Miss Modish- Mojo Maker

The Cat's Meow

{image from Picocat}

June is almost over (wha?) so I figured it's high time for the Cat's Meow list this month (yay!) Some things that have been ringing my bell lately:

These adorable plush kitty friends from new (PDX based) shop Rad Cat would make cute couch companions! Made from vintage and reclaimed fabric so they're eco-friendly too.

I've been eyeing these awesome Ray-bans for a few weeks and they just went on sale. Come to momma! via Sage & Style

These fantastic notecards with colorful retro designs by Pie Bird Press would make excellent additions to my thank-you card collection. Via Eat, Drink, Chic.

And I love the new canvas + leather line of bags by Portlander, Entermodal- a sneak peek from photog Sweet Ronit!

This Let's Move to the Mountains print by In Haus Press speaks to my heaving mountain girl heart. Via Design Crush

Love these gorgeous tours of creative people in their spaces by another local photog, Carlie Armstrong, for her ongoing project, work.place.

And these are a bright idea for a different kind of watch and so so cute! From Aussie brand So Little Time. Via All the Mountains

The Piccola Mag premeire issue was just released and I have a little article in it 'bout shopping local- it's free and pretty, check it out!

These funky-fantastic bracelets made with antique African beads by Vanessa Mooney, at Cameo Noveau

And the talented miss Mati Rose let me know about her new venture with her artist friends Stefanie & Tiffany, The Teahouse Studio! It's an inviting creative art studio and workshop space in Berkeley, CA and I wanna gooo! They have lots of inspiring workshops up ahead- check em out!

And Michele at Tierra Verde sent me a way too generous thank you gift for a project I did for her (thanks again Michele!) and I am addicted to her soaps now. I love them all, including the felted one! My favorite tho is the Green Earth Gardener's Soap- it has tiny little scrubba dubba elements that feel sooo good on your hands and it's super foamy and smells fresh and yummy!

Polished

Summertime means knee freckles and bright yellow nails with glitter-zap super power action.

And yes R, you're right- this Sally Hansen Insta-Dry polish (the yellow) sucks! Not recommended. I love the butter glitter polish in Rosie Lee tho, ya'll- one of my faves to wear!

Eco-Friendly Find: Megan Leone

Megan Leone is a lovely lady from Newburyport, MA, running a one-lovely-lady company crafting gorgeous accessories from vintage and reclaimed materials. Her motto: "fashion from the ashes : recycled - reimagined" pretty much says it all.

I thought I'd give Megan a special shout-out today, because through the end of the month (you've got 3 shopping days left, people!) she's donating 25% of all sales from her Etsy shop to a very good cause. I'm quite partial to her line of reclaimed leather earrings, but there's lots of loveliness in that shop, from bracelet clutches to chunky rock rings, and more. Go, shop, and help Megan help a lady in need.

Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Kitty Photo Friday

Happy Friday! I had the best week I've had in a long LONG time and it's mostly because I feel like I have finally gotten a handle on my stress. Something clicked in my brain and my whole perspective has shifted in a major way. I'm sharing some stress busting secrets that have helped me over on Oh my Handmade Goodness today if you're interested!

Hope you have a wonderful, sunshiney weekend and I'll meet you back here next week!
<3 jena

Pesky plants and persistent herbicides

Imagine this: you've worked the dirt, put in a few seeds, a few more transplants, water regularly, and everything in your garden is going along swimmingly. You decide to give it all the nutrient rich reward of top dressing with compost and bam! It all droops, leaves start curling, and growth stops. Some plants even die.

What the hey?!? It could be you have a case of persistent herbicide. What's a persistent herbicide, you ask? It's when an herbicide, designed to target certain plants, hangs around the plant party well after everyone else has gone home. It maintains its active chemical form in the soil, in the plants it doesn't target, and even in rainwater and dew. It sticks around through the composting process. Yep, even hot batches of compost--it doesn't "burn" off like some other chemicals.

My garden, mulched with free grass clippings.

