Smith & Daphne

Pretty Cowl

2012-02-27T19:30:00.001-08:00

Love this yarn - it's some sort of hand-painted bulky wool that I bought up in Tahoe last year. I made up a simple cowl with a simple pattern of increasing-height rows - starting with a single crochet row, then double, etc. up to a double-treble and then back down. It's pretty wide, so I folded it in half (which adds some warmth since double-treble stitches are pretty open), sewed a button onto one end, and voila: a pretty splash of color.

New Puppy

2012-01-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

This is Scout. She's currently laying next to me fighting a stuffed ladybug. She's the one responsible for taking up all my extra time lately.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

In a few minutes, I'm off to my parents' house to make lasagna with my mom - it's about time she passed down her recipe. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

2011-12-15T22:09:00.001-08:00

I have a little DIY over at Savannah Smiles for a Christmas tree topper star. I showed how to make the two top layers at Savannah's blog, but that was getting pretty long so I'm showing the other layer here.

When I set out to make my own star, I was sort of inspired by this one. I wanted to see if I could make something roughly similar with paper.

My tree topper

Start with a piece of paper about 2" wide by 4" tall (I cut a strip of 12 x 12 paper into 4" strips, then cut those down into smaller rectangles.) Imagine a 1/2" wide (give or take - I didn't measure this layer!) section in the center and fold "around" it, like this:

Now the little "wings" on the side need to be folded under the center section and back out to be about the same width. Your fold will look like a Z:

Next, you just need to clip the points. Cut at an angle from the outer edge just on the outer flaps; cut underneath the center section to hide the vertical cut, which doesn't have to be perfect.

Snip the corners of the center section only to make a point. The final product will look like this:

It's not complicated once you get the rhythm down, but it's a little weird to explain. Hopefully the pictures help! The last step is to glue all of these into a circle - I just hot glued them to the same circle of cardboard that I glued the center accordion layer onto.

Then, I covered it up with a circle I cut out of decorative paper and glued a piece of cardboard tube from a paper towel roll to make it easy to set on top of the tree. The decorative paper is just to make the back look decent if you're going to see it from that angle - plain paper would work just as well, or leave it out if your tree's against a wall.

Feel free to share photos of any tree toppers you've made - like this one or totally different!

Thrift Share Monday

2011-12-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

I'm just barely squeaking in for this to actually be Thrift Share Monday, but better late than never! I did a bit of thrifting this weekend. I specifically went out to find vintage wooden spools of thread (I feel like there should be a shorter way of saying that...) and picked up two other items as well.

The thread spools were made into ornaments:

I was excited about this idea when I first thought of it a few weeks ago, and I'm so glad it turned out the way I expected.

I also found two Christmas decorations that I'm leaving as is (for sale in my Etsy shop). I wasn't planning to buy anything else, but these were too fun to pass up and I've been thinking about adding some vintage items to my shop... this is kind of an itsy bitsy trial run, I guess. The first thing was this glass tree topper:

It's worn and speckled with silver showing through the pretty green, it's shiny, and it has glitter - win-win-win.

The other thing was this set of glass ornaments, unopened in the original packaging. I love seeing how different styles can be so reminiscent of different time periods. These ornaments are actually older than I am.

Well, that's it for me this week!

December's Here

2011-12-05T21:34:00.001-08:00

We got our Christmas tree. It still looks like this: http://twitter.com/#!/SmithAndDaphne/status/143506713260199938 (undecorated). I swear it grew when we carried it through the door.

I found my camera + tripod connector foot thing, but haven't been taking many pictures.

I sewed one Christmas stocking last night, hopefully I can make the other tonight and also add a bit of width to our tree skirt.

It's officially winter - we have eaten both Brussels sprouts and clementines. I'm finding myself eating more seasonally - coming back to certain foods at certain times of the year. Paying more attention to what's good when.

I planted a few bulbs yesterday - it was tough to dig some of them far enough into our "soil" - not because it's frozen or anything like that, but because it's basically rock and cement chunks after the first few inches. Another reason I want to sheet mulch. I may try forcing some of them indoors - need to figure out how you're supposed to do that.

It's starting to become that busy time of year. I'll have to remember to pull out the camera and record some of it. So bad at that.

The Usefulness of a Tripod

2011-11-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

I have things to share, but no pictures of most of them... I can't find the little thing that holds the camera onto the tripod, so it's kind of difficult to get decent pictures right now. It's getting too dark by the time I get home from work to have any sort of natural light anyways, but I can't even take pics in the morning. For example, I finished my pink jersey skirt and wore it the other day, but... no pictures. I also finished my crocheted neckwarmer, but no pictures... See the theme?

I also picked up a bunch of supplies for Etsy goods this weekend, which are in various states of being washed/dried/just waiting. I use quite a bit of reclaimed materials, such as the vintage (and non-vintage) handmade doilies, wool sweaters for felting, even fabric remnants. I think it's great to use second-hand materials when possible, but I only use things that I can clean and feel that the quality is like-new. I do use a lot of brand-new materials as well, and I like that mix of old and new.

And on a third unrelated note, we're working on our front yard. That is, it's sort of on pause right now, because I'm waiting on other people. But two weekends ago, I spent a good part of my Saturday hauling bags of leaves from a local school to my backyard. I'm planning to sheet mulch our front "lawn," which is basically layering organic materials over it to smother what's growing there now (mostly weeds) and provide a base for new plants above. The stuff we lay down will decompose, and on the very top will be wood chips to be a little more attractive and weigh everything down. So, right now my back yard has:

forty-three bags of leaves. All nicely bagged by volunteers at a school clean-up day. Win-win.

Autumn Color 2011 Weeks 5 and 6

2011-10-12T23:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm making progress on the challenge, but nothing is entirely finished. My rose skirt now has 3 out of the 4 panels stitched - after that I just have to cut away the centers of the appliques and actually assemble the skirt. I like to think that I'm 3/4 of the way done, but obviously that's not really accurate.

I also tea-stained the pink fabric I got for a jersey maxi skirt, because it was a little brighter than I'd wanted. I also decided I should probably get more fabric because it's a little bit sheer, so I ordered yardage in a different shade that's hopefully much closer to what I really wanted. Once it gets here, I'll decide for sure, but I think I'll make the skirt in two layers, with this one on the inside and the new fabric on the outside.

Before...

After

I also crocheted this scarf, in a yarn that I bought up in Truckee in January, but I can't remember just what it is... I need to look for the wrap thing, I usually keep those. I do know that it's handpainted, and it's such a gorgeous blend of colors... sort of a smoky blue, rusty orange, eggplant, cranberry, and a creamy white, plus a million other shades that exist where two or more colors overlap, like a deep purple that I'm pretty sure isn't an individual color, just the red and blue combining. It's perfectly autumnal. It's not done, though - I need to fasten it off and decide how I want the ends to connect - it's not exactly a scarf, it's more of a cowl that needs some sort of closure.

And then there are (always) a ton of other projects that I start to plan, or wish I had time for, etc etc. And things I need to finish, like altering my Traveler dress, lining my hoodie, making a dog bed... and making pillows from that Michael Miller fabric up with the pink jersey. I love that fabric. Hmm, the list keeps getting longer. Never shorter. Why is that?

And then there was MY anniversary gift...

2011-10-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary this year, my husband bought me a Kindle! I haven't used it much yet, because I was trying to finish Lonesome Dove - that book is almost 900 (!) pages, but since I borrowed it from the library, I only had 3 weeks to read it. I kept it, um, longer than 3 weeks, but I finally returned it today. Still didn't finish... I think I'm just going to buy it used.

Anyways. What I really wanted to share was the case I sewed up for the Kindle. Ignore the blurriness of the pictures - the only day I actually remembered to take pictures, by the time I got home and took them it was getting dark and my camera wasn't liking that.

I used a black and cream, large houndstooth print, home decor weight fabric that I bought a long time ago as a remnant. I lined it with wool felt from a failed Christmas tree skirt project (also used in my wreath). FYI, if you try to felt felt (re-felt it? extra-felt it?) it might come out a bit ruffly and wavy. I tried to iron it, block it, etc and nothing really worked. Small pieces are OK, but nothing big. It is nice and thick, though, so it was perfect to give some protection here.

I'm rather proud of just how nicely the Kindle fits. It's snug but not tight, completely different than my past attempts at similar things. I tried to make a little case for my cell phone (at least two or three times) and it always came out way too small. WAY too small. This came out nicely, though. Snug and cozy... nice and autumn-y.

And the 6th Anniversary is for...

2011-09-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. I wanted to make him something small (his "real" gift was some computer-related item), so I looked up the "traditional" anniversary gifts. Depending on who you ask, apparently, the 6th anniversary deserves sugar/candy, iron, or wood. So obviously, I decided to make him some coasters.

Well, they have cork which is like, wood-ish so I figured it worked. Also, they fit my short time frame, I had all the materials, and he needed them for his office.

Super simple: trace a circle (ie another coaster) onto cork. Cut out.

Trace circle onto felt. Cut out.

Trace circle onto something pretty, like a map from your recent trip to Paris. Cut out. (See the theme?)

Glue everything together. I used Alene's between the cork and felt, and Mod Podge for the cork and map. Although apparently something kind of gets gooey when they have condensation on them, so this might not be the best mix. I'm not saying you should make these yourself, exactly. Might be better for hot drinks, I don't know.

But there you have it!

UPDATE: It's now mid-November, and my husband has been using these. They're still getting kind of... oozy when there's condensation on them. I'm assuming it's the Mod Podge, although I was hoping it just needed to cure a little more. At this point, they're good for hot drinks but not necessarily cold. I'm thinking maybe I can just somehow seal the top. I just noticed that the Mod Podge bottle mentions some sort of Clear Acrylic Sealer, or my husband mentioned maybe just putting contact paper over the top. If I change something up and get good results, I'll post another update!

Little Things for Little People

2011-09-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned, I've been making things that aren't for me, which takes time from making things for myself... but I like doing it. Plus, I have fabric for myself on its way to my house as we speak, so...

I already shared the sweater I made (and the, um, half a sweater I have sitting here). The next thing, which finally got mailed last week, is for our friends' kids. Inspired by these felt flash cards from Sew Much Ado, I made a pair of full alphabet + numbers 0-9.

I used grey felt for the backgrounds, a rainbow of colors for the letters and numbers - red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, brown, and white - and a multicolored thread to sew the letters and numbers on. The stitching around each piece is basic grey to match the felt. The curves were a little tricky on some of the letters, maybe just because I'm not used to sewing felt and it moves differently under the presser foot than fabric. Overall it was a fairly simple project, just took a while to complete. I did things in batches; a group of letters, then a long pause, then another set, etc. I also ran out of grey at the very end. I used yardage for the grey instead of buying a bunch of sheets of felt, and I ended up one sheet's worth short. Of course, that's easy enough to buy, but beware that depending on how well you cut the felt, if you use yardage you might end up a little short. I used a rotary cutter but still had some narrow pieces that wouldn't work, either due to my measuring and cutting or due to discrepancies in the felt itself, I don't know.

