have you started your holiday shopping?

I am participating in a few holiday sales this year and would love for you to come!  If you live in the tri-state area check out the following...

On Saturday, November 26th from 10 am - 4 pm 

I will be in at the Brewster Elks Lodge in Brewster, NY....

I also heard Santa will be too!

From December 3rd - 18th the Putnam Arts Council will be holding their

 Annual Holiday Craft, Art, Gift & Gourmet Sale.  

This is the 3rd year I am participating and I am super excited!

Why not think about buying handmade this year and supporting local artisans.

If you can't make it to one of these sales...you can always check out my website at

www.angeldogdesigns.etsy.com

In the spirit of giving...my gift to my loyal blog readers is a 10% discount!

 Just use the code BLOG2011 when you check out.

Offer expires Dec 10, 2011.

enjoy ♥

spring green

I'll be honest with you, spring is not my favorite season.  I enjoy it because it takes us out of the bitter cold of winter, but in New York, it is all too often a very damp and chilly season in itself.  Right now, it is particularly rainy...those April showers just keep on giving and giving.  Late this afternoon there was a break in the showers and I took a nice walk around my yard.  I do love seeing all the new growth that is popping up and discovering all the flowers I forgot were even there.  I had my i-phone in my pocket so I took some shots with the app I am most recently obsessed with, Hipstamatic.  You can see some photos from my trip to DC that I took with the app last month by checking out the post spring sculpture series.  The walk really made me appreciate all the rain...without it the flowers would not have had a chance to poke up out of the ground, the trees wouldn't be blooming and everything around me would not be that lush, spring green.  I couldn't help but smile as I took these photos, so I decided to share them with you so you could hopefully have a smile too :)

looking up at the lilac tree...the smell is incredible

bleeding hearts

dogwood bloom...the tree is near the end of blooming but is still one of my favorites

our fern garden

peonies...look close and you can see the ants helping the blossom open

lilly of the valley...smell is just so sweet

my husband's bamboo...started with one clump, now has spread along the wall

stairs to a cottage covered with moss and grasses

Seeing these stairs reminded me of a book I had just read to classes when I was substitute teaching in the library.  The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown, is about how flowers and a garden can survive in an old, rundown city.  The author was inspired by the High Line, which is an abandoned, above ground railway in NYC that has since been turned into a public garden and park.  The children loved hearing the book and we had a great discussion after about how nature can grow and take over abandoned buildings, sidewalks, stonewalls, etc.  The students even have a community garden at their school that used to be an old tennis court...how appropriate!  Oh, and if you ever get a chance to visit NYC... put the High Line on your list of places to visit, it is a must see for sure!

What do you have growing and blooming in your yard?

acorn harvest

So I have been working on a month long freelance tv styling job.  It has been fun, different, and is a lot of intense work...it's also been nice to be back around the tv world again.   This weekend however, I took a little break and had some time to relax.  On Sunday morning Tom, (my husband), and I went walking in one of our favorite places, which we happen to live right down the street from, The Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.  The reservation is part of the Westchester County Parks, and is over 4000 acres of beautifully preserved land.  When I woke up on Saturday, I noticed how all the leaves had really changed. Almost overnight it seemed like autumn arrived!   As we started into the reservation, it wasn't the only the leaves we were noticing, but below out feet and as far as we could see, the ground was covered with acorns!  It was as if someone layed down a lovely carpet of fresh acorns for us to walk on.  Now I don't know if you remember, but only 2 years ago, there was an actual acorn shortage in the East Coast; so the the abundance this year is pretty amazing and quite satisfying to see!  I loved looking at all the different species of acorns.  We also collected many that were in good shape and of proper size to use for my felted jewelry and holiday ornaments.  When I returned home, I placed the acorns we collected out on my front porch in a basket to dry.  Later that afternoon I noticed a "friend" stop by to inspect my bounty!  I suppose he was as excited as I was by the fruits of the season :)

maps of the park are available and trails are well marked

this was my favorite acorn...i thought it looked like a cute house

perfect caps for crafting!

even acorns change colors...who knew?

caught in the act!

standing in one place

sitting...

During my recent vacation to the Adirondacks I sat on the same rock for quite some time enjoying the clean air, sounds of the running river, and really, just doing nothing.  I decided to take some pictures from that rock, all different views and angles, but from standing in just one place while I looked around to fill my camera lens with goodness. 

and then standing...

and waiting for tom to emerge from his swim...

have a wonderful week!

getting a natural citrus, strawberry & raspberry slush from kelvin natural slush co.

I hope you had a lovely weekend.  I will fill you in more on mine later, but for now I am busy making a list of all I need to this week.  A few inspiring posts from the web... may they inspire you too!

Top ten art shows to see in NY this summer.

Make your own raspberry slushie from smitten kitchen!

I "heart" weddings...and this french country wedding posted on design sponge is super sweet!

Personalized oilcloth lunch bags on etsy...perfect for back-to-school!

Creativity Matters...catching up with RISD President John Maeda and the RISD blog.

US House of Representatives designates 2nd week in September "Arts in Education Week".

xoxo

hello rain

It has been very hot, humid, and dry here in NY; so a little rain over the past 2 days has been welcomed by most.  The students in class today took advantage of the rain for a new and different shooting opportunity.  They inspired me to get out my new digital camera when I got home and take some shots in the rain as well.

Tom planted this bamboo 2 years ago...it has taken over & in another year I will be able to cut stalks for bamboo brush painting lessons!