hand drawn note cards

there is something that makes me very happy when I get an actual handwritten note - and nothing more gratifying when I get the chance to write out a few of my own to send to friends. These are simple little paneled note cards with little hand drawn sprouts along the bottom edge, with matching envelopes that I've sprouted along the flap edge.

take out a black pen or marker and make your own note cards from blank paper and envelopes - they make a perfect last minute gift.

double cocoa sugar scrub - nibs to tags

Handmade, from the sugar scrub to the packaging! it feels so good to be able to do it all, nibs to tags. i'm doing a new monthly sugar scrub at the shop - first out is double cocoa...this sugar scrub batch is rich in powdered Dominican Republic cocoa blended with sugar and organic ground raw cocoa nibs- add in a bit of sweet almond oil, and frankly, I'd rather eat it- but it really does a fantastic job of lightly exfoliating your skin without too much oil left over for the steamy midsummer nights.






Each tag is hand drawn, the labels too!


contact or visit delishdesign to order
{quarter pints $10, half pints $20, +shipping}

first public reading of grow love!

Family Story Time @ Mark Skinner Library Features
Local Author/Illustrator Trish Weill

The Mark Skinner Library: Manchester's Public Library, presents a very special Family Story Time featuring local author/illustrator Trish Weill. On Thursday, July 30, 2009, at 10:30 AM, Trish will share her new picture book, "Grow Love," a book that is sure to warm the hearts and spark the imaginations of kids of all ages! Enjoy meeting Trish, experiencing her book, and making art yourself! This program is free and open to the public. Children must be accompanied and supervised by adult caregivers. For more information, visit the library's website at www.markskinnerlibrary.org or call the library at 362-2607.

Can't make the reading? Learn more here, or stop in to delishdesign to pick up your own copy, or have one hand colored by trish!

hand binding grow love

hand binding the book is taking much longer than expected-
but they are looking really great!
i like knowing that each one of these i have spent some serious time with.
They will be for sale soon, promise.
Do you want to know exactly when? where?
Subscribe to my newsletter, you will be the first to know!!

handknit baby hats

nothing makes me happier than making something from hand, and giving it away. when my dear mother in law told me she was knitting for a charity shop, i asked to help. these baby hats were all a quick knit or crochet, a days work for the set of four - they will be going to some very sweet and special babies out there come winter time, i'm certain!

knit with hand spun super bulky three-ply merino wool yarn- i'm in love with million colored plied yarns right now, spinning it takes eons on my mazurka wheel- and i completely don't mind when it ends up looking like this.

double stranded white acrylic and a pastel blend acrylic with a simple 2x2 rib border; hand knit.

this one is chunky bouclé acrylic filled with soft cool blues and purples knit with a lace rib border; hand knit.

double stranded yellow wool blend and a hand-dyed wool skein; hand crocheted party hat design

Talisman - Illustration Friday

most things in nature are talismans for me - i do love the little stuff. especially fiddleheads.
drawn with ink and markers.

sourdough french toast

i love french toast. anyone who knows me well, knows that i must try every french toast i come across. oh, and then re-try it. because i love it.

my favorite way of making french toast is very simple, and often you get to use up the last couple pieces of bread that otherwise might get thrown away...in my case, I used the sourdough bread I make several times a week.

eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg
all wisked up in a low bowl - dip or soak your bread in it.

the longer you soak, the tastier the french toast will be, but your bread may fall apart if it is too full of mixture, and might take a long time to fully cook through. try it out, you will find the right amount for you. i set them in for a few minutes on each side, then they hop in to a preheated pan or griddle for cooking. i like medium heat for french toast because i don't like burnt outsides.

i like cutting my french toast up into bite size pieces, toss in some powdered sugar and my bramble berry preserves that i made last fall from my berry bushes.

since it is sugaring season, its only fair to use boatloads of fresh maple syrup if you can get it!
i'm lucky to have some very sweet neighbors in the business for many generations - if you have not hit a sugaring house, you are missing out.

now again this french toast recipe could be changed to kahlua, or chocolate chip & coconut - or apples & cinnamon....you get the drift. mix it up, i do all the time, i love french toast. especially on sunday mornings.

POISE - Illlustration Friday

This week's Illustration Friday theme is Poise - I can think of no better creatures than owls that reflect this theme best, on so very many levels.
This owl was originally drawn in ink, then scanned and digitally colored.
Happy, Happy Friday.

puddle ducks for spring!

