Reef Botanicals - Handmade Craft Soap

Artist Spotlight: Part Seventy-One

2012-02-08T18:15:00.000-05:00

I know I've told you about the Handmade Artists' Shop and Handmade Artists' Forum before, but today I want to talk to you about one of the driving forces behind those related entities.

Kimberly Kitchen, owner and artist at Makin' the Best of It, has worked tirelessly with her husband, Andrew, owner and artist at Chainmaille by MBOI to support and promote the handmade community from their home in NJ. Despite an insanely busy life and a couple of kids, plus dogs, Kimberly and Andrew have a serious love of all that is handmade. Kimberly (and I can definitely relate to this) accuses herself of having "a case of crafter's ADD, a chronic condition which requires boxes and bags of pieces and parts that could be 'something' someday and a ridiculous collection of websites and books on crafts [she wants] to try." Oh yes, I know that affliction well.

One of her loves, and Andrew's forte, is chainmaille, which led them to seek out a team.

To make communication easier than it was back then on Yahoo, Kimberly and Andrew offered to start their own forum. Rather than limiting the forum solely to chainmaillers, they opened it up to "anyone that created, loved, sold handmade." Unlike other venues which tend to stick to proprietary notions, Kimberly and Andrew have always encouraged members to post photos of their work and links to their various shops, blogs, and forums, no matter the host.

Since then, they have done their best to promote any handmade item that hits the Handmade Artists' Forum, through blogging, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Featured Member Ads, Facebook, Google+, and innumerable other venues.

With the hospitality exhibited by Kimberly and Andrew, it's no wonder the HAF membership grew to hundreds of members, fairly quickly. Because Kimberly and Andrew encourage the HAF members to promote each other as well, numerous visits to the shops of the members was inevitable, as were the resulting sales.

Kimberly, creator of so many different kinds of handmade wares, together with Andrew, attempted shops in various available venues.

But they were dissatisfied. Not the types to just sit back and settle, Kimberly and Andrew created the Handmade Artists' Shop. I cannot fathom the research and preparation this undertaking required, but it's come to fruition.

Today? The forum has nearly 2,500 members! The shop has grown by leaps and bounds! And Google searches are turning up products in the HAFshop. How could they not, with the promotion that Kimberly and Andrew do?

Their whole purpose is to drive the handmade movement forward, and that magnanimous attitude spills over to the other members of HAF, who are quick to support, encourage, instruct, suggest, and assist their fellow artists and artisans.

I've been proud to call myself a member of that community since December 16, 2009, not long after the inception of Reef Botanicals.

Artist Spotlight: Part Seventy

2012-02-01T02:03:00.000-05:00

An even 70! Well, for the 70th artist I'm featuring, I've got someone you've met before here, John Rasmussen of Rasmussen Gems & Jewelry. The quality of gems in this shop is breathtaking. Just take a look at this incredible topaz.

Or this beautiful sapphire. My favorite color is blue, so I'm kind of obsessed with these.

He cuts and polishes the stones, too, and turns them into beautiful pendants, like this wonderful obsidian.

Or this terrific tourmalated quartz.

The colors in that quartz are terrific too. Grey and yellow is such an "in" color combo right now.

The settings he does for his more intricate jewelry are incredible and unique. Much of it is set in sterling and fine silver, like this labradorite.

And this amethyst.

Or this quartz & citrine piece, or the amazing Padaradscha sapphire in the other one.

His silver work is even beautiful without stones, like this Jewish star forged from a single sheet of sterling.

Then again, he doesn't need silver to make beautiful jewelry either. I'm in love with his copper pieces, like this amethyst and copper bracelet.

Or these forged copper pieces sans stones.

And let's not forget his wife, Debora Lee, who adds her beading talent to the wares of the shop.

For more information, be sure to follow the blog.

A Reminder for Valentine's Day

2012-01-27T08:17:00.000-05:00

Our products make great gifts!

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Nine

2012-01-22T13:05:00.000-05:00

You've met this week's artist before, here, here, and here, but it's been quite a while, so let's see what Sandi's been up to over at iKnitQuiltSew!

Well, when she's not off with her husband in some remote high-mountain meadow trying to catch dinner in one of the many streams, creeks, or ponds near where they live in Utah, she's been busy!

Still knitting... headbands, cowls, booties, infant hats, receiving blankets, and a new line of wash/discloths...

Still sewing her amazing dolls, bears, and now pincushions!

And still quilting... for kids and now for adults too! I love the amazing wall hanging that would be so great over the couch in a living room.

Be sure to keep up with her on her blog too.

And Another

2012-01-18T08:47:00.025-05:00

My mom was so impressed with the bunny I made for my cousin's daughter, that she decided my nephew has to have one as well.

Well, this Saturday he will.

As frustrating as these are to make when I'm doing it (getting those puffy legs and arms and the long ears to stay nicely inside while I sew the body together is a trip and a half) and as much as I get things wrong when I'm tired and should quit for the night (like sewing the ears onto the inside instead of outside and having to take them off and start again - my seam ripper really is my best friend), I think they're so cute and really worth it in the end.

Yes?

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I've been busy!

2012-01-15T19:13:00.023-05:00

First... I finished the scarf order, and am planning to meet up with my customer to deliver it, since he's local.

Then, I started on the gifts for two first birthdays. My cousin's daughter just turned one and her party was today. In addition to a beautifully illustrated big book of nursery rhymes, Eric and I got her my very favorite children's book, The Sneetches & Other Stories, by Dr. Seuss.

If you've never read it, with or without kids... read it. It's worth the time. There are several stories, each with a message, but the great thing about Seuss is that, in addition to his brilliant rhyme and beautiful talent for illustration, he never beat you over the head with the moral of the story. When he died, we lost a hell of a talent.

Besides those, I couldn't let a birthday go by without making something for her. So I made her one of my knitted mice and this adorable stuffed bunny. I found the tutorial here.

I was so glad to have a use for the feminine fabrics; I'd won them intending to try a quilt that's just never going to happen. They were perfect for this bunny, though.

The other first birthday was that of Eric's best friend's son; the party was yesterday. So he got a mouse too, in dark blue, the same great book of nursery rhymes, Eric's favorite childhood book, A Fish Out of Water, and this cute penguin I made.

It's funny that my favorite is a Dr. Seuss and although Eric's favorite book was not actually written by Dr. Seuss, it's one of Seuss' Beginner Books series.

Now? Now I'm working on another stuffed bunny for my nephew; when my mom saw my cousin's daughter's she insisted Avery needs one too. It's in progress!

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Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Eight

2012-01-09T00:54:00.000-05:00

You've met this artist here before, but she's definitely worth a second look. It's Cari, of CrochetHooked.

So... some more of her gorgeous creations, yes?

She's got such an eye for color combinations, and I love those pearls!

Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Seven

2012-01-08T23:58:00.000-05:00

This time it's not so much about a handmade artist as a collection of 'em... at the Handmade Artists Forum.

At HAF, should you decide to stop by, you'll meet a plethora of artists who use as their media wood, metal, stones, fibers, paint, glass, soap and salts, wax, clay, and anything else you can imagine. Just look at some of the items shared...

The supportive group offers accolades, instruction, suggestions, business sense, feedback, and friendship. What could be better?

And not required for membership but also available... the Handmade Artists' Shop.

Do yourself a favor. Check it out.

My first commission!

2011-12-30T23:28:00.001-05:00

Someone who saw me knitting it loved Eric's scarf so much that he's commissioned me to make the same exact one for him! So... my very first knitting sale!

... once it's done.

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New in the Reef Botanicals Handmade Artists Shop!

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Patterns and toys!

You can buy the 29-page pattern, instructions, and photos to make your own Busy Book here. This includes the pattern for the dinosaur puzzle.

Or you can buy the pattern for the Dinosaur Puzzle alone here.

You can buy a set of Numbered Beanbags here.

And you can buy a set of Jumbo Dolphin Crayons here.

Enjoy!

Cables!

2011-12-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

I can do cables!

