Lavender Shortbread

My car died on Tuesday. $500 later it is running again. But I lost two days of getting stuff done. And I feel like I still haven't quite caught up. I had hoped to get the Christmas dolls started. I spent several hours bouncing in and out of the studio. That was frustrating. 


Thursday I did manage to make some delightful Lavender Shortbread. It is a slightly modified recipe from VeganYumYumcom.  I love this link and the instructions. I didn't use Rosewater. And I added some lemon rind (from one lemon). I like the combination of citrus and lavender, but it is a very strong combination. They play well off each other. 

All in all I have a very busy week that was wonderfully productive. Let's see how the weekend shakes out. Happy Halloween!

Super fast Hump day post

I spent the weekend making cards. This week will be sort of a showcase of what I do. If there is something that catches your eye, please just let me know. 

These are going up on Etsy and I will be certain to link them all!

A little spice

Vypati has a blog. But you know that already. What you may not know is that he has been getting his food out into the interwebs. He has quite a few regular readers and is promoting his blog through other websites. This includes several "food porn" sites.


This photo is of the jalapeno poppers that were filled with his home made cheese sauce. These are totally vegan and totally amazingly delicious. For those who wonder what vegans eat, check out Vyapti's blog!

An extra card

I thought about just waiting to post this later. But I am so excited about how this card turned out. I really think it is one of the most adorable things I have made in awhile.

A card for Halloween

I have been trying to find a way to stay ahead of the blogging game. For me that means being able to post several days ahead and have pictures to go with them. One of the problems that I have is that I don't always have things to post, and I don't always have time to make something. Of course if I were more organized and better at keeping on task and on track perhaps these things would not be a problem.

Anyway, on that note, I spent the weekend making some cards and doing a mix and match kind of thing. What resulted were several cards to post through out this week while I think of a plan! This may be one of the best ideas that I have had for a while.

And as a side note: I am getting my first tatoo sometime in the next couple of months. I have my design and my artist. Now I am just looking for the nerve.

Butterscotch Cookies

One of the things that I am trying lately is veganizing "traditional" recipes. I grew up using the Better Homes and Gardens cook book. You know the one, with the red checked cover. Now I am looking back to those recipes that I used while I was growing up and asking myself how to make them vegan.

These butterschotch cookies were super simple. Just replace butter with a vegan version of your choosing and use ground flax seed for eggs. These cookies lasted less then a day.

Very quick shop update

Below are some pics of the new items in the etsy shop. Remember, if you see something you like but aren't thrilled with the color or the exact style, just use the convo option on etsy. It will connect you right to me. I love making stuff that makes other people happy!

Merry Christmas (or the joys of internet shopping)

I am a Facebook junkie.Thanks to Facebook, I can advocate, protest and connect like never before. And now, thanks to some great Facebook friends, I am Christmas shopping early.


Thinkgeek.com has some very fun stuff for the geek on your list. Don't try to tell me that there is no geek on your list, I know you are lying. If there isn't then you are the geek on everybody else's list.Take a peek at the darling little microbs you can buy. I will be sharing the gift of Mad Cow disease this year.

Or how about some Red Shirt Star Trek Cologne. I love the very idea of this. It goes so nicely with the Red Shirt.

Enjoy the early Christmas shopping!

Wintering

The weather is doing what it does this time of year, here in the Willamette valley. The nights turn chilly, the days cool off, and the mornings are filled with fog. Many of the days are rainy and drizzly (which I love, by the way). This morning I was awakened at 5 am because of a pretty rowdy thunderstorm.

At our house the change in seasons means getting together the winter tea stock. Harvesting the mint plants and hanging them to dry, Vyapti going out and harvesting lavender from a friend, and going to the Kiva market to get the rest of what we need. What started a couple of years ago with me trying to make sure we had pre-made teas that would help comfort you if you had a cold,or if your stomach was upset, has become having well over 20 herbs and spices in nicely labeled containers. I have spent the last couple of days writing up lists of ailments and the corresponding mix to help. This list and a list of herbs and what they work with will be placed in the pantry.

Already, I have had to concoct a mix to help a child that came home from school early with a stomach ailment. This afternoon, my home smelled of chamomile and mint. Somehow, this new home is more conducive to having all of these different things stored away, and it seems to be very welcoming of healing work.

K

Things that shape us

Sometimes things stick in our subconscious and they stay there buried for years and years and years. I was going through pictures from my childhood and found one of my cousin and I playing dress up.

I love this picture. It is of one of those memories that has always been in my mind. Looking up to my wonderful cousin, who was so amazing. And trust me, nothing has changed, she is still a wonderful role model.

I loved the scratchy dress. It was swishy, and itchy. I remember it smelled old. Not like old bad, just that old smell that holds memories. Someone had worn that dress and flounced around a dance floor. That was the only thing you could do in that dress: FLOUNCE!

Years later, I would get all dolled up to go out and think things like " I just need something over the top" "something vintage." I think it was because of this dress!

Setting aside

What I learned today is sometimes when you put a project away you are not done. I know that sentence is confusing. But I will explain. I worked this past weekend on a piece that was out of the norm for me. It was a pastel and I am still learning to work with them and to be comfortable with them.

I thought that i was done with it, but after setting it aside for a few days I realized that I had approached it all wrong. That meant starting over. Which I did today. Why is this even worthy of a blog post? Because I also learned today that things like that don't just happen in art. They happen in relationships as well.

I have a relationship that I believed was dealt with.I had firmly put it away. What I learned this morning was I had been approaching the problem all wrong.I had been approaching the problem as a problem. Not as an opportunity to think outside the box. Or an opportunity to help others.

I hope that I can look at more parts of my life and ask "Am I seeing this in the way that it should be seen?" A shift in perspective often brings the solutions to situations that you least expected.

That said, below is part of the piece after I shifted perspective.

OH I suppose I should blog

But I just haven't been doing much in the studio. A few fiddly little things here and there. Really I just mosty have been reading and helping with homework and things like that.
While looking for a picture for Vyapti for his blog (it is Vegan MOFO after all!) I found an old pic from this past summers vacation. I took some interesting shots. This is one of my favorites and now I am excited to try to turn it into a painting or sketch or something.
Perhaps part of the trouble has been that i have not been taking pictures like I should be. I used to take pictures all the time, usually ten to twenty a day, at least three days a week. That is a lot of photos. I haven't been doing that for awhile. Funny how drama will suck that out of you.
And I don't think we take into consideration how the changing of the seasons can affect us as artists either. I tend to want to write more in the fall, and sew more in the summer.
K