Apples

Last night we walked home from work and even though I ended up with a blister the size of Texas, I loved our walk.

The sun was just beginning to set, the air was so crisp and clean and as we passed the park, a gorgeous crab-apple tree stood before us.

Its boughs laden with little yellow and red apples. Some had already fallen from their branch and they stood out so cheerily from the dark green of the dewed grass, others had been munched on by woodland creatures. They were little orbs of swirled autumnal colors laying at our feet.

And they made me smile.

Mid Act

Well, this past week has left me feeling like I have been caught mid-act! I can see the bar I need to grab and I am reaching out for it and going to hold on tight as I swing into week 2.  I have been busy every day tidying, organizing, assisting the department and finding new things to catalogue that I plan to photograph.

One of my faves this week was a something I spied behind the door of a colleagues room. It was a  commissioned piece she created out of an old book for a library. It was beautifully done and the way it was imagined and executed left me feeling like Alice about to tumble down into the "rabbit hole" of this book. This is a work of art that will feature on In the Art Cupboard and she has kindly agreed to let me discuss her work in a blog piece here on Jenny Wren's, which I plan to do in the near future.

The gentle jazz crooning of Nat King Cole's "Your Nobody till Somebody Loves You" is beckoning me into the kitchen to dance with Mr. Michie, while we make dinner and enjoy the last lingering drops of sunshine as evening falls...

P.S. I bought my first Fall item this weekend. A little pumpkin trick-or-treat bucket to put on my desk and fill with candy for my cupboard visitors, I can't wait for October!

("Breathless" by G. Elvgren)

What's for Lunch?

In keeping with my Back-to-School theme and the oilcloth lunch bags I wrote about the other day, I thought I would do a post on the ever important lunch box! This was one of the most crucial decisions made at the beginning of the school year! Which one did you choose?

My sister lives near a wonderful hole-in-the-wall restaurant with sandwiches to die for and it is completely filled with treasures. One of the many is a collection of lunch boxes, one of my favorite being a vintage Mary Poppins tin lunch box, and I know I would have chosen that one if I had it as an option, the pinks and blues in it are so happy.

I used to have a She-Ra lunch box one year, she was just so cool, and I had a plaid tin one with a little matching thermos. Some of my husband's favorites were his Transformers, Star Wars and the most important of all a He-Man Master of the Universe lunch box, even then we were meant to be together, me with She-Ra & him with He-Man.

I love the old tin boxes they are so much nicer than the plastic ones today, and so much more durable! I think your lunch just tasted better out of the box, especially if it included a smiley face note from your Mom, and an oatmeal cream pie like mine would!

I could have used one of my Mom's notes today, it has been a long week, but I got something better; a wonderful Back-to-School package from her that was a treasure trove of delights! Did you have a favorite lunch box?

*The image of the 3 women is a Flickr picture found on dlundbech's Flickr page, the woman in the middle is Ana Grimshaw and this photo was taken around 1900 in Vermont. I have no idea who Ana Grimshaw is, but she was beautiful, vivacious, and has breathtaking Anne of Green Gables Gibson Girl hair. She looks like a hell of a gal to have a picnic with!

(All images found on Flickr)

Back To School

Tomorrow is my first full week at school. I jumped in last week and now I am just swimming around, not sticking too close to the edge, I have thrown myself into the deep end and I am just fine, for the moment anyway.

I have plans this week to do more cleaning in the cupboard, just taking it a section at a time. In going through a pile on Thursday (it cascaded down when I went to reach for something above) I discovered some treasures from China. There were little paintings, bought in a market, a box of two shadow puppets and a few packets of tissue paper wrapped intricately designed paper cut-outs including circus figures, the New Year's animals and a selection of Oriental women.

I cleaned the other half of my "hallway", so now there is an easy path inside, with no tripping, twisting, or contorting to get through into the main part of the cupboard. So, tomorrow I will be donning my green apron, rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work!

In celebration of going back to school I will be doing a small series this week of "Back-to-School" posts, so keep a look out for ideas and projects that I will feature here!

I Jumped

Well, I jumped! And, the water was just fine!

Today was very busy, with a major learning curve I had to quickly climb up! My day was spent in and out of meetings, I worked in my cupboard in between, unpacking supplies. I love the smell of pastels and charcoal and inks. It was a treat to open those boxes, the first person to touch the beloved Art supplies before they become a muddled rainbow of used things.

There is much more to learn, but that will come in time, I know. For it wouldn't be an Adventure if you already knew the journey at the start! As Anne with an "E" says:

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?"  -L.M. Montgomery

The best part of my day was the end. I was picked up by Mr. Michie and arm in arm he walked me to the bus stop and then home we went! I felt just like Anne of Green Gables with her Gilbert Blythe.

