angry chicken

random items.

We got to actually sit in on the ballet classes 2 weeks ago. We only get to once a term, so it was big stuff. Usually there is a ton of creative interpretation regarding ballet attire in the class—today was pretty much by the book. I love the little shoes.

Items I have been meaning to mention-

• I have been getting a few e-mails wanting a homemade deodorant/ baking soda, apple cider vinegar hair washing update. It's all good. I have been using my homemade deodorant (the same recipe I wrote for Bust magazine) for about a year now. No rash, still works great. I still sweat buckets, but no smell. And the hair washing with no shampoo is going well, too. The little grey hairs coming in are not so cool, but that's unrelated—obviously. If you have questions about how to do this no shampoo thing, check out my post here with the amazing informative link about it
• There is a FOE group on flickr! Sweet! Drop in your photos, you all. (What is FOE, you ask?)
• I have updated my links on the right here and have a new Spring banner. I need to be archiving these links, and I have not. I am a bad blogger. But I am making a vow from now on to archive these links somehow—so they don't disappear forever when I rotate them.
• New papercut patterns (I think it will be eMailorder #10) are coming out soon!
• Lionel, our orange cat who thinks he is a dog, is still missing. It's been almost a month now. We are so sad. The girls think he is in France, Pete and I think he is in Mexico. It could happen.

outdoor rooms

 



I'm late night window shopping at Ikea. When we moved we left all of our outdoor furniture/potting bench/pots at our old house. The buyers wanted it all and we were so stoked to be selling we were happy to leave all that stuff—but now we have nothing to sit on and the weather is starting to get nice. I love these items, but what's up with Ikea pots never having drain holes? I know we can get a a special drill bit to make these holes but come on, man. Just put a stinkin' hole in the pots so I don't have to. I just wrote stinkin' hole. Heh.

easter thoughts

                                                    _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

In thinking about Easter/Spring baskets for the girls I found myself on Etsy and was struck by the simple loveliness of the items for sale over at Dream Child Studio.

                                                    _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

                                                  _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

I'm really digging the use of wood here in this photo. And of course the crown is just perfect. These would be so sweet in their baskets. I also plan to sew up some bunnies (cute insanity!) from this Wee Wonderful's pattern and print some Shiny Happy Printables from The Small Object as well. A little homemade and a little purchased—that's my speed right now. Add some unpainted wooden eggs and paint for them to decorate and we are done. Oh, and chocolate lambs and chocolate nests, can't forget those. And bonnets. Okay, the list is getting longer now.

smallish pies

We got back from the coast last week and the re-entry was hard. A short week always feels long, you know? It was pretty nice weather considering it was the Oregon coast in March, but there were a few rainy episodes, so I found myself baking. These small apple pies were made with Sadie, whose New Year's resolution was to learn how to make pies. For real. So, we did. We used 3 apples and these sweet Pyrex bowls I found in the kitchen, which were so perfect I was tempted to take them home. Different than hand pies, but equally life altering.

We seem to have brought back a flu-barfing thing. I thought it was some funky clam chowder, and am still not convinced it wasn't, but now that 3 out of 5 of us have been ill in the last 4 days, I wonder if it was also a bug. Sorry to mention barf and pie in the same post.

Unrelated—I am sewing belts. More soon on this development, but I am very excited. I also just found this site, Goop, by Gwyneth Paltrow, which I can't stop reading. It's new to me (did everyone know this was out there?) and I especially am fascinated by this post about her clothes. Slightly unrelated but still about clothes—I really want these shorts. There's a sentence I really never thought I'd write—shorts?? But really, these are so vintage-y cute. I have already had trusted friends completely veto these, but they are so good in the 1940s/80s way.

random window (screen) shopping-

On the wanty list:

These are so awesome. I saw these in person in a different color at Footwise here in Portland. I don't know if they are getting the red pair or not. They are made by Indigo, who also makes Clarks, which I find very comfortable.

 
 Cute attack!

Oh this blouse. It's silk. I have seen it in person in Portland at Hot Box Betty and here it is at Nordstrom it's by Diane Von Furstenburg—it's got rope there on the collar. Real rope. Real cool, I say.

occultus in a libri

Revisiting my old bookbinding interests, I have become preoccupied with making these hollowed-out books. After I made this one I did a quick search online and found that these are all over etsy. I especially like these French vintage ones made from childrens books here. Not quite a hollowed-out book, more like a book-box. Very cool, and the prices seem crazy low. (Um, okay, everything in this etsy shop, lilimandrill is pretty outstanding. Please take a moment to look at all her items. A hand-carved eraser of Amy Winehouse's, head? come on!)

I also found some handy how-tos for making hollowed-out books here and here. It would have been helpful to read before I started this one, but it was pretty easy nonetheless. 

So, that freaky baby in there is porcelain. Her name is Porcelie and she is very very important in the house. She has been repaired with glue 4 times now—the last being for a fatal head injury that has left her with a hole in the back of her crown. If its small, creepy, and old, you know my middle child will be obsessed with it, which is what has happened, even though it was the eldest who insisted on bringing her home with us months ago from the antique mall. Now she is tucked away in this book, on our bookshelf, probably to be forgotten about for a few weeks. Losing her and then finding her again is the most fun, right?

Gramps.

My grandpa passed away last night. He was at home, which was so special for him, I know. My mom (who I always call grammie, just to confuse everyone) was there and she was amazing. He'd been ill on and off for about 6 months and she was patient, resourceful, diligent and loving the whole time—it truly was incredible to see her in action. She made the decision to have hospice care at home, and she was to be the primary provider. He was moved home yesterday, settled in, and passed away—I think because he could finally relax to be honest. My brother and I were there all evening and I feel honored to have been there so close to him in his final stages.

Grandpa at the hospital with his twin boys (my uncles).

Grandpa was a real character, many many things can be said about him. He was an avid cook, made movies, was an accomplished photographer, painted, loved different cultures, adored music, and just cherished life in general. He loved learning and never ceased to have a new passion. I will miss him— but I am happy he's with Grandma now.

I love it, but it is so loud.

Way to loud. The ticking can be heard across the room. But, it's lovely. Vintage with red leather. I love it. So, I will probably get a repro looking one at Pottery Barn or something. Thanks again for all the alarm clock comments, they were a crack up.

