Time away

I am off to a northern adventure tomorrow and I'm sure I will be inspired by my week away from the grind -if only I could bring my bench with me! (I actually contemplated taking it all with me...not lying) I started sketches this week for a small series inspired by a friend of mine. I've also been contemplating a 'simply silver' series. It will be some time before these suckers are done, but that's okay. Maybe I will have some sneak peeks along the way…or maybe you will all have to wait until the reveal…haven’t decided yet.

Mitten Made

The Blue House in Ann Arbor is hosting Mitten Made on July 23-24th. Of course I would be leaving town on a trip the 23rd, but maybe I can swing by and check it out before my northern adventure.

Kimmy's Necklace (2006)

I made this for my girlfriend Kimmy way back in 2006 as a Christmas gift.  I borrowed it this weekend so I could finally take photos. It turns out it is a pretty good example of a 'customized' bezel. If you look in the pic below, you can see that the bezel is really fat at one end (top) and a bit thinner near the silver balls. The stone is Fuchite with Ruby(magenta color) and with Kyanite (the darker green/blue coloring).

Townie Street Party

Most everyone who doesn't live under a rock knows about the Ann Arbor Art Festival July 21-24th, but do you know about the Townie Street Party? I didn't until I read on the Blue House websites upcoming events. It is held July 19th, just before the Art Fair begins. I've never been, but it seems like it would be pretty family friendly and something fun to do on a Monday.

Bigger is Better

I made this pendant a few years ago, but sadly it remained unfinished until I spent a long time on all those black seed beads....

Now she is complete, big and beautiful...

Dessert for Dad

Lately I've been working on custom orders, which means I have a little less time for new projects (and reproductions). So I am postponing the posting of Larimar Necklace #3 for the time being, but I promise I will get back to it soon!

In the mean time I thought I would share a recent cooking adventure. I asked Oliva what I could make my chocolate loving dad as a dessert for his birthday. I wanted something portion controlled…a whole cake or batch of cookies just isn't a good idea for only four of us! Olivia suggested this chocolate pudding recipe and also told me about By the Pound in downtown Ann Arbor.  I had everything except the arrowroot powder (which I admit I hadn't heard of- think corn starch…only not from corn). 

Getting things started;

Since the author of this recipe had tried a few things before achieving perfection, I figured I wouldn’t tinker too much. One thing I did modify was the spice amount, I had red curry at home (which can be strong) and my dad is not terribly adventurous so I opted to reduce the amount from 1 tsp  to ¼ tsp. It was pretty easy to make and fun to use a new ingredient.

After mixing this and that, it's into the fridge we go to set. Reducing the spice to only ¼ tsp paid off, it still had a great aroma and aftertaste that was warming but not overpowering.  It was very rich and creamy, the arrowroot really worked very well to thicken and give it a great consistency. I used fresh basil as garnish and instead of spice on top I used a bit of cocoa powder with the toasted coconut flakes.

I'm already planning to make it again! Also, I have to thank Laura for reading me the instructions over the phone- my internet was down and I didn’t have the recipe printed out! Otherwise I might have been tempted to go here;

Shadow Art Fair Saturday July 10th

For anyone who likes to support local artisits, this weekend the Corner Brewery in Yspi is hosting it's annual Shadow Art Fair. It's a one day 12 hour event (noon to midnight). Maybe I will see some of you there!

One down

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend, mine went a little something like this...

I mentioned some custom work I was doing....one down, two to go!