Butterflies Flit Across My Path

I recently discovered The Butterfly Book by W. J. Holland.  It was originally printed in the 1930s, but I came across the 1945 reprint.  Mr. Holland knows just about anything there is to know about butterflies.

I've selected some of these beauties to offer in my shop. Tell me what you think about them. Do you have a favorite 'fly?

I've seen these matted and framed hanging in a friend's garden room. What a lovely idea.

End of Summer Blues

It's that time of year again. We're hoping to grab the last special moments of the season. The weather the last few weeks has been exceptional in New England. We've spent a great deal of time seizing the days.

I happened across a lovely book recently that captured the adventures of two girls one summer. The book is co-authored by sisters Jacqueline and Lee Bouvier.  It tells of their summer together in Europe. It was Lee's first trip to Europe and she was happy to meet and travel with her beloved sister Jacqueline.

There are clever illustrations and stories that the girls have included in this special book I purchased a copy for myself but you could get one too. This is a hard to find book.

Thanks Sandy for noticing the link to Amazon (edited) is

broken. Amazon is sold out again!

Star Trek - My Alternate Universe

My son is obsessed with Star Trek. This is a relatively benign thing since he's 14 not 34. (Ask me how this turns out 20 years from now. ha!). He's watched countless, I mean, countless hours of all things Star Trek. He doesn't seem to prefer any flavor of show or starship - his interests are pretty eclectic.

For Christmas last year, we gave him tickets to the Star Trek Convention that is held in Boston. He was out of his mind excited.  I don't think he enjoyed it as much as he enjoys his favorite on-line game, Star Trek On-line (STO).

And on the horizon is a new Star Trek adventure, Star Trek Timelines, which will launch in early 2015. We met the producers at the convention. They were awesome. Into the theme, but dedicated to creating an experience that explored the science and adventure part of the Star Trek mythology. Less emphasis on conquering and invading new worlds.  It should be a great adventure, if they pull it off.

We've even found space themed restaurants to continue the obsession in the physical world. In fact just today, we enjoyed lunch at Flying Saucer Pizza in Salem, Mass. It is themed up to the hilt with space. Especially poignant today was seeing the autographed photo of Robin Williams from his Mork and Mindy days.  We ordered an amazing pizza with burratta, meatballs, sauce and cheese. Over the moon good.

Tonight we're looking to watch Start Trek Into Darkness. And happy days, its available on Amazon Prime. It's a great riff on the Kirk/Spock years. We'll enjoy it one more time tonight!@#!

The Third Dimension of Creativity is only a Click Away

Have you ever been inspired to create something really amazing.  Well there is new technology that allows anyone with a good idea to create something totally unique. 

I went to a conference last year, Hello Etsy. A panel of creative types were describing the new trends in the maker-sphere that most excited them. Several panelists identified their top creative trend to watch as 3D Printing.  In fact, one participant mentioned he had his own 3D printer at home so his daughters could create their own doll furniture.  Amazing!

And now one year later, in my neighborhood, there is a local 3D print shop.  I walk past it every day and marvel at the objects that people are creating.  And if you don't live near a 3D print shop, you can use your favorite massive on-line shopping conglomerate as your virtual local print shop.
Shop Amazon 3D Printing Store - Unleash Your Creativity in 3D Style

Having Fun WIth Your Food - Bento Box Beauty

I discovered an amazing addition to my culinary tricks. A square mold for hard boiled eggs. What will they come up with next?

I know it sounds silly. And, I'm the only one in our household who has fallen in love with the idea.  And no, the eggs don't taste any different

After I bought my molds, one is labeled "egg" and the other is labeled, "appetite", I discovered there is actually a wide array of molds - in animal shapes, and heart shapes. And so on.

I found my square eggs on Amazon. But I imagine you can find them in your local kitchen specialty shop.

Bon Appetit!

Fun in the Sun - Summer in the City

Vacation man

I created this series of assemblages that thematically revolve around water and recreation. It took a little crafting but I'm pleased with how they came out. Mostly I am playing off some version of enjoy life, enjoy some downtime.

