Fall Fire

It's late October, and the leaves are peaking here in the Shenandoah Valley.

Here are some shots from yesterday's walk around Third Battle of Winchester.

Tea Time

Long winters call for a wide variety of warming beverages.

Enjoying a hot cuppa on top of Signal Nob in George Washington National Forest.

Getting organized.

We mounted a sheet of metal to the kitchen wall and magnetized our tea tins.

The herbs found glass homes.

Exploring new tea shops.

Inside Lost Dog Coffee in Shepherdstown, WV.

Gnome update: I published a book!

And it's available now on CreateSpace!

Here are a few previews: 

 

"Gnomes have a particularly

long history of friendship

with members of the avian kingdom."

"...If you happen to meet a gnome who can carry a tune, 

rest assured that what you are witnessing is the result 

of countless hours of dedicated study."

The process of creating this book was a great experience for me.  I learned a lot, and found out just how easy self-publishing can be!  Most importantly: I realized that there's nothing stopping me from putting out into the world anything my heart can dream up.  It's a pretty powerful revelation.

It's really amazing to think that a few weeks ago, none of this existed at all.  And that the whole journey began with a little spark of inspiration and few ounces of leftover clay I dug out of the closet.

Thanks to everyone who has cheered me on in my creative adventures.

Your support and kind words are more valuable than you may know :)

Like I said, the book is available now on CreateSpace, and should be up on Amazon in about a week. 

So check it out!

Snow Day!

It's been coming down steadily all day.  Thankfully I've been able to appreciate the snow storm from behind my studio window.  I've been busy photographing and editing and brainstorming since breakfast - and man, does it feel good!

I built a makeshift lightbox the other day for photographing my ceramic figurines, and am pleased to report that it's really getting the job done.  It wasn't hard to make at all - all it took was a blade, an empty cracker box, a few pieces of printer paper and some tape.

As you may have guessed, that's one of the gnomes in there.  His name is Jonas.  He's from Sweden, and is a voracious reader.

I know I said just the other day that I would be putting these little fellows up for sale on my Etsy shop soon, but I've since been inspired to undertake a new project involving the gnomes - which is still super secret, but I will say that I'm VERY excited about it!

I'll be sure to update again soon.  Until then, I'm going to crawl back under the electric blanket.  Brr!

Fall Fire

Such an inspiring time of year.

Vermont, I think I love you. 

Bikes and Bridges

Yesterday I had a lot of energy to burn, so rather than hang around the apartment, I took my bike out for a long ride.  It was nothing I bothered to plan, but ended up being a great route, complete with beautiful views and challenging hills.

Afternoons like that get me to thinking I could probably spend my whole life exploring the world on a bike.  

And maybe that's exactly what I'll do.

In just a few days, we'll be moving out of our lovely sublet here in San Francisco to kick off a  summer of travel.  Saturday we fly to Cancún to attend my sister's wedding.  The following week we'll spend in Texas visiting family.  And the latter half of the month will be spent making preparations for an extended bicycle trip scheduled to begin May 31st.

At least, that's when our flight is set to arrive in Finland.

I'm so excited to be heading back to Estonia to visit all of the wonderful friends I made while teaching English there two years ago. 

Since first moving out of my parents' house at age 17, I have believed myself to be somewhat of a gypsy traveler.  Now, ten years and more than 20 countries later, it's still not looking like a phase I'll be growing out of any time soon.

But something in me finally feels different.

A new inner sense of freedom which was previously lacking.  

It's a perspective that manages to shift the whole psychological and spiritual dynamic of travel.

No longer driven by a feeling of lack, but by a feeling of fulfillment. 

There is nothing to escape from.  Nothing to seek.  I am not answering a calling to "find myself."

And getting to this point did not require any kind of miraculous discovery or painstaking assembly of all the right pieces. 

It simply meant a sloughing off of all those stale, oppressive layers of who I thought I was or needed to be.

(Which is an ongoing process, really.)

Onward, ho!

Home again, home again.

After a big weekend full of travel, family, and food, I am now back in San Francisco and nearly fully recovered.  

Walks help. 

:)

Everyday Inspiration

I devoted a portion of my Saturday to poking about an antique store in order to recharge my creative battery.  My heart never fails to flutter at the sight of all things small and whimsical.

These guys make me want to shrink down to size and host a tea party.

I love this Art Nouveau flower goddess. 

Kitty with the teapot is my favorite. 

So much magic, everywhere you look.   

And just when I thought I had gotten my fill, who did I encounter while walking down the street?

The world is a fairy playground.

La la la.

Woodland Critter Shortbread Cookies

Flaky, crumbly, delicate shortbread - quite possibly my favorite sweet indulgence.  Also quite possibly the finest culinary contribution to have emerged from Scotland to date (sorry, haggis).  

If you have yet to experience for yourself the magic of shortbread, imagine savoring a thick, sweet piece of pure pie crust, only vastly more delicious and, in this case, adorable.  

My inner 3-year old did a cartwheel the moment I first laid eyes on Ikea's Woodland Critter Cookie Cutters.  What's the only thing better than a batch of scrumptious cookies?  Scrumptious cookies in the shapes of snails, squirrels, and hedgehogs.

 

I made these little guys following the recipe for shortbread from Joy of Baking.  The ingredients are very simple: nothing but flour, butter, and powdered sugar with a bit of salt and vanilla extract thrown in.  On top of that, I added a couple shakes of ground cloves and allspice to give mine a little fall flavor.

Personally, I tend to prefer my shortbread simple and unadorned. But for the sake of experimentation, I dipped these in melted Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.  On the hedgehogs I also ground a bit of sea salt, and the squirrels received a coating of toasted pecan pieces.

Like what you see?  Try whipping up a batch for yourself!  

Welcome!

Hi!  I'm Lia, creator of Small Fox Press.  

On this blog I'll be sharing my original art, photography, and writing.

Today I present to you:

The creation of the Small Fox logo.

Meet my dear friends - Speedball Linoleum Cutters.  

All those different gauges are pretty handy for carving wee foxes out of a sheet of linoleum.  

This little guy measures in at just under 3 inches in length.

Basically, a relief print works just like a stamp: 

Ink is applied to the block with a rubber roller, and the image then transferred onto paper.

The first few proofs generally reveal areas where the block needs to be cleaned up a tad.  Imperfections may be ironed out with a bit more help from the carving tools, and the block is then complete.  Once I have a print I feel satisfied with, I can create a high resolution scan of the image, and Small Fox is ready for his internet debut!

 Hooray!

Thanks for dropping by, see you next time :)