A Colonial Craft Project in the Garden

Still locked away in my studio making beautiful jeweled treats and goodies for Saturday Market, but a wonderful thing happened! It's been drizzling for weeks. Sun and blue sky too, but not a single day where the ground dried out enough to garden. And then this weekend ... some dry, sunny days! Time to take advantage of this opportunity, exit the studio and work on the garden for a bit. We are trying to get a vegetable garden in this year, so I built this!:It's a lattice for the peas and beans. I felt positively colonial building it, because those sticks are reed grasses my little guys collected and dried from the wetlands behind us. Then we trimmed them to size, staked them and tied them with twine. Voila!! A rugged, yet strong lattice from scratch!

Here is the drink that powered the lattice construction project. Well, not the exact same drink, but I needed really wanted an iced coffee this morning too. Since I am a Starbucks addict, I thought I'd share this delightful link from Zizoo on How to Order A Complicated Drink At Starbucks.

Now, back to work! As you can see in the pictures, it's drizzling again today. Wish me warm, sunny weather for the grand opening of market this Saturday!!

***Update: I have two zero of the free bird's nest hair pins left -- all the nest hair pins are gone now -- thank you for your orders!!! That means two more lucky people will get one free with their next order! It can be either from the main boutique or from etsy, since I know they differ a bit in product.

Getting Ready for Saturday Market

I've been locked in the studio all week cranking out product for the opening of Saturday Market. This weekend I made faux dichro earrings (these have 3 layers of the dichro papers lacquered on a mother of pearl base). And they look stylish on those vintage labels too!! I'm going to need to get more labels I'm going through these so fast - lol!And here is a pair in the company of a felt flower pin. I just love these pins! So retro and sweet! Not to mention colorful.

Jen at ARtful Paper Dreams tagged me to tell a little more about myself. These types of tags always take me forever, so here is the *very* abbreviated version as I take a brief break from production and enjoy a hot cup of tea:

2. What are two of the best places you have been to ---- restricting myself to the world of art and architecture, I'll pick the Cloisters Museum in New York and Hearst Castle in California. Look at the fabulous mosaic work in the Roman Pool at Hearst Castle. It's decorated entirely with 1″ square mosaic tiles, mostly blue and orange but some that are clear with fused gold inside. Plus, lovely globe lamps and statues of Roman gods, goddesses and heroes.

Roman Pool at Hearst Castle
Images from Sandra Leidholdt at Flickr

4. Name two things that pretty much everyone knows about you ---- voracious reader, organizing goddess, historical costume lover, designer and privacy advocate. Hmmm.. well, that's a lot more than three, but since I'm only doing a few of the tag questions that seems OK!

Here's a dress I've drooled over for two years that no one who knows me will be surprised I want! But I'm already married, so I dream of ordering one in a soft celadon shade with copper accents to wear on other special occasions.

Absolutely stunning Lord of the Rings style gown from Rivendell Bridal.

The gown in white, blue and silver from Rivendell Bridal.
Images from Rivendell Bridal

6. Two things you may not know about me are ---- animal rights advocate, firm believer in the value of world travel as part of schooling and of life-long continuing educational opportunities for all, and I design arcologies just for fun :) Whee - that's three! These are getting easier to answer!

9. What are your top two fun things to do after work ---- what is "after work"? lol! I'm always working :)

10. Name two things you would like to learn ---- only two??? There are lots of things on this list :) But this is my art and biz blog so I'll go with: using a sewing machine, making faux cupcakes, and advanced wire-wrapping techniques so I can make drop-dead gorgeous wire-wrapped jewelry.

12. What were the last two books that you read? ---- I don't get much time to read now that I'm a Mommy, unless it's Dr. Seuss :), and when I do, I have very high standards for book recommendations, so I'm going to list the last two I read that I would recommend: fiction: Oryx & Crake (Margaret Atwood) and non-fiction: China Road (Rob Gifford).

Market opens in less than two weeks, so I'm not sure I'll have time for another blog entry before then. But I will definitely be sharing some pics of opening day and my new updated, fabulous and fresh booth design after I get back!

Longest Catch Up Blog Post Ever

Hello everyone! Finally, that storm system moved on at the end of last week and the migraine is gone and my vision restored. Thank goodness! Thank you so much everyone for your kind words of care and support and encouragement. I cannot tell you how much your sweet comments and emails meant to me! This is such a wonderful community and I am grateful for my bloggy friends each and every day!

Now, it's time to get cracking and get caught up! I have over a hundred blogs to visit and way more email to take care of. Oh, and let's not forget Saturday Market that opens in two weeks. Currently I will be standing there in front of an empty table, so it's time for this artist to get to work! Every power workshop session starts with this:There was an almond twist pastry too, but that didn't last long enough to photograph, but I assure you, it was delicious and a necessary part of kick-starting the day :) And you fellow Starbucks addicts might note the new color/labeling. Memo to Starbucks: if your sales figures are falling during these tight economic times, investing money on new retro labeling will not inspire me to buy more coffee - try new lower prices - *that* will get my attention.

Now suitable fueled, the workshop is churning with flower pin production:

Bird tile production: (Note: I just finished these at dawn, but the glaze on them needs about 1-2 weeks to cure after drying to get that old-fashioned vintage look.)

All this jewelry and pretty accessories, but I need some catchy display ideas too. How about vintage labels???? Perfect!! This is what you can do with 10 minutes at a high-quality color xerox machine and an hour of brain surgeon level hand-eye coordination cutting. They are looking good!!

Let's celebrate that I can work again! These are my new bird nest hair pins. How fine they look on those vintage labels! I will add one of these to any order placed starting now until they are gone. I have eight two zero left -- all the nest hair pins are gone now -- thank you for your orders!!!

Look what was incoming at the Jeweled Elegance workshop - this cool ACEO made entirely of polymer clay from DivaDea! She hosts these really interesting and creative Etsy song contests. I wasn't sure I had the concept down, but gave a guess and I won! Take a look at her site if you want a unique creative challenge.

Now, back to the grindstone! :)

In the Country of the Blind

My little boys and I had a wonderful Spring Break! They spent almost the entire time in the wetlands behind our house building a fort, inspired of course by "The Dangerous Book for Boys". They even put a floor in it made of leftover stone pavers from a neighbor's patio project, tied sticks together to build walls and a roof and then they.... THATCHED THE ROOF with bundled grass! How cool is that?!! They also built a matching bridge out of scrap wood and stones over the small creek. And this tale would be soooo much better with pictures, but I didn't take any while they were constructing and a nasty storm moved in this week and blew away or submerged much of it. They are troopers though and want to rebuild when it gets sunny again! The three of us also played gourmet chef and cooked these Orange Berry Muffins from Eat Me, Delicious! Yummy!! She has these Earl Grey White Chocolate Muffins I'm dying to try next.
I always get migraines here in the Spring from the rapidly cycling pressure systems. But for the past six days, I have had a particularly bad one. Hubby bought me my favorite drink to consume when I am ill, and something where I could just look at pretty pictures and didn't need to strain my eyes to read at all. How sweet is that?!! I have the best husband!!
I love Kombucha when I am feeling poorly, but it is definitely an acquired taste! This is my new favorite flavor - "Guava Goddess". And it's pink! The new Somerset Life is just gorgeous! There are so many people featured in there that I know and congrats to you all!

I'll leave you with this beautiful mural from Neuschwanstein Castle of a woman reading the tale of Tristan and Isolde.