bricolagelife

happy thanksgiving!

hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.

                                                          - anonymous 

wishing you a safe and happy holiday. 

shop update: new premium postcards

 

 

new 4x6 postcards professionally printed on premium 16pt laminated paper stock. glossy on the photo side and matte on the blank backside. affordable little gifts ready to mail or frame.

in the shop!

see what i see :: return of the iphoto files...

 

 

 

 

 

thank you, jared! the iphoto files are back and here are some digital faves from the passel of photos i shot at the botanic gardens last week. the light was amazing that day and the fall colors covered the entire spectrum.

in other news...

drat! a national emergency holiday alert.

gained a new perspective with this powerfully good viewing (a wonky knee is not so bad after all).

more play is good.

found photos :: half time show (and technical difficulties)

i was busily listing pretty vintage papers into my etsy shop last night when my big fuzzy pink slipper flopped off my foot and got stuck under the desk against the wall where all the snaky cords live. while slinking down in my chair and reaching around with my toes to maneuver back into it i managed to unplug my external hard drive, severing my sole access to the entire iphoto and itunes files.

that's right. because it's just too much work to crawl under there and pick that slipper up. 

{luckily i discovered this scanned found photo in a file on my desktop for today's post. quite seasonally apropos, too.}

and tho i went to sleep last night doing my lamaze breathing and telling myself i would surely recover someday from the loss of those 15,000+ photos and 3,000+ tunes (should fate cruelly choose to take them from me), i called support first thing this morning in a fit of fresh hope. after the kindly and patient young man walked me thru the process, i spent an anxious thirty minutes cautiously shutting down, unplugging, re-plugging, waiting, starting up and waiting some more and... i got nothin.

so, jared, if you are out there reading this - H E L P !

call me.

big flavors: cassoulet pasta

it was a cold and gloomy afternoon... i wanted something like cassoulet, but without the walk to the grocery store. did i mention it was raining? after taking stock of my supplies on hand in the pantry, fridge and freezer, i came up with a tasy cassoulet pasta. try it:

while the water is coming to a boil for the pasta, dice a few slices of pancetta and crisp it up in a pan with a bit of red onion. set aside and deglaze the pan with red wine and chicken stock, then set that aside, too. pour a little olive oil in the same pan and toss in a sliced garlic clove, some olives, a can of drained cannellini beans and some chopped fresh tomatoes. sprinkle with dried basil and warm until the tomatoes begin to soften. cook the pasta while returning the meat and sauce to the other pan. scoop the cooked pasta into the pan with all the goodies, stir and serve topped with fresh basil and feta cheese.

cassoulet flavors without the wait. 

and so easy to recreate with substitutions... next time i whip this up i may find a different set of ingredients available in my kitchen - sausage, chicken or ham for the pancetta; yellow onions, leeks or shallots for red onion; white wine for red; any beans for cannellini; herbs de provence, oregano or tarragon for basil (i just love basil); almost any leftover veggies; and romano, parmesan, bleu or goat cheese for the feta.

i'm hungry now!

shop update: last of the vintage holiday gift wrap

a big big thank you for the awesome response to my last post! 

i've been very busy packing and shipping - the vintage gift wrap collection is flying off the shelves at daisy chain. so much so that i have begun listing more today. this may be the final batch because i am getting down to the last precious pieces and must save a few favorites just for me :)

thinking about wrapping presents in these sweet papers is putting me in the holiday mood!

get some here, while they last.

shop update: vintage holiday gift wrap

 

 

 

 

 

an amazing treasure trove of pristine holiday gift wrap from the 1940s thru the 1960s, some still in it's original packaging, with matching tags. nostalgic and beautifully designed by wonderful illustrators. 

and a little bit difficult to part with. good thing i have a few doubles :)

new listings all week... at daisy chain vintage.

shop update: leaf collection print

this is a big 8 1/2 x 11 inch print on beautiful kodak endura paper with a lustre finish. i am especially excited about this new print because it marks the beginning of an ongoing project that's been in the works for months. i have created a one of a kind embroidery from this image and will list it in the shop soon. then i will list another print from my collection series of photographs and a single hand embroidered piece from it... and so on.

hope you like them!

in the shop.

found photos :: bar b q ranch

for today's found photos i am posting one i found among my personal archives in celebration of a new discovery. this is my dad, alex. i have submitted this photo to my parents were awesome, a place you need to see. everything there is awesome. enjoy. and submit something! you know your parents were awesome, too.

have a happy friday! 

perfect day (and more polaroids)

 

 

five cameras.

two good friends.

crisp and clear autumn weather.

tasty soup and sandwich lunch.

a scent of burning leaves in the air.

chiming bells and whistling trains.

botanic gardens.

thanks, sk!