If you havent tried it... you really should!

In my etsy explorations I find so many amazing and wondrous things... and I love to share them here with you...

So a few weeks ago after The things I ♥ right now, I thought how fun would it be to get to know a few of these amazing artists that inspire my everyday and hopefully yours as well! I know its not a new concept, but hey... it's fun! ;0)

So I would like to share with you my very first artist feature!



I found For Strange Women just randomly in one of my late night etsy~a~thon adventures! Her shop intrigued me, and we all know Im a sucker for some smell goods!
Jill's products are well, simply intriguing... from natural oils, and perfume enhancing base to lip balm and massage oils with names like Decadence & Debauchery , Poison Ivy, and Sweet Androgyny Jill truly does create a magical, strange, victorianesque world!

I recently purchased her Mini Mix & Match Natural Oils



The package arrived and I was giddy! Not only was shipping amazingly fast, but then I was greeted with sweet dried roses and the most magical fragrance when I opened the mailer! I'm a sucker for patchouli but these tiny vials take this scent into another realm! I wasn't sure of them at first... Im just going to be honest... I sat and looked at that tiny box for hours sniffing and reading the little cards that explain each scent. So I took the plunge and dabbed a bit of Sweet Androgyny behind my ears and set out to take on the world... Needless to say Im in love! These fragrances remind me of my dearest friend in the world and make me want to dance around in my long flowy skirts listening to ♥ THIS ♥
{ I am mildly in love with Jolie Holland right now}

But enough about me... here's what Jill has to say about her life & her art!

Tell us a little about yourself, your family, and your life outside of the studio...
I live in Kansas City, MO with my boyfriend. He has a son, Simon, who is 10, and I have a cat, Jaqk who keeps me company when the other boys are away. All 3 of them are geminis~ you can imagine the chaos! Luckily we live in the upstairs part of a duplex and I have the downstairs apartment to myself (my studio).


How long have you been creating/selling...
I have been creating forever and I joined Etsy 2 years ago.


What inspires your designs?...
My design draws a lot from the Victorian era, but with a rustic twist on the forest items, and a modern Rococo feel to some of my newer pieces. I am always inspired by nature, yesteryear, and good music.


Out of curiosity, what are the tools of your trade?...
Tools of the perfumers trade would be precise measuring instruments, a double boiler, pyrex beakers, and my nose

What is the one thing in the craft/art world you wish you could do? (ie. sew)
I've tried my hand at leatherworking and wasn't very good at it. I also thought stained glass art would be easy for me but I am so nervous to cut the glass so that never worked out. I have tried just about everything I have wanted to try except ceramics- I hope to take a class soon for this. There are so many things I want to make.


Any Advice to artist/designers just starting out...
In general, I would say learn and practice your skill for a while before "putting yourself out there," if you are easily discouraged. If I opened my etsy shop when I had first started making perfume it would look and be a disaster. Trust yourself and form your ideas and take the time and effort to make your shop/brand/product an expression of yourself. Don't be impatient.

Where can we find you?
www.forstrangewomen.com studio- Kansas City, of 39th st restaurant row products- in boutiques across country

{she also has a beautiful Blog...}


Cameo Noir Valentines Gift Set

Thank you Jill for participating in my very first artists feature!

And to all you Strange Women out there... I HIGHLY recommend you flutter by For Strange Women... because as Bella puts it... "mommy you smell magical" and who doesnt want THAT!

Be good to each other!
Adieu~ ♥ ~Tawny

My not so secret L♥VE Affair....

I dont really write much about my city here, I guess I have always figured that most of you that read this are familiar with Oklahoma and all the magic it has to offer, however when I look at my list of followers and lurkers I realize... that just maybe a few of you are not only my personal friends and/or family members, that maybe just a few of you really tune in to see what zanny thing might pop out of my brain next! {Which makes me giddy beyond words!} But I digress... Oklahoma City is truely an amazing place... and I promise to start sharing more about all my adventures in the land of the cowboys and indians! ;)

now back to my love affair...



Her Name is THE Skirvin Hotel... {miss skirvin if your nasty!}

And I have been madly in love with her for as long as I can remember! When I was a little girl it was a magical sparkley place that was always like a dream...

I remember the way the carpet felt under my little patent leather shoes and the laughter and music that came from the bar...
As a teenager I tried to find ways to sneak in to her empty grand halls...

I watched that beautiful hotel fall to almost ruin throughout my childhood and it still never lost that magic, about the time Chris and I were planning our wedding it was starting to be rumored that the beautiful lady was going to be resurrected, but we had to wait till 2007 to finally walk through her doors again, and trust me it was as magical as I remembered.




There is something about this grand hotel... I dont know what it is, I find myself driving 20 minutes out of my way just so I can get caught in traffic and stare at that beautiful building!

And who can resist the legend.

Yea, Im a little obsessed.

we spend our valentines and anniversary in the grand style of the Skirvin, and I am planning a fantastic 7th birthday blowout for the Diva that will end with a fabulous slumber party at the hotel...

My heart belongs to her.

I am simply in love!

