Something Shiny

When I was a high school art student, I had a teacher who hated watercolors.  This didn't particularly occur to me at the time, but looking back on it, I can recall working in watercolors only as a curriculum requirement fulfillment--maybe once a year for four years.  The rest of the time was spent on charcoal, collage, oil (until a government decree announced that it be eradicated from the classroom as a hazard) and of course, my absolute least personal favorite...acrylics.  My teacher LOVED acrylics.  Easy to mix, easy to clean up, lightning fast drying and cheap--it was the ultimate medium for an 84 minute double class period.  She also seemed to like working "up" as in on an easel--something you simply cannot do with watercolors.  As a result, I never got particularly good at watercolors and the whole idea fell off my radar completely until just a few years ago.  I forget how this happened exactly, but I was working on a project that required painting and I decided to do a watercolor.  Not having any paper in my stash, I went to my local mom and pop art supply store to pick up a block and all they had was Arches Cold Press paper, so I bought a small one without looking at the price.

When I went to pay for it, I nearly fainted.  How much???  For TWENTY SHEETS OF PAPER???  The lady who owns the store just looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Have you ever used this before?"  Um, no (in my head: All I've ever used is the free acid filled crap from high school and since it's all turned yellow, I didn't want to use it).  She promised me that I wouldn't regret the purchase and holy crap was she right!  As I ran my brush over the paper, the color seemed to jump off the page--I was in a state of artistic nirvana and I haven't looked back.  It was a true aha moment.  Since then, I've noticed that every single serious artist I know swears by this product, so it appears I am very late to the party.  Oh well, better late than never.  I wonder if good 'ol Mrs. Henning ever tried Arches...

I've since found that Dick Blick is the best place to buy it if you don't want to have to get a home equity loan to buy paper.  It's always 43% off list price.  Actually, everything is cheaper at Dick Blick.  I'm lucky enough to have one in Philadelphia, but you can always buy online.

Anyway, one of the things I have always liked to paint are things with a lot of reflective surfaces.  It's one of those things that seems like it should be really hard, but isn't as long as you are able to really see what you're painting--you simply paint what you see as opposed to what you think it should look like.

I recently completed this piece, which was so much fun--I mean, what could be more reflective than mary janes?  I just listed it in my Etsy store here--the perfect thing as a shower or new baby gift or for a special little girl who loves party shoes.

~ESM

The Side Project

I've tried to show each step of the renovation as it happened--I'm not sure why, it just seemed like the logical thing to do.  Well, that's a bit easier said than done, since we were in the process of some of the steps for a REALLY (homeowners slacking) long time.  Some of them took over a year--not because they were particularly hard or expensive, but because we were doing it ourselves and don't have a lot of free time.  Anyhoo, we decided to have a contractor fix trim and drywall issues in the three spare bedrooms, which deserves its own post, but in the meantime, I got impatient and starting messing about with the living and dining rooms myself.  They were blissfully free of true decor tragedy and had refinished floors so all they both really needed was paint.  I'm showing the following before photos not to demonstrate that the prior owners were slobs (they were in the process of packing to move--we've all been there, so they get a pass for the mess), this is merely to give you an idea of how things looked before I tackled the walls, etc.

As you can see, in the living room we have what is really neat crown molding with a lot of intricate detail.  I like it.  Actually, I really like it, but what I don't like is the fact that the installer (two owners ago), used knotty wood.  I would prefer to paint it white, but have you ever tried to paint knotty wood?  If someone has devised a way to do this and NOT have the knots show through the white paint, I'm all ears.  Until then, we'll be living with the more rustic than I would like look.  What needed to leave were the window treatments (they were raw pieces of fabric held together with scotch tape--really) and the sponge and plastic bag paint treatment.  Now, I know that there are people in the world who think these sort of paint treatments are the cat's meow.  I'm not one of them.  We'll just leave it at that.  This fireplace is also a constant source of contention between LAM and myself.  I love it.  He hates it.  I'll admit that in this picture it looks pretty bad, but it's solid stone (and the stone goes right through the house into the chimney, front of the house bottom half of the exterior.  I love it.  The grate is a wrought iron piece that LAM thinks looks "medieval", but I think it's just plain nifty.  You be the judge.  Anyway, the top of the mantle isn't great, but could be with some trim.  Easy-peasy.  Ok, so here's a shot of the other side:

