A little bit of nature in everything

My friend Courtney over at Sweet Miscellany was kind enough to include my Loblolly Pine card to her latest treasury.  She is still getting her shop set up, but boy when it is finally up and running full speed, you have got to try some of her baked goods and jam!  She can bake a pretty mean cookie using nothing but the best ingredients!  We have been fortunate enough to test her goods (for research and feedback, of course--totally altruistic) and they are YUMMY!

No wonder Etsy is addicting!

Where else can you find each of the terrific items besides Etsy?  A plunger stand for your iPad?  A secret message card with a decoder?  An embroidered dissected arm?

Oh, Etsy...you are THE one-stop-shopping-supercenter!

One foot in the kitchen

My kitchen could use a little sprucing up, and I know just the place to go to find some really gorgeous, unique items to do just that...ETSY!

Let your light shine

I put this bright and cheerful treasury together a little while ago and meant to post it to the blog a little sooner.  Funny thing about time...it tends to slip a little faster than your intentions.  But here it is now...and aren't there some lovely, lovely finds here?

Our own Charlotte

Yesterday, my husband and I took advantage of a lovely Spring day, getting the front garden in order (no small task), getting the automatic sprinklers in tip-top shape, and basically sweating our tails off (it was in the upper 80s).  As I brought up in an earlier post, my husband comes across skulls from time to time as he roams the woods throughout the area.  He currently has a wild dog skull sitting outside on the porch letting the sun bleach it a little more before it is added to his curio cabinet.  While I was working in the garden, I caught a little jumping spider meandering throughout the skull, and it was calm enough to stop and pose for some pictures.

I was not brave (crazy) enough to take a picture of the red wasp investigating the skull.

We are mostly finished with the front garden - hopefully all of the new plants grow.  I planted a peony, two camellias, petunias,  Mexican heather, lavender, basil, oregano, and snapdragons. 

Okay...while we are on the subject of music

You have to check this out!  Rachael Yamagata is utterly amazing!

A dose of good tunes

Ahhh...my spirits are up now that I received a very special package in the mail yesterday from my new friend, who just happens to be on another continent 18 hours ahead of me.  Mrs. Peterson of Mrs. Peterson Pottery was kind enough to share some of her favorite Australian-based music with me.  She has created a monster!  I love it all!  I have had the music for roughly 24 hours and am already catching myself humming the tunes (you would not want to hear me actually try to sing--agghhh--we will leave that to the professionals), anticipating listening to them again! 

One of my favorite songs of the mix is "For You" by Angus & Julia Stone.  I hope that I am not the only one who had never heard of this lovely brother/sister duo.  This song is particularly tender and I think her delicate voice suits it so perfectly! 

Thank you so much Mrs. P for sending a little music love my way!  You are the best!

And for anyone else who happens to take a look at this blog, run (c'mon, scoot it!) to Mrs. Peterson's Etsy shop and take a gander!  I bet you will want one of everything there!  And check out her website as well to find out even more about her gorgeous work. 



Angus & Julia Stone - "For You" - Café de la Danse (Paris / FRANCE) 08.05.10 from Los Aficionados on Vimeo.

Punky gets a cut

You may remember the photo of my belovingly goofy dog Punky from a few weeks ago.  She needed her hair cut something awful.  While she looks like she weighs roughly 80 pounds, she really comes in at about a tiny 10 pounds.  She is a total fuzz bomb.  Anyway, being the ultimate cheapskate (er...thrifty) person that I am, I groom my dogs on my own (which probably explains why poor Punky looks like a miniature Chewbacca some of the time).  I have only paid for dog grooming one time in the years that we have had dogs.  I just have a hard time shelling out money to cut my dog's hair when my dogs could really care less if their fur looks finely manicured by golden clippers or chewed up here and there by Petco clippers.

So, today I finally got around to cutting Punky's hair.  I set up our little grooming area outside on a set of saw horses and did my "magic."  She hated every moment of it.  The amount of fur blowing through the woods now should provide warmth to many little birdies in nests throughout the county.  Wow! 

So here is the before of Punky:

And here she is now hanging out in the reading chair.  Well, actually, Punky has totally taken over this chair and tends to hide from other dog Scout up there since Scout (aka Butterball) can't jump up there.

Sweet and subtle selections from Japan

We all continue to feel a profound sadness for the devastation that has recently struck in Japan.  While I watch footage of and read articles detailing the terrible waves rolling into unsuspecting towns along the Japanese coast and the massive effort to prevent nuclear disaster, I am at a loss of words to offer as condolences for the losses this great country has sustained.  As a token of appreciation and support for the artists and artisans in Japan,  I put together a treasury featuring only Etsy sellers based in that country.  Not only have I done so, but so have many other sellers on Etsy.  While my treasury is below, you can find other Etsy treasuries featuring sellers based in Japan as well treasuries offering condolences to the people of Japan here.

Tuesday Treasury Island Team Spotlight

Wowee! I was the lucky winner of the Treasury Island Team spotlight this past Tuesday, and my wonderful teammates came up with several (10 to be exact!) lovely, lovely treasuries featuring items from my shop. Due to space restraints, I am just going to list out the links for your perusal if you would like to check them out.

Thank you so much to each of you that put these together! I know how much time it takes to curate a thoughtful treasury.

Natural State of Mind by 3vintagehearts 

Kitschy Kool by BatesMercantileCo 

Black birds a floofball and a few others by WanderingJeweler 

Natural Beauty by Shellyka 

Birds in the Springtime by TheFineFeather 

absolute apricot by jessijewels 

THE ANIMAL SIDE by isamarml 

An animal story, with a soft and fluffy ending by PrintasticDesigns 

Oh hey there foxy lady by PreciousBowtique 

Rest and relax by MustHaveBeenTheCat 

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah

Oh...I love these colors! Aren't they just so much fun?!

Paradise will be a kind of library

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a total book junkie.  If I am reading one book, then I am reading three.  We have our own little library in our house, an entire room dedicated to books.  Of course, we have acquired more than can fit in the room, but it is still a nice little room.  This treasury celebrates my idea of paradise...

Time flies when you're dreaming

I put this treasury together as I was trying to wake from the deep fog of sleep...

Study of bones and teeth

My husband comes across many animal skulls, teeth, and more in his work as a wetland biologist.  While he finds more than he could bring home, he has quite a collection going on in the curio cabinet his home office, the room we call his "home laboratory."  Many of his field findings are quite beautiful, and it is interesting to imagine the life that these animals led in the wild.  I snapped these photos today as part of a natural history series for decorating his space.  I think that they turned out well. 

On the Front Page!

Exciting news today!  A Treasury Island Team spotlight treasury featuring sellers in my Circle that I curated for Dot Stitch made the Etsy Front Page during the lunch hour!  Oh, what fun it was to watch the featured shops get a little more traffic, and quite a few of them posted sales of the featured item!   It is easy to see why each of the wonderful items deserved to be on the Front Page! 

In case you missed it, here is the treasury:

The cure for the down under blues

For those days when you just feel like the world is against you, here is a treasury to remind you that there is more good out there than bad.

 :)

More on SXSW!

Okay, it should be clear that I really, really wish I were going to South by Southwest!  Why didn't I ask for vacation a month ago?  Last year when I missed it, I told myself that I would make it the next year.  Well, not if you don't ask for the time off! AAGGHH!

Oh well.  I will have to live vicariously through NPR's All Songs Considered again this year, which, if you can't go, is not so bad a thing.  I have already been listening  to the Austin 100, getting acquainted with some really great music that I have never heard (I live in the middle of nowhere and don't have satellite radio, so I have to depend on All Songs Considered to keep me up to date).  One of my new favs I heard first from this SXSW list is Damien Jurado.  Hubby and I instantly fell in love with his melancholic voice and lyrics.  Only later did we find out that he is from our home away from home, Seattle.  No wonder we love him!

