Bits and Bobs

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving here in the States and that those of you elsewhere had a nice weekend! Joe and I spent that day puttering around the house, watching the Macy's Parade in the morning (a tradition I've kept since I was a little girl) and then heading to my best friend's for dinner with him and his family who was visiting from New Jersey. We all ate far too much dinner and had a lot of laughs at the table and while digesting on the couch before going back for delicious deserts. Once we were stuffed to the gills and ready to take a nice long nap, Joe and I helped clean up and headed back to our home where we spent the evening on the couch with the the fur babies. Joe played the newest Assassin's Creed game while I read The Wind in the Willows. I dozed off several times before he shooed me and Luna Petunia to bed at 1am.

Mommy, get your ass in bed!

This was the first time in my 15 years of employment that I've had the day after Thanksgiving off and I took full advantage of it by... sleeping late. Of course I didn't go out shopping, don't be silly! Between working in retail for over a decade and for banks the rest of the time, I've had more than a lifetime's fill of that nonsense. In the early afternoon we ventured to the hardware store for a can of paint for my newly finished nightstand and then stopped at the little Christmas Tree place we've gone to every year since we bought the house. It's a small family run place and it's been fun to go every year and see their kids grow up and their business grow a little bigger.

We poked and touched and I may have hugged a few trees, until we found the perfect Yulemas tree; a little smaller than our previous ones but much, much fuller! Joe carried him over to the pay station while I paid. The man who works there asked Joe if he had carried the tree over himself and he pointed to the man's 6 year old son and said "Nope! Muscles here did it, all on his own." The boy just grinned and grinned. When they put it through the bagger, the man had forgotten his scissors and had to run to find some. Joe tried to stop him, but he didn't hear him, so he cut the netting with his pocket knife (have I ever mentioned that my husband is an Eagle Scout?) and winked at the boy and told him to tell his dad he'd chewed through the ropes. When dad got back and Joe and the boy were laughing, Joe told him his son had cut the net with his teeth and dad said "That's my little wolverine!" Gotta love a family with a good sense of humor. :) That's why we keep going back!

Poor Joe, I had us facing the sun so we'd have some light. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Unfortunately, our beautiful tree sat undecorated for a bit as I woke up Saturday morning with a Gods awful cold! Joe, Luna and the kitties have been taking very good care of me; the furs by laying on me to make sure I'm (too) warm and Joe's been keeping me full of hot tea and honey and set up my side of the bedroom with my nightstand and vaporizer so I can sleep better. I'm happy to report that I'm on the mend, still a little snuffly and now with the cough of the scratchy-healing throat, but I feel human again. Mostly.

I managed to feel well enough to go out and celebrate a friend's birthday at a low key party at a mutual friend's house, complete with cake and the trimming of their tree:

and I also felt well enough to supervise Luna and Joe putting the lights on our tree from my spot on the couch:

Luna is very particular, so I really didn't have to do very much. ;)

Once I'm fully free of germs, I have a list of Christmas gifts to get on making; fleece hats and wallet/pouches for our gazillion nieces (Ok, there are 8 of them but it feels like a million), jam to can and tuck in to gift baskets with ornaments and another special something or other for our parents, fudge to make and box up for our coworkers, collaborative projects between Joe and I for a few of the families we're friends with (we like the idea of a big thoughtful gift for the house that will be enjoyed as a family than a few puny things), paintings and a few people I haven't even thought of things to make for yet. So I've got my work cut out for me.

Oh! And cards. I need to get on those too. ;)

Busy, busy. Just the way I like it!

Gratitude*Monday

I'm joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots and several other lovely bloggers in honoring the things for which we've been grateful for throughout the week. A quiet, weekly practice of appreciation and positivity. A time to breath and reflect. A small step towards a more simplistic and appreciative outlook.

If you would like to join us, just click the image at the bottom of this post.

