angry chicken

new organic facial care products in my shop!

I am very excited to be selling 2 new products in my etsy shop! A Cleansing Oil and Facial Toner. Both 100% organic. They smell amazing and are luxurious to use.

I have always washed my face with a custom blended oil cleanser followed with a facial toner before I use the facial oil. I have sold the facial oil for years but not the cleanser or the toner. Sometimes the cleanser people use can be very drying and it can strip the skin— so the facial oil isn't enough moisture, which is why I use an oil cleanser. Also, nothing gets off make-up and sunscreen better for me.

The toners I use (and now sell) are 100% organic hydrosols. I use them any time of day, over and under make-up. They smell lovely and have wonderful benefits. I like using hydrosols that are unusual—not the typical lavender and rose. I love these too, but they are easy to find at the health food store and I like to have ingredients that are a bit more exotic and harder to source.

I made 3 different formulations of these 2 products to go with the existing line of Restorative, Balancing, and Nourishing Facial Oils. You can use the 3 products from the same line, or mix and match. They all work well together. I sell them singularly and also as a set for a $5 discount.

My goal is to keep my prices low, and keep selling direct instead of wholesale to shops, so please spread the word if you like my products and to those of you who have supported me all these years, thank you so much! I see similar products (not organic) sold for double the amount. I am so happy to be offering these at a much more reasonable price.

I hope you love these as much as I do.

jewelry shrines are now in my shop

A bit back I was making paper mache shrines with the girls and had so much fun, I couldn't stop making them. I was debating what to put in mine and realized they would be perfect for displaying jewelry after a close friend suggested using chain to embellish them. I have made about a dozen of these, half of which are in my esty shop now. They range between $18-$40 and I think they would make lovely gifts and are such a nice way to enjoy jewelry when it's isn't being worn.

They come ready to hang (the jewelry is not included, I know it seems silly to have to say this, but you know) I will be adding more soon. They are all one of a kind and hand-painted. I spent forever mixing the gold, it's both paint and dry pigments and glows so nicely. I love how they looked grouped together on a wall. Please check the measurements, the mini ones (like the first one shown) are made from match boxes.

new art print-Postal Restrictions

I'm so excited to have a new art print in my etsy shop. I've been wanting to do this one for a long time. This is a color print illustrating various restricted items to mail to various countries. All this information is real, I found it all on the USPS website. I also offer this in a Black and White version. It's 8" x 11" and all the info about the fancy paper and inks is in the description.

new oils for sale!

I am so happy to have to new oils for sale in my etsy shop!

These new oils are ones I made a bit ago, for myself, and can't get enough of them. One is a new scent—Earth Perfume Oil, which is a magical blend of rich E.O.'s that is quite bold. There's a full description in the shop, but it's wonderful and sensual. It also fades, as natural scents do, so don't worry about it being too strong all day.

The other is a treatment oil—Thrive Treatment Oil, which I blended a bit back and have been using all spring. It's an uplifting oil for the mind and heart. It's great for an easing an upset stomach, and calming nerves. I like to use it first thing in the morning. It helps me wake up and shed any fuzzy/sleepy brain weirdness.

They are all organic, as always, and also priced fairly. I keep all my prices low. This means I can't sell my oils wholesale (sadly), but I feeling strongly about selling these at a fair price. Beauty products are inflated in price because it gives the illusion they work better— but don't believe the hype! These are amazing, as as wonderful as the big name/popular brands selling them at triple the price.

Happy summer!

my etsy shop-

I have had the opportunity to do some Custom Birthcharts for some new humans and I never tire of creating these. Over the years, I have drawn so many—for babies to people in their 80s. Lots of orders are gifts, but many orders are people buying them for themselves, which makes me so happy.

It's a great time to stock up on my organic oils. My skin always gets a little fussy when the seasons change. I like switching between Facial Oil blends. I use the Nourishing and the Restorative. I also start using my Treatment Oil for Eyes when it gets cooler out, and switch to my more earthy scent, Green Forest Perfume.

In the fall I like to make new batches of tinctures, salves, balms, and tea to have on hand and ready to go when we aren't feeling 100% as the colds sweep through the house. The girls look forward to helping me make these recipes every year from my PDF Homemade Bath and Beauty Booklet. They are pretty basic, with ingredients that are easy to find, unlike the ingredients in the oils I sell. These recipes make great gifts, and we are approaching that gifty time of year.

I hope to add a few new oils/products this fall and winter that I'm really excited about. Stay tuned!

summer skin

Shop talk!

I have received a few questions about using my facial oils during the day. In my shop, I suggest using them at night, but they work great during the day, too—but I'd also reccommend a sunscreen. For a long time, I used a natural cream moisturizer (instead of my oils) made with a non-chemical SPF during the day because I was having a hard time finding a facial sunscreen I liked that didn't use chemical blockers. I found one a few years ago and have been using it ever since and love it. It's made by Mychelle. At the time, it seemed like it was the only non-chemical sunscreen out there that was fine enough and smooth enough to not feel like white paste in my skin, which is what most of the non-chemical sunscreens feel like. Also, my skin never reacts badly to it. I buy it at New Seasons, usually I wait for a sale. They might have it at Whole Foods, too.

So, most mornings I use my facial oil, (after I have washed my face) and then I roll on my eye oil, and then use the sunscreen before I put on my makeup. Some of the foundation I use has sunscreen in it, but I change my make-up products often, so this way I know I have it covered. I also think I need a bit more sunscreen than what I use for a typical foundation amount, which is so small.

I haven't tried any of the new non-chemical sunscreens out there for faces, have you all? What do you like to use?

Unrelated:

And my birthday! Well, it was sort of horrible, but I made it through and am thinking about having a make-up birthday in a few weeks. The back pain is much better, but I just was in a bad place—my body, and my mind. That was the hardest part, my mind! I know it was part back pain/ stress/ fatigue and throw in some  intense worry brain, gah! But I am feeling better and trying not to feel bad about feel bad. I think this is key.

new items in the shop!

I'm so excited to have these new items in the shop before the holiday madness starts.

I designed this sweet little Floral Gift Enclosure Card Set. I love making homemade cards, but so often I need something fast and easy to tuck into a bag or on a gift and these are just perfect for that. There are 8 in a set, 2 of each design, with room to write on the back. That out-of-focus one there in the back says Happy Birthday.

