Doodling on Furniture

I go next level with my doodling and create the "holy buffet"

  Ok so here's the "before".  Like pretty much everything else in our house, it's a lovingly gouged and scratched hand-me-down.  It's been a super functional yet ho-hum piece of furniture for it's 20 year reign here at the Delightist Headquarters. So I finally got the gumption to do something about it.

Yawn

Yessss!

   So I definitely don't have enough patience to give a detailed tutorial so here's a brief synopsis of what I did:

    1) Cleaned the whole thing with water with a bit of TSP in it.  There was to be no priming.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

    2) I had a smallish amount of Martha Stewart Vintage Decor paint in red, orange, and green that I did the intentionally sloppy underpainting with.  See above.

    3) I bought a pint of a gorgeous royal blue chalk paint (Klein Blue by General Finishes).  I took about half of that and added a bit of turquoise acrylic paint to change and lighten the color a bit and then painted the whole shebang with it.

    4) What was left of this mixture I added some white acrylic to in order to lighten it further and painted on the doodles with this.

    5) After the doodles were really really dry, I used a damp sponge to apply a wash of the original, undoctored royal blue color over the entire piece.

    6) Next:strategic sanding to give that lovely distressed look, then cleaning with tack cloth.

    7) Application of finishing wax. Quick and easy to do, just follow the directions on whatever product you buy.  This makes it really really nice. 

    8) I replaced the 2 old knobs with fabulous new ones from Anthropologie.  My gawd, they have an amazing selection of knobs there.

        Here's a couple more pictures:

details

Much better.

Mt. Shasta Trip

Some Pics From Our Fall Weekend Trip to Mt. Shasta
On the way down:

The Thompson Brewery and Public House, Salem, Oregon

Beautiful California! A mere 6 hour drive.

Majestic Mt. Shasta

Our wee cabin

The magic inside

The charming Dunsmuir train station

A few steps from our cabin

Decadent!

Inside Yaks

Mossbrea Falls

More Sharpie Goodness

Here are a couple of pics of my latest foray into jazzing up boring bags with my good ol' Sharpie 

the meta messenger bag

  So you may remember my first post on jazzing up boring purses http://thedelightist.blogspot.com/2013/07/say-no-to-boring-purses-with-your.html.  This was waaaayyy back a year ago when i was a blogging newbie.  And a year later here I am, I can't stop blogging or doodling on stuff for reasons I can't decipher.

yawn

Anyhow, this started out as a fairly cool but still lacking pizzazz purple messenger bag that I bought with a gift certificate I received for REI for my birthday.  Which is to say it cost EIGHTY NINE DOLLARS. Totally reasonable for a very well made bag but somewhat intimidating as far as randomly taking a marker to it.  But "no guts, no glory" so I "zenned" it out and I'm super pleased with the results.  I am really loving the silver Sharpie.  It works fantastically on dark backgrounds.  I also added a bit of detail over the silver with a black Sharpie in case you were wondering.

                     Dance Ready
  Awhile back I was in need of a hip pack. But I could only find ugly,boring and/or expensive ones.  Fortunately I was able to find this awesome hot pink purse at Target. Most importantly, it has an adjustable strap so you can wear it as a purse or hip pack. 

 Hip packs are fantastic for impromptu dance

Before

situations i.e. street fairs, or when a great song comes on at the grocery store. Basically anytime that your purse swinging hither and yon could really cramp your style.  

After!

  

Healing through craftiness!

OMG there is some crazy magic up in here!  A cool and inspiring story of cancer, healing, crafting, and intention.

 Forgive me for a kind of long post but this story was so mind blowing to me that I'm being extra careful in writing this in hopes I can convey the full sweep of the experience to you, my dear reader. Above you see pictures of a "spirit box" created by Julia, a friend and fellow mom in a workshop we participated in at our kids' school.  The original inspiration for this workshop was a project the kids did called spirit boxes.  The name pretty much says it all. Start with a wooden box. Put stuff in and on it that speaks to your spirit.  A few of the parents were so inspired by the kid's spirit boxes (which were really quite enchanting and fantastical), they talked the teachers in to having a workshop for the parents.  It was also a great vehicle for the teachers to share some of the philosophies and spirit behind the school.

