July 29, 2007 | Filed Under vintage, food | by Sarah Blank | No Comments
My latest find is the most perfect tea cup for me. A sepia ship adorns the side of the tea cup and the saucer as well. I drink iced tea in the summer so I decided to use it as a dish for blackberries.

July 27, 2007 | Filed Under garden, tights | by Sarah Blank | 3 Comments
One day I would love to grow a herb and flower garden for the butterflies and bees.
I bought these tights and they remind me of a garden…

I have an intense liking for kinds of tights, from lavishly patterned and dotted to textured with ribbing and lace. Tights are wonderful and I am so happy that the chilly days will be approaching in a few months. I like scarves too and on the same trip I bought a pretty pashima with green and black hearts.

scarf and tights

I would plant these in my garden too. What is their name?

Stone key

What would you plant in your garden?
I would plant mint, sage, lavender, thyme, rosemary, echinacea, black-eyed susans, hollyhocks…
July 25, 2007 | Filed Under tea, shrine | by Sarah Blank | No Comments
I made lavender ice cubes. They give my tea such a wonderful flavor, and the way that the lavender leaves embed into the icyness is so pretty. I’ve been sipping iced green tea these days.

In the yard there such a lush green tuft of moss, perfectly dappled by sunlight. I went inside and gathered up blackberries and petals, along with my new collection of blue jay feathers and heart shaped stones (I have three, finding them is quite addictive). The girl in the middle is actually a close-up of a painting on a postcard by Louis Janmot from 1845.

I have never seen this painting before and at first view my heart jumped. I love the experience of viewing undiscovered art. The whole painting is so beautiful and serene… I have been staring at this postcard for weeks and I had no idea. Theres something about her face and the colors of her clothing were completely unexpected…

Have a beautiful day~*~*~
July 22, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | by Sarah Blank | No Comments
The above line from
She is the winner of my blue wooden ship! I have to be honest here…I so enjoyed reading your stories and ideas of places to travel… I actually wrote down all your names on snippets of paper and picked one. I was thinking about the story that Aussiepatches submitted and I was inspired to create this post….the girl in her story forgot to bring her belongings onto the ship.
I think that girl is me (sometimes I get so dreamy I forget important things) So I made a reminder of things I would bring on my sea journey. I have been taking lots of walks through nature, collecting pretty things along the way. I would bring some forest-like things to remind me of my land-lover ways. I would also bring lots of trinkets to keep me occupied as I sailed across the vast ocean. This tiny teapot is smaller than a nutshell and it is perfect. I could fit SO many things into my Mary Poppins carpetbag.

oh, and I would bring dandelions too.

A peek at my closet… I would bring light and airy clothes to keep cool, some warm woolly sweaters layered over for the night.

I would bring my favorite antique hair clasp, moonstone ring and silver bangles.

And on the boat to pass the hours I would make this from found sea shells:

Isnt it wonderful? Its a sea shell dollhouse I found in a beautiful book simply called “Shells”. I spent the other afternoon leafing through dusty books at the library and my eyes popped out of my head when I spotted this. The house and furniture are made from shells. I would love to make my own little mermaid cottage. I am in need of a good beach combing day.
Last week I went to see “A Midsummer’s Nights Dream” in an outdoor stage under the stars and it put me in such a magical mood. The play was amazing and the costumes were wow! The mortals costumes were plain in shades of beige and grays but when the fairies came out my head was spinning with the most colorful delight! Electric shades of blue, pink, purple and green. They had the most eclectic style…fluorescent Marie Antoinette wigs, tattered spandex tutus and technicolor tights. They were not stereotypical fairies at all (especially for a shakespear play) which made it all the better. I felt like I had been kissed by the fairies in a dream!
A lot of excitement for me this coming week! I’ll spend the weekdays painting, maybe taking a few walks in between. Oh, and I am getting a new blog so I will be working on that as well! Then, on Saturday I am going to have a table in front of a vintage store at the beach painting henna designs. I am so excited! Last week I went to see “A Midsummer’s Nights Dream” in an outdoor stage under the stars and it put me in such a magical mood. The play was amazing and the costumes were wow! The mortals costumes were plain in shades of beige and grays but when the fairies came out my head was spinning with the most colorful delight! Electric shades of blue, pink, purple and green. They had the most eclectic style…fluorescent Marie Antoinette wigs, tattered spandex tutus and technicolor tights. Not at all what I expected for a Shakespeare play but inspiring. I felt like I had been kissed by the fairies in a dream!
July 19, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | by Sarah Blank | No Comments
You might remember these…I recently unearthed some art from awhile ago that has me re-inspired. I am offering these little gems as a print set of three:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5080439
Much musing has been happening here and have found some new inspirations. I hope to bring it all together in my paintings. I bought awesome new journal as my playground. Most of all, lush, saturated color has been on my mind. Folk art and eclectic patterns, layers of paint, animals and people going places…
I recently bought some new treasures too. Pretty, patterned things…
July 16, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | by Sarah Blank | No Comments
Alas, it it time for another giveaway! I painted this small wooden ship a pretty shade of robins egg blue and added patchwork whimsy to her sails. Now she is ready to pick you up for an adventure…you just need to tell her where you would like to go. It can be anywhere…somewhere made up and magical to somewhere real. All I ask is please be descriptive and delight my senses! Tell me in a comment here (you don’t have to be a member of LJ or listed as my friend…anyone can participate) and I will pick the place I like best and you will win this really neat ship! The contest ends Friday, July 20th at 8:00 pm.
July 13, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | by Sarah Blank | No Comments

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6440229
These are acrylic on watercolor paper with lace gessoed onto the paper.
I would love to have poppies in my garden one day.
July 11, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | by Sarah Blank | 1 Comment
trees and wildlife, tiny cabins in the woods, these are things that surely tug on my heart stings.

I was FINALLY able to make this painting into a print. The original acrylic painting was rather large (18″ x 24″) and I am quite happy with the outcome. The print is 7″ x 9″.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5080439
July 9, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | by Sarah Blank | No Comments
Monday’s whimsy…

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5080439
I have been keeping busy! A proper update very soon…
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