Now I feel like I can do anything.

Handmade Holidays, Part 7: Last, but Not Least

2011-12-25T16:47:00.018-05:00

I couldn't post anything about this before Christmas, 'cause Eric reads this blog.

Remember when I took knitting lessons and then knitted some mice?

Well, Eric's been lobbying for a sweater ever since. I told him I had neither the time nor the expertise, but decided to try it anyway. Today, in addition to the cheese making supplies I bought him, I gave him the scarf, and he loves it! I finished it just in time, on the morning of Christmas Eve. Talk about down to the wire, right?

I used Homespun in Prairie, since I loved the colors.

It was slow going at first, especially since I'd never done ribbing before, but then I started to get the swing of it. I remember I was all impressed with myself when I had just 24" done.

Finally, I had all 69" (it was supposed to be 66", but I went a tad overboard).

The pattern I sort of followed had a 2-2-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2 ribbing pattern, but I decided to add 10 rows in stockinette on each end.

Finally yesterday in the early afternoon, I was able to box and wrap it, and get it under the tree.

Eric loves it!

Now he thinks he's a model.

Well, hell, I did make him look good, after all. And now? Someone who saw me knitting it has ordered one from me too! My first scarf sale!

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Handmade Holidays, Part 6: More Beanbags

2011-12-24T14:22:00.001-05:00

Since I have two nephews, I did two sets of beanbags. This one's in green, with a green bag with dinosaur lining.

Huzzah for another gift done, just in the nick of time!

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Want a Dinosaur Puzzle?

2011-12-23T08:02:00.001-05:00

Like this one, I mean. Well, you can make your own, 'cause the pattern and instructions are now in the Reef Botanicals HAFShop!

Handmade Holidays, Part 5: Biggest Undertaking Ever

2011-12-22T08:00:00.032-05:00

That's not entirely true. Not the undertaking part, the holiday part. My nephew's 2nd birthday is today, and this is actually about his birthday gift.

A busy book.

I'd wanted to do this for a while, but had no idea how intense this would get, how involved. This was a lot of work! See, I wanted to design my own, not use someone else's pattern. That's not to say I didn't search online for ideas. Of course I did. I took bits and pieces of inspiration from some of those, as well as from other places, and from my own head too.

Anyway, here's what I came up with. Page one, I did color-matching flowers that are held on by velcro. And the stems are attached to the "separate" flower heads to hold them to the book.

And yes, throughout this whole thing, I hand drew the designs onto paper, then pinned them to the fabric and cut them out, then sewed them on. Some were topstitched like the felt on this flowerpot page, some weren't.

On to pages two and three.

Page two is a pair of denim shorts with a belt that buckles and unbuckles. I used my own jeans for the shorts and the waistband of a shirt for the belt, but any thick fabric would do. It just happened to be the absolute perfect width for the 1" buckle I bought.

For some reason, this page intimidated me before I did it... then it turned out to be perfectly fine and fairly easy.

Page three is my car with snap-on wheels.

The wheels, headlight, and bumpers are felt, but the car body is a really soft velour. I'm sure my nephew will love the feel of it, but man was it a pain to work with!

Ah, pages four and five. The pages to teach buttoning and tying. The pocket, made from the same shirt as the belt on page two, didn't worry me at all, but the fabric proved difficult and the way I wanted it sewn wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be. And that, my friends, is my very first buttonhole.

Meanwhile, the sneaker, designed by looking at my own Keds, was the last page I completed and most to scare the ever-living daylights out of me. In the end? A breeze! The "toughest" part of that page was hitting the store to purchase the grommet pliers. Oh, and using crazy glue to make the ends of the laces stiff and keep them from fraying. It worked, but I did it with my bare fingers and then spent the next day and a half scraping crazy glue off because I don't happen to have nailpolish remover.

Pages six and seven, the zipper page and the clock. To get a zipper involved, I made a jacket from another old shirt, with felt collar, cuffs, and waistband.

The clock face is made from a shiny, slippery shirt fabric. The grommet pliers came in handy again on this one, so the clock hands are moveable to teach time.

Last, but definitely not least, page eight. I had no idea what to do with page eight, but I didn't want a blank page. I also didn't want to be repetitive and had already addressed buttons, velcro, zippers, snaps, and everything else I could think of.

So, I did a gift within a gift. I made a pocket out of this fab dinosaur fabric I have.

And in that pocket... a puzzle!

And yes, another button, but for this one I did a loop closure, so it's still something new.

Anyway, on to the puzzle. It's felt. It's several layers, and it's dinosaurs.

Measuring 10"x15", it's cut into 8 pieces and features a pterodactyl, a stegosaurus, and a plesiosaur. I figured one air, one land, and one sea dinosaur would be fitting. The pieces fit nicely into the dinosaur pocket, too. And it turns out my nephew loves dinosaurs! So it's perfect.

I didn't want to leave the cover blank, so I hand-embroidered a title for it.

And I gave it a ribbon-tie closure.

After all that work, I couldn't use my design just once. So you can purchase the extensive instructions and .pdf patterns for the entire thing in the Reef Botanicals Handmade Artists Shop! Or you can also get the instructions and pattern for the puzzle separately, in case anyone wants just that.

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It's in the Bag... Handmade Holidays, Part 4

2011-12-19T00:10:00.000-05:00

Remember the bean bags I made? Made a gift bag to hold 'em!

I used this pattern, and it truly as easy as the name of it claims.

Also, I made a green set! They've been purchased for a customer's godson.

Swimmin' with the Mammals. And Fishes. (AKA Handmade Holidays, Part 3)

2011-12-16T01:48:00.000-05:00

So... remember those dolphin crayons I made for the nephews for Chanukah and Christmas? I finally made the storage bags for 'em!

I used this tutorial, without the applique since I had that awesome shark fabric. And yes, I know dolphins are mammals and sharks are fish, but they're all sea life, right? So it goes. Right? The lining and base fabric is from t-shirts. The hardest part? The channel for the ribbon ties. I've gotten more proficient at bags, though. The first one took me about an hour and a half. The second... about half an hour!

And each bag is the perfect size for an entire set of the jumbo crayons! I knew they would be.

Now to get the bags done for those beanbags...

Poultry in Motion

2011-12-11T10:56:00.002-05:00

Did I mention I've been in a show? Poultry in Motion is a fun take-off on the Chicken Little Story, and I'm playing Henny Penny! We've been having a ton of fun, and today are our last two performances.

Yes, two. Children's shows are under an hour, and so we have two performances each day.

At any rate, immediately following our final performance and the subsequent strike of our set will be the cast party. Waaaaaaaaaay back during rehearsals, I "called" cupcakes. Glad I did, too, since someone else asked to be the cupcake-bringer a day or two ago. But see, I'd seen these, and just knew they were too perfect. Chicks for Chicken Little, right?!

So... my rendition.

I didn't burnish the edges to make them all smooth, but I think they're adorable. It would've been tough, because underneath the fondant "cracked shell," I used vanilla buttercream instead of a fondant disc on my chocolate cupcakes.

I measured and cut my fondant circles with a wine glass that was just about the right size, and cut the "cracks" in advance of placing them on the cupcakes. It made them a little more difficult to transfer to the cakes, but if I'd cut them on the buttercream, they'd have stuck.

Then it was just a matter of making yellow and orange fondant, forming the body and head balls, making those tiny cone beaks, and doing the combs. The hardest part? The combs. The fondant wanted to stick to the knife and drag.

And then, since I don't have a black food marker, just the "bright" colors, I gave them all nice blue eyes.

Adorable, right? Adorable.

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Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Six

2011-12-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

You've met Gina of Dahlish Knits here before, but she's definitely worth revisiting. She's the one who made those awesome socks I won and wear all the time (in between washings, of course).

So what's she been up to lately?

Well, in her Handmade Artists Shop, you'll find nifty stuff like this:

But personally, I'm really kind of enamoured with the stuff she's been doing for herself and her family, like this sweater with the awesome ruffled neckline, these fun stockings, and this really pretty Christmas card holder.