I didn't mess with the grommets from the original, but I did make simple little bags to put them in.

I also added a few books to the box, and a little blanket for their baby girl. I somehow forgot to take pics of the blanket; I was sure I had already done that but I can't find any... you can sort of see it through the tissue in this picture:

The front is a brown flannel with multicolored hearts on it; the backing is a green dotted minky. That minky... so soft but such a pain to sew. I'm sure I'll use it again, but this was my first time and I didn't quite realize what it would be like. Any tips to make it easier are welcome!

Also, I've decided to switch out the plaid Traveler dress for a jersey maxi skirt for the Fall Challenge. I'm still planning on making the dress, and I ordered the fabric, but right now the ETA is mid-October. I also ordered a rosy pink jersey, so that will let me stay with my goal of 3 items. And the 2nd panel of the hand-stitched skirt is *almost* done.

A Sweater in Pink - Celebrate Color

2011-09-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here is my first item for Celebrate Color! I crocheted this pink sweater for a friend who's due with her first baby next month. I try not to always do "pink for girls" but I loved the color of this yarn. It's a very soft pink, a little muted rather than bright. I added a brown button, and I think the colors are perfect for fall. It has a little more subtlety than a lot of pink yarns, and somehow that's what I lean towards for this season. Subtle but deep - even though the trees put on bright colors, they have that gradient effect to them that adds something the bright green of spring doesn't have; the light changes in autumn, too, making these colors just "fit" better.

Back to the sweater - it's the Bombay Love pattern; my Ravelry project page for it is here if you want to see that; the actual pattern is at the Yarny Days blog.

I don't know what size this would be, since I don't have a baby to test anything on. I love this yarn though; it's an organic cotton by Lion, and it came out so soft and squishy in this simple double-crochet stitch. The original pattern called for a contrasting edging, but I didn't have anything that really worked with this and I like it without the contrast. In fact, I liked making it so much that I started another one with no recipient in mind.

This one is striped, but I'm stuck at this point because I ran out of yarn. Now I have to figure out where I bought it and if I can get more of it.

This sweater also feels very autumnal - something about these stripes makes me think of old-timey football games and wearing your team's colors. There's an Anne of Green Gables memory floating somewhere in my mind tied to this, but it's soft and fuzzy so I'm not sure if it's actually relevant or not.

And finally - I have these small dishes (as seen above) that I bought in Mexico years ago that I use for loose ends and such while I'm sewing, but I recently discovered they're great for holding a ball of yarn. It's rather annoying when the ball of yarn is rolling around or falling on the floor or getting stuck under a blanket, etc etc; with this little dish it stays contained and rolls nicely on the smooth surface. Anyone else do something similar?

Autumn Color 2011 Week 3

2011-09-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I think this is week 3. I thought I'd share my patterns first, since I sort of mentioned them but didn't give any detail. Except for the Alabama Chanin skirt - that's in the Polyvore board. Also, more on that below.

The dress is the Lisette Traveler dress, aka Simplicity 2246. I want to make something like View B but with the regular collar from View A in a plaid flannel. I love a certain fabric I found online but I wavered on my decision and now it's backordered until mid-October. (I have a feeling I might be stretching my timeline for this challenge.)

Lisette Traveler

The jacket (which isn't on my official list) is from Simplicity 2443, a Cynthia Rowley pattern with a knit dress and a jacket. There's a version of the jacket that you can see here that's a little more like what I'm thinking... I want to try it in a tweed or something like that, without the pockets and plackets and bits on the front.


Simplicity 2443

I just want some big buttons instead of the ties, and I'd leave the band off the sleeves to make them a little simpler. My inspiration (from J. Crew) shows the idea I'm going for that I think I can get from this pattern.

And no pattern needed for the scarf, but here's the fabric:

I think I'm going to make a circle/infinity scarf from this. It's very light, I think it might be a Swiss dot? It has those little raised polka dots on it... don't know if that's the right term though.

And I've been working on the reverse-applique skirt. Not too quickly, I'm not quite done with the first panel, but making progress. It's gone from this:

To this:

As you can see, I'm using a navy blue jersey for the top layer. The bottom layer is a white jersey that I may or may not have washed with the blue causing it to become a very very pale blue itself... And the stenciled parts are a sort of metallic champagne with natural colored thread stitching it all together. I think I'll go for a blue thread for the seams, though. I haven't done much hand-stitching before, and I'm really liking it.

On a side note, did you know that the kit for the rose applique skirt is $140?!

I've also been making not-for-me things that I'll share later on.

Autumn Color

2011-09-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have color on my mind lately - Colette Patterns is having a Fall Palette Challenge and Rachel of Stitched in Color is hosting "Celebrate Color." They're a little different from one another, but both have gotten me thinking about colors for fall. I've noticed that I gravitate towards different colors at different times... almost like personal trends, in a way. I'll end up with several items in different shades of the same color without even thinking about it.

The colors I keep finding myself interested in lately aren't necessarily traditional "fall" colors, but I think they do remind me of fall in a way. They're earthy and grounded. They're deeper and work differently off of each other than the brighter colors of summer.

So, all thing considered, here is my palette and a bit of an inspiration board:

Fall Palette Inspiration 2011 by kristend

Plaid and tweed + florals? Yes please. To be realistic, I'm going to plan on three items to complete: a reverse-applique rose swing skirt from the Alabama Stitch Book in navy and white, a plaid tunic/shirtdress (using the Lisette Traveler dress pattern) in loden plaid, and a scarf. I would LIKE to make the new Peony dress from Colette in a solid with a patterned belt, and I'm planning to make a tweed version of the Cynthia Rowley jacket from Simplicity 2443 at some point, and I would also really really like a jersey maxi skirt. Those shoes will be bought at some point in the (hopefully near) future.

The skirt is one thing that I've actually started. And I have fabric for a scarf - a couple of scarves, actually. I also have three dresses that I made and wore in Europe but need to be altered. The Traveler dress is one of them - I only halfway made a muslin, so I didn't realize quite how LARGE it ran. I'd like to use the pattern to make a shorter flannel version, more of a tunic than a dress. The "want" list is probably too ambitious to get done, but I'm certainly thinking about them a lot lately.

Can't wait to see what other people are doing!

In the Meantime...

2011-08-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

I found my camera cables and charger. When I was packing for our trip to Europe. Did I mention we were taking a big family trip to Europe? No? Well, we went and it was a very. good. trip.

In sewing and other news, I made several things for the trip, including three dresses with varying success rates that I will share in future posts. I've also made a few other things, and I'm working on a skirt from the Alabama Stitch Book. I've been busy. Still am, but I feel a little more settled now. I also need to settle in to my office a little more - it's amazing how the stuff I fit into a 1 bedroom apartment still doesn't quite fit into a 3 bedroom house. It feels like when you cram a bunch of clothes into a suitcase and squish everything down to zip it up... and then when you open it, everything kind of explodes out and you wonder how you're going to fit it all back in. I'm at that wondering part here.

Speaking of suitcases, I was quite proud of myself for packing for a 17 day trip in one carry-on suitcase and a backpack. Not my typical packing style. As for the vacation itself:

We visited Rome - this is one of several obelisks we saw on our trip. They're crazy and amazing and I didn't realize there were quite so many in Europe.

Rome

Then we hit Venice.

Venice

And Verona ("fair Verona, where we lay our scene...")

Verona

From there we took the train up to Munich - what a pretty train ride. And what a pretty place. This is the view from Hohenschwangau Castle.

Germany

And we ended with Paris.

Paris

Good times.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

It would really help if I had my camera charger, but it hasn't been unpacked or come across so far...

Since it's Father's Day, I'll share a pic of my dad and I:

This was in Virginia (actually, I think this picture was in North Carolina in the Outer Banks somewhere) when my parents came to visit me one time while my husband was out to sea or somewhere not in Virginia for whatever reason a few years ago.

I thought we were done with this being apart business, but he just got back from a 3-week training during which he was gone all week for each of those three. Oh well, I'm used to it, and he's back now so it's all good. I'm getting my office set up and trying to find time to sew... Hopefully I find that charger soon! I can't take any pics right now due to a dead/almost dead battery. Boo.

How's the Weather?

2011-06-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

I'm still busy unpacking and getting settled into the house, and my camera hasn't been used in quite a while (so no updates to share). I remembered that I had some old pictures that I uploaded to my computer a while back but never put up here, though. The weather here in Sonoma county has been a little confused... we're getting rain, and quite a bit of it, during the first week of June. JUNE, people - I like the rain, but I also like my garden, and the sad little plants would like some sun.

That being said, I recently pulled back out a hat that I thought was in storage for summer (ha), and it's actually one I made for our Tahoe trip way back at the beginning of the year. I used the Pretty Puffs slouchy hat pattern (on Ravelry here). Ignore the weird look on my face - I have a bad habit of making super dorky faces in front of the camera, but by myself and with the timer I apparently make sad and/or angry looking faces. But the hat looks cuter from the front than the back, so I had to show my face. All of which reminds me of this post by Moorea.

So, the hat:

Voila. It's comfy and I like the fact that I made it myself. :)

What I've Been Up To

2011-05-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

Things have been happening around here. My sister-in-law got married this weekend and we're moving next weekend! The house needs some upgrades, so we (along with some FANTASTIC family and friends) have been painting and changing out flooring.

Kitchen:

Will be getting new granite countertops, new appliances, tile, and freshly painted cabinets.

The cabinets were all that oak color you can see in the interiors... the doors have yet to be painted but the frames are all done in a nice creamy/sandy color. "Shoji white," to be specific. :)

Living room:

All the carpet is being replaced with either a) new carpet in the living room or b) tile in the entryway/hall/dining room (all currently carpeted)

And my wall is blue!

Note to Self

2011-05-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

When washing your new fabric, don't get so excited that you leave the navy blue in with the white...

At least I remembered to wash the red on its own.

Life of an Item

2011-04-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

I wrote a guest post over at the Lab Rats blog - please visit! It's all about how I make my animal silhouette pillows. The newest one, featured in the post, is a bear. However, the pillow pictured had some serious issues - the fabric creased really well. Where I didn't want it to. So this is how it looks now:

A work in progress.

How Many of These Should I Have?

2011-04-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

I planted a bunch of seeds last weekend, and today I transplanted some of them into their own little pots. I don't really know what I'm doing here, but I have baby plants so it seems to be going OK so far. The only problem is that this is just 1 of 4 types of tomatoes that I have... and all the little containers. I guess I need to buy more. When you're growing things from seeds, how many plants are you supposed to get? Can I save the seeds for next year? I think I need to figure these things out, because I don't have room for all these plants!

