Some Randomness...

There are a few things I wanted to tell you about, which didn't really fit in with my planned posts. 


First, my sister visiting suddenly was a wonderful surprise, and I loved being able to show her around Bethlehem! We did a lot of walking, and quite a bit of eating, and of course, photo-taking! I found some more hearts for you...

Sweet grate

Latte during our Kenyan lunch

Found during an evening walk

I took her to the cemetery, too, of course. She's heard a lot about my cemetery walks, and wanted to see it for herself. She agreed that it's a beautiful place. Also, I saw this butterfly that I tried to get a good photo of, but they're just notoriously difficult to take a good picture of. 

Taken with my iPhone, so not great

After she left on Saturday morning, I had an artist meet and greet to attend, for the gallery that my books will be shown in. I had such a great time meeting some of the artists and craftspeople from the area! They were very friendly, interesting to talk to, and they were also interested in getting together for group critiques of each other's works! I'm so excited by this! Mostly, I just enjoyed getting out of the house and mingling with creative people. It's always fun!


Lastly, I started a bizarre project that really feeds the inner archaeologist and forensic anthropologist in me. I bought some owl pellets to dissect! (In case you don't know what they are, they are the remains that owls can't digest and so they barf them out. Gross, right? The ones you buy online are usually decontaminated.) I am hoping to find either a rodent or bird skull. So far, I've found a lot of tiny vertebrae, some rib bones, what may be a partial mouse skull, and a very sore neck and shoulders... it's harder than I thought... very painstaking and delicate work! If I find anything photo-worthy, believe me, I'll show you.


I hope you're finding things around you that draw you in, inspire you and make you happy! 

Pennsylvania Treasure Hunt

Today I drove with a friend to an antique store we'd seen in passing, on our way to and from Hawk Mountain. We've wanted to return to this store ever since we saw it two weeks ago. It was completely worth the trip!

It's called Figaro's Vintage, and it's been there for 6 years. It's owned and operated by two retirees: Jeanette & Pete Carrigan. They are very friendly and out-going, and are finally doing what they love! This ecclectic store is surrounded by goodies, and filled with goodies! I took some pictures to share with you, in case you were ever in the area. It's in Lenhartsville, PA, which is only about 30 minutes from Bethlehem.

Anyone who goes into this store will find something.... it's just one of those exciting places where your imagination runs wild! I left with a couple vintage clothing pieces, two owls, two cookie cutters and a harmonica! I could have come back with much more, believe me! I was restrained because I was shopping with a new friend. Otherwise, I know I would've been very bad and bought so much more!

Loving Art

In my last post, I showed a Masked Owl print from yellowmonday, an etsy seller. I sent her an email asking about the print, and she responded that I could order it from her new shop, olive dear. She also told me that she would be happy to have me blog her shop. (Yay!) She is a wonderful illustrator! Here are some of my favorites...

I have a feeling that Brandi will like these a lot, as the artist has a fine use of line in her drawings. Also, they are so sweetly colored and appeal to the child in us. Each drawing has the feeling of an entire story... I love that about her work. 

Additional prints that I love from her original store, yellowmonday, are these...

If you enjoy these prints as much as I do, you should check out the etsy shop, olive dear, as well as yellowmonday. So much to love there, don't you think?

Look What My Search for Owls brought me....

It brought me some adorable Owl Cupcakes!
 What other kinds of cute animals have been made into cupcakes...? I know this is off-topic, but my sister's friend Mischelle made some cute monkey cupcakes on Cinco de Mayo, which this reminded me of. I LOVE cupcakes! (Note to self: Future blog on cute animal cupcakes!)


I also found another blog site called Chocolate and Steel, and she likes owls, is from LA, and makes sweet jewelry. Check out HER favorite Owl Things.... My favorite is the masked owl! I have to say that looking at him made ME giggle, too! I'm sad that he's already been sold. This would've been wonderful in my studio! As a matter of fact, I may contact yellowmonday to see if there's any way to get one made for myself as a commission request.... don't you think he's a sassy little guy? I love him!!

yellowmonday.etsy.com

 Ever since I was about five years old (that's a long time ago, by the way) I have loved owls. My parents house-sat for my aunt & uncle's friends, The Carries. They lived in Menlo Park, CA, and had an amazing home on stilts, which was on Ladera Hill, where my aunt & uncle also lived. They had an amazing collection of owl things.... I used to try to count all the owls that I could find, however, I'd always see more! They had a macrame owl that hung on the wall, and I wish I could just remember exactly what it looked like. It was probably something like this, which is vintage 1970's, and is probably the closest thing you could find to the one I saw at the Carries' house.

And speaking of macrame owls, you could make your own little macrame owl key chain, if you wanted. Check out this adorable one on Craftzine! It's precious!

Vintage owl trivet set

 My boyfriend loves owls, too. He found the cutest set of owl trivets at a second-hand store here in Bethlehem. Check them out... they are a little family of owls. So cute! 
 We also have another family of owls that we bought while we were in New Orleans from a vendor at the French Flea Market. This is quite the motley crew of owls, but we love them! They're actually made by hand in Peru, and there's no paint on them. They are carved and scored with heat. Check them out!

Peruvian owl gourds

I also found this wonderful British crafter who makes amazing creatures out of fabric. She sells her stuff on Folksy, which is like Etsy, but in the UK. 

Check out her stuff

Yes, I love owls. I love their big eyes, their mystery, their beauty. I've seen them flying around dusk in California, only twice. They are stunnning... their wing beats sounded huge above my head, causing me to look up. Wow. Seriously. And the burrowing owls that live in California are diminutive, and adorable... they'll look like ground squirrels or gophers at a glance, if you aren't paying attention! 

Image source: JournOwl.com

Oh look! A family of four! I just found out from JournOwl.com that burrowing owls are again in decline! They were doing so well, too. I just don't understand how people can not care what happens to the creatures on our planet! Why is endangerment and extinction for capital gain okay?? It's NOT OKAY. Argh! Well, it's my opinion that when you get people interested in different animals, their awareness for those animals increases. Increased awareness leads to care and concern. Especially for animals, I believe, because they are so precious and easy to love. The more that artists and crafters bring animals to the forefront of what they create, the more people will love and want to protect the different creatures. That's my thought, anyway. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. I will keep blogging about the animals, and I'll keep supporting artists that represent them. Let's just see what happens...  and I hope that you will keep animal care in your consciousness.


Blessings and love to all! xoxo