Figs, figs, figs

While we dream of soon having land to call our own where we can grow food and raise animals along with children my husband makes the best of where we are, a quaint neighborhood near downtown. He has been quite the urban harvester, walking the streets harvesting the figs for canning and the Cypress balls and Rosemary for distilling (more to come of this in the near future).

From fresh baby snacks to canned fig preserves using organic cane sugar, oranges, ginger, cinnamon, and oregano. As well as, wonderfully aromatic Cypress and Rosemary hydrosol and oil. He is my urban farmer. Putting good use to what might otherwise have gone unnoticed, back into the earth till next year. We can share the bounty of his harvest for the seasons to come with yummy treats that are delightful to our senses through taste and smell.

We have the canned Figs and hydrosol available for purchase.

• half pint mason jar of Fig preserves $5
  
• 4oz glass amber bottles with atomizer tops full with essential water of Cypress or Rosemary for $5.
  
• with added drops of incredible therapeutic-grade essential oils creating blissful aromas to be sprayed directly on you or around your home or sacred space. Price varies depending on oils used. Will post a list of oils and prices soon!
  

If you are interested please contact me cajunhappiness@hotmail.com or via etsy.
(Hopefully, in the next few days I will add to my etsy shop)

Mating Monarchs

A few days at the beach...

this moment...

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by 'this moments' of soulemama

Shop update!

Yay! I have finally had the chance to create, photograph and upload a recent inspiration...Bayou Bebez. A ever growing collection of comfortable, handmade, organic, vintage and/or recylced pants for baby! Most of these pictured have a vintage scrap for a back (or front) pocket and I hand stamped the name on recycled canvas cloth.

made from repurposed old painters cloth

made of organic cotton

the very 1st pair

from abstract terry cloth

Click here to visit my etsy store.

visiting the GREATS...

How special it is that our children have their great-grandparents to share moments and make memories. How extra special it is that they have made such a wonderful home to visit with a magical yard that grows enough food to sustain themselves and their visitors most of the year. Thank you Mamaw and Pawpaw.

A collector at heart

I am a collector at heart. I, all to often, see the potential in lots of things that others may be discarding. I find a treasure in what some might consider trash. I know I do not stand alone in this, having a need to keep something (lots of things) because I can do 'this' with it or hey that would make a good 'this'. I have come across many similar women here in the blog world or on etsy that are making beauty out of 'old junk' or what some might consider rescued treasures. The great thing is that we are REcycling and saving the dump from one less thing at a time.

A few of my ever growing collections are vintage jars and bottles, old wood, cypress windows, buckets of paint, magazine tear sheets, fabric and vintage clothes. It seems I am even a collector of hobbies and inspirations. Some are my moms collections that I have taken on as my own. You can imagine where all this collecting leads. Clutter! BUT it all has potential to be something bigger and better. Like a flea market or etsy store.

old wood projects

This blog is a place for me to collect my thoughts and my inspirations. A bit random and unorganized at times. Searching for time and space to create that doesn't seem to show itself these days. Remembering that being a mother is so rewarding and valued by the sweet, innocent, precious spirits I have birthed into this existence. Though demanding and constant it is ever changing and I only have this one chance to be here and now. I sound so enlightened and like I have it all together but OFTEN times I feel quite the opposite. Though I am always telling myself those things its easy to loose myself in being overwhelmed with not having enough ME time. Time to do the things that I am inspired to do at any given moment. So, I will collect my thoughts and inspirations here to remind myself of what I like, what I want. I will embrace my tiny (spaceless) home and I will cherish my time with my children. I will be satisfied with the short incomplete chances I have to work with jewelry and fabric due to time and space constraints. I am a mother most importantly, everything else comes next!

Wild Things

Dandi Maestre’s Jewelry

Wild, primitive, and beautiful. I am inspired by her use of raw elements of nature. Being slightly manipulated yet making a bold creative statement. I sit here wanting to walk the banks of the bayou to gather seeds and driftwood to create adornments with raw nature fit for the tribes chief.










As featured on Ecouterre
For more of Dandi Maestre click here!

Conceptions as if from my own heart

gaiaconceptions.etsy.com

I LOVE everything about what this woman does with cloth. I would love to be at that place with clothing design. I am passionate about natural fibers and dyes. In the past I have worked with hemp/cotton and non-invasive dyes but I have yet to experiment with natural dyes like tea, coffee, berries and leaves. A technique I hold close to my heart.

I have several designs in the works using hemp and organic cotton. Comfortable, free moving fold waist pants, dresses inspired by life of times past, simple and feminine tunics, baby pants (bayou bebez). Most of them hand dyed. As I slowly complete my creations I will (eventually) photograph and upload to my etsy store. Today I am working on the baby pants, bayou bebez, using organic cotton and scraps from vintage cloth.

Working with cloth takes a lot of time and space especially when making and manipulating your own patterns. Plus, you need lots of room to spread out and arrange a straight grain on your fabric before cutting. Currently, I am limited on time and space (mostly space because if I had it I could stop and start a project without taking up ALL of our home then time would not be of concern) so I keep these ever returning inspirations and ideas close to my heart while I (try to) remain patient. For my time will soon come.

Enjoy more pictures of gaiaconceptions designs and visit her on etsy!