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I am very excited to announce we will be part of A Midwinter Night’s Dream exhibition at the AZ Gallery Feb. 10-26. The Artists Reception and Shopping Event is 5-10 p.m. on Feb. 11. The event will feature a curated selection of locally made art, jewelry, home and beauty products, artisan chocolates, specialty baked goods, FREE beer from Vine Park Brewery, and more! Expect art and jewelry by Christy Johnson, Emily Gray Koehler, Heidi Henderson, Jen Hanlon Ash, Jennifer Merchant, Katie Sherman, Lindsy Halleckson, Marisa Martinez, Megan Moore, and Shelly Cartmell, and handmade beauty and home products by The Elixery, Simple Scents, and Aromi.

We will be debuting lots of new items we have been working on.

Avoid the Grey 2012

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Here are some photos from last nights Avoid the Grey. It was an amazing show!

We did accessories for Gina Marie Vintage and Christine Carmichael.

I love both collections I made for this event, but I will be of course be parting with some of the pieces, they will be up in a new section of our online store for one of a kind pieces.

Image borrowed from Facebook Andreasen Photo

Clothing- Gina Marie Vintage

accessories Larissa Loden

Clothing- Christine Carmichael

Accessories Larissa Loden

Clothing- Rachel Bloomgren

Clothing- Ariel Simone

Clothing- Amanda Christine

Clothing- Sarah Holm

Accessories- Timilynn

Latin Inspired Pork and Potato Stew

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There used to be a show on TV (maybe it is still on) called Diary of a Foodie. It is a fantastic show to watch if you consider yourself a foodie at any level. One recipe that particularly caught my fancy was Pork Stew with many Latin Roots. I found this to be a great recipe and with a couple changes, it is fit for any at home cook.

Latin Inspired Pork and Potato Stew

adapted from Diary of a Foodie

4 lbs of Yukon potatoes peeled and diced

2 tbsp of olive oil

2 1/2 lbs of pork shoulder/butt trimmed of excess fat and cut into cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tbsp of minced garlic

1 tbsp of minced jalapeno

1 tbsp of paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

6 cups of chicken broth

Lime wedges

cilantro

sour cream

salt and pepper

  1.  Season cubed pork with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tbsp of olive  oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Once oil is shimmering add the cubed pork. Do not add all the meat at once or else you will steam it. Instead add in batches so that all the meat in the pan has its own little spot. Brown on all sides. Once browned remove meat from pan with a slotted spoon. Brown the remaining batches until all meat is done.
  2. Pour off all remaining liquid from pan, leave any brown bits though. (Brown bits are flavor pockets, and should always be left in any pan) Add 1 more tbsp of olive oil, get it to a shimmering point over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Then add garlic, jalapeno, paprika, and cumin. Cook for one minute and stir continuously. (These ingredients can burn easily so really watch them, but do make it the entire minute as that lets all the flavors open up).
  3. Add stock, and then all the pork that has been resting. Bring to a boil, and then simmer with the pot half covered for one hour. (This is going to get all the connective tissue in the pork to break down, so it is nice and tender.)
  4. Add potatoes turn up heat to medium low and cook for 45 minutes so potatoes are nice and soft.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Serve with lime wedges, cilantro and dollops of sour cream.
  7. Bon Appetit.

A look back at 2011

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As 2012 is less than 12 hours away as I write this I have been thinking about how far we have come in 2011.  This year has been an amazing year for me and Larissa Loden Jewelry. At this point last year if you would have told me that everything that had happened was going to happen, I would have called you a crazy nutter, but it did all happen and it wasn’t a dream.

So here is a look back at 2011 and all I have to be thankful for which is quite a lot.

We traveled a lot in 2011 some strictly business and others a mixture of business and pleasure.

Austin, TX (twice in 2011)
New York (Upstate and the City)
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
North Dakota
Wisconsin
Mazatlan, Mexico (I think this was all pleasure)
Paris, France
and we are on our way to Vegas right now but I would say that is more 2012

  • Press:

I am particular proud of all the press we go this year, as before this year we really have only been mentioned in blogs and Vita.MN (I do love you Vita.MN read you every week)

March 2011 Issue of Metro, highlighting Voltage Fashion Amplified Accessories Designers:

Minnesota Monthly June 2011 with our Cameo Bib Necklace

MN Monthly September 2011 with our Little Bow Beep Necklace

We were mentioned in I Like You’s Best Place to Buy Local nomination, I am hoping for best local accessories designer next year.

