05 April 2015
Woah! This year is flying by so quickly, how it is already April will all the birds chirping and flowers budding to bloom?! It is hard to keep up with it and the @bloghomework from @missy , @lyxzen & @rambo but I am trying to catch up/my best at it! I like to also post about the blog homework I can actually discuss upon since I do not wish to bore you all but rather keep you entertained! Plus get to know about me from each one too :)
The past-past week's homework was: What are your favourite scents?
I wrote a quick bit response on @missy's blog of some of my scents that I enjoy but I am going to go a bit further on those that really pull at my heart strings.
Scents invoke moods, thoughts, memories, inspirations, feelings for me. I use certain scents to feel certain way-especially whilst painting or drawing. It is much like surrounding myself with good energy in order to concentrate or feel deep within what I was to create with my art or words. Some of my fave scents to use when painting is fresh flowers with bases of spray roses, stock, honeysuckle and jasmine, for just lounging at home is cinnamon or nutmeg, or no matter what it is would no-doubtably be fresh coffee and warm vanilla milk or some sweet dark chocolate (plus enjoy that last ones on consumption levels too!).
Funny thing about scents, they are also tied into visual appeal for me-so each week from real life job I make bouquet of fresh flowers locally sourced and keep it on my drawing desk inside or take it outside with me in my backyard that I paint in too, dependent on this all-around California weather. Some of my fave flowers to use for visual inspiration as well as give off such a lovely sweet, earthy scent is stock and spray roses. You may be like "what in the word is stock?" but it is actually a really pretty flower that comes in bunches (much looking like a lupine) coming in colours white, pink and purple with a heavy fragrance of vanilla and spice especially in the evening (that is when they are most fragrant!). And spray roses are mini roses that come in a variety of colours that give a deep rosey scent for such a little bud! I also collect wild and find organic flowers dried to use them in another crafts I make such as homemade, soy-free vegan soaps along with handstiched sleeping masks. Each soap I use certain combination of flowers for specific skin needs like rose-hip and marigolds for redness, inflammation and acne but also the scent itself it leaves makes you skin smell so good like a wildflower bed. My sleeping makes I fill with organic, sustainable sourcing lavender and sometime jasmine and honeysuckle too depending on the clients request! Which all three are perfect for sleeping plus keeping your eyes looking rested and not puff in the morning. Here are some photographs of my bouquets, drawing inspired by them, soaps, and sleeping masks:
Other scents give me the sense of home and warmth when I missing everyone not near me especially around the winter holidays. Two of those scents are cinnamon and nutmeg because pumpkin pie is a winter favourite and childhood memory! I make a vegan pumpkin "cheez" cake every year and you can bet that good amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg and of course love goes into it. The whole cooking process is rewarding because my whole places is masked with the sweet, spicy and warm elements that the two spices give. No matter what time of the year it is, if I get a whiff of cinnamon or nutmeg my heart and mind goes to the days when my grandparents would have us over for big family dinners of fresh fruit pies with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg plus other delicious delights too. Those two scents are my favourite memory invokers, if that is to be even considered a word. Here's some pie!
Lastly is two of the best things in the world: chocolate & coffee. First off: coffee. I love making coffee every morning, the scent of a fresh brew wakes you up for the morning or can wind you down after a long day. I used to have an espresso machine after missing being a barista for so long but now I make what I like to call a "ghetto cafe au lait" (you use a Moka Pot or Aeropress for the espresso extraction and then hand-whisk warm milk on the stove to micro foam, add all together like a regular cafe au lait and tada!) The process I use now actually inspired a future set of mine that I did with @cdo last June in the Minnesota shootfest because I adore coffee so much! I also made coffee and tea lattes for the girls and dear sir every morning too, as I miss doing everyday since then. I support local roasters and only purchase local roasters wherever my travels take me-just so I can try different beans and roasts, and some of my fave coffee roasters/cafes local to me are Timeless Coffee and Blue Bottle Coffee both in Oakland, CA near me. They do not have much acidity to them like most roasteries I have found to have, which is awesome since my body freaks out from too much acid. My top out of state roastery would Cartel in Arizona specifically Scottsdales that I visited when in Hell City last year. Specific coffee beans I like are Ethiopian coffee beans because they provide two different flavour and scent profiles depending on how they are processed (so cool!) The scent/flavour of natural processed beans, which are my ultimate fave to enjoy, has a syrupy body that accompanies a densely sweet berry flavor, typically blueberry or strawberry which Three Africans by Blue Bottle does so well! The other process called washed process has jasmine or lemongrass characteristics, and are lighter and drier on the palate which Sightglass Coffee in San Francisco does nicely with their Mwasa roast-I tend to enjoy this in the evening sipping and smelling frequently to relax on my porch gazing at the stars. And what ties in with coffee? Chocolate! Chocolate is much like coffee as they both come from beans. If you have never smelled a cacoa bean before, I suggest you find one! It is earthy, rich, smokey and dense to the nose-you kind of want to bit into it but it may taste a bit chalky as it needs to be roasted and mashed to get it's rich flavour we all know and love. Chocolate for me makes me heart sing, if I ever need a pick me up the scent of a rich, dark chocolate bar is what I go for. I love making chocolate sweets too! Every christmas I make vegan chocolate cherry cordials for all my best mates! I make the fondant, melt the chocolate, decorations, the works! It is a gift of love chocolate is, and not a romantic sense either. Chocolate much like laughter makes the world go round, to me at least. Welp, you can guess what is coming now I am sure *hehe*:
Thank you for reading! I hope I satisfied and delighted your senses ;)
When I am not looking at lovely ladies like you are on SG, you can find more of my doodles/sewing soap crafts, and other crazy things by following me here:
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Cheers loves xx
DK
