short station break

superette will be taking a minor break for a short trip to manila and hong kong. ann and dabney will do their best to jump on any internet connections that may arise over the next two weeks in order to update superette with their fun new discoveries.

in the meantime, here's one last minute project that dabney whipped up yesterday.



ann begged her for it but instead, one lucky customer will be the recipient at the renegade craft fair in june.

everlasting boutonnieres

ann and dabney love flowers that never die: paper flowers, felt flowers, wire flowers - you name it. so for crazy bride's wedding, ann and dabney are making beaded boutonnieres and corsages.

here is their first experiment:


this photo was sent to the happy couple. their response, "the boutonnieres look nice, but dab, you got somethin' in yo grill!"

a translation of flowers lost

if any of you have seen lost in translation, there is a scene where scarlett johansson's character is decorating her park hyatt hotel room with sprigs of pink paper blossoms.



yep, there they are, right in the corner.

ann & dabney *love* the movie, and dabney has wanted to create some of those flowers since the moment she saw them. she has a vision for a large chandelier-type version, for over the dining room table, and has been slowly gathering the materials she needs to make one.

but this weekend, she started messing around with wire, paper, and some eyelets and came up with a different kind of flower sculpture. here's what the prototype looks like, hanging from some fishing line in the living room. they turned out fairly nice, even if they kinda got lost in dabney's translation.



f.y.i. after the charger debacle, superette is happy to welcome back the canon powershot s200.

operation clean dog

yesterday ann and dabney hung out with friend lauren of watertown fame, and her endlessly amusing corgihuaua, chelsea. the original plan was to give chelsea and feidler baths, but after a visit to the vet earlier that morning, chelsea wasn't having any of it and took to her bed. lauren, ann, dabney and feidler headed off instead to shaggy's, a self-serve dog wash deep in the heart of the 'burbs.

shaggy's is a mystical magical place for dog owners. instead of wrestling with their 65 lb. pup in the bath tub, ann & dabney simply walk feidler inside and up a ramp into a large steel tub on stilts. in a feat of ingenuity, shaggy's features the same technology as self-serve car washes (no wonder - shaggy's owner also owns the car wash next door). insert coins. turn dial to alternately rinse, shampoo, and de-flea. when the 2 minute bell chimes, insert more coins if needed. when dog is done, simply walk him back down the ramp and out the door. they even have hair dryers and nail clippers on hand for extra preening. all this for under $5. which means no need to clean dog hair out of your drain. and no chasing his wet dog self around the house with a towel.

ann and dabney have the process down to a science. they even wear raincoats to avoid the inevitable drenching when feidler shakes off water. here's a glimpse.



the unexpected bonus of the day was stumbling across ben & jerry's free cone day.

knitting disappointment

after the december holiday, ann spotted what she thought was a treasure on the 50% off table at her local bookstore. among the chickensoup for the soul books and anne geddes creepy baby cards, she saw a single solitary knitting calendar still sealed in plastic featuring a unique "pattern-a-day." how could she pass it up?

with visions of elegant mohair wraps and buttery soft angora cardigans, she eagerly awaited january 1st. now that it is april, it is safe to say that her small investment was an utter disappointment. lo and behold, here are some of the "best" patterns:

rufus, the leprechaun doll


just what everyone needs, a cadbury egg basket



"my sunglasses are preventing me from seeing how bad i look in this sweater" sweater

so jetsons

you might have noticed lately that the pictures on superette haven't been the sharpest, most colorful jpegs. scratch that, let's just say they have a "crude but charming" quality. annie recently misplaced the charger of their trusty canon powershot s200 digital camera. as a result, the pictures are courtesy of dabney's samsung camera phone. (the canon is currently serving as a very attractive, but rather useless, paperweight until its re-enforcements arrive.)

it is hard to believe that we live in age where camera phones are a part of everyday life. we send images through the air to land in other little plastic devices to view. it seems so "jetsons" of us.

on that note, here is a website that appreciates the art of phone-photography. check it out at sent.

fly, fly away...

ann and dabney head to the philippines and hong kong in a few short weeks.

the trip gave dabney the perfect excuse to make some passport covers. it also let her try out silkscreening for the first time since taking shop class in junior high. at the time she was pretty proud of the pink flamingo t-shirt she made (it being the 80s after all).

this time around, dabney used the ubiquitous speedball screenprinting kit, along with some versatex textile ink from pearl art. if you've never tried silkscreening, it goes like this:

1. prep a screen with a light-sensitive emulsion

2. burn a "positive" image onto the screen

3. use a squeegee to push ink through the screen onto the fabric or paper

4. flash dry the image using a heat gun




for more detailed instructions on how to silkscreen, look here.

phototherapy

ann and dabney returned from dc to beautiful weather in boston. to fully appreciate what spring means to them, you have to understand just how lightless ann and dabney's apartment truly is. plants fresh from the nursery meet swift and certain deaths. night vision goggles are de rigueur.

here's a glimpse of the place in the full bloom of the afternoon.



to celebrate, ann and dabney went seeking sun any way they could get it this weekend, blinking in the light like moles leaving a tunnel.

for one thing, ann started up her scooter for the first time in months. this winter it's been parked outside the front door, chained to the railing, primarily as a place for neighborhood dogs to pee on. thankfully, the battery started up just fine after a few revs and ann was able to motor off to the grocery store for some supplies, on the first of what will be many open-air rides around boston this summer.



on sunday ann also cleaned and swept the back deck, oiled the outdoor furniture, and got the grill all fired up for a bbq with ashlee and terra. somehow in the course of a few short hours, she cooked up some swordfish and tomato kebabs brushed with pesto, roasted potatoes with rosemary and olive oil, and grilled asparagus. after much food, lounging and cocktails, the foursome lazily stumbled down the street to nicole's for some candy-laced frozen yogurt.

earlier in the weekend dabney moved her supplies from the downstairs office/second bedroom/craft room, aka the tomb, into the unheated glass patio off the kitchen. she christened the space with some silkscreening and sewing for an upcoming project.

here's a look at her new view.

nary a blossom

cold rain and blustery wind greeted ann and dabney in dc. as a result, not a blossom blossomed, though the buds were raring to go. all the trees looked like this.



still, dc had much to offer. hundreds of people showed up on the mall on saturday to fly their kites. children holding the strings were practically airborn from the gale force winds. needless to say, the kite doctor on hand was a very popular guy. julia child's kitchen was on display for all to see at the smithsonian museum of american history. adams morgan and u street neighborhoods made for some fun wandering, namely such stylish stores as nana, go mama go! and pop. to top it off, ann and dabney enjoyed more than one cupcake from the love cafe.

ann and dabney were also happy to spend time with dear friends: jenbrown, michelle, rana, brianna, maisley and william.

blossom fever

ann and dabney are on their way to washington, dc this week. dabney is particularly excited because of the annual cherry blossom festival that's happening this weekend. because if there is anything that dabney loves more than ann, it's a cherry blossom. on their trip around asia last year, ann and dabney made it to japan in time for spring, and happened to catch all the trees in bloom. traditionally, thousands of japanese camp out in tokyo's ueno park to get a good viewing spot and spend the entire weekend with family and friends while excessively drinking, eating and looking at all the flowers. so, if you happen to be in dc on saturday or sunday, you'll probably find us on a blanket somewhere in the tidal basin. we'll be the ones with a sapporo beer in one hand and some edamame in the other.

of all the things dabney bought in asia, her chop* is one of her favorites. it's an image of - what else - a cherry blossom.



*a chop is a handcarved seal