The Craft Begins

So you might have noticed that I’m obsessed with terrariums, and I found a great seller on etsy that makes them!

Her shop name is Made By Mavis and she has an awesome assortment of terrariums in different shapes and sizes.  Plus, the shipping is totally reasonable!  When I got mine, the first thing I did was open it up and have a little smell – there’s nothing like the smell of damp earth to brighten up your day.  I hope you’ll pay her a visit and get one of your very own!

Friday faves are coming today – had some computer issues that I can hopefully resolve.

One of my very talented friends, Chris Yates, has been doing a photo comic on his website for years.  I’ve been fortunate (?) enough to appear a couple of times, and recently he came down to visit and captured the whole thing on film.  It pretty well sums up where I live and what my life is like, so I thought I’d share it here.

Chris is pretty hilarious.  He makes all sorts of interesting toys and other things he cut out with his scroll saw.  He’s quite a ridiculously talented man and I suggest that you check out all of his goodies here, or his photo comic here.

Friday favorites are coming later today!

I love shopping at thrift stores.  There’s so much history and so many stories contained in all of those objects.  Plus, I like discovering items that have been neglected and undervalued that have some potential – it’s actually one of my favorite things on earth.  I’m not going to lie, there have definitely been a few projects that have been started with the best intentions and never quite made it to the finish, but its the one that makes it all the way that makes it all worthwhile.

When I found this sad little guy he was hidden under a thousand other things on a big table.  His legs were wobbly, his doors had fallen out, and he was all scratched up. This is one of the easier renovations I’ve done – a little bit of sanding, some wood glue and clamps, and several cans of awesome-colored paint, and voila!  A happy table.

I needed a bedside table of some sort, and I think this will do the trick!  Now all it needs is an awesome lamp and a stack of books and we will be good to go!

I know that it’s still in the cold clutches of winter for a lot of you out there, and I don’t mean to rub it in, but it’s been in the high 80′s here all week.  My poor cold-climate conditioned body has no idea what to do!  However, it does mean that flowers bloom early here and it’s time for me to start thinking about flowers.  Well, not really, because I don’t have a garden, but a girl can dream, right?

My gardens usually consist of some pots outside on the patio, and the other day I stopped by the nursery to see what I could find that would do well in a container.  I found a see of ranunculus!  They are one of my favorite flowers, and I had no idea that they would be so easy to find.  I bought one plant as a test, and it has shot up 10 buds in the last week!  Which is amazing.

Please excuse the terrible picture, but this is a bouquet I made for a friend’s wedding last fall.  She had chosen white spider mums, orange tulips, yellow snapdragons, red-orange alstromeria and white roses for the rest of the bouquets and arrangements, but also picked a bunch of orange ranunculus for herself and the groom’s flowers.  They were a delight to work with, with their huge heads of petals and bright color (and they have a cool striped stem as well).  I can’t get over them – I’m going to go and buy a bunch more plants at the store today so I’ll have lovely cut flowers all year.

Here’s some pictures of ranunculus to get you inspired!

If anyone happens to live in Brooklyn, I highly suggest visiting the incredibly talented Sarah at Saipua.  She always has tremendous, unusual and beautiful floral designs.  (that’s one of hers above)

At the flea market a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a great deal – 20lbs of freshly picked grape tomatoes for $5.  I love tomatoes, but I love a deal even more, so I dutifully lugged them home and was presented with an enormous problem – what on earth do you do with 20lbs of grape tomatoes?

I froze a lot of them (which really works well – you get little tiny tomato ice cubes) but still a ton remained.  I got some recipes from friends that I have yet to try out but that I’m really excited about.  My main focus was on preservation, and finding a way to store them that would work well in the freezer and be pretty versatile so I could use them on everything and thus use them up.

I’m going to experiment later with some of the recipes that I received but I’d like to share a few of the ones that I came up with.  They’re just sauces, but they provide a great burst of flavor for just about any meal.

Provencal Tomato Chutney

I call this Provencal tomato chutney because it’s got a lot of the yummy herbs and spices found in Provence.  I imagine it in a lot of different applications – served as a topping for roasted meat, or accentuating a lovely plate of white fish and potatoes (believe it or not, I can something of this sort in Italy and it was divine).  Or even with a pile of homemade pita chips – yum.

