Chilly Morning Walks

 

I love those morning walks when the kiddies need their blankets with them--for the extra warmth!  I usually walk out the door with mittens and a scarf.  They prefer "ka-chow" and "bankie".  Whatever makes them feel cozy enough to keep the layers on!  Anyone with a toddler will understand the frustration of keeping the warm stuff on their little hands and feet.  

Autumn is my favorite season.  Hands down.  The leaves, the pumpkins, the butternut squash soup.  The ease into chillier temperatures.  Temperatures that demand blankies, mittens, and multiple cups of tea.  I cut out leaves from a sheet of water color paper I had my way with and assembled our fall door decoration.  Also, those mini pumpkin muffins?  William will grab one in each hand and call it breakfast.  M will grab one and leave a trail of soggy crumbs throughout the apartment--which no one will know about until we step on them. 

To Do List

I'm slowly learning how to manage my To Do list these days.  The first step is to write it on a small piece of paper.  That way I fill it up with five or six tasks and feel a surge of delicious accomplishment with every one I cross off.  Plus, over-extending myself helps no one, let's be real.  The second step involves writing in a freebee--a long walk, make dinner, do laundry.  All three need to happen on a semi-daily basis.  So, those are three I can cross off no matter how chaotic the day gets--and, yes, pulling a pizza out of the freezer and baking it counts as "making dinner".  The third step is future-oriented.  I write one or two things on my list that I know I won't get to, but, I feel strangely on top of, if I write them down.  My thoughts ramble in the following way: Oh, that's right, I need to re-open my shop at some point--what needs to happen before then, or Christmas cards before the new year would be a good thing, right? 

So, on my list the other day was "bake pumpkin bread."  I've been trying to tweak the recipe for a few weeks.  It's part Maine Pumpkin Bread (off the internet) and my mother's recipe.  It's moist, dense, and very spicy--just how I like it!

Pumpkin Bread

3 3/4 C flour
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 T cinnamon
1 T nutmeg
1 t ginger
1 t cloves
1/4 t pepper
3 C sugar
1 1/2 C canola oil
4 eggs
29oz can pumpkin puree

Stir dry ingredients together and set aside.  Mix oil, sugar and eggs together.  Add pumpkin.  Slowly add dry ingredients and mix till smooth.  Pour batter into greased muffin tins or loaf pans.  Bake at 350 till firm.  The bread is best the day after baking.

The Correspondence Project

The Correspondence Project.  Many, many years ago, I had a friend who wrote me letters in booklet form.  He created the booklets out of paper scraps he had collected over the years.  Manuals, maps, old time book illustrations.  They were simple, but fascinating.  He would write one entry, send it to me, I would write the next, and send it back to him.  It would slowly fill.  I remember loving the art of it all.  So, over Christmas last year, I created three booklets for a few of my favorite penpals.  There were no rules, no time line.  You could write a note, a poem, paste in a picture, or draw some squiggles.  It didn't matter.  What mattered was the joy of filling the pages.  And the post part.  Envelopes, stamps, hand written addresses.  Bliss!  I've slowly sent out more and more booklets to friends near and far.  There's something sweet in the art of a handwritten note--a little piece of you, on the page, offered up like a gift.  I'm putting a few Correspondence Project Booklets up in my shop later today.  Blueberry and Lemonade colors!  Let me know if I can send you one!

Still Life No. 7

Still Life No. 7

It's been ages since I've done a still life.  I forget how soothing it can be to orchestrate the items on my desk.  See what works visually.  What doesn't.  Pulling from different parts of my creative life.  I'm having fun with summer paper scraps.  Folding them up, stacking them.  Making pinwheels for door decorations.  And, using paper scraps for my Correspondence Project booklets.  Always a good use!  Yellow bakers twine and yellow china dishes.  White chocolate coconut scones!  Probably one of the best uses of butter!  Ever. 

Summer Slow

Summer has taken hold of our little life here in Chestnut Hill.  I'm not sure if it's the humidity, but it feels like everything is moving slower.  Things are less urgent.  It feels good. 

Goodies

So, I did a little more than drool over the material, tea, and books in New York this weekend.  I might have snagged a few goodies.  Felt and material from Purl in SOHO.  An utterly elegant magazine from McNally's Bookstore.  And tea!  Belloque tea.  The really good stuff.  This is a white Earl Grey.  So exciting.

Other goodies--M is pulling herself up on everything.  Sometimes standing up in the middle of the room for no reason.  Just because she can.  And, we've finally reached the point that brother and sister can play side-by-side without danger to either!  Oh the messes they make!

P.S. A month ago I was interviewed for the Chestnut Hill Local Newspaper.  Last week my article came out!  Beyond thrilled!

