angry chicken

holiday gifts and such

These are some of my favorite items from Stubby Pencil Studio, an excellent online kids art supply shop which I have blogged about before—I just love their inventory. They have items I haven't seen anywhere else. (And here's a handy 10% discount code: ACSAVE10)

I snapped this photo before the gifts got tucked away in a box. Note to self—don't let the girls see the blog this month.

Star shaped crayons!! I drew these book covers and printed them onto card stock to make blank books to go with the nice art supplies. They say "This Very Important Book Belongs To:"

And "Mildly Interesting Secrets Belonging To:"

While I was at it with my brush pen (yes, the one from Jet Pens!) I made a fill-in-gift list for myself. I love drawing, scanning, and printing so much. I just want to play copy shop all day. Remember the stinky ditto machines?! I used to beg my teachers to turn that crank and make copies. Were they actually called mimeographs? I don't even know. But they stank to high heaven.

Hey there Apron Makers:

I am super-slammed this week and will need a little extra time to get the Peppermint Candy aprons up for Tie On One gallery. They look amazing! I will be back from Seattle on Friday sometime and will get the gallery up over the weekend. Thanks so much!

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!

The leftover mashed potato gnocchi was good.

leftovers.

Happy day after Turkey Day!

I am totally going to make gnocchi with the leftover mashed potatoes that Grammie made—which were crazy good. I'm going to use this recipe here. I'm not sure why I haven't tried this before with leftover mashed potatoes. It seems genius. AND I'm also going to try it with the left over sweet potatoes that I took home, which are whipped already with egg and cream, so I'm thinking all I need to add is a little flour. I saw a similar recipe here which has ricotta, but I'm going to leave that out and just go for it—cause' I'm crazy like a fox.

The newest issue of Small is here. I flippin' love this online kid's mag so much.

speaking of chocolate—

I was the lucky recipient of Blair's chocolates recently and for research purposes, had to eat a lot of it. My findings are as follows: It's crazy good. I like the Ramen Noodle the best, but really they are all so very tasty. Perfect for stocking stuffers (I get a little sick of the standard Toblerone in my stocking every year, you know?) and they are sold at this super-duper wonderful Portland shop, The Meadow (which I have blogged about before) but wait—the Meadow also ships, so do not fret! Might I suggest some salt and this other amazing bar of chocolate to add to your order? These items seem to be what comes home with me every time I go by there.

• And in other chocolate news: I am making and freezing my batches of cookie dough again this year and am reminded why this cookie is a household favorite. (Not with the kids). It's really the only cookie I would make if I had to choose, so that's saying something.
• Unrelated (maybe, depends on your menu) have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
• And truly unrelated (well, not really because I will be giving away some chocolate at the event) I will be in Seattle next Thursday at The Quilting Loft for a book signing, so please come by and say hi! It's December 3rd at 7pm, and I will of course be mentioning this again next week. And possibly I will be mentioning chocolate again, too.
• For real unrelated, the aprons for Tie One On are due soon—the end of November. I have posted the book I will giveaway to one of you lucky apron makers who join in the fun.

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 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.

toy theater out of a moving box

I had two fixations in my head this last month—making a toy theater and making stuff out of old moving boxes from the garage. I made a crown and sword for Halloween out of these boxes and found it so thrilling (just using masking tape and a utility knife) that I immediately starting thinking bigger. I have made small theaters before (and there is a pattern for a cloth one in my first book) and I also had plans to make one using these images, but in the end—I went for a totally homemade one.

I just winged it for the design and started hacking away. What I love about making this out of an old moving box and using no plans, measurements, or even a straight edge to cut with, is that it makes every decision changeable and spontaneous. I really tried hard not to use a ruler, because once it gets too perfect, it loses its charm. I actually was taught to make models this way in architecture school, and it was so liberating. If it's not perfect, it's easier to design, because you aren't worried about taking it apart and making changes. It's a great way for me to work while incorporating the girls' ideas. And, you know, it's just a box—so who cares if it doesn't work out. It was free! And we have plenty more!

Here it is in progress. I kept all the tape on there and painted over it. There is pretty much no glue, just masking tape. I did glue some of the decorative details on toward the end.

And the painting—I won't lie here, acrylic paint and kids freaks me out but tempera wasn't the right choice for this. It's pretty much a stain-type activity, no matter how many wet towels I have on hand. But we did fine. Except the paint on the wall. Oops. I did limit the color choice to one, because then they could all paint and have fun and Mommy didn't get all controlling and freaky. Most crafts I let them have at it, but sometimes not, especially if I am getting all crazy excited about something I have built. They are cool with that, and actually I think it's good for them to respect what I have made and work with me in collaboration every once in a while.

After the two coats of red paint were dry, we added some stickers which I picked up at Michael's. They are self-adhesive borders that I cut apart and stuck on. That's all we bought for this project—we had the red paint, tape, and cardboard box already.

I made slots in the back to hold 3 layers of backdrops. The girls made a Nutcracker set, and I have since made a hanging cloud set. The flooring can change easily with colored paper. The backdrop ideas just keep coming, and it's really cool to see them switch them out and play. The ballet characters are just drawings of theirs I glued to cardstock and added a stander to. This took about 3 days of us all working on it a little bit. So fun. I miss my babies, but it is so wonderful having older kids now who dig this type of stuff. Unbelievable fun.

oh, I love pens.

Here's a cool online shop shout-out:

I got a chance to sample an assortment of items sent to me from Jet Pens and I am so happy with them in that 4th grade school supply way—these are so fun. The girls are partial to gel pens, (these ones erase!) I love white pens on dark paper and also am really happy with the black ink brush pen I tried. Brush pens normally can be very lame, and I love using a brush and real ink, but with the kids around at all times, I just can't deal with the sumi ink clean-up accident waiting to happen. So, I am trilled when I find a good brush pen. I know sampling pens is all the fun, but this online shop is really informative, the owners are super nice, they have a great inventory, and the site is easy to navigate.