1 onion, diced

4-6 cloves garlic

1 qt. grape tomatoes

1 tbsp. rosemary

1 tbsp. thyme

1 tbsp. basil

olive oil & vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Dice garlic and onions, and saute in olive oil until soft.  Add rosemary, basil and thyme (fresh or dried, though fresh is a bit stronger) and cook an additional 2-5 minutes.  Add grape tomatoes, whole, and let the mixture warm up a bit (5-10 minutes).  I add a little bit of water to get the whole thing really cooking.  Continue to cook over medium-low heat covered, stirring occasionally.  The tomatoes will naturally pop, but you can hasten the process by smashing them with a wooden spoon when they get soft.  Cook until the mixture has reduced in volume by about half, or about an hour.   The texture should be thick and not watery, but still liquid.

Flea Market Salsa

This is so named because it was entirely created with ingredients that were sourced at my local flea market (mostly out of the back of pickup trucks).   It might be a little unconventional, but you can’t beat the freshness.  I like to make it in huge vats, since salsa seems to disappear quickly, but if you’d like a little less, just halve the recipe!

6 c. grape tomatoes

4 small/3 medium white onions

2 small cans V-8 (optional but it gives it some depth)

2 tbsp. vinegar

2 bell peppers (any color, though orange, yellow and green add color)

2 tbsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. chili powder (use your common sense on this – chili powders vary widely)

6-10 garlic cloves

2 large/3 small limes

dash of olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  You might have to do it in several batches, as it ends up being quite a bit of salsa.  I like to blend mine until it has a fairly even, liquid consistency, but a food processor works much better if you like your salsa chunky.

If you’ve got a delicious recipe that you’d like to share, please let me know at thecraftbegins@gmail.com!

The lovely Ms. Teske set a follow up yesterday to her interview.  She had demurred from answering one of the questions, saying that too many crazy things had happened to her (!) but she came up with a story, and I think it was a good one!  Her story follows below.

Here’s Tiffany’s craziest thing!

“In 2002, while traveling in a VW bus in Australia, which they call Kombi vans, I may have had the craziest thing that has ever happened to me happen (although I had three other stories I could have told you….). I was traveling with Andre, my then boyfriend, now husband, and our friend, Dan. If it was not crazy enough to agree to live in a van for 8 weeks with, at times, stinky and annoying boys (although I was also both of these things at time) I had no idea what we were in for. After traveling up the east coast of Aus, over about 5 weeks, we decided to head into the Outback. Here kangaroos are EVERYWHERE (3 million kangaroos are killed LEGALLY in Australia each year by Roo hunters), and sometimes it is 250 km between towns on a one lane road. When cars meet they each have to put their two outside wheels off into the ditch, or get off the road completely when meeting a tractor trailer, which can be a “road-train” with three containers! Well, on one of these lovely roads, in the middle of no where, or actually specifically somewhere between Longreach and Jundah, a truck passed us, completely in the ditch, then came back in front of us, and as it got back on the road, it threw a giant rock into our “windscreen” (or as we say in North America, windshield). Now, in vehicles made today, it may have cracked it, or even shattered it, but it would have stayed intact… not so in a 1970 something VW van. The windshield literally shattered, in a million cracks we could not see out of and then stayed that way for about 5 seconds at which point blew into the van. Dan, who was driving, thankfully had “sunnies” (sunglasses) on, but had to pick bits of glass out of himself, and even though I was the furthest in the back I had to, too. We were now in between two towns with VERY LITTLE traffic…. and we had already been through Longreach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longreach,_Queensland), gone to Jundah, had van trouble, changed spark plugs in a dirt lot in Jundah, headed back to Longreach to go to a garage, and were now headed back to Jundah to continue our trip. Since we knew there was not a garage in Jundah that could work on VWs, we knew we needed to go back to Longreach FOR A THIRD TIME. We drove something like 90 km, without a windshield, which is NOT a picnic, in fact, there is a good reason we have windshields. We had to drive really slow, and at one point we almost hit a calf which could have flipped up into the van… the sun went down during all of this… I was never happier to reach a destination. Long story short, and it is a long, funny, and agonizing story, we spent 8 days in Longreach… a windscreen needed to be sent from the coast, and they only make two types of windscreens, but we got the wrong one sent to us the first time, and needed to wait something like 6 days for the right one to arrive! In the meantime, we befriended most of the town. The first day we got there, no one would talk to the crazy hippies in the Kombi with surfboards strapped to the top, and no windscreen, in the middle of the Outback. But, by the end of the 8 days we had befriended the VW mechanic, all the kids who played in the local park, and most of their parents who hung out at the biker bar in town. I went to every little hole in the wall museum in this 4,300 person town. We had little money, but did spend one night in a motel so we could shower, eat take out pizza, and watch movies. Our last night, to top it all off, was also pretty crazy… we went to the biker bar to see a band called The Lees. The bar was crawling with locals, including little kids. And The Lees (http://www.thelees.com.au/bandHistory.php) turned out to be a family band much like The Partridge Family. Mom played bass, Dad played guitar, brother, about 14 played the drums, sister about 17 sang, sister about 12 sang, and sister about 7 sang, played, and worked the lights…. it was crazy, awesome, amazing, and when the oldest daughter sang Alanis Morissette, a fellow Canadian to the guys (I am from the states) we decided to started talking to them on a break and told them our sad story. They hung out with us into the night, and even gave us one of the rooms attached to the bar, which they were staying in as the featured band. The next day, they gave us their coordinates in the town of Broken Hill, along with an invite to come and visit AND our new windscreen arrived! It was Andre’s birthday, and Dan’s birthday the next day…. Happy birthday, guys! The mechanic installed the screen, we headed to Broken Hill, and stayed with the family band for 3 days before heading home to Canada. Steve and Tracey, and their 4 kids, Raechel, Jarod, Faith and Savannah, are still friends of ours, and have come to visit us in Canada. Nothing could quite be crazier….

