enterprise

So I'm trying my hand at something new: carving stamps.


This is due to two factors: Carissa the librarian tried it and found it addicting, and my guerrilla art book has a couple of pages on making your own stamps. They suggested using plastic erasers, so that's what I got first (and come in packs of three). Size is limited on those, so I had to keep my designs simple.


I also only have a straight edge exact-o knife, so that makes for tricky carving. I apologize for no finished picture of the stamps--it turned out blurry and I'm feeling lazy... but I've made an arrow and a citrus wedge thus far.


I'm eager to try more, but think I need an actual stamp carving kit (Christmas gift idea here, peoples!), though I don't mind that folksy look my citrus wedge has.


I've also learned that if I want to do lighter inks, these erasers really soak up stuff, so I'd need to have one dedicated for yellow, and then another for the oranges and greens.


Here's something I'm thinking about trying more of, too: recovered notebooks. Let me know if you'd like one and we can discuss the theme and size. Also let me know if you'd like your own citrus wedge stamp--I can make you one of those, too!

I did buy a bigger block of rubber to try...

Book recommendation: The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith
Recipe recommendation: Sweet Potato Balls
Wine recommendation: Opus One Cabernet Sauvignon

self-sufficient

Here we go--the next round of Novel Food is in the works! I debated which level of book to do, as I've done a few aimed at teenagers lately, and decided to focus on a book that is great for elementary aged kids (and perfect for a read-aloud, making it good for preschoolers, too).

The book of choice? Another childhood favorite: The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny have been orphaned and are supposed to go live with their grandfather. But they've heard he's a hard man and don't want to have anything to do with him, so they run away. They find an abandoned boxcar on an unused portion of tracks in the woods and turn it into their home. Trips to the junkyard provide furnishings, a nearby stream is their bathtub and Henry gets them some food and cash by doing odd jobs for a doctor in town. The girls even keep Benny up to speed with his schoolwork by teaching him his letters.

One of my favorite things about this book was how creative and resourceful the kids were, including meals. Henry makes a meal out of thinnings from the doctor's garden, and when I started pulling up carrots from our garden, I knew immediately I had to incorporate them somehow with this novel.


Pistou Soup
serves 8

Soup:
1½ lbs potatoes, diced into ¼ in pieces
½ lb fresh cranberry beans or cannellini beans
½ lb green beans, cut into ¼ in pieces
½ lb zucchini, cut into ¼ in pieces
2½ oz of leek, white part cut into ¼ in slices
½ lb carrots, cut into ¼ in pieces
15 c water
3 T salt
½ lb fresh green peas
4 oz canned chickpeas, drained
½ c penne pasta

Place all the vegetables except peas and chickpeas in a large pot and add water. Sprinkle with salt, cover and cook for 1 hour (or until vegetables are tender). Add the peas, chickpeas and pasta, bring to a boil and cook until pasta is done.


Pistou:
5 garlic cloves
2 c fresh basil leaves
1 lb tomatoes, peeled and seeded
3/4 c olive oil
2 c freshly grated Gruyère cheese
1 t salt

In a mortar and pestle, mash garlic, basil and tomatoes. Beat in oil gradually and then add the cheese to make a thick paste. Add salt.

At the last minute, add the pistou to the boiling soup. Stir and serve pipping hot.

My notes: I'd use half broth and half water next time--despite the pistou's ingredients, it still was a little bland. I also only made a little pistou and added it to the soup bowl, rather than the pot, and skipped the pasta. This is due to the fact we weren't going to eat it all at once and I didn't think it would reheat as well. Also, I added my cannellini beans (actually northern beans) after the first hour because they were canned.

Using frozen vegetables works okay with this.

Book recommendation: The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Recipe recommendation: Pistou Soup
Television recommendation: FlashForward

spirit

Tips for a successful Trick-or-Treat afternoon:

• Decorate with cool stuff. Know your demographic to decide how scary to go. And if you plan just right, you can hide the really scary stuff from the preschoolers, but still have all the school age kids go 'whoa'. Chip has two vampire ghouls (that I don't like, but 9 out of 10 thought they were the coolest) that he hung just inside the door--I kept it partially closed for the little ones, but it was wide open for those 4th graders.
• Have spooky music and/or sound effects.
• Dress up; again, you need to know your demographic. It can be as simple as a cute t-shirt and earrings, though.
• Carve your pumpkin right there on the front stoop. We hadn't gotten our pumpkin yet this year and realized this morning that Burlington's Trick-or-Treat was today (from 2 to 5 p.m.), so I worked on it while the kids came up for candy. It was great for a couple of reasons: people knew we were home to ask for treats and it was kinda gross and goopy--fitting for the holiday!
• Have plenty of candy. We had around 100 Trick-or-Treaters this year. Partly due to the good weather, partly because the neighborhood must be getting a reputation...
  

store update

Are you ready for Christmas?


I am, so check out the latest offerings in our store! Feel free to send me a note if you want anything personalized or if you want do to a photo card.



In other news, on the recent Door County trip we stopped at the Door County Rubber Stamp store, where they make several of their own stamps, right in the basement of their building! I'm hoping to get a few of these (support local businesses!), so check out the website to give me suggestions of where to start.

feliz

Random gift number two!
(details here)

So I was thinking about what to do next, and realized I should put some digital layout skillz to work. The result was this 'do-it-yourself' Christmas card: all she has to do is add the family photo and send it to a printing source!


Interested in getting your own? Send me a note and we'll talk. I can even do the whole thing for you if you send me the photo you want included!

folding up

Well, the dare over at Daring Card Makers is to include some sort of folding on your card! As I was browsing through a new idea magazine yesterday, one of the articles was about using your circle punch in ways you may not have considered.

And that included this nifty flower!