little red fox

keep 'em comin'....

Another moleskine journal--this one for the boys! The same as the Edith and Her Thoughts journal--it's a 60-page blank moleskine journal with the signature pocket inside the back cover, and a homemade ivory and black ribbon bookmark with vintage menswear buttons (and a little red one). Would go nicely with the Gentleman's Notecard Set, if you ask me :)

These journals are 8.5" x 5" and are perfect as a lightweight on-the-go option for those artist or writer (or list-maker) guys (or gals). Plus the bookmark stays useful long after the journal has been filled...

Why are buttons so precious to me??

I'm having to take these pictures at night and learning that the lighting part is tricky...

It's so incredible, though, to think of all I've learned as I come up on the 2-year anniversary of this little blog and etsy shop. I knew absolutely nothing about computers, image sizing, or pdf files, or uploading pictures to the computer, or photography in general, or lighting for a photo (outside light, you say?), or how to make stickers at home, or sewing from a pattern, or altering and making my own patterns!, or sewing a quilt, or printing out your own artwork at home, or how a printer works, or photoshop, or baking cakes, or making frosting, or making up a recipe. And everything I learned, I learned by sitting here and looking up tutorials on-line, reading Photoshop for Dummies, reading sewing books and manuals, outrageous amounts of trials and errors (oh, the printer ink I've wasted), buying books on-line, checking them out of the library, and generally figuring out ways to do what I wanted to do. It's incredibly gratifying to know that I can find a way to learn something if I want to learn it. That falls under the "They Can't Take That Away" category. Because what that meant for me in particular, was that I could change my life if I wanted to. I am not going to complain about the actors' life, especially since I've been fortunate in many ways in that regard, but I will say that it can be challenging emotionally, and what began with a love of the group creative process of making theater has morphed into more of a business-y type thing, which is different. And to go from doing Checkhov and Shakespeare and experimental theater in school with no expectation of a paycheck or reviews but just learning--to hoping (really hoping) for a guest spot on a TV show is also...different. So I guess I'm saying I needed this. I needed to be able to connect creatively with all of you, I needed a motivator to keep doing things I loved to do and put it out there and try not to care if people liked it or not. This has been a profoundly cathartic experience all-around for me and has really shored me up as a person in ways I never expected. I'm terribly grateful to those of you who keep coming back, and commenting, and inspiring me to new heights and so generously providing oodles of entertaining, thoughtful, inspiring reading on your own blogs (those of you that have them). Thank you.

This feels like it should end with a big "Thank You Giveaway" of some sort but I don't have anything planned!! I didn't even mean to go off like that--but out it poured :) I'll have to do something like that to celebrate, though...coming soon! In the meantime I offer you my humblest gratitude and if you were here in my room right now just know I would totally hug you so hard...

Now I'm off to audition for a guest spot on Ugly Betty (and I'm not even kidding)! Wish me luck!

edith and her thoughts...and yours too

We said good-bye to Mr. Wood's sweet parents today and sent them off on a train back to Virginia in the gloomiest weather imaginable. It was a fun and beautiful weekend with so much delicious food and wine and great conversation. I feel very fortunate to have married into such a great family.

This cold, wet, gray weather suits my mood perfectly and was all I needed to convince myself to get back to this little room and make something. I've been meaning to make some more journals, so this is what I came up with. 

These are 60-page moleskines, blank inside, with my illustration turned into a sticker/label-type thing. And a handmade bookmark, complete with vintage buttons (and one tiny red heart)...

When this little journal is filled up with all your ideas and sketches and lists and what-nots, the bookmark will keep all your other books' company for years to come...I thought they'd make a nice gift. Right now I have enough supplies to make 3 of them. I need to find some more of the tiny heart buttons somewhere. I just don't think it would be the same without that sweet little teeny tiny heart...

I just listed it in the shop, along with this (which I blogged about before if it looks familiar)...

Little handmade keepsake box...the holidays are upon us, after all! I'm going to be part of the Poppytalk Holiday Marketplace the last couple of weeks of December when they'll be featuring last-minute gift possiblities so I'm attempting to be on top of things and get things listed. I'm really excited and curious to see what happens because I've never been a part of anything like this before. I really want to do a craft fair but have yet to get organized enough.

my goodness but you're tasty

Once again--it was too exciting to dig into to get a proper picture! So you are left with the picture that came from me jumping up mid-meal and running into the kitchen yelling "Wait! I forgot to get a picture again!" while everyone else is eating :) Sigh. The many perils of a blog...