I have been testing this Organic Blemish Treatment Oil for a bit now and it's really done the job. It's blue! But that fades immediately, I promise. My eldest girl likes it too. It was a bold scent for her at first, but she's used to it now and it's not too strong for her sensitive skin.

And for the men in your life, Organic Beard and Hair Oil—this is a favorite of my bearded husband and was created for him last year and he has been telling me to sell it ever since. It's also great for dry skin anywhere in the hair line and on eyebrows.

My newest scent, Organic Green Forest Pefume. I have been wearing this for about a year and only now have made it to sell. It's got a real pine-y earthy base note, but the rose top note rounds it out. I love this oil. It smells more like fall/winter to me than my other one, Lovely Perfume which I associate with summer/spring.

Good Mail Day (an art show I am in)

I have four pieces of art in this wonderful show over at artstream studios. This show is curated by Lisa Solomon and Susan Schwake. All the pieces (by more than 60 artists) are available for sale online and are 4"x 6". Postcard size! All the artists contributing (there are some pretty big names in this show, I was flattered to be included) were asked to make these 4" x 6" in size, using any medium (original art, not copies or prints) and priced any way we wanted, which makes them very affordable. There are quite a few pieces here I'd like to buy. The size makes them so easy to frame. I'm getting a little twitchy trying to decide.

You can see them all here and my 4 are right here. It's hard to see online, but mine are painted with metallic watercolor/pen & ink. I had so much fun painting these. Thanks for asking me, Lisa!

facial oils for changing seasons

Fall is here and I am noticing my skin is drinking up the facial oils I make. I don't need them as much in the summer, but right about now, I just soak the moisture up. I have been selling these oils for a few years now (you can read all about them in this blog post) and they are rock solid. I'm really proud of them. I had a wonderful facial recently and the esthetician was very complementary of my skin and asked what I used— I was so happy to tell her it's what I make.

For my skin, I like to switch between the Restorative and the Nourishing blend. For my hands, I keep an extra Cuticle Oil in my car, which is when I notice how dry my nails are. I'm not sure why. It also makes the car smell nice. The car doen't always smell nice. And I keep a bottle of the Tension Relif Oil in my bag, for that out-in-the-world tension which seems to come up.

This Treatment Oil for Eyes has been a multi-tasker lately. I have been using it not just under my eyes but on my eyelid where I had a little dry patch. It cleared it right up. My Mom uses this between her eyebrows for dry patches she gets in the fall and it works like charm.

Another use for an oil— when Pete was growing his beard, he was getting ingrown hairs and bumps and he got obsessed with the Fortifying Hair Oil using it as a beard oil (it also has  a nice woodsy smell which guys dig) to condition his facial hair and help with skin sensitivities. He said it was amazing and got instant relief with skin itchies while softening his beard. Beard is such a funny word.

I think about adding more products to this line, but to be honest, I'm so happy with what I sell and have been using it for so long, I just don't know what else would be needed. There are three products I use but don't sell that I really like: a roll-on blemish oil (this was developed for the girls to be extra gentle) a cleansing oil, and a facial mist. And now I'm thinking of making a dedicated Beard Oil, (I'd just push the Fortifying Hair Oil but the label has a lady on it, which is probably not the best marketing for a beard oil.) I also wear a wonderful perfume oil that I've blended that I could sell which is so very earthy-hippie—I just love it.

Any thoughts? Would you all be interested in these?

 

 

new items in the shop!

I have been testing these all summer, and so has Grammie and some friends and I am so excited to be selling two new oils, a Treatment Oil for Eyes and Cuticle Oil. ($12 each)

Both are made using only organic oils and both are in the handy roll-on bottle. Easy to use and they smell wonderful. I am also selling a Customized Box Set (two for $$22)—You can select any two of my roll-on oils (there's the Lovely Floral Perfume and the Tension Relief Oil, also) nestled in a sweet little gift box and save a few dollars. These make really sweet gifts. (Please treat yourself!)

I have a long write up about the details of these oils over in the shop, but in a nutshell, they, like everything I sell, were created because I wanted them. I also didn't want to pay what the high end natural lines are charging, which is a whole lot. I used some fantastic oils in these blends— evening primrose, hemp, and avocado oils (just to name a few) are so lovely and beneficial for skin.

I needed this Cuticle Oil for a long time and it works wonders on my nails beds and hangnails. The Treatment Oil for Eyes was created because I knew the healing and medicinal properties of the oils would be wonderful for adding hydration and nourishment to my wrinkle lines without creepy chemicals. I don't want to look younger, just not as tired. And I want to take care of my skin. The more I looked at the chemical laden eye serums and creams the more sketched out I was, then after researching the more natural lines, I realized I could make something similar, sell it for much less, and be confident that I was making a health decision for my body. And these are only $12 each, which is really 3 times less than what most natural lines are selling similar products for.

The Facial Oils and Fortifying Oils are still available. You can read about how these were developed in this blog post. I have only come to love them more in the last 2 years and I have had many re-orders, which makes me so happy!

A quick packaging note and last year, a few of you reported some disintegrating droppers that come with the Facial Oils (a natural reaction with the rubber and the oil) and I now ship these bottles with a cap, include a dropper, and advise that you don't store your dropper in the bottle, but use it only for application.

I hope you all enjoy these! I can't tell you how much I love developing and creating these products.

my new workshop over at creativebug—magic wands

Sadie, Lydia, and I had so much fun shooting this class for creativebug on paper mâché magic wands. You can see a little video preview here, just click on the photo. It was an action packed messy production, I was sweating in that wool cardi, I tell you. But it came together really well. The technique I teach for the basic paper mâché wand form, glueing, and finishing can be used for any shape you can think up, all with newspaper and tape and stuff you have in your recycle bin. Sadie is 10 and Lydia is 6— it was fun to see how they did this project differently. It's great for all ages. Now I want to make some paper mâché black cats, ghosts and pumpkins for Halloween and then a turkey and some Christmas decorations, too.

Susan Beal and her daughter Pearl made some clothespin dolls from a creativebug class I shot with Delia and she is giving a little doll kit away to make your own dolls! Head on over there and leave a comment to win it—and she has a code for you all too, that is good all summer on a discount for creativebug classes. Thanks Susan!

creatvebug class special! ends soon!

Creativebug is offering a great sale on all their a la carte classes. You can buy a single class, and have access to it forever, for only $9.99! This offer is good on all the a la cart classes, and mine are in there, too.

This sale ends on June 22nd and is a perfect way to see the quality of classes they produce if you don't want to jump into the subscription plan.

