goodbye april...

My Nikki McClure calendar hangs on my bedroom wall w/ a few favorite postcards.

Another month gone and another calendar page to be flipped. I'm going to miss the carefree toes of April on my Nikki McClure calendar. Nikki is from Olympia WA, which is the capital of WA, she makes her incredible images are all cut paper that she delicately cuts with an x-acto knife. Amazing! I also own a poster of her's that I bought a couple of years ago of congregated shoes. 

Well, Happy May Day!

funday devoured...

Shaking up Suzy's Garden.

Pouring.

Enjoying.

Enjoying with Jasper too!

Cute, Old school "favoriting" is to dog-ear!  Totally "favoriting" this Funday. 

sunday funday...

Domino, Knitting, The Rum Diary, and a Cocktail!

My friend & Neighbor Amber dubbed Sunday Funday.  Even though she is off island this Funday I have put together my own.  Yesterday I picked up the first Domino Magazine since about 2009, I'm sooo excited! This was my favorite magazine of all time other than my other belated Budget Living.  Sunset Magazine has become my new reason for checking the mail box.  But with a new special issue of Domino in my possession I plan to devour it this Funday with cocktail in hand! 

I am still working on my "rockabilly riot" hound's-tooth knitted clutch. I totally chickened out and did not pick up stitches as the pattern instructed and just started a second panel to stitch together when finished. I did try but I am a tight knitter and could not get my needle in, ugh. I hope to finish this panel while watching The Rum Diary with the witty Johnny Depp, maybe with a second cocktail for Amber (I'm sure she is funning it up off island, but just incase I'll have one for my hommie!).

The cocktail is from The San Juan Island Distillery favorite cocktails list I procured with the bottle of Gin and Lavender & Wild Rose Liqueur I bought during my tasting visit there. It is called Suzy's Garden. I do not have vermouth so it will be made minus this ingredient, sorry Suzy. 

Suzy's Garden

Spy Hop Gin, dry vermouth, St. Germain, Lavender & Wild Rose Liqueur

2: 1/2: 1/2: 1/4: dash

shakey, shakey, pour, enjoy!!!

Happy Funday!

A creative reminder from Joe

On my facebook page yesterday my friend Joe reposted an old picture of my Knockout Planters.  I created and sold these mod planters at his shop/business Plant Solutions in Arizona. It was a fun reminder that I am pretty darn creative.

 I'm sure like most people I doubt myself.  In fact I often need to sit myself down and give a pep talk of "Yes, you can be a shoe designer. Your dreams are NOT silly. And No, we should NOT just be a shoe shop owner selling other peoples fabulous designs!" So, thank you again Joe for the notice of creative endeavors.

This is the reposted picture via Plant Solutions.

I made and planted them all in my backyard. 

My first hypertufa making experience in my friend Janet's backyard!

The planters are hypertufa's (pronounced hyper-toof-uh).  It's a way of making faux Tufa rock which is a depleted volcanic rock that is now a rare find.  The faux version is a mixture of cement, sand, and peat.  When mixed with water this mixture can be molded into anything. I've seen it take many forms but, I chose to make modern planters with side "knockouts" for vertical planting. 

 I love vertical gardens! The most infamous vertical gardener is Patrick Blanc. His designs are epic full building sized. He has some installments in London, I can't wait to see them in person.

rainy day shoe blues...

So, it is pouring outside. The cats are sleeping on & in my bed, and I think more coffee needs to be made. All this rain has made me long for a pair of "wellies". Since my last decade was spent in Phoenix most of my shoes are not rain worthy consisting of flip flops, sandals, heels, and sneakers. 

In fact here is me this morning in my most capable pair.

I love my Keens but, Northwest rain will penetrate these kicks in no time.


Since I am budgeting to get to shoe design school I had to breeze past the fabulous designer rain boots. Hello Hunter, Beautiful Burberry, and Chic Chanel.  My search went straight to Target.com for my puddle splashing footwear.  Here are my favorites:


Option #1 Has a hummingbird which reminds me of my Grandma Frances.

Option #2 Has a "put a bird on it" rock n roll vibe.



Option #3 Has a Paul Smith-esque stripe, I Love stripes.
The first two are probably my best bet since the grey tones will allow me to wear them with more versatility. Let me know what you think?!

In case you were interested, here is a link to wikipedia to learn about how wellies became apart of our modern wardrobes.
Thanks to the Duke of Wellington for keeping our feet fashionable and dry! 

kitty shenanigan's: meet doris & jasper

Doris

Jasper

These two are a constant source of giggles for me. So, I hope you too will find some joy in their weekly shenanigan's.

happy earth day!

tree hugger mug w/ my pre coffee "mug". eekk!

