Author Archives: Botanical Beauties and Beasties©

Colors Matter!

Posted on by
1

Variety is the spice of life,  Differences make the world go ’round.. and Color is the Technicolor wonder of our beautiful and very colorful world/Earth.

col·or is a noun

1. the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/color

I have spent a good part of the afternoon playing with paint and color…. for my wonderful, ever so fun to make, lacquered boxes! Part of the puzzle is playing with color combos, colors that pop, colors that seem happy,colors that are fun, colors that please me, and colors that compliment the Botanical Beauty that will grace the boxes top. BTW – you can see some of these luscious boxes tomorrow ( Sat May 18 at Crafts in the Park, N.Reading MA —Put this address in your GPS – 5 Central St. N. Reading MA 01864… 10-3pm)Color Boxes

Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite. When used in the right ways, color can even save on energy consumption.

As a powerful form of communication, color is irreplaceable. Red means “stop” and green means “go.” Traffic lights send this universal message. Likewise, the colors used for a product, web site, business card, or logo cause powerful reactions. Color Matters! -http://colormatters.com

A cool website- all about color, the symbolism of colors, the meanings of colors….and a whole lot more!

Color can change the whole feel and emotion of an object. Color can take the mundane and make it exciting.

Whats your favorite color? I realized I really couldn’t answer that question. I have so many favorite colors! If I was tied down and being tickled and I had to say something…well maybe these days I would have to say all shades of reds, from the pinks to the purples to the hot reds! One you say - hmmm maybe today its Pink! Leave a comment and lets see your fav color(s) ! ! ! !

What soothes your soul?

Posted on by
4

Always a good question to think about… What makes you stop, breath deep, and creates some inner peace for you?

For me it’s (in no particular order) friends, family, flowers, yoga, my dogs, and “creating” – like a new drawing or an art/craft “object,” sunshine, fresh air, and then maybe some more flowers…… or at least those things are some of list toppers!

Since Mable (or if you prefer you can call her Mabel – she likes to mix it up a bit)  is CEO of Emos, and Emos manufacture Smiles, it seemed fitting that she get to hold the giant flower and stand in one of my favorite flowers – a Poppy. You will have to use your imaginations to see all the other “soul soothing pieces”  here with Mabel, but I can assure you they are like water drops and are sitting on top of those flowers too!  Even better…. use your imagination and think about what ever your pieces are and insert them into your mind and reality. If you are really lucky, maybe Mabel can hold some of your too!

Mabel with Flowers

Helping hands….

Posted on by
1

Everyone needs some help at times of the day, the year, or even in a moment.

We all know it’s spring thank goodness it’s time for flowers and herbs and gardening again! Peaceful. Healthy. Beauty. Color. Meditative. Calming. Soothing – those all words I associate with gardens and gardening. Here in my little piece of the world I have a back deck that turns into a little piece of all those words for me each year. It is a deck that I surround with “window boxes” or in this case rail boxes, that I mostly fill with Herbs. I use the herbs for cooking, ice tea (yes I grow many mints,) and just because I love being able to go out there and have all these possible scents surround me. There are naturally flowers too…but enough about what I personally plant.  The real point of this story is helping hands…..so…. I was at my local garden center to buy the soil for the boxes. There was even a special deal price of my favorite soil in a 2 1/4 cubic feet bag.  Great! Now, you need to know that I am pretty strong and about 5 foot 8, so I am not a small weak wisp of grass…. these bags are HEAVY! I struggled to get the first on my cart. Then the helping hand came. A couple came walking by, the man asked if I was getting another bag. I said yes, and he (with some effort too I may add) put the second one on cart. FAB! Then to add to the goodness, they were right behind in line to pay, and he offered to put them in my car for me. A big win for Kindness and for me. Thanks you universe for that helping hand when I needed it.

Helping Hands image

Helping hands…holding hands… the two often mix. That’s a very good thing.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for fun & what to do? We can help!

Posted on by
Reply

Not one but TWO chances to greet, meet, see, say hi, enjoy, buy cool art things, do good, and smile this weekend!