Here is a video from the Tiny Desk Concert series:





And here is Sarah Jaffe singing a live version of my favorite song:


Dirty Laundry Presents: Sarah Jaffe performs "Clementine" from Dirty Laundry on Vimeo.

Updated photos for Etsy

With Hubby out fishing for the day with his dad and uncle, I stayed behind and took full advantage of a gorgeous, sunny day.   I re-photographed a couple of my pendants for the shop using that beautiful natural sunlight, and I think that the new pictures are so much better than the previous ones!  I have posted the new pictures to the shop, made sure that they fit in the window for a treasury if selected (hint, hint, wink, wink ;) ), and hit Save. 

 

 

 

I wish I were going to SXSW!

Boy, do I ever wish we could make it to Austin for South by Southwest!  I have never been to SXSW, but from what I have heard, there is live music playing practically every square inch of downtown Austin.  And I know that many of the musical acts would be awesome to hear live.  For those of you fortunate enough to go, you have to check out Sarah Jaffe's show.  We saw her in Dallas not too long ago and she is AMAZING!  You will not be let down.

Instead of making the 5-hour drive to one of the nation's best musical festival (because I did not think to ask for vacation time until it was too late), I made this treasury. 

View from the kitchen window

One of my favorite features of my house is the kitchen window.  While our last home in Seattle had a nice large window above the sink, our view was of our neighbor's house.  Their house was lovely enough, but I prefer to see a little nature outside my window.  Now, our kitchen window looks out into our woods, not a neighbor in sight!  On certain days, I can watch squirrels run around in the trees as I wash up the supper dishes.  Once, Hubby saw a deer outside this window, grazing in our yard.  The craziest thing I have seen through this window, though, has been a turkey!  I am not certain where the turkey came from.  Various neighbors raise chickens, goats, cows, and horses, but I don't know about turkeys.

Here is the view from my window:

As you can see, the trees are still bare, but they are working on it.  

Is that Spring I am seeing?

The flowers are blooming, the flowers are blooming!  Most of the trees still have a ways to go, but the early Spring flowers are up and running!  I picked some flowers from along the road in front of our house and tried to capture their loveliness before their inevitable wilting. The white flowers are from our pear tree, and yellow are daffodils. Aren't they just gorgeous?

Punky in the sky

Our dogs are a tad bit spoiled.  They take full advantage of the situation as well, always wanting to be held.  They usually get their way, and you can see the happiness in their eyes as they survey the room from a shoulder.  Take a look at Punky, our resident lovey dog (Scout is a bit less social, unless you have food for her), as she perches on Hubby's shoulder.

Now, is that a happy dog or what?  (We will not comment on the state of Punky's fur.)

Like my new banner?

One of my favorite things about my Etsy shop is the ability to change my banner from time to time.  I absolutely love drawing each of these!  I don't have a graphic design background, so I am sure that any one with a lick of experience can see all the flaws.  But I have fun with it, and I hope that everyone who stops by my shop looks at the banner and has an "Ahhh, that's so cute!" moment.

Unbroken circles

As part of a Team Treasury Island spotlight for Dot Stitch and a way to show off the great items to be found from sellers in my Circle, I put together a treasury featuring items with a circle theme.  Aren't each and every one of these items just gorgeous!

finds for spring

Check out this wonderful treasury by Sonia of Catchall-Jewelry featuring my Hello Fox card! Gorgeous!

Earthy things

Many thanks to Charlotte of Charlottestreet for adding my Good Idea card to her latest treasury!

spring breeze

Sibel of Sibel's Design has put together a lovely spring-inspired treasury that includes my In Pursuit Hawk necklace.  Thank you Sibel!

Let there be Light

Thank you to Sickfeet for putting together this very clever treasury!  You have got to check out the Sickfeet shop - such beautiful, cool artwork!

Vacations

In my last post, just minutes ago, I brought up dreams of a vacation (specifically about hotel chimps...you will have to read the previous post for more on that one!).  And that made me think of vacations past, which made me think of vacations not yet planned.  And so I looked at the pics from some of the beautiful places Hubby and I have visited, wishing that our next vacation was sooner!