My classes:

Homemade Apothecary

Clothespin Dolls

Rock n' roll Undies

Journal of family life

Peter Pan Collar

new class at creativebug—clothespin dolls!

Last month the excellent people from creativebug were here at the house (while they were in Portland for Quilt Market) and we shot a couple classes.

The first one is available now! It's right here!

And you can see a preview here.

Delia is teaching this one with me and she did a great job. It was pretty fun to do a workshop with my 8-year old daughter. The other two girls appear in the next class, which was a hoot to make, for sure. Right now this class is part of the subscription package, which is a great deal—unlimited classes for a monthly fee.

And, they have a cool promo right now where you can watch a class for free.

They also have a Father's Day free printable card on their blog. The blog is really wonderful, so much good stuff in there.

the rock n' roll undies workshop is here, now.

Okay, the workshop is now available over at Creativebug. It's part of the subscription, or you can buy it as a single class. And you can watch a little preview right here. Just click on the photo. Woot!

new class at creativebug—rock n' roll undies!

My newest video workshop is almost here over at Creativebug! It will be up Thursday, April 25th. I'm so excited to have this one out there. I'm showing how to make a camisole and undies from an old t-shirt. I did a similar project years ago for BUST magazine and am thrilled to offer this much more detailed how-to. The cool thing is you make the pattern yourself from your own favorite undies and cami—so no worries about trying to guess your size or anything. I hope you all start digging through your old shirts. The larger the t-shirt the better, FYI. When the class is available it will be right here on my instructor page.

And I am super proud and excited to announce that Creativebug is nominated for a Webby award for best Online Film & Video: How-to/DIY this year!

They really deserve to win. You can vote right here. Please vote! Voting closes the end of the day this Thursday, April 25th. I know I say this every time I mention their name, but I just can't tell you how wonderful it is working with these people and how continually impressed I am with the quality of workshops they offer.

homemade wrapping paper

When we were doing the painting for our paper mache a bit back, a whole new project was invented during the clean up—homemade wrapping paper. With the leftover paint and the scrap newspaper dozens of wrapping paper sheets were made. They left them out to dry, which took up a lot of room. On a nice day, drying outside was better, but I neglected to weigh them down with rocks, so then there was a chasing-painted-newspaper-around-the-yard fiasco. The papers got rolled up tight after they dried and are used for wrapping gifts and other crafts. They really are pretty. I love the modern two-color one here.

I finished Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore (a quick read—not too deep character-wise but very entertaining) and am now reading The Snow Child. Thank you again for that amazing list and even more book suggestions in the comments of that post.

A big thank you so much for all your Facial and Perfume Oil orders. I just got a big batch of them. Alicia, you rock. I am working hard to get them out the door. Right now it's taking me about 4 days to fill the orders—thanks so much for your patience. Also, for those of you that have ordered Facial Oils in the past, I now use a cap on the bottles and suggest you keep your dropper out of the oil for storage, because some of the rubber droppers have broken down over time making a sticky mess. If your dropper ever starts to look funny, take it out and let me know, I will send you a new one.

The bombings in Boston are so shocking and horrible, I'm not even sure what to say about it. But I have to say something. I am sending healing thoughts to everyone in pain there, especially when I meditate. This short video has helped me focus. I really appreciate Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and his books and teachings.

new workshop at creativebug—journal of family life

My newest workshop is over at creativebug. This class is a little different than what I have taught before—it's all about /journaling/ record keeping/documenting everday family life in a non-traditional, messy, free-spirited way. It was so fun to do and I sure hope you all dig it. There's a short preview you can see for free right here (click on the image in the link.)

This workshop is available as part of their subscription or as an a la carte option, meaning you can just buy one class at a time. The new a la carte option is available for all my classes now, so if you were holding off because a subscription wasn't the right fit for you, here's another choice. Yippee!

Once again, I feel so lucky to be working with the amazing people at creativebug. Their genuine passion for what they do is so evident in their work.

and here I am on TV talking about how I don't use shampoo.

 

Over-sharing again!!

You can watch me discuss baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and no more dandruff right here. I was interviewed by the funny and friendly Jenny Hansson, our local KOIN channel 6 reporter, and it aired two nights ago.

Thanks for recording it Grammie!

If you want more information, here's a very clear easy-to-read post on exactly how to use baking soda instead of shampoo. I didn't write this, but have linked to it before, and it covers everything.

And just so you know, I do use hairspray (homemade, the recipe is in my apothecary class and in emailorder #11) and do dye my hair (henna for the all over color and bleach for the occasional streak.)

my workshops on creativebug!

I now have video workshops over on creativebug!

It's been so great working with them. They came up here to Portland at the end of the summer to shoot one of my classes along with my instructor trailer—which is about 2 minutes long and made Grammie tear up—you can see it here, click on the banner.

I went down to SF in September to shoot more workshops in their studio. The whole crew was great to work with. I can't say enough good things about them. All their workshops are so professional, I was blown away when I first saw them. And the instructors! It's an all-star group of teachers over there—I am so flattered to be in their company.

I have two workshops available now:

• Peter-Pan Collar, I teach you how to make your own pattern, so it will fit the neckline of your modern sweaters just right.
• Homemade Apothecary, which will have your skin glowing and is perfect for holiday gift making.

You can see little teasers of these classes in the links. In the full length workshops, I don't swear and I talk about how much I stink.

Creativebug works as a subscription—you get access to ALL the classes to watch unlimited times, for a monthly fee. This subscription model is ideal for trying new crafts because you already have access to all the workshops. You think you are just a sewer? Try some jewelry making! Grammie immediately started creating gorgeous mixed media art with vintage family photos and beeswax after watching Courtney's wonderful workshop.

Added awesome bonus—they gave me a special promo code, "PUMPKIN", that I can give to you. It will deduct $10 off any subscription package you buy!

That's what I'm talking about! Holiday gifts galore. And for your fellow crafters— a gift subscription would be a swell idea, too. Or a subscription for a school/club auction?

I have more workshops coming, I will let you know when they are available. I am super proud of these, I hope you all dig them.

organic oils for perfume, beauty, & health now available

 I've been having so much fun getting these oils together to sell. They are over here in my etsy shop. They are available individually and as a sweet little boxed set (at a special price!) so please head on over and read about them. I've written a pretty long description.

