The Four Femmes Booth

For the last 3 days we have been at the Community Festival which happens every year in Columbus, Ohio.  This year we took part by having a booth as a newly formed creative collaborative group called Four Femmes. We did very well, especially for our very first appearance as an all creative, all cooperating, all handmade, all femme alliance!  We had lots of inquiries as to where our local store was so perhaps this will grow into a brick and mortar venture.  Meanwhile, I will updating my much needed Etsy shop with the new stuff we’ve been working on.  My hubby, a former Coast Guard sailor, has been inspired and pulled into the handcrafted world and has made some amazing rope jewelry which sold out!

Check out that craftsmanship!

This is how I wrap my scrabble custom cufflinks.

"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." ~Ruth Ann Schabacker

I’ve been making these one of a kind (each one is different) daisy rings which will be in the reFINDesign shop by tomorrow afternoon.  If I am able to make more, they’ll go into the Etsy shop too.  Email me if interested (rhoda [at] metaphormula.com).

"You have it in your power to make your days on Earth a path of flowers, instead of a path of thorns." ~Sri Sathya Sai Baba

If you know me at all, you’ll know that loving shoes is in my blood.  When I was a little girl, I wouldn’t be able to sleep when I had a new pair of shoes so I would try them on late at night, keep them on and then crawl into bed.  I know many little girls like this. It isn’t learned, it just is.  I call it the Imelda Marcos syndrome.  But for me, it’s not even about owning shoes.  I just appreciate the craftsmanship and beauty they can offer.  A really good pair of shoes can make a girl’s day.

Today, I stumbled into an awesome vintage shop whose basement was like my dream closet.  This is where I met these babies which were on sale for the low, low price of $22 (my lucky number!) but I didn’t buy them.  I’m a little broke at the moment but it was fine not owning them.  It’s like looking at flowers and not picking them.  You just leave it for someone else to admire.  We had a short affair and I walked away saying that if it is fated someday and someplace when things are just right, then we’ll be together forever.  I do hope we meet again!

Speaking of beauty, today is our friend Kayla’s birthday!  Happy Birthday, lovely!!!  This quote is for you because you certainly are marvelous :-)

"Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life! You're either marvelous or you're boring, regardless of your age." ~Steven Morrissey

For Kayla’s present, she styled and picked the charms for this personalized vintage scrabble tile necklace I made for her.  I think the matching heart lock toggle closure matched really well.

Email me rhoda(at)metaphormula.com if you would like a personalized necklace too!

From Columbus Alive! Magazine

My handcrafted wares at ReFINDesign

I’ve been proudly selling my wares (some products, exclusively!) at a local shop here in Columbus, Ohio called reFINDesign and I thought all of you out there should know about it because it’s such a wonderful idea and not just because I’m a resident artist/vendor there!  In their own words, this is what they’re all about:

ReFINDesign Workshop hopes to make Columbus a city on the forefront of sustainable practices and industry by taking the first step into zero-footprint design, fabrication, and retail – of upcycled functional design & art.  The term ”upcycled” applies to functional design/art when the materials used are strictly found, recycled, and salvaged. This is a means of processing the throw-outs of our unfortunately consumer focused society and hence circumventing the highly inefficient systems - also energy, material, money, and carbon intensive - that support the traditional production chain…

ReFINDesign Workshop employs more than its designers. By taking found/recycled/salvaged materials and designing new products with them – we create value. This also allows anyone to sell ReFINDesign Workshop said materials at prices that otherwise would not exist because we process them into items of value, thus stimulating the local economy by offering the community a new way to make money from things that previously had no worth.

My first sale at reFINDesign during opening night which was also the monthly Gallery Hop in the Short North

Here are a few articles and a good blogpost about them:

Columbus Alive Magazine (download the actual article)

Uweekly

Alexandra477

I really love that people are becoming more and more mindful of what they consume, particularly what has been coined as Collaborative Consumption.  The world (our planet and it’s inhabitants)  beg for a shift and thinking about how we consume and where our products come from is a huge start.  ‘Tis an exciting world we are creating, folks!

Need I say more except: Come visit reFINDesign!

This easy recipe takes about a total of 30 minutes total to make and is derived from a 4/4 fork rated recipe from 317 users on Epicurious.com. I have made certain adjustments to make it the way I like it so I’ve put my version below. It really depends on the oven you have but the trick is to not overcook it and you must leave the middle a little gooey. There’s no messing this up either – you can add anything you like and try different measurements of ingredients like I did. Obviously, the better the ingredients, the yummier it is so I try and use as much organic and local ingredients from our local co-op. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Dark chocolate tasting fudgy brownies with cran-raisins = the best batch I've made so far!

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) organic, local butter (I like it salted and from grass fed cows)
• 3/4 cups raw organic sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (any will do but I use Trader Joe’s brand)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cold medium eggs
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 2/3 cup cran-raisins, chocolate chips, peanut butter scoops or whatever you like (optional)
• dashes of cracked rock salt (Himalayan pink is what I use)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Over a double broiler (I just use a smaller pot filled with low boiling water under a larger pot that can hold all the ingredients), melt the butter and add cococa, salt and sugar. Stir until well mixed.
2. Remove from heat and let cool until it’s warm while you prepare the other ingredients, butter the bottom and sides of a square pan (the smaller the pan, the thicker the brownies) and warm the oven to 325°F
3. Stir in vanilla, then eggs one by one, making sure that it’s well mixed before you add the next one. Then add the flour until it’s well incorporated.
4. Put into the pan, crack rock salt over the whole thing and bake for 15 minutes, promptly taking out and letting cool so as to not overcook it.

I’ve been a busy little bee making stuff for the wedding and today, I just got done handcrafting this one of a kind necklace.  The pearls are fake but it’s all upcycled from real vintage jewelry and will be up for auction after the wedding. 100% of the profit (minus shipping) will go towards same sex marriage advocacy.  Check http://www.anditsyou.com for regularly for information.  I’ll probably post something on here too.

"The most precious jewels are not made of stone, but of flesh." ~Robert Ludlum

The last few hours, I’ve been feeling like a robot.  Sometimes, I get into a mode when I’m overwhelmed with so much I have to do and my mind whirls – specifically the robot part – and I just want to give up and do nothing but my perfectionist won’t let me just get by with the minimum tasks and I do more than I have to which makes for a frustrated resentful me.

Thankfully, all it takes is a reminder, specifically a thought of gratitude, to stop the crazy whirling.  So I took a breather in the middle of making this little dude, thought of how grateful I am to be alive and made this Robot for a customer in a better state than previous.  I think it makes a difference for recipients when I make things with Love in my heart.  I believe my vibes will get sown, stuffed or glued into what I’m making and I surely want to be responsible rather than robot-like when sending out my energy out into the world.

“Nothing is true in self-discovery unless it is true in your own experience. This is the only protection against the robot levels of the mind.” ~Barry Long

I’m making a whole lot of these for the wedding and for more shop products. It’s kind of fated that making these just came to me from the depths of my upcycle-obsessed cells; My name, Rhoda, apparently means “a garland of roses”.

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of the character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning." ~Lydia M. Child

I’m just playing around with some necklace designs in this photo.  I’m wearing the tiara just because and why not?  Doesn’t everyone where a tiara when they are crafting?

“When hope is not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it sometimes floats forth and opens.” ~Anne Lamott