A Cookie Gun.

When I moved into my house, lots of people unloaded their unwanted goods on me. Lots of "oh, honey, believe me you will need this." And I most certainly never did. But there seems to be some sort of bond between those who can pass down and those who now have the space. Most of these things I politely accepted and put towards the back of my cabinet. I mean, who doesn't need fourteen colanders? When my aunt passed along this pretty pink box, she said she just thought it would look good sitting on my cabinets. I never even opened the box. She was right! It did look pretty on my cabinet.

However, the other day (and after three years of living here!) I got curious about that pretty pink box and climbed up to pull it down off the shelf. Only to dust if off, open it up and find a perfectly functioning cookies press and decorator! All the pieces still in their proper places. The thing is absolutely spotless!

Tomorrow is my day off and I plan on squeezing out some spritz cookies in the spirit of the holidays. But I couldn't help but share the wonderful design on the box. The perfect L.S. Ayers price tag. And my wonderful find on top of my own cabinet.

It is a true christmas miracle.

Apple Crisp for the Cranky

For the past couple of days I've been....not my self. haha. Actually, I've been kind of cranky. Work is weighing heavily on my brain, I haven't been spending much time with the love, I have a show coming up that makes me shrink into a loathsome pool of worry. After cups of tea, reading a book and kissing the face of that pretty boy, I'm feeling quite better.

Oh, and this.
Yep, that's apple crisp. But not the kind you'd normally find on my mom's table after Sunday dinner. This actually turns into a big bowl of oatmeal with juicy chunks of apple and enough cinnamon to make you think of Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, and it has healthy things. Like apples and oats and whole wheat flour. I think I'm just making a case for its healthiness because I ate the whole bowl. But I cut way back on the sugar and butter and it was warm. And now I'm happy. Kisses, crafting and Apple Crisp. Today is a total ten.

Oh. are you hungry now? Here's the recipe.

Apple Crisp a la Laura

2 apples cored, peeled and sliced. Keep them chunky.
a sprinkle of sugar. Maybe two teaspoons.
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice

Put all this in a microwave save bowl and stir to coat.

2 cups oats. (I use the have to cook them kind. They are nutty and fabulous and I like that I can buy them in the bulk section. Who doesn't love a good bulk section of the market?)
3 TBS butter, cold.
2 tsp cinnamon.
3 TBS brown sugar
3 TBS whole wheat flour

Mix it all together with your fingers until it looks crumbly. Then spread it over your apples in your bowl. Into the microwave for ten minutes. When it comes out it will be bubbly and gooey and so good that you'll have to smile. Enjoy!

You should do this too.

Ornament exchanges make me really happy.

Goodbye, garden.

While I should have been inside working on product, I decided today was best spent outside. Seventy degree days just don't happen much at the end of October and I just needed to feel the breeze and smell that musty autumn smell.

All summer I keep a garden. It's all I can think about from February until May. I spend a good amount of time thumbing through seed catalogs, searching through gardening sites and mapping out what my garden will look like. This year was no different. Though, I should be terribly truthful, when the humidity of July sets in, I turn to my other obsessions and the garden does its thing and just grows and grows. However, I love to watch it. I love that I turn the ground and feel so connected when I feel the heat of the soil on the bottoms of my feet. It turns out that my garden ends up being one of my best friends. I can go out and unload frustration. I nurture it and spend so much time thinking about it that it becomes this living breathing thing I can relate to.

So, today, I picked the last of the produce. An enormous amount of bell peppers and brussels sprouts that are awaiting a date with the freezer and the frying pan. But there was a surprise amongst the weeds, one last watermelon. It wasn't a great growing season for late watermelons this year. It was wet and the heat never stayed around for long. It produced a watermelon that was waterlogged, but I didn't care. I sat on the embankment at the end of my garden with a knife and a watermelon, looking over a summer's worth of labor and the sun hitting the now orange maple trees at the front of the house and thought about this great summer.

And it has been a great summer. I learned that I can fix things on my own, that I really truly am good at my job. I learned to love better and to take care of myself. I saw trains and the ocean. I made new friends. So, I cut that last water logged melon open and said goodbye to one of my best friends for a season. I felt the now cold soil beneath me and knew it was time to go. Next week, the whole thing will be tilled under and my garden will go to sleep. Its such a feeling of finality that is both enjoyable and terribly sad. That watermelon was terrible, but I ate half of it in celebration of a job well done.

It is all a lesson in change and acceptance. By the time I was done feasting, the next round of cold rainy days could be seen headed for my little house. As the clouds covered up the sun, I knew it was time to go in and start winterizing. A little piece inside of me will just be waiting for spring. When I get cold this winter, I'll just close my eyes and think about my feet in the dirt.

Be patient and wait.

