craft randoms

some randoms related to crafting,

an actual craft, for ashley a postcard painted moleskine:

convo with my marisa about CRAFT WARS! Enough said,

ashley and i shopping at michael's, yeah, she go the rolling basket...ridiculous

oh and the glitter selection. 

because really, you need different textures for different things...

keep crafting.

xoxo

in case you missed it

ashley has a tumblr about biking, because you know, she won one, because she is that cool. 

So this means bikes are a much bigger part of my life... no she still hasn't taught me how to ride one, but that would make for a hilarious photo series, please no video. 

But yes, pretty bikes and general bike things are around me all the time now, so I take to noticing them more too.

Like this t-shirt: 

yeah, pretty ridiculous. 

Or this actually confusing sign:

We live in a pretty bike friendly place, but maybe not this street so much...so strange.

i hope i don't fall too much during this learning process, 

can't i just have training wheels like the good old days?

xoxo

settlers of cake-tan

It was Jonathan's birthday and so of course I made a cake.  A while ago he asked if I could make a settlers of catan inspired cake, so clearly this would be the time to make it happen. 

He also requested a funfetti cake so 2 become 1... 

oh sorry, not time for spice girls, back to cake.

One box of funfetti makes two rounds. 

I made the frosting:

12 T butter, 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 t vanilla, 1/4 t lemon juice

I kept some of it white and added sprinkles to keep the funfetti going and used it in between the layers:

 

Then I cut off the sides into the appropriate hexagon shape,

I added some blue food gel to the remaining frosting and coated the cake a few times:

Finally I made some royal frosting (I just use the recipe on the back of my meringue powder), colored it  the colors of the tiles in the game, and got to work making many mini hexagon pieces for the top:

ta-da!

(yes there are both initials and the name because i originally didn't think i would have enough frosting, but then i did...)

xoxo

squash of course

in blossom form though and so good.  

We got some squash blossoms in our CSA last week so I stuffed them with a combo of ricotta, goat cheese, and basil, dipped them in some egg and then flour and pan fried them to perfection:

Oh, and I had a little extra filling mix so i just rolled that in the flour and pan fried as well...yeah.

so delicious.

xoxo

nashvegas for the win

So, we finished the core exam and needed to hit the road, so Ashley, Shira and I set out for the lovely, Nashville.  

It's actually a good eight hour drive for us and unfortunately we couldn't take that much time off, so we had a short adventure.  After getting in we set out for the main point of our adventure: 

hot chicken at Prince's. 

Hot chicken you ask? oh yeah.  basically really spicy fried chicken. No really spicy. And so delicious. 

After being overwhelmed with joy we had a fancy drink at patterson house. It was pretty awesome after a we got passed the snooty host.  The service was awesome and the drinks were delicious and fancy.  A recommended location for an intimate cocktail experience.

And who doesn't love a spherical ice cube??

We rested up and then took Nashville by storm on Sunday, starting with brunch at Mad Donna's, which was filled with delicious food and the best bloody mary bar ever.  ever, people.

Post brunch, we headed back to the center of town and to the country music hall of fame and museum.  It's not a cheap way to spend an afternoon, but a pretty excellent one. If you enjoy some bluegrass and/or country music, it's a must-see.

Some of the awesome posters from Hatch Show Print:  

And some love for Dolly, of course:

As well as a little bit of everything else:

Really, it's awesome.  You should check it out. 

After a few hours of soaking it all in, we explored the rest of Nashville, including the Historic East End with records, vintage shops, and ice cream.

Yeah, some old bike pedals, if you need them:

And of course, a butter lamb mold!!! I can't handle it.  This is our thing apparently...

Unfortunately, it was only half of a mold, so we passed it up.  I'm pretty sure we will run across another one soon enough.

Some of the fun flare of Nashvegas:

And awesome ice cream of course:

After the afternoon fun, we stumbled into a good old townie bar and happend onto some good live bluegrass.

We then headed to a fabulous bar, no. 308. 

We loved it here.  Way too much.  Five hours with great new bartender friends, two-for-one drinks, shots (i know), and some food, because that seemed like a good idea...

Oh yeah, just look at this place:

I could kind of live here.