-Unrelated, I love this story so much (updated link)

-Again, random—does anyone have access to a hanger that I can use for hanging both a bra and undies? you know what I mean, like all in one bikini hanger? Any of you retail folks out there? I just need one, of course. Maybe there is something more stylish out there than this particular hanger. I am trying to figure out the best way to show the matching lingerie sets I am sewing and there must be hangers out there for this—cause I am not modeling them. It's not that kind of blog. Just sayin'.

those must flow.

The middle child and I had a good day thrifting.

These vintage flash cards are making me so happy.

I'm gonna frame this one.

alarm clocks (bedside)

We need a new bedside alarm clock. The one we have is a $3.99 special that is aesthetics horrible and makes me grumpy whenever look at it.  There are plenty of swell ones out there, but finding an alarm function and crazy good style at an affordable price is elusive. Here's where I am at so far. This one above from ll bean—

 

This cost prohibitive, although stellar, George Nelson clock from Velocity

Another from ll bean. This one glows as the sun comes up. Could be cool, could be annoying. And I can't tell if it looks too cheap-y.

I have seen this one at UO in person, it's much smaller than it seems and is great is such a horrible way—but no alarm function.

The one I really want is vintage and I am waiting for the auction to end—I will report back.

We usually don't need an alarm (we have 3 human-shaped ones which have no snooze feature) but sometimes we do. We had some friends in college who had an alarm clock that had a sound activated snooze feature. So, when you want to hit snooze, you had to yell. Like, yell something, probably not a word, because it was first thing in the morning. The sounds coming from that bed must have been unholy. I thought this was the funniest thing ever and still do.

handmade needs your help-please act on this today!

Today is the last day in get in your comments to the CPSC regarding the new mandatory testing for all items made for kids under 12 that is going into effect in 35 days.

There is a ton of info out there on this but in a nutshell— in response to freaky happenings regarding toy safety in the last year, the CPSP has written up a crazy-rigid testing procedure that will pretty much wipe out handmade toys and items for kids under 12. Not to be dramatic, but it's true. All items for sale, handmade or not, would have to be tested by a 3rd party and it would be so cost prohibitive that handmade items would perish and so would the shops that carry handmade items for sale. For instance, a crafter couldn't sew a bib from my book to sell, nor could anyone sell a handmade doll on etsy, or even a knitted cap or diaper cover without paying a 3rd party to test the item for $1000 of dollars. Insane!

So, what to do?

This site has a ton of information, including online petitions, documents to send to senators, letters, logos and the like. It fully explains the restrictions and proposed changes to the wording of the CPSC act to make it handmade friendly. Check it out.  This site also is well organized and has a lot of useful links.

If you feel so inclined, please, please, please get in your comments and online petitions today and hopefully this won't go into effect the way it is written now, which would totally suck. Thank you!

 

settling in and ruminations on gift ideas

During my previously mentioned outing with the eggplant I found this vintage lawn ornament mushroom over at the wonderful shop ink & peat. It's amazing. It's got a wood base and a metal top and is about 20" high. The girls love it and are bummed I won't let them sit on it. These mossy steps are ours now. They lead up to an old play house that is in our new-to-us backyard.

I am making biscotti today to see if it will be a good contender in the cookie/holiday treat bags. Ideas for holiday gifts in my head right now are cookies, caramel corn in little baggies, biscotti, salted caramel sauce (this is a brilliant idea from eggplant—we already bought the jars) and possibly a make-your-own-vanilla-extract gift, where I supply the bottle and the vanilla beans (with recipes) and the recipient would supply the hooch (vodka.) My concern is that this might seem a little too frugal. "Here's an almost empty bottle for you with weird looking beans in it. Now go buy your own liquor. Happy holidays." I worry that people won't ever fill the bottles and the vanilla beans will sit, sadly, in the empty jar and then get thrown away in 2 months. So, I think I need to just make only a few bottles of this complete with the alcohol, so it seems more like a gift and less like potential garbage.

More about making homemade vanilla extract here. Warning, possibly too much information, but it's great to have such a comprehensive source.

chocolate and such

I was shopping with the eggplant yesterday and we found ourselves in a salt/chocolate shop (The Meadow) and she persuaded to get this chocolate bar. I am typically a dark chocolate person. Not crazy painful dark—just a nice 60% cocoa style dark. However, this bar is milk chocolate flavored with cinnamon and is absolutely amazing. I am eating it now for breakfast with some black tea and all is right with the world.

In between discussing various handmade holiday gift ideas (we had a ton of fun with these last year) she proceeded to tell me I was vitamin D deficient (as she believes all people are, including herself) and I have no clue if I am or not. Living here in the land of little/no sun, I think it's highly probable. In the past when I have taken vitamins, I usually try to take a food source pill, not a synthetic. Is there such a thing for vitamin D? I need to research this. If you all have the answer, let me know.

When is someone going to put vitamin D in a chocolate bar like this? That's the obvious right answer—plain and simple.

music of interest

I was about to go through all the comments to write a music post and was stressing about it (another way to avoid unpacking) when I got this already compiled list from the good fairy, Jessica. Thank you!

I'm not sure if this includes the other suggestions that were in the comments of the last post, but it's a huge list anyway. This list is so helpful. Helpful and long. I was going to add links, but I need to get dressed at some point this week.

And completely random note—Willow Tree Toys is having a 20% sale for one day only, the day after Thanksgiving. Awesome. Use code WTT28.

For those about to rock. . . .

