Weird Amiga

Museums: Life in the Farmstead.

2015-04-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

the kitchen

Welcome to the Holcombe-Jimison place!

This is a farmstead turned museum the HusbandFish + I visited some time back. It's a stone's throw away from where we live! This is the kind of stuff we get excited about: old tractors (we love those!) and folks in period garb, reenacting life as it was in bygone times.

plowing the field with horses

There, surrounded by rural lands, several restored buildings face each other around a green, lightly trodden patch.

You'll find an old-timey post office, a general goods store, the carriage shed, barber & blacksmith shops...

the print shop

... the woodworking and print shops (that unique smell of ink on metal!), an old doctor/dentist office, and a vast barn filled with all sorts of wonderful, puzzling agricultural artifacts.

Everywhere there were coppery hens, pecking at invisible things in the grass.
And there were the ladies from The Herb Society of America, and beekeepers with their luscious bee hives.

↣

Nature Inspiration: Underwater Creatures.

2015-03-25T11:46:00.000-04:00

I could easily spend all day looking at nudibranchs! These wonderful underwater mollusks challenge convention with their super delicate alien shapes.
When I'm feeling stuck with color, unable to decide, I turn to Nature for some showy examples.
So much wonder lurking underwater!

Yellow Nudibranch (such a bunny!)

Nembrotha kubaryana (aka Variable Neon Slug)

Red Nudibranch (Gymnodoris Aurita)

Donut Nudibranch

These are from my Pinterest board "Inspired by Nature"

↣

The Iron Garden

2014-03-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

Somehow, I've managed to photograph the darker side of a perfect spring day...
I wasn't even feeling gloomy when I took these!

In fact, I had gardens in my mind. That's the reason we ended up at a place where architectural salvage & antique garden decorations are sold.

There, the path takes you through a beautiful, ivy covered mess of weathered statues & old wrought-iron fences. A heaven of tarnish and patina, ranging from teal green to rusty orange.

We daydreamed of a time when we'll be able to plan our own shaded, mysterious garden.

A garden that blooms at night—moon gardens, I think they're called—with the beauty of moss, dew, and crickets...

See? Flowers! This is a Spring post after all.

Hobensack & Keller may be a timeless place of statues & evergreen foliage, but once you leave it, you are reminded that spring is finally taking place.

Never before was I so happy to see signs of spring!
It has been a long, long winter, but now bird voices & tiny blooms fill my walks...

♡

It's Friday Everywhere.

2014-03-14T13:08:00.001-04:00

↣

Adventures in Moss Collecting.

2014-03-13T09:18:00.000-04:00

On a week day, the towpath is the quietest place to be.

During the winter months it was covered in snow and mud, making the way hard to negotiate, but now is the perfect place to be if you want to spot early signs of spring.

I can report, ethereal little handfuls of Lily of the Valley are starting to shoot up around people's fences.

Yesterday it was warm and smelled like imminent rain... my kind of weather!
I just had to rush out there with my Official Moss Collecting Kit. (Don't get too excited, it's just tupperware + a tiny garden spade)

I wandered between the watery canal & the never-ending stonewall that contains people's sloped backyards...

In the towpath, you will occasionally come across dogs and their jogging masters, who always smile and say hello.

My mossarium had been waiting for new specimens... and I had been dying to get a day like this one. Luckily I live in a place where moss grows everywhere. I do make sure I'm not defacing anyone's yard (or even curb) when looking for green treasure :)

Speaking of treasure: in addition to 2 kinds of moss, I found a luscious little twig covered in lichen and what a think is a 3rd moss species.

I made sure to collect soil in addition to the moss. That way, I can recreate their original environment in each moss dish.

Interesting how different their personalities are... One grows in dark soil, the other in yellowish clay.

They're undergoing a quarantine process right now. Something you have to deal with when collecting your own moss are earthworms, and friends of that sort. They're stand up fellows, don't get me wrong! I just don't feel like they belong in a very small, enclosed terrarium.

Glad you came by!

