Flickr Favorites 15

1. Falling Up, 2. eyðibýli 19

A Change of Pace

So, I pretty much have craft ADD, and I've been looking for other ways to reuse vintage book illustrations besides the buttons and magnets I already have in the shop. I'd like to try soldered pendants, but I have to admit I'm a bit scared of burning my fingers.

I know that a lot of people make and sell glass and Scrabble tile pendants, so I'm a bit hesitant to post these here and was even hesitant to try them out. They were fun to make, though. I'm not sure if I am 100% happy with the end result (sealing the back did not come out as smoothly as I hoped and I dunno if I can deal with the smell of the bail adhesive), but it was fun to experiment with something new.

My two favorites are below, an American Lotus and a four-leaf clover.



And of course, I had to have some llamas in there:

I like how this last guy looks like he's laughing at something.

So anyway, new experiment. We'll see.

I Have Issues

There is one other reason I cannot go see movies in the theater. What have I spent an inordinate amount of time doing this evening? Tracking down the yellow shirt that Rashida Jones wears in I Love You, Man. I want this shirt. Have to have it. Even looked up the film's costume designer on IMDB. Turns out a lot of other bloggers did, too, because through posts like this one I found out that not only is the shirt far, far, far out of my price range, it is (thankfully, because I am sick) sold out.

Maybe I need to dust off the sewing machine and try to make it. It's a basic yellow cotton top with some circles hemmed and layered, right? Maybe it can sit unfinished with the Built by Wendy dress I started. Oooh, wait! I just realized that the BBW dress pattern has a shirt option. Which I could pin little circles onto . . .

I knew there was a reason I started this rambling post! Any advice, my lovely seamstresses?

Oppose HR 875

While I usually try to remain apolitical on this blog, as that's not what my area of expertise is nor where most of my readership comes from, there is a very important bill in the House of Representatives right now that threatens local farmers markets and sustainable, small farming practices. You can read more about the bill here, and if you scroll down on that page, there are form letters you can copy and paste to send to your Congressperson.

As someone who tries to eat locally and organic as much as I can, I really, really hope this bill (introduced by the spouse of a political consultant for Monsanto, a huge agri-business) does not pass!

I have already contacted my local representative and hope others do the same.

{The image above is by Christopher Silas and can be downloaded here.}

A Cold Weekend

It was cold here this weekend, which means this is what I saw when I let the dogs out in the morning.

It also meant that I worried about our garden, covered the spinach, and brought the geranium indoors. Bloom, little flower, bloom!




It also meant, since it was cold and the end of spring break, that I went to not one, but two movies this weekend. First I caught a matinee of Sunshine Cleaning (filmed locally!) with a friend. Then Billy and I saw I Love You Man, and since we're in a new-ish city in the process of making adult friendships, we found the movie all the more hilarious. But what inevitability happens when I finally go to a movie is that I want to see more. There was a trailer for Away We Go (play above), another film written by Dave Eggers. It looks lovely and touching and funny and smart. And does anyone know who is singing in the trailer? Because it sounds vaguely familiar but I can't quite place the music.

Oh, and if you have not watched the Where the Wild Things Are trailer below . . .

Why Hello, My Deer

Available in both blossom pink and an orange-y poppy in the shop.

And don't forget there is a sale going on until Sunday!

Friday Finds: Ferngully Mini Tote

Now, I have other totes for the farmers market. But I want this mini tote with the handprinted fiddlehead pattern. By willywaw.

Where The Wild Things Are

I had my doubts, but this trailer looks amazing. And with Spike Jonze (director), Dave Eggers (script), The Arcade Fire (soundtrack), and actors like Catherine Keener and Mark Ruffalo, I don't think I can resist. Between that and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, I have high hopes for movies coming out in the coming months.

By the way, if you have not seen the Where the Wild Things Are cake on Cake Wrecks, it is totally worth a look.

Thrifted Plate

I found this plate at my local thrift store yesterday. I love the poppies and colors, and I think once we finally purchase a house it will inspire some kitchen paint choices. This is the starter for the plate wall I've been wanting to do for so long!

Places I Want to Be

More new buttons in the shop. Don't forget there's a sale going on through Sunday!

Peeper.

The perfect sign of spring, available as buttons or magnets in the shop.

Flickr Favorites 14

1. On the road again, 2. Dartmoor Ponies

{Just a note that I am moving the Flickr favorites series from Fridays to Tuesdays.}

Llove is in the Air.

