A Beautiful Mind...

 For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it. - Ivan Panin

Whilst poking about on the world-wide-inter-web and feeling mighty inspired by the crafty work of others I came upon a lovely little site called A Beautiful Idea.  The brainchild of Miss Evie Shaffer, A Beautiful Idea sets out to save the world, one craft at a time.  The concept is simple, artists create artwork, artists sell artwork, artists donate proceeds to A Beautiful Idea and the money goes to those in need.  The best part: crafty-folk can choose how much to donate and every six months (or when the donation goal has been reached) ABI focuses its' efforts on a new charity.  So far the site appears to be in its nascent stages and still searching for supporters.  It is a small, small world, dear artists, and creating changes like this are highly encouraged.

To join the movement or check out the full scoop, go to www.beautifulidea.us

Get Happy, Eat Cake

Forget your troubles, c'mon, get happy

You better chase all your cares away.

❧ Judy Garland as Jane Falbury in Summer Stock

It has snowed here.  A lot.  I love snow and today was absolutely gorgeous, but sometimes winter starts to feel long and when I need to get happy quick the only thing to do is bake something tasty.

Today I made a small adaptation to a recipe called "Granny Cake," and I think I came up with something quite yummy so, dearest folks, I am sharing the recipe with you.

Sarah's Granny Cake a.k.a  Savanna Banana Cake

Ingredients:
¾ C. butter
3 Large Eggs
6 Ripe Bananas (I mean ripe like, left-in-your-freezer-for-3-months-because-you-had-no-idea-what-else-to-use-them-for-and-now-you-have-22-bananas-in-your-freezer ripe)
½ can (about 8 oz.) Peaches, drained
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 C. Flour
2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Nutmeg (fresh ground, if possible)
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 C. Chopped Walnuts 
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Special Tools:
1 Bundt Pan
Electric mixer

• Bring eggs and butter to room temperature (leave out on the counter for about half an hour)
• Preheat oven to 325°
• Grease and flour your bundt pan and set aside 
•  Beat butter in your electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, to butter and continue to beat with mixer. 
• Add peaches, bananas, and vanilla to egg and butter mix.  
• In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (excluding nuts and powdered sugar)
• Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into butter mix until you batter is mostly smooth (it should look like a quick-bread batter)
• Fold in chopped walnuts
• Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. 
• Let cake cool for at least 10 minutes before inverting it onto a fancy plate
• Dust cake with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Mr. French, Revisited a.k.a Progress Report Part II

I knew that I had been missing some pretty priceless pictures, but I did not know that they were so easily accessible.  These coveted pictures were hiding on my ancient digital camera, which had a dead battery for approximately seven months.  Oh, the joy of joyous occasions it was when I discovered the most pricelessest of priceless pictures; the one and only, Mr. French.  You may recall from some very old posts, that I was doing a portrait for some friends of mine, of their beloved pooch.  Here, finally, eight months after the painting was completed and happily hanging in it's new home, is the finished product!  Hooray! 

p.s.  Congratulations to Momma and Papa French, they are tying the knot!

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Deals...

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.  ~Albert Einstein

~o~o~o~  10% off Entire Etsy Shop ~o~o~o~

Okay, here's what's up - from now through Valentines Day everything in my Etsy Shop is 10% off when you enter CANDY HEARTS into the notes to seller.  Get your sweetie something fuzzy, or your kiddo a huggable critter or show that co-worker how much you care.  Custom orders are available, just comment on this post or send me a message on my Etsy site.  

If you're driving into town
With a dark cloud above you
Dial in the number
Who's bound to love you 

-Joni Mitchell

Let it Snow

Winter is the perfect time of year to cozy up with a warm mug of hot chocolate, a cozy quilt and a nice book.  Some of my favorite books are the stories that I grew up with, particularly those about winter.  I love some of the classics, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas but some of my favorites don't have anything to do with holidays, but rather, they are a tribute to when the world slows down, cools off and moves indoors.  
Below you will find some of my favorite winter books as well as some snowy treats from Etsy.  I have listed a few Christmas books, but most of them are worth the read well into February.

The Snowy Day  

by: Ezra Jack Keats

 The Polar Express
by: Chris Van Allsburg

The Winter Picnic   

by: Robert Welber  Illustrated by Deborah Ray

Owl Moon  

by: Jane Yolen

The Mitten  

by Jan Brett

The Clown of God  

by Tomie dePaola

The Jolly Christmas Postman 

by Allan Ahlberg

Little Polar Bear 

by Hans de Beer

Thomas' Snowsuit 

by Robert N. Munsch Illustrated by Michael Martchenko

special thanks to: Violetteville Vintage,  Tasty Vintage, Gaelianna,   Wildlife Prints, Wave Song,
United Thread,  Sunny Hands, Talk 2 the Trees, 
Obscurio

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Here's the smell of the blood still: 

all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.  