No end to the talent! Am I right?

Handmade Holidays, Part 2

2011-12-04T01:42:00.014-05:00

Another gift for the nephews, a blast from my own past... chunky crayons. People have all different ways of doing these, and all different styles. Some use regular muffin tins and make crayon discs. Some use shaped molds. Some melt the crayons in advance and pour the molten wax into the molds so each crayon is one solid color. Some choose to mix colors all willy nilly.

As for me, I'm a fan of the monochromatic but mottled look. Hence, these.

So much fun! I got a silicone dolphin muffin "tin" (Is it still a tin if it's silicone? I think not.) specifically for this purpose. I wanted a fun shape that was chunky and easy to hold. Dolphins are perfect!

And then, two 64-color boxes of Crayola crayons (Only the best!), one for each of two sets. What I made aren't mini crayons, mind you, these are jumbo crayons. Each 7-dolphin set took all 64 crayons in the box.

Eric helped me peel and break the crayons. Speaking of which, what's with Crayola crayons? Aside from the fact that they "retired" some of the colors I know and love, which I already knew, they have some crazy color names. Best Friend? Courage? Giving Tree?

Really? What the heck kind of color is "Best Friend"? (FYI, it was a light shade in the purple family.)

Also, the paper used to be much easier to peel off when I was a kid. Some of the crayons, the old colors, still are easy. But there are a whole different group that are somehow stickier. Or maybe the glue holding the paper to the crayon is stickier. Or the paper for those is of a different composition. Not sure, but peeling those was tough.

Once I got 'em peeled, I separated and then broke them. Reds & pinks in one crayon, oranges and yellows in the next, then greens, blues, purples, browns, and the last was black, white, silver, various shades of grey, gold, and tumbleweed (another new one).

We broke them pretty small, generally each crayon ended up in five pieces. Then we mixed them up well so the colors would be well distributed.

Since I hadn't made these since I was a kid and Eric had never made them, I looked online for oven temperatures and length of baking. The blog post I followed said to preheat the oven to 275 and bake for 7-8 minutes. We did go with the 275, but I think 7-8 minutes was for the mini crayons people seem to be making. With the size of these, they needed a lot longer to properly melt. At 8 minutes, they looked like this.

Pretty cool, but definitely not done. This is what done looks like.

So I just kept an eye on it until they looked like this. At this point, when the molten crayons come out of the oven, some people choose to swirl the wax further with a toothpick. I was going for more of a mottled than swirled look, though, so I didn't bother. Just tapped out the bubbles as if they were melted chocolate, and then let them cool.

And then? Chunky crayons!

The mold only had six dolphins, so we did these six first, then another set of these same colors, then the two brown ones for two sets of seven, one to each nephew. Another Chanukah and Christmas gift done!

And these are now also available for sale in the Reef Botanicals Handmade Artists Shop!

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Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Five

2011-11-28T02:44:00.000-05:00

You've met Tammy of TamsJewelry here before. Remember the biker chick who makes pretty jewelry? That's her!

Born in Ohio and living in Texas, Tam's married with two daughters. Although she's enjoyed many crafts over the years, none has addicted her like jewelry making has.

A look:

For more, check out her Handmade Artists' Shop.

Handmade Holidays

2011-11-27T01:25:00.031-05:00

Now that it's post-Thanksgiving, it's OK to talk winter holidays: Chanukah & Christmas... and my nephew's December 22nd birthday. I've been working on gifts. First, these numbered beanbags.

For the front fabric, I used a pair of old corduroy pants.

For the fabric backs, I used fabrics from all different sources.

For instance, the sharks, monkeys, pawprints, and dinosaurs came from JoAnn Fabrics and were purchased for projects like this. The motorcycles and planes were from a little mom & pop fabric shop nearby. The red swirly fabric I bought over a year ago to back a quilt kit I never made. And the two striped ones are old shirts of mine.

Then I did numbers to match the backs.

Once I had a stack of parts, I needed to iron on the number appliques.

Then I sewed around the appliques. These, for the record, were my first-ever appliques. For those of you who are really beginner sewing types like I am, some things I learned:

Sewing that damned zigzag around an applique is hard. Seriously. Of course, it got easier most of the way through when I realized that the little notch line on my sewing machine foot was the center line of the stitch. Yeah. I'm a little... rather than dim, we'll call it not observant. So before that, it was really hard to keep the stitching on the edge of the numbers and I had to rip some out and redo them. Honestly, even after I figured that out it was hard. Stitches are as big as they are, and I'm still working out how to gauge getting the stitches where they need to be when it's time to turn the fabric. Speaking of which, the tutorial is not kidding about the slowness and futziness of the sewing of the appliques. Slow. And futzy.

In the end, they came together. How cute are these?

I've got the beginnings of another set in green for the other nephew, but first I have something else I'm working on. It's something I've never done before and involves my very own patterns. You'll see soon!

These beanbags, though, are now available for purchase in the Reef Botanicals Handmade Artists Shop.

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Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Four

2011-11-22T00:06:00.000-05:00

Today, I'd like you to meet John Atwell Rasmussen, who hails from Easley, South Carolina.

A retired paramedic, he was educated in geology at Rensslaer Polytechnic Institute in NY, obtaining his Bachelors and Masters, and then teaching geology. He was educated further at the International Gem Society, the Gemological Institute of America, and Penn Foster Career School.

He pursues his love of rocks, minerals, and gems as the lapidary and jeweler at Rasmussen Gems & Jewelry.

His wife Debora assists the business by doing bead design and making all of the beaded pieces in the shop.

Together, the talent is mind-blowing. I'll let their pieces speak for themselves, except to suggest you learn more about them on his blog.

Oh, the plans I have...

2011-11-14T23:51:00.000-05:00

I recently won a crazy huge fat quarter bundle of Tuxedo by Riley Blake Designs fabrics from Tatortots & Jello, and it came today in the mail! Part of the cool thing, aside from the fabric itself, is that it's not really available 'til the end of November, so I was one of the first to get it!

Ooooh, the plans I have for this! Do you see how many there are there?! So far, a skirt & a table runner... and then we'll see.

A New Assistant

2011-11-13T18:08:00.000-05:00

Making candles today, a new scent and a new technique. They're going to be awesome!

And Catimus wanted to help too.

Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Three

2011-11-13T12:53:00.001-05:00

Since you've met Teresa here before, several times, (yes, each word is a separate link to another of my blog posts about her) I decided to focus this time on just one aspect of her Handmade Artists Shop, her earrings. She's got a great eye, a delicate style, and such pretty items!

I think it's interesting that while you can definitely see these were made by the same hand, you could own every single pair of earrings here and still not feel like you were repeating yourself or making boring choices. Each bead and metal chosen, each instance of wire wrapping is so unique that each is definitely an individual piece.

Check out the shop for more, plus necklaces, bracelets, and even wooden shaving sets.

Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-Two

2011-11-06T17:41:00.000-05:00

Today's artist is Cari, of CrochetHooked. From Lakewood, CA, she taught herself to crochet about 11 years ago, and over the years has made baby clothes, hats, lapel pins, scarves, and jewelry. In 2005, while working in a craft store, she started teaching crocheting to students. Around the same time, she discovered an ability to crochet with wire and beads, and has since created and branded Braidlets, which are beaded wire crocheted beaded bracelets.

To make these, she uses a crochet hook, artistic wire, and Japanese seed beads or Swarovski Crystals.

Using variations on the theme, she's got stuff appropriate for holidays and weddings too.

She's also got a series of zodiac charm bracelets. My personal favorite, of course, is Leo.

Plus, there are the bracelet and earring sets... or just earrings on their own.

You can find these and more in her Handmade Artists Shop and her Etsy Shop. Or you can just get to know her on her blog.