Although I couldn't help at least one social commentary piece. But that's okay too.

Cooling Their Heels

Checked Out

A small amount of resin, a perfect pose and an expressive shell or container. Voila, a mini sculpture. Visit Vacation Man.

On a Wing and a Prayer - Retro Cup and Saucer

I love a beautiful cup and saucer. I sip my coffee at a more leisurely pace from a cup.

A mug is a fast gulp, not a slow savour. I stumbled across this beautiful Red Wing Lotus Bronze pattern in one of our local shops last week. I thought it might suit me just fine.

When I got it home, even though I was still very much in love, I realized that the maroonish red color clashed with my kitchen. And even though I'm not a matchy-matchy kind of person, I couldn't really harmonize the c and p with my kitchen.

So, I am forced to place the beautiful set in my JBling etsy shop where someone can become the proud owner of this lovely item.  View more details.

British Life in Pictures - English Wildlife

Recently I found a few great books featuring British life.  My favorite this week features English wildlife with charming illustrations and pictures along with retro commentary.  The book series dates back to the 1940s and is part of a really charming series.

Written in a past that seems so naive and fresh. The opening passage of this book seems so sweet to my American eyes. "An American cowboy on his first visit to Britain sat amazed as he looked from his railway carriage on his journey from Plymouth to London."  What American cowboy??

F. Fraser Darling is the author. The illustrations are charming and well produced in colors true with fine lines.
For a limited time, I have a copy of this book in my shop take a look here.

Fabulous Fourth - New Yummy Project in the Works - The Kraut Works!

Update dateline August 22.  How did the Kraut Turn Out? It is divine. Crunchy, flavorful and really homey.  Since I used only sea salt, water and cabbage, it doesn't have the tang of processed krauts.  I've already started a new batch
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We've been keeping it simple this weekend. Staying close to home and enjoying some much needed rest. 

I do have a project up my sleeves for tomorrow. I gathered the necessary equipment and ingredients yesterday. And tomorrow I will give it a go.  Drum roll please. . .

I'm going to make a big batch of sauerkraut. The recipe is amazingly simple: cabbage, sea salt plus anything else you care to include. I'm going to throw in some garlic, some fennel, some caraway seeds and a little orange peel. 

The recipe takes from one week to one year. (I don't think I can wait a year!) 

I bought one of those old timey crocks yesterday at the hardware store.  If I had some ready cash I would have bought my crock from Ogusky Ceramics. See what I mean here:
Handmade Ogusky Ceramic Crock

Anyone have some tips on successful kraut making. I'm all ears!

Retro Collage Fun - Happy Retro Style

This winter I got out my tiny little scissors, my stacks of retro ephemera and I returned to collaging.  I had accumulated so many bits of fun ephemera I was just itching to do something with them.

My first idea was to develop around a thing. And since the magainze ads were so conscipously aspirational around the desire to accumulate wealth and possessions, that was my first idea.  But I tossed it in the trash like so many other great ideas that don't work except in your head.

I then focused on all the happy people in the ads and thought maybe I should just go with that flow. Without any irony but just see if I could find a way to enjoy their happiness. 

Here is one of the collage boards I just finished. I'm quite proud of the way it turned out.

It's an Atomic Life!

Imagine you were an astronaut. Where are you going? What have you seen?  Back in the 60s every child's imagination was in space.  We all imagined we would be living the life of the Jetson's by now.  And now with Iphones andGoogle Glass maybe we are there already.

I've recently fallen for Atomic design.  I found this great wall clock that embodies some of the best of atomic. Bright, cherry red color. Lovingly compact design, square and centered.

Imagine you were sitting on the edge of the moon and staring back at earth.

Find the clock.
 

Start a Collection - Art Books for Everyone

Do you love art? Do you want to know more about it. Start a collection of art books. There is a such enormous variety of art. It's good to just jump in and start to look at everything.  You could, however, go about learning in chronological order. Start with cave dwellings, and 5th century BC Greek masterworks and end with WeiWei.

It doesn't really matter how you take this on. But it is hugely rewarding, and can be so much pleasure to take in beauty, or be challenged by art tension.

