a koi new year

Kingyo brownpaperbaga... $20.00	koi fish pendant designoptions $38.00
Good Luck Koi Fish ... chinmayo $77.00	koi desk clock (ora... milkshakecraft... $25.00
Turquoise Blue Koi ... Botanic2Cerami... $24.00	Koi Pond Freeform B... anuart $27.00
Sanke Koi Necklace MutagenStudios $20.00	ORIGINAL Large Abst... ModernHouseArt $1374.00
Koi Men's Cool ... apesnort $14.95	Tie Dye Onesie Fish... ConnieandAndre... $19.00
Koi Appliqued Sweat... threadhead99 $58.00	Shoes painting -Koi... WhatShop2329 $159.00
Koi by Shanna Trumb... trumblydesigns $20.00	Koi Concrete Wine B... WabiSabiCowgir... $20.00
Kingyo Ceramic Fish... NomadClayworks $42.00	15% off Koi Fish Un... idillard $8.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

ensure the happiest new year ever with a koi!

holiday decorations, charm city-style

hey, hons! baltimore decorates the block for the holidays, and it is AWESOME!!! as per our usual christmas eve ritual, the mister and i headed to baltimore for a delicious seafood dinner on the waterfront, followed by a spirited walk through hampden.

happy new year!

lunar eclipse update

so i stayed up for the eclipse last night and it was awesome! i was still writing stuff at 1:40am when i realized it was on! the rare cosmic coincidence of the winter solstice and a total lunar eclipse hasn't happened for three centuries, so i ran outside and saw a quarter of the moon consumed by the earth's shadow...i checked it out an hour or so later and saw three quarter of the moon hidden: it really was awesome and i am sorry if you missed it! catch it again in 2094.

total lunar eclipse

i am not sure if i will be setting my alarm tonight to wake me up at 1:30 am to view the beginning of the only total eclipse of the moon this year...at 2:41 it will fade to black until about 3:50am. this eclipse coincides with the date of the winter solstice: skies are clear...might be cool.

shop local

i am a little behind on everything right now due to the confluence of holiday shopping, holiday entertaining and work: i have been selling my wares at the downtown holiday market! if you need a lovely gift for a gardener, birder or fashionista, please come visit me at this wonderful annual event in front of the national portrait gallery/museum of american art and buy something or eat something or listen to the wonderful musicians...its a great event and you will leave feeling the spirit of the holidays once again! i am in booth 38.

looking like x-mas

yesterday was the first snow fall of the year...about an inch of it stuck: hope it melts soon.

black friday etsy sale

why would you go OUT shopping when you can stay IN and shop in your jammies on line?

this black friday, take advantage of 15% savings at  my enamel jewelry etsy shop, design options and/or my woodland jewelry shop, herban elements.

snag an additional 5% off coupon code on facebook (thumb it up for future deals!)

happy birthday!

 -

today is mann's birthday: i think he is twentynine again...we started at hotel monaco, just us two, then ended at cava in a group: everybody loved my gift: a fabulous ugly christmas vest which rocked! people on the street let it be known it was cool! 

we laughed and laughed.

honoring andy irons

earlier this month one of my favorite surfers, andy irons, pasted away from "unknown causes": either dengue fever or a drug overdose...they dont know yet. he was one of the greatest surfers of all time with all the right moves, and frankly, he was hot! i grew up in the foggy bay area a wanna-be surfer girl, and spent a considerable amount of time at stinson beach practicing...mostly body surfing cuz i couldnt afford a board. after moving to the east coast before my surfing prime ;), i have followed the sport fairly religiously on cable tv or on ustream even...so i love andy irons and am sad to see him go! around the world, irons was honored with paddle outs: an in-the-water hawaiian celebration to honor the life of a lost surfer. my parents live in hawaii and have sent me photos of a paddle out that took place in front of their place: the fallen surfer's board was pushed out into the pacific with a hibiscus lei placed on top, friends and family left behind...a very poignant moment for all. so, r.i.p. andy: you will be sorely missed.

today's favorite etsy shop

today's favorite etsy shop is the fabulous lucyandethel, a vintage shop with something for everyone! the 'thing' for me the other day was this silver and lucite woven basket bag that i needed. i  think lucy and ethel and i were in a treasury together a few weeks back...i saw the bag and have been thinking about it ever since, but thought i would put it in my wishlist and wait for the christmas booty to roll in...then, while lusting over it a couple of days ago, i noticed 15 people had also marked it as their 'favorite', so i pounced! it arrived today in all its shiny glory and i couldnt be happier! see? etsy is the place for everything! (dont tell the mister, please).

