angry chicken

framed dollys

Yesterday I framed up these paper dolls that I posted about a bit back. I am really happy with how they turned out. The frame is 11 x 14 and I used blue paper behind the dollys over the white mat board. Sadie and Delia love them (they love the 3 sets I didn't frame even more) and don't seem bummed at all this set is behind glass. I do have a scanned version as back up just in case. The dolls were $4 and the frame, on sale, was $8-not too bad. And the walls are lavender here in the girls room. I just didn't want you to think the color was all screwy.

A few things I need to report:

-I just got word that Christine's (vegasandvenice) Shy Monsters activity book is back in stock over at the fine shop, Mahar Drygoods. I can't tell you how much I love this book! it is so clever, and has stickers, a place to write and keep notes, and the illustrations are so quirky and cool, not to sweet. . .and at $7 each, I think we all should buy 2. There aren't a ton, so act fast. Robert's shop just makes me happy every time I go there.

-I received a great tip regarding the below gummy candy. The williams sonoma gummies are supplied by Gimbals. They also sell their wares at candy direct. It looks like they only have 10lb bags however. . .but maybe there are smaller quantities of Gimbals sour candies somewhere else out there, haven't searched yet.

-Art Star, the fabulous art gallery in Philly is now showing Heidi Kenney's show-and it is amazing from what I have seen online. I am thrilled to have four small framed quilts at the gallery for sale as well, two of which you can see online here (first two images.)

-Send me your apron photos for the January/February Tie One On. I hope to get the photos up on flickr on Friday (or Monday next week, depending.)

$12 good? yup.

Two bags of these were brought home last week. I hid one and one is gone. They are soooooooo good. They punish you with the sour and then love you at the end with a touch of vanilla. I love sour candy so much and these (despite all the mouth sores I get from eating too many) are amazing. So stupidly overpriced, but I say, worth it. They are at Williams Sonoma.

I have been seeing some wonderful cross-stitch projects completed over at the mailorder group on flickr and it warms my heart to see these designs being stitched out there in the universe!

The Oscars. ho-hum. I think Ellen is so funny that she can do no wrong in my book, but the clothes didn't get me too excited. No real huge mistakes or hits for me. Helen Mirren looked amazing and that brooch of Catherine Deneuve's. . it was bleeding right? That was the small red bit that went to the bottom of her dress? I thought that was the coolest thing ever. But for the rest (and I know this is an exaggeration) it seems like all the dresses were different colors of foundation. I felt like I was looking at a MAC counter.

Hey, thanks for the nice words about the thread drawings. They will be for sale sometime soon, I need to frame up a few to see what size they will be and how much and all that. .

sunday.

I'm headed to Grammie's soon to watch the Oscars sans kids. This is so exciting, I can't tell you. Usually we watch while glued to the phone-calling each other every 5 minutes, but since the kids, not so much anymore. I know nothing any of the films, just wanna see some stinkn' dresses.

Here's a new thread drawing. Devil in the Morning.

The pomegranate cupcakes are cooling. They are good. very good, but also very not pink. I need to make frosting. Possibly with the juice as well, but I might not. These little buggers are citrus-y and good and I'm not a huge frosting fan so I might leave them naked.

On the movie subject, we saw Friends with Money last week. Good. I had seen it before but Pete had not. Not perfect, but lots to talk about. And then The Constant Gardner two nights ago. Great story, I'd like to read the book, because the art direction/editing was way too stylized and distracting too me.  It kind of felt like a video. And then a bit back I saw Stranger than Fiction and liked it a whole lot. A ton. I highly recommend it.

okay-I'm off to the red carpet!

more x'in.

This is the next cross-stitch project I have in mind. Minus the alphabet. Just the skaters. I love them so and it's still cold enough here to get in the spirit of this. I have a red linen and I am planning on using white thread. Looking at this again, I should also do the letters, but dang it man, I only have so much time. Errrrg.The 4-color letters are way cool, however. Must try this at some point.

I love this leafy style of script. These images are from the book I posted about a bit back, Maison Sajou's Point de Croix.

It's hard to see here, but this is a linen blanket with small designs on each block. wow.

I had a thought last night regarding red velvet cake and how I love it. But, I have never been able to get the red dark enough and the entire bottle of red food coloring is a bit creepy. . .and then I was thinking about how I love pink food too, like the raspberry whipped cream I just made. . .so, I know it wouldn't be a dark red, but how about a pink cake made with pomegranate juice instead of milk? I think it would work, in fact I'm gonna try it. I love citrus cakes and I think a dark pink cake with a pomegranate flavor (would you even taste it much?) and a cream cheese frosting would be sooo good. Maybe a little orange rind in the cake too. . .I did an initial search for desserts using pomegranate juice (thank god for POM) and they do exist, but nothing is quite what I want. I might have to increase the sugar in my standard yellow cake recipe because the juice is certainly more acidic than milk.(but so is buttermilk, and that works fine) and maybe no frosting, just a glaze? Oh, so many options and decisions. Now I am thinking a dark pink bundt cake with white glaze would be perfect. Or a pink bunny cake?

cake and stuff

I made this yellow bundt cake (the yellow cake recipe was from an old Betty Crocker cookbook) for Valentine's Day last week and Grammie came over after work to help celebrate. She is also the model here, thank you, Grammie. Valentine's Day for us has always been more about family love, mostly because I get the heebies participating and a big love-in with my husband with everyone else in the country on a specific day. That, and we have our anniversary next week, so Valentine's Day doesn't feel all romantic in comparison anyway.

So, I made this dessert after much thought (too much, perhaps?) I wanted to make these cupcakes, basically the same recipe, but I went for the bundt pan instead with the raspberry whipped cream, which was heavenly. Sheer bliss, actually. I just kept a frozen bag of raspberries on the counter all day, then squished them up while still in the bag, then whipped the cream, added sugar, and folded in the berry mush. I think I should have added a touch more sugar, because the berries are tart. Only because the whole thing wasn't very sweet, which was delicious, but made it easier to eat way more than advisable.

Here's 2 things I have been meaning to mention:

-I have a new site, just my name, amy karol, which is sort of a front door into all my online shenanigans (and also this is a good place to predominately display my book cover, ha!)

-I am super excited to be a contributor to this book, The Crafter Culture Handbook, by Amy Spencer which is available as of tomorrow. You can see the project list here. This book is published in the UK and if our are there, you can buy it at the publisher's site I just linked to and, you can get it here in the US at amazon, too. Whoo-hoo!

weekend goodies.

The sun was out on Saturday and we spent the whole day was spent basking in it. It was amazing. Luckily, I had made this bag and these clothespin dolls earlier in the week, so I could spend Saturday doing nothing but being outside. We had a 3 & 5 year old b-day party to go to this morning, and these were for the sister. The clothespin dolls were not finished, like these were, but more in a DIY kit form, which Stephanie had mentioned she had done before, which I thought was brilliant. Although Sadie was bummed to not actually make them up all pretty for the young recipient. The amazing ducky canvas is from atelier JADE, unless it was from Superbuzzy, now I don't know which and can't find it on either site. Sorry for the lameness.

Saturday also brought me a box from Bayberry Cove with these weird /cool Easter ornaments I fell in love with for the feather tree. These go under the heading of; I could have probably made them but feel just fine buying them instead. There are some painted wood eggs in back and then these bunny and chick freaky things. I love weird Easter stuff especially when it involves large heads. And the boxes they came in were so cute with the clear lids. . .  a very pleasing package to get.

paperdoll spiral

I got these paper dolls for the girls for Valentine's Day. They opened them, and then I hid them when they weren't looking. Obviously I have issues. So, I scanned them. I need to pick up another set very badly. These are die-cut on cardstock, so nicely made and so affordable, why I didn't get 2 sets? I just don't know. I want to frame a set. I think it would look so sweet. But I realize that would be some sick sort of torture if the girls see them framed and don't have a set to play with. And do you see that?  She's holding a fricken hood-wearing puppet there. I am dying that is so weird. More photos here.

The spiral started when I tried to find these on-line. I didn't find them but they are made by this great company, B. Shackman that has a slew of reproduction old timey goodness of the best kind. So there went the first 45 minutes or so of the evening. Please note this site actually has a section just for flip-books. Good God.

So, I learned that these are by the quite famous paper doll artist Queen Holden. I love the internet. And I'd say they are From the late 40s early 1950s. Don't you think? Maybe just the 40s.

Then I found Paperdoll Review, that sells paper dolls and has its own magazine and reviews of the paper dolls and all that. There went another 45min. You know what this means if you have kids, this is a huge chunk of time to be surfing. I actually am really picky about paper dolls. I swear I am. But these are just perfect. Perfect. Cute but not too cute and the details on the clothes are so wonderful. . .oh I need to stop. I could look at these all day.

thread drawing n' stuff.

