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more adventures in booze

January 29, 2010 at 4:01 pm | In food | 2 Comments

oh, i do loves me some infused vodka. so after our trip to BevMo this week (had to replenish the liquor cupboard, you know), i put some new vodka to work.

i had some leftover ginger root to use, and thought i’d give it a try. a few choppy chops and glug-glugs later, ta-da!

ginger, meet vodka, vodka, meet ginger. you’ll be getting to know each other very intimately over the next week or two. let’s hope y’all get along nicely.

and what with the refilling of the booze stocks, i’ve been marking drink recipes in my cocktail books. and i’m making another shopping list, so i can pick up even more yummy bottles of stuff. one of this week’s purchases was a bottle of Sagatiba cachaça, which i’ve been meaning to try for quite some time now. and last night i made what is apparently a NEW drink, which i ended up enjoying immensely, and will share with y’all right now. i call it:

The Blue Cane Monkey

2 oz Sagatiba cachaça
1/2 oz blue curaçao
1/2 oz lime juice
1/4 oz blue agave nectar
3 dashes Regan’s orange bitters no. 6

pour all into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
shake the hell out of it.
strain into a glass.
enjoy it! really!

happy sunday – have some juice

January 24, 2010 at 7:54 am | In FO, crafts, sewing | Leave a Comment

i don’t know about any of y’all, but when blood oranges are in season, i make sure to grab some whenever i see them at the store. yesterday, the last few from the last bag i bought became a delicious (if messy/staining) juice. yum.

and finally, our week or rain went away so i could get around to shooting photos of the last couple of projects i finished.

first was this little brooch:

the bug is from a tiny barrette that would never stay in my hair. i glued it to a gray silk yoyo, added a couple of beads and a pinback, and now i can wear the little bug, instead of letting it sit in a drawer for another decade or so. i shot another photo of it yesterday that i thought would’ve come out better, with the sunlight and all, but it didn’t. not at all. so i guess i could have posted this last week after all. sheesh.

ANYWAY.

last weekend, i also finished sewing a kimono-style top, using simplicity 4134. since i’m a big fan of really long sleeves, i added a few (or seven?) inches to the sleeve piece, instead of going with the length as shown on the front of the pattern envelope. i ended up with sleeves that reach my fingertips, which is just fine by me. i can roll them up a bit if i need to.

the fabric is (once again!) something i picked up at IKEA on sale a few years ago. it’s cotton, printed with orchid flowers, and was meant to be a duvet cover. i think it makes a nice kimono.

i probably should have placed a tape measure or yardstick in the sleeve photo.

it’s pretty darn comfortable. a cord tie in from and another tie on the opposite side on the inside part fo the garment. i’ve only worn it lounging around home, but it’s been so darn cold and rainy out that i’d be crazy to wear it outdoors right now.

and i haven’t worked on anything else this week. so sad! i’ll have to rectify the situation this afternoon.

paint

January 9, 2010 at 4:17 pm | In FO, crafts, painting | Leave a Comment

i’ve been having a little fun with my acrylics.

that’s an 8″ square canvas. and wow, the natural light was really craptastic today. but what are you gonna do? i mean, BESIDES putting together a more professional lighting setup. heh.

stick a fork in it

December 30, 2009 at 4:24 pm | In non-craft | Leave a Comment

the year is just about over and i’m too tired to post anything remotely crafty. see y’all in 2010!

the new phone books are here! the new phone books are here!

December 6, 2009 at 7:40 am | In crafts | Leave a Comment

my box-o-stuff from the Craft/Crafty Chica Dia De Los Muertos Altar drawing has arrived!

paints and glitter and a book and shrine kits and papers and inspiration cards… yup, that’s a lot of stuff. it should keep me busy for awhile.

apparently the gift certificate included in the prize is being sent separately. i hope it arrives soon! because then i’ll have MORE STUFF! heh.

one more freezer paper stencil project

November 27, 2009 at 12:20 pm | In FO, crafts, painting | 1 Comment

a worn t-shirt, some freezer paper, acrylic paints and textile medium:

i figured out the design as i went along, and cut three separate stencils: one for the flowers, one for the stalks, and a third for the roots.

the white dots were made with a pencil eraser dipped in paint.

this from that

November 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm | In FO, crafts, embroidery, sewing | Leave a Comment

i started with this old lightweight cotton sweater that i purchased at some discount store eons ago:

and i turned it into this:

this week’s FOs

November 22, 2009 at 10:33 am | In FO, crafts, knitting, sewing | 1 Comment

well, technically, these are some of the last two weeks’ FOs, but, uhhhhh, i’ve been busy. or just tired. take your pick.

first, a hat knitted using skein remnants.

the black is caron simply soft acrylic, left over from the felicity hats i made earlier this year. the other yarns are leftover chenilles from years and years ago. i’m not one to get rid of craft supplies i can use later!

i pretty much winged it with the pattern.

and then there’s this:

i needed a little pouch that would fit my notebook and whatever writing/drawing implements i want to carry with it, so i sewed up a bunch of scraps and made this zip-top pouch.

the finished size is 7.5″ X 11.5″.

and it’s fully lined.

fits my notebook, fountain pen, colored pencils, and then some. and best of all, i depleted my stash by using only what i had on hand.

and now i’m off to do some more stash-busting!

gone but not forgotten

November 8, 2009 at 11:30 am | In FO, crafts | Leave a Comment

I’ve dismantled the altar, but took one last photo before packing it up.

as usual, i have about a million projects to work on right now. for those who asked, YES, i’ll be posting a skull-making tutorial, as soon as i can get around to doing it. uhhhh, so that should be sometime before dia de los muertos 2010. or maybe even in time for this year’s winter solstice! hee.

the DDLM altar is complete (i think)

October 31, 2009 at 12:33 pm | In FO, crafts | 3 Comments

yup, i’m about 99% sure that i’m done. i really should just say i’m done, and i’m keeping it simple and i’m not adding anything more, but then i might be fibbing. i may get a wild hair and add a little more later…

a little background before the rest of the photos:

this is pretty much an homage to my mom, who died last year, with a nod to my dad, who died just before i turned two. i included items that my mom enjoyed: scrabble, playing the lottery (the tickets on the altar are the number choices my mom pulled for every draw), gardening, gnomes, creative stuff (the wood carving on the floor is one made by her way back when), cribbage.

and yes, that urn in the back contains her remains. cremains. whatever.

the two buddhas on each side were hers – a happy one on the right, and “profound buddha” on the left. the fruits on the altar are a pomegranate (a nod to the greek mythology of persephone and the changing of seasons going on right now) and limes (which mom grew for years and loved). the keychain has the brass “bitch” fob that mom carried ever since i was a little tot, along with a copy of dad’s dog tag and our old abyssinian cat’s tag. the old black & white photo is from one of the happiest points in mom’s life – just after she married my dad. the other photo is from 2007 – not long before the cancer came back. she’s standing in her front yard garden and she’s smiling. that’s how i like to remember her.

and now, the photos: