young designer::erin lightfoot...

Our family has a huge soft spot for Erin Lightfoot. She was the first friend Jess made when she went off to a new high school not knowing a single soul. I'm still not sure I've been forgiven for that! They sat together in the cavernous assembly hall and they've been friends ever since. Even survived weekly after school flute lessons together. And a whole pile of other things I'm sure it's best I don't know about!

Now there is another reason to love Erin...not that we need one. Look at the amazing fabric, clothing and jewellery she is designing. 

Erin was recently featured on the Finders Keepers blog. You can read her interview here.

Now Erin, when I come off my self imposed 100 day don't buy anything I don't really need challenge, there's this chair I have that needs some new fabric...

and those beautiful bangles would make some nice gifts too don't you think :)

That's Erin on the right, my girl in the middle and their friend Matt. I may get shot for posting that. But I'm overseas so they'll have a hard time finding me:)
You can see more of Erin's wonderful work on her website...

images of erin's work from her website; family snap by me 

I'm on Misako Aoki's book!!

On 2009, the japanese model Misako Aoki came to Barcelona as "Kawaii embassor" from Japan, and with Yu Kimura, they were at the first Tea Party fom the japanese brand "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright".

So, as today I was wearing my BSSB Halloween printed skirt (my favourite one), I discovered that Misako has released a book with her "adventures" around the world... and I'm there, with lots of pictures! If you click on the picture below, you can see it bigger! I was wearing in some of those pictures my red lolita dress, and my punk putumayo skirt in some others!

So, isn't it nice?

Polka dots top - Cache Cache

Halloween Skirt - Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Shoes - Irregular Choice

Bag - Shirley Temple

Hat - Oysho

Sunglasses - Vintage

Drawing Chairs in Iran

Since 2003 when I made my very first trip to the Middle East (Jordan, Syria, and Egypt), I have been drawing chairs in most of the hotel rooms I’ve occupied. And there have been quite a few.

I love to draw chairs for several reasons: drawing them helps me practice perspective, grounds me in the here and now (this city, this hotel room, this chair), and later helps me remember where I was and what the room looked like. I also take photos of the room and the view from the window. More grounding I suspect. And probably chronicling too.

I draw the chairs in permanent ink on little 7 x 5 pieces of paper. I carry a small bag of colored pencils, along with pens and paper. Once I’m done drawing, I use the pencils to color in the chair, just as if I were at work on a coloring book when I was young. I even try to stay inside the lines. Shadows have been interesting to me lately and I’ve been trying different ways of executing them.

I've taped the drawings into my journal which was actually, before I altered it, a book entitled Oriental Rugs Today by Emmett Eiland, a rug dealer in Berkeley, CA. So what you are seeing as the background of some of the chairs are the rugs pictured in the book. Nice, don't you think, given that I was in Iran and all.

So here they are, my chairs from Iran.

 Tehran                                                        

Hamadan

 Zanjan

Tabriz

Mashhad

Shiraz

Yazd

Esfahan

Which channel???

All this built up frustration and anger, expanding every second of the day... where could I posibbly channel it to..?? aishh.. tension jerr...

Recipe of the Week - Grilled Veggies

This week I am sharing a recipe I found from Lynn's Kitchen Adventurers. She always has lots of good recipe ideas and so I decided to try an idea that she posted. I have made grilled veggies before but never with balsamic vinegar. I have recently been using and liking balsamic on fruit and so when I saw Lynn's idea for grilled veggies using it I knew I had to try it. 

Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinegar
Original recipe: Lynn's Kitchen Adventures Adapted by: Heather G. @ Golden Reflections


1 zucchini
1 head of broccoli
1 yellow pepper, red pepper and/or orange pepper
1 pkg. of portabella mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Cut all of the vegetables into bite size pieces and place on tin foil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, enough to coat each piece of vegetable. Mix together and let it marinade for 1 hour. Place on a grill until vegetables are cooked through.

You can also use any other vegetables of your choice like onions or yellow squash. This is a great side dish when grilling out with the family and a great way to get your vegetables! Enjoy!

PRINTABLE VERSION

Be sure to link up your recipes below! Please link back to Recipe of the Week blog hop in your post or grab the blog hop button on the right side of this blog! Looking forward to seeing everyone's recipes this week!

This post is linked to the following blog hops: Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Made From Scratch Tuesday,