Cool Finds Around The Interwebs

Things that I found that are too cool and easy not to pass around.

I found these on Design*Sponge, one of my regular blog skims of the week.

Fabric Garden Markers.

I would so make these right now if I had rubber cement lying around. So coooot!

And...

Paper Marquee Letter Lamp

Awesome no?! Christmas lights and cardboard people, done! Simple way to chic up a shelf.

Love and Interwebs,

~Valiant V

Craft Update! Feathers are Flying Over Here.

Got my feather mojo back and I'm really diggin the bright colors.

I think it's the weather and the upcoming Easter escapades that's motivating this drive....that and possibly avoidance of doing homework. teehee :)

Look at my little pretties basking in the sun.

I have other ideas for use of my feathers but I haven't yet executed said ideas. We'll see!

Love and Feathers and this great weather!

~Valiant V

Lazy Lunches

What do you do when you want an omelette but don't want to have to wash all the dishes from it (because you live with a commune style kitchen system where you have to cook, wash and put away things before going back upstairs to eat your food in your room)?

FRIED EGG CHEESE "SANDWICH"

Fry up some onions, fry up some eggs, layer egg then cheese then egg then sprinkle with the onions. Simple!! This way, the only things needed to wash right away are a cutting board, frying pan and spatula (unless you can hide those under the sink like everyone else does for later, bonus!).

This time with a little nod to the coming easter holidays. I toasted up some hot cross buns to go with it. They're sliced and buttered but you can't see the golden glory that is. Oh but I tasted it, yes sir. mmmm. And they were on sale.

Love and Lazy Times,

~Valiant V

Jumble Sale Review

My first UK jumble sale at The Victoria!

A great american style divey rock a billy bar.

My own little table! I got so excited that I forgot to take photos of it before people came to peruse...then I was too embarrassed to take a long time with pictures in front of said peoples.

I brought along some lucky charms, can you see them? Mostly for luck, partly to fill empty spaces if the table was huge. But I was the first one there that day so I had my pick of spots and this cute little combo was just right for my stash.

And see my little matching price tags and cards next to my framed sign? I was stamping up a storm the day before. and writing my web address on anything that wasn't tied down.

The place was great. A pub that has a regluar monthly jumble sale. Free table, great family run business. Was a lovely first experience. I ended up selling only one bow and spending more money on pancakes with american bacon and cider for courage. But fun none the less.

Up next! A jumble sale at an art gallery in Peckham. New Gallery to be precise. I think this one might be more of a success. The coordinator is a promotional powder keg! Girl knows how to sell it.

Love and Jumbles!!

~Valiant V

Leftover Lovelies and Lazy Lunches

Another segment I thought I'd try to add

LEFTOVER LOVELIES

(Things I do with leftover food items)

and/or

LAZY LUNCHES

(Things I make that are tasty but simple because my kitchen space sucks at the moment)

First up a Leftover Lovely...

PESTO PITA PIZZA

Say that five times fast :)

Ingredients: Leftovers from various dinners and lunches of the previous weeks

-Pita Bread

-Fresh Red Chili

-Garlic

-Pesto

-Cheddar Cheese

-Grana Padano Cheese (like parmesan)

Alright I know it looks a little strange but oh my goodness ya'll this was delicious.

Brown up the garlic and chili in a little olive oil while the pita toasts a bit in the oven. Take out the pita, spread on some pesto, top with cheeses and the garlic chili oil awesome you just made. Put back in oven to melt. YU FRIGGIN UM.

Sorry, I get excited when I don't waste food AND the result tastes good.

Try it out if you ever get this combination of things leftover in your fridge.

Love and Leftovers,

~Valiant V

Life Update

This is my crazy face.

You wanna know why? Because I'm making more items for a jumble sale I am participating in this weekend! My first jumble sale in London since I've been here. Very excited. Hope to sell some of my stock that I've had forever. But also wanted to make some new things.

Messy hair aside I'm liking the results.

I also ran out of my professional mini moo cards and had to make some impromptu handmade ones with what I had. And to make it all spiffy I made matching price tags.

Remember these!

I was having a hard time motivating myself to remake these feathered friends again but the block is gone! Gonna go feather crazy for the spring time.

Mid-Week Creative Speak!

I have so many creative and artistic friends. So blessed am I. Artists, musicians, writers, poets, dancers, actors et cetera et cetera et cetera.

Yes folks its back...

Interesting Interviews With Creative People From Arouuuunnddd The Woooorrrlllldd!!!!

AKA: Mid-Week Creative Speak

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Ok so this used to be a weekly segment where I interviewed artistic, creative people, so that you may know, how awesome they are...because you should. It's probably not going to be as often as weekly but I am certainly determined to start this up again.

This week is my buddy Brian's turn.

I have known Bri for many years now and always as a writer among many things.

A fellow food and drink critic...Oh lets face it we love to judge anything and anybody.

Dirty habit. tee hee :)

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I was in fourth grade our class had a year-long project to write stories and have them bound into an anthology. I remember writing my first stories during that time period and really enjoying it. Making stuff up and writing it down made sense to me. And when you're that age you can get away with the utter dreck. No one is expecting any different from an eleven year old.

What is your creative process?

If an idea or thought comes to me I usually write it down. Pretty standard stuff. I don't work in order as far as sequence. I flesh out individual ideas as they come to me and leave them if I run out of thread. I've found that my best material has come out of looping together two or more unrelated ideas. Stories rarely come to me 'completed'. It's patchwork. In a nutshell: banging on the keyboard to forge something out of smaller pieces.

Is it difficult for you to come up with things to write about?

Oh I always have ideas. That's not problem for me. It's convincing myself that they are worth putting down and general output that are my problems as a writer. That and being a novice at taking this craft seriously. I have much to learn.

Do you have a preferred medium?

Not really. I spend a lot of my time at a computer and I read a lot of web-related work because I'm already there. Digital media means that we have more content in one place. This is both good and bad. Good in the sense that if we really HAVE to read this great book by so and so and are too lazy to go down to a bookstore to pick it up we can always grab the e-book version. On the other hand, it means there can be too much content to consume at any given time. For our generation in particular, computers are our televisions. I know more people with laptops and internet access than I do folks with television and cable. Of course many folks have both, but given the choice? You can pry my laptop from my cold dead hands, thank you.

There is something to physical media. It's a worn argument, but I do like the fact that a book is just a book and can't also play my mp3s. Single purpose things have a place.

To me, it's all words. Either printed out or on a glossy screen, I don't consume them any differently.

What's the grossest, saddest, fattest, oldest, whateverist thats bad thing you've ever eaten?

Ketchup on wheat toast. Let's move on.

Would you eat it again?

Never say never.

Do you have any plans on trying to get published one day? in a zine or in the Times!?! Or do you want to keep your work secret until you die and then become famous?

I don't really have aspirations to get famous from my writing. I would be fine with earning a living producing work that I'm proud of. Sounds silly, but it's true. I've spent a lot of time doing work that at the end of the day I'd rather not be doing.

Have you ever gotten anything published before?

Not in the literary journal or novel sense. More along the lines of angst-ridden live-journals and school newspapers. We all have to start somewhere.

Do you admire any modern writers? Or have any muses/inspirations of the moment?

There are so many. At the moment I'm smitten with Denis Johnson. I just finished reading his first collection of stories, Jesus' Son. Absolutely devastating.

What would you do if you were able to do anything you wanted? I mean there was no need to work for survival purposes and you can just choose to do things in your life for the pure joy of it.

This answer will bore you: travel and write.

Who's your favorite Golden Girl?

Dorothy! That lady could throw down.

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Thanks for answering my questions Brian! If you have any more questions for my writer friend send them my way and I'll tack em on.

I miss my buddy over in Oaktown CaleeforNyay :( But I'm on the look out for interesting and creative friends over on this side of the pond. We'll see who we can meet. Yay new adventures and new people!

Love and Creative Speak,

~Valiant V