Just Do it Yourself, Magpie Girl!

I have wanted a beaded wrap bracelet for ages, but I just can't bring myself to pay the prices I see in stores and online. A Chan Luu one at Garnet Hill costs $168!  That's a bit much for a bracelet that probably won't last forever, I think. 

So, I finally just made one over the weekend, and guess what?!  It was incredibly easy. I was standing in the artsy craftsy store, oohing and ahhing over the pretty beads--the way we magpies tend to--and on a whim I looked up a couple of wrap bracelet tutorials on my phone. Turns out there are about a million of these tutorials online, so I won't give any instructions here.  I looked up "Chan Luu bracelet" on Pinterest, or you could Google the instructions, if you feel like making one (or 100--I think it would be easy to get addicted to making these).  

I spent about 20 bucks on beads and cording (I still have plenty left to make a second bracelet), and then settled in at home to craft for a couple of hours. Easy peasy. This one wraps around my wrist three times, and I attached a mother-of-pearl button I had in my button jar to keep it closed. 

Just thought I'd share this wee bit of magpie inspiration today. It couldn't have been easier once I got started, and I always like saving pennies while fulfilling my desire for sparkly things. 

Hope you all have a beautiful week, my friends!

Friday Afternoon at Home

I wrote all morning.  I'm working on a writing project that takes up most of my heart, mind, and soul right now, so please forgive me for a wee bit longer as I am less attentive to blogging--my blog and yours included.  

This afternoon my brain needed a break, so I took a few shots around the house of flowers and books.

Anyone who knows me well understands why this blog is called The Magpie's Fancy.  I am a collector of many things; books, keys, and ribbons are among the things I treasure most.  I found this stack of J.M. Barrie's works for a couple of dollars at a used bookstore last year.  An avid Barrie fan, I scooped them up and have loved them ever since.

This antique salt-glazed pitcher is actually my sister's, but she lets me keep it, because she knows how much I covet it.  It has a large crack and can't hold water, so I simply fill a glass with water and slip it inside.  I think these pink stock don't mind one bit.

I allowed a bunch of white ranunculus to dry out over the past few weeks, and I am taken by the graceful curves of their dried stems and the papery wrinkles of their petals.  

The whole city is filled with light today.  Spring has decided to let the cherry trees bloom.  The air tastes like a promise.

I have so much to share with you--a post about John Keats, photos of my beautiful city, thoughts about fear and writing . . . and so much more.  I'm anxious to learn what you have been up to as well.  In the meantime, the weekend is sneaking around the corner.  Hope yours is full of the best kind of surprises.

"With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?"  

~Oscar Wilde

Three Years and a Leap and a Giveaway!

"With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?"  ~Oscar Wilde

The Magpie's Fancy turned three years old on February 26th, but I decided to wait until today to mention it.  What better way to celebrate than with a leap?

While anniversaries usually make me pause and reflect, this year I simply want to move forward.  Blogging helped me muddle through one of the most painful periods of my life (there I go reflecting anyway), and now I feel it guiding me during a time of renewal.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the amazing friends I have made here in the blogging world, and to my dear friends from the face-to-face world who have long supported The Magpie's Fancy.  You inspire me every single day.  I have no idea what the future holds for this blog, but I'm so happy that you have shared the journey with me this far.

To celebrate, I am hosting a GIVEAWAY.  Those who have won my giveaways before know that they are very much in keeping with my magpie tendencies.  I select a winner at random, and then collect various magpie treasures especially for the individual who wins.  I gather them up in a unique package, and ship them off to her or him.  

This giveaway is an extra special one, because I will be gathering the giveaway treasures during my trip to London!  That's right.  All the goodies will come from my favorite markets in and around that glorious city.

If you would like to enter to win a parcel of magpie treasures from me, simply leave a comment on this post between now and March 6th, 2012.  I will draw a winner on March 7th.  

While only one person can win the big prize, I will also be drawing five more names to receive a postcard printed with one of my flower photographs.  

Thank you, dear ones, for giving me riches beyond compare.  x Gigi

Mr. and Mrs. Magpie Take a Trip

Portobello Road

I haven't told you the giddy news yet: Mr. Magpie and I are headed back to England for a week in March!  We are beside ourselves with delicious joy.

Crystal Globe Pendants at the V&A

Chihuly at the V&A

As some of you know, when Mr. Magpie is not busy fulfilling his duties as my better half on this blog, he is known as Dr. Todd Avery, Scholar of British Modernist Literature and Professor of English.  I need to finish sewing his superhero costume, which has a large, sparkly, Edwardian "B" on the front.  B for British and for Bloomsbury, as in the folks he writes about from the Bloomsbury Group. His brilliant books can be found here and here and here (pdf order form from Cecil Woolf Publishers) and here (beautiful exhibition catalog Todd wrote from a Bloomsbury Exhibition he curated at the Lilly Library in 1999 when he was still a graduate student.  The book is now a collectible and a must for Bloomsbury lovers.  Yes, I'm bragging.)  I don't use "brilliant" lightly.  My guy is a smarty pants, and because he is one, he spends a great deal of time doing the sorts of things that smarty pants do, like rummaging through archives and leafing through forgotten papers and books and recordings and even very old films.  Fortunately for me, this means he must travel as often as possible to libraries far and wide, which in turn means I often get to travel beside him.  Occasionally I even share in writing duties;  you can find an article Mr. Magpie and I co-wrote here.   He, being a singular bird, does not much like flying, so having a trusty traveling companion makes the whole business much less taxing.  Perhaps that sounds odd for a superhero, but not all superheroes love to fly.  Batman prefers his Batmobile.  Mr. Magpie prefers his desk chair and his mighty fountain pen.  They take him all the way around the world, thank you very much.

Needs no caption!  :)

Detail of horse from the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum--I visit them every trip!

On this trip, he must visit some film archives in London and a library or two in Cambridge.  Hooray for him!  Hooray for me!  London just happens to be my favorite city.  This time we will be staying outside of the city in Greenwich, one of the prettiest places I know, in a lovely B&B that I have heard is a gem.  We've stayed all over London, but we've never stayed overnight in Greenwich, and I LOVE the markets there, the museums and parks, and the food, so I will have much to report upon our return.

Arriving at Greenwich by riverboat on the Thames

After Greenwich, it will be off to Cambridge.  I've only ever spent a day and a night there, so I am thrilled!  We haven't found the perfect place to stay in Cambridge yet.  If any of you know a fabulous place that is not crazy expensive (we are traveling on an academic budget, which, despite what many conservative US politicians will tell you about lazy and greedy academics, is decidedly not a luxury budget!), please let me know.  We've asked around to some friends and colleagues, but have yet to hit upon the place that fits both our budget and our simple needs (clean, quiet, convenient for walking, ensuite bath, good breakfasts).  For me, when we're on this type of trip, a pretty room is a bonus.  Of course I'd like it, but, honestly, I'd rather spend the money on some good food and wonderful experiences than on a super luxury room.  Am I crazy?  I prefer to think I'm just a girl with a camera who sees her hotel room as a place to sleep between adventures like the one pictured below.

Portobello Road--delicious!

I know some of you live in or near London, so you know just why I am so excited to return.  For those of you who don't live there, I wish I could take you in my pocket, especially to my favorite markets, where we would have a ball together.  I promise to return with photos and new discoveries to share.

We won't be leaving for a few weeks yet, so if you see this any time before March and know of an inn/B&B in Cambridge, please feel free to drop me an email!

Roses at Saint Paul's Cathedral.  I've only climbed to the top once!  What a view!

Happy weekend, my friends, and welcome to new subscribers and followers!  I'm looking forward to making my blog rounds this weekend!  Can't wait to see what you're all up to.  x Gigi

P.S. All the photos above are from our last UK trip two years ago.  I've been missing it so!

Pinterest Passion

From here.

I'll admit it.  I adore Pinterest.  Social butterflies can keep their Facebook; just let me have my pins.

I've always been a magpie, collecting objects and images and other bits that inspire me, and I feel like Pinterest is the only online outlet that reflects this part of my obsessive personality completely.  Maybe too completely.  

From here.

How do I love it?  Let me count the ways:

1. I can categorize my inspirations any way that I wish.
2. I've always been plagued by half-remembered book titles and recipes, so I love that it helps me remember what would otherwise slip through my memory's sieve.
3. I meet people weekly whose own interests and tastes intersect with my own in surprising ways.  One such person is Carole.  Her boards are full of beauty and surprises.  She is more sophisticated than I am, and this delights me, too!
4. I also get to know old friends--of both the real world and blogging varieties--much better.  For example, my friend Ciara is one of the first people I met through blogging a few years ago, and I have admired her writing and photography ever since.  Through Pinterest I've discovered that we have common tastes in interiors, books, and art.  She is a deeply beautiful and whimsical soul who inspires me daily with her own work as well as her pins.
5. I am becoming better acquainted with my own tastes.  I've always known what I like the moment I see it, but these boards allow me to see in a more coherent way the elements of design that most appeal to my own aesthetic sensibilities.  I'm also becoming much more realistic about the importance of function in any design.  