I wish you warmth and treasure, wherever you are.

↣

A date with: Books & B612

2014-03-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

If you follow me on twitter or instagram, you probably already know that I spent some time in the marvelous Strand bookstore this past weekend. I just love that place... If you're ever in New York, you must visit it!

The weight of my new, heavy books destroyed my shoulder... but I'm not complaining. I have so much leafing fun ahead of me!

Did I say new?
They are new to me, but in reality these books are all used or out of print.

Among my treasures:

The story behind the unicorn tapestries (which inspired The Last Unicorn and are kept in The Cloisters, in NY)

Fantastic Illustration & Design in Britain from 1850 to 1930. I'm too excited to read it right now, I just keep rushing through the images...

This great book on paper puppets—something I've wanted to get into for a while. Maybe this book will help me focus. Surely it'll teach me the technique.

⌘

The moment the bookstore spat me out, a new glorious banner called my attention:

I can't believe I had never been here before!

The place is a slice of heaven for graphic novel & comic book lovers. It's also a place where to find anime collectibles, action figures, and all manner of geeky toys.

I loved how weathered the floors were.

I disliked one of the guys who worked there, who would answer questions about this & that issue with an overabundance of detail, describing every twist in the story, to the point of spoiling it for everybody.

We get it, you know your stuff. Let the kid read it & figure it out for himself, for Glob's sake.

Anyway.

Whenever I enter a comic book store, I seek out the section where indie publications and zines are. It's a good place for hidden gems, like this one! I looked up the girl behind this little story of warring animals, her stuff is amazing!

Ah yes! That night, I got to see manuscript pages from The Little Prince at the Morgan Library. Of that there are no pictures, as they weren't allowed in the exhibit.

I just wandered around the room, following the progression of Exupery's preparatory drawings, too afraid to encounter the wall where the snake hangs out...
I had a knot in my throat the whole time.

☄

The Return of Imaginary Friends.

2014-02-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Did you have imaginary friends as a child? I most definitely did. Several tiers of them, in fact!
Some would show up around my house exclusively, some would follow me to school.

My school friends were tiny fairies, of both genders, who would now & then fly out of my backpack and beg for honey and nectar. They were massive distractions in class.

As for my after-school, home-base friend... Just look at that beautiful creature, above!

This week, Evan from Soju Shots drew my other imaginary friend: my huge, kind tiger. His coat was a blinding shade of white. He would follow me around the garden.
I never got to ride him, but I could have! He was the perfect size for it.

I just love how my imaginary friend, who existed only for me, has made it into someone else's imagination. After all this years, Evan has awaken my long-lost tiger!

♡

The Expatriate's Lament.

2014-02-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

My biggest before & after moment took place on a day like today.
Eight years ago—probably around the same time I write this—a plane bore me away from my homeland, and into the US.

It was a rather empty flight that lasted less than an hour. In front of me was a thin little girl. We took that trip together: two thin girls, both looking out the window and at each other, through the gap of her seat.

Next to the girl was her mother.
I sat alone.

I saw myself stepping onto a new land, underdressed for the alien climate, lugging around 51 pounds of books & memorabilia.

On that moment, I shed my mother tongue, safety nets, every social connection I had ever established, frames of reference, my fame and infamy.

Today I've realized something.

This is the first time in 8 years that I've actually stopped to take note of that day's significance, of the time that has passed... of how drastically different things were for me afterwards.

I can only look back on those days in small doses... It was all so bittersweet!

While I felt achy & empty, there was a world of new things around me, there to keep me distracted.

I was highly aware of the things I did for the first time, of new smells and weather phenomena—and the anonymity & freedom of living in New York were delicious.

Humming across Brooklyn on a Vespa, the first day of spring in Central Park, and all the revelry that took place in our small apartment are memories that have gone to inform the bedrock of my current life.

Curious, how these events are a part of me that I acknowledge daily, without having to actually think about them.
I don't have to revisit them at length, like I've done today.

