This large black bloom is made from lace which is carefully cut and handstitched to give it three dimesional form. It is embellished with dark pearls and small glass seed beads. I starched it and sewed it on to a thin black elastic headband. It’s classic black so it can be worn with just about anything, and to any occasion no matter how formal.
Care: store this in a shoebox so it won’t get flattened. It will need to be restarched occasionally with use.
This pendant is constructed with pink and white threads, glass beads, an almond coloured pearl, peach ribbon and loops of white lace.
These structures refer to the body; our lovely physicality constructed out of bits. Our hearts are strong, but delicate and changeable. The loops are also containers, conduits, and divisions of space. The little pink stitches and beads show off it’s constructed nature.
I made these little beauties today. They are hand made with ribbon, reclaimed gold tone chain, lace, turquoise, chocolate pearls and sterling silver wire.
Dan and I are like to watch cute animal videos on you tube. Today’s theme is strange but cute cross species friendships:
Monkeys ride capybaras:
ok, I know this is a bit played out on the net, but here is the youtube classic “Christian the lion” video. Two guys raise a lion cub they bought at a department store. They later release him in Africa, a year after that they return to see if he will still recognize them.
I can’t believe there was a recent time when you could pick up a lion at a department store, or that general public could enjoy watching two majestic lions confined in a small cage without guilt. It amazes me how insensitive and downright foolish the human race can be in our interactions with other animals. On the bright side, it does show that we are trying to better ourselves and making improvements, even if they are dangerously slow. I believe and hope that as we mature our compassion will become less human-centric and our empathy towards other animals will grow. It should also make us question the things we take at face value as morally acceptable. Especially anything that involves exploitation or harm, no matter how indirect.
Frustrated about it? Want to do something good? Here is a link to the Jane Goodall institute site. There is some good information about humans and primates, specifically chimpanzees that are on the brink of extinction in the wild. If you have some cash you can help by sponsoring an orphaned chimp. These little persons have had a sad lives that you can help give hope for a better future. I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.
A few finished brooches:
Today is one of those rainy days that mixes summer blue skies with flashes of pouring rain and mistiness. Everything is wet, green and full of life. I finished up a few brooches and started working with some lace my sister gave me as a gift. She also picked up some great old buttons for me at her neighbourhood yard sale. As the story goes the lady who sold them to her got them from a button factory that went out of business long ago. I can’t wait to make some interesting one of a kinds with them. (Thanks Val!)
I also listened to yoga heart radio on CKDU. I love listening to the lady hosts voice and the words she speaks, she is obviously a lovely and wise person. The chloe dog and I went out for a walk in the rain, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Rainy days are my favourite, as a wooly haired red head I am pretty much built for them.
Dan has been collecting bits of fallen wood as he walks around the city, he keeps coming home with more and more bags of sticks. Right now he has his heart set on making a broom with a beautiful birch branch he found on the ground near the supermarket. He takes his finds home, sands them, dries them out and treats them with beeswax. After that we decide what they should be used for, what they are already. We hold them and intuitively figure out their use; pen, pin, handle, brooch etc. The sticks all have their own individual character and shape, the chaotic beauty of the grain and natural variations in colour can be also quite beautiful. Now that we have a deeper appreciation for this material it seems amazing that so much of it is just lying around on the ground. When we need more we just go out and find some, its a nice excuse to take a walk in the woods. Just goes to show how much trees will provide without even having to cut them down. Treasure is everywhere.
We will be selling some of the new work we make with textile and recycled wood in our store when we (finally!) get the finishing touches done. We made some changes and decided to build a new shop from scratch which will be finished shortly, I can’t wait to share it with all of you.
Just got back from a little 2 am star watching. I was trying to get some good night shots for a time lapse dream scene I want to animate, but my test shots were a bit dark in the end. While I was waiting for those results I spent the time watching the stars through my binoculars. It was truly amazing, just using with a simple pair of binoculars opened up the whole sky with points of light. I was surprised to see how many more stars were visible than with the naked eye. I saw a bunch of satellites and I saw a couple of shooting stars streak by (when I wasn’t using the binoc’s).
The perseids meteor shower is coming up, it’s peak date is August 12 and I can’t wait! I hear the moon will be bright this year, so it might be a little harder to see the meteors than last year. It’s hard to predict what kind of show we are in for either way, there could be a lot of meteors this year. Last year some friends and I camped out under the stars. We drank beer and ate cookies in our sleeping bags while the meteors whizzed by overhead. It was so much fun. I suggest you get an air mattress (or a inflatable boat since my star atlas recommends for neck support), some food, drinks, good friends (or special someone) and have a meteor adventure of your own. Make sure to get outside the city lights, this is essential. We managed to find a big open space without lights, but it can be pretty tricky. We had originally planned on going to a sports field, but then we found that they left their huge lights on ALLL night. (WTF, what a waste of energy!) This led to a weird trek through the woods with one lantern, but in the end we were lucky and we did find a sweet spot. The same spot I’m headed to this year. I guess it’s probably best if you are in an urban area to scope out a spot ahead of time at night, just to make sure there aren’t big lights which could ruin your view.
