angry chicken

packing tape postcards

We made some postcards out of packing tape a bit back. And then we mailed them. They were received without any issues. So exciting!

We got this fabulous idea from All About Collage, by Todd Oldham, which we picked up at the library along with all his other books in that series. They are pretty swell—nice big photos and simple clear directions.

We put the stamp over the tape and everything else was sandwiched in between. Liddy even got the brilliant idea to add flowers inside of hers. Mail art makes me (and the kids) so very happy. I want to send a can again.

recent books I have read:

I am almost done with Some Kind of Fairy Tale (I really like it so far) and I finished The Best of Youth about 2 weeks ago which was light, yet sad and funny. It was nail-biting in a good way. For some reason I was wanting a tragic ending, which it did not have. This book reminded me of a less zany version of a Johnathan Ames novel. 

I am so obsessed with the book list you all helped me with, I can't thank you enough. I've read 4 books from that list already that I never would have found (I think some titles were in the comments, too) and Pete has read Dog Stars. Thank you!

mail in a can

The girls have been quite into the mail for a few years now. It's such a great way for them to learn to write and spell. Who doesn't love mail? I'm keeping track of more ideas for mail fun. They sent their last pen-pal letters rolled up in these cans along with some buttons, fabric, and bits. We stuck the stamps and mailing label directly on the cans and they got to their destination just fine. I have no clue where I got these cans. I know I bought them in Seattle, like, 10 years ago. It was one of those supplies I was saving, and then I realized it was time to use them. Who needs to save little cans for over 10 years?

Unrelated-

• We are loving the free printable paper dolls over at Inside a Black Apple. They are charming, thank you, Emily!

• This list of the most unhappy commenters on NPR made me laugh hard. And the the comments on the list were even more amazing. (via martha)

• This tiny felted bird by Got Crow creations (on etsy) is making me cry a little bit.

 

I feel all grown up. . .

I am now the owner of my very own custom letterpressed notecards. This is one of those amazing "I heart the blog world" episodes, thanks to Eireann. She really felt my pain when I was all whiny about wanting custom letterpress cards a bit back and graciously set me up with printmaker and artist extraordinaire, Brian Aldrich, who does beautiful and thoughtful small run custom letterpress work. (You can contact him here at his company, BA Editions.) I am thrilled, like jumping up and down thrilled, with how these turned out!

Brian prints on lovely Rives BFK rag paper, so the cards are soft and lush. This is the grey stock with my name in a shell pink. I'm not sure what was going on with me when I worked with Eireann and Brian on the design of these. I was having a pink attack, which is very unlike me, but I am so happy I spontaneously went with the pink and grey because it is perfect. I got the pink envelopes and girlie stickers from paper source, which incidentally, also does custom letterpress notecards and when I priced the same job Brian did for me with paper source they charged more than double for half the quantity of cards, no kidding.

here are some shots that Brian sent me of the run being printed. . .

and here they are drying. This was such a fun experience, seeing the actual metal type via jpegs, picking the font, and seeing the proofs-it's a sheer luxury to have such beautiful letterpress cards and it was made so much more special by personally working with such awesome artists. . . oh the good vibes abound!. . .okay, now I need to write some notes on these girls and not just stare at them, they are almost too pretty to write on. And I must now find the "perfect" pen. . .I have a sickness, I tell you.

stuff n' stuff

we are back from a long weekend at the beach and I completely turned off my brain while we were gone. But then I stuffed red envelopes all last night with grammie's help and couldn't sleep, so I am officially back. I have crazy brain. I need to make extra some room in my life for two things. more quilts and pies. quilts and pies, quilts and pies. and I got a lovely needlework project at the coast, will show the kit later-very excited about this.

This sweet little bag here was made for my neighbor who made me some earrings to match the dress that I made in this fabric. So, she got a bag out of the scraps. . .it was kismet because she made the earrings to match the dress without even knowing it. green and orange are wonderful.

and I got this in the mail last week from thimble. the button of the month for June-so thrilling!! you know, I don't get mailorder, so I didn't realize how fun it really was to get something in the mail that you sort of forgot you signed up for. . .you know? I love magazine subscriptions too for this very reason. although I get none now (except ms kids and everyday food, both gifts, for which I am very grateful).

okay-my head is all over. need to tie up loose ends for mailorder (some e-mails I need to reply to) and then a quilt is on deck. And then pie! And soon we will have the pdf available for those of you able to crack the secret word. I will give you a hint if it's too hard (Pete said it was, I beg to differ)

back-tack II-it's here!