I just have to wake up every morning, surrounded by the life I've made for myself since then. That's enough homage to the life before, the void that came after, and the headless girl that ran around New York, hoping to never catch her breath.

✤

Better Living Through Shade Plants.

2014-02-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

hedera helix ivy

Without a doubt, this has been the coldest, snowiest winter I've lived through. This must be what the elders talk about: the way winters were before things got... warmer.

While the winter lasts, I'm making sure our place stays alive and bright by keeping greenery in our sunny foyer.

I just love coming home to fronds and vines.

We're lucky to have this small wallpapered space: it's where people catch their breath after having climbed 4 flights of stairs, and where they shed their snow-covered boots.

It's also where my plants manage to survive during the cold months.

This beetle has been living in the curtains the whole winter.

He's probably munching on my plants, but since that doesn't seem to harm them I'm letting him stay until Spring.

I hope he's eating aphids at least... the little mooch.

mikado plant

As far as I'm concerned, until fresh flowers are available, an evergreen wreath is perfectly acceptable winter decoration.
I love the soft smell of pine sap it releases when I mist it...

A wicker table, where I display the specimens I collect during my walks: sheets of bark, acorn caps, lichen samples... Some things need to dry out a bit before being brought inside for classification.

Here is my club moss, not doing too great..
This is what it used to look like:

peacock spike moss

It is so sad to look back at a time when a (now defunct) plant was alive and well...

Just writing this made me want to improve my green friends' condition... So I did!
Now I have a system where snow melts slowly & creates a humid environment for my mosses . Every time the snow melts completely, I'll use it to water them.

My new plan is to turn the wooden case into a moss sampler: all the species I can find, growing in small shallow dishes.

In case this post inspires you to play around with plushy, fresh, delicious moss, read this & this.

May your mossariums never cloud!

✤

Stones and Paperwork.

2014-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

This year started with a packed schedule & plenty of duties.

I've been working on my hand-lettering and sign-making skills (I had forgotten how fun chalk can be!) and creating a monthly newsletter, which has prompted me to look into stats & metrics...

Another for the list of small accomplishments: I finally went through tons of paperwork to get my passport in order. Must travel, immediately! The motherland must be revisited, and after that, the world!
Mythical landscapes and strange languages await...

In between paperworking and newslettering, I've managed to sneak in a little creative time: my dining room table has become a beading station.
Whenever I get some free time, I sit there and absentmindedly play around with beads and stones...

Behold, a necklace to match my other necklace!

The acorn pendant is a Rachel Badeau creation. I'm in love with it! I've been thinking of it as an amulet to help me get through the cold winter...

It had been the latest addition to my jewelry box, until my own beady creation came around! Now I can layer them both under my scarves to usher Spring in.

↣

Hallo Spaceboy!

2014-01-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

Welcome to 2014! It has been a beautiful one so far here at the Weird Caravan:

New friends came over to toast the new year and suffer our playlists; we spent a weekend in Brooklyn celebrating an old friend's birthday; and somewhere, a boy bought my Space Lovers card for his girl.

I love the fact that this card is a bestseller with guys—that was my intention when I made it! Nice when things turn out the way you dreamed they would.

Since my ClearBags haven't arrived yet, I decided to play around with the packaging, keeping in mind it should be lightweight & fun to tear through. Ah, the bittersweet destiny of all pretty wrapping...!

I ended up drawing a little rocket ship label to match the space theme. The whole thing travels inside a rigid envelope.

On a different note: most of North America is snowed in, so I've been wearing my warmest, fluffiest outfits to the post office: hunting gloves + ushanka, my best friends right now.

I secretly enjoy times likes this, when the elements force you to put things in perspective.

⚇

See You In 2014!

2013-12-31T11:28:00.000-05:00

Last Post of the Year, Folks!

2013-12-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

A few more days and we'll be leaving 2013 behind... It seems it was yesterday the husbandfish and I awaited the new year mark in our little treehouse, in the woods.

We've had such a busy christmastime!
We decided against a tree this year. Instead, we came up with a little tableau of wooden trees & mushrooms.

