Nifty Table

Living Room

2011-11-06T18:04:00.000-06:00

So, I can't even make it one week in before I miss a day. This has been a lazy weekend, involving lots of computer time, a book, and my couch. In my defense, this is the first lazy weekend I've had in over a month. I know, I know, how hard is it to write a blog post. I did do something yesterday worth blogging about. I am going to tell y'all about it some time this week in a make up post.

I spent my computer time split between playing Sims and catching up on my blog reading. Looking at other blogs is inspiring, and I wrote down (or copied to Evernote) some projects I'll do in the future. Still, it wasn't enough to get me up and moving. But, I made some new pins on Pinterest and tagged some photos on Houzz. And, I made a dream mid-century/modern/eclectic living room on Polyvore. Some of the pieces I already have, including the art above the couch (more on that to come this week).

Living Room by schizi on polyvore.com

I like the neutral couch and lamps with the bright colored art work and rug. The tripod lamp is the closest I could find to one I (sort of) have. And, I wouldn't be crazy plant lady without a couple of plants. The jade plant in the round planter isn't as cute as the one I have in the same pot.

My current living room is nice and cozy, but doesn't really look like this. I'll just have to move to a new place so that I can start decorating again on a clean palette.

Corcovado Rug, $798
Petrie Sofa in Sofas | Crate&Barrel, $1,699
Ikea Ikea Stockholm, $199
CB2 - acrylic drink table, $179
Midcentury modern lamp
Monochromatic Lamp, $130
20x200 - Print Information | Birch Forest No. 7, by Lisa Congdon, $20

Happy Table

2011-11-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

I made my first crock pot meal today! To this point, I've only used my crock pot for keeping queso warm and serving broccoli cheese soup. But, tonight, I made Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili. I was looking forward to my soup all day, up until right before I left work. I had a bit of a headache, so that stole some of the anticipation of coming home to a yummy dinner. But, the chili was very good. I'm glad to add it to my repertoire of vegetarian dishes. Except, I may have to get a bigger crock pot before I make it again.

In honor of my much anticipated dinner, and also because I like their website, I have made a design over at Anthropologie's Table Top designer. Way too much fun to just make a place setting!

Take your treat to work day

2011-11-03T22:42:00.000-05:00

Last week, while working crazy hours and developing an addiction to caffeine and Laffy Taffy's, I had a really yummy popcorn ball from the cute small-town grocery store. It's been years since I've had a popcorn ball. I always thought of them as shellacked with colored goo. This popcorn ball was more like a rice crispy treat, but with popcorn and candy corn!

I was trying to come up with some way to thank the folks who came out to help with my project, and the yummy popcorn balls were on my mind. That might have been because I have tried to cut out as much sugar and processed carbs as possible since I've been back to detox from the bad habits picked up last week. But, I thought that these would be a simple, tasty treat.

I figured I could just make the marshmallows like I would for rice crispy treats, that is butter and marshmallows in a bowl in the microwave. I used unbuttered kettle corn. Since it's after Halloween (you'd think it was Christmas by looking at the stores, but that's a topic I'm not going into here), the candy corn was 50% off at World Market. And, what would a treat be without sprinkles.

I probably should list Pam as an ingredient because I had to keep spraying my hands. The first ball was so easy, the second got a bit sticky, but I pretty much has to wash the third one down the drain as I cleaned my hands. After that, I sprayed regularly and finished up. I hope everyone likes them.

Oh, and since I had taken off the afternoon to recover from my week long stretch of crazy work, I figured I'd have time to do all kinds of things, including work on blog posts before it got late (oops). One of the things I put on my list was to make chocolate chip cookies for a team meeting tomorrow. I've been talking a lot about bringing chocolate chip cookies but just haven't had the time at home, the energy or the ingredients to follow through on that promise. That is now remedied. One comment on the recipe - I used dark brown sugar since I had it and it looked like it might make more moist cookies. The cookies are pretty much like my normal choco chip cookies, but more brown. They aren't burnt but I swear they look darker than normal. We'll see how folks take to them tomorrow.

Last oh - I also cut up sweet potatoes so that I can make Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Chili tomorrow. I'll tell you all about it later

You, at the front

2011-11-02T22:02:00.000-05:00

I told you that I would catch you up on what I've been doing (besides sleeping) for the past few months. I thought I'd start at the front (door). Welcome to my home!

I made this a while back, but I don't remember when. I got the tutorial from Mintage Home via Pinterest. If you haven't checked out Pinterest, you're missing out. Even the brother-in-law is on it! I'm going to save my gushing over Pinterest for another blog post (30 days=a lot of posts!).

My favorite little guy to babysit went with me to Home Depot to pick out paint chips. Well, he went with me. He didn't pick out the colors, as evident by the pink and purple scheme, but he did get a green Mickey Mouse paint sticker. Back to the colors. The pink and purple are pretty, but I should've gone with something with more blue to contrast with my orange rug. Other than that, I'm very happy with it. Even though hot glue played a major part, I don't remember getting any burns.

Okay, so the top right picture shows that maybe glue gun wasn't the best choice for styrofoam. BUt, it worked very well. That wreath has been hanging up at least a couple of months and still looks good. Nothing has fallen off of it yet!

I like the paint chip wreath so much, I don't want to switch to my stick wreath from last fall. Alas, it may get no hang time this year, what with Christmas right around the corner.

Stay tuned for more crafts!

My work ate my blog

2011-11-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

The saying goes that it takes three times doing something to make it a habit. So, doing something every day for 30 days should stick, right? I hope so. Because, I'm promising right now to post something every day for the month of November. This is to make up for the neglect I've given NiftyTable and anyone who may have read the blog over the past few months. It is also to help me get back into the swing of things.

So, the teacher asked, why did you turn in your homework (a.k.a. your blog) ? Well, my work ate my blog.

Okay, that's an exageration. My work is not carnivorous, whatever I may think some days. But, I have found myself out on the road, or rather in the air, a lot more this past year. During that time, I have struggled to maintain any kind of hobby. I did momentarily nominate sleeping as a hobby, but realized that you shouldn't count something that is otherwise done to sustain life.

I started to come to the realization that I didn't have much of a life outside of work over the summer. Actually, it happened when my travel schedule was just a little bit clearer. It's taken this long to get to the point that I think I can commit to blogging regularly and, of course, doing interesting things outside of work that are worth blogging.

So, expect to see some catch up from the summer because I did more than just sleep. Christmas is right around the corner, and I'm signed up for the Freshly Blended 6th Annual Ornament Swap at Alisa Bobzien Design. And, I'm looking for something crafty/creative/pretty/relaxing/fun to do when I am on the road.

Whew.....one day down, 29 to go! See you tomorrow!

Recovery time

2011-06-04T20:54:00.000-05:00

I'm still working my way back to Nifty Table. Its hard to be crafty on the road and, well, that's where I've been. With all of the travel and craziness that has been my work for the past few months, I was eligible for a couple of days of 'recovery' time.

I could have spent the time cleaning my home (much needed) or catching up on a myriad of other things (including this blog). But, I spent that time with the fam (minus J) in Chicago.

The main attraction - the Wright Plus home tour in Oak Park on Saturday. We saw a lot of houses! It was like being in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I loved seeing the architecture, but also how the different home owners brought out the homes' characters or merged their own personal style with the style of the house.

Too bad we couldn't take pictures of the inside. If you're own of the home owners - your homes were all beautiful! If you are ever in Chicago whichever weekend (seems to be around the third weekend) the Wright Plus home tour is scheduled, you should buy a ticket. Actually, the tour sells out in advance, so you should buy your ticket and plan the trip, like we did. Every year, there are different homes, so I look forward to going back another year.

At the left are some of the pictures from the trip. From the Friday morning drive down to Chicago to the end of the trip over Miller Lite and nachos in Milwaukee, these are some of my favorites. Oh, and the photo effect comes from the app Camera Bag. This part is actually travel friendly - I edited the pictures on an airplane.

So, I'm hoping that the inspiration of the beautiful homes and the city views will be enough to get me back to the Table. I have a couple of ideas for new art work and projects inspired by this trip. I also bought a few things to turn into projects. Stay tuned!

Child'splay

2011-04-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

I'm slowly making my way back after my 2 1/2 month hiatus. Not only have I not blogged, but I haven't even done anything crafty that would be good to blog about. But, that's going to change. And, for my first creative fun for April, I went back to that childhood medium of play-doh.

While my favorite little man (yes, the play-doh was a babysitting tactic) made dino tracks and snakes with his green play-doh, I tried my hand a few different shapes with the purple. The purple dinosaur - a long neck for anyone who has seen Land Before Time lately - was a big hit, until the little pterodactyl attacked.

It was fun, although my imagination was definitely more limited. I got tired of making shapes long before the dinosaurs. But, it was fun and relaxing, and we even kept most of the green play-doh off of the carpet.

Hiatus

2011-03-11T16:19:00.000-06:00

It's a good thing I didn't make some kind of New Year's resolution to keep up with this blog! Don't worry it hasn't completely died. It's just that I've been on the road a lot, and that's not conducive to being creative. I'm hoping to pick everything back up again this summer. Just wanted to jump out there and let anyone who might stop by know why there's been nothing new for 2 months and counting.

2011-01-09T14:35:00.000-06:00

It has been 3 1/2 years since the last time someone took a portrait of me. I've taken many pictures in that time, and I've been in lots of candids, but I haven't taken a new picture that BLady can put in her hallway with the other family pictures.

That's why I had to take a new one. Well, Megs took the picture. But, I needed a new picture because everyone in the family got an update. And, everyone's pictures were on nice metallic paper.

So, hours before I got on a plane to come back to WI, we loaded up and went into town to take this picture at one of my favorite places. We shot a couple poses, but Megs said this was the one as soon as she saw the preview.

I've ordered the picture from MPix. I really like the metallic paper from there.

Now, I'll look as good as everyone else!

Cheers to the New Year

2010-12-31T08:33:00.001-06:00

I'm getting ready to bake and cook and clean with the family so we can celebrate the holiday in comfort and style. I guess I better start thinking of those new year resolutions, too.

First, be more creative. I started Nifty Table to share my crafty adventures, but the blog is also supposed to prod me into doing things that are post-worthy. For the most part, I'd say it has been successful.There are several different things that I would have thought about doing but never done if it weren't for a forum to showcase the projects. But, I've also gone months without a post dedicated to some crafty endeavor. So, no more dry spells. (P.S. this post counts as a crafty project because I designed the graphic in Illustrator).

Second, talk to friends more. It's always embarrassing to start off a phone call with friends with "I'm sorry I haven't called you more." Living away from most of my family and many of my friends, I don't get the chance to run into people and talk with them. Sure, Facebook helps me keep up on the news, but it isn't the same as a nice talk on the phone with someone to catch up on the latest hopes and dreams. To make this one work, I also need to try to be a better listener. Oh, and I should send more cards in the mail for occasions other than birthdays and Christmas (see resolution #1).

Finally, I need to take better care of myself. This is a new twist on my regular 'lose weight' resolution. I want to want to go to the gym. I want to want to have a salad rather than a hamburger and french fries or a big bowl of pasta when I go out to eat. I want to cook more with a wider variety of locally-grown vegetables. I'm going to try to make living good a habit rather than something I do to lose weight.

Now that my resolutions are public, I guess that I will have to stick to them. One thing that will help is posting these resolutions where I can see them. I think that means some kind of sign or painting. Hey, that keeps me on track for resolution #1 already!

Christmas trees

2010-12-21T23:58:00.000-06:00

I don't think that I've ever personally had a traditional Christmas tree. Every year, we pull the tree out of the attic and decorate with BLady's collection of Hallmark ball ornaments. Well, many of them are Hallmark, but that is a separate post. BLady had an '80s bottlebrush-looking tree until just a few years ago. I like the new tree, and the bottlebrush tree will always bring a bit of nostalgia.

But for me, I've done the non-traditional thing. Way back when I lived in the dorm, I made a Christmas tree out of construction paper and taped it to the wall. When I first moved to WI, I put ornaments on a piece of evergreen garland that I draped along the front of the counter. Then, I came up with my current tree.

That's right. It's branches. I drove down a country lane and picked branches from the brush along side the road. Luckily, the cows were the only ones watching. The vase came from Anthropologie. I ended up liking it so much that it lives out the rest of the year (minus the branches). I've stored the branches in my storage unit, although I may just toss them this year and get fresh for next Christmas. Or, I could do as I've meant to do since the beginning and spray paint the branches. I like either white or a bronze color. Any ideas?

Or, I could go down a different route next year. Here are some non-traditional Christmas trees that I came across this season. The post-it note tree would be great on my office door, although the division assistant may get made about the waste of post-it notes (which I would supply myself).