While I wanted to photograph these in gentler light, I just could not wait.

I cannot tell you the fun I had with this project. Sometimes a client contacts you and reimagines your work in a new way, or tells you the personal significance it has for them. The llama llove card was reinvented here as save-the-date postcards for a easy, breezy seaside wedding in California (click to enlarge for more detail; some design details are blurred for privacy). I am so pleased with the result and glad the bride and groom are too. We have more in the works for this wedding, so stay tuned!

If you are interested in a similar project, please feel free to email me.

Llamas Now Back in the Shop

One of my dearest friends ends her letters "Love." Not as a way of signing off, but as a statement. I've been missing her a lot lately, and with this simple phrase in mind I simplified the pun on the ever-popular llama card.

They are available singly or in sets in the shop (and don't forget there's a sale going on until the end of the week).

I also have a fun custom project and some new items to show you in the next few weeks. I'm so excited to be making things again!

Public Poster Art, Etc.

Readymade asked five artists to recreate Depression-era poster art in response to the current economic meltdown. You can read the artist's statements and get free downloads here.

Also, if you have not streamed the SXSW Music Festival on NPR, it is so worth it.

Also, if you have not looked at Emily Martin/The Black Apple's new kitchen, you totally should.

Yeah, essentially today is just a random mix of interweb goodness.

Spring Sale in the Etsy Shop

I've going to do some spring cleaning this week and I figured that ought to apply to the shop as well. This week only, all items in the Etsy shop are buy one, get one free! Higher price and shipping still apply.

The card above is are great for Easter, which is only a few short weeks away, so be sure to check it out (along with it's yellow counterpart here)!

A Spring Manifesto

I seriously love it when one of my favorite bloggers, Julia, publishes her seasonal manifestos. It's such inspiration for me to sit and reflect on what I have to look forward to in the months to come. Sometimes I operate more on a "to-do" list level, and I like that these manifestos (more here, here, and here) urge us to slow down and enjoy life rather than ticking things off a list.

So without further ado, here is my spring manifesto:

• Keep on nurturing our little garden. We have little seedlings that are thriving now, and I can't wait to enjoy our harvest. It feels so good to come home from work to water and get my hands in the dirt.
• Enjoy the fact that we now have a yard. Sit on the patio with each other, with coffee or beer and a game of cribbage, throw the ball to the dogs and enjoy the cooing of our neighborhood doves.
• Cook from our garden and from the CSA box we just signed up for. I'm hoping that a random box of fruits and veggies, supplement by our own little garden and the farmers market, will inspire me to think outside the box, to try new recipes and combinations.
• Take more pictures. I've been loving my Diana camera and spring is so beautiful and fleeting, even here. I want to capture a tiny piece of it.
• Explore. With my camera or otherwise. We live in a beautiful place, and I still feel like I've seen only one tiny piece of it. Perhaps after Taos, Jemez Springs is next.
  
• Let it flow. Lately my fingers have been itching to do some drawing and writing more than printing. I'm happy to let the inspiration come and go and create however I see fit, even if it is unrelated to the shop.

Thanks, Julia! That's always harder than I think, but so very satisfying.

Flickr Favorites 13

1. Childhood favorite, 2. 繡眼茫逗, Stay green fog

Friday Finds: Vintage Horse Paint by Number

Another vintage horse paint-by-number I'm coveting. The last two were snatched out from under me (not really, I just waited too long), so I'm debating grabbing this one in bouquet's shop as soon as I hit "post."

If you ever saw my bedroom as a little girl, you would know why I must have this!

Yellow and Purple

My favorite shades of spring. At least for today, when a random iris bloomed in our driveway.

The Quiet Evening

It may not have matched the energy of a Saint Patrick's day in Boston pubs, but we had a lovely night. We enjoyed some of Billy's home brewed stout, a vegetarian Irish stew (see the recipe below), soda bread, and a classic movie.

The Quiet Man is seriously one of my favorite movies of all time. It's romantic, chauvinistic (in a great dated-Hollywood sort of way), and comic all at once. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara had great chemistry, and the scenery and music are just beautiful. Just because the holiday passed doesn't mean it's too late to watch it! I may bust out the DVD again this weekend for a repeat screening.

And without further ado . . . the recipe for my vegetarian Irish stew. This is based on a crock-pot recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, a cookbook I love. This is more of a last-minute stew with a few additions and substitutions. It serves 2-3 people.

