Not sure how I came across Carl Warner, but I think his work is pretty incredible. These landscapes are completely composed of food. He has mastered these illusions by virtue of his quality. Broccoli can easily resemble a tree—it is a plant!—but at first glance of his photographs, you might never realize that the sea coral is actually cauliflower, the ocean waves are cabbage and the distant mountains are loaves of bread. Though they are mysterious, they are also realistic—all effectively composed and put together. I feel like a bug when I look at his work.
Instead of crafting last week, I did a little cooking. On top of this being the first recipe I've ever followed, I had to substitute some ingredients from the original recipe as well. Needless to say, it was a bit messy, utterly experimental, but certainly satisfying. It's called Pico Pie—it's a recipe for parrots.
Prepare all your ingredients. Try to use organic, fresh, raw products. Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the wet. Mix thoroughly—it should resemble the above picture. I added a 4 oz jar of baby food (garden veggies) to moisten it a bit and because Pico needs to eat her vegetables! The reason for making this concoction in the first place is so my parrotlet has a better diet, rather then the seed diet she prefers.
Prepare a 10" x 10" pan (nothing none stick) or a dutch oven with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then at 350 degrees for another 25 minutes. Let cool and remove from pan.
Cut into cubes and serve. I kept a few pieces out and froze the rest in a ziplock bag. If you take a couple cubes out at a time, the night before feeding, you are good to go. I was very pleased that Pico really liked her healthy treats, but I think I would rather craft than cook!
I know for sure, if I wasn't an artist working with my hands, I would be a zoologist working with animals. I feel like I'm five when I say, "I love animals!"
Here are two Barbary Lion Cubs that visited the show. They were bewitched by their new surroundings and it was difficult to get a shot of them staying still. Finally something caught their eye and brother and sister laid next to each other for a few moments. 
I got to pet one of the cuties. You can tell by their paws, these are going to be some big cats! Apparently the last wild Barbary Lion was shot in Northern Africa in 1922. It saddens me, to say the least, that such an incredible creature is extinct in its nature habit.
Here's the spunky red kangaroo joey—amused with me taking her picture, she took a break from bouncing around the green room back stage.
After only 33 days of development, the kangaroo fetus (neonate) emerges out of its mother. It is blind, hairless and only about the size of a Lima bean. Taking about 3 to 5 minutes, it uses its arms to climb its way through the thick fur of its mum's abdomen into her pouch. It remains in the pouch for about 190 days before it is ready to come out; at which time, it will leave & return to the pouch for about another 50 days. At around 235 days old, the joey will leave mum's pouch for good.
I have been working on some new bird-on-a-branch necklaces. In the hopes of creating the most perfect gift for my mom for Christmas, I experimented a bit and made a few different pieces. Mommy was very happy with the one I decided to give her. Look how darn cute she is! 
Since Melissa recently moved to Manhattan and purchased a new couch, I decided to make her some pillows for Christmas. Meli and I always go a little crazy with presents for each other on Christmas for a couple reasons... 
There's a great tutorial here on how to easily do this. Ahhh... why are pillows so satisfying to make?
While I was at it I also made her a laptop pillow. This one was a little more of a challenge for me since I used a block of latex foam—quite different than the simplicity of sewing two pieces of fabric back to back for a regular pillow form! Well, needless to say, I almost gave up on this one and sent it to craft fail, but with trial and error, I figured it out. I won't get into the backwards way I wound up completing it!
I was a tourist in Manhattan the other day. I checked out the windows at Bergdorf's to see what magical vignettes they put together this year for the holidays. I am always dazzled and like a child, want to stand right in front of them and stare—study them like you can a piece of art in a museum. This time of year, with the crowds, there is limited viewing time though. I didn't want to be rude so I owed and awed and moved on. I did ask Ashley to photograph one minute detail in one of the windows for me though. An open book with paper trees growing from the pages, so great and so Lewis Carroll.
I made the actual shield shape out of clay, punched the name with one of those old school labelers and created the embossed texture with small pieces of the plastic label material.
Along with the shield, I had a sharp dagger cast in silver and one of my drip gems in solid gold. I added a little color with a single ruby. Melissa was very pleased.
Yesterday a group of us at work gathered together for a little crafting party. We had all fell in love with these adorable felt holly brooches from the December issue of Martha Stewart Living and thought a nice way to kick off our Christmas break would be to make some pins for our families. They are so simple to make and so extremely satisfying that I made some for my girlfriends yesterday and today made a couple more as little favors for the nurses at the hospital where my Yiayia (Grandma in Greek) is. I packaged them up in cellophane bags and have a couple ready to give. My mom is trying to convince Yiayia to come over on Christmas—she's 93 & a bit weak— so either way, if we pick her up or just visit, it will be nice to bring some holiday joy into the sterile walls of the hospital. The pins are warm and fuzzy and who could resist a little bit of tinsel! I encourage you all to make some right now!
All you need is some scraps of felt and tinsel garland, a piece of ribbon, a couple beads or maybe a cute mini vintage ornament, a pin back or a safety pin will do, an iron and hot glue gun. Once you start, it's hard to stop!
Happy Holidays!