These, like my facial oils, came about because I wasn't finding what I wanted out there, both in terms of ingredients and price. For these blends I have used only the best essential oils, all organic, which are not always easy to find. Same goes for the organic jojoba oil they are carried in. I love creating my own scents, and in reading and researching this I found that many natural perfumes use absolutes, along with essential oils, in their blends. However absolutes are not used in aromatherapy—which is a passion of mine and maintaining the therapeutic properties of these blends is my first priority. So, the key for me has been learning how to work without absolutes, while still creating sophisticated scents and then balancing the therapeutic properties within that blend. My friends and family have been getting an earful and doing a lot of testing for me. (Thank you!)

So, The Lovely Floral Perfume Oil smells divine and helps settle an anxious brain and The Tension Relief Oil helps get rid of bad headaches. That's the short version. I love them and hope you do to. And I hope to add more perfume and treatment oils soon.

 

may I suggest?

There's still plenty of time to place orders before the holiday madness. How about a Custom Birthchart? I just finished one for someone born in 1911.

Or perhaps a bottle of Organic Facial or Hair Oil for the cold winter months? How pampering! Or DIYers, make a ton of beauty/healthcare potions for all your loved ones yourself using the handy booklet and labels you can print out when you purchase eMailorder #11.

Regarding the Facial Oils-

A few people have asked me what cleanser I use with my Facial Oil. I use the Oil Cleansing Method, which I make. I considered selling an organic cleansing oil, and I still might, but it sure is easy to make yourself. The directions and recipes are all on the site I link to. I switched to this cleansing method because my old cleanser was too stripping once I started to regularly use my Facial Oil as a moisturizer, so now I use an oil to cleanse and an oil to moisturize.

On another beauty note, I have spent much time pursuing the outstanding hair tutorials at A Cup Of Jo, this one being a current fave.

The BUST DIY Guide to Life (I've got some projects in it)

Here it is and it is a mighty tome. It's HUGE—and so jam packed with wonderful ideas, it's hard to believe. It's The Bust DIY Guide to Life: Making Your Way Through Every Day, by Debbie Stoller and Laurie Henzel.

I am so proud to have a couple projects in this book, like this one here—how to take a band t-shirt and make it into cute underwear. This book isn't just sewing projects, either. There's cooking, gardening, fashion, hair/make-up, you name it. Can I just copy a blurb I read online about it? Because it says it all:

"more than 250 of the best DIY and craft projects from its 15-year history. Organized by category—beauty and health, fashion, food and entertaining, career, finance, travel, and sex—and written in BUST’s trademark brazen and witty style, this quintessential DIY encyclopedia from the quintessential DIY magazine is eclectic, empowering, hilarious, and downright practical, truly capturing the spirit of women today."

Another example of radness.

And here's my deodorant recipe.

I love this hair style so much.

There's an interesting behind-the-scenes making of this book on the publisher site for those of you who are craft book/publishing nerds and find the process fascinating, like myself.

For all you local folk (they have online sales, too) Powell's has this book at a discounted price right now and there's an upcoming booksigning event November 5th. You can pre-order a signed copy, too. Here's a list of the upcoming book tour, go see Debbie and Laurie in person!!

Thanks for making such a great magazine for 15 years, Ladies!

Skin & Hair Care items for sale!

I am so excited to be selling these Facial and Hair oils! They are available in my etsy shop with a whole lot of information on what they are, how to use them, why they are so great and what makes the organic ingredients so wonderful for your hair and face. You might want to grab coffee or tea before you sit and read, it's long. There are 3 Facial Oils and 1 Hair Oil, the differences are listed in the descriptions.

The backstory—

I have always loved concocting natural skincare and medicinal products but focused on just making them for myself and experimenting with ingredients relatively easy to buy. Then, with my deep love for publishing recipes and patterns, I put all my experience and research into emailorder #11, so you all could make your own too, using recipes I had tested over a long time.

Fast forward to the mall— a dear friend mentioned a $140 bottle* of facial oil while we were shopping at Sephora, and asked if I knew of it and similar oils, and I said "Yes, and I sell the recipe, and you can make it at home." We got to discussing this and I admitted well no, you can't actually make it with my recipe. My recipe is really good, but I wrote it for myself and the average person who doesn't want to buy 8-12 organic essential and carrier oils to make facial/hair oils. It would cost hundreds of dollars and you would have way too much—enough for a well moisturized army. Also, my friend noted, even if someone could make it, they may not want to. They might rather buy one I had created.

Enough said. I jumped at the chance to source all my dream ingredients, not the ones that I could find at the natural foods store, but all organic (or wildcrafted) hard-to-find oils that are ideal for skin and hair care. This opened up a whole new word of ingredients for me and I blended, tested, researched, and read like crazy. I love these products so much, and even with all the expensive ingredients (one of the oils I use is almost $2 a drop) they ended up costing much less than what they sell for in the high-end skin care lines.

Please check them out and I hope to add more products soon.

*This then lead to a disusscion of prices and skin care and how one might believe a $140 bottle of oil works better, becasue well, you have to—you have spent $140 on it! But really, it's a trick. If it helps, pretend mine are $140 each.

 

Custom Birthcharts now for sale!

I have been working on this project for about 4 months now. Over the summer I wanted to make each daughter a birthchart with information about themselves—birthstone, astrological sign, birth flower, etc. because I was fascinated with this as a girl, and still am. The girls kept asking me what their birth flower was, or their sign, or birthstone, and I kept having to look it up. So, I starting drawing little pictures, and drawing, and drawing, and drawing and then compiled each chart for them and presented it framed as a birthday gift. They were thrilled. Then my brother received one, and my husband, and at this point I realized I loved creating these. Hand-lettering each name, composing all the little sketches, seeing the reaction to the finished piece—it's magical. It satisfies both my love of drawing and hand lettering and my kooky desire to be a fortuneteller, mystical/magicial-type artist.

 I am thrilled to be able to offer these for sale! Each piece is completely unique—based on your name, and date of birth. I hand-letter your name and date of birth, and then compile your chart which is comprised entirely of hand-drawn images, words, and interpretations by me. Then the chart is digitally reproduced and printed out just for you on 8 1/2" x 11" heavyweight art paper. The chart includes:

• astrological sign
• birthstone
• life path number (numerology take from your birthday)
• chinese zodiac
• birth flower
• element (taken from astrological sign)
• native american zodiac animal
• native americal plant
• lucky number

Each item also has a one-word meaning associated with that image (except the lucky number.) I decided to make these traits positive or neutral. Of course, all signs have shadow sides and negative traits, but no one wants to have "slightly delusion arsonist" written on their custom birthchart. This also makes this a much friendlier gift for children and family.

