{white christmas}

i hope you are having an enjoyable holiday season celebrating and spending time with loved ones. i wrapped up the 2010 show season earlier this month and finished my last custom order with one week to spare, leaving me plenty of time to spend much of this week making cookies, wrapping gifts, visiting family and watching my favorite holiday movies.

we rarely get significant snowfall in north carolina, especially in december, but this month brought snow three times, including 8 inches for a lovely white Christmas. the snow started falling last night and by the time we woke up everything was transformed into a magical winter wonderland.

leaving you with a few shots from my holiday adventures and best wishes for the 2011.

{fayetteville st. tree} raleigh, nc

{pipe cleaner angel from the 1940's}

our {cat proof} "tree"

{home} for Christmas

we always eat dinner at this local diner on Christmas.  i love the kitschy retro look of it and the staff is super friendly.  somehow we always end up with the same table and waitress.

{making snow cream}

{my booth} rock & shop: durham, nc

{custom order} sterling silver, emily dickinson quote

{custom order} sterling silver, vintage typewriter key, freshwater pearls

durham art walk

i had a great time at the durham art walk this weekend, the turnout was better than expected, i met some amazing new customers, and some inspiring artists and designers.
the Arts Council Building currently has an excelletn exhibition of contemporary portraits going on called, People You May Know. my favorite of the show was a group of portraits by Jacob Cooley, which as luck would have it, happened to be right across from my booth giving me plenty of time to ponder them. i found them pleasantly unsettling {if that makes any sense}. the subject in each portrait is wearing a neutral shirt and the background is stark white, forcing you to truly see the person, simply as they appear, with no preconceived notions or distractions.
on saturday, i managed to {sneak} away from my booth for a few minutes and do a bit of Christmas shopping at Miss Maready, my {newest} obsession, and i learned that i really, really, {really} like kettle corn (which i always thought i hated). tonight i enjoyed a delicious dinner (an more importantly garlic fries) with a friend at Tyler's Taproom at American Tobacco Campus. this week is going to be insanely busy as i restock for the Rock & Shop and the Boylan Heights Artwalk in two weeks and get started on a few custom orders.

{Giving Trees} sponsored by Bert's Bees were made by local artists from recycled materials raised money for The Scrap Exchange

{Jacob Cooley} portraits, view from my booth

my {booth}

{holiday lights} at American Tobacco

{fall} fun

its november and fall is in full swing. i'm trying to fully enjoy my favorite season before its completely eclipsed by the madness of the holidays next week. weather wise, it has been quite mild so far, but we've gotten a few cool days and even had our first frost of the season and the leaves have finally changed colors. i picked up a few of my favorite vegetables the other day and tried out a few new recipes, butternut squash with sage & shallots and pumpkin cupcakes... both successes {pumpkin oatmeal cookies... not so much}.

fall foliage in the back yard

pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese icing {loves}

i'm kicking off the holiday show season this weekend at {The Durham Artwalk} i'll be in the Arts Council building from 10-5 on saturday and 1-5 on sunday.

july 4th

we decided to celebrate the 4th by heading to the fairgrounds to watch the fireworks. at the last moment we decided to watch them from the side of the road a little bit away to avoid fighting for a parking space. we found a great location, set up our chairs by the car and played with sparklers while waiting for the main event. after the show was over, we loaded up the car and took off and were home within 15 min. this is definitely the plan from now on.

this weekend, we are heading up to Asheville for The Big Crafty and i can't wait! if your in the Asheville area make sure to stop by on Sunday from 12-6 at the Asheville Art Museum in Pack Place.

happy halloween

just a few more hours and its officially halloween... my very favorite holiday. unfortunately we don't have any exciting plans this year because jackey has to work. i think i will stay in, hand out candy, watch a scary movie or two (any suggestions?) and enjoy the last of my roasted pumpkin seeds.
we picked out our pumpkin the other day and i couldn't wait to carve it and to roast the seeds (most of which are already gone). i found so many delicious sounding recipes for roasted pumpkin seeds that it was difficult to settle on just one. in the end i choose simple and basic: coat seeds with 2 tbls of melted butter, add a little salt and some garlic. spread on a cookie sheet and roast at 300 deg F for 20-25 min.
this years pumpkin carving was based on "the scream" by edvard munch.