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I'm back from San Diego! Nicole and I snacked on some Blood Oranges, which were so yummy! Since we were in San Diego, I'm guessing these were Moro Blood Oranges, the most recent introduction to the blood orange family!



I will post more on our crafty adventures tomorrow!

Sunny San Diego

I'm feeling much better today, so I'm packing my bags and heading over to sunny San Diego! My friend Nicole just got a new apartment and we're going to craft it up, with new curtains this weekend!

My bags are packed and I'm off! I'll be back soon with pictures of all our crafty adventures!

Sick Days and Babies

I've been home sick for the past 2 days. Haven't got around to too much crafting, but my mom said she was going to visit me and bring my neice, Julia. Since Julia is only 1.5 years old and I don't have much for her to play with, I decided to make her a last minute dolly/bunny thing.

I did a little freehand drawing and sewed the pieces together.


Then I did a little stuffing.


Then a little more sewing and embrodering.


She's a bit funny, but not bad for a 20 minute project. Julia liked the bunny for about 1 minute, and then she discovered that throwing my cds around was a lot funner.


Soon after my mom and Julia went home, I got a call from my brother and his wife. They just had a new baby girl, Annabelle! Today went from sick day to niece day.... but my head still hurts.

Tim Hawkinson At The Getty

One of the perks of my job is going to lectures, talks, etc. Today I went to a talk on the new instillation piece that Tim Hawkinson is going to hold here at the Getty.



Zoopsia: New Works by Tim Hawkinson
and
Überorgan
March 6 - September 9, 2007

To inaugurate a series of artists' projects at the Getty Museum, internationally recognized Los Angeles-based artist Tim Hawkinson (American, b. 1960) has created four new works for first-time display. Zoopsia offers playful, alternative perspectives on the natural world. Concurrently, Überorgan, described by Hawkinson as a massive, self-playing, walk-in organ of balloons and horns, will be installed in the Museum Entrance Hall for its Los Angeles debut. Previously exhibited in Massachusetts and New York, Überorgan changes with each installation in response to the site. Typically incorporating household and industrial materials, and often mechanized to emit sound, evoke breath, or record the passage of time, Hawkinson's extraordinary art links form, process, and meaning to create unique and provocative viewing experiences.

I'm so excited! I hope I can hear *some* of the instillation's sound from my desk!

Dish Towel

I've been a little bored with everything lately. I really want to start my new quilt, but I don't have all my fabric yet. I've been excited about sewing, so I made a new dish towel today.

In The Meantime

New fabric:



I've been anxiously waiting for the fabric I ordered online to arrive. In the meantime, I picked up more fabric. I want this quilt to be huge, so as long as I keep buying fabric, the sooner I can cut, sew, and snuggle up in my new quilt!

The Sweater Set

I had my acid-free paper cut this weekend, so I've been organizing the pictures per page. While I was looking through the pictures, I came across this one of my mom. I'm guessing it was taken sometime in the 70's, and she is wearing a sweater set made of the same fabric she gave me about 2 weeks ago.



The same fabric I made mittens out of.

Fresh No Knead Bread

My dough looked beautiful this morning:


I made a double batch, so I baked half of the dough and cut the remainder into small portions and froze them for future mini pizzas. Here's the bread half:


Very chewy inside:


And I got to use my new Chefmate!

Gotta Love The Dollar Days

While picking out some new nail polish at the local Rite Aid, I stumbled across their "dollar days" bins. I try to run the other way when I see them, because I know most of that stuff will just end up sitting unopened on a counter somewhere for the next few years, but I always have to look. Inside the cardboard bins of tacky treasures, I found something with potential.

It's something I've been searching for, but it had pencil edges, which I had to somehow remove.


Luckily, this item was made of really cheap wood and I was able to just cut the pencil part off with some dull scissors.


Add a little paint.


And a solution to my empty kitchen wall was born!

Celebratory No Knead Bread

As I finally gave up on finding Target's Chefmate Cast Iron Casserole Pot, I read the post in Not Martha and discovered they have re-stocked the item! I immediately called Target stores in my area and was dissappointed to hear they were once again sold out. I decided to try the Target stores in my parent's area and found one right down their street! My mom offered to pick it up for me (she knows I've been looking for it) and tonight I will have it in my kitchen! In order to celebrate, I decided to bake a fresh batch of No Knead Bread.



Last time I made tried this recipe, I made it in a pyrex dish covered with foil. It still came out really good, but I'm excited to actually bake it in a cast iron pot, the way it was intended! The bread is in it's 12-18 hour resting phase now. I will post pictures of the outcome tomorrow morning.

Quilt # 2, In Progress

Ever since I finished my first quilt, I've been itching to get started on another one. I spend my days drooling over fabrics that I can't afford, but will make room for in my budget (who needs groceries, right?). I am anxiously waiting for this wonderful Amy Butler fabric, quite a few different Heather Bailey fabrics, and the fabric that inspired it all by Kaffe Fassett. Though I managed to splurge on some of my fabrics, I picked up others at Jo-Anne's for a lot less. I already started the cutting:



I like these colors on their own, but I'm anxious to play around with the fabric I ordered online too. I'm not really using a pattern for this quilt, which might be a death wish for a beginner quilter, like myself, but I think making lots of squares until it's big enough should work out? I hope. I do have a back-up pattern, just in case.


One thing I forgot to do before my cutting is pre-washing. I've been thinking about it all night (it's even effecting my dreams), and I was thinking of buying some mesh fabric and making a little bag to put my fabric in, so it won't get too frayed in the wash. I hope that works.

Lace Candle Cozies

I love Valentine's Day issues of magazines. All holiday issues are good, for that matter, but there's so much love and lots of good crafts in the Valentine's Day issues! I got my Valentine's Day issue of Martha Stewart a few days ago and was inspried by her lace candle cozies. She made them a whole other way using starch, but I didn't have starch, so I improvised.

I went with a creme colored lace, it reminded of the 1920's.


I folded the lace to fit around the candle holder and sewed.


Then I just slipped the lace over the glass candle holder. Be careful not to catch the lace on fire!


I was thinking about makeing lace cozies for flower vases too. It could be a nice touch to a boring old vase.

Photo Albums

I haven't given up on my Acid-Free photo album transfer. I have spent the last few weeks looking for the perfect paper. I looked for a paper that was affordable, creme colored, on the heavy side, and the right size to fit in their original albums. I thought about going for a classic black album, but these originals have held our photos since the 70's, so I think they are part of the history and it would be shame to see them go:





Most paper that fit the description I wanted was scrapbook size, 12" x 12", came in a pack of 10 or 25 and cost more than I wanted to pay. My guess is I'll be needing well over a hundred pages to fill all the albums I want to do, so when I found Canson Classic Creme Drawing paper, I was overjoyed!



At a mere $3 per 24 pages, I thought it was a deal. The size is a little larger than I wanted, but it's nothing that can't be cut down. Now the challenge is in the binding. Before I start working on the pages, I want to make sure that there is a copy center in town who can help me with the spiral binding. I see potential problems there, because the spiral in the book is a little tricky to get to. I'll have to think of a Plan B in the meantime.

My First Moo Cards

Here are my first batch of Moo cards. I have a feeling ordering Moo cards might become an addiction for me, they are just too fun!



I'm already thinking of ideas for the next batch.

The Leftovers

Today I hosted a Clothing Sale/Swap gathering with a bunch of girl friends. It was fun! So many great clothes, I managed to sell a big chunck out of my piles and sneaking in a few purchases too!

The aftermath:

Unfortunately, I didn't take a before picture, but this is a big improvement from the mess it was this morning.

For a mere $8, I got 2 dresses, a cardigan, and a shirt! I also said goodbye to a purse, a few shirts, dresses, a necklace, and some of my record boxes. It was a big success, I hope to have one ever year!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tomorrow I'm having a small gathering for a clothing sale/swap. I've been so swamped organizing my closet that I haven't been able to really prepare food or get any cooking/baking done for my guests. Today I managed some time to bake chocolate chip cookies:

It's funny how something so unattractive can taste so good:


I think I like eating the dough more than the cookies:


The cookies.

I Swear I Eat Other Things Too

Pizza is just so easy and fun to make! It's my low-maintenance food. This time I changed it up a little bit, using whole wheat dough, fresh basil and mushrooms.

Naked little pizza, pre-toppings.


Pre-Oven: I always pack the mushrooms on, because I do love mushrooms, but also because they tend to shrink.


Post-Oven: See, they do shrink!

Pencil Holder

Any candy tin will do.



I sewed a slip on cover for the tin out of oil cloth that matches my tablecloth. I couldn't find any magnets strong enough at the craft store, so I took one off an exsisting magnet I had and never used.


Instant pencil holder for my 'fridge!

Green Tea Cake

Today we are celebrating my friend, Ming's birthday. Ming makes it her daily mission to get everyone she comes in contact with to drink more green tea. When I saw Trader Joes sells a mix for green tea cake, it was just too perfect for the occaision.







I hope she likes it!

Mittens

I made a pair of mittens from the fabric. I also started making a skirt (not pictured yet).



After organizing my fabrics, I got inspired to organize my closet. This might take me a few days, but I'll try to keep posting daily.