From Style Files

From PoppyTalk

From Design*Sponge

More Christmas cards

2010-12-21T06:59:00.000-06:00

Megs asked me to put together their Christmas card again this year. Megs' man likes to send cards with pictures. This posed a problem. That would've been an expensive photo session if I'd've come down from WI. She thought about asking family when everyone (but me) was home for Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen.

So, they went and took pictures of each other. That's right, It looks like Megs and her man are standing next to each other. But, this was two separate photos. Megs did a great job of selecting a place that made it easy for me to blend the photos. By selecting a neutral background, I could easily overlay the pictures and blend away the differences. It looks even more like they are standing next to each other because of the line in the sidewalk that Megs is standing on.

Megs sent me these pictures late one Sunday. I told her that I wouldn't be able to get to the card before the following weekend because I would be traveling for work. But, I sat down to look at the pictures and to see what could be done. As I said, it was easy to combine the picture. Then, I started adding the additional holiday elements and sent it to Megs for her to tell me what she wanted me to do differently. This was the first time I think I've ever designed something for her that didn't need at least a little tweaking. Which made a liar out of me, since I said I couldn't finish until the next weekend.

I'm happy that Megs and her man liked the card, and I hope that everyone who got their's in the mail felt a little more holiday cheer for it.

Oh Tannenbaum

2010-12-19T11:59:00.001-06:00

Well, there you have it, start to finish on my Christmas ornaments for Freshly Blend's Fifth Annual Ornament Swap.

Supplies:

balsa wood

acrylic paints

two sizes of silver jump rings

plastic ornaments from target

ribbon

First, I painted the balsa wood using almost every shade of green that I had. I tried to mix the paints to create a lot of interest in a small space. That way, when I next cut the pieces for the tree, the detail of the painting would still appear.

The hardest part was punching the holes in the balsa wood for the jump rings that articulated the tree. I used a pencil to poke the hole since the wood was so soft. But, several times, the jump ring tore the thin wood. If someone wanted to do a similar design, I would choose a little heavier balsa wood. I think there were a couple that were heavier but could still be cut with scissors.

Then, I added a larger jump ring at the top to attach the ornament and the ribbon. To package these up for the swap, I cut cardboard to sandwich the tree while the ornament was to the outside. I do hope that all the ornaments arrived intact.

Christmas Cards

2010-12-19T11:39:00.002-06:00

Last year for Christmas, BLady and Megs gave me the Epic Six Letterpress. It took a bit to get it back to WI, but it was here in time to do my Christmas cards. You'll see in the Ornament Swap post that Christmas Trees were my theme this year.

Thank you, to Boxcar Press for this review of the tool and tips on using it. There were a few other reviews and tip sheets that I reviewed before getting ink all over my fingers, so thanks to everyone who has shared information.

I got the Speedball Brayer from Hobby Lobby instead of attempting to use the supplied one, which did look dinky. As you can tell from the picture, though, I didn't follow all of the tips. I used the foam guides, but I took my scissors and snipped them in half after they were placed.

The one thing that did take some time to learn was how to get the correct amount of ink. That E in the picture came from one of my first cards, when I had way,way,way too much ink. It took almost a week for some of those cards to dry! But, I got better and the last cards were pretty good.

I used a couple of sets of the Everyday letterpress letters. The design that incorporated two different styles of letters came about because, well, Tannenbaum has THREE Ns! Each set only came with one of each letter. So, instead of ending up with three sets of the same letters, I decided to invest in a script set. But, I am pleased with the design overall.

The one lesson I learned the hard way was this - make sure you have the proper cleaners before you begin. I had to drive to Ace Hardware in a snowstorm to get mineral spirits to clean off everything.

Oh, in case you're wondering - the cards came from Paper Source as did the spruce envelopes. And, USPS also obliged by having evergreen stamps this year.

Christmas shopping

2010-12-16T21:16:00.000-06:00

So, the fam has decided to do something different for Christmas gifts last year. Rather than giving a present to BLady, one to Megs, and one to each of the boys, I only have to shop for a gift to myself. Of course, the same goes for them.

There are only a few rules:
1) It has to be something you wouldn't buy for yourself on a normal day
2) You can't use it until after Christmas
3) You have to wrap it up and put it under the tree to be opened on Christmas morning when we're all together

I actually completed my Christmas shopping back in December. But, as the rest of the family struggles to come up with what they want, I realized why it was so easy for me - I want a lot of stuff! If I didn't have my present all wrapped up, I would be going after these beauties.

Starting upper left: Mixed media artwork michelemaule@etsy * Diamond stud earrings Better late than never @ Etsy * Into Midnight Ring Anthropologie * Fortune Cookie Coin Purse Diana Eng * Jute pouch DrikaB @ Etsy * Texas Pillow Love California @ Etsy * Wire Drop Shelf Urban Outfitters * Baghead Print Renegade Handmade * Inside voice letterpress poster Rollandtumblepress @ Etsy * Bear Plush Renegade Handmade * Knock Knock wood ring Renegade Handmade * M.E.Y.K. Artist Kits West Elm * Recipe Notebook Anthropologie * Bird lights Uncommon Goods * Paper+Craft Renegade Handmade * George the Terrier Urban Outfitters

Maybe this list will help you decide what to give Bob the mail man or Norma Lynn sitting in the office next to you. Or, if you're still looking for a present to give me.....

Paper Ornament from Holiday Craft Lounge

2010-12-07T21:14:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, I went to Holiday Craft Lounge hosted by Anthology. Here is one of the neat things I got - a kit to make my own paper ornament. I don't think this is going to just be a Christmas decoration, but may hang out in this spot for quite a while.

Oh, I also got a package of paper, out of which I got the nice piece of paper on the birthday card in the last post.

Happy Birthday to a dear friend!

2010-12-03T06:44:00.003-06:00

Hope you had a great day!

Jeans

2010-11-30T06:13:00.000-06:00

Won't my mommy be so proud of me? I actually sewed up the holes in my jeans all by myself. Now, I love the look of distressed jeans, and I've been known to walk the backs off my pants until they reach that perfect level of disrepair, but I don't like cold air seeping through the legs of the clothing that is supposed to protect me from said air. Not to mention that there is a fine line between distressed and needs to be thrown away. So, I grabbed the interfacing and the sewing machine and patched up the holes in my jeans. Each hole got a couple of zigs and zags. I may have to go back and reinforce further, though. But, the jeans are good enough to get me through the cold of December. January may be another story.

Cleaning

2010-11-28T16:55:00.000-06:00

What did you do for Thanksgiving? Well, in addition to cooking and eating, and preparation for Christmas crafting and decorating, I cleaned out my craft supplies and reorganized the way I had them put away. Now, the tools are in my dining room dresser, and the paper and other things are organized in the tupperware containers in the closet. I broke out the cards from the scrap paper from the colored card stock in an attempt to make it easier to locate what I need when I need or want to make a quick card. And, because one of the things that keeps me from crafting on long projects that take several days is that I either have to leave out the mess or put it away and get it out every time, I bought a little red rolling cart from Harbor Freight. I can roll the cart into my closet, or at least the bedroom, if folks come over. And, it isn't much taller than the table, so I can put stuff on it and keep it in the corner of the dining room but out of sight from the living room.

Turkey Day

2010-11-27T09:14:00.001-06:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of all the accoutrements - family, friends and food. Even though I stayed in WI, I still got to be a part of the family madness back home, thanks to Face Time on the iPhone. Megs used her phone to take me around the house and see everyone in their PJs. After saying "Hello" to everyone, both Megs and I got down to cooking. We propped phones against bowls as she made the dressing and I cooked up the Squash Pie you see in front of you. I also made cranberry sauce using a new recipe to take to my friend's home, where we shared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

You can get the recipe for the cranberry sauce over at Baking Bites blog.

Now that I'm out of my food coma and past Friday's work day (I know, I know, but it's not a holiday for some of us), it's time for my favorite post-Thanksgiving tradition. It's not shopping (although I love shopping) but Christmas crafting. So, look for more posts about the fun I'll have this weekend.

Happy leftovers!

2010-11-20T09:26:00.000-06:00

an you believe that I got to hear Jessica Hische speak, and I didn't even know that I have been following her work for a couple of years before I got there? I feel a bit of a failure for that. The whole time, I was thinking, "That looks familiar" and "I like that", but when she showed the C at the left, which I love, I knew that she was the genius behind Daily Drop Cap. This site is one of the beautiful gems that lives in my Google Reader.

Jessica came to adison for a speaking event hosted by Design Madison. My friend from work is a member of the group. She shares with me a love of pretty things and design. While I dabbled in graphic design for fun and for the magazine I worked for, she studied and worked in industrial design.

Listening to essica's story and seeing her work, as well as talking to the folks who came to the event, made me want to come home and do something creative. And yet, it's taken me 36 hours to write the post to tell you of the wonderful time that I had. I'll make up for it this weekend. I already have plans to work on a couple of TS projects, but you'll get to see them soon enough.

Keep checking out Daily Drop Cap for updates. Jessica showed us the letter she did in honor of her trip to WI, so it should be posted soon!

Paper art

2010-11-16T21:11:00.002-06:00

Okay, so cutting a couple of rectangles of paper may not really count as art or a craft. But, I want to take some credit for seeing the potential in these sheets of beautiful paper from Blick Art Supply when I was down in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if I can take credit for the way the swirls line up so well between the two different frames, though.

As you can see on the left, these frames from Ikea once held pictures, which I sometimes swapped out. I was looking at papers to put in the mat in place of a couple of pictures when I fell in love with the red marbled paper. I found the gold and black just a few moments later in the same drawer, and a plan began to form.

My friend and I made a trip to the outskirts of Chicago for an Ikea trip. As we were leaving, we saw the Blick art supply store. I just had to go. I'd only ever looked at their website. Turns out, they were having a sale on canvases, too, so I also got a couple of those that I'm hoping to turn into some kind of art in the next couple of months.

What I want to wear for the season

2010-11-16T20:57:00.001-06:00

Fossil is having a Polyvore contest to design your wishlist outfit. Here is mine. Perfect for a day out Christmas shopping followed by coffee or dinner with friends. It's almost enough to make me hold off hibernation until at least January. Usually, I'm homebound after the first snow.

I sat down tonight to write another post for y'all and saw this fun contest hanging out in my inbox. An excuse to go Polyvore shopping. Wait, I don't need an excuse. So, y'all will have to wait until another day for my post on my new living room artwork. For right now, I think I'm going to continue making outfits on Polyvore.

And, I might just wear my cowboy boots to work tomorrow.

Jingling Boots by Schizi featuring a large tote

Women's tees & knits - tissue tees - Tissue V-neck long-sleeve tee -...
$33 - jcrew.com
Long sleeved tee »

Annabelle Top
fossil.com
Lace tops »

Super Skinny Denim
fossil.com
Super skinny jeans »

Fossil Justin® Vintage Cowboy Short Boot for Fossil
$175 - fossil.com
Cowboy boots »

Fossil Key-Per Large Tote Handbag
$78 - fossil.com
Large tote »

Fossil Icon Deer Checkbook
$50 - fossil.com
Checkbook wallets »

Fossil Ultra Slim Black Dial Watch
$85 - fossil.com
Fossil watches »

FOSSIL - watches, handbags, accessories, and apparel - www.fossil.com
$35 - fossil.com
FOSSIL pendants »

Fossil Glam Flower Earrings
$28 - fossil.com
Vintage earring »

Fossil Letter C Charm
$18 - fossil.com
Vintage jewelry »

Fossil Chubby Bird Charm
$18 - fossil.com
Vintage pendant »

FOSSIL Women's Jewelry: Necklaces, Rings, Bracelets & Earrings
$12 - fossil.com
FOSSIL earrings »

Flower Drama Necklace
fossil.com
Vintage necklace »

Bird Icon Necklace
fossil.com
Jewelry »

Fossil
fossil.com

Jingling Boots

2010-11-16T20:50:00.001-06:00

Jingling Boots by Schizi featuring cowboy boots

What I would love to wear for a day of shopping turned dinner with friends.

Craft Night

2010-11-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

Paper Source is hosting a Crafter's Night Out in their stores next Thursday. Too bad there isn't one in WI. I'm not sure that I can drive to Chicago for this event, but I wanted to let folks know who might be a little closer to one of my favorite stores. You can pick a store and sign up at their website Paper Source.

While you're in the store, make sure to take a look at all the pretty papers and stock up on supplies for your Christmas cards. I've started to plan mine. Last year, Megs and BLady gave me a Letterpress machine. After some technical and delivery issues, I have it in WI, and I'll be using it to make my Christmas cards. I like the holiday letter press printing plates they have at Paper Source. I'll keep those in mind as I think about what I'm going to do for the cards this year.

Merry Christmas tree!