This past year I added an art book lovers book club. You can subscribe to a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription from the best my JVoyage shop has to offer. Find out more.

Books Make Great Gifts

I was inspired to offer a new item in the shop this month.

A Vintage Book of the Month Club. I think of this as a great way to find books without leaving the comforts of your own couch.  I offered several flavors and sizes of this concept in my JVoyage shop.  You can choose a genre, a time period, hard back or paperback.

It's all good. I am lucky to live in a town with more than 200 colleges and universities. What does that mean? The library shelves of all these academics are teeming with books. The books come spilling out of homes on Beacon Hill and Back Bay.

I tend to favor the old vintage books that are covered in leather or marbeled papers. But like the saying goes, "there is no such thing as a bad book".

I've enjoyed putting together the monthly shipments for the many generous customers that are buying for themselves and buying for others.

Vintage Book of the Month Club
Vintage Art Book Club
Vintage Cookbook Club

My favorite category is called, "Surprise Me". Several of my customers have said they enjoy the adventure of discovering something new and unexpected on their doorstep each month.

Do you have a favorite genre?

Spicy and Nice - Rubs for All Seasons

Here's the next new thing I've been playing around with: spice rubs. I've tried a couple of really yummy combinations. A cumin rub that's both tangy and slightly sweet. And then a more concentrated rub that features paprika, cayenne, garlic powder and some other flavors.

I've tried these with chicken, pork and fish. And, you know what, they are delish. I think they could also have potential sprinkled on potato salad or even on creamy polenta.  Any one interested in the recipe, just let me know.

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Amazing Vintage Volumes - Historical Books from New England

Living in Boston, there are many old homes full of many old books collected by many people over the ages.  I spend many happy hours scouring the shelves of bookstores to find some of the remarkable books that are offered in my shop. I gravitate toward art books, but I love history books too.

Here are a few of the beautiful finds that are so amazing to me. These have beautiful marbelized covers and wonderful leather spines. Together they have more than 200 years on this earth. How amazing is that?https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/JVoyage/sections/11536746

Say Farewell to Summer

We had a fantastic summer. I call it the summer of rainbows and lobsters. We saw an unbelievable number of rainbows and enjoyed plenty of delicious lobster boil dinners.

We're easing into fall. Tomorrow a friend is hosting her annual welcome to fall party for 100 of her closest friends.

The weather promises to be indian summer like, so I won't say no.

Summer and the Livin' is Easy

I'm turning over a new leaf. Trying to savor the moments. It's summer and that means things have slowed down.  Well, take a deep breath and enjoy, okay.

Last week we went on a family road trip. We put something like 1600 miles on the car, encountered a few Northeast style grid lock moments on the highway. And the good news, we all survived.  I'm not sure anyone in the family would get in the car and do the trip again tomorrow. But we have a few happy moments that we shared together.

We also had the chance last week to catch a Red Sox farm team game - and our team won 9-1. Yeah. And my non-sport-loving son caught the first foul ball into the stands. Yeah.  We had to explain to him that it was a big deal.

More good times to come.

Absence Makes The Heart Fonder

I've been away too long. Family obligations, medical emergencies and other pressing matters have kept me from my blog. Sorry that I haven't been more present.

Life is settling down now. And I hope to be back to posting some of the interesting finds that I happen across.

Family Goodness

Somerville Styles

Living in Somerville, Mass. I know something of hipsters.  This city is a mashup between locals, hipsters and other gentrifiers.  There are many places to go in the city to live any of those lives. 

Locals: The Mount Vernon
Hipsters: Taza chocolate
Gentrifiers: Journeyman and BackBar

Now pop open your favorite beverage and enjoy.

Victorian Beauty

I just discovered this lovely book of Victorian Flowers. Painted in the late 1870s by an English father to demonstrate to his children the breadth of beauty in the nearby meadow, this book is amazing. I just want to scoop up a bouquet of these beauties to bring some summer into my house. A Victorian Flower Album by Henry Terry. There are many copies of the book available on Amazon.