Adventures in Arizona

We visited an ostrich farm this weekend.  Each guest gets a plastic cup filled with pellets to feed the birds, and it's basically like a giant ostrich petting zoo except the ostriches are on the other side of a fence.  They are a lot like chickens, except much larger and stronger--but the way they move their heads and go for food at any cost is similar.  They would also get in little spats where they would hiss and chest bump each other, which was hilarious.  These are all females; the males were kept separated across the field.

The fence is about 5.5 feet tall.

There is also an aviary with pretty rainbow birds that drink nectar.  As soon as you walk in the door, these little birds will land on you and look for the food.  Their beaks were actually more painful than the ostriches.

More spring!

These are my favorite smelling flowers:

This is what spring in the desert looks like--The citrus trees are already blooming again!

Buttons and Snaps

I really like the green shell Crane Craft buttons, but I also love the red and gold Exquisit ones. I really want to use the buttons, but I can't bear to split up the set or even to take them off the cards. I know I can still keep the cards in my 'ephemera stash' but there's something to having and keeping these just as they are.  There are lots more cool bits and pieces here. . . I'll try to collect some more.

Here and There

Last weekend I was here:

Ithaca-dangerous and grey. 

(and full of awesome people)

Next weekend I'll be here:

(actually, I'll be there tonight)

Arizona-hot and bright.  

I'll be back next Tuesday, so things may be light until then. Hopefully, however, I'll make some cool stuff.  I'm also very excited to watch this game while I'm there!

Spiced Coffee

French Press Coffee with Spices:

I prefer to use whole spices, coarsely ground; and I just place them in with the ground coffee.  It's delicious.

Fools' Gold

I've been having a love affair with iron pyrite for quite a while.  It's one of my favorite stones and I love the muted metallic tone it has.  We made some new pyrite cluster necklaces that came about very serendipitously. You can check them out below:

We also have a prototype globe necklace in the works.  It may be popping up again soon, but you can catch a sneak peak here:

It reminds me of a globe.  The stone beads were a gift and I love them.

Warm Days!

There are a lot of great old trees in our neighborhood (on which I've expounded previously) and, having spent most of my life in Arizona (where the seasons are hot and less hot), I get excited about watching the seasons change.  Usually these changes occur gradually: the leaves turn and fall throughout the autumn months, and they grow ever so slowly during the spring.  This past week, however, has been an absolute explosion of springtime.  This is what the tree in front of our house looked like on Sunday afternoon:

And these photos were taken yesterday:

It's been so exciting, especially because I'm not stuck in a dreary office all day; I can actually enjoy the weather.  I know this is just a tease, and we're in for two months of rain and those few and far between taunting warm days, but this was a nice reminder that winter really doesn't last forever.

almost there

Studs

We've been working on simple stud earrings that don't need backs for a while.  I think we've finally figured something out:

The best part is that they stay in your ears with no backs.  Lock and I have been testing different shapes for a few months now, and we've finally figured out the best ones.

We've also made some that hang down:

This is my pair:

I like these new pieces.

At the Rockaways

Since this weekend was (comparatively) so warm we decided to go to the beach.  We love going to empty beaches in the winter with Mason the Greyhound so that he can run and play in the sand.  Luckily, the weather couldn't have been better, and we had nearly free run of the whole beach. He had lots of fun and is only slightly sore today--

I know, now my secret's out. . . I am one of those crazy greyhound people.  But look at him! I can't get over this last sandy nose picture--he's so happy and ridiculously adorable.

Gold Rings

I've been wanting to work with gold for a long time.  It kind of came to a tipping point when I saw this piece, which is probably in my top ten favorite artworks of all time.  I got lucky over the holidays when I found a pair of my mom's earrings that had been stepped on and bent pretty irreversibly (well, they probably could have been fixed but I liked my idea better) so I brought them home and proceeded to make a ring out of them.  I know it's fairly crude, but that's really what I like about it.  Now I can wear it with my other gold ring that looks like something else, and they look perfectly innocuous together in a stack.

Shirts I Made

I've been trying to use my sewing machine more lately.  I also don't exactly have any spare cash with which to buy new clothes. So, I've been making myself/altering clothes to fit me, and I've found that I like them better than anything I could buy in a store (or, at least, anything I could afford in a store)

 Below is a shirt I made from an old silk skirt I bought at a thrift store.  The skirt looked like something a grade school teacher would wear circa 1984--a mid calf length, high waisted, pencil skirt.  Not the sexy secretary kind--the shapeless 80's kind.  There was a lot of fabric, but it was sewn in panels, so I had seams that I couldn't avoid; instead of trying to hide them, I sewed up the sides and highlighted them in contrasting thread.  I also put some small darts in the shoulders.  This pattern was easy since it doesn't actually have sleeves.

And the next shirt may be my favorite that I own right now.  We got this beautiful silk at a clearance sale, and I found the crochet trim in my mom's stash when I was visiting.  I found this shirt online, and fell in love.  I used the same base pattern as the shirt above, and gave myself a little bit less room in the shoulders.  For the front piece, I just cut up the center, hemmed the sides and topstiched the trim.  I love it and have to restrain myself from wearing it every single day.

The pattern for these shirts was pretty easy to make; I had a shirt that was a simple front and back only, no separate sleeves.  All I did was fold it in half and trace the shape of both the front and the back pieces.  I added in seam allowance and hem room--and now I have a shirt pattern that I can use over and over. (that's what is in the photo up top.  I didn't have any paper large enough so I used some muslin I had laying around)

Hummus and Homemade Pita Chips

This might be my favorite easy to make snack.  It's easy to adjust based on taste and keeps in the fridge (if you don't finish it right away!)  Here's how I like it:

1 can of chickpeas
3-5 cloves of garlic (I know-that's a lot)
half a lemon (or a whole one)
1/4 cup olive oil
cumin
coriander
paprika
cayenne pepper
salt, pepper

I'll blend the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and spices.  Then I add the chikpeas and blend until smooth. If the chickpeas aren't blending well, I'll add some more olive oil or lemon juice.  Usually I go really heavy on the spices--I like my hummus to be super spicy and have a strong flavor.  Remember, though, that the raw garlic will add to the spicyness when you're adding in the cayenne pepper.  I also don't use tahini because I have a mild allergy to sesame seeds, but feel free to add it in!

To make the pita chips, use some of the soft, thick pitas, cut them into 1/8's wedges, rub them with olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt.  Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 400° for about 10-12 minutes or until they are crispy all the way through. yum.

New Things

I've been working on necklaces made out of pieces of trees for a  quite a while.  Sometimes they are effective, but other times they end up being slightly awkward.  Either way, I've been looking for a way to make them work--and I think I've found it.  I'm really happy with these new necklaces; below are some of my favorites:

I'll be posting them to etsy individually this week, but I thought I'd give you a sneak preview.