So far we've had this dish with roasted turkey and then tonight with grilled pork and it's divine with both. It's surprisingly savory, enough so that the sweetness of the carrots isn't the most important note in the dish. It's hearty and savory and versatile to be both a side dish but could also be a main dish for you vegetarians. The recipe calls for it to be baked 40-45 minutes, but I stuck it in the broiler for a few minutes at the end to brown up the top some more. Next time I'm going to try it with whole wheat bread crumbs for healthful purposes.

And for the record--this recipe is from The Blackberry Farm Cookbook which is a gorgeous cookbook and I got it for free when I went to see a taping of the Martha Stewart show. So fun! And truthfully, this book would make a beautiful gift for a cook you may be shopping for. It's huge and beautiful with really unusual, fun, special (in my opinion) recipes. For what it's worth.

CARROT SOUFFLE!
(serves 6-8 as a side dish)

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 cup whole milk
1 cup saltine cracker crumbs
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup minced onion
1 TBS unsalted butter at room temp
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart souffle dish or baking dish and set it aside.

2. Put the carrots into a large pot and cover with about an inch of salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat, and simmer the carrots for about 10 minutes, until tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.

3. Strain the carrots, puree in a food processor, and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the milk, cracker crumbs, cheese, onion, butter, salt, cayenne, and black pepper.

4. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer or wire whisk to beat the eggs until they are foamy, and then whisk them into the carrot mixture.

5. Transfer the carrot mixture into the prepared souffle dish and bake for 40-45 minutes, until puffed and light golden brown on top.  Serve warm.

Let me know if you make this dish and like it! I think you will... :)

And the shoot for Progresso went great today, by the way. Thank you all for your well-wishes! It was super tedious and weird acting-wise, having to say the same 4 lines 300 different ways over an hour (after sitting around waiting for 6 hours). You know how when you say a word over and over and you start tripping out over how it doesn't even sound like a word anymore? That was my day. But I'm grateful for a job! And everyone was super nice, so no complaints from me. Especially if it runs and we can make some money.

Except that I'm real tired. So I'm off to bed but I'll be back soon with more crafts...and thanks for reading, everybody. Your presence thrills me. xoxo

bow ties galore!

Amidst the 983 things I need to do right now I got an inkling last night to make polka dot bow ties. We allll know how that goes, am I right?  I used up the rest of my polka dot fabric (which wasn't much to begin with) and then got going on the red corduroy. Time consuming, but easy. I used what has become my standard bow-making method and I think they're sweet.

And cute! Here's the red...

 

Oh, look--they also seem to work on little hats, too!

How whimsical! (That laugh was genuine because I do get overwhelmed with silliness sometimes when I take these pictures all alone on my back patio...)

And the packaging...

I think if I had to describe my style I'd start out saying "fairy-tale-chic" with a "20s and 30s vintage vibe" but I'd also have to fit in "orphan-glam" with some cross-dressing elements. It sounds complicated now that I've typed it.

Oh yes--they're in the shop.

I have one more bow-tie color in the works but I won't be able to get to those until next week. My in-laws are getting to town as I type this and I have to go be a good daughter-in-law and get prepared--which I mostly am. I'm all about lists and planning ahead. We're taking them to a fantastic beer place around here and then making them a fancy dinner which I'm very excited about. (One of the recipes I'll be posting tomorrow--the carrot souffle--which I can't recommend highly enough.)

And then tomorrow I shoot a commercial! It's the first commercial I've ever gotten, actually. All the stage and TV and little bits of film I've done but these things eluded--and thus--frustrated me for years. So I gave up on them after a while but the thought of quick money lured me back in recently so I'm relieved. I was afraid I secretly looked like a troll on camera, or something equally offensive-enough to not be able to sell soup. Which is exactly what I'll be selling--Progresso soup, to be exact. It's not high-glam but it just might pay some bills and that's sounds pretty good to me!

That's it for now! I have a fancy dinner to make and cute outfits to wear! See you tomorrow...xoxo

some of you guessed it right

 

And no, it wasn't origami kleenex :)

It's a tad lop-sided but this was my not-so mysterious project from the last post. To sum up: we're not allowed to paint or wall-paper so I needed something happening over our bed. I might still make a covered headboard or paint a trompe l'oeil one, but for now I really like the way the garland turned out. Sort of hap-hazard and homemade looking, old and new at the same time... I first saw it here which led me here (loved that blog, by the way) which finally led me to this blog which I also completely love. Not only do she and I have the same last name, but I love her deep desire for art in her life, plus she seems fun and I'd invite her over for a party.

