on my honor...

urchin necklace

2012-02-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I made Monika and Catherine necklaces from some of the sea urchin spines I collected in Malibu. This is Catherine's necklace. Yes, I did have to twist the spines from the urchin's shell and scrape a little tissue from the ends, but it's not like I didn't clean them. The last time I was home, I plucked another bagful of spines from my urchins because I'm formulating some plans for earrings and more necklaces. And when Catherine and I head out to California in April...oh, you know we'll be collecting more gifts from the sea and turning them into wearable treasures. Guaranteed.

St. Valentine's diorama

2012-02-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make sisters Monika and Christine Valentines dioramas for February the 14th. I wasn't exactly sure what scene to display, but after I found some cute little polar bears (picked up last time I was visiting Monika in Burbank),
I knew that a lovely little arctic scene-in-a-box would be just the ticket.

The first step was picking up a vessel for the diorama. I chose this little wooden box from the craft store.

The aforementioned bears became the inspiration.
They are actually quite small, which is good, because the box is small and the arctic is very, very big.

I began by painting the bottom of the box with a cold-looking bright blue shade for the water.

Next, I needed to create a platform to make the iceberg. This would also house the bear.
I used gray card stock so that if any of the paper showed through, it wouldn't severely contrast.

After the iceberg was constructed, I covered it in tacky glue and cotton balls.
This represents the ice and snow...obviously.

I also thought it wise to add some light blue glitter to the iceberg.

What's a St. Valentine's Day polar bear diorama without hearts? Nothing.
Which is why my polar bears had glitter hearts applied to their rumps.

While I let the glitter dry, I started adding all the details to the diorama. The whole point of a diorama is to create dimension. I painted the back and side of the box to look like the background in the arctic.
There are other little mini icebergs floating throughout and some ripples in the water.
I also decided to paint the rim of the box pink for Valentine's Day.

I applied a touch more blue glitter on the bottom, so it showed around the rim of the iceberg where the polar bear sits.

Presto change-o, scene complete.

If this doesn't scream Valentine's Day, I don't know what does.

I painted a personalized lid, attached a ribbon to the back of the box so that it could be properly affixed to the wall,
and shipped these darling dioramas to Spokane and Burbank for the sisters to enjoy.

Now go make a diorama!

*I used acrylic paint

*The glitter is from Martha (Stewart)

*Bears from kit krafts in Studio City

**Nicholas didn't understand what to do with the dioramas, but I'm certain that the sisters had no problem figuring it out.

fortnight

2012-02-23T21:35:00.001-08:00

I was poking around on my usual blogs, as I tend to do in the evenings (when I should be sleeping), and came across this sweet video on Fieldguided. I thought it was really neat to see someone handcrafting a bra. It was sort of a tender, delighted moment. Did I just make things strange between us? I surely hope not.

MADE IN CANADA from FORTNIGHT LINGERIE on Vimeo.

The video is super-tiny. I don't know how to make it larger! Another awkward admission. Any advice?

MONSTRO!

2012-02-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Youngest sister Catherine does quite the oil paintings, as you probably already know if you follow the blog. Note the recent post Amateur oils. Luckily, I am her sister and get to benefit from these lovely oily gems.

This most recent Christmas she painted me a picture of one of my favorite scenes from Disneyland. Monstro, the monstrous sperm whale from Pinocchio! He opens his mouth up wide to swallow the charming little boats from the storybook ride. The trick is not to be scared because when you emerge from the darkness of his belly, you are in a magical world of miniatures, which I love!

"Pinocchioooooo..."

The Christmas prior to that she gave me this sweet little portrait of Miss Olive B!

"Oh Olive."

If you love pet paintings as much as we do you should definitely check out these other painting posts by Catherine!

You should probably paint your pets

Cats and corgis!

Whiskers on kittens!

new plant best friend!

2012-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I made Mom accompany me to Watson's Nursery in Puyallup because I wanted another tillandsia.
And isn't it lovely? I don't know if it's evident in the picture, but this tillandsia has a wonderful fuzzy coat.
New plant best friend!

Small Town Saturday Night

2012-02-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

I was very homesick this weekend--yes, again--so I risked a trip to Tacoma. I knew there was a snow situation in Snoqualmie Pass, but I thought I'd be able to sneak through unscathed. Unfortunately, as I neared the pass conditions worsened and I finally resigned myself to either turning around and heading back to Spokane, or finding a place to stay over. Thus, I ended up spending the night in Cle Elum, WA.

At the Traveler's Inn. My room smelled like horse dust.

From a very, very dusty horse.

I had to buy a bunch of necessities, like contact lens solution and toothpaste and beer, all of which I didn't have with me because I thought I'd be at Mom's house by 6:30. Obviously, I wasn't prepared for the possibility of weather delays.

What a terrible former Girl Scout I am.

But the weather was fine on the eastern side of the state. See?

These are the columnar basalt cliffs along the Columbia River.

Here are the wind turbines along Ryegrass Summit on the other side of the Columbia.

Doesn't everything look promising?

But the pass was all "compact snow and ice and multiple accidents due to adverse weather."

Boo. This is entering the Wenatchee National Forest the next morning.

And heading up the pass. Pretty, right? But let me tell you, the roads were not pretty.

I tend to allow myself to get really worked up when my plans are foiled. It's annoying for others, I know. Usually when my plans go awry due to weather conditions, I attempt to get myself back on a reasonable track by thinking about Lewis & Clark or fur trappers dealing with similar weather. Something along the lines of: I could be in this exact situation but with a mule train. More often than not, this little exercise puts things into perspective.

Still, I regret nothing!

And I rediscovered my Hal Ketchum cd.

Up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear...

2012-02-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and I love hot air balloons! Even though in Mary Poppins no one sings about hot air ballons, they do sing about kites, and hot air balloons go to higher heights than kites--so I think it's fitting to invoke those movies. Also, does anyone else remember in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when Grandpa Potts sets to the skies in his little house?

Cardboard spheres found at Michaels craft store for around $1.30 each.
You can get really creative with your balloon's decoration. The sky's the limit!

I chose to paint primary colors using a high gloss acrylic paint.

You will need some yarn or twine to construct your basket and to connect the basket to the balloon.
I used this variative brown yarn by Sugar n' Cream.

You'll also need some fine wire to create a frame around which you'll weave the basket.

This wire can be found at any craft store which sells jewelry supplies.

For the original ballons (my first attempt), I used a small wood block as the interior of the basket.

On this version I decided to construct a small cardboard box for the basket.

This was really easy to make; just cut a strip of cardboard and fold it into four smaller squares. Attach a separate square for the bottom. If this doesn't make sense, which is definitely possible, let me know and I'll post a tutorial.

Once you've created the box, tape on a small piece of brown paper bag. Then cut three 2-2.5 inch pieces of wire. Pierce the brown paper bag with the wire and fold the wire up toward the box opening as shown.

Try to space the wires evenly.

