Seedy Winter Doings

I cannot believe that we are at the end of November already!
Things have been busy and I have been doing more mental blogging than either the actual or virtual kind. In Addition to my JOB and my STUDIO PRACTICE I have been engaged in a few side projects, some of which are coming to fruition now.
So here is some of what has been happening:

Amazing things are happening with the Hudson Valley Seed Library's artist designed seed packets!
I did The one below, for their Kaleidoscope Carrots, a selection of multi-colored beauties that are as sweet to eat as they are lovely to look at. Who could say no to purple and red and yellow carrots?
They were listed as a holiday gift "pick" for the gardener in one's life by Bon Appetit Magazine: see here . The original art and printed packets were on display at the Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art in upstate New York ( a nice review of that is available here),
and come in December ,From the 9-23rd, to The New York Horticultural Society's exhibition space.(see here)
This event kicks off with a:
Preview Party & Exhibition Walk through!

Here is what they say in the press blurb: "Join us for an intimate reception with food and refreshments provided by Great Performances & Katchkie Farm. A talk and guided tour of the exhibition will be led by Ken Greene, co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library. Thursday, December 9th
5:00 to 6:30pm Hort and Seed Library members $10; Non-members $20 online, $25 at door Purchase tickets online or call 212-757-0915 x121"

The Seed Library is also at the weekly Brooklyn Flea as well as other farmer's market venues.
Their full catalog of seed packets plus list of venues is on their lovely website: here.

This is such a fun and exciting project- I am really pleased to be a part of it!
In other news, I have been gearing up for the holidays:
My 2011 travel calendar is up to view and purchase on Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/elaboratory* I think it's a really good one, but am so sorry about all of the pictures that did NOT make it.
For those that do not know: I travel a LOT and started to make Calenders as gifts for family and friends (quite a few years ago now) of the best photos from that year's trips. These do not feature pictures of me or my friends- they are strictly sights and details of the places I have been.

I couldn't afford to give them to EVERYONE, and it turned out there was actual interest in it by folks, so I put it up on Zazzle , where anyone can buy one.
I think I am getting better at it, and have a good understanding of what things won't print well digitally and what will. This has made a huge difference!

Dark colors with lots of dim detail for instance, do not come out well. Whites and neutrals are also hard. This means that some lovely subtle images don't make the cut, which is too bad, but they end up murky and muddy when printed. Honestly I think Photoworks has the best quality products I have found, but Zazzle makes selling possible in a very straightforward way.

(Amend that: not that straightforward- I ended up deleting several years worth of calendars in an effort to "clean up" my shop, also last year I had so much trouble logging on to the Elaboratorium, that I ended up creating a whole new site -so yes, I do now have TWO zazzle emporia!)

My calendar was picked as "Today's Best" yesterday, which meant a lot of really nice comments on my shop wall and item page- unexpected and so sweet!

Here are some of the almost rans:

Time has been flying but I do have last year's version up to help keep me on track. Am I the last person on earth to need an actual, paper version I can write on? Somehow I always forget to look at my online and "desktop" versions, but when it is on the kitchen wall I cannot ignore it.
I prefer to do this with a little sweetening-i.e. images of the past year, reminders of where I've been and where I am going...

This year's model features images from France, Spain, Corsica and Utah.