kaleido-something
August 24, 2007 at 4:18 pm | In crafts | Leave a Commenti wanted to figure out a way to take pinhole pictures with my digital camera, but it turns out it’s way more work than i wanted to deal with today. sometimes i miss high school photo class and the pinhole cameras we made from quaker oats containers. oh, and having access to a fully-stocked darkroom. *sigh*
instead, i made a doohickey out of paper, popsicle sticks and tape to hook-up my cheap-ass little kaleidoscope to the lens of my digital camera.
then i snapped a few photos of things on my craft table.
this should keep me busy for awhile.
hello, breakfast
August 24, 2007 at 7:08 am | In food | 2 Comments
inspired by Heidi’s post at My Paper Crane on monday, i made raspberry crumb bars. i even made the same modifications as she did: Earth Balance spread instead of butter, jam instead of pie filling and no hazelnuts. i used 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of spelt flour. that made it kind of hard for me to tell when the crust was properly browned, but it all worked out.
and how! nom, nom, nom. we ate some as a pre-dinner snack yesterday, then i packed up a few for my husband to take to work this morning. i’m wondering whether we’ll have any left tomorrow or what. i guess i can always make more!
repurposed art
August 19, 2007 at 2:11 pm | In crafts, green, painting | 3 Commentsi bought these two prints at michael’s several years ago, on super-clearance sale:
they’re 7.75″ X 9.75″ and printed on 5/8″ thick particle board. i figured they’d be good for hanging in the kitchen, in the big blank spot over the sink. and they were, until i got bored of them. plus my husband thinks they’re creepy, and i guess i can see his point. instead of giving them to the SalArmy or Goodwill, i thought i’d repurpose the boards.
first, i covered them with several layers of acrylic paint. first red, then bright pink, then red again, allowing each layer to dry between applications. once the last red layer was dry, i rubbed some black paint all over the boards, wiping off more from the middle than the edges.
i pored through my files trying to find the right images to add to the boards and finally settled on copies of a Dover clip art illustration of a tomato. i colored each copy with acrylic paint, wiping off the excess before it was dry.
i pulled a couple of pages from an old Childcraft encyclopedia (published in 1964) and cut the words into ovals, which i glued to the boards with Yes! paste. i love that stuff. on top of that, i pasted a slightly larger oval of pattern tissue. and on top of that, the tomatoes. on the right-hand bottom corner of each board, i stenciled a letter using a white china marker. two coats of varnish followed.
this one taught me about chopsticks:
and this one taught me about haggis and Robert Burns:
here they are in the kitchen, hanging below the clock on the wall over the sink.
not only was i crafty this weekend, but i got in a fair amount of recycling with this project.
tiny choices
August 16, 2007 at 6:59 am | In green, non-craft | 3 Commentsif you’re interested in doing things that have a positive impact on your (our!) environment, please join me in visiting Tiny Choices. it’s a great resource for the small day-to-day decisions you can make that can help green your life.
this has been a public service announcement. thank you for your support.
what i did this weekend, by lifewithmonkey
August 12, 2007 at 4:53 pm | In crafts, sewing | Leave a Comment1. read Harry Potter #7 and will not spoil it for you.
2. did some more work on the Sooper Seekrit Project.
3. pulled out the ol’ serger and made the skirt from Butterick pattern # 3467 using some purple ribbed knit cotton that’s been in my stash for well over five years.
blog recipe exchange
August 10, 2007 at 6:53 am | In food | 4 CommentsNancy at Belle Epoque is having a blog-based recipe exchange, so here’s one of my favorites (and i haven’t posted about it here before)…
from Vegetarian Times
Mozzarella-stuffed Arancini
* 1 1/2 cups instant brown rice
* 4 green onions, divided
* 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
* 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
* 2 cups whole-grain breadcrumbs
* 16 marinated fresh mozzarella balls, drained, oil reserved (1 12-oz. container)
* 1 28-oz. jar marinara sauce
Directions:
Combine rice, 1 whole green onion, garlic and 3 1/2 cups water in saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed and rice is soft and slightly sticky. Remove from heat, transfer to bowl, and cool. Remove green onion, and discard.
Preheat oven to 425F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or coat with cooking spray. Chop remaining green onions finely. Fold eggs, parsley, cheese and onions into rice. Spread breadcrumbs on large plate.
Place 1/4 cup rice mixture in palm of hand. Shape into tangerine-sized ball around one mozzarella ball. Roll in breadcrumbs, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining rice, mozzarella and breadcrumbs. Drizzle arancini with reserved oil, and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until outsides are crisp and browned.
Warm marinara sauce, and ladle into bottom of large serving dish. Place arancini on top of sauce, and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.
yummmmmmm.
project: fabric jewelry
August 6, 2007 at 6:40 pm | In crafts, sewing | 1 Commentissue 12 of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine had a project i wanted to try, so i finally got around to starting to work on it yesterday afternoon. the article was called “Sew Charming”, and was written by Ruth Rae.
in preparation, i’d stamped some fabric scraps last week. i used a set of travel stamps i’d picked up a couple years ago, and a stamp i purchased from The Small Object (dang, i love her work. i’ve even snapped up a couple of her limited edition t-shirts and some stationary, too), but that stamped image will make it into a different piece, later.
since i didn’t have the stamp pad called for in the directions, i made one of my own, using acrylic paint mixed with textile medium, poured onto three thicknesses of felt, covered by a layer of muslin. i let the images dry for a day, then i ironed them to set the paint.
i cut out the stamped images and sandwiched some colorful loosely-woven cotton scraps between two stamped images. i used the same image for both sides. i sewed around 3 sides of the fabric squares, inserted a wee bit of stuffing between the layers, then sewed up the opening, and back around the other sides a couple more times. i punched a hole in the finished charm “pillow”, then installed an eyelet.
(front)
(back)
four charms later, i was ready to make a bracelet.
i didn’t have any chain on hand, so i cannibalized a piece of costume jewelry i hadn’t worn in a few years. yay for recycling! and double-YAY for not having to buy any of the other parts that went into making this bracelet, everything i used was part of my existing stash.
i cut two 8″ lengths of chain and attached them in several spots with big jump rings. i used some more jump rings to attach the charms to the bracelet.
i went through my bead collection and pulled out some head pins and more jump rings and had a little fun…
i didn’t go completely crazy, though. i wanted to keep it somewhat simple