There is a flickr group for them too! If you care to peek at pens and ink and stuff. You know how people get about pens!

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!

just some napkins.

 

These are my grandmother's salt and pepper shakers. She had many more sets, but theses are the ones I have. These colors are so her. She found her true design sensibility in about 1965 and never strayed from that aesthetic. I thought they looked lovely with the napkins I made the other day. Serging a stack of fabric squares was the best thing I did that day. So relaxing. I thought (briefly) about serging all my fabric into napkins, to give away as gifts, just so I could keep doing this serging of squares. This sounds insane, but I don't have a ton of fabric (it's true, my stash is really small!) and I get visually tired of fabrics easily, so I am always looking for ways to use it up, clear it out, and move on. Unloading it on friends and on Grammie helps a ton. Grammie never gives up a fabric. She still has fabric scraps from clothes she sewed for me when I was 3. I'm serious.

A few things:

• These rubber stamps are making me really happy—they are drawn by Ward Jenkins. You can buy them at Rubber Soul. (Thanks for the tweet, Claire!)
• There is a new e-book Crafty Tree Trimmings that Diane Gilleland has put together—it looks very cool and some of the profits go to a great cause. Please take a look.
• I was very pleased to find these free Cicely Mary Barker flower fairy coloring pages. They print small (half sheet) but are perfect to keep in my bag when we are out and bored.
• I'm going to re-release an out-of-print Mailorder next week (as a PDF for $8), which I think would be a nice one to have for the holidays. No electricity required for this project! Except to print the PDF.
• I saw Coco avant Chanel this week and liked it a lot. I had heard it was slow moving and Coco was not the most sympathetic of characters. Both were true, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.
• I re-found this Finnish vintage paper doll site from my own archives and am in love with it all over again. Click on the smaller thumbnails and print!

Sincere Shrimp Sandwiches

Sadie is obsessed with peanuts (as am I) and she was given this book recently (thank you Emily) and it's so good on so many levels, I can't stop looking at it.

It's used, this hardback copy is from 1970. Oh, the book design packs a wallop. Outstanding.

It's got a recipe and comic per page.

 

It's taking all my will power to not hide this away. I think I need to get a mommy copy.

Excitement, then tears, then happy times.

This is the wool plaid dress I mentioned I was working on. It's McCall's 5927. All was going well, I loved working on it. I sewed a little in the evening, on weekends, not rushing and really enjoying not starting and finishing a garment in 2 days. I lowered the neckline and added an extra little tab. I was having such a great time. The lining is all hand-sewn into place, all pretty and tidy, the invisible zipper went in perfectly and the pockets are lined in such a nice way. I was getting ready to hem the dress and then I cut a hole in it.

A hole, actually 2 holes, because it was folded, about 3 inches from the bottom on the dress. This was after I had trimmed it, so the hem would now have to be 3 inches shorter than I had planned.

Um, yeah, so saying there was tears and swearing and an all-around freak-out is an understatement. I kept telling myself it was just a dress, but I just felt like such an ass. I cut a hole in it! And it wasn't a patching/workable hole. It was a big horrible oddly shaped hole. A dress-wrecking hole. Through tears, I hemmed it as low as I could and tried it on to see if it could be saved.

Here's a photo of it too short. I had to serge the edge because I didn't even have enough to fold up. Now, I know I could have kept it like this, but it was so NOT what I had envisioned, way too short and too 1980s and really not a good dress when picking up kids and all that, I just was so sad when it was in this state.

So here was the fix, which as these situations sometimes go, if I am lucky and extra clever— I really like better than the original pattern. I am so happy with how this turned out. I had enough fabric (I always buy extra) to cut a strip on the bias, and then added a side slit and some bras buttons for a detail to match the buttons on the neckline. I actually copied the cap sleeve construction and folded the strip on the bias, so it's double thick, and this allowed me to skip the dreaded hemming on the bias situation, because the hem is actually a folded edge, dig?

And here we are all layered and much warmer and very happy with how this turned out. Whew. Thank you family and friends for your support with the drama.

Kolache!

This is a kolache from Happy Sparrow here in Portland and I am now obsessed. I can't recommend this cafe highly enough. They have tasty kolache, great coffee, and are super nice. Baby ate a vegan special and a nutella filled kolache, and I had the same—and then took home one of each kind for weekend munching. So good!!

Thanks to all of you who braved the horrible rain and came out to Bolt last night! That was super fun.

Okay, Miss Delia turns 5 tomorrow, so I need to snap to it. She busy working on her "party flavors" which are really party favors, but I'm not about to correct her, 'cause how awesome is a party flavor?

donut holes.

Details are here and hope you can come by!

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

make your own sewing patterns!

I received a copy of this new sewing book, Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Pattern making Simplified, by Cal Patch (cool name!) and am really impressed. I often recommend Wendy's sewing books for basic garment sewing know-how, but haven't been able to recommend a sewing book that fully covers pattern making. This is that book. Cal explains thoroughly how to draft, alter, and sew garments that will really fit you. She also how teaches how to grade patterns which is what you need to know if you want to make items in multiple sizes.

There are quite a few designs in the book, complete with sewing directions. But, to clarify, this book contains no actual patterns—because you draft them yourself! This book is full of wonderful tips on creating patterns in many different styles—but the look of all the designs (for the most part) is pretty casual and loose. Not a vintage-tailored look, but more a casual-cool look. This makes the fitting issues easier, but also means the overall style of these pieces are sweeter and simpler than your favorite dress on Mad Men.

I have not actually tried any of these designs yet, have any of you? I bet some people are making some dang cool clothes out of this book.

