A Closer Look at Ottoman

Spider Web Plaques

Halloween is two months from today and I just finished listing two Spider Web Plaques in the shop. I found these wooden plaques while thrifting and I'm not sure if I'll be able to find more like them, so it may be a limited edition of two (there are four, but I made one for my sister and couldn't help but keep one for myself).

They are 5x7 inch plaques painted black with acrylic paint. The spider webs are hand sewn through the plaques with very spider web-like embroidery floss:

 

Spider Web Plaque 1

 

Spider Web Plaque 2

Speaking of Halloween, last night, two bats found their way into our house! I think we managed to get them to fly out, but they must have flown in some how during the day because they just appeared without a door open! I like bats, but I prefer them outside...hopefully they don't make their way inside again (There are a couple of places that they could have sneaked in that aren't sealed up on the house right now, but why would they want to?).

Happy Monday!

Just a quick note about comments.

I just wanted to leave a quick note about comments...I have been replying to comments via email (because I realize that not everyone checks back at comments), but I've noticed that I've been following a lot of conversations on others' blogs that involve the author. I also haven't been getting my comments via email (I think it's my email rather than Typepad) and I keep forgetting to have Jeff look into it. Anyway, I'm going to go back to commenting on the blog because of the conversational angle, the email situation, and because I realize that I may answer questions via email that some of you may not be asking me directly. So...let's see how this works!

Happy weekend!

Some Inspiration

I'm catching up on some of my favorite blogs and I've found some inspiration. First, is the Apartment Therapy house tour of the duo from Something's Hiding In Here. Check it out here. I know I've mentioned Shauna and Stephen's house before, but it's constantly changing. Here's a peek:

 

Litho stones! (if you are a printmaker...you will know what I mean.) I also love the random furniture that is painted an overall color...and the deer collection. I like the clever way that the deer are displayed and it doesn't take an extra piece of furniture. 

Speaking of deer, I may have mentioned that I'm looking for some large ones such as these (I think these guys started the trend):

 

And...more craft room organization ideas! There's lots more on the post, but here's a couple of inspiring shots:

 

I like the simple, shallow shelves...no digging to find stuff...

 

Peg board and, oh, I need a flat file!

Next, is the blog the sweetie pie press. The post on Becky's nature table is truely inspirational. 

 

This table is inspired by a little boy's seasonal nature table "so that he can collect and possibly ponder the things they (he and his parents) find on walks." I may have to integrate that into our home for Boo.

I can also relate to Becky's comment "i am able but no website genius. if only the internet could be more...crocheted." Well said.

Happy Thursday!

I'm Home

I just got back home a few hours ago...Boo and I are home safely (it was a whirlwind trip and I worked on making some healthy smoothies that my grandfather can eat to hopefully get him back home) and I got back to a couple of great emails from Jenny. She's been thinking about canning while I was gone.

One great thing Jenny sent was this click-able map that shows what's in season in your state; here's the link. You can also scroll to other months to see what's in season at other times of the year or to plan ahead.

Next, are some cute faces from a sweet little jam company called cmbsweets. Jenny sent them to get a smile from Boo. Here's a few:

 

 

 

Click here for more cute faces and what all the flavors are.

100 Sales! (and a few matters of business and randomness)

I reached 100 sales in my Etsy shop yesterday! I'm very excited! I'm also thankful for all my sales...thank you wonderful customers! So, my dear 100th sale customer, be expecting some special extra giftlets in the mail very soon!

Now to business...I'm leaving tomorrow for about ten days (I think I mentioned this before) to see my grandfather who isn't doing so well. I will be leaving my shop open so that items can be purchased, but I will not be shipping until I return. I will put this info in my shop announcement and my message to buyer as well.

And to randomness. I took this picture a few days after I made those yummy black beans (I know, more posting about food...but yum!). Whenever I make a roast or beans, I have an enormous amount of leftovers. We also got a roasted chicken from Costco, so black bean and shredded chicken nachos were a great leftover (and maybe I'm posting this because it's lunchtime and I'm hungry):

Okay, off to make lunch!

Guest Curation on Etsy Stalker

Just a quick note to let you know that I curated an exhibit as a guest on Etsy Stalker and it's live! It's on conceptual art which is one of my loves. Do check it out!