Essentially what you have here are brown coffee filters, various shades of tissue paper (red, fuchsia, turquoise and emerald green) and vintage music paper (her brilliant idea)--all of it crumpled up and strung along on plain ol' white string. The whole project (due to what I already had at home) cost me about $9. None too shabby. And even if it doesn't stay above the bed, it'll look great hanging on the side of a mirror or over a window or something.

I really love the way hers turned out but my unfair prejudice towards pink allows me to go no further than the fuchsia I used here. I love the pale pink that she used, but my room is leaning more towards the brighter colors. And trust me--fuchsia is a big step for me!

The rest of my time has been swallowed up in getting etsy orders out and Christmas-present-making. We're trying so hard to spend as little as possible for the holidays. And I think we're done, actually and spent around $300 for 17 people. Not too bad, right? I had to buy some fabric for some things, we had to buy some food ingredients for some other things, and of course some things I just couldn't make (which is a hard thing for me to concede!).

I absolutely love Christmas so this isn't me miserably trying to get out of anything--on the contrary--it's me trying to be super-smart in trying times and most importantly creative. I actually enjoy the challenge of working within these parameters--though the best-case scenario is showering everyone I love in hundreds of presents :)Though I love, love, love giving presents I'll just have to shower them with love instead...

(I can't share too many details about what I'm making just yet--though I'm DYING TO!!--since some of the recipients read this, but soon I can spill a bean or two...)

cabinet cards

(Greer. Print of Graphite drawing, 5x7 with mat)

Another of what I think will be a series of "Cabinet Card Drawings." I'm a little bit obsessed with them and can't get enough of the semi-spooky, melancholy, mysterious little things. This one is obviously inspired by the paper moon ones I saw from this post. There are more of these in me, I'm sure. I'm also considering drawing on the actual mats (kinda like this) since some of them have such gorgeous designs. 

This one isn't in the shop yet but will be later today...

Today I'm home getting orders ready to go out, I'm having more soup and crackers for my lunch, and watching a lot of Humphrey Bogart gangster movies in the background (though I still haven't seen this one and I'm dying to! Come on, Netflix--add it to your instant viewing, please!). But also on the agenda is a project for our bedroom that I am crazy excited about! I think it's going to be beautiful and it involves these...

 

Aren't I mysterious? You'll have to come back to see what it becomes...

junk soup + crackers

This was our dinner tonight and is the title of this post. Could there be a more appetizing recipe title? Probably. But it's accurate.

Post-Thanksgiving we had all these vegetables left over and in the pot they went along with whatever else we had on hand that needed to be used--2 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, half a head of green cabbage, 3 little potatoes, a bag of lentils, chopped onion and celery, garlic, a large can of diced tomatoes, half a bag of frozen spinach, vegetable broth and bouillon, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and the ever-trusty liquid aminos. I made as big a batch as I could so I would have plenty left over to freeze in individual portions (cheap lunch!). I also threw in a cup or so of quinoa towards the end, stirred in some chopped kale and then topped it off with some fresh grated parmesan cheese. I think I have all the food groups healthily covered. All the junk we had left over=junk soup!

But in a backwards way--what inspired me to make this soup were these Sesame Flaxseed Crackers.

This is a kind of funny thing to make but I've really been wanting to try lately. Like most people I love bread and crackers and all that--especially with soups and stews. The two are married in my mind. So I came across this recipe (interesting blog, too) and used this pretty, lazy Saturday to give it a whirl.

The dough is enough for two separate batches. This one has a simple honey/water glaze per the recipe (you don't really taste the honey) and is seasoned with himalayan sea salt and cracked black pepper. While this batch was baking it occurred to me all the possible flavor combinations you could add to the dough--fresh garlic and red pepper; curry powder; fennel or caraway seeds...It was too late for me to do that but the second batch I glazed and sprinkled with garlic powder, red pepper flakes and sea salt and a touch of oregano--kind of a little pizza flavor. Very tasty! 

I don't know what I was expecting but it was a pretty easy recipe, surprisingly. I get intimidated with any recipe that involves a rolling pin but that part went just fine. The ingredients are really healthy too--it was all stuff I had on hand, and I love knowing what is actually in what I'm eating.

Here's a picture of the happy couple:

Sorry it's a blurry picture but I was kinda in a hurry to dig in :)

paper moons

(Photos found here.)

A little eye-candy for your Friday...