I love growing things. These already have a little tomato-y smell. I'm not even a big tomato fan but I <3 these little plants.

Who else out there is growing things this year?

Baby Quilt - Finished and Gifted

2011-04-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

Well, seems like I'm developing a monthly blogging habit. I don't want to post things just to post, though - my favorite bloggers are the ones that feel the most authentic. I'm not a "writer," in that writing is not a natural skill of mine and I don't feel a pull to create written work. I do, however, like gathering my thoughts, and that's what this blog is. It's a place to focus on what I've done or what I'm doing, but when I just don't have the time, it gets pushed off my to-do list pretty quickly.

I've been trying to record more things photographically speaking, though. I'm trying for a picture a day - or, to be more accurate, a picture per day. Meaning I may take 6 pictures on a Saturday and call them the week's pictures. I'm about three pictures short right now, so I'm not doing too bad.

In other news, I finished the baby quilt a while back, actually got pictures of it, and gifted it today! It was a project that I started without a specific recipient, and I ended up giving it to a young woman at my church who's pregnant with her first baby, a little boy. Here it is, complete:

I don't know the finished size - good for cuddling, I hope. It's cotton on the front, flannel on the back.
You can see how I pieced the back if you look closely, but the pattern is busy enough that it wasn't super obvious. I hope it gets lots of love and holds up well. Let the quilting adventures continue!

A Fun History Lesson

2011-03-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

Things have gotten a bit busy around here, as they tend to do. I just read a post on Etsy that I really liked - not really a history lesson, but a reference to history... It caught my eye because it's about needlework, which I'm liking more and more as I do it more. I like it for itself, but I also like its links to the past.

Go, look: Needlework from the Drawers of Daughters - it's much more eloquent than I am.

Mixed Up Holidays

2011-02-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

So, I realized I never posted our completed Christmas card, and it has a picture of the husband and I, so it seems appropriate for this time of year... right? There's no better way to celebrate one belated holiday than with another one. (But to be fair, we might really do something for Valentine's Day this weekend, since we couldn't do anything on Monday. So it's not as belated as it might seem.)

Card designed by SugarTreeStudios on Etsy - cute designs, did exactly what I asked - not super impressed with speed but liked the final result. Photo by Swafford Photography.

Hook-ed on P-honics

2011-02-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

Um, can anyone explain to me how this is supposed to be helpful? This actually came in the mail today. Really.

Maybe this would help?

How to Make a Felt Heart Garland

2011-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, I got several items made or started for my Etsy shop. One of them was a felt heart garland. Now that it's officially February, I thought I'd share a tutorial for making one - a quick and fun way to decorate for Valentine's Day!

You can freehand cut each heart if you really want to, but I started by making a little template from thick scrapbooking paper (like cardstock) that I got from someone who doesn't scrapbook any more (I don't either, but it's great to have a nice stock of paper around!) You can see that the line I drew wasn't the line I cut... I decided that I wanted my hearts a little bigger than what I'd drawn. These ended up being about 2-3/4" at the widest point and about 2-1/4" high. You could make tall, skinny hearts, little bitty hearts, or giant fat hearts - whatever you want.

Next, you need your felt. I used a thrifted 100% wool scarf that I washed and felted (wash in hot water, dry with high heat). I like using this method for getting my felt because you can get patterned felt this way. It also tends to come out thicker than premade felt. You could also felt a wool sweater, buy wool felt, or use a synthetic felt. Again, it's up to you - this is a very customizable project. If you want a multi-colored garland, go with the felt sheets you get at a craft store, for example. They're cheap, easy to find, and come in lots of colors.

The next step is to cut out your hearts, as many as you want. I only cut from the ends of my scarf, because that's where the bands of plaid were. I ended up cutting out 25 hearts. To get a consistent shape, I just placed the template on top of the scarf, held it with my left hand, and cut with my right. Being right-handed, I found that the right side was a lot easier to cut, so on some of them, I cut out the right side first, then flipped the felt over, repositioned the template, and cut the right side again (which was the left when viewed from the other side).

After you have a nice little stack of hearts, it's time to sew them together. Just stick the first one under your needle (leave longish thread tails at the beginning), sew sew sew, and slip the next one in there to sit as close to the previous one as you can. The tricky part is keeping them lined up and not getting too much of a gap between them. Since the sides aren't straight, it takes a little extra attention and effort to place one heart next to another while getting them to feed through the machine. It's really not difficult though - go ahead, you can do it!

Once they're all sewn together, tie the ends off leaving little loops and hang above your bed, over your couch, around the door... the possibilities are endless (well, sort of). Let me know if you try this!

And if you'd rather buy than make, my garland is for sale here. :) Handmade with love, of course!

My First Ice Cream Adventure

2011-01-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

Or should I say, my first ice cream making adventure? I have eaten a LOT of ice cream in my lifetime. I used to work at Baskin-Robbins; never got sick of ice cream. My freezer pretty much always has ice cream in it. I am a fan.

To break in the new ice cream maker, I decided on double chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. That's right, cookie dough flavored ice cream with cookie dough in it - double. (Recipe here). There were a few issues with the ingredients (ie I didn't make sure I had them all) but I made do. The ingredients weren't crazy or weird, I was just short on brown sugar (had less than 1/3 C) and had big fat chocolate chips. I used white sugar instead, which made it more vanilla than cookie dough:

And maybe I'm weird, but I'm not actually a big fan of chocolate chunks in my ice cream. I hate that it gets hard and loses flavor when it's frozen. I am an even bigger fan of chocolate than I am of ice cream, so in a fight between the two, chocolate wins. The big chips I had were going to be a problem. That didn't stop me from making cookie dough ice cream, but I didn't put any chocolate chips in the ice cream itself. I also had to semi-chop the ones I put into the dough, because seriously, have you seen the Ghiradelli chips? They're giants.

After mixing: vanilla-ish ice cream base

I was also sad to realize that the mixture I cooked up one night couldn't be made into ice cream until it had thoroughly chilled. So the next morning, I ran the ice cream maker while I was getting ready for work, stuck the mixed up ice cream in the freezer for the day, and came home to homemade ice cream. I have been eating it frequently. This may become a habit.

All mixed up, base + cookie dough ready to go in the freezer!

In fact, I'm going to go eat some right now!

Dark Chocolate Cake

2011-01-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

I believe that title speaks for itself.

I'll elaborate on my end, though. I went to a friend's house for Bunco on Friday night, and I brought a cake for dessert. I went to one of my very favorite food blogs, Orangette, and got a recipe for Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake. I highly recommend it. I only used about 1/4 cup of whiskey, and didn't "soak" the cake after it was baked, and it was delicious. Dark and rich without being super sweet. I'm not a huge fan of my bundt pan, because it's got a few too many dips and bumps. They're pretty, but sometimes the cake gets stuck in them and I lose cake (well, I mean, I do EAT it, but the cake loses part of itself). Sad. Powdered sugar makes it all pretty, though.

This cake also goes well with coffee. And makes mornings happier. (Maybe not recommended for breakfast if you use the amount of booze in the original - she does call it boozycake after all. I'm pretty sure all the alcohol baked out of mine.)

The Vacation Routine

2011-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we're home. I've been busy trying to settle back into daily life, and I'm trying to make a few things to put into my Etsy shop (I took out the Christmas stuff and now it's even smaller than it was!)

Vacation itself was 6 days at the snow - Truckee, CA, near Lake Tahoe. My husband and I rented a cabin with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. It was absolutely wonderful to have a break where we could just relax. A typical day went like this: wake up. eat breakfast. sit around for a while, maybe do some crocheting. change into snow clothes and go sledding. eat lunch. watch movies and crochet. eat dinner. play a game or watch a movie.

I spent quite of bit of time on vacation just working on WIPs; will share about those later (ie, after I take some pics). My mom and I also (very fun) taught my sister-in-law how to crochet! If we'd had Internet access we would have tried learning to knit, but the crocheting was fun. There was a local yarn shop that we stopped by called Lake Tahoe Yarn Company. They were super helpful and had some lovely yarns. I spent a ton of time trying to decide what to get. Or rather, what not to get (as previously mentioned, I'm rather indecisive.) If you're in the area, you should definitely stop there.

All in all, quite a nice way to spend a few days.

Want to Visit Katy?

2011-01-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hi, all, I'm back from vacation!

Just wanted to say that Katy Atchison, who I featured last month, has a little feature on me on her blog. If you have a chance to check it out, I'd love for you to visit over there!

Who's Ready for a Vacation?

2011-01-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

January 13:
***Um, so apparently I never posted this! Better late than never, I guess? At least it makes what I was going to post about how vacation went make more sense***

January 5:
I am! And coincidentally (or not so much), I'm leaving for one tomorrow - woo hoo! The husband and I are going up to Lake Tahoe with my family for 6 days. I don't know whether or not I'll have any sort of Internet connection, so I may pop up on Twitter or something but I'll be taking a blog break.

Before I go, here's a super quick little how-to add-on to the crocheted Christmas trees I posted a while back: I totally forgot to mention the little dots on the garland chain! If you know how to crochet, even just a tiny bit, this is an easy way to make a simple yarn garland. I simply chained for a while (it's really your preference, it's just spacing and will change depending on your yarn and hook) then made a little circle by doing one round. For the Christmas garland, I attached the trees in between dots, but you could also just leave off the trees and have a simpler finished product.

You create the dot by chaining, then going back to the 3rd or 4th chain from the hook, slip stitching into it to make a tiny little ring, and then doing double crochets into that space in the middle of the ring - do a small ch-2 as the first "double-crochet" stitch to bring your yarn up to the right height. I think I used 9 DC's for kind of cupped discs, but using 8 will flatten them out if you want. This is a pretty good tutorial (pictures and all!) if you haven't done this before. When you get enough of them to make a good circle, slip stitch into the first stitch (whether that's the first "real" DC or the turning chain doesn't make a huge difference here) and start chaining again. Keep doing this as many times as you want to get the length of garland you need.

I also found these instructions a while back and thought it was really interesting. I didn't know how to create anything in the round without following a pattern, because I didn't know the pattern for the increases. But, it's pretty simple and opens up all sorts of ideas for me.

I want to use this garland technique to make some big, long garlands. Just one of many things I want to do... Planning on using some vacation time for crocheting along with finishing the binding for the baby quilt. Soooo looking forward to just chilling for a few days. Will share finished projects when I get back!

Four Ice Creams I Want to Try

2011-01-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

I am an indecisive person. I like to take my time, think things through, etc. etc. and it can take forever. I mean, I can usually just pick something and go with it, but it's not my natural way of doing things.

I love ice cream and got an ice cream maker for Christmas. So now I have a decision to make: What ice cream should I try first???

