Theo + Mack

I’m sharing something a bit different today, because I want to introduce my two newest loves, Theo and Macklin!

I’ve been thinking about adopting a cat for a while, and I started the process of filling out an adoption form a few weeks ago. After being approved, I sort-of just waited to see if any kittens would pop up on the shelter website. A week or two went by, and on a Tuesday afternoon Buff and Gray (as the shelter had named them) came up on the website and I knew I wanted to meet them. That night, I drove through some pretty icy road conditions like a crazy person and got to see these two and instantly fell in love! They came home with me that night and we’ve been getting to know each other ever since.

Buff has been renamed Macklin (Parks & Rec, anyone?), but I call him Mack for short. He is orange and white, and is the more outgoing of the two. This means that so far Mack has caused all of the messes! The name suits him, I think. He is super sweet, just like his brother. All you have to do is look at him and he starts purring.

Gray is now Theo, but I find myself calling him T or TT most of the time. He’s more timid, but seems to love to be picked up and cuddled when he’s not feeling so shy. Theo is gray and white and he and his brother are about 4 months old.

If you’d like to see more photos of them (in color no less), check out my instagram feed. They also have their own Instagram account (because this is what happens on days when you’re snowed in and have nothing better to do…). I didn’t want to inundate my own feed with too many cute cat photos (is there such a thing?), so you can find them @theoandmack.

I’ve been going through some personal stuff lately, and in the few days I’ve been bonding with these two I realize that adopting them was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. Caring for these sweet, snugly, playful boys is a great form of therapy.

Anyway, getting these two settled means I haven’t done much card making in the last few days, and if I’m being honest I have to say that I’d rather spend all my time playing with them right now! But, I’ll be back in the craft room this weekend!

Happy Friday!

Introducing Freshwater Studio!

I think many of you have noticed by now that I’ve made a little change to my blog. Mixed Method has now become Freshwater Studio, and I want to tell you why!

 

When I started this blog 5 years ago, I wracked my brain for weeks trying to decide what to name it. I knew back then that I wanted my blog to be a place where I could feature a lot of the DIY and crafty stuff I was into at the time. I didn’t have much of a plan and I didn’t want to fit myself into any kind of niche. I just wanted to share photographs, projects, nail art (lots of that in the beginning!), hair tutorials, inspiration, life..whatever! The mixed part of Mixed Method seemed to capture a bit of that for me. Mixed Method seemed to flow from there, and I didn’t mind the alliteration, either. However, as time went by and this blog grew and changed, I felt like I needed to re-adjust. The blog became more about paper crafting and DIY projects, and less about the other stuff, and I’d started really trying to curate this space. Knowing that Mixed Method wasn’t a name that had much meaning to me, and that it wasn’t something I was especially attached to, made me like it less and less as I grew more and more attached to this blog. So once again, I wracked my brain…for weeks. But then I let it rest for a while (

So, I’ve known that I’ve wanted to change the blog name for a while, and it seemed like now was a good time, for a whole host of reasons. I love that I’ve settled into this card making hobby and because of that I’ve met so many awesome people in the paper crafting community. I’m also so thankful to those of you who have been following along with me this whole time! I love reading and responding to comments and getting emails from all of you. So, I want to put more care and effort into this little corner of the web. I’m hoping to open an Etsy shop in the future (!!), and have a few other ideas germinating, so the name change was a priority for me (and a new logo, and maybe a bit of branding thrown in).

Freshwater has a lot to do with my newly re-kindled love of watercolor and painting, of course (if you’ve been here a while you’ve seen evidence of that in my cards), but it also comes from my Native American heritage and my central Massachusetts roots. I am part Nipmuc, (which translates to “freshwater people”) and I like that I can reflect that in my blog and the art that I share here.  All things are a work in progress over on this end, but I think we’re getting there.

I hope you like the new name! And I hope you’ll keep following along with me as I share new projects and ideas. You guys are the BEST!

Happy Almost Friday!

Winter Wonderland

Home tonight preparing for another 12+ inches of snow.

At least one of us is having fun! (Snow Fatigue/Cabin Fever/Boredom has set in)

Happy 4th!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, fun, and safe Independence Day!

Trot Trot to Boston

Several weeks ago my my mom, stepfather, D and I all traveled into Boston to attend the Phantom Gourmet’s annual Hot Dog Safari charity event. Along with holding many annual food events in and around Boston, the Phantom Gourmet television show runs on New England television Saturday and Sunday mornings and features local eateries and their delicious dishes. The “Phantom” samples dishes from restaurants and diners throughout New England and then gives them ratings. The Hot Dog Safari featured rows of food vendors lined up down Lansdowne Street in Boston, outside of Fenway Park. Vendors served up hot dogs, ice cream, chicken pot pie and other treats to benefit the Joey Fund and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

We took the train into Boston which is always the best way to travel around the city, IMHO.

Once we got to Lansdowne Street we stood in line for a bit, waved to some of the TV cameras taping for the show, and were given free hats!

While standing in line was saw both Dan and Dave Andelman – owners of Phantom Gourmet, Inc and hosts on the TV show.

We all ate our share of hot dogs, and pizza, and chicken pot pie (the pot pie is kind of random, right? But it was really good…). My favorite were the desserts (of course), especially the Richardson’s Ice cream. I tried the Phantom Berry flavor.

The restaurants and bars on Lansdowne Street were also open during the Safari, so we took the opportunity to check out the Bleacher Bar, which features a view out into Fenway Park from center field! It was pretty cool. It must be hard to get in there on a game day.

After we’d had our fill, we decided to stroll around the city a bit more before heading home.

Some random Boston architecture…

A stop at Paper Source. Awesome store – I need to go back! I picked up some envelopes and paper for wedding invites on this visit. :)

Each little strip of fabric tied to this fence outside of a church represented a prayer for families all over the world. Not sure how much it had to do with the Boston Bombings. I should have taken a photo of the sign that had more information on it.

Then we made our way to Quincy Market.

And Faneuil Hall.

Lastly, a stop at the Union Oyster House before calling it a day and heading back to the T.

Snow Photos

We had a nice little snowstorm Thursday into Friday this week. Over a foot and a half I’d say. D, Radar and I took a walk before shoveling out and I brought my camera along and took some photos. I tried to play with some of my camera’s settings as I still have a lot to learn on this thing (I have a Canon T3i). We got a really late start on shoveling out if these photos are any indication…

I’m kind of hoping this is it for snow this season…

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone who celebrates has a happy, safe and blessed Christmas!