I don't scrapbook. I make and sew and glue and play with everything under the sun, including paper, but in terms to "official" scrapbooking with papers and embellishments enhancing a photo album, it is not one of my hobbies. That said, I love scrapbook stores. I never know what I am going to find or how I am going to use it, but that is half the fun!
I have made little works of art by covering matchboxes with scrapbook paper and stickers, used scalloped paper as a doily and made my own cute clips using clothespins. But this may be my favorite project of all. A clock!
I bought a sheet of Bo Bunny scrapbook paper that looked like a clock face and I glued it to the front of a clock kit from the craft store. It is as light as air and made of paper - but it is a real clock! Now I have a custom timepiece hanging in my office that is just my style, beautiful and interesting.
This is going to be way better than a message in a bottle! I am experimenting with growing a real pear inside an empty bottle and I feel fairly certain it will work!
Inspired by a local winery that makes and sells pear brandy (with a real pear floating in the bottle), I am trying to grow a pear inside this bottle over the Summer. My parents have a pear tree at the cottage and my dad figured out how to attach the bottle to the tree with a bent wire wrapped around the bottle and then made into a hook to suspend from a nearby branch - it's genius! If you look closely, you can see the small pear growing inside the bottle, just below the wire wrap.
When the pear is full grown and ripe, I will pull on the stem and let the pear be "picked," yet remain in the bottle. Then I will fill the bottle with my own homemade Pear Brandy. When it is time to harvest and decant, I will show you my progress and publish my pear brandy recipe. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
It is time to rest our eyes. To "calm down" your living space this January, why not strip the room of excess color and introduce a few layers of white & cream. You can try softening the room with the glow of candlelight. The votives shown above were cooling on a tray after being filled with melted beeswax. Have you ever smelled beeswax? Heaven!
Maybe you could add a fleece throw in the palest shade of pink. Change the lampshade to a neutral cream or white. Remove the extra items from the room to give your eyes a rest. Instead of stacks of newspapers and magazines, place the one book you are reading on a side table.
Now breathe. A little less visual "noise" will do us all a some good as we welcome the new year.
I was mesmerized. And then speechless. And then jealous.
Look at this gorgeous framed masterpiece that my friend's Aunt Pam made. She told me that years ago, she and her friends all worked on a project like this. One that uses plywood, electric Christmas lights, and black velvet to highlight small objects.
Pam made this sparkling tree with a collection of costume jewelry from a dear relative. Here we have earrings, buttons, brooches and bracelets artfully arranged into the most sentimental Christmas tree of all time.
I just love it and hope to make one for myself someday. This is the epitome of beautiful and interesting. Are you inspired too?
In 2009, I read an article in Wired magazine about Patrick Blanc's "Living Wall" at the Athenaeum Hotel in London.
He created a vertical garden on the exterior of a building and I wanted to see it! The plants on the wall thrive on a network of slats, artificial felt and an automated water/fertilizer system. You can read all about how he does it here.
But as you know, London is enormous and although I carried the article with me on my trip, I thought the chances were slim that I would be able to find/visit it during my short stay in London.
The day we arrived, as we rode from the airport to our hotel in a taxi cab, my ever-calm husband casually pointed out the window and said "I think that's the hotel you wanted to see."
All I can say is that I practically gave the taxi driver a heart attack with my exclamation. He quickly realized that all was well and that I had simply "found something" that I was looking for.
There it was! We had found it by accident! The next day we made sure to walk by The Athenaeum on our way back from dinner so that I could photograph it properly.
Love it!
Did you know I was going into farming? Well, baby steps. For Christmas, my parents gave my brothers and me the latest advancement in garden technology: a potato grow bag. The spud "starter kit" arrived this week and I have 3 varieties sprouting in my kitchen. In a day or so, they get planted in the bottom of a porous drum-shaped bag and someday I will...have a lot of potatoes! All in all, it should be a fun process and if you start to see a trend of recipes revolving around potatoes here, you'll know why!My favorite quote from my Mom when we opened our gift was, "These are all the rage in England." Ha! Very cute and certainly blog-worthy. Potatoes here I come.
Have you noticed that more and more design elements are made of unexpected materials? I've made purses from newspaper. Bought sushi made of soap. So it wasn't a stretch for me to make roses out of fabric. I thought it would be beautiful and voila! It brings a new meaning to the phrase a timeless bouquet - ha!What I like best is that I used a brown & mint toile fabric. A solid pink or red would have been so predictable - but this combination looks just as good, don't you think? What is your favorite thing that is made from something unexpected?
You know how I love when dollhouses are packed with tiny household objects. Everyday items are just plain cuter when they are small. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw these little Dim Sum erasers!
They are the perfect size for Barbies. What could be more modern than Barbie & Ken sitting down to Dim Sum after a night on the town?
And yes, I said erasers. These are the perfect addition to any fourth-grader's pencil case. Remember, look for things that are beautiful and interesting.
What an inspirational night! Food Network Personality, Alton Brown held 3,200 people in the palm of his hand at his sold-out lecture at Oakland University last night.