 

Many thanks to Curator Beatrice for this opportunity...you're a peach!

Happy Friday!

Homemade Salsa

One of the main reasons I started a garden was because Jeff loves to make salsa. There have been successes in the garden, but also many failures this year and I think the main reason is the soil (and I've got to just get the plants on a timer for the next garden)...I need more organic matter. It seems good soil is a buffer against the many things that can go wrong in a garden.

Anyway, early on my cilantro went to seed and dried up. I must admit that I don't like cilantro. It smells exactly like a bug (I don't know what it's called) that lives where I grew up and if smashed, smells exactly like cilantro. I've tried really hard to acquire a taste for it, but no luck. I do tolerate it and don't really notice it in small amounts. So, Jeff made some salsa without cilantro (I didn't even think this was allowed haha) and it was wonderful!

I decided last week that I too would make some salsa. There must not have been any jalapeños for sale at the plant sale we went to (or they were sold out), because we don't have any in the garden, but I have been able to harvest some Anaheim chilies. Our friends Jim and Mary also have an Anaheim and they've been giving them all to us because Jim doesn't like chilies and it was supposed to be a bell pepper.

I also don't have many large tomatoes (they aren't doing well), but many cherry tomatoes. So, I made a salsa from mostly cherry tomatoes, a couple of onions from the garden and Anaheim chilies...I think it's the best salsa I've ever had.

 

Again proving to be my favorite tomato, the Green Zebra is the most hardy and I've harvested it more than any regular sized tomato.

 

These fresh onions were just incredibly beautiful with the outer skin off and the roots still intact.

 

Completed salsa. Just a little salt needed to be added to make the flavors mix. I think I'm going to make more salsa today!

Happy Wednesday!

Jam

I mentioned in my last post that Jenny and I made jam last week. What happened was, I called her on Tuesday because we had bought a huge tub of blueberries at Costco and I wondered if she wanted to make blueberry muffins. Jenny said that she had bought a case of jam jars and supplies and had been playing mad scientist in the kitchen while her "boys" weren't home by canning some jam with some plums a neighbor gave her and wondered if I'd rather make jam. So, of course I said yes!

I was really excited that Jenny had found some Ball "no sugar needed fruit pectin" (I had never heard of such a thing) in which only a bit of fruit juice is needed:

 

So, we made a batch of six jars of blueberry jam and were so excited about it that we decided to make jam after lunch from plums of her "ornamental" plum tree outside (the place that they bought this tree from swore that it wouldn't fruit...it drops small, very tart plums everywhere and Jenny and her husband say that each of them grows a new tree...beware if you buy such a tree!). The plums were very tart, so we did add a cup of sugar to the recipe which is still much less than usually added. It turned out wonderfully! This method is perfect for our family as Jeff is diabetic and steers away from sugary foods (unless there's ice cream involved).

Here's the six jars I cam home with (we each got six jars of jam out of it - yay!):

 

The plum jars are in the front, the blueberry in the back...

 

Up next...blackberry! Oh, and maybe more plum...it'd be nice to keep those plums off the ground, so we may as well put them to good use!

Oh, I've been very busy lately, Boo and I are getting ready to go visit our family in Southern California. My grandfather isn't doing very well, so we hope to help cheer him up! So, posts will be a bit spotty. 

Happy Tuesday!

A Woodland Forest Front Page

Yesterday, Boo and I went to Jenny's and Jenny and I made some jam (yes, we canned!). We sort of taught ourselves by the instructions and I'll share that with you soon, but while we were being mad scientists (in a food safety manner, I assure you), I made the front page of Etsy:

It's stunning and the colors are very similar to the "stark" treasury I made recently (by the way, it's cooled off quite a bit...we've been having some thunderstorms - yay!).

Happy Thursday!

Shared Work Space

Jeff and I are trying to work out how to share our spare bedroom as an office/studio space (it would be nice to eventually have a little out building for one of us). We're both the type to spread out and take over space, so organization is key. I spied this yesterday on the Craftzine blog, and I think it may inspire us:

There's instructions for this great idea at the maker's site CraftyNest.

Getting stuff up onto the wall will surely help the clutter situation. If you have seen any other inspiring craft organizational photos on the web, I'd love to see them! Just put a link in the comments. Thanks!

Happy Tuesday!