in my home: quote board

Words fascinate me. They carry so much significance in just a combination of letters and spaces. Well chosen words can change inspire, challenge and teach. In homage to the written word, the chalkboard I hung in our kitchen has become our quote board. Our tradition is my husband and I take turns picking a favorite quote and writing it on the board and we leave it up until we can say it from memory. The current one is my contribution. Prior ones were:

"Who, being loved, is poor?" -Oscar Wilde (from me)

"God never made an ugly landscape. All that the sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild." -John Muir (from my hubby)

It's my husband's turn next, any suggestions?

cookie of the month club

Eating sweets and baking them are two of my favorite pastimes. For Christmas this year I thought I'd try to share those joys, so I gave my grandpa what I called the "Cookie of the Month Club." The Cookie of the Month Club (me) promised to deliver to his door one dozen fresh baked cookies each month. This month we are running a little behind schedule and out of new recipes. So far we have had:


January-Classic Chocolate Chip
February-Chewy Oatmeal Raisin
March-Classic Chocolate Chip
April-Snickerdoodles? White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut? Peanut Butter?

photo: from Jules Food

I found a new recipe for snickerdoodles at Jules Food blog. She has all kinds of other wonderful and quirky recipes like Cherry Lemon Essence Cake or Peanut Black Salt Caramels. Hope these snickerdoodles taste as good as they look!

bit of blue

 Love this new necklace! Finally had time to sneak in some creativity! Watch for it coming soon in my etsy shop!

in my home: the reading chair

This is the reading chair. It is much more productive than it's neighbor, the puffy blue napping chair, which is on the other side of the living room. It has seen lots of coffee, a few pages of the gigantic Autobiography of Mark Twain & quite a bit of Real Simple & Sunset. Positioned right next to the slider to our balcony, it has just the right amount of natural light. The whole corner is home to some of my favorite items. The fabulous lamp next to it came from Matilda's Mouse & the pillow cover I found at a local antique barn, Rusty Creek. And of course the lovely orchid plant which was a gift from a friend. I smell the coffee is ready-think I'll head over there now!

tagged

Put together the first batch of beckley tags for the etsy shop with my new best friend: the mini hole punch.

painting: orchid tree

It has been a busy week! Wow! I have had little time for personal creativity, so I am left to reminisce. 

Since I was little I have had a thing for painting. Maybe it's the immediate results or the bright colors or the vast area that can be changed in such a short period of time. Most recently I was inspired by the beautiful purple orchid tree outside our back windows. The tree is at least 20 feet tall, with a wide canopy of big green leaves and covered with oversized reddish purple flowers from winter thru summer. It feels like I'm living in a tropical jungle and in the evenings the sunset sets the blooms aglow.

The painting above is my tribute in oil on canvas to my beloved tree.

work in progress: Bright Bouquet Top

Sewing is not an easy endeavor. My clothing projects are mostly alterations or combinations of old clothing which in theory was less difficult than starting from scratch. However, I am working on my second clothing project and it's really testing my patience.

My favorite fabrics (like the one above) are light and silky which feel great but are the most difficult to work with. It's always slithering away from where I want it. So for today it remains a work in progress.