Oh, and while shopping for trinkets for my ledge scene, I found this old recording of Sleeping Beauty! The story always had a strange hold over me as a child... maybe it was that sense of the unavoidable.

And here! This is what I got the husbandfish (and myself) for Christmas: a dramatic reading of The Hobbit, by Nicol Williamson. This is the 1974 Tolkien-authorized adaptation of the book.
So far we got through Riddles in the Dark.

And just who is this masked character?

Why, it is Racoonish Badger! He's the new addition to our troupe of softies.
Remember last year, when T surprised me with Fox? Now, we have 2 delightful, pointy-eared friends.

We will be spending these last days of 2013 surrounded by chocolate, sparkling wine, and all the nice things we like.

Did I say last post of the year...? I think I'll be seeing you one more time before January, friends!

⚇

Of Wintry Days & Things Received.

2013-12-18T10:11:00.001-05:00

Remember the swirly glass bauble I mentioned in my last post? (You can just take a look, it's but a scroll-down away). That was the holiday ornament I sent away as part of Candidly Clyde's holiday swap.

This time, I'm showing you what I received!

Will you look at this Grinch!
He came all the way from Iowa. Thank you, Courtney!

He watches my back when I work in the studio. I trust he's a worthy custodian that will keep intruders away.
This year we are not getting a tree—apparently— so this is it: a twiggy arrangement for the grumpy Grinch to reign over. :)

What else came in the mail? This note, from Dawn herself! It put a massive smile on my face. Her calligraphy is pristine, by the way.

And because it has been snowing almost non-stop, I spent my week in the studio.

It feels like a little tower up there. When I need a break, I just let myself "wander" from one pointy rooftop to the next...

Those black specks are crows. They very much rule this town, and yesterday they came out of hiding to remind us.

◭

The Week.

2013-12-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hello!
Come see what has happened this week:

Lots of work have gone into getting my new website ready.

I finally chose a place to host my portfolio website: SquareSpace! They won me over with their juicy templates and options for full size backgrounds.

This will be where my work is collected and easily reachable. As of now it's scattered everywhere, Blogger, Etsy, Carbonmade...
I'm loving the idea of a clean, bright website.

A pretty ornament was shipped as part of Candidly Clyde's holiday swap.

This swirly orb was made by a girl I met in town, who had taken a break from glasswork until I mentioned the swap to her. It inspired her to spend time in the workshop once more! So as it turns out, a great side effect of this holiday swap was that a maker got her groove back. :)

Oh! The orb was neatly packed, shipped, and received at its destination. Whew!
(I always imagine worst case scenarios when it comes to the stuff I send on the mail...)

First snow of the year.

A few days ago, we woke up to a snowy wonderland and the rustle of snow on the skylights. The blanketed rooftops, left and right, flooded our attic apartment with a white glow.
As I expected, snow turns this town into a wintry postcard.

☃

That's all for now!
What are you doing with your weekend?
I will be finishing up a paper scene, attending a cider party, and watching The Desolation of Smaug!

Coming Up for Air.

2013-11-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

It seems this is the way it's going to be for a while, or at least while the holidays are in full swing: a post a week, or every two weeks... or even three!

Just typing it made me cringe... Has it really been 3 weeks since the las post!?

Anyway, this is me coming up for air. I'm very much still around! Only busier than normal. Since you're here, why not share some of the things that have kept me busy (and made me feel grateful) during these last weeks:

• While unpacking the last box in my studio, I found a headband I knitted back in 2011.
Some of you may remember I used to sell headbands on my Etsy shop, before I focused on paper solely. It's a very special headband: I was in high moods when I made it, it's chock-full of happy memories.
So I'm working on listing it, trying really hard not to keep it for myself... which I've done with 30% of my originally-intended-for-sale headbands.

• New project in the works.
It involves wood and paper (are they not my favorite things?) Preview coming soon.

• Check my little illustration over at Kanelstrand!
The picture above is but a fragment of the whole thing.

• I signed up for Candidly Clyde's annual Ornament Swap.
I (and a bunch of others) will be swapping holiday ornaments with a perfect stranger, via snail mail. Lovely idea, isn't it?

That's all for now, folks.

I'll be back with more news and some free pretties for you all, to atone for having been so... quiet. Follow me on Twitter and you'll be the first to hear about my end-of-the-year offerings!

Halloween (a Birthday Post)

2013-10-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!
Every day of this week has brought something good:

First, I found this forgotten girl in my sketchbook.
I appreciate the dedication & time past me put into making each line weighty...

Second: I found the time to explore that little alley by the canal. It's a quiet part of town, and you get to race the steady stream of leaves trapped within the current.

The alley had some great twigs & foliage to offer—the herbalist bag I've been carrying around was finally put to good use!

I brought home a handful of samples: some for propagating, some with an artistic purpose in mind...

I've been playing around with textures and backgrounds, a departure from my strict ink lines and papercuts. The leaves I collected are drying between book pages now, and will be added to the experiment in a few days.

My heart has been trying to embrace imperfection...

Today I let colors spill everywhere and accidental textures guide my hand. My current background music looped for hours before I noticed. Sometimes I forget how rejuvenating exercises like this can be... then I'm reminded.

It could be that it is my birthday today, and I want to shed my yearly coat and walk in leaps.

჻

Embroidery Patterns & a Halloween Comic.

2013-10-25T12:13:00.000-04:00

A week of contributions! Weird Amiga has been wandering, visiting friendly bloggers and leaving a little part of herself wherever she has been.

Take La Caseta de Paper, for instance.

Laura (the girl behind the blog) is celebrating Halloween by featuring creepy stories during the whole month of October. I've added my own story to this Countdown to Halloween in the form of an illustrated comic. Read it here!

It's a true story, and at some point I will have to write a post about my view on the events of that day...

Also, today I'm sharing these embroidery patterns over at Kanelstrand. I'm looking forward to spending time with them myself.

You will laugh: even the husband-fish said he wanted to try his hand at embroidering the hut! He's very adorable :)
You can find the original post & actual size patterns here.

Hope your week has been productive.
I wish you a grand weekend and lovely weather!

✤

Halloween in Lambertville NJ.

2013-10-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is already looking like the greatest of Octobers...

I get to wade through this scene every morning on my way out!

Fully garbed ghoulish ladies.

Skeletal dogs and horses.

Unnamed creatures of the imagination.

All individually made & styled by my next door neighbor, a celebrated local art teacher.

Nothing like living at the heart of the Halloween celebration!

Day and night, people stop and marvel at the scene.

I soak up the neighborly joy through my open window....

That one up there.

That is my window, glowing orange, high up in the attic.

My tiny contribution.

⚰

Vignette: The Rooftops.

2013-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

You haven't seen a lot of me around here since I moved to the river hamlet...

I have felt bad about that every day, I promise.

My time has gone towards fixing all the little things that were wrong with this 120 year old apartment, making new friends, walking everywhere.

How I missed walking!

And now that the town has turned orange and yellow, it's the perfect time to take a break and share some vignettes here.

In previous places we had little balconies and, at some point, even a small deck.
This time we have access to a very pointy rooftop instead.

From up here we can see old architecture and foliage in every direction, the woodsy hill that snugs the town against the river, smell the perfect air that's carried by the treetops...

Behold, the last tomato of the season! May he mature into juicy sweetness.

So our neighbor happens to grow tomatoes in our shared rooftop. I love looking outside and seeing these shiny fellows hanging heavily from their vines...

You also find wilder bits of green. Moss grows happily in an abandoned, rusted contraption —that looks like... a grill?—which we inherited it with the rooftop.

It reminds me of those remote, overgrown temples where forest spirits dwell to this day... In Miyazaki's movies, anyway.

And finally, the way back into our floor: the foyer. Our converted attic is—you guessed it—the uppermost apartment. It receives some afternoon sun, so I get to grow some shade-loving foliage of my own.