This Week I am Grateful For:

* The final harvest of the late Summer/Autumn vegetables. A big old colander full of spicy peppers, sweet green peppers, sugar snap peas and green beans.
* Clearing out the dead plants in the garden to make way for our cold weather crops; lettuce, spinach, radishes and another round of sugar peas.
* Making progress on my Yuletide making. With so many people to make for this year, I'm still stumped on ideas for a few people. But the ideas that I do have are well underway.
* A fantastic date night out of the house with my husband.
* Great scores at the flea market! I managed to stuff the dude's stocking (like... 16 items) and get 5 new in the box ceramic pieces for my Christmas village for less than $40.
* The nice guy at the local independent coffee place that offered to make me a mocha with coffee instead of espresso because a) it's cheaper and b) he thought it tasted better. And it did! Thanks buddy, for saving me $3 on that and all future coffee splurges. :)
* Luna and the kitties keeping couch side vigil while I was sick the other night. The three critters are almost never in the same place at the same time, yet they were all laying near me while I was suffering a migraine/upset stomach.

* Week 1 of going gluten/grain free was a great success! I did slip up a few times, having a cookie, a few crackers and a small breakfast burrito but I'm proud of myself nonetheless.
* The first fire of the season in our fireplace. So cozy!
* All the quilt squares are cut, all the rows have been sorted - time to start sewing!
* Not dying on my way to work this morning. Seriously. I was driving the speed limit on the main road out of our neighborhood when I looked up in the rearview and saw a car bearing down on me very fast. I swerved in to the shoulder and the guy still nearly clipped me. He slammed on his brakes and I realized... he had been looking at his phone. While coming down the big hill and probably didn't realize he was doing 70 or better in a 50. I took off while he sat in the center lane, because I was so angry and so scared I didn't trust myself to be calm if he had considered getting out of his car to see if I was ok (I'm sure he wouldn't have) and he passed me the first chance he got, while flipping me the bird. Like I had done something wrong. I'm grateful that my car and I are ok... and that I reported him for reckless driving after I got his tag number. :)

To join in Gratitude Sunday, click on the image below! Happy Week, lovelies.

Simple Pleasures

My first embroidery projects, cute dinosaurs from Urban Threads.

Perhaps it's the weather, growing colder and darker and chasing me indoors earlier, or perhaps it's simply growing out of things, but I'm finding great comfort and happiness in simpler things these days.

And I won't lie, it feels a bit like I'm cheating on my younger self. The young punk-rock feminist who partied all night and looked down her nose at homemakers and sneered at things like handicrafting... despite having been able to crochet and sew for as long as she could remember. What can I say? I was a total shit head for a little while. Things like bar-hopping, hosting huge parties, being combative with people I disagree with, meeting lots of people and expending all of my energy stores in a nonstop effort to expand my friend circle, no longer hold much attraction or pleasure for me.

I've become something of a homebody in training lately; I still enjoy going out and doing things, but quieter things with one or two people. Bar crawls are being replaced by brunch, afternoon walks in the park and tea dates with lady friends. After hosting my annual giant 30+ person Hallowe'en party this year, I was exhausted and feeling unfulfilled; wishing I had opted for a more intimate gathering so I could have spent more time with each of my guests, rather than flutter and feel pulled in 31 directions between conversing and hostessing. And I'm actually pruning my friend circle right now, keeping in contact with only those people who make me truly happy and leaving one sided relationships behind, which is easy when you've been the one putting forth all of the effort to remain in contact.

Lately, I'm happiest when I'm laying on the couch with my head in Joe's lap, Luna and the kitties curled up with us watching a movie or reading a book. I find that I'm more interested in domestic crafts. My passion for working on my second (overly ambitious?) quilting project has been reignited lately, I'm teaching myself to embroider and cross-stitch (geeky, sarcastic and snarky subjects, of course), I'm yearning to pull out the yarn stash and just crochet for the heck of it.

I'm taking great pleasure in having a tidy home filled with our own artwork, handmade furniture, books and collections. Laying in the beautiful bed that my husband built for me flipping through Christmas magazines from a few years ago (I haven't bought any this year, yet) under the string lights we hung from the headboard makes me feel akin to a princess. Designing pieces of furniture to make my office and our eat-in-kitchen more functional fills me with the warm fuzzies and when I decorate something new; add a little something to a table, the mantle, what have you... I feel like I've accomplished something incredible and using that space makes me happy.

The urge to once more take up a pen to write letters and postcards, rather than exchanging emails and social media quips, is powerful. There is little that I enjoy more than finding a little something or other in the mailbox from a dear friend or family member. We're working on handmade gifts for the holidays, giving our time and energy rather than money and hopefully creating something more meaningful.

