st. louis here we come!!

here is our super cute stuffie toy………we got this on our way up to st. louis over the summer. we stopped off at my favorite thrift store off highway 30 in arkansas. chris typically takes a power nap and i run in to see what the local goodwill has to offer. i found this great little stuffie for brinkley since i forgot to bring him some toys. brinkley is our baby…..puppy. well, he’s not a puppy anymore, but he’s still my baby-guy. the funny thing about this toy is it pretty much looks like him. you can’t always see his eyes and it is pretty much an off white/tan color by now which is the same color of brinkley’s fur. we call him neaner, beanie, bubba, zanzle, bean-bean, boobbie, bobbie-o-shanskie, that’s just to name a few. chris and i have this “thing” where we have nicknames for each other and brinkley that always evolve and change as the days pass. i know, don’t ask!! anywho, this stuffie made me think of our last trip to st. louis since we are heading there tomorrow.

we are going to see my family, my show at the xen gallery, and apparently some ice and snow. i hope it’s not to bad i am hoping to go to some of my favorite places while i’m there. first up, FOOD, india rasio in the central west end (my absolute favorite indian restaurant in st. louis) followed up by mezzanine to see anna and her fabulous collection of clothing, body care goodies, and assortment of handmade jewelry. we have plans to see the “body worlds” show at the science center, then hopefully hit a few thrift stores, the contemporary art museum, a belated christmas celebration with the family and special time with both my grandma’s. hope we can squeeze it all in.

st. louis OR bust!!

Posted in fuzzie wuzzies |

collection of float earrings

a few more “float earrings”. i had the metal elements finished before i left for coconut grove. so i sewed up a few pillows during the show and on the plane. yep, i have a hard time sitting still. unless i am curled up with a good book or magazine and on the couch with my “couch woobie” i have a difficult time just being still without doing something with my hands. that’s why i love bikram yoga because it makes me stop and be still and quiet for a significant period of time. :O) oh yay, the earrings…….

the strawberry and orange earrings are from two different rain ponchos.

the sage green pair is from a shower curtain.

and the white pair is from the child’s crib sheet.

i will be posting these on my site for sale in the near future when i figure out where to put them.

Posted in new work |

pale blue doll floatee

this was my score at “this and that”. a thrift shop that was across the street from the hotel in coconut grove. i’m not certain that it is for a doll but i can’t imagine that it could be for anything else. whatever the original function, i will be using it to make pillows. the pale pale shiny blue will make some yummy lil’ softees. Yippity!!!

Posted in inspired by |

orange felt box

here is my new box……yep, i know that i said i was going to make a sage green one. BUT, when i saw the orange felt i new that i wanted to make an orange box. it is made of sterling, copper, orange felt, orange plastic from a rain poncho, thread. i am just now…finally uploading the picture because it wasn’t finished when i left for the show in miami. i ran out of beads with about 8 rows left to go, grrrr!!! thanks to express mail i just ordered more and had them sent to the hotel. i new i would have time to finish it on thursday while we were hanging out in the hotel that evening. i didn’t have to set up until friday so i had plenty of time. all and all the show was a huge success and a rockin’ time. if you would like to see other shots of the orange box just go to the website and click on the box page.

thank you trish for being my partner in crime for the week and hanging out and helping me at the show. many thanks and warm wishes to all who came out to support me & my work and offer kind words, a hug, or a smile. it’s all of you that make the coconut grove show worth leaving my nest :O)

Posted in new work |

beet, fennel orechiette salad

chris made this for us on saturday night. it is surely one of our top five favorite meals. we originally had it at our friends noah and margaret’s when they were living in austin last summer.

beet, fennel, almond & orechiette salad:

3 medium golden or red beets, washed

4 T olive oil

salt

black pepper

1 cup of almonds

2 cups dry orecchiette pasta

1 cup thin slice radicchio

3/4 cup thin slice fennel bulb

1/4 cup chopped fennel fronds

1/2 cup diced scallions

1/4 cup chopped fresh italian parsley

1/3 cup lemon vinaigrette

preheat oven to 350

make pouch out of foil, place beets in foil pouch. drizzle with oil and salt and pepper. seal pouch. bake for an hour on center rack in oven. make sure you can pierce with fork easily or bake a bit longer. when tender allow to cool, peel skin off and but in cubes… i have also just boiled these and it is just as yummy.

toast almonds in a dry skillet for 10-15 minutes til brown and you can smell em.

boil orecchiette pasta for 10-12 minutes with salted water. when tender drain off water and toss with a splash of olive oil. put pasta in a large bowl. add beets, toasted almonds, radicchio, fennel bulbs and fronds, scallions and parsley. set aside to make lemon vinaigrette.

lemon vinaigrette: makes 1 1/4 cups

1 T dijon mustard

2 t red wine vinegar

1/3 cup squeezed lemon juice

1 t honey

1 T freshly grated lemon zest

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

combine all ingredients except the olive oil and wisk together. then wisk in olive oil adding in as a stream to prevent separation. add dressing (1/3 cup is what the recipe calls for but i use a little more) to salad along with salt and pepper and toss.

this recipe is an adapted version from the macrina cafe favorites cookbook.

the bowl is one of chris’ pieces.

enjoy :O)

Posted in good for the tum |

“float” pillow earrings

here’s my new earrings that i finished last night. the sage green “float” earrings are made of plastic from a shower curtain, polyfil, thread and sterling . i am hoping to make several more pair for my show in miami. it’s getting down to the wire though….we leave (me and my girlfriend trish) on thursday, february 14th. i really need to get started on my box. i want to make one of my beaded boxes to house a tiered pillow ring in sage green.

for the last five years before the coconut grove festival in miami i have made one of my beaded sculptural boxes. all in all, the larger ones take about 50-60-ish hours between the metal work and the bead work. so, this year i decided i didn’t have enough time to make one…but then, on saturday all of a sudden i had an image of a box pop in my head. YIKES or YIPPY….i’m not sure which!!! i can still make it happen but i need to hustle. for the next week and a half i will “put it in granny and GO” (a little joke between me and my late grandpa fisher…which means “DO IT…now”)!!!! i still have a lot of little finishing stuff like beading tails, pricing, waxing and hopefully a few more “float” earrings. i am good at working under “show pressure” but it will be a crash course week and a half. coconut grove or bust!! yeeehah!!!

Posted in new work |