When I was in the second grade, I fell in love with macrame.  Don't laugh, it was 1978 :)  I know, the thought of a 7 year old making plant hangers makes me giggle a little too.  Anyway, I always loved working with my hands, and materials.  It was a perfect fit at the time...  but I'll come back to macrame in a minute...  First, I have to tell you, this summer, I got two kittens, brothers, Gandalf and Aragorn.  So sweet and adorable.

My sweet innocent little boys.  Aragorn the Wild & Gandalf the Orange.

When I adopted them from the Capital Area Humane Society, they gave me a list of houseplants that are toxic to cats.  Fortunately, I didn't have any of the plants on the list, only a Christmas Cactus, and a few Orchids that I keep up really high.  I thought my plants were okay where they were.  It didn't take long before I started finding little nibble marks and puncture wounds on the leaves of the Christmas Cactus.  So far they have left the orchids alone.  About the same time, a friend gave me a spider plant cutting.  I realized a need to get my few plants off the shelves and up in the air, out of reach of the mischievous, and apparently hungry? cats.  I instantly thought of macrame!  I started poking around the internet for macrame patterns or books, but what I found was truly amazing.  The things that contemporary artists are doing with macrame just blew me away.

                                                                          Lisa Garcia

                                                                  Catherine Williams

Sally England

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

so in 2012 i became a pinterest addict, so this week i will be highlighting some of my favorite pins of the year.  one of the things i love about pinterest is the feeling i get when i discover a new artist.  excitement, jealousy and awe.  then i go exploring to find more.  does she have a web site? OR... where does he show his work?  AND... where is she form?   AND... what artists does he like?  and so on.  i love being an explorer.  my explorations last year have lead me to some amazing new places, like...

                                                                    MAGGIE BARNES

                                                You can visit her website to read all about it.

this blog has been stewing for a while, and obviously the only way to start it was, well... on a whim. it seems that in my life, planning is futile. so i just do what i can when i've got a second. this has resulted in about a thousand unfinished projects, many of which will never get completed, and others that will. i am looking forward to sharing them with you...  lately i've been on a "barnacles" whim.