Quilt Monday has been bumped this week because my box came from my back-tack II partner and I got the most amazing, wonderful, inspired handcrafted creations by Alison! The large bag is amazing, and the small notion bag is so sturdy and well made. The needlework is stunning, and you can see the design she was inspired by in the truly wonderful japanese craftbook she sent me (although Alison's is far superior)

Here the goodies as I unwrapped them, and the wrapping was so lovely, notice the buttons and thread on the gifts. The paper with the script is her handwriting. I am obsessed with handwriting, and I especially love seeing weblog friend's handwriting because normally you only see typing, and hers is exquisite. The craft she choose for me was drop spindle (hooray!) there is lovely silk (!) roving there and also beautiful yarn and needles (to crochet a little sweater for Sadie) plus some chocolate. .

and books for miss Sadie and Delia and here is the wonderful tape measure she covered (I wanted one of these so bad!) AND in what only can be described as a amazing and incredible coincidence, this all matches and fits into, the beautiful basket bag Hillary made me several months ago. . .wow! I can't quite describe how exciting this all is. This apple fabric makes me cuckoo crazy happy and to know TWO people thought I was worthy of it is unbelievable. I am jumpin' up and down here! (more photos of all this here, and you can see Alison's great photos here) Thank you so much Alison!!! I am embarrassed to admit how often I visited Alison's blog looking at these goodies hoping I was her partner. I was kind of obsessed to be honest, and got so freaky excited when the box came I felt like I was five in the Hello Kitty store. big stuff!

 

mail and such

I'm catching up on some really great mail I have received lately (there is even more that I will post soon, I'm not sure why it takes me so long to show mail. I think it's because I open and then hide everything from the curious hands that live in this house.) This package is from Hillary, (thank you!) and there are fabrics,(the pink reminds me of the one I coveted here) an apron, and 2 of the sweetest vintage cards ever (and a small wind-up metal ladybug toy which I couldn't retrieve from under the sofa to photograph)

also this really great sweater for Sadie (shown here slung over Delia's shoulder), who absolutely refuses to put on, so now it belongs to miss Delia (I love having 2 girls, and one who is too young to refuse clothes)

 
front and back. cute and double cute. I would have killed for this when I was little. This green was my favorite color-

and here's a sweet package from Vicki, which had these goodies; a little bag with a chicken, a red kerchief, vintage buttons and this sweet little fellow which is a lavender sachet, and I am in love with him. he's so cute and smells good. you can buy one in her shop here, and they are so flippin' great I LOVE them. check out her shop, there is some really cute stuff there. thank you!!

and some fabulous wristbands from Lizette Greco, embroidered with a house and a kitty. they are probably intended for the girls, but as you can see, they fits me quite well too. and the artists (her lovely children who I met this summer) also decorated the envelope. very very cool. thank you!

mail and such

I have been getting some goodies in the mail. This is all from Hillary. A lovely organdy patchwork apron and a chicken scratch apron, a cross-stitch Bambi growth chart, and a really good vintage craft book. Thank you!! The cross stitch on the growth chart is lovely and I love, love, love patchwork aprons so much.

And here is a group from Sarah. The framed photo and injured clothespin peep. This all is at my cutting table. This area is off limits to Sadie, who loves to play with all these things (who can blame her?) all the other goodies are from over the last few months. The wee is from Hillary, you can see Camila's and Tania's postcards, and the Jen Corace print from tiny showcase. The bulletin board is FULL of all my cards from all you wonderful crafters. It's an amazing assortment of images. And to think 9 months ago, I didn't have any of you in my life! amazing. Feeling very very grateful these days.

mail luv

I had so much fun making this bag for Hannah for her b-day, and really didn't need anything in return (it was a gift!) but got this lovely goodie package from her anyway-thank you Hannah! so many great things;homemade cards from her, very cool, and look at that beautiful wrapping paper in the background (and Sadie "helped" me open this all up, yikes!)

vintage apron pattern (!) and vintage FAB vinyl table cloth, ribbons, and fabric and a really nice blank book with a beautiful letterpress cover (now it's Sadie's. last time I ever open a package in front of her!) too nice. thanks Hannah and I hope your b-day kicked booty, looks like it did.