I started looking for recipes to try for breaking in the new toy, and I found far too many choices just by looking at three websites plus one recipe I bookmarked months ago. There's the choice between keeping it simple or going all out and using ingredients that require me to cook and prepare before I even pull out the contraption. I've decided simple is probably better to start with. I believe I have narrowed it down to four choices that I think all look delicious:

Double cookie dough ice cream - Recipe at Annie's Eats - this is the one I had bookmarked, because even though I didn't have an ice cream maker at the time it made me make plans to get one...

Honey ice cream - Recipe at Orangette - I need some better honey anyways (there are some great local ones that are SOOOO much better than the little bear from the grocery store...); what better way to use it than in ice cream?

Vanilla bean ice cream - Tartelette or David Lebovitz - Another excuse to buy a new ingredient; I don't have any vanilla beans on hand and a Penzey's just opened near here that I haven't gone into yet... Plus, the Tartelette version mentions cinnamon ice cream as well. Which I have to try at some point. And Penzey's also has cinnamon.

Salted butter caramel ice cream - Recipe by David Lebovitz - OK, this one isn't as simple as the others, but it sounds Wonderful (yes, with a capital W).

There are many others on the list to try in the future. When strawberries are in season, I'm def making strawberry, for example. I'd love to find a recipe for lavender ice cream, too; a local ice cream shop makes one and it's so good.

We leave for vacation in two days, so that buys me some extra time to think about this... Opinions?

How to Find Extra Time on a Thursday

2010-12-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

This week has turned into a blog-break-week. After the long pre-Christmas nights trying to get things done (like, um, gifts), I've been trying to relax more this week. Tonight we're getting together with my family to meet a baby cousin I haven't seen yet, and then there's New Year's Eve and Day coming up...

This morning, however, I'm sitting here with my breakfast and hot coffee trying to warm up a little and waiting for our water to do the same. The hot water heater has been acting up and I am NOT in the mood for a chilly shower. So here I wait, with a little "extra" time. Luckily my work schedule is very flexible, or I'd be in trouble running this late. I'm tempted to occupy myself looking at one of the books I got for Christmas, but that would make me very late.

That being said, here's a small peek at some of the goodies my family gave me (I confess, these are the ones that haven't been put away yet):

Why yes, that's a gorgeous print from Kate Fete, along with Craft, Inc., the Alabama Stitch Book, and Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. And an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer - I <3 ice cream!

My family chose good. And now I'm off to (hopefully!) find some hot water.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

We got our first Christmas tree this year. This is our fifth Christmas together (married), but for two of them, we weren't home for Christmas, one of them we weren't even on the same continent, and last year we were staying in my in-laws vacation home and didn't want to bring a tree and all its mess into it. With all the last-minute craziness that's been going on this week, I don't have any updated pictures of the tree - I made a tree skirt (well, halfway made) and it had some presents under it, but at least I got something photographed!

Notice the chair: That's how close the tree is to our dining room table

I also collect ornaments as souvenirs; this is from our honeymoon:

Got this one at the King Tut exhibit in San Francisco last year:

And these are ornaments I've been collecting for... 18 years? That seems like a really long time. My grandma always bought them for me when I was growing up; after she passed away, my mom bought me one and I'm trying to find this years'. I think I'll be ordering it online at this point; time got away from me and the ornament displays are pretty much cleared out.

I love that my tree is filled with memories. Here's to a very Merry Christmas and lots of great new memories!

Christmas Already?

2010-12-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

I have done hardly any holiday baking this year. Not that I usually do much, but I've only made 1 batch of cookies. I need to make something for dessert tomorrow though. No idea what I'm going to do. Christmas kind of ran at me this year and I feel like I haven't gotten much done. I finally mailed off our Christmas cards today, and the presents are all wrapped and under the tree, but that's about it. Being sick last week kind of threw me off track.

I am in love with these mini gingerbread houses from Not Martha, though:

www.notmartha.org

Aren't they awesome? I'd love to have a bunch of them for a Christmas party or for the family on Christmas Eve. I don't think my family is big on gingerbread though... What new recipe have you tried out this year?

12 Days of Christmas - Part 4

2010-12-22T08:46:00.000-08:00

The final days of my Christmas treasuries:

by thetimeisnow

Tenth Day of Christmas:

Eleventh Day of Christmas:

Twelfth Day of Christmas:

12 Days of Christmas - Part 3

2010-12-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

More Etsy treasuries!

by alyssaettinger

Seventh Day of Christmas:

Eighth Day of Christmas:

Ninth Day of Christmas:

12 Days of Christmas - Part 2

2010-12-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the treasuries for the next three days of Christmas:

by SecretCharm

The Fourth Day of Christmas:

The Fifth Day of Christmas:

The Sixth Day of Christmas:

12 Days of Christmas - Part 1

2010-12-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

I put together 12 treasuries on Etsy over the last couple weeks, each featuring one of the twelve days of Christmas. Here are the first 3:

by rawartletterpress

The First Day of Christmas:

The Second Day of Christmas:

The Third Day of Christmas:

You might notice at this point, some of the items are gone - hopefully they've all been sold!

Seaweed

2010-12-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

How pretty are these? Original seaweed pressings by Coastal Prezence: Red & green, so they're Christmas-y, right?

Love them. If I ever get an office/craft room - even half of one - I will buy these and put them in there.

Sound and Silence

2010-12-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

Another day at home, still sick... Not much happening, but I'm listening to Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong, which is my most favorite Christmas album right now.

I was flipping through the December copy of Real Simple, and found this wonderful photo by Nicholas McElroy. You can see it here, about halfway down the page. It just has such a feeling of quiet; he says, "I just couldn't resist jumping out to experience the sense of total silence you get in such a remote location."

Also in Real Simple: This hazelnut ganache tart, which makes me hungry. I LOVE hazelnut + chocolate. Recipe & photo via Real Simple.

Now, this is the type of thing I think I need to eat when I'm not feeling well.

Sharing...

2010-12-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm home sick today. My husband was kind enough to share his cold with me.

Between sleeping and drinking lots of tea, I want to work on this:

All fabric is Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas for Moda

Which is actually 3 projects, one of which isn't even cut out yet. Project 1 is a tree skirt - we were going to pick out a tree yesterday, but since the husband was sick, we put it off (again). Project 2 is a "12 Days of Christmas" garland, because how could I pass up that adorable 12 Days of Christmas fabric? Project 3 is stockings to match the tree skirt.

Let's see how far I get with this...

Holiday Food

2010-12-09T22:41:00.000-08:00

Do you know your holiday foods? Take this quiz from Martha Stewart - I got 6 out of 8 - and was surprised. I guessed on quite a few.

Then visit these links for more yummy goodness:

Buche de Noel

Yorkshire Pudding (and other yummy treats)

Pistachio-Cocoa Nib Macarons with Bourbon Buttercream - Ok, not related to the quiz, but they sound wonderful. And Helene is French, and this post does mention all sorts of French goodies, and Buche Noel is French, so.... yes. That is all I need to say about it.

SF Etsy Team - Nice to meet you, Katy!

2010-12-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

I love where I live, and I'm fortunate to be able to live so close to the city. I recently joined the San Francisco Etsy team; there's an amazing group of artists and crafters in this area. I want to introduce a few of them over the next few weeks.


Photo by J. Astra Brinkmann

The first Etsy seller I'm featuring here is Katy Atchison. She sells adorable prints, paintings, cards, and hair accessories. She describes herself as "an illustrator, crafter & explorer." You can visit her Etsy shop at katyatchison.etsy.com. Here are a few of her items that I especially liked:

"Robots in Love" painting


"Eggplant n Carrot BFF of Flavor" original drawing

Bright Peacock Feather hair clip

Bee and Daisy greeting card

Black and White Ball Feather Hair Accessory with 1920s Vintage Button

Aren't they bright and fun? I think her illustrations would be fantastic in a nursery or kid's room, but they'd also brighten up any spot in your home. And I'm always looking for fun hair clips, especially around the holidays.

Photo by J. Astra Brinkmann

http://www.flickr.com/photos/musicpurr

You can find out more about Katy through any of your preferred social media :)

Website/Blog: http://www.katyatchison.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/katyatch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katy.atchison
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katyatchisonillustration/

And I saw on her Facebook page that she's got a little giveaway going on! "Fan me and win a Katy Atchison original illustration or painting. Two drawings this month...the 15th and the 31st of December!"

Photo by J. Astra Brinkmann

Please visit her and add a little bit of sunshine to your day :)

Christmas Cards

2010-12-07T22:55:00.000-08:00

I sat down to work on our Christmas card for 2010 and basically spent an entire evening getting nothing done. I found a card I really liked online, but figured out after playing around with it that it would cost me $80 for the number of cards I wanted. Not quite what I was looking for; in the past, I've just printed out our cards at home, and they were really more of Christmas letters than cards. I wanted a photo card this year but with a little blurb about us - a quick update for those we don't see very often. Apparently that's not a common thing to want, because most of the cards I looked at didn't have any space for text.

I was browsing around on Etsy and realized that - hello! - there are a bunch of sellers with adorable digital layouts who will make my card for me, customize it to my heart's content, and then I can just get it printed somewhere local. Now I just need to choose one!

I think this one is my favorite, from Sugar Tree Studio. Maybe in red, though. Our Christmas photo was taken in an apple orchard and has a pretty green background that I think would look good with red. Update to come when the card is done!

Wreath 2010

2010-12-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

I finally made my wreath this weekend. I actually bought the wreath form back in October, and I was going to use it for an autumn wreath bedecked with felt and whatever other embellishments I could find around here.

Instead, it sat around until Christmas. I kept it pretty simple; I would like to make the hanger fit in a little better but don't have any good ideas for it right now. I used a grapevine wreath form ($1), wrapped it in strips of grey wool felt leftover from trying to trim down some wonky squares (that's another story), and added felt leaves and berries.

I used masking tape to attach the felt on the back. The green and cream felt is just acrylic craft felt that I freehand cut into the shapes I wanted, and then I glued them to the grey felt with craft glue.

At first, the "D" in the center was hanging from the wreath by monofilament, but it's so light that it kept flipping around. I put some blue tacky stuff on the back and stuck it straight to the door. It's just a little wooden letter I found at a craft store and painted grey. Simple and easy!

*Also check out Rachel's wreath - it's super cute! *

Finally, some decorations are up

2010-12-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

I did a little Christmas decorating last night. I finally took down my pumpkins and little Thanksgiving pilgrims and pulled out my boxes...

At that point, I realized that I don't really have very many Christmas decorations. Also, we live in a 1-bedroom apartment, so there's not a ton of extra space. Luckily, those two things work out well enough. We're going to go get our tree this weekend - since the majority of my Christmas boxes really just have ornaments in them, at least it will be well-covered in decorations.

