journaling

I'm a very serious journal keeper when I travel, not so much when I'm at home. But I get motivated after a trip. I enjoy the record keeping, cutting and pasting, coloring (now I just need to draw more...) and of course the looking back aspect. I guess what this all means is that I should travel more.
I've started sewing in the journal, just for fun or just a super smart way to add some more pages when you run out of space. Your extra maps, special papers, speeding tickets (that's Steve O's department not mine) can be easily included and don't go spilling out all over the floor evert time the journal is opened. More journal pictures here.
One of our most favorite pieces of art by Tatzu Nishi, War And Peace and In Between remembered here. In a nutshell, he built a temporary 'house' structures around two sculptures in front of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. When you walk into the 'house' the horse from the sculpture is standing on a bed in the bedroom, or (like in the picture) the rider's head and arm are on display on a coffee table with the horses head in a cupboard. Very funny, clever, creative-art that makes you smile.

Smiggle me this...

I bumped into the Smiggle store while wandering around Sydney on our last day Down Under. It looked like Ikea met up with the office supply store. They fell in love, got married, had some offspring and named him Smiggle. In other, perhaps simpler words, it's Euro-design inspired office supplies. I wanted two of everything. I especially love my new stapler that (I think) resembles a whale. The eraser on this pink pencil could be a friend/neighbor/acquaintance ...or a lion.

tiny finds

This little pouch is made by Jessica Mckenzie of Pretty In Pink , (actually we found her at Paddington Market in Sydney). Darling fabric, super affordable goods- my girls picked these coin purses to bring home for Christmas gifts for their friends. After getting my eyes on the rad selection of fabrics she used, I spent some precious vacation hours fretting, and frustratedly searching (eventually giving up) for an awesome fabric store in Sydney where I would find some of the fabrics used in Pretty in Pink goods. But to no avail, perhaps the internet will cooperate when I'm ready to search again.

I have this thing for tiny goods... throw in felt and bright colors and I'm head over heels in love. So naturally, I couldn't just walk on by when I came across these ornaments from Shumba - I just had to bring a few home. More crafts from around the world can be found at Community Projects World Wide and Go Fair Trading. Not just for the Christmas tree, these 'lil cuties will be up in my house all year.

you can't spend every day at the beach...

...actually you can but, since our timing was perfect, (the market only takes place on Wednesday and Saturday)- we spent a day at Eumundi Market, (just inland from Noosa Heads in Queensland, Australia). Right up my alley, the day was a super treat for a craft lovin' gal like me, (sorry kids). Eumundi Market has been taking place for over 30 years, rain or shine, twice a week. The market now has about 500 vendors, and crazy huge crowd of shoppers.

Lots of worldwide crafts representing, but then Australia is very much a cultural melting pot. It was good to see so many clever, fair trade, sustainable goods.

There were rows and rows of delectable goodies, ohh I miss the Aussie mangos- my mouth is watering just looking at this picture.

Super cute booth, handmade lampshades in lovely fabrics- Seven Dandelions.

In an effort to get my life and blog back to running smoothly, after a long holiday. I'm going to commit to post all week about the sweet goods I picked up at Eumundi, stay posted ya'll.

To see more photos of the day-look here.

editing pictures

I just came across this picture I took on Lady Musgrave Island, southern end of the Great Barrier Reef about two weeks ago. Kind of painful to look at now that I'm back in winter. I think I'll print it and keep it under my pillow... I've been editing and uploading pictures to Flickr all day, trying to get organized and make a book of our trip to Australia. We have 4000+ pictures to sift through, I've got my work cut out for me.

unfortunate timing

How could my timing be so bad? We were almost Down Under for the Tour- but not quite.... I'm going to have to follow along at the Tour Down Under website or Versus. Lucky for me, I picked up the handy guide to the tour (you see here here) during our trip, with maps and info about every stage so I can follow along closely (you know, in all my free time...) and, Steve O gave me Lance's Up Close and Personal book yesterday for my birthday. This gal should be good to go.

The good news, you can tune in for coverage on Versus. Although, and let me be frank- there is really nothing like the feeling you get standing inches away from the peleton as it wooshes by, and seeing Lance Armstrong in person and on a bike is super rad.

back to reality

I'm back from a very wonderful family holiday- trying to get back in touch with reality. We spent many days in beautiful places, like Byron Bay, smack dab in the middle of Australian summertime.
I'm not going to lie to you- traveling with kids is hard work, as the Mum/travel coordinator/cook/laundress there is constantly someone or something that needs attending to. But there is nothing like the indescribable feeling of joy you get watching your kids pet kangaroos, surf non-stop (until dragged out of the water), snorkel with a sea turtle or just play happily with each other and whatever they have around them.
Now, it's back to real life, a hard pill to swallow. I'm not loving winter so far, and the smoggy mucky inversion we've got here in Utah. So, here's hoping for a storm to blow out the bad air and drop some fresh powder. Let's see if I can remember where all our ski gear is and how to use it.
I've got to go find that bottle of lotion, my new BFF, I feel like a fish out of water, or an alligator (with a great tan)...

and they're off...