Mud, rain, ducks, sprouting plants all about. I'm in love with Spring. To commemorate my happiness during this most hopeful of seasons and in tribute to one of my favorite authors, Beatrix Potter, I've designed & created a very cute leetle French puddle duck hand knit toy.


This particular series of ducks are very special! This yarn is a pure 100% cotton bouclé yarn from France - in the softest sweetest spring colors. Each puddle duck averages 12" wingspan, and also 12" from head to webbed toe. I use multiple strands of yarn to knit each duck, then stuff them with more of the same matching yarn... 100% cotton toys make me happy! These techniques allow for each duck to feel like soft terrycloth.

Each duck is a very limited edition, one-of-a-kind hand knit toy with vintage yarns- once each yarn(color) is gone, it is gone. If I cannot meet your first color choice, I will be in touch for a second choice. Every single toy is handmade by me here in Vermont.

So far I've made one color puddle ducks and two-color puddle ducks.
The colors currently available are butter yellow & mint green, or all butter yellow, or all mint green. Contact me if you would like a custom color/size.


My leetle French Puddle Ducks can be bought for $50 each, with shipping included to anywhere in the US. Need yours in time for Easter Basket delivery? Please be sure to order by April 1st so I can whip it up for you in plenty of time.

Color options

Butter Yellow $50.00 Mint green $50.00 Butter yellow & Mint green $50.00

Illustration Friday - Subtract

I often subtract faces from the dolls and drawings I make - I like for others to be able to color, draw or imagine exactly what they wish from my drawings too.


the dollies print

fiddlehead soup recipe

I'm a seasonal food person for sure, and have a serious penchant for fiddleheads in spring.
fiddlehead soup. it is still too cold here for the fiddleheads, but I keep one serving frozen from last season just for this recipe, when I need a serious dose of spring memories. like last week.

this is a simple recipe, I make it to taste, not by measurements, so try it out and have fun!
fiddleheads frozen, thawed (fresh works too, be sure to boil to soft consistency)
milk, cream or substitute
romano cheese
garlic, chopped/diced - if you dont care for chunks, garlic powder does the trick too.
pinch of salt



Directions: cook it all up, dont get it boiling, there is milk in there :) then eat it.

this is also an amazing sauce to put over pasta - the ferns uncoil to make little green noodles.
I'm sure you could also puree this whole mix to make baby food or insanely awesome bread dip.

fiddleheads are the delicious edible fern coils that have a short spring season. I'm very lucky to know a couple folks here in southern Vermont who hook me up so I'm not foraging high and low for them, all I need to do is grab a bag and start prepping. Lots of prepping. but these little green guys are fresh only a few weeks out of the year, so enjoy it! Trim off the ends of each fern, pluck /rinse away any debris. It is easiest to think of fiddleheads in terms of pasta - in order to get them to edible state, you need to soften, at the very least par boil them to freeze for later. Oh, and salt the hell out of them. Boiling takes the bitterness and the extra brown stuff off. The water looks um, well, gross when you're getting close to done - I like my fiddleheads "al dente" in pasta terms....others like mushy and soft - I get you! my favorite recipe with fiddleheads include sliced oyster mushrooms, garlic, some good butter, white wine and a saute pan. thats it.


PS - if you want to go foraging for your own, that is awesome! keep check on how many you forage on any one plant, 3 heads max on a plant or you may do damage to the future health of the ferns.

NEW TOY: handknit mermaid art doll

Madame Mermaid is 100% hand knit and felted wool -
Her hair has been hand dyed and hand spun by me on my spinning wheel.
This doll has a lots of hair - I like being sure every doll I make has tons!

This Mermaid art doll comes with a 100% wool, free form crocheted mermaid tail, a 100% wool skirt to match her hair, glass bead bathing top, and a little seaweed boa.


She also has a hand decorated box she travels in - you can check her out in person at Manchester Hot Glass studio & Gallery starting this weekend - or feel free to email me for more details on the Mermaid, or how to get a doll made of your very own!