I also got an out of the blue package from Amy (of amyville fame) who found this amazing apron pattern kit in great shape and "thought of me" god, I love this whole internet thing sooo much. This is a Christmas apron kit that you sew and embroider-comes with transfers. thank you, it's so wonderful. and I really scored too, because I also got sweet note cards AND a necklace and stitch marker!

here's the necklace (sorry for the crapitude of the photo) but this is from her sushi line and I'm sure all of you already know about her AMAZING creations. These are so tiny in person, really amazing work. And they have also made an appearance over here st The Small Object's shop, with the peeps,and wow, Amy's tiny food with Sarah's peeps is almost painful to look at, it's so good.

 

the wee box-that wasn't small

okay-so you may remember I got this box last week-

and the contents were of the"screaming and jumping up and down can't believe it!!!" variety. Of course, there is judy in all her glory (sadie hasn't met her yet, and may not for a bit) and the apple basket bag. I could go on and on here about seeing hillary's work in person vs. over the internet, but for the sake of brevity, I'll just say that although she takes a mean photo, it really can't do her workmanship justice. Really amazing to own these-thank you thank you!

she also tucked in so many other goodies. Her ability to pick out the exact things I would LOVE was uncanny.

hillary also sent a wee for grammie! here grammie is opening it-and was thrilled, as was pete to get his 'zine  (snakepit) which is now stashed in the depths of his "office/guitar room" otherwise I'd show it-

This is from a freaky vintage doll making book she tucked in and I need to make these right away. wow.

my own wee pin cushion, cool postcards, and holly cow, can you believe that cape pattern?? yes, you will be seeing this made up for miss sadie and delia very soon. I love this style hood too, as you can see here. . .

two aprons, lovely patchwork with rick-rack and the degas ballerinas on organdy-

vintage dress for delia and top for sadie! Wow. It almost feels silly trying to express how much this all means to me. A lot. A whole heck of a lot. Hooray for web friends, the internet, and the generosity of such talented people out there. I do strongly believe in web karma and hillary has it in spades. thank you so much, my friend!

mail and such

the mail has been good. this came from heidi, just before she went off to renegade. hooray! now I have to get together something extra special, cause look at all this! Like with so many things now, Sadie and I are having a bit of a battle over who owns this stuff. She is winning so far, but I managed to squirrel away some of these goodies before she saw them. these kids don't know how lucky they are to have such amazing "toys". Who wouldn't want to drink that milk?

and amanda and I did a little cd music swap, although she faked me out and sent the cd's in this pouch which was inside this tote! there was much jumping up and down and lots of happy yelling when I opened this, let me tell you!

here's the other side. I really am getting a bit nutty about this plaid. and the music was so good, and so needed. thank you-thank you!

mail and such

kelly tucked all these goodies in the box when she returned books to me from our book loan swap. I am very lucky indeed! look at the peach! Sadie loves to eat it-which is really funny because she won't eat real fruit at all. and she eats this one with real gusto. I actually have to take it away from her. also, notice the wooden egg cup with spoon, the little chicken right next to it, which lays little eggs (kind of creepy and wonderful at the same time!) and lovely fabric and knick-knacks. thank you!

and Helen sent me this packet of lovelies. Wonderful craft books from the 70's, which are both odd and inspiring in the best way. Another reason to learn crochet. . .

hmm-reminds me of HR puffnstuff-

wonderful and so simple! look at the chicken!

again, creepy and good.

and this lovely apron! thank you! Helen also reminded me of this FUNNY weblog, which I seem to forget about-thanks Helen!

 

feeling better. .

bunch of stuff-firstly, thank you for all your concern and advice. I am feeling better, really. Lots of rest yesterday and the pain is almost gone. But don't think I'm gonna run around and craft all day, I will take care of myself, I promise.

I am soooo behind on show and tell. This lovely modbird came from Grammie (via Lisa) for my birthday. Lisa does such amazing work. This is even more special in person.

And here is the awesome fabric I just got from Laural-thank you!! Boy, some of these scream apron to me (but what doesn't nowadays??) And congrats to Amanda on her new shop! I hope she knows what she's in for! ;) 'cause she's gonna be busy, her bags look wonderful!

mail and birds

show and tell. here is an amazing package that came in from the crochet bird pattern swap from a few weeks ago. Laurie, over at liquid paper, sent all these goodies, including this fish pin cushion (with sweet little handmade pins! that there is a little chicken on one of them) and sweet b-day wishes. I especially love the pencil bundle. thank you!
to all bird pattern takers-I'm getting all your swaps everyone, thank you, so much good stuff!

