Lovelies

maidofclay

ghosthaus 

monkeysalwayslook 

I've been in a creative spurt lately and wanted to share some of these carefully chosen pieces with you:

• When I found maidofclay's shop, I felt comfortably at home, perusing each of her items. Each piece is carefully crafted and has so much whimsy & character. If you're looking for an original gift for yourself or someone you hold dear, you should truly take a look at her porcelain pendants and other handcrafted originals.
• Magic lanterns with slides that date from the late 1800s to early 1900s fill this shop. Each lantern is handmade and contains the fire of a simple candle to bring the 35mm glass slides to life. They have a vintage quality and make a fantastic conversation piece. To see more of these, please check out the ghosthaus shop.
• Each year, I chose a different way to mark the herbs in my garden. One year I used stones, one year wood, etc. This year, I'm leaning toward these reclaimed pieces of vintage silverware I found in the shop of monkeysalwayslook. I love the tarnish and colors & to imagine the way they'd pop in the garden makes me very excited too.

Woodsy

Fruit Slice Pastry

I've been doing my best all weekend to fight off a cold and I'm finally feeling as though I may be in the lead. Because I'm so bored, I decided to bake a white cake. The white cake required egg whites and because I didn't want to waste the yolks, I decided to also bake blueberry fruit slice pastry. My mom has been baking these for as long as I can remember and the recipe is simple:

• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 package yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1-1/2 sticks butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 can or 12 ounces of fresh fruit filling (this recipe works great with apricot, blueberry, raspberry, etc.)
  

Preheat oven to 375º. 

Dissolve the yeast in water and sugar in a small bowl or cup. Set this aside for several minutes.

In a large bowl, mix flour, butter and eggs until well blended. Add the water/yeast mixture into the larger bowl and mix well. Cut the dough into two equal balls and roll each half flat, spread fruit filling and carefully roll. Transfer the pastry to a greased baking sheet or large pan and gently cut a slit down the center that is 1-2 inches from each end of the roll. Repeat this for both balls of the dough, making two pastries in all.

Bake for 21-22 minutes. Serves at least six. Enjoy!

If you bake them, I'd love to see a photo :)

Rachell Sumpter

I learned of Rachell Sumpter's work through Jacob Magraw-Mickelson. He once sent me a brilliant book full of his own art that I cherish deeply to this day. Both artists have such a calming effect with their pieces.

Lovelies

lisaburkin

sparkflight

visualingual 

In gearing up for Spring and distracting one's self from the frigid January weather, I've located some inspiring finds with a garden theme:

• Orchids that will last indefinately?!? Oh my! These one-of-a-kind creations from Lisa Burkin's shop are simply gorgeous!
• Ruth Jensen's wire sculptures are fun and will add some creative company to your home or garden.
• Looking for a fun seed gift for that special gardener in your life? Check out visualingual's seed bomb's. You can drop them anywhere for colorful surprises!

Can't Hardly wait

I love gardening. This time each winter, the catalogs start arriving almost daily, showing me this year's future bounty of fruits, flowers, annuals, perrenials & vegetables. We do it all ourselves starting from the seeds in our recycled newspaper pots and nurture them until it's time to place them outdoors. They're like children that don't talk back.

It has been so freezy cold here that I find myself peeking at these catalogs daily, plotting and planning the exact perfect gardens for our little yard. Before I know it, we'll be tilling, weed picking and harvesting and the thought of that is helping me stay warm and get through. Tomorrow, we're expecting a bit of snow.