April 27 – Celebrate Earth day: See over 75 exhibitors including local artisans, green products, alternative energy, community groups, health+fitness, home improvement, food, music and more!    Click here for the full listing! ( You can even do some ‘big time’ recycling at the event! Check it out! ) 11 AM -3 PM Framingham Centre Village Green on the Common, Framingham MA.

April 28 -Art In The Garden is this Sunday! 11am-4pm at Weston Nurseries is Hopkinton. In its 6th year, Art In The Garden will host 50 local artisans exhibiting their handmade wares on the beautiful grounds of Weston Nurseries.
You will find stained glass, pottery, jewelry, etched slates, bath & body products, candles, handbags, tote bags, furniture, clothing, garden art, paintings, note cards, birdhouses, winds chimes, pillows, dog collars and leashes, pet clothing, blown glass infusion jars, beaded belt buckles, scarves, honey, pickles, chocolates, pizza and more! $3 admission will benefit One Fund Boston, Mazie Memorial Foundation and Project Just Because.
April 27&28 shows

Earth Day

Posted on by
Reply

That about says it all from us here at Botanical Beauties & Beasties.
Do Earth a favor, pick up a few extra pieces of litter today.

Earth Day

Shows, fairs, and general excitement!!!

Posted on by
Reply

OMG – can’t believe “show season” is here -we are off and running!

This weekend we are headed to what I expect to be grand at The Garden Symposium in the even grander location of The Equinox Resort in Manchester VT.Their will be wonderful nationally known speakers and a related vendor marketplace. Naturally, we fit in the second. We will leave all the words off about how great it will be and what an exciting season we are working on (check and watch the schedule grow on our calender page) In the mean time, we will just say WE ARE EXCITED TO BE “On the road again” -off to meet new friends and spread our motto of “Live Kind, Live Green, Live Creatively“

Our hope is that on Sunday we can connect up somehow and have a little magic with The Beekman Brothers. They run a company called Beekman 1802-from their own website words “Two NYC guys who bought a farm and are sharing their experiment in living better lives, season by season, neighbor by neighbor.” The Botanical Beauties & Beasties  love that statement/mission. We want to chat with them!

Right now they are promoting  THE SAUCE THAT COULD CHANGE THINGS  (click on name)  Below is the page for this cool idea and product. Please help if you can. It helps all the small local American Farmers stay alive and that’s truly a wonderful thing. The Power of Tomatoes, people and good ideas!

heirloom tomato pasta sauce“We’ve got some really big news.

We are really excited about our new pasta sauce. ‘Cuz it’s gonna change the world.

No. Seriously. Not hyperbole.

Remember when we won that little show called The Amazing Race?  Let us refresh your memory:

101976_d0442b

Wasn’t that awesome?

It was.

Here’s why. It allowed us to pay off the mortgage on our farm so that we could both devote ourselves full-time to growing Beekman 1802 and our community.

So what does The Amazing Race have to do with pasta sauce? A lot, it turns out. And it has even more to do with raising money for other American farmers.

It’s a little round-about-story, but first you need to know a little Race trivia:

Even though you didn’t see the finish till December, the race actually ended in June. Which meant we already knew we would be able to pay off our mortgage with the prize money early last summer. (We’re good secret-keepers, right? Keep that in mind next time you have juicy gossip.)

However, we also had a field full of tomatoes growing on the farm in June. Some of these tomatoes were a variety called “Mortgage Lifter” heirloom tomatoes. They’re giant, delicious tomatoes.

IMG_0626

Why are they called “Mortgage Lifter?”

Well,  in 1929 a man named Marshall Cletis Byles owned an auto repair garage in Logan, West Virginia. When his business began suffering during the Great Depression, Marshall (who went by the nickname “Radiator Charlie,”) decided to earn extra money by selling the best tasting tomato variety he could breed.

It took a few years, but Charlie finally bred his perfect tomato. He advertised that one single plant, with its 1-2lb fruits, could feed a family of six. And he wound up selling enough seedlings in four years to pay off his mortgage. In full.

Hence “Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomato” was born.

