Tuesday, January 3, 2012

New Year Capricorn

photo via Russh magazine

i was browsing over on fieldguided a while back and came across this utterly fantastic capricorn horoscope, that anabela commented on, devised by Susan Miller for Russh.

russh is an incredible australian fashion, beauty, arts, and music magazine.  and apparently, if i do say so myself, their astrologist has nailed it on the prediction/interpretation front!  check out how my year is bound to pan out people!  just look! :

Capricorn 2012 will be a great year to be a Capricorn. Recent years may have proved challenging. Fortunately you appear to be coming out of your difficult time and your outlook is rapidly becoming brighter. In 2012, Jupiter, the great giver of gifts and luck, will powerfully ignite your fifth house of creativity, initiating a huge trend, allowing you to come up with vibrant, original ideas. Rarely have you seen your imagination take flight in the way it will in the coming year.

The fifth house is not only your house of creativity but also your house of true and enduring love. If you are single and not dating, Jupiter in Taurus, until mid-June, will make that a banner time for meeting your one true love. Jupiter only comes by this house every 12 years, so this is news. If you feel that it is impossible to find love, and that it would take a major miracle for you to find romance, keep an open mind. Jupiter is certainly powerful and actually IS associated with miracles. If you are dating the wrong person, you are behooved to break up and start anew – it would be a shame to miss the exceptional help the universe will provide to you now!
By October 2012, you will be in a strong professional position and ready to tackle anything that life throws your way. You will see a noticeable reduction in tension. Gone will be the days that you will have to prove your worth to higher ups – you will have paid your dues and will have gained their respect.

In 2012, Mars will make an unusually long visit to your ninth house of foreign lands, higher education and learning, giving this area of life unusually strong emphasis. Your sense of adventure will be especially very strong during the first half of the year, and you will want to push the boarders of your world back, to give you a big worldview. Under this trend, you may return to college or graduate school, or volunteer to help a political candidate, you believe in. Or, you may do a great deal of reading of great thinkers, or delve into various religions of the world.

Financially, for fourteen years you have hosted nebulous Neptune in your second house of earned income. Neptune is never easy to host in a house dealing with money management, for Neptune brings its characteristic veil of confusion or mystery to whatever house it visits. Money may have been strangely hard to control. Neptune’s departure of your second house of money in early February 2012 will be a wonderful change, for finally you will be able to firm grip on financial affairs. There was one fine, upbeat exception to the rule and that is if you make your money through the creative arts. In that case, you were likely to launch your career nicely, for Neptune was working hard to help you see financial reward from your artistic expressions during that phase. Why such a different affect from Neptune? Neptune rules the arts, and in a financial house means you would gain from the arts. After Neptune leaves, you will continue to see financial rewards from your artistic expressions in future years now that you have established your contributions to your field. Neptune’s departure of your second house of money in early February 2012 will be a wonderful change, for finally you will be able to firm grip on financial affairs.

In so many ways, by the end of 2012, you will be well on your way to a more enjoyable life. You will have swept away all that is outworn and no longer effective, productive or of value to your future. In terms of the whole year, the first half of 2012 will glow brightest, with very late April and May your favorite months of 2012/ You'll be in a fine place creatively, romantically and even financially. By the end of 2012, may be more fit and healthy than you have been in years by year end. You'll feel lighter, happier and have a bounce to your step. You'll realize all that you endured was worthwhile, and you will know that your bright new future is one you had a strong hand in creating and that suits you perfectly.


 holy cow!  how much stock can i put into this?!  i want in, i want in!  yes please, cosmos and the great mystery, give me this year! 
i will definitely let y'all know how it goes! and by the way, hey baby, what's your sign?!

so what are you hoping for in the new year?  do you let the stars be your guide or do you make concrete goals, plans, and resolutions?  will you start something new? let go of something old that no longer serves you?  do tell.  and go check out your year long horoscope at russh and tell me what you think!

it's been a couple weeks of winter break over here and i'm trying to get back into the swing of having a studio and being a shop owner.  it's not easy my friends, to shift gears out of kids home, house improvements, lack of schedule, and back to the daily grind.  but slowly and surely i will get there.  treating myself to some patience and gentleness, along with a full body massage right before my first day back in the saddle!, to make the transition smoother, if possible. 
the shop is open and there are new items.  i will be having a sale soon and also going on another buying trip at the beginning of february.  stay tuned and come say hi!

reading with red wine,
xoxoxox
jennette





Friday, December 23, 2011

Gift Wrap

(this pile is for my cousin.  we spoil each other ROTTEN!, but in a really good way!)

every year my cousin, aunt, and i exchange gifts, that we have been gathering all year.  they taught me at a young age that presentation is of the utmost importance.  i am so thankful for their tutelage! 
i LOVE wrapping presents!  especially when i have a creative idea in mind to make them ultra special.  if you have been in the shop you may have noticed my collection of ribbon.  beautiful ribbon is usually a major component of gift wrapping.  but you will see here that it's just as easy to come up with other solutions to finishing off a well wrapped gift too.