I'll be taking a break here, until mid-January and making memories with my family on our travel blog. We are off to Australia until January 14th 2010- follow along on the adventure at Traveling Is My Hobby.
Have a wonderful holiday season- wherever you may be in the world!

speaking of maps

Steve O has been all about maps lately, dreaming about the book Maps As Art (while I have been dreaming about seeing the backs of my eyelids)
In all his visions and obsession with cartography, Steve O found Ian Hundley a Brooklyn based artist who makes really rad, inspiring quilts of maps. Watch a video of Ian Hundley here.
Perhaps we've been thinking of maps because in about 4 days we leave for a month long holiday to Australia. After a year of planning, saving and mapping- it's finally going down. All six of us, 1 RV, 30 days, a couple of holidays, and one giant continent. You can follow along on the adventure at the Traveling Is My Hobby blog.

Atlas Shrugged

I've been spending lots of hours sewing these last few weeks- or months- I can't recall, it blends... Anyway, I've done some serious viewing- (really working my way through the netflix queue) and even more listening. I just finished Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
Entertaining, suspenseful and intriguing-perhaps now among my top ten reads ever.
Rand explores the philosophies of objectivism, liberty, altruism; objectivism meaning essentially having a objective reason and purpose for every action you commit. The book is the story of a railroad executive who struggles against the philosophy of not only altruism, but government enforced altruism. But the plot is about more than politics or business. The plot is also a great mystery, the reader gradually learning who is responsible for turning out the lights of world.
One need not agree with all of Rand's views to appreciate Atlas Shrugged, I believe it's meant to be compelling and thought provoking. Much is left up to you to interpret, to think through for yourself.
I just got a little happy flutter in my stomach when read that it's going to be made into a movie in 2011. Dagny Taggert played by Angelina Jolie or Charlize Theron, I vote for Angelina, she'd make a great Dagny- and Atlas Shrugged, if it's done right... an amazing movie. I wonder... who will be John Galt?

a video about...

Noelle Olpin from thursday art on Vimeo.

me, can you believe it (I'm not worthy). My lovely spouse made this web spot about me. It's very funny watching yourself talk and do all the things you do.

Beehive Bazaar video bio

Here is one of the video bios for the upcoming Beehive Bazaar featuring the art of Samantha Card. The video was made by my husband Steve and his partner Tim, they run the production company- Oi Documentary Services.

all craft weekend

My craftiest ladies and I headed up to Bear Lake this weekend for and craft-a-thon. We started sewing/sanding/painting/cutting and knitting Saturday morning and did not stop until Sunday night. Lots of laughs, great food, too many treats- loads of rad crafts finished for the upcoming Beehive Bazaar. Good times all around.


Meet 'Rosie'- an experiment in simple hand puppetry by Stephanie. I believe she and others will be available at the Bazaar.... 'cuz I know you want one.

an admission of guilt- fangs or fur?

I must admit, I will be seeing New Moon tonight at midnight- a little extra activity tacked onto book group tonight. But at least I'm not waiting in line overnight to be one of the first to sample a burger, shake and fries at the new In n' Out Burger in Orem. I mean Really!? The things some people will do...

skirts & books

I've been making wrap around skirts for Beehive Bazaar all weekend, and listening to Hunger Games- my pick for our book group book this month. I watched my 13 year old devour it in days, then polish off Catching Fire (the sequel) in the few days after that. Needless to say... I got a bit addicted and finished off both books too.
Lots of sewing and listening to tales of adventure and romance in a post-apocalyptic world this weekend, not a bad mixture for a cold, snowy weekend.

spoon me

Why we love Pierre the Cat...
In case you might be asking, "What is that young man doing in a girl bed?" Well, bed switching has been very popular this week. You know, almost as awesome as sleeping on the couch or the floor of the family room.

best SNL skit with Taylor Swift

This silly sketch had me doubled over laughing... hit a little too close to home I think.

Holiday knick knacks

I sure do love every single stinkin' Christmas knicky-knacky item from Anthropologie this year. What's not to love?

BTW... the Urban Dictionary definition of knick knack is- "a small piece of worthless crap with little or no purpose." I'm going to try and remember that next time I walk into Anthropologie.

what I am...

I'll tell you what I'm not.... a very good journal keeper. I just ran into a journal I started in 2007... and never finished. I always have the best of intentions, and I really like looking back at what was written/drawn/glued/cataloged. I suppose it just finding a bit of time here and there and not having any expectations whatsoever. As God my witness, I promise to do better.
Journaling that I admire can be found here.

project 1000

Steve O's project/costume from Call's Halloween party: take 1000 pictures. By the end of the night- 2100 photos were taken on 4 cameras, edited down to 1000. Lots of good images, costumes and fun. Check out 500 pictures here and 500 more here.

View my favorite picture of the night here- remember the SNL skit when Justin Timberlake was a backup dancer for Beyonce's All The Single Ladies?