trick dog

more new work...a daschund sniffing a hematite flower: sweet!

celebrate national pomegranate month

i pay homage to the pomegranate as much as i can this time of year: they are just becoming readily available in an edible form here in the mid-atlantic: previous years saw small, shriveled and tasteless fruits. but now that people know they are really good for them, pomegranites are all ya hear about. i have been eating them as long as i can remember: katherine louie had a pomegranate tree in her side yard and we picked it clean every year...those were the delicious years...

happy button day!

happy button day! celebrate the lowly button by...by...dumping out your button box and snapping a photo (above). or sew on all of the buttons your clothes are missing...actually buttons can add a lot of stylistic coolness, so i put together a treasury of etsy stuff that blows the button up: enjoy!

'happy button day!' by herbanelements

celebrating buttons and all their glory!

STAND BACK 1 inch pinback bu... Gnipmac $	Vintage candy tin filled wit... CrowRidgeStudi... $25.00
Button Shakers madhatterceram... $42.00	Red button tufted settee vin... dingaling $165.00
Early Plastic Buttons in Red... marias9 $8.50	Handmade Neck Warmer NewMoonCrochet $28.00
A Range of Button Rings sophiekells $8.00	Fusia button up shade lampshadestudi... $25.00
Black Hat/Red Buttons gaylehodges $13.00	Bright Orange Velvet Throw P... YourPrettyThin... $18.00
Vintage Ceramic Ladies Butto... TheBunnyHutch $5.00	Ceramic orange wafer button mermaidsbeads $8.00
Jennifer Jangles Ceramic But... Jangles $12.00	RED ceramic pendant charityscerami... $6.00
Red, orange with gold shimme... Periay $15.00	Red, Pink, and Purple - Stac... KatyJo3 $12.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

shop local: washington dc

i pretty much only shop on etsy these days: i love supporting the handmade community and i get great stuff. shopping on etsy is really easy...customizable, also! the 'shop local' feature is one of my favorites: whether you want to buy something from someone close to you...or close to someone else...or last minute...the locater on etsy rocks! here is a diverse treasury of dc local artists put together by the very fabulous trillium. find talent in you own town and buy it!

redbud

i am really not much of a movie person anymore: they are all too long, and frankly, too lame, so i dont go to the movies. but film: film is another thing entirely! at 12:30 today the rosebud film & video festival kicks off at the fantastic new artisphere in arlington. 20 films by local filmmakers have been selected to be shown over 7 hours today...for $10! i have gone to rosebud a few times over the years and never been disappointed in what i saw...and if i was, i left and came back later.

ice skating! already?

the only type of cold weather activities i participate in are the ones accompanied by warm weather! so, yeah: it will be cold over night, but 65° later in the day, so i am dusting off my skates and heading to the national gallery of art's sculpture garden ice rink. the place opens at 10:00am. saturday.

happy veteran's day

happy veteran's day, with a special shout out to the marines who have been around for 235 years yesterday! originally organized after the revolutionary war in 1775 to protect the 13 colonies, the marines have more than earned there cake. and, if they are eating cake today, maybe that will make the news...or maybe a marine's rendition of a beyonce or lady gaga song will be shown: i have yet to see in any headline the fact that the 'darkhouse' third battalion fifth of the marines is in a horrendous battle in afghanistan AT THIS MOMENT and have had thirteen members killed since last month. this story must have been buried between lindsey lohan and mel gibson updates. ridiculous.

are you a fan?

i am not really into facebook like a lot of people: i feel funny posting my eating habits to my friends-on line or i.r.l....i dont want anyone's opinion on my outfits...and i'm not really into television (that i care to speak out loud about)or movies. so, i'm there...on facebook...but, i only participate when forced, er, poked. today i unabashedly opened a business page, which used to be called a 'fan' page, i think. i figure i work a lot on a bunch of different projects all at the same time, and maybe somebody might be interested...or 'like' it, i mean. so i spent the last five days figuring out a design for my main page, and then how to load it in 'fbml' (really?), and that was a trick, mind you! then how to install my two etsy shops on separate clickable pages, which was also interesting! it's done now, so please go to

lynda andrews-barry designs...take a look...write on my wall...search herban elements or my enamel jewelry shop...and give it the thumbs up if you are so inclined!

blue birds in flight

just sold and relisted, these blue birds are flying to australia!