Fleet Foxes album and the Sun Giant EP
mason jennings
jessie baylin
elbow lately and
matt bauer
Doug Martsch's "Now You Know"
Brian Jonestown Masacre
adele's cd
Steven Fiore,
Owen Beverly
Jay Clifford
Jump Little Children
Sun Kil Moon
Mary Timony (from Helium)
Alex Cuba and
Bedouin Sound Clash...
1259 lullaby
http://www.wildernesssounds.com/
the Greycoats
M.Ward 'Post-War'
Ray LaMontagne 'Gossip in the Grain'
Catherine Feeny
If you like piano music - Gonzales 'Solo Piano'
Okkervil River
Ramona Cordova
Angus & Julia Stone
kate nash
Vampire Weekend
soundtrack from the movie Juno
danielson
cryptacize
Blitzen Trapper record Furr
Neutral Milk Hotel
liam finn
eilidhpatterson
frightened rabbit
Charlie Parr 1922
vitamin string quartet
Handsome Furs
Wolf Parade
Rogue Wave
Radical Face
Ra Ra Riot
Coconut Records
Of Montreal
Giant Sand
Calexico
Hayden
Andrew Bird
Bonnie Prince Billy
C.W Stoneking
David Cook
Thea Gilmore
Emmy the Great
The Curvy Straights
Beirut
Owl City
The Avett Brothers
Great Lake Swimmers
Au Revoir Simone
Willie Nelson
Now, Now Every Children
Bowerbirds
A.A. Bondy
Evangelicals
Fionn Regan
Hotel Lights
Then Innocence Mission
Laura Veirs
The National
Paul Kelly
Mason Jennings
The Everybodyfields and
Vetiver
Goldfrapp's
Feist
The Flying Club Cup
Neil Halstead
karine polwart
Hollie Rogers
Peter Broderick
Radio Three Sixty ACC
Iron and Wine,
Bonnie Prince Billy
Magnolia Electric Co
Tall Firs
The Scandanavian sisters
Bowerbirds
Grizzly Bear and
Department of Eagles
beach house
soldriventrain
The Flobots
Joe Pug and Dr. Dog
Herman Dune
Belle and sebastien
Camera Obscura
The Glad Rags
Laura Marling
Basia Bulat

what I did instead of packing (part I)

I wanted a new winter skirt, that's the thing. I knew I needed to start packing up my art room, for real, but I found this wool (12 years old) in pristine condition in the back of my closet and it just wouldn't go in the box. I never found a skirt that I wanted this fall after a dumb amount of time searching online (and the j.crew one was over $100), so I made this 2 nights ago. It's inspired by an Anthropologie skirt I got on mega-sale a few years back. A quick consultation with my girl Frenchie (who has the same Antro skirt) pointed me to my own bookshelf—the skirt pattern in Wendy's book, which I had not made before, but was perfect.

I lined this with a light lavender material and used an invisible back zipper. Can I sing the praises again of the invisible zipper? Life changing. Just make sure to buy the metal foot especially made for your machine—not the cheap-o plastic ones you find at the fabric shops. It felt so good to actually sew a tailored garment again, with darts and all, instead of the quick-and-dirty skirts I had been making all summer. This skirt is perfect for the naughty secretary look that I love so much, and the best thing is I didn't have to leave the house to make it—I had everything here. That's sort of scary, actually. Packing for me has been like cleaning my room when I was a kid. I could never finish because I would start playing with all the toys I forgot I had. Back to the skirt, I made a self-ruffle (both sides are surged with rolled hem) and stitched it down the middle, over the front darts down to the hem. The skirt hem is just surged. I dig the deconstructed look and the ruffle would be too bulky to turn up.

So, packing is really happening now. I am did the kitchen this morning. How many half-open apple cider vinegars bottles did I have tucked back in the cupboard? Five. And what's up with all the gross honey jars I have?

Unrelated, I think I need to start lifting weights because every morning I am struck by how hard I have to push to get the plunger down on our french press. Seriously, it's one of the hardest thing I do all day and I am just waiting to sustain a coffee-related injury.

On the new music front: Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and The Pica Beats. Any other suggestions?

a little stampin' & stuff

I was super excited to see the winterscape stamp set from yellow owl workshop is available—and now I have it. As you recall, I had a freaky-freak-out over the first set and have been waiting for the new one with bated breath. I was trying, repeatedly, to make a card/tag/something with these before the small hands got to them, but I was too slow. After the 4th effort was smudged, I figured the photo of just the stamps would have to suffice for this blog post, but I plan on making holiday tags and whatnot with these soon.

other items of interest:

-Velocity Art and Design now has a blog. You know this shop, they have been around forever, really they are arbiters of all that is cool online. They wrote a super sweet post about me. (Blush.) John was one of my very first supporters. So cool to see how much has grown for his wonderful shop and their amazing new(ish) Seattle digs, it seems I can't pick up a magazine without seeing Velocity mentioned. Please check out the Velocity blog and shop at the cool store, it's owned by some very good peeps.

-The newest issue of mix tape #6 arrived and I love it. It's the only zine I get now and just holding it in my hands makes me so happy.

-This pattern Sarah made with spoonflower is making me crazy. It's so cool, and the concept is so cool, my head is hurting.

-I updated my lists there on the side, the blogs and the happiness items. And my banner is new. I mention this only because I know so many people (like me) read blogs through Bloglines or something similar, so wouldn't notice the updates. So I thought I'd mention it. So I am mentioning it right now. There. It has been mentioned.

cozy slippers for tiny feet

These absolutely wonderful felted wool slippers came to us from Satch & Sol a few weeks back. They are extremely popular with the smalls in our house and are so well made. Satch & Sol has a squeal worthy inventory— these sets are killing me.

Liddy likes them, too.

They are made in Mongolia by a fair trade artisan cooperative—so it's all good and they are so stinkin' cute! I thought these would also make wonderful handmade holiday gifts for when I want to give something handmade, but not made with my own hands. You know what I mean. Susan, the lovely owner living in Seattle, tells me if you sign up on their e-mail list, you will get a generous discount (hit the "sign up for savings" option.) Bonus.

shadow box

This black board box was going to be a halloween diorama, but I made this little theater instead. (Similar to this one I made 3 years ago, I am very predictable.) In finding the link for this product, I discovered the company site (cosmo cricket) which have some pretty cool items (wholesale only, dang it, I got my box here locally at Paper Zone.)

Unrelated, I am listening to this blind pilot album and love it immensely.

knitting, books, and a horrible drink

The eggplant and I had a lovely time with the Mason Dixon gals on their whirlwind book signing tour. This disgusting drink was ordered by Mariko. It's a non-caffeinated barley drink that is served to Italian children (so we were told) it tastes like (fill in your favorite expletive here.) This lead us to a discussion of the merits of swearing on one's blog.

Here's my sweater, which was restarted—again. It was twisted—again. There are 128 sts to cast on and they got very squirrely. Also, I don't know what I am doing. So, I am now going to knit a few rows without joining and then join when I can see better. I looked this up—I can just leave a tail and seam up the part that I left open after I join.

I am reading Lonely Werewolf Girl and enjoying it so very much I am actually sort of geeking out.  I can't wait to read some other works by Martin Millar. I read Twilight a few weeks back and although I plan to read the rest of them, there is no compassion in my mind between the writing chops of these two authors. Both books are Young Adult fiction, which is such an odd book classification to me. I would have been a little worried about the 12-14 year old version of myself who would gotten a hold of Lonely Werewolf Girl, but it's brilliant.

So, Twilight. I didn't dislike it, but didn't love it. I feel like there might be a hidden teen agenda in this book. Not quite sure yet, I should do some more research on it, but I sense a strong pro teen abstinence undercurrent in it. But, it's hard to know, 'cause we all know for vampires, it's about sucking blood not taking your top off, so it maybe it's just my issue. Lestat never got naked either. Still, I enjoyed it and have a whole lot of love for vampires, werewolves, and teen angst (and throw a few zombies and fairies in there, too) so it's all good—and quite seasonally appropriate.

The Twilight movie was shot at the high school down the street from where we live, so this book/upcoming movie has been on my dull radar for awhile and there was much talk of the bed in the movie at Fabric Depot. Apparently the movie crew needed custom sheets made for Edward's huge bed and one of the Fabric Depot employees was sewing them. They required an insane amount of yardage. I can't tell you how awesome it was overhearing this conversation.

Here's a few funny/snarky posts about Twilight (the book and upcoming movie) which I found very amusing, but might annoy you if you are a die hard fan, just sayin'.

writing machine for my brother

This was given to my brother for his birthday. I got it on ebay, found new ribbon and a reproduction of the original manual here, and cleaned it up. It works great.

The keys are a bit sticky but fortunately, I found this handy list here on how to do basic restorations/repairs on old machines, which is awesome because as much as I would love to buy a professionally restored machine, finding a vintage one and fixing it myself is more in my price range and way more fun. Portland being what it is, there are several places that restore/repair machines locally, listed here.

I need to back up and mention how I even thought to get this for my notoriously difficult-to-shop-for brother. I was spending many many hours over on the Collectors Weekly website, which to be honest, I knew nothing of until I was contacted by them, congratulating me on my Vintage Apron group, which they have named a Hall of Fame Collection—so flattering. When I checked the site, hours of my life were sucked up, it's that good. So many topics, articles, links, and resources about vintage items--I sort of had a freak out. This is what I saw when I went to research typewriters—see what I mean? Good gravy. Obviously, I need to start a vintage pencil collection.

happy birthday magic child (and my brother)

Sadie and my brother share the same birthday today and some of the same character traits as well. Both first born, impressive negotiators, and obsessive readers. I am so lucky to have you both in my life. Happy birthday to you—my favorite Libras. (And Adam, if you get her a iphone you are in serious trouble.)

terribly excited.

This book, Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by the amazing Jen Corace, and written by Cynthia Rylant, is going to be available very very soon. I am so excited to give it to Sadie for her 6th b-day coming up along with tickets to see the play, which the NW Children's Theater is doing a production of in October. I love it when all these things line up. And what a freaky story Hansel and Gretel is. We have a couple versions and I stopped trying to edit it long ago. Now the almost 4-year-old gets super excited at the idea of a witch eating a kid. It's the Dad leaving the kids to starve in the forest that gets me—anyhoo, nothing like a good story to read the kids before bed! I wonder if this modern version will be all creepy too? I hope so. I loved being scared when I was little.

Thanks for all the amazing real-food-not-boxed-cereal breakfast suggestions. I need to bookmark the comments so I can reference all the great ideas. I'm gonna make these soon, 'cause dang. Unrelated, there is a new Bend-The-Rules Sewing Swap happening, organized again by the lovely Clicky the Moose, this time it's the Easy Lap Quilt—so head on over to sign up by the 14th of September. Unrelated still, I will have homemade crème fraîche, sour cream, and buttermilk reports soon. They have all been made and eaten. I should probably run about 20 miles now.

tie one on-gingham summer

The gallery is up! The gingham aprons are so sweet and summery, perfect for the last days of warm weather. I can't believe how many people tried chicken scratch embroidery on the gingham—it's so awesome. And I didn't! Bad me. Now, I have to try. I think it would look so cute on a tooth fairy pillow—which is now needed in this house. I can't believe one of my children is old enough to lose a tooth!

Please head on over to Tie One On to check out all these amazing aprons, like this outstanding one here from Kristena. Thanks so much you guys!

the oregon state fair. hot, sticky & fun.

random links and items I have meaning to mention

I need to blog about these items (numbered for handy reference) so I can get them out of my head and go to sleep :

1. Thanks for all the cheese making tips! I knew you'd all have a bunch of great info about this.

2. I don't have this vintage wooden nesting doll family, but I really want it. Everything the fine folks at Three Potato Four sell, vintage and new, make me so happy. I have been feeling a strong urge to paint wood. Something like this. For supplies, there is so much unpainted wood here, I am tempted to order again. Seeing these nesting dolls makes me realize I still need to paint a set for Liddy.  But not red and white. God, that was a mistake, painting Sadie's and Delia's both red and white, or white and red. What was I thinking? I ended up writing "S" and "D" on the bottom of them so I wouldn't have an aneurysm everytime I tried to put them away and would get the sets mixed up. They would almost fit back together but not quite, causing me to totally freak out.

3. I don't think I need to do a blind hem tutorial because there is a great one here on Threadbanger. No stick heads, but come on! Seriously, it's really good. The blind hemming part is a few minutes into the video, so just keep watching.

4. There is a good tutorial for using FOE without stretching it, just as a binding on a knit shirt, over at SewZanne's.

5. I am geeking on these over at Martha. I feel like I have a photographic memory of all her craft projects, but I somehow missed this one and now I must bust out my wood burner and potentially start a fire. The girls say I am a fire starter, but I'm not. I am a burner, however. Especially a toast burner.

6. I am so torn because I really wanted to try chicken scratch for the Tie One On gingham theme but now I am leaning towards a gingham Wizard of Oz Dorothy-style pinafore for dress up for the girls. Sadie said she would need ruby slippers too, (of course) and that Liddy could be a munchkin. Ha! How can I say no to that? There's great info and lovely photos over on Keri Made about chicken scratch work on gingham. Now I am going to bed.

I'm not sure what to title this-

The middle child has an incredible sense of the absurd and is our family comedian. She has taken quite a shine to this disturbing babydoll (given to us by eggplant) taken from box out of her mom's basement. It was kind of worn and freaky, so of course Delia takes it everywhere and loves it more than words. The baby is usually the subject of amazing creative scenes, including the one I photographed here and made into a journal for her—increasing the custom swag in our house.

I made the journal at cafe press which was sort of silly because it took forever to come in the mail. I could have just printed out a big photo and glued it on the cover of a blank journal, but oh well. Delia completely freaked out, because, well, it's so stinkin' cool! We never know where we will find her all set up, Delia does it all silently— it's reminding me of the gnome in Amelie, you know? It makes us all very happy.

in which I sound crazy but I think in a good way

During this last long week I got some props in Willamette Week's Best of Portland issue. (scroll down) I didn't realize this until the week was over. It would have made my long week better, but at least I know now and got some copies to give to family, so that's good. I was chosen for the Best Resource for the Obsessively Independent by the editors and I am completely flattered. This whole article is really funny, creative, and off-the-cuff. It's a great slice of Portland for people not from here, if you are interested, and for us locals it's not the usual best-of-Portland type fare at all. Very cool. Thanks WW!

Okay, I am so scattered. Berry cobbler is piping hot and waiting to be eaten for breakfast. I think the biscuit/berry ratio is off. I might have to make a bumper of biscuits on the side, just in case. I am reading trash right now. Too trashy to even blog about, maybe, but I am continuing to read and enjoy Anna Karenina, so I feel cool and smart again about twice a week. I have much more flitting around in my brain like Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which my mom is now quoting (rad), getting some plaid fabric for a 5-minute skirt, cleaning my craft room, and deciding on my quintessential fall shoe purchase—that kind of thing. And baby got a hold of the mouse while I was going through e-mails and deleted a bunch and I can't even find them in the trash (I know this sounds like a dog-ate-my-homework thing, but it's for reals). So, I was trying to reply to some questions and the short answer is it's most likely in my FAQ. Sorry for the lame generic-type response.

Oh, the aprons. Okay, there will be an extension for the Gingham Summer Tie One On apron theme. I have not made one yet and would really like to, so how about having them in by September 1st.

peas and other items

Peas. This was from a few weeks back—I don't even know what we did with them. I think they went in a salad? Or a frittata/quiche thing. But they were good. And the small hands love to shell 'um.

3 new items on the stuff-about-me list:

-I was flattered to be asked for 5 craft blog links over on Venus Zine, so I gave them some along with a random out of focus photo of myself which I was hoping would come of as arty, but I think it's just comes off as out of focus. I have been reading the Crafting a Business with Jenny Heart articles over there and they are really awesome. So much information, really and truly—I can't believe how deep she delves into so many complicated topics.

-I was interviewed a for this nice apron article over on Her Times. Thanks Erica!

-I am super excited to see my barrette/pouch project in the glossy pages of the newest Sew Simple magazine (Volume 10). There's a ton of quick and easy sewing projects in this issue, check it out!

window shopping

Window shopping at La Garconne. These are all from the sale section.

Both these dress have such great belts. Belts make me happy. These dresses make me very happy.

This is so flippin cute and this gathered bit at the bottom would look so bad on me. Just horrible. These wonderful pieces made me all excited—so I went out and bought 4 plain t-shirts at Old Navy. Sweet. Same thing, right?

Okay, 5-minute skirt show and tell soon. I am beat! The 2 b-days parties were a blast (Liddy is 1! and Grammie is a bit older than 1!) and I am so tired—wow. I can't believe my babe is 1. I just can't. Now I need to sleep for 3 days. I wish someone would get on that sleep pod invention I keep thinking about that I just made up. I should not be writing right now. Pete is at his gig and I am punchy and not making sense. My favorite time! Mmmm. Sleep pod.

house of swag

I have always had an affinity for custom made merch. Especially of the family variety. It must be in my blood. We had matching family t-shirts in the 70s (baseball style—white with green sleeves) that had the iron-on words "Karol Klan." Awesome. I realize now the clan spelling with a K was probably not the wisest decision. It was meant to be a play on our last name—an alliteration type thing—not an association with, you know, The Klan. Double awesome. This was all my dad's doing, who loved labeling things. By things, I mean everything, like our t-shirts. We had a tape label maker that was used constantly, especially on cassette tapes. It was the kind with the red or black tape and the type would emboss in white. I can't find any online right now to show. Now I want one. (Grammie, do we still have our label maker and did we keep any of the t-shirts? And was it really Klan with a K?)

So, I wish I could say this is the first mug I have had made with our child's photo on it, but it's not. It's not even the second. Or the third. Pete isn't as enamored of these as I am. He likes them fine but he doesn't immediately think "That picture of Liddy with the cheerio stuck to her face with snot is so gross and cute, let's make that into a mug!" the way I do. I need to remind him that his own Pete-doing-kung-fu mug I made for him 12 years ago is a prize prize possession of his now. There is something truly funny and crazy about using a mug with your own photo on it. Now I want family pencils. I'm the only Karol in our immediate family, the girls have Pete's last name, so I will have to think about the wording. Blair, didn't you make custom pencils awhile back, or was it your genius husband? I am link lazy.

I made the mug here. I just clicked on the site directly from flickr to add the photo. Super easy.

randomisms (with no photo!!)

Things I need to list so I don't forget later:

-The Tie On One apron theme, Havana Nights, is due Monday!! I have a feeling I will be a little late with the new theme and gallery this time around, so thanks in advance for your patience. I'm also behind on updating the aprons sellers list, I will get on that pronto.

-There is a cool event here in Portland happening over at Twisted with Susan and Diane celebrating the newest issue of CRAFT Magazine! It's this Sunday, June 1st.

-I am super excited about Goodreads. I haven't made my profile public yet, but wow, I sure love me some good books and this seems so cool. I have been in book groups for over 10 years (but I'm not in one now) and have always wanted a quick and easy way to review and document what I have read. For some reason a simple pencil and paper hasn't cut it for me, I don't know why. But so cool we can all recommend books to each other this way! yippee!

-These kids clothes are so simple and dreamy—lots of cool inspiration. (Found via Lena's cool blog.)

-And to recap on older posts, I have not used my new pressure cooker yet. I did make homemade corn tortillas, twice. They were good but not photo worthy. I also think they were a bit too think. I need to try again soon.

-Camellia, the lovely Portland shop full of natural cosmetics and the like, has a new online shop! and a blog! So cool.

I have noticed that I overuse exclamation points when I am actually very tired! ha!

a little bit of a sugar crash, but oh well.

