La. La - la.

{eco felt pins by moi}

{Ships o' Sailin ~ Organic Lavender Sachets, by Moi}

Oh, I'm here :-)...

I just haven't been Blogging =) ....

Tis the Season, tis the Season, tis the Season, tis the Season......

~LOve~

Ayanna*

Gettin' Comfy

I am so committed in so many arenas of my life: friends as family, love, community, nature, food, good health as a right for all.

But then I am Hilariously non-committal in so many other areas...! I have lived in Montana for 7months now, and have still yet to buy or acquire a single piece of furniture!!! What the heck :P. lol. Somebody needs to look at wider ways of grounding. :-)

In any case, I love this Rachel Ashwell sofa!! Love most of her lovely things in general. Check out her blog- Shabby Chic!

(photo credit (c) Rachel Ashwell and Shabby Chic)

Cakes {and} Trees

As I sit here, *devouring* some of last night's fresh fig and strawberry crumble for breakfast, with some yogurt, I am also visiting my regulars, on the interweb.

I have been wanting a cake stand for some time now, and had not found the one yet. Well I've found it! This Gorgeous, rustic, tree limb cake stand, by Laurie Cinotto, over at lalalaurie, is so far up my alley, that I have no idea why I never thought of it myself!

It's a cake stand! An art display piece! A mini altar!

I'm already imagining it, with a home made paper lace doiley, a cake on top, and surrounded by crafted goodness, lil mini red and white mushrooms, a la here.

In any case, do jump over to Laurie's site, and check out the DIY instructions for yo' self. :-)

http://www.lalalaurie.com/2009/05/tree-pedestal-cakestand.html

Happy Monday, Lovelies!

xo
~Ayanna*


(photo (c) lalalaurie.com)

A.B.C...

One of my Favoritist urban experiential places in the whole wide world, has a Brand New updated website! Annnnd... You can finally shop with them online! Joie! :

http://www.abchome.com/systemPage/home/tabid/190/Default.aspx


(image (c) ABC Carpet and Home)

{ Much Better }

This

and this...


plus this...



equals {Bliss} *

a {Berry} good day

I really do love a good forage through the wildwoods, hedgerows, what have you... So on Wednesday, I headed out to the hedgerow, along the creek, near my home, in search of some ripe wild berries. And I found some!


The above photos are of golden currants(yum! yum!), and purple Saskatoons(also known as service berries, shadberries, and June berries). If you've never had Saskatoons, they are sweetish, with a lovely nutty flavor, once you really dig in.


Right near to the wee little golden currant tree(it's really a bush, but was not at all bushy lookin'!), was a yummy red currant variety. Mmm... Juicy!


This last berry photo, is of the red variety of the Saskatoon. Also with a nutty-ish flavor when you bite in.

What did I do with all of these lovely hedgerow treats?? {Besides the obvious, of simply gnoming on them, directly, of course} The red Saskatoons, I baked, just this afternoon, into a yummy cinnamon granola. The purple Saskatoons were Dee-licious a few days ago, a top of some yummy hot oatmeal with raisins(it was coldish that morning!). And the red currants I baked into some strange, but very tasty little treats, with random ingredients left in my house, pre- grocery shop. Blue cornmeal, chocolate and red currant little brownie bites. They were weird! But, they were good! The golden currants, I simply gobbled up, as is. :-)


While I was down by the creek, I dug up just a few wild onions. So delicious! So pretty!


I hope your summers are progressing very nicely, and that you too are having some very berry, Berry good days :-)

Ayanna*
xo

(p.s.- as I am rolling in dried organic lavender buds, I was planning on doing a give away, here at the Luminous Sparky blog. But, alas! Though I know there are some readers, it's been pip quiet, so need to know if folks are out there to participate in an upcoming Give Away. Sing! Lovely Lurkers, Sing!)

Home

Raven Queen in the Countryside....

So I've been gone, baby, gone from this blog for almost 3 months! With good reason, however. In my last post I talked of Dreaming on Hearts and Homes. Well, I whisked myself off from NYC, to the countryside of Missoula, Montana(!). At least for this summer(a move to California is still in the "most likelies" column). :-)

I am currently living on 20 acres of land, with 3 Horses, 1 dog, and 6 chickens. And some humans, ta boot :-). Here is a wee glance in what Daily Life looks like for me at the mo':

Baby ducks, at the next door organic farm, glancing into a humoungous cage, that at the time of the photo, was filled with more than a hundred baby chickens :-)

Danny and gus, here at the house:

And I am back to the Crafty Goodness of making my Fay Art. Here's a Lovely picture of the Raven King pillow. Made of delicious recycled cotton from India, black tulle, and organic pink roses and lavender flowers:

"Welcome Back!" Says I, to Me, to You.

..to this Blog, that is....

xo

~Ayanna*

ABC carpet & home

So let me introduce you to one of my favorite shops here in New York City- ABC carpet & home, which is in the Flatiron area of Manhattan. I love this area of Manhattan in general, where Gramercy, Union Square and Flatiron all kinda merge. This area is home to my favorite of all the city's Barnes and Nobles, the one on 17th street, off of Broadway.

Anyway, back to ABC. If you have never had the good fortune to spend several hours of your day parousing the high end 'Faery Couture' -as I like to call it- that is the 6 floors of glory at ABC carpet & home on Broadway at 19th street, then you are really missin' sumthin'!

The first floor of home decor, accessories, stationary, etc.; the children's mezzanine; and the 3rd floor of bedroom luxuries and bathroom accessories and apothecary treats, are all my favorites. And ABC's consistent focus on eco consciousness and sustainable practices in it's buying and selling, and in your buying, add to it being one of my favorites.

I will Luxsh(lushing on about {eco} luxury) on about ABC some more, along with piccies(pictures) in the near future- meanwhile, here is a photo of my favorite most recent display there(the entire shop is one big visual, tactile Orgasm for the Artsy inclined)- a gorgeous bed bedecked in pillows, throws, branches, etc... all in yummy Goth Couture shades of pinks, and heather and muted greys.

I love that the headboard reminds me a bit off a tombstone! How decadent and class, that I could have that in my bedroom, and etch or paint on to it, "Here lies Ayanna". Lol. Which would be true. Every night... *

talk soon, xx
~Ayanna*