Great Scott! (slurp)

I have decided that it is a huge waste of time to sit for an hour and pin things and then never use them. So to justify my Pinterest habit, I've been making an effort to go back through the pins I've hoarded and try the ideas. One of which is Ree's iced coffee. Holy smokes. I'm on my second glassful. You should see how fast I'm typing. My thoughts are so FOCUSED. My hair is actually standing on end. Not really. But I am wired. This stuff is so good, man. I am usually a hot coffee type of person, especially in the morning. But this. This transcends temperature. I highly recommend it.

I didn't want to buy a whole pound of espresso for the first attempt, so I went for the 10 oz package of Cafe Bustelo. Instead of 2 gallons of water, I used 1.25 gallons of water with it and steeped it overnight. Be prepared to wait for the filtering process. I used paper towels in my strainer because I didn't have cheesecloth and a coffee filter was way WAY too slow. With paper towels you can at least change them out after a couple of times so the speed picks back up again. You end up with a pitcherful of black gold.

She says (insert chuckling) that you can use skim milk instead of half and half to mix in. Hoo boy. That's a good one, Ree. As if. And of course I went for her Vietnamese version that has sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar. It's totally worth the splurge. Especially when your first sip through the straw is a glob of pure condensed milk. Bonus. Instead of about halfway up, I filled up most of the glass with coffee, then about 3 TBS sweetened condensed milk and then a splash of half and half.

What else? We've been getting back into our usual school groove after Michael's hospital stay. Not a huge amount of making going on at the moment. I'm trying to force myself to finish up some WIPs. It's not going so well. I have also been trying to organize things in my craft room so it looks less like a paper and felt explosion and more like a place to get something done. I love my felt organizer (otherwise known as a shoe rack from Target). Scraps go in the old Coke crate above it.

I did forget to mention that I was invited for an interview recently with talented Abby Glassenberg over at While She Naps. Abby has been doing a great series of posts on how to monetize your softie making habit. I took some time out to discuss cottage industry as it relates to my own pattern business. Go on over and check it out.

Thank you to you, no thank you to stones

I wanted to express my thanks to everyone for the enthusiastic response to the needle books and to let you know that even though this batch is sold that I do plan to make more as time allows. What is keeping me from making anything at the moment is a hospital stay for my sweet husband, who had surgery this week for a kidney stone the size of Rhode Island. Possibly a bit larger. We now have a keepsake jar of gravel fragments that the doc saved for us. I'm sure if I googled it I might find someone who makes crafts with kidney stones, which is why I am NOT going to google it. LOL. So anyway, thanks again. See you soon.

miscellany

 

image via Schoolhouse Rock

• Happy 235th birthday, land that I love. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Preach on, Thomas. Here's a link to an earlier Independence Day post. If you are a US citizen and you've never read the Declaration, why, this is a great time to fix that. 
• Speaking of the British Empire (no hard feelings), what would you do if you were a clueless colonist in London for five days this coming September? I need some tips.
• My swoopy plate wall was mentioned on Apartment Therapy (brief flourish of celestial harp music). Wow. Love that site. Thanks, Abby, for the tipoff.
• I think I may have a little problem with Netflix streaming. I'm kind of obsessed with it. I've completely lost interest in 'real' TV. I've watched all four seasons of Battlestar Galactica in an embarrassingly short amount of time. Now I'm on MI-5. All this good TV that I didn't know existed. Evil, evil Netflix.
• I've never had such a terrible dry spell at the library. Every likely book I check out is so lame. I've taken to just grabbing books off the shelf at random and crossing my fingers. You guys reading anything good?
• On the homestretch with the Gramma Wolfie doll. Yeah, yeah, you've heard that one before. I have made several prototypes that will be going in the shop soon, because I don't really need six Gramma Wolfie dolls in my studio.
• My hair is getting really long. I'm at that critical juncture where I'm thinking, 'is this too long for a 40ish woman to get away with?' What is the standard with that? Is there a standard? I could always just keep it up in a granny twist. Which I do 90% of the time anyway. I have a permanent sore spot on the top of my head from the clips.
• Stay tuned toward the end of this month for a Kids' Crafternoon blog tour and giveaway!

enough about you. let's talk about me.

If you would like to know more about what makes me tick and get in on yet another giveaway (yes, I know, you are thinking it's almost too many giveaways and enough with the giveaways already), visit SewSpoiled's blog for her interview with me and then enter the giveaway for four chances at a Baby Binky Bunny Pattern! If you already know that I'm kind of a crafting loony, then you can skip the interview and just enter the giveaway. Feel free to taunt me in the comments.

P.S. It's the last two days for the HAPPY3RD coupon in the shop! Be sure to take advantage of the 20% discount before EOD tomorrow.

ads available

As you can see on the sidebar, I have some ad space that is now available on my blog. It might be a great opportunity to promote your business to an (awesome) audience of creative folks. If you would like more information about advertising on mmmcrafts, go to the new 'advertise' section on my header.

lovely lovely weekend

My (now) traditional shot of myself eating a hot beignet and sipping cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde on the way to the airport with my bosom bud, Robyn, and her three little budlings. My ever wonderful husband sent me down solo to see her this past weekend and we had a great time together. I'm such a lucky girl.

There was much talking (or visiting, as we say in the South), drinking of coffee, sitting on the patio watching her kids play, eating of fantastic foods (she is a truly gifted cook and makes almost everything they eat from scratch), shopping (trying on fantasy dresses here and here), fashion and pattern sewing consultations, and of course, some crafting.

I so try to be polite and wait to go in her craft room until I'm invited, but I can't ever seem to swing that. As soon as her back is turned I sneak in there to see everything. There is an entire bookcase filled with delicious fabrics and another bookcase filled with craft books. I think the whole time I was there I had a craft book in one hand and a fork in the other.

I'll show the crafted stuff later and also I'm trying to get Robyn (pretty please) to take some shots of some of her decor to show you (I didn't have my good camera with me), but for now, there is a new feature for you if you prefer to subscribe to the blog by email instead of a reader. Look for the new link on the right sidebar, over there >>>

blog revamp

Blogger has come out with some great new templates and a cool new interface to edit the design. Thanks, Blogger! So I took the opportunity to spruce up the ol' blog around here. If you are looking for the old list of tutes and printables in the sidebar, they are now located at the top in the tab row just under the header, along with two new pages, a gallery and faq.

If there is a question you frequently wonder and it is missing from the FAQ let me know! I'll certainly attempt to answer it and I may add it to the FAQ.

hold please

Hi. This is the last you'll see of me this week. I have something wrong with my back. I think woodpeckers might have moved in. Or possibly a small porcupine wearing cleats. I'll be concentrating on getting well and crafting is not happening for the next little while. Go make something and then blog about it. I'll be happy to live through you!

Update: no invading woodland animals, just two bulging disks. I'll start PT soon, and thanks for all of your good wishes!

what I'm up to

1) waiting for some sunshine, please.

2) when the sunshine appears, I'll take a photo of this, altered into a tunic.

3) hopefully by then I'll also be able to take a photo of my new dress currently underway (same pattern), which will {fingers crossed} fit better and be something I can wear. In public I mean. I seized this opportunity to try adding a lining also, which turned out pretty good.

4) I am also still practicing crochet. One day I want to make something as beautiful as this! Or at least a scarf.

5) I did some thrifting the other day to find the girls some spring clothes and came home with a bunch of fabric. From which I can theoretically make them some clothes. I mean I couldn't just leave it there. Could I? *snort* Heck no! I'll snap some pictures of that too.

6) The Holland Academy for Young Ladies is in full winter swing here. My five year old is learning to read, and doing a great job reading aloud. The only drawback is she reads only in the voice of Sid the Sloth from Ice Age. My seven year old daily laments being born to write in English, which surely must be one of the weirdest languages in the world*. I just have to continually smile and say, "Nope, it is not spelled at all how it sounds. It's crazy, I know."

*Which brings up the random memory of my chagrined dutch friend Anette exclaiming after she offered me a piece of gum, "It is DentEEN? DENTEEN? But WHY do they spell it DENTYNE when they want you to say DENTEEEEN??" Why indeed, Anette. Why indeed.

misc.

1. It is now officially my favorite time of year. And these are my favorite fallish shoes. If I can ever get over my mental block for dressmaking, I have some nice fabric for a dress to go with them.
   
2. Guess who's birthday it is todaaaaaaay? That's right, my bosom friend and crafting comrade, Robyn. Go wish her a happy day! Mystery Package is in the mail, Bob.
   
3. I just made a little zippered pouch using this very well-done tutorial on flickr. Super easy, and also super good because she uses french seams. No ravelly insides. And then you can transform that into a boxed pouch using the last few steps of this tutorial, if you like. Methinks I need to make more pouches. But first I need to buy more zippers. And don't make the same mistake I did by accidentally sliding the zipper pull off the teeth during construction. That is a total booger to fix.
4. Still holding strong on resisting the germ cloud at my house. Today I'm getting out of the house for the first time since last Friday. Yay! Gettin the first train out of Hermitville. Oh, yeah.
   
5. I just finished a fascinating book, Wedlock, The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore by Wendy Moore. Ok, I have to confess I rarely read non-fiction. I just need the escape that fiction provides. But I picked this book up on a whim at the library and it was riveting. It's the true story of the ridiculously abusive marriage of Lady Strathmore in Georgian England and how she finally managed to escape with the help of some servants. Extremely interesting look at that time's view of women's rights in marriage.
6. Robyn turned me on to a great site if you are teaching your kid how to read. Thing 2 really loves it.
7. I'm enjoying Arrested Development on DVD. I've never watched it before, and it is funny.
   
8. Happy friday to you.
   

10 things about me

at Cafe Du Monde last year, doing what I do best:
Eatin stuff and drinkin coffee.
(btw, that's powdered sugar, not foam. if you've eaten
a beignet there, you'll know.)

Some unweird and also totally weird stuff you may not know about me.

1. I'm turning 40 this year. Wow. I said it. But I still can't believe it.
2. I still have trouble telling right from left. I figure at this point, it is pretty much hopeless.
3. I am a teensy tiny bit of a perfectionist, at times. Or you perhaps did know this about me.
4. I'm not good in a crisis. If it is mine, that is. If it is yours, I'm very businesslike.
5. I don't watch the news.
6. I have unexplainable reservations about getting flu shots. I've never gotten one. My dad is pelting me with swine flu propaganda right now.
7. I fantasize a lot about hiring a live-in Alice-like housekeeper.
8. I love a stick shift, and actually prefer that to an automatic. However, I can't parallel park to save my life.
9. I have a pathological hatred of mosquitoes. At night if someone holds my front door open to say a lengthy goodbye, all I can think about is 'crud, they are letting in a bunch of blood sucking mosquitoes.'
10. I've never cleaned my sewing machine. Or behind my stove or washer. And I'm ok with that.

Ok! Now that you've peered into my soul, I'm going to take a week-long blog hiatus. I'll see y'all after next week.

P.S. If there were a number 11, it might be: A pet peeve of mine is when someone (usually an actor) uses "y'all" to address only one person. It's plural. You all.

home again home again, jiggedy jig

hey, I'm back! And I brought an extra person with me, my sweet niece Raven who has come for a summertime visit. Summer is cool that way.

Tomorrow we have a Wacky Wet & Wild Party to attend with all the other summer-drunk kids from our church at my {brave} friend Leesa's house. As I understand it, it involves lots of water balloons, whipped cream, lemons (?), tennis rackets, eggs, and other mysterious items. I think a change of clothes will be necessary when it is all over. I like the tagline on the invitation: "Stay dry and we'll make ya CRY!"