His core message was this:
The "best food" is food that has been prepared by loving hands. So cook - for your friends, your family, your neighbors. The love instilled in preparing food for someone has a nutritional value all its own.
- He emphasized that nothing you buy will ever taste as good as something you make.
- He stressed the importance of eating a bright and colorful diet.
- He renounced products labeled "Diet" or "Lite", adding that the experience of eating one glorious homemade cookie will always beat eating an entire package of diet cookies.
Alton Brown was witty, happy and completely "present" as he inspired the crowd to grown their own vegetables, cook their own meals and be thankful for the food in front of them. I am not sure what I was expecting to hear from Alton Brown last night, but he delivered. He gave us food for thought.
If I had to pick, the 45th Parallel is the latitude to be on. It runs right through my beloved Leelanau Country in northern Michigan.
I have been driving by this sign for years (an "official" marker that somehow validates my favorite area) and thought it would be fun to show you.
Foodies know that this latitude is optimal for growing the "stone fruits" (cherries, peaches etc.). Stone fruits are grown on the 45th parallel all across the globe. My part of the world specializes in cherries. Neat, huh? Normally this latitude principle is associated with grapes and vineyards, but now you know it applies to certain fruits too.
What I can't believe is that I am heading to Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine this month. While preparing for the trip, I noticed a "45th Parallel Picnic Area." No way!
I will still be photographing on the 45th - just 1,000 miles East!
I am drawn to things that are Beautiful and Interesting at the same time. So when I saw a clear box of "Marshmallow Rolls" by Rita Farhi, I stopped in my tracks.
What could be more wonderful in a mug of White Hot Chocolate? What kind of genius decided to make marshmallows in multi-circle pastel rolls?
Be on the lookout for Rita Farhi marshmallows and sweets in candy shops & confectioneries near you.
What am I going to do with them? I think I'll make a sugar cube house with a marshmallow roof line for Christmas next year. Love it!
Want to know a secret? I am developing my own map of Paris. "Delight in the City of Light - A delight-ful map of Paris" sprinkled with the shops, treats and sweets that bring delight. The anticipated release date is Fall 2009. Many people have commented on a few of the photographs that I shot in Paris that are in my book Moments of Delight - little do they know that I could do an entire book of Paris photography! Do you have a spot in Paris that brings you delight? Let me know and I will check it out on my next trip!
Can you imagine going to the grocery store by boat? In Leland, you can hop in a little boat, drive through the river, tie up at the dock provided and climb these steps to the grocery store. The pretty planters shown here match the window boxes out front. So cute. I've noticed that teenagers don't mind "running an errand" when they get to go by boat.
Now that is what I call a milk run.
When it comes to crafting, my philosophy is to make things that are both interesting and beautiful. I created this "still life" out of match boxes and scrapbook supplies. I took an everyday object and turned it into something between a puzzle and art. When I set a collection like this on the coffee table, I always find people rearranging them. Changing the sequence or direction of little boxes of matches. I've got them playing with fire.
Want to create a buzz? Build a hive! I bought this cake pan years ago through Martha By Mail and I love it. You can order your own hive pan (a little different from mine, but the same idea) from Nordic Ware. A simple box of pound cake mix (add 1/4 cup of fresh lemon zest when you are mixing) makes the cutest bee hive cake ever. After it is baked and the two halves are "glued" together with icing (made of powdered sugar and lemon juice) drizzle more icing over the seam and down the hive. What should you serve on the side? A scoop of Haagen Dazs' limited edition Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream. Yum!
What's so amazing about this picture? It was taken on July 17th! My peonies bloom in early June, so how do I have a fresh bouquet 6 weeks later? I have found a florist's trick that really works. When peony buds are about the size of a ping pong ball and showing color, cut them from the plant leaving a 6-8 inch stem. Dip the cut end in hot wax to seal. Wrap bud & stem in damp paper toweling and seal in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to two months. When you are ready for a spectacular bouquet, simply recut the stems to remove the wax and place the buds in room temperature water. Your "ladies in waiting" should open within a day or two. Love it!
Remember the photo shoot in my rose garden? The rain held off that day and the photographer got some beautiful shots. I want you to see the article written about my first book (the article was aptly titled, Moments of Delight) that ran in the Observer & Eccentric newspapers all over metro Detroit on July 3rd. They did such a nice job. You can read the article and see the photos as a pdf here.
There is nothing more romantic than a slow cruise up the river in a classic wooden boat. Have you ever gone to dinner by boat? At The Riverside Inn in Leland, you can arrive by boat and tie up at their dock. I love to dine on the patio where the sounds of dinner mingle with the low thrum of antique boats cruising by.
I knew that I was onto something when I mentioned making a necklace out of novelty buttons here. I thought that the colors and shapes would be just right with "the T-shirts of Summer."
Well, I wore it last night to a card party and it was a hit. Everybody loves something bright and pretty to jazz up a simple tee. I am going to wear it with pink and orange and green, oh my!
Isn't this house charming?
Notice that they have a rooftop garden, not for vegetables, but for decoration!
I had never seen such a thing and I simply had to show you. This long narrow house sits right on the lake and feels so European.
Bravo!