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Now, I should take a class on how to write true life stories without rambling…”

Today’s interview is with one of my great craft friends, Tiffany Teske.  In addition to doing some excellent Polaroid transfers, she is a wonderful photographer and a great crafty inspiration.  I loved getting to know more about her – now’s your chance!

1. What did you have for breakfast this morning?

Homemade crepes with butter, lemon, & real Canadian maple syrup. Crepes are a favorite in our household. My 2 1/2 year old likes hers with pecans, cinnamon, & syrup. Hubby likes them with just butter & syrup. Fresh berries are always nice, too. If you would like the recipe you can get it on my blog at this post, http://tiffanyteske.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-classic-crepe-recipe.html.

2. What do you find most inspiring about where you live?

I live in Banff, in the Canadian Rockies. It is a tourist mecca for people from all over the world. The mountain landscape is very inspiring in a way I can’t really pin down. You just feel good when you see all that beauty. And I love that most of the people who are visiting are on holiday, either for R&R or to work here, so they are happy to be here. And they are walking around seeing what I see each day, with fresh eyes. It is fun. There are lots of venues for creativity, galleries and shops, movies, library, plus the world reknown Banff Centre for the Arts, so we get lots of great artists, musicians, dancers, comedians, etc, who come to perform and show their work there.

3. What kind of music are you into lately?

I feel like I have been in a bit of a musical rut. I used to keep up on new music, but have always loved all kinds of music, so old music is as good as new to me. I recently borrowed a copy of a friend’s Turkish Grooves, which is excellent. I love world music. Hard question…

6. Was there someone in your life who was a creative inspiration for you?

Growing up it was my Aunt Helen, my dad’s sister. My parents are not terribly creative. They are both in the dental field. And my living grandparents were pretty much “buyers” not ”makers”. My dad’s mom was said to be eccentric and creative but she died when I was under 3 years old. Helen is her daughter, and she never had kids, actually doesn’t like them much, but we hit it off from my birth. She took me everywhere as a kid that kids don’t go; galleries, plays, the ballet, fine restaurants. She also took me to lots of kid places, like fairs, libraries, art groups. She is awesome! However, I never really had someone who taught me anything hands on artistic. No one taught me skills. But being with Helen inspired me to learn.

7. What else do you make other than art that you’re great at?

Oh, you are so kind. I try to make everything. I love to cook and bake when I have enough time to enjoy it. I love working with papers and with fabrics, although I am not very good at sewing. It is something I want to concentrate on in the near future. I studied ballet for about 12 years, and sometime I still teach it to preschool kids.

8. When did you first start creating things?

I think I have always had that in me. My daughter is the same, she always asks “what are we making today” or do we have a “project”. As a kid I was given lots of kits for making things, and took a lot of classes. My mom didn’t really do the things with me. As for photography, I was bit by the shutterbug at 7 years old. I was given a 100 camera to document a family trip. I have loved making photographs ever since.

9. What is your creative process like?

Hmmmm, this is a difficult one to put into words. I spend a lot of time kind of brewing or percolating… ideas come to me like breathing. I can come up with millions of things I want to do. But then I need time to think on them, to process them. It is not even a conscious thing all the time. Sometimes I feel like I forgot about an idea, but then it comes to me all ready. Poof. A lot of my process is mental. Living with the idea. If it is photography, I may then make the images, and then work in the process I have chosen for printing, displaying, etc. Or I may have made the images years ago, so I find them, then work with them in mixed media. Most of my artwork is photo based. As for something I am making that doesn’t use my photographs, I may collect the materials, then experiment. I am not really much of a planner for making art. I just kind of start making. The exception to this would be if I am using some kind of technical process for printing, something that needs to be done an exact way, such as some darkroom processes.

10. What’s a cool thing that you think everyone should know about?

Etsy. And Spoonflower is pretty darn cool. You can design and print your own fabric! How cool is that? I want to try it sometime. http://www.spoonflower.com. Ah, so many cool things in this world… I also like the Craft Daily newsletter, because it keeps me up on art, craft, food… sign up here, http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2007/02/get_craft_daily.html. I also think blogging is a cool thing everyone should know about because everyone has something to say and that they are interested in, and you can meet amazing people via blogging.

11. What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you?

Well, I have traveled the world so many crazy things have happened to me…

12. Where’s your dream vacation spot?

Everywhere, no seriously… ok, I will try to pick. Fiji, Alaska, Scotland, Italy, Greece, Belize, The Galapagos, Kauai, Egypt, Morocco, Japan….

13. What’s the last thing you bought online?

A hardbound photobook of a photo essay I worked on.

15. Do you make a signature dish? What is it?

If you can’t tell by now, I am more scattered than focused and embrace change, so I cook all the time but can’t really come up with a signature dish. They are always changing. When I think of things people request for me to make they are crepes, veggie burritos, and these oatmeal ginger cookies that people go CRAZY for.

16. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Listen to your heart, follow your dreams, trust yourself, you can be anything, but you need to work for what you want, nothing will be handed to you on a silver platter.

17. What’s your most treasured possession?

Is it weird that I had to think about that one? I would have to say family photos and books and cameras. But, I strongly believe that as much as I love objects, that if I lost everything but still had the people I love, I would be fine. No object can last forever, and I think maybe I am a bit superstitious that if you hold on tightly to something you will lose it.

18. Do you have any pets?

No but have had fish, a bird, a gecko, a turtle, a hamster, cats, and dogs. Never trust someone who doesn’t like kids or animals…

19. What’s your best garage sale find?

Oh man, I am a collector, there have been SO many. Between garage sales, thrift shops, and Freecycle, I have found some amazing things. I guess the things I love to find most are very old photographs and slides, cameras, and vintage books with illustrations.

20. What are you most passionate about?

Making art, helping others (I have been to Haiti and Nicaragua on humanitarian missions, as well as working in the communities I have lived in), for all women to have the choice of natural child birth (I gave birth under the care of a midwife in a birthing center with my daughter and have a planned homebirth with a midwife for the second daughter), our environment, good health.