Adieu
♥

Armed with Aetaminophen and Guaifenesin I am taking over the world...

Guess what I have been doing the last 4 days...

you guessed it! Fighting the flu bug!

Wednesday night 2 littles came home with a fever and within 24 hours only myself and one of the teenagers still stood. The flu bug hit the Corrente house full force! {guess we should have gotten those dang shots!}

So needless to say, the only things in my kitchen right now are crackers, 7up and every cold and fever reducer known to man! And Sunday Dinner will consist of Pizza Hut and Dr Pepper.

But no worries dear friends, this coming week I will be back with a great things I ♥, along with a new feature... and some funny anecdotes!

So now I will curl up on the couch with my grandmas quilt and this hot tea, because surely this tickle in my throat and aches in my muscles are only due to exhaustion, right????



Be good to each other... and stay healthy!

♥ Tawny

Sunday Dinner...

Happy Sunday friends!

Its been awhile since I have posted a Sunday Dinner recipe for you guys... sorry.
And since I have spent the weekend thrifting {yesterday... simply divine!} and curled up by the fire watching movies and eskimo kissing the chef {today... again purrrrfection} I thought I would share a perfect warm fuzzy by the fire recipe...



Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon


Ingredients:
6 ounces bacon
1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti
2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
Crumbled bay leaf
Blanched bacon rind
18 to 24 small white onions , brown-braised in stock
1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter
Parsley sprigs

Directions
Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers
very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the melt is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Covet the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

Copyright © 1961, 1983, 2001 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted by arrangement with the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

We also had big chunks of homemade bread and a bottle of 2004 Chateau Franc la Rose {Im not really a wine chic... just thought the label was pretty... it was deeeelish!}
And the bowl in the photo was one of my sweet thrift store finds! Along with a 1983 Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

So I hope you enjoy... & in the words of the immortal Julia Child...



BON APPETIT!

Be good to each other!
♥ Tawny

Things I ♥ right now...

Its that time again!

Here are few of the things I ♥ right now!

This collection of frames is breath taking! They remind me of gypsies and summer and make my eyes happy!


FuNkY BOHO Farmhouse Chic - Vintage Picture Frame Collection Timeless N Chic on etsy

I have had a very secret love affair with Creme De La Gems for awhile now... I have coveted a few different designs over the past few months, and still cant decide! LOL! But I do know that a Creme de la Gems piece is in my very near future!

chalcedony gemstone briolette heart charm necklace
Creme de la Gems on etsy

As the new year progresses I realize just how much I need this...
{anyone want to buy me a late christmas present?}
Not only are each of these planners customizable for your specific needs, but how cute are they!
And let me suggest that you also purchase her Whole Shebang package... because who doesnt love matching accessories?


DELANIE Design - Large Personalized Planner
from Much Ado About You on etsy.

And last but not least in anyway...
are you suffering from dry, itchy, uncomfortable wintery skin?? I know I am... and its driving me crazy!
If these work and smell as good as they look, I will be one happy girl! *wink*

Pink Sugar Scrub Cubes from
Wicked Soaps on etsy.

I hope you find a little something you l♥ve from these fabulous sellers!
And have a spectacular Saturday!

Be good to each other!
;0)Tawny

I awoke and it was 2011... weird.

Can it be possible that I have not posted since THE EVENT?? Reeeaaalllyyyy?

Wow.

So Christmas has come, and gone, along with New Years... were your holidays wonderful? I hope they were!!

Ours were dreamily perfect; Magical in fact!



Thousands of cookies were baked, traditions were shared, and everyone got exactly what they wanted for Christmas!
And the best part of it all was I was there!
I was there to bake cookies with my daughter all day Christmas Eve... {something that I havent done in 2 years.}
I was there to enjoy a weekend of shopping and coffee and lunches with my amzing husband and had no timeline holding us.
I was given the biggest gift on Dec. 10th
wrapped in the strangest of packages and Im sure not ment to be precious at all, but good golly I am spilling with joy because of!
I have enjoyed every final minute of 2010, and its shocking that becomeing generally unemployed is what it took to make me look at the world around me in such a different way!

I feel like Dorthy returning from OZ, and you were there... and you... AND you!

But enough about that... this post really is about out with the old and in with the new!
2011 is here, and its gonna be a big one folks! I promise!!

{Chris New Years Eve... it was quite the party!}


I have so many new announcements I am bursting at the seams to share them all!
But sweeties you will have to keep checking back often for all the new little tids and bits!!

So my first VERY BIG announcement...


Oh Lolli Boutique is coming soon!
I cant wait to share all the amazing new designs that I have been working on!

Oh! Lolli is a new spin on my business combining my old Bada Blingg line and Lollipops Sugar Shoppe! So many amazing new designs will be debuting in Feburary! Along with tons of new stuff coming to Lollipops... including a big move, to bigcartel.com and the addition of a sweet little, dare I tell... vintage trailer!



But Im spilling the beans a bit too much...

So from my cottage to yours... Happy 2011!
May it bring you happiness, luck, and much wealth... no matter how you measure it! ;)

Be good to each other!
♥ Tawny