so you've been wondering where I was...

eating chocolate of course! Well, not for 2 weeks straight (although wouldn't that be a dream!) I did eat some last night that I want to share with you though.

A new shop opened in Ballard named Claudio Corallo. Claudio is an Italian that lives in Sao Tome & Principe and owns a cacao plantation. The store in Ballard is his US outlet (for lack of a better term). It's a small shop, selling only his bars and beans - truffles are coming soon. Did you hear me say beans? Yes, real cacao beans that you peel and eat - finally a taste of the real flavor of cacao!

The woman who works in the shop is super knowledgeable - and there is not a crumb of milk chocolate in the place!

So, now to the chocolate I had last night. I sampled most of the chocolates they offered, and decided on the Chocolate sablé 80% com açúar em cristal (dark chocolate with sugar crystals). Now, I know what you are thinking - the sugar totally defeats the purpose of eating dark dark chocolate. BUT it DOESN'T. That's the beauty of this bar. The chocolate (which is single plantation by the way), still has all the complexity of 80% cacao and the sugar just adds a crunch with a slight sweetness that remains separate - in other words the two flavors don't blend together (it's like eating a donut with coffee instead of dunking the donut in the coffee).

That said, check out the shop on Market & 17th in Ballard or go to his website

an ocean of cashmere

So as some of you may know, I also make reclaimed cashmere scarves - reclaimed as in I go to thrift stores, buy cashmere sweaters, and then redesign them into scarves. Earlier this week I had a major shopping / restocking trip - and boy did I hit the jackpot! 18 sweaters! And it only took me 3 days to wash, cut, sew, organize and photograph the new scarves - and I didn't even get through the whole pile! phew!

I am also in the process of trying to fancy-up the scarves, right now I'm thinking of sewing flowers on the ends of them. Stay tuned...

check 'em out at http://www.maxandco.etsy.com

IF: Sail

My ship has sailed...

a good laugh...

Every now and then someone emails me something that makes me giggle - maybe even chuckle. But this one, sent to me by my husband, takes the cake (pardon the pun). http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Where I'm at...

I've been spending my weekend at a 3-day intensive Drapery Drawing Workshop at the Gage Academy of Fine Art with Margaret Davidson. Here's a peek. I did 1 piece in charcoal and am now working on a piece in pen & ink. The ink is much more challenging because a) it can't be erased like charcoal and b) the only variation in tone is in the quantity of strokes - with charcoal you can adjust the pressure, rub it out to blend, switch pencils, add more layers, ya da ya da ya...

All in all, Margaret is a wonderful instructor and for the most part, the drapery is a wonderful "model" (except when the afternoon light shifts the shadows, but that's hardly the model's fault).

Can you say Norm in a toga?