Crown Jewel

A really lovely Christmas tradition. It's to the point now where my family typically doesn't make these anymore (our tree is pretty full), but I really can't wait to have my own living room and my own little Christmas tree someday and spend a couple nights making these with friends.

First embroidery!

This was my very first attempt at embroidery way back when. It's supposed to be a johnny jump-up, which is my favorite type of flower, but the colors are a bit off; I'm still having a bit of trouble with that part of embroidery! Eventually I turned this into a Christmas present; a pillow for Peter's mom!

Santa Fe Dreaming...

Santa Fe, New Mexico, has always held a very special place in my heart. It comes of having spent a relatively large amount of time there when I was very young and not as much as an adult. My great-grandparents lived there in the twilight of their lives, and we used to visit every few years. The memories I have aren't really memories...more impressions of color and texture and tastes. Bright turquoise, brilliant burnt reds and yellows, dust and sand and adobe, turquoise, sticky sweet syrup poured over fresh sopapillas.

Portrait of a Lady

As a present for my dad last Christmas, my sister and I decided to collaborate on a portrait project, where we'd watercolor portraits of one another! We got our friend Andrew to do the photos, which led to some considerable silliness:

A Boy's Best Friend is His...Dog?

Here's the scenario: Christmas is approaching (okay, fine, it was September, but Christmas was still approaching). You're dating a wonderful young man. You're spending Christmas with his family in Wyoming. You want to give him something meaningful, unique. What do you do? Give him a beer hat? Another University of Oregon sweatshirt (go Ducks)? A certificate of appreciation? No. The trick is to make him a picture of the one thing he might like even more than you: his dogs.