Look what came in the mail the other day!
After oohing and ahhing every month since the beginning of the year, I finally won my very own Grace Lin original painting in July’s Small Graces auction!
I just have to say, Grace’s art is gorgeous in person — the vibrancy of the colors, the small details, and those trademark swirls. I will be drinking in this loveliness for many years to come, and I can’t wait to see what next month’s painting will be! If you’ve been hesitant to bid, take the plunge — it’s a rare chance to own an original piece of art and help the Foundation for Children’s Books. Win-win situation all around ☺!
♥ Since you’re here, no need to go hungry. Why not pop on over to Lisa Schroeder’s blog and try her recipe for Blueberry Crumb Bars? 
And have you checked out the Novel Food 2009 Summer Edition? Tanita S. Davis tipped me off to this cool event awhile ago, but I didn’t get my act together in time to submit a post to the roundup. Two bloggers, Lisa from Champaign Taste, and Simona of Briciole, started this literary-culinary event a couple of years ago, where bloggers are invited to cook a dish inspired by something they’ve read (novel, novella, short story, poem, memoir).
Some of the treats this time around include a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in honor of Alice in Wonderland, four kinds of bread (Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri), and an Afghan meal featuring lamb kebabs (A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini). Lisa has half the roundup here, and Simona has the other half here. An archive of all Novel Food roundups can be found here. There’ll be another Novel Food edition later this year — read more about how to participate!
photo by Heaps Happy.
Take it easy and stay cool this week!
Beauyoooooootiful is what that piece of art is!
A Mad Hatter tea party! Yay!
Jules
7-Imp
Wow! I didn’t know you were the winner! I am so happy that my art has found such a nice home.
I’m so excited!! Want to collect more children’s illustrator art now.
And the blogger who did the MH Tea Party really did a great job — and did I read correctly, she’s only 17 years old?
All of us (including 300 bears), are thrilled with the painting. Thank you so much for doing Small Graces this year!!
I’m so happy that beautiful painting found a place in your home! I love the blue and the origami-friends!
Oooh, congratulations!! What a wonderful treasure.
That food-literature event sounds neat. Reminds me of Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity light mystery series, which always mentions some baked good as part of the plot, with the recipe at the end.
I love the blue, too. Have you framed your Anna Alter painting yet?
You should do a post based on one of those stories! I don’t usually read mysteries, but you’ve got me intrigued.
Well, being good at procrastination and excuses, which I suppose go hand in hand: No. But. I have the small painting leaning in my room, but I’m hoping to get a Grace Lin painting to join it before the year is out, so I thought I might want the frames to be sort of matching. Or not. But anyway I thought that was good reason to wait.
It is a little sad that I have a print Michael Dooling gave me I got framed, but the gorgeous thing is leaning on the floor. My husband has the better eye for line, so I’ve also procrastinated nagging him. Or dole out my nagging. But I think it’s time.
Hope you get to the framers sooner! Those bears may bug you if not.
Funny, I,too, was thinking how nice it would be to have a pair!
The main premise of the books is that Aunt Dimity (who wasn’t even really an aunt, just a good family friend) died and somehow was left preserved in a diary as a benevolent force. She can still communicate with Lori (the first-person main character) by writing in the diary. Lori and her husband are Americans living in a tiny English village (uh, after the first book, I mean), and Lori solves various mysteries, none too dark, with Dimity’s help. Things like … oh … finding the identity of a man who collapses on their doorstep. What odd thing did someone see? What were the intentions of someone who had died (of natural causes)? There are some which involve people making personal attacks but, as these are light stories, nothing too awful happens. And, like I said, there’s always a baked good of some sort mentioned in the plot, with a recipe supplied at the end. They’re lots of fun when you want something light. In fact, I’ve got an extra copy of the first book, “Aunt Dimity’s Death” – would you like me to mail it to you?