Tomoe Book Arts

NEW BLOG ADDRESS

2008-11-12T14:55:00.003-05:00

Hello there!

I've moved my blog to www.tomoebookarts.com. Kurt was awesome and joined my website with my blog, so now you only have to go to one place! :) Thanks, Kurt!!!

Please vote

2008-11-04T15:40:00.002-05:00

Wow

2008-11-04T15:40:00.001-05:00

I saw this happen:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/04/man_dies_in_collision_with_mbta_train/

The big 1-0

2008-09-30T10:59:00.003-05:00

Last Friday was our 10th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we decided to treat ourselves to a trip to New York City!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I remember to take the camera? Of course not! Why would I do that?? :( But we had an phenomenal time nonetheless.

We arrived on Friday about midday and shopped at the Taschen store, where I got a bunch of cool style books like this one. We also went to the Anna Sui store and to Purl Soho, which was so cool! I finally got to see the physical store. We also went to their sister store, Purl Patchwork, which has what I really love: fabrics. I got a couple cute bag handles and a book called Zakka Sewing which has tons of cute Japanese sewing projects.

After that we had some bad Japanese food at a little restaurant and then kicked ourselves because right in the Theater District there were a bunch of Japanese restaurants catering to the Japanese tourists, so we made plans to go there the next day. That evening, we went to see Chicago the Musical and it was really excellent. We were able to get half price tickets online and we were in the second row!!!!!!!!! We were so close we could see the sweat on the performers' brows! It was amazing!! Now we want to see the movie version again so we can compare them.

We had a snack and a drink after the show at a little Irish pub, which was OK, but not the greatest, and then took the long and tortured train route (three trains, 30 minutes on one platform, and finally a taxi) back to the hotel. We thought we'd save money being across the river, but with the time and money spent on the trains/taxi, we might as well have stayed in town.

On Saturday, we decided to have breakfast at the hotel, since we knew that the train would be a long ride in, so we had a cold breakfast bar, with lukewarm eggs, sausage and some muffins and stuff. Blech. In the city, we went to the Frick Collection, which was amazing: Titian, Giorgione, Holbein, Vermeer, Ingres, tons of great art. I've never been so impressed with a small collection before. And the building (Henry Clay Frick's former residence) was pretty damn impressive as well.

Kurt and I were also drooling over his collection of books in the library. Every one of them leather-bound gigantic editions of classic books. And they were bound in dark-colored leather so they blended right in to the decor (dark wood paneling). It was beautiful. Then we went to have lunch at the ramen place we saw on Friday, and that was great. I can't believe it had been 7 years since we had good miso ramen! We then went to Kinokuniya, to continue the Japanese theme, and I got some Japanese craft books. Then we hopped on the subway and caught the wrong train, so we had to double back after heading all the way up to the top of Central Park, near Harlem. We got off at the right stop and walked up to the Met, where we only had a little time. All of the exhibits having to do with textiles and fabric were closed (evidently they have an amazing costume collection) which was such a disappointment! We got up to the 19/20th century paintings a little late (and in my case a little pissed because of the costumes), but they had Whistler, Mucha, Bougereau, Sargent, Van Dyck, all sorts of excellent work. But by the time we got up there, we only had about a half an hour, and we were both so tired that we really couldn't make the most of it. We went back down to the theatre district by bus, and we found a pub/restaurant there where we had a reverse dinner. (We had drinks and a dessert first, then realized we were more hungry than we thought, so we ordered some food.) And we took the train back again. I kind of liked the reverse dinner. You get to eat the dessert when you can savor it most. :)

Sunday, we decided to sleep in a bit because we couldn't really get in to town early enough to make it worthwhile, so we left around 11, stopped in Stamford Connecticut for breakfast at a greasy spoon, and continued on to New Haven, where we visited the Yale campus and saw their art collection. We also stopped at some of the little shops, where I saw some earrings that I loved but didn't buy (idiot that I am) and some glass bangles which I did buy.

We got back home at about 7 and picked up little Whiskey. (I missed her so much!) Bob and Susie, who dog-sat for us while we were away, said they didn't want her to leave because she had been so good! We were relieved that she had been such a lovable pup. Whiskey now has about 5 new toys. They really did spoil her. :)

Now we're back at work and wishing we could spend more time in the City. My friend Alex will be moving there in a while for a whole year, so guess who's going to be crashing at her place every chance she gets? :) My next Broadway show: Billy Elliot.

Whiskey's glamour shot

2008-09-24T13:54:00.003-05:00

Whiskey got her first haircut today!! Here are the before and after shots:Doesn't she look all cute and fuzzy? Here she is after:

Talk about a glamour shot!! She's got the pose down and everything. She looks beautiful! Although I like her when she looks all curly too. :)

Whiskey and her new bed

2008-09-17T13:32:00.000-05:00

I think she likes it! :)

When was the last time you were this happy?

2008-09-11T14:36:00.000-05:00

Belly rub

2008-08-19T10:38:00.001-05:00

Whiskey De Bleu

2008-08-19T10:24:00.005-05:00

Meet my new Bedlington Terrier puppy, Whiskey. Is she not the most adorable thing you have ever seeeeeeeeeen?

She had a very, very busy day yesterday which included a trip to a couple of stores, two walks, lots of playing on the kitchen floor, her first steps in the ocean and her first bath at our house. She was pooped. Last night, poor little Whiskey kept us up a bit whimpering. The poor girl misses her mommy and littermates. :( I wanted so badly to run to her and pick her up and snuggle her close!

After thoroughly exploring the house, she's found a favorite place to sit: up against the counter behind the stools.

She sits back there and plays with her little lobster squeek toy. She's so adorable! She has her first vet appointment tonight. I hope she likes the vet! I'm sure it'll feel like someone's ripping my heart out when they administer her shots. :\ Poor Whiskey!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Latest Bedlington photo

2008-08-11T15:10:00.003-05:00

Little Whiskey is on the left. :) Isn't she ADORABLE??????????????? We pick her up on Saturday. Can't wait!

Congratulations!

2008-08-11T14:57:00.002-05:00

We spent the weekend in Maine and had a great time. My friend, Alex, and her boyfriend J. announced their engagement!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're very excited for them. :)

Felicidades, amiga. Te quiero mucho, ya lo sabes.

4th of July

2008-07-08T08:58:00.019-05:00

Our very first Lanesville 4th of July was a blast! We had a 4K race in the morning, a parade at 6 o'clock and an awesome bonfire with fireworks at 9 o'clock. The parade was more like a Halloween procession in July. Everyone was dressed up in the craziest outfits! Neighbors:Babies:

Dogs:

Even Santa made an appearance!

The parade was complete with its own "band" of drummers and kazoo players:
Tambourines:
And of course bagpipes!
After the parade, we all gathered in the streets and sang patriotic songs. Despite the fact that no one knew the words, we all sang as loudly as we could!
Later that night, after a very yummy barbecue, we all went down to Lanes Cove for the bonfire and the fireworks. Here's the 3 story pile of pallets that was built earlier in the week:

Did you notice the piano at the very top?

Right at 9pm it was set aflame!

The fire just got bigger and bigger! They even had to move the flag because it nearly caught on fire. We were standing across the Cove from the fire and we could still feel the heat. It was huge!

The fire together with the fireworks was an amazing sight:

The fire burned all night, until there was nothing, but a small pile of wood quietly burning. The smell was wonderful! I love the smell of a wood fire.The next morning, all that was left was embers and the steel frame of a piano! I don't think I've ever had a better 4th of July!

Pup-tastic

2008-07-03T11:49:00.003-05:00

Remember how Kurt and I were hoping for a Bedlington Terrier puppy last year? Well....This is the little girl we'll be picking up next month. Isn't she adorable??? We're thinking of the name Whiskey. What do you think? Any name ideas?

St. Peter's Fiesta

2008-07-02T15:26:00.016-05:00

This past weekend was the St. Peter's Fiesta in Gloucester. It was so much fun! Kurt and I got on the carnival rides, listened to live music, and ate fried dough. It was great. We also went to the beach games on Sunday, where we saw the above woman's VERY elaborate hat. And this one:
The detail on these hats was amazing. Everyone was hovered around them just looking at all the little scenes:

The beach games included seine boat races and the greasy pole contest. The boat races have 12 men per boat. They row out 1/2 a mile, grab a flag, then row back to shore (the boats are the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria). The first boat back wins. It was really neat to watch. Those men wanted to win so badly they looked like they were rowing for their lives!

The greasy pole competition was even more interesting. Above you see the greasy pole as it looked from the beach where we were standing. Do you see all the boats anchored just behind the pole? Everyone with a boat (or kayak) got to have a much closer look!
The greasy pole contestants came around on a boat before getting up on the platform for the competition. They were all dressed in some sort of costume: spider man, iron man, poodle skirt and wig, you name it! After getting up on the platform, they each got to walk (or try to walk) across once to practice. Then it was the real deal. Whoever made it across the pole and grabs the flag first wins! There was only one guy who walked across and touched the flag during his practice go. And he was the one who then won the competition!