And my homesteading dreams become more and more important to me each day. Hopefully, with a little bit of hard work and money, we can get started with bringing some of those dreams in to reality... starting with some chickens and a few fruit and nut trees. In the meantime I'm window shopping in magazines and catalogues, dog-earring pages in books and manuals.

I think, now that I've come to terms with the changes and have started to let go of clinging to things that no longer serve me, that this simple life suits me.

Canning

Canning, the act of preserving and putting up the harvest to be able to enjoy and eat over Autumn and Winter's cold days and nights. It was more common in days gone by, but it's making a comeback as homesteaders, homemakers and even those with just a passing interest in learning useful skills have started to pick up the practice.

My own adventures with canning started when we bought our house. I planted my very first garden that Spring and hit up the local Farm Market for produce that either didn't do so hot or that I didn't plant. I got a late start, as we moved in at the end of March, (the growing season starts earlier than my Northern blood is used to here in the South) so there were a lot of crops that didn't do extremely well once Summer's ungodly heat began to pound them.

I bought a book on canning, a water bath canner and a set each of pint and quart jars and sat down at my kitchen to decide what exactly I wanted to turn my produce stash into. As I flipped through the book I was sort of underwhelmed by my options. What the hell was I going to do with 8 pints of jam and relish? I don't consume a lot of toast and I hardly ever eat relish. And I was blown away by how many tomatoes it would take to create 6 quarts of sauce; my meager plants had in no way produced 40+ pounds of Romas in the season, much less at one time! And the price of tomatoes at the Farm Market left me dizzy at $4 a pound.

So, I stuck with simple things. I made a few pints of strawberry jam and a few quarts of bread and butter and dill pickles. I wasn't terribly impressed with the variety of things offered to me by the book and canning felt tedious and not all it was cracked up to be. I wasn't sure if I'd bother to do it again and was annoyed that I had "wasted" money on start-up.

Yet in the Spring, when I was out of jam and pickles I found myself wanting to pull out the canner and make more goodies to put up and eat all year long. My second foray in to it had me feeling more satisfied by the process; I really enjoyed the dicing, mixing, measuring, watching and waiting of the whole thing. Apparently home ownership and gardening had woken up my inner Domestic.

That year (being last Autumn), I canned salsa, pickles and peach jam. Still a bit of an underwhelming variety and still noticeably devoid of tomato sauce (my tomato plants say "no way, lady." and again, $160 for 6 quarts of sauce is a bit much).

This Autumn, I've canned 12 jars of salsa (both verde and roja) and last night canned 6 1/2 pints of apple butter. This was my first time making one of my favorite things to eat and I was amazed at how simple it is! Not buying that any more. ;) I have plans to pickle up some cucumbers, some beans and some okra before the Summer planting goes belly-up until next season.

The process has become something of a soothing ritual for me, though I won't pretend it isn't time consuming. For me though, the work involved is similar to other home grown arts such as gardening, spinning, knitting, etc. A content and satisfying art being revived in a modern world that's let a lot of traditional practices fall by the wayside. I'm glad to see it coming back and glad to be taking the time to learn and understand it, even if I still wish I had more of a variety of recipes to put up in my pantry.

Do any of you can? If so what would I normally find in your cupboards, come Winter?

Do you have any recipes or books you'd like to point me to or share in the comments?

And seriously, what the hell do you use all the relish and jam and pickles for? ;)

****
A hat tip to both Aine at The Deepest Well and Tess at A Witch by Any Other Name for both mentioning canning in their blogs this week and getting the writing bee buzzing in my ear.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Felted Goblin

For no reason whatsoever, aside from discovering an acorn cap and some really pretty green merino roving in my closet, I decided to give needle felting a goblin over an armature a try.

I've been working on this gal for 6 hours now and have just started to green her up. I used some undyed wool for the core because I'm cheap like that and making something nice and tight requires a lot of wool.

Free standing! Woo!

Yes she has a bald patch, she'll be getting hair though, so no worries.

Yikes! She sure is scary looking in those photos. I promise that in person, she's much less frightful. I've sculpted my first ever 3 dimensional nose along with some cheeks, eye sockets and eyeballs and while everything is getting very close to rock hard, I don't feel there's enough contrast to make the features pop. (Hence why the eyes look sort of terrifying.) I may go back and add some bits of brown or grey roving to create deeper shadows in some areas, we'll see.