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.

some kind of crazy evil

I found myself over at Polyvore the other day after seeing a lovely photo from Uniform Studio and oh my good lord. Hours, HOURS, can be wasted on this site. It's a drag-and-drop collage fashion-y thing. How's that for a great description? Of course you can click and buy, but I'm not even going to discuss this option. So, sorry, but your day is ruined now. My bad. I spent about 10 minutes on this outfit. The sweater makes it for me. That and the umbrella.Here's a link for each item shown. Action Hero just pointed me to shmotter which is a similar site.

An unrelated but amazing link sent to me by Miss Hayley: Uncle Envelope. This makes me happy about the world.

soup report

Many soups have been made in the last month. The recipes made from Love Soup are as follows:

• Green Soup with Ginger (very good, my favorite so far)
• Green Soup with Sweet Potato and Sage (quite good, but I like the first one better)
• Black Bean and Squash (amazing!! even better the next day.)
• Corn and Cheese Chowder (also amazing!)
• 3-Grain Bread (good. The girls think it's lame, but I love it as toast.)

Relating to food making—a bit back I posted about my favorite kitchen gadgets. One of them was a LamsonSharp Turner.  Several weeks ago the fine people over at LamsonSharp sent me this mini-masher as a thank-you and how I ever lived without it, I know not. I use this new mini-masher for making banana bread, guacamole, potatoes and sweet potatoes in soups—I even use it to partially mash beans sometimes. It's small, fits perfectly in my hand (it's shorter than a wooden spoon) and crazy strong, you can really work it. I never busted out my old masher because it was just too big and a fork, well, kind of sucks when you really need to mash something. It would have been prefect for baby food. So, I am thrilled to have this, needless to say.

From the mind of a 7 year old.

Sadie busted out with these song titles when asked about her forthcoming music project she has planned. Unbelievable. There are so many favorites here—I actually am speechless. Delia's is equally amazing. I will share it later. It's mostly the about the subject of the last song on this list.

 

pencil skirt with a sassy zipper

  

I needed a pencil skirt. A red wool one with an exposed zipper and it needed to be longer than the 1980s minis that seem to be all over the place right now. I wanted it kind of long and a bit frumpy, but actually very cool and naughty, because of the industrial exposed zipper and its tightness. So, that was the deal and I made it last week, and it worked out great. 

Here's the sassy back. There were exposed metal zippers at Anthropologie last spring and summer and was anxious to try using one, especially after being obsessed with invisible zippers for so long. I used a method very similar to this one (click on the exposed zipper link) except I included a seam below the zipper so I could make a back vent. The fabric is a lovely red wool from Mill Ends (All wool and lining is 25% off until the end of October and Bolt is having a big sale this weekend, too.) and the skirt pattern was just an altered classic a-line that I have made several times from Wendy's book. She gives dimensions and tips on making the a-line into a pencil skirt. Very simple. This one is lined and I am so happy I spent the extra $$ and used a rayon lining and not a super cheap polyester lining—which feels like plastic wrap to me. I mean, if I'm going to pay the money for really nice wool, why use icky lining against my skin?

This is the type of sewing I love. When I am making tailored clothes it's not super cheap compared to Forever 21 or Target, but I'm comparing it to high-end designer pieces I could never afford in a million years so I feel like I am saving loads of money, if that makes sense and I don't freak out about the baby and child smears that are already on this skirt. I will tell you (in anticipation of questions about it) the blouse I am wearing has that same gathering on the back that I just did that tutorial for (it's from Forever 21, actually) and the tights are from J.Crew (my favorite pair this fall) and the shoes are Miz Mooz. Just in case you are wondering.

Next up I am working a plaid wool dress, which is about 65% done and looking good. Although I realize now it matches our flannel bed sheets almost exactly. At least I am consistent.

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! 

super easy blouse alteration

 

I have been altering my purchased (and some home-sewn) blouses lately with elastic in the back. It's super easy, adds some cute ruching, and makes the fit a little bit more formal—which is nice, I think. Especially when I am not in the mood to tuck in my blouse, which is often. Here's the front of the blouse, on the left, and then the altered back, which used to just lie flat, but now has two rows of small gathers between the back darts.

I made a little tutorial on how to do this. I'm a little spacey sounding in this and seem to be forgetting words. You know how it goes.

**update: I swapped in new photos so you can actually see the blouse on. It actually looks exactly the same in front as it did pre-altering—just the back looks different. Of course, don't try this technique if your blouse is tight to begin with.

Scones and a van.

These were made last week and I thought about baking only 4, then freezing the other 4. But, I didn't. So 8 were eaten in one day. Some were taken by Pete to work, but many were not. They must be eaten the day they are baked, I think. It's a recipe I altered years ago from this little scone book, Simply Scones that I think I actually got when I was still in high school. It's not really a book anymore—but pages falling out of a cover. I think I have made every scone in this book.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Scones (altered slightly by me)

Pre-heat oven to 400ºF

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons butter (chilled)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients and add the butter in small chunks. Cut in the butter using your favorite method, I like a pastry cutter. Add the liquids and stir just a bit. Add the chocolate chips and the nuts and stir more. It will make a mess with little shape. Dump onto a cookie sheet and pat into 2 circles—these should be thick, about 1/2 high. Cut the circles into quarters and separate, making 8 scones. Brush with milk or an egg wash if you want to and fancy sugar if you are feeling extra special. Bake 17-19 minutes and then let them cool at least 10 minutes (this will be hard to do).

Heaven, I tell you. I love Oregon hazelnuts with a passion. Worth every penny. They are the first item I get at the farmers market.

Unrelated but extremely important:

I have a huge soft spot in my heart for Portland's own zine shop, Reading Frenzy. They have been around forever, have a great shop, support local artists and writers, and their existence just makes me happy about the world. Chloe, the owner, needs some help converting a van to make it wheelchair accessible for her son Henry and there are many things we can do to help.