Halloween at Our House

2011-10-31T21:33:00.005-04:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and Eric is good about humoring me. I mean, he likes it too, but I'm pretty crazy about it. Normally, we do a huge party on the closest Saturday, and to decorate, I take down all of the regular stuff and put up all Halloween. I have a ton of Halloween decorations; I do Halloween the way some people do Christmas. The movers when we got married and moved in together were making fun of how many boxes of Halloween stuff I have. To give you an idea.

This year, we didn't do the party. I was a little sad about it, but I was sick for a week, then Eric was sick for a week, then we were sort of OK, then Eric was sick for another week, and by the time we were both mostly feeling better it was way too close to the intended party to have time to properly decorate and shop and all. So no party.

We did do the front yard, though. Can't not do the front yard.

We had a ton of fun doing it up. I'm hoping it'll encourage trick-or-treaters, since we had so few last year.

I know we had one thing we didn't have last year. Or for many years before that now. The past several years, Halloween's temps have been in the 60s. I love it, getting dressed up and sitting outside to hand out candy.

This year? Snow.

You can't even see the spider in that one anymore!

Snow does not go with our haunted graveyard motif! Sigh. We had fingers crossed that it'd be melted by Halloween night.

Though we didn't host ours, we did go to a Halloween party on Saturday night. I wore my Renaissance Faire garb. Eric? Eric has this terrific Venetian mask from New Orleans, and wanted a velvet cloak to go with it. We went with velveteen, but I got to work. I checked out these instructions and these, and used primarily the second ones. I also took some dimensions from my Harry Potter cloak.

I changed 'em a bit, and cut 3 pieces for the body, each 55" long. The top of the back panel, I made 10". For the top of the front panels, I measured 30". I made the bottom of the back panel the full 44" of the width of the fabric, and did the same for the front panels. Then I cut the front one in half lengthwise, for 15" at the top of each and 22" at the bottom.

I cut two pieces for the hood, basically measuring by eye. I sewed them together and hemmed around the face opening.

Then, I sewed each front panel to the back, and sewed on the hood, then hemmed around the body too.

I added a hook and eye closure.

And then a couple of buttons for looks.

I somehow misjudged the size and didn't make it as big around as I'd have liked. I have no idea how that happened, and as it is I didn't have enough fabric purchased to make it any bigger. So it's more of a cape that a cloak, but it worked.

He wore it for Halloween night too, to greet unsuspecting trick-or-treaters.

I was Hermione.

The girl working the register at Walgreens when I raced there for more candy said I had the perfect hair for it.

And Meg was a witch.

Oh, and on Sunday night one of the other attorneys in my office had a party to go to, so she borrowed my clown costume and came over for me to do up her face. I'll have full photos from her later, but this is what I got.

How adorable is she?!

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Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty-One

2011-10-30T19:20:00.000-04:00

I don't actually have a specific artist for you this week, so I'm going to point you to a terrific place to purchase handmade (or sell it if you're in the business), the Handmade Artists Shop. The range of things you can find there is incredible. Of course, Reef Botanicals has a shop there too.

But you know about our stuff. So what about the others?

Well, there're these great manga art prints in the Tatsu Shop, like this Dance of Leaves.

Or this beautiful Rainbow Vitral crystal copper wire pendant found in Catinalife Creations.

This beautiful crocheted Infinity Scarf can be found in Bernoulli's Attic.

The Enchanted Candle has adorable fairy houses like this one.

This knot a shield flask from Cabachon Persnickity would be great to bring to the Renaissance Faire!

And this eyeglass holder from Forked Up Art cracks me up!

I've barely scratched the surface of the Handmade Artists Shop for you. You really need to check it out yourself to see all the crazy awesome stuff.

Artist Spotlight: Part Sixty

2011-10-23T12:08:00.001-04:00

Wow, I've done quite a few of these, haven't I? Well, I've got a treat for you this week, something different. Glass (and clay) artist Kay, of Kayz Kreations.

Kay has been doing stained glass and mosaics for several years and enjoys both, especially her ability to create unique and charming items for home and garden. Hailing from Killeen, TX, she definitely has an affinity for items with Texas themes.

Like so many of the artists I bring you, Kay is multitalented. She started with a stained glass class at a community college and was hooked.

(Have you started your holiday shopping yet? How perfect would this be to decorate your home for your holiday dinner or party? Or as a gift for someone you love? Find it here.)

A year later, Kay took a mosaics class and started to run with that too!

I love the humor in that one. So cute for a kid's bedroom or clubhouse door! Or heck, there are days I'd love to hang it on my own door!

About 2.5 years ago, Kay took a fused glass class and added that to her talents too.

As a lover of gardening, a lot of her items and themes are for the outdoors, like these fun garden stakes in stained glass and clay.

Or these great birdfeeders.

And this really pretty birdhouse.

She used recycled bottles for this fun wind chime.

And she's even expanded into the world of jewelry!

You can read on her blog how she won a contest with this cool and interesting necklace.

And you can shop her wares in her Etsy and Zibbet shops.

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Nine

2011-10-16T14:26:00.001-04:00

I'll warn you now, this is going to be a picture-heavy post. You'll see why, though. There's just so much I want to show you! And all of it was made by Collette of Collette's Boutique.

Collette says that she began making jewelry in 2004, when losing her job caused her to have a lot of free time. She started with beading, then took a few wire working and metalsmith classes to learn basics. Most of her knowledge, though, is self-taught. In my opinion, she must be one hell of a teacher, because her jewelry is just amazing. Clean, classy, classic, and just plain exquisite. Prolific, too, as illustrated by the nearly 200 items in her shop, mostly in sterling silver, copper, and various stones, though she says that her toddler takes up most of her time now.

OK, I'll stop telling and start showing, since her pieces really speak for themselves.

Earrings.

(These you can win on her blog contest, which runs through October 22... except I'm hoping to win them for myself!)

Bracelets.

Necklaces.

And believe it or not, wire-wrapping tutorials, like this toggle closure and this pair of earrings!

For news about her jewelry, the veggies she grows in her garden in West Virginia, and even the occasional joke, be sure to follow her blog.

Something Different

2011-10-10T19:28:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't normally talk to you on this blog about non-handmade stuff. For instance, while I'll tell you about my face painting, soap, sewing, knitting, and even sometimes my face painting and baking, I don't really talk here about my law practice.

But this is about a potential free iPad or iPod for you.

And see, my law practice is really local. If you're not in NJ, it's not going to matter to you. This is different. This is nationwide... and it's Eric's. And I'm kind of really excited about it. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but in addition to the soap and candles, beer brewing and cooking, Eric's got a "day job" too.

He's in IT (computer stuff).

When I met him, he was running his own company in Brooklyn, and just when we started dating, he got hired out from under himself by one of his corporate clients. They needed a good computer guy, especially one familiar with both Apple and PC products, and he fit the bill. So he went with it.

Turns out, he much prefers to be his own boss. So after almost 3 years there and over 12 years total in IT, he's taken the leap and struck out on his own again! He is now Logical Lemur IT. I love the name. I love the concept. And I love the theme of his branding. I'm a big geek, and look!

Dude! The periodic table! And yeah, I hated chemistry as much as the next person, but I learned the periodic table from Mr. Merics in 8th grade science and I loved Mr. Merics. Plus, doesn't it lend itself so nicely to the categories? That's the postcard he had made, but if you check out the site, you'll see those boxes are navigation buttons.

Why am I telling you all this? Because you might need him. Seriously, this is nationwide. He can do most things remotely. And if he needs a tech to show up in person, he can do that or get one to do so, wherever you are.

For businesses of at least 3 users, he's offering unlimited monthly support. For residential, he's offering a monthly home protection plan. I'm not going to repeat all the info that's on the site here, because that would be silly. Feel free to poke around and contact him with any questions.

Yes, yes, enough. I mentioned that Free iPad or iPod and you want to know what on earth I was talking about, right?

If you look on the site, specifically here, you can see the details on how to get one, but the basics are these: If you refer a business client of at least 3 users and it signs up for service, you get an iPod. If you refer a client of at least 30 users, you get an iPad. So do yourself a favor... think about the business you work for, the businesses you used to work for, the businesses you deal with, and friends with businesses or in businesses. Because who couldn't use a free iPad or iPod? Am I right?