Let me just say, that having only done this much of my teeny 3.5" doll I have a profound respect for felters who work in a much larger or more intricate scale, I don't know that I have that sort of patience or dedication in me!

Welcome to Glitterville

Happy Yuletide ball, fellow witches and partiers! Have yourselves a cup of warm wassail and let's join the denizens of Glitterville as they prepare for the upcoming holidays.

Glitterville is a sleepy little hamlet that rests upon my mantle. Assembled from cereal boxes, scrapbook paper and bric-a-brac, the town takes its name from the ever present shimmer of snow upon the rooftops.



A couple, off to visit friends stops to say 'Hello!'



While over there, another pair gets ready to a'wassailing go!



A dapper gent tips his hat in amazement at a sight...



For Santa Claus has made a surprise trip to Glitterville tonight!

Here is the recipe I'll be using for my own Wassail, for those who care to try it.

Ingredients:
2 Qt Apple Cider
2 Qt Red Wine (optional)
2 Cups Orange Juice
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
13 Cloves
5 Cinnamon Sticks
A sprinkle or two each of nutmeg and ginger.
2 - 3 Oranges, sliced thin into rounds.

In a large pot, over low heat combine the cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Add spices in a cheesecloth bag (or not, but remember to strain before serving) along with orange slices. Let simmer 1 hour. Remove spices (strain) and add wine, allow to simmer for 1 hour more. Serve warm with cinnamon sticks or fresh orange slices as garnish.

Be sure to visit the other Yuletide Ball parties by visiting the party page here:

Work in Progress Wednesday - Cutouts

You can get a good idea of how my sketches evolve here, by checking out the two tone chalk lines. I'm way too big a tree hugger to print out huge stencils to just use once.

Since we've never had a yard to decorate before, I have nada in the lawn decoration department. So, with a hearty hat tip to Martha Stewart for the idea, I've decided to put myself out in the front yard along with some friends.

Get it? ;)

The paint is still tacky on the first half of the cats, so I doubt I'll be able to finish them and put them out before we head off for a few days on Friday morning. But, they'll be outside and set up soon enough either way.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Pickles and Jam

I've been busily making things out of the last of some of the summer crops, creating strawberry and peach jams as well as pickles. My cucumbers have succumbed to some sort of worm that burrows into them and pushes out the insides in a spectacularly gross and smelly fashion. So, these pickles are the last of my crop. These are my first ever attempts at canning, so I'm hoping they all turn out tasty and hold up well!

I'm thinking there may be enough time left in the growing season down here that I could possibly start another batch of cucumbers and squash. I fully intend to plant spinach and lettuce for a fall crop, so if I could get one more hurrah from some other veggies too that would be awesome. Any thoughts from anyone in this area? I'm in agricultural zone 7a.

What are you working on this week?

P.S. For those who aren't over on the Whimsical Cottage Facebook page and didn't see the announcement, I've ended my summer vacation and re-opened the Etsy Shop. Stop by and take a peek, I'll be adding new things as I work on them.

Cupcakes and Fairy Butts

This week has been a week of trying new styles and methods in my art, as well as falling back on a favorite subject and medium. I've been pretty busy with making things and adjusting to the thought of going back to work, which I'll be doing super soon on a part time basis. I've been out shopping for new teacups and wonders for the upcoming mad tea party but have found the thrift and pottery shops really don't have anything that's calling to me.

Next week will be devoted to making and collecting all manner of things for the party. From glittery garlands, to wardrobe, candy and cupcakes. It's going to be a different variation then last year and I think I may err a bit away from the Alice in Wonderland theme. I tend to leave my idea making and plotting up until the day I'm taking the photos, so we'll see what happens. For now, I'll show you what sort of mess making I've been up to.

A friend of mine was kind enough to take me out for a night of painting and wine sipping at a new painting studio that recently opened. Essentially, you look at their calendar and see if any of the paintings they have scheduled appeal to you. If they do, grab a friend and a bottle of something tasty and head over on that night to paint that picture along with the instructor. I had no idea this place existed, but she did and was excited that they had a 'funky cupcake' painting night so that's the class we went to. It's not my typical style (some of you may know that I dislike pink, which will make another of my projects seem sort of funny) but I'm quite pleased with the result. I hung it up in the dining room.

I was amused because the instructor asked us if anyone paints regularly. My lone hand went up and man, did I feel a bit like people thought I was a big fat cheater. This isn't typically how or what I paint, so I enjoyed the night and had a lot of fun. At the end of class we all showed our projects off and the class leader said, "Oh, that's SO good!... Wait, you paint don't you?" As if that disqualified me from compliments. Next time? Totally not raising my hand.

Now this, on the other hand, is how and what I normally paint:

If they were having a 'nekkid goblin' painting night, I would 100% be a big fat cheater. This little guy is done up in watercolors and micron pen and measures in at 4"x6" and is available for adoption in my etsy shop.

I've been wanting to paint a sneaky, torch bearing goblin for a while but had initially envisioned him wearing clothes. When I went to draw this little fellow though, he informed me clothes just get in the way and make you less sneaky. He did however, request a nice pair of soft booties to keep his toenails from clicking against the floor and giving him away. Silly fellow.

Finally, we have my most ambitious project. It is my third needle felting project and was originally meant to be a small waldorf style, simple fairy doll with a round body, round head, maybe some arms. I had planned on hanging the final project in the dining room window. However, that's not what I ended up making. At all.

She is needle felted without an armiture, so she doesn't pose, or sit or stand without being propped up. But, as I said, she isn't what I had set out to make initially and that doll wouldn't have needed an armiture. She is as long as my hand and has taken somewhere in the ballpark of 4 hours to do so far.

As you can see, nekkidness is the theme with the fae this week. She won't be this way for long but it seemed like a shame to do all that work sculpting her body and then needle felting clothing onto her. So, I'll be sewing something flowy, shimmery and gypsy like for her instead.

You can see why my dislike of pink made me chuckle, but as I'm working through wool gifted to me by a friend my color pallete is a little limited. I could have done solid blue, or yellows for her hair, but the pinks and purples worked best for variation. She's probably going to end up with a shimmery dark pink outfit, since I like the hair and wing colors so much and have some in my fabric stash. So there you go, sometimes a disliked color can look good.

Now that I've rambled on, what have you guys been up to this week? Any plans for the weekend?

Recent Works

I'll be honest, since we've moved I haven't gotten very much done in the art department. My art journals are sadly neglected and my watercolors have been a bit dry and lonely. I blame it on a combination of the moving blues, an incessant need to to be outside all of the time and a visit from the in-laws. All that being said, I have completed a few things, which surprisingly, have all been for myself and the lovely.

A few weeks ago I had the idea to create a painting based on Mesoamerican (Mayan, Aztec, Etc) styles for Joe as he has a deep seeded fondness for their artwork, culture and mythologies. I hemmed and hawed for an entire weekend over what to paint before deciding on Quetzalcoatl the feathered serpent. I cracked open my Art History books, thumbed through some of the books and photos Joe has from his time in Honduras and got to work.

12x24 Acrylic on canvas.

The final product is a blend of the bright bold style of Mayan paintings and my own typically more flowing style. This painting was incredibly difficult for me to do as it is so far removed from my favored style and subject matter; when I was about half way through I hated it. Now that it's complete and Joe loves it, I've grown a bit more fond of it, though I still have a difficult time believing I painted it.

I also painted and stained a box that was supposed to house my Faerie Oracle deck, however, I neglected to measure the box or the cards until after I had completed it and it is about 1/4" too small.

Acrylic on wood.

This is painted with my beloved bee who is a symbol of wisdom and communication as well as foxglove, which are often said to be a protective flower as well as being a plant that attracts bees and fairies alike. I will find something else to keep in it soon enough, I'm sure.

While all this painting was going on, a friend of mine offered to teach me the basics of needle felting. As someone who doubts she can ever have too many hobbies, I jumped at the opportunity to learn something new. She was kind enough to gift me with 4 needles and quite a bit of wool in different colors. I started off with a simple piece which I plan to hang from fishing line in my dining room window:

Is anyone really surprised by this?

