brand new obsession

I haven't posted lately. The kids went back to school and I dived into being lead room mom, meetings for girl scouts, meet the teacher nights at two different schools, music lessons for kids, and my newest obsession... healthy eating! It is a big culinary shift at our household to VEGANISM. My daughter has been a vegetarian for almost two years and after seeing the CNN show "the Last Heart Attack" about vegan diets and heart disease and President Clinton, I was convinced to give it a try. It started out as a 30 day experiment and the 30 days are up today. The result...I am won over, I am on board, and I am ready for the next 30 days and so on!

This new passion requires some time and scheduling. It takes planning and time to prepare healthy meals, not so processed, closer to the source. More trips to the grocery store. New information. More reading. Arming myself with a new "toolbox" of foods. All our old patterns and foods are basically out the window. But I feel great and am immensely happy with the change.

Now I am debating how I marry my love of design and my love of good healthy food. When I design for the kitchen with colorful veggies and juicy fruits I feel inspired and energetic. It speaks to my passions and makes me want to stay the course. I LOVE nicely designed things in my kitchen, from an eclectic cup from Anthropology to vintage mixing bowls to new, modern colorful knives and high tech coffee makers. The kitchen is about senses... visual, colors, textures, smells, tastes, sounds... It is about coming together in celebration, in community, with nourishment and health, comfort, joy, family...

Design + health + food + senses + enjoyment. I feel a new group of designs and creative inspiration is around the corner, marinating and percolating, cooking up in my mind... a great big emotional yum!

72-Hour Sale on One Kings Lane- My Certified International Dishes!

I'm very excited to have my Certified International dishes for sale on One Kings Lane! They write, "We love a tabletop that's festive, fun, and full of flavor even before the food gets there." So do I!

For the next 72 hours the appetizer and wine collections are featured sale items, but things often sell out early. One Kings Lane is a great destination of top-brand and designer furniture, decor, art, gifts and vintage items at up to 70% off - please check it out!

www.onekingslane.com

This is what summer looks like

My son is a gardener. He doesn't like to eat tomatoes but he sure likes to grow them. That's fine with me as I love to eat them. Simple slices with a little salt. I just can't get over how much flavor is in vegetables you grow at home- it's amazing! So sweet and juicy.
Bountiful! Yum!

Freshen Up Color

It all happened because I decided to dust the upper shelves. It's one of the drawbacks of open shelving in the kitchen- dust and gunk builds up. (Oh, the maintenance involved with some design decisions...)
I was taking the dishes down, thinking how I'd like to use these more if they weren't so high, so hard to reach. If I rearranged things and put the dishes in another cupboard, what would I put there? As I thought of my options, I felt none of them would look right with the spicy orange we'd painted on the wall a couple of years ago. I was ready for something fresher, something lighter, more summery...

And as quick as that, off to the hardware store and a day of painting. Behr Blue Cypress. I love changing the color on an accent wall and how it transforms the mood of the room immediately. I like the light and happy feeling I get when I walk in the room and am thinking of painting this color in my studio too. I feel like I'm at the beach and things seem calm and peaceful. I'm loving the change!

After moving the dishes to a more accessible place, I still haven't used them yet!

Simple Pleasures

My wonderful neighbor brought over some cut lily blossoms. They have brightened up the foyer and every time I walk by them I feel cheered up and optimistic. Amazing how something as simple as some fresh flowers livens up the space and brings a sense of calm and beauty to the house. I believe they are Stargazer Lilies. Whatever they are, they are spectacular.

Summer Pears bag and wallet

Just in time for summer, wonderful Crazylady (a.k.a. my mother Ruth, and the nickname is one of love and fun, not a statement of her mental condition- which happens to be great!) sewed up these projects with my modern pear fabrics! Thank you Mom! I love that on the shoulder bag she made the pear the pocket design and used it for the lining as well. I think this is the perfect size to carry my money and phone when we go to the farmer's market. Both of these look light and summery and are great when I don't want to be lugging around heavy bags and wallets- generally lightening up for warm weather.

Both of these projects are from the book Free-Style Handmade.
The wallet is their Zigzag Pocket Wallet and the purse is loosely based on the Pocket-Sized Shoulder Bag. The book has lots of cute bags, skirts and projects that are easy to understand and modify to your specifics.
Have fun!

Refreshing Modern Pears

My juicy modern pears and seedling coordinates are in at Hancock Fabrics. I loved working in a summery light palette just like a cool, crisp pear, ready to bite into on a hot summer day.

http://www.hancockfabrics.com/index.htm

3171444 Allover Pears
3171477 Thread Stitches on Yellow
3171469 Blue and Green Dots
3171451 Yellow Flowers