OK, nerdiness done. For now.

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Eight

2011-10-09T12:28:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since you've seen anything from me about this shop, Jewelry by Janelle. I did introduce you to her here and here, and tell you about my nifty hairsticks from her here. Well, Janelle herself has left us, but her shop lives on, with all proceeds going to her estate, to help out her family.

There is still a wonderful selection of her work, showcasing her legacy of craftsmanship and care.

One of her signature pieces, this Zebrawood donut was made from one of Jan's favorite varieties of wood, one she considered to be most beautiful. She hand shaped, sanded, and buffed it to a lovely shine, and then used a brown organza ribbon to finish it off.

This bracelet, made from Bloodwood and aluminum chainmaille, combines two of Jan's jewelrymaking talents. The neat thing about this bracelet is that it could be unisex, and work for anyone.

This pendant, with its beautiful deco bail, is made from the same wood as my hairsticks - Pink Ivorywood. I can attest from personal experience that it's just as gorgeous in person as it is in the photo.

Last, but certainly not least, this Madrone Burl wood necklace and earring set with its gold filigree bead spacers is polished to such a shine that it looks like it's got a clear poly coating... but it doesn't.

To see more photos of these and the other items in Janelle's shop, please go visit.

Cozy

2011-09-25T16:51:00.000-04:00

I have socks! I mean, I had socks... but now I have my very first pair of hand-knit socks, and they're awesome. They were made by Gina Dahl, of Dahlish Knits.

Based on these, I highly recommend her shop, and may very well buy some more myself! I didn't actually buy these, though. She hosted a giveaway on her blog earlier this month and I won! The funniest part? She used a D&D die to choose the winner. Geeky as I am, that's so fitting.

Like a glove! Or... y'know... a sock. And they're so soft.

Tomato

2011-09-25T00:53:00.000-04:00

We had one. We ate it. Splitting a cherry tomato isn't so easy.

But worth it!

Got Kids? Know kids?

2011-09-19T00:43:00.000-04:00

I have discovered the best ever gift, for kids, adults... or heck, myself. Handmade wooden puzzles! I won mine, but I'll definitely be buying more. This is the one I chose...

And believe it or not, this was the small version. Here's the big version:

Because it's a couple layers, Charles Hamm, the brains behind Hammcrafted, can hide treasures... like this chest.

Fun, right? The one I got is two layers too, and this is the bottom layer.

Despite the fact that I won this and didn't even buy it, it was sent to me giftwrapped in tissue with a beautiful band. It seriously could be sent directly to the recipient of a gift and I wouldn't have to worry that it would fail to impress.

Of course, mine wasn't a gift for anyone. It's staying at our house so when the kiddies come visit we have stuff for them to do. So I got to play with it.

The pieces fit together nicely, and kids could actually play with the animals, which stand on their own due to the thickness of the wood.

I even like the branding on the back, but I'm goofy like that.

For children, besides this undersea puzzle, he's also got African safari and forest puzzles, in both large and small sizes. You can see those on his site or in his Etsy shop.

But in those places, you can also see his jigsaw puzzles, which are absolutely amazing. Initially, I thought this one was cool.

Foxes! But then I saw this vintage style Wizard of Oz one, and I skipped a breath.

Isn't that phenomenal? The one that had both me and Eric say "wow" out loud in unison, though, was this one.

Right?!

Anyway, I'm impressed and want to keep up with him, so I "liked" his Facebook page. Meanwhile, if you read up on him in his blog, which you can get to from his primary site, you'll see that he's in school learning how to make furniture. Phenomenal!

Anyway, this is one thing I won that made me "YES!" out loud (and get a weird look from Eric until he saw it in person) 'cause I just knew it'd be great. And it is. Seriously, I'm a huge fan.

And on an entirely different note... tomato!

Misfits Love Company

2011-09-06T18:22:00.001-04:00

So I made a friend for Hamish & Mad Hungry. Meet Moo Moo the Owl!

He's soooo soft, made from a sweater knit fabric I found at a tiny local fabric shop (which happens to be on the way home from a place Eric gets his beer brewing ingredients), one of Eric's old socks, some white felt, and a couple of buttons.

You know, it's amazing how much stuffing fits into something so small. Just sayin'.

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Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Six & Fifty-Seven

2011-09-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

I have a couple talents for you today. The first you've met here before. And here too, for that matter. Plus, she was my awesome Secret Santa!

Since you've met Gina here before, I'll focus on some of my favorites from her Handmade Artists Shop. This mom of two and lover of knitting, soft yarns, and creating is inspired by her kids. You can see the inspiration in this pair of carrot baby booties. Carrots!

And then there's this great dragonfly keychain.

Her kids were so lucky to have hats like this!

For myself, though, I'd want these sherbert twist socks.

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And the other artist? You've met her here before too. Remember Tammy?

She's also got a Handmade Artists Shop. Also a mother of two, Tammy's been married for 25 years! Kudos to her, seriously. Although she's tried many crafts over the years, her favorite is jewelry making and you can see that in her pieces.

Like this great leather & turquoise bracelet.

Or this fun gold link anklet with glass chili peppers.

Likin' the chili peppers? There's a necklace too!

I'm loving these beaded earrings.

Pretty sure they'd look great on me. And how sweet are these angel earrings?

Really, no matter your taste I think you'd find something you like in either or both of these shops. Check 'em out!

Ooooooooooh, Dangerous. But Useful!

2011-09-04T18:12:00.000-04:00

JoAnn's. Oh, man, JoAnn's has become so dangerous for me. I've always been a fan of craft-type stores, The Rag Shop (defunct now), Michael's, and A.C. Moore.

Since I started sewing, I've discovered JoAnn Fabrics. The nearest one to me was in Ramsey, over 20 miles away. With traffic. It was in a strip mall, small and crowded. Narrow aisles, tough to really see and find what you need. Still an addiction, of course. But I could walk out of there with just one or two fabrics easily.

And then one day in July, Eric and I were coming back from the mall and there it was. A new one. 10.6 miles from our house, a stand-alone store. We went, and found it to be bright and spacious, with wide aisles and tons more inventory. Yikes.

We went in, planning to spend $50... and left having spent $100, with coupons. Oops. But look what I got!

How adorable are those dinosaurs? I love that they say what they are in them! And then there are these smiley monkeys.

Aren't they great?

And these sharks a nod to my sister's first love - she wanted to be a marine biologist and study sharks when she was a kid. I'll have to make something for my nephew. Any ideas?

I've got these pawprints too, just 'cause I couldn't leave without them.

I got some stuff for me, too, not just the kids. This colorful one is for a sewing machine cover.

With this great green on the reverse side.

I love this great yellow batik, which I figured for the interior of a knitting tote or bag for myself.

With this great blue and yellow batik for the outside of the bag.

I have this duffel bag pattern I want to make, and Eric wants me to use these great penguins.

I also got this great purple knit to make a denim/knit skirt for myself from an old pair of jeans.

I don't have any specific plans for this green felt, but figured it'd be handy to have around. Same for this pretty olive green fabric.

I got this amazingly soft, fluffy yarn with the intent of knitting finger puppets.

And this purple canvas remnant will be perfect for part of the "quiet" books I want to make for the nephews.

Then I also got some generally useful things...

And today? Today I finally used some of the fabric! I followed this tutorial and made a holder for all of our supermarket bags! It was pretty quick and let me remove the smashed-in pile of bags from the shelf of the baker's rack. Awesome!

Our Weekend with Irene

2011-08-28T17:49:00.010-04:00

Here in NJ, not too many miles from the Hudson River, we've just survived Hurricane Irene. In fairness, this wasn't nearly as bad as hurricanes can be, and we didn't get it nearly as bad as they did down south or worse, the Caribbean. Honestly, I think we slept through a good portion of it. But not knowing what it was going to be like or how hard we'd be hit, we had to plan our weekend around it.

