Prepare Yourself For an Absolute Musical Thrill!

Beloved Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music (an English, Art/Romantic rock band that I was besotted with and shaped by as a teen in the early 80s) has a whole new musical offering for 2013: The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, 'The Jazz Age.' I cannot wait to own this, but to ease the wait, we can listen to Ferry's jazzed-up, 30's-style Roxy tunes on NPR!

 

 

NPR had this to say:
This is just about the most surprising album in recent memory, and a complete joy. The singer for Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry has also enjoyed a long solo career, both as an interpreter of songs by others — Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Sam Cooke, Cole Porter, Lou Reed and many more — and as an extraordinary songwriter who's released 13 solo albums, each with its own strengths.

Still, nothing prepared me for The Jazz Age, an instrumental album which re-imagines Ferry's work and the songs of Roxy Music as if they were performed by a 1920s jazz band. Colin Good, who arranged the album (working with Ferry and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra), is a British composer and arranger known for his work in theater and television, as well as with a 1930s-style orchestra known as Vile Bodies. The result of the collaboration sounds incredibly fresh, capturing both the eccentricity that has always been a part of Ferry's music and the romance conjured up by the vintage sound. Warmly recorded and wonderfully performed, The Jazz Age (out Feb. 12) works on many levels. If you don't know the songs, the melodies stand on their own, and if you do, prepare yourself for an absolute thrill.

Listen, and be bemused, enthralled, enchanted.... enjoy!

Mae Engelgeer Textiles

The Minimalist has an artist spotlight of Mae Engelgeer's textiles. I love these beautiful & dynamic designs and colorways!

These images are from her display at the recent design event ‘Inside Design: Amsterdam’ where Engelgeer showcased her ‘Woww’ collection. 

I adore Mae's Tea Towel Collection, and "Fest" Collection.
Take a peek at Mae's website.

A whimsical doll cradle for our birthday girls ~

For their birthdays my husband and I gave our two daughters (who turned 7 and 2) a large doll bed that I refurbished from an old baby cradle. I gave it a fun Scandinavian/mythical animals pattern from textiles designer Lena Corwin. (For a piece of furniture that was clunky and brown and pretty ugly to start with, we were pleasantly pleased with its new look!)





With 4 layers of over-painting, and oodles of stencil cutting (first from photocopies, and then from contact paper), making this was a labor of love! Our daughters were over-the-moon on birthday party morning!
 
   
   
The mythical animal stencils were patterns I gratefully copied from the book Printing by Hand: A Modern Guide to Printing with Handmade Stamps, Stencils, and Silk Screens, by textile designer Lena Corwin. This project from Corwin's book was the inspiration:

My Neighbor Totoro Birthday Party

In November we gave our two daughters, age 2 and 7, a "My Neighbor Totoro" birthday party! It was a blast to make the cake, cupcakes, and Totoro banners & decorations! 

 
A Totoro poster decoration:
   

The cake is decorated with fondant leaves and the little acorns monsieur Totoro and his little buddies coveted so much in the movie! The paper cake-toppers were made by my wonderful mother & father-in law, a talented bunch!

   
   

We made moss garden terrariums with little Totoro figurines, frogs, toads & mushrooms.

   

Sharing the party gift bags filled with terrarium goodies...

   

Friends getting ready to fill glass pots with soil & stones & moss:

   

Birthday girl Vienna pleasantly pleased with hers:

   

Party gift bags with sweet treats & terrarium goodies...
   
Japanese paper balloons, a happy find on Pinterest, we ordered a bunch more and have kept them up through the holidays...

 

   

Yummy, thanks Totoro! says Gigi

 

Food Renegades Unite

On my best days I follow a grain-free diet for digestive health & wellness,
and while browsing websites for grain-free recipes, I recently stumbled upon
this upbeat and grain-free savvy food blog : Food Renegade.

I love their poster invitation/declaration:

"WANTED:

MORE FOOD RENEGADES

Our band of miscreants dares to challenge

politically correct nutrition. We love BUTTER,

grassfed & wild meats, raw and fermented foods 

(including RAW MILK), and local organic veggies.

Our heroes are farmers, teachers, poets, and homemakers.

JOIN US!"

Latest Etsy find:

I'm just adoring this handmade find on Etsy:

An army green doily rug - wow - need I say more? 

- just envisioning this in my bathroom, asap:

Unbound

This is terribly cool: Unbound: Now books are in your hands...
At Unbound authors pitch their ideas and you choose which books get written.
Go ahead, make a book happen!

Canelle et Vanille cookbook bliss

I am so excited to have found this food blog and the gorgeous photos and tantalizing recipes from Canelle et Vanille. It's obvious Aran and her family live a sweet, good life — when I browse these
pages I feel inspired by Aran's blissful creations and I want to echo a lot of that heaven with my
own family. Her first cookbook will be published by Little, Brown & Company in the fall of 2012!

Nostalgic and oozing with summer ripeness, these photographs and the dishes Aran has created
are magical — in that way that magic becomes real when infusing everything you make (or do)
with authenticity, love, beauty, and wonder.

Just brimming with sunlight and fresh breezes, sweet or tart, savory, pungent or spicy, each dish
makes a seriously mouth-watering statement! Best of all — they're Gluten Free!

 

Belfast is Hip!

Belfast is growing, confirming our decision to settle here in the Midcoast (and not to go back to live in Portland), we've got the mountains and the sea, and hip towns all around!



A wall at City Drawers, a new underwear store on Main Street in Belfast, displays perfumes and accessories for sale. The shop is one of more than 40 that have opened or expanded in Belfast in 
the last year.

Felted acorns from Maine oak trees

I've been sneaking into my neighbor's garden (okay, he wouldn't really care, would he?)
and gathering up last year's acorn "caps" from beneath a bunch of oak trees.

Then I tote them home, wash them all in hot water and a little veggie oil to shine them
up a little.... and then I needle-felt little oval balls with colorful wool roving to make acorns:
New life with all natural ingredients!