Paper Yummies

I'm elbow deep in paper this morning!  I'm creating little books for my Red Otter orders--yummy paper freebies.  I found little kraft paper labels for the front and packaged them up in clear envelopes.  I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to actually invest in the packaging of my Red Otter creations, but it's time.  And I'm loving the process.  I have additional things to add to the overall ensemble, I'm just waiting on materials.

By the way, cigar boxes make for great paper organizers.  The cigar shop down the Avenue sells their left-over boxes for a buck a piece! 

Still Life No. 5

Still Life No. 5

A blue bowl filled with flower punches for garlands.  Cherry blossom stamps for my Correspondence Project.  I ordered these online because I would rather wait a week and pay for shipping than walk a quarter of a mile to our local branch and deal with Crabby Postal Lady Number One, Two and Three.  Ranunculus are one of my favorite blossoms.  I love their amazing swirl of petite, colorful petals.  A cigar box filled with pieces of a new Creative project.  And new business cards, printed fresh with an ombré scallop background.  We'll see how long it takes me to redesign these. 

Our weekend will be filled with simple necessities, like doing a Target run, laundry, and buying wine.  And, hopefully a long walk in any sunshine that comes our way!

XOXO,
Jewels

Still Life No. 4

Still Life No. 4

My issue of Kinfolk arrived a few weeks ago.  I'm still slowing savoring it.  I love the softness of offset printing--it gives the whole book an air of informality and friendliness.  Andrew came home yesterday with pink tulips for me!  I love pink tulips.  I finally re-potted my basil.  The oregano died.  I think my green thumb is fairly amateur--basically, I can keep things alive after they've been nurtured by some clever, seed-savy, person!  The little drawing is the first I did in my little One-A-Day illustration series.  And the china dish was one of four I picked up at an estate sale almost a decade ago.  I love mismatched saucers.  They're perfect for serving cupcakes on.  Or using as a place to plop my tea bags.  Or fill with pretty stones my mother gave me from Lake Superior. 

Grandma Alba

A favorite delight: commissioned work.  Particularly when it's commissioned by a dear friend!  We have a variety of adopted grandparents in our apartment building, but Grandma Alba is special to us.  She seems to get such a kick out of the little ones.  She's been there to watch them grow and change the three years we've been here, marveling along the way.  William can do no wrong and Baby M is in danger of being scooped up and eaten entirely!  So, when Alba came down to request a silhouette of herself for her children, I was thrilled!  She wanted the silhouettes to be petite and able to be set up on a flat surface.  She let me be creative.  I covered these little books with beautiful Japanese paper, printed the silhouettes on cream card stock and attached them with black photo corners.  Each book opens easily and is able to stand like a picture frame.  I drew a periwinkle feather for her note and tied them up with moss green ribbon.  M and I delivered them to her on her birthday (93) this past Saturday!  She loved them!

As I was creating Alba's silhouette books, I created another one for my friend Jess of her two little boys.  Let me just say, trying to get little boys to stay still, and in profile, is tricky.  Very tricky!

PS Just out of curiosity, do you do anything to get the creative juices flowing each week?  A little project or task or mental-workout?

What I'm Loving

Mostly due to the fact that I'm juggling way too many things right now, and my brain feels incapable of forming complete sentences--really good at run-on sentences, though--and because I haven't done a What I'm Loving post in a while, and lastly, because, when all else fails, make a list, here you go:

What I'm Loving:
+ Painting my bedroom chair the palest of pale pinks.  When I was sanding it down, I could smell a faint smoke-smell.  I had forgotten that my grandparents were chain-smokers--this chair was inherited by my father, and then by me.  The chair actually goes with the set of drawers I painted rain drop blue last month.  I mostly like how it turned out.  Mostly!
+ Baby M is officially on the move.  I'll go into the kitchen and hear something rattle on our wood floor and jump!  How did she get over there so fast?  Oh. My. Gosh.  She just opened up my Hope Chest drawer and is looking inside.  I'm in so much trouble.  By the way, she's starting early with her love of glossy magazines.
+ My handsome husband is now a Naval Officer.  I'm not surprised that he wanted to join back up--he had spent 9 years in the National Guard and military service has been ingrained.  But, he switched military branches.  That's kind of a big deal in the military.  You don't really do it!  But, he's one smart cookie, and it was a strategic move that will benefit us all.  And, I have to say, he looks amazing in his blue BDUs (battle dress uniform).
+ Pink heather and blue skies.  When you're out on walks every day, you notice the seasons and their flowers.  You notice which blooms are the first to poke their little heads up through the frozen earth or frizzle in quiet beauty in the side gardens.  You also notice that blue skies mean different things as the seasons change.  In the winter, blue sky meant cold.  Like frickin' cold.  Clouds were a blanket and allowed for easier outdoor enjoyment.  But, once the spring comes, blue skies mean sunshine.  And sunshine, often, means warmth!