The Need to Organize

In three weeks I have another show coming up. It is small and hometown and I'm not entirely worried about getting a massive amount of things done for it. Though, I'm quite certain when the day comes, I'll have a whole list compiled in my head of things that I wish I would have brought with me. There will be a lady there who would have been the perfect purchaser of a sketch in my book. But it will still be a sketch in my book. Sigh, why do I procrastinate?

Lately, I've felt this huge need to organize. Everything needs a place. It is like I am nesting. Maybe it is the beginning of the cold and the approaching days of grey and snow, or just a feeling that I'm finally ready to begin with fervor. Every room in my house has been rearranged, properly put together. I still need curtains in the living room and back porch, but with a deadline quickly approaching, they are going to have to wait. I am feeling frustrated. I'll post pictures of my newly organized house soon. But, until then, have a look at my fantasy life:

Laura Normandin of Wren Handmade

atelierpompadour

Hitomi Kimura at Kalla Designs

Sarah Neuburger at The Small Object

Heather Ross

I just need to get to work.

The first weekend in October.

It is officially fall here in the Indiana heartland. Part of me rejoices in the sweet earthy smell of falling leaves and the ability to once again wear layers and sleep under blankets. The other part of me dreads the upcoming snow drifts, holiday hustle and gas bills. However, one thing gets me so excited about fall: The Cataract Bean Dinner and Flea Market.

Yes, every year the Cataract Fire Department cooks 700 pounds of beans over a wood fire in these enormous cast iron pots. They begin way before the sun comes up and most times the night before. Someone guarding the pots all through the night. People show up in droves to an otherwise backwoods, if you blink you will miss it, sleepy sleepy town. All along the road people set up their wares and hawk old tools and try to get you to buy a winter's worth of china made socks for the low, low price of 5 dollars.

It thrills me.

I always eat a big bowl of ham and beans and sip on a glass of tea. We walk past the general store that has been there since the beginning of time and then walk back to the car stopping to pick up a bowl of pumpkin ice cream. Every year, it's always the same. The same old ladies are making the cornbread, the same old men are sitting by the general store.

This year's obsession is old linens. And I hit the jackpot. This really sweet lady had a drying rack full of precious and absolutely beautiful linens that she had hand washed and ironed for this special event. I picked up a whole bag for the low price of 14 dollars. Could I be ANY HAPPIER? I think not.
I'm obsessed with the loop stitch right now that creates the flowers. So this find of an embroidered table runner nearly brought me to tears. It is inspiring in its simplicity and detail.

There are hankies and wall hangings and tablecloths. I can't wait to find a purpose for them all. I need to get back to my sewing machine.

I have to say that as inconsequential as it seems, this little tiny festival way, way off the main road is my perfect idea of a great Sunday afternoon. My dad spilling beans down the front of his shirt and getting to meet his first bus driver. Seeing people I'd met a million years ago and wondering how they got so old. Only realizing I myself am getting older. The smell of woodsmoke when you first park and your mouth salivating. The pure glee of getting warm in the sun after poking around some one's treasure stash in the shade. I don't think I would want to be doing anything else the first weekend in October.

cutting floor necklaces

After a couple of days break, due to the overwhelming cramming of crafting for the festival, I have re-emerged from underneath a pile of fabric and creative goo.

I'm back. The love says I am hitting on everything lately, and while I try not to brag on myself, I think he may be right.

I had a day off on wednesday and I didn't really feel like doing anything. The weather was rainy, my dishes were dirty, the pup needed a bath. But all I really wanted to do was watch an entirely too depressing movie and craft something.

So with windows open, kitten purring by my head, I grabbed my scrap fabric basket and went to work watching revolutionary road and making these snazzy new necklaces. Its a fashion trend, I am sure. I love them, anyway.

P.S. Don't watch Revolutionary Road if you are even slightly contemplating the direction of your life. It will make you want to die. Just sayin'.

Saturday Static (on Sunday)

louis capwell

Saturday Static is a day late this week due to my being at a festival this weekend (post to come soon!) It was a two day adventure, but today got rained out for the most part. ah, shucks.

But here is what I'm obsessed with at the moment:

1. I have a feeling that this store is going to get a lot of my paycheck. sigh. I love the way Ornamentea is just set up. And the fact that when I look at it, I'm just inspired to go do something. Anything really. My first purchase with be the Amazing Glaze. Yep, yep, yep.

2. I made this Tomato Tart when The Love and his mother came to lunch last month. And I think I may have made it forty times since then. Its the absolute perfect meal. Tasty, pretty, makes your house smell like you have a perfectly warm Italian grandmother. Oh, and its easy. The lady at Ezrapoundcake makes me laugh all the time too. Her sarcasm and love of food is just the tits.

3. I need a pair of red boots for the fall. I think I would wear them with everything I owned. No matter if they matched or not. I'm kind of excited about boot season. I really want these boots from the Toast catalog. I can't afford them. but I want them.

