unruly things

a few weeks ago, the sweet and talented Amy contacted me with a special request. she was putting together a cookbook for her ward relief society and needed some illustrations for the cover and category dividers. I said that I would be delighted to help her and started brainstorming ideas for cute drawings that she could use for their cookbook. while the original drawings that I created were in black and white, here’s what I came up with for the cover and category dividers. I decided to color them in, just for fun.if you are interested in any custom design work, please contact me for rates.
alyson.jg {at} gmail.com

I really like the feel of his photography.
{from nicholas lorden}

last night I made this for dinner. I don’t normally rave about food that I’ve cooked on my blog but this recipe has got me raving. I frequently haunt Smitten Kitchen and am always inspired by what she has to say and of course, what she is cooking. everything that I’ve made from her blog has turned out delicious and most I’ve cooked more than once. but in particular I wanted to highlight the Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup that I cooked last night.
first of all, since I don’t eat meat, I used Field Roast’s Smoked Apple Sage “Sausage” instead of the Portuguese linguica sausage that the recipe calls for. I often buy these sausages to add to pasta sauces or top on pizzas. since the recipe gets it’s usual flavor from the linguica sausage, which is spiced with paprika, garlic and other spices, I added 1 tbsp of paprika and 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper to the soup to achieve the essential spice lost from substituting sausages. I followed everything else in the recipe.

and it tasted SO good.

I love making soup and do quite often, but of all the soups that I have made, only a few make it to the table a second time. this one has proven to be a winner. it’s hearty, it’s perfect for a cold rainy day, and it’s super easy to make. see the recipe here.
{from smitten kitchen}

I really like this idea for a DIY desk. I told dlb that once we have a house of our own, I’d like him to build me a desk like this but not as my main desk, as the impromptu desk where my laptop would sit and I’d write things or sketch. I wouldn’t dream of putting a giant monitor on a desk like this. it would be perfect in a foyer in a sunroom. ah…. how I can dream.
{via design*sponge}

“every true artist has been inspired more by the beauty of lines and color and the relationships between them than by the concrete subject of the picture.” – piet mondrian
{from april anthropologie}

for all you film shooters out there, I’ve been thinking about hunting down a film camera. I’m really enjoying our camera, and I’ve been told some of my digital shots look a bit like film, but that’s just not enough… I’m still curious and intrigued I guess. hopefully, this summer when dlb goes back to Idaho, he’ll dig out his Nikon FM10 and I can shoot with that. but with spring on our heels and long sunny days ahead of us, I’m itching to get out there with a sturdy film camera and start shooting. I’ve heard good things about a few, {Pentax K1000, Nikon F, Olympus OM-1, and others} but I thought I’d ask for your advice, experience, etc. using a vintage film camera.
{image from hello_winnie}

I love this series of drawings from etsa sketch. each of these one of a kind, ink-outline drawings is combined with cut outs from comic book pages from the 60s and 70s which create their secret identity clothes!
{from etsasketch}

not that I really want to be thinking about wearing any more wool right now, but isn’t this coat cute? I love those buttons.
{from decades}