My birthday was wonderful. Pete and the girls made this amazing cake—a basic yellow cake with 1/2 cup almond meal (from Trader Joes) replacing a 1/2 cup of the regular flour and adding 1/4 tsp almond extract. With the chocolate espresso frosting—I was in heaven. The frosting recipe is from this cheat sheet. My amazing family came for a little shindig to help with much needed yard beautification and my mother-in-law brought the summer pudding. So very good. I just finished the last piece for breakfast. It rained, but not the whole time. And now I need to get off my sugar trip again. Thank god there is a ton of fruit in the house.

I received this little candle holder as well. I want 3 more now—I think the girls each need their own. Oh, and that guy we live with too, I guess he should have one—so make that 4.

My new keds. I think I like them even better than the one shoe lost yellow pair, so there you go.

new shoes and links

My new shoes, purchased after Action Hero Melissa and Mariko got theirs but I didn't really know that yet. I sort of did, but I was already decided on them before I found out they had seen them too, so although it seems like I copied them, I only 1/2 did. So there. Look at the long second toe of mine?! My toes are the naked ones. They now have light pink nails—for that hour of sun we got last week. According to a reliable source (summer camp) the longer second toe means I am either like Jesus or a werewolf, or possibly both. I know I have mentioned this before. The shoes are Kenneth Cole Reaction and Happy B-day Melissa!

I'm feeling the book/paper love very strong right now. Here are some links that are making me crazy.

-The amazing art books from Nappa books (via Leno Corwin)
-Best idea ever via d. sharp
-Wonderful fabric college and hints on using Photoshop from Elista (her blog is amazing, be prepared to hang out)

randoms.

I recently purchased a lovely ceramic box from Fruitflypie for this lady's birthday (belated) and why didn't I get 2? Or 3? They would have been perfect Mother's Day gifts. I need them all. And an owl container, too.

2 days ago I wasn't going to write about multiple subjects and now my brain is exploding. Here's a list of things.

-I am still searching for the right pressure cooker. I am thinking at least 7 quarts because with beans, you can only fill the cookers half way. I also want one that's not aluminum and that has no telflon. This is proving more difficult than I thought. Once again, thank you for all the feedback about beans and pressure cookers. I will not let you down! I am actually thinking of making a video when I find one, so the explosion will be documented.

-I just saw this wonderful tutorial on making a super simple book from Photojojo. It's awesome.

-Here's a very clear easy to read post on exactly how to use baking soda instead of shampoo. There is a whole world out there on this topic, who knew?

a happy sunday

Baby and I had a wonderful afternoon out with an eggplant, a black apple, and her lovely beau. After buying way too many types of socks, knee highs and arm warmers, we had a bite at Caffee Pallino. The grapefruit gelato was divine.

Bagel and cream cheese.

Fancy ding dong, called something else, but come on, it's a fancy ding dong.

Biggest cup of coffee ever. And yes, Emily is super nice, funny, and down to earth, and crazy cute.

desserts and misc.

These milk chocolate cookies are from that cookie book. They were divine. Not my first choice, but the girls wanted them, so we made a batch and I was surprised at how good they were. They were like cookie brownies. I was thinking about getting all crazy sick with these and putting ice cream between 2 of them and freezing them—but I think it would kill me. Still, it's a good idea. The extra cookies went to Pete's office because of my sugar thing. The girls don't really care, they are much more about salty foods.

Here's my favorite dessert right now. Pineapple and orange with a few cashews and a little coconut.

Middle child loves it too. So, significantly reducing sugar in my diet has been awesome. I have a nibble of something sweet on the weekends, and an occasional maple-syrup-on-yogurt type breakfast, but the random sweet thing I really don't miss. I do, however, need to bake so Pete's office (and friends and sometimes the random person at the door) reap the benefits.

Random things:

-I was alerted to the errata page for the Artesian Bread in 5 Minutes book I keep posting about. (Thanks Mari!). Yes, indeed, get on over there, 'cause it's 2 packets of yeast, not 1 1/2,  and sometimes a 40 min rest should really be more like 1 1/2 hour.

-We are thrilled that our almost 10 month old Liddy is now playing the games we had forgotten about that were so loved by our other children, games such as I'm Gonna Put This On You, I'm Gonna Put This Behind My Head, and the old standby, This is My Hat. Hysterical. She might be our funniest baby yet.

-Um this shoe site 6pm, sister site to the dangerous Zappos is haunting me. Watch out and don't do what I did, which is buy euro kids shoes super cheap (and pay shipping) and then have them not fit the kids (and have to pay shipping to return them) yeah, I suck. But, for adult non-growing feet, it could be awesome.

-In my continuing research of Blackwork inspiration, I found this great shop, Pinpals, where I snatched up this delightful pin. I can't get out needle and thread right now, but I can shop! Click, click.

new spring make-up

I ordered some samples from Afterglow, a mineral powder make-up company that was rated really low on Skin Deep (low meaning the least creepy) and am really happy with what I got. Also—how cute! Samples! I love that. I spent $20 on all these, so it wasn't the cheapest thrill, but I got quite a few powders and eye shadows, lipsticks and lip glosses to play with, and even though they are in tiny sample size containers, they all are good for several applications, depending on how sloppy I am. The face powders are great, as is the blush—

although I saw myself later and realized I had put the blush on like a crazy person. (I was driving. I am bad) The eye shadows come in a matte and a glittery style, the glittery one being more popular around here, of course. I am on the hunt for a good green eye shadow. Like really green, not a taupe-y green, and I didn't see one in this line and the Josie Maran one I bought a bit back isn't green enough. Anyhoo, I love this stuff so far. Afterglow makes pencils too, which they don't have samples of, but I am curious.

Unrelated: 2 videos I have been watching over and over again because they make me laugh so hard. This one, can't stop singing this song! And this SNL skit, which kills me.

new shoes not on my feet

These new shoes came home with me last week. The girls approved and they were significantly on sale at Halo, a dangerous wonderful shoe shop here in Portland. (They have a bunch of pairs here, too.) It's amazing how fast I can buy something like shoes with 3 girls in tow. In about 2 minutes, if you are wondering.They are Mariana by GOLC and are vintage reproductions. I love them so much. The girls approved and the 3 year old said they were much prettier than what I was currently wearing, which were probably black clogs. I am showing them here because really, where am I going to wear these? I mean, I will wear them, I know I will, but right now, with parks and the library being the 2 main places I seem to go to, they aren't getting much street time. I put them away with my other heels, and was shocked to see how many pairs I have. What the? Considering I haven't worked outside of the house for over 5 years, I feel I might have too many pairs. But then, sometimes I feel as if I have very few shoes, so obviously I am delusional and can't be trusted. Oh, and I was going to take a photo of them on my feet, but that peep toe there is too revealing and my toes need a bit of work. We don't need to see my toes right now, right? It's still winter after all.