I had a little visit to Anthropologie when in H-vegas and came away with some treats. I have been lust--er, really liking this sugar bowl for a while and I broke down and got it. Oh, Grapefruit Sugar Bowl With A Bluebird On Top, why do I like you so much? I begin to see a theme here, as TMBG's Birdhouse In Your Soul is one of my favoritist songs. (Nerd Alarm sounding)


And how could I resist this seat cushion on the clearance rack? It exactly matches my placemat couch pillow so I needed it for the desk chair in the living room. My mom gave me the Stinkeye when she saw it in my bag. Which means "Score!". Too bad, Mom, only one available. Love you, Mom.


And this. It was on clearance too. And it fits like a dream, which is unusual for me because of my freakishly short waist and long arms. However. I am not sure if I am generally hip enough to pull off this granny sweater look. It may just end up making me look like, well, a young granny.

In other news, I've been having some pesky health problems and have had to cut back on my coffee consumption. Oh, the pain. Oh, the injustice of it all. I mean come ON. My whole self rebels. My husband gives me the Look when he sees me make for the coffee machine in the evening now. I guess nearing 40 means I can no longer get away with staying up until 2am a few nights a week with my hair on fire and a hot mug of inspiration in my hand. Time to pay the piper, as they say. I wish the stinkin piper would take his money and leave.

crafting on the go

I'm currently staying with my mom in Huntsville, where you can fry an egg on your forehead. This past week I've been here for the VBS at her church (which is wonderful) so my girls have been having a lovely time between that and crawling all over their cousins.

I haven't been to exercise class in a week and a half, so that is going to knock me flat when I get back home, no doubt carrying an extra 5 lbs to lose as well. My family and delicious food have a very close relationship. We seem to be unable to socialize without something in our mouths.

I actually brought my sewing machine here with me, along with a stack of fabric in the hopes of knocking out a few Projects. I've been working on some new things for Asher and I might get to something else before we go home on Monday. I'll post about those at some point.

I think I spent longer pondering what fabric and notions to bring than I did on packing my own clothes and the girls'.

See y'all again next week. Have a stupendous weekend.

installing...

My husband installed the kickin new hugemongous hard drive this morning, and I'm currently slogging through the endless number of installations and updates to bring my Precioussss back to life.

I'm also crossing my fingers as I look at the unplugged external drive and wonder "oh valuable backup, how old art thou?"

see you soon.

do you know...

Do you know you can easily search this blog? Blogger provides this built-in handy tool, but sometimes it is hard to see and a lot of folks can overlook it. It's at the top left of the blog and looks like this:


This comes in real handy when you do not know the date of a particular post, and you don't feel like trolling through a bunch of entries to find something. I use it myself on my own blog quite a bit, when I'm looking for a post I did way back when.

Do you know you can subscribe to this blog and many others you read, and be automatically notified when a new post is published or even when comments are posted, via several blog reader services? I have a handy link for that in the right hand column under the words "Subscribe To:".

Do you know that if you can't see enough detail in the (tiny, horribly compressed) pictures within the posts, that most times you can click on them and a bigger, clearer picture will open?

Do you know that when I reply to your comments, it is posted in the comments themselves? Time does not allow me to reply to each one, but I do try to answer any questions and welcome newcomers, and also offer (hopefully) witty comebacks to you comedians out there. You can click the option to receive responses when you leave your comment.

Do you know how much I truly truly appreciate your comments? I love reading them all, and they keep me so motivated and encouraged. You really are a swell bunch of people, and I like ya.

Do you know that if my youngest child can stop throwing up, I'll be out of town to visit my family for a long weekend starting tomorrow? So my shop will be closed for those few days, but will open back up when I return home on the 30th.

Lastly, just a note to say I've updated the Molly Monkey pattern, so if you already have this pattern you might consider getting the latest. The instructions are updated to embroider the face first before sewing the face piece to the head, and also the pattern itself is now one 9-page PDF file, instead of 9 separate files. Yay!