Those of you who’ve followed our story know that before we won The Amazing Race, one of our primary goals was to pay off the Beekman Farm mortgage. So when we planted our garden in early 2012, we planted a ton of Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, in hopes of developing a pasta sauce that would help us do just that.

And then we won The Amazing Race. Let’s revisit again. ‘Cuz it was awesome:

101976_d0298b

(Did we really make that face on national television? There are “ugly cry” faces and “ugly win” faces, apparently. This was both at once.)

Anyway, last year was a really good year for tomatoes. Here’s one afternoon’s haul:

IMG_0667

So, since we’d paid off our mortgage…what were we going to do with all these tomatoes?!??!

Then it hit us.

We’ll use these tomatoes pay off another small farm’s mortgage! Pay it forward.

So we went ahead and kept developing the pasta sauce. We used the best tomatoes from our farm and other farms, fresh garlic and spices, and other summer vegetables. And we went ahead and stuck with the name: “Mortgage Lifter Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce.”

Looks amazeballs, right?

IMG_6366

The only difference is that now we’ll use 25% of the profits from this sauce to help aid another farmer.We’re teaming up with an agricultural 501c3 so make that happen.

The other 75% of the profits will go right back into the business to hopefully develop a whole range of “Mortgage Lifter” food products that will not only help support American small farms with profits, but also by growing a sustainable food brand for small farms to supply.

But, like Radiator Charlie…we’re starting with the basics. The most perfect pasta sauce we could make.

IMG_6374

We hope you love it. Please give it a try. The more you buy, the more you’re directly helping American farmers. If you purchase enough, it will also help catch the eye of a few larger grocery chains. (Any grocery moguls out there? Wanna chat? Email us! )

Stay tuned for a recipe contest and progress of sales….

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE BEEKMAN 1802 MORTGAGE LIFTER HEIRLOOM PASTA SAUCE.  SAVE SIGNIFICANTLY ON PRICE & SHIPPING WITH ORDERS OF MULTIPLE JARS.”

It’s spring, almost.

Posted on by
3
Grounding yourself

Grounding

SPRING a time for new beginnings, a rejuvenation, time to let new things in and let go of some old ones…. a time to truly ground yourself.  We have been busy all winter, looking down and shuffling around. True, some of it is so we don’t fall on our bums on the ice but….. now it’s time to look up…move forward and get out of our cocoons.

We need to ground ourselves, feel the Earth and meander with consciousness into the new season. Be kind to yourself, we tend to overwhelm ourselves right now. We think we need to clean everything, make list upon list of things we want/ought/should/could do, and so forth.  Stop for a moment put your feet on the floor…stand still and let the “chatter” subside… listen to yourself in your heart and mind. Get Grounded.

The following is from  http://www.naturalnews.com/

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that there is a significant electrical interaction between the Earth and each one of us.

Earth, as it turns out, is not neutrally charged as was originally believed – it has a negative charge. This means that is has an abundance of electrons. This charge does not interact with us too often since we live in insulated buildings and wear insulated footwear. In other words, we rarely touch the ground!

Why does touching the ground matter?

Humans evolved, like all animals, walking on the ground without insulating barriers between the Earth and our feet. It is common knowledge that the soles of our feet are extremely sensitive due to a high concentration of nerve endings. Since nerve tissue is electrically conductive, it is easy to understand that the bottoms of our feet are highly conductive surfaces.

Because of the conductivity of our soles, it was proposed that perhaps there was an electrical interaction between the Earth’s negative charge and our bodies. This hypothesis was tested many times and the results were nothing short of amazing.

Researchers found that there was a significant relation between the charge of our bodies and the ground. In fact, it has been determined that the Earth acts as a natural reservoir of electric energy. If a person with an excessive negative charge, or an excess of electrons, steps onto the ground, the excess will be absorbed into the Earth. If a person has a positive charge, or a deficiency of electrons, then the Earth will supply what is needed to achieve homeostasis (balance). This is a truly amazing discovery: stepping on the ground electrically balances you!

Why is this significant?

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031754_grounding_health.html#ixzz2OZPcTCcC

3D printing turns into Air drawing.

