Anodyne Design

Back to Work

Shannon — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:19:51 +0000

I’m working on a project tonight. It’s been awhile since I’ve made anything. I’ve been spending time working on other projects for a little while, like painting furniture and reading books. Oh, and cleaning my office. The disorganized state of my space really made me feel like I couldn’t make anything. Now it’s in pretty good order, and I feel free to create again. So tonight, I’m working on a stack of… well, I’ll show you when I finish them.

Oh, I also spent a bunch of time last week taking photos and updating the shop. I’ll be stocking new items in there this weekend, too.

Mmm, samosas.

Shannon — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:26:40 +0000

Seriously, yum. These samosas are delicious. They take a fairly significant time investment, but really aren’t that difficult to make. And they are so tasty, they are worth. every. minute.

Market Photos

Shannon — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:18:29 +0000

A couple of photos from last weekend’s market. I love all these colors.

Anodyne Design will be away for the next two weekends. I’ve got a new baby to meet and friends to see! I’ll be back in time for the last RiverFront Market on September 24th. Hope to see you there!

An Owl Wedding

Shannon — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:49:19 +0000

A couple of dear friends of mine got married last October, and they asked me to make their wedding favors, a massive parliament of Little Hootie Owls.

Each guest received a box upon arriving at the reception. The box was labelled with their table number and contained a Little Hootie Owl. We also decided it would be a good idea to make Big Hoot owls for the bride and groom.

They sort of served as off-the-cake cake toppers, or maybe, a guard of honor for the cake? I love to think that the Big Hoots and the Little Hooties made a sweet little memento that people will actually keep. Something worth holding on to, that serves as a warm reminder of a lovely day. Not that little bags of jordan almonds aren’t totally awesome or anything.

Thanks, friends, for letting me be a part of your wedding.

Carrots

Shannon — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:03:05 +0000

Fresh carrots from The Garden Spot at the RiverFront Market yesterday.

Not a snap to be found…

Shannon — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 02:12:51 +0000

When I went to get out my snaps to finish off this pretty stack of card wallets, I discovered I only had 3 heavy duty snaps left. And they’re apparently not so heavy duty anyway. The first one I installed broke off the first time I tried to pull it open. Anybody got a good heavy duty snap recommendation?

Update: Nevermind. My heavy duty snaps are just poor excuses for snaps. I tried with some simpler pearl snaps, and every wallet is now finished, and plenty sturdy. First dibs at tomorrow’s farmer’s market. Second dibs on the website probably on Sunday.

Of Elephants and Frogs

Shannon — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:00:52 +0000

I have a fixation I didn’t even know about. It started with this teapot.

Seriously, how excellent is this? It’s an elephant teapot. I didn’t really need it. Even when I drink tea, I almost never use a teapot. But when I saw it in the store, I loved it.

I was responsible. I didn’t buy it. But I kept thinking about it. Which of course meant I needed to go back and buy it. So I did.

Then, on my quest for a vintage snail planter I once saw on Etsy (what, I didn’t tell you about my quest? I’ll save that for another post.), Ebay told me I needed this:

That, my friends, is a gravy frog. And I needed it. Again, my cooking doesn’t involve a lot of gravy, or any separately served sauces, really. But how could I possibly go on without a froggy gravy boat? So I bought it.

When I went to take a picture of the frog to show my excellent Ebay find, I remembered the elephant teapot. And that is how I figured out I have some sort of weird animal serveware fixation. I don’t seek it out. These things find me. What comes after an elephant teapot and a gravy frog?

I can’t even imagine.

Summer Squash

Shannon — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:14:35 +0000

I have to file this one away to remember. Our CSA share today included summer squash, which became the tastiest side dish tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever prepared summer squash on its own before. But sauteed with CSA onions and garlic, and finished with sea salt, pepper, butter, and fresh basil, it was so delicious. I’m going to have to do that one again. Yum. I’d share a picture, but we ate it all up.

Vertigo Exercises

Shannon — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:05:08 +0000

Apparently I have vertigo because I’ve angered the crystals in my ears. Or they’re out of alignment or something. It’s hard to understand, because I didn’t even realize I had crystals in my ears until my doctor told me I’d messed them up. I feel like I have align my chakras now. But I don’t even know what that means.

Actually, what I need to do are the exercises illustrated above. There’s no medication for vertigo (except meclizine for motion sickness, which I seem to be immune to.) Instead, you do these rolling-around-in-bed exercises, which make your ears happy, and re-align your ear crystals. Maybe. In a few days.

Vertigo

Shannon — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:07:42 +0000

I’ve had vertigo all weekend, but I’ve still managed to make it somewhat productive. Saturday, I went out the farmer’s market, and despite the heat it was a good morning. Of course, then I wasted most of Saturday afternoon taking a post-market nap. I used up a bunch of CSA veggies making Curried Chickpeas and Rice (tasty, but I think maybe it needs a can of diced tomatoes added next time) and Kale with Sundried Tomatoes and Chickpeas. We are big chickpea fans around here.

Today, I started working on 18 new card wallets made from recycled fabric (a.k.a., old pants. Recycled fabric sounds nicer, doesn’t it? The pants were fine, just a little frayed at the hems, and perfectly clean, but still… which would you rather, “recycled fabric,” or old pants?)

I also finally got myself out to see the last Harry Potter movie, and was surprised to see I wasn’t the only one at the theater. I was a little wary about going to a movie while feeling dizzy, but fortunately if I stare straight ahead, I do alright, and there were only a few dizzying scenes in the movie.

I’m wrapping up the night by baking Pumpkin Spiced Cookies (no icing necessary), after getting all inspired by JCasa *handmade’s post mentioning pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and finding a can of pumpkin hiding in the back of my cupboard.

Now, if only I could lose this vertigo. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s been hanging around for a few days now, and I’m tired of feeling at sea.