There was one thing I made last year that I was looking for, and I finally found it at the bottom of a box. It's this little frame with some Smooshy Stack Trees inspired by Lolly.

Lolly's instructions are great, so click the link above if you want to see how to make them. For my trees, I only used two fabrics, a red and a green polka dot. I made sure the green was on top for all of the trees. I made 5 trees in all, and I think two of them might be the same size but the others are all different. I backed it all in a red and white paper that I had.

I decided to put it on our bookshelf for now, since that seems to be my central point for Christmas decor

In the middle, I added a chipboard "peace" that I probably picked up for $1 at Michael's or something. I put it all on a frame that I had sitting around; it's not made for 3-d objects so the trees are kind of flattened down in there and I had to put masking tape all around the back to hold everything in place. But it works! I just didn't want to spend money on a new frame. It also wasn't a planned-out project; I just sat down one night and decided to make it. But I love it!

It's a fun little accent that I can put basically anywhere, and I love how the glitter looks with Christmas lights near it.

Crochet Christmas Trees

2010-11-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

I was at Joann Fabrics one day, and while browsing through the store (as I always do when I'm in there, I can't help it), I saw a fun sock yarn that was red, green, blue, and white. Loved it immediately. I have a lot of blues, greens, and red in my main living spaces, and that's what I was leaning towards for Christmas. This yarn needed to be made into something for Christmas.

Patons Kroy sock yarn in Summer Moss

I decided to make a garland with it. I have some up on Etsy, but I made myself one, too, because I love it. I crocheted several small Christmas trees and attached them to a long chain made from the same yarn. This is the first year I really get to decorate for Christmas and I'm so excited!

Handmade garland on the handmade bookcase

I can't really share a pattern for the trees because I don't have one. I liked them all to be a little different, so I didn't try to make a pattern. Then I made a wonderfully perfect tree the other day - but couldn't figure out what I did and thus, still no pattern. I tried them several different ways. Here's what I do:

* I found that starting at the top and working my way down was much easier than starting at the bottom.
* I begin with a chain 3, make a loop, and work 3 double crochets into the loop, then increase for about 3 rows, decrease quite a bit, then increase for about 3 rows... etc. Until it looks right. Technical, right?
* Sometimes I pull it out and redo a row. Just eyeball it. How's that for technical.
* Sometimes I mix up single and double crochet.
* It helps to do a treble crochet on the ends (or just something longer than what you're using) to keep it straight and not rounded up, if you know what I mean. Otherwise it can start looking like... this:

I did actually spend (too much) time on this terrible graphic

I have another crocheted garland to share soon. I promise to be more helpful with that one! Haha. :)

Christmas is coming!

2010-11-29T23:41:00.000-08:00

I listened to Christmas music quite a bit today. Did a quick update in the Etsy shop and here on the blog for a holiday banner.

Busy with work and little details. I might share a little about those trees up in the banner tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. :)

Black Friday at Home

2010-11-26T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, this is what my black Friday is looking like so far:

Making things for the shop, watching Grey's Anatomy and Robin Hood, coffee, snacks... I had pumpkin pie for breakfast, shhh. It's grey and chilly outside, so I've got a cozy blanket and my slippers. My husband is busy working in the craziness that is a mall on Black Friday. The dog is snoring on his pillow. No way I'm going out shopping; I don't want to deal with the crowds today!

Speaking of Black Friday, I have a special going on at Etsy, now through Monday (Black Friday, Cyber Monday... don't you love all those titles? or not) - all items are marked down already, but if you enter the code BLACKFRIDAY2010 for my store at checkout, you'll get a grand total of 25% off all items and free shipping. Quite a few sellers are having sales; I love that you can buy handcrafted goodies without leaving the house. I'll be adding more items to my shop through the weekend. Which means I need to get back to making them!

This is a garland in the making, by the way. I have plans to make some of my own decorations, today, too - like a tree skirt. Let's see how much I can actually get done!

French Toast

2010-11-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

I'm ready for the holidays to start. We're spending Thanksgiving with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law; it's so fun to be here and not by ourselves in Virginia! It's a relatively small Thanksgiving group compared to what we've had some years, but it will be good.

My mom, my sis-in-law, and I are all cooking, so I had to get supplies. I'm making candied yams, rolls, pumpkin pie, and some snacks for earlier in the day. I wasn't quite sure what I was making and what I needed until Sunday, so I ended up going to the grocery store tonight - and it was kind of crazy. Too many people. And I forgot eggs, so I had to go back in. And while I was grabbing eggs, I decided I wanted whipping cream too. At least with only 2 things I could do self checkout and get out quicker.

I'm looking forward to the long weekend, too, but unfortunately my husband will be working so I don't think we get any lazy days together. I love having a late breakfast with him, but we don't get to do that very often anymore. This was my breakfast on Saturday, French toast:

Does anyone else top their French toast with powdered sugar and cinnamon? I didn't realize until I was a teenager that most people top theirs with syrup. This is how my mom always made it. I love when the sugar gets a little dissolved into the butter and it's all brought together with cinnamon... mmmm.

Whatever you eat this Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoy it!

Weekend Update

2010-11-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I wasn't feeling great over the weekend; I think I'm fighting with a little cold. It was a moderately productive weekend, though.

Last week I actually made a lightbox, seen here:

It's not pretty, but it gets the job done. At least, it's sort of helpful. I don't have a good light to use with it, and as you can see, it's rather flimsy. But overall, it's better than what I was getting with poor lighting and a lightweight camera. Makes things easier.

I worked on this little guy (Etsy shop preview!); hand-stitched while watching Coraline. Which was interesting. I know I'm a little late to this, but hey, I'm not exactly a "cutting-edge" person. I liked it as a movie; the characters were fun and interesting. The whole stop-motion, crafty, handmade aspect amazes me.

I also made one of the autumn potholders.

It's super-thick and I love the stitched "veins." I felted two sweaters for this; the grey one was thrifted and the red one is an old one of mine (I'm too lazy to care for wool sweaters properly, so it had become too small). First time felting wool myself, and it was so fun! With the thrifted one, I turned a loose-fitting women's medium into a child-sized sweater about an inch thick. Not really an inch, but that grey wool is actually a good 3/8" thick now.

I'm planning to bring it to my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner. That bowl needs some food in it. So excited for the holidays to begin!

Adding & Connecting

2010-11-19T23:02:00.000-08:00

I now have a link to the Etsy shop here on the blog, along with a link to the brand-new Facebook page - both are over there --> on the sidebar.

I have also somehow connected Facebook to Etsy, and there are links to Twitter and this here blog on Etsy... It all feels very circular and makes my brain spin a little. We were watching The Office tonight and I felt like I needed a weird version of WUPHF.

Craftiness to happen tomorrow. Hopefully I can make time for some Christmas goodies, because I want to decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving - and that's next week! It doesn't quite seem like November to me yet, but maybe a nice, rainy weekend will help.

Etsy

Go Vote at Design*Sponge!

2010-11-18T22:33:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen it, Design*Sponge is having a "Design Your Own Alphabet" contest. On day 2, I saw Skunkling, which I really liked and has made it into the top 3. Then I found out today that it was designed by one of my husband's high school classmates! Go vote for him!

*** Update: He won! ***

Etsy Treasuries

2010-11-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I may have found a new addiction. I made my first treasury today:

And I am also IN my first treasury!

It's so fun to dig around, figure out a theme, find items that go together... It takes some time, though!

Vintage Needlework

2010-11-15T23:07:00.000-08:00

I am definitely not one of those people who can come up with even semi-creative titles here, am I?

A few weeks ago I did a little thrift-store shopping, and I found these:

This is actually the first non-fabric vintage purchase I think I've made. I rarely go to thrift stores, and when I do, I'm usually just looking at the sheets for good prints. I've gone a few times in the last month though, and I'm starting to look around a little more.

They came in these frames, but I spray painted them black. They were a yellowed creamy color, and there's sort of a wood grain texture to the plastic. I don't know what they looked like originally... I can only imagine. One of my favorite things about these is that there was a little note on the back of each one.

One of them said (although I couldn't really read the name):
"Worked by Rita Thilitt
1979 & 1980
Part worked
while right arm
& wrist broken in
fall 5/27/79”

The other said simply:
“See back of
other picture”

They're now on what used to be a completely blank wall between our TV and sliding glass door. Not bad for $4.

Etsy shop - now open!

2010-11-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

I have officially listed my first item in the Smith & Daphne Etsy shop. I'll be adding new items throughout the week, so although it looks a little bare right now, I do indeed have more items! I just need to get pictures taken and descriptions written for everything - luckily my mom is going to help out with the pics.

Now I'm off to do some more sewing!

Took the day off...

2010-11-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

I spent the day with my husband, Buddy, in "the city" (which around here means San Francisco). He had the day off, so I took the day off too and we headed out for a day trip we've been trying to take since my birthday (almost exactly a month ago).

It was a beautiful day. We took the ferry.

The Ferry Building is very cool and has some wonderful shops in it. We started off with coffee at Blue Bottle - which is amazing.

Then, we got a hazelnut macaron and an eclair from Miette. This was my first macaron - loved it! I was so excited to eat it I took a bite and then got a very blurry picture. So I made it more blurry... ? It's like a dream picture of a macaron (or something):

Then we walked around and went down to Pier 39, where we saw the sea lions, bought a Christmas ornament (I like getting these when we go somewhere, because I know it's a collection I'll actually use and enjoy), got some candy, and saw a super creepy cat urn for sale. Really.

Oh, and we saw them decorating the big Christmas tree! The ornaments are gigantic.

Then we went back to the Ferry Building to shop around there. We had lunch from Cowgirl Creamery, which was SO good. I <3 cheese.

It was a very good day off.

Busy Week

2010-11-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

Well, this is shaping up to be quite a busy week, more than I'd expected. All good things going on, but I don't have much extra time.

I'm going to try to make myself a lightbox (about 97,600,000 Google results for how to do that!), so on Monday I picked up a piece of white posterboard. It also happened to rain on Monday, and my umbrella is less than wonderful.

On the way in to the store, I had to hold it open because I couldn't get it to extend all the way and hold itself open. On the way out of the store, I was (awkwardly) trying to both keep it out of the rain and hold it fairly steady so it wasn't flapping around. As I was doing so, I walked into the parking lot down the (lane? aisle? row?) I thought my car was on. I looked around... didn't see it. Wondered if I was seriously confused because I was pretty sure that I had walked down this row and across that crosswalk to get into the store.

Looked over at the next row, because sometimes I do lose myself in the parking lot. Through the rain, I could tell that my car was indeed NOT on that row either...... Hmm.

At this point, I realized that I actually went through the opposite entrance, and my car was probably about 4 rows and several rainy steps away from where I was. Luckily, my posterboard didn't warp or anything, but it was definitely damp by the time it got into my car.