1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1" chunks
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 to 1/2 cup of Irish stout, such as Guiness
1 package of seitan or your preferred meat substitute
3/4 cup frozen green peas

Saute onions in a heavy-bottomed pot until soft. Add carrots and celery, cook about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, cook 2 minutes more. Add salt, pepper, and thyme, stir, and allow mixture to cook for a few more minutes to meld flavors. Add bay leaf and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer about 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Add Irish stout and simmer another minute. Add seitan and peas, stir, and cook until warmed through (but not too long or the peas will look yucky!).

Say slainte over beers and serve.

The Luckiest

Wishing you and yours a happy Saint Patrick's Day! I am certainly missing the spirited celebrations in Boston today. I didn't have time to make soda bread, which I intend to do every year, but I am going to try my hand at a vegan Irish stew (with some Guinness stirred in). I'll let you know how it turns out.

P.S. If you like the note above, two versions are available here and here.

Zebras

I just put these in the shop and they just might be my new faves. I think it is the kelly green contrasted with the black-and-white stripe thing they've got goin' on . . .

Taos

We got back last night from the best weekend in Taos. Here are some things we did, and if you are ever in this neck of the woods, I highly recommend all of them, with the exception of walking over the bridge that spans the Taos Gorge. I made it about five feet out and then . . . I believe the phrase that would most accurately describe the moment is completely losing my shit. This is about the second or third time I got vertigo and severe panic on that bridge, and yet I keep making myself try to do it in the name of conquering my fears. Maybe I should just start to let it slide.

Anyway, on to the good stuff:

• We had lunch at Eske's Brew Pub, including their famous green chile beer and an amazing vegetarian green chile stew.
  
• We browsed the shops along the Taos Plaza, including my favorite, FX-18.
  
• We stayed at the Historic Taos Inn, had drinks and dinner in the super-lovely lobby, and listened to some great live music by Gregory Alan Isakov and The Freight. They were really good!
• The next morning we checked out early to take a scenic drive to the mineral springs at Ojo Caliente. You can get a day pass to soak in their mineral springs. It was so amazing to be in my bathing suit in March!

For two homebodies we had quite the full weekend. Billy was good enough to drive so I could take pictures with my Diana camera along the way. I'll post those later, but in the meantime, here are some of the digital shots from our weekend road trip (best viewed large, click on them):

{Camel Rock}

{Lonely Tree}

{Road from Santa Fe to Taos}

{Taos Gorge}{Road from Taos to Ojo Caliente}

I want to do a lot more traveling in the West, as it still feels so new and huge to me! If you have any recommendations for camping or weekend trips in New Mexico, Colorado, or Arizona, please share them with me!

Blue Highways

We had a great weekend in Taos. I'll post more later!

Flickr Favorites 12

1. 黃腹順毛 Trapeze Show, 2. maine coast

Friday Finds: Vertical Leaf Pendant Light

Substantial, yet serene and pretty. I'm loving this laser-cut steel pendant lamp from Megan Auman.

Cosa Verde

I just opened a brand-spanking-new shopfront on Cosa Verde. For those of you familiar with Poppytalk Handmade, it functions similarly in that it acts as a "shop window" that links to your Etsy shop or website.

I also love Cosa Verde's simple look and the fact that they emphasize environmentally friendly goods, donate a portion of their fees to the charity of your choice, and plant ten new trees for every new store!

The site is also very easy to use: you can drop and drag your items, reorder them, and have full descriptions.

If you are a fellow artist/crafter/small businessperson and interested in signing up, I'd be grateful if you'd use my referral link!

Ahhhh . . . and Tweet!

I just got back from a totally amazing morning at Betty's Bath and Day Spa and I am blissed out to the point that some might think I am on drugs (so thanks, Mom, for the birthday present!).

It's probably better not to write too much in this state, so I thought I would share some amazing photographs from John&Fish in Taipei, Taiwan. They were kind enough to let me share some here, and their captures of birds are just amazing. You should really visit their page, though, because there are many more beautiful shots.

Alright. As I predicted, I'm rambling. Here are some more:

Flickr Favorites 11

1. robin egg blue entrance.JPG, 2. Untitled

Friday Finds: Canary Dress

If I had several hundred dollars to blow, it would be on this gorge canary yellow, silk chiffon dress by Holly Stadler. And I bet it would be worth every penny.