I never knew paper moons were an early photographic setting trend but here you go. I can't get over how beautiful these are. I think I'll have to draw some myself since I can't go and live there. 

We had a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving night and I took zero pictures. BUT. I do have a new recipe--a carrot souffle, if you can believe it--that is a must-share. So delicious in the most surprising way, none of us quite knew what to make of it. So I'll get that to you--I just need to recover first :) I'm currently cuddled up on the couch watching Hot Saturday. I love this movie for many reasons (not the least being that it's pre-code) but especially for the scenes of 1930s nightlife--the dancing and drinking and everybody dolled up. Nancy Carroll's wardrobe is to die for, by the way. It's all so good and just what I need on this chilly, gray day. Well, that and some kitties, drawing supplies, over-sized sweatshirt belonging to husband, fuzzy socks and chocolate. But that's it.

i'm seasonal!

Well, this is something I've been meaning to do since I opened my etsy shop but I just couldn't quite get myself organized enough. Somehow this year--however "under the wire" this may be--I did it! I have a set of Christmas/Holiday cards in the shop and I'm so happy with how they turned out. I'm crazy about that mossy-green color. I had a more straight-up greeny-green picked out and then changed my mind at the last minute and I think it's exactly right.

The red background was a bit of an unexpected last-minute thing, too but with that green--yay for accidents!

I'm still a sticker-making-and-packaging-making-maniac.

Pretty cute as a set, I'd say. I'm really into making these paper ribbons for the card sets right now. It quite literally wraps it all up in a bow! Satisfying. (Smug smile.) And they're in the shop!

I don't know about you but I'm having a lovely lovely evening. I've been drawing and making stuff and getting orders ready to go out. And after that I'm spending the rest of the night drawing and baking--could be worse. I have to bake cornbread for my grandmother's famous-to-us-cornbread dressing, and my first pumpkin pie. We're cooking for a bunch of folks tomorrow and couldn't be more excited. It's mostly a pretty traditional menu but there are a couple of neat surprises--like a carrot souffle! How interesting does that sound? Very. Can't wait to report back to you!

Cheers to you all and have an absolutely divine next few days whatever you may be doing...

love nest

Since I've finally gotten around to doing up our little bedroom, I thought I'd share...

 

These are the pillows I made the other day. I bought the fabric because it was so beautiful--but I had no plans for it. Our bed has needed new pillows for a while and since we can't paint and I need color--voila! Made envelope-style with covered buttons...

This fancy flowery fabric is probably a tad too thin to be a pillow covering, but it was too pretty to resist and I'm weak.

I think the window might need a matching curtain, though, don't you?

I love my vintage telephone. I found this on ebay a few years ago and it works! It's so funny to talk on the phone and be confined to an area determined by the length of the cord--how old-fashioned to sit in one place and chat...

I also bought a vintage jewelry box a bunch of years ago that I just love--it's so girly.

 

Another gorgeous weekend--we must be doing something right. Waiting on Mr. Wood to come home again--he's been travelling a lot lately, huh?

Made a beautiful kale salad for lunch...

Chopped kale, parsley, lettuce, snow peas, red bell pepper, red onion, walnuts, pinto beans, ground flax seed, ground chia seeds, and nutritional yeast with an apple cider vinaigrette and a mug of green tea. Divine.

Also finished a drawing I started last night...

 

(Edith. Graphite on cardstock, 6x8)

I was watching Suspicion late last night and enjoying Joan Fontaine in all these beautiful 40s proper English ladies' dresses and hats and out of nowhere in a dinner scene was this tall blonde woman dressed like a man. She was nowhere else in the movie and then there she was in one scene and said 4 weird things and gave everyone around the table the hairy eyeball and you never saw her again. At least that was my experience of it. But it was really late and she hypnotized me. She reminded me of that large blonde lesbian in Pandora's Box who follows Lulu around at a party--know who I mean? I love her. It was so amazing and weird and it got me really inspired. I got to thinking about old-timey photographs and printed this onto a sepia-colored cardstock and popped it into a black oval mat...

 

(Edith. Print of graphite drawing, 6x8 in black matting)

And it was just the look I wanted. That doesn't always happen but when it does...dang it feels good :) I'm selling these in the shop also. Just 3 for now since that's all the mats I have. BUT--hopefully I can find some more because I think I want to do a whole series of these old-fashioned women in men's clothes. Got some ideas stirring...I also did one in ink, so that will also be something eventually perhaps... One simply never knows, does one?

Hope your Sunday is absolutely lovely...