Cut four more pieces of wire the same lengths, this time slide them under the brown paper bag.
These wires will try to move a bit when you first start weaving, so make sure your patience is locked and loaded.

Now that the makeshift loom is ready, let's start weaving!

It doesn't matter which side you start on, but since you'll be weaving, you need t make sure to stay

on course with the over/under pattern. FYI: on one of the corners you'll have an over/over or under/under.

But that's fine--it's not noticeable.

After you finish weaving one row, hold the yarn in place with your thumb while weaving the second row. Weave loosely, and once the yarn is in place you can tighten the row before moving on. Continue weaving to the ridge of the box.

When you are finished weaving, cut a 5 inch tail and thread the end through a yarn or tapestry needle.
(I like the tapestry needle because it's metal.) If you don't have either of these on hand,
you can pick them up for a couple dollars at a craft or knitting store.

From the corner where you finished your weaving, slide the needle under your yarn work and out the bottom;
cut off the remaining tail as close to the basket as possible.

Clip the wires down and fold them over inside the basket. This will help hold your top row in place.

After you've folded down your wires, get some white yarn and crazy glue. I used cream yarn from Sugar n' Cream.
Just glue down one piece of yarn along the top ridge. My fingers did get a bit sticky, but the effect was well worth it.

Now that the basket is complete all that's left is to attach the balloon. I used the same yarn as the basket but separated it to create a thinner more rope-like piece. Cut a piece about 10-12 inches and thread your tapestry needle.

This time you'll go from the bottom of your basket up.

After threading your rope on one corner, use the remaining tail to thread up through the opposite corner on the diagonal. Repeat on the two remaining diagonal corners. Once you've completed this step, you should have four relatively equal pieces of yarn coming out of each top corner of your basket.

All these tails should be the same length before you attach the balloon.

This next part was a little tricky; you have to balance the balloon on the basket and tie off the ropes on top.

Once you get the knot tied, you may have to adjust the ropes a bit so your basket hangs evenly from your balloon.

But it's all worthwhile when you see your hot air balloons fly!

Fin.

1,000 PINS!!!!

2012-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yup, just hit the 1,000 mark on pinterest. Kind of impressed with myself right now. And what exactly did I pin?

how to make origami koi

Aren't they neat? This was actually a repin, which I found via Bianca Chi, via Whip Up, via Mabona Origami's flickr. So, that's the whole lineage. Super nerd!

pocket totems

2012-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Seriously. I love these sweet pocket totems by Danielle Pedersen of Handy Maiden. She sculpts her animals from polymer clay and then meticulously paints each one. Their vastly different expressions, some serene, some hesitant, some perturbed, are incredibly endearing, and I think Danielle makes wise animal choices, too. I want to live inside her tiny sculpted world and hold hands with her hedgehogs and servals and lynx...and hold trunks with her elephant.
Dream come true.

hedgehog pocket totem

serval pocket totem

lynx pocket totem

And I think everyone should receive an Extraordinary Mallard medal.

extraordinary mallard medal

I've been admiring these for a couple months and even though I don't need a pocket totem, I just keep thinking my life could only improve if I had one of these little beasties riding in my pocket. I'm sure you'd agree.

tiger pocket totem

For more sculpted clay sweet babies, sweet babies, visit Danielle's etsy shop.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T08:00:00.001-08:00

Compass valentines for the sisters.

Cardstock, gold paint, watercolors, game spinners with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Compass valentines accomplished! I hope they arrive in time...

you + me = we

2012-02-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

Happy St. Valentine's Day!!

Turkey & Peanut

2012-02-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

My cat Penelope (Peanut) doesn't really know how to sit like a cat. Instead, she resembles a butchered turkey.

Her little legs don't quite get tucked under so they look like turkey wings sticking out from her body.

Plus she's on the toilet in this one...

She sort of did this as a kitten, but as she grew older, her "wings" definitely became more pronounced.

Because this brings me such enjoyment, I decided to felt a mini Peanut-Turkey in her honor.

Peanut loves her look-a-like.

Capturing a photo of Peanut in turkey-mode has become something that Nicholas and I try to achieve
each and every time. She's a quick one that Peanut, so we fail more than we succeed.

Merry Potter

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered this amazing $0.98 store down the street from my house. It's great! I have already purchased a gold sequin headband, miniature dinosaur skeletons, tape, glue sticks, and now these great terracotta pots!
The most amazing thing about this store is its legitimacy, these pots were actually $0.98 each.

While I love these pots, I wanted them to be more jovial--you know how some pots are more jovial than others.
I decided to just paint a little colored rim around the top to set it off.

Using a cream acrylic paint I put down a base coat so the colors would show up brighter.

I had to narrow my colors down because I only had five pots; I went with cream, peachy pink, red, blue, and yellow.

Olive watched my back when I was painting so no other dogs (Lucca) would run into my work area. Thanks, Olive.

These pots certainly do cheer me up when I see them. What lovely new homes for some of my growing succulents!

I always have plants waiting for more room.

I added some other smaller succulents to each pot to fancy them up a bit.
All-in-all, an inexpensive project and one that brightens my mornings.

Happy in their new homes.

The lesson here is don't be afraid of the dollar store, it often does have amazing things. Sometimes they are really only one dollar. If you do go there, see what type of miniature animal toys they have, you can always make your topiary a miniature menagerie.

Washington, my home!

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

In the pasture, mosses and lichens huddle on stumps.

Found beneath the leaf litter. Don't worry, I replaced its cover.

Out by the barn, ice in a bucket.

Some places in our pasture do seem sort of Texas Chainsaw Massacre-y.

Auba's mane is long and straight. I'm a little jealous.

Blue skies over Snoqualmie Pass.

And every other color over the Columbia River.

Wherever I may roam, I'm always happy to come back to my minty green home on the West side.

Let's go fly a kite!

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, a kite garland. The perfect combination of paper and string, geometric shapes, and primary colors.
It's just suddenly so spring-like, I was compelled to create something cheery.

Bear in mind, all the cutting and gluing is time intensive and can become, after a while, rather disheartening.
But that's all forgotten once your garland begins to take shape.

Supplies: colored cardstock, glue stick, scissors, string

Fold one piece of paper in half and draw a diamond.

Cut that diamond out.

Ta-da! You have a paper kite. The string will go in between two of these, so make more. Many, many more.

In different colors, if you like. My color rotation started and ended with yellow.
So, I have 7 yellow kites (14 kite cut-outs) and six each of the blue and red kites (12 kite cut-outs each).

Save your scraps because you'll use them to make the kite bows.

Fold one of the scraps and draw three different sized triangles.

You now have bows! They are, by far, the most annoying step in this project. Make a bunch of them.

I rotated the colors here too. The red bows would go with the yellow kites (so 14 red bow cut-outs of each size);
the blue bows would go with the red kites (12 blue bows of each size), and the yellow bows would go with the
blue kites (12 yellow bows of each size). Confusing? Don't worry--it makes more sense when it's in front of you.

Keep them separated according to size.