Moral of the story? Don't buy posterboard in the rain.

Also, get a new umbrella.

(this one's cute AND funny-shaped!) at Target.com

China Accents

2010-11-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

I was browsing on the West Elm website today, and I saw these plates:

Aren't they pretty? I love how the leaf shapes are authentic and organic, but they're done in a shimmery gold. That sparkle mixed with nature is great. My china is the Noritake Crestwood Platinum, and I think that mixing the gold and platinum would be really fun for the holidays. This would work just as well for Thanksgiving as it would for Christmas, too, because it's not a holiday-specific design.

Noritake Crestwood Platinum

I actually think I got something in the mail from West Elm recently... I should go find that, it might be a discount that tempts me into buying them!

Hostess with the Mostess has some cute gold & silver ideas, such as this:

I really like this centerpiece, too:

Martha Stewart

And mercury glass, I have to get some of that:


West Elm again

Weekend Sewing

2010-11-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

This weekend is all about Etsy sewing, but I'm hoping to make some time for this project, too:

Yes, that's 90210 playing - the original

I'm just finishing hand stitching the binding. I used the Heather Bailey tutorial, available here.

As usual, I had a few small issues but nothing major. I didn't leave myself quite enough binding at the end and had trouble getting the ends sewn together. After a bit of time and ripping out some stitches I finally got it to work. I wrapped the binding around an old jar and unwound it as I went. I liked not having to fuss with a big length of binding falling all over the place. I think I'd do that again.

I also didn't think too much about the seam allowances. I sewed about half of one edge before thinking to test it and make sure it would wrap around correctly. It did not. More ripping of stitches and we were good to go.

I really like seeing the binding getting finished. It makes the quilt feel so pulled together. I can't wait to wash and dry it and see how nice and rumpled it gets. But I really need to work on Etsy items, so this project is on the waiting list.

Aviary & Phoenix

2010-11-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

I was searching for a good way to make an Etsy banner/blog header that DIDN'T involve Photoshop, (since I don't have or want to buy Photoshop), and I found this. It's a nice, simple tutorial for a banner using a web application called Phoenix. I'd never heard of Aviary or Phoenix (or any of the other programs) but I'm now a big fan! I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I got 5 decent looking banners in one evening. And it's free!

I've tried using GIMP for photo editing, etc. but never got the hang of it. I think some of the problems were from trying to run it on my Mac, who knows. Phoenix runs right in Firefox and doesn't do too many weird things. I did have some issues resizing the text, but I just kept working with it and got it to do what I wanted. There were also times when I had to click things more than once (like "Export image" - never worked the first time I clicked it). But really, nothing big.

I'm waiting for official permission to use one of my mom's images for the header that I picked, but here are some of the other versions (one of which I like and may use in the future).

First try

Version 2

Version 3

Hopefully I'll have a new (real) blog header tomorrow!

***Update - It's up!***

Weekend Movie

2010-11-04T08:34:00.001-07:00

I just noticed that the new Alice In Wonderland is on Netflix in my instant queue - I just may be watching that this weekend. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see it, but obviously I added it to my list. I haven't really heard much about it, but I think I'll give it a shot.

I Voted

2010-11-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Did you?

Starting Up

2010-11-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have a new Etsy account, a new blog, and a Twitter account now! I'm (slowly) working on getting everything set up and still making things to put in the shop. The Etsy store isn't open yet, but it's getting closer! I finally picked a name:

Smith & Daphne

You can find me here:

Etsy: SmithAndDaphne (nothing to see, YET)

Twitter: @SmithAndDaphne (again, nothing there yet)

New blog! smithanddaphne.blogspot.com - I will be using the new blog soon. I'll update when I've officially switched.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T19:28:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween

This was the extent of my pumpkin decor - and it turns out, the acrylic paint worked fine this time!

Mouse Pad

2010-10-28T22:45:00.001-07:00

I would love to have a new mouse pad at work. Just realized that I saved this tutorial a while back - I have cork and scraps of fabric. I might try making myself one this weekend...

via Funky & Delightful

His and Hers Pillowcases

2010-10-27T08:37:00.001-07:00

A while back, I decided to make a "his and hers" set of pillowcases. I saw a floral flannel that I liked, but didn't think hubby would be too fond of the coral-y pink and the flowers. So I bought him a circle print.

Now that it finally feels like fall, I really wanted to get these pillowcases finished. I bought the two main fabrics a while back, but it was on a whim and I didn't really know how much I needed. Once I washed it up, I saw that I needed just a little more to get them the right size. I decided to make the cuffs match each other to bring the two cases together a little bit. There was a big sale at Joann this weekend, and since I was there anyways I bought the last little bit I needed. This was a pretty quick project, and I did hardly any measuring and only a little cutting. The construction is simple, too.

I used 3/4 yd of the "main" fabric on each one, plus 1/4 yd of the contrasting cuff (so 1/2 yd total of contrast for 2 pillows [or] 1 yd total per pillowcase). I washed it all first, then trimmed it up to make everything straight and make the two main fabric pieces the same size. I just cut the contrasting fabric in half (lengthwise - to get 2 long strips). I don't know what size I ended up with, but pillowcases are pretty forgiving so let's not worry about that.

I decided to use French seams to keep everything nice and enclosed. I also hadn't used French seams before and wanted to see how it went. I started by lining up one cuffed piece (folded in half, wrong sides together) with one body piece - keep wrong sides together first, and line up the raw edges. Sew along that edge (3/8" allowance?), then flip them around so right sides are together, like usual. Sew along there with a slightly bigger allowance (or trim the 1st one down and sew with the same allowance, but I didn't want to mess with trimming, etc). It helps to press the seam open after the 1st step, then press it again when you flip it so that 2nd seam is smoother.
You'll end up with a nicely enclosed seam. That's the finished seam between cuff and body below. (I didn't take pics of the other pillowcase because I sewed it right sides together to start and didn't want to rip the seam out. So it has one "regular" seam, haha).

I did the bottom seam next, exactly the same way (make sure it's all lined up, sew with wrong sides together, then right sides together). Then I trimmed everything before I sewed the side seam, because I must sew crooked and my sides weren't lining up nicely. :)

See how you have an ugly outside seam for a while? That's what you want for the first step. I am always messing up on right sides together/wrong sides together/make sure things match/etc etc. I had to keep reminding myself to do it this way, which is why the first seam on "his" pillowcase isn't a French seam.

You're all done! Just three seams to sew (6 if you count the inside out/outside in/doubleness of French seams).
Stuff with pillow.
Admire your new sew of pillowcases. (Ignore how they don't match the rest of your bedding).

Enjoy the lovely snuggliness of flannel.

Sewing Class

2010-10-26T22:49:00.001-07:00

For my birthday, my parents gave me money to use for a sewing class. Now, I have to decide what class I want to take. I've looked at a few options:

* A 5 week "Intermediate Sewing" course covering sewing a shirt? That would help me with a lot of garment sewing things that kind of scare me (like arm holes!)
* A 2-day class to sew a knit dress? Has the garment construction things AND knit (which scares me a little)
* A class to sew a pencil skirt
* A "dresses" class
* Something else???

I need to do more research on what's available around here, but I'm also indecisive and might take too much time trying to decide! It might be better to wait until after the holidays anyways. We'll see.

Bag Swap - Finished Bag

2010-10-25T21:08:00.001-07:00

Since I know my partner, Bess, got her bag, I'll go ahead and post all the pics. I used the Ruthie Clutch from Anna Maria Horner with Amy Butler's Wallflower print in Sky. I lined it with a yellow Kona cotton (I think it's Maize), and I found a nice wooden button for the closure. I love this big, oversized clutch! And I love the fabric. And I had fun making it.

I changed two things in the pattern:
1) I added a slip pocket on the lining, basically just a big rectangle divided into 3 pockets. *note* I totally forgot that I wanted to do this until I'd already sewn the lining... so it took a bit of trickery to get it sewn in there! I wrote myself a nice note on the pattern for next time

2) I pleated the exterior instead of just gathering it. It's sort of a hybrid gathered-pleat thing, especially in the back. I just wasn't liking the way it was looking with regular gathers. I was more purposeful on the front and actually ironed out (in?) the pleats before gathering; on the back I did the opposite (which is why it became the back).

I had a little trouble with the interfacing on the top band too, because apparently it was a couple of inches narrower from the bolt than the pattern called for. I didn't even think to check the width, because I used the interfacing she recommended. Oh well, nothing I could do about it by the time I figured it out (sorry, Bess!) It's one of those things that gives it character. When I bought the pattern, I was told that her instructions for the band were a little weird and the shop owner told me another way to do it. When I got home and read the pattern, though, I decided to just do it as written. The only trouble was keeping the interfacing at the right spot in the fabric band when I was fusing it, because the fabric ends up wrapping around it and getting stitched into the lining very nicely - but I had several spots where it didn't go as nicely because I had the interfacing too high. If that makes any sense at all... Basically, I might just cut the band bigger next time so I can get it to cover my inside seam.

I also sent her a little zippered pouch because, well, I wanted to make one. My last attempt at a zipper was not great. This one was much better.

I wanted the package to look fun when it arrived too, and I got a great bag from a store the other day that I decided to re-use. It was a flat bag, so I just cut off a little from one side of the top, like so:

Rounded it off to make a prettier flap:

And put a piece of paper on top for the address.

And I definitely plan to make one of these for myself. But not until I finish at least a few other things... I did get a WIP finished yesterday, though! However, I have managed to destroy the pictures. Well, not destroy, but Aperture thinks they're lost. And this being the first time I've ever used Aperture, I don't know how to make it see them. And unless Aperture sees them, I have to re-edit them all. Boo.

But the bag is done, and I'm expecting a package in the mail. Lovely!

Slow Sunday

2010-10-24T12:07:00.001-07:00

Today feels like fall, which makes me happy. It's rainy outside, and we get to stay inside where it's nice and cozy. We had pumpkin pancakes for breakfast - they were really good (I used this recipe, from Martha Stewart Living through Urban Comfort). I'm in the midst of washing fabrics, sewing, some crocheting... and I think there will be some Grey's Anatomy in a bit. With hot apple cider.

I'm also working on getting an Etsy shop up and running. Right now, I'm stuck on figuring out a name! I know it's not the most vital thing ever, but I can't really change it once it's done and all the names I've liked are already taken!

My clutch for the Bag Swap is done and mailed as of yesterday. I'll give it a couple of days and then post pics.

**I went to go find my camera and got totally distracted. Pictures tomorrow! Much crafty/sewing goodness going on today, including new flannel pillowcases. Yay. :) Now it's time for Grey's & apple cider.

