06.03.12 ... farmer's market

we have a new farmer's market just a hop, skip and a jump away. we discovered it last week and tried a few things and were so blown away by vegetables with 1960s taste that we anxiously awaited our return this saturday. so here is our haul. isn't it gorgeous? 

another reason to love living in california.

we have gone to farmer's markets everywhere we have lived but none have had anything that was any different or better than what we'd find in the grocery store and at triple the price. these are all comparably priced - some are less than store cost -

 and i cannot even describe to you the difference in taste. incredible. 

this makes us very happy.

 

 

See the full gallery on Posterous

the little bit of lettuce we have leftover from last week is as fresh as a daisy. 

what a great summer we have to look forward to.

have you tried the trick of rinsing your strawberries in vinegar water? it kills mold spores and does not affect the taste. you can rinse them with clear water if you want but it is not necessary. i tried it for the first time with these and they are absolutely perfect today. let me know if you do this or try it yourself.

thanks for stopping by. until next time. happiness to you. from me. with heart. 

ox joon

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1.1.12 ... i did it. a.k.a : well, FINALLY!

happy 2012 everyone. this year my blog posts and creativity will take an even more eclectic turn. i have been tossing this idea around for a few months now and i have decided to go with it. i have brainstormed a list of headings and will use them as a guideline in no particular order. a serendipitous year. today's accomplishment: i gave scout a long overdue haircut. she is very happy with it. we were working on her portfolio for hours this evening and i am beat. that's all for now. maybe tomorrow i will share my topics list with you. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.31.11 ... looking back & ahead

a collage of projects from early in my create every day of 2011 challenge. 

i am glad i made and met the challenge.
now on to 2012 and a new challenge. 

many ideas have floated through my head and i haven't decided on one in particular. 

i am leaning toward a variety of challenges for the new year. 

stay tuned and see what kind of mayhem i conjure up next. 

happy new year dear readers. 

oxoxoxoxoxo

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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11.3.11 ... my next good things book

i have a custom. i write three good things that happen every day in a little book. it's a way for me to find the good in days that don't always seem to have held any. and a way for me to celebrate the extra good days when life seems full of good things. i add illustrations and doodles along the way. each dated entry is unique in its look and content. last year i decided to make my own book because i have trouble finding journals with unlined paper. i like the books to be small. now that book is almost full and i need another. this time i made a small and very unusual booklet. this one is made of bits of pages from a 1970s reader and a music textbook. i think these papers add yet another layer of happy to the theme. the cover is from an old adult art lessons book that i love and have used as wrapping paper often. i don't have many pages left.

it will be interesting to see how the end look of this book unfolds. i have always used pencil but in this one i will use fine line marker because i will need to write in an even more creative style in order to work my way around the images. i'm looking forward to seeing this little booklet completed. and to making another one before too long.

i wanted the style to be loose so the pages are different sizes and the cover edges are torn instead of neatly sized and trimmed on the paper slicer..

i hope you enjoy seeing my good things book and that you might be inspired to start one, too. it's a nice way to recall the good things in your life and you only need a few minutes a day to keep up with it. they are fun to read through every once in a while, too.

 

 

 

 

See the full gallery on Posterous

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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10.18.11 ... paper stuff

here is a project i've been working on over a period of time recently. some of the clippings are years in the saving. i save them for one of these days and one of these days arrives every so often. i matched them up with card stock pieces i have floating about here and there. some are greeting card and envelope pieces. some are paint sample strips.

i am not sure where i will go from here with all of them, but i do have plans for some of them. a few will become covers of miniature accordian books. i really love all of these images.

and i love the variety. and matching the pieces with the card stock.

this one is a favorite. here is what it looks like during the perusing and production phase...

and below is the set. i also made those tazo tea bag paper pockets (an earlier post). you may spot some of the parts here.