Back to the kites: apply glue to each kite piece.

And make a kite sandwich. Continue until you've run through all your kite pieces,
leaving a space of 3-4 inches between each kite.

I went for a yellow, blue, red color arrangement.

Make slipknots at either end of your string.

This garland tangles easily, so keeping the kites orderly is a good plan.
Glue the bows just as you did the kites. I forgot to take a picture of that, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
I arranged my bows in descending order (largest to smallest) just after the bottom of each kite.

Wunderbar!

Take to the skies!

2012-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Tutorial on Wednesday...

homeward bound

2012-02-06T09:02:00.002-08:00

I was super-homesick, so I made a quick trip to Tacoma after work on Saturday to see mother dear and sister Catherine. And Peanut and Nicholas. Catherine and I had a craft summit in the basement. Peanut was the moderator.

Here's to weekends!

Peanut is the best morning assistant.

One of Monika's knitted ball mobiles.

A worm found me while we waited for Nick to finish his half-marathon.

Manta ray on the wall of The Clipper in Olympia.

Catherine and I had dueling fro-yo from LIMEberry.

Good night, embroidered pillowcases!

My grandma never knit

2012-02-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

I have two knitted blankets in my house. Both of them remind me of my grandma. Her name was Helen, and she was never a knitter. In her younger days she would add a crocheted lace border to pillowcases that she might have embroidered, but she never knit. My grandma grew up on a farm in Minnesota, and later raised her own family on one.

My first knitted blanket began on a road trip with sister Christer in 2005. The final destination of this road trip was Dumont, MN, and we were going to visit my grandma. She examined my knitting, decided it was very intricate, and she was impressed with the little bit I had at the time. She probably said something like, "I just don't know how you do that." I had just started the purple section of the blanket. Seven years later, and this blanket gets used every day. Even though she didn't have much to do with it, the blanket reminds me of her.

The second blanket I knit was a year-long process. I bought several skeins of Icelandic wool from my first trip there in April of 2010. I finished the blanket in in the spring of 2011. After I finish knitting something, I often think back to what I was doing while it was knit. Sometimes I think about the places I went with the project, or the story behind buying the yarn. Some of my more massive projects span so much time, that they include many memories. My Iceland blanket went with me to movie theaters, on road trips and was actually started on the plane ride home from Iceland. I was actually knitting the final section of the blanket, the pink section, when I found out that my grandma had passed away. I can't help but think about that every time I see that blanket. For me, it feels like I knit some of those memories into the fibers of the blanket, and it in some strange way, makes me feel happy. It also smells like delicious wool.

And of course, no blog post would be complete without Peanut.

(PS, she loves the blankets too).

She frequently burrows under and falls asleep.

heart patch

2012-02-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Finding this felted elbow patch DIY on Honestly...WTF made me supremely happy. I call elbow patches professor patches because of all the excellent professors (past and present) who wear (and have worn) tweed jackets with suede elbow accents. Also, because I am a super nerd. I right, or am I right? No need to answer. I am. About all of it. Just in time for Valentine's Day, people.

You can find Honestly's full tutorial here.

image by Honestly...WTF

I heart garlands!

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Peanut is going to kick things off by showing off her love of paper heart garlands. Christine made this one last year.

Garlands much? Like every other crafty gal blogger, I am in love with garlands. If I had to pick one decoratation for any season or event it would be a garland. I understand no one is going to point a gun to my head and be like, You can only decorate with one thing! But if they did, I would be all like, Fine--I choose garlands!

What better (one) way to decorate for St. Valentine's Day than to bust out some garlands. These are some of my favorites.

Knitted hearts found here.

Paper heart chain via tinywhitedaisies

Paper origami hearts via howaboutorange

On My Honor's very own pom garland (made specifically for St. V's day)
found here

These little felted hearts are dainty and perfect for subtle decorating. Found here.

Who says that hearts have to be pink and red. I really adore this yellow and gray garland.

This is such a good idea! This might win the garland ingenuity award. These hearts are merely magazine clippings strung up.
The light hits them and they illuminate pretty St. Valentine's day hues...they can also be strung up in more of a chain format too.
Found here.

I hope you're slightly inspired to go make a garland...or to let your cat gnaw on one!

from above

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Found this little gem via That Kind of Woman. Utterly charming, right? Be honest. It is.

I heart cards!

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

and other tokens of love

Spring Garland and Beyond Measure tiding illustrated decal by Shanna Murray

It's officially February, and you know what that means: St. Valentine's Day.
Now here's the dilemma: there are bunches and bunches of sweet, crafty, and clever Valentine's Day cards out there. But which to choose? The pressure, the unceasing, seemingly insurmountable pressure! No need to fret, my dears. Here are a few suggestions approved by me for you, with love. Follow the links, you'll be delighted you did so.

Bee Mine by Blackbird Letterpress

Valentine's Day Garland by Rifle Paper Co.

You're a Fox by Rifle Paper Co.

Wood Grain - I Like You by Dirty Bandits

Customized Golden Ticket by Crankbunny

Like a blank loves blank
by The Hungry Workshop

Lovestruck by Beci Orpin
via The Hungry Workshop

Heart Horse by Pistachio Press

under the bridge

2012-01-31T18:22:00.000-08:00

Walking along Latah Creek with Maya.

winter nature

2012-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

The paper wasps left this behind.

Some unknown animal left this blood.

Maya and I went for a decent walk on Sunday. Five miles? Six miles? I don't know for sure, but by the time we returned to the car, I was ready for pancakes. It was all arranged perfectly because I had pancakes waiting at home. All in all, a nice little Sunday.

zut alors!

2012-01-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

I felted this narwhal as part of Catherine's Christmas present. I also felted a colossal squid for Monika. Of course, I took pictures of neither squid nor narwhal, so I'm forced to rely upon the proactive photography of my sisters in order to document the little beasties. Hmm. Still waiting for some squid shots. Oddly enough. Monika. Monika.

Narwhals are my favorite cetacean and have been for a long time--we don't jump on the narwhal boat willy-nilly--although I can't speak for my sisters in terms of favorite whales. Here are some reasons why narwhals are so AWESOME.

Reason #1 Narwhal are also known as the corpse whale...because they look like floating corpses, of course. And nar actually means corpse in Norse. People knew how to name things back in the day.

Reason #2 That bony protuberance in the whale's snoutal (not a word) region is actually a tooth or, if you prefer, a tusk. Yep, it grows through the roof of their mouth and the area around it is almost always infested with whale lice. Almost always.

Reason #3 People used to pass off narwhal tusks as unicorn horns. (I seem to recall Catherine telling me that there is a throne made from narwhal tusks in Denmark. I find this bit of information to be of the most excellent variety.)

Bonus Reason, after the fact: I know a lovely poet, Kathryn Nuernberger, who has a poem featuring the narwhal. She references the fact that Queen Elizabeth I was given a narwhal tusk--they were considered very precious. Not to give anything away/, but the poem's last stanza winds down thusly:

View from the port bow: A dozen dark backs undulating

wavelessly through the mist. The Queen said poetically: These

are the great diving beasts of a deeply held breath.