I'm not really here to write a long-winded, gloomy post about chemical residue (I've already done that) but just thought a warning was in place since I'm a big proponent of taking free organic matter from your neighbors. Commonly the worst offending chemicals are available to professionals, but keep in mind they're considered safe for pasture land. Since they're persistent (and I mean persistent) the chemicals remain active through the complex digestive system of cows and come out remaining as effective in cattle pee and poop.

Also, Scotts Miracle Gro will soon include Imprelis in some of their consumer grade products. Imprelis is one of those persistent herbicides that can take anywhere from 30 days to several years to break down. Bottles will warn consumers not to compost matter treated with the herbicide, but I for one, am a label skimmer and wonder just how many people will read the label.

Squash leaf curl, possibly from persistent herbicide residue.Image from Flying Tomato Farm.

What can you do to prevent herbicide heartbreak? Be an informed freegan! Read up! When scouting bags of leaves and grass clippings, skip over yards that look a little too green and a little too uniform in texture. Lots of times you can find free, composted horse and cow manure on Craigslist. If you're getting some, ask the farmer ask a few questions: Was the pasture treated with anything that contains picloram, clopyralid, or aminopyralid? Was their feed hay treated with any persistent herbicides? How long has the manure been composted?

Need to get rid of some weeds of your own? There are some pre-emergent treatments for lawns made from corn byproducts. Try one of those out as a chem-free solution. If you have a small area that needs weeding but don't want to get your hands in it, boiling water poured right on the leaves usually works for me. If you have a bigger area try a salt and vinegar solution. Mmm, tasty, now I want potato chips.

Do weeds in the grass bother you? How do you handle them? Any run-ins with a bad batch of compost? Any other burning plant questions? Comment away! I love to hear your gardening thoughts!

Renee Garner has a passion to make things grow, although her brownish thumb wants her to believe otherwise.  When mud pies aren't on the menu, you can find her doodling the days away at Wolfie and the Sneak.

Miss Modish Muses: Funny Face

My new favorite cheer up movie of all time (even surpassing Amelie I think) is Funny Face! An oldie but a definite goodie. We rented it from Netflix and it's been sitting on our coffee table for a couple months- are you in the mood to watch a musical from 1957? Uh, no, not really.

But this past Sunday night we finally gave it a chance, and had I known what was in store for me I would've watched it long ago and many many times since. It's pure fantastic. Pure happy. Pure entertainment in so many ways! Both the mister and I sat with big silly grins on our face the entire time!

For those who don't know the story (I didn't before I watched) it about a fashion magazine (love it already?) and Fred Astaire is a photographer bored and uninspired by the usual dimwitted pretty models he shoots. The whole crew heads out to a little bookstore in Greenwich Villiage to try to add some life to their photoshoot, and there he meets the bookstore beauty (Audrey Hepburn) who's obsessed with philosophy and is very intellectual and thinks fashion is trivial and silly. She catches his eye, being so different from all the usual girls, and he convinces her to try modeling and come to Paris with them. She agrees because she wants to meet a French philosopher she idolizes and can't afford a trip to Paris on her own so, the plot begins...

{all images from Fanpop}

What ensues is funny, adorable and engaging and all the singing and dancing along the way is unbelievably entertaining, by everyone. Fred Astaire dancing is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, Audrey dancing in a little 50s French beatnik club is quirky and magical and made me love her even more. And the fashion! And Paris! It felt like we were transported into a whole new world and were almost sad to leave when it was over. It's my new favorite old movie, for sure :)

What's your favorite old movie or movie that is without a doubt sure to put a smile on your face?

Eco-Friendly Find: Mohop

This is my first year living in Portland, and it began in November. I came prepared for winter. For rain. I came totally unprepared for how looooooooooong of a wait it would be for summer. Friends back East are taking shelter in the a/c, and I've barely turned off the heat! And my toes are dreaming about sandal weather. Super, super cute, mohop sandal weather.

With soles handmade from sustainably sourced wood, and a neat elastic loop system that allows you to change out the ribbon ties—for infinite color and style combinations in one sweet pair of shoes—how can you go wrong? Find them on Etsy and the lovely mohop site.

Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Kitty Photo Monday

Oh gosh, I totally forgot Kitty Photo Friday last week! Too much stuff going on and I phased it. But I guess that means it's kitty photo Monday today!

Aww, isn't he pretty? This is a mice pouncing neighbohood kitty who likes to play in our backyard a lot, taunting our indoor-only cats with his frisky flaunting in the grass. And he has no tail! Just a floppy little puff of fur back there. He's like a kitty-bunny! I tried to go pet him once but he was too skittish and ran (sad face) I'll pet him someday, oh yes, I will pet him someday.

In other news, happy Monday! I'm gonna do some yoga and then proceed to kick this week's big fat to-do list's ass. How bout you?

What would Popeye Think?

This year I'm thinking outside the typical garden box to find edibles that will stick around through the winter. One such veggie came highly recommended from a few different sources, so I got some seeds to try it out. New Zealand Spinach, have you heard of it?

I started my plants from seed--the instructions said to soak them 24 hours before planting. Some of them I soaked, some of them I didn't. They all sprouted, that is to say, each pod sprouted many many little seedlings. Needless to say, I have been giving away plants left and right.

The mature plants are kind of vine-y, kind of bushy. They sprawl across the ground but seem to want to keep their heads up, aimed at the sky. My plants are now about a foot long; well, actually "were" about a foot long because I chopped off about half of each vine for dinner last night.

I wasn't sure how to prepare it and briefly thought about following the blog Chocolate and Zucchini's way. Instead I just sauteed some onion, added a little fresh basil, salt and pepper, homegrown zucchini and about 2 cups of fresh New Zealand Spinach leaves pinched from the stalk. Sauteed everything until just cooked, still maintaining a bit of crunch, then I added a tablespoon of butter.

In the meantime I boiled some of Chef Joe Bonaparte's fava bean and cheese pasta that I bought from our local farmers market. When done, I strained the water off and added it to the vegetables and holy wow. What a divine dinner. New Zealand spinach, when cooked, is like regular spinach, but it holds up to heat with a nice firm crunch, even after a bit of time on the stove.

A "spinach" that's strong to the finish. Second helping please! Have you tried New Zealand spinach before? Any tips or recipes? Perhaps a Popeye reference or two?

Renee Garner has a passion to make things grow, although her brownish thumb wants her to believe otherwise.  When mud pies aren't on the menu, you can find her doodling the days away at Wolfie and the Sneak.

Washed Up

I stumbled upon this fascinating and mega eye-opening project called Washed Up, by artist Alejandro Durán and just had to share- I think it's something everyone should see! (via Notcot)

From the project statement:

"Washed Up is an ongoing project by Mexican-born, New York-based artist Alejandro Durán that addresses the issue of plastic pollution making its way across the ocean and onto the shores of Sian Ka’an, Mexico’s largest federally-protected reserve. Unfortunately, Sian Ka’an is also a repository for the world’s trash, which is carried there by ocean currents from every corner of the globe."

"Over the course of this project, Durán has identified products washed ashore from forty-two nations on six continents. The resulting photo series depicts a new form of colonization by consumerism, where even undeveloped land is not safe from the far-reaching impact of our disposable culture."

"Washed Up speaks to the environmental concerns of our time and its vast quantity of discarded materials. Beyond turning trash into treasure, the alchemy of Washed Up lies in the project’s potential to raise awareness and change our relationship to consumption and waste."

Eco-Friendly Find: My Bearded Pigeon

Are you a traveler at heart? Have a bad case of wanderlust? Notoriously always planning your next getaway? Good. Then you can join me in lusting after these cushion covers from My Bearded Pigeon — I know if I owned one I'd be spending hours sitting on the couch, poking pillowy destination after destination, plotting my trips.

These cushion covers are printed on 100% certified organic fabric—and are 100% original. Cath of My Bearded Pigeon has all her fabric custom-printed—these fabrics do not exist anywhere else on earth. That's kinda cool, no?

In choosing photos today, I couldn't decide between my new home (Oregon) and my old home (New Jersey)... what would you pick?

Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

Weekend Visitors

A mama raccoon seemed to think underneath our shed was a good place to den up and have some babies. It was fine with us for awhile because they really only came out at night- we'd hear them playing in the tree outside or climbing the fence in the middle of the dark morning hours, but never saw them, never had an issue with them really!

Until, a couple weeks ago when one of our neighbor's chickens was killed by a raccoon (probably mom up there at the top!) and then they started leaving piles of poop in my garden (oh no they di'int!) And THEN on Saturday during a nice afternoon playing fetch with our dog Otis, mama raccoon came out in full defense mode, puffed up and snarling at Otis, ready to attack! Good thing he's bigger and scarier and snarled right back. We got him away and scared her back into the den before he got bit or scratched, but that was too close of a call and we realized our little hippie harmony existed no longer.

Maybe they overheard us leaving a desperate message for a humane trapper guy to come help, because on Sunday, mama raccoon and all four of her babies high-tailed it out of their den in the middle of the afternoon and I found them up in our neighbors tree! We took the opportunity to block the entrance to their den so they couldn't get back in- we read that's a good way to get rid of them as raccoon families know of 4-5 dens in every neighborhood and will just move on to the next when one is "compromised", so to speak.

Mama raccoon watched from the tree the whole time and seemed to know what was going on (this casa no es su casa, no more). And later I saw them all head off over another fence and beyond. Hopefully they've moved onto a new den already because I really don't want to have someone come trap them :( I'd rather they find a new safe home on their own!

First bees, then raccoons. Can we just have the backyard to ourselves for awhile, please? Do you have any raccoon stories? Do share!

Kitty Photo Friday

Bird patrol (this was the first time I'd ever seen them sitting all together like this!)

The weekend is almost here, hooray! I have a mini office makeover on the menu- I can't wait! And I'm so over this yellow paint in the office, it's gotta go. Perhaps we'll pick up some paint samples this weekend and you guys can help me choose something, eh?

What about you? Housey plans for the weekend? Gettin outside? I hope you have a great one & I'll meet you back here next week!

<3 jena

Hey Sister, Grow Sister

Bit by bit our yard is transforming into my permie vision. If you're not familiar with the term "permaculture" it is, as simply as I can put it, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. When you get all Dave Jacke on the topic you start to consider root shape, plant function and the details. I'm not a details kind of gal, so I think one of the easiest ways to understand permaculture principals is through the 3 Sisters Gardening technique: growing corn, beans, and squash together.

The beans accumulate nutrients to share with the heavy eater (corn), while the cucurbit (squash, cucmbers, winter squash) uses the height of the corn as a trellis. It's a little more complex than that, I imagine, but the simplified explanation works well for illustrative purposes, garden planning, and my meager brain. Each plant serves several purposes beyond providing food--some plants repel pests, others serve as a trellis, while others act like a living fertilizer. All the while they provide beauty!

Not only that, the keyhole shape of the bed will be a fun and imaginative little hideaway for playtime with Mabel. Can you imagine a better nook to read a book, hidden on three sides by a small jungle of food? I think that's a pretty good way to grow, don't you?

Renee Garner has a passion to make things grow, although her brownish thumb wants her to believe otherwise.  When mud pies aren't on the menu, you can find her doodling the days away at Wolfie and the Sneak.

Easy Braided Necklace

I have a bag full of embroidery thread to play with and I tell ya what, I sure don't feel like embroidering anything with it! It has been inspiring other projects tho lately, like this simple necklace I finshed today.

I'm just aching for some vibrant color to help brighten these awfully grey June days! These colors remind me of sherbert and smoothies and berry stained lips- ah, I can't wait for summer!

The necklace is super simple and easy to make, as you can see!

• I just braided three lengths of embroidery thread- cut them about 3x longer than the length of the necklace you want to end up with. Tie 'em in a knot and safety pin the knot to something sturdy (like the arm of your couch) so you can pull the threads taut, and braid away!
• Towards the middle of the necklace, instead of braiding, I used a friendship bracelet stitch I remembered from grade school days (the solid pink part you see). It's called a half-hitch sprial (instructions there, it's really easy!)
• I spiraled for a little section and then continued braiding til the end.
• Then I slipped some vintage lucite hoops on it (from my bead collection, a past life!) for some weight and more color and tied the two ends of the necklace together at the length I wanted it to hang.