I did another thread drawing last week. This one is call Strange Plants. I'm in a listy mood today, not a talky mood (it's not even 8AM, you know) so here's a list.

-Got this baking book yesterday (Julie posted about it) and am pretty excited.
-I am sort of freaking out a lot about these new pieces over at The Small Object.
-This big palm reading chart pillow over at wisecraft is dang cool.
-Still need do get the new Shins. Why can't I seem to do this?
-Today is the last day of a big sale over at Gail Wilson Designs, so if you have ever wanted to buy a kit, it's a good time. My love for these kits is deep. I can't stress this enough.

baking and coloring

Sadie decorated the windows. I realize we need new window screens. This is quite obvious now that I see this photo, please ignore the holes and move on. . .

She also learned how to use the tape dispenser all by herself last week. I loved tape sooooo much when I was little. I didn't know that what I really loved was the idea of laminating everything. I'd just use tape as my personal laminator and would get in trouble (just a little) for wasting it. I actually thought about buying a laminator at Paper Zone last week, but held off. I'm not saying I still won't get one. Most of me is thinking "ick, more plastic." but then the 4 year old in me is all about the shiny badges, membership cards, and plasticy homemade stickers.

Chocolate chip banana bread. I'd give up the recipe but it's from a mailorder (#3 I think) so I can't without violating mailorder code. But it's what we made yesterday and what I am eating right now. But now I'm obsessing over the cake/berry/jam combo. I was going to make cupcakes, like these ones here from Sarah actually, or bake cakes like these here, (I think Alicia is trying to kill me.) but um, I need to get a handle on this pregnancy weight (she said while eating chocolate chip banana bread) and I know I'm eating chocolate tomorrow, so I am trying, trying, to be reasonable.

And speaking of mailorder, if you are stuck on the word scramble from #5, let me know and I can send you a hint. The prize is a Valentine, so you still have time to crack it and get your PDF prize for the big day tomorrow. I think you will find it worthy of your efforts.

4 very good things.

1. The sun is shining here a bit today. On and off, but enough for us all to walk to the park, dry off the swings, and have a good time.

2. I made this pillow last week for an early b-day gift. I went to town with the free-motion quilting gig and am super happy with how my new machine handles it. Very well indeed. Good tools make all the difference, that's all I gotta say. I just went for this freehand and didn't draw anything on the muslin, just started sketching with the thread directly onto the fabric. (I backed the muslin with flannel first, for some additional support.) Now I want to make about 50 more. . .well, not 50 more pillows, but more thread drawings.

3. I also made some of this granola today which has made me quite happy and made the house smell very good.

4. I went out to breakfast with a friend this morning and received a wonderful CD from her--You Are My Little Bird, by Elizabeth Mitchell. We have her other cd's which are amazing as well, but this one is really good. I cried. (but I am crying all the time now, hormones, you know.) She makes music for small people, but she sounds like she could have been in the Breeders, and this particular CD has a great VU cover, so that's what I'm talking about here. Also, little kids sing on it, and they are really kids---all off key and sweet, which makes Sadie and Delia so happy. I can't tell you how much I love this CD and how much I think everyone should buy it and support this kind of artist. Well, I guess I just did tell you. Okay. And on her site, I just noticed, you can get a pdf with the lyrics and chord charts so you can play along!

simple bag.

There has been a good part of this week-I got some crafting done. It seems projects go best when I have the least amount of time to work on them. My theory is that I think about making stuff all day, especially when I can't, so by the time I sit down I have it all mapped out. A bag like this has disaster written all over it because simple shapes I think are the hardest and show the most goofs. Also, I am so fussy about proportions, the handle length, the width of the bag, etc, that this kind of thing could get scrapped, but it came together just fine.

It's about 14" wide at the top. The brown is a dreamy heavy weight linen that I have had for about 6 years is available to the trade only. It's meant for upholstery and I have been hoarding it like crazy. The folksy fabric is from Cia's Palette, again, and I love it so much it hurts. I lined it in a red print and even added pockets for the cell and my wallet. I also added a interfacing of cotton flannel so it will keep its shape, not anything fusible, cause that stuff makes me bonkers.