The show will peak as the Earth moves through the stream of dust left behind from the comet Swift-Tuttle. The meteors, or shooting stars, are the result of bits of interstellar debris which burn up in our atmosphere. The point (radiant) the meteors appear to come from the constellation Perseus. If you farmiliarize yourself with it’s location it will be a lot easier to know where to look! Another little something to think about while your out there; this meteor shower has been observed by humans all over the world for about 2000 years. Maybe our great, great, great, great grandmothers watched them too. I wonder what ran through our ancestors minds while watching the heavens fall to earth. Only a blip in cosmic time…
These pastries look fancy, but in reality they are very easy to make. I used simple vanilla whipped cream for the filling. Too bad I don’t have any shots of the eclairs. We ate these so fast that this was the only little puff left by the time my camera batteries charged. The crisp buttery crunch of pastry and the soft vanilla cream filling make these dangerously addictive. I only bake a half batch at a time to keep us from eating waaay to many. Great with coffee in the morning. =D
Pate a Choux:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 tsps brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup water
This recipe makes a pastry dough that is buttery and not too sweet. It combines nicely with the sweet cream and chocolate.
Step 1: Bring the water, sugar and butter to a boil over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble add the flour all and once. Remove it from the heat and stir for about 1 minute. The mixture should pull away from the pan.
Step 2: The next step is to beat the eggs in one by one, it is important to beat the hot mixture as you do this so that the egg does not cook and form into lumps. I used an electric mixer at a medium speed. Once all the eggs have been added beat the mixture for another few minutes. The dough will get sticky, stretchy and glossy (see photo above).
Step 3: It is now at the point where it can be piped onto non-stick pans or parchment paper and put in the oven. (If you don’t have a piping bag just spoon them on to a pan, you’ll still have beautiful results.) Cook the puffs at 425 for the first 15 to 20 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 300f to give the puffs time to completely dry out, this can take anywhere from 30- 40 minutes. The first time I made these I took them out too early, they will look done on the outside but it takes a lot more time for them to cook through. Take the largest one out and cut it in half to be sure the inside isn’t wet. While you are waiting for them to bake you can get the pastry cream ready.
Whipped cream filling:
1 cup of cream
2 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
Add all of your ingredients to a medium size bowl, whip and whip. It will take a few minutes with an electric mixer on high speed to get really nice and thick. At that point you should see deep ripples and folds forming in the cream around the beaters. To fill the puffs you can either cut them in half and fill them with a spoon or you can pipe the cream inside using a bag and a pastry tip. Keep the puffs in the fridge once they are filled.
Chocolate Covering:
chocolate (I prefer a bitter fair trade dark chocolate) and a splash of cream
Gently melt the chocolate and cream together. Adjust the consistency of the melted chocolate by adding more cream, it should be easy to spread on top of the cream puffs, but still thick enough to stay put. After you spread the chocolate on the tops of the puffs put them back in the fridge to firm up. The chocolate will harden a bit and the cream inside will thicken up. They are much more delicious when they have chilled a little. Yummmm!
The small ones are wonderful for parties (big ones are messy, but sooo yummy!). You can make the pate a choux the day before and pipe it the next morning. They tend to turn out best for me the second day, I think the rest and chilling really helps. One batch can be transformed in to a few simple variations for parties, for example; dark chocolate and orange cream centres (just add orange zest to the cream), plain puffs with lemon centres (just add lemon zest), you can even add a sprinkling of spices, sugar or chopped nuts to some of the puffs before baking.
Special Materials: a piping bag and a large tip of your choice. I used a large star tip. A zester for citrus cream variations.
The blooms are soft, crafty and just a bit sci-fi.
I make these flowers by quilting small pieces of naturally dyed silk. I use a variety of dyestuffs; Queen Anne’s lace, goldenrod, indigo, madder, rust, brazilwood, onion skins, etc. Each one is hand sewn and stitched on to a lining of felt made from recycled bottles. I sewed a little pearl in the centre of each sweet little bloom. These make cute brooches or hair pins, your choice. (Also looks smart on men’s suit jackets as a boutonniere).
Chloe and I adventure in the woods on a summers day. I love this time of year, everything is lush and green!
This is one of my favourite old trees in the forest.
Happy News, our application for the Halifax Art Harvest has been accepted! We’ll have a cute table full of goodies all set up at the north street church on sept 12- 13th. Come and see our new work in lace, reclaimed wood and naturally dyed fabric. This fall we’re even going to have tiaras! To get a feel for the vendors and what kinds of things will be available at the fair you can go to the halifax crafters website. I had so much fun last time, there were so many great people to meet and lots of interesting one of a kind stuff made with love and care. You can actually meet the people who make the things you buy, which is rare these days. I feel good picking up something special and supporting local artists. Hope to see you there!
