Tales from Studio Mailbox

Studio Mailbox Photo Tour

Herzlich Wilkommen! You've just entered blogging airspace hidden in the vineyards outside of Wuerzburg, Germany. 

Come on in. 

But if you ever show up in person, please don't expect the studio to actually look like this.  It's all a lie.  I threw in the dead fly from the windowsill just to keep myself honest.  

Yet things have come a long way...(here's what the room looked like before). There was tons of sorting.  Lots of whitewashing and collaging,  organizing and reorganizing and then there was that whole misunderstanding when I thought I was buying a 3' foot shelf and instead a 3 meter unit arrived from an old German mercantile.  I should've contacted "Studios" then.  Oopsie.

The neighbors in my village know I'm something special, and I just reinforced it by balancing on my child's swing set in order to try get some full size shots of the workspace for you, peeping into my own windows from outside the house!

While visiting, if you'd like to read a funny post, try this one.  If you need something to ponder throughout your day, maybe this will stick in your head.  If you're looking for the most recent thing I've actually sewn it's here.  Don't forget to leave a comment for the ATC give-away while you're at it and if you like German stuff, then just start snooping -- it's all around!! 

 
 

 

TJ on MJ

I was in London when the King of Pop died.  I was grateful to be in a place where the news was being covered in English.  A memorial banner of sorts was spread out on the ground near Embankment, and some less than kind words were being scrawled on it.  (I liked the masked bandit sketch here but don't know what the message is written across the mask.  Anybody?) 

This post isn't for opening a discussion about Michael Jackson's moral character.  However I would like to take this opportunity to suggest the possibility of assuming the best about him.  I'm sad that we live in a world where not only do we often assume the WORST of people, we actually like doing it. 

In a strictly creative sense, MJ was an amazing artist.  So today while his funeral service takes place, I just want to think back to when I cried my eyes out on my bus ride to school when I heard his hair had caught  fire while filming his Pepsi commercial.  I always loved his hair, especially the old photos of him as a child that have his afro backlit which made it glow.  At one time he was just an ordinary little boy with extraordinary talent. Maybe we should all wear a sparkly glove on one hand today, even if it's only for a few minutes and nobody sees...

#13 on Friday the 13th

I have been busy putting together a "scrapbook" style album for my hubby, whose dear #13 hockey jersey is being retired from the ice on Friday the 13th.  This has been a tricky project because I've had to dig through years of accumulated newspaper clippings, programs, photos, player passes, player cards, etc.  and then had to frantically put the project away when I suspected he was coming home.

As much as the sport has given me countless hours of worry with the injuries and overall brutality that I've never approved of, I'll probably be the biggest baby in the crowd bawling for him when the horn blows and his last 60 minutes are up.  I love you #13!!

Trail Mail

I wonder if I'm the only person in all of Germany who has received an envelope that was recently carried by sled dog!

These very special letters, also called "trail mail" are handled by sled dog mushers who are sworn in as honorary US Postal letter carriers at the opening of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Race, complete with commemorative seal!  This is like a winter time Pony Express!

Steve, Tasha and your beloved puppies...thank you so much for the wonderful postal surprise!  You've made me very homesick for beautiful Minnesota... big kisses and hugs to your Dawgs and their magnificent Puppy Power...!!  xoxoxo 

iLove iHanna

If I was trapped on a deserted island and had to choose only one blog to visit, I think I would choose iHanna's blog: Create and Live Happy. 

I daydream of someday bumping into her...

"Hanna??" I exclaim.  "Is it really you?  I visit your blog all the time!  What are you doing in Germany??"

"TJ??" she replies.  "How crazy to bump into you.  Where's the nearest pretzel??" 

Every time I visit her blog I am inspired.  More importantly I am grateful for the time and energy and gorgeous photography she shares with her readers. 

Her directions for paper piecing a patchwork ball were my first introduction to the craft that I actually understood.  People had talked about it before, but I didn't "get it."  Hanna put together a tutorial of not only excellent instructions and photos, but chose a project that's manageable.

Of course one of my balls is waiting for me to translate the world for "stuffing" into German and find out where you can buy it.  The second ball is still laying in pieces because I learned a few mistakes from my first one:

• Mistake #1:  I used upholstery weight fabrics that were much too heavy for a beginner.  I struggled especially at the corners trying to get through multiple layers while stitching by hand.