About that furniture placement...um, ok, well, let me preface this by saying that this room is BIG.  Like, much bigger than it needs to be and this poses something of a decorating challenge that requires some (although not much) thinking outside the box.  Also, by nature of being a formal living room--who actually uses those anymore, we kept thinking that the space would be better served for something else.  My vote was for a big air hockey table, while LAM voted for a big beautiful black glossy grand piano.  I'll admit that my idea was just silly (although I do love to play) and LAM's idea, while very cool is a little impractical since neither of us play the piano--it would be a giant, very expensive decoration.  We lived with the room as it was it for a while with some furniture from our old house and it came to be known as "Zoe's room" since her favorite pastime is sitting on the couch watching out the two big windows on either side of the fireplace.  LAM answered the big question of what to really use this room for by buying me a glass drafting table for Christmas last year.  We didn't really have anywhere logical to set it up, so the living room became my studio--sort of.  I have to say, it was the perfect solution.  I love the light that comes in the windows and while it's maybe not the most "normal" use of the space, I have come to really enjoy being in the room working on projects.  Also, it's a great place to escape when LAM is watching old NCIS re-runs for the bazillionth time.

Here's how it came together with some fresh paint, window treatments, etc.:

As you can see, Zoe still thinks of this as "her" room and refused to budge for the photo.  S'ok.

This coffee table/storage bench is the best and was an absolute triumph.  I found this on Overstock.com, which if you haven't figured out yet, is the best home decor secret out there.  This exact same piece (not one that looks like it) was recently shown in Restoration Hardware's "Small Spaces" catalog--for more than double the price.  The baskets and lanterns are all from Target's Smith and Hawken line.  I'm still in mourning over the loss of the real Smith and Hawken, so I console myself with the Target stuff.  The baskets are great and super affordable.

This chair is a perfect example of how tastes change over time.  We bought this about ten years ago to furnish our house together when I was still into the whole Waverly/Laura Ashley look.  I still like the gingham back, but the floral is, um,  not my taste.  Since no one ever sits in it, it's pristine and I can't justify getting rid of it.  Sometimes I like it and other times it drives me crazy.  Weird.

I really like this piece and it's a great place to stash photo albums and cd's.  The bunny on top of the book stack was another Philadlephia Flower Show find.  Morihata is the home of the Yoshi towel, which are my very favorite kitchen dish towels.  I know, a really odd thing to pick up at a flower show, but they had a booth.  They are like the ones that Serena and Lily carries, but these are made in Japan.  They are the bees knees for drying wine glasses--super soft and water wicking--plus, they look cool.  What does this have to do with wooden jointed rabbits, you ask?  Not a thing--they just happened to have this little guy in their booth and I fell in love with him.  I kind of have a thing for rabbits.  If you are paying attention and looking around my house, you will find them sprinkled around.  One rule: they cannot be even remotely cutesy.  This guy sits on a stack of books like he owns the place.  I think he's awesome.

This brings me to the dining room, which suffered from the same affliction as the living room--bad paint, knotty trim, bad window treatments and a really, well...wrong chandelier.  Again, the mess was moving related and so...

Oh, wait, I forgot about the border.  Hang onto your hat, 'cause here comes the other side...

I know, the picture is awful (like that's the worst thing going on here).  LAM took it with a crummy camera.

  And this is the end result:

Eventually, this room will be re-worked but for now it functions well.  I usually change the styling in the built-in and on the window (notice the flying bunny weather vane) with the seasons.  Right now it's sort of in limbo and the emphasis is on other rooms.  The chandelier was an inexpensive hey, this will work replacement, which will be replaced again, just as soon as I decide what to do.  Right now, I'm leaning towards a lantern type dining light.  I like this one from Cape Cod Lantern Co.:

I'm not sure about the finish.  I like the brass, but not sure it works so well in the space with all the warm colored wood.  I'd also like to do a slip-covered chair on each end just to break up all of the BROWN going on in the room ala Restoration Hardware:

I think one on each end at the heads of the table is just the thing and then we have two chairs left over for extra seating.  Unfortunately, LAM hates the idea, so I'll have to change my tactics--maybe play subliminal messages while he's asleep.  Also considering the following Overstock rug as a replacement for the heavy red one:

I have this in my little dressing area and absolutely LOVE it.  It can be found here at FABULOUS prices in every size, but one caveat--it really looks nothing like this in person.  The background is really beige as opposed to gold or yellow tones.  Whenever buying rugs on Overstock, always read the reviews because their photos are NOT color accurate!

~ESM

The Hall Bath

I'm going to ask you all the brace yourselves for the following "before" photo.  It's bad.  Like after you see it, you won't be able to un-see it.  Small children and people with delicate decorating constitutions should use caution.  This WAS the hall bath:

This bathroom had everything the early 70's had to offer: faux marble laminate vanity top, chipped sink, cheap replacement fixtures, multicolored speckle tile and wet-bed floor.  As a bonus, all of the blue fixtures had faded over the years at different rates so none of them were the same color.  This is the bathroom that had the great tub-overflow, so the good news was that the wet bed floor tiles were easy to pull up.  They actually popped up like popcorn.  Unfortunately for our budget, this room was pulled back to the studs since we were replacing everything, we just tore the whole thing out--it was easier.

Since this was to be the only bathtub in the house, we decided it should be good and ordered a slightly over sized jetted tub.  It was a more complicated endeavor than I thought it would be since it involved having the reinforce the floor and electrical wiring to the motor.  It was worth it.

We chose a vintage design for the tub, a nice neutral marble floor that was an off the shelf product at Lowe's and Kohler fixtures.  The stained wood trim around the floor molding was an LAM creation after something he saw in a Four Season's hotel we stayed at in Hawaii.  When he told me about the idea, it seemed simple enough, but installing it was really difficult, so we probably wouldn't do it again, but we think it looks neat.

We chose a basic white subway tile for the wall (I love, love, love subway tile--clean and classic) and some other decorative pieces I played around with until I got a pattern that I liked.  It's surprising what you can put together with off the shelf pieces from a big box store.

This is the finished product.  We did the same moldings around the window and I re-used the seafoam trim color--it looks great with white walls and the same low flush toilet as the other bathroom (it matches the tub).  When we chose the vanity, we ended up with a compromise because the plumbing comes straight up out of the floor and we didn't want to have to move it, so the pedestal sink that I wanted was out.  This was the next best thing and does provide some storage--the drawer on the bottom actually functions and is a great place to stash extra rolls of toilet paper, etc.  All in all, we're super happy with the way this one turned out and the blue mess is a distant memory!

~ESM

Our Next Stop

I'm going to start this post off with a gratuitous shot of Zoe and Nick patiently waiting on their mat to have feet wiped.  In case anyone is wondering, the "on the mat" command is possibly the easiest thing on earth to train and an absolute lifesaver when you have mud--which we seem to have a lot and when you were dumb enough to paint your mud room white, but I digress...

So, onward with our tour.  The next adventure was having our hardwood floors refinished and this came about next for a couple of reasons: 1. We still hadn't moved all of our furniture from the old house, so the house was mostly empty, and 2. because we were going to be away for a couple days and wouldn't have to deal with the dust/fumes.  Having the floors re-done involved removing the runner from the stairs, which I was only too happy to do, but then presented the problem of bare wood stairs.  Since not replacing the carpet right away could mean only broken bones for the dogs and possibly us and at the very least terrible scratching on the pretty new finish, we installed a new runner.  Here's a shot of the old runner:

This photo actually makes me shudder.  If you look carefully, you will notice that the "runner" is actually four low-quality utility room rubber backed mats stapled to the floor with a staple gun.  If you look at the wall going up the stairs, you will see where wallpaper was painted over and higher up where one of the kids let the bathtub overflow and the resulting water damage to the ceiling.