Vase Sale at Manchester Hot Glass

Large or small, all in-stock flower vases 25% off!
In honor of winter fading slowly away, from now through April 12th 2009,
mention this post at Manchester Hot Glass Studio & Gallery,
and SAVE 25% off all flower vases in stock in the shop!
From Marbled to Flat bud vases for a few stems or web vases for huge bouquets,
to the luminous cylinder vases or striking etherial ones,
he has the right color, size and shape in stock for you and for gifts!

Illustration Friday - legendary

i positively LOVE this week's theme, legendary! mostly because i love to read folk tales, legends, and stories passed down to us from well beyond our years.... much of my personal illustration reflects little worlds i've built up in my mind from every sweet and scary tale i've read. this particular illustration i call mountain village - a sleepy little place full of adventure potential for a folk character to run a muck, or save the day!

sunderland sourdough

water, flour, glass jar and a little bit of patience. add some commercial yeast to make life easier.
the key to successful sourdough is the care of your starter! like anything else, needs to be fed and cared for. our current starter is a month or so old, and we have made a few great sourdoughs, and plan to keep up our starter for many more!




absolutely everyone who makes sourdough does something different in one way or another - my advice is to google a bit on sourdough starters, but really, just try it out - trial and error sometimes brings out better results than following someone else's directions to a T - every sourdough starter is one of a kind.

NEW recycled hand knit rag toys!

They are made up of recycled cotton flannel strips, ripped and tied into yarn, then knit by hand and stuffed with more recycled cotton flannel. Every toy is one of a kind, particularly because I do not use patterns (but I am working on making them up for a knitting pattern book one day!)


I like to think my place is like a garden for the toys, starting out as something entirely new from older times- a place to come to germinate, grow and get ready to go on their next adventure!
These creatures are the bunny rabbit, the birdy duck, and the giraffe.
I'm certain to try out a butterfly next. Also planning to make other scrap fabric yarn toys....
how about 100% recycled silk, or funky upholstery?? yummy.


hit up my shop for more details and lots of photos!

my favorite Handmade dress Makers

All courtesy of etsy! This handful of artists are just a sample of the amazingly talented independent clothing designers out there that I love, particularly for dresses. These are all handcrafted clothing shops, perhaps offering new product with your custom measurements, or inventively re- and up-cycled from vintage pieces galore! Many of these products are very eco and environmentally friendly too!

gaiaconceptions.etsy.com
ArmoursansAnguish.etsy.com
CrowsCloth.etsy.com
econica.etsy.com
kimenna.etsy.com
hollystalder.etsy.com
malphi.etsy.com
trapperjane.etsy.com
missbrache.etsy.com

find designers who's taste and style you love, but also keep in mind your body type. We all have our own unique figures - show it off the best way you know how! Dresses are so much more forgiving than pants - you will never have the dreaded muffin top with a dress, I assure you. Also, ask yourself if the frock you pick out can be used in more than one season- whether it is seasonless, or through layering! I like trends as much as the next girl, but when it comes to clothes, I like to keep 'em simple, stylish and modular. I find working trends with layers or accessories tends to be a little less painful on the wallet.

leftover spinach salad omelet

Any day I can make an omelet for breakfast is a good day. Any day I can recycle last night's salad into a omelet is even better!

This only works if you don't put dressing on your main salad, dressed salad gets icky too fast to reuse in the morning. The greens really need to be spinach, kale, collard- any green bit of goodness that is good cooked.

My salad leftovers were whole baby spinach leaves, chopped broccoli, slivered almonds, hemp and flax seeds. Tons of vitamins, minerals and protein for a busy day ahead.

I threw all that into a pan with a bit of olive oil on medium heat and got it all nice and wilty (i'm sure that is not a cooking term)

In the meantime, take two eggs, scramble with salt and pepper in a bowl with a whisk.
I use one yolk, two whites, you should use however much you need for your family, or for the amount of leftover salad you want to use.

Pour in the egg mixture once your salad is "wilty". Scrape your omelet into the center until it starts creating a solid mass - cook it up on both sides, toss on a bit of shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese if you wish, then fold up and let melt for a minute or so. flip it once more for good measure, and voila!

It always makes me happy to make the most of my food, waste not, want not!
What could you throw in to your omelet this morning?

the sunflower handspun beret

From the top down it resembles one, doesn't it? Some in part to the colors, but mainly got its name from the textural pattern of the staggered fishnet lace.



the top part of the hat is fine commercial wool, beautiful heathery browns, flecks of reds - the funky thick and thin green/amber/blue is hand dyed, hand spun yarn. the second it came off my wheel i started knitting with it...this yarn knew exactly what it wanted to be when it grew up...part of a gorgeous little beret!

thick and thin handspun yarn looks amazing used in simple lace patterns with big needles. cozy, funky, but also delicate and pretty. it begs to show off, so i let it!

Want to know more? Email me or visit my online shop, where you can view details sizing, see more pics, buy this exact hat, or custom order one of your own!

writing patterns - giraffe

I have finally begun my pursuit of writing down the knitting patterns for each of my different toys and creatures. So many to write- the task is certainly daunting. I want to be sure to create patterns that allow for the most creative leeway for each knitter, but still give specific details and guidance on the process of making a creature precisely like mine.

First up, my giraffe twiglet. the giraffe is super cute, I have knit it in a variety of sizes, shapes, yarns... each have been successful and unique!
I really thought it would be a simple writeup.

A few realizations:
Writing a giraffe pattern takes WAY longer than knitting one. WAY LONGER.
I was shocked how much I wrote. {4 pages- on a little KNIT creature?}


After dictating it back to myself twice, I updated and fixed the first draft for test knitters. And off it went. Only a few small fixes to start, and the knitters were knitting!

Another realization: It is SO cool to have someone else knit your pattern! Even better is to SEE someone's interpretation of your pattern! I was pretty awestruck, to be honest. Another knitter totally understood and followed how I create! odd concept I know, but so very cool for me.

I have a couple more patterns in progress, nearly set to try out - anybody want to be a knitting guinea pig?
If you have a real confidence in DPN's, you will love these!

Fairy angels


bunny rabbits

hat from scratch - from the fiber to your head

This custom handspun lace rib hat was so much fun to make- and it was completely from scratch! Sweet, soft, snug and supercool! So much goes in to making a hand spun hat - I love every single part of the process, each offers me different ways to express my creativity.

Planning a hat from scratch:
I started with three wools - I hand dyed some white wool to teal, raw local unprocessed wool locks dyed to olive- the grey I left natural. I took the three and ran them through my drum carder to blend them up - sort of like making a paint color - the more you blend, the more even your color becomes. I carded(brushed) this batch at least 8 times - I wanted the grey and teal to be very combined, and did not add in the olive locks until the 6th carding or so - to offer some standout between the primary teal grey heathered blend. Once I got that where I wanted it - on to the wheel!

Most fibers that I run through my drum carder are formed into rolags(rolls of fiber) - fun to spin from directly, no other special prepping, which I love. I spun this up quick, I knew I wanted it to be funky - some super thick spots, super thin ones - some nips and noils from the olive wool locks - it needs to have character like its owner :)

Once I had it spun up, I set the yarn's twist in a bath of warm water and lavender, hang out the yarn and let it dry. Time to figure out what I'm knitting with this!

I knew the pattern I wanted to use for the detail edging - a sweet lace rib pattern - practically speaking, it offers give on the head, and if worn as a beret, it holds on. This pattern also offers a feminine detail of a lace pattern between the ribs.
Oh, and double bonus, that hat is completely reversible!

I used big needles to let the yarn show off - each part of the hat has interesting detail, lacy, delicate, but super soft and warm. I wasn't expecting the soft delicate edging that came about, but it is a very pleasant addition, something I plan to recreate very soon for my shop!

NEW snail toy design!

brand spankin new design and pattern! i've been wanting to knit more insect/bug toys, and I'm loving knitting up little worlds for my creatures(see mushroom post, coming soon!) so on that note, take a gander at my brand new knit toy snail!

shes a sweet little slimy one(not REALLY slimy, just softy) super fun, and her hand dyed pink shell can slide right off. There is a leetle hiding spot in her shell for all your treasures!

I'm hoping to create a few more shells, so then every snail can change depending on their mood - there we go, mood shells!

this sweet snaily is natural handspun grey wool, handknit and felted - her shell is hand dyed peruvian wool, handknit and felted.

Currently she is a one of a kind, but if you love her and want a snail of your own, or any toy of mine, email me!

blt

how lucky am I to be handed this for lunch? prepared from scratch, including the bread! had to take pictures. best husband, EVER. yes, I know I am biased on that :)

hope your Friday is full of fun and frippery!