My narwhal's tusk is made from a pipe cleaner, white wool roving, and embroidery thread.

Let me tell you, I felted this sucker tight. You could probably break a window with its body.

I just should have made the tail area a bit thinner--for the sake of accuracy. Only regret.

Even though it's just wool punched together with a barbed needle, I feel like my narwhal has very gentle,

intelligent eyes. I keep calling it my narwhal, when actually it's Catherine's narwhal. Le sigh.

But wait. What's this?

Zut alors!

It's Peanut, the bad kitten!

Peanut does not have a permit to hunt narwhal.

I don't know what Catherine was doing. Kitten supervision, sister!

So many cables!

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

I finished my cable scarf that I had been working on. You can find all the details about the pattern, the yarn, and the inspiration right here. Now is the part where I will show off the finished product and you can all "oohh" and "aaahhh" over my cable talents. Genevieve will help me showcase the scarf by standing on it.

It took me about 2 weeks to knit it. I worked on it off-and-on at night. I did wet-block it afterwards as was recommended. It really did help show off those cables.

Pattern: Dryad

Yarn: Mushishi

Do it.

Special thanks to Kitty for gifting me this yarn! I've worn the scarf a couple of times.
I finished it while I was snowed in, and have been wearing it ever since.

Throw your diamonds in the sky!

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

I've been extra excited about glitter and sparkles lately. Those recent shiny cravings inspired this cheap, but satisfying craft project. I made some glitter diamond garlands that are good for decorating on special occasions or (in my case) every single day of the week.

First off you buy some glitter paper at the local craft store.

I picked these three different shades of sparkle at Michael's for $1.99 each. Next step, grab your fiskars.

I cut all the paper into strips about two inches in length.

Then you cut the strips into squares (I eyeballed it). From there I made the squares into diamonds.

You could do any shapes. Circles, ovals, squares, diamonds, clubs, spades, hearts, etc.

I saved my scraps because the little triangles would also work well for this project.

After you have them all cut...

and separated into colors,

You sew them together! I used clear thread so that it won't show. Using clear thread is kind of a pain because it jams all the time (at least it does for me). My sewing machine had no problem drilling through these card stock diamonds, but as you may recall from my basket tutorial, my machine is a champ.

This is what it looks like on the other side. I chose to alternate my sparkle shades,

but you can certainly use the same color sparkles for the whole garland. Whatevs, it's up to you.

Ta-da! I went ahead and strung them up on our dining room light fixture which, let's be honest, needed a little pizzaz.

It catches the light during the day and ever-so-slightly moves around like a little mobile.

Definitely worth it and oh-so-satisfying.

warm and fuzzy

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

My latest jewelry endeavors. Felted heart rings and necklaces.

Sisters, won't you be my Valentines?

iJealous

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Look what Kara from Knitting Lemonade made!

So cool, right? Looking at it makes me absolutely giddy. Absolutely. Giddy. Visit Kara's blog for all the details.

Snow week...

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

People in Washington experienced a rare event last week...snow. It was called snowpocalypse, snowmaggedon, and any other snow/disaster pun around. I documented the four days we had snow. There's still snow on the ground, but it's the gross melty, ice, slush stuff that everyone hates. I also got to try out these new chain-alternative things called auto socks. They worked wonders! All-in-all, we got close to 2 feet in 2 days. It was cray cray.

Behold, Olympia snow 2012!

(These pictures were taken at my house, or at work at the State Capitol.)

Backyard

Bigelow (neighbor)

My car, buried.

My car unburied with auto socks on.

Nick's car.

The perfect snow outfit. We also used plastic cutting boards to dig our cars out.
You see, Olympia really doesn't get snow. We didn't have shovels.

Main road next to Puget Sound.

This is where Peanut went in the snow. Turn out, she hates the snow.

After she was placed in the snow, she sat on top of the toilet and warmed up like a weirdo.
We call this position "turkey" because she tucks her paws under like little wings and looks like a turkey.

Sunday Scents.

2012-01-22T12:14:00.001-08:00

I am crazy for this Sugar 'n Cream scents yarn!

This soft peachy pink 100% cotton yarn smells sweet like something from childhood.
Not quite My Little Pony scented, but along the same lines.

If you're interested, some things that do smell like My Little Ponies are:

L'oreal Colour Rich leGloss

and my all time fav conditioner, abba in the Color Protect formula

If you know any other products out there that smell of that sweet plastic goodness of our youth (My Little Ponies for us sisters; Ben says they smell like He-Man), please comment and let us know. The sisters love this scent!

Best Friends!

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I just fell under some scrutiny by my boyfriend, Bennett, for looking at pictures of my dog on my laptop, while (to his dismay) she was sitting right next to me. So what? I can't get enough of her right now. Notice I said right now, I would like to say that I definitely can get enough of her sometimes.

This post is going to get me tons of eye rolls but I don't care.

Her Ladyship Olive

Best Friends!

She may look cute...

But don't be fooled.

She can be a pill just like Catherine's bad kitten.

I like pictures where you can only see her dumb little eyes.

And I also like it when she looks posh.

I also have some great pictures of Lucca too. These are my favorite pictures of little Luc. Ben took these one afternoon as he followed her around the yard. He could have easily helped her and fixed her dumb ears, but just like any good documentarian he refused to interfere.

Lucca trying to climb Olive.

drawing paper

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I found this little gem via Anilú Magloire's Paper Love board on pinterest. Mark Crilley, the man behind (or attached to) the hand, is an artist and illustrator. He has tons of how-to draw videos on his youtube channel, which can be found here. You can pick up either of his graphic novels series, Brody's Ghost or Mikki Falls here.

nook, neatened

2012-01-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!!!

Let me tell you, the excitement does not go away once you reach adulthood.
Snow days will always be the magical bonuses of winter. Love. Them.

Even though there are various cleaning tasks awaiting my attention,
I decided I'd take advantage of this freebie day to organize a tiny area of my apartment.

Ugh. Don't even look at it. Why am I showing you?!

This is the weird wall nook in my office. It's 17'' x 34'' and I've been at a loss over what to do with it for, um, six years. I did have some pictures hanging in there, but I a few weeks ago (after one of them fell) I decided I'd make some sort of paper collage in there. Well, you can probably guess how that turned out: never happened. So, this is what I decided to tackle--turning the nook into usable space, preferably for the crafting odds and ends which have been accumulating.

Here.

And here.

I hope you realize the amount of trust it takes to reveal these junk piles. A bit. A bit. indeed. I don't have a defined (and permanent) crafting space because my apartment only has one decently well-lit area and that, my friends, is occupied.

Yeah, succulents and Matilda. Neither will be denied their natural light and views of squirrels and magpies.

Back to it. The ideal would be some type of shelving, right? Um, like I have random boards and a means by which

to cut them. But wait! I do have these swell vintage nested shelves, picked up at an estate sale for $3.00.

And I have a bunch of posters from the Museum's concert series, BeGin!

And I have a tiny hammer too, see?

So, shelves: check. Background: check.

I taped up the posters. You could also use wrapping paper, or fabric, but I kind of liked the collage feel of this route. Most of the edges will be obscured by shelving, but some of the images will peek through.

Like so. Easy as pie. Time to fill it up!

Success!!!!!!!
Craft clutter: managed.

a little gift

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

I made this little gift for Audra, a lovely lady who just celebrated her 30th birthday.
It's pleasing on the eyes, and a fun gift to give and hopefully get.

You can really have a lot of fun with it, use any small ceramic (or glass) bowl, cup or what have you. I just used a white ceramic cup, but you could really step it up with some crazy colors or make it sweet with some pretty pastels.

To adorn the ceramic cup I wrapped it with a piece of gold ribbon and personalized it with a lovely 'A' for Audra.

If you wanted to give this to your Valentine you could write a little love note and tie it on with ribbon,
or cut out a heart and stitch 'be mine' in the center. Really there are endless options.
It's like a choose your own adventure book, except with less restrictions and maybe not as titillating.

I was in a Valentine kind of mood and was aching to try out my new heart hole punch so I colored some basic
card stock and stamped away. If you don't have a hole punch you can cut out your hearts manually. It's not
as hard as you think when they're tiny like that; but I would recommend using the folding method. You know,
it's the thing of when you fold a piece of paper in half and make a candy can shaped cut around the fold.
You know. Maybe Christine will share a tutorial on it if need be.

Naturally I had to add some fauna to my flora. I love these little deer. Some other things that you can use
if you don't have a deer surplus: a nice glass bead, pretty marble, vintage clip-on earring, crystal, small
acorn or pine cone (oh I think I may use some of these next time!), a little shell, a rock
(you can paint a little heart on it, or the person's name and a little heart).

I used succulents from my flowerbeds, string of pearls and then the other was a clipping gift from my friend
Emily last year. I am sure she will be pleased that they are flourishing. I get so excited seeing my
succulents become ever more succulent.

Then to finish just cram them all together, sit back and say "how lovely" <sigh>

recently, in Spokane

2012-01-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

Got an iPhone? Follow me on Instagram: christinesuzanne I'm totally boring. Guaranteed.

A sunny winter's day in downtown Spokane.

Full moon rising over Spokane, as seen from Cliff Drive.

Stone structure in Riverside State Park

T. J. Meenach Bridge

Dig It! has arrived at the Museum.

I made beer-batter apple rings. Divine.

Evidence of beer!

A tiny drift begins to form.

geometric no.1

2012-01-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

Yep, geometric shapes are waaaay cool right now, and like everyone else in the universe, I have my own stash of lovelies, which I coo and pine over regularly. Feast your eyes on these gems from my pinterest geometry board.

Le sigh.

geometric rock necklaces by Hug a Porcupine

gold dipped geo ring by A Merry Mishap

Charms by Son of a Sailor

bronze 3 peak necklace by Carrier Pigeon

gem 1 earrings by Molly M Design

quartz and copper necklace by Deuce Fashion

trapezoid necklace by Laura Lombardi

Oh so pretty.

Mr. Tumnus' wardrobe--revamped

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

I wish this was Mr. Tumnus' wardrobe. He was one of my favorite things about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This fall I purchased a wardrobe at an estate sale. This wardrobe came from a crazy person's house on South Tacoma Way. It ended up being bolted to the wall and caused quite a few problems for the estate team to get it unhooked. Originally it was marked at $110, but I got it for $40. You know how I got it for $40? I said, "would you take $40?" Then they said, "yes." That's how bargains are made.

Christine was home for the weekend, so she had her truck and was able to help cart it off to Olympia. Nick wasn't too pleased at the site of it. I must admit, at first I hated it in the spare bedroom too...that was until I redid it! Boom!

Behold the before and after amazingness that is Mr. Tumnus' wardrobe!

It was white, wobbly, and had really ugly rose knobs.

The inside was gross looking, but it didn't smell!
That's the most important thing.
Rule number 1 of estate sales--always, always smell before you buy!

I bought some paint at Ace Hardware. I chose lucerne green in a semi-gloss. Total cost $11.
I had been on the lookout for some new knobs. I found the perfect knobs while visiting Monika in Burbank.
I picked up two at Anthropologie on clearance for $2.98 each.

Behold the transformation!

After the painting and new knobs, I really love the wardrobe.
I love it when I find unexpected things for amazing deals while estating!

*I get the "estating" isn't a word, but blogger suggested I change it to gestating which wouldn't be right either.

Cotton clothesline baskets!

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is a tutorial for an easy-to-make and extremely useful basket. Nicholas' mom first taught me how to make these a few years ago, and I've been making them ever since. You need to have a sewing machine for this project, but it
doesn't have to be anything fancy. In addition to the machine, you'll need to grab some clothesline.

I got both of these at Ace Hardware. I think they run about $9.99 for the 100 feet package. The most important
thing is that you get the cotton and not the nylon kind. Also, you'll want to get the thinnest stuff you can find.
This is medium load, 12 lb-strength clothesline.

Then you'll want to grab some thread. What color or kind you use is completely up to you. I like variegated
thread because it creates a bit more festive of a look. I started out using this metallic spool,
but I found that the metallic thread kept breaking, so I stopped.

Get your bobbin and your machine all ready to go...and remember even if your bobbin isn't on your side,
Ryan Gosling is. This is the part where your pets will start helping you craft. Aren't they thoughtful?

To start making the baskets, you first need to make a base.
Using your hands, wrap the clothesline around itself a couple of times...like so.

Then you're going to sew across the circle in a few different directions to hold it all together.
This project is done using the zigzag stitch. You'll understand why in a few moments.

Make sure this little circle is nice and secure. The rest of the basket is built off of this.

Now you're ready to start expanding the base. The basket is sewn together by turning this circle as you go.
The zigzag stitch sews the last round of clothesline to the next wrapping of clothesline. Make sense?

This is what it looks like up close. You'll just keep sewing around and around in circles until
the base of your bowl is as big as you want it. You can make little bowls or big bowls (baskets).

Peanut is overseeing the whole operation.
I wanted to make a really big bowl for my some yarn that I've accumulated.
The base is almost ready!

Peanut says it's just about there.

When you're ready to start sewing the sides of your bowl, you simply urge the clothesline to start
climbing up instead of building out. I know this sounds strange, but you really do form the
walls by lifting the base up and encouraging the walls to build out from there.

This is me urging the walls to form.

You can see that after twice around, it's starting to work.

Voila! You have walls!

The rest of it is a piece of cake. You just keep sewing until you have the size that you want.
I decided to go until I used one entire spool of clothesline (100 feet).

Almost there...

And I'm officially done.

To end the basket, sew back-and-forth over the end piece a few times.

Very easy and very satisfying.

The basket is perfect for some of my yarn, and Peanut immediately showed me what else baskets are good for.

