Ribbon bag

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! :)

Kurt's Christmas Present Part II

Kurt's second Christmas present was a brush roll for his painting brushes. I used the same materials as for the pencil case but instead of a leather button, I used a leather ring (with I actually found at a bead store) and leather cord to tie it closed with. Unfortunately, the picture here is a bit dark and you can't see the ring that clearly, but you can sort of see it in the next picture. Here's what it looks like on the inside:

I really liked the way it turned out and it fits 20 brushes in total. This is the same pattern I used for the knitting needle case I made the other day. Very handy pattern, come to think of it!

Kurt's Christmas Present Part I

Sometime last year, my husband sketched out a pencil case he wanted for when he went out and sketched outside or traveled. Months later, when I was trying desperately to figure out what to make him for Christmas, I remembered the sketch. I looked through every scrap of paper in his work area (and believe me there are a LOT!) and finally found it! I made a pattern according to his drawings and started looking for fabric. I wanted to make it out of some durable material so he didn't have to be careful with it (that's no fun). I decided on canvas for the outside, which I hand dyed indigo using Shibori techniques.

The inside is oilskin that I purchased by the yard online. It's waterproof and if it gets dirty, you just have to wait until the dirt dries and then brush it right off. It's great stuff and really easy to work with. My friend, Alex, who rides horses and worked on a horse ranch one summer, told me that cowboys swear by oilskin. That just made it extra cool! :)

The pencil case has a flap that comes down to cover the tops of the pencils and a little removable pocket that holds his favorite eraser.

The eraser pocket attaches to the case with a magnetic button and the whole case is secured with a plain leather button that matches perfect with the oilskin. Kurt loved it!

Root Vegetable Soup

MMMMM root vegetable soup! I made it up the other day. It's really good and easy to make, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Serves 2-3 people

Fill a 3 quart pot, 3/4 of the way full with water and add the following:

3 medium sized potatoes
1 sweet potato
3 turnips
turkey or chicken (I used frozen, already cooked, left over Thanksgiving turkey)
1 chicken boullion cube
rosemary, salt, and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil and then simmer until root vegetables are done.

Later that night I also dyed a pashmina for my sister-in-law, Kristen. She had gotten it as a gift, but it was this horrible pale pink color. I dyed it a gorgeous teal that I'm sure will compliment her beautifully. I didn't even think to take a picture of the pashmina after I dyed it (sorry!) but I did manage to take a picture of the packaging.

I send all my Tomoe goods wrapped in paper and sealed with wax. I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo, but you can sort of make out the brown string under the wax. I love that. To protect the pashmina underneath, I placed a card in between, and stamped and embossed it with my awesome new bird stamp. Kurt, my husband, helped me a bunch with this stamp. He's an illustrator and can draw basically anything you ask him to. I told him I wanted a stamp of a cute, fat birdie and TA-DAH! He came up with this adorable illustration. He transferred it onto the block and I cut it out with a lino cutter. Very cool! Maybe I'll make an owl stamp next...Kurt, can you draw me a cute owl perched on a branch? :)

Tonight, after much procrastination, we're going to take down our Christmas tree. We LOVE our Christmas tree and hate to see it come down. It's been especially hard because here in DC it's been very very warm. I'm talkin' 76 last Saturday! It makes taking the Christmas tree down extra depressing, somehow.