    It was a perfect venue for getting out my artistic ya-ya's and having fascinating conversations with people I just met. We went pretty deep pretty fast.  Which I infinitely prefer over small talk and chit chat. We got so into making our spirit boxes that the project stretched on for a few months while us busy moms tried to find time to work on our creations at home.
  One of the moms, Julia, got off to late start so she worked on most of her spirit box at home.  But she did divulge to us at one of our meet ups that she wanted to make "healing from medical trauma" the intention of her piece as she was a breast cancer survivor.  I thought that seemed like a great intention for an art project and I was looking forward to seeing the finished piece.
  Finally, by February, we all had managed to mostly finish our spirit boxes and were able get together to talk about it.  It was so fascinating and powerful to hear about everyone's  ideas, stories, and processes, but Julia's in particular had a power and magic that touched us all.  It turns out breast cancer/chemo/surgery was not her only medical trauma.  This beautiful lady has had a lifetime of medical trauma.  When she was a toddler she got accidental chemical burns (lye) on her scalp and endured multiple surgeries to stretch the parts of her scalp that still had hair in an attempt to make her look like a normal kid. (Meanwhile, she was the "weird kid with the wig".)
  And in high school she was diagnosed with scoliosis which led to an ugly brace, surgery, a body cast, and a long stint of being bed-ridden.

  On top of her box she had decided to use some twigs she had cut off a bush growing in her yard  to represent new life and her growth through all of that trauma.  Mind you, at this time it was the dead of winter in Portland and this bush had gone completely bare and dormant.  She stuck the branches in Sculpey clay and baked the whole shebang in the oven at 325 degrees for 25 minutes per the product instructions.  She then glued purple paper mache balls on the sticks, representing the dates of all of her various surgeries.  After this her project was done but we were all having difficulty scheduling a time that we could meet up again so Julia tucked her spirit box into a dark closet for safe keeping until we finally found time to meet in February.  OK, brace yourself because here comes the awesome part:

 When Julia took her spirit box out of the closet, THE BRANCHES HAD BUDS!

  Buds! OMFG!  Despite being cut, baked, and left in the dark, life. powered. on.  Whoa, hello tear producing metaphor!  Thank you Julia for living an unbelievable life and fearlessly crafting, whether it's in the arena of art or life or the convergence of the two.    

Summertime Refreshments

The Delightist Labs Summer Cocktail Round-up: Hibiscus Lavender Syrup,  Rhubarb Bitters, and a Couple of Absinthe Cocktails

  As usual we've been hard at work here in the research and development department of the Delightist Labs Inc. and I can hardly wait to share some of our recent discoveries.  First off, pictured above we have Hibiscus Lavender Botanical syrup by Raft Botanicals and Rhubarb Bitters by Fee Brothers. Both of these products are fantastic for making festive nonalcoholic drinks, jazzing up some of your classic summer cocktails, or taking your concoction creativity to a new level.
  A favorite so far is sparkling water with a splash of the hibiscus lavender syrup.  Magenta deliciousness!  Take it to the next level and add some vanilla vodka.  Yum. It's also great (and pretty) in Prosecco or Champagne. 
   The rhubarb bitters are also fantastic in sparkling water (garnish with cucumber), Prosecco or Champagne, and that old summer standby, Gin and Tonic.  Or Vodka and Tonic if you prefer.  I have my dad to thank for this magnificent idea.
  Raft Botanical Syrups can be found at a few local shops if you live here in Portland, Oregon where it's made.  Or you can buy them online http://raftsyrups.com .  Here is the Fee Brothers' site if you can't find a bottle in your local liquor or grocery store http://www.feebrothers.com .