So I'll tell you what we did. After moving all of the potted plants off the deck to the dining room table, lashing the garbage cans and grill to the deck, and moving everything else into the garage, we took a run to the supermarket for some non-perishables, stocked up on peanut butter and tuna fish.

At home, we did a ton of laundry as prep for a potential power outtage. Then I made one of my misfits from the other sewing book Eric got me for my birthday, Hamish the Bat.

He's even cuter in person! The wings are made of black felt I got to do my felties, like the classic zombie and zombie kitty I recently posted. The body is an old orange and black mottled t-shirt of mine, perfect coloring for Halloween! The eyes are buttons that I got last year from my nephew as a birthday gift. And the mouth is just embroidery thread.

I couldn't stop with one and made Mad Hungry the wolf too. His head is the same fleece I used for the elephant and the mouse, and his body was part of a black t-shirt. Eyes, same batch of buttons as the bat.

Meanwhile, Eric baked us some loaves of bread to use with our peanut butter and jelly.

On Sunday morning, I forced Meg to go out for a walk, since she'd had her legs crossed ever since it'd started to rain the day before. She hates rain. Hates. She thinks I'm torturing her when I make her go in the rain. But such is life.

For brunch on Sunday, he used it to make us French toast. I took the opportunity to rearrange my jewelry box too. And when it cleared up on Sunday afternoon, we went for a walk.

Total damage:

Soggy, annoyed dog.

Deck plants in the dining room.

Twigs all over the deck.

One branch that nearly took out the garden. But didn't.

And some casualties of the fruit-like persuasion.

Sunday night, True Blood. In the end, not so bad!

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Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Five

2011-08-28T16:35:00.000-04:00

You've met this talented Aussie before, here, here, and here. Yup, Haffina of Haffina's Creations!

This time, I thought I'd focus on the wares in her Handmade Artists Shop. So...

Check out this Men's red diamond pendant on leather. You don't see a lot of male-oriented jewelry on handmade sites, so this is especially fantastic, made from a faceted glass pendant.

Or there's this kumihimo and polymer clay bracelet or anklet. She braided the kumihimo herself and made the polymer clay beads by hand too!

Or this green circles seed bead choker necklace, which includes freshwater pearls.

See for yourself!

Night of the Living Dead

2011-08-22T23:31:00.006-04:00

Yes, I know this one actually came before Dawn of the Dead, but I started in the wrong order, what can I tell you? Point is...

Zombie Kitty!

Now Classic Zombie has a pet! Is he cute, or what? I love the eyeball "tag" on his collar.

I think I need to start naming these guys something besides Classic Zombie and Zombie Kitty. Any ideas?

Dawn of the Dead

2011-08-16T22:03:00.007-04:00

Eric is awesome. My birthday was July 28, and he got me the best presents, but I'll get to those in a minute. First, let me show you what I made.

A zombie!

The pattern for it came from this book, one of my birthday gifts from E.

Am I right about him being awesome, or what? Not sure yet? Well, I also got this book.

And this one.

And this tea and chocolate and fondant ribbon cutter.

And the coup de gras, a Brookstone back massager!

Oh, and by the way, we got to eat our first cucumber from the garden!

Was awesome!

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Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Four

2011-08-15T00:10:00.001-04:00

You've met her before, more than once, in fact, but she's definitely worth another look, so this week I'm updating you on the adventures of Theresa Rusk of TRusk4U!

While she's still got an Etsy shop, she's focusing more these days on her Handmade Artists shop. Find out about the move and more at her blog. On the other hand, if you want to read about her real live brick and mortar storefront, you can check out her other blog, on which she features the artists who provide the wares in her North Carolina shop.

In the meantime, check out some of her new items...

Veggies!

2011-08-10T22:11:00.001-04:00

So... the cucumbers started. (Woohoo!)

And then one of them turned into a real cucumber!

That's what it looks like today! By next week, it'll be eaten! It's amazing how fast it grew; I swear, last week it was one of those tiny ones in the first three photos. We do have a bunch more tiny ones that just aren't growing as quickly.

Then today... I found tomatoes! We have cherry tomato plants, and today, I found this.

Amusingly, I saw that one first, when right next to it, maybe an inch away, was this one that was double the size or more.

Our romaine lettuce is huge too, so soon... salad!

I'm happy.

2011-08-05T19:52:00.000-04:00

So I've got this baby shower to attend tomorrow. Remember I made that knitted mouse for it? I also got the impending baby a cute little pink dress with a matching hat. Her mom's all about the pink for the baby - I could tell from the registry.

Well, in addition to that, I got her these awesome handmade bib and burp cloth sets from The Voodoo Kitten.

Aren't they adorable? Her stuff is so atypical and really well made. So I thought I'd share. You can find more of her wares at The Cranky Cat Studios too.

Cucumbers!

2011-07-31T20:49:00.000-04:00

We have 4 or 5 that we found. Here are the best of the photos I got.

Woohoo!

I like Sundays

2011-07-31T10:07:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, Eric and I got to do a bunch of stuff around the house and just hang out together. It was nice. We even took time to make some Shrinky Dinks! Remember those? They're a little different now, with themes and pre-cut characters.

The set I have is the Monster Lab, so we started making a couple monsters. It'd been so many, many years!

And then... we shared our one green bean from the plant outside.

It tasted great!

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Three

2011-07-31T09:57:00.000-04:00

I have someone new for you to meet, Lisa, the force behind Speranza Jewelry.

Living in Annapolis, MD, this part time jewelry maker, full time employee of a DC news agency still finds time to stock both an Etsy shop and an Artfire shop.

A believer in Pablo Picasso's ideals, she believes that "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."

And when she's immersed in color in form in her little jewelry studio, she's found a refuge from the digital images and rhetoric of Washington politics.

Everyone in DC should be so lucky.

I've been to DC to visit, and I really love it there, but I imagine living there could get to a person after a while. I imagine, surrounded by politicians, wheeling and dealing, and especially working for an agency that reports on all the misery and corruption, that it's not easy to maintain hope.

Lisa does it anyway, even naming her jewelry business after the concept. Speranza means "hope" in Italian.

To learn more about her, be sure to check out her blog.

I love those meeces to pieces!

2011-07-29T23:32:00.000-04:00

Mice! More mice!

You've already seen that pastel one up front, which I've made for my friend's baby shower. But I did three more in dark blue very soft yarn, for my sister's son (he got his tonight, but he was asleep already), Eric's brother's son, and Eric's best friend's son (he'll get his tomorrow).

They're so soft and squishy!

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Two

2011-07-24T14:26:00.001-04:00

You've met her here before, but she's definitely worth a second look! I'm talking about Kimberly of Makin' the Best of It!

She's so freakin' talented! I'm completely in love with her sea glass jewelry.

But check this out. When she finds pieces of sea glass that are too big for jewelry... she makes angel Christmas ornaments!

How sweet are those? And they go with any color scheme on any tree. Too cute.

And yes, I know it's July and hotter'n hell out there. So you're still thinking about the flowers blooming, I suppose. OK, then, She's got that covered too, with this beautiful tea light circle set, hand painted with pretty flowers.

I love that she thinks in practical terms, too. Her glassware and table top service items are really pretty, like this cruet set and these coasters.

I love sunflowers! Personally, though, I'm thinking I should get one of her awesome butter dishes. Our set of china is fairly new and they're not making the butter dish yet, so we're dishless in that category. And this one is so pretty!

The good thing about stuff like this - butter dishes, cruets, coasters - is that they really don't need to match your china. They can be specialty pieces for that pop of something interesting, colorful, and unique.

My New Obsession

2011-07-14T10:00:00.026-04:00

Yes, another. And I'll give you a hint. Catimus loves it.

I'll start at the beginning. Several years ago, I got this knitting kit. It came with some yarn, an instructional DVD, and patterns to make some dog toys. Thing is, had I made knitted dog toys, Meg would've shredded them to smithereens in about 3 seconds flat. She's no terrier, but my half sheltie/half eskimo destroys even the stuffed animals intended for heavy chewing dogs with the best of 'em. I did want to learn to knit, though, just because I want to learn to do pretty much everything having to do with art or craft, so I hung onto the kit, though I never made time to really look at it.