Peanut!

You know she's comfortable when she starts "grooming" in the basket.

A new favorite.

Peanut is pleased and so am I!

More variations:

You can wrap the clothesline in any fabric you want. Simply glue strips of it around and then sew in exactly the same way. I've seen this done but have yet to try it.
I've also thought about dying the cotton line before sewing. I think that would look so charming.

GO FORTH AND GOOD LUCK!

Moonrise Kingdom

2012-01-15T23:21:00.000-08:00

Are you as excited as I am?

Plus, did you see that kitten at the end? I can't even wait.

be cool, be mellow

2012-01-15T17:29:00.001-08:00

I spent part of this afternoon steaming open vintage cards. The previous owner had tucked the card beneath
the flap of the envelope and the glue did what glue does: it adhered. So, after some minor steam burns,
I have a stack of cute, envelope-less, mostly adhesive-free vintage cards.

Now it's time to chill with selections from my be cool, be mellow playlist.

beribboned

2012-01-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes after a horrible day, you just have to play with a kitty and hope everything turns out in the end.

lovely linnea

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

I discovered these calendars at Atticus, which is a local shop for local people. And when I say discovered, I mean that I stumbled upon them in December 2010. You see, the Linnea Design calendar has been around since 1987, and they're based in Seattle, so it's not like I trekked into the heart of darkness to find them. Still, I'm utterly charmed by Johanna Riley's artwork, and I've started a yearly tradition of indulging in a little desktop calendar of delight.

Here are a few charmers from last year's edition:

And here are several from this year's edition:

I especially love all the colorful pencils.

The tradition is currently in its second year. You can call it a tradition after two years, right? What a silly question. That's like asking yourself if 10:30 in the morning to too early to eat a bowl of delicious pea soup.
(Of course, the answer is: there's no such thing as too early.)

Lucky for me, you, and everyone else, the calendars are still available online through Linnea. Find them here.

Lodi Dodi...

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

I found this pattern on Ravelry, if you don't know about Ravelry.com and are a knitter or crocheter then you should go check it out, right after you look at the blog. It's free (there are some patterns you have to pay for) and a great forum to search, get help or tips, and showcase all of your hard work. I downloaded this pattern for free from
Frankie's Knitted Stuff, on Ravelry--they are called Dotty Pots.

They are fun to knit and easy so you can really just work on them while watching
Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes or something amazing like that.

Here is the pattern as told by Frankie. I couldn't figure out how to put the actual document on the post.
Sorry I'm an amateur.

Dotty Pots

These knitted pots are about 8cm / 3" tall and 8 cm wide. The dotty

pattern makes them quite sturdy so they keep their shape well.

They’re just the right size for holding jewellery or coins, or you

can knit a bigger version …

I knitted my pots with double knitting weight yarn for the main

colours and a slightly thicker variegated yarn for the dots. The two
yarns could be the same weight though or you could experiment,
perhaps using an aran weight for the main colour with chunky yarn
dots. You will need larger needles for the dotty pattern as slip
stitch patterns tend to gather the fabric a little. I used 3.25mm / US
size 3 for the rim and base and 4mm / US size 6 for the dotty
pattern. The small pots take about 15g of the main yarn and the
larger one, which measures about 11 cm / 4½" tall and 11cm wide,
uses about 40g. Only very small amounts of the variegated yarn are
needed.

Knitting a Small Pot
Using 3.25mm needles and double knitting weight yarn, cast on 50
sts.

Knit 20 rounds for the rim.

Next round: *m1, K5, repeat from * to end (60 sts).
Now change to 4mm needles and begin the dotty pattern.
The letter at the start of each round tells you which yarn to use, A
is the main colour and B is the variegated colour which will make
the dots.
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5:
Round 6:
When you have worked all six rounds you will have two rows of
dots. Carry on working in dotty pattern until you have completed
ten rows of dots.
Knit one more round and you are ready to work the base of the pot.

The Base
This is worked in the main colour.
Change back to 3.25mm needles.
Round 1: *K8, K2 tog, repeat from * to end (54 sts).
Round 2: *K7, K2tog, repeat from * to end (48 sts).
Round 3: *K6, K2tog, repeat from * to end (42 sts).
Round 4: *K5, K2tog, repeat from * to end (36 sts).
Round 5: *K4, K2tog, repeat from * to end (30 sts).
Round 6: *K3, K2tog, repeat from * to end (24 sts).
Round 7: *K2, K2tog, repeat from * to end (18 sts).
Round 8: *K1, K2tog, repeat from * to end (12 sts).

Thread through the remaining 12 sts and fasten off.
Sew in the ends, roll down the rim and your pot is finished. Isn’t it
lovely? Even the bottom is pretty.

Abbreviations
st / sts stitch / stitches
K knit
P purl
sl 1 pwise slip one stitch purlwise
wyib with yarn in back (as if to knit)
K2tog knit two stitches together
m1 make 1 by lifting the thread before the next stitch and knitting
into the back of it

© Frankie

A Knit.B *K1, sl 1 pwise wyib, repeat from * to end.A *P1, K1, repeat from * to end.A Knit.B *sl 1 pwise wyib, K1, repeat from * to end.A *K1, P1, repeat from * to end.

most sincerely,

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

We officially broke the 100, 000 views mark today, which is kind of a big deal for our little operation. We definitely owe a lot to sites like craftgawker and pinterest for the monumental exposure they provide; still, since starting at the end of August of 2010, I don't think any of us envisioned a point where we'd have actual followers. And we're thrilled to death to have you! Every new person or comment sparks a flurry of sister-to-sister texts that usually run along these lines: Sisters!!! We have 37 followers! Also, Beauty and the Beast is back in theaters in January!! Yep.

So, to all our stellar new and old friends and followers, thank you!

how to horcrux

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Remember the horcrux necklace I made? Well, I think you should make one too. Everyone should, really.

I started with this ho-hum necklace that I found on clearance at J.C. Penney's. I was thinking the glass "stones" might be cool if there were just one per chain, but I abandoned that for the moment, after finding my horcrux stone. But I'm still thinking about doing something with them, and I do have some recently purchased glow-in-the-dark paint, so...

Anyway, I took this sucker apart. You can see that each of the glass pieces is held in place with a crimp bead on either side. I just cut that with my wire cutters and pulled it off. I liked the idea of knotting the chain to keep my horcrux in place and--what luck!--that worked. If you're going to knot your chain, make sure that you measure and place your stone precisely, otherwise it'll be lopsided. And no one wants an inexact horcrux dangling from their neck.

It still needed a little something, so I added this charm.

(Pst...I found this charm at Kit Kraft in Studio City, CA. We sisters are big fans.)

I love it because the stone looks like it contains a galaxy in miniature.

Oh, and the stone I used for my horcrux isn't a stone at all! It's glittering glass, a blue goldstone, to be exact, which sounds misleading, I know. Goldstones are manmade; minerals and chemical elements are melted down and then oxygen is removed, allowing the crystals to re-solidify. The process is explained quite well here. I purchased my blue goldstone for $3.50 at Beyond Beads in North Spokane.

I'm quite certain your horcrux is awaiting discovery.

In the interest of keeping my super-nerd bases covered, I should probably say here that I do understand

the purpose of the horcrux is, in some ways, defeated by keeping it on my person. I don't care.

Plate Tectonics: the Cards

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

***Confession: This post has been updated***

I updated some things on this post since I published it a couple days ago, I thought the pictures were kind of yellow and I wanted to add another other plate boundary. Hopefully the pictures aren't too blue now, and I hope you enjoy.

So if you are anything like us sisters, you love all things paper--especially if they have to do with some old

school correspondence (letter writing and such). But if you are specifically like me, you find that you

just don't follow through, for instance my Christmas/New Years cards just went in the mail today.

So when I send out something I try to actually put a little love, blood, and time into it...

It's Volcano Day...

This is a variation of a project I have had in mind for a while. I just realized one day that I had forgotten most of what I knew about Plate Tectonics, and I had to take action. Stay tuned for the original idea from which this morphed...

To make this project all you need is card stock, colored pencils (or color application method of choice) and a pair of scissors. Also you will need to have at least a vague interest in rediscovering the wonders of plate tectonics.

I wanted these cards to be extra fun so I decided to cut basic silhouettes on the top. You don't have to do this but be warned your cards may not be as fun as mine.

Then I used my handy colored pencils to color it in, continue cutting and coloring each card to taste.

Oceanic Crust.

As this is the second take on this post I wanted to use the opportunity to represent a more robust array of tectonic boundaries and different subduction zones. I don't have a Transform boundary because that's the one I live on and I don't want to acknowledge it. Seems rational right?

Oceanic-Oceanic Convergent boundary (subduction

Now it's just an island.

Divergent boundary

Oceanic-Continental Convergence boundary (Subduction zone)

Continental-Continental Convergence boundary (Subduction zone)

Continental-Continental Convergence boundary (Collision)

Happy together!

Now I just need to do some corresponding!

mountaineer

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Tectonic from Guy Laramee's Biblios series

OK, my book nerd ears perk up like whoa when I hear tell of jaw-dropping book sculpture. And Guy Laramee has
jaw-dropping book sculpture in spades. I feel like I'm peering in a secret world. Totally epic and immense and moody.
I adore it. And the way lighting is used in these sculptures is just phenomenal, wouldn't you agree?

detail from The Grand Library

book people from the Biblios series

jades from The Great Wall series

historia das americas (2009), from The Great Wall series

Here's what Laramee has to say about his work:

"I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS."

You should definitely check out Guy Laramee's website here.
And in the interest of giving credit where credit is due: StumbleUpon led me to Visual News, which led me to
Benjamin Starr, who clued me in to Laramee. Benjamin Starr's Visual News post on Laramee may be found here.

And just for you: Guy Laramee bonus art!

The Wreck of Hope, a 3D rendition of Caspar David Friedrich's painting of the same name.

If you only knew how many of my teenage sighs were expelled poring over books on Friedrich's work;
it was so darkly romantic, just like a Bronte novel. Seek out Wanderer above a Sea of Fog. Le sigh.

The Sea of Ice (also called The Wreck of Hope), 1823/24, Caspar David Friedrich, or auf Deustch Das Eismeer
You can learn more about Caspar David Friedrich by visiting the Hamburger Kunsthalle here.

All images by Guy Laramee, except the last which is, of course, by Caspar David Friedrich.

horcrux

2012-01-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

I made this necklace on Monday night. I've taken to calling it my horcrux, which only means that I referred to

it as such in a textual message to the sisters and also gave it that label on instagram. It does not contain

aspects of my more Voldemort-ey nature. Although, the deep cobalt sparkle does tend to suggest otherwise.

ga-ga for gosling

2012-01-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

Natural light, yeah, let's.

OK, normally we sisters aren't getting our jollies over clever text paired with celebrity pictures,

but when Catherine sent out a link to Handmade Ryan Gosling on tumblr, I was like: Hold up now.

(And I can only assume Monika had the same reaction--she isn't answering my emails. What's up with that, sister?)

For real, right?

Catherine and I have already started using Gosling in our crafting situations. As in "I'm all out of glue sticks.
Where's a Gosling when you need one?" That's a true story, people. It happened to me last night.
And, yes, there's a Gosling for that. So, yes to dragging Ryan Gosling into crafty tongue-in-cheek nerdom.

That's all I'm saying.

That's it, I'm adding him to my boys, boys, boys! pin board.

Scents to succulents!

2012-01-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

I am always on the lookout for a way to reuse old containers. I have multiple stashes of old candle holders that are waiting for new candles or a new purpose. Without further ado, I give you the ultimate transformation from scented candles to succulents!

These book candles are from Anthropologie's fall candle line. I bought mine in Tucson on the 50% off of the clearance price--knocking this down from $19.95 (for serious?!?!) to $5 (doable). The candle smelled nice enough, but it burned extra fast. Within a week, I was out of a candle and left with a ceramic book. I had a few small succulents around the house that were in need of re-potting. Put ceramic book and a couple of succulents together and...

Voila!

It's like a whole new thing!

This container doesn't have any drainage, so best be sure to water sparingly.

It's raining, it's pouring, and the old man is snoring.

2012-01-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

The weather in Olympia today is rather dismal.

Proof of dismal weather real time! (.5 blocks away).

Don't get me wrong, I love dismal weather, especially when I have the day off. Dreary weather gives me the perfect
excuse to devote some serious time to knitting. I'm currently working on a pair of socks and a new scarf. When I
was in Tucson last week, I was gifted a glorious skein of Mushishi yarn. It's a luxurious blend of wool and silk.
The color reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream and ocean beaches (basically the same thing).

It's a mighty big skein too--491 yards!

I searched for the perfect pattern to dedicate this yarn to. I'm fairly confident that I found it. I chose Jared Flood's pattern from his superb knitting blog Brooklyn Tweed. Through some minor yarn blog stalking, I have learned that Jared has roots in Tacoma, WA, which makes him all the more awesome. More specifically, I chose to knit this cabled scarf named Dryad. The cables are really fun and look so impressive. If you've never tried cables before, do it now! They're not as hard as they look and they never fail to impress. It's a really awesome pattern. I've knit one other pattern from Brooklyn Tweed, and I have to say that the patterns have been easy to understand and really well written.

I'm hoping to finish this scarf up in the next week so that I can get some serious winter usage out of it.

The dismal weather is no match for the Dryad scarf! Rain on (kind of like game on).

skewered

2012-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Cake toppers, drink stirrers, plant adornments...take your pick.

supplies: sparkle poms and bamboo skewers

instructions: skewer the pom with the bamboo

I borrowed these poms from Matilda.

It represents only a small part of her pom reserves, so I don't think she was too concerned.

brand new

2012-01-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hey, it's a brand new bloglovin widget for on my honor. Welcome to 2010, sisters, we finally made it.