These are printed on my favorite luscious highly textured paper. This is a black and white piece and the black ink on the textured paper is outstanding. Really. It's hard to even describe. They are $65 each (the frame is not included) and there is even more information about the beautiful paper and ink over here.

I have been really blown away by the reaction I have had by the people I have given them to. I hope you enjoy them!

some halloween goodies-

We are doing some Halloween decorating and busted out the Halloween Garland from emailorder #4. What a handy time to remind you it's available right here, as a PDF, and it comes with an adorable hat pattern, only for a mere $8!

And a free PDF is over here, I made this last year—it's a fun craft project making mildly disturbing pumpkin faces. Fun for all ages! Enjoy!

getting ready for cooler weather

We have been having fun making supplies for the cooler months ahead. I love having these natural/herbal remedies ready before we need them. And the girls have fun making them, too. And they make great gifts, so I try to make double batches.

These are all made from the eMailorder #11 issue ($8 USD), which has a recipe book you make yourself, labels, and a cheat sheet for handy reference. And it's a PDF, so you can print it right now!

I get all my herbs and supplies (including containers, bottles, and lip balm tubes) that I can't find locally at Mountain Rose Herbs. They also have a ton of helpful information about properties of herbs and essential oils.

I love reading about herbs almost as much as making medicine. After checking out almost every herbal book in the library over the last two years these are the ones I ended up buying and use extensively:

• Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health: 175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures, and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family
• The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual
• The Herbal Home Remedy Book: Simple Recipes for Tinctures, Teas, Salves, Tonics, and Syrups
• A Kid's Herb Book
• Make Your Place

Okay, Autumnal Equinox 2010 (today!)—bring it. We are ready. To celebrate, we will also be making these Caramel Apple Mini-Cakes and will eat some just for you.

eMailorder #7 re-issue available. A handy PDF.

I am so happy to be able to Re-Issue eMailorder Issue #7! I think it's a perfect fit for summer. Here's what you will get in this special PDF issue (It's exactly the same as the original, the only difference is that it's a PDF you print at home, so because there's no mailing, it's a bit less expensive. We love that!)

This issue's sewing project focuses on paper foundation piecing which, despite it's fancy look, is PERFECT for beginners. It's an easy and accurate way to make small patchwork blocks, without the tears, by sewing the fabric onto paper printed with the stitching lines to follow. So, if you can sew a straight line (I know you can) you can do this! No measuring!

Here's what you will receive in this jam packed $8 issue:

-The eMailorder Sewing Project: Learning to make foundation blocks with complete directions/patterns.   Included are 4 designs
-Illustrated ideas for potential projects with these blocks
-The delightful eMailorder Recipe Card—Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble
-The eMailorder paper project: Kitchen Friend Stick Puppets
-The eMailorder Merit Badge
-And the eMailorder Secret Word (which will award you a secret prize when found and entered onto kingpod)

The recipe card (this looks extra good if you have a color printer at home)

A sample of one of the blocks made from this issue #7 made by Sarah, of the Small Object

And look! She made hers into coasters! I love these to bits!

Please take a look at the Mailor group on flickr to see some of the amazing projects using these foundation patterns. They are stunning!

You can buy it right here and not to jump the gun, but this technique would be perfect for using on holiday gifts.

And this is a PDF you print at home, it's not sent to you, or even e-mailed to you—just hit "return to kingpod" after you pay for it via paypal and you will automatically get the download. If you forget or have problems just e-mail me. We will sort it out.

new prints—watercolor quilts

I have been really enjoying watercolor recently. I painted these quilt patterns a few months ago and finally have them all ready to go for sale as digital prints. This one is called Red Quilt.

Here is Blue Patchwork

And Snowball Quilt, which is a classic pattern I have always wanted to try on a real quilt, and someday I will.

This is the first time I have reproduced watercolor digitally, and the results are amazing to me. I seriously can't tell when looking at these prints if it's a real watercolor or not—the colors and subtle gradations are so well rendered. I am using my favorite crazy-expensive rag watercolor style paper to print on (archival and all that) so it has a thickness to it which feels really nice. You can read all the specs for this on the print description.

All 3 are available in my etsy shop.

and unrelated:

Okay, getting ready for a birthday around here. Mine. Next week. I am requesting a cake from my family. An Orangesicle Cake. I have named it, but it's up to them to interpret what it will be. I am terribly excited. If you have any recipes (I am thinking orange cake with a marshmallow or 7-minute frosting?) let me know. Maybe a cake with orange marmalade? What I really want is a homemade version of an all-time childhood favorite dessert of mine, which is utterly nasty, I know, but I loved them so much—not the chocolate version but the much less revered Orange Hostess Cupcake.

pucks of deodorant (not the best title in the world)

I needed a new batch of homemade deodorant (featured in the jammed packed issue of eMailorder #11 and a free copy of the recipe is here, but of course, if you buy it you will get so much more!) and it was a bit on the dry side. I found I wasn't using it as much because getting a pea-sized ball from the jar was proving to be difficult, and I was lazy—so I skipped days and started to stink. That's how it goes.

So, I decided to take action and re-melted the deodorant and poured it into mini-muffin tins (lightly oiled) and froze them and banged them out  the next morning. They work perfectly! I keep the extras in the refrigerator and keep one in the bathroom, on a little dish, and get it slightly damp with water before I use it and it's so much easier than digging in a jar. I think I added too much shea or cocoa butter this time—because it was just harder, but now I wonder if it would work better this way all the time.

When I first published this recipe many people asked if they could pour it into an empty deodorant container, with the dial. I had never tried this, but now I think it would work great. Especially if you slightly increase the butters, which make it more solid. I have been using this for so long I don't have any empty deodorant containers lying around. These pucks work great, but it looks like you can get empty containers online. Or these? But I think reusing an old one would be so much easier. 

At the Moon Pie Shop In Charleston

And, I have been rockin' some slightly 1940s vintage hair styles lately and need to report that the all natural hairspray that I have a recipe for, again, in the same issue, is up to the task. Three huge bonuses—It has no lemon juice (lemon juice is not so so good for dark hair) and doesn't need to go in the refrigerator and won't spoil. Outstanding! I might have to experiment more and see just how high my hair can go with this. If I do, I will report back for sure. With photos.

