Loving Pantone's 2014 Color of the Year-- Radiant Orchid

Introducing Pantone's Color of the Year-- the beautiful Radiant Orchid! I think this is a GORGEOUS color. I'm so excited to start pairing it up with other colors, especially bold colors that can make this delicate shade really POP! This is one versatile and exciting color to work with.

It's also a bold departure from 2013's Color of the Year, Emerald. Emerald is stately, sedate, glamorous, and rich. With Radiant Orchid, we can feel like spring's just around the corner. It's also going to be a great color to use in more delicate, romantic combos-- the other colors in the Spring palette will pair with this one wonderfully.

What does Pantone have to say about their 2014 pick? "Radiant Orchid blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination. It is an expressive, creative and embracing purple—one that draws you in with its beguiling charm. A captivating harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love and health."

Here are some favorite YIKES Studio picks that echo this vibrant shade!

YIKES Industrial ColorPop earrings in violet, blue and sterling silver | $24	YIKES Industrial ColorPop with Dots earrings in blue and violet and sterling silver | $24
Peacock Blue Polymer Earrings | $20	YIKES Industrial ColorPop with Dots earrings in violet and sterling silver | $24

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Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Autumn in Maine on the Forest Floor

Fall in Maine is a beautiful time. We get to enjoy the fantastic, classic New England foliage that draws people from around the country, all to witness the blazing colors of the trees against the cobalt blue skies.

While the changing colors of leaves are the showiest and most obviously beautiful part of autumn in Maine, there are a thousand tiny changes to observe as well. I love to get down and look at the little things. Near the forest floor, we can find infinite varieties of lichens and mosses. Patterns and textures. Groupings and shapes.

These clusters are communities of many species of moss, fungus and lichen. The many species create a mosaic of life. See those little red dots in the above pictures? Those are fruiting bodies from the fungal part of lichen, like the equivalent of tiny mushrooms. These communities of life can survive almost anywhere, even where there's no soil at all. Clinging to the sides of big boulders brought by glaciers long ago, they thrive, perfectly at home.

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Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

YIKES Paleo, Gluten Free Blueberry Pie... Oh My!

 Late summer is the time for blueberries in Maine. This year, we ordered these blue babies by the box. When they came, I knew exactly what would hit the spot: A delicious blueberry pie.

Unable to eat the conventional blueberry pie, I was determined to come up with my own version. 

I felt the best approach was to use a variety of “flours” to create an acceptable stand-in for wheat flour. The blueberries this year are especially sweet, so I only needed a scant 1/4 cup of palm sugar (a low glycemic sweetener). You and your family and friends will love this blueberry pie, and no one will miss the wheat flour. 

Paleo GF Blueberry Pie... Oh my!

First step: Preheat oven to 350.

Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/3 c almond flour
• 1/2 c tapioca flour
• 1/2 c oz arrowroot powder
• 1/2 c coconut flakes (unsweetened)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 c + 2 tbsp butter, very cold, in pieces
• 1 large egg
• 4-6 Tbsp cold water
• 1 heaping tbsp honey

Paleo Pie Crust Directions

1. Measure and mix flours and salt in the bowl of your food processor.
2. Add the butter pieces to bowl. Process until crumbly.
3. Mix egg, honey and 2 tbsp. very cold water in a small bowl.
4. Pour egg and water mixture over flour mixture and process until the dough comes together. Add more water if needed to achieve a uniform ball of dough. Wrap and chill for at least an hour.
5. Divide the dough and roll each portion between two sheets of parchment paper. If the dough feels sticky you might want to dust booth sides with arrowroot powder. You can alternately press the bottom crust into the pie plate if you wish, instead of rolling.

