Amanitas!

This is a beautiful specimen of Amanita flavoconia (Yellow Patches) that I found in Clarion, Pa this past fall. The cap is yellow & darkens toward the center to an orange tone.  The scales and the stalk are a brilliant yellow.  The flesh inside the mushroom is white, as are the gills and the spore print.

This is another amanita I found in Clarion on the same day.  This one is an Amanita Rubescens (The Blusher)  You can see a button form of the mushroom and a mature specimen. It was a beautiful rust-red color fading to beige nearing the margin of the cap.

I'm in LOVE! with a napkin...

Thank you Dransfield & Ross for taking my breath away via napkin!!!  O H   M Y   G O D!

They have a perfect napkin for every occasion.  They have the perfect napkin for every color scheme.  They have the perfect napkin for every personality.  Okay, you get the point.

And that's just the beginning!  You can set your entire table with their collections... wouldn't you just feel fantastic dishing out something fancy off of this runner?

Asian Salmon Cakes!

This is the best recipe I've created to-date, I'm proud to say & it's SUPER SIMPLE just how Vlad likes it...

The photo's not the best... I got too excited & took a bite before I remembered to snap the pic, but you get the idea - guess I'm no food stylist.

I never actually measure things out, so these are all estimations:

2 -6 oz cans of salmon
2 large eggs
1/3 c. chopped green onion
1/2 red pepper
2 tbs fresh grated ginger
2 tbs wasabi
2 1/2 tbs miso
1/2 c. plain bread crumbs
2 cloves grated garlic
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, form your patties & fry 'em up in some veggie oil.  Delish!  Makes about 4 salmon cakes.

I'm also dying to try this with some beans & make Asian Veggie Cakes too :)

"Hoot! Hoot!" Owl Mobile

This is a mobile I recently finished for one of my besties!  She just had a baby boy!
I'm so happy with the way this turned out.

I used vintage fabric for the bodies & vintage flower buttons for the eyes.  The wings, bellies, eye balls & beaks are made of felt.  I sewed little bells into the wings so they make noise when jiggled around.

For the halo, I used a plastic embroidery ring & blanket stitched this strip of felt around it that I had already detailed.  I hope baby will like it!

Avette's First Trip to The Big City.

We took Little Miss on her first trip to The City!  At 9 months old, she was way past due.  We got into town on Sat.  Hello!
Lindsey's garden is looking so pretty this year!  I miss walking down the street to relax in it with her!

We quickly headed over to Ft Greene Park.  The farmer's market was still going on when we got there.  Avette was having so much fun watching all the people & dogs making their rounds.

On Sunday we made our way up to Williamsburg.  I carried her around in our new Sakura Bloom Sling!  We love our sling so much!  Kayleigh & Marj surprised me Friday & brought it over to the apartment - what a great gift :)

We popped in at the Artists & Fleas.  So many amazing crafters there!  I could have perused around all day in the flea market, getting lost in the vintage madness & gorgeous crafts at every single stop!

We also did a little boutique-ing.   Lindsey held Miss Avette while I tried some clothes on.

And the guys relaxed outside, brown-bag style.

Then, to finish off the perfect trip, we did brunch at Olea, one of my most favorite brunchey timey places! They have the best bloody mary's eva there!

We had such an amazing trip!  Little Avette was such a delight, she travels well these days & loves seeing new things.  Nick & I have been trying to expose her to as much as possible in the hopes that she'll become a well-rounded little girl one day :)
We drove home in an amazing sunset & Avette said "sky" for the first time as she pointed her little finger up at it.  What a classical end to a marvelous trip!

Pierre Frey - Serious Inspiration!

I stumbled upon Pierre Frey's fabric collection in the most recent edition of Elle Decor & it's fantastic!  Are you kidding me with these prints?  I want to cover EVERYTHING in my house with them!!!

Here is a link to the rest of Pierre Frey's fabric line.  I'm melting!

First Fireworks!

We took little miss to see her first fireworks this 4th of July!  She was totally enthralled by them!  Nick & I were taking bets beforehand & expecting her to cry, but it turned out we didn't need an escape route after all because she was awesome!

Avette's been crawling now for over a month and a half.  She chaises the dog around the house.  Every time I turn around he's giving her one of his bones & she sticks them right in her mouth, of course!  Yuck!  

She's also standing on her own for short intervals.  There have been falls & it's frightening at first, but I keep convincing myself that it's all part of the learning experience...

I can not believe she's 9 months old today!  It is flying by way too fast!!

This weekend we took her on a hike to McKenzie Pond.  She giggled & babbled the whole trip.  She loved tasting the wild strawberries growing by the pond.  The water was warm enough to stick her feet in & she splashed them around.

She points at things & says some words like "hi", "mama" & "eyes".  She waives when we say "hi" & "bye".  This little stinker still cries every time you put a shirt on her - I wonder when that will end...  Not a day goes by that she doesn't make me smile.  I just love this little girl so much!

Hers & Hers Spring Skirts.

I finally finished these skirts for Avette & me, just in time for Easter.
I really like the paperbag skirts, so I decided to use a piece of pink velvet I had lying around to create that look at the top of the skirt.  For the finishing touch, I used a piece of white lace I had lying around and tied it to look like a belt.
For Avette's skirt, I took a pair of pink jeans, cut the legs off & sewed a hemline at the bottom.  The jeans were a few sizes too big, which made the skirt long enough to fit her after I cut the legs off.  Then, I took a piece of the floral fabric & sewed it right onto the pink jeans, like a tutu, just under the elastic waistline.
I can't wait to wear them!

Crocheted Patchwork Blanket

This is a blanket I crocheted for my cousin's son.  It's made of hand-dyed alpaca.  I started by crocheting all the little blue & green squares then I attached them using a chain stitch.  Finally I made rows repeating the pattern dc, ch of the brown/grey color.
I love the way this turned out & the alpaca is so soft & warm.

It's the little things that count.

It's amazing how simple little things can make all the difference.  I made this little colored pencil holder out of an old oatmeal container.

It took me about 10 minutes to make this.  I pulled the paper wrapper off the container & used it as a pattern then I tacky glued the fabric on to the container at the seam & around the edges so the fabric doesn't fray.

And the lid still fits on with my colored pencils inside!