Here is the end result with refinished floors, new runner and drywall removed and re-installed.  Why did we need to remove drywall, you ask?  Well, when the house was built, at the bottom of the stairs to the left of this photo, there was a doorway into the family room.  The prior owners decided they didn't want it there anymore so they closed it off.  Unfortunately, their method involved nailing up a piece of drywall and just painting over it without the pesky task of using tape and joint compound--or bothering to get it straight.  It looked bad enough that I couldn't bear to photograph it.  This is what the bottom of the stairs looks like now, although this part of the project came along a little later:

We replaced all of the molding around the door (I would love to replace the door since it looks exactly like every other front door in our neighborhood, but for now it stays).  The tile was something we actually liked and it continues into the kitchen, so replacing it would be a pretty serious project.  Here is a shot of the "before" hallway:

And the hallway now:

The print in the hallway is a Michelle Masters piece called "Perfect Pear", which shows to rabbits trimming a topiary into a pear shape.  It's kind of like me and LAM working on all our home projects.  It can be seen here.  I met Michelle at the Philadelphia Flower Show and her booth is always the cutest one there!

~ESM

Onward HO!

The next stop on our locust tour of destruction is the downstairs bathroom/dog washing station.  I realize it's a little weird to have the "After" photo first in the lineup, but I couldn't bear to make you look at the "Before" first thing, so here it is:

As you can see, we left the vanity/sinktop, which wasn't too bad.  Contractor grade, but functional and in good condition--I actually liked the faucet.  The toilet was a 1971 original and used about 10 gallons of water with each flush, so we went for the more attractive Kohler model as well as changing out the drawer pulls, medicine cabinet, over the sink light, window treatments and window moldings and ditched the wallpaper for plain white walls.  For reasons known only to them, the prior owners installed a really nice solid wood door and didn't bother to stain or finish it.  LAM went to town with the polyurethane and I think the end result is quite handsome.  The new trim is a nice seafoam color as seen in more detail here:

Next on the list for this room is a new floor since the old one wasn't prepared properly and the grout is a mess--also white tiles in a high traffic room with a black dog is a disaster.  I vacuum up dog hair every.single.day.  As I've mentioned before, the shower is a walk-in with doors so when bathing a dog, I just walk them in and basically give them a "shower" with the handset.  They "shake" and then I open the door and we're done--no mess and the dog didn't escape.  The doors are not the most attractive thing on the planet, but they work.  My guys have even come to enjoy bath time and that's priceless!

~ESM

The Locust Effect

Almost exactly eight years ago, LAM and I bought a house.  We sat down, signed papers, handed over a large pile of money, got a coupon book so we could hand over more money and were given a key.  A key that didn't happen to open the door to our new house.  After we left the settlement table, LAM went back to the office and Zoe and I headed out to the new house to check things out.  As I stood on the front porch trying to figure out why the key didn't work and what I could possibly be doing wrong, I stared at the daisies.  They were EVERYWHERE.  Unfortunately, so was a lot of other stuff I didn't want (see mini farming going on above), but since daisies are my very favorite flower (because they are the friendliest flower), there was something about this house that we just couldn't pass up.  That, and it had a mud room with a full bath right next to it with shower doors that close.  Trust me on this--you know all those nifty pictures you see on Pinterest of "dog washing stations"?  It is clear to me that the people who design these things either don't have dogs, or have never tried to wash one.  You have to contain the chaos.  A Walk-in full length shower with glass doors that close is the ONLY way to go unless you want the entire room to get wet.  It was perfect.  Sadly, as I stated earlier, the rest of the house was not.  In fact, it was so not perfect that once I got a locksmith out, called the seller's realtor to come bring me a copy of the settlement sheet so I could prove that I OWNED the house (the locksmith wouldn't open the door because my driver's license not only had another address on it, but was from another state).  Why on earth a 5'1" woman with a border collie would be trying to rob a clearly EMPTY house is beyond me, but we got past it, the door was unlocked (all of the other keys and garage door openers that actually went to the house were sitting on the counter) and I looked around and surveyed my new landscape.  And hated absolutely everything about it.