1. Here's info about Wheels for Henry and a bit about Reading Frenzy.
2. There is a 2 week online craft bazaar where a percentage of proceeds will go to Wheels for Henry. You can sign up to participate as a vendor. Here's a list of participating vendors so far.
3. Please shop at this event! To shop, click on a vendor listed here, look around the sites and buy something. For convenience you can also sign up for the Wheels for Henry RSS feed. This event runs from Sunday, October 18 - Saturday, October 31.      
4. You can donate directly. There's a Paypal button at Wheels for Henry.
5. Here's the blog and facebook page.

that silly pumpkin head

These silly pumpkin heads were made by the girls a few days ago. I was drawing blank pumpkins and then different eyes and mouths and thought it would be fun to cut them out and stick them on—there's a creepy hodge-podge weirdness to these that I love. The girls just cut them out haphazardly, stuck them on with a glue stick, and then colored them in. Brilliant!

So, not like you all couldn't just draw your own, but here's a handy PDF file for you to print if you are so inclined. It was really fun having a stack of these to cut up and glue and color—I don't think we are done yet. Enjoy!

These are for personal use only, not for resale—and I know you all know that and would never be uncool, but I actually saw a free tutorial I made a bit back being sold by someone on Etsy. They also lifted several other tutorials by other bloggers, but it's all closed down now, thank God. So, I thought I'd mention it here, just in case.

screenprinting on fabric made easy (really!)

So, back when I was researching different screen printing methods for Bend the Rules with Fabric, I stumbled upon a product made by EZScreenPrint. I was looking for something that worked like a bigger, better Print Gocco, and wasn't sure anything out there existed, but then I found it. This method of screen printing on fabric requires no photo emulsion, no wooden frame, the screens are easily cleaned and very durable and the screen is burned by sunlight. That's about 100 reasons to celebrate as far as I'm concerned. The fabric here, which is also featured in my book when I describe how to use this cool product, was printed using this method.

I am not affiliated with EZScreenPrint, so was thrilled when they contacted me to offer my book readers a discount on their screens and printing supplies. It's quite affordable already—but every bit helps. This discount is for a minimum order of $50. You might want to go in on this with a friend so you can split the cost and have fun trying this together. You can get your discount code right here.

There are some examples of using this screen printing product in the Bend the Rules with Fabric flickr group, like this cute one from Hillary. Please add yours to the group if you try this!

More about my book and book type stuff-

• I have a 2nd book signing and little lecture, Q&A, what-all, coming up at Bolt,—Thursday, November 5th at 7:00. I will write about this again, but I just wanted to mention it now. Hopefully you all can come out for that.

• I am 99% sure I will also have a booksigning in Seattle in December, just finalizing some details on that one. I really hope my Seattle friends will be able to hang!

• There is a project from the book complete with directions and all that on The Storque How-Tuesday— and it's one of my favorites. Take a peek and try it if you can. It's an easy reusable lunch bag. Quite handy!

• (Unrelated) I have a new banner up (spooky!) and I saw Zombieland last night and found it very entertaining.

penmanship

The girls love tracing and practicing letters and I found this great site that allows you to write a short phrase and generate a practice worksheet instantly.

 

So we made some. A whole lot, actually.

 

They have been providing us with quite a bit of entertainment. There are several styles of handwriting to choose from and we can't seem to stop making them.

Random items:

• In the disgusting but very thrilling category—I used a tip from FOODday (in our local newspaper, The Oregonian) and made a fruit fly trap. It's mashed up fruit in a small bowl with a little apple cider vinegar on top. You cover it with plastic wrap and punch little holes on top and the fruit flies can get in, but not out. It works very well and is so gross!

• Boomerang, that cool kids podcast I mentioned a bit back, now has an entire full length episode available for FREE on their site. Very cool.

• I am loving this pincushion by SeaPinks a whole lot. All of her items are just lovely.

Autumnal Activities

We did make quite a few of the seasonal crafts for Autumnal Equinox I mentioned a few weeks ago. Here's the corn husk dolls. They were really fun and really easy. Kind of addictive, actually. Little corn husk babies in little blankets were made, too.

We are working on a bonnet for this one-

 

Here's a simple straw wreath form with items from the yard—all held together with a low-temp hot glue gun (the only kind I use because I always, always burn myself.) The grape cake I linked to has not been made yet, but I really want to try it. I might even try it this week. The most popular activity was hiding little acorn charms in the forest and then providing maps. Really—anything hidden with a map is very popular around here. Like a stapler. Or a washcloth. We do this indoors and out. And now they are getting so good at reading the maps! The best are the maps we make for baby—which is just a drawing of something lying on the floor. Then we laugh at her.

And another item of interest:

Check out these local crafty/handmade events! I got an e-mail from a crafter and these events need support—so send some local love over there. As much as I love Etsy, it's really great to meet real live people, too.

Crafty Wonderland Oct. 11, 11am-4pm
Doug Fir (basement)
830 E. Burnside St.
www.craftywonderland.com

Hip Happening Oct 17, 11am-5pm
Sellwood Masonic Lodge
7126 SE Milwaukie Ave.

that soup cookbook I was talking about—

This book hasn't left my hands in the last 48 hours. It's that cookbook I was writing about a bit back, Love Soup, by Anna Thomas—and it's better than I had even hoped for. They have a stack at Powell's, for you Portland folks. That's where I bought my copy.

It's got 160 soup recipes (almost half are vegan) and then the added bonus— there are chapters with wonderful breads and rolls, seasonal side salads, and lovely desserts in the back. It's organized by season, which I love. No photos—but really, soups aren't the most photogenic of foods. She also puts together a few sample menus (all the recipes are in the book, with the page numbers, which is so handy). Here's one that looks very tasty to me right now:

• black bean and squash soup
• oatmeal molasses bread
• red cabbage and apple salad
• greek yogurt with honey and walnuts
• roasted persimmons

Yum and yum and yum. My girls probably won't eat any of this. Well, the baby might. I don't really cook for them. I cook for Pete and I. I try to serve them what we eat first and then deal with whatever happens. I figure that's the only way they will ever try new stuff—and then I don't freak out about making grilled cheese and mac & cheese for every meal.