If you’re interested in learning more about this lovely lady, you can check out her etsy shop here.  She’s also showing on trunkt, and has her own website for her photography business here.  If you want to get more in-depth, she has two great blogs – one about “going green” and one about art and her life.  They both feature awesome ideas, great recipes, wonderful pictures, and awesome insights.  So stop in and say hello!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway.  We have two winners – Melissa wins the grand prize, and Ellen wins the runners-up prize!  As a way of saying thanks to everyone who threw their names in the hat, I’d like to send you a little something, so send me your address to enigmachck@gmail.com.  I’ll be getting in touch with everyone shortly!  I’ll let you know what they’ve won after they get their packages – I don’t want to ruin the surprise!

1.  We went on an art adventure today, to a town in the middle of nowhere, Arizona called Tubac.  I’m not sure how it’s pronounced – it seems to differ depending on who you talk to.  It has a great history – it was the first European settlement in Arizona and was originally a fort of some sort.  If you look, it’s really quite close to Mexico.  It was a stop on the trail between the sea of Cortez and San Francisco.  Sure, there’s some pretty country in those parts.

2.  The whole town used to be a bunch of awesome houses all stacked together with little courtyards and side streets, arranged sort of haphazardly, but they’ve now turned them into art galleries and shops where wares are proudly displayed on kitchen counters.  There’s a lot of your run of the mill touristy stuff, but there were also some really good things.  Like this steel dinosaur, for instance.  Yeah, I’m a geek  – I like dinosaurs.  I’ll admit it.

A very cool place to go if you’re ever in Southern Arizona.  We went to Tucson after that – no trip out of town is complete without a trip to In-N-Out.  I’ve never liked fast food burgers, but I’m pretty sure that I can blame at least 10 pounds of weight gain on the fact that we live close enough to drive to one.

3.  When we were wandering around town, we discovered – a carnival!  One of the ones that moves around town on the back of semi trucks.  I’m terrified of them – I like to think that I’m of an adventurous sort, but I think that risking your life on something that is so easily transported is a seriously bad idea.  I do, however, love all the lights and such, so I got some great pictures.  Here’s a few of them (poladroided, of course)!

Tomorrow I’ve got a great interview with Miss Tiffany Teske that I’m pretty excited about -  I hope you are too!

The theme of this week’s favorites is Blues and Greens.  Springtime is here (at least for me) and I can’t get over the color combination.  It’s so fresh and fun!

1.  First up is retrofied.  I just bought a moped last weekend and so I’m obsessed with all things 2-wheeled and motorized.  Add a little love of polka dots and stripes and you have one awesome bag.  Roomy, with lots of pockets, this is the perfect bag for someone like me.  Lots of space to hold your junk and keep it organized.  She’s based out of Chicago, and has lots of awesome fabrics and styles of bags – there is definitely something for everyone.

2.  Next is econica.  She has some really elegant designs, simple yet stunning.  This dress is made of bamboo and organic cotton, a combination that I’m sure would feel even better than it looks.  I love the intensity of this green – green in such a hard shade to do right, but I think this would be flattering on a number of skin types.  I love that she uses mostly organic materials but still maintains a feminine, stylish form.

3.  I keep seeing these soaps from amethystsoap pop up all over Etsy, and after taking a closer look I can see why.  They really look like actual polished chunks of turquoise!  They’ve got some all-natural goodies for a little exfoliating action (who couldn’t use that) and I think they would smell terrific.  The rest of the soaps in the shop look like tumbled stones as well – how do they do it?

4.  Last is adventuresofjr.  I’ll make no secret of it – I’m a shmere snob.  Why on earth would you wear anything besides cashmere?  You can find it reasonably priced, if you look, and its just so sinful.  You always want to pet yourself, or you can get someone else to pet you…anyway.  She makes some beautiful, modern and fun accessories out of, you guessed it, cashmere!  I think that I want everything in her shop.  Life’s so short, everything should be soft.  She also sells some of her lovely yarn here.  Her shop is definitely worth a look – an perhaps a small indulgence?

That’s it for the week!  Just a reminder, today is the last day to sign up for my giveaway!  Scroll down and look for it, leave a comment, and you could be the lucky winner of some awesome prizes!