After she went home I was left with the urge to make something else. In an obvious progression and having an entire project under my belt I decided "to hell with patterns!' and began poking away at a ball of blue felt until I had a wee pretty who now adorns my desk:

I have plans for several creatures now dancing within my head, from a larger Gaia to mischievous goblins, to dancing fairies to hang in the window, to a small dragon. But first, I have to gather some information on natural dying methods as well as kool-aid dying so I can put some color into the 4 oz of undyed natural roving sitting on my desk.

If you have any experience or suggestions on the matter, please, let me know!

Busy as a Bee

I've been buzzing around town and the apartment, looking for a day job with decent hours and preparing for the big move into our new house! The closing date is quickly approaching, only 13 days and I've officially turned into a bundle of nervous energy accented by extended periods of laziness. Sounds like a strange combination and I may not be feeling quite so if it weren't for the fact that I'm still adjusting to having people living in our space; more specifically in our second bedroom which for the past year has been my office. You see, while I love my brother dearly and am doing this to help him out while he gets settled in his job and finds a place for him and his girlfriend, I'm going a bit mad.

I'm an incredibly private person who needs at least a hula-hoop's worth of personal space and extended periods to just be by myself and ponder; just me, myself, maybe my house goblin, maybe the divine and I. These are the times I delve into myself and talk with my shadow, take time to unwind and fully relax, read, divine, make some magic and create art. The art thing is really what's getting to me, as I can escape into my bedroom to get some time without folks under foot but if folks are still snoozing away come noon and I've been itching to create something for a few hours - the creative bug is replaced with a sleepy sort of apathy. In two weeks time I'll have my creative space all to myself again and I absolutely cannot wait.

That's not to say I haven't created anything new however. I recently finished what will be my final swap for a while on Craftster : The Terribly Important S.O.B swap. In a humorous twist given my current flurry of activity, the universe paired me up with someone who I was able to gift with crafts featuring my beloved bees.

First up, a wee shrine to the Queen Bee herself!



The Queen Bee was made from a single wine cork which I dissected and painted.

Secondly, my personal favorite item and the one I was tempted for a brief moment to keep for myself:


Because seriously? What Queen Bee doesn't need a royal scepter to whack people with?

P.S. For the record, those diamonds were tedious to paint! I love the way they turned out though, so much so that the back of the spoon is done up in them as well.

Paper Trees

Have any of you ever made paper trees from old books or magazines? It's one of those crafts I remember doing around this time of year as a kid. My brother and I would make them out of my mom's old issues of Reader's Digest magazine. I've been wanting to make them for a few weeks so I trolled my local used book store and grabbed a few books for under $1, grabbed a marker and my craft knife and sat down to make some decorations for the house and write up a quick how-to for anyone who hasn't done this before!

Step 1
Remove the cardboard cover off of the book, getting as much of it off the spine as possible but leaving the glue alone.



Step 2
Now there are two ways to proceed with the next step. One that's safe for wee hands and one that isn't. I'll go over the one that's kid friendly first.

Kid Friendly, Craft Knife Free Option
Have your child fold the pages down to the center of the book to form a tree shape.


Once you've folded a few pages over you can start to get a feel for how your tree will be shaped. If it's too chunky for your liking, fold the page once more in the same direction to create a slimmer tree form.

Once you're done, skip down to step 3. If you're an adult who'd like to make a slightly fancier tree and isn't afraid of a sharp craft knife, this is the way you'll want to proceed in step 2.

Adult Friendly, Sharp and Messy Option
Draw your tree shape on the first page of the book with your marker, grab your craft knife and start to cut along the lines.



This is what your tree will look like about halfway through!


Step 3
Once you've either folded your pages or cut them up it's time to shape your tree.

Gently fold the book around and back on itself to create a rounded tree shape. With old books with well worn binding, this will be simple! If your book is new, you"re going to have to do this by first bending the book to stretch the binding every few pages.

Once your tree is rounded and fluffly, paper clip the end pages together and display it! Feel free to ink, paint, glitter or otherwise decorate your tree.

Once the season is over, remove the paperclip, push it back to it's previous book form and store with your other decorations.

If you try this out and use the cut-out method, please remember to recycle or reuse the paper scraps! also, if you want your tree to have more of a point at the top then mine does, just start your pattern closer to the spine!

Happy mess making. :)