blackjack wax co.



Carrie Rivers spent an afternoon with me in the studio and captured my work on a new project... 
I've been busy creating small batch artisan soy candles.

Each candle is hand-pour in batches of ten or less, from our home in Mississippi.  I am proud to say that all of my candles are made using American grown soy wax, all natural cotton wicks, fine fragrance oils & pure essential oils.

Please take a look at my little shop:  here 

flea market finds + succulents

this old ironing board is making the perfect home for our thrifted pots + succulents! Perfectly paired with my new candle scent... "Fortune Teller"

honey + lavender dressing

After a cool Spring and a slow start to the growing season, my herbs are finally taking off.  I've already made a batch of pesto with my plentiful basil, & tonight we had lavender honey dressing.  I grow lavender just for this purpose, and it's such a treat.

Here's my guide, but I'm more a pinch of this, a dash of that, kind of cook...

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
dash of garlic & onion powder
1 tsp Dijon mustard                 
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp fresh lavender
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
salt & pepper to taste

snow day

We finally got our snow day in Mississippi!!!

Patrick and I spent a few moments playing in the snow, and watching the puppies frolic, that is after his work finally decided to let him leave for the day.  There should be a rule that no one has to work on a snow day... It's just not fair!  

Thanks to my sweetheart, for these snow day pics. 

last of the great flying fools

 carrie rivers, richard harpole

I recently got to spend the day at Chad Smith's cabin in House, Mississippi, where he and his family will be moving soon. Chad is a unique photographer, in that his camera of choice is a 60 yr. old Vageeswari, from India. Over the course of the day, Chad shot 5 ambryotypes using the wet collodion method. If you are unfamiliar with ambryotpes, it is the process of shooting an image on a prepared glass plate, and preparing with chemicals. This technique came into use in the United States around the 1850's.  The magic of the process, is that you never know what you will get.  Every photograph is truly a one-of-a-kind piece of art work.  Hopefully Chad will let us come back for another visit.  I'd love to follow him around and document the process from start to finish.  Thanks you for sharing your work, and for an an all around great day!

Chad's friend Harpo, also came out for the day, driving up in his yellow Cadillac Hearse.  I think my friend Carrie described him best...  "musician, whiskey drinker, gun slinger, oh and he drives a yellow hearse".  I'd add amazing story teller. 

I.C.E. atlanta

It's been a long time since Angel Court has participated in an independent craft show, but Angela is now living in Atlanta, so we decided to give the I.C.E. Atlanta show a try.  In case you're wondering... I.C.E. stands for Indie Craft Experience.

The day of the show turned out to be extra chilly out, our first real cold snap of the year.  This put everyone in the holiday spirit, and we all seemed extra cheery as we set up our booths.  The food trucks were lined up out side and we kicked our day off with espressos.  I gave the Bombay a try which was infused with an array of delicious Indian spices.

The show was full of inspiration, and there were so many amazing gifts for the holidays.  I was able to get a ton of Christmas shopping done in one afternoon.  My favorite vender was Beautiful Briny Sea Salt.  I stocked up on these wonderful herb infused salts.  They're the perfect stocking stuffer!

I.C.E Atlanta was a huge success, and we plan to do it again next year!!!

bits & pieces of L.A.

Last week, Angela and I took our jewelry on the road for the LAZR Tradeshow, in LA.  We set up headquarters in the L.A. Arts District, and sought out as much fun as possible.  Who says you can't mix business with pleasure?  Well, not us!!!

We finally got to check the Hollywood Forever Cemetery off our bucket lists, where we communed with the dead at the Dia de los Muertos Festival.  Be sure to take a look at their schedule, if you're going to be in L.A.  There is always a  movie or concert being played there, along with grave spotting.  We found Mel Brooks, Toto, and Johnny Ramone. 

One of our favorite things to do in L.A. is to hit up the consignment shops on Melrose Ave.  I'm excited to say that I finally got that pair of combat boots, I've been wanting for over a year now.       

Our favorite to dos in the Arts District:

The Pie Hole
because they have damn good pie & coffee.
Handsome Coffee  
coffee so good, they don't offer sugar.
Wurstkuche
what's better than sausage dogs, steak cut fries, & an extensive beer list.  there's even a rattle snake & rabbit sausage, but we both went with lamb.