Unrelated:

The Tie One On apron gallery is up—Mad about Plaid! Please take a gander. And the new theme is set. It's due the beginning of December, for those of you who want to play along. I feel like I have about 100 other things to mention and link to—but they are all slipping out of my brain and I can't catch them. I am very excited to see Whip it. I know that.

Jacket for Sadie, too.

Sadie's jacket was finished for her birthday—which was this week, with time to spare. You can see the lining peeking out of the sleeve there and the matching sketchbook. This pattern was not the same as Delia's jacket. This one was made from Simplicity 2876. It's made of 100% wool melton, purchased locally at Mill Ends. It's not as soft and cozy as Delia's which is a wool/cashmere blend, but it's still pretty dreamy. It wasn't super fun to make, although it's been long enough now I don't remember what the swearing was about. I love that—when the frustration memories in a project fade. I think the collar was fussy perhaps, or there was some pleating agitation. I did love making the sleeve bands. I love that detail on jackets.

I always try to slip in buttons from Great Grandma Burchie's button tin in my clothes sewing projects, especially for the girls. It would be their Great-Great Grandmother, actually. I know my Grandmother's buttons are mixed in too—she gave the tin to me years ago, before she passed away, not to my Mom. I remember Mom telling me with a smile, when she asked Grandma why she didn't get the tin, Grandma replied "I don't recall you mending much." Sadie's jacket has 8 of these buttons, all shades of white and cream. None of them match, which I love. Now I add my buttons to the tin as well, so when the girls get the tin passed on to them, it will have four generations of buttons in it. I will admit I sometimes buy clothes with amazing buttons just to have the extras for the tin—so when the girls find them years later, I can remind them which dress it came from.

Happy birthday, sweet girl. I absolutely can't believe you are 7. But you are. And the crazy cute clogs I got you (which you don't know about yet) will look so stinkin' cute with this jacket, it's killing me.

Re-issue of Mailorder #4! The Mudflap Hat & Halloween Decor

I'm very pleased to make available (just in time for Halloween decorations and the approaching of cooler weather which might require a new hat) the re-issue of the original Mailorder #4! It contains all the same fun stuff, but is a PDF file you download rather than something you get in the mail. Consequently, the price has been reduced a bit from the original Mailorder rate. It's available right here for a mere $8.

The re-issue of Mailorder #4 includes:

• The Earflap Hat Sewing Project (in 3 sizes, Adult, Youth and Baby)
• The Halloween Garland Paper Project
• The Annoyed Silhouette Paper Project
• The Merit Badge
• The Mailorder Recipe Card
• The Mailorder Riddle, which after solving will earn you a very special prize. 

I hope you enjoy this PDF re-issue. Nothing can really replicate the magic of getting the original Mailorders in the mail, in the red envelope printed on the fancy paper—but this will come close. You can see examples of projects made from this and all the other issues over in the Mailorder Flickr Group. Add yours when you are done!

Why I will knit this fall. I'm serious this time.

I have been looking at this book, Men's Knits: 20 New Classics, by Erika Knight for a few weeks now and have much enthusiasm to start a new knitting project.

I really love the knitted styles and the look of the guys in this book—

and the austere backgrounds. 

I have not tried any of the projects yet. I need to do a little more research and see what people are making. Here's a free v-neck sleeveless sweater pattern from this book. Found via Ravelry.

Okay, whenever I go to Ravelry I get lost for 45 minutes. Lost in a very good way. Here's a lovely men's hat pattern (free!) by Jared Flood. Now I want to start this, too.

And I am writing about this to get my hiney in gear to finish the sweater I started last year. I have never knitted a sweater. I tend to knit small items—hats, lots of baby booties, that type of thing. So, I need to just get in the groove here. I wish I could knit standing. I sure many of you can. I might take al this as a sign to slow down/do less so I can sit a knit for a little bit? That, or I need to tie up my baby.

popovers.

I made these popovers for breakfast and while no amount of butter in the muffin tin seemed to prevent them from sticking, they were so delicious. I remember this recipe floating around blogs a few years back and at that time I had a terrible sticking-in-the-pan episode. This time around it was much better, even though they didn't just fall out by any means. I need a cast iron muffin pan I think. Even with the sticking issue, these were really quick and easy (and much less messy) because this time I made the batter in the blender, whirled it a bit, and then just poured the batter straight from the blender into the muffin tin.

The girls had theirs with powdered sugar, I had them with powdered sugar, lemon juice and jam. Yum and yum. I enjoyed them more than they did but they did eat them. They said they were "pretty good."

New on the wanty list:

• One of these satchels from the Cambridge Satchel Company (and in my fantasy world—3 matching smaller ones, one for each girl.) Sigh. This link came from Sarah, who is such the temptress.

• These decorative masking tapes from Japan are making me crazy and I feel I can justify the purchase with all the homemade envelopes I am making, right? (Link from eggplant.)

autumnal equinox is approaching

We are getting projects and recipes together to celebrate the autumnal equinox this week (we actually are going to be at the beach during this time, which makes it extra special.)

On the list of items I want to try/cook/make this week to celebrate but surely won't get to all of them:

• Corn Husk Dolls (I have the supplies all ready to go for these.)
• Woodland Frame (This is really more for me. I linked to this last year, god how I love it.)
• Woodland Jewelry Box (Same as above.)
• Fall foliage/pine cone wreath (I got 3 of these, only smaller, and am going to have the girls glue pine cones to them and hang them with nice velvet ribbon.) I still need to get the ribbon, actually. Moss green?
• Treasure Hunt (I just got some sweet metal acorn charms at the craft store, hemp twine and metal tins and am going to hide them around the yard supplying treasure maps for the girls to read. They are supposed to be the squirrels finding their nuts.)
• Harvest Grape Cake (I have never baked with grapes before. I am probably a little too excited to try this.)