I’ve been really enjoying my new project.  I have tons of vintage trim that I keep collecting and that I can’t find a use for.  Same goes for vintage scarves.  And I really love these vintage slips that I was dyeing – they are great for lightweight wear in the spring and summer.  Plus, I figure, it’s spring!  And what a better way to beat the winter doldrums than to show a little leg and get happy with some color!

So I bring you….the flea market skirt!  Lots of fun layers, vintage lace and old hankies as pockets.  A little bit of flair here and there, and you’re the life of the party!  They’re all one of a kind, (though I love custom orders) and they will be available in my etsy shop here in the coming weeks!

So in honor of my sending off this month’s contribution to the Sampler, I thought that I would offer a giveaway here!

You will receive what I sent off to the Sampler today (the postcard above, plus an awesome luggage tag) as well as a sample from all of my shops.  I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I promise it will be a good one!  Leave a comment here and I will pick randomly from all of the comments on this Friday, February 20th!  Good luck!  If you’d like to check out the Sampler, click here.

I got nothing today.  So…here’s a picture of a lamb wearing a wool sweater.

Happy Monday!

I know that the software has been around on macs for a while but when I checked back after a long absence it seems that they have released a windows version as well.  It may simply be the greatest computer gadget every to land on your desktop.  There’s a mini polariod camera, and when you drag and drop your photos, it spits out a “polaroid” – your original image, turned analog!  Every exposure varies and you never know what you’re going to get.  For those of us who loved polaroid but can’t find the film anymore, this is a slight relief.  You can even pick up the photos and shake them if it’s not developing fast enough for you!  My favorite feature is the ability to capture a copy of the image mid-development so if you see something unusual you don’t have to wait until it finishes to save it.

You can download the software here, and also find an awesome flickr group filled with polaroid goodness here.

Here are some of my favorites – I pretty much went through every picture on my computer yesterday playing with this.

Since it’s Valentines day, and I’m not too into the whole lovey-dovey pink and red hearts thing, I thought that I would share something else that I love.  And that is…terrariums!   I’m living out here in the desert and I can try to fill my house with succulents and other things that I can’t kill but part of me secretly yearns for moss and grass and a little relative humidity.  I was going to use terrariums for centerpieces at my wedding last year, however, I was quickly vetoed (though I still think it’s a good idea).  It hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm.

1.  This one is super swank.  It’s made of recycled glass and created using wind energy.  How green!  Find it here at Velcocity.

2. and 4.   It’s amazing the different configurations and designs that you can come up with.  There are so many awesome jars and glass bottles out there, you could fill your house with tiny terrariums.

3.  I like the idea of displaying several of them in a grouping for maximum visual impact.

5.  This one may be one of my favorite compositions.  It’s literally oozing with moss!  Oh, how I have dreams about this…

1.  My first favorite of the day has to be crystalindumentaria.  Another Etsy seller from Buenos Aires (Argentina seems to be coming into its own on Etsy) she sells some very cool clothing.  Very figure concious.  To me, there’s nothing better than an interesting white shirt, and I think this one fits the bill.  A nice shape, a great neckline/collar and the ability to mold it to fit your body – what could be nicer?

2.  Next is Champignons – I’m sure you’ve seen her work all over the place but I just can’t get over it.  Aside from the awesome name, she has great whimsical and slightly victorian items.  This piece is like an early movie – if you spin it around fast enough, you find that the bird will actually find itself inside of the cage!  I’ve seen this done in movies but never in real life.  Many more treasures about in her Etsy shop!

3.  It’s not often that I want to buy everything in a shop, but I do when it comes to Hisss.  There is no shortage of excellent illustrators on Etsy but her style speaks just to what I like – historical figures and animals, all with a slight visual pun.  I love this illustration – called “polar opposites”.  She has a photography site as well that’s worth checking out.

4.  Last is argonzales.  Her shop is filled with things for “manly men and girly girls”.  She has a great color palette and lots of little delicate items that are just interesting and strong enough to walk the line between feminine and awesome.  Ever since I took a silversmithing class years ago I’ve been obsessed with stacking rings and she has plenty of sets to choose from.

Thanks to all these wonderful creative folks for their amazing talents and energies!  I look forward to seeing what is to come from them.