  Blueberry Filling

• Maine Wild Blueberries -about 6 cups
• 1/4 c of palm sugar
• 3 Tbsp of arrowroot powder

Blueberry Filling Directions 

1. Mix the palm sugar and blueberries together in a large bowl. Sprinkle on the arrowroot powder and mix again.
2. Mound blueberries into the pie shell and cover with the second rolled crust. Cut slits in top crust to vent.
3. Cover the crust with foil and bake 40 mins. Take off the foil and continue baking for 10 more mins. to brown the crust. ❉

Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Pretty, Thick an' Frosty! Strawberry Pineapple Salad Smoothie

Ok, smoothie time again. I just love my daily smoothies. They help me make my quota of fruits and vegetables and they taste so great.

This is the smoothie concoction I made today.

  

Strawberry Pineapple Salad Smoothie (You won't taste the veggies-- I promise!)

• torn up red romaine lettuce--about small salad's worth
• handful of baby spinach
• small handful parsley
• 4" european cuke cut in several pieces (leave peel on)
• 1/3 can coconut milk (be sure you stir or shake the can first)
• 1 banana (can be frozen)
• water as needed-- start with 1/2 cup
• 1/4 avocado
• two slices of previously frozen pineapple
• big handful frozen strawberries (I always go organic here--sadly, regular strawberries are #1 on the most pesticide laden of foods you can buy).
• ice--I use 5-6 cubes as I like them very cold

Place in blender in the above order. Start on chop setting or whatever is the low setting on your machine. Proceed through to liquefy. If your blender gets air bound or isn't blending things up for you, sometimes it just needs a bit of a stir. Often a little more water will do the trick.

This actually makes more than the glass shown above so my husband always gets a serving too.

Enjoy! ❉

Beyond the Jewelry-- Smoothies!

Besides creating really fun and colorful jewelry for YIKES! Studio, I enjoy creating and eating delicious, nutritious, and colorful foods. I have been posting from time to time a few of my smoothies on my Facebook page. Many people have told me they enjoy those posts and have questions about the ingredients used.

I also get many questions about my eating lifestyle, called Paleo. I'm always happy to answer questions if I can, and I'd like to share a few recipes and share some great smoothies and other healthy, delicious and beautiful foods that are part of my life!

So here we go with my smoothie of the day...

First, some General Smoothie Info

First of all, I would say that you will need a good blender. I use a tangerine colored (this is important 'cause I gotta have color!) Kitchen Aid blender. I love it. It's so pretty and always looks so nice in its nook in the kitchen. When I whip it out to blend up one of these smoothie babies it performs miraculously. It was a good buy at around $100 on Amazon. That is really all that you need beyond a cutting board, a good knife and some great fruits and veggies.

I often think of these smoothies as mainlining nutrition right into the body. They go down so easily and give me so much joy! And what's not to love about starting the day off with a huge serving of fruits and vegetables plus the really good fat found in coconut milk? Can't be a bad thing.

My smoothies most always include banana (which can be frozen ahead of time), 1/4 avocado, and 1/2 can organic coconut milk (I have this on automatic delivery from Amazon as I use so much of it). When I tell people about the avocado in a smoothie, they often think that their smoothie will taste like avocado (which often gets a "yuck" response)! The avocado imparts a creaminess and and in the smoothie, it has no flavor at all. It's a miracle booster in your smoothie.



Cantaloupe Salad Smoothie 
Yes, that's right-- cantaloupe and salad! Really, this is good. Okay, no... its beyond good, it is incredible!

First of all I start out with some baby spinach, a handful of parsley (which is good for the liver) and some red leaf lettuce. About a dinner salad's worth. I give the greens a spin in my greens washer, tear it all up and put in the blender.

Next I add about a cup of frozen Maine wild blueberries, about a cup of cut up cantaloupe, 1/4 avocado, 1 banana, 6 ice cubes (I like my smoothies very cold) 1/2 can coconut milk, and approximately 1 cup of water.

Blend! I start on the chop setting and work my way up through puree to liquidfy. If your blender isn't blending you may need to add some more water.

None of this is exact and you can configure your smoothie to however you like it. The possibilities are endless!

About a dinner salad's worth of cleaned spinach, parsley and red leaf lettuce

Blender loaded and ready to fire up. I use the Thai organic coconut milk

Creamy, delicious, and nutritious! Drink through a straw for maximum joy.