Halloween 2009

Max the king

Costume parade today at school- I've been sewing non-stop to meet the early deadline.
We've got a smore, a Frida looking princess, and a 1958 housewife lady too.
Got to get some good pictures on Halloween day.

Can I finish a project please? Now I've got some Halloween costumes to work on first, ahead of all these stacks. We got C talked into Max from Where the Wild Things Are after he saw the movie- yea! I can't wait to make that costume.

weekend wrap-up

We spent the fall break weekend in Escalante with my family. My brother Adam's project is a wood fired pizza kitchen, soon-to-be restaurant as part of the Slot Canyons Inn. Adam was out of town at a wedding, but we gave the oven a test run- and fell in love. Steve O was in heaven and getting the hang of the peel after just a pizza or two.
Two nights in a row we fired up the oven and made pizza until our tummies ached. On night #2 we branched out and made little chocolate cakes in ramekins. The cake was best when pulled out of the oven early (about 5 minutes) left undercooked in the middle, with a scoop of ice cream on the top.
We are heading back down for Thanksgiving and doing some research on cooking a turkey (let's face it- everything for Thanksgiving dinner) in some wood fired oven bliss (and then building one in our own backyard).
This pizza was one of our favorites. The simplest dough recipe made the best crust. I ain't lying when I say pizza cooked in a wood fired oven is heavenly.
The pizza pictured here has a whole wheat crust, honey mustard sauce thinly spread on the bottom, caramelized onions, bacon, toasted pecans, parmesan reggiano cheese and apple slices on the top. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water.

We took an afternoon and went to Devil's Rock Garden- out on the Hole-in-the-Rock road. Gorgeous fall day, I took lots of lovely pictures. Kids and cousins ran amuck. The desert was perfect- about 70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. More pictures here.

some art

I am always willing to sew up whatever the kids desire in the way of costumes for Halloween. As you can see, I have my work cut out for me this year. Except when it comes to C, who want's to be Bob from Monsters vs. Aliens. If you've seen the movie, you would know that this is pretty much a blue ghost costume- not very exciting to make or look at. I've always wanted to build a Max (from Where The Wild Things Are) costume- but C won't have it. Maybe I should make a big Max costume for Steve O (the Daddy)- he's so excited about the movie- he'd wear it. ...And then make all the kids into the monsters, now that would be funny.
They are buttons, the button that holds your pants up... yes, I was a little worried, and I had to ask. I've been trying to encourage leaving the 'pant button' out of his work, but they keep turning up in all his art. (Perhaps now is the time to do some explaining to Mrs. Tanner, his kindergarten teacher.)

18 wonderful years

It just occurred to me that today is our 18th anniversary. So, I sent my spouse a text acknowledging the date- I know, super romantic huh?
It sort of reminds me of year 5 or 6 when both of us completely forgot until about a week later. At least it was both of us that forgot that year. It may be a year without much fanfare on the actual date (Steve O is in Chicago) and that's just fine with me, because I wouldn't trade the last 13 years for anything (really, this is Steve O's joke not mine). I love you Tiger.
In the photo collage above: one of the pictures from the roll taken when we got engaged. I can't find the actual photo that made it into the wedding announcement- but you get the idea= toddlers.
And... a few of our accomplishments, or works in progress.

Halloween garland

One of the upsides of collecting fabric- you don't need to go to the fabric store when a project like this pops into your head. I could have gone on forever- adding different fabrics, and ended up with about 10 feet of garland, but I stopped... probably to take someone to gymnastics or soccer.

These triangles were cut with regular scissors (this method makes you feel like you're back in elementary school) or a roller cutter (the easier and faster way). But, I think I like the look of pinking shears better, and the triangles fray better (after washing) with pinking shear edges.

The finished project- barely fits the mantle- good thing I stopped when I did...
I'm going to turn the piles of fabric in my sweat shop into piles of garlands for the Beehive Bazaar in December. I'll get a few Halloween garlands made up- look in my etsy shop.

all pieced

As I was finishing piecing this quilt top, the silly saying that you see posted in quilters sewing rooms or quilting shops all over the place kept coming back to me. It goes something like this, "My husband asked me one day why I buy big pieces of fabric only to cut them up and sew it back together again." I think some version of this line rolls through every quilters head when piecing a quilt top. In the thick of it you can feel like you're going a little crazy. But I do love the finished product.

working on a quilt

I know it seems like all I do is ride my bike and stuff, but, I promise- I've been doing lots of sewing too. I'm making this quilt for one of the rooms at the Slot Canyons Inn, my folks Bed and Breakfast. My Mom picked out the pattern from the Kaffe Fassett book- Passionate Patchwork. The design is called shirt-stripe boxes. I must say I'm always very impressed with the design decisions she makes. No doilies and frilly knick knacks cluttering the rooms at her Inn, it's all very simple and tasteful- hats off Grandma Jo (and thanks for letting me help you).
I love the abstract quilts, I've had fun putting this one together. With any luck, I'll have this all pieced and off to be quilted tomorrow. I might need luck and magic.