From here.

Now that I'm getting to know my own loves and needs better, I can tell you without hesitation that my next kitchen will have ample open shelving above and drawers instead of cupboards below.  I can also tell you that I like chandeliers much more than I ever realized I did.  And finally, I can share with you my deep and abiding love for black and white.

From here.

Yes, just look at the picture below.  There's the open shelves.  There's the black and the white--oh, and with little touches of bronze-y gold.  This combination sends me over the moon.

From here.

Since childhood I have collected bits and bobs, letters and numbers like the ones you see below.  

From here.

And typewriters.  And cups.  And bowls.  And frames.  And feathers.  

From here.

The photo below reminds me that in my next house I would like an all-white room with a few key pieces of black furniture and touches of those browns, bronzes, and golds.  The vase of blue delphiniums softens the edges and pulls the look together for me.

From here.

One of my favorite things about Pinterest is that I can collect thoughtful expressions and sayings, all beautifully lettered.  This one below has that gorgeous black and gold I love, but it also reminds me of a favorite line from a favorite childhood story.  Remember Willy Wonka's words: "So shines a good deed in a weary world."  

From here.

So, yes, Pinterest, I adore you, and I doff my hat to you.  

Now, if only I can decide which one . . .

From here.

After the Tree

Okay, I admit it.  After I took all the ornaments off the tree and packed them away in their tissues and pretty boxes, I fell into a deep funk.  For the past month, the evening view from my favorite spot on the couch had been this:

  

With the tree gone, the room felt bare.  No, not just bare--blank.  I'm guessing maybe you've had that feeling before, too.  I think I feel it more right now because we're living in an apartment and can't paint the walls or hang loads of paintings.  I like white and clean, simple lines without a lot of clutter, so I'm okay with that, but magpie that I am, suddenly I was really, really missing the sparkle.  

So I decided to put a bit back.  

I grabbed a string of white lights with a white cord and tied on lots of tulle bows to soften it.

Then, using a couple of map pins on one side and my old apple ladder on the other, I hung the lights over the little red stove.  It's not a forever kind of decoration, but a fun-for-January kind of twinkly bit of cheer.  

The little red stove leads me to one more note about light and sparkle.  I crave light all year long, but especially during the winter months.  One of my favorite ways to get it during the winter is from a fireplace.  Alas, the apartment has no fireplace.  What was a poor magpie to do?  I bought a very reasonably priced electric one just before Christmas.  I don't usually like the look of electric fireplaces.  They often seem fake and flimsy to me, but I found this one online at Plow & Hearth, and I love it.  I swear they're not paying me a commission, but maybe they should, since everyone who comes into my living room now wants this stove.  My mother and sister both bought one after seeing mine, and I know a few other people who are planning to buy them as well.  You can run the flames with or without heat,  and this little stove that could cheers up the entire room.  Best of all, the surface is always cool to the touch, so I can use the top to display a wooden bowl of pine cones--or whatever my magpie heart desires.  

I just thought I'd share this info in case anyone else would love a fireplace but can't have one where they are living.  If you have an old mantle, that would look fabulous with this stove, too.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the perfect one.  In the meantime, the tulle-dressed lights add a little whimsy, warmth, and shimmer to these cold January nights. 

The Merry Magpie

I am a magpie year round, collecting bits and pieces of vintage bling, flash, and sparkle, but at the holidays, my love of all that shines is at its peak.  There's no season I love more, especially because so many truly beautiful vintage ornaments can still be bought for a song at flea markets, yard sales, and even antiques shops.  In fact, I often find them for much better prices than their contemporary knock-offs, and their wonderful patina is for real rather than manufactured.

When they are broken or missing their little top inserts--or if they are too small to hang on the tree,  I simply sprinkle them liberally around the house in bowls, vases, under bell jars, or even in pretty tea cups and wine glasses in the china hutch.

Some of my favorites are ones my mother bought for me many years ago from the estate auction of writer May Sarton.  Sarton has long been among my favorite writers, and when she died, my mother gave me several boxes of ornaments that she'd bought at the sale of her estate.  Each year I have the joy of opening boxes of the very ornaments that Sarton herself hung on her tree each Christmas.

