Obsess Much?

I have found more -- yes, more--fabulous white orbular things. First is White Forest Pottery (thank you Apartment Therapy!)
I absolutely love their collection. Small, imperfect, very delicate. These teeny little vases are my favorite. It reminds me of coral and sponges.


If you are in need of something a bit edgier to kick up the tone of your collection, check out Melabo's shop on Etsy. She makes surreal slipcast figurines that, while not orbular, are certainly cool enough to hang out at Studio 54 with the rest of Andy's girls.




I also found out that Crate & Barrel is rerunning Eva Zeisel's Classic Century dinnerware. I first saw her work at a vintage ceramic shop on Polk St. in SF, and have been lusting over her work ever since. Eva rocks my world -- she is truly the queen of all that is white and orbular. People, she can make a sauce boat look sexy. This gal has some serious talent. I feel an upgrade to my dishes coming soon.

A Land of Milk. . .and More Milk

Everyone in the Home of Bones likes cheese, in the same way that the sun is a little warmish. Last year for Christmas, the Boy bought me a mozzarella making kit, and I (slacker that I am) waited until just yesterday to try it out. I have made my own paneer for years and somehow the idea of adding fussy enzymes and things to my usual method (heat milk - add lemon - remove cheese) seemed unappealing. But after reading blog after blog of newly born cheese addicts, I put my misgivings aside and went for it. Result? Almost too easy. It confirmed my suspicion that all milk secretly wants to be cheese, like all little girls secretly want to be princesses. Fortunately for cheese, a few chemicals will do the trick, while royal succession is usually a bit more work. You can buy everything you need (and then some, seriously) here. And if you do happen across any enzymes that will turn someone into a princess, please let me know because there is a five-year-old of my acquaintance who is willing to donate all her Pop Tarts toward this end.

Is It Spring Yet?

Well, no. Not around here, anyway. But I can feel it beating it's wings in the air when I go outside. I recently bought a new dress form to replace a very old and decrepit model I have had since college. Which was older than I am. It had started to implode into a body shape that matched no one I had every seen outside of a nightmare. So to begin flexing my sewing muscles, I have been doing a lot of poking around online fabric stores and I will now pass the fruits of this search on to you:


Mendels
Mood Fabrics
Fabric.com
Emma OneSock
Baron Boutique
Pixie Dust Decor
Wish Upon a Quilt
Dakota Cabin
J. Caroline Creative
Glorious Color
Purl Soho
ReproDepot
M&J Trims

Green Fairies

As some of you may have heard, the EU has recently begun to regulate absinthe production once again. For those of you who have not followed this breaking news story as closely as you could, the upshot is that genuine absinthe is now legal to sell in the US. Hurrah! I have had many, many home-brewed versions of this concoction, and some of them were very good. Some of them were, um, disgusting. The key seems to be in the freshness of the wormwood. Or something.

If you are at all interested in adopting absinthe as a hobby, I highly recommend Fee Verte, which has hundreds of types and lots of reviews. He has written a very interesting article on thujone, the active chemical in wormwood.

The site also sells many different styles of glasses, spoons, and drippers. You can get some very nice spoons and other accoutrement here at POSH. (There is actually quite a lot on that site, well worth a look. Their flea market finds are amazing.)

Get some for Valentine's day and break the red-and-white tradition!

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!

Okay, okay. You know how showing that you love one child more than another automatically makes you a crap parent? I am back to tell you I AM GUILTY. If websites were children, this blog has been my redheaded step child for at least a month. Because Flash? It takes a long time. I fully admit to lavishing all my love and attention on my other two websites. "What?" I hear you gasping. "There are more?" Yes, people. I now have my portfolio mostly online at www.manitouart.net and I have my steampunk jewelry shop up at boneflowers.etsy.com. I will be adding more pretty things to my Etsy shop every week so check back to see what fabulousness I have for you!

So I should be back to more regular posts here. Really!

"Yes, sweetie, we'll get you a pony as soon as we finish paying for your sister's dance lessons. We promise."

Ahoy, pilgrims!

Hi there, staunch readers! I bet you've been wondering where I've been hiding myself over the past six weeks. Well, my friends, I have a surprise for you: I am launching a jewelry line. Gears, cogs, and bones crafted into beautiful adornments. Very steampunk, neh? I have been busy as a little bee in my studio. Being snowed-in has no doubt assisted my laser-like focus.

I also received a kind note from Julie of Virtu, who informed me that Laura Zindel will be coming out with a brand new line of ceramics sometime this year. Her works flies off the shelves, so all of you insect addicts, be warned. Thanks, Julie!!

Also, I wanted to compliment Grace of DesignSponge for her always excellent taste. I fell in love with her Karin Eriksson votives and spent a very productive morning hunting online. Karin's Etsy shop is empty as of this writing, but you can go here for her full sellers list. Lots of great shops here, and many of them have online stores. I found Lille to have a very nice selection, and many other lovely things besides.

Happy New Year!

My Life, It is a Movie. . .

Wow. What a weird couple of weeks. In a good way. The boy and I have decided to renew our vows on our ten year anniversary. Hah! Some of our friends haven't even figured out that we're married yet. We never had a real wedding or honeymoon (we kind of eloped -- sorry, Mom and Dad!) So we've decided to rectify this and do both. We've done enough events that I don't think a wedding will be too much trouble. (Oooh, I can hear you guys now. . . I'm sure I will look back at this entry in a few years and LAUGH.) I've been hunting around on Etsy to find a nice engagement ring (who wants an icky generic ring?) and I found this:

Isn't it cool? Understated, yet obviously special. It is in my top three for sure. So now I need a dress. Since I just gave mine to Juniper for her wedding in June. I can't think of a better excuse to buy two wedding dresses, can you?

I also wanted to show you this: wallpaper custom tweaked to your wall and decorations. I remember seeing things like this one time at Burning Man (ha ha). I found it on BoingBoing. I am addicted to BoingBoing. Did you know it started in Boulder? Yeah, you probably did.

Here's another BoingBoing find, although the designer I have been watching for a few years:

She has a whole new line out now, but I haven't been able to find the original store where her regular dishes are sold. Anybody know of it? if so, i am definitely registering there for my wedding. That would be some fabulous dinner party-ware.

And guess what else? I quit my full time job! (Like I said...weird couple of weeks.) So now I can put some time into the new Boneflowers online store. I will post details as soon as I can. Let's just say, as a hint, EGGPANTS. Thanks, Andie and Liz!