Cashews

2010-10-22T23:15:00.001-07:00

Crazy. I had no idea.

from TrekNature

Bag Swap! Part 2

2010-10-21T20:47:00.001-07:00

The bag is finished! I need to take some pictures, wrap it up, and ship it out. And then make myself one, because I really like it. :)

That means there's 1 less item on the WIP list, too!

I also did a little thrifting over the weekend. Pics to come. (I always think of these things at night).

*Finished: here*

Birthday Pt. 2

2010-10-19T22:50:00.001-07:00

Today is my husband's birthday, and we celebrated our birthdays together with my family last night and with his family tonight. I now have money for sewing classes, fabric, new clothes, and coffee - these people know me well!

Colors & Value

2010-10-18T22:52:00.001-07:00

Last month, I went to the library and ended up checking out First-Time Quiltmaking: Learning to Quilt in Six Easy Lessons by Becky Johnston. I wanted something to flip through in case I got stuck somewhere on the baby quilt. At the back of the book, it shows quilts made by beginning quilters (the book is basically the lessons she teaches to new quilters in classes). These caught my eye, because they're all the same design but it comes across so differently in each one. I think it's just the values of the fabrics they each chose, so I popped them into black & white to make the value more obvious. Here they are:

In this one, the center (plain) squares are the lightest value,
stripes are mid-tone on edges with darkest in the middle-
to me, the centers look like a background and stripes pop off
(forgive the weird cropping, they overlapped in the book)

center squares are darkest
stripes have mid-tone (one a little darker) on edges with lightest in the middle-
the centers float over the background of layered squares

centers are very light,
stripes have very dark on one edge, light in middle, midtone on other edge-
ends up looking like squares with edges chopped off; also pattern looks more like the first one

this has a midtone in centers,
stripes have dark tone on one edge, mid-tone on other, and lightest in middle-
the center squares at the "intersections" float above the background squares

I'm not into analyzing what values do to each other at the moment, but I think this is an interesting reference in case I ever make a quilt and happen to actually consider the values before I pick out fabrics (not likely - I'll probably see/buy fabric and decide to make a quilt, not the other way around).

Autumn Potholders

2010-10-14T20:50:00.001-07:00

Aren't these cute? I plan to make myself a version of this. I say "version" because I'm not going to go buy wool felt for it, but I have an old sweater that's a pretty rusty red that - I just checked - is 100% wool! It doesn't fit, and at one point was in a Goodwill bag. Luckily I saved it. And kept it with no specific plans. But voila! Instant made plans. Maybe I can rescue some other fall colored sweaters at Goodwill itself, because I'd really rather have a multicolor potholder.

I also love that blue Le Creuset in the background. And I want to make a pretty little tablecloth. And eat soup. And have fall weather (it's been in the 90's!!!)

Instructions at Design*Sponge.

October 13

2010-10-13T20:01:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday! It's been pretty low-key, I went to work for about 1/2 a day, my mom took me to lunch with my aunt & grandma, and then I went shopping! :) I didn't buy much, but I got some fabric, an Anna Maria Horner pattern, and some yarn. The WIP list will be growing.

I found a cute (little) fabric store today! It's called StitchCraft, and it's in downtown Petaluma. There's also an Etsy store! If you're in the area and you want a helpful, local place to shop, I highly recommend it.

Off to go hang out with my man.

Progress on the Quilt

2010-10-11T22:40:00.001-07:00

I've got nothing to show for it, but I spent a bunch of time picking out stitches tonight - woohoo! But not really. Pretty boring.

I am making progress, though. I just need to restitch a corner and then I think I'll finally be ready to trim it down and work on the binding. Oh, and I need to tie off and trim some threads.

WIP: Baby Quilt

2010-10-10T17:50:00.001-07:00

Here's another WIP; I've been planning to work on this one all day. This sounds like more fun than laundry and cleaning the bathroom, but won't happen till those are done. So here I am at 9:30 trying to find time to work on it...

I don't even really know why I'm making this. I bought fabric with someone sort-of-in-mind, but then I didn't make it for them. Now I'm just making it because I want to. It's the first quilt I've made (other than a mini one). It's pretty simple, but it should be warm and cozy. It's all quilting cottons on the front, but the back is a nice soft flannel. I made a lot of progress on this when I was sick a few weeks ago, but I haven't gotten too far since then. This is due to two things. 1: I did NOT pin good enough when I was quilting it, so I caught the edge up in the quilting in two spots. Those have been picked out, but I need to requilt them. 2: My sewing table is actually our kitchen table, which is also my husband's "desk," and he's been busy with homework.

I think this is going to go to my cousin, who's due with her first boy (she already has 2 super cute girls) at the end of January. So at least I have some time till it needs to be finished.

Hopefully I'll have an update on this soon!

Pumpkins - To Carve or Not?

2010-10-07T20:42:00.001-07:00

Instructions at Country Living

I saw these super cute painted pumpkins at Design*Sponge - I LOVE that wood-grain one! It would also be cute as zebra... or another animal print...

I think I tried painting on a pumpkin last year, though, and it didn't work out so well. I feel like I'm always trying to do something cool to my pumpkins but it never works out. I'm not even good at carving them. Maybe this year I'll stick with something basic... I like this bat, though. And look, it has little beady eyes! And there's a stencil for it. But using a stencil for a pumpkin seems complicated. So does attaching wire. And a twig. And beads.

Better Homes and Gardens

I also think I like the look of a black pumpkin:

Better Homes & Gardens - "Black and Bling"

And I think I'd like this swirly design even better on an orange pumpkin:

Better Homes & Gardens

I think it's also about time to make some pumpkin cookies (mmm, I love cookies). I made some last year and topped them off with some sort of cinnamon/brown sugar glaze (because I wanted to do a powdered sugar glaze but had no powdered sugar and lived too far from a grocery store to run out and get some), but I do not remember the recipe. I don't know if I even wrote it down, or if it was something I found online, or in a cookbook - no idea.

And on a(nother) side note - I think the Amy Butler book I was looking for is actually out at the house we were living in when those pumpkin cookies were made. No idea when I'll be able to get back out there, though. Am seriously contemplating making up my own clutch pattern... ?

Knit Owls

2010-10-06T23:04:00.001-07:00

Um, these amaze me. And I kind of want to learn how to knit (not because of this, but I am highly impressed).

by kate at needled

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

2010-10-05T21:05:00.001-07:00

Mmm, I saw this on Orangette - I think this will become a Sunday lunch sometime soon.

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon
Adapted slightly (by Molly Wizenberg) from In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite, by Melissa Clark

4 Tbsp. olive oil, plus additional good oil for drizzling
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
A few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne or Aleppo pepper, or more to taste
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups red lentils, picked through for stones and debris
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pot, warm the oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Add the onions and garlic and cook until golden, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the broth, 2 cups water, the lentils, and the carrots. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Continue to cook until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste, and add more salt if necessary. Using an immersion or regular blender, puree about half of the soup. It should still be somewhat chunky, not completely smooth. Reheat if necessary, then stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. Serve the soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted very lightly with cayenne, if desired.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Love These

2010-10-04T21:55:00.001-07:00

I saw these pillowcases somewhere a while back, but I can't remember where it was. Oh well. I love them, looked them up, saw how much they cost (for pillowcases?), and decided it was a no-go. Then I kept thinking about them and decided to go ahead and buy them. And I think they're lovely. Haha.

They need to be ironed after washing, though...

They also come in 4 other colors! And Lush Designs also sells things like this cute monkey plate.

Bag Swap!

2010-10-02T16:57:00.001-07:00

It's October! I am absolutely in love with fall. Every season, I think to myself, "This is great. But so are spring/summer/fall/winter. Maybe I don't really have a favorite season." Except in fall. Then, I know. THIS is my favorite. It gets to me in a way that the other seasons try to but never quite succeed.

I realized the other night just how many projects I have going on right now. If you asked me before then how many things I was working on, I'd guess two or maybe three. It's sort of like my delusions about loving all the seasons equally. Because the list is more like ten. And that's without counting the "projects" that aren't actually being worked on (such as the changes I want to make to things I already have), much less the ones that only exist in my head.

The newest one is the Super Style Bag Swap, hosted by Sew, Mama, Sew. After anxiously checking my email all day yesterday and wondering if my email got lost somewhere, I received my partner info this morning. Yay!

This should be a fun project, and it has a deadline so I know it's not going to be an "in progress since 1928" type of thing. I'll be making her a clutch, which is a first. I haven't made all that many bags to begin with, but I like trying new things. Now I need to decide what to make, pick out fabrics, and get sewing! I remember there being a clutch in my Amy Butler book, but I can't seem to find the book - that's my next task. There are quite a few other options I like, though. These are a few:

Pocket Clutch by Keyka Lou
pattern sold at Sew Mama Sew

Ruthie Clutch by Anna Maria Horner

Scrappy Clutch at From An Igloo

*Finished: here*

Happy Anniversary!

2010-09-24T08:16:00.001-07:00

I have so many things I keep meaning to blog about... This is just a quick one - it's my & my husband's 5th anniversary! Love him so much.

Farmer's Market

2010-07-08T20:53:00.001-07:00

Things I learned at the farmer's market:

1. Don't eat powdered sugar covered beignets while the wind is blowing into your face.
2. Beignets are delicious.

We went to the farmer's market last night, and I had my first taste of a beignet. It was delightful. We bought some fat carrots and green beans.

When we went a few weeks ago, I got some perfect strawberries, honey, and some sort of greens (which I accidentally threw out). I ate a few of them that weekend on top of applesauce with chopped walnuts and honey. Also delicious.

They were bright red and perfectly ripe and sweet

I'm trying to eat more fruits and veggies, and it's easy when you have this to work with

Bookcase - Finished!

2010-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

The bookcase is finished! Don't look too closely or you may question my use of the term "finished"... But it looks complete enough and is fully functional so I'm done!

Note to self: Do NOT let the guy who made the wrong cuts pick out new pieces for you. He has shown his incompetence in cutting and it may carry over to his 1x4 choosing - and you might get several pieces of curvy, crooked, junk wood. Which you cannot make straight by trying to nail the heck out of it. Please don't look at the side of my bookcase.

That unstained piece there? Was supposed to be the bottom shelf. You can't
see the other side, but it is stained - and facing this way, would be against
the floor. Had to pull that apart and redo it.

I did like making this, though! I learned several things (see above), including a lot about staining, drilling, and following your plans! I had to make a few adjustments due to my own forgetfulness. I forgot to attach two pieces in the right order, and unless I was going to try to pull them back out I had to just go with it. I didn't realize until later that that meant I had to alter several other pieces also, but hey - it holds books.

Staining the wood. I used Minwax gel stain in Cherrywood. This was
pine, so I used the pre-stain conditioner, too, which worked well.