This isn't to say that I don't love new ornaments, for I adore them, too!  If it shines, I crave it, which is why I bought the beautiful red garland in the photo above a few years ago.  This year I combined it with some very old and rather "distressed" (which I LOVE) red and silver balls in a pretty pewter tray on the kitchen table.  In the center, I placed an old candle jar that I'd saved and washed out after I'd used up the scented candle that came in it.  I don't have the budget to buy tons of new candles this year, so I simply poured some sugar in the jar: first white, then a little red (think cookie sugar from the grocery store), then more white.  I nestled a votive into the top, and now I have a candle I can keep reusing all season--and into the winter.  I just keep replacing the votives for a a few pennies each time I burn one down to its end.

My favorite new ornament is one sent to my by my friend Vicki Archer of French Essence.  Like most girls I know, it has long been a dream of mine to visit Paris, so when Vicki's package arrived in the mail this week, I was over the moon.  An Eiffel Tower of my very own!  I don't think I'll put this one away when Christmas is over.  It may need to tide me over until I get to the real thing.

Wishing the Merriest of Holidays to everyone, especially my fellow magpies!  More seasonal sparkle soon . . .

Love and Other Magic Spells

Warm thanks to friends who've sent well wishes

via comments, emails, and smoke signals

about the new blog, The Magpie's Pen.

I'm having a grand time over there,

concocting thoughts and prompts

and other sorts of inspiration

for all my writerly friends.

And The Magpie's Fancy

will stay put right

here. In fact,

I've got a

bit of

love

just

for

u.

The Magpie's Pen

Okay, my friends, it's up and running!

From now on, The Magpie's Pen will be the new home of Freewrite Fridays . . .

. . . and much, much more,

all designed to keep your pen moving 

and your fingers typing.

I hope you'll fly on over there for a visit.

Freewrite Friday: Five Easy Pieces (Plus a Big Announcement!)

I have an exciting announcement about Freewrite Fridays.  After this week, Freewrite Fridays will be moving to a new home: The Magpie's Pen!  The new site hasn't gone live yet, as I'm working on some finishing touches, but it will be up and running by next Friday.  Check back here then, and I'll have a link  for you.  In addition to Freewrite Fridays, The Magpie's Pen will be the home of loads of writing inspiration, tips, and links.  If you've been enjoying the Freewrite Fridays series, I hope you'll fly on over to The Magpie's Pen to continue on with the fun.  I'll be including photo prompts, quick exercises, and also some lessons on craft, process, and revision.

When I'm not writing or editing, I spend a good deal of time teaching others how to write, so there will also be information there about my tutoring services.  I work with students via Skype, email, and snail mail.  My purpose is simple: I help people become better writers.  I do this by focusing on writing as a process, and by helping students learn essentials of their craft at the same time they are learning ways to stay motivated and disciplined.  There will be much more information about the tutorials at the new site.  I'm so excited about The Magpie's Pen that I can barely contain myself!  I so hope you'll pay a visit.

You may be wondering what will happen to The Magpie's Fancy.  "It's barely a toddler," you're thinking,  "and she's abandoning it!"  But no, I'm not.  This blog will stay right here, and I'll keep on photographing and writing about everyday life, recipes, vintage finds, wildlife, musings, and my many other magpie obsessions.

And now for this week's exercise.  I am actually recycling one of my all-time favorite exercises this time.  I posted this back in the very early days of the blog, and it's too good not to share one more time.  It will sound a little wild at first, but take a leap of faith and see what happens.  If you give this one a try, please let me know or share a link in the comments!  Oh, and that reminds me, Kamana shared a link to her wonderful take on last week's Scent Exercise.

Five Easy Pieces (reposted from May 26, 2009)

I want to share a writing exercise that I do with my poetry workshop students.  It is not one that I invented, but it is one of my favorites, partly because I borrowed it.  It's like a good recipe for blueberry cake that you've borrowed and made your own, adapting for your fussy oven, your particular love of cinnamon, or your passion for an extra crumbly top.  It's also one that I wait to spring on students until the last week or so of class because it takes some trust to make it work--trust in oneself, in the process, in the person who is asking one to do it.  Even then, some students think it's pretty crazy.  Others, though, create something magical from this foundation.  It works well for writing poems, but it can work for prose, too.

The exercise is called "Five Easy Pieces," and it was created by the poet Richard Jackson, one of my graduate school professors.  I actually never did this exercise with him.  Instead, I found it in The Practice of Poetry, a collection of writing exercises edited by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell.  