2010-11-03T21:10:00.001-05:00

It's that time again! I've done Freshly Blended's ornament swap every year since I moved to WI (this makes my 4th time to participate). I've already signed up for the swap, and you can, too, at the Freshly Blended's blog.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make this year. Here is my ornament from my first swap. It is a bird made from cardstock and decoupaged with magazine clippings. To make more than just a piece of paper, I took two pieces of cardstock and stuffed the middle with a little filler to give the bird a tummy. A nice, messy project, but enjoyable. I worked on them over the course of a week, a couple each night after work. You'll have to wait until I get ready to decorate to see the ornaments from the past two years, and you'll have to wait until almost December 15 to see my latest. I tend to be one of the folks in the post office the last day you can mail the ornaments.

But, you should sign up. Maybe we'll end up in the same group!

And, here's the recipe

2010-11-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

For the banana jelly.

It's courtesy of Cooking Light. I thought as much, but I couldn't find the recipe in any of my magazines. Since I never through away magazines, I thought I might be crazy. But, I had ripped the page out and put it by my desk to write this post.

To make the banana jelly:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 medium peeled and sliced overripe bananas
2 tablespoons butter.

Combine the sugars and juices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add bananas and reduce heat to medium low; cook for 45 minutes or until slightly thick, mashing banana occasionally with the back of a spoon. Stir in butter. The mixture will thicken as it cools

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T14:07:00.001-05:00

To all the ghosts (me), goblins, trolls, princesses, glitter fairies, Chilean miners, Kardashians, et al.

A chance to see Hatch Show Print

2010-10-18T22:14:00.000-05:00

I hope that, if you're interested, you found the link to the Fossil Hatch Show Print contest entry before I did. Actually, I found it the other day when going on about Fossil's blog. But, I didn't take closer look at it until this morning.

It has been a standard Monday, which means this is the first time I've had to sit down and finish out this post. If I hurry up, you'll have about one hour to register.
So, why even bother writing this post (besides the fact that I had already started it before heading to the gym)? Well, I love Hatch Show Print! I first came across them at World Market, when I saw these awesome wine labels. I bought the wine for the label design, at I time that I was always looking for western graphic design inspiration, and ended up enjoying the wine. I really recommend it!

http://volunteer.blogs.com/winewaves/2007/03/rebel_wine_comp.html

The picture comes from this site, which also has a history of the wine and Hatch Show Print.

I think that Hatch Show Print sparked my love of letterpress. So far, I have admired their work from afar. I check out eBay every so often for vintage posters, and I keep the Hatch Show Print book in my BN wishlist. I hope that I win the Fossil contest so that I can go visit the shop!

available at Barnes and Noble

To BLady

2010-10-15T07:55:00.001-05:00

To a wonderful mother, confidante and friend.

Two hobbies in one

2010-10-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

So, my online shopping has become a bit of a hobby. Which as fine as long as it doesn't lead to online buying. I'm on an online buying diet right now, but that doesn't stop me from online shopping. I just had a shopping trip in my winter clothes storage bins, so what I'm looking for are new ways to put what I have together into seasonally-fresh outfits.

One of my favorites for outfits is Anthropologie. They always have new little features on outfits by a theme. Often, they are a little over the top or designed for someone the size and shape of a toothpick, but I usually pick up a trick or two. Their new feature seems to have outfits in their appropriate Saturday activity locations. I was already thinking of a bike ride on Saturday, but I bet I wouldn't look this cute.

Now, two of my other favorite go to sites have also started blogs that I just love.

http://canvasblog.landsend.com/

What inspires the editors at this blog inspires me. I love the cardigan look. Tomorrow is perfect cardigan weather, too. There are a lot of photos of classic style alongside landscapes and art. I also like the tagline. Too bad its taken, now.

http://blog.fossil.com/

This blog won me over with the pictures of Round Top and Warrenton the first time I checked it out. It made me homesick. I've missed seven different chances to attend the semi-annual antiques/junk/crafts/art show spanning the stretch of highway 237. This one definitely made it on to my google reader list. The only problem is that I don't get to see the cool header. I like the graphic a lot.

Beaker terrarium

2010-10-12T23:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, that is a really big beaker. Actually, an Erlenmeyer flask. Still, it was pretty cool sitting on the sales table in Anthropologie a couple of months ago. Alas, it is no more. Saturday, I stopped by the office to pick up something I left in my bag and bumped into the tray that was sitting next to the terrarium on the window sill. It came crashing to my desk, luckily avoiding any electronics and only breaking into a couple of big pieces.

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but I've been putting it off. And, not just because I've been a bit slow at letting y'all know what I've been up to. This picture was taken a few months ago, a couple of months into the terrariums life. On Saturday, when it came to its end, the tall little plant was shooting out of the top and had choked off the fern down below. I was going to change out the plant in my terrarium and then post new pictures for you.

I was inspired to make a terrarium by instructions in the April issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Almost at the end of the magazine was a couple of pages of craft projects in the better family section. It says that is perfect for young kids, which I took to mean easy to do on a Saturday afternoon without making too much mess. The flask at Anthropologie helped me with the first on the list of the things I needed, and a trip to the greenhouse provided the rest.

The folks that said this would be good for younger kids didn't mean for you to choose a flask for your glass container, and here is where the difference between a flask and a beaker becomes more important. Getting those plants into the flask was difficult and getting them planted even harder. I resorted to using my knife sharpener to help poke the plants around the base, and I tried to use it to shovel dirt. It worked pretty well.

I am sad that my Beaker terrarium is no more, but I still have the instructions, pebbles, activated charcoal and potting soil needed to start another one. Maybe this time I'll choose a real beaker.

Monday night Fall dinner

2010-10-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

It was a lovely fall dinner. But, I was too involved in putting it together, eating it and enjoying the fellowship of the folks also eating it to take pictures. So, I will try to use my words to bring the same response that a couple of drool-worthy pictures might have.

Well, for starters, I had summer sausage and cheese. Yum, I know. One of the summer sausages had cranberries in it, which tasted very good. There were a few slices left, so I'll get to enjoy those, probably for dinner tomorrow. My leftovers dinner will also include the sharp cheddar cheese, which was perfectly paired with the crisp, sweet apples from the farmers' market on Saturday.

The main course was BLady's pinto beans. This was the first recipe that made it into my little handwritten cookbook, the first recipe that I had to call home for (to go with Corky's ribs for July 4th, of course). To take the stage as the main course, I 'beefed' the vegetarian dish up with an assortment of peppers that I roasted under the oven broiler. There were a couple of jalapenos, a red/green bell pepper, and then a couple of peppers that just looked kinda cool at the farmers' market. Then, several hours of (purposeful) neglect later, the beans were pretty durn good. I did forget to salt them, though, which was evident when I saw someone go back for the salt. Oops.

To accompany this star, I had regular cornbread and jalapeno cornbread, made from jalapenos pickled back in Texas. I love jalapeno cornbread, even though I don't normally like spicy hot foods. Heck, I just love cornbread. But, the reason for two types of cornbread was the ending of the "I love jalapeno cornbread" sentence. I was concerned that the heat from all those roasted peppers would be too much when added to jalapeno cornbread. So, I just made a second batch and left out the jalapenos. I used a recipe from BHG.com for both. BHG, Better Homes and Gardens, that is, is a go to place for recipes. BLady has almost always had a subscription, so many of the recipes I see online are familiar from the pages of that Des Moines publication.

Okay, back to dinner. My friend's T and J rounded out the meal flavorfully and nutritionally with a nice salad that had slivered almonds and dried cranberries.

After our health dinner and a health discussion of the Truth Project video that we watched this week, we had a not so healthy dessert. This was the piece de resistance. Okay, that is a little prideful. But, it was pretty, even if it was only pretty yummy. I made Martha's Spiced Lemon cake. Way to go Martha on a yummy cake that was the perfect size for my Life Group!

It would have probably been more yummy, in my opinion, if I had followed instructions a little better. The ingredients said the juice of two lemons, but the instructions said to use 3 tablespoons in the cake and the other 3 tablespoons in the glaze. I missed that division and poured the whole thing of lemon juice into the cake. This resulted in a moist, dense cake, which looked little like the cake at the left. My glaze wasn't quite so smooth and I decorated the top of the cake with lemon zest from the extra lemon.

This cake gave me a chance to use my beautiful cake stand that I won in a door prize drawing. I topped off the cake with autumn leaf cookies decorated with orange sugar sprinkles and dipped in Target. These came from Target, but tasted as good as they looked.

Thank you to the folks who came and shared my home and their thoughts with me tonight. I can't wait to finish this conversation.

Now, the dishwasher is full and the counter is wiped clean. Time to drink my peppermint tea and call it a night. I will try very hard to take pictures of the next yummy meal I create. If only my dining room table were bigger, I'd invite y'all all.

Banana Jelly

2010-10-11T06:36:00.000-05:00

I made this stove top banana jelly over the summer, and it was Yummy. It was easy to make, too, and uses up your very ripe bananas. The ingredients all goes in a pot on the stove, and you just keep an eye on color and clarity. I remember that it had lime juice and granulated and brown sugars. I just wish that I could remember the rest of the recipe. Or, which of the myriad of magazines it might have been in. I checked out Health, Cooking Light, and BHG online without any luck. Did anyone else remember seeing this recipe?

Happy (Belated) Anniversary

2010-10-09T17:41:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how creative you can be when the pressure is off. I had so much fun doing this invitation, and it only took me about 10 minutes. It was an invitation to an anniversary party for my parents. But it only went out to one family. Curious? BLady and Pops were ring leaders in a surprise anniversary party for my Pastor and his wife.

The invitation was a success, graphically and logistically. But the cat was let out of the bag by a number of different things. One of the big ones was your's truly. I wasn't in church that Sunday morning (the event was Sunday night). Pastor knows me well enough to know that I'd be down there for any event of this magnitude. I warned the family that he would figure it out, but the rest of the invitations had already gone out for the real party and they couldn't change the date.

You'll probably see this invitation again in some other form. I really liked the squiggle background, and I used two of my favorite fonts.

Applique cardigan a la Anthropologie

2010-10-05T05:43:00.000-05:00

This cardigan cost me $3 at Target, and the fabric was something that BLady was gonna get rid of last February. The fabric as a whole is a bit intense, but cut down into separate motifs, the individual flowers are quite pretty.

I don't know if this actually looks like something that Anthropologie would sell, but I did see some tees in there this summer that were just pieces of fabric appliqued onto the neck. The edges weren't finished, which made me think that I could do this project.

After sitting in pieces for a couple of weeks, it only took me one evening to put this together.

I cut out the different motifs that I liked and then ironed them onto some sheets of Underwunder. Then, I laid them out on the cardigan and ironed them on. Finally, I sewed them onto the cardigan to make sure that they didn't end up coming off in the wash. I sort of haphazardly sewed them on. I followed the edges some and also sewed down the middle of some of the bigger pieces. I'm hoping that what it lacks in finesse, it makes up for by being eclectic.

Tell me what you think! Would you wear this?

Gallery Night

2010-10-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Each week or so, I get an email from the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. This lovely museum hosts regular events, most notably the annual Art Fair on the Square. This past week, I stumbled upon their bi-annual Gallery Night. There were 65 sites throughout Madison that had art or events or both. I made a pass through the long list and started to plan my trip geographically. I even had Megs take a look at the list and short descriptions and tell me where to go. All of hers were on my list, but it still was too long by half to hit everything. I kept the list and will be back to visit many of those places during regular hours. It was probably pretty mean to get Megs involved, since she couldn't come with me.

My first stop was to my favorite place in Madison - Anthology on State Street. I was there on a mission - to get cute shower gifts. As is always the problem with gifts, I'm afraid the recipient is also a reader. So, y'all will just have to wait a little bit to see those pretties.

Next, I went to Carta StudioWorks with my friend. My friend is a friend of the artists - does that make me their friend once removed? You have to go check out their website. No really, two of my favorite of Dave's works are on the home page.

http://www.cartastudioworks.com/

I happen to know that Winter Sky (on right) is no longer available. But, I have the benefit of knowing who bought it. I've already tried to wrangle an invitation over to continue to stare at the painting. The one of the left, Heading into Clovis, is absolutely gorgeous in person. From across the studio, it looks like a sheet of copper with a carefully developed patina. Then, you see the sunrise over the horizon. Up really close, you can see at the edge of the horizon, the New Mexico (I assume) mountains.

Early Spring Marsh (go to the website!) was the first one that drew me in. Like the two above, it's from Dave's landscapes collection. And, like Winter Sky, it uses the gray and red to convey that feeling of water in the early morning. You can read more about Dave's technique on the website, but he uses photographs, mainly of organic nature, to create the art in the computer by layering those photos with colors and texture. From there evolves the scene, rather than being limited by what the camera captured. The website does a better job than my description in describing the process.

I love art, but rarely find myself staring at the paintings, photos, etc. or coming back to them again and again. Friday evening, I kept coming back over to these works, discovering something new, like the mountains of Clovis, each time I looked.

It's a girl

2010-09-29T22:05:00.000-05:00

Here is the shower invite I put together for my cousin. Since the event is past, I figured y'all didn't need to see the details.

It is pretty simple, I know. I wanted something that could be printed on colored 8 1/2 x 11" paper, tri-folded and mailed without an envelope.

I'm also going to throw out there that I did this while packing for Las Vegas vacation and in the initial stages of a cold. Not that I don't like this, but if either of these factors would have been taken away, I think I could have done better (sorry, A).

I like the different patterns available in Adobe Illustrator. I would probably go back and pick a different pattern for the A because I don't think you can see it very well.

The party as fun. I actually got to make it because it coincided with another event that had me on an airplane back to Texas. Not that I really need much of an excuse to get down there. I wasn't great company after the event the night before, but I enjoyed seeing family and friends. I'll see y'all all in December, and I promise to be more sociable!

iPhone photo of the week

2010-09-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

I broke down and get a new iPhone 4. It was for the camera. No really. I played with the camera on a couple of folks and in the store. It's not just the flash. Or the ease of taking those one-handed head shots. The zoom is nice. But the biggest winner was the auto-focus, followed quickly by the clarity of the display.

This picture is from my Labor Day bike ride, so it's not really from this week. I didn't mean to go for a bike ride, but when I went down to my car to head out to the gym, I decided that I should ride my bike to the gym. When I got outside, I realized that I didn't want to go to the gym but instead enjoy the cool weather with a ride outdoors.

Nature wreath

2010-09-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my home!

At least that's what this wreath is supposed to say. I put it together the last time that I was having folks over to my home. It made a huge mess in my living room, but I like it.

I cut the frame out of cardboard into a rectangle using a box cutter. Sure, an Xacto or other type of blade may have been better (and safer), but I could only find my box cutter. And, it was meant to cut through cardboard. Then, I hotglued on twigs that I gathered in the country when I was house sitting. I tried to be random and yet cover the cardboard. In some corners, the twigs are laid side to side. In other areas, the twigs are layered to block out the cardboard. I think the bottom right hand corner got a bit heavy using this method, but overall, I am pleased with the outcome, especially considering I escaped without any burns.

Of course, seeing it every day for the past couple of months has made me think about it a bit more. I may have to take it back to the Table for some enhancements. I don't like how the bottom right corner has two twigs going in the same angle and making a large diagonal line. I also can see all of the hot glue (3+ glue sticks worth) shining under that light.

I've been thinking about it more because I'm having the same folks back to my house tomorrow night. There is no time to do anything between work, cooking the meal and last minute cleaning, so I have time to keep considering. I still have twigs left over, so I may add a few more and then spray paint it. I have some purple spray paint, but I think white would also look good. Spray paint would lend a less nature feel to the frame. I could also get collect some acorns and leaves to glue to it to make a fall wreath. But, then I'm limited to fall.

Tell me what you think!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

2010-09-25T14:14:00.000-05:00

I'm welcoming myself back into the world of craftiness today. And, what better way to warm up those muscles than with a birthday present. Or, at least the bag the present will be in. I've reused a shopping bag from Lands End Canvas (cute clothes) and made it something that my little friend will like. I almost squished the bag while cleaning up this morning. But it survived and inspired me to do this gift bag with acrylic paint. It's only painted on one side because I only have a couple of hours until the party and I was worried about it being dry. Little Man likes tractors, like another boy that I know, so I've gotten really good at drawing and painting tractors. I might have to try my hand at tractors in other media.

My return to Nifty Table also means that I will share with you the projects that I've done over the summer. Here is a short list of things to expect soon:

Twig wreath
Baby shower invite
Anniversary shower invite
Applique cardigan
Beaker plant

Well, it's time to head out for the birthday party! Talk to you soon.

Another chair at the Table

2010-09-13T14:12:00.003-05:00

Time to pull up another chair at the table. BLady is now going to share her crafties directly. We've all sat down and discussed how, with the change of seasons, we need to change our priorities and start working on that long list of nifty things that we want to do. Plus, CaraB has left this puppy alone too long. Look for more posts in the coming weeks, months, etc.

Unexplain hiatus explained

2010-08-29T18:51:00.000-05:00

I wasn't sure if I'd posted in August, but I saw that my last post was August 4. I don't know if anyone out there is even still checking this since the content has gotten a bit musty.

So, where have I been? Here, there, around. Since the last time I wrote, I've been to Missouri for work and Las Vegas for fun. I spent a week there with the family, and I'll have an iPhone photo to share and ideas for a couple of projects that involve the photos that a took.

That should get you hooked. As I write this, I'm fixing to start packing for another work trip. So, you won't see any of those photos or projects for at least a couple more days. But, next weekend is a long weekend. I just might be able to escape work and sitting by the pool long enough to do something creative.

Enjoy the last few days of summer!

Finally, new bedding

2010-08-04T08:12:00.000-05:00

Well, this is the last post about new bedding. I finally made a decision, purchased the necessary pieces and put everything together. Everything is new except for the pillows, minus the paisley pillow. I'm still contemplating getting new pillows for sleeping. I got a new, fluffy mattress pad, which makes my bed so comfortable.

Quilt - Urban Outfitters

The color of this quilt reminds me a bit of the coverlet that my mom has always kept on her bed. She's changed up the pillows and other textiles over the years, but she has always had a coverlet in a seafoam/teal/green color. This quilt is very soft and has a darker teal color on the other side. If the light side is too bright for the winter months, I'll just flip it over!

Duvet cover - CB2
This looks just like something I would doodle on the sides of my notes. I was hesitant of a white duvet, but I like it a lot. When winter comes, my down comforter will live inside of this duvet and it will probably be pulled up all the way. Not sure I'm ready for that, but at least my bed will be nice and inviting.

Paisley pillow - Pier1
It's amazing how one little pillow can bring in more colors. I like the textures of the different fabrics. I know that paisley doesn't necessarily go with doodles or the damask pillows but I do love different prints.

Sheets, pillow cases, mattress pad - Target
Because my olive sheets didn't go with the new look. The mattress pad was an extra expense that doesn't really show, but it may be my favorite part of this whole new bedding look.

Bedroom redo

2010-07-25T11:15:00.000-05:00

I don't think this has been the first post about my bedroom and my plans to change things up. Nor will it probably be the last until I figure out what I want. I've been looking and thinking for about three months now. For me when it comes to purchasing anything, that is an eternity. I really did like a gray quilt from West Elm, but it was backordered until today. I checked this morning (yes, first thing), and the date has been pushed back to the end of September. Urgh.

But, it's a good thing because I visited the websites of some other favorites and things started to come together. Above is the setup that I'm currently thinking about. Well, the picture on the left is a picture of my current bedroom. I'll be keeping the black and white throw pillows but everything else on the bed will be replaced.

Yellow quilt - Urban Outfitters $68 (backordered)
Duvet and pillow shames - CB2 $79 and $19, respectively

I'd probably be posting that this stuff was on its way, but the quilt, like the other quilt I like, is backordered. I guess it gives me more time to figure things out, because I need a quilt or coverlet the most. I really like the duvet because it looks like the doodles that take up the margins of all of my notebooks. But white....

I'll also probably be investing in a new mattress pad and pillows, which makes this whole shebang a pretty decent investment.

Grownup ice cream float

2010-07-24T09:01:00.000-05:00

Megs sent me this link the other day, Cherry Lambic Ice Cream Float, and recommended I try it with the Belgian Red from New Glarus Brewery. The brewery is just down the road from where I live, and when Megs came to visit me last fall, we visited the brewery and drank Belgian Red with dinner at a couple of places. The beer is made with Door County cherries, which have changed my opinion of cherries. I've always been more partial to their Raspberry Tart, which is a little sweeter, but the post definitely recommended the cherry beer.

At Megs behest, I stopped at my cute little grocery store on the way home and bought ice cream and Belgian Red. I went with the Schoep's homemade vanilla. Doesn't compare to Bluebell, but I figured it would be a better complement to the beer than vanilla bean.

Probably wouldn't have mattered. I tried it, but I don't think I'll be combining those two again. Instead of working together to make a new flavor, the sweet ice cream just made the Belgian Red seem more tart. I ended up drinking the beer and then eating the ice cream. Don't take my word for it, though, because even the website above for the beer recommends putting it with ice cream to create a float.

I'm not giving up, though, on the thought of a beer float. I'm a big fan of root beer floats, so I'm sure there is a beer float out there that I will fall in love with. I still have ice cream in the freezer, so I just need to try a few more beers. Wisconsin is a good place to try this. And, I'm also willing to try the Belgian Red again with Bluebell, so I'll take a bottle with me the next time I travel down to Texas.

(Sorry about the picture quality. I usually try to take my pictures in the morning to take advantage of all the natural light that comes in, but I didn't think that a beer float would taste so good for breakfast. Even worse, we had a lot of rain and tornado-producing storms which made it darker than normal)

iPhone photo of the week

2010-07-22T07:40:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this yesterday. I noticed the star on the ceiling while I was doing my morning situps. Definitely didn't see any light reflecting into my apartment this morning, but the sound of rain was sort of relaxing.

I'm not going to move my blinds, because I'm pretty sure I would never be able to get everything just right to have the light reflect in that way again.

Grabbing my iPhone, I laid back down and shot the picture. Then, I went to plug the phone into the computer to download the picture (and also sync my phone). Nothing happened. Not when I pushed the buttons. Not when I unplugged it and pushed all the buttons. Not when I plugged it in to the wall and pushed all the buttons. Not when I pushed all the buttons on the phone in random combinations throughout the day. So, I went to the iPhone store thinking one of two things would happen a) they could give me a new 3G because I had the extended warranty or b) I'd be leaving with a new iPhone 4. I didn't think it could be fixed because it seemed beyond the grave. The sales clerk plugged it in to one of their computers and, lo and behold, it starts to power back up. This phone is on notice - one more bit of refusing to work and it's going to be replaced by the newer model.

2010-07-20T08:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Mt. Horeb art fair. Just one week after Art Fair on the Square, and you'd think that I was art-ed out. No way! Here were more artists with different works. I liked many of the things that I saw - photography, wooden trucks, jewelry, metalwork and more. I bought a few things for me and a few gifts. Here is one of my purchases for myself - a spoon ring. I know someone who has one and I've often admired it and coveted it. Now, I have one for my own! I put it on right away.

I also purchased a work of art for my home. The booth was set up a little from the street, but the bright colors made it stand out. The artist, Gisela Magdalena Moyer, was so nice in describing the feelings that go in to her work. It was inspirational to see the wonderful work and hear how her art has helped her through dark times and still remain able to paint with vibrant colors. One of the first pieces to catch my eye was this piece. Mrs. Moyer describes the meaning and inspiration for the hand art on her website:

"PAPER HANDS WITH BUTTERFLY" Gallery

These works are very meaningful to me. The hand is one of the oldest symbols for the artist in history. Early man dipped his hand into clay and printed the image on the walls of caves to make this statement: "I was here, I mattered, I had a creative spirit!"
My hands are my tools because they complete what my soul conceives. The Butterfly is my symbol for spiritual lightness. Although this series is whimsical, many of my clients are touched by these works.

She told me that she was inspired by someone telling her that if you touch a butterfly's wings it will die. This work means that you should let go of things. She explained the imagery in the work and what it meant to her. The bee is there for growth, because, she says, anyone who gardens knows that you can't have a garden without bees. The flower and leaves on the fingers are each different, as each of our finger prints are different. The oak leaf represents strength, because the oak leaf is the last to leave the tree. Finally, the flower at the bottom represents inner beauty.

I found the perfect place to hang my paper hand with butterfly - right where the sun first comes in, where I can see it every morning when I wake up in the morning. Go to her website and read her story and see more of her remarkable work.

So, even though it was hot, I had a very nice time in Mt. Horeb. I even got to meet one of the trolls!

Art Fair on the Square, day 1 (cont.)

2010-07-19T09:04:00.000-05:00

There were so many artists, that if I tried to comment on all the ones that I saw and liked, I'd have enough posts to last at least a month! I didn't even make it over to Art Fair off the Square, which features WI artists - a major oversite.

I've limited my posts to the folks that really stood out (that I got to see). So, this is my last post on Art Fair on the Square, but not the end of the talented artists. If you're in Madison next year next year the first weekend of July (at least I think that's the date), you should come and check out the wonderful artists.

Sarah Jane Hassler	The first artist that I got to assist. She hardly got to leave the booth for all of the folks stopping by. Her acrylic jewelry was amazing. I really liked a pair of little hoops that were riveted similar to the bracelet at the left, but I didn't make it back over there on Saturday before it ended or Sunday after working with the kids. I hope she's back next year!
Anthony Hansen	I think my childhood is the reason that I'm drawn to metal art. This artist used a lot of automotive scrap metal to make works like the heart you see at the left. These were really big pieces and yet the design seemed very effortless. Maybe next time I'm home the guys will teach me how to use the plasma cutter!
Flinn Designs	This artist uses the proceeds from her work to help save animals that wouldn't have a home. She has a lot with dogs and cats, but I love the shape of the birds. I had the chance to speak with her a little bit more last year. I don't remember a lot of what she said about her technique, but she and her husband are doing remarkable things with their art and through their art.
Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi Ceramics	I looked really, really hard at these ceramic hearts. This was another artist that I got to spell and spend some quality time looking at everything. The designs are made by pressing antique lace and old embroidered fabrics into the wet clay. I ran into a friend from work buying one of her bowls, but once again I didn't make it back over there for a heart. Another artist that I hope is back again next year!

Art Fair on the Square, day 1 (cont.)

2010-07-18T09:37:00.000-05:00

A week later, and I'm still continuing to talk about last Saturday. There was just so much to see! This weekend has also had some events that generated post-worth comments, but I've got more on Art Fair on the Square for you right now.

Mary Gaye Miller	This artist had both 2D (hang on the wall) and 3D (stands on its own) mixed media pieces. There was one that I kept looking at while I babysit her both. It had some metal, glass and mirrors and a big number two. It also had an essay/poem about art and creativity and a bridge. It was a really wonderful looking piece.
Pistol by Ali Dryer	I had a nice chat with Ali about shoes (we were both wearing Dansksos). But, even if she wouldn't have been so nice, I would've kept coming back to her booth to look at the purses. She had different styles of cloth purses with vintage (and vintage-y) fabric and buttons and wood handles. She made all of the wood handles herself. The clutch at the left was my favorite style. The button closes a flap that wraps around the body of the purse and through the handle.
Bill Sargent Photography	There was a lot of photography at the art fair, but this was one of my favorites. I realize more and more that I like photos with people or up close pictures of objects. I'm not a big landscape photographer myself, but I can appreciate the work of others. Still, I'm drawn to the environmental portrait at the left.
'Phill Singer	This work was on my almost bought list. I would've been on my bought list if I could've found a place in my kitchen to put it. The print was one in a series of other surrealist fruit. The artist also had different surreal wildlife works. Like the lemon at the left, the subject is so real looking that at first glance, you don't notice the surrealism. I know I've seen this artist at the Art Fair before, so I may spend some time looking for a place to put this print and just pray that he's back with a print of this work next year.

Art Fair on the Square, day 2

2010-07-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

I got to be an artist as well at the Art Fair on the Square this year. For day two of Art Fair, I volunteered in the kids tent and staked out face painting as my area. Here are two of my customers showing off their artwork. It was so much fun to paint rainbows, balloons, baseballs, basketballs, fish, flowers, hearts, and dinosaurs. I also had two special requests, a track and a space monster. Above is the tractor. It is based off a John Deere, but I didn't have any green paint. Thanks to a certain little boy back in Texas, I got used to drawing tractors, specifically John Deere tractors with bailers. So, when this little boy's mom looked at me with a bit of worry when he asked for a tractor, I assured her that I could paint a tractor.

Working in the kids tent kept me from spending more time looking at the art, but there are some more posts of the pretties that I got to see on Saturday. Unfortunately, I packed my bags and headed out of town shortly after all the fun of Art Fair ended. I'm almost home and back to real life. Keep an eye out for the rest of those artists that I liked!

Art Fair on the Square, day 1

2010-07-11T08:13:00.001-05:00

Every year in Madison, artists come from across the country to set up booths around the capitol square and sell their wares. The art ranges from silver and gold jewelry to surrealist paintings to hand-woven scarves to mixed-media pieces.

I've gone to Art Fair every year since I moved to Madison. A couple of years ago, I went with the owner of our company to help pick out art work to decorate our office buildings and schlep it back home. I still get a kick out of seeing the artwork I helped pick out or carry when I'm on my way from one meeting to another.

This year, I volunteered with the Art Fair through the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, which hosts the event. I spent all day yesterday, well from 11:30 - 6:30, supporting artists by watching their booths while they went and got Starbucks or water or went to the bathroom. Con: it was very hot yesterday and we had to wear these polyester-net overshirts, liked you wear in gym class. Pro: I had a lot of time to look at everything in the booths, especially on the street where I was stationed.

Here are some of my favorites.

Repeats from years past:

Keith Grace Designs	He uses magazine and other clippings, a favorite of mine, to create his work. Then, he paints over the design to add dimension. Yesterday, I saw the a print of the design at the left. We'll see if I make it back over there today to purchase it.
Amy Gillespie	Amy won the best 2D medium work award last year at the Art Fair. She creates wood and felt pieces. My favorite piece that I saw yesterday was a small square out of light wood with the felt in a circle around a bunch of small circles. The felt was light blue, which made the work look like a nest of robin's eggs.
Dolan Geiman	My first Art Fair piece came from Dolan Geiman. It is similar to what you see at the left, with one yellow wood bird cut in to the barnwood background. I love going by this booth each year. There is also a mixed media piece of the United States that I like, and I would love to own a print. Check out his website, because when I went to get the link, I saw that he is collaborating with Fossil. Exciting!

I've got to run now to go help out in the Kid Tent. I've got several more artists that I want to talk about, as well as my time making crafts with kids today. This should keep me in blog posts for the rest of the week! Check out the MMoCA website for more information, and stay tuned for more artists.

iPhone pic of the week

2010-07-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

This is me today. Actually, this is me most days. A couple of the folks at my coffee shop know what I ordered when I come in - large skim latte. I used to drink one every day with the three shots of espresso, but I realized that this was probably too much caffeine. So, I try to go without a couple of times a week. Luckily, my coffee habit accounts for 95% of my caffeine intake.

Happy Independence Day

2010-07-04T08:33:00.000-05:00

I don't know what you are up to this holiday weekend, but this is where I'm hanging out. Yep, that's the pool at my apartment complex. I took the photo with my iPhone yesterday during my break from my pool-side afternoon siesta. I'm not sure what I did to get the neat effect, though. Maybe I should try to recreate the photo this afternoon. Then, I might be able to tell you what I did.

Enjoy your barbecue, potato salad, watermelon, beer, ice cream, lemonade, fireworks, etc. For those folks who have off tomorrow, no fair - I'll be at work.

Work of Art

2010-07-02T06:40:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Bravo's latest competition show? They can cook, they can sew, and now, they are making art. I love Top Chef and Project Runway, but I think my favorite is Work of Art. A bunch of artists are brought together to participate in challenges, like the aforementioned shows. The difference here, is that the set of skills is much more varied. There are so many different outlets for art that you could be good at one and fail the next challenge because of your style or skill set.

This was evident on the last episode - which I watched last night on DVR - when the guy who won the previous challenge got the boot during the shock challenge. Not sure how I feel about that, especially because I did what I normally do when I watch these shows and tried to imagine what I would make. I don't think I'm very shocking because I couldn't come up with any ideas. So, not much to say about that episode.

The previous episode - the book challenge - though, I have some comments and ideas. The book challenge was actually the first episode I saw. My friend told me about the show and wondered why I wasn't watching it. I was very happy when I saw covers for books that I loved hanging in the gallery. Unlike the contestants, I had read most of the books there. The only deficit in my knowledge was Jekyll and Hyde. My luck, that's the cover that I would have been assigned if I was on the show. Still, I think I would be more familiar with the story than some of the folks seemed to be.

To comment to the work, I agreed with the judges completely. But, like I said, I always sit there and try to figure out what I would've done. And, then I looked at the book I was (re)reading - The Scarlet Pimpernel. This is a favorite that I was introduced to in high school. I don't think I've had my copy quite that long, but the poor thing was in pretty bad condition.

With the critiques in mind - that the cover should be something that draws you in and catch your eye in a crowded bookstore but also illustrate the story, I got out some supplies and sat down. Unlike the artists, I didn't have an additional budget to get fancy supplies, so I used my Crayola watercolor pencils, construction paper, tissue paper and my computer to come up with this.

I had to break the word Pimpernel because I have unofficially referred to the book as The Scarlet Pimp since high school. There is the flower and my tissue paper attempt at the French tricolor ribbon that all the "citoyens" wore. Yes, I purposely had the watercolor run in an attempt to show the watercolor. And, having never seen a Scarlet Pimpernel, I'm not sure how close I got on the flower. It didn't look a whole lot like the one I printed off to reference.

I really like my cover. I can't wait until I decide to read the book again. I may not have won when compared to real artists, but then, at least I've read the book.

Go to the website for the show to see other covers and other episodes. Let me know what you think.

Desk

2010-06-30T06:32:00.000-05:00

NiftyTable, coming to you from this desk. Yep, that's my set up, and my chair is a wooden folding chair. I got the desk before I got the computer; it is a Target MDF desk with one alteration - I added the pretty knob from Anthropologie. The desk is okay -It's narrow and the perfect length to sit under the window in my bedroom but not get in the way of the bed or the closet. The espresso finish matches the bookcases and dresser, so that's good. One challenge I do have is keeping the computer away from the part of the window that opens. I've been known to forget to close that window, so I don't want to put the computer at too much risk during an afternoon rainshower.

All that being said, I've started to look for a new desk. The bones of this desk are good, but the top is not holding up to the wear. It's wearing down where I use the mouse and there are a couple of bubbled areas where I've left glasses of water. I want a small, solid wood desk that I could refinish. Since I live in an apartment, there are a couple of limiting factors: I'll have to do the sanding and painting on my balcony, so it can't be too big nor can I wait too long (don't think I'll accomplish much outside after about October); whatever work needs to be done should only require sandpaper, a paint brush and maybe a screwdriver because that's all I have; it needs to fit in about the same space as my current desk.

I've begun stalking craigslist, and there have been a couple of promising desks, but like Goldilocks, I'm looking for the one that is just right. After spending a while perusing craigslist last night, I turned my attention to cleaning out my Google Reader. And, that's where I spotted this blog post by decor8. I love all of those desk/chair combinations, especially the second from the top. So, I might up the search and head to Goodwill this weekend in hopes of finding my new desk. I've got a couple additional things to keep in mind, too, after reading this ergonomics guide from the decor8 blog.

Wreck 'em, Tech

2010-06-28T19:47:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I had to google that one - sorry Megs and Whit. And, for all the Bears out there, I'm not changing allegiance. Instead, I'm congratulating Whit on her upcoming attendance to Texas Tech. Thank goodness the Texas schools are still together in the Big 12. There are still more years in the family rivalries. This year, Bears face Raiders on October 9 at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair.

I'm not sure that I'll be traveling down for this game. And, Whit, if your stuck up in Lubbock, then you'll still be surrounded by family. Above is the poster that I gave Whit for graduation. I hear her dorm will have a big bulletin board, so she'll have plenty of space to hang this.

Have a great time at Tech!

Malai Nepali khanna man parcha

2010-06-27T17:09:00.000-05:00

That means "I like Nepali food". This is a general statement, and generally, I've liked all of the Nepali food that I've tried. I did have some Curry Lamb yesterday that almost negated this general statement, but the rest of the good food at the first annual Madison, WI Bhutanese Picnic more than made up for this one dish.

More than a year ago, my lifegroup at Church decided to host a family of Bhutanese refugees that have lived for almost two decades in a camp in Nepal. More families have come to join our community with the help of other host groups and families. Here is a recent news story of the resettlement activities that involve seven countries around the world.

In addition to celebrating the addition to our community, we also had the chance to celebrate Abraham and Kamala Khan, Christian missionaries from Nepal and the Fishers of Men ministry. This meant more Nepali food and hearing Abraham's message of spreading the word through Bible distribution, street ministries, Christmas and Easter services, and riding his motorcycle from one village to another.

Thank you to everyone who came to hear the message, eat the food, and give to the Fishers of Men ministry and the Bhutanese resettlement.

Now, I'm going to eat my leftover Aloo Gobi. This was probably my favorite dish of the day. When that's done, I think I'm going to have to make my own. I think I'll try this recipe, Easy Indian Aloo Gobi. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Pheri bhetaunla.

Way back in Texas

2010-06-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

I've escaped the pull of the black hole! So, I'm circling back around to all of the things that I've wanted to share with you over the past few weeks. Above is a quick photo story of my trip to Texas. I took pictures on my iPhone of many of the things I did over the weekend. Some events aren't fully represented because, well, I was an active participant.

I'm not going to give you a play by play of the photos, but I will tell you that the calf at the far left is named Buddy, that's my aunt and uncle in the mural next to Buddy and the pies in the picture are rhubarb and squash.

This was a nice trip to Texas, covering many of my favorite things. I enjoyed being back down there and seeing family and friends. It definitely recharged my Texas batteries, and seeing these pictures has topped off that charge. I might even wear my cowboy boots to the picnic later today.

Expect more posts over things that I've done in the past two weeks. Then, I guess I'll have to tackle new projects.

Black Hole

2010-06-19T06:55:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't been in Texas for the past two weeks. The reason that you haven't seen any new posts is that I've been sucked down a black hole. And, traveling. Last week, my resolve broke and I purchased Sims 3. That is the black hole. While I will argue in favor the game play serving as a creative outlet, I didn't figure any of you folks who read Nifty Table wanted to read about that.

Follow a week of addictive game play with travel, and I find myself with two weeks free of posts or anything to even write about. Well, I do want to share with y'all photos of my Texas trip. And, I'm trying to resist the gravitational pull this weekend so that I can work on some things that I'm excited about. This means a couple of posts over the next few days.

Congratulations class of 2010

2010-06-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

I'm down in Texas celebrating my cousin's graduation. Actually, a couple of cousins graduated this year - one from high school and two from college. Congratulations to all of you!

At the left is the graphic I did for the graduation party invitation. It makes me wish I'd've brought my boots along. But, it's hot down here, so I'll stick with shorts and sandals. Plus, the best part about this vacation is traveling with only one carry on and a purse. I'm a compulsive over packer in general, and when I travel for work, I have to take a computer, powercords and all kinds of other tech.

It's been great to see the family and some of my friends down in this neck of the woods. I've even missed the Texas heat!

Well, I'm off for barbecue and margaritas.

Happy Birthday to a dear friend!

2010-06-03T05:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to a wonderful friend! I hope that your day is extra special.

I have word via text that my friend received her card last week. It went in the mail early because I was concerned it wouldn't get there in time otherwise because of the holiday and, well, the girl on the card was just looking at my begging me to send her to her new home.

For the card, I started with a hand-drawn figure. It took me quite a few tries, and I'm still not sure how I feel about her hands. Then, I scanned the drawing and removed the eraser smudges. I printed the design on cardstock and glued on the fabric triangles.

I'm going to keep working on my figure drawing, and maybe I've come up with a signature card look. Tell me what you think.

Spring pictures

2010-06-02T05:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I got to spend time with a friend from work and his family taking pictures in the arboretum. This friend bid on the photo session in a silent auction at our work anniversary party, and proceeds from this event went to Second Harvest Food Bank. Thank you for supporting the food bank and for letting me take pictures.

Here is one of my favorite pictures.

It took me a couple of nights to go through and edit all of the photos. It's been staying so light up here, and I prefer editing photos when it is dark, so I couldn't get started until about 9 p.m.

I realized that I need to work on taking pictures in bright light. I had several photos that were too dark because of the sunlight. But, I will say that I am thankful for digital when it comes to baby pictures. It seems most babies want to look down, so most of my pictures were of the top of his head.

New Etsy favorite

2010-06-01T05:50:00.001-05:00

Do you get the Etsy Finds daily email? (If not, sign up at Etsy) Each email is a gathering of Etsy wares based on some theme. This means that some days I love everything and some days nothing stands out.

On Sunday, something stood out. I visited DazeyChic's shop and came across this beauty, and it's on its way to brighten my home.

Brats and iPhone Photo of the Week

2010-05-31T19:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that everyone had a chance to relax and enjoy the freedom that so many have fought to protect.

I made my contribution to the World's Largest Brat Fest today. Other than that, the weekend was full of sun and relaxation.

The iPhone photo of the week is actually the picture of the capitol and State Street. I went the farmers' market Saturday morning. Let's see, I got some flowers, bread, scones, rhubarb and lettuce.

With the rhubarb, I made made my first rhubarb and strawberry pie. I used the recipe from the back of the tapioca box. This is one case where you should measure. I didn't; well, I did, but then I poured what was left in the box into the bowl as well. I ended up with a yummy rhubarb-strawberry-gel pie.

Hand-dyed cardigan

2010-05-30T07:44:00.000-05:00

There were a lot of water colored and hand painted cardigans in the stores this past spring, which inspired me to create my own. I made this cardigan a couple of months ago, and the photos have been hanging out on my flickr page. Somehow, I just never got around to writing the post to accompany the pictures. I'm going to be getting out the dyes again this weekend, so I thought I would tell you about my first project.


I started with a cream-colored cardigan from Loft . I put a board covered with a trash bag inside to keep the color from transfering from one side to another.	Once I had decided that I wanted to try a hand-dyed effect on the sweater, I searched Dick Blick for some kind of paint or dye. I found Dye-Na-Flow, which is a paint made to simulate dye.	I played with numerous techniques. First, I tried applying the paint to the dry cardigan. This produced very dark colors but the lines were very sharp. You can see this in the second big blotch from the left. To soften the effect, I poured water on the painted splotches and used the brush to spread it out. I also poured salt over the top. I read to use salt when browsing for dye techniques. I think that it helped to control the bleeding if I applied too much water.

I hung the cardigan up to dry. This is how it looked after my first painting. I like it but decided to try wetting it first and then applying the paint to see how that worked. It was a lot less controled and much lighter in color	Once I was satisifed and let the paint set overnight, I washed the cardigan in woolight until the water was clear instead of pink. Since that first wash, I have just washed it on cold with other colored clothing.	I dryed the cardigan with a pink towel in case the pink dye rubbed off.

My plants

2010-05-26T06:56:00.000-05:00

I'm becoming a plant lady. It's kinda like a cat lady but without the smell and hairballs. I have several plants that I really do care about - a pothos plant my mom gave me when I started college, a tropical plant that I got shortly after I moved to WI and nearly killed.

The real trick is finding a pot that goes well with the character of the plant. Here are a couple of my plants. I recently repotted the Wandering Jew plant into the yellow pot from Anthropology. I knocked the plant off the little table and broke the pot. Then, I realized why it hadn't seem to grow; it was so root-bound that the only dirt that fell on the carpet was the top layer!

BLady's Flowered Sandals

2010-05-25T06:00:00.003-05:00

Today's post comes from BLady who has been doing her own craft projects lately. When she sent me the pictures of these shoe clips she made and attached to a pair of sandals she got last year, I wanted to go out and make a pair for myself.

When BLady, Megs and I were in Dallas shopping a couple of weeks ago, BLady kept commenting on all of the sandals with floral embellishments. She was right - there are a lot of shoes like that out there right now.

Flower shoes by Schizi on Polyvore.com

Items in this set:
Product: Naya "Atwood", $120
Product: Guess "Akera" Sandal, $60
Product: GB "Ruffle-Up" Sandal, $50
Loeffler Randall 'Brynn' Sandal - Nordstrom
Badgley Mischka 'Randi' Sandal - Nordstrom

To make these, I first cut squares from organza, five for each flower, and pinned them together. I cut the squares into circles because cutting them together made them more uniform in size.

Then, I carefully singed the edges with a lighter. This took a little practice to make sure that I didn't melt too far. I layered them just a little off center of each other and sort of alternated left/right. I stitched them together in the middle and added three crystals. Then I just added the shoe clips. I found that attaching the clips a little off to one side makes the flowers line up with the shoe better.

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If you don't have a pair of sandals hanging out in the bottom of your closet, you could get one of these pairs.

Jessica Simpson 'Vida' SandalReef 'Slingshot'

Bike Ride

2010-05-23T09:09:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, I went for my first bike ride of the summer. There are bike trails everywhere in this part of WI, and everyone rides bikes during the warm months. After a couple of WI winters, I understand the need to be out of doors every chance you can.

So, I strapped on my helmet, turned on the Map My Ride app on my phone, and headed out the door. I returned home 16 miles later with a rather sore rear end.

On my ride, I saw chipmunks and birds. I saw some other critter cross the trail at one point, but it was too far away to make out what it was. There are several ponds (tanks for folks back home) along the trail, and the flowers were in bloom. Overall, it was a nice relaxing ride.

Bike rides are a perfect time to just think. No music, no TV, no magazine, no book, no computer. Just the critters and the trees and grasses and moving your legs up and down. While thinking, I decided that I'd like to try adding an animation to the blog to celebrate this first bike ride of 2010.

I know the image above is not moving. I got the .gif to be animated using the tutorial at Creative Tech, but I can't the file uploaded to Blogger, Flickr, Photobucket, or Picasa as an animation, much less get it over to the blog. I'll continue to try, but now I need to go to the gym.

iPhone photo of the week

2010-05-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

I spent a good portion of this past week in Norfolk, VA for work. Wednesday afternoon, I had the chance to enjoy the weather, which had finally turned nice. When we got to VA, it was rainy and cooler than WI. This picture comes from the park near Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin, the battleship which fired the first shot in the Gulf war, according to one of my traveling companions. I also verified that here, if you want to know about the Wisconsin.

Thank you, Camera Bag, for the fisheye effect. The effect helped the sailing ship stand out from the building behind it.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T11:16:00.001-05:00

I love you BLady! Thank you for all the support, advice and love that you've given me to get me to where I am today. I'm a little sad that the place is WI so I can't see you today.

In the card I sent you, I admitted that you were right all these years - fixing your bed just makes your day better. Here are some other things that I've learned from you:

It is nicer to come home to a clean house after a vacation
How to sew
'Dry clean only' is often just a suggestion
How to hold a spoon 'like you mean it' when cooking
To read all the instructions on a recipe before just dumping ingredients into the mixer (sorry about the old mixer, but you got a Kitchenaid out of it)

Okay, so that's just a short list of everything that you've taught me. For everything I've listed above and all the things that I haven't, thank you.

New bedroom

2010-05-06T19:53:00.001-05:00

I have had the same duvet since I graduated from college. It's from Ikea, and I love it, even with the bleach spots.

My headboard is really three hollow-core doors that I painted pink before applying a crinkle paint technique. The pink is a funny story - little Bro worked at Ace Hardware and brought me some returned paint. It took a little doctoring with other leftover paint, but I ended up with my doors. Previously, they served as a room divider. Now, my apartment is too small to need a divider.

I'm realizing now that my bed set is really a story in itself. The throw pillows matched my living room curtains until one stormy night when the rain came in and I washed the curtains, which faded a bit. BLady made the pillows and the curtains for me from $1/yard fabric from Walmart. I bought all the fabric they had in this print without any plans to make anything. It's nice how these things work out.

My bed is handmade as well. My parents made it for me before I moved to my college apartment. It is a platform bed based on an Ikea model. But, I'm pretty sure mine is a lot more sturdy because it's made with lumber and steel, and much more precious to me for all the hard work.

Now that I've given you the history of where I sleep every night, I'm going to add that I'm ready to change it up. The bleach spots bother me a bit sometimes and my coverlet is starting to get holes in it (the ravages of sunlight and time?).

I spotted this quilt over the weekend while shopping with BLady and Megs:

http://www.westelm.com/products/b518/?pkey=cduvet-covers-quilts

Then, today when I was catching up on blogs on Google Reader, I spotted this:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/05/before-after-stefanies-brooklyn-limestone.html

If I go with the gray quilt, I'll still need a duvet cover for my down comforter. I can't survive with that during the long WI winter. But, I'll probably make one myself, especially with these easy instructions at Craftzine.

Senior pictures

2010-05-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

This is my cousin - isn't she cute? She is graduating from high school one month from today. I took these pictures back during my vacation at Christmas. It was so cold and windy, but you can only tell looking at her by the red nose. There were a couple of pictures with red fingers, too.

I'm so glad that I got to take these senior pictures. I took her brother's senior pictures, too, back before I moved to WI. It did take a bit of planning and standing out on a cold December day to get the pictures, but it was worth it.

To W - have a great last month of high school. Enjoy your summer, and good luck with everything. Love you and see you in a month!

iPhone photo of the week

2010-05-04T06:44:00.001-05:00

I met these ducks and turtles in Northpark Mall in Dallas this weekend while shopping with Megs and BLady. That's right, I got to spend most of the last week in Dallas culminating in a weekend with the family sans little brother.

The ducks and turtles live in a fountain in the family area of Northpark, which is probably the best mall I've ever been to. In addition to live critters, there is real art - an Andy Warhol painting, sculptures, photographs. The mall itself is pretty austere - wide walkways with white bricks and a lot of natural light.

Northpark is also home to one of my favorite shops - Paper Source! Although I left with store without any new purchases, I am brimming with new ideas.

Rockin JB Custom Work

2010-04-28T07:15:00.001-05:00

There is a new artist blowing up the Facebook pages. That'd be my little brother with Rockin JB Custom Work. Below are the Christmas gifts I've received from him the past three years. He made all of these items - the cross and book ends out of metal scraps and the purse out of a pair of old boots. Even the conchos on the purse are reused - they came from a belt he had as a child.

I carry my purse everywhere, and I've had folks just stop me and ask about it. The latest was in the Detroit airport.

Go to his Facebook page and see more of his great work!

iPhone photo of the week

2010-04-27T07:04:00.000-05:00

This week's photo comes from my office. Oddly enough, I haven't been spending all of my time sitting there lately. Most of the time has been spent running from one meeting room to another, and I'm about to embark on another meeting day with little chance of getting to enjoy my new art work.

I made this drawing when I spent my weekend in the country. It's based off a picture my friend had in her house, and I used colored pencils to complete the drawing. I especially like the background, which I created using about five different colored pencils - sky blue, periwinkle, purple, royal blue, robin's egg blue.

On the iPhone camera: I could've used more light. I didn't do anything to this picture to edit it, and it could use a little lightening. This could be because I never turn on my overhead lights but my window faces north, so I only get filtered sunlight.

Shrimp for lifeGroup

2010-04-26T22:21:00.000-05:00

It was my turn to host lifeGroup today. Each week, a group of us from The Church at Christ Memorial here in WI meet for food, fellowship and time to study God's word. Tonight, our worship included singing "Jesus Loves Me," which reminds me so much of sitting in the church during vacation bible school. But it also reminds me of how, even as a child, this was a stated fact.

Before the singing began, I treated my friends as guinea pigs with a new dish. Other friends of ours have been kind enough to practice new recipes before getting nine people over for dinner with nothing else except one frozen pizza and the spaghetti noodles at home in case the experiment fails.

Here is the thought process that went in to this dish: "I have spaghetti noodles - a ton, I bought a package at Sam's" and then, "But I don't want spaghetti" followed by, "It's spring - it should be something with veggies" to "Shrimp sound good."

What I came up with was a Shrimp Pasta Primavera. I'm calling it LG Shrimp Pasta, and here is the recipe for my friend who not only asked for the recipe but was willing to take home some leftovers.

My LG Shrimp Pasta recipe

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped (1 cup)

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

4 tablespoons snipped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 (9 oz) bag fresh spinach

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

2 zucchini, diced

¼ cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons butter

cooked pasta

Parmesan cheese

1) In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, red pepper flakes and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until onions are crsip-tender. Add more oil as necessary during cooking

2) Add mushrooms

3) Add zucchini,

4) Add tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

5) Add shrimp to pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.

6) Add spinach and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently until spinach is wilted.

7) Add white wine to pan, stirring to combine

8) Add butter, stirring to melt

9) Serve immediately over pasta

I didn't come up with this recipe completely on my own - here are my sources:

http://www.recipe.com/sauteed-spinach-and-shrimp/

http://www.recipe.com/shrimp-with-basil-and-fresh-tomatoes/

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shrimp-Scampi-Pasta-234258

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Capellini-Primavera-27521

A couple of additions/caveats:

1) I have no idea what "crisp-tender" means for onions. What I did was cook them in the olive oil until I was done cutting up veggies

2) Measurements are a guess. I filled up my big skillet/wok with veggies and shrimp, and it fed eight adults and one kid with leftovers enough for two meals

3) When your pot is very full, it takes a bit for the spinach to wilt. I put the lid on and then went pack and stirred it in

4) Notice the lack of salt and pepper on the ingredients list. I'm horrible at remembering to season things, which is why I'll never make it on Top Chef. I ended up putting a sprinkle of Kosher salt in and then 3-4 dashes, oh and one for good measure of Special Shit. If you don't know what Special Shit is, go here. This is the secret to my cooking. I bought mine at the county Ace Hardware (not WI, but back down home). You're lucky they have a website, because otherwise you'd be out of luck. I can only get so much back in my suitcase. Speaking of which, BLady, I might need another jar. I think mine will stretch another month or so.

To finish out the meal, we had some fresh fruit, bread, a yummy salad and beverages, including Supper Club from Capitol Brewery (thanks guys for the contribution to dinner).

I was assured of one success with dinner, even if we were eating peanut butter and jelly - dessert. I made a pan of Lemon Bars (thanks mix from the grocery store) last night that turned out perfectly.

Rainy days and cleaning

2010-04-25T21:02:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, I don't have any new crafty things to add to the blog today. It was gray, cold, rainy and windy - the kind of weekend where you just want to curl up with a stack of DVDs under a blanket on the couch.

That's not what I did this weekend. I spent the cleaning my apartment before my lifegroup from church comes for dinner tomorrow. I also repotted some plants and went grocery shopping.

There was also the chance for creative expression. I made several pillow houses in my living room and drew pictures of a backhoe, an airplane and a helicopter. You may have guessed it; I was babysitting my favorite little guy. It was so much fun to crawl around on the floor and watch a wooden spoon transform from a guitar, to a drum stick, to a sword and then back to a spoon.

So, I don't have any new craft projects to post from this weekend. But don't worry, I've got a few things cooking that I want to tell you about this week. There will be plenty after next weekend, too; BLady, Megs and I are meeting up for a girls' weekend full of shopping and ideas.

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-23T06:57:00.000-05:00

So, I did celebrate Earth Day yesterday with a new DIY necklace. This was made from one of the t-shirts that I dyed a while back - it's the same color material as the puff paint t-shirt . I got the idea from an issue of Body + Soul that I read at my friend's house in the country.

1) Lay a t-shirt out flat and cut strips. The magazine article said to use a rotary cutter, but since I don't own one of those, I tried to cut even strips by hand. It worked out pretty well.

2) Stretch out the loops until they curl.

3) Double the bunch of loops, and tie the back with a scrap of the same t-shirt

Tada!

I think this would be really pretty with charms attached at intervals to the loops.

What else did you do for Earth day? One of my friends at work biked to work. Besides new jewelry out of something that I had at home, all I did was make sure that I turned off the big monitor on my desk when I left (after a reminder from another coworker).

iPhone photo of the week

2010-04-18T19:36:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I house sat for some friends who live "out in the country." My time was divided between hiking and walks with their dog Jake, napping and reading magazines and a book. I also had to keep an eye on the chickens. I took this picture while, Jake, the chickens and I enjoyed the sunny hilltop.

Shoe shopping

2010-04-15T07:04:00.000-05:00

The warm weather has my feet itching to be in new shoes. This season, I presented myself with a new challenge - find a pair of cute and stylish sandals that I can also walk in all day. For some folks, this may not be as hard as it was for me, but I tend toward sandals that are made with a couple of leather straps stuck into a piece of board with no arch support or cushioning.

Several Endless orders later, I have it narrowed down to three pairs. All are Dansko shoes, and each has a different look.

Left to right: Celina, Mila, and Sigrid

And, the winner is....Sigrid in black!

These shoes will be perfect for all my walking adventures this summer. I'll probably wear them every day

iPhone photo of the week

2010-04-11T16:50:00.000-05:00

Yummy. French toast with berries and whipped cream was on the menu for breakfast, thanks to Jenny Craig. I've been going to Jenny Craig for about a year and half now. Not only has it helped me lose weight, but it makes grocery shopping simple and food prep very easy. All I had to do was microwave the french toast, cut up some strawberries, and add a dollop of lite Cool Whip to have this yummy looking breakfast.

Now, the iPhone alone didn't make the food look this yummy. I used the Camera Bag app for iPhone to apply a Helga effect to the picture. This is one of my favorite iPhone photo apps to play with because you can change the look of the picture by scrolling through the possible views. It recreates the look of different cameras and film.

When I searched for a link to include above for more information about the app, I found that it is also available for desktops. I am going to have to think about getting this for quick photo editing.

Spring flower makeover

2010-04-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

I'm halfway through switching my closet to spring. Last night, I went through everything in my closet and drawers, pulling out things that I didn't wear all winter to determine if they should a) go directly to Goodwill or the church-wide rummage sale or b) live another season in clothing purgatory (a big rubbermaid box in my storage unit).

Today, I'll go through the rubbermaid boxes and swap out summer stored clothes for winter. Yay! Then, it's fashion show time, determining how can I put existing clothes together in new ways to update for 2010.

I've already added a few accessories to my collection to help the spring transformation.

These floral beauties came from OwlEyes Accessories over at Etsy. The orange flower bunch is a big pin made out of felt. It will liven up my denim jackets and cardigans and also add some more of my favorite-color-of-the-moment to my wardrobe (it's orange).

Hanging out on my gray Toms are blue flower shoe clips. I got the idea to use shoe clips on my Toms after Megs and I talked about getting 'mod-ing' our Toms. Now, my Toms can have multiple personalities without any lasting changes.

What would you make?

2010-04-10T08:44:00.000-05:00

Do you watch Project Runway? If you do but you haven't seen this week's episode, I promise I won't give away who won or who lost. The challenge was to create a high-end runway look based on what the designers saw at the circus.

One of my favorite reasons to watch Project Runway is that I will sit there and image what I would make. This week, I happened to have a pad of paper and pencils laying on the coffee table, so I paused the DVR playback and sketched what I would make. This assumes that I have wonderful sewing skills, so I don't have to worry about the logistics of making the outfit.

This is my "high-end runway look based on the circus":

Like several of the designers, I was inspired by the coat the ringmaster wore. This would be a faux-shirt dress with a puff skirt. The whole thing would be skillfully constructed out of red silk dupioni (my favorite type of fabric). The top would be very fitted but have some reinforcement so that it stood up on the shoulders. To add a little sparkle, I would have an under tank out of red sequin fabric. In the back, the top would also be very fitted and scoop down in the back.

Then, I would make a pair of fuchsia satin slim pants. Almost leggings. Of course, I wouldn't have to worry about the common problems with "weird-crotch" as Michael Kors would say, because the dress would cover that portion of my model. But, what am I saying, I can sew impeccable clothing in this fantasy.

To further evoke the ring master, I think I would make a headpiece, just a flat black satin circle to sit in the model's hair.

After I was done sketching, I returned to watching the episode. You should watch the show and tell me if Heidi would have told me 'auf Wiedersehen'.

Warm weather clothes

2010-04-08T19:43:00.001-05:00

This weekend, I'm planning to go into my storage unit and haul out a couple of big rubbermaid containers. These boxes contain most of my warm weather wardrobe, which has been banished since mid September. Now, it's time to put away the sweaters although the freak snow storm last night made me think that I should keep out at least a sweatshirt.

Pulling out those boxes is going to take a lot of energy, which I still don't have a ton of, so I'm saving it for Saturday morning after a good sleep. Also, I need to sift through the rest of the junk in storage for things to put in the church rummage sale.

So, since I can't wear my warm weather clothes because they're in storage and it's two cold, I decide that I should go shopping for more! Shopping online is fun, because you can see everything that you're thinking of spread out. I prefer shopping at sites that have brick and mortar stores where I can return the purchases if something doesn't fit.

I came across this fun tool at one of my favorite sites - Boden. Okay, I haven't actually bought anything from there but I love all of their clothes and one day I will. Especially, when I can see how the whole outfit will come together with their outfit maker.

For cross-site dressing, I still prefer Polyvore. Here is what I wish I could wear to work tomorrow. Oh, if only spring would get to WI!

PortA and summer clothes by Schizi

Items in this set:
Old Navy Womens Slub-Knit Button-Front Cardigans, $27
Boden Rosette top
AG Pixie Shorts - Anthropologie.com, $140
Canvas Bag-AM127-Bags at Boden, $58
Corsage Flower Necklace-AK159-Jewellery at Boden, $58

Picture of Port Aransas from THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER: August 2006 Archives

Laptop Bags

2010-04-06T19:24:00.000-05:00

Several folks that I know, including Megs, have purchased laptops recently and need new bags. They've each asked me about what I use, what I like, how it travels, and where to find good bags. One friend was more interested in the backpack style that I use for work, so I expounded on the benefits of having a bag with a couple of compartments and space to shove my purse in if the TSA folks strictly enforce the two carry on rule (I do make sure that all my bags will fit inside just two carry ons so that I am always compliant, even if I don't appear that way).

Megs wanted something a little more fun. I also have an every day tote bag for carrying my laptop, notebook, pens, water bottle and whatever detritus is floating around the bottom. For this, I use a purple seatbelt bag from Harvey's. I figure, what could be more indestructible than a seatbelt. And, in fact, it has survived two years of daily use and even a few plane trips looking remarkably like new.

Still, I couldn't help but start my own search for a new bag, just in case my current bag were to bite the dust. Since that isn't going to happen soon, I would definitely look first at a Harvey seatbelt bag in the future.

From left, Vinyl laptop bag, American Apparel; Urban Junket-t.o.t.e Laptop bag; Seatbelt bag, Harvey's; eBags Savvy laptop tote, Walmart; Icon charm laptop tote bag, Target; Orla Kiely Buzy Lizzie laptop bag, Muse Ten; Bueno Chevron Computer bag, Target

Or, I could get really crafty and make my own. I have a ton of plastic bags, so I may have to try this project to make a backup for the days when I'm not feeling the purple bag. How to - fuse plastic bags into a laptop case

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T17:46:00.000-05:00

God's blessings to you on this happy Easter! Wherever you are, I hope that you got to enjoy hearing the good news once again surrounded by family and friends. My family may have been far away, but the wonders of speaker phone made me feel almost as if I was there with them. The only things I really missed were the pancakes after church (just kidding BLady, I wish I could've had those peeps, too!)

Here is my list of all the things that I wanted to do today. I have new supplies and a couple of new craft toys laying around here, but I couldn't summon up the energy to do much with them this weekend. It's been a rough couple of weeks, with back to back to almost back travel and other work in between. I'm now going to be home for all of the next week (meaning not traveling, not on vacation by any means), so expect to see a couple of these projects come to fruition.

Still, yesterday, I did go on an inspiration and supply gathering trip. First, I visited my favorite store on State Street - Anthology. The store is almost everything I need for supplies, ideas and a general feeling of craftiness. In addition to a pack of paper scraps and some buttons, I also got a Fiskars large block party squeeze punch. There are so many possibilities - I can't wait to show you the mess I'm gonna make with that thing.

I also stopped at the art supply store on State for the first time. Oh my goodness, if I didn't love my apartment, I'd have to move downtown just to be within walking distance of these two places! I am now the happy owner of some more iDye, other fabric dyes, two paint brushes and a pack of color-bleeding tissue paper.

So, with supplies and a couple of good nights' worth of sleep and a nap, I think I'm ready to hit the week both for real work and crafts/blogging crafts.

iPhone photo of the week

2010-04-04T17:30:00.000-05:00

Spring has come to WI! It really has, and I've seen it. Here, the young buds are set against the bright clear blue sky that was gray just an hour before.

Now for a critique of the iPhone camera for taking pictures. I tried to focus on the closest bud. Several shots did not capture the look I was going for. This is the closest one. The size of the screen also makes it hard to tell what you've captured exactly until you get it back to a computer. Reminds me a tiny bit of taking film pictures. It was (is?) exciting to see what you had captured after the moment had passed. I often found myself looking at a stack of pictures or negatives wondering what I was trying to accomplish with the picture.

Joy

2010-03-31T20:17:00.000-05:00

I created this 5"x7" painting for one of my really good friends. I enjoyed giving it as much as I did painting it, and I hope that it brings her Joy.

The painting is done on canvas with plain old craft store acrylics. And, when I say old, I mean it. Some of those paints made the move with me almost three years ago, and they weren't new then! A couple of lessons from this project:

1) When you buy new paints, write a date on the bottom so you know the old ones

2) Don't use clumpy old paints to paint words

3) Practice painting words before the next project

Photo Collage

2010-03-30T05:34:00.000-05:00

Back in December, I visited the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash and purchased some awesome letterpress letter cards spelling out our last name. I didn't really think about where I was going to put them, so when I got them home, I tried holding them up around our apartment. They never seemed quite right anywhere, but ended up on the wall in the corner behind our TV. They were looking really strange to me back there and it finally got on my nerves enough that I decided to a photo collage around the letters.

I'm all about cheapness, and thrifting at Goodwill led me to some fantastic frames for only a buck or two.

After clorox-wiping all of the Goodwill frames, I started arranging the frames around the paper templates I'd made of the letters already on the wall (pardon the puppy, she got curious).

Then, I made paper templates of all the frames and hung those on the wall with the letters to make sure it looked okay from across the room.

I don't have any pictures of the actual painting, but I hauled all the goodwill frames out to the top deck of the parking garage at my apartment complex (oh, how I wish I had a house with a yard) and spray painted them all black while my neighbors looked at me like I was crazy.

Ta-Da!

Books

2010-03-28T08:28:00.000-05:00

Craft acrylic paints are my favorite for a quick painting. You can do the whole painting in one sitting. Once you're finished with one color, then you move on to another color, working sort of like a paint by number so that when you get to colors that touch, one of them is dry.

This is a two-painting set that I did for a silent auction. The benefits from the auction go to Second Harvest food bank. I call this one vol. II because there are two paintings and because this is my second time to paint books. I have a similar painting hanging in my office at work.

Maybe for the next in my series, it will be three paintings! Tell me what you think.

Tasty Treats

2010-03-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

I decided this week to put my favorite wedding gift to good use - my beautiful red KitchenAid pro. And boy, have I put it to work; I've been a baking madman! Baking is a craft, right?

I stumbed across a fantastic recipe for Pizza Rolls.

These were an instant hit in our house, I made a double batch and froze them in mealsize portions for Huz to take for lunch. He loved them so much, I made another batch a few days later, only instead of mozzarella and pepperoni filling, we filled them with sausage and pepperjack.

Then, I found a recipe for Lemon Breakast Rolls with lemony filling and lemony cream cheese icing.

I made these the night before so I could just wake up to pull them out of the fridge to rise, then pop them in the oven without all the prep and mess. They didn't turn out quite as good as I was hoping they would, but they were still pretty tasty and the fam loved them.

Time for spring wreath

2010-03-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

When folks come to visit my apartment, I tell them to go until they see an orange rug. The rug came from Anthropologie many years ago, and I just put it there when I moved in. I always meant to get a new rug, but I've really come to love the spot of color when I come around the corner to my door. Then, at Christmas, I hung my very first wreath. That came down about mid-January and my door has been rather ordinary since then.

Until now. I finished my new wreath, which I am calling 'Time for spring'. It's made from a Styrofoam wreath form, yarn, fake flowers and pieces of time magazine. And, a lot of hot glue.

First, I covered the wreath form with variegated green yarn. This took quite awhile. I started on Sunday during the Oscars, and worked on it a little bit each night since then. The real trick was keeping the yarn from tangling as I wound it around the form.

I choose the two different floral stems because I liked the leaves and the colors. And, since it’s me, I needed to have something made out of magazines on it. I saw this tutorial from Dozi on another blog and printed it off a long time ago for creating paper flowers. I don’t remember which blog referenced the tutorial, but thank you!

Time Magazine is good for large blocks of text, but the paper stock is rather light. The result was more of a bud than the full flower that Dozi achieved. To get the bud to work, I glued it onto floral wire and then wrapped from there. I held on to the bottom of the wrap to try to get the top to fan out.

The buds were not enough magazine, so I simply made some paper carnations by bunching together a couple of different sized circles.
Finally, I grabbed the hot glue gun and just started sticking stuff on. I wish I could tell you that there was a process, but I would add something and then realize it needed something else.

My door is a now a lot more welcoming.

Oh, and I had an extra paper carnation, so I glued it onto a bobby pin and stuck it in my hair.

Puff painting

2010-03-23T19:20:00.000-05:00

Do you remember puff painting t-shirts as a kid? That was the last time I did it, which was probably in the mid '90s. So, I don't know what came over me to try it again.

This started as one of the dyed t-shirts I made last week. Then, I just grabbed a bottle of white puff paint from Hobby Lobby and started doodling on one shoulder. My original plan was for a motif along one shoulder, but I was having so much fun that I covered the whole shirt. I even wore it to work one day (I don't have to dress fancy). It definitely was fun to look down and see the texture.

I think I'm good for puff paint right now, but I want to try again with larger blocks of paint in more colors.

Dye and tie dye

2010-03-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

Gotta love a package of men's white tees. Oh, the possibilities! Throw in a trip to the fabric store where they have an easy-to-use packet of dye and you know I'm gonna make a mess.

These packets were as easy to use as they promise. You just take off the paper package.
Inside, there is a little plastic pouch with the color. Just drop that into the pot of water and stir or add it to the hot water in the washing machine. I even attempted to make a mess starting the purple one on the stove and then transferring it to the washing machine. Why do that? Well, I didn't feel up to standing at the stove stirring the pot.

I ran two different colors - violet and gunmetal. The violet was beautiful and vibrant; I was very impressed. The gunmetal turned out to be a little more blue than the package let on. I would definitely buy this dye again. Nothing against Rit dye - we've had our good times in the past - but I'm a little too messy not to use something this easy. I can't wait to try more of the 38 colors.
I tried to do a tie dye t-shirt in each load using the one rubber band I own. I was successful with the purple but not with the gunmetal. Next time, I'll use more rubber bands!

So, what am I going to do with the rest of the t-shirts (4 left - 1 purple, 2 gunmetal and 1 that I ran in both loads that turned out to be almost navy)
I have a couple of things up my sleeve, but you'll have to
wait and see!

iPhone photo of the week

2010-03-20T14:02:00.000-05:00

Travel. I do it fairly often. I'm at the beginning of a series of trips. This picture shows two of my companions for the next couple of weeks.

Bulletin board

2010-03-17T11:31:00.001-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the color of the day and also the warm weather we've been having here in WI, I’ve put together some things that I like on my bulletin board to share with y’all.

envelopes (Paper Source), green vase (Etsy), pillow (Target), tealight (ZGallerie), shoes (Tilly's), necklace (Anthropologie)

I think I'm gonna order a package of these envelopes in the chartreuse green. They'll make whatever I put in them look interesting

Heart garlands

2010-03-16T21:19:00.000-05:00

Instead of your traditional valentine card, I sent a bit of home decor. It was fun talking to everyone I sent one to and hearing where they hung up their garland. I'm selfish - I kept two and put one in my apartment and one in the window at my office at work.

It was a very simple process:
1) Grab a stack of magazines from one of the many overflowing piles. The Anthropologie catalogs were definitely my favorites
2) Pull out all the pages that had pretty designs
3) Create heart templates out of card stock. This helped me group the hearts on to the page and make the best use of pretty patterns
4) Start cutting. I freehanded some hearts as I got more comfortable
5) Lay out the yardstick and start putting rows of hearts together
6) Start up the sewing machine and run the hearts through. I found that it was easiest if I kept the hearts spaced only a couple of stitches apart. You can see in the picture above what happened when the hearts weren't propped up by their neighbors
7) Stick in envelopes with a note for friends and family. I put aside a few to share with etsy friends, too

Easter cards

2010-03-15T19:26:00.001-05:00

You'll see a lot of different greeting and notecards here at the Table. I've been into card making for a couple of years, maybe more than that! What started with leftover scrapbooking supplies (when that was my thing), has become a way to try new techniques. Friends and family have come to expect handmade cards on their birthdays and any holiday worth sending a card (no cards for administrative assistants day!). I combined three different techniques on these cards: potato stamps, sewing on paper, and collage.

	1) Cut eggs out of potatoes. It's surprising, but I didn't cut myself! After cutting the (russet) potatoes in half, I took my paring knife and ran it about a quarter an inch from the cut edge, at about a quarter of an inch in. Then, I start to carve the egg shape. I tried to add different designs. Straight lines were easiest, polka dots didn't turn out well at all
	2) Grab some acrylic paints in assorted spring colors and start painting the different sections of the egg. I reused the best of the 'eggs' with different color combinations. Here, remember to wipe off the paint, including the crevices or you get green when you expect yellow after a couple of stamp
	3) Lay out the cards and start stamping. I tried different combinations of one, two and three eggs. I also tried horizontal and vertical layouts. My favorite turned out to be two eggs with minimal overlap on a vertical card
	4) To keep the eggs from making a mess on my table, I used an egg carton. Yes Mom, I know I forgot to put down a drop cloth over my nice table. I promise I didn't make a mess and I won't do it again
	5) Cut strips of text from a magazine. Time Magazine worked well because it has large blocks of text and the paper is pretty thin. Then, cut a fringe along one edge. I used a glue stick to tack down the newspaper grass
	6) This part was messy. Open up a bag of the green plastic grass for Easter baskets. Cut the pieces in half because you don't need the whole length
	7) Lay the card on the sewing machine and spread some of the grass over the other grass. Just grab a handful and lay it on top; not all of it will get caught in the stitch. I probably wouldn't recommend this method if you're a perfectionist, but it was interesting to see what stuck. If there are holes in the green grass, just grab another handful and run a second stitch
	8) Trim the grass. This was definitely the biggest mess. Thank goodness for my dustbuster! I tried to trim the green grass so that it didn't stick off the card or cover too much of the eggs
	9) Fan out the newspaper grass, pop in an envelope and drop it in the mail. If you want to skip all but this last step, you can get a handmade, unique potato egg card at my etsy shop

My Own Home Hack

2010-03-14T16:15:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite blogs to read is Apartment Therapy. I love seeing beautiful kitchens, unique decorating styles and MOST OF ALL, I love their Home Hacks. When I stumbed across this awesome tree made out of yarn and push pins, I decided to put my own spin on it:

(source: Apartment Therapy Home Hacks)

So, I ventured out to my favorite two-story JoAnn's and picked up some yarn, ran into Wal-Mart for clear pushpins, and then rushed home to start playing. I'm not really a tree person, so I decided to try something a little more abstract and random on the bare wall behind the desk in our home office.

Here's a closeup of the colors I chose. I was thinking of going with grey and yellow, but when I saw this pretty bright apple green, I was sold.

This project is great for apartment dwellers like me who can't paint walls and are scared of putting big holes in the walls. The holes left by pushpins are small and the artwork has a huge impact.