I also made some fabric baskets to hold our bits of stuff that didn't have a home. It added some nice color to our beige rental. The blue and green vases I got from Cost Plus when they were giving away gift cards for helping review their website - they've been boxed up for over a year, waiting for a place to belong. The little owl was something my Dad brought me from a trip to Italy, and it sat on my desk in college. His beak is broken, but I think it just gives him character. :) I made sure the bottom shelf could hold binders, since we have several and they're kind of hard to store. It was really nice to be able to customize everything.

I realized we have way too many books for one bookcase, though. I actually suspected that already, since this is what we had in our old apartment:

Two bookcases. But this being my first building project, my hubby thought one would be more practical than two. I'm sure one got completed much more quickly than two, and even that took plennnnty of time. So, it turns out he was right (shhhh...).

Also - this bookcase was practically free because we bought it with a gift card we got with our credit card rewards. Score! Can't wait to try something else from Knock-Off Wood. I'm thinking some nightstands are in order... Perhaps something like this?

One item checked off the list, another one added.

Puppy Pillow

2010-06-20T15:39:00.001-07:00

I've been busy working on several different projects - including trying to figure out my little camera. The following pictures are not great, but hey, it's a work in progress (well, I'm hoping there will be progress).

A few weeks ago I made a pillow for Giuseppe, our dog. He loves laying on blankets, throw pillows, etc. I wanted him to have his own because I didn't like sharing, haha.

This puppy pillow cost me about $4. I bought the center pieces at Joann's as discontinued samples. They're a tough, stain resistant/water resistant/who-knows-what-else material, which is nice because, well, our dog lays on it. The red fabric is recycled, although I can't remember where it came from. The stuffing is from an old pillow that had been replaced. (And why I still had it, I don't know.)

I had my first try making mitered corners and boxed edges with this pillow. It wasn't too hard. I looked online to figure out the mitering, and there were several different methods people seemed to be using. I did basically a combination of this and this. I started by sewing red strips of fabric to the center panel, overlapping at the corners, and folding one strip at an an angle to get a crease where the mitered edge would be. Then I just sewed along that line. I didn't topstitch like the sham example, and I didn't mess with all the marking and line drawing on the BHG example. It worked pretty well. The only problem was one strip that I had to redo because I didn't line it up to overlap with one of the other sides.

Giuseppe's verdict? He likes it. Most of the time.

When I started writing this, he was laying next to the pillow. Now he's actually on it. Works for me.

Salsa Makes it Better

2010-06-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's taken me 5 years (well, to be fair, about 3 yr) to make tacos that my husband actually liked. The problem has been with the ground beef mixture. I started out making them the exact same way my mom does, then revised that, then re-revised that, then made him tacos with plain ground beef (gross), then something else, on and on, until I made this, and he liked it. This post has been just a saved recipe for... I don't know, months. I keep looking it up to make sure I'm making my own tacos the right way, haha. Now I'm finally finishing it.

Brown a package of ground beef (how much? I don't know, a pound? We bought a bunch of beef that my uncle raised, so we have all these little packages of ground beef...)
Add chopped onion (about 1/3-1/2 of a white onion)
Slice 1 clove garlic, add to beef
Chop some oregano (2 small stems?), throw it in
Add salt & pepper
Add red salsa and a little bit of water; cook until water is evaporated

Just add everything to taste. Sometimes I add other stuff; tonight I used a little cumin and 2 cloves of garlic. I'm sure it would be great with homemade salsa, but I just use medium Pace chunky salsa.

Salsa is also the secret to my guacamole. My husband makes better guacamole, but he takes forever and sometimes he just doesn't feel like making it. I just smush up an avocado, add some lime juice (1/2 a lime? if we have fresh), a little garlic salt, green salsa (not too much), and Cholula. Mix it all together, add salsa if needed. Or anything else if needed.

Apparently, tacos also taste better when I actually put them together for him... suspicious, yes?

PS - Costco sells raw tortillas that you cook at home - LOVE.them.

Adding Details

2010-05-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was nice and productive! I didn't have plans over the weekend (for the first time in a while), which gave me time to just work on things around home. The bookcase is completely built and in place, it has books on it, things are getting put into their "real" places around the apartment, and I even got to buy some new fabric. We've had our main furniture set up (ie, couch and TV) but the dining table is in the middle of our main space, sort of between the living room space/dining room space, and not much decorating has gone on around here. I'm almost done putting everything into the bookcase; the last step is some fabric boxes to store some loose odds and ends. I made one box tonight, and I have everything ready to get the other three done. This is the fabric:

Joann

It was kind of a last-minute decision, but I really like it. I tend to spend WAY too long shopping for everything, and this was no exception. I was in a hurry to meet my parents at Starbucks, though, and I had to just pick something. Worked out well!

Tonight was the first time I'd used my sewing machine in about a year and half - it felt good! I've been using my mom's machine, but even then it's been a few months since I've sewn anything. More projects are on my mind to work on soon - we'll see when they happen... Hopefully the boxes will be finished tomorrow. They're adding some nice color to our beige-y living room.

Settling In

2010-05-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have several WIP's going on right now, and I keep thinking about (and planning) more. We're still settling in to our apartment and trying to find places to put everything is still a challenge! Right now, my biggest project is a bookcase. We sold ours before we put everything into storage two years ago, and when we found the apartment a few months ago, I started looking for replacements. Bookcases are expensive!

Then one day, I came across Knock-Off Wood. It is one of my new favorite sites! Ana builds furniture, provides free plans, lives in Alaska (my birthplace!) and is generally just awesome. I'm working on this. When it's finished (someday) I'll get some photo evidence.

In other news, we watched Iron Man on Friday night and went to see Iron Man 2 on Saturday. Liked them both!

Long Time No See!

2010-04-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking about things I want to record here, but I haven't posted anything since September! We are now in our own apartment, with a constant Internet connection. It's been great to be able to catch up on blogs and shop and waste time in all the other silly ways I missed.

Speaking of things I do on the Internet - Do you ever watch a commercial and really like the song? I love the songs in the Kindle commercials, and I looked them up to see who sings them. The first one that came out around Christmas didn't have anything to download, but tonight I looked it up again (there's a newer commercial with another good song) and guess what? The song is on Amazon for FREE! Check it out!

Lovely Package - From Me

2009-09-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

Short post - my Internet is working at home today!

This is the package I sent off for the Lovely Package exchange:

Haven't received mine in the mail yet, but I'll post when I do (and can).

August Already?

2009-08-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that August is already here. It's been quite a busy summer. My husband just got back about a week and half ago - he's just about done with the Navy and is home for good!

He was totally sweet and surprised me when he flew in. My parents knew and tricked me into going to the airport to supposedly pick up some packages my dad needed for work. When we walked into the airport - there he was! I think I just stared at him at first, because it took a minute to sink in. The thought had crossed my mind during the week that he could surprise me, but I didn't really think he would. It didn't even occur to me that night, because I didn't think he'd be flying in to that airport.

It's wonderful to have him back.

The Internet, on the other hand... It's slightly difficult to get to right now. We're staying at his parents' vacation house, which does not have Internet access. We're using a wireless network which is kind of sketchy. I had high hopes to get back into some sewing, crafting, blogging, etc. but it looks like it will be slow going. I'm using most of my time trying to catch up on some of the blogs I like!

Lovely

2009-07-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Heidi alerted me to the Lovely Package Exchange. I just signed up. Tonight's the last night - hurry!

Another Goodbye

2009-07-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a hectic few weeks. Last night, my grandfather passed away. This is the second grandparent I've lost, one on each side of the family. He fell a couple weeks ago and cut open the back of his head; since then, his health just got worse and worse. Much of the family was there last night, and I'm so grateful for all the support we have through these tough times. He was a good man who always made us laugh. He'll be missed.

In Memory...

2009-06-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

My grandma passed away this weekend. She was diagnosed with cancer in December, and her body was too weak to fight off an infection that hit her last week. It's hard to believe that she's really gone. This is the first grandparent I've lost, and it's just so strange to think that someone who has been a part of my life since I was born isn't here anymore. I believe that I will see her again someday, and knowing that this separation isn't forever and that she's been freed from the troubles of this world brings me comfort. My family and I appreciate any prayers - thank you!

Projects I Plan to Finish... Perhaps

2009-06-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I started a few "refashioning" projects a couple of months ago. Then my husband came home on leave, and since then I've just been busy. I have a couple of bridal showers coming up, and a very low budget for new clothes, so if I just had the time to finish these... problem solved. However, this is what it all looks like right now:

What's in the box? (Not cheese, but I do recommend this company!)

Unwearable clothes - yippee!

A soon-to-be cardigan: Old pullover that had just shrunk too much, with hand-crocheted trim and flowers (still not sure about the khaki trim)

An old shirt (already cut apart): I was thinking about using this to make some floppy flower embellishments, then wasn't sure, then I saw Blair's post and I'm back to that idea...

Another old sweater which will become a cardigan - and this one needs hardly any work, just some sewing up the middle. Not too summery, though :(

My tank top! I was ALMOST finished when I hit a bump in the road and stopped...

This is the section that gave me the trouble! There's some hand sewing here and I totally messed up on that. But I got some tips from Amy (thank you!) and I'm ready to finish it up!

So, those are my projects. Maybe someday I can show the completed "new" clothes!

Traveling Turkey

2009-06-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

I just had to share these pictures I took on my phone the other day....

If you look closely, you can see the TURKEY sitting in the front seat of this man's car. (I know it's a man's car because he came outside soon after I took these pictures.) Pet turkey? Dinner? Who knows!

New Job!

2009-06-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for a new job for a while, and I found out on Friday that I got one! I had an interview at a Chase branch last Monday, and I start work as a teller two weeks from today. I called my husband as soon as I found out, and he must have called the florist right afterwards, because look what showed up on Saturday:

(Sorry for the poor quality, I forgot to take one during daylight hours so this is a quickie from Photo Booth). Isn't that sweet of him? :) We've been apart for a while now, and it was so nice of him to think of sending flowers from the other side of the country.

There were several reasons I was looking for something new. #1: I needed more hours (right now I've been working 2 part-time jobs totaling only about 20-25 hr. a week, plus some subbing off and on when school was in). I thought this one was going to be about 20 hours a week, but they told me they had a 30 hour position also, and they'd like me for that one. #2: One of my current jobs is constantly on-call, where I find out around lunchtime when (or whether) I'll be working that afternoon/evening. It's not ideal to begin with, and I especially didn't want to deal with that once my husband and I are back in the same house.

This is a huge blessing, and such a relief. My husband is leaving the Navy this August, and we'll be relocating back home to Sonoma County. I think I've applied for something like 50 jobs or so (several of which were very vague, Craigslist postings), and this was the first one that I got called in for an interview. The job situation has been stressful, but this opportunity has really helped with that. I'll keep one of my other jobs (which is only about 8-10 hrs) but I gave my notice for the other already. Now we just need to figure out what the boy will do. Yay!