(this pile is for my auntie karen.  we will get back to these in a minute.)


have you ever seen these old-school flash cards from back in the day?!  they are pretty rad!  you can see here that i used them to convey messages!




most of this set of gifts is wrapped in mulberry paper.   it comes in all different natural looking shades and with different plant material embedded in it.  i love the homemade and natural look of it!

the following few gifts just have a simple tag attached for decoration.  these awesome silhouette tags came from my favorite stationary/paper store in ballard called Lucca.  love that place!  anyways, these are cut black paper silhouettes in glassine envelopes so you can see the silhouettes and they stay protected.  i know my cousin will like these and find a good use for them!




and then of course there are always old vintage photos to use for decoration.   easy peasy!
the one above if of a beach/swimming scene.


another of a family at the beach


i love this one!  it used to hang in my kitchen!
it's two best friends gettin their drink on!


i love any photos that show costumes!


this photo is so sweet!


and i had to include a spanish moss hanging from trees photo since my cousin and i are both obsessed with new orleans.  it's our thing!


so, thus, the okra seed pack too!


so you can see, that as a group, the whole lot works together.  it's cohesive yet textured and can be enjoyed as is for as long as it takes to get them opened! 


here is the group for my aunt this year.  the "wrapping paper" is a vintage paper table cloth!  the colors are so great and the dogwood branches almost look as if they have been painted on the paper.  even though it's not super "christmasy" she will still love them!


here is a closer up detail of the paper and ribbon.  the three of use love ribbon and we often reuse the ribbon we give each other year after year. 

something i started doing a few years ago is looking for really fantastic and unusual boxes to put the gifts in.  the more vintage, the better.  and the cool box just adds another layer of beauty that makes gift opening so so fun!  some boxes have been really funny and some so gorgeous they didn't even need wrapping!  i wish i would have thought to photograph these boxes but i forgot.   i will try to remember next time!

another wrap-tastic idea is to use old tissue paper sewing patterns for wrapping the gifts into the boxes, instead of plain old boring tissue paper.  especially if you are crafty, giving to a crafty friend, or just want to surprise the recipient.
there are so many beautiful ways to wrap gifts!



including my using vintage A Christmas Story wrapping paper for the boys!  what fun!

what's your favorite way to wrap?!


i'm putting our our new SkyDain Botanicals lotions, creams, and teas out in the shop!  come check them out!  they smell fantastic and make great gifts not to mention being so nourishing to your winter skin!  crafted by the lovely goddess Simone, fellow herbalist, right here in Carnation, WA.

and please remember, the shop will close early on Saturday December 24th, i hope to be gone by 3:30, so come grab your last minute things soon!  And then we will see you when we return, after a short break, on Wednesday January 4th!

rocking out in the shop to Yule B, Swingin Too, a new orleans christmas cd,
xoxoxox,
jennette




















Thursday, December 22, 2011

Birch Bark Press


when i was running last week, i found some birch trees in my neighborhood that had shed their bark.


i have this amazing and handy wood press that suze found for me at an estate sale. 


you can see that you can just layer in the birch bark, in between sheets of paper and cardboard, and then crank and turn the press down to hold it tight and secure.


i set the press aside for a week or so


and when i took out the birch bark pieces, they were dry and flat!


now i have a pile of flat dry birch bark for projects.
yeah!

i have been feeding some other dry birch bark i have into my typewriter (in the photo above)and typing little messages.  i tear these out and glue them, very carefully, to the birch branch "tree" i have in the shop.   it takes the place of a "carved" tree trunk and its fun to find the random messages all over it.

i also love using this flat bark paper to write notes on, love letters, and poetry.  watch out friends!  i have a whole pile of birch bark now!

what would you do with it?!

nursing my christmas cookie sugar coma,
xoxoxox
jennette

p.s. don't forget, the shop closes by 4pm on Sat. Dec. 24 and reopens Wed. Jan. 4 and noon!