Very lucky! I'm told that the person who touches the flag during the practice walk isn't always the one to win the competition. Someone else might beat you to it.After the winner fell into the water with the flag, the others jumped in to swim with him to shore. They lifted him onto their shoulders and brought him up onto the beach where everyone cheered!
We really had a good time! This weekend is the 4th of July celebration in Lanesville, our little community in Gloucester. We can't wait. We are told it's quite a riot with a parade, bon fire, BBQ, and race. Stay tuned for pictures!!

Amherst

2008-06-26T08:57:00.014-05:00

My husband spent all last week taking a really great Master Class on painting at Amherst College. His last day was on Sunday, so I went up a day early to check out the town and campus.
I visited all the cute little shops on the main drag (got this awesome wooden bracelet - I'll have to get a picture of it), had a yummy breakfast at one of the cafes, treated myself to some very nice Riesling at a restaurant called La Tabella, and saw a movie at their tiny little theatre (I saw And Then She Found Me, which was not what I expected and totally depressing - you've been warned).

The campus is absolutely breathtaking. There are mountains in the distance, beautiful green fields, ridiculously gorgeous architecture, and even a perfect sledding hill! That weekend was also the Taste of Amherst festival. I had some pork and leek dumplings which were amazing. I also wanted to get on this cool trampoline meets bungee jumping contraption, but we got rained out! (You can see the ominous clouds in the above picture). I was so bummed!

It's definitely a place I want to go back to for a day trip. I'd love to go hiking while I'm there too. If you have any suggestions on things to do in Amherst, let me know!

Isn't this the coolest table?

Gardening

2008-06-24T10:12:00.007-05:00

I was doing a bit of gardening and a friend decided to come along for the ride.Here are the latest flowers in our garden:

And best of all, we've picked fresh strawberries from our garden, which we sliced, sugared up, and ate with angel food cake. YUM!

Pink peonies

2008-06-17T19:55:00.006-05:00

I went over to the community garden plot last night and picked about 6 huge peonies. They are beautiful! There's a plot that's been abandoned because its owner recently passed away. We've been told that we can take the peony bushes and plant them in our own plots and I may do just that. The blooms are spectacular. I made an arrangement for the dining room table:
And another for the upstairs bathroom:
The blooms are so fragrant too. It's wonderful to walk by them and smell their soft perfume.

Long time no post

2008-06-16T19:44:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time since I've posted. These past couple of months have been pretty...dramatic to say the least. I'm in the process of trying to go freelance (my "real" job, you know) because I really want the flexibility. That's taken up a few of my weekends, working other jobs, networking at conferences, assisting orientations for various organizations, etc. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do my work from any place and at whatever time! I can hardly wait.

I've also been undergoing a bit of a strange and unexpected phase in my life. Turns out I am quite possibly perimenopausal. I've gotten all the usual symptoms (for any of you out there who get hot flashes, black cohosh is AMAZINGLY effective!) and it's quite possible that it's going to be significantly difficult for my husband and I to have children. Mind you, I'm 31. Yeah, and already going through menopause. Not fun, let me tell ya. It's been pretty much an emotional roller coaster.

Needless to say, I haven't had the time or ambition to do anything crafty, but I'm hoping to change that this week. Kurt (kurtankeny.com) is currently in Amherst, Mass, taking a painting course and will be gone all week. Amherst is a beautiful town so I'm going to go up there a day early to explore and see what I discover! Meanwhile, I plan to do some serious crafting. Get ready, get set, gooooooooooooooooooooo!

Garden blooms

2008-04-23T13:13:00.007-05:00

We've had several warm days recently and the garden has really started blooming. Even the cherry tree is blooming! I can't wait to see it fully bloomed! My husband and I lived in Japan for 2 years and every spring they did hanami, which means "flower viewing." The cherry trees would be in bloom, and the entire community would come out in their best yukatas and picnic under the blossoms. We always thought that if we ever bought a house, it would either have a cherry tree or we'd plant one. Well, after we moved into our place last summer, we were in the garden looking around, when we noticed the bark on our tree. Lo and behold, a weeping cherry tree. My eyes teared it was so perfect! I just might have to get my yukata out of storage and have dinner under the cherry tree this weekend.

Breakfast al fresco

2008-04-21T14:30:00.004-05:00

Saturday was so nice and warm outside we got to have breakfast in the patio. It was so wonderful! There's nothing better than sipping your coffee with the warm summer sun on your face. This weekend was really beautiful. We spent most of our time outside, just enjoying the weather. Sandra Bullock is filming her new movie "The Proposal" in Rockport, MA, which is just up the road from our house. We road our bikes over there and although we didn't see anyone famous, we noticed that they changed all the building facades and they put up these totem poles in the central square. The town is made to look like Sitka, Alaska. Here's an article on the movie. My in-laws also have a famous person filming a movie in their town Columbus, Wisconsin. But who do they get? Johnny Depp!!! Awww man!!! Hardly fair!! :P

Spring is finally here!!!

2008-04-14T09:48:00.007-05:00

Spring is slow to come here in Massachusetts. After living in DC, where it's in the 60s and 70s by February at times, it feels like spring will never get to Gloucester! But we had a gorgeous weekend and the flowers are blooming. Kurt and I spent most of the weekend working in the garden at home, and in our community garden plot, and had a blast. Here are a few pictures of our new blooms.

This one is a passionflower. I watered this plant all winter, but thought for sure I was watering a dead plant. But not only did we have one flower on the plant this weekend, we had two! Aren't they beautiful???

We have a couple hyacinth coming up in the garden, along with tulips and a bush that's full of these little white bells. Anyone know what they're called?

Isn't that the most beautiful purply blue you've ever seen? Only nature can make something that breathtaking!

Watermelon guest book

2008-04-04T09:41:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine will be going to a bridal shower tomorrow so she asked me to make the bride a wedding guest book. The colors of the wedding are kelly green and pink, very Kate Spade, so it was fun to pick out the papers. I decorated the book with embossed pink and fuchsia hearts that cascade down the cover. I hope the bride likes it!

Widgets

2008-03-14T08:19:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to bring your attention to the new widgets on my blog. There's a great one from goodreads that shows all the books I've read or am currently reading. It's a wonderful site that allows you to organize your personal library into categories (read, to-read, currently reading, fiction, fantasy, etc...). If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it. It's a great way to keep organized if you like to read a lot and a great place to get ideas for new books you'd like to read.

I also have a widget for my shop at Etsy. Simply click on it and it'll take you straight to my shop!

Have a great weekend!

Ese's book - Part 3

2008-03-12T12:44:00.004-05:00

Now that we've got the fabric dyed, our next step is to convert it into bookcloth. To do this you have to attach rice paper to the back or wrong side of the fabric using WonderUnder. The rice paper prevents the glue from seeping through the silk when applied to the book board. Take a look:

Once you've got your bookcloth, you attach it to the book board as you would with any other book. This book offers simple instructions on how to do that. Once you've attached the cloth to the board, secure your text block (which you sewed up while the fabric was dyeing) into the cover and place under a press. Voila! You've got yourself a custom made book. Here's the final product:

What do you think?

Ese's Book - Part 2

2008-03-10T21:56:00.007-05:00

Today is part 2 of Ese's awesome book. :) Last night, I learned how to embed photo albums into my blog, so today's tutorial is a little flipbook. It goes through the pictures a bit fast, so don't hesitate to hit pause if you need more time to read the captions and look at the pictures. In the tutorial, I explain how to prepare your fabric for a second dye bath in order to yield a tortoise shell pattern. The result can be either subtle, as is the case here, or stunning (like Kristen's scarf) depending on how you choose your colors. I love this pattern. I think it's really beautiful.

Check it out!!

Ese's book - Part 1

2008-03-10T08:07:00.008-05:00

I have a good friend named Ese. She loves tortoises. :) Her birthday is on March 12th and she's asked me to make her a thick journal with a cover that reminded her of tortoises. After giving it much thought, I felt it was only right to dye the book cloth myself. I started out with silk crepe, which I dyed using both Ecru and Bronze.

Although the water looks very dark, the color is actually very soft and warm.

After dyeing it the base color, I ironed it out dry to prepare it for the second dye job. See how beautiful it turned out? It's neat because the end paper I chose is almost identical in color and texture to the cloth. I think it'll turn out very beautiful.

Tomorrow I'll show you how I fold the cloth in preparation for the second dye bath (in black) and the end result, which will be the tortoise shell pattern.

Stay tuned!

Signs of spring

2008-03-08T17:51:00.005-05:00

Fresh cut flowers are in the markets again, which means that spring is just around the corner. I can't wait! We haven't had a harsh winter here in Gloucester, but it has felt very long for some reason. I'm itching for the days to get longer and the breeze warmer. I'm also excited to see what perennials are in my garden.

