UNMOUNTED STAMPS::LIMITED QUANTITES!

When I first started Besotted Brand I cut every.single. stamp by hand, mounted it on cling cushion and adhered it to lucite. It was a long and arduous process, a labor of love for sure.  Thankfully, I am at a point in the growth of the company where I can invest in having the stamps mounted at the factory.  I do have a lot of sets that have not been mounted and I would love to get them into some extremely crafty individuals hands (these are best left to the d.i.y. segment that have the verve + patience to do the mounting). There’s over 21 stamps in the set (I will add in extras for the proud new owners). This is a huge discount compared to the pre-mounted stamps.  I won’t be having these unmounted stamps again, so I would love to make room for future mounted inventory. I have counted 7 sets of the above but I haven’t finished cutting into all the plates so the quantity may grow and my fingers may be getting more blisters (ah, the things I do for you). I also have 12 sets of unmounted alphabets, which I will be adding as well. It’s a regular smorgasbord of unmounted goodness! You can pick your set up here.
P.S. I am adding new items daily!

SOCIETY 6

Have you heard about Society6?  It’s a pretty rad site to showcase your art + photography, bonus if someone wants to take one of your works home Society 6 will print on multiple substrates for you, ship it and you get a little deposit in your piggy bank!  Ah, the magic of the interwebs.  I had been wanting to put some prints for sale for some time, but I didn’t want the angst of printing them out and buying specialty packaging to ship them, this was a no brainer for me.  It did take me a while to get some photos up and name the shop/collection.  I was so proud when I had most of it done (I still have a bunch of images I want to upload).  I proudly showed my husband who may or may not have a dusting of Aspergers (the jury is out), he took a look at the site and creased his brows together, after a thoughtful moment he surmised, “I think it looks like you hate deer.” Wha?  “It’s a natural history inspired shop, antlers are awesome”. He shrugged his shoulders, cocked his head and took another look, “I don’t think it’s your best work.” This is what you must know about my husband, he is not mean but he is honest, very honest,  he says whatever the flip, flappin’ jackin’ thought is on his mind at any given time and it is take no prisoners. We have worked on this, since not everyone in the world can appreciate his brutal honesty. I have grown to ignore it, accustomed to it. The other day he was staring at my visage and thoughtfully asked, “Would it not be appropriate to tell you that I prefer you wear less make-up?” Because I am all about working in the solution I immediately countered, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”,  he looked panicked like perhaps it was not appropriate to tell his wife that and now he would have to suffer the wrath of his wife’s supreme insecurities. “Ur, I just think you look prettier when you don’t have as much make-up on; and your face and neck are, uh, two different colors.”  Another less vain evolved wife might have been hurt by this truth, but I took it as an opportunity to re-visit my make-up routine.  I am glad he said something about my make-up but I am less happy about his shop comment. Why you ask? Going back to working in the solution, I asked him, ‘What photographs of mine do you prefer?’ His only answer was a shoulder shrug, which is infinitely less satisfying than a proper example. So there you have it–I have a new print shop, I don’t hate deer, in fact I am quite fond of antler’d animals and the skin on my face and neck match beautifully now.
P.S. I have no idea why my floral images look so murky & dark. I have a couple thousand emails out to Society 6 and I am sure they wish I would have never found them…

ONLINE MODERN CALLIGRAPHY CLASS BY MELISSA ESPLIN

I have been waiting for many moons to get the announcement that designer/calligrapher Melissa Esplin of Isly blog fame had launched her online calligraphy course, finally that day has arrived! Unfortunately, the launch comes at a time when my budget is of the pauper variety, but the course is a work at your own pace not a set time so when I come into my riches (or get some more clients) I will be all over this. I think the price is very reasonable considering a one session calligraphy class could run you about the same amount.  I have tried my hand several times at calligraphy via kits I own Emilie Friday’s (darling and lot’s of info) and just because it was completely fabulous (and affordable) I picked up Linnea Carta’s kit.  It seems I have become a bit of a calligraphy kit/course collector. With any new skill you can’t expect to be perfect at it over night, if you are I am not happy (a wee bit jealous) and we shouldn’t talk for awhile. I have found that my time to practice my lettering is nearly nil and when I do I am convinced I am doing it wrong and will have embedded bad form for the rest of my hand lettering life span; I have issues, true. You my friend may not be as neurotic in which case I highly recommend looking into this course. From experience with the kits I know that I would have loved the opportunity to watch someone create the letters thus improving my own form.  I am thinking this course would be just the impetuous I need to get moving in the hand lettering department. You?

SHELTER CO.

Shelter co. is a pop up lodging service and is completely and utterly the most brilliant idea ever. Okay, I suppose the invention of the wheel, electricity and running water are up there but this is just plain creativity at its best.  What’s a pop up lodging service? Imagine you had a big event coming up and you want to merge your great taste with the great outdoors with a heaping tablespoon of amazing company but had no idea where to start?  Call Shelter Co. Personally I am chomping at the bit to host an in-person photography class and doesn’t this situation seem ideal? A blogger meet-up would be grand, even though I despise the name blogger, when will I figure out a better word? Suggestions? I digress, contact Shelter Co. for your next ‘glamping’ adventure/event, by the looks of it you won’t be disappointed.  For those that want to eschew sleeping under the stars I found this relatively inexpensive teepee you could set-up in your livingroom!

STRAWBERRY BALSAMIC SALAD

One of the dishes I made from our extreme strawberry haul was a salad. A salad may sound boring, but I promise you this one is anything but.  It has the nice contrasty flavors of sweet + savory and just enough tang to make your taste buds sing.  My husband and I cook pretty much every night around here, it’s never run of the mill slinging hash, nope, it’s more like Iron chef (my husband and I are very cooking competitive with eachother).  I have so wanted to share about 8,000 meals with you that I think you should try but I have a hard time since I don’t cook via a recipe so I don’t really know how to translate the vague measurements that I concoct.  A salad I figure is easy enough to ‘wing’.  In sharing with you my version it just may get you inspired to riff on your own. Many salads with strawberries are made with spinach, it’s because these two flavors blend together so seamlessly. I personally can’t eat too much spinach it makes my teethe feel gritty no matter how much I wash it. My salad was mixed baby greens and did contain some spinach, but not enough to make my mouth feel weird. I added organic bleu cheese crumbles, walnuts and of course the strawberries; at this point we are almost done! I always make my own salad dressing, if I knew of a bottled version that tasted like homemade I would be on top of it, but I don’t so I go the extra distance.  I mixed 2 parts olive oil to one part balsamic vinegar, I added some Maldon salt (my secret cooking weapon), fresh pepper and a smidge of Dijon mustard. With a fork I mix until all ingredients are thoroughly bound. I usually would add some lemon to this mix, but I opted to squeeze a quarter of lemon directly on my salad (I love tangy) and then I added the dressing. Done and done. To change this up you could sub the bleu cheese for a feta, or goat cheese and the same goes for the the walnuts for almonds or pecans, this whole cooking bit has tons of creative possibilities. The salad is a beauty and tastes as good as it looks, it’s sure to impress you and your guests (but maybe not your husband, he may or may not want something that involves more sustenance and may think that this dish doesn’t sound as appetizing to him as it does to you).  Enjoy!