You might think this sounds crazy, but this house was the epitome of the concept of "good bones" and "atrocious home repair/decorating".  It had great space, an open layout, hardwood floors throughout, two stone fireplaces and the already mentioned mud room.  There was only one thing to do and that was what we came to call "The Locust Effect".  That is, we started at one end of the house and just started tearing everything out and starting over and by starting over, I mean drywall and everything.  Most rooms were bad enough that they needed to be pulled back to the studs.  Let me show you what I mean.

This is a photo of one side of the mud room BEFORE we tore everything out.  This is NOT my mess, but the mess of the prior owners.  If you can look past the clutter, you can see that there was absolutely no thought or talent involved in putting this together.  The shelves aren't even straight.

This is the same side of the room once I finished with it.  This was the first room that we worked on, and we are in the process of re-working it.  We switched out the overhead middle of the room florescent light with this one, which was a Home Depot steal:

The Hampton Bay Oxnard light has been raved about by various decorators and I must say it looks pretty sharp.  The pendant lights are IKEA Ottava lights--beyond a steal at $29/piece.  For me, the jury is still out on the stenciling--not sure if it's a little too 80's/90's, but it kind of adds something to the plain walls.  The wall color is Olympia "Honeymilk" from Lowe's and it couldn't be more perfect.  It's nice and crisp, yet still soft.

Here is another BEFORE shot of the other side of the room.  I'm pretty sure the cabinets and shelves were trash picked by the prior owners--they now live in the basement as paint storage.  I apologize if it seems like I am tossing the former owners of my house under the Greyhound.  Since I've spent the last eight years undoing their tragic DIY projects, I kind of feel a little bitter.  They were very nice people, but home repair was not their forte.  In addition to removing things that we simply didn't like, we had to repair many, many things that were either not up to code or just plain hazardous.

On this side of the room you can see where we still need to remove the old builder grade clamshell molding.  I'm not sure why, but around these two doors is the only place we didn't remove it.  I'm not sure how the new moldings will conflict with the stenciling, so if it needs to go, then it goes--I won't be re-doing it.  You can also see where Nick enthusiastically jumps at the garage door when he hears my car.  I have not figured out how to stop him from doing this since I can't correct the behavior, so the result is a damaged wall and molding.  My solution for the wall is to repair the scratches and put up a small piece of clear plexiglass so it won't happen again.  This photo shows the old overhead light--functional, but not very attractive.  The carpet that seems to be in a strange place actually has a great purpose.  When the dogs come in the back door, they are trained to "go to the mat", where they wait to have their feet wiped.  The black carpet hides the dirt beautifully.

  Next step will be a new floor.  You can see the rolled vinyl product, which is functional, never looks dirty and is easy to clean, but it does nothing for the room.  In the mud room in our old house we had slate floors and I loved them.  Built in benches/shelves is also on the list--there are some great IKEA hacks out there--I just need to motivate LAM.  This photo is my inspiration for the rest of the project:

The cool thing about this inspiration photo is that the layout is the same in my house.  The breakfast/family room opens though a large hallway into the mud room with the back door at the rear.  This looks perfectly yummy to me.

We are in the process of planning a big kitchen and family room renovation (eep!), which is the last step in The Locust Effect (with ongoing tweaks, of course).  It occurred to me how much the house has changed and how much we've grown to love it, so I thought I would share the ongoing project and the bits that have been completed.  Onward to destroy...

~ESM

The Answer Man

I'm having a hard time dealing with the events of this week and while I don't think it's appropriate to "just cheer up already and get on with it"--it's important to take a step back and realize that all of our lives have changed due to these recent violent incidents; some quite a bit more than others.  While I try to make sense of it all (and there is no real way to do that), I think about this odd little movie that I stumbled across a while ago.  The Answer Man starring Lauren Graham and Jeff Bridges makes a valiant attempt to explain life while making it clear that it cannot be explained.