Lady Macbeth, Act V. Scene 1

In honor of Halloween or perhaps because of my own Scottish lineage or maybe just to sound ever-so-slightly different from all the other spooky stuff out there, I have decided to do a small tribute to Macbeth (that's right... I said it... Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth).

Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell; 

Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, 

Yet grace must still look so. 

Malcolm. Act IV. Scene 3

'The Scottish Play' or 'The Bard's Play' is surrounded by superstitions and, according to many acting troupes, a whole lot of bad luck.  Reports of faulty scenery, injured players and even deaths are said to surround the play.  It's no wonder that this Shakespearean tragedy (which happens to be filled with murders, deceit and even witches) is the perfect Halloween companion.

Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
First Witch. Act IV. Scene 1.

Greeting card companies tend to borrow lines from the famous play - "Double double toil and trouble." And I believe the Harry Potter movies quote the line "something wicked this way comes" in a Hogwarts song.  Macbeth holds a macabre appeal that every b-rated horror flick dreams of achieving and to top it off, eight deaths over the course of the show.  Talk about seeing dead people...

Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it; he died
As one that had been studied in his death,
To throw away the dearest thing he ow'd,
As 'twere a careless trifle.   

Malcolm. Act I. Scene 4

If you haven't read the play, or seen one of the many film versions (Patrick Stewart does a particularly nice job, but the Ian Mckellen/Judi Dench version is impeccable) then I would highly recommend it.  Just be careful not to quote any lines while you are in the theater.   

Is this a dagger which I see before me, 

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee; 

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. 

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible 

To feeling as to sight? or art thou but 

A dagger of the mind, a false creation, 

Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? 

I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw.

Macbeth. Act II, Scene 1

Thanks to the following Etsy Sellers: Azrail's Accomplice Designs,  Medieval Reproduction Carvings, Alaska Laser Maid, Chez Vous!, and Acrylic and Steel

If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out

Well if you want to sing out, sing out

and if you want to be free be free

'cause there's a million ways to be

you know that there are.  

- Cat Stevens

 

Harold and Maude, a film from 1971 starring Ruth Gordon and Bud Court, is one of my favorite films of all time.  I saw the film as a Sophomore in high-school (thanks Amy!) and I have loved it ever since.  It may be, perhaps, that the soundtrack is done by one of my favorite artists, Cat Stevens (a.k.a Yusuf Islam).  Or, it may be the simple, yet totally unconventional love story.  Whatever the case may be, the film is exquisite.  In honor of this wonderful film, I've managed to dig up some handmade and vintage items from the clever folks on Etsy so if you want to be me, be me or if you want to be you, be you, 'cause there's a million things to do, you know that there are.  

A Brief Synopsis:
Harold, a lonely rich kid, plagued by his Mother who has indulged him and nagged him his entire life, entertains himself by going to funerals and staging elaborate suicides.  One day as he is enjoy a funeral service he meets Maude, a 79 year old spit-fire who also frequents funerals but has a rather sunny outlook and a zest for life.  The fun that follows includes stolen cars, rescued trees, bubbles, a priest, a shrink, and a banjo.   

The soundtrack for Harold and Maude doesn't exactly exist, so here's a list of the songs as they appear in the movie and the albums where you can find them:

Don't Be Shy

   from: Footsteps in the Dark

On the Road to Find Out                     

   from: Tea for the Tillerman
I Wish, I Wish                                          

   from: Mona Bone Jakon
Miles from Nowhere                           

   from: Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman                          

   from: Tea for the Tillerman
I Think I See the Light                            

   from: Mona Bone Jakon
Where do the Children Play?              

   from: Tea for the Tillerman
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out    

   from: Footsteps in the Dark
Trouble                                                   

   from: Mona Bone Jackon

So, if I haven't sold you on the film yet, here are some of my favorite quotes to round out my gushing tribute to a truly one of a kind film...

Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you’re bound to live life fully. - Maude

A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an "L". Give me an "I". Give me a "V". Give me an "E". L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room. - Maude

You know, at one time, I used to break into pet shops to liberate the canaries. But I decided that was an idea way before its time. Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing... oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage. - Maude

Special thanks to: Celentano Woodworks, Naked Vintage and The Fox and the Apple