Bonjour, Paris... er, Courcome!

Okay, this isn't really a studio update... but I'm going to France!!! Just got word this week that I've been accepted for an internship and will be spending most of July working for an atelier that specializes in the creation and restoration of murals and decorative finishes.   Many thanks to the French Heritage Society and the great folks at my graduate program for making it happen!!!  More details soon...

we all scream for...

                    Image from ulterior epicure under a creative commons license.

I'm still sick, which means I've accomplished nothing but feeling sorry for myself these past few days.  I have, however, contemplated a number of things that I've been meaning to do.  Like make ice cream.  It's a delightful 32 degree winter day here, 20 degrees with the windchill, but my dreaming of icy desserts knows no seasonal bounds.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a Cuisinart ice cream maker, new with its wrapping, directions, and an extra freezer bowl, at my favorite local thrift shop.  I'd been obsessed with getting one since last summer, when a friend's aunt took some mint from my garden back home with her to Chicago to make mint ice cream.  Still, knowing my track record for domestic project follow-through, I couldn't bear dropping actual money on one.  So, $10 at the Mission Thrift seemed reasonable.

Here are a few of the recipes I'm planning to try first:

Strawberry Basil - I made a strawberry basil sauce to go over ice cream and pound cake a few years ago and now I just can't get enough of this combination.  Really, you should try it.

Dark Chocolate Orange - Another of my favorite flavor duos.  I was just talking with someone the other day about how much we loved those chocolate oranges with the little separate wedges.  Yum!

Peach - My granddad made this every summer in his little wooden barrel ice cream maker.  I can still remember how fresh and peachy it was. Sadly, I don't have his recipe and there are so many out there in interweb recipe land.  I narrowed it down to this one though; I like the addition of almond extract.   Peaches soaked in Amaretto and then lightly grilled is another of my favorite summertime treats.

Mint Chocolate -  One of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors.  Think I'll get this recipe from the afore-mentioned aunt.  It only seems fitting.

my favorite things

Etsy Buy Handmade apvintage

I'm sick again, which is making me nuts, so no school and no real studio time. Instead, I've been napping, Facebooking (really, how much friend stalking, ridiculous photo commenting, and group joining can a girl do in 48 hours?), and adding things to my Etsy favorites (click on the images above to see some of them).  And don't worry, I haven't reached the Barbie buying stage.   Yet.

and the winner is...

So today's the day! Last night was officially the end of entries for my Valentine earring giveaway, which means that today someone gets to win!!!  Many thanks to all who participated, your comments and feedback were much appreciated.

And the winner is...

...comment #2, Audrey from Audrey's Country Crafts!  Audrey, I'll be in touch for your address.

Have a great day, everyone!

things to come

OK, I've clearly spent way too much of my recent studio time entertaining, cooking, and eating, with occasional breaks for cleaning and painting.   I'm apparently having trouble getting motivated to actually make stuff.  I do have some cool new half-finished pieces in the works though, inspired by this vintage silhouette of my mother-on-law. Eventually, I'll finish them.  I promise.

And don't forget... today's the last day to enter to win free earrings!  

an affair to remember

I have to admit it. I've taken a lover. Well, three: Pratt, Lambert, and Benjamin Moore. I'm such a naughty girl, but I can't break their hold over me. The affair started so long ago...

I loathe cleaning, only do laundry when I've absolutely run out of clothes, and cook in fits and spurts, but I will happily repaint everything every week. Maybe even every day. Walls, ceilings, trim, lawn furniture, the front of the dishwasher, the ugly floral kitchen tiles left over from the previous owner...you name it, I'll paint it. My methods: oil, latex, acrylic, spray can, brush, roller, rag, sponge, fingers, whatever works for the job. But I think I love painting walls the most. There's something so gratifying about staking your claim, about covering over vast expanses of the old with something fresh. It just feels like progress when sometimes nothing else does. Like the D.I.Y. equivalent of getting a new haircut after a break-up. And I love the fiddly masking off and cutting in. And the color. And the intoxicating off-gassing smell. But my obsession is likely more a statement of my fickle nature than of a creative temperament and a desire to be stoned on toxic paint fumes. That, and I like to get all paint splattered and messy.

It should be no surprise then that, since I have plenty of other things to do, I suddenly feel inspired to paint the studio foyer. I've been putting it off for a couple years because I really should repair the plaster walls first. I'm afraid to find out how bad they are under the existing cracked coat of faux stucco though; it may be the only thing holding up the whole room. (Yes, preservation friends, I should know better and I'm a bad doobie; I promise to say a few Hail Clem Labines and talk smack about vinyl to atone for my sins.)

And so, earlier this week, after nearly a year of resisting the urge, I was called back to my old loves in the paint aisle of the Clark's (an awesome, local, family-owned hardware store). We're still in the test pot stage, but our future looks promising.

summer rolls in winter

Yesterday was pretty balmy here for February (mid 50s - today will be even warmer), so I decided that unexpected spring-like weather was justification for summer-like food. We had a few friends over to the studio to make summer rolls with veggies, mint, shrimp, and tofu.  It works best when the veggies are cut down into thin little matchsticks. I realized I dind't have full-sized carrots though, so ended up julienning baby ones, which was a little ridiculous. Lately it seems like I'll do anything to avoid actually making art in here!

Here's a relentlessly cheerful tutorial from a Food Network hopeful: