ramona design studio: July 2008

Treasure hunt

One of my favorite antiques shops in Chicago area, Antiques by GK in Glenview IL, is selling a beautiful piece of art by Robert Wilhelm Emil Heck The painting, "A Swabian Family in Church", was made after the painter visited southwestern Germany. His artwork is known to have been appreciated by many of his contemporaries, and some of his paintings were part of the king of Würtemberg's and the king of Prussia's collections.

Great finds at the Folk and roots festival, Chicago

I love street fairs, and festivals. I usually come back with great finds, and tons of inspiration.
Latest festival I went to, the Folk and Roots Festival, had the best non alcoholic pina coladas,

and I got a perfect little summer purse,

and Peruvian finger puppets for Lala, a little princes friend of mine.

It's never too early for Christmas shopping

Especially when you find fantastic Christmas tree decorations like these:

Shipshewana Craft Barn ($45 all four pieces)

A visit to Amish Country Indiana

We recently visited Amish Country without really knowing what to expect, and had a ton of fun. We started off on the touristy Heritage Trail and were not impressed, but quickly took a random turn on an unpaved street, and it discovered beautiful quiet bliss.

Aaaand shopping....

In th end, we discovered something very unexpected... PEANUT BUTTER
Europeans don't get peanut butter. It's a very American thing... but this is only because most of them never tried sweet, delicious butter made at home with fabulous roasted peanuts!

If only for this, it's worth the trip to Indiana, but there is also pie, and fudge that got eaten before the picture was taken.

A three wheeled commuter's dream

A very nice guy named Dave built about 700 Freeways in Burnsville, Minnesota, around 1980. It was partly a response to the gas crisis at the time. Capable of about 100 mpg and 65 mph, it was a very practical commuter design. A one-cylinder lawn tractor motor pushed this fiberglass-bodied, steel-framed "three." Later there were also a few electric models made. Unfortunately for H-M-Vehicles, the gas crisis ended, and the company did not survive.

As we are growing a consciousness about the effects our activities have on the environment, and with a new fuel crisis in full bloom, this three wheeled toy is turning more and more interested heads.