We had a nice image in Vita.MN when we did the Caffetto Craft Fair

  • We participated in RAW in August and was announced as a Minneapolis finalist for Accessories.
  • We did accessories for Ivan Idland in the final Voltage Fashion Amplified. This experience was amazing and I am sad to see it not happen this year. This experience alone I think truly helped me with all my success this year and for that I am truly thankful to MN Fashion and Anna Lee.

  • We had an amazing photo shoot with Stephanie Colgan. Stephanie is an amazing photographer and I cant wait to work with her again in the future.
  • We did 26 shows this year. That’s a lot of shows every year I say I am going to cut back but I never do.

 

  • We successfully changed our business name from Lefthand Originals to Larissa Loden.
  • Fourteen new stores started carrying Larissa Loden Jewelry.
  • Worked with Jeff loves Jessica photography on a great librarian themed photo shoot, which got picked up by Style Me Pretty this summer.

 

  • The best thing of all though was seeing all meeting all the friends and fans of Larissa Loden Jewelry. You are all an amazing bunch, and I cant wait to see what is in store in 2012.

Viva la Austin TX

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I have been meaning to post about my recent trip to Austin. Well, a whole month later we have found some time. We went down to Austin to participate in the first every Renegade Craft Fair in Austin, TX. This was not my first trip to Austin, I try to come to Austin at least once a year. Why you might ask? Austin is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to.

Whats so cool about Austin you ask? Well there is:

  • A very active bike community (plus they can bike year round)
  • Actually Lance Armstrong is from here and he even owns his own bike shop.
  • They have one amazing food truck culture
  • The Bat Bridge
  • Barton Springs, a natural giant swimming pool
  • Did, I mention the non food truck food? Well that’s amazing here too.

On the first day here, within hours of actually getting off the plane, we had to go here.

Home Slice Pizza

I have not been able to find a pizza better than this, it NY style and its heaven in a triangle. We always get the pepperoni and mushroom because that is how the gods wanted pizza to be.

There are several rent a bike places in Austin. So on Black Friday we decided to do what most other human beings would not be doing and that was go for a nice leisurely bike ride.

This is me in front of the Texas State Capital building, the reason it is brown is because it is local pink granite.

Another amazing Austin joint is Rudy’s Barbeque. Yes, it might be part of a gas station, but this is no joke the most amazing barbeque I have ever had. Trust me I dream about this place.

If you are a newb they let you sample everything, take advantage of this. Then after you order you get all your food in a giant tray. After your finger licking barbeque throw everything back in the tray, empty and enjoy your food coma.

In between eating I love hitting up Peter Pan mini golf. On this recent trip we went three times (and I won twice).

The Armadillo butt is hole 17.

Now the partial reason we came down to Austin was to do the Renegade Craft. I have done Renegades before in LA and San Fransisco and they are always amazing shows. I am pretty proud of my self because my entire show display fit into 2 suitcases, and that’s with my clothes. I do wish my booth had more vertical height, but height does not seem to fold down and pack nicely.

No trip to Austin is complete though without a trip up to Round Rock to get the amazing Round Rock donuts.

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I dont like donuts. Donuts at a staff meeting, wont touch them. These though on the other hand I could eat by the dozen. I don’t know what they do them, but they are amazing. All I can say is keep it up and I will keep coming.

So if you ever find yourself in Austin, TX do make sure to hit up at least one if not all of these amazing places.

Organized Smorganized

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If you know me, you know I am not the most organized person in the world. I do have a “I’m right on top of it Rose” attitude though. Every year I get a yearning to really organize my studio and supplies. Enter the wooden boxes. I order these boxes online and  they were just what the doctor ordered. I love how they are open, but they can still stack and have little lips so they don’t slide off. Smart, Smart.

What I really love though is how visually pleasing all my new supplies from a recent buying trip look. Inspiring.

Enjoy.

Dress Code 01

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So I hope to start a new series called Dress Code. Here I will just post random outfits that I wear from a day to day basis.

Sometimes this can be kinda of difficult since I moonlight as an art teacher and art supplies and chic clothes don’t really go together all the time.

Today though I think I did okay and hopefully next time we will use a better camera.

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Urban Outfitters

Tights: Target

Boots: Born

Jewelry: Larissa Loden

1000 places to see

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Since I have started doing map necklaces I have learned about so many neat places and my geography is top notch. Recently I got to do one of Vernazza, Italy. I had no idea where Vernazza was so I did a quick search. Was I ever blown away. I need to go to this place as soon as humanly possible. The tiny village of Vernazza is surrounded by mountains. No cars can access it, so this village is all cobblestone street and old buildings. Vernazza is a fishing village in the truest since. Can you believe that this place is real.

Here is a link so you an see where Vernazza is. 

Vernazza I will add you on my 1000 places to see before I die list for sure.

You can order your Custom Map necklace here.