Jeff Bridges plays Arlen Faber, an author who wrote a book entitled "Me and God", where he claims to have had a conversation with the higher power and relates snippets of enlightenment from the exchange.  The book is very popular, making him famous, which causes him to become a complete recluse.  He is as confused about his own life as everyone of his fans who are constantly asking him for messages from the divine.  He encounters Kris Lucas (above right), a recovering alcoholic who owns a local bookstore.  Arlen tries to sell back self help books that he has not found helpful and since Kris has been in rehab for the last month, he cannot afford to buy them.  They come to an agreement that Kris can ask Arlen questions about life and Arlen will answer them in exchange for Kris taking the books.  Some of the exchanges they have are so simple, yet profoundly brilliant at the same time, I was shocked when I heard them.  For example:

Kris Lucas: If God made everything, then why are some things bad?  Like the whole pain and suffering thing?

Arlen Faber: Opposites.  Without things that suck, you would have no idea what good was, and therefore be directionless.  You smell shit, you walk the other way.

And this one is my personal favorite:

Kris Lucas: Why can't I do the things I want to do?  There is so much I know I'm capable of that I never actually do.  Why is that?

Arlen Faber: The trick is to realize that you're always doing what you want to do...always.  Nobody's making you do anything.  Once you get that, you see that you're free and that life is really just a series of choices.  Nothing happens to you.  You choose.

Arlen's personal life is a complete mess, mostly because he is socially awkward (among other things), but there are clearly some basics about life that he does get.  He meets the Lauren Graham character "Elizabeth" who is a struggling single mother with a new chiropractic office.  She fixes Arlen when he throws his back out and literally crawls into her office.  In a way, they fix each other.  Some of the exchanges with him and her son Alexander, are really cute.

It was filmed in Philadelphia and some of the local neighborhood eye candy is really fun to watch.  We have a beautiful city that most people don't even give a second thought.

All in all, this is a great little film.  While it doesn't exactly explain life's mysteries, it does give some insight (as well as some great quips) into why it isn't all as confusing as it sometimes seems to be.  Whenever I'm feeling a little lost, I come back to it to gain some perspective.  Just because we are placed on this earth does not guarantee that we will have a good life.  Everyone has struggles and sometimes things go terribly wrong.  We should do what we can to be sane and treat each other well and make the world as good as we can make it.  It's really just that simple.

~ESM

Recipe for an unusually warm spring day

It has been unseasonably warm in Philadelphia for the last couple of days, so I have been soaking in the glow with my little roadster.  The 3.0si has been my warm weather daily driver for a few years now and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  It is possibly the most torquey, tossable car I've ever owned and that's saying something.  This particular model shares the 3 liter motor from the E90 330i and I have to say that it works even better in this chassis.  It is light and quick and does everything right with no cowl shake whatsoever.  The model that replaced the E85 (chassis designation for those of you who do not speak blau mit weiss), has a retractable hard top, which is a great idea until you try to put something in the trunk, which you can't because it is now full of roof.  It is also NOT a driver's car like this one, but more luxury oriented.  Meh...I'll keep mine, thanks.  Six speed manual only, of course. 

In addition to the roadster, our recipe for sunny day fun includes one great super-easy jersey dress.  This one is from Laundry by Shelli Segal and also available on sale from Zappos, but only in certain sizes.  It's comfy and brainless, goes from day to night, looks equally good as a simple beach coverup or at a cocktail party.  Can you tell I love dresses like this?  In spite of what it looks like in the picture, the pattern is actually navy blue and dark pink.  I would never wear black shoes with this dress.  Ever.  Here's what I wore:

These were a Paloma Barcelo Nordstrom find last year.  They go with almost everything in my closet.

If you are scary pasty and pale like me (at least on my legs), then self tanner is a must.  I think I have tried every product on the market, but I really like St. Tropez.  The color is more natural than a lot of others I have used and the smell is less hideous.  Some day, someone is going to figure out a way to make a self-tanner that doesn't smell awful, but until that day, we have to deal with it.  If it doesn't smell bad, it won't work.

The last piece of the puzzle is a truly great pair of shades.  I have a tiny face, which causes all the big, glamorous sunglasses to look completely ridiculous on me.  The Maui Jim Sandy Beach is the most perfect pair I have ever found.  I like things that multi-task (particularly when they are pricey) and these are just great.  I can wear them running, driving, inside my helmet at the track (this is actually a stretch because of the shape of the sides, but I make it work) and they will sit nicely on my head without falling off or messing up my hair and work well as a headband when I don't need them on my face.  They are polarized, which will make reading digital displays in a modern car or checking your iphone nearly impossible, but it's worth it.  Plus, LAM (who has the same pair--they are unisex) says that they make everything look rosey.  Who could argue with that?