Unrelated: I have extended Alice Apron theme over on Tie One On—so, now you have until June 1st to get the aprons done. Yippee!

Dave colored the baby yellow.

Here I am on live television (I was on April 1st, last week) showing a project from my book, Bend The Rules with Fabric—Painted Toile. I love being on this local morning talk show, AM Northwest. I grew up watching it, the hosts are funny as heck, and it is a really good time. Thanks guys! This clip is about 4 minutes long and Dave totally cracks me up, as usual.

eMailorder No. 11 is here

I am very pleased to announce that eMailorder #11 is here. Available right now for you to download and print at home (it's a PDF) today! In this huge 14 page issue you will receive:

• A booklet for you to print and assemble containing 16 recipes for health and beauty, thoroughly tested by your humble secretary
• 2 sheets of hand-drawn labels ready to fill-in and affix to your own Potions and Concoctions
• A handy shorthand version (the Cheat Sheet) of these recipes to reference
• The activity of making these recipes—which is a party in itself! Crank the music and get all hippie!

Here's a close up of two of the many labels for you to print, cut-out, and stick to bottles, tins and jars. I like to use just regular paper and a glue stick for this.

16 recipes! Can you believe it? Here's what's inside:

Mullein Oil, Shampoo and Detangler, Facial Oil, Eye Compress, Herbal Toner, Vapor Rub, Facial Cleanser, Bugs Don't Like Me Balm, Favorite Tea, Hair Spray, Lip Balm, Baby Bottom Spray, Plantain Poultice for Stings, Magic Tooth Cleaning Solution, Deodorant, and Elderflower Cough Syrup.

All for a mere $8 USD (paypal). All these recipes have been tested by me for a long time and they are my favorites. I get all my supplies here at Mountain Rose Herbs.

Thanks eMailorder members, and don't forget to hit that "return to kingpod" button to get the PDF, it's not e-mailed to you. Just shoot me an e-mail if you mess this up, no big deal at all.

I'm in Seatle Right Now!

Come by and say hi!! I will be at The Quilting Loft tonight with the lovely Miss Emily Black Apple.

Hope to see you!

The Quilting Loft

Thursday December 3rd, 7PM

2601 NW Market St
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 706-0445

In Seattle this Thursday

I am very excited to be headed to Seattle to The Quilting Loft this Thursday for my book signing, and also to see some friends, do a little shopping, and have some quality time with the delightful Miss Emily, who will be accompanying me on this road trip.

I'm not even going to say how long it's been since I have been to Seattle (6 years! And we used to live there. For shame!) or how long it's been since I have been overnight somewhere without at least one of my children (Never! Unless the 5 hours between being in labor and having a baby counts.) So excited! I think I will feel like I'm in college again. Minus the super-cheap food, over-plucked eyebrows, and excessive flannel.

At the event, I will be giving away a tote bag with my book and my labels, chocolate, and of course there will be treats, silly antics and much tomfoolery. Please come and say hi!

on the merits of glaze—

I made this cake for our new house this weekend. We have been in our house for one year now (it's not a new house, being born in 1968, but it's new to us) and we thanked our house for a good first year. We also shared what we liked best about our house, which was the bunk beds, so said the children. This is funny because we had the bunk beds in the old house too, but you know how it goes. Pete likes the yard (as do I) but my favorite feature is a bathroom off of our bedroom. Oh, how I wished we had that wonderful luxury when I was pregnant 3 times, lugging up and downstairs 5 times a night having to pee. I almost considered sleeping in the bathroom.

Moving on, we ate the chocolate cake and I made a glaze instead of frosting. I found myself wondering why I don't always make glaze instead of frosting. I am not a huge frosting fan, but glaze I love! I kept the extra in the fridge to heat up and use on just about anything. Fruit, ice cream, crepes, you name it.

The cake recipe (my favorite chocolate cake recipe ever) is here in this PDF cheat sheet I made a long time ago and the glaze is simple and very forgiving—

6 oz chocolate chips with about 1/2 cup heavy cream.

You heat the cream, pour it over the chips, let it melt, stir it up, and pour in on the cake.

Unrelated:

Joanne's is selling McCall's and Simplicity patterns for $1.99 until Wednesday (this was in our local paper, but I assume it's all over? Not sure, so call your local Joanne's first so you don't swear at me later.) I am going to stock up. Seriously, I never regret buying patterns when this sale hits, because my favorites always go out of print! I have marked down this blouse for sure.

Mailorder #5 re-issue! Now a PDF!

I am excited to re-release Mailorder #5, in its entirety, as a PDF you can print at home! You can buy it right here! And you can see examples made from this issue here in the Mailorder Flickr group.

This is a fun issue that is all about cross stitch. And don't worry if you haven't done it before—it includes a helpful how-to, perfect for beginners.

Here's what you get:

• Official Mailorder Sampler counted cross-stitch chart (shown in the first photo above)
• 3 small and equally charming counted cross-stitch mini-charts (perfect for the holidays!!)
• Mailorder recipe card
• Marvelous and handy you-color-in recipe card stand (print this on cardstock and color it in!)
• Secret word to unscramble, which after solving will earn you a very special prize.

Just in time for the holidays! The 3 mini-cross stitch projects would be lovely gifts/holiday ornaments which wouldn't take too long. Also, a nice gift might be this PDF, all printed out, with some linen and some thread all wrapped up pretty for that special someone who would love a project to start. I love giving craft projects as gifts, not necessarily finished items, you know? Less work for me and I like giving the gift of creating something.

You can buy it here ($8) and don't forget to hit "return to kingpod" after you pay. If you forget, just e-mail me. And this is a PDF, not anything that is mailed—instant gratification!

donut holes.

Details are here and hope you can come by!

(I have a new fall banner and new links up, too.)

book siging coming up this thursday!!

This Thursday I will be at Bolt for a book signing! I will show examples from my book—with tips, hints and humorous stories, and then we can all chat, hang out, and one of you will win this tote full of Bend The Rules Love! It contains supplies, a copy of my book, fabric from Bolt, the Bend The Rules Gift Labels—how cool!

Please come on out, I'd love to see you!

Thursday, November 5th at Bolt (Bolt has a cool blog, too, just so you know.)

2136 NE Alberta St · Portland, OR 97211 · 503.287.bolt

7PM

Woot!

