Sleeping Dogs Studio

Just a reminder that we’ll pick a winner for the give-away earring holder below after 5 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, July 23rd.  To enter, simply respond to this entry, or the earlier one, ensuring that you include the words, “Give-away – 7/23″!

…in Bloomington!  Turns out that we work with some pretty talented and inspirational people! 

One of the members of the Brown County Craft Gallery is Jenny Burt, and she is not only a jeweler of very high standards, but also just opened a great cafe and bakery in Bloomington with her sister Erika Yochum and another partner Pat Sellers.  We decided to stop by today, and are so glad we did.

This new culinary stop is ”Feast”, and is located on the corner of Hillside and High in Bloomington, Indiana, across from Templeton Elementary School.  

Not only do they have tons of wonderful sweets, like dark chocolate brownies, Vermont chews, and coconut macaroon triangles, but a full line of muffins, gluten-free desserts, pies and cheesecakes are also on the menu.

In addition, they bring with them a fantastic reputation for the tamales they have sold at the local Farmer’s Market for years.  Lunch and savory items include not only the tamales, but also spinach pie, meat pies, egg tarts and chicken satays.

“Feast” is focused on sourcing its ingredients from local growers, with the owners growing much of their own produce, including herbs and berries at their organic farm in Brown County.

Still have any doubts you should try it for yourself?  Well, I bought a fruit tart and couldn’t bring myself to eat it until I’d taken a photo!  THAT’S how beautiful the products are – and the taste was out of this world!  (Don also highly recommends the Vermont Chews!)

Stop by if you get the chance – it’s worth it.

This is the latest series of photos of our ”dinner plate” bush, better known as a pink hibiscus, which has just about reached its zenith…

To give a sense of scale, the blooms are 8″ – 10″ across…

I need to translate it to art somehow…

Of course, it’s something of a stretch to say that Jasmine and Owen are “working” dogs at all, given that they sleep all day…but it’s nice to know that they are in good company.

Just check out this link…

Working Dogs

Well, after listening to your suggestions, and limiting somewhat the number of give-aways we have given over the last few weeks, it’s time to host one again for you!

“Golden Peony”, the 5″ X 7″ Single Earring Holder below is in shades of lightest pink, tan, and off-white, and is embellished with pink ribbon and pearl buttons.

The piece can go either horizontally or vertically, and will do a great job of showcasing your earrings, whether post or french wire.

If you’re like me, sometimes you have your jewelry sitting in a tangled heap by your bedside – but after making myself one of these, my bedside table is not only organized, but my earrings look like little pieces of art in and of themselves!

To enter the give-away, submit a comment below by no later than 5 p.m. ET on Friday, July 23rd, and include the words “Give-away – 7/23″ in the body of the message.  We will pick a winner at random that evening, and post the winner shortly thereafter.  Good luck all!

Many of you may already be aware of a great art resource North of the Border…known simply as “Artchix Studio”, which can be found at www.artchixstudio.com.

This web site, run for years by Helga Strauss and staff, has been a source of inspiration and truly wonderful and unusual supplies for our art for years.  One of our all-time favorite products is their “German Scrap”, which started out in only silver and gold, but now shines in a huge variety of colors! 

Artchix's German Scrap

This “lace” is made of paper, and has a unique look and ease of use that really makes it worth a purchase. 

They also do a great job of showing photos of their products “in action” – so that you can see them not only in “catalog” form, but also in use.  It’s such a simple idea, and such a practical one too!

ATC using "German Scrap" by Cathy Hudson

The German Scrap they offer comes not only in lovely border patterns (my favorite, Baroque, appears above), but also in a variety of interesting shapes and sizes like these below:

German Scrap Embellishments in Various Colors

Use of German Scrap Embellishments in artwork by Cassondra Walters

In addition, Helga has a great blog, full of terrific ideas and projects that you should check out for yourself. 

Stop by the site for lots of inspiration and beautiful supplies – you won’t be disappointed!

And for those of you still wondering when “It” is coming (per my last blog entry) – well, you might want to tune in again tomorrow!