4. I'm a little in love with Laura Normandin. Her designs and creations at Wren Handmade make me want to go dress shopping with her, bake her cookies and live in the sunlight. She's just really fabulous. You should love her too.

5. I'm back on screen printing my own fabric. happiness. Its time for my mesh. WHO KNEW ORIENTAL TRADING CARRIED ART SUPPLIES??? gotta love crafty on the cheap.

The Wrist Pincushion

I've been obsessing over wrist pincushions for some time now. It brings up visions of being a "real" sewist. My hair in a ponytail, threads stuck to my shirt, scissors in hand, and....

whaa.....

no pins in my mouth!
Hark! Such a dream.

I'll be rolling a pin head around in my mouth and realize how unsafe that is. And wonder why I can't just put them in the pincushion. And the answer I usually come up with is because every time I move to a new spot, the pincushion doesn't follow me. So, here is the answer. A pincushion that I wear.
C'mon! Isn't it almost as cute as a fashion accessory as it is a practical tool? I barely want to take it off when I leave the house.

I looked around for different ideas for this one. But I found an odd similarity in most of them. When using a wrist pincushion, what stops you from pushing the pins in too far and poking your wrist to bits? Most would say just pay attention. But, I mean, we've all been in craftzoneland. Who pays attention? So, I decided to cut a square of mat board and fuse it to the bottom square of fabric, and voila! A pin stopper for sure. No pricked wrists.

The Scarf Obsession.

A lot of my childhood was spent visiting my great grandmother in a place filled with proper southern ladies. They had tea. They talked....gossiped, though none of them would ever fess up to it.

In her bedroom in her beautiful house in the middle of a cornfield there was an armoire. A big beautiful mirror she always hung her pink straw hat on. In the middle was a mirror bottomed tray that kept her beautiful bottles of perfume.

The treasure however was in the bottom two drawers. That's where she kept her scarves. Glorious colors and patterns of scarves. My cousins and I would put together beautiful gowns and Sunday outfits by safety pinning scarves together, only to make the rest of the family suffer through a fashion show at the end of dinner. It is my single favorite memory of being a kid in that house. Well, maybe a close second to her to die for cheese cake that tasted like a cream cheese cloud.

That's what started my scarf obsession. It has continued into my adulthood which is evident by the stacks of scarves in my closet. I've passed that obsession onto my five year old niece. She popped out of her front door the other day in an outfit that can only be contrived in a five year old's head. And simply stated, "Aunt Laura wears scarves, I can too!"

Today I made a fabric scarf I woke up thinking about. I'm going to make a million more. I kind of dig it. Go, Me.

Saturday Static

Saturday Static will be a list of things that are keeping me awake at night. Not just things crafty. But just things that make me tick.

On with it.

1. BIAS TAPE MAKERS! Oh, manna from heaven. I'm innocently watching a pbs quilting show, and what! In half a minute, there are yards and yards of lovely bias tape. My life has officially changed. Here is a great tutorial by Nicole Mallalieu of You Sew, Girl! You can buy a bias tape maker for next to nothing. And you will be addicted. Just don't say I didn't warn you.
2. Speaking of addicted. I can't stop staring at this etsy shop. Mountain of the Dragon, I love you. (and your pretty shop header.) Thank you for filling my boredom with dreams of swimming in a sea of fabric.
3. Hugh Laurie as Mr. Palmer. Watching it makes me laugh hysterically. And then fall in love.
4. Wet Plate Collodion Photography. Fascinating! Robert Szabo seems to be a real character. I want to hang out with him.
5. I'm planning a trip. Who knew something like this existed. A convention. for hobos. And its serious stuff. You need to read what the new king of the hobos had to say. He'd make a good politician.

The World of Linen.

I made something out of linen for the first time today. I was trying to explain using really good linen to my best friend. He understood.

It's like using roseart crayons because they are cheap and they work and you are just coloring someone else's picture in. But then, on your 8th birthday your favorite aunt buys you a real drawing pad and your first box of 96 crayons with the sharpener in the back.

Yeah, its exactly like that.

Putting the rotary cutter down on that first cut was like cutting butter. And then the sewing machine. Oh! the sewing machine...

You lay the foot down on that first line of stitches and you fall in love. I'm in love.

This is my first linen tote. And I'm super happy.

things I wanted you to see.

you missed the pink dogwood blooming. it was pretty.

the plowing of the back yard.

The elephant ear bulb.

I have a very alien plant growing in my yard.

very alien, very weird, very awesome.

things that inspire me.

I want to be like her. Just printing and living for it. How do you make that transition that this one thing is what I'm going to live for? Confusing. I really want this book. -the sail.

New Stuff

This is where we shall post awesome things.
Like a visual journal of our awesome.
totally.