Jumping Right In

Tomorrow is my first day of school! I am so excited, nervous, happy, sick to my stomach! I love school and I hate school. I know I am going there in a working capacity, but I feel as if I will be walking through those doors like any other student, the new kid(s) on the block.

Believe it or not, I am a very shy person and meeting new people and being in new situations give me butterflies. Even the thought of being introduced to my peers at Assembly on Wednesday morning has my stomach churning and my cheeks flaming red, for all of the 10 seconds it will take to occur. But, you would never know it from looking at me.

My parents have always taught my sister and I how to behave, we were never allowed to hide behind them and not speak to people; making eye contact, a nice handshake, they have a gift for putting people at ease, my parents and they instilled good manners in us.

So come tomorrow morning, I am going to make eye contact, shake hands, hold my head high and no one will never know that a three ring circus is going on inside my tummy. I'm holding my nose, here I go... I'm jumping right in!

School's Out!

School is out for Summer! Wooo-Hooo!

I am so excited, that means the occasional morning sleeping in with Mr. Michie, eating lunch together, running errands together before I head to work, dinner at a more normal hour. I love when he is off from school and we can spend time with each other.

Next school year, I will be going to school too,  so we will have the same holidays off, to just sit and stare at each other over the tops of our computers, like a couple of nerds.

Mr. Michie is a very cute nerd though!

(Image found on polkadotandplaid's Flickr account)

A Cozy Nook

Well, Mr. Sunshine has gone away for awhile, it looks like he will be on vacation all week by the weather reports, so the rain is here to stay.  When it is raining like this, I want nothing more than to curl up on the couch with a good book!

This image looked like a cozy nook to curl up in and just read the day away. You can see the window from the bed, which I like because I stop reading and just day dream on rainy days like this and if you got too cold you could drag the rocker over to that adorable stove.

And on a day like today as Summer begins to fully blossom (even in the rain) I would be reading an old favorite, "Anne of Green Gables". I wanted to be like Anne when I was growing up, I had quite the imagination, so it wasn't a far stretch to pretend I was Anne Shirley who lived on the second floor of Green Gables with a window that overlooked the pastures, with my best friend and kindred spirit Diana Berry living just a short cut through the fields.

Like Anne, I too am moving on to new adventures, I am going to be working in a school this coming fall. I will get to put my degree to good use working in the Art Department of a local school and I am so excited and nervous and looking forward to this next bend in the road. It isn't as quaint as Anne's one room school house in Avonlea, but I will have my own nook to make cozy and I can't wait!

"When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla."

❈ Anne of Green Gables 

(Image of "A Cozy Nook" found at: Gypsie, image of "Anne" copyright Sullivan Entertainment, "A Cozy Nook", embellished with tape from a freebie by: The Pugly Pixel)

Heart Day Countdown

There are only 13 more days to go until Valentine's! YIPPEE! I love celebrating Valentine's, especially the fun of it when you were little. We made shoebox "mailboxes" and got to decorate them in our classroom. Covering them with Valentine's colored construction paper and hearts and glitter...

My mom would take us shopping and we got to pick out what box of Valentine's we wanted to give. One year I picked a box of retro Valentine's cards to give away. The box was filled with cute cowboys, puppies, girls cooking in the kitchen. I loved the designs. Maybe that really started my love of vintage, I don't know? But, I have always collected vintage postcards and I have a nice collection of Valentine's & Christmas ones I dot around the house.

I would work hard one evening writing out my little cards for my classmates and then we had a morning where we all walked around and deposited them in the owner's mailbox.

Oh! the anticipation of pulling open the wee door to see what awaited us inside. Some people would have cards that held heart shaped lollipops and I savored it as I worked at my little desk, legs swinging underneath.  Sucking away until all the white writing came off... Or, I would be munching away on a little box of love hearts, reading the messages on top (because those are the rules) before I popped them in my mouth!

Two Crazy Crafters have been doing a really nice job of putting up all kinds of vintage Valentine's images and they have a list of projects to create with them as well. So, if you are looking for a little vintage Valentine inspiration, check them out.

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

Hope everyone is having a Happy Saint Nicholas Day on this second Sunday of Advent. The little surprise in my shoe is that I am being taken out for Brunch!

I loved being little at this time of year! At my school we would put our shoes out into the hallway and then try to sit as patiently as we could in our desks waiting to see if St. Nicholas would come.

There would be a rustle outside and you could just catch a glimpse of a staff and a mitre going past the little window cut in the door. We would rush outside to see a glint of a red cape as he rounded the corner and disappeared.

Inside our shoes was a little candy cane, an orange and a plastic snow globe; usually with a little Christmas scene. I savored that little candy cane when I ate it, swinging my shoeless feet off of my school chair and shaking my little snow globe as I made it snow for the miniature village inside. Oh to be little again!