That reminds me, I was researching a bit back on non-creepy nail polish and nail polish remover and there is a new kind (new to me, anyway) I want to check out by Acquarella. I haven't seen it in person or tried it, but I am very curious. Okay, after reading all this info on their site, I am interested, but it seems like a lot of steps? Or maybe I just react to too many words. . . I can't tell. No, I take that back, it's a lot of steps. I also need to try other non-creepy brands as well, like Honeybee Gardens.

early spring for a few days

Thanks for the sweet comments about all that stuff! I feel very grateful and a bit sheepish and really tired, actually. I have been getting these low-level headaches this week, I can tell I need to rest and veg-out with a movie (or 3.) God, remember the days when you could sit and watch 2 movies in a row? I don't. I wish I could do that now. Man, that would be awesome.

Okay, we went out of town last weekend to the coast and it was amazing! Warmish and so sunny. Oregonians know how rare this is. It's a big deal. This sand worm here has two teeth and is trouble. Watch out.

It was warm, but not hot, about 55 and sunny, but my 2 older girls are no coat wearers and this middle child seems impervious to cold of any kind. I am refusing to believe that running around without enough clothes at the beach on had anything to do with the fevers this week. Of course little miss no pants here didn't even get sick.

a few items from the brain cupboard:

-I am searching for easter chocolate/candy molds now. I am overly excited about this.

-I am no longer buying canned beans (she said confidently) after soaking and cooking batches this week and freezing them, I have had enough of the mushy expensive canned variety. The homemade cooked ones are so much better, firmer, and tasty. I will report back on this new development.

-I am going to start making my own corn tortillas. I need a press, but then I am all over it.  I also have put on hold about 4 Rick Bayless cookbooks from the library. I am excited. Boy, he can do some yoga! I find this freaky and funny and kind of weird.

-The Easter dresses have been cut out.

nature n' stuff

We had a lovely morning adventure walk this week at Tryon Creek State Park. I love that place. It was a sunny day, but quite misty, cold, and mysterious in the forest. The girls were on the look out for fairies and possibly talking wolfs. They are heavy into fairy tales right now. I told Sadie the real version of The Little Mermaid recently, which she prefers to the happy one, of course. Tragedy is way more exciting. We are however, editing out the beheading of the suitors in the 12 Dancing Princesses. Pete thinks that punishment is unnecessarily harsh. I figure, if a bunch of dudes are trying to find out where these 12 dancing princesses are going off to at night, being beheaded if they failed would be a huge motivator. He says it would severely reduce the amount of suitors taking up the challenge.

Some things making me happy and/or excited:

-Wee Wonderful's newest Stitchette is available. Quilting Bee?! Gads, they are cute!

-This fabulous object by decoylab has made me $28 poorer in the best way (Thanks sarah, you are a terrible influence.)

-The Small Object has clothespin doll kits!! Good lord! With the face already printed on, no more swearing at the horrible wood grain/bleeding pen disaster.

-Who could have dreamed I'd have reason to bring up the Shatner again this month? I just read about this.

-I was thinking about the garden and instead of working in the yard and starting some much needed clean-up, I sat on my hiney in front of the computer and found this great gardening site, Heavy Petal, instead.

stuff that looks like other stuff

I love these cups from crate and barrel. I snoozed and didn't buy the larger ones and now they only have these petite (but not as useful) espresso size. Still, I really dig them. The whole ceramic-looking-like-a-disposable thing kills me, like these containers at yoyo ceramics, thanks sarah. These porcelain dishes that are cast from take-out containers as molds are stellar as well.

And how much do I love The Curiosity Shoppe anyway? A whole lot. Much time is spent there cruising around and also reading their shop blog. I love it when cool shops have blogs. And restaurants, too, like Little Red Bike Cafe. Oh, and speaking of Portland restaurants, we had a lovely dinner at Cava the other night. It's Amy and Randy's new restaurant.You can see their drool worthy menu here—please get the profiteroles. Please. It's the nicest place to hang out, I highly recommend it. And they have a kids menu too, although the only kid we had with us isn't eating grilled cheese yet and thankfully was asleep most of the meal.

to decorate my head.

It's so hard not shopping for myself during the holidays, especially when it's supporting friends. So easy to rationalize. Like these, which are mine now. Come on. . . Pink! Glitter! (See where Sadie gets it?)

I love these, too.

 

Green + brown = happy good time

And these are just awesome. I can't afford bakelite, these are the next best thing.

All these creations are made by my lovely dear friend Kelly Johnston. She has a cool blog too. And these prices can't be any better. (Jezz Kelly, you should raise them!) And what cool gift boxes!

happy baby love!

We have a new niece and are so thrilled!! I love seeing the family grow. Pete's parents now have 5 grandkids in 5 years—not too shabby.

I was gifted these super cute cookie boxes and had to fill them up, you know, with cookies for the new family of four. I had a feeling this surprise baby was going to be a girl—so the pink box it was packed early (not the red) to test myself. Ha! These cookies are a bit big for the box, but I was able to cram in 6 large ones. That little card back there is from my stash of flippin' adorable baby cards. They come with little glassine envelopes and I never see them around (I got my at Spoiled Rotten in Portland) so when I get the chance I snatch them up. I need these stickers!

Nothing like the smell of a day old baby!! Yipeee!

sunrise

When I went to get the paper this is what was in the sky.

soap.

I have been on a pampering kick lately. I don't get out much now-a-days with the babies and all, and when I do, it seems to be only to the grocery store or the library, so I have been trying to do little things for myself that feel good, like buying new red lipstick and other small indulgences.

After looking on etsy at handmade soap (my god, there are so many listings) I decided on these 3 bars by Purusha and wow, oh wow. They are just lovely. The scents are amazing, the bars are the perfect size, they came quickly and wonderfully packaged, and I think I will pick up more for gifts. They are so minimal and wonderful. She provides a ton of info in her shop about how to store them, how they are packaged, and the process that goes into making them, it's a pleasure to read about it all. And now I don't have to contemplate making my own, which I was, until I came to my senses.

And speaking of great packaging-I am in love with this brilliant idea here over at A Little Hut.

new make-up

I am thrilled with my new purchases of lipsticks, mascara, and green eyeshadow from Josie Maran cosmetics. I have been waiting for this all natural/non-creepy (no parabens, etc.) line to come out for awhile and am not disappointed. It has swell recycled packages and absolutely no smell. I haven't seen the stats for the line over at the Skin Deep yet, but I am very pleased.

On my lips is the color Desirous, which is all that. Notice how much less pink it really looks on. I am a lipstick junkie and this lipstick is light and perfect with a ton of color. The 2 reds I got are right on time and I feel all glam and good about not giving my babies lead-y kisses. I feel more like myself with the bright red on and have missed it a lot. Mariko tried this on too and it looked just perfect on her. She also gave it the thumbs up. (And probably gave me cooties, too.) I think this line is only at Barney's right now or on the website.

In other random make-up news:

-In skincare. . . .I switched from Jurlique (which I had been using for 5 years) to the much less expensive and much easier to find MyChelle about 5 months ago and am super happy. The line is now 20% off at Wild Oats until the 27th, BTW, for all you Portland people. I love it a ton, especially the serums.

-Burt's Bees was just purchased by Clorox (via Treehugger)

-I have been using Giovanni on my hair and I like it a lot. Again, it's all good and not creepy, but like MyChelle, and the Josie Maran cosmetics, is hip and not too crunchy. You know what I mean. Also at Wild Oats/Whole Foods.

-I am loving Camellia Pure Beauty on Fremont. It's an all natural beauty bar and it's just a pleasure to shop there. I have already done some damage there and I am telling the men in my life to get gift certificates from there for the holidays. She carries small handmade products as well as bigger lines--very very cool.

**And totally unrelated, I have a new interview over at craft::boom all about the business side of what I do. (ha! I find this funny, it's sort of an un-business advice type interview-I am mental) Thanks Lisa!

a dry fall

There has been no rain here for a bit now and none in the upcoming forecast. It feels weird to have it be so dry here, but really nice because we get to see the leaves change. Usually it justs dumps rain and then the leaves just fall into a mushy pile in about 2 days. This is our beloved smoke tree we planted given to us by Grammie when we moved into this house. It's 5 years old now and just amazing this time of year.

Random bits:

-The Tie One On gallery is up and it's stellar. The new theme is posted as well and not due until February 1, to give us a bit of extra time during the holidays.

-I finally saw Blades of Gory and am buying it.

-I was very flattered to be interviewed by megan of not martha over at the design*sponge guest blog. I am in great company, please take a look at all the interviews--thanks megan!

-I am loving this jacket so very much.

-I am loving these dresses for the girls very very much.

-I saw some of the new MSL crafts christmas line at Michael's and it good. To good. These will be have to be mine soon.

birthday part II

So, I have a 5 year old! Here she is patiently waiting for me to stop taking flippin' photos. The bonnet is way cute, but more popular with the middle child. Sadie is all about the puzzles and that's what the last 48 hours has been about.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to have her friend/family party a week after her actual b-day, but now I wonder. I am tired. She is not, but I am. . .I did have a stroke of genius and planned it off site at a great pizza place, so at least part of my brain was working. There will be face painting and games and the theme is rainbow (good girl!!)

Her cake from the actual day. My kids don't eat cake, not a lick, just ice cream, so this was more for fun and candles and wish-making. . . and um, Pete and I (and my bro, who has the same b-day as Sadie)

Thank you cards ready to go.

nice ink.

I have gotten some really nice Bend-the-Rules Sewing ink lately. This one here is from the newest Sew Simple magazine. It's a great issue with a really helpful section on sewing with knits--worth checking out for sure. If you click on these images, you can see bigger photos that I think you can read from, if you have super-human vision.

And here's a nice-shout out from the fine folks at Country Living. Their October issue is always my favorite, Halloween being my favorite holiday and all. They have a woodland inspired craft project in this issue that is making me all nutty (sorry) that I need to try as soon as it feels less like summer around here. I need to go foraging for sticks and moss right away.

And back in July, a nice blurb in the Arizona Republic showed up. I never know when Bend-The-Rules Sewing will show up in local papers, The Stuffed Squirrel was kind enough to let me know, thank you!

I also got tiny mention in the newest Blueprint (You can see it here, I'm #56, and wow, I never realized how much of their magazine you can read online.) I'm thrilled, especially because I am getting increasingly stalker-ish and weird about this magazine and their blog, Bluelines.

Thanks you all! And don't forget to check out the amazing creations over at the Bend-The-Rules Sewing flickr group. The discussion topics are brimming with tips and good links, too.

back and full of snot.

We just got back from a lovely 5 days at the coast. It went by so fast, I wish we were still there. (Unlike camping last month, which, while being fun, was the longest 2 days ever.) We came home tired with a ton of dirty clothes, green snot, coughs, and low grade fevers. I am making a new soup tonight to take the edge off, I will report back. It involves kale and I am very excited.

One of the highlights of the week was our trip to the Port of Toledo Wooden Boat Show. (Great poster, see the link) It was so cool-- crafts for the kids, (making wooden boats, of course) and face painting. After eating yummy BBQ at this hole-in-the wall place we saw some people actually making small wooden boats. It turns out, you can sign-up, and then for a mere $300, get all the wood supplies, the help, and space to make a wooden boat over the 3-day show. Then you seal it and launch it on Sunday. It looks like it could fit 2 people. . .So cool!! We have to do this next year. (Obviously, it's not this boat here. . .)

I read trashy magazines (trouser jeans are cool, but I am NOT excited by the brightly colored jeans thing) and found this awesome nautical jewelry in Lucky (oh, that magazine is so bad, yet I can't put it down. Curses on the renters who left it at the house last.) But seriously, I need some of this great rope jewelry. I feel so boat-y now after our trip, I need it to complete my look.

Up this week:

-getting over this this horrible cold. Lots of cranky tears already today, and it's not even 10AM. Wow.

-a tooth filling for me tomorrow morning. . . . gads.

- black bean and squash enchiladas (I am trying to make 2 new dinners a week, rather than the standard stuff)

-inappropriate use of the word, nano (Look for it here!)

-delivery #2 on the bonnet pattern from the printers which came in last week, without folding or scoring-dang it!