**I will be in Seattle on December 3rd at The Quilting Loft for a book signing, too.

New Prints—Folk Art Series

I've been working on these 3 hand-drawn prints for a long time now, and I finally finished them! I am quite happy. There are printed on super fancy heavy-weight archival watercolor paper—you won't be disappointed. There are three in this series. Silvija is shown here (the frame is not included.)

This one is titled Come Home.

And Crest. They are over here at my Etsy shop, which seems to be the best place for me to sell my artwork. Please take a look and my, what lovely holiday gifts they would make! 

book signing this sunday!

Okay, I will be at Powells this sunday for a book-signing. I'm pretty excited. There will be a question and answer portion (Questions don't have to be limited to this new book of mine, by the way, they can be from my first book too, or whatever you want to ask, actually, as long as it's not really hard questions about science or something.) I also will have the real life projects from the book to look at and discuss and I will also be hosting several cakewalks. Fun! They are small cakes, but still big enough to feel very special as long as you don't share, which I wouldn't.

The details:

• Book signing—Powell's, September 20th Sunday 7:30-9 PM, downtown location.
• Cakewalk*—to enter in the cakewalk (of which there will be many, like more than 10) you must either bring my new book or buy one. I know, kind of tricky, but hey.
• I will also be giving away 2 boxes of Bend the Rules Labels to anyone who brings a project made from my newest book. If there are several of you, I will have my daughters choose—you can take it up with them.

*Cheating is encouraged, if you can figure out a way to cheat in a cake walk, more power to you. That doesn't mean not buying my book, yeah, I'm on to you. Mariko, our cakewalk DJ, is accepting bribes. I suggest you bring sour candy and/or colorful mechanical pencils and pens.

labels and stuff to do with them

I am so stinking excited to have these Bend The Rules gift labels on hand for gift giving. These are the ones I wrote about a bit back. I have been using them for all kinds of things—like here on a box. This one says "I totally want to get one of these for myself, so let me know if you don't want it."

on tags, boxes, and cards—on the tag it says, "It's a gift for you! (But secretly for me.)"

And "I made this, just so you know. So, don't say anything mean about it." They are very handy.

They are published by Potter Style and are available in gift shops and book stores and also right here. I say, stock up for your holiday gift giving!

I am giving away a box of labels—leave a comment with your worst gift giving or receiving experience. Preferably handmade in nature. Like, I had a knitting teacher who would knit sweaters for her boyfriends, they would take months and months, and then they would always break up with her right after she finished the sweater.

One of my favorites which is not a handmade gift story, but still amazing, is a dear friend who gave her dad the soundtrack to O' Brother Where Art Thou, but knew he hadn't seen the movie—so she gave him the movie too, but rented it. So, he had to return it to the video store after he had watched it. Classic!

Okay, I will leave this up a couple days and then we will do a random number generator to choose the winner. Thanks!! (And I will be giving away 2 more boxes at my book signing at Powell's on the 20th, too.)

************************************************************************************************************************

Okay--WOW that was a lot of stories! I laughed, and some were so sad! Kind of like a big long This American Life segment. You all are amazing.

Alright—the Random Number Generator has chosen #168. Congrats Cay!

point & shoot

 

I gave these ridiculously cool ceramic Ghost Cameras to my photographers as thank-you gifts for collaborating with me on my book. (The mighty talented Matt Wong and Alexandra Grablewski.) I now am kicking myself for not getting one for myself. They are designed by Yellow Owl Workshop and made here locally in Portland by Mudshark Studios. I just noticed they also have the cameras at Urban Outfitters, which is awesome, but buying them directly from the artists is even awesomer.

Unrelated:

• We saw It Might Get Loud last week and it was so good. I realize that the 14 year-old boy really comes out in me when I am watching Jimmy Page play air guitar. (Yes, this really happens in the movie) There's much to discuss in this film, and it's not a perfect documentary by any means, but I really really liked it, and if you have ever liked Zeppelin, U2, or Jack White—it's worth seeing for that alone.
• Glee. Thank god for Hulu because we don't have television. I wanted to quote something from it, but how to choose?
• Just got word of a new blog Portland Loves: Local which is all out Portland shops, events and all that. Nice! Perfect resource for out of town visitors, too.

and the winning quotes are—

"Burn like a screaming eagle."

From Kelly who says: No, seriously. Giovanni Ribisi signed an autograph for me (that a friend begged him for) with that one. I have no idea what it means, but I can see it in a yearbook for sure.

"Dude! I will never 4get that night at the pits. And dinners at Moxies or lunch at Wendy's. U rock!" 

From Cheryl who writes: Sad, but so true. How did we ever think we were intelligent?

From Jen who says: Okay I must have been hanging out with a very immature crowd compared to everyone else commenting.... in the crease of the binding of almost ALL of my yearbooks is written:

"I AM WRITING IN YOUR CRACK. DOES IT TICKLE? HAGS!" (Have a good summer.)

Pete (the judge) says:

There were several "crack" quotes (disturbingly.) This one was randomly chosen within that group of quotes.

Runner Up:

Ivy said...

"The blacksmith and the artist, reflect it in their art. They forge their creativity, closer to the heart."
-- Rush

And Honorable mention:

Jeannine said...

Lickin' a Lobster for luck-KITH
See you round like a donut.

*************************************************************************************************************************

Okay— these were so fippin' funny we were dying reading them!!! Thank you all so much! And thanks to husband who took his job very seriously, it was a lot of quotes to read. It was pretty much all we talked about since Tuesday.

Stay tuned for another giveaway at the end of next week. Have a hot weekend, but stay kool. Later Vader!

(I'm now trying to work in yearbook quotes in daily life—surely annoying to all around me.)

my new book, a surprise, & a giveaway!!

I am pretty much ecstatic to announce that my new book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More is now available. I haven't been out to see if it's in the shops yet, but I know the ship date is today, so if you pre-ordered, you will get it soon. It will also be in all the big chain bookstores (Borders, Powells, Barnes and Noble) very soon, if not already, and hopefully your local independent bookshop will have it as well. If not, please ask them to order one for you!

 

I am also thrilled to tell you that in about 5 days (on September 1st, to be exact) these Bend the Rules Gift Labels will be available from Potter Style. These have the copy I used years ago for the holiday labels I made as a PDF. I am thrilled to have them professionally designed and published by this fabulous imprint. They are printed on thick label paper and come in the nicest sturdy box. The packaging is really impressive. They say things like, This seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm not so sure. And, I totally want to get get one of these for myself, so let me know if you don't want it.  I'm going to show and tell about these more in the next week or so, but I thought it would be really lame to wait until September 1st to tell you about them. If any of you want to buy both the labels and my new book right now at the same time—the combined shipping would save you a little dough. Just sayin'. I will give away 3 boxes of labels when I get them—so stayed tuned for that.

