garden love: ferns again

These are a different type of fern. Ferns were probably my biggest joy in planting the shade garden up front. I have 4 different types there.

I love the way the new plant looks like a knot waiting to untangle.

A to Z at the Grand Rapids Public Library!

I recently completed a very fun project at work: a new exhibit entitled The Grand Rapids Public Library Archives A – Z.

Every once in a while I get to design an exhibit that is curated by the staff of the Grand Rapids History and Special Collections Department. The staff did a spectacular job of picking and choosing all sorts of interesting bits out of our archives, one for each letter of the alphabet. I have always wanted to do an A to Z annual report but I think this was an equally fun project to work on.

The big boards will be on display at the Main Library through the end of this year. There is also a brochure version of the exhibit which is turning out to be a darn popular print piece.

Past exhibits I had the honor of designing include this one on the history of football in Grand Rapids (which was actually very interesting and I am seriously not an athlete or a sports fan!) and another on women in Grand Rapids.

A belated baby gift

The baby was born in March but I told myself I needed to finish the project I was in the middle of first before sewing her gift. So I got that table runner done. I finished the flannel burp cloths during time off in April. I did consider sending them off alone. But since the baby's mother had sent leftover fabric from the nursery at my request I thought I had better not send a gift that didn't use it. So I waited until I got the adorable little stuffed balls done. Which turned out to be in May! Oops! :-)

Pattern for the balls was from the book Sew What You Love: The Easiest, Prettiest Projects Ever. I did the small ones but my fingers are itching to make one of those giant ones! I will keep you posted!

garden love: ferns!

Oh how I love my delicate, graceful fronds unfurling to greet the sun!

GR Reads poster process

GR Reads is "summer reading all grown up." It is a summer-long series of programming developed around 10 books chosen by the smart people working at the library. The 10 books all revolve around a common theme. This year's theme is "you are here."

My original idea for the poster was a "quilt" of symbols, one for each of the books. This is in keeping with other solid flat color designs I usually use as part of our brand.

Then I thought I should try filling in the symbols using the book cover art and that led to experimenting with a collage of images. It's a little different from what I usually do and I absolutely love it. I am very pleased with how the final poster turned out.

Bonus reader challenge: See if you can spot the differences between this one, which is the chosen idea and the top one, which is the final version with several little tweaks to improve it.

sweet little birdies

These were part of the mother's day gift for my own mama. Pink little birdies, one for each of her three daughters. I used this free pattern from Spool Sewing. It was one of those things that turned out to be a tad trickier than I anticipated (of course!). Sewing small things and sewing curves take some serious care! My five-year-old, dear thing, helps me turn things inside out and stuff them.