Thanks (November)

Art show in Hometown, USA


Hi. It's been a while. Below, find some stories and photos of the time in between the last set of stories and photos.
I was fortunate enough to spend thanksgiving holiday with a whole lot of my family, friends and new babies I hadn't met yet. There were many wonderful parts of the trip but the highlights included my parents hosting an art show for my brother and I, and a really amazing dinner. I know, of course it breaks down to art and food. My brother makes really beautiful silver jewelery, so the house was taken over with silver, stones, puppets, bibs, wood and leather earrings, and many many people from different times in my life. It was the most fun I have had selling my work.
Show in Burlington, VT with the woodworking wares of LB

The dinner. My folks have great gardens and planted a fall garden this year. In late November they still had red tomatoes on the window sill, broccoli still sprouting, Swiss chard, herbs, spinach, and some veggies I can't even recall. One night on a whim mom and I decided to make homemade pumpkin and ricotta ravioli with a side of a fresh mozzarella and tomato salad featuring tomatoes and basil from the garden... in November. It was so tasty, we even made a sweet ricotta ravioli as dessert.

new items!!

leather earrings! made from recycled upholstery samples



Jungle puppets! with 'habitat' and hand painted background

detail, half apron
half apron, made for the St. Joseph worker program
An amazing year of service, check out the website


New bibs and burp cloth

happy fall
-L

Jungle friends!

butts....

fronts!

Hello! I've been busy filling orders and my latest bunch of puppets has arrived: Jungle!

The puppets include tiger, zebra, lion, giraffe, and elephant.

enjoy! more soon.

the difference between the sprout and the bean

It's a hot one here in Vermont. I am dealing with it by sitting in front of the fan, drinking iced coffee (and lots of water) and sewing. New bib and matching burp cloth/ baby rag that has a little loop on the back to hang it up with. I like them and I hope you do too.

stay cool (and hydrated) out there friends.

summer in the city...

photos!

Top: ginger walnut coconut carrot cake with sunflower coconut cream cheese frosting. A surprise (shh!) for a friend's birthday tomorrow- complete with carrots from her farm.

Bottom: a few of the bibs I've been working on. This is the first round using terrycloth for the fabric on the back, just to make them more absorbent. I'm pretty happy with how they are turning out.

That title is a slight lie. It's summer in a small town actually, but still the people, muggy air, veggies.. and rivers and mountains. I've been trying to get out to new bodies of water around where I live. Last summer I was 30 min. south and it's a totally different set of river spots and lakes. Recently a friend showed me a spot that getting to involved going past huge sand piles and through a bamboo forest...really, a bamboo forest! in Vermont! I had no idea. Other than that just enjoying the rooftop garden I've made (already 2 little tomatoes, not bad for starting late!) and cranking out art.

I am gearing up to table at Rhino Fest in early August, then eventually get things up on the etsy site; baby steps for now.

<3

Some Visual Candy

an image update of the recent past.

(veg) Sushi party!

carrying case for puppets I made for a friend's little one

inside and hand painted background

flowers for mom (real ones wouldn't ship well)

craft show craft show

hi friends! I have been running non stop for about a month; helping to close the amazing cafe I worked at, preparing for 2 art shows, and trying to settle in to spring. After neglecting this blog for some time I am back in action with exciting news.
Both craft shows went well. It was wonderful to meet so many other artists in Vermont and make some good connections with people.
Check out the photos from the Queen City Craft bazaar
As my favorite cafe was also my source of Internet, I will soon be one of the privileged to have Internet at home, making the soon to open LyleeHeart etsy shop a reality.
stay tuned for more photos and the official opening of the shop.
<3 L

Photo by Rebecca Kuhn

long time, no posts....

My life has been a bit crazy this past month- full of transitions (the closing of the amazing cafe I work at) and lots of work. As I gear up for the June craft show I spend more and more time looking at other art for inspiration. Today's favorite Felt Play Food on Etsy. so fun!
Photos of felt flowers, scottie dogs, and a butterfly (puppets!) to come soon.

habitat

In these early April days of snow and rain, I've opted to stay cozy with the sewing machine and a cup of tea. After making a few dozen finger puppets, it seemed that something was missing. Upon closer inspection I realized they needed some context and habitat. The answer became cases and pouches for storage that also acted as a back drop for puppet play. Below are photos of the first prototype.


