Little Golden Book Journals

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Surprises In The Mail

Yesterday was a long day work/school day. By the time I got home I was so out of it, that I was deliriously happy to receive my new Holiday edition of Blueprint, with the cutest little tree and dress on the cover! More exciting than that, I got 2 moos and a mix cd from Mrs. Jek-a-go-go!

I've been trying to work on a craft to accompany the moos I'm going to send her, but haven't got it right, just yet. I will soon though!

Halloween Buggies

I guess I made it pretty obvious, but yes, I was a book worm!

I also got a zucchini and a pickle, from Brian's dad. It became more clear what I was when I had my little spider standing next to me.

Brian was a cool spider. For the past 2 years Brian has been chubby kids (Pugsley from Addams Family-I will put this on my flickr soon and Andy Milonakis), so this year he wanted to be something normal sized. Our first costume choice was Han and Leah, but somehow we evolved into bugs instead.

Back To Work

Sundays are hard. I want to have fun, but knowing the long week ahead of me, makes it difficult.

It's back to work/school tomorrow. All my snacks are ready, but I am not. Tomorrow I will post pictures of our Halloween costumes!

Apples And Books

I got my Halloween costume supplies last night.

I got the idea and ran to the fabric store, right before it was closing time. I stayed up late sewing, even though I have a long 15+ hour work/school day ahead of me. I didn't use a pattern, but I used loosely used my clothes as a template.

I'm almost finished with it. I just have to decide the length and then finish it up.
Can anyone guess what I'm going to be? I'll give you a hint.. I like apples and books!

Visit My New Etsy Shop

That's right! I made a whole new shop and there are actually things for sale inside! For now, I have record boxes, but soon, who knows what else I will carry?

Click here to visit: http://dailycraft.etsy.com!

Cigar Box Makeover

My dad usually smokes a pipe, but once in a while the man likes his cigars. Since he knows I'm all about the crafts, I always end up inheriting his old cigar boxes. I do love the boxes, they're well made and so handy for storage, but sometimes they tend to clash with my decor. Like in this case:


I could actually see a collection of these, with original packaging, work in some one's home, just not mine, not now. Since my room is heading towards the light blue and white hues, I decided to cover this box in a light blue fabric. That meant, I had to paint the box white, so that the yellow and black wasn't blaring through.

After it dried, I added a very light coat of PVA (acid free bookmaking glue) and started covering the box.

I cut 2 slits for the sides and one long one that wrapped all the way around. I'm pretty happy with the end result.

Next, I will add a fabric for the inside.

But that will have to wait for another fabric, another day, another post.

A Rose For Annettie

Maybe it was this post or maybe I'm just lucky, but Brian got me another beautiful bouquet of flowers for no reason last night.

A girl could really get used to this.

Pomegranate Season

One of my favorite things is driving to my parent's house and seeing their Pomegranate tree filled with shiny red fruits! Every time I eat a Pomegranate, it takes me back to when I was a little girl and my mom used to gather the Pomegranate seeds in record time (it takes me at least 15-20 minutes to seed one) and pour some sugar on top.

So that's how I eat them to this day.

Moo Cozies

After getting my new Moos, I've been trying to make a fun little cozy for them. Last night I experimented with these two made from leftover quilt squares...

I think these are good for a small handful of Moos. I do need to figure out some type of closure, possibly velcro?

There are obvious problems with the bunched up thread, but I like handmade flaws. This weekend, I will try to experiment with more ideas, not limited to quilt square size. Though, I do have a paper to write and 100+ pages to read before I write it.. so it may have to wait until next week. I can't complain, being on campus when the leaves are turning red and orange have made me nostalgic. Walking around the brick buildings during the fall make me feel like I'm in Boston and though I love LA with all my heart and soul, I think there's something so romantic about the east coast in the fall.

My Little Pink Quilt

Well, it's not actually my quilt. I'm making a pair of these pink quilts for my two nieces Annabelle and Julia. They're a little more work than I imagined them to be, so my Christmas deadline might not happen.

I've heard the closer and smaller your stitches, the better your quilt. That may be a rule for experienced, detailed, perfectionist quilters, so I tried the best that I could to get my stitches close and small. The problem is that I am not experienced, detailed, or a perfectionist. I am actually impatient, results-driven, and tired, so this may be a problem.

I used the softest pink fleece I could find for the back... it's so snuggly. It's been very cold in my apartment too, so I keep warm as a I stitch. I do have a heater, but do you know that smell when you turn an old heater on after it's collected dust all year long? Well, I don't think I'm ready for that smell just yet.

Room Update

Trust me, this is hard for me to post. Nothing is really done yet and though progress has been made, it's slow.
This was part of my room before:

And here it is after:

Still not done, but not a bad start. Here is the sketch idea that I worked from:

It's pretty close to the sketch. Only missing element is my perfect chair (which I can not afford right now), my curtains to hide what's under the desk (which my or may not happen anytime soon), and new curtains in general. I used to be okay with my curtains and I do like the shadows that they catch at night.. but I think I need something with a little more character, so eventually, the curtains will be different.
Also on the drawing, is my big ikea shelf. The last time I posted about it, it looked like this:

Keep in mind, that this is still not organized and finished, but this is what it looks like so far, today:

I am making progress, but I think I'll be mostly concentrating on the top two rows for now. Not sure what's going on them, but I've been playing. I have a feeling by the time that I finish everything and figure it all out, I might end up moving.