Oh and then we decided we had to leave while we still could and headed to find some more music at the station inn.  A good old local bar where people just play some great music, in a straight-forward bar:

Monday we grabbed some coffee and hung out at Hatch Show Print before driving home. I want a job here, fyi.

Yes, it was a lovely brief getaway and introduced us to the lovely city of nashville.  

xoxo

ps. see you soon nashville, very soon please.

shark week

Well, for starters, it's shark week, so it's only appropriate to have a related post.

Now, to be fair, this item was crafted a long time ago, but for some reason is just now getting posted (perhaps because I was waiting for shark week, but that's really unlikely)

Anyway, Jonathan requested a toiletries bag.  aka a pouch. 

You should know by now that is basically all ashley and i ever make, so it worked out well.

I went to the fabric store to get some especially ridiculous fabric. I was really hoping for some superhero but there was none to be had. Jonathan voted sharks over spaceships so I got to work. 

Supplies:

Fabric

Interfacing

Plastic,  I just used the same material I had leftover from the sandwich pouches, obvi.

What else?

Oh a zipper, thread, machine, and cutting mat; rotary cutter if you have it 

(i'm currently obsessed with mine)

What to do:

So, to get started cut two pieces of fabric, two pieces of interfacing, and one piece of plastic to the same size. The fabric should be an extra 1/4 inch-wide around. 

Cut to whatever size you would like your pouch to be.  I was making a small one so I think I did 10x12. You will need about an inch on either side of the zipper.

Apply interfacing to wrong side of fabric (follow your directions)

Then, line up your pieces so you have the fabric side on bottom (with right-side up), followed by the plastic, and then topped with the other fabric piece facing the wrong-side up.

Then sew up the two long sides together and flip rightside out:

Next pin the zipper in and sew:

Flip inside out again and sew up the sides, and then the other side of the zipper into the last open side:

I had to finish the last inch of the zipper by hand since it was so thick with the double fabric and plastic

Ta-da! 

ready to be on the go!

xoxo

summer salad

this was made a while ago, but it was delicious if i do say so myself:

watermelon, chickpeas, cucumber, feta, lemon vinaigrette. 

winner winner summer salad (so the rhyme doesn't work so well there...)

xoxo

rant/rave: cake cheaters

I'm tired of it. It's cheating. 

That's right people, I'm talking about cupcake cakes.

Don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes, and I love decorated baked goods.  But don't be lazy about the whole thing, don't just put some cupcakes next to each other and call it a day.  Take the time to make a proper cake and decorate it, properly! Alternating red and white cupcakes do not produce a lovely candy cane, they produces red and white cupcakes next to each other.

Try again people. Next time with some effort. 

xoxo

pillow talk

So, last crafting from the day-before-exam-craft day: pillow time.  I had made one a while ago, and then made this one to match.  It's inspired from a design sponge post on reverse appliqué and the current trend of chevron. 

I used the same teal fabric that matches the other pillow (below) and a dark navy to match a couple other pillows in the living room.

I pinned the two pieces together and used the fold lines to stich diagonals:

Then, I switched directions for the next panel, and so forth:

I then cut out every other strip to reveal the navy underneath:

I trimmed the edge and sewed (inside out) to another piece of the teal.  

Stuffed and sewed up the bottom! Next to the other one that I screen printed:

How did they turn out? Well just ask Jonathan. He says (and I quote): "They do a good job of providing a cushion for the head. They are neither too firm nor too pliant, providing an adquate amount of support for either napping or watching television."

Yeah, we're ridiculous.

xoxo

yes, a third post indeed

about giant bananagrams.  It's just so awesome, it deserves it.  But this time it's for the giant banana. You know, because you need a giant banana to hold the giant bananagrams. 

And apparently there is no template for a giant banana? Ridiculous.  I made do.  I picked up a yard and a quarter of (banana) yellow fleece. 

Then I folded it in half length-wise and trimmed off the corners like so:

I sewed up those edges and then sewed two lines, one on each side so as to create a seam on the outside, and the look of a ridged banana:

Then I added a zipper:

And sewed up the rest of the top:

Giant banana:

Giant banana filled with bananagrams:

ta-da.

now we are ready. (though it does need a strap...)

xoxo