Well, I've mentioned, probably, that I'm in community theater. A couple years ago, I was cast in this workshop where I was to be a pregnant schizophrenic woman, hearing my fetus talking to me. It was a phenomenal role to play, with so many emotions and so much craziness; it was really all over the place in terms of character and dialogue. Thing is, the script called for my character to be knitting on stage, pretty much the whole time.

Aha!

I pulled out the DVD from the kit and bought myself a beginner knitting book too. And I got a skein of "baby colored" yarn. It was pastel rainbow. I taught myself how to cast on and the knit stitch, and practiced at home, at rehearsals, and any chance I got. Just the knit stitch, just going back and forth in what'd probably turn out to be a pretty skinny scarf. I didn't want to go farther than that, or fancier, because I wanted it to be mechanical; something I could do while staying in character and not forgetting my lines.

It worked. And then when the performance was over I put down the knitting. I'd discovered how mesmerizing it could be, how relaxing, but I had no use in real life for pastel rainbow yarn or anything made from it. And I never really made time to learn more than the knit stitch, though all this time I intended to pick it back up and go further with it. Y'know... to purl or something. And maybe bind off, even. Never happened.

In December, when the Handmade Artists Forum was having its Secret Santa fun, my Santa, a knitter herself, got me a kit to knit slipper socks. I sat down one day with the pattern and stuff, intending to start making them... and realized that I had no idea how to read a knitting pattern. Oops. I didn't realize it'd be in code. It's a lot like baking, where you just know that t is teaspoon and T is tablespoon. So I emailed a friend of mine, also a phenomenal knitter. I thank her tremendously, but I still wasn't confident enough to try it, and I didn't want to mess up and ruin the yarn I was given. So it stayed set aside.

Then, in May, I won the May Giveaway Day at Underground Crafter. The Underground Crafter is really Marie, a knitter, crocheter, soapmaker, and all around cool chick who lives in Manhattan and in addition to selling her own work at her Etsy shop, teaches knitting and crochet around the city.

Jiving our schedules was an interesting endeavor, but on July 9, I finally hopped the bus into NYC, met Marie at a Starbucks just a few blocks from Port Authority, and had my lesson. I'd told her I needed to brush up on casting on and the knit stitch, then wanted to learn to purl and bind off, as well as learn to read patterns, of course. And I told her I had nephews and wanted to maybe make some cute clothes for them, but especially toys. I'm big on the toys.

So in addition to giving me a set of her own Underground Crafter wooden knitting needles, instructions for a few really simple toys, a key to unlock the knitting pattern code, and instructions for basic knitting, she brought some practice yarn, and we got to work. I did this.

That right there is an actual, honest-to-goodness stockinette stitch! Knitting and purling, casting on and binding off. Dude, I rock. Of course, at the other end, I did something very wrong, not sure what.

Marie was nice enough to blame the small table and distractions of Starbucks. Really, she may have had something there, since I practiced the whole way home on the bus, and with the exception of one row when I accidentally purled instead of knitted, I did a much better job.

Impatient person that I am, pretty much as soon as I got home, I got started on one of the patterns Marie gave me, which is really from here. It's called a Martian Mouse, which works fine for me. And I have a friend who's having a baby shower soon, for a female fetus, so I figured the same yarn would be perfect. It's pretty much the easiest pattern ever. It's two squares...

Two strips for ears...

And the knitting is done! Then the ears get sewn on...

And a tail added. The original pattern called for a pompom tail, but I didn't want that on a mouse, so I knotted yarn to make a mouse tail.

A face goes on, and it all gets sewn around the edges and stuffed.

A mouse! It's cute and squishy and soft, and of course I immediately had to start on another one.

How perfect is this dark blue, which by the way is really soft, for three more mice for the two nephews and honorary nephew?! Right? Right!

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So... about that cake...

2011-07-14T08:31:00.000-04:00

I know it's not perfect, but I entered it in a HAF contest anyway. If you want to support me, you can vote for it here. Even if you don't want to vote for me, go vote for one of the other awesome entries... and don't forget to comment on the post! One commenter wins some really cool prizes!

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-One

2011-07-13T20:06:00.000-04:00

The talent I have for you today is that of Shanna Marie, of Alchemy Atelier. My favorite thing about her? She's a fellow theater geek!

Unlike my history, though, where theater seemed like a natural progression from lawyering, her love for theater came from costuming, which came from an interest in tailoring, patterning, and fashion history, which came from plain old sewing... which she started at age six when making Barbie clothes!

Her first sewing machine was a toy she got for Christmas that year, but it only lasted a week, she was using it so much.

A fan of diverse styles, her bent is toward Victorian-inspired items with a modern flair.

Right now, though, her focus is on jewelry and other accessories, which explains her blog name, Diary of a Manic Beader. Manic, maybe. Talented, definitely! Look...

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

2011-07-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

(... often go astray.)

This turned out to be not bad, despite my frustration levels and snappishness. And Eric was great about it.

See, we again held our annual Mardi Gras in June party, which I posted about last year. It's always a big hit, and the guest list keeps getting bigger and better. This year, in addition to my traditional southern pecan pies, I decided to try my first ever topsy turvy cake, since I'd taken that class.

I knew I'd need practice. Thing is, covering a styrofoam practice round with fondant is a lot easier than actual cake. And with a topsy turvy cake, the tiers are cut with the sides angled inward. Not easy. But I want to be able to do cool cakes for my nephew's birthday and other events. So this was my first, and we'll sort of consider it practice.

It started off well. I chose red velvet, since it's Eric's favorite.

I piled up the layers into the two tiers, and cut 'em to shape.

So far so good. Then I filled and crumbcoated them with a cream cheese frosting recipe I got from this blog.

And therein lies the problem. Not the frosting or the recipe, because holy crow was it good! The problem is that it's a very wet type of frosting. And fondant just loves to absorb moisture. So... yeah. There I am trying to cover the cake with fondant I colored and rolled out nice and thin, and it's getting all wet and sticky while I'm trying to get it to lie smooth and flat.

Frustration makes me snippy.

And Eric was really so awesome. He kept getting things for me, and taking trash away, and asking what he could do to help. And I was kinda snarly.

See, this was my plan.

Nice sharp edges, which if you look at the cut, shaped, but uncovered cake, were successful at the time. Feathers, beads, a mask. And those squiggles were to be fleur de lis.

Yeah.

In the end, I fought through, and came up with this...

Not as smooth as I wanted, obviously, and I got too tired to do beads for the top tier too. The fleur de lis were a little misjudged. And it got kind of ... bulbous rather than sharp. Well, I tried. And it's not bad, I suppose, for a first attempt. I am, I have to say, really happy with my gum paste mask and feathers. This was the first time I ever made or used gum paste. And I'm happy with the Mardi Gras beads around the bottom.

Just... I need practice. I know that. And never again will I do cream cheese frosting with fondant.

It was a hit anyway, friends wouldn't let me cut it until they took a sufficient number of photos. And of course they devoured it. We were left with this.

Don't worry, we ate it. But what of the leftover cake, the parts I had to cut off to shape it? No worries, those became red velvet cake pops!

Yum!

Leave it to me to start with dessert first. We did have crawfish too, I promise. What's Mardi Gras without crawfish?

And etouffee, still my favorite food in the world. It was such a hit last year that we ordered five pounds of tail meat this year instead of one.

Also devoured.

And drinks and platters, corn and potatoes.

In addition to the bubbles, balls, and sidewalk chalk we had for the kiddos...

... my friend Emilie pulled out her face painting kit. There was one request for a tiger, though, so Emilie suggested I take that one.

He is my friend's son, and was hysterical. He proceeded to run around the party roaring at everyone!

And to finish up, the photo I call "Aftermath of a Party."

Another success, in the end!

