Wicked Plants

Last Christmas I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of Wicked Plants, a fascinating tome that grafts together some of my favorite topics: history, horticulture... and murderous intrigue!

Wicked Plants has been a major inspiration for some jewelry pieces to be debuting soon at my Etsy shop. After all, Rappaccini's Garden is named for a gothic tale about... you guessed it, a deadly flower. Since I've loved the book, I'm excited to see how the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers has brought it to life with their current exhibit...

There could be no better place to display these alluring poisons than the Conservatory with its dramatic Victorian stylings. The exhibit runs until October, but I'm scheming to visit this weekend. Between this, the Yellow Owl Workshop book signing tomorrow, and the rescheduled Alameda Flea Market on Sunday... my weekend (and my camera's memory card) should be quite full!

Hope your weekend is just as delightful!

xoxo

Elizabeth

Spring Greens

Spring in Berkeley has a color palette all its own. Soft gray and white clouds (with teasing glimpses of clear blue), and an incredibly verdant landscape. I've been keeping Rappaccini's Garden lush with shades of green to match.

Floral arrangement & photograph by The Cottage Farm, all others by Shock the Bourgeois

I've got lovely new pieces to add to the shop, and I wish I could style them with Krissy's wickedly romantic bouquet! Such an inspired combination of petals and prickles, I absolutely gasped when I saw it. 

Off to explore my blooming neighborhood...


xoxo


Elizabeth

Springing Forward (a little early)

Northern California can't seem to get its act together, seasonally speaking. We put up with a chilly Summer and a very summery Autumn. Our tree didn't start turning colors until Thanksgiving and didn't lose its leaves until after Christmas. It seems like Berkeley, in an attempt to get back on schedule, has skipped over Winter and gone straight into Spring in January. Fine by me.

After many months of inattention, our landlord sent out his landscaper (read: sullen teenager in headphones) to tidy up the yard. He managed to miss the tangles of ivy encroaching the path to our door, but he was very thorough about weed-whacking the many large stands of paperwhites. *sigh* I went out with a shovel (read: serving spoon) and rescued some of the most at-risk bulbs. They're now quite happily blooming and perfuming our apartment. Spring is in the air, indoors and out- and it's heavenly!

Spring has a reputation for stirring people into action- to get outdoors, to clean house, possibly to act on their New Year's resolutions. For me, it's time for a fresh start. Time for new projects, new looks, new motivation, and hopefully, new collaborations...

Rainy Day

I missed out on the last Alameda Flea when I was out of town, so I had been looking forward to November 7th for months. We pulled into the lot to find it largely empty (I had a fleeting moment of elation thinking of the prime parking spot we were going to score), but we soon realized that the Flea had been canceled! Drat! California clearly has a looser notion of "rain or shine" than we Seattleites are accustomed to.

We headed over to the auction house instead. We didn't get involved in the bidding, but I thought this hand-colored etching was awfully fun...

Sorry for the glare on the photo- I haven't been able to find an image of this print online. 

(Though, in googling I discovered that the artist, Thomas Rowlandson, was a bit better known for his xxx-rated etchings... so search with care!)

Our extra hour was spent puddle-jumping and leaf-kicking up on College Avenue, where we stumbled upon an estate sale and visited a few favorite shops (where I scored an excellent find, which I'll show off later!). I was glad I'd brought my camera, because everything was Autumn-colored and glistening... and it almost felt like home.

What did you do with your extra hour?

Blue Mood

No, not sad- I'm quite happily immersing myself in all the colors of the Northwest, especially the chilly blue of the Puget Sound.

 I wake up in this gray and blue bedroom, just the shades of the waves outside my window. 

(Doesn't my Mother have lovely taste? I'm tempted to make this a permanent vacation...)

These pale periwinkle hydrangeas were begging to be photographed in downtown Edmonds.

So much prettiness, and it's so nice to be home.

I promise I won't let the blog get too quiet,

Elizabeth

Chomp!

Yesterday I visited Chomp, the carnivorous plant exhibit at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers. It was fun to tour as an adult, but it made me wish I was still a nanny! The exhibit was definitely geared towards kids with comic book styling, displays outfitted with magnifying glasses, and of course, the "ewww, gross!" factor. I was hoping to capture a venus flytrap in action, but they apparently weren't hungry. I did, however, get beautiful shots of strangely alien pitcher plants.

As cute as the Chomp feature was, I fell in love with the more traditional Victorian aesthetic of the main Conservatory exhibits. I can imagine spending several hours there with a macro lens, and the steamy greenhouse climate would be a welcome vacation from blustery winter weather!

My favorite part was a pond dotted with enormous lily pads, touted as strong enough to hold my weight. I can't tell you how tempted I was to test that claim.