I Love Getting Mail

Real live comes to you by the postman kind of mail.

Who wouldn't love finding this on their desk?

Inside a pack of postcards and a note from my friend Kathy Brock.
Kathy is a little bit of a gypsy peddler.
Over the years I have bought handmade bird jewelry, stunningly gorgeous Turkish textiles gathered by Kathy herself, vintage finds from Kansas, not to mention moorish jewelry, lanterns, and clothing. We first met when she volunteered at People's Food Co-op. She has been a student of the Tibetan language and she is a collage artist and cat lover.


Hopefully, I'll take a field trip to her house sometime soon.








I love that she leaves a lot of space in her work.





I think she doodles, draws and paints over images she has collectd.



I love the beating heart/dragon imagery conjunction. However the rat in the top left corner made me a little nervous.



So I cut out my favorite part and put it in a little photo/paper box on my desk.

I think I'll buy those postcards for the store.

More Fun Mail

Here's some other beautiful printed pieces that have crossed my desk lately.

Becky will be thrilled to get this piece from Swallow announcing the new web site.

She loved this card as well. Can't wait to stock up with their goods at the New York Gift Show next month.


And of course the John Derian catalogue is always a delight.

The Gentle Dandelion

I was happily perusing my new Roger & Gallet catalogue. (Getting catalogues from great companies who really pay attention to packaging and presentation is one of the joys of being a buyer. ) And I was struck by this image.

When lo and behold, within moments, someeone walked into the store sporting this lovely tattoo.

And our customer was kind enough to let us photograph her tattoo for the blog.

It's a dandelion flower with the seedheads blowing in the wind.

Something almost anyone who has ever been a child in dandelion country can relate to.

G
Got me thinking about dandelions and so I looked up Dandelion in my Flower Essence Repertory - which talks a lot about the emotional healing qualities of flowers.
Here's what they had to say about dandelion.
"The soul needing Dandelion essence feels a natural intensity and love for life. Such individuals are compulsive "doers" who enter with great zeal and zest into many activities. Unforutnately, they can overplan and over form their lives beyond the natural capacity of the body to sustain such intensity. Furthermore, such persons may become unable to experience more contained moments of reflective activity. The unexpressed inner life of the soul and the harsh demands on the body collide to creat extreme tension, especially in the musculature. The dandelion flower taeaches these individuals how to listen more closely to emotional messages and bodily needs."
Here's a link to a great dandelion photo and a little more information.

Our New Card Sign

I wanted to spiff up our "Cards" sign which was made from cardboard cutout letters all glittered up.....Tara came up with this.

I liked it a lot

She backed the glitter letters with some tea stained stationary paper we had kicking around in the back room, black construction paper, and some ripped up cardboad. I think rubbing some black ink was involved in the process too.

It looked good and I was pretty happy but it also felt a little static.

We talked about maybe changing the spacing, centering it a little different or having it be more cattywompus.

Next time I looked over , she had just made the "R" off center and I thought it was just about perfect. So now we have a new "CARDS" sign and maybe we'll sell more cards too.

Summer Bridesmaid's Dresses

Here's a little summer linen slip dress with a touch of lace -
We think it would be a great bridesmaid dress for a casual summer wedding.

Hand made by our friends at Bella Notte in L.A.
You can custom pick from about 15 colors. But be patient, they have an eight week turnaround.

We draped it with a nubby silk scarf from Spain and a compass necklace.

Iced Tea Surprise at Pizza Research Institute

Must nourish the creative juices.

Went to the new Pizza Research Institute for dinner last night.

Big Yummy! It's huge. They converted a shipping container into their kitchen.

And their menu is as witty as ever.

Rumor has it , in the teeny tiny old space, you used to be able to bring in fresh and wildcrafted foods to trade for pizza. PRI -
the early research days. I think they have it down now.
Peaches on your pizza?

It was a pretty good slice of pie. I had grilled asparagus with fresh tomato and garlic.

But what really charmed me to no end.
Were the oh so cool ice cubes in my iced tea.

I have to find out more about those ice cubes.

All White Wedding Bouquet & Other Favorites

Feast your eyes dear reader upon the amazingly talented floral designer Julianne Harris Who just so happens to grace us with her presence many days a week...........
And has created some amazing wedding bouquets this past few weeks.

Like this modern succulent piece.

Here's a color study in purples

The bride requested stephanotis and we obliged.



Maidenhair (one of Julianne's signatures) and immature grapes that Chris grew add touches of lively green.
But coming up is my all time favorite all white bouquet.

It just slays me in it's elegance. I love the ismene (that's the white cupped flower with the long curling outer petals) which Julianne wisely surmised was available locally only in the very short window that happily coincided with the wedding. It's a lily family and I think I have seen it or a close relative growing wild on the Caribbean beaches of Mexico.

And between the sweet peas and tuberose this bouquet smelled the best - ever.

Favorite Flower of the Moment - Teasel

Here's a partial view of my backyard weed patch - er we'll call it my wildflower meadow...that sounds better. These are teasels.....and they're about 8 feet tall....books say this plant doesn't get over eight feet and I'm here to tell you , that just isn't so. I can be fickle about my flowers - loving whatever is right in front of me as though it is the only and the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.....(this could be from reading too much Saint Exupery as a child)...And so it is with the common weed named teasel - latin: dipsacus fullonom.

There's something magical about it. If you look at it carefully you see how it only flowers in rings around the head. Sometimes one ring, sometime two. And never in exactly the same place on any two heads.
And it also has this tactile quality of being very soft (the young head really is quite soft) and prickly at the same time. Maybe that's why I like it!

And look at the head on the left. See that soft purple haze across it? That may, or may not develop into the floral halo. This may be as far as it ever gets towards flowering. I find this very poignant - a flower that is only suggesting it's possibility and doing it so subtlely.

Here it is in the cooler with some locally grown, fuzzy wuzzy, lavender liatris. Who knew I would ever LOVE liatris? I can be so fickle.

Stay tuned for more favorite flowers.

Silly Girls - Clowning Around at Passionflower

How blessed are we to have the pleasure of happy go lucky children crossing the threshold of our store and finding in it ? - well let's just say there are times when Passionflower can function like a big toy box -

I like it, she's doing a monochromatic olive palette with her choice of accoutrements.

Clowning can be serious business.


And then again -


Maybe not!!!


"All the world loves a clown" - Cole Porter

Field Trip - Jane's House

Welcome to my friend Jane's house - where light and spaciousness rule.

Jane cuts my hair and she is a garden designer, mom, artist, and make you crack up kind of funny person. Here's the entrance to her side yard.

I love this shrub called corokia......

It grows pretty slowly and all spooky like. I think every yard should have a little slightly spooky, wild area.

Dang that pot looks good sitting in that cluster of sweet woodruff.

Everything is all green and lush when you first walk into Janes.

And inside she has birds chirping away in a sunroom. (How seriously old world cool is that?)


Two lovebirds in a cage in front of an oil painting ...

That painting of the river looks awful familiar. I think I go swimming there.

The birds seem happy.

to live by the river in the painting.

And these masks feel like they have popped out of the painting. It's a little trickster like.

Also note the floating frame that adds to the illusion.

I like how the dracena really inhabits the space of this painting by Adam Grosowsky (local Eugene painter made good).

Another view of the masks.

Stay tuned for future field trips to Jane's house.