  

Pink and Stormy

Okay,moving on to a couple of actual recipes and what to pair them with. First up, the Pink and Stormy, a drink invented by my friend Neil in an absolute moment of inspiration at one of our R & D nights.  Thanks Neil! It's sweet, but not too sweet, fizzy, and kinda decadent.  It should be paired with a tufted velvet chaise lounge and for your listening pleasure, straight outta Paris, the best radio station in the world, FIPradio (http://www.fipradio.fr).  Just click where it says "ecouter le direct", get the app, or my favorite, listen to it via Sonos.  My god, what a gorgeously eclectically curated heap of music.  The French speaking dj's really add to the mood as well.

        Binky's Corpse Reviver No.2
  And for the grand finale, one that I recommend with great caution (because Rob's behind it): Binky's Corpse Reviver No.2.  You've been warned.

  As this is based on an old classic hair of the dog recipe (yep, it was a breakfast drink back in the day) I would pair this with listening to  Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast about drug and alcohol abuse by just about every powerful person in history: History Under the Influence http://dancarlin.com/dccart/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=1&products_id=146 .  Jeezus, they could really put it away back in the day.  Or not.  Clearly, some poor decisions were made. And a few good ones too, despite being totally slarshed on a rock 'n' roll cocktail of substances.
  Binky's Corpse Reviver No.2 would also be absolutely delicious paired with several thousand dollars worth of Lego's.  (According to Rob.)

 So here's the recipe:
1 oz Gin
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz Lemon juice
 (fresh squeezed)
1/3 oz Cointreau
1/3 oz Blue Curacao
1/3 oz Absinthe

Shake over ice and strain into a martini glass. Fancy ice cube optional.

Cool Stuff

Cool finder
  When I was in Mexico I met a "cool finder".  These are people who are actually paid to hang out and find cool things.  This was an Aussie lady who was paid to live in a groovy surfer town and "find cool things". Before Mexico she found cool things in Paris, London, and L.A..  I had heard of these jobs and wondered if it was some sort of urban myth but apparently not.  Jeez, I would do this for free.  Oh wait, I do.  Finding cool things is one of my most favorite things to do.  So I have decided to maybe make a "things I found that are cool" a semi-regular feature here on the Delightist.  So without any further ado, here is the first thing trending for the Delightist :

    Sunset print leggings made out of recycled plastic bottles by Teeki

  These are so comfortable and well made. The waistband is like the kind on yoga pants enabling me to avoid the dreaded muffin top.  Here's where to order them online http://teeki.com.  They look like a great company. If you live in Portland and you want to see some in person or see some of the other amazing print patterns they come in, I noticed that they carry them at the fabulous Wanderlust + Wildhearts on N.E. Mississippi St.http://www.wanderlustandwildhearts.com.  

  Okay, moving on to the next thing totally trending in Delightist land: 

Unicorn horns, baby spider balls, and cosmic drift

  Every year around this time these spider webs show up with perfect little ball shaped clusters made up of a LOT of baby spiders.  These baby spider balls are all over the yard but this one really spoke to me because of it's symbolic placement in this unicorn assemblage in my front yard.  I wonder if the baby spiders band together to weave their web or if there is a mom spider who sets it all up for them?  I have no idea but another cool thing happens if you blow a little puff of air on these babies.  The spiders fan out quickly and in an orderly fashion thusly:

  Sorry, I didn't have the patience to figure out how to make a GIF of this magical happening.  Suffice to say it's pretty darn cosmic and it makes me think of the ever expanding universe.
  Okay, moving on to the third and last cool thing I wanted to share in this installment of "cool things":

     Dancing the sun up on May Day

  At my daughter's school around 30 kids study English Country Dancing as an elective. Every year their troupe "Raven's Magic" gets invited to dance the sun up on May Day with other folks who do this sort of thing. It's somewhat mysterious who even organizes this event.  It also seems to be at a different location every year, as long as it has a view of the sunrise, and you just kind of have to know about it. I found no mention of it on the internet or in social media.  The school tells me where to be so I just get up at 4 am and troop a few boxes of donuts up to the chosen promontory and absorb the festive yet mysterious vibe. I sure wish I had sound-o-vision for this picture from one of the most magical moments this year:

 A harpist had decided to take a photo of the glorious sunrise.  He stepped up to the edge and gently put down his harp so he could take a picture.  Being that it was dawn, the wind had started to kick up a bit.  Also being that it was dawn, the crowd was ever so groggily and quietly milling about.  At first, almost imperceptibly, we heard a hum.  And as the wind picked up it filled out into an eerie, multilayered, celestial tone.  The wind was playing the harp!  Wow, how absolutely gorgeous and so fitting that the elements would play us a little tune at such an earth honoring event.

  Here are some more pictures of the proceedings:

  Thank you so much to all the dedicated dancers who practiced the intricate steps and celebratory (and perhaps a bit bawdy) songs. Who jingled, sewed, beribboned, and bedecked, and who undoubtedly made certain that Spring continued to unfold at an even clip.  It has been duly noted.
  I'd like to finish with two quotes from two different novels by Terry Pratchett:

"It is hard to understand nothing, but the multiverse is full of it.  Nothing travels everywhere, always ahead of something, to break out, to move, to feel, to change, to dance and to experience--in short, to be something.
            -Terry Pratchett, "Raising Steam"

  "...the drummer beat the drum a few times and the accordionist played a long drawn out chord, the legal sign that a Morris Dance is about to begin, and people who hang out after this have only themselves to blame."
            -Terry Pratchett, "Wintersmith"



Just kidding Morris Dancers, you were awesome.
                                              

My happy place

Retreat.

Hello all.  Life has been pretty hectic lately, thus no posts for awhile.  But I just had to share a picture of the lovely wisteria in my backyard.  She is about ten years old and getting more magnificent each year.  

Finding the magic

It's Spring Equinox. Stop, drop, and OM.

  My last post http://thedelightist.blogspot.com/2014/03/year-of-wood-horse-talisman.html got me reminiscing about some of the other ba-jillion times I seemed to randomly find something absolutely brilliantly symbolic and/or metaphoric, causing me to say to myself, "wow, I'm up to my tits in deep magic here."  Being that we're right on top of Spring equinox, I thought I would share the story of the artwork pictured above(and below)and how I created it.

  It all started about 5 years ago, a few days before that year's Spring Equinox.  I was walking through the neighborhood with Ruby when she was at an age when she was constantly finding "treasures" on the ground that were very important and I absolutely had to save them in my purse.  A purse that was starting to bulge with pinecones, stones, bottle caps, and other cool detritus that a five year old finds fascinating and collectible.  Anyhow, as we were crossing the street she bent down and picked up the letter "O" pictured above. In case you didn't recognize it, it's one of those linking toys for babies and toddlers that one could use to make a chain and perhaps attach a pacifier to the stroller. It was a little worse for wear but into the purse it went where I promptly forgot about it.  
  Until two days later, on the Spring equinox when I was walking in a completely different neighborhood and I looked down to find an "M" shaped linking toy.  I didn't even know they made M's!  I thought they only made O's.  But how else are you gonna spell OM? Right?
  Anyhow, to commemorate this juicy gift of symbolism from the Universe I had to incorporate it into an art piece.  Ever since I became a busy mom I've been making my artwork by starting out with second hand paintings.  Just a little time saving trick I came up with.  A couple of weeks before, my neighbors happened to be getting rid of this velvet beauty with the maiden and the wolf.  So I painted the frame bright blue, glued the OM and some other tchotchkes to it, and added some painted polka dots for good measure. 
  Looking at it I am reminded to stop, drop inside, and go to the OM place.  Or the HOME place. Stillness. Balance.  Like the equinox. The balance between the play of seasons and day and night.  To me there is always a magic about the time around the equinoxes.  The stillness feels still-er but somehow fuller too. Like a deep, deep pause and preparation. Renewal. Connection. Unconditional.  Love.

year of the wood horse talisman

I actually found this piece of driftwood on the beach with a hole in it and the letter "H" bored into by an insect apparently cosmically attuned to symbolism.

  So when I was in Mexico http://thedelightist.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html a few weeks back, taking my daily walk on the beach, I looked down and boom, there was this sweet little piece of driftwood.  The fact that it already had a perfect little hole in it was what initially caught my eye.  Upon closer inspection I noticed that it also featured a number 4 engraved into it (no doubt by a very talented bug).  But after it rode around in my pocket for awhile, the dust and sand was jostled off and the 4 turned into an "H".  Well, huh (?), I thought.

  These cool, cryptic communiques via found treasures from spirit are par for the course in my world but I was a little stumped this time. (Also par for the course.)  It wasn't until I returned home and back to my internet surfing habit that I was barraged by articles on the Chinese New Year and the impending Year of the Wood Horse. (Starting January 30, 2014) Here's a good overview from Mystic Mamma: http://www.mysticmamma.com/happy-year-of-the-horse-2014-astrology-and-insights/. To be honest, I'm not a big follower of astrology. Not that I'm against it, it's just usually information overload for me.  So to "randomly" find an actual piece of wood with an actual "H" on it, just days before the start of the year of the wood horse, well, maybe I should pay attention.  It sounds like I (we) may be in for some fun, freedom loving, action oriented, hold on to your hats, creative energies this year. But for god sakes stay grounded.  And buoyant.  Let's not forget buoyant.  Like my little driftwood friend out on an adventure that found itself on a pretty pink lucky necklace and the star of a blog post.  I just gotta stay in the saddle and hold on to the reins.  And by reins I mean intention and gratitude.  That always keeps my horse pointed in the right direction :).

Hawthorne Berry Elixir

A Wondrous and Earthy Hawthorne Berry Infusion Experiment

Remember back in October when I picked a bunch of "haws" from our hawthorne tree and decided to make a hawthorne berry cordial? http://thedelightist.blogspot.com/2013/10/pumpkin-carving-walnut-crushing-booze.html

before

  Initially I set out to make a hawthorne cordial and a schnapps.  Which is a way of saying I was going to infuse booze (brandy for the cordial and vodka for the schnapps) with the haws then add some sweetness with honey at the end.  However, when I tasted my infusion after a letting it sit for about 7 weeks, I decided sweetness wasn't the way to go.  It had an absolutely lovely, woody, earthy, but indescribable flavor that to my tastebuds, would not be improved upon by adding sweetness.  On the other hand it wasn't compelling enough on its own so I cautiously let a stick of cinnamon bark sit in there for one day.  And then added a few drops of orange bitters to round out the flavor.  These additions really brought out its essence and turned it into something one would very much enjoy wee dram of by the fireside. Perfect for sipping on a wintery evening. Everyone who has tried it has been surprised at how delightful it is. And possibly surprised by the fact that I haven't poisoned them with an unfamiliar berry.  Actually hawthorne berries are very medicinal:http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/November08/healingwise.htm. And can be used in many different ways:
http://wildcrafty.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/what-can-i-do-with-hawthorn-berries/.   I will definitely be doing this again next fall.  Maybe I'll even branch out into making the jam.

Snow Days Portland Style for the Newbs

  Hi all. Greetings from frosty ass Portland, Oregon. We are currently encrusted in multiple layers of intricate crystalline structures. Oh.    I mean snow and ice.  It probably won't last much longer though.  It's just not our thing.  Sorry snow, it's not you, it's us. We really lack commitment and apparently so does the snow. It hardly comes around anymore. We only plow 10 percent of our streets.  We barely have the energy to salt or sand. We just need our space man. But it was great while it lasted.
  Lots of folks have moved to Portland in the last few years and we really haven't had a snow/ice "event" in 5 years so I think it's a good time to review snow day etiquette. First and foremost snow day = mental health day for the vast majority of Portlanders.  I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything but if you're a "non-essential" worker you really need to stay home.  Look at it as a get out of jail free card. Bonus: almost everyone is aggressively cheerful due to the surprise mental health day and impending fun.
  Rob (the husband) grew up here and wanted me to pass on these helpful hints:

RE: Snow.

Facts:

1) The City of Portland does not salt the roads when it snows.  ( See all the old cars that are still around, love them for their artistic values, or hate them for their lack of gas economy, and the safety features of a brick, they are still around because of the no salt attitude ).

2) The drivers in the City of Portland do not know how to drive in the snow.  This is not strictly true, but we mostly lack these basics: snow tires, snow chains, practice driving in the snow, salt ( see above ).

3) We have hills.  When it snows, all side street hills are reserved for sledding, all major street hills are reserved for people who like to slide their cars into other cars, street signs, and other ( soon to be ) debris. (Okay, the hills are not "officially" reserved. It's just an unwritten rule -Jen)

4) Four wheel drive will not help you stop.  Driving fast just because you have a four wheel drive vehicle may lower your intelligence quotient and increase your damaged vehicle ownership.

Solutions:

1) Go home and have a "snow day".  Get a bottle of scotch on the way by the grocery store ( or, whatever, more beer, but beer can be heavy to carry while wandering around in the pretty snow covered city ).

1a) Go home before the snow starts.

1b) Seriously, get the fuck out of work and go home before everyone else decides to go home and you get stuck on a freeway watching the gas tank slowly empty as you stare at the back of the same car that is artfully cutting back and forth in front of you making no more progress than the other car that slid off into the ditch.  And the pretty snowflakes fall.

2) You may think you can drive in the snow, you may have been able to do that in your home state ( California? ), but we have things here that you did not have there.  We have hills, we have no salt, and we have other drivers that do not know how to drive in the snow, who are now between you and your destination.  They have run out of gas, and are abandoning their cars in the middle of the road / freeway / that hill that you need to have momentum to get up, or, at the bottom of the hill you just started down.

3) Walk.  To the store, to the liquor store, to the bar.  Preferably, go to a bar that has a good view of a freeway on/off ramp.  Or one with the Snow-pocolypse playing on the TV.

4) Keep the streets clear for essential personnel : fire brigades, bartenders & barista's, grocery store workers ( sorry, grocery store RESOURCES/TEAM PLAYERS/OTHER workers but you're our lifeline to beer and cookie making ingredients.  Thank you for your service.), police, the sheriff's secret police, other nebulous government agencies.

5) Once the snow has stopped falling, go sledding and wassailing ( bring the scotch )

 Thanks Rob.  Well said. Very helpful indeed.

 This just in: Rob has an addendum.  Clearly he's on a roll tonight. Here goes:

Re:

Snow in Portland:

And another thing, why do some of you insist on shoveling the show off the sidewalk in front of your house?  If you are trying to prevent injury, it's very counter productive, because, at the end of a snow event/apocalypse/happy fun cute time, there is usually a round of freezing rain, to give everything that was snow covered a nice candy coating of crunchability.  Except your sidewalk, which has become a skating rink for the unwary.

  

  Once again, thanks Rob. Clearly you have a natural, "let the snow be snow, man", shovels be damned, aesthetic.  I like that.  It seems to go with our general Portlandia zeitgeist around the handling of winter weather.  Okay everyone, back to your cookie making, knitting, sledding, drinking, sledding, sleeping, etc..

  

Mexico trip!

 Hope you enjoyed these pics from my trip to Mexico. I would like to express my thanks to the anonymous artists who created the beach art and jungle graffiti.  I would also like to thank my friend Karen for moving from a gorgeous little beach town and having six cats that needed to be moved from Mexico to the US thereby requiring the services of Renee and I to help move them. Thank you to Alaska Airlines for having an "only two cats per human" rule.  They practically forced me to take a beach vacation.  Thanks to the bartender at Bar Camaron (conveniently located near the big rope swing) who made us the "mug-o-ritas".  Also thanks to Jo Roxie, the Aussie lady who took the picture of Renee and I at yet another establishment that featured the winning swings/margarita combo.  And last but not least I'd like to thank Rob and Ruby for valiantly holding it down in Portland while mommy went off to "Camp Margarita".  Love you guys!