Strawberry Buttercup Bag

Thank you everyone for the wonderful Tasha Tudor day. There were so many celebrating this year, it was marvelous to see how each person had their own way of admiring Tasha. There were some really touching posts. The one thread running through all the posts, was the admiration of how Tasha lived the life she wanted. Thank you again everyone.

This is a bag I actually made last spring and am finally getting around to posting. It is the wonderful Buttercup bag you see everywhere and is very easy to make, truly. I made the bag as a wristlet.

I wanted some fun, bright, not-to-matchy strawberries. I just took a small length of chain, wrapped it around the handle and added some strawberries to it. I am hugely addicted to purses and like to change them everyday with my outfits. I am thinking now I need to make a fall buttercup !!!

Tasha Tudor Day, 2009

Happy Tasha Tudor day !!!!

There are so many reasons my girls and I admire Tasha Tudor. Thinking of this post and what I wanted to share that about Tasha, I thought of a discussion a while back. I am on a Tasha Tudor list and we were discussing the lost arts. People were bring up handy crafts like spinning, making candles, baking from scratch and how Tasha represent the lost arts. But to me it wasn’t so much about a specific craft, as more a mind set.

I confess, I am glue-gun girl (but I am slowly changing, thank goodness). I tend to be instant gratification. I pick some craft, spend a lot of time planning and shopping but tend to hurry through the process and then move onto something new. I do not push myself, I only put a portion on myself into something. I do not become a master of it. But I want to be, I am learn to be. Realizing this, I realize Tasha embodies mastering, patience, heart  and encourages me in these areas. I mean it takes a lot to grow flax, beat it, make it into thread, spin it, dye it , weave it, before you even go about sewing something. What ever garment she made, she knew intimately, she put her heart and soul into it. I doubt she ever took it for granted. I want to be like that in all I do. To be present, to be grateful, to be better for it. To me this is the lost art that Tasha so genuinely represents.

I also wanted to share my Tasha print from the talented Marjorie at Cozey Little Whimsy Nook . I treasure this print not only because it is soo beautiful but it will always remind me of Tasha Tudor day and what a wonderful tradition this now is in our family.

We had our Tasha Day on Sunday and it was lovely. We canned red sauce, picked blackberries in our garden, made ginger pennies for our tea, watched Take Joy and made sketches’ out of Tasha’s books, which you can see at Heartfelt Thoughts. I think mostly we tried to stop, be present and enjoy. I hope the same for you today, even if it is for a few minutes. Please feel free to share what Tasha means to you, if you did  a blog post, anything big or small. I would love to hear what you did to celebrate Tasha and I know everyone else would  xoxoxo

PS. A big thank you to sooo many who posted about TT day and helped me get the word out. I hope each year more and more who love Tasha will hear about Tasha Tudor day.

Chefs On The Farm

I got a very fascinating book from the library Chefs On The Farm by Shannon Borg and Lora Lea Misterly. It talks about the Quillisascut Farm School Of Domestic Arts, a working farm and dairy. The book describes each season and the work of the farm. I enjoy it and there were some inspiring recipes. There is also pantry recipes with each season. I looked around on-line a found these four recipes from the book.

Also a reminder Tasha Tudor day is Friday xoxoxo

 Cardamom–Apple Stuffed French Toast with Cider Syrup

Chicken Stew with Ricotta Chive Dumplings

Spelt Granola

Ricotta Gnocchi with Sibley Squash, Pears and Sage

I Started A Second Blog

Hello, I have started a second blog, Heartfelt Thoughts From A Mother To Her Daughters. 

It is very different from Storybook Woods and will not be of interest to all my readers. It is basically a personal journal to my girls but I decided to make it open. I went back and forth on making it private, but I thought someone might be encouraged by it. I will write about much more personal thing then I do here. To me Storybook Woods is more like a homemaking magazine, but Heartfelt Thoughts, it is my personal feelings about life, my walk with God, struggles and encouragements for my daughters. So I just wanted to let you know what I have been up to. 

I hope you have a relaxing weekend. We just got over a week and half vacation at home. But it was one of those "do all the work around our house that we never get to" vacations. So that means, now, I need a vacation from my vacation xoxoxo

Mandolin Salad

I have discovered a trick !!!! I borrowed a mandolin slicer/Japanese slicer from my mother (Now I have to go get one for myself) and was playing around with it. I discovered my family likes salad and raw veggies better if they are thinly sliced. I do not know why but they tend to rave over salads I make where I thinly slice the veggies. Well if that is all it takes to get my family to eat more veggie, I can do that. I make cucumber salads tossed in homemade greek yogurt, fresh herbs and salt and pepper. Another is mushroom and fennal bulb salad drizzled with a little hazelnut oil and shavings of romano. This salad is sliced orange and red tomatoes, raw zucchini from the garden, three kinds of basil (lemon, Thai and cinnamon), nasutrshum flowers, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. I severed it with mini fresh mozzarella balls ($2.00, from the grocery outlet, yeah !!!) on the side. 

Another trick, about the zucchini, if you use fresh, young zucchini it is wonderful raw. Also you can use the slicer on a food processor but it will not give you the thin slices like the mandolin. So consider add this tool to your Christmas wish list xoxoxo

Out With The Apple Green

In with the lavender. I was tired of the bright apple green (it was really not the color I was trying to get anyways) so I decided to go in the opposite direction and pick something soft. But I wanted it fun, different. I wanted a lavender but with a lot of red in it. There is just too much gray weather here to use gray tone colors. I envisioned something to perk up the space on a drizzly, cold day. This color is still not perfect. I can not tell you how much I HATE picking paint color. I ended up mixing my own. I took Benjamin Moore purple cream and adding a bit of a deeper mauve paint and a bright blue paint. Just a bit. At first it was soo light, but it has deepened a bit and looks better. It changes with the light and is very Coco Chanel to me. I am loving it more and more.

Also you can see the wood around the windows is all chippy paint. I was sanding it and then decided I liked the layers of yellow and green. So I left it, my hubby thinks I am a loo !!!

By the way all my plants are tomatoes, peppers and basil. It was an experiment to see if they would do better, since that room gets warm but they really have not done much. So I am not sure if it worked. After I take the plants out, I am thinking of using black and white accents. But I can also see cranberry red with it too. Thank you for letting me share and to my girls for painting the room xoxoxo

 

The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady Collection

I will confess as a child and young adult, I was not into nature much. I was not  an outdoor kind of kid. I was sadly more of a mall kid {:-o    It was not till I was pregnant with Auberne` and started reading about homeschooling and Charlotte Mason did I get into to nature. I realized there was a whole beautiful and interesting world out there I had totally missed. One of the first books I heard about was "The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady" by Edith Holden. I was so drawn to the beauty of her diary. Of course being a good CM mom, I had my girls and I keeping a nature diary, her books were very inspiring.

Well a while ago at a thrift store I spotted this stacking tin with Edith's illustrations, I was over the moon. It now holds buttons and such. It is one more thing to add to my collection. One of my many collections. What is your favorite thing to collect ????

Summer Garland

Hello everyone, I "think" life is a bit calmer and happier now. I had a bit of a health scare but I am pretty sure all is well. I am just waiting on a bit more info. Thank you so much for the kind comments and prayers xoxoxo

I am also glad you like my outdoor living room, I wish I could have you all over and feed you !!! I wanted to share the fun garland I made (if you click on the pictures you can see the garland better). I all did was punch a bunch of pretty 3" scalloped circles, cut a length of thread and glue two circles together, with the string between the glue.

Very simple. I have to say I am not one to have a lot of gadgets, but I LOVE my extra large circle punch, I use it a lot. It makes wonderful tags and has become a have-to item for me.

Overwhelmed

Good Day good readers, I am not have a very good week. Overwhelmed, hoping I am not getting sick and a lot on my plate. So I am behind in my posts. But I will get my act together soon, I promise. I hope this is blissful week for you though xoxox

Outdoor Livingroom

I love having an outdoor living room, although I will confess lately I am only enjoying it in the morning when it is still cool. Since we are stuck inside with rain much of the year, we are always looking for a chance to be outside.

On the weekends David and I like to sit out here before dinner and enjoy a mango slushy. The birdcage is a wonderful find from Angie (thank you xoxox), I set candles inside as great reuse. Next post I will share the garland, it is so easy to make xoxoxox