Pom-pom mania!

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

I had a craving for some pom-poms today, so I went ahead and fixed myself a whole heap load of poms.

This is the container I used to collect all the scraps, but it kind of looks like a delicious yarn drink.

Peanut was helping me take inventory.

If you don't know how to make pom-poms, don't fret, I'll show you!

First you get out your yarn, scissors, and some thread.

Next you wrap the yarn around your fingers a bunch of times.

(Note the nail polish has lasted exactly one week from when my nails were originally painted.)

Then you take off the wrapped yarn and tie some thread around the middle real tight.

You can also use the same yarn to tie around the middle. Depending on the yarn's strength, it might break.

Next, you use your scissors and cut through the ends on both sides.

Almost done.

Now you just need to trim up the ends so that it's extra fluffy.

Congrats, you've finished one pom!

Now all you have to do is make a gazillion more and you can do something awesome with them.

I decided I would string all my poms together. I went with a St. Valentine's Day color scheme so they could be left up for a few months.

After they were all strung together, this is what I had to work with.

I decided to drape it over a picture frame and call it good.

Good.

Or if you're really feeling festive, you could always decorate your wrought-iron gate with some poms.

Happy pom making.

for you, dear friends

2011-12-31T18:14:00.000-08:00

design love

2011-12-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the New Year, the ladies and gents at Love vs. Design have bestowed upon us a swell gift in the form of a free downloadable calendar. And it's not just any calendar, it's a sharp, vibrant, cool calendar. So if you received a "nuns behaving badly" or "lighthouses of Maine" calendar for Christmas, you can now consider yourself upgraded.

So pretty! And Love vs. Design sure wasn't stingy with the color options: there are five palettes to choose from. I think I like the khaki and yellow one best...how about you? Mosey on over here to adore, covet, and then download.

But wait. What's this?

Surprise! Love vs. Design offers a free weekly download as part of their Printable Templates Tuesday series. For other stellar printables, like these uber-sweet library cards, go here. And make sure to keep checking in with the good folks at Love vs. Design, at least every Tuesday, people. Like clockwork.

images by Love vs. Design

Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes made of ticky-tacky...

2011-12-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

So every now and then we are all guilty of gleaning ideas and inspiration. Well, here is my confession of such a replication. The picture below is a shop in East LA; I was walking by it one afternoon and noticed their window decorations. It was clear to me as soon as I saw them what must be done. Consider them the victim of gleaning.

I was going to actually construct the edifices out of cardboard but then I found these little house boxes at
Michael's Craft store, on the cheap.

I removed the chimney off the smaller one because I liked the look without it.

I used a 'bleached titanium' colored acrylic paint, the coverage was thick enough I only needed one
coat and then a few touch ups here and there.

I painted all the sides white, that I wanted white I guess.

The roof and the chimney top would be black.

Once the paint dried, I used a grey marker and a folded paper (for a straight edge) to outline my designs.

The black completely covered any marker remnants--it was hard to make the line perfect.

But I kind of liked those imperfections in the end.

Finished product. I should have taken more pictures. Oh well, I do plan on making more of these and will have to add some more pictures. But they are fun to make and you can go crazy with the patterns. Also, they would be a really cute house warming party decoration...if you did actually make some lighter ones and hang them. Anyone moving soon?

embroidered book covers

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've seen the Penguin Threads book covers floating around on various sites, but I never knew the extent of their awesome-ness until I bought them. I picked up all three in the series and you wouldn't believe what I saw when I opened the books up...the embroidery pattern is also on the back side of the front and back cover!!!!

I know, it's awesome-sauce.

Front covers.

Inside of front covers.

This just made my heart go pitter-patter.

I highly recommend you pick these up.

bows that sparkle

2011-12-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

Somebody stop me. Seriously. Someone please pry these sparkle pipe cleaners from my hands, before it's too late. Well, it might already be too late because I made a sparkle bow barrette from a pipe cleaner and a bobby pin.

Can I just say that it is incredibly difficult to take pictures of the side of your head?

But I do believe my ear looks lovely. Uh-oh, that's ear hubris. Now my ear will probably get burned off in a fire.

P.S. Glitter pipe cleaners can easily be fashioned into kitten halos.

Even for bad kittens.

sparkle & fade

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

The silver and gold pipe cleaners will not be denied. Let's make some sparkly table decorations!

Supplies: small glass jar or candleholder, tealights, matches, pipe cleaners*

Graft the pipe cleaners together.

Make sure they're tight, like best friends.

Tape the end of your pipe cleaner chain to the bottom edge of the jar.

(Whoops! Forgot to mention tape.) Don't worry, it'll get covered up.

Start wrapping around the jar, making sure to keep the pipe cleaners tight.

If they get loose, this happens:

So keep things in order.

Wrap and wrap and wrap until you come to the end.

While keeping the coils tight, push down the upper rings and tape the end of the pipe cleaner to the jar.

At this point, it should be safe to release the coils. Arrange the rings so they cover the taped end

and are evenly spaced. Just be sure to leave some gaps to let the light through.

Happy crafting!

*The number of pipe cleaners will depend on the size of your jar or candleholder. For my 2.5'' x 3.5'' jar (in gold), I used nine pipe cleaners. The 2.5'' x 2.5'' candle holder (in silver) took four pipe cleaners, but the silver pipe cleaners are about twice as wide.

glitterati

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, I happened upon some gold and silver pipe cleaners at the craft store and snatched, snatched, snatched them up! My immediate plan was for initial package toppers. Like so:

After I made that dream a reality, I wondered what the future might hold for these little gems.

And I decided that pipe cleaner initials would make lovely badges for a New Year's Eve party.

So I made more.

And more.

Um, and more.

Yes, even though I have no plans to throw a New Year's Eve bash, I'm making little party accouterments. What can I say? I like festiveness. And maybe you are throwing a party and would like to greet your guests with a wee bit of SPARKLE.

So curl those pipe cleaners around your fingers, make sweet swirls and giddy loops,

and then pin them to collars and lapels and let the sparkle speak for itself!

P.S. While you're at it, why not make a bit of sparkle for your hair...

super-nerd, from the sea

2011-12-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that the Nicolai sisters are enraptured by all things oceanic, seaside-al, and tide-rific. A couple of those words are made up, as I'm sure you noticed. My friends Mike and Manda (who are soon to be wed!) sent me a little Christmas package with a couple treasures inspired by the sea.

A narwhal finger puppet. I'm more than a little obsessed with narwhals.

And this octopus, which has a secret power.

Or maybe not so secret, as you may have already surmised.

That's right: crazy eyes.

Yes, there's nothing better than squeezing cephalopods to make your Christmas merry and bright!

Amateur oils.

2011-12-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

What's this...?

Good question.

Definitely an eye.

A possible signature.

Obvious sea creature.

Cuttlefish.

Christine loves cuttlefish, so I painted her one for Christmas. I didn't name it, but she probably should.