I just adore this living room shot by le train fantome ....
I had a gorgeous, hand built, dollhouse as a child. It was passed down from my grandparents, and I passed it down to my cousins. I always loved that in different areas of my life, I had things that matched the belongings in the dollhouse, like a little persian rug, a pitcher and bowl, a book. It made that miniature world seem a bit more real and a bit more magical.

What do cake + ganache + home made cinnamon whipped cream + shredded coconut = ?



Lamingtons!!! I made a wonderful batch of these for my birthday last Wednesday. I haven't had them since I was in Australia, and I have to say, they were sooo much better than the ones I did have there (I obviously did not have very high quality ones.) I will definitely be making these again! The recipe I used was by Benjamin Christie, an Australian chef who uses a lot of native Australian plants and spices in his food (oh I wish I had access to those!). You can also read more about Lamingtons here. Enjoy!

Dave and I love the outdoors and this last week has been so beautiful that we were able to go on not one, but two little adventures! On Sunday we went on a 12 mile bike ride around Sauvie Island, which is just a few miles outside of Portland. I've been wanting to do this bike ride for a while, so we hooked up the bike rack to the car and made it happen!

I can't wait to go explore the island again soon. After our bike ride, we got back to the car, and being rather tired, I did what only the most talented of clumsy people can do--locked our keys in the car with the car running (I thought it would be a great idea to have the air conditioning on so it would be nice and cool when we got in. It was! An hour later...). Ha! But it was an adventure no less, and Dave even treated me to a lovely sushi dinner later at Yuki Japanese Restaurant. Their sushi is AMAZING. I highly recommend the Hawaiian Sunrise roll (I think that's the right name).


On Monday, we decided to go for a hike up Mt. Tabor after I got home from work, so Dave made us a lovely little salad and we packed it into the backpack with dressing and forks and headed up the hill. Luckily, while it was pouring down cats and dogs on the other side of Portland, it was only cloudy and slightly drizzly on Mt. Tabor.

This last week has been a flurry of activity for me. Between work and creating jewelry for the OCAC Annual Jewelry Sale, I have had hardly any time to sleep or keep up with daily activities.


After having been out of "production mode" for about a year, it sure feels good to be getting back into it! I love creating mounds of beautiful pieces for others to wear. I'm really excited about the new series of work I'm doing based on endangered plant species of the Northwest U.S. I will expand my concentrations to other areas of the U.S. and North America, but it takes A LOT of research...hours and hours of searching through websites and files and photos. I am currently looking into organizations I can donate proceeds to as well, which always makes me feel great.


And now, since it is such a lovely day, I will be enjoying the sun and my weekend!

Every year, the Oregon College of Art and Craft's Metals Department holds a jewelry sale to raise funds for their Visiting Artist Fund. This money goes towards bringing in a visiting artist to teach a weekend workshop to students at the school. It is also great exposure for students and alumni, as well as a fantastic place to find great gifts for yourself or others at very very good prices.

The sale is on May 15 and 16 from 10 am to 5 pm both days. Please come by the metals department and have a look!