Okay-we are getting better around here, slowly. But the 2 year old is still a force to be reckoned with. She's not the sleeping all day type of sick, more like the book chucking type of sick. yeah.

sick and soupy.

wow. It's been a long week already and it's only Wednesday. Is that possible? Trying not to think about it. The 2 year old finally is done with her 3 day fever spell but now is fussy/snotty/stuffy beyond belief and it's so sad. The 4 year old is doing so good with it all but getting the brunt of my stress, poor thing, and now I am getting the sore throat/sniffles. So, soup is on.

olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 russet potatoes, chopped
2 TBL butter
salt, pepper and dried dill
carton of veggie broth
milk (or water)

I chop up 2 leeks and saute them for about 15 min in olive oil and salt and pepper with about 2 teaspoons dried dill. Then I add 2 tablespoons butter, 2 chopped potatoes (I don't even peel them) and a head of cauliflower, chopped. I saute this for another 10 min and then add a carton of veggie broth and bing to a boil, then simmer for an hour or longer.

I puree the whole thing in the pot using a stick blender adding milk until it's silky smooth (about 1-2 cups.) Yum. Add a salad and some bread and things are better around here for a little bit. (about 5 minutes.)

it sure looks clean right now. .

**update-you can get these fabrics right here!

I got this really fun fabric from Cia's Palette and then was stumped by how to use it. So I was laying it out on the table. . and there you go--I realized it would be a perfect tablecloth. I had two 1/2 yard cuts, so I just torn one down the middle to make the two end panels and sewed the three pieces together and then serged and hemmed the edges and it fit the table perfect. My vintage tablecloth collection is turning into tatters and are badly stained. It's pretty sad actually. I am so happy to have some new ones that still look vintage-y but that actually are somewhat hygienically safe. The funny part of this photo is that you can actually see this tablecloth. Usually there are so many stacks of books, magazines, and I don't even know what, on the table that only a few plates and cups can fit.

I went to the Wurstminster Dog Show opening last night with Melissa and had a blast. The new Ace hotel is still pretty, um, unfinished. Like really just drywall-at least where the show was. I asked if it was going to be the lobby and was told that it was going to be the restaurant, that's the level of unfinished I'm talking about. I was going to try and weasel into some rooms, but the amount of building materials we would have had to scale over was formidable, so I decided to not act like a delinquent and we stayed in the gallery only.

The dog art was amazing, so many pieces had already sold, and there were even a few real dogs there. A lot of Portland artists were in the show too, which was so cool. I know the online gallery will be up soon, so check it out.

And, for a complete waste of time:
toss the snow globe, egg, and my fave, death by caffeine, (All from pointless sites.)

little apron and weird stuff

Here is Miss Kirsten wearing the Valentine's Day apron which is the Tie One On theme for Jan/Feb. There is a teeny tiny Valentine tucked into her pocket there, which is Sadie's favorite part. I know this looks like a dress here, but I swear it's an apron, we just were having a hard time getting this whole deal photographed. Too much excitement about the tiny Valentine.

I was tagged a bit back for the 6 weird things bit. I haven't ignored this but realized how incredibly not weird I have become (ie, boring). 10 years ago I could have listed 20 things in a minute, but since having 2 kids, I have had to strip away so many silly quirks for sheer sanity's sake that this list will sort of be an anti-weird list:

1. I will never eat standing up, ever. I enjoy food too much and need to be seated and preferably reading the newspaper (Now I eat standing in the kitchen, hiding my food from baby #2, aka "food thief.")

2. I always change seats in a movie theater, usually more than once. And I always have to be there at least 10 minutes early (Now, if I can go, I am there barely in time and am so thrilled to be out that I don't even notice whatever disruption was bugging me before.)

3. Here's a new one I can add-if i am wearing boots it's usually because I have 2 different socks on.

4. And this one hasn't changed-I could go the rest of my life without eating ice cream. I don't dislike it, but don't care about it all that much. This is considered pretty weird on Pete's side of the family, but not so weird on mine.

5. Okay. I am having a hard time now. . weird. What is weird and not just a personality trait? Okay, I don't like ice. There's one. Don't like it in drinks really, especially in water. (This is starting to sound desperate.)

6. I have, what I consider, an unreasonable dislike of polar-fleece. Like, it really really bugs me. In Portland, I think this probably is legitimately weird. Let me clarify that this is for me personally (and the girls) Pete wears it and that is fine, I just don't touch him as much when he does.

Okay, that was sort of hard. I am not going to tag anyone because. . . well, I just feel bad about it. Sort of like a chain letter thing. So, please feel free to list your 6 weird things if you are game. And happy Friday!