Happiest of tree hugging days to everyone!

My mother has many times called me her earth muffin. hee-hee.
My fabulous friend, Jen, gave me a tree hugger mug, which is one of my favorite things! I'm a recycling, reducing, reusing, bring my own grocery bags,  gardening planet lovin' gal!

last year's shenanigan's with our chickens, that will have to be explained in its own post.

One of my beloved ways of being kind to our planet is to ride my bike. She is a hand-me-down jalopy of undetermined familial origin. Dad thinks it was either left at the house when they bought it (circa 1976) or a garage sale find, either way I LOVE IT! It's a DBS Golden Beam from Oslo Norway. A city cruiser with 5 gears, which I have only found 3 of, and equipped with the original bell. I've added two Basil milk bottle pannier baskets, front head light, tail light (saftey firtst!),  Kevlar tires a brilliant idea from my friend Doug (which is soooo awesome, No flats!), and coffee cup holder.

In fact, what better way to celebrate Earth Day, I'm gonna ride to the beach to read my book. TaTa!

island life: saturday farmers market

The only scheduling request I had for my boss was to have saturday mornings off. The farmers market is my weekly highlight! The local farms have amazing produce which makes being a lacavore a culinary enterprise.
 Last summer I made a point of trying something new each week. Which has made me a fan of chard, kale, cauliflower (the purple and yellow varieties, the white one is still too boring), beets & their greens, lemon cucumbers, lentil sprouts, edible flowers in my salads, the list keeps going.... ha!
It was not all roses though I had a few disappointments. The main one being the veggies cloaked in lovely purple coats that were actually their ordinary green kin.   Purple bell pepper, It tastes just like a green one. boooo! Purple beans turned green when cooked. :(

not too many veg this time. arugula, dragon's tongue lettuce, & purple broccoli florets.

the pasta lady makes amazing ravioli! this one has local lavender in it which she said makes it "so sexy".

i have a snickerdoodle problem, thank heavens for San Juan Bakery! a blueberry danish is from Cafe Demeter. yum!

breakfast pizza from Cafe Demeter. 

yum, yum, yum..... YUM!

fresh eggs, sunshine, & coffee

fresh eggs from my friend Kryssy's chickens on Stuart Island, thank you!

sleepy solar kitties, yawning Jasper & yogi Doris basking in the sunny morning.

fresh eggs turned tasty frittata, perfect with my morning java.

Have a superfantastic day! 

meryl streep movie day

image from Wikipedia

image from Wikipedia

Today was a typical drizzly Northwest day. The Iron Lady came in the mail, so I plopped myself down to watch it. Meryl is such a delight to watch in character. Once the Iron Lady was done I had to move on to Julie & Julia which is in my personal collection. She is such a boisterous Julia and Amy Adams blogging Julie seems like a good friend showing me how to do this blogging adventure.

The rainy day movie-thon was accompanied by my current knitting feat. A hound's-tooth intarsia patterned clutch from "Pretty in Punk".  I went with mustard and grey Stitch Nation yarns I already had in my stash, I think it is turning out quite spring punk! I am binding off the first side and fretting about my first time of picking up stitches to start the next side. Wish me luck...

image from Chroniclebooks.com

and so it begins....

It has been 2 years since I was accepted to the cordwainers program at the London college of fashion. A year ago I had to resign my place in the program. Which was of course followed by days of crying and self pity. Once my wallowing was done I put on my big girl pants and started plotting a new route to shoe design school in London.  This new route started with leaving Phoenix, my home of 15yrs, and moved to San Juan Island in Washington state so that I would not feel "stuck".  This was the best decision to get me moving toward my goal again. Washington state is where I grew up, so I came home to regroup in a way.

San Juan has been a fantastic place to be in the meantime! I live here with my two cats Jasper & Doris, who's shenanigan's and ridiculous cuteness keep my giggling on a rainy afternoon. I have a wonderful job as a massage therapist that I can walk or ride my bike (I LOVE my bike, I'll tell you more about her later) to everyday.  The Saturday farmers market is my favorite event of the week, especially as summer crops become more abundant.  My little duplex sits on top of an airplane hangar. It has a fabulous deck to watch the sunsets from but the interior is dated and blah, which keeps my crafty creative juices flowing to make it a cozier space. So, I have a long list of projects for the summer! I'll keep you up to date.