~ESM

I hate that I have to say this, but I'm not compensated by any of these companies for any of this commentary.  Any time BMW would like me to start hawking their products for payment would be a-o-k with me.  Kind of like the mother ship calling me home ;)

The Earnest Little Mouse

I have been an Etsy buyer and seller for a couple of years now and while I have had some really wonderful experiences with my own customers, periodically I stumble across another artist who is so talented it simply takes my breath away.  This almost always happens by pure happenstance because I am completely special needs when it comes to searching.  If I don't know what I'm looking for, then how can I find it?  This is where it helps to "follow" other people who have similar taste to yours.  The other day I was randomly searching around and came across a little felted critter.  Intrigued, I clicked on the link, which led me to the Felting Dreams shop, or Johana Molina.  Then I found the sweet little mouse pictured above.  I was so overwhelmed with cuteness, I almost fell off my chair.

I mean, come on.  Look at that face.  She is confident, earnest and eager to face the world with nothing but personal gumption and whatever is in that backpack.

Allow me to mention that I am NOT a knick knack person.  The surfaces in my house are covered mostly with books and the idea of having small objects that need dusting does not thrill me.  But I could not get her out of my mind.

This little guy also made an impression since (believe it or not) he really looks like LAM.  Same wire-rimmed glasses and he has a leather bound document carrier that is the exact same color as this one.  I showed them to LAM, who, instead of looking at me like I was crazy, said, "Oh my God, they are so cute."  Uh, what?  You're a guy remember?  You think these are cute???  "Well, yeah--look their little feet really look like mouse feet."  Um, ok.  I went back and looked to see where the seller was located.  Santiago, Chile.  Wow--that's a hike.  Then I read her feedback.  All 800 of them.  Holy Cow!  Each one was more glowing than the next.  Her buyers love her and many, many of them are repeat customers.  I couldn't stand it anymore.  I needed felted mice.  Needed them with all my heart and soul because every single time I looked at them, they made me want to weep with joy, or cuteness or whatever.  Then the problem became WHICH ones to buy?  LAM mentioned that I had a birthday coming up and me ordering a couple would solve this problem for him nicely.  Thanks a lot.  Ok, so here are a few of my favorites:

Not only is Johana a genius at felting small critters, but her photography is brilliant.  The backgrounds somehow make them come alive and look even more adorable.

I'm amazed at how each one seems to have a personality.  This guy looks like he's just seen something delightful that has taken him by surprise.

This sweet girl looks hopeful, but concerned--almost maternal.

This one seems as though he would really like a piece of cheese--so long as it isn't too much trouble...

This one is so glad to see you she can hardly stand herself.

And this one would like it very much if you could just be a little bit quieter while she reads her book aloud to the class.

It was a tough choice, but in the end I went with the first two that caught my attention--the girl in the pink sweater with the pink scarf and the boy who looks like LAM.  I simply cannot wait for them to arrive.

When I pinned these on Pinterest, I had likes and re-pins within nanoseconds.  One woman posted that she thought they were adorable, but really expensive.  Well, not if you think about it.  I don't know how to needle felt wool and I suspect it would take some time to learn it to get this good (and I promise you that it could take FOREVER to learn how to make these facial expressions).  Simply being able to perform the craft is only half of the task.  Also, I suspect they take at least several hours to make--maybe longer depending on the detail.  Once you subtract Etsy fees and Paypal or credit card fees, well, how much do you like to make per hour?  Just some food for thought.

For those on a budget, Johana also offers postcards of her creations.  I wonder, has she ever considered a stop-motion photographic children's book?  Set in their natural environment, the mice and their friends could have wonderful adventures.  What an idea!

~ESM

Muchas Gracias to Johana for allowing me to share these little guys with all of my readers!  I hope you all enjoyed them and will check out her shop.