Posted on by
Reply

These two articles are  repost from  websites called  Colossal. It’s filled with all sorts of amazing things…. and the other called Bit Rebels, also filled with fun and amazement.

However, what I am sharing with you just astounds  me!

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/02/the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen-that-lets-you-draw-sculptures-in-real-time/

The World’s First 3D Printing Pen that Lets you Draw Sculptures

Check out these images!  ”Forget those pesky 3D printers that require software and the knowledge of 3D modeling and behold the 3Doodler, the world’s first pen that draws in three dimensions in real time. Imagine holding a pen and waving it through the air, only the line your pen creates stays frozen, suspended and permanent in 3D space. Sound like magic? Well it certainly looks like it, watch the video above to see the thing in action. The 3Doodler was designed by Boston-based company WobbleWorks who recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to sell the miraculous little devices that utilizes a special plastic which is heated and instantly cooled to form solid structures as you draw. I don’t know about you but for me this might have just won the most impulsive Kickstarter purchase in history. Check it out.”

and…from Bit Rebels,

World’s First 3D Printed Couture Dress (Covered In Swarovski Crystals)

World’s First 3D Printed Couture Dress (Covered In Swarovski Crystals)

“We’ve featured 3D printed food, jewelry, shoes and even body parts, but are you ready for the world’s first 3D printed high fashion, couture dress? I remember a year ago when the first 3D printed bikini was created, and back then, it was way ahead of its time. Now, only a short year later, it doesn’t seem odd at all to create a custom fit, full length 3D printed dress. This dress was made specifically for Dita Von Teese, and as you see, she looks beautiful in it.

It was designed by Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti. According to Mashable, “The dress was created virtually. Schmidt designed the entire dress on his iPad and communicated with Bitonti through Skype during the process of imagining 17 unique pieces and 3,000 joints that let the dress move with the body.” When the design was complete, they worked with Shapeways to turn it into a real 3D printed creation. The final version of the dress even has 13,000 Swarovski crystals incorporated into it. It took 3 months from start to finish to make this dress.

Unfortunately, I doubt anything like this 3D printed dress will be available to purchase soon. However, it does point to the future of fashion. If you are a creative person who likes to wear unique clothes, imagine what it would be like to spend a weekend designing your dream dress or pair of jeans, and once you get your design just right, you could print it right there in your own living room. That day is coming…and I just hope it’s sooner rather than later because I can’t wait. Between 3D printing and Google Glass, I’m about to burst with excitement with what our very near future holds when it comes to technology!” To see the images of the dress, click here.

__________________________

The future is fast approaching – Watch out!

Spring?

Posted on by
7

I would like to be seeing flowers…instead I am seeing a blizzard!
I guess the only way to hurry it along is to draw it!

flower

Friends and Family

Posted on by
7

Friends r like Oxygen

Friends are very important. They can be the glue that helps hold you together…. the sounding board for those random and often ever so important thoughts… they are your playmates in many different sandboxes . You smile, laugh and cry with your friends. You may be in the role of the steady tree or the blowing winds and it changes as need be, that what friends are/do.

Friends are chosen individuals you have included in your life. What an amazing concept when you really stop to think about it! As we get older we tend to realize that indeed this is a choice – time is valuable and there are really not enough hours and days to spend it with people who you don’t enjoy, or treasure, and on some level are fascinated by. Fascinate? It can mean many things to me ranging from an individual who makes me laugh, think, wonder and/or ponder, someone who pushes my creative buttons, maybe it’s as complicated as a kindred spirit or a simple as a person to sit and drink a coffee with.

Friends can be of the 2-legged upright variety or the 4-legged horizontal kind. Both are to be cherished, treasured, honored, respected and treated with the up most kindness.

If you are really lucky your friends and your family are one and the same. I am that lucky, and I am very glad for it and about it. You pick your friends but not your family. I lucked out!

For all my family and friends: my comrades thru the storms and quiet times, my confidants when needed, my advocates, my truth seekers and tellers, my supporters and my “go to” people… Thank you all.