Now yay! New summer necklace!

What have you been making/doing/craftin/cookin lately?

Eco-Friendly Find: Leathery

It is no secret that Portland is a dog-friendly city. And while I don't have a canine companion yet, all the friendly faces at the dog park near my house are definitely trying to change that. So maybe it's the cute puppy pictures, but I'm loving these dog collars, crafted from vintage belts and leather bits by cosa verde friend, Leathery.

Rachel of Leathery works with vintage belts, upcycled, and sustainably processed, vegetable-tanned leather—itself a byproduct of the meat industry—all stitched on a non-electric sewing machine! Even better? She learned her leather-working skills during an apprenticeship at a cowboy boot company—how cool is that?

p.s.—She makes accessories for humans, too.

Liz Grotyohann is a co-founder of cosa verde, a marketplace for handmade, environmentally-conscious goods.

own & adore: estate sale scores!

We went estate sale hopping in the sunshine this weekend- check out all the sweet stuff I came home with!

A tiny ceramic kitty planter buddy?! I love finding things I never knew existed! He's keeping my grandma's cactus company now : $1

This pretty little bud vase, perfect for a plant cutting : $1

This cute turtle planter. What kind of plant shall I put in him? : $2

Another pretty little bud vase (yes, I found quite the ceramics collection at one sale) : $1

Another lawn chair for the collection : $5

This colorful belt has me written all over it : $1

A big floppy summer hat that fits my big fat head! : $1

And my favorite find of the day, these floral Keds! They are size 10 which NEVER happens, I so rarely find thrifted shoes in my size, and they look like they've never been worn. We spiced them up with some cute shoelaces from the mister's shoelace collection (yes, such a thing exists) and voila! New cute custom kicks for summer for only....

$2!

Do any thifting/yard-saling/estate sale hunting yourself this weekend? What'd you score?

Kitty (Video!) Friday

We were looking at old videos on the mister's phone last weekend and found this goodie that I thought you guys might like! Here's our little 6 pd Neko-head kitty in all her tiny glory. Enjoy!

It's gonna be a SUNNY, WARM weekend here in Portland, finally, and I'm bursting with excitement. Bursting, I tell ya! I'm going to take this laptop outside to finish Friday work in the sunshine. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and see you back here Monday!

<3 jena

Growing Small Accomplishments

Apparently it doesn't take a lot to excite me, so bear with me as I gloat over what is a giant accomplishment in a small package.

I grew a zucchini.

Yes, I know. Zucchini and squash are pretty common to grow, fairly easy and all that, but we've had an infestation of squash borers for as long as I can remember. If you've ever had squash bugs and vine borers, you know the terror of having a happy healthy plant one day, then the next you're left with a hollow stemmed mushy wilted mess.

Borers live in the dirt and just wait to wreak havoc from year to year. You get one borer and they'll eat their fill from the dirt on up through the stem, totally destroying the plant. To add insult to injury, they'll then lay eggs in the soil so the next generation can do the same the next year.

It's total devastation when you've spent a winter dreaming of fried squash for dinner.

It's also kind of embarrassing when people ask you what you're growing and there's no squash, zucchini, or winter squash on the list. They're basics for crying out loud. What kind of veggie gardener doesn't grow at least one of them?!

So yes, this year I get to gloat: I grew a zucchini. It looks like I'll get at least a few more, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

Renee Garner has a passion to make things grow, although her brownish thumb wants her to believe otherwise.  When mud pies aren't on the menu, you can find her doodling the days away at Wolfie and the Sneak.

Take a walk with me

Chasing an early morning sunbreak, and getting some nippy 7am air on my face. Ahh..feels good!

Hope you have a happy Thursday! And uh, woah, it's Thursday already?!? Those long holiday weekends screw me up!