 

and Debbie sent these photos of one of the birds she made from the bird pattern. Her e-mail was so funny, self-deprecating and silly, my favorite type of humor. This is her "chicken-hawk eagle robin" and I believe it's from the eagle pattern, which is totally awesome because it doesn't look anything like the original pattern. She rocks.

and this from Claire. She was needing this magazine and was having a hard time finding it locally, so I begged to send her one. well, not begged, but you know what I mean. I think I am not alone in wanting to swap with Claire for anything. These are lovely fabrics-my favortie being the green with the little duck in the background. Mail is good.

catch-up

the aprons sent me for a loop and now I need to focus. amanda sent me the sweetest swap package last week with all the goodies you see here, plus a lovely little knitted chicken that miss delia loves and eats all day. she sent me vintage cards and patterns, cd's, plant dyed felt (love!) and copies from a toy making book that she knew I always wanted, somehow. oh, and the I'm smitten card (how could you part with it?) and the glass magnets-thank you!

and now the rest of the postcards I received from the swap! which was great fun. .

so-here are the lovely cards starting top row left to right: karen, brenda, kerry, lynda, miss fae and christy. and karen did not have me on her list, but I begged her for her card anyway-and then I didn't even send one back to her! how lame and rude of me! (karen, I only made 10, but I make it up to you!) here is mine-and thanks again myra!

swapy-swaps

Creative and wonderful knitter, Jess, sent me goodies from England! (she is kool-aid yarn dying right now! you have to see.) I have a thing for royal items, and this tin is sooo good. I love it. My royal collection is quite small, when it grows a bit I will post about it.-oh she sent buttons, and a lovely vintage postcard and a little needle project for a preserve cover-I need to get on the ball to get it done by berry season.

goodies from Hannah came, we did a little swap, and oh boy! okay-the robot card? so good! And the SWANK 70's hair-helmet cards are going straight on the fridge. The candy she included is now in my belly, so I won't show that, lovely fat quarter under all the goodies, and handmade cards in beautiful paper-and ribbon ALWAYS needed. And needlework transfer designs, thank you!

postcard swap

5 of the 10 postcards arrived and I am so happy! amazing creative peeps out there! This sexy number is from Heather-

this sweetie-pie is from Benita (I can't seem to find the right weblog for her)

Joelene stitched around all her post cards and added felt hearts!

lovely printed artwork from Robin

and Cat made a color print of her wonderful college-

oh happy-happy mail! I will post the last 5, and the one I sent, when they come in. Thank you fellow swapies! I love them! And thanks Myra for the great idea!

 

I got the donkey bag!

swap-swap this week. I got this wonderful handbag from Laural of Thimble fame (what an amazing resource her site is! I love it!) and 2 mix cd's (which I love, thank you!) Sadie is really into "her" music, which is really good, don't get me wrong-but anything can wear on you after the 1000th time (as grammie can vouch for, she actually threw out the batman album my brother and I loved)

So, Laural also sent this little pin ( you know the 80's kind that are coming back now, and I feel old about it, but cool at the same time) with a photo of a little freaky lookin' chicken. You can barely see it on the bag, so you will ave to use your imagination.

thanks myra!

I swapped Myra a little felt for felt and got this sweet tissue holder too! (and other fun goodies!) Oh I love swaps! I was hoping upon closer inspection, I'd figure out how she made this wonderful felt flower brooch-actually now I'm even more baffled. LOVELY!-good thing I don't have to figure it out-'cause it lives with me now!

goodies

She lives here now. I splurged and got this blue bunny from Camilla Engman. She is so lovely.

and look at the swap I got from The Small Object! I think Sarah (might have gotten the short end of the deal-I made out like a bandit! It was all gift wrapped so pretty-she sent me postcards, a photo album, original artwork (!)

and the Family Tree I coveted so much! Wow! I raved about her last week and am a bit stalker-ish about her illustration style, and now I have all this stuff from her-too much! Nice-happy-crafting- goodness-overload! Must drink some coffee now, go for a walk and calm down. . .

thank you hillary!

oh-hooray for the mail and hooray for Hillary!! Thank you!! It was such a good day today-it's sunny here in Portland, and has been in the high 50's all week-feels like spring already. And what a lovely package waiting for me when I got home! creepy thing-in a good way-I just bought dewey howard note-cards (seen here in this lovely array of items) about 10 minutes before opening this. . .