• Mistake #2:  I used too big of a needle to make my temporary stitches through the pieces and paper (because of the heavy weight fabric, I used a bigger needle not realizing the consequences).  It left noticeable holes after the temporary stitching was pulled out.

In any case, Hanna has been a big creative encouragement in my life here.  I wished she lived in Germany!  But who knows...?  Maybe she will be in Deutschland someday and my dream encounter will come true!!

Visit Hanna's etsy shop for her cool collage packs here, or read about her collage pack giveaway here!  Not to mention, if any of you are dying to buy me a Christmas present, please get me one of her awesome notebooks !!

Mens in Uitvoering

My friend Guus Stoop is embarking on a new life adventure.  After 27 years contributing to the advancement of human life as a research and development scientist for heart pacemakers, he's stepping out into the world on his own two feet.  His new business; Mens In Uitvoering.

Years ago when we first met, I remember teasing him how great it was that he could make a failing heart function again but that it would be better if he could figure out how to fix a broken heart.

It would change the world!

This man with "about" 25 patents went back to school and graduated this spring with a psychology degree.  (Guus doesn't know exactly how many patents he has or contributed to.  I guess after a couple dozen a guy just loses track).  Anyway, now he's ready.  Ready to bring the physical and emotional together. 

His deep interest: Ubuntu philosophy.  His motto, a quote from Baruch Shalem, "There's nothing wrong with you that what's right wtih you can't fix."  

For his scientific retirement gift, I intuitively created a set of 36 power-word shrines. I know he will know what to do with them. 

 

 

Patti Digh Interview

Now, what we've been all excited about here at Studio Mailbox: 

Patti Digh, author of Life is a Verb, 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally has kindly agreed to answer a few questions about bloggin, the Germans and of course her new book!!   

 

 

Patti, your book is gorgeous.  You've got some great stories that are wonderfully written.  I love when I laugh on one page and then have my eyeballs brimming over with dripping tears onto the next.  In the Movement challenge at the end of "Always Rent the Red Convertible" you suggest slipping extra arty surprises into bill payments.  I was like, check...it... out..! Patti' Digh's a guerrilla mail artist!!  How long have you been doing this and do you ever receive surprise mail art in return?

First of all, I love, love, love to get real mail in my little mailbox at the Post Office. It’s like a significant little party every time that happens. Woo hoo! So I figured that the man or woman who sits at my electricity or water or phone company might enjoy a little treat every once in a while, too. So far, I haven’t gotten any love notes from them, but maybe life isn’t about the other person’s response, but about your own action. So I keep slipping a sticker or drawing in and hope the universe is receiving it with a smile! What’s important is how it makes me feel, not the unknown reaction of the other.

Buy Lots of Yarn

Rachel Dunn sent me the sweetest gift for my son this last spring, but it arrived right as we were moving and unfortunately right before another hospitalization which he had to endure.  This girl hand knit a soft, fluffy little hat.  So as the weather's getting cold again and it just so happens to be Rachel's birthday coming up... I figured it was a good time to acknowledge this master behind the needles and ask her a couple questions especially since I'm trying to be a bit of a knitter myself.  (Just the permission I needed to go shopping...)

 

Rachel, what advice would you give to other young people who want to try and learn how to knit?

Hmm...It might be hard at first, but if you keep trying you can be able to make clothes.  And also buy lots and lots and lots of yarn.

 

What other arty adventures are you aiming to master now that you're almost 13?

Uh... Let's see... hmm......  Paper mache?  Glass etching... and maybe paper making.

Post from Picasso

It's been a nice summer.  The visit of my stepson has just ended, and it's always awfully quiet around here when this happens... (sort of like how your ears ring after a rock concert).  We spent a lot of time in our Moleskins, although constantly interrupted by Captain Demando (the little man of the house).  In the middle of trying to clean up after breakfast and get dressed, the doorbell rang.  And there, on the stoop of the house was a magnificent note...  my goodness!  Imagine my suprise.  And from Picasso himself!  On the backside was the nicest drawing; a suggestion for my blog and website. 

Who knew the old master was even a reader of the Studio Mailbox blog?  I'm humbled.