Still a Winner

2011-07-01T07:51:00.000-04:00

I won a giveaway over on Dang Gina, a blog dedicated to promoting handmade. This one was for fabric items from Sand & Starfish, a great site showcasing some fun talent.

Look what I got!

A large and small pouch, two fabric-covered notebooks, three whale appliques, one starfish applique, and one seahorse applique!

Awesome!

The smaller pouch is now housing the sewing kit in my pocketbook and I can't wait to make things with the appliques!

The Cukes Are Coming!

2011-06-30T23:09:00.000-04:00

A Feast!

2011-06-15T08:05:00.000-04:00

OK, so I'm exaggerating. But totally worth it all the same.

Remember the pea?

We ate it.

I sent Eric out to pick it this past Sunday night, while I waited indoors (in my PJs) and got a plate. For the lone peapod.

I opened the pod.

There were three peas inside, two smaller, one larger. I ate the bigger one and let Eric have the small and medium ones.

As expected, it was delicious!

Even better? There are several more flowers on our pea plants. More peas are coming!

I love coming home to nifty things!

2011-06-03T23:16:00.000-04:00

We come in through the back, since we park toward the back of the house. Conveniently, delivery guys tend to leave our packages in the back on the deck, especially when they're big. When I got home today, there was a big one waiting for me!

Of course, I always check the return address first. It was for me!

I'd completely forgotten that I ordered dowels, cake boards, and a fleur de lis fondant cutter for my planned Mardi Gras topsy turvy cake, as well as green sprinkles for the accompanying cake pops, so this was a great surprise!

And then... a peapod!

Our first peapod! This is very exciting. I've never grown a single, solitary vegetable before.

I thought we also had some green beans too, for a second.

And then I realized they were really just new, closed leaves. Like these, which are a little more open.

Still cool to see so much growth. As for some more updates...

The dill looks like dill!

See how it's getting those hairy dill-looking bits?

Right?

And of course, the cukes, basil, chives, and onions are lookin' good.

It was so gorgeous, I just hung out with Meg on the deck for an hour or so. I love a day like this!

Lots of work, lots of payoff... and oh yeah, happy belated Memorial Day!

2011-05-31T19:47:00.013-04:00

Eric and I had a heck of a weekend. On Saturday we went to a wine and blues festival with a friend. On Sunday we spent the afternoon with Eric's brother and nephew, mostly shopping, mostly for Eric's brother... with a quick stop at AC Moore for me.

Sigh. Always a dangerous store, that AC Moore. A stencil, a dozen skeins of yarn, several packets of beads, some vegetable seed packets, and one Bakerella Cake Pops book later, we checked out. And then I got obsessed with the idea of cake pops. They're the hot thing, and I've been seeing them everywhere. They're so cute! And they looked so easy. Ha.

So at 10 p.m. on Sunday, Eric and I were at the supermarket so I could buy cake stuff. We came home, and I baked a white cake in a 9x13" pan.

And then, per Bakerella's instructions, I let it cool overnight.

Meanwhile, I'd gotten these rainbow star sprinkles to decorate the pops. The supermarket was completely out of anything in blue besides this; they were overrun with red and green. In case we want to make Christmas cakes ahead, maybe? Well, my nutty husband and I sat and split up all the stars so I could use the blue and white ones on my pops. Yes, we're insane.

On Monday, Memorial Day, Eric and I went to lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in way too long. From there, we went to Home Depot for a bunch of 2x6" 8' wood and some 2x4" stakes... and then came home, and Eric built this, after clearing away all the weeds from the area.

While he was doing that, I was making my very first ever cake pops. Deceptive, terribly deceptive. They looked so simple. So cute and easy. Those suckers are seriously labor intensive! And that's not even including doing crazy sprinkle-separating.

First, you crumble the cake into fine crumbs.

Then you mix in icing (I used vanilla), 'til it's all mixed through, roll it into balls (I made mine bigger than the recommended 1.5" diameter, and was kind of glad I did... fewer to fight with. So far it was still pretty easy, though I'm not a fan of playing mudpies, really.

And then they need to fridge. While they were fridging, I melted some dark chocolate I had.

Good stuff. And you know, I have a double boiler. But I thought rather than digging it out, I'd do it the "easy" way and melt the chocolate by microwaving it. Only I forgot I've never been really good at microwave-melting chocolate, and much prefer a double boiler. Well, the first bowl of chocolate turned useless when I overheated it and it just kept getting stiffer instead of more liquid. So... second bowl. More chocolate. This time it worked better, though it was still finicky to work with and I really should've just dug out the double boiler. Next time.

I learned some other things too. It's really not easy to keep those balls on the lollipop sticks while swishing them through the chocolate. It's also not easy to cover them in "one swipe," as recommended by Bakerella, and so it's not easy to get a nice thin, even coat of chocolate. I also learned that drawing icing is not as easy as it looks. As Eric put it, when I try something brand new like this, my artistic flair sometimes exceeds my skill level.

Practice should fix that, right? Right?

Meanwhile, this time around, I ended up pretty much with melted chocolate everywhere. I ate so much chocolate, I made myself nauseous.

Anyway, I did a whole bunch of 'em, Memorial Day themed, and then set up 6 in tiny flower pots to wrap as a gift.

And I wrapped 'em up. I wanted to bring them over to our neighbors who shoveled the snow off our walk several times this winter. It was really the least I could do.

OK, that really looked cute.

Of course, Eric and I had to taste test a couple, just to make sure. Wow! I'd never had a cake pop before, and they taste like, as Eric put it, chocolate-covered cupcakes. Yum!

Before I could bring them over, though, Eric had finished that garden box... and then, Eric being Eric, he was on a roll. He needed soil. Lots of soil. Over half a ton of soil. Thirty 40-lb bags of soil. And a bag of rocks.

We came back, gave the neighbors their gift, and made them happy. Then headed into our own yard, to fill the box with soil... or almost fill it with soil, since it could still use a few more bags.

It's really going to be nice. The rocks are going to be along the front, to make a border where the dirt hits the driveway. And he's forming a brick walkway around the left and back of the box for us to use in gardening.

Then all it'll need will be the plants!

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Meg's been featured!

2011-05-30T23:20:00.000-04:00

I entered a giveaway at bouffe e bambini, for Southern Inspired Treats, billed as organic, all natural dog treats with a southern flair. Well, I won! A whole pound of them. I chose the peanut butter cookies for Meg and received them a few days ago. They came packaged in a pretty gift box tied with a brown satin ribbon.

(If you have any dogs or dog owners for which you need gifts, trust me, these are the way to go.)

In the box, and apparently every box that leaves Peyton's kitchen in Jacksonville, FL, was also a real cotton boll!

I have no idea why or how, but I knew what cotton grew like, though I'd never seen a boll in person. Eric, on the other hand, not only had never seen one but had no idea how cotton grew, so it was especially fun to receive. It's now residing in my craft room/office, just 'cause it's so cool.

I haven't eaten any of the treats, though apparently I could without harm, since they're all made with organic, human-grade ingredients. I do have to tell you, they smell amazing. Every time I go anywhere near the box, which we've got hidden on top of the fridge, Meg goes crazy for them, so I can't get an actual photo. I've therefore stolen the product photo from SIT's Etsy shop.

If it's possible, they actually look better in person. And in the end, the most important thing is that Meg inhales them and then cleans the floor - or couch - where any crumbs might be lurking. I have a feeling I might not be able to purchase snacks from any other source for her anymore. I've found her favorites, at age 13. And really? I trust the shop. These treats, after all, were created because of a diabetic dog who deserved treats that wouldn't harm him. So they've got no sugars, preservatives, or allergens.

Hey, I'm trying to eat healthier, why shouldn't the pup join me? And she's happy.

As the winner, she's been featured on their blog too!

They Grow Up So Fast

2011-05-29T19:54:00.001-04:00

That pea-looking thing? Our first pea flower!

Oh, and as for the other plants? This green bean is trying to grow up a tiki torch.

And the others are looking pretty good too!