Robin was my MFA thesis advisor, so this book is near and dear to my heart, but it is also just a fantastic book for days when one is stuck or needs a new direction to try.  So here goes:

"This exercise, " writes Jackson, "attempts to tell a whole story in a quick scene.  It is to be written in five sentences. . . . There are two preparation steps.  The first step is to remember a person you know well. . . .  The second step is to imagine a place where you find the person.  Then you are ready for the five easy pieces."

1. Describe the person's hands.
2. Describe something he or she is doing with the hands.
3. Use a metaphor to say something about some exotic place.
4. Mention what you would want to ask the person in the context of 2 and 3, above.
5. The person looks up or toward you, notices you there, gives an answer that suggest he or she only gets part of what you asked.

About the exercise, Jackson writes, "it is useful in showing how a poem can condense narrative and characterization, how it can quickly shift focus like a photographer going wild with a zoom lens, how images reveal stories behind them simply by knocking against other images and perspectives, how you can use dialogue in a poem--each time I use it I've found different uses."

And I have found my own uses for it, too, but I'd love to hear from other folks about it.  If you try it, please let me know how it works for you!

Desires

Nesting Bowls from Terrain

Press Camera Makeup Bag from Anthropologie

Cabbages & Roses Guide to Natural Housekeeping

I like cleaning products to look and smell 

like spa products.  

If it comes from an apothecary jar, 

just maybe I can trick myself 

into using it to do housework.

Incanto Ruffle Dinner Plate from Vietri

Or anything by Vietri.

Chan Luu Lace Scarf from Garnet Hill

Silver Heart from Willa Wirth

She's a local silver artist in my Portland neighborhood. 

Her shop is beautiful, and so is her website.

1908 Crazy-Quilt Pillow from Enhabiten on Etsy

I love this Etsy shop!

I'm in window-shopping-magpie mode, both physically and virtually.  Just thought I'd share some lovelies I've been spotting, in case anyone else is craving pretty things in silvery greys, creamy whites, and plummy pinks.

Grace

As some of you know, my word for the year is grace.  Matthew 7:7 reads, "Seek, and ye shall find."  Well,  all I had to do was type the word, and already grace has arrived this year in many forms, including intense conversations with smart and inspiring people, real paper notes and emails from dear friends, links and features online from beautiful prairiegirl and amazing Bine, wonderful enthusiasm about the Freewrite Series from lovely people like Robin and Karen, and incredible support from my husband in more ways than I can count.            

And then this morning, while I was scrubbing out the bathtub, grace arrived right on my doorstep in the form of a package from my sister-in-law (and fellow magpie) Cate.  Cate and I share many traits, including a passion for paper, an obsession with all things sparkly, and a love of crafting with--you guessed it--paper that is sparkly.  So when I opened the package to discover a glittery gift inside, I almost didn't want to open it.  It was that pretty.  See the polka dots on the paper?  Those are lovely flocked circles underneath the glitter.  Sigh.

But open the gift I did, and what was inside?  Eternal grace, of course.  Cate had read my word-for-the-year post, and she sent me some grace of my very own to begin the new year right.  What a gift she is.  

Thank you so much for your emails and comments about the Freewrite Series.  I've been hearing interesting stories about the map exercise, and I look forward to hearing more this coming Friday when I post the next exercise.  Please feel free to stop by and join in any time it strikes your fancy.

Treasures

A few weeks ago I mentioned that our new place has a sunporch.  What a joy it is!  I step up into it from my study, and it is the perfect place to take photographs with its two walls of windows, two windowed doors, and one wall of white-painted bricks.  Plus, my herbs and houseplants love it there.

I bought a huge bouquet of cosmos at the farmers' market early in the morning yesterday and placed them in vases and bottles all over the house.  Out on the sunporch they fairly sing.

Next week I'll begin a new series here on The Magpie's Fancy called "Legacy."  The series will focus on the people, things, and ideals that we value.  In my little Blogger profile I state that I am a seeker of things that shine from within.  That's not just a pretty thing to say.  I truly mean it.  While a bit of surface flash does catch my magpie eye, what I really cherish is a deep, burnished inner glow in people and stories and places.  Several talented friends will be joining me in the coming weeks to share their thoughts.  Each one of them definitely shines from within.  I can't wait to read their thoughts and study their pictures. 

Meanwhile, the leaves have started to turn here in New England.  Time for cider and apple crisp.  I will be gathering up the last blossoms of the season and treasuring them until the first hard frost.