so get a log little doggies.

I'm not sure the images in this post are for the faint of heart.

Let's talk about Mushrooms. It was only a few years ago that mushrooms moved from the list of foods I would not touch with a ten-foot pole swiftly to the list of things I crave. CRAVE. 

Then one day I see something called a "Shitake Log" at the Capital Hill farmers' market and although I don't buy one, I obsessed about them until, nearly a year later, Patrick brought one home for Valentines Day. (This one from our local Feed Store, the Grange.)

This particular log,from Cascadia Mushrooms, looks less like a piece of wood and more like a loaf of bread someone made from the backend of a wood chipper. But that's not the point. The point is that you get it saturated with water, wait a couple of weeks, then you start to see little bumps pop out.

Then the little bumps become more pronounced, in kind of a creepy "HOW DID THAT GROW SO FAST" way.

Then even bigger, and lewder.

Bigger...

Bigger, and more populated...

Until all of a sudden you look at them and they are little mushrooms.  So that's where we stand today- adorable little mushrooms on a stump in the living room.

This is actually the third cycle on this log, so I know that soon the little mushroom group will look like this...

Then this...

And (this is where it gets gory) it will look like this...

Then this...

AND THEN I WILL EAT IT.

that I heart stew.

We've had another couple of craft days, since I spoke of them last. There is no photographic evidence, which I think is proof of how much fun we had.

I WILL speak for everyone!

I decided to make a version of my favorite vegetable stew for the pre-valentines event, and used a little inspiration from Tara to sweeten the pot. (ALL PUNS INTENDED.)

I don't have the original links, but if you decide you're whimsical enough to make hearts from carrots to spice up your stew, I'm pretty sure you're handy enough to find a how-to. All I did was carve a divet along the length of a carrot, sharpen the other side, then cut of slices. (Think- extruding a heart on one of those Playdoh Fun Factories) 

The best part- I froze two batches of stew for later consumption- and I by the time we got around to eating them, I was surprised by the sweet little hearts.

I think I "Awwwwww"ed.

I went batty.

I'm not someone who usually decorates my home for holidays. I should be that person. I WANT to be that person, but I'm just not.

However, this last Halloween I went batty (pun intended) and cut creepy-crawlies-and-flyies from scrap cardstock and hung them around the room with thread and tape. (My favourite trick is to tape them on the inside of a lampshade so they surprise you when you turn on the light. GAH! SPIDER. Oh right, I did that.)

Oh course, the cats removed them, one-by-one, so all I had to do after Halloween was pick them off the floor and put them in the trash.

Are you a crafty decorator?

you aren't getting an Elevated Envelope.

This Elevated Envelope is brought to you by willful misunderstanding. That is to say, Tara gave us 9 different theme options (Black and White, Nature Attacks, Softly, Lucky 2013, Phoenix Rising, It's a Zoo in Here, Cats of the Internet, and I Want a Bunny) and told us to "Choose [our] Own Adventure" by picking one theme to represent.

So I made a "Choose Your Own Adventure" envelope, cause I like bending the rules (sometimes.)

Everyone got a double sided envelope, and were told to open one side or the other for an adventure.

**SPOILERS BELOW***

I made and illustrated (adventure) card for each of the 9 themes, and included 1 in each envelope.

Then I doubled up the envelopes, so that the recipient could open one at a time. (Kinda like an envelope version of a scratch-off.)

Click on the next image to see the whole collection of "adventures" in all their colored pencil glory.

Like what you see? Well, you should see the other envelopes that are going around right now. AAAAAANNNNNDDD sign up for the next Elevated Envelope to get in on the action.


This is my first second third fourth envelope go-round. It's fun!