Erin Jane Designs » Getting Personal

Sunshine

Erin Jane — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:19:27 +0000

For those of you in the PNW you know that when the sun shines, you get in it and enjoy it before it’s gone. That is precisely what we did this weekend. We sat on the deck pretty much all weekend soaking in the beautiful sun and views. There really isn’t a more beautiful place to be on a sunny day, than Seattle. We walked along Lake Washington, swam the dogs and just stared at the lake from our deck. I’ve never been good at capturing the view we have from our house. Whenever I take a photo it just seems lame. I’d rather just enjoy it in person, as my photos will never do justice. I did try though… and if you look REALLY hard, you can see Mt. Baker in the background.

We also discovered sage leaf tempura. Oh dear. It’s so good. I have a ridiculous amount of gorgeous sage right now and found this recipe in my cookbook In Season by Sarah Raven.

Sage Leaf Tempura

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Plenty of sea salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups iced sparkling water or cold beer
Peanut oil for frying
30 to 40 sage leaves, depending on size and variety

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt and pepper and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and, with a balloon whisk, mix in the beer to make a not too smooth batter. Keep the batter in the fridge until you need it. Heat up your oil to about 350, dip your sage leaves in your batter and start frying! Cook until golden and fish them out with tongs, dry them on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Oh, and eat them!!

And, of course we had to grill garden burgers. Because getting the grill out for the first time just calls for it.

Then some ball throwing and a nice, long neighborhood walk topped off the day. Pretty perfect.

Oh, the colors in Seattle in the Spring! Pretty incredible. Today is another beauty, but it’s back to the studio for me.

Lately

Erin Jane — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:07:38 +0000

We’ve had a few just gorgeous days here in Seattle and I’ve been enjoying it immensely! It’s been wonderful to see the sun! My garden is in bloom and my shoulders are pink. I never thought it would happen after such a long and yucky winter. So happy!

The dogs go crazy when the sun comes out. They can’t get enough playing in the yard and rolling in the grass. Lulu can’t get enough ball catching and chasing. Look at those muscles! And that CUTE face : )…

Wishing you sunshine and pink shoulders too…

Spring in Seattle

Erin Jane — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:48:56 +0000

Well everyone, I sure hope you are enjoying the unseasonably warm weather around the country! Here in Seattle, spring is slow to come. Lots of this….

And the cure for that is a lot of this….

And even more of this….

And a little reminder that eventually the sun will shine….

Snow Day

Erin Jane — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:34:52 +0000

Well, us mild weather Pacific Northwesterners are never prepared for snow. An inch turns our world upside down. So imagine the state of panic we are in with several – that’s right – SEVERAL : ) inches of snow, plus freezing rain, plus more snow. The Minnesota girl in me wants to laugh, but 10 years in Seattle has turned me into a complain-y wimp and it is sort of a mess.

Ice is covering everything in sight! And it is just so pretty!

Well, anyway, we made quite the adventure of it today. It’s day 2 snow bound and the hubby and I got a bit of cabin fever. Plus, I had packages to send to my customers! Now I know the USPS is so very proud of making it through anything to deliver mail, but no one showed up yesterday and for me, the mailman also means mail pick up – which is way more important. I wasn’t willing to risk another day of not having packages picked up. So, a trip to the post office was in order. Our post office is normally about a 10 minute drive. Or today, a 35 minute walk, plus a 10 minute light rail ride, plus another 10 minute walk….that’s one way. I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but it was actually a lot of fun.

Precious cargo ready to go…

Lots of ice covered trees on the way to the light rail station.

Train ride!

Made it to the post office.

Jewels safely in the mail drop.

Don’t worry. I rewarded myself for after my trek…

While Tom worked…

He’s had a lot on his mind lately.

Then, I saw THIS! So awesome! I should have take video. She was going ridiculously fast.

And, this is how I felt. Utterly content.

Then, it was time to head home in the ice covered neighborhood.

It was a beautiful day.

Happy New Year!

Erin Jane — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:55:29 +0000

Wow! What a week (or so)! I hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful holiday week. It was super eventful here. I’ll show you in photos…Oh, yes, I replaced my stolen camera! Sad, but YAY! To make it less depressing, I allowed myself a slight lens upgrade from my last one and I also got another, super fun lens for Christmas from my Dad. Good stuff! So…

There was Christmas.

I got boots!

Lulu stared at her new monkey, which didn’t quite fit in her stocking, for at least an hour before we got to opening them…yes, our dogs get stockings too. We have an illness.

Kyra napped. Shocker.

There was this custom ring that I just had to share.

There was another custom ring.
…for my husband. He didn’t like his wedding ring all that much, so I made him a new one. Much better.

There was truffle popcorn and game night.
Bananagrams! And, yes, my husband really spelled Poindexter.

There was New Years Eve with great friends – which I don’t have photos of. But, it was one of the most fun New Year’s Eves I can think of. Such a great way to start off the New Year.

Then, yesterday, there was the hilarious and somewhat disastrous “family photo”. In the midst of the wonderful chaos my business brought me this season, I neglected to send out Christmas cards, so we decided to do New Years cards and add a family photo. The dogs were impossible and hilarious the whole time. Here is just a small, small sample of the many outtakes…So, here’s what happened. I got the camera all set up and I got all snuggly on the ground with the dogs and first watched the camera slowly droop on my tiny and junky tripod to chop off our heads, and then Kyra decided to sit ON TOP of me and Lulu was just being a huge baby. Which, all in all, created these ridiculous photos… and these are just a few of the worst ones from our “photo shoot”. I may have to rethink this for next year : ).

So, here we are now and I’m so excited about 2012. It’s going to be a good one! And, thank YOU for making 2011 such an amazing year. My customers, fans, and readers mean the world to me. Thanks for allowing me to make you jewelry. What a lucky gal I am! I couldn’t be more grateful! Here’s to 2012!

xo,
Erin

Happy Holidays!

Erin Jane — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:21:16 +0000

Wishing you a happy, happy holiday with lots of peace, love, joy and slobbery wet kisses…if you’re into that kind of thing.

xo,
Erin

Thanksgiving in Arizona

Erin Jane — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:57:52 +0000

GAH! I meant to post this on Monday, but alas, I found it in my drafts today. Oh well. I still wish you had a happy holiday ; )…

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Hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving! I spent it in Arizona with my family at my mom’s new winter home and it was wonderful. The food, the fun, the sun, the sunSETS, the laughs. It was great. I’m still feeling all warm and fuzzy. Thanksgiving should be everyday.

Fall Weekend

Erin Jane — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:39:49 +0000

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! We spent the weekend outside walking and exploring. Everywhere from Seward Park here in Seattle to Bellingham to the Skagit Valley farm country. On Saturday I couldn’t believe how early it was getting dark. Then, on Sunday with day light savings upon us, even darker. Oh, these short days are hard to handle…how is it November already?! But, it was a gorgeous weekend. The beautiful fall colors and that wintery light. Oh, so pretty.

And, a BIG thank you for the fabulous response to my Holiday Early Bird Sale. It was so much fun and I’m excited to share more goodies soon! Keep an eye out.

October 18

Erin Jane — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:26:43 +0000

Today was beautiful. A simply perfect fall day. This is what it looked like…

Weekend in the Midwest

Erin Jane — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:59:59 +0000

I hope you all here in the US had a great Labor Day weekend! I spent the weekend in the midwest visiting my mom with my sister. A short, but very nice trip. It’s really starting to feel like fall, isn’t it?!