Secret Valentine Exchange 2016

For the past two years I've participated in Sanae's Secret Valentine Exchange, and it's been a great experience.  I've expanded my sewing skills, and received some beautiful gifts.   This year's exchange is fast approaching and I am stumped on what to make!  Brainstorming on this cold, clear afternoon...

Year of Making - 2015

Inspired by this blog post, I'm committing to a Year of Making.   I found Kim Werker's ebook on the subject helpful, and also plan to read her book Make It Mighty Ugly.   Like many people, I think, one of the biggest obstacles to my creativity is a fear of failure, and that's a fear I hope to conquer in 2015.  Making something ugly on purpose sounds crazy to me-- like a huge waste of time-- but perhaps it's just the ticket to moving forward, finding my creative voice, and gaining new skills.
I've done a bit of practicing for the year this week and, sure enough, have made a few things I'm highly unsatisfied with.  Winning already!!!

Linen dish towels for my Secret Santa pick at our staff party

Commuter Cowl -- came out much too big

Celebrate Spring

Our Spring/Easter/Ostara celebration this weekend included dyeing (and then eating) LOTS of eggs. Also this lemon cake and this chocolate cake.  And lots of strawberries too.  Oh, and sangria.  I was in a food coma by Monday morning and considered taking a sick day. Our little girl doesn't yet know about refined sugar, and we're trying to keep it that way as long as possible.  Her Spring Treats consisted of a tin of dried figs, sidewalk chalk, and a wooden horse.  Which she LOVED.
Here's our own little chickie during the egg hunt:

January 2014: The Month Of the Hot Beverage.

In my favorite new mug

The extent of my holiday cheer this year. Except I also decorated our little Jade plant with some tiny vintage glass balls, and made a smilax wreath for the front door.  I love these lights and would like to keep them up all year.

This is the first year we are celebrating the holidays without my grandma.  I really really miss her!  It doesn't feel right, and I'd love to just go away for a bit.

Fantasizing about staying here and exploring New Orleans.

Is this thing on?

So, um, that was a short 2 years!

Not much has happened.  Well, except for this. Oh, and this:

Which is actually now this:

In my spare time I am finding lots of inspiration in these blogs.

happy holidays!

This made me laugh this morning.

window shopping

some Etsy things that caught my eye lately

orange and gold necklace

dala horse necklace

black pyramid ring

clan bear

Also: this ring, this bag, this tank

We were married.

I finally understand what the fuss is all about with this whole wedding thing. It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Even the ceremony part, which I was kind of dreading. And, after all the planning and making and cooking and fretting, the evening was over in the blink of an eye. It's now just a blur of flowers and family and Jackie being the cutest dog ever, firelight twinkling through the woods, raw oysters and wine, dancing to my favorite band and laughing with friends. Big sigh.

Back soon.

Memorial Day weekend 2011

("vintage" Gourtmet reading on the porch and a mix of blood orange and grapefruit juice)

(finally getting around to making my Wiksten Tova top)

(Jackie's helping)

(Receiving lots of guests-- one of the best parts of his day)

look at this dog

....have you ever seen a happier One?

The Grand Canyon of the South

For R's birthday I took the day off work and we went hiking at Providence Canyon. The weather here has been strangely cool (usually we're exercising extreme will power not to turn the air conditioner on in May) and I just couldn't resist playing hooky and getting out into the gorgeousness.

purple canyon sand

Jackie is a natural climber

It was a long drive home-- we unintentionally took the scenic route-- so we stopped in Thomasville for some supper. Since we had Jackie with us we ate at the only outdoor cafe we could find, which turned out to be some kind of religious joint that didn't even serve beer. Ouch. Was really looking forward to that beer. But we were consoled by delicious chocolate cake when we got home. Happy Birthday-- it's gonna be a great year!

bits and pieces of spring

Amazingly, we're still having some spring weather. In the garden, early tomatoes are ready (we had the first ones on our pizza last night) and the pepper plants are slowly getting bigger. We just had some much-needed rain and the beloved herbs are looking vibrant.

I've been listening to this awesome album.

Enjoying poking around on this site.

New neighbors like to set off fireworks (like, serious fireworks) at around 10:30 PM, which just thrills our dog.

Planning a fall wedding, and feeling totally refreshed by this book.

Happy spring out there!

what's up

went to Suwanee Springfest, had fun in the sun (and moon)

the roses are blooming!

we've taken some naps in the sun

my fat, happy chickens are doing some chicken yoga

made these yummy waffles from Good to the Grain.

that is all.

where i use the word fancy possibly too much

I've had an inexplicably rough few weeks, and now I'm finally making my way back to my studio. It feels so good to make things.

R & I had a date night last night and I stayed up wayyyyy too late and it was totally worth it. I was ready to get in my pajamas at about 6 pm and almost cancelled the evening, but then decided to go put on my fancy underthings-- and I'm so glad I did. That almost never fails. We laughed with a very nice runner from England at our favorite fancy bar and danced to a friend's reggae band in a total dive. Today I'm making chai, picking out paint colors for the bedroom (so hard!!), making cookies for a potluck, and driving to Sopchoppy to meet a new babe.

I really enjoyed watching this beautiful thing, which reminded me to be happy. Always a good thing.

2011: the year of the oyster

I have no idea where the past few months have gone.

For the record, though....2010 highlights:

- Remodeled our storage room (cedar walls! pine floors!) and now it's a real part of the house, instead of a wreck that we hurried through on the way to the laundry room

- Got engaged

- Got an awesome new job

- Finally finished that quilt (my dad loves it)

- Traveled in California, North Carolina and the Virgin Islands

- Joined a wonderful women's circle

- Spent a lot of time with the special people in my life

What I hope for 2011:

- Learn to enjoy a raw oyster

- Practice NVC
- Have a blast at our wedding (and keep my sense of humor while planning it with my family)

- Make cream cheese

- Do my Sugar Loom project

- Be joyful, creative and accepting

Happy New Year.

let the holiday crafting begin!

Tote for KATE, from Simple Sewing With a French Twist

Origami bag for MANDY, from this tutorial, via Maggie Makes.

My go-to clutch bag, from Bend The Rules Sewing.

aji dulce

This is the aji dulce pepper. It's also known as the sweet habanero, and it's delicious! It's not at all hot, and it's very crispy, sweet and firm. It's my current favorite pepper, and next year I am going to plant at least 10! Here in Florida, they are still growing and ripening for us.

My favorite way to enjoy these peppers is sauteed with shiitake mushrooms. I cook the mushrooms down a lot before adding the peppers, because I like my mushrooms crispy, and the peppers are best when they are mostly still raw, just scorched in a few places. Tonight we're having them on a pizza, which is in the oven right now! We have pizza night once a week, on our busiest night, and it's something I look forward to on the other six days.

We are just settling back in after a long weekend of camping at MagFest. Ruben's band played twice, and the rest of the time we walked and biked and heard tons of good music and hung out around the camp fire eating chili and brownies. Even though I should be doing loads of laundry and unpacking, I wanted to show off the sparkling new greenhouse, complete with ledges for my vintage planter collection. Just as I'm sitting down to type this we are getting our first drops of rain this month!

Also, please notice the photo of my gorgeous grandma in that first photo-- she was sixteen and soooo lovely.