I'm sure there will also be friends and family visiting this summer and lots of kayaking and beach picnics. It'll be nice to feel the hot sun on my skin again. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH :)

Etsy Book Swap

2008-02-24T13:14:00.006-05:00

I recently joined the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team (blog). We share ideas, tricks of the trade, and questions on anything and everything. Every three months or so, we hold a book swap, where we all mail in one book and receive another in return. I can't wait to see which one I get! This is the one I'm sending in. It's a blank journal made with black 100% rayon bookcloth (it's swirly - see the lines in the fabric?) and orange and gold marbled end paper. The headbands are 100% silk and I sewed the text block using linen thread. I also cut the fore edge text block with a guillotine to give it a nice, clean edge. Can't wait to see the one I'll be getting! :)

New placemats and napkins

2008-02-18T19:25:00.007-05:00

I had President's Day off so I spent it watching it rain and making new placemats and napkins. I chose the two fabrics you see above, which makes the placemats reversible. For the placemats, I sewed both sides together right side in, leaving a gap. When I flipped it right side out, I ironed it flat and inserted a piece of Timtex through the gap. I then sewed all the way around the edge at 1/4" to secure the Timtex inside. I did the exact same thing for the napkins, except without the Timtex. The placemats are nice and think and very sturdy. I hope they look just as nice after going through the wash! That's my only concern. I'm currently using one of the napkins as a mini runner that holds a candle (we like to eat by candlelight every evening) and our new salt and pepper cellar. What do you think??

Indigo shibori

2008-02-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

In my new craft room, I put up a piece of Indigo Shibori that I got in Japan. Isn't it beautiful?
I eventually want to make some of my own. I don't have an indigo vat just yet, but it's something I want to have soon. Gotta start with planting those plants in my garden this spring!

Home Sick

2008-02-08T09:10:00.000-05:00

I'm home sick today with a pretty bad cold. The kind where your back feels like that of an 80 year old arthritic man? Yup. I've been drinking lots of tea and watching it softly snow outside. I wish our couch and sofette had arrived so I can snuggle up with a comfy blanket. :\

Singer

2008-02-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd show you my awesome old Singer sewing machine. We found it at an antique store. It has a wooden cover to it, but we couldn't get the cover off at the store to see the machine. The owners had apparently lost the key.
We struggled with the lid, but had no luck. We told the shop owners that it was okay, that we just wanted to see it. They took down our contact information just in case the managed to get it open one day.
Well, a couple days went by and they had gotten it open! They said we could come pick it up anytime -- for free! What a great score!!

It has gorgeous details and Singer still sells parts for all their machines, even the oldest ones. So I'm planning to refurbish it and use it. Can't wait!

Craft room chairs

2008-02-03T12:51:00.001-05:00

The chairs in my craft room I believe I got at Ikea. They are very simple chairs that can be folded up and stored. They don't make for very pretty chairs just sitting out though, so I decided to make slip covers for them. I started with the back of the chair and chose two matching blue and two matching pink fabrics.These particular fabrics are from an old stash of Amy Butler fabrics I had from a while back. They will add lots of color to the room. I made the slip covers reversible and the flap gives you a little taste of what's on the other side. :) The floral patterns are actually the same, one blue and one pink, which brings the chairs together.

The pink chair sits in front of my sewing machine, while the blue chair sits at the table, where I have my next projects lined up.Here you can see one of two books I will be rebinding. The covers are pretty beat up, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Lanes Cove

2008-01-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

This is the cove near my house. Isn't it beautiful? We can see it from our second floor windows. When you are out there, you hear nothing, but the ocean's waves crashing against the rocks. It's so relaxing and peaceful. It's a great place to go for a picnic in the summer and, if you can brave the cold water, to go for a swim. But I like to just go and listen to the waves.

Furniture shopping

2008-01-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

We went furniture shopping on Saturday. We finally found a couch we love. We moved into our home last August and still don’t have a couch because we hated all the ones we saw. But this one…this one is beautiful! We also got a tufted chair that will be upholstered in gray leather. I can’t wait!! Our library will look beautiful painted in warm grays, with a gray leather chair and sea-colored couch. Our place is coming along!

House plants

2008-01-28T20:41:00.001-05:00

I have always loved house plants. I’ve always had at least one, if not two, but never more than that. Our apartment has always felt too small for any more, so I’ve always limited myself to two. When we bought our house, however, the previous owner had a serious green thumb. She had dozens of plants of all shapes and sizes. Plants I had never seen before, even, and she asked me if I wanted to keep them. They were moving from Massachusetts to Oregon, so it was impossible for her to take them. I said yes, of course, because they were just so beautiful! Here are a few photos of some of the ones she left me. This little guy is at work right now keeping me company.
The obligatory spider plant and this beautiful begonia.
Cacti for good measure. I don't know how she could've parted with these beauties!

Small favor to ask

2008-01-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

Life is full of unexpected interruptions. But we try our best to move past these events and do the things that are required of us. There are a lot of people out there, however, who feel that their needs are the only thing that matters. That as long as their demands are met, no interruptions or difficulties in another person’s life matter. It leaves people feeling as if they went out of their way to make things happen, only to be slapped in the face at the end of it all and asked why they didn’t have it done sooner, knowing full well it wouldn’t have been possible. I ask that you not be one of those people. Say thank you when someone does something for you and be understanding of the circumstances under which the person was working, because without people like that, the world is a very ugly place.

Amy Butler pillow

2008-01-24T20:48:00.000-05:00

I was off last Monday for the holiday and had a fantastic day. I spent the entire day crafting. Is there anything better? I really don't think so. I ate fruit and green tea midmorning in the peace and quiet of my home on a Monday. Deep breath.....AAAAAHHHH. It was heaven.

I've been meaning to make some nice pillow covers for the pillows in the living room, so I started sifting through all my fabric to make one. I found this gorgeous Amy Butler fabric I bought a while back and decided to recover an old Ikea pillow with it. Here's the end result:
I gave the pillow these cute pearly buttons as well, which go perfectly with the fabric.
I was very happy with the result. Sewing is not easy for me, so this was a true accomplishment! :)

Wedding Album

2008-01-23T11:43:00.000-05:00

My friends recently got married in Monterrey, Mexico. Unfortunately, I had just started a new job and didn't have the vacation time saved up to go, which was a total bummer. From the pictures, I can tell we missed a great party!! :(

Anyway, this past weekend, I made them a photo album. It looks like a little tuxedo because it's this gorgeous silky black bookcloth with white on white floral paper inside.

It's horizontal, as opposed to vertical, which I prefer. They seem to have more room for pictures. I packed it up last night for them and shipped it out. I hope they like it!

Treat for the neighbors

2008-01-22T11:24:00.000-05:00

I found these recipes online for different types of cocoas in a jar. I thought it would be a great idea to make some up for the neighbors as a New Year's treat. We chose the mocha hot cocoa and they turned out so pretty. Kurt whipped up (literally! in like 5 minutes - the man is insane when it comes to designing something!) these awesome two-sided tags for them that fold and fit perfectly under the lid ring. The other side says "Happy New Year from Kurt and Jenny! Thanks for welcoming us into town." Cute, huh?We never actually tried the mixes ourselves, we just kind of chose one that sounded good, so our neighbors will either love us or hate us for them! :)

Pizza night

2008-01-21T11:01:00.000-05:00

We listened to the football game last night (can't believe the Packers LOST!) and made homemade pizzas. We used my dad's special crust recipe which yields a nice crust, not cracker thin, but just the right thickness. We laid down a thin layer of corn meal under the dough to give it a nice, crunchy texture. (Another of my dad's tricks)We brushed a little olive oil over the top for extra goodness. :)

We topped it with spicy pepperoni, fresh basil leaves, broccoli rabe* (see note at the bottom of the page), veggie cheese, and homemade pizza sauce.Whenever we want to make something with cheese, we choose this brand of veggie cheese. I'm lactose intolerant (you probably didn't need to know that) and we've tried a lot of fake cheeses. This one tastes the best and melts. None of that yellow tofu stuff. Yuk!
We baked the pizza at 350 for 25 minutes and VOILA!
* Note: We didn't have broccoli in the house, which I love on pizza, so I substituted broccoli rabe. Broccoli rabe, however, is very bitter and a bit tougher than broccoli. It overpowered even the spicy pepperoni and I ended up picking it out. :( So, if you make homemade pizza, skip the broccoli rabe!

Double Dragonfly

2008-01-16T10:34:00.000-05:00

An Etsy customer of mine requested that I make him a double thick journal so that it would last a bit longer than the ones of average thickness. This is what I came up with:
It’s red Italian linen with a marbly orange, red, and gold endpaper. The text paper is a soft cream color which goes nicely with the warm tones of the endpaper.
I made it doubly thick, as promised, and added two black dragonflies to the front cover. I doubled the thread, using a yellow and white thread to make the binding more interesting.

I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Custom orders are always so much fun. They force you out of your routine and that can be very inspiring.

I hope you like it!

Snow storm

2008-01-15T09:48:00.002-05:00

This is the view from my kitchen window. As you can see, we had a snow storm yesterday. The first of the year. I don’t think people were expecting it to be as bad as it was, so although schools were closed, most offices were open at the regular hour. I called my work’s snow line in the hopes that the office would open at least a couple hours later, only to hear “good morning, it’s January 14th and the office will be opening at the regular hour.” BUMMER. I left my house at 7:15am, to get to the train station. I expected to be at work at about 8:45am.

I got to work at 12:15pm!!!!!

Let me explain what happened: First, the roads in my village had not been plowed yet so our little Civic was having a hard time making it up those hills with all that snow. Needless to say, I missed the train. I took the next one, an hour later, only to go three stops before we encountered a tree trunk laying across the tracks. Three rail workers went out to try to move the trunk, but it was way too heavy. The train then had to go in reverse, back into the previous station to let us off so we could wait for the next train, which was an hour later. By this point it was 10am. I thought about having my husband come pick me up and just calling in to work, but I had an important meeting I didn’t want to miss later that afternoon. We waited for the next train and when it got there, it used a different set of tracks, which were clear of the trunk. (We saw the tree trunk as we passed by and men with chainsaws breaking it up into manageable pieces) The train, which usually takes about an hour to get to my work, took two yesterday because of the icy conditions and I didn’t get to work until 12:15pm. That’s 5 hours of traveling! Incredible. Could’ve flown to California in that amount of time!

I get to work, check my email, and the meeting I was so determined to make had been canceled. Some days it’s just not worth getting out of bed.

But look at how beautiful the trees look all heavy with snow!

2008

2008-01-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

So much happened since July of 2007 that I went from writing a blog post everyday to writing not one. In the interim, however, I did move from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Gloucester, where we bought a house. We did a bit of decorating, mainly removed the carpet by hand (ouch), had the floors refinished, had the house cleaned of all the dust, unpacked, had friends over for our first weekend in the house, had family over for Thanksgiving, went to Wisconsin for Christmas, and had friends over for New Years. Phew! I get tired just thinking of it!

But here we are. 2008. And to be frank, it's not starting out so hot. There are challenges I wasn't expecting, which have proved to be quite...trying. Nevertheless, I’ve got lots planned for 2008. I have a long list of projects I want to do for our new house (curtains, floor cushions, rugs) and some exciting plans for the website and shop (new books, textiles, totes and bags). I’m very excited to get started, although finding the time with a full time job, a part time job, and an hour and a half commute each way is…difficult, to say the least!

For Christmas, I got some great books from my family. I got the new Amy Butler book from my parents-in-law and it’s beautiful! There are a few instructions for how to make some of the projects, but not as many as I’d hoped. I guess I assumed it would include more project instructions than it actually does. But that’s okay. It’s still beautiful to look at and very inspiring.

My brother-in-law and his lovely girlfriend, Heather, got me the Amy Butler sew it kit which is nothing but instructions! It’s WONDERFUL and totally makes up for the lack of instructions in the other one. I will probably use them both together, one for inspiration and the other for project instructions.

My family also exchanges names every year and we all have to make that person a handmade gift. I drew my sister-in-law’s name last year and I made her a felt envelope clutch. It’s turquoise felt inside and brown felt outside with a pearly white button that has a black bird on it. Around the button, I felted three hot pink dots that add a burst of color to the bag. I of course forgot to take a picture of it before giving it to her, but hopefully my sister-in-law will take one and send it to me so you can see it.

I promise to keep in touch now that we're settled in to our house. Happy New Year!

Wedding books

2007-07-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

I'm currently working on a set of books for a wedding. The colors of the wedding are black, red, and white. The black book will have white on white floral endpaper and red flowers delicately falling over the cover. This will be the journal where guests can give the newlyweds advice.

The red book will have black flowers on the cover and the same white on white floral endpaper. It will serve as the guest registry.

I'm going to try something new this time with the stitching as well. It's coptic stitch, so the binding will be exposed. To add a little extra something to the books, I'm going to twirl black and white thread together and bind the book. I'll make sure to take a picture and show you before sending them off!

Wrapping

2007-07-30T19:02:00.000-05:00

I love wrapping gifts. I don't ever remember feeling that way during the holidays, but I think it's because I feel a bit...limited in my wrapping choices come Christmas time. Overall, though, I like wrapping pretty packages. Next Christmas, I think I'll be a little more free with my wrapping choices. None of this store bought wrapping paper. No sir-ee bob. People are going to get pretty, if not Christmas-y, packages. The above picture is of a current order that was placed in my shop. I hope she enjoys them!

Aaaaah the beach

2007-07-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

I got to go to the beach at Plum Island on both Saturday and Sunday a couple weekends ago. It was so nice! I brought snacks:

Reading material:
And my camera (this isn't my chair):
And just hung out for 3 hours or so each day. Very nice and relaxing. :) Too bad the water is so damn cold...

Whale watching 2

2007-07-25T19:48:00.000-05:00

I went whale watching today with my colleagues. It was a "team building" activity. I was really nervous, as you might remember, that I was going to get really seasick, but I was actually totally fine! I took 2 Dramamine tablets the night before and then 2 that morning and didn't feel the least bit nauseous. There were some people, however, who were not looking so hot. They had this slight greenish look to their skin. I felt so bad for them! Lord knows I've been there so many times. The key is to have Dramamine in your system since the day before. I've taken it just an hour before activity, as recommended on the bottle, but it does NOT work. At least not for me. I've always gotten seasick, but this time I was determined to not get sick! It worked.

Anyway, here are some pictures I took while we were out. Next time I go, I'm taking my nice Canon to take super close ups! The day was absolutely perfect too. We really lucked out. Check it out:

Manchester by the Sea

2007-07-16T10:34:00.000-05:00

Manchester by the Sea is this wonderful little town near the coast on Route 127 in Massachusetts. It's very quaint with this great, great, great, used book store. I could've spent hours in there! It's cleverly called "Manchester by the Book." I loved it! Definitely have to go back. It's also architecturally beautiful. Check out their library:

Isn't it gorgeous? This is the Historical Society, which is just as beautiful:

We walked around the neighborhoods, admiring all the beautiful houses and gardens. We bought lemonade from these little girls who were selling some in front of their house. Very cute! Only 30 cents too!! We finished off the day relaxing on a bench, looking over the water at all the boats and kayaks and admiring the beautiful tricks the light was playing in the sky.

I think I can get used to New England.

Blueberry picking

2007-07-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

We were driving through the countryside yesterday and saw a sign for blueberry picking so we stopped. It was a beautiful farm with hundreds of blueberry and raspberry bushes. They also grow blackberries, which I love, but they won't be ready for picking until August. We were given a bucket with a plastic bag in it to fill with wonderfully fresh, juicy blueberries. They are as sweet and tasty as they look!

We also stopped at a farmer's stand, which was selling fruits and vegetables. We got some sweet peas (sorry for that dark photo) and shelled them last night. Can't wait to have these!

Wish I was in Costa Rica

2007-07-05T11:25:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July! My husband and I spent the day picnicking, hiking, and napping at Bradley Palmer State Park (above). It was a great time. There were curious circular patches of grasses all over, which made for an interesting landscape. The grasses were as soft as pillows! Very beautiful.

While having our picnic, a friend stopped by to visit.

For dinner, we stopped at the Clam Box and had really good calamari, native clams, and haddock. YUM! The great thing about living in New England is all the seafood! I'm loving it.

It started to pour later in the evening, so we skipped the fireworks this year. Boston's fireworks are supposed to be amazing, so we were bummed to have missed them, but we can always watch them next year.

You may be wondering about the title of this entry. Well, my very good friend, Alex, is currently spending the summer in Costa Rica. She's there on an internship, but that's just code for having lots of fun! Here are some spectacular photos she's sent. Doesn't it just make you want to get on the first plane to Costa Rica???

Thanks for letting me post your photos, Alex!! We miss you!

Plum Island

2007-07-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

Saturday was absolutely beautiful here! It was in the 80s, sunny, and breezy. Perfect for a day trip! We headed up to Plum Island, which we'd heard nothing but good things about. The picture above is of a section of sand I found on the beach that was completely untouched and perfect. Isn't it serene?This is the beach. There were quite a few people there, but it wasn't crowded. It was nice. The water was making these beautiful ripples in the sand, but my GOSH was it cold! I thought my toes were going to fall off it was so cold! :)
Kurt had no problems with the temperature of the water. Neither did the little girl behind him in the picture. A couple seconds after I snapped the photo she did the splits on the water! Craziness!!Some of the rocks there had cool seaweed and moss growing on them.
Our next adventure? KAYAKING! I can't wait! We're not sure when we're going, but I can't wait to try it. I think it'll be a lot of fun.

Whale watching

2007-06-27T19:31:00.000-05:00

My work is going on an outing. Last year they went on a scavenger hunt. I love scavenger hunts, but I wasn't working there last year. This year, for my luck, we're going whale watching. Don't get me wrong, I have always wanted to go whale watching, and I am sort of looking forward to it, but I get horribly seasick. I'm going to start taking Dramamine about 3 days before the actual outing just so it's in my system. I'm also going to take plenty of crystallized ginger with me, which settles the stomach. I really hope I don't puke in front of my colleagues, though! It's not for another month and I'm already nervous about it! Any advice?

Rockport

2007-06-25T18:53:00.000-05:00

We went to Rockport, Mass, this past Saturday. It was nice. I liked Newburyport better, but it was still very pretty. The weather was spectacular too! There were tons of people sailing, (although this picture doesn't show it!) kayaking, and taking in the beautiful view. This is by far my favorite picture. The breeze passing through this outdoor hallway between two houses was unbelievable. It's the picture of serenity, isn't it?
Here are some other shots I took. A wrought iron gate at the cemetery.
A brook from these falls that eventually leads to the sea.A gorgeous pond...
next to this gorgeous field.
All in all a fun weekend.

Project-wise, I'm currently working on two books for a wedding. We're in the process of working out the details, but as soon as I start picking out paper and book cloth, you guys will get your first glimpse. :)

Friday flowers

2007-06-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

(tiny grapes)

Thursday flowers

2007-06-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

Wednesday flowers

2007-06-20T19:39:00.001-05:00

Tuesday flowers

2007-06-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

Monday flowers

2007-06-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

Maine

2007-06-17T19:26:00.000-05:00

Kurt and I went up to Portland to visit Kristen, my sister-in-law, this past Saturday. We had a great time! We left Portland at around noon, stopped in Freeport, then headed on up to Booth Bay. Magellan was too cute to leave at home, so here he is in quite an action-shot out the window.
Maine's waters are full of lobster traps and, as a result, yummy fresh lobsters.
Random shot of a church, but it looked so pretty against the blue sky!
We had dinner at the Lobsterman's Co-Op (I had steamers and corn on the cob-MMM; Kurt had a lobster roll sandwich and Kristen had scallops). We sat with our legs hanging off the edge of the pier, while keeping our eye on those sneaky sea gulls, who are just waiting to steal your food.
The nature in Maine is spectacular. Sometimes we felt like we were the only ones out there.

Speaking of nature, my next few blog entries will be of just flowers. Flowers, whose beauty I tried to capture with my little camera. Stay tuned.

Newburyport

2007-06-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

We went to Newburyport this last Saturday and had a great time! It's about half an hour from where we're living now. This little guy welcomed us to the town:

We explored the plaza and shops along the main street.
We had some awesome desserts at this little place. YUM!
And I bought some awesome shoes at this boutique. I have always wanted to have a store of my own just like this. Full of all sorts of treasures. The classes announced on the sign are for jewelry making.

These are the grounds of the Firehouse Center for the Arts.
And the marina. It was a bit foggy, but still pretty.

This coming weekend we'll be going up to Portland, Maine, to visit my sister-in-law. We'll be exploring the coast with her puppy Magellan. I'll make sure to take my camera!

Summery silk

2007-06-02T10:14:00.001-05:00

Had a bit of extra time a couple weekends ago and made my sister-in-law a silk scarf. She's into orange and pink combinations at the moment, so those are the colors I chose. After making the scarf, I reeeeeally wanted to keep it. :P (That wouldn't have been very nice, though)

It turned out really nice! I love how the tortoise shell design has the blurred edges.

Memorial Day Weekend 1

2007-05-31T19:52:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't been online much lately. I just started a new job, which requires an hour and a half commute each way and it's such a heavy workload I barely have time to eat lunch everyday! But I like it. That's what's important. Once I get a routine down, though, it'll be much less hectic!

If you're wondering whose adorable face that is up there, it's Bumper. We dog sat this last weekend and I FINALLY got a decent picture of him! This one's my favorite:Isn't he cute???? This is his mommy, Angelina:
She was refusing to look at the camera for a picture. You can just see the diva attitude! Finally, I had my sister-in-law, Kristen, hold her in a "pose". :)
Speaking of Kristen, we invited her to stay with us while we house/dog sat. It was a lot of fun. We spent the entire weekend eating and........well, basically eating! It was great!! Here's Kristen climbing a tree:

That's about as far as she got! hahaha :) We had a good time. I'll post some pictures of the gardens soon. (I promise!)

Hope you all had a good time too. What did you do?

MIA

2007-05-20T19:03:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

Sorry to have been gone for so long! I just started a new job and I'm still getting settled in. We're also in the process of looking for a house, so any free time I do have is spent at open houses. Next weekend, however, I anticipate lots of things to blog about because we'll be dog-sitting for Bumper and his mommy, Angelina (whose picture I haven't been able to take since she always runs up to the camera to sniff it when she sees it!). It should be a lot of fun. I also have all the napkins now from my classmates to show you! I haven't had a chance to take a decent picture of them, but as soon as I do I'll post them. I can't wait until I have a nice routine down so I can get back to blogging without feeling so frazzled! Hope everyone is doing well!!

Talk to you soon,
Jen

Buzzer

2007-05-11T19:29:00.000-05:00

When we moved into our apartment a couple of weeks ago, it had the cutest doorbell and buzzer. Unfortunately, my husband tried it out a couple times and the buzzer didn't seem to work well, so we called the landlord and asked him to repair it.

He did.

-sigh-

Only...well...words fail me, so I'll just let you see for yourself:Not quite the same, is it? It's missing...charm, character, EVERYTHING. Here's what we walk by at night:
My husband is so appalled at the choice for a replacement that he is thinking of buying another one just like it (since they still make them) and asking the landlord to please replace it.

What an eyesore. Or as my husband said, "It looks like a radioactive roach on the wall." Not the look we're going for, needless to say!

Gilding

2007-05-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my husband and I went over to a friend's house to learn how to gild. It was a lot of fun. I got there a bit early and just relaxed in their yard and back porch. It was really nice.

After toughing it out on the back porch, my husband and I went in and started learning how to gild. First you brush the sizing on. Be careful not to get any on the wall. Use a piece of plastic to hold up against the wall and protect it. Then you put the gold sheets on and tap them down with a brush. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of that part! But the end result is this:

After you get to this stage, you go over it with a cotton ball to get rid of excess gold and then go over that with a bit of varnish, to take the edge off. Otherwise, it's too bright. And you're done!

I also took the opportunity to take pictures of Bumper, but both times he just shook his head at me. "Hell no, you're not taking a picture of me!" you can almost hear him say...

But that's okay because he's the cutest and sweetest bulldog I've ever met! :)

Neighborhood yarn shop

2007-05-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

Went to my neighborhood yarn shop today and it was super super cute!! Although it's in a strip mall (not cute) and they play terrible country music (the type where the guy just talks, not sings, in this monotone voice sort of on beat to the music? yeah.....), I liked it. They had really good sales, but of course, I went with no project in mind. I still picked up this Rowan magazine which has 49 designs for 50% off. WOO HOO! :) I also got these adorable owl knitting needles. I couldn't resist. Aren't they super cute????

Apparently, they're handmade by a retired couple in Vermont. I really have to get better and faster at knitting so I can zoom through all these great projects and use my cool needles!

On a completely separate note, there's this man in our neighborhood who, I kid you not, pulls boxes on a little palate on wheels up the hill multiple times a day. I saw him again today and scrambled to get my camera to prove it to you. Here's the shot I got:
You can sort of see the box he's pulling in the shadows. Very interesting. I think I'm going to strike up a conversation with this man soon. He seems to be the type that will either tell you to bugger off or become your best friend! Let's hope it's the latter!

Have a good night, guys.

Plants and projects

2007-05-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

My plants seem to like it out on the sun porch. They're doing very well. I may have to re-pot a couple which are growing like crazy, but for right now, they're very happy!

On the project front, I'm binding a book for my husband. A book I started a while back, but hadn't had the chance to actually bind it until now. I have this week off before starting my new job on Monday, so I thought I'd get some half finished projects done. The book has a graphite gray cover and dark gray paper. I chose a gray, white, and green endpaper to keep the neutral theme going. I think it'll be a handsome book.

I'm back!

2007-05-04T08:58:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a looooooong several days, but it's finally over. Sort of. We moved from DC to just outside the Boston area this past weekend and it was very tiring! I packed like a maniac and then my husband packed like a maniac until we had it mostly done by Friday night (hence the dark photo).
Our friend threw us a farewell party on Saturday night and it was absolutely wonderful! We are very lucky to have such great friends. As the evening came to an end, we saw our friends grow a bit sad to have to let us go. :( I'll really miss them.

On Sunday, we went to see Bodies: The Exhibition with some friends. It was absolutely fascinating! We went out to have some Thai with them afterwards and then said our last farewells. *sniff*

You know, it hadn't quite hit me until that day. Until I realized that it would be awhile before I saw these people again. That I wouldn't be going out to Karma's happy hour that Friday for mojitos, that I wouldn't be joining our friends for Saturday night Ethiopian food, that I wouldn't have a nice long lunch in the sun with my freelancing friends, that I wouldn't drive out to the horse barn with my friend to see her horse, or hold great conversations with my book club girls for a long time. It was when we were in the car, driving back home from the exhibition that it dawned on me. As we passed all the wonderful monuments on Constitution Avenue, I just started crying (as I find myself now just writing this). This is much harder than I anticipated. Much harder than any other move I've made. I've gone from Wisconsin to Japan, from Japan to California, from California to DC, and never have I felt this intense sadness...

We went to bed that night feeling quite melancholy.

On Monday, we went to pick up the rental truck and a friend came over (the same awesome friend who threw us that farewell party) to help us move our stuff into the truck. It took us about 5 hours or so and there were three of us. Not too bad. We left the last few boxes and the bed for my husband and I to pack the next day. We took our friend out for some jerk chicken sandwiches and homemade fruit punch at Negril and drove him home. That night, we cleaned the entire apartment and then went over to a good friend's house for dessert. It was nice to just relax for a bit!

On Tuesday, Kurt and I get up early to pack up the rest of the stuff into the truck. We were hoping to be on the road by 10am. Noon rolls around and we're still at it!!! My gosh, what a difference one extra person makes!! We finally hit the road around 1:00pm to drive all the way to Boston. We got to our new apartment at around 11:00pm or so. We got the bed and suitcases out of the truck and crashed.

On Wednesday morning, Kurt's friends here in Boston helped us with the move. We had 3, count them 3 extra men and it took us only an hour and a half!!!!!! Unbelievable! If only they had driven down to help us in DC! :) We are very grateful for their help.

So here we are. We arranged the apartment as best we could to make it livable until we find a house to purchase. Here's the living room and the sun room so far. It's nice because we eat our meals out in the sun room and there's always a really nice breeze coming in through the windows. And then....then there's the "other room". Technically the dining room, which we've turned into a storage room...The boxes are piled up to the ceiling, but I'll be damned if I'm going to unpack all that only to repack it a few months later when we find a house!! I'd rather live with one "storage" room, thank you very much! :P
I'll keep you posted on our house hunt! :) I'm dying for a craft room!!

More Azaleas

2007-04-26T14:37:00.000-05:00

We went for a walk last night after dinner and I was able to get some pictures of the beautiful Azaleas in my neighborhood. Just look at all the colors!

There were some funky flowers too that I had never seen before:

And tulips of all colors!

I love this orange one:The Redbud and Dogwood trees were also very beautiful!

Springtime in DC. It doesn't last very long, but my gosh is it beautiful!

Azaleas

2007-04-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

This is a picture from the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum's website. It's here in DC and they have beautiful Bonsai trees. This one in particular caught my attention because right now the Azalea bushes are blooming like crazy all over DC. Unfortunately, I haven't been out with my camera to capture all those colors, but I'm hoping to have some time this weekend. Maybe... What with packing and getting ready for the move to Boston on Monday, we're very busy!

When we lived in Japan, we would always go see the Azalea bushes on top of Mt. Takine in the town my husband taught at. The entire mountaintop is COVERED with bushes that all bloom at the same time. It is spectacular! You could see the pink mountaintop from miles away. OH! Japan is a truly breathtaking country, it really is. Their respect and admiration for the beauty of nature is exactly what I wish we had in the United States. Maybe someday...

Hope you are all having equally beautiful springs! :)

Wooden spoons

2007-04-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

I like wooden spoons. The funkier the better. I don't know why, but they feel so nice and soft when you drag them across the bottom of a pan or bowl. And quiet. Steel on steel makes such a loud, unpleasant noise, that it's nice to have a soft wooden spoon to work with.

I guess that's all I have to say today...Weird, huh?

Can you pass me a napkin please?

2007-04-23T11:28:00.000-05:00

Made napkins this weekend. My classmates from my surface design class are all making napkins to hold an exchange. We'll each end up with five different napkins by the end of it. (It's a small class) I can't wait to see the others! I'll make sure to post all the beautiful napkins they make. Here are the ones I made:

I don't believe in white or light colored napkins unless they're only going to be used ONCE. Everyone knows they'll get all stained up and gross, right? So I dyed mine indigo with a simple shibori pattern in the center. I also mottled the indigo instead of making it a solid blue. That way, stains won't show up that easily.

I hope my classmates like them!

Best e-mail EVER!

2007-04-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

Remember the granny book I made? Well, I just got an e-mail from my client (her granddaughter) telling me that her grandmother had received the book and loved it! She even attached photos of her grandmother writing in the journal while enjoying her morning tea. Isn't that AWESOME?!

This is my client's mother looking at all the wonderful old photos. Apparently, she didn't know who the people in the pictures were either (my client didn't know). That must have been so great to learn all that family history!!

Isn't she just beautiful? :) There's nothing more special than to see your work making other people happy. Thank you for sending me these wonderful photos and allowing me to blog about this wonderful experience!

Swamped

2007-04-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

Swamped with work and too shocked and saddened by the Virginia Tech incident to really write anything...

Think warm thoughts...think warm thoughts...

2007-04-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

This is a picture I took in Puerto Rico last October when my husband and I went for two weeks with my parents. It was nice and sunny and waaaaaaarm that day. Exactly the opposite of DC right now...I'd give anything to be sitting in one of those chairs!

Felt bag

2007-04-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

I promised you a felt bag and here it is! TA DAAAAA. The picture doesn't do it justice. In person, you can hold it and feel how incredibly soft it is. I love it! It's mint green with a wispy soft white inside.

I picked just one color for the outside because I want to embroider flowers on the flap and thought it would look too busy if there were several colors going on with the roving. For the straps, however, I chose the mint green and a nice peachy color that matches nicely with the mint and white.

I made two handles. I can't decide if I should just attach them separately or if I should braid them (just twist them together) and then attach them. What do you guys think?

Doesn't the peach look nice against the mint?
I'll keep you posted on my progress with the embroidery. I've never really embroidered before, although I have all the materials, but I can't wait to try! I'm determined to make this bag look awesome! :)

I also picked up some more roving for another project. I want to roll it up (like the handles above, except thinner) and make it really really long. Then wrap it around my wrist a bunch of times and make an awesome bracelet!!! Won't that be cool? I'm still trying to decide how to connect the ends, whether with gold clasps from the bead store or what...Still have to work that out. This project may have to wait, though, until after I move up to Boston, unfortunately. Currently, I'm hoping to bind a book for my husband, make a scarf and a bandanna for some friends in Boston, and make that bag as my final project for my textiles class. ALL WHILE PACKING. I'm tired already...

Boston here we come!

2007-04-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

We're moving to Boston!!! You might remember that a while back, Kurt and I had gone to Boston for the weekend. Well, I was actually up there interviewing for a job. And I got it!! We're officially moving to Boston the first week of May. Kurt is already in Boston, apprenticing with an awesome painter for a month, so he went out and found us the cutest apartment! This is the living room here. On the far end, you can see French doors that open on to a sunroom type space that would be great for plants. We're really hoping to buy a house (cross your fingers!), so we don't plan on being in this little apartment for long, but it sure is cute!!

Needless to say, I'm here in DC packing. I seem to recall an article that said that one Chinese torture technique is indeed packing...it HAS to be. It is by far the worst activity known to man. When you realize just how much crap you've accumulated in two and a half years you get the urge to just push it all into a pile and burn it! Start afresh! Who invented this packing and moving thing anyway. I say we burn it! BURN IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!

...pant...pant...sorry about that...

A colleague of mine said that Boston has a lot of contact with Canada, particularly Quebec. That reminded me of the beautiful trip we took to Quebec last year. It was definitely cold up there, but very very beautiful. Just look at this blue sky!

Now that we'll be farther north, maybe we can go back and visit all those cute little shops again! Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of the new felt bag I just made!! Stay tuned...

Memories

2007-04-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

Yellow tulips. I love them. Fifteen years ago, when my husband and I went out on our first date, he brought me yellow tulips from his mother's garden. I still remember asking my dad to put them in water and turning VERY red in the process! I also remember how devastated I was when my mom threw them out without asking me first when they had wilted. I wanted to press them in a book, but never got the chance. Instead, I buy yellow tulips every spring to remind me of those beautiful beginnings!

Sleepy cold Monday

2007-04-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

It's cold. Really cold here. Cold as in "it was 80 degrees last week and now it's 40 degrees" cold.

So here are some pictures to remind you of the weather to come:

Sun-hot leaves...

Doggies who ask to go out and then ask to come in and then ask to go out and then ask to come in and then...you get the picture!

Babies on trees...

You can almost feel the heat of the sun, can't you? I can't wait!!

Arashi Velvet

2007-04-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

Pole wrapped some velvet to see what it would do. I had originally wanted to overdye it with a fading (darker to lighter) indigo, but I think the technique I used was not the best, as you can see! You can barely see any difference in the color. Oh well. Now I know for next time! But I took it off the pole this morning and it was soooo pretty!! It took the pleats just like silk does and has a nice fuzzy feel.

Here's the back (left side) and front of the scarf (right side of the photo).
The tips of the scarf. I always like the tips! :)

I'll be posting this scarf on my shop soon. So stay tuned!

Pretty DC

2007-04-03T14:57:00.000-05:00

One thing I love about DC is that there are so many flowering trees. Here's a cherry tree that has fully blossomed near my work. It's a soft pink, which you can't appreciate in this photo, but against the blue sky, it's gorgeous! About a week or so ago, my husband and I planned to head down to the Tidal Basin to see the trees, but they hadn't bloomed yet. So we ended up taking a picnic dinner down by the Potomac instead and watching the sunset. It was so nice. I love days like that.

The sunset became more and more purply-pink as it grew darker.

Guest Quarters

2007-04-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

I'd like to thank you all for your enthusiasm over the book! I'm glad you all liked it. To answer a question on how I did the gold stamping, I actually had to go over to the bookbinding studio near my house for that. They have a machine that looks similar to this one that heat and gold stamps books. I would love one of my own, but they are very very expensive. Maybe in the future!

Last weekend, my husband and I were up in Boston again. This time we stayed at a friend's house and they have THE MOST AWESOME GUEST ROOM ON.....probably THE PLANET! Everything was so gorgeous!

The lamps!The tables!The napping, I mean, reading nook!The embroidered cushions!
The fabric hanging from the walls!!!

And most extraordinary of all...the bed!!!!!!!They really know how to make their guests feel like they've died and gone to heaven in that room!

They also have two adorable Bulldogs, Bumper and Angelina. CUTIES! They never stood still for a photo they were so excited! :)

Die Walküre

2007-03-29T10:11:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine invited me to see the opera Die Walküre last night with Placido Domingo. It was quite an experience. The place was packed with elegant people dressed in long ball gowns and drinking champagne (albeit out of a plastic cup). Too bad we were dressed in our work clothes. It would've been fun to dress up!

My friend was under the impression that it was a two hour opera, but....it wasn't. (And I probably should've gathered that something was not quite right when we saw an elderly man get out of a taxi with a pillow in hand.) We arrived and took our seats and immediately started leafing through the program. Suddenly, my friend starts pointing frantically at the program. Speechless at what she was reading.

I look at where she's pointing and there it is in the fine print: The performance will last approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes. YIKES! The opera was to start at 6:00pm and we hadn't eaten dinner!! Not to mention that that was a long time to be sitting down in cramped little orchestra seats listening to opera.

At the first intermission, we ran to a nearby cafe and grabbed some sandwiches so our stomachs wouldn't start grumbling in protest throughout the performance. We washed it down with a mini $6 bottle of red wine that we shared. That certaintly lightened the mood. :)

All in all it was a lovely performance with amazing singers and set designs. Towards the end, however, people were getting up and leaving and you could hear more than one person snoring rather loudly (maybe the elderly man with that comfy pillow?). I think someone should've told Wagner that 4 hours and 45 minutes was just a tad bit toooooooooooooooooo long for an opera. I didn't get home til midnight and my dreams were full of people stumbling around singing soprano.

After last night, I don't think I'll have to go to another opera for, I'd say, ten years. I'm pretty much aaaall set. Thanks, my friend!

Textile Museum

2007-03-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

Went to the Textile Museum last weekend. There was a Magnolia tree right outside of the Museum. It was gorgeous! DC is really blooming! I can even smell the flowers and I've got practically no sense of smell! It's amazing.
The Textile Museum was founded in 1925, at which time you could only go with an appointment (lah-dee-dah :P). After the founder's death, however, this all changed and the number of visitors skyrocketed from several hundred annually to tens of thousands! That sounds much better, doesn't it?
The current exhibition is called "Red." My favorite pieces included this GORGEOUS dress with the off center neckline. (Excuse the dark photos. I refrained from using the flash in respect for the older pieces).

Another piece I really liked was this blanket. I loved the colors and the geometric shapes. That would look great on a bed, wouldn't it? There's a better picture here.

There was also a Berber headscarf that was very very cool. There was a "before" and "after" headscarf. When a girl enters adulthood, she is woven a cotton and wool headscarf that is primarily white (before). When she gets married, that same headscarf is dyed in a way that only the wool takes the dye, not the cotton (after). The headscarf is completely transformed! The dye reveals a gorgeous hidden pattern made with the cotton by the weaver. Absolutely spectacular!

It was a really fun day. And since it was so nice out, I was happy to be out and about enjoying spring in DC, which usually lasts a couple of weeks anyway before it gets SWELTERING.

Granny Book

2007-03-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

A while ago, I mentioned that I had been commissioned to make a special journal for my client's grandmother, who's 88 years old. She wanted to give her grandmother a special journal for her birthday where she could write her memoirs. She wanted 26 pictures interspersed throughout the pages of the book to make it more personal. I absolutely loved the idea and quickly set to work, choosing the paper and color combinations for my client to choose from!
She chose a beautiful blue silk linen book cloth and Japanese screenprinted end paper with gold accents. I added a turquoise and navy silk ribbon for the bookmark, which really brought out the lighter tones of blue in the linen. Before covering the book board, I shaved three edges at a slant (all but the spine) to give the book a nice rounded feel when you held it. Seems like a bit over the top, but the difference (shaving vs. not shaving) is amazing! I also chose a bright yellow linen thread to bind the book with.

It matched beautifully with the blue linen and the gold in the end paper!
Unfortunately, after I was all done, I picked up the book and it was incredibly wobbly!! :( The yellow thread is unwaxed, which makes a HUGE difference when doing a coptic stitch binding (as I found out the hard way). It works well with full bound books (with a spine) because you glue the entire spine in place before putting the cover on. But when the thread is the only thing that is holding the book together, unwaxed thread does not work well. I had to undo the whole thing and bind it again. (bummer!) This time I opted for thicker ply, waxed linen thread in purple, a color also found in the endpaper.

The purple looked pretty as well and held the book nice and tight, which is most important!

For the pictures, Kurt was kind enough (thanks, Kurt!) to lay out the pictures and turn them all from black and white and color into sepia tones, which I thought would look very nice with the antique white pages. I took the file to a print shop to get professionally printed and then evenly distributed them among the signatures. We attempted to put them in chronological order, as best as we could, placing our favorite one on the first page. Isn't that a gorgeous picture!?

As a finishing touch, I gold stamped Grandma's name to the front of the book.
This is the final result!

Farmer's Market

2007-03-26T13:38:00.000-05:00

This was a fun weekend. On Saturday we went to the zoo, which was my first time, but of course the battery in my camera died so I have no pictures of the cute baby panda. Bummer. On Sunday, however, we went to the farmer's market at Dupont Circle and that was a whole lot of fun. The flowers were GORGEOUS, but since we were going to be out for the day, I couldn't buy any without having them wilt on me before getting home. Here are a few pictures:

This last one is the coolest. I forget the name (of course, I'm horrible with names!), but it's gorgeous and has that huge bulb sticking out of the soil. I'll have to get one of these soon!

Also at the farmer's market was this awesome French bakery, where we bought almond croissants. They were huuuuge and FULL of yummy, oh so yummy, calories. We ate one each at around 10:30am and weren't hungry again until dinner time. Now that's what I call filling calories! :) We ate them too fast to take a picture, but I promise to take one next time to make you all jealous! :P

Ribbon bag

2007-03-21T12:05:00.000-05:00

My mother in law made me a ribbon bag for Christmas last year. It's so awesome I have yet to use it. You know how it goes. It's so beautiful, you're like, "uh...better leave it at home, just in case..." Just in case what? Who knows! But one day soon I am going to take it out of its tissue paper, fill it with my usual stuff (3 lip glosses and my wallet) and leave the house before I have time to panic.

You can see the beautiful stitching that attaches the ribbons. The zipper is one of those cool "hidden" zippers and the lining matches the overall color, orange.

The handle is a delicate pearly, satiny cord that tucks ever so stealthily in the sides of the bag. Very nice work, Janet! Can't wait to use it! :)

Woodgrain indigo

2007-03-20T08:51:00.000-05:00

Here are the final results of the smocking process. This type of stitching yields a "woodgrain" effect, which I'm particularly drawn to for some reason. This is the light cotton piece. It turned out really nice because the fabric was thin enough that I could get it to fold and overlap in certain places, creating a more interesting pattern.

The linen piece is much more even because the fabric was much too thick to overlap or fold. Apparently, it also took the dye a bit better than the lighter cotton since the color is significantly darker. You can see the sections where the needles were broken and the fabric remained unbound. Both pieces have a really great texture that I'm tempted to leave and not iron out. It would add a nice feel to the bag I want to make. I think I'd like the bottom of the bag (and a third of the way up the sides of the bag) to be oilskin and the top of the bag one of these shibori pieces. I really like the combination of indigo dyed shibori with oilskin. I've made projects using this combination before and have really liked how they turned out. Plus I think the oilskin will look nice with the bamboo handles and protect the bottom of the bag when I set it down. I'm picturing a bag that has an oval bottom and structured sides, like a bucket bag, but I've never made one like that before so it's all an experiment at this point! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Smocker

2007-03-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

Bought a smocker recently to inspire me to make cute summer dresses and to occasionally help me with some shibori stitching. It has 24 needles, which take a really long time to thread as I found out on Sunday! It's super fun though. They recommend you use light fabrics, such as silk organza or Indian cotton, but I decided to try my luck with regular cotton and linen, 'cause I'm stubborn like that. I started with the piece of regular cotton and noticed that it was quite a bit more difficult to turn the cranks than when I did the silk organza. But I continued stubbornly on!

Once you've got a bit of fabric scrunched up on the needles, you have to slip it off onto the threads to make room for more fabric:
Here's what the fabric looks like as it's being fed through the machine. I continued all the way 'til the end (since you can't really back up once the fabric is on the machine), scrunched it all the way up and tied the threads. Now it's ready for dyeing.

I went on to the next piece, the linen, which proved to be even more difficult to crank. But I trudged on and made it to the end. Unfortunately, there were some casualties. I broke three needles, which resulted in this funky piece. You can see that two needles broke side by side, which resulted in this slight mound of unbound fabric and then the third missing needle left that faint line running through the piece. Should make for an interesting dye job though.
Both of these pieces are to be indigo dyed and I'm hoping to use them to make a small purse. I bought some round bamboo handles a while back and now that spring is just around the corner, I'd love to make something with them!

Pictures tomorrow of the dyed fabric!

Rain rain go away...

2007-03-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

It's pouring rain here in DC. Not fun at all, unless you're snuggled up under the covers, which I most certainly am not, unfortunately. I am having a nice cup of green tea at work though. Bought a teastick recently that works pretty good. I definitely prefer my Japanese teapot, but since I'm at work, this is the more sensible solution.

I just bought this the other day and I am SO excited to wear it, but of course, I didn't want to get it soaked the first time I use it so I left it home today. :( It's gorgeous, though, and incredibly roomy. What will I wear it with...hmmmmm....I'm so excited. Hee hee. :) I LOVE bags (if you haven't noticed already). I definitely want to become the next stealth bag sensation! Stealth bags, since you probably don't know since you're not obsessed like me, are slightly expensive bags that are very well made by an unknown artisan. That'll be me someday...

Crafting plans this weekend include granny journal-making and possible tote. We'll see. I've definitely been anxious to craft, though, so hopefully that'll make me extra productive!

Enough rambling, now. Enjoy your weekend!

Maple Nut Scones

2007-03-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

I asked my husband to make me Maple Nut Scones this past weekend. They turned out VERY good. :) I'm glad he enjoys baking because I don't think I could ever bring myself to go through the trouble of making these!

Kristen posted an entry on Maple Nut Scones, which of course made me crave them. The post includes the recipe if anyone is interested in making them. They're topped with a maple flavored frosting that makes them extra good. Here are our frosting remnants. YUM!

I'm currently working on a book that'll have blue linen bookcloth and blue and gold Japanese screenprinted endpaper. It'll be a coptic stitch with antique white paper. I think it'll turn out very beautiful and I can't wait to have it done! It was a special order from a very nice granddaughter who wants to give it to her grandmother for her birthday. It'll include photographs of her grandmother's life printed throughout the text block. Very special. I'm glad she chose me to make the book for her. I'll keep you posted on the progress as always!

Boston

2007-03-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my temporary absence on the blog. We were in Boston last weekend, taking in the sights, meeting friends, and eating amazing Italian food. We stayed at this very cute hotel called the Kendall Hotel. It was gorgeous!!

The bed was comfortable (practically unheard of these days) and the entire hotel was decorated very tastefully in the country style. I loved it.

The bed had a pretty quilt and diamond waffle blanket. Under the diamond waffle blanket was ANOTHER waffle blanket. Now, let me just tell you, I LOVE waffle blankets. LOVE THEM. My best naps have been on a waffle blanket. I love how it feels and how you can snuggle up with it and how nice and toasty it gets. If I could have an entire set of sheets made out of the stuff, I would. Although that would probably leave nasty marks on your face in the morning, wouldn't it?

It'd still be worth it I think. I was ecstatic!!

And how ecstatic was I? I went to bed at 8:00pm one night and didn't wake up until 8:00am the following morning. IT WAS AWESOME! :)

Deconstructed screenprinting-Before and After

2007-03-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

Gotta love deconstructed screenprinting! This image is from a plastic placemat. I laid it down on some newspaper, screened over it with print paste, let the screen dry, and then used purple print paste to screen the image onto the scarf. It's a temporary image on the screen, unlike when you burn the image on in regular screenprinting, but it gives great results. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I didn't expect the image to be so crisp.

Last night, I over dyed it with blue to finish it up.

The blue really makes the purple pop, doesn't it?

This scarf will be up at the White Walls Gallery of the Corcoran Gallery of Art for a while. Afterwards, however, I may put it up in my shop, for anyone interested...

Ripplemania

2007-03-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

Seems like everyone is making ripple blankets! I am very tempted to start my own. It's all very simple (in theory). You just go to the stripe generator to pick out your blanket's color combination. Then you use your stash yarn or yarn you purchase especially for this project and get to work! The pattern is "soft waves" from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns by Jan Eaton. I'll have to buy the book, but I'm kind of excited about the project. I treasure comfy blankets, so it would be cool to have one I've made myself.

Alicia Paulson did a pale pastel version, which turned out very pretty.
Hmm...what colors will I choose?

Hurry hurry!!!

2007-02-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

This lovely puppy is a liver Bedlington Terrier. Unfortunately, not MY liver Bedlington Terrier. But it's the dog I want. My husband is allergic to dogs and Bedlingtons are not only adorable, but also hypoallergenic. We met with a breeder last year who has promised us a liver puppy. However, the female has taken a REALLY LONG time to go into heat and the male she was going to use was recently neutered! What crappy luck!! I am getting rather desperate for a puppy, let me tell ya.
This morning we saw a couple of ladies who always walk their adorable greyhound along the creek. Today, however, they had a new addition. A greyhound puppy! It was hilarious because the older one was just walking calmly along, while the puppy looked like it was on springs! She was so excited to be out! It gave me that I-really-really-want-a-dog-pang in my chest, that I'm assuming might closely resemble the pang that some women feel for children. Hmm...that's kind of scary... But just look at that face!!! :)

Pizza

2007-02-27T16:05:00.000-05:00

My husband and I went out for pizza the other night. This is a HUGE deal for me because I'm lactose intolerant and going out for pizza means I'm craving it so bad I'm willing to put up with the...consequences. Our favorite place is in Bethesda and it's called Stromboli's. We always get a large ground turkey and bacon pizza. I mean, if you're going to break the diet and go out for pizza, you might as well get the most awesome pizza, right? Well, this is it! Sometimes Kurt adds black olives to his half and I add brocolli to mine, but that's only on very special occassions. :)

Kurt was on his last piece when suddenly he starts eating it crust first! Very strange. He ate a piece of the crust, then went back to the bottom, then back to the crust...I had to take a picture:

Concerning crafts, I am suuuuper excited because I just got a mega, heavy duty paper cutter in the mail. I scored it on e-bay. I usually have to go to my local bookbinding studio to cut my textblocks so they have a nice and even edge, but now I have my very own desk top version. I can't wait to use it. I think I'm going to bind some books this weekend. Maybe some quarter leather or some larger versions of the candybooks. Hmmm....

The Baltimore Craft Show

2007-02-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

The Baltimore Craft Show yesterday was really fun. It's always amazing to see so many talented people all in one room. Glass blowers, quilters, shibori artists, wood turners, furniture makers, embroidery artists, knitters, jewelers, and many many more. I tried taking as many photos as I could, but believe it or not, I was rejected by some artists because they thought my only motive was to, "send my pictures to China to market their ideas and make a fortune."

????????

I couldn't believe it! After the third time I was accused of sending my pictures to China, I told the artist that I didn't even HAVE contacts in China. He said, "India, then?" And gave me this look of, "I'm on to you!" I was enraged. I decided to put my camera away before I said something I would regret!

Soooooooooo....on that rather strange and annoying note, below are pictures I was able to take. Amazing artists whose work I saw after putting my camera away, include Laura Hunter, Kathleen Lamberti, L. Oneill Design, Jonathan Winfisky, Jeung-hwa Park (my idol), Jane Sisco, Britt Rynearson, Peggy Loudon, Jerry Kermode, Cordwainer Shoemaking Workshop, Pat Flynn, and Messina Designs.

And now those forbidden photos...Just so you know, I updated my Etsy shop this weekend. My latest scarves have been posted, so I hope you're able to grab one!

Oh yeah...and...um...don't market the above ideas in China, ok? ;)

Cool new stuff and screenprinting

2007-02-23T11:42:00.000-05:00

Picked up this really great tablecloth from a local store here in Takoma Park. It was on sale for $19. I can't wait to have a studio with work tables so I can use it! It's a bit too small for our kitchen table.

I also got this cute door hanging. It's a row of soft little hens. It jingles softly when you open the door.

In terms of new projects, I'm working on a set of napkins! I first made a positive and negative image using black and white paper.
I then transferred that image onto a transparency and burned the image from the transparency onto a screen. Finally, I silkscreened the image onto the napkins, which I had previously dyed. Ta Daa!
I'm thinking of doing more with the napkins, but haven't quite decided what yet. Since this was my first go at screenprinting, I was focused on that and forgot to think of what would come next! I definitely want the rest of the napkin to have a contrasting pattern as well, though, so they're not just plain khaki. Stains will show up very easily on khaki!

Although I'm going to be busy tomorrow having a blast at the Baltimore Craft Show (can't wait!!! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures for you), I'm also planning on doing a shop update this weekend to include my new scarves, so stay tuned! :)

Dye Pots Part IV - THE FINAL RESULT!!!!

2007-02-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

Thank you for all the wonderful fabric suggestions! I loved the last two options: Etsuko Balance and Etsuko Scene. Very beautiful! This fabric is also GORGEOUS. It's from India and it's embroidered so it has a great textured look to it. Kind of pricey though...
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for! Last night I checked my scarves and they were completely dry (yeah!) so I removed them from the poles.

As you can see, the side that was hugging the pole is still the original turquoise or fuchsia color, while the side that was exposed to the dye is now purple or black. Aren't those wavy ripples awesome?

This unique dye distribution makes for a very cool diamond pattern once the scarf is opened.

They look even cooler on! The pleats in these scarves allow you to arrange the scarf any way you want. It can never look "bad" or as if you put it on "wrong". There is no such thing. I just threw it on for the pictures so that you can see that you don't need to mess around with it for a long time to get it to look cool. I did this twice for each so you can see two different possibilities:

I hope they were worth the wait! Let me know what you think!