 Cape Flattery - Washington State

 Crescent City - California

Texas State Capitol - Austin

Oahu - Hawaii

Port Townsend - Washington

Northern California

Monterey Bay - California

 Hot Springs - Arkansas

Clinton Presidential Library - Little Rock, Arkansas

Alarm Clocks

 So, I have a beautiful, lovely Moonbeam alarm clock, a clock that I have wanted for such a long time.  It wakes you up by flashing a light that intensifies the longer it blinks.  After a few minutes of flashing, a really annoying alarm goes off, which eventually trains you to wake up to the flashing light.  It is a much calmer way to wake up once you are "trained" to wake up to the light.  No noisy mornings, no jolts from good dreams (like the one other night when I dreamed Hubby and I went on vacation somewhere in Florida and one of the features of the hotel was a chimpanzee that you were allowed to "babysit," if the chimp's schedule allowed for it--does anyone else in the world dream of hotel chimps?)...just a warm light.

I have loved my alarm clock.

Until this morning.

The hubby had to be at the office by 5:50 to drive two hours south for a meeting.  So, the plan was for him to wake at 5:00 and leave the house by 5:15.  Yes, 15 minutes of preparation.  He laid out his clothes last night, made sure the Egg-mobile's battery was charged (our not often used Toyota Echo bought while we lived in Seattle that we never drive now since we commute to work together most days to save on gas), and went to bed early.

I woke up at 5:20 on my own.  I stared at the clock, tried to figure out if I was actually seeing it right.  (it takes me a little while to actually become cognizant  in the mornings). The alarm never went off.  So Hubby got dressed at lightning speed and made it to the office by 5:55 to meet his fellow sleepy co-workers, likely breaking the speed limit the whole way.

I re-set the alarm to go off at 6:00 for me.  It went off at 5:30!  I decided it would probably be best to just go ahead and get up, let the pooches out, and just hang around the house until it was time to go.

We are switching out the alarm tonight.

WE HEART YOU

Nothing is better than to wake up feeling loved!  Not only did my hubby tell me he loves me, so did The Paper Heart Emporium!  Aww, shucks...I am blushing now.  :)

Always looking forward

Today is a new day! We can't do anything about yesterday, so let's just keep on looking forward, make the best of what we have, treasure the things in our lives that we love, keep calm, and carry on! 

Yellow the HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY color! Hooray for Spring...!

My Dragonfly Studios has put together one of the most bright and cheerful treasuries I think I have seen lately!  I am so happy to be included!

It is gonna be a good day...

Sometimes I have to remind myself to stay in a positive mood.  All of the items in this treasury give me that warm fuzzy feeling that makes me think "It is gonna be a good day!"

One for the boys...

Little boys are so much fun! Dinosaurs, bugs, tiny cars...the toys that little boys play with were always my favorite toys!  I could have cared less about Barbies and girly-girl stuff--give me a Hot Wheel and I was the happiest little girl in the world! 

Introduce A Little Color

Five Sisterz have outdone themselves with this wonderful, colorful, cheerful, fun treasury! I am overjoyed to be included in such a fantastic collection!

Treasury of Appreciation

Jen of The Little Ragamuffin knows how to offer appreciation--by creating a lovely, lovely treasury!  I certainly appreciate being included in this wonderful collection!

From Texas, With Love Ya'll

Karyn and Chelsea of Buy Me Love put together a very southern collection in this treasury featuring members of the East Texas Crafters Team.  I love their write-up on this one - "She addressed the postcard as she sipped her Dr. Pepper, and wondered what lone star treasures she would find next."  Dr. Pepper is a staple beverage of the South for sure.  I have known people who refused to eat at certain restaurants because "the only Coke they have is Coca-Cola and Mr. Pibb!"  Yes, in the south, we have assigned all cola products the name Coke, much like all tissue is called Kleenex.  This is just one of our many endearing qualities. 

Woodland Wonder

Thank you so much to Theori for adding my Hello Fox card to her Woodland Wonder treasury!  There are so many great picks in this treasury!