And speaking of giveaways:

You all are amazing and there is no way I would have ever been able to write my two sewing books and do what I do without all of you reading, commenting, and giving me support. BIG thanks to you all. I want to give away 3 signed copies of the new book here on the blog and I feel very strongly about personally inscribing a cheesy quote in the front. So, please leave a comment with your quote of choice (I'm thinking yearbook style—like a quote from a movie or from your favorite heavy metal song) and if your quote is chosen, you will get a free book with your ridiculous quote written in the front. Awesome! The only rule is no Pink Floyd lyrics—that's way too easy.

I am going to let my husband choose from the quotes, so you all can send any complaints to him later. This is a 24 hour thing, so by this time tomorrow I will close comments and get out my sharpie.

Thanks you guys!!!

*************************************************************************************************************************

Okay, I have closed comments, thank you so much! Pete has his work cut out for him. These are so good, I love the year book jargon! I will report the 3 winning quotes very soon. Thanks for all the new book and new label love!

flotsam & jetsam

I was so flattered and excited to put together this Guest Curator bit for Etsy that you see above here. I love their blog, The Storque, and all its features, how-tos, interviews, and whatnot. Etsy is so flippin' huge now and their blog helps me feel like I can get my arms around it.  The theme I chose was "Summer at the Beach." Of course, I love everything I chose immensely, please check these items out.

I also have a new podcast interview up over at Craftcast with Alison Lee. This is a really fun eclectic show she has—a little bit of everything. My interview is in the middle, right after the song. Alison is amazing, and we talk about my new book coming out, keeping my blog real, and the merits of blogging the mundane. It's always great talking to her.

And thanks for participating in the clog/sandals socks poll! Who knew? Well, now we know. I love the poll thing so much, I will try not to abuse it.

new (old) ragdoll sewing pattern!

I am super excited to be offering this ragdoll sewing pattern** for sale as a PDF available right now. This originally appeared in mailorder #6, about 2 plus years ago, and sold out immediately and has been out of print since then. I had been getting lots of requests to make it available again, so here it is. It's a fun pattern—great for sewing boy or girl ragdolls, and you get sewing patterns for the clothes, too. It's perfect for using up fabrics from your stash and is a great sewing project for kids to try, with help, of course.

This is a PDF, so you can print it today! Remember to have your printer set to 100% and hit that "back to kingpod" button after you go through paypal to download the file. If you miss this step—no biggie, just shoot me an e-mail and we can figure it out. Enjoy!

**Just to clarify: this is just the ragdoll sewing pattern, not the full mailorder #6 issue.

eMailorder #10 is available starting right now.

Okay, here it is! This fun-filled eMailorder #10 is all about papercutting. It's a bit more of a challenge than my first group of papercutting patterns (which you can try in eMailorder #8.)

In this issue you will find 4 original papercuts designed by your humble secretary, all of which will frame up beautifully in a standard 8” x 10” format. Of course, the Official eMailorder Recipe card is included and boy—it's a good one. Get your x-actos out and put on some good tunes.

This a PDF that you print at home, so don't go to the mailbox for this one—you can get it within seconds of buying it! (although have a little patience when printing, it's a big PDF)

It's $8. Please hit the Return to Kingpod button (on the paypal page after you pay) to get the download. If you forget in a crazy freak-out, just e-mail me, we will set you up.

Your faithful secretary,
Amy Karol

it's coming soon! (sorta)

I am jumping-up-and-down excited to let you all know that my second book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More (Potter Craft Summer 2009) is now available for pre-order!

Here's a sneak peek inside. I was able to work with the same ridiculously talented team on this book as my first (photography by Alexandra Grablewski and design by Amy Sly) which means this book looks amazing, is clearly organized, and puts a big smile on my face.

This book is all about altering fabric—and not all the projects require a sewing machine, so it's great for sewers, and non-sewers alike. Woot! Here's a painted toile artwork project shown with an inexplicably creepy mask.

Here's how to make t-shirts for your family band. These say It's not my bedtime. You will freak out when you try this technique—it's silk screening without photo emulsion or drawing fluid or Gocco. Life changing, I tell you.

And the Uncle Pete and Aunt Sarah dolls make an appearance, of course.

There are plenty of sewing projects with patterns as well, and they all come with ideas, techniques, and tips on altering fabric to make it your own. I really think you guys will dig it (I hope so!) Please pre-order it, how's that for a hard sell?

It's available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local book shop (I didn't see it yet at Powell's) and it will be out in the world, for real, the end of August. I already have a book signing/party set up at Powell's here in Portland the end of September (and I will have one at Bolt, too) and I just want to say two words. Cake walk. I'm serious.

 

easter bonnet

Easter is approaching and the girls' heads continue to grow, which is a good thing, I know. So, new Easter bonnets are in order. I am using my handy bonnet pattern (conveniently displayed above) which is also for sale. This pattern comes with 3 sizes—baby, child, and adult. Last year I also made a variation without the brim, as shown here, and was thrilled with the storybook cuteness of it. You can see more bonnets made up from this pattern in the flickr mailorder group.

I think for Easter this year a neutral linen would be lovely for the bonnets, with a sweet calico lining. Then we can wear them when we make our butter. Okay, really, no one in the house digs the butter making as much as I do, but they sure eat it up with no complaints. I think I need to try the jar method, so they can actually get into it more.

new art print for sale

I have a new print for sale. I drew this a bit back and am super excited to see it printed all fancy on this wonderful heavy watercolor stock I am using. It's almost like a board, it's so thick and the colors are rendered so nicely. I feel a comic coming on very strongly. This piece is called Nurture.

just so you know. . .

 

Hey, thanks for the paper cutting love!

So, a few of you asked in the comments how to do this, or where to learn how. Well, I can't pass up the opportunity to direct you to eMailorder #8 where you will find directions specifically written for first time paper cutters. You'll get 4 awesome paper cutting patterns (if I can say that about my own designs, which I just did) and a recipe sure to delight. Please note the little heart design there, perfect for your special valentine, it's just the right size for a card.

This is a PDF that you print out at home—it's not mailed.

I am loving the little house slippers from eMailorder #9 that are popping up in the mailorder flickrgroup—so cute!