Winter mornings...

... can smell like this, all yeasty and cinnamony and sugary.  This dreamy recipe can be found by clicking here.  Yes, my love affair with food continues, who needs a date when you can bake a beauty like this!?!

Thank you for supporting passion!

 

I read this quote attributed to Rebekah Joy Plett and wanted to share it with you:  purchasing a piece of handmade art means a great deal to the artist! 

To everyone who has ever adopted one of my critters, thank you from my heart.  And to all those artists from whom I have adopted or purchased, you are most welcome and I so enjoy seeing your new creations I am extremely pleased to be a part of your success!

From the heart

Hello Everyone,
  As February 14th fast approaches, I thought to share this fast, easy and inexpensive craft idea with you:  3D paper hearts. 

I made them using an ordinary glue stick instead of staples and created a LOT of hearts with only 6 sheets of paper (2 red, 2 pink, 2 pale pink). 

 

They can be used in different formations, like these glued in the round to create bright sunshines or flowers (which, considering this winter, we REALLY need).

Enjoy! 
 

And I also thought to share this with you:


 

It certainly does make a clear statement.  Enjoy loving your people tomorrow, be they furry or feathered, 2 or 4 legged! 

 

 Happy Valentine's Day!



Criticism: How beautiful it is and how easily it can be broken

I was drawn to the title of a book:  How Beautiful It Is and How Easily It Can Be Broken by Daniel Mendelsohn and discovered it was a collection of critical reviews.  Not really my interest, but the first review was for a book I have and was looking forward to reading, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  The review was not an attack but was definitely derogatory, starting off by outlining its success as largely due to being talked about by influential TV personalities.  For a first novel it became “the novel of the year”.  However, the critic than dismantles the innards of this novel and lays out what I feared:  it isn't a deep, personal look at rape and death but a white-wash of "Everything is okay, everyone will be okay."  I don't mind the happy ending so long as there's a depth and a taste and a weight to it, which Mr. Mendelsohn makes quite clear there is not.  
  So I gave away the book.  Indeed, something fragile (my hopes) were broken.
  Strangely, the critic attempts to convince the reader that this is not a critic's intention, in fact it is a love of fragile things that motivates a critic, that “critics are, above all, people who are in love with beautiful things, and who worry that those things will get broken.  What motivates so many of us to write in the first place is, to begin with, a great passion for a subject”...“that we find beautiful; and then a kind of corresponding anxiety about the fragility of that beauty.”  I beg to defer:  Mr. Mendelsohn focuses on flaws in The Lovely Bones, not its positive points, on what isn’t there rather than all the aspects that made so many people love the read.  If you thought it was beautiful, in any regard, why would you throw rocks at it?!


  This is true of any critic.  Have you ever held a bear in your hands, loved it, wanted it, until someone pointed out it's flaws to the point that you no longer adopted the poor Teddy?  
  Anyway, I pleasure-read so little I want just the juiciest morsels.  I think I should stay clear of critics and bury my nose in more gems like Sharp Teeth and Brains.  (Finding them is the tricky part!)  Beautiful things taste delicious!

 

3 little faces!!

Are they not adorable?  

Angelina, Spiro and Samuel are coming to life!  They now even have ears and I'm stuffing their legs!  It was a productive weekend.

2014 reboot!

January 31st is Chinese New Year!

Happy New Year as we enter the Year of the Horse!

 

And if you were flaundering about after Januray 1st and need to reboot the year, this is a great opportunity to relaunch 2014.

 

  

 

How about making Spring Rolls for the occassion?  Here's a recipe and instructions (although I'm going to blend this information with my friend Tammi's recipe because her's are awesome!).

And instead of a horse I have a donkey for the year.  Yes, this photograph of a donkey ended up in my yard on a blustery, nasty cold day.  I imagine he escaped from a recycle bin and managed to hop the fence... anyway, of course I brought him inside to warm up and he's now my companion for the year.  Donkeys are supposed to be more sure-footed, calmer and intelligent than horses, so I welcome his joining me on what may be a bumpy ride.  Onward! 

3 on the way

This is the scene in my studio the last few days!  My 3 Day of the Dead bears are coming together!  In this first photo most of the machine sewing is done and I'm working on the foot pads, which I always do by hand to get just the right curvature.

And here, after the feet are finished, the noses are being worked on.  This is my first time working on multiple bears at once and I have to say it's easier than doing them singly.  Especially with the noses, I started on one and it was tough, then I began the second and it was easier and then the third was stitch-stitch-stitch and it was done!

And once the noses are on their way, I put in eyes to get a real feel for what was going right and what needed work (like those darn noses).  After trying colored eyes and different sizes, all 3 went for black 9mm, which will help make them have a more uniform look and together they will sit as a mini collection. 

  

This will be Spiro, Angelina and Samuel!