***And thanks so much to all of you that came to my book signing! Fun was had, cake was eaten, and I hope to show photos and possibly a video soon-ish.

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.

homemade envelopes and a book

 

The girls have gotten really into writing letters lately and mailing letters to family and friends and we ran out of envelopes very fast. I couldn't face buying more and realized I could just make them. So I did—and now the girls make them too. So, this is so easy and simple I feel silly even writing about it, but just in case, I made a video tutorial of how we make them. No templates to trace, no scissors needed—just some paper and tape. They have been very well received. Even though Delia's envelopes often only contain a cotton ball and a band aid. She's more into the stuffing and less into the writing.

I am super happy to announce the new book by the masterminds at Photojojo, Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas. This book is jam packed with really creative ideas. I was flattered to be asked to contribute a project to this book (and I did.) Congrats Amit and Kelly!

The envelope project above here is not in the book, but it being made from a photo in a magazine and all, I thought thematically it worked with the post. Over think things much, you say? Yup!

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.

little red jacket

Delia's Fall/Winter jacket has been made. I go back and forth every year about making jackets for the girls. I want to use wool but it can't be too scratchy. I also realize the labor involved is substantial—with no guarantee that the girls will wear them. I have been lucky so far. I think it's because they pick out the fabric, patterns, and buttons themselves (with some jedi mind tricks by me, of course.) This jacket is made from Simplicity 2534. The fabric is 80% wool 20% cashmere and is heavenly to touch and work with. The Mini Boden style polka dot lining is 100% cotton.

There is no shortage of pockets. There are pockets set in the seam on the outside and hidden pockets on the inside—with the requisite matching notebook. This a small moleskin journal covered with fabric using Heat & Bond Lite. I now use over-sized industrial snaps on jackets instead of buttons with buttonholes. I can always re-attach a yanked-off snap, but it's harder to repair a stretched-out buttonhole.

Happy. Happy.

There is a ton of jacket inspiration out there. We just got the Garnet Hill Kids catalog today and saw this one, and then there are to-die-for jackets over at Little Fashion Gallery. For sewing patterns, this coat pattern from Oliver & S is so very stylish—especially for the little dudes.

So, I did see a jacket similar at Target for $25 a few weeks ago and just about had a heart attack because it was a long week when I saw it and I was fried and hadn't even cut out this jacket yet and just thought, "Why am I sewing this?" Then there was the jacket still to sew for Sadie—the whole thing just made me feel really tired. Happily, the sewing stars aligned with this project and working on it a little bit, every few days for about a week, it came together really easily with no swearing and Delia loves it. That alone is worth it. This jacket, plus the lining and the pattern, was made for just under $40. That one at Target was 100% acrylic. The nice wool ones that I like are more than $200, so it's all good.

Sadie's jacket is almost done. It hasn't been as stellar of a sewing experience. It's a different pattern and looks lovey, but there has been swearing. There is some evil law that only one of my girls will get a perfectly sewn garment, never both of them. Baby will get a hand-me-down jacket or a towel. Or both. She's still prone to ripping her clothes off at any given moment, anyway.

Unrelated:

I have become a bit obsessed with the vintage-style hair and make-up tutorials over on YouTube. I immediately did my hair after watching this. It looks pretty amateurish, but hey, the girls like it. And it did only take about 5 minutes. Pete says it's very Blade Runner. He also said it was very high. Like in the air. Okay, then.

pumpkin ginger waffles

I made these ginger pumpkin waffles over the weekend. I got the recipe in the October Country Living and it was so very good. I didn't put in the crystallized ginger because I knew the kids would balk. They were plenty ginger-y anyway. And I always use yogurt instead of buttermilk, which I did here as well. The girls like them just hot dusted with powdered sugar eaten out of their hand. The recipe doesn't appear to be on the Country Living site yet, but a very similar one is here. I told the girls they were gingerbread waffles because if I had said pumpkin waffles, one of them might have had misgivings. They were devoured. I made a double batch and keep them in the freezer and will pop them in the toaster oven during the week.

Soup!

The weather is turning and I have soup on my mind and am thrilled, more than thrilled, that Anna Thomas (her book, The New Vegetarian Epicure, is in my top 3 cookbooks of all time) has a new book coming out—Love Soup. Again, this was all in the October Country Living and they have published 5 recipes from the books here. Very, Very exciting. I forget to cook from magazines sometimes, you know? And then when I do, I get so happy. One of my favorite all time recipes is this one from Real Simple—Apricot Crumbles. They look innocent, but they are not to be trusted. You have been warned.

chillin' with some dice and tunes.

We are over the moon with this Tell Me A Story Set from Small Object. It's incredible. It comes with 3 wooden dice, each showing an image, and than a pad of paper to write down a story inspired by the rolling of the dice. There is a laminated card that has the images labeled too, which helps with spelling. Sadie promptly wrote a story about Mr. Hat, who read a book in his cozy house—it's so sweet and wonderful. I am grabbing up more for gifts. Wooden story dice have been around a long time and I love old-timey toys so much, Sarah's set is just perfect. You can see more types of handmade story dice here, and here, and here. And I need to mention Sarah's thoughtful and articulate post on making handmade items to sell and how it relates to consumerism and how she feels about all that—really good read.

Unrelated: I can't stop listening to all the uke cover songs over here by Tim Koch. I am especially fond of Mama Mia right now. Please listen to the whole song—he's amazing and in my mind, has covered the best songs ever. They bring tears to my eyes and a huge smile to my face every time. The girls dance like crazy and I see rainbows and unicorns. It's the perfect happy drug. I love cover songs. I am working on some covers right now on uke, and they are horrible, in a good way I think. Metal. That's all In going to say.

Thanks for all your props on the TV gig, it was really fun. Happy long weekend! I'm gonna do a whole lot of sleeping.

I'm gonna be on TV.