Those who make it to the top of the stairs are welcomed by my tiny gargoyle and the anise-like fragrance of the Icicles Licorice...

◭

The Box.

2013-10-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

In case you thought things weren't looking very Halloween-y around here:
I present to you this fine display of bones, spooky spiders, and the promise of decadent sweets!

I have been spending lots of time in this place, helping out and learning about chocolate.

This little shop is a pretty 5-minute walk away from home, and it is an absolute joy to be in.
A new friend (I've met some people in town since we moved, you guys!) introduced me to it. The fun window display is her doing ◕‿◕

Oh! Did you notice? My banner has turned a bit... witchy!
Oh, and Laura from La Caseta de Paper is giving away Halloween garlands here. I grabbed one—you can too!

By the way, Laura is also doing a countdown to Halloween by featuring scary stories in her blog. A few bloggers—and yours truly—will be sharing creepy experiences during the month of October. The first one is up already! Keep checking back for new ones.

xo!

Green Samples from Michigan.

2013-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

This may turn into another post where cider is mentioned.

It's hard not to, 'tis the season after all!

So, I recently learned that the sweet apple cider sold at roadside stands during the Fall should be more appropriately called apple juice—the apple juice sold in stores is the over-processed version of this— and that proper cider is the alcoholic kind, the kind termed hard cider.

I got to see the process of apple mashing in a cider mill in Michigan, it was mesmerizing and full of delicious promise. The mill has used a water wheel to power its press since 1894, and it is surrounded by parks with trails. A little river runs through the area.

And now, on to my collection of new friends—or, as the husband fish puts it, my victims...

We drove back for 2 days with a box full of small plants nested in the back seat. They're destined to grow and flourish in our tiny, sunny vestibule. They have the most beautiful foliage & color variations!

The time was perfect to embark on this road trip. The fields were golden with late summer grasses. As we drove by, we got to see the trees changing colors on the hills of woodsy Pennsylvania.

Fall is Here!

2013-09-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love coming back after a trip to see the trees changed, as if Fall rushed to take over while I was gone.

It's a little weird taking a long trip immediately after having moved into a new place. When it's time to return, you're not really sure if you're returning home.
The longing is not so clear.

I was feeling just that during our 2-day drive back, but as soon as we crossed the small river bridge and saw the russet leaves everywhere, all apprehensions went away. I felt reassured and welcomed by all the things I love about our new town & home.

Now I can't wait to get lost in little alleys (nothing creepy about these alleys, I swear!) and become acquainted with every last porch-dwelling pumpkin.

I have Fall in my mind, and today I want to share my Fall-themed guest post on Kanelstrand. It's part checklist, part reflection on the season.

Hope you are as excited about all this as I am... Let's cherish nature together!

◓

John King, Used & Rare.

2013-09-17T14:30:00.001-04:00

Among the things I always look forward to while in Michigan, is a visit to John King Used and Rare Books.

They have books on every subject, 4 floors of them! Not the kind of place you can browse in a rush.

The bookstore is in the outskirts of grand old Detroit: the city has a way of calling to you every time you approach the big glass windows...

This has been a week of literary acquisitions, hasn't it?

This time, I only got a book for the husband fish... Hope he's in the mood for some French Realism!

Posting from the road!

2013-09-13T13:25:00.001-04:00

We're on our way to Michigan—as we often are—by car. It takes us two days to get there from Lambertville, NJ.

Did I say Lambertville? Wait, we departed from Philadelphia this time!

While the husband-fish took care of some business in the city, I wandered for hours through a bookstore nearby...

Above, the readable loot: Volume 1 of Transmetropolitan (the graphic novel) and a book showcasing contemporary paper artists.

And this is Anthropology's seasonal window display—which I had seen online but got to actually see in Philly.

If you like mushrooms, and shaded forests, and mossy things... you'll love it like I do.

So, have a happy Friday the 13th from this traveling friend! Good thing I'm not supersticious in the slightest.