Sunday, September 18, 2011

Hemingway in the shop

Here is the newest design in the shop...Ernest Hemingway



This one was a fun one to carve!  Look at the beard!  I listened to one of my favorite groups, Mumford and Sons, while I carved out this stamp.  Turns out, this was the perfect music to carve Hemingway.  It took a little time to get it right, but I think that this little stamp will make some folks happy.  :)




Saturday, September 17, 2011

Asleep on the tile

I am fairly certain that all that our dogs do during the day while we are away at work is sleep.  As point of evidence of this hypothesis, during the day on weekends our dogs are about the laziest creatures you could imagine.  You can usually find at least one of them asleep in their kennel.  Today, Scout found a nice sunny spot on the tile in the dining room to take a quick nap. 




She stirred a bit after hearing the camera's shutters, but it took her about 0.5 nanosecond to get right back into her nap. 

Hidden beauty

My husband brought me these gorgeous coral beans still in their pods that he found while working in the woods last week.  Those brown pods are quite deceptive...you would never think that such a gorgeous shade of red could be hidden within something so plain!  I couldn't resist taking some photos of these gorgeous natural finds...


I also just had to add these to the photo for my newest design in the Etsy shop, Henry David Thoreau...




Monday, September 12, 2011

Subtle Acts in the Indie Fixx Autumn + Holiday Galleria!

I am super excited to announce that you will be able to find some of my items in the Indie Fixx Autumn + Holiday Galleria starting September 15!  If you have not had the chance to visit this awesome site, go now!





Sunday, September 11, 2011

Be not simply good, be good for something.

Even after 200 years, Thoreau still stirs thoughts and imaginations in all who read his writings.  You can hardly go a sentence without stopping to think about what he has said and apply his words to your own life.  Not only was Thoreau a writer, he was a naturalist, an abolitionist, a surveyor, and a philosopher to list just a few of his many passions.  His words also greatly influenced the Transcendentalist movement in the 1830s and 1840s.

This hand carved stamp is my homage to one of America's finest thinkers.





Saturday, September 10, 2011

Thoreau



"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."    -Henry David Thoreau, Walden




Monday, September 5, 2011

Meet Molly


Meet Molly.  She has recently joined the family as my husband's parents' puppy.  She is so full of energy and is just the cutest little thing!  She loves running in between legs and can hardly sit still.  Watch as she ducks under me...that tricky little thing!  They are working at getting her trained to control her excitement, but for now she is all puppy dog energy! 

(The audio quality is not so great, but the video is cute nonetheless.)

New hand carved stamp



We love Steinbeck.  We love him so much that we once arranged a vacation in California around being able to see Cannery Row in Monterey and visit his hometown of Salinas.  East of Eden is by far my most favorite, cherished book, and Grapes of Wrath is a close second.  If you have not read either of these (or if they were forced upon you in school before you could appreciate them like I was), then you are in for a treat!  And while you read through any one of Steinbeck's many great novels or non-fiction, grab up one of these nifty little journals featuring a hand carved stamped portrait of the man himself.  :)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Oh, these dogs...

I would venture to bet that most dogs are like mine...they don't know any tricks, they make messes and don't clean up after themselves, and they rarely give themselves a proper bath.  Yet, they always want a treat as if they have done all of those things.  And we relent, give them the treat.  Why?  Because they are just too dang funny for words!  My two dogs, Punky and Scout, are constantly play fighting with each other, making more noise than their little sizes should be able to make, and are always, always, always tracking in dirt, mud, grass, leaves, bugs, sticks, etc., etc., etc...  But they have one quality that outshines all of these terrible habits - they always make us smile. 

So here is my latest item in the Etsy shop...a begging dog journal!  You need one of these, right?  :)









All that time & The way sound leaves the room - Sarah Jaffe

I just saw these videos and had never heard these songs from Sarah Jaffe until now.  What a beauty they are!  I can't wait for her new album that comes out September 27!



Sarah Jaffe : All That Time from Kirtland Records on Vimeo.



Sarah Jaffe : The Way Sound Leaves A Room from Kirtland Records on Vimeo.