I am thrilled to be not swearing on television this Thursday, September 3rd, on our local morning show—AM Northwest on KATU (station 2)

The show runs live from 9-10AM and I think I will be on for about 5-ish minutes sometime after 9:30 doing a demo from my new book. It's live folks, that's all I'm gonna say. And I will totally try and get a copy to upload so we can all have a good laugh. Woot!

**Okay, here it is. I showed how to make the Aunt Sarah and Uncle Pete dolls from the book and the PDF I mentioned is available here using the password in the book which is on page 120. Good times, man!

homemade brown sugar

I finally made some brown sugar. I usually just use white sugar and add a little bit of molasses when I bake because I am too lazy to fix it up ahead of time. This means I usually add a little too much molasses, which I love, but the rest of the family complains about. But they complain — in a nice way.

So I finally made some brown sugar ahead of time to have on hand. Delia shovels it into her mouth like a crazed sugar monster — I need to hide it from her. It's so easy I am totally embarrassed I was too lazy to take the 5 minutes to make it before now.

Here's what I did:

In a bowl add 1-2 Tablespoons molasses to every 1 cup white sugar. Then mix for a bit (hands work best) and that's it. I store it in a mason jar. You can also mix it all in a big Ziplock and use that for storage, too.

For the Happy Homemade Brown Sugar Party*, I am thinking of trying one the following recipes:

Brown Sugar-Walnut Pound Cake

Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Lime

Pot O' Gold Scones

Oatmeal & Brown Sugar Toasting Bread

Baked Apples with Brown Sugar

*Pretty much every activity in the house is a Party, according to the girls, and I say, why not!?

There was a bee sting incident.

 

A normal day at the park was interrupted by screams, tears, the stripping of clothes, and a mad dash to the car. 7 bee stings later, poor little Miss Delia was covered in cotton pads on top of herbal poultices made of plantain. Sadie reminded me to use this herb for bee stings (and she is the arm model here, although she didn't get any) and I am so thankful for her levelheadedness. We got the plantain with a bunch of other herbs a bit back, after buying and loving this book all about using herbs for children. The girls love it, read if for fun, and now know what the herbs do. When they get a cold, they ask for a herbal steam. It's really wonderful. We actually are growing some of the herbs in our garden now to use fresh and also to dry for later. They make their own little herbal first aid kits, too. The ingredients and supplies are all listed in this book.

I love it that you can introduce something to kids, act like you have been doing it all your life, and they just take it as fact and as completely normal. I keep thinking, I can't believe this works, they actually know how to treat a sore throat by making a slippery elm lozenge! It's better for us to prep all this stuff before they get sick/hurt, of course. So we make sprays, teas, lozenges, herbs tied in cheesecloth all in a day, and tuck them into bags and kits—ready for when something happens. Seems like September is when we usually do this. I have thanked myself so many times that I have been able to quickly grab a herbal remedy right away— although if they aren't very sick or hurt, they love watching me make up a herbal remedy for them. It calms them down and makes them feel taken care of. It's really sweet. And it calms me down, too. So it's a win-win.

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.)

wednesday brain dump

We are still freaking out on all the quotes. Amazing. And I am thrilled someone quoted The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai—that would be a winner for sure if I were the judge.

• I have extend the apron submissions on Tie One On. So, the Mad About Plaid apron isn't due until October ST. And I also show the book giveaway for this theme.

• I am really hoping to make it to the Portland Fermentation Festival this Thursday at the ecotrust building from 6-PM. I love fermented foods and want so badly to try more than pickles and yogurt. And I want to be able to say "Hey, nice kefir." to someone before I die. Just sayin'.

• I am practicing yoga pretty regularly now, which has been really incredible. The Cindy Lee books you all recommended were great, and there were so many other wonderful yoga recommendations in the comments of this post. I have been using Yoga Today several times a week. It's beyond awesome. You can just stream the classes from your computer. That's it. No getting in the car or pre-planning with the kids. I know the 1 hour episodes used to all be free—now they are unlimited for $9.99 a month. This is so worth it to me, I didn't even bat an eye at the cost. Especially because husband can use them, too. I also like the 1/2 hour episodes a lot, which are all free over on you tube. I really miss going to a studio more regularly and being with live humans and a real life teacher, but this is a great option for me to have and has really kept me going. Sarah Klein is my favorite teacher on Yoga Today, but they are all good.

• The new Mix Tape #9 is now available and it awesome, as usual. I love holding this in my hands. A real 'zine.

• The newest issue of Small Magazine Autumn 09 is also out and it's so lovely—such amazing images. I love this finger puppet project and am fascinated by this interview with the filmmaker that makes movies with children. Really, really interesting.

• I feel there is something really wrong with the way girls clothes are made—the lack of pockets. My girls don't wear jeans, so almost all their purchased clothes have no pockets. I am going to start sewing patch pockets to their clothes. They are partial to collecting small items and have nowhere to stash them. And really, they don't always need to have a purse, I'd like them to have another reasonable option. It's criminal. I also am adding secret pockets to the inside of their jackets and cardigans.

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!

more coloring & various announcements

I bought several packs of these blank business cards from paper source (which I realize would be super easy to cut myself, but I couldn't resist buying the small packs with matching envelopes) and I gave them to the girls and let them have at it with my fancy mommy-only stinky markers. They came up with the coolest series of drawings. The cards were light pink to begin with and they fully saturated them with the markers while allowing some of the pink show though. They look like watercolors. I love it when I remember to put out colored paper for them to work on—it really changes the way they use color and mix the layers.

I know I sound a little like a stoner analyzing their artwork so much, but I really am excited and struck by what they come up with and how they use their art tools. The way they see the world and how they express that into drawings and symbols—I can't get enough of it.

• I am hearing rumblings that my new book, Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More is already shipping out to the people who pre-ordered. Excited!!! The actually release date is August 25th. A big post about all that will be coming soon, but just to let you know, I already set up a flickr group for all of you who are ready to get crazy with your fabric, have questions, or want to show and tell from the book projects and techniques. Woot!