when i take these pieces one step further i'll post the results. today i worked on another - new - sewing project. those photos will be here tomorrow night. see you then.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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10.16.11 ... memory art

i continued my sorting this afternoon and came upon these get well wishes and bill clinton. i know. these things really go together, right? plus, there are bon bons and ghosts involved. so pay attention and give yourself a chance to smile. i taught second grade many moons ago. for just four short years. during my second year, i was engaged to evan and this was a topic of great interest to the class. in the spring, i was ill and missed school for a stretch of time and the substitute was kind enough to allow the children a few minutes of time to compose a get well book. but first, you should know that i referred to an alternate universe quite often. as in: if you all knew everything already there'd be no need for me. i'd be sittin' on the beach eatin' bon bons and watching soap operas. now what kind of life is that? hence, the bon bon art above. and now for a page from the well wishes book...

yes, there i am in bed miserable as all get out while evan waits on me hand and foot. i am sure at some point he might have indeed uttered: hurry up and get rid of that cold. I am tired of taking care of you and i want to get wed! (that was in 1993 and i still marvel that he went ahead with the wedding after that unfortunate period of time in our history.) at any rate, this is the first time i have looked through these and i did not recall the ghosts or bon bons but this page came back to me like a flash. i loved it then and i love it now. and i realize that bill clinton has nothing to do with the get well book. yes, this is random, but scout got such a kick out of the fact that a second grader was drawing bill clinton that i had to include it.

who knows what i will come across tomorrow. sending you all wishes for a beautiful monday and a heavenly week ahead. i love fall.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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10.5.11 ... scout at breakfast

we found the perfect diner this morning. here's my series of scout with her hot chocolate. we took over 250 photos today altogether. i will have to add them here a few each evening.

what did you all do today?

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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9.23.11 ... tazo tea paper pockets

i've been working on paper projects on and off all week long and i finished up a few today. this is one group. i love to create something out of mismatched odds and ends. tazo tea bag papers become little pockets with personality.

you can use them for many organizational challenges.

you can prop them up on a shelf or windowsill and just enjoy them as little bright spots in your day.

you can tuck love notes or money surprises into them and send them on their way in a lunchbox or greeting card.

you can keep business cards in them. tiny bookmark collections. stamps. the list goes on and on. what would you keep in yours? do you have a favorite here? 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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9.21.11 ... blue minute

tonight i made this treasury using scout's method of a ten minute goal. naturally, i did not achieve that. it's me we're talking about. but i did create it super fast and i had a good time. found some pretty things that all look teeny tiny sweet all together. you can visit it HERE 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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9.9.11 ... scrabble tile perpetual calendar

today i got this idea for a perpetual scrabble tile calendar using upcycled tiles, a tile rack and a mixture of letters left as is and others transformed into numbers for dates and miniature scenes for seasons. here is my start. the tiles that will have the numbers on their plain sides will spell out HAPPINESS on the reverse.

the rack can easily fit the month and day a two date number tiles and one scene tile or one date tile for the single digit sates, if you like, and two scene tiles. or other variations of which there are many. i will return with the first finished project very soon since i cannot leave the table like this for long. the kitties will notice and decide to do their own variation on it and that will look something like this ...

i shall return. what do you think of my calendar idea?

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.29.11 ... my chibi stamp project and a package

today i made some bamboo paper note cards and envelopes using our homemade stamps. this one is scout's chibi caricature of me. isn't it amazing? she has a few refinements to make but we have to wait until ev builds and mounts it onto its block. but with 109* temperatures he isn't in the mood to go outside and work with his power tools. go figure. so it's a bit tricky making prints with it. for now.

i can't handle how good she is at this.

here's my crocodile. he's on the back corner of my notecards. they have my house stamp on front. and here is a package i prepared today...

pretty cute, eh? the jewelry box has handmade shredded tissue paper and miniature hearts sprinkled inside.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.28.11 ... blueberry coffee cake

today my creative activities involved hours of organizing and straightening my art desk drawers and paper stash files. i had these beautiful photos from another day. somehow i feel these are much more interesting than my mess of papers. although, it was fun finding all kinds of things and tidying up everything. it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it. meanwhile, back at the ranch, this is the maine blueberry coffee cake ev made for my birthday breakfast.

isn't it lovely? and it is divine, too.

we need to talk him into another one. i miss it already.

i hope you all had a beautiful sunday and i send you best wishes for lots of happiness in the new week.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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