Moo

My cards are here!

My Sad Little Halloween Tree

The cotton balls I used were a little too cheap to make webs, so they came out a little unrealistic. I think I want to make some type of orange garland to accentuate it, because at this point, it desperately needs a little something.

My Daily Dose Of Craft

This is all I've got today, unless you call "community-based archival practices" getting crafty (which I kinda do). Thursdays are my long days of work all day, school all night, so all I really have to share is my bowl of Kix and my new issue of Ready Made.

Pink Flowers

Last night, I tried to start my next quilt. After washing and ironing everything, I pinned the pieces to the ground and started basting, when I ran out of basting spray. Boo. Tonight after work, I will go get some and hopefully start hand quilting.

Pink flowers have been a theme this week.

You know what I love more than my Dahlias? Getting flowers for no reason at all, just cause. That's what these were, my "just cause" flowers from Brian. Awe.

Lasanga A La Coupons

I've learned a lot from my mom over the years. She never did teach me to cook though. I was always encouraged to help out, but when I would, they'd just push me aside and tell me I was doing it wrong and to go play with my brother and sister instead. Now that I have my own kitchen, it's been a bit better. I had to woo them with Maple Mustard Pork Chops with Grilled Apples and Fiesta Cornbread first though (thanks to Rachel Ray for that one). Now, we share recipes which is nice. But, the one lesson my mom taught me that I value a lot these days is how to coupon shop. As a kid, I remember each time she'd come home with about 15 bags of groceries and brag about how she paid a few dollars for all of it! There were even a few cases where she'd tell me that thanks to double coupons and things being already on sale, sometimes the store would have to pay her to take groceries home! Yes, she was/is quite the coupon queen. Now, I'm not nearly as good as that yet. But, I do clip coupons in every Sunday paper and I do try to use them when things are on sale. Unlike mom, I usually steer clear of buying pet food if it's on sale and I have a coupon, because I don't have a pet (neither do my parents), but you take some habits, leave some behind.. it all evens out. What does this have to do with lasagna?
Well, I made the lasagna because I had so many lasagna product coupons! I'd say the entire lasagna cost around $20 to make, which is bad in my mom's standards, but good for a beginner like me.
The biggest cost was my extra lean ground turkey. It was around $6 something.

The second biggest cost were the cheeses. I used ricotta, cottage cheese, fresh parmesan, and mozzarella. I had a coupon for *almost* all of these.

Usually, I'm a bit skeptical when it comes to the "no bake" style noodles, but I was cooking in a hurry, since we had tickets to see The Darjeeling Limited and I went for it. After eating the lasagna, I still like my noodles cooked a little bit before I put them in the lasagna. Brian didn't seem to mind them, but I thought they were a little undercooked. We both agreed that the lasagna tasted better the next day.

I baked it coverd for an hour, then I sprinkled some cheese on top and let it bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

I think it could have used another 15 minutes, but we were running late to the movie, so we had to rush it.

All in all, it was a good lasagna. I think it's getting better with each day too, which is good because it's my lunch all week long!

Lines And Color

Today a sky.

Tomorrow a lasagna.

Progress On The Librarian Embroidery

I made some progress yesterday, during the Stitch N' Bitch group at school.

I like my drawing better than the embroidery, but I'm still pleased with it. I guess it's my natural tendency to make hair big. I love big hair! I also would like to announce that I am officially working on making iron-on librarian style embroidery patterns! I am brainstorming/sketching ideas as we speak, so hopefully they'll be ready within the next 2 months.

Librarian Embroidery

Today at school, I will be meeting with a "stitch n' bitch" group to work on my embroidery (they said it was open to all textile based crafters). What better time to start my librarian embroidery then at library school, right? After deciding to add librarian themed embroidery on my scrappy quilt, I've been searching the internet for the perfect pattern. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything I really liked, so I took inspiration from this and made my own (see the drawing on the upper left corner).

I started getting a little too excited about it last night and made some good progress. Who knows? Maybe when this is done, I'll make a little library embroidery kit of my own!

New Fabrics

Oh how I love Repot Depot. I just spent a little over a $100 on fabric there (they made me do it... for the free shipping!)and I just got them in yesterday.

The first one on the right was an exciting find, because I fell in love with it in this article, in the latest Martha Stewart Magazine I definitely want to make my nieces (and possibly me) some blankets with this fabric. Though, I'm not sure who designed it, I'll have to check in my Martha Mag for that info. Then rest in this picture are (l to r): Denyse Schmidt, Kaffe Fassett, and Denyse Schmidt again.

In this picture we have (l to r): Denyse Schmidt, then I'm not sure who designed the middle two fabrics, and Kaffe Fassett at the end. The only fabric I have specific plans for is the first pink one. As for the other ones, I'm not sure. I could either keep them for a quilt, or who knows? Maybe notebook covers? I was so inspired by them, I just had to own them, so even if I end up staring at them for a while, that's okay with me.

Embloggery

I've had a busy weekend. It included embroidery, botanical gardens, season 3 of The Office, oil change, a birthday and some apple pie a la mode. Most of this will be blogged about soon. Not a bad idea to take your embroidery, while waiting for your car at the oil change place.

I used the little stars from my new Craftopia pattern and the font came from the Sublime Stitching book. I think I'm going to make some Moo cards out of this little guy soon.