• Portland sewers, Bolt is having a sale this weekend, 20% off. And they carry Liberty. They have a shop blog now too and I am very excited to see they are caring new pattern lines and sewing mags which I find thrilling.

• Boomerang (after reading about it on wisecraft) is now in our house—it's an audio program for kids, mostly narrated by kids. "In each hour-long episode, the Boomerang! kids present stories about big ideas: science, current events, history, economics, poetry, geography, jokes, mysteries and more. . ." The shows are for kids ages 6-12, and you can buy single episodes. They are pretty swell, wonderful on road trips in the car, and great to give on a cd to grandparents when begging for babysitting. Pretty dang cool.

happy handmade home

I'm so excited that Amanda's second book is out, Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures. It's packed full of great ideas, projects, and activities.

This sketchbook project is one of my favorites. This book is wonderful— all the ideas in it involve using stuff you already have lying around the house. It's awesome.

The girls can't put this down and are already marking the projects they want to try. I think this art tray (and the bird drawings) are next. It's so great to see kids in the act of making these projects—so many craft books don't show children actually making stuff (more just posing with the finished product) it really resonates with my kids and makes them so excited to try these activities. Congrats Amanda!

breakfast on sunday

I had some pluots* getting a bit soft on the counter so I cooked them up and had them over my oatmeal. I try to do this as much as I can remember because the effort it requires is so minimal but the taste in my mouth is so outstanding—it always surprises me at how easy it is and just how good and fresh it tastes. Here's what I do: (Although it's a bit different each time depending on what my hands touch first.)

Serving 2 (or one very big serving)

• Cooked oatmeal for 2 (Rolled or cut oatmeal.)
• 2 pluots sliced (Or any other fruit. One apple is good, too.)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/8 cup orange juice (or water)
• wee bit of salt
• Grated nutmeg, not very much, like a pinch
• 1/8 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

First I start the oatmeal cooking. If it's a rolled kind, this is all done about the same time. If it's steel cut, I cook it first and then make the fruit topping in the last 5 minutes. I slice the pluots and set aside. Then in a sauce pan I add all the other ingredients (except the chopped nuts) and bring to a low boil, add the fruit, and stir it a bit until the fruit softens and the mixture thickens. It takes less than 5 minutes. That's it. I spoon it over the oatmeal, add a little milk and the chopped nuts.

It feels so special and fancy, but it's actually just a super easy and very tasty way to use up fruit. Double goodness. Baby loves it. The older girls are all still about the blueberries. They have to be frozen so they act as cooling agents on the oatmeal.

*or plucot, or plumcot, depending on your plum-apricot hybrid of choice.

And the little pitcher. I use these a ton, but they belong to the girls. They use them to add milk to oatmeal and soups, mac and cheese—anything that needs a little cooling off. They run to the table when they see them set out, so it's pretty rad. Baby can even use hers without spilling. I introduced these as a way to have better meals together. I am less fussy about when they come to the table to eat because I never have to add the milk to anything, they do, so it doesn't cool off too much or get soggy, in the case of syrup and pancakes. Also, they are pretty into their own portion control, understandably, so that takes care of that. I actually have been known to pack these pitchers—they are such a big part of our meals. I think I got them at Cost Plus. They are actually creamers for coffee. Just the right size so if they spill, there's not a ton to clean up.

Unrelated to oatmeal:

We are pretty crazy into the Girl's Little League Softball World Series, which is going on, live and in real life, less than 3 miles from where we live. It runs all day and evening until through wednesday. Under the lights, candy and snow cones, the girls are riveted. The joy it brings me to see them watch older girls (age 12-14) play in such a bad-ass way is priceless. The girls love it. Oregon played Latin America on friday. Asia Pacific was having a rough go, and we haven't seen Canada play yet. The uniforms have changed a bit since I played. I don't remember matching glitter headbands being standard issue. We always had the horrible foam hats. Oh, those were so awful.

Liberty blouse

This blouse was made out of a Liberty print I had saved for almost 2 years, much like the Nani Iro fabric. I had originally intended it for Sadie (sorry, honey) and then thought about how cute it would be made into tap pants for myself, and then thought about maybe making it into a belt (I think I still might have enough for that) and then a men's shirt (but I only had enough for contrasting details) and then—without really giving it much thought, cut it out for Simplicity 2599 and made it. I am really happy with this pattern. There are so many ways to do this type of detail. I want to try an asymmetrical placement with the ruffle next, and a ruffle in a contrasting print would look very sharp on a solid color shirt. A stripe or polka-dotted ruffle? Something like that.

 

It's fitted—not too loose or tight, which is nice. Darts in front give it some shape.

And my favorite blouse closure is in back. I love this type of closure. So easy. I use a covered hair elastic for the button loop, which works like a charm.

I have to say, the weight of Liberty fabric is like nothing else. I would not sew this blouse in anything other than a super-lightweight fabric. I get pretty fussy about quilting-weight cottons being used for garment sewing—unless it's a skirt or a more structured dress. Liberty is a dream to sew with. Totally worth the high price in my book. Locally, there is Liberty at Bolt and probably other shops, too, maybe Josephine's? This particular print was purchased at Purl fabrics. They always have a great selection.

• I'm excited to try this dress over at Burda Style. I know I just made a dress very similar, but this one has great pockets. And what cute photography! Except you can't really see the dress that well. But still, I love the happy.
• Debating if I should sew a coat like this for Sadie. I think I can make it for less than buying, but not a ton less. Ugh. See, if I sew it, I will have to sew one for Delia, even though she has about 4 hand-me-downs that will work this Fall. Baby will get an old towel, she doesn't know. Only half joking. Actually she does know, but I am in denial about her alarming interest in clothes for a just turned 2-year old. I just re-read that last sentence and realize the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Ahem.