Carrying case all folded up, front view

opened with puppet pocket and background



folded, it stands on its own


the stage is set and imagination does the rest!

acorns and puppies

More Finger puppets from the Lylee heart shop! ( formally known as our dinning room table)






I got to start some seedlings in a friend's greenhouse today, it felt so nice to have my hands in soil, and to see a greenhouse full of little seedlings. Summer is just out of reach, but I can't wait.

sourdough and blue birds..

Prompted by an order a friend of mine put in for finger puppets, I spent the morning making a flock of blue birds. I really like these little guys (and gals) they turned out really cute. Made of old wool, saved from the dump by the re-store in barre, and a bit of felt made from recycled plastic bottles.


Another friend recently gave me some sourdough that he started from natural yeasts. Basically, he set flour and water in a container and waited for the natural yeasts in the air, and on our bodies to create the mix into a living organism. Pretty cool stuff, and much more satisfying than just opening up a package of dry active yeast. I've been feeding and mixing my starter and today made pancakes with the batter. I added the flour, water, sugar and salt last night, then it fermented more and became all bubbly, and in the morning was perfect for pancakes.

I used the recipe from Sandor Katz's epic book Wild Fermentation . I have so many cookbooks that I love and have used so much that the pages are worn with splotches of batter and notes penciled in to the sides. Choosing a favorite is a difficult task, but I have to say Wild Fermentation is rapidly becoming my favorite and the most useful, interestingly written book about food and cooking that I own. If you have never seen it, I really recommend picking up a copy- fermented foods are so good for us, and his book really explains the process of creating such food and makes it so easy to add these nutritional and tasty foods to your diet.

craft-tastic!

I've been spending a lot of time lately making a whole lot of art to use to apply to craft shows in the area. I found out Yesterday that I got in to the queen city craft show in Burlington, VT in June.
Woot! I miss the days of the rock in roll craft show in St. Louis.

next up, really figuring out that etsy site.

happy tuesday everyone!

welcome home!!!

Yesterday was beautiful here! In the 50's, sunny, and of course the day I chose to do major house cleaning, organizing, and laundry. blarg. Anyway, Lindley got back in town and a welcome home dinner was in order.

The menu!
heart shaped (of course!) sweet potato ravioli with a basic cream sauce, garlic kissed broccoli, and maple glazed carrots. I decided to make ravioli for the first time. I used a basic recipe for the dough-just eggs and flour- and spent a lot of time rolling the dough to get it paper thin (no pasta roller here.) Everything turned out perfectly, and was so delicious.

sweet potato filling: sweet potato, cider vinegar, cinnamon, Parmesan cheese, garlic, onion, thyme

Finished meal!

more birch bark earrings

I turned in to a birch bark crafting factory yesterday... a few more for your eyes.



these are spalted maple, but still pretty and
worthy of being in the birch bark post, I promise!

birch bark earrings

In my last post I mentioned that I was starting to work on some birch bark earrings. Though I rarely follow through on blog promises I did this time! I'm really happy with the results, and excited to keep experimenting with different ways to treat the bark.



On the food front I've gotten pretty hooked on eating cream of rice for breakfast these days. I found it at a tiny Indian grocery store in Burlington and stocked up on so many goodies that are hard to come by in Vermont. In a rush to get off to work, I will often leave the leftover cream of rice in the pot. Yesterday I took the leftovers (8 hours later), all firmed up and cut them in to small rectangles. I fried them in a bit of oil with mustard seeds, garlic and onion. They were delicious, crispy amazingness. They reminded me a bit of polenta, or what I imagine Panisses to be. Panisses-Next on my food making list- are from Southern France. They are essentially chickpea flour that has been combined with water, allowed to set, then cut, dredged in flour, and gently fried- then eaten (I imagine) much like french fries.
I'm excited to try them out.

more adventures with earrings...

Last night I took a nap around 9pm, woke up at midnight, and proceeded to make earrings until wee hours of the morning. Ah, the perks of having a non 9-5 work schedule. Earrings are officially taking over the apartment. Below are images of the newest ones. Next up, earrings made of birch bark!







When we first moved in to the apartment it felt so cold and foreign to me. I don't really have any of my art collection in Vermont yet, and the white walls just jump out at me (and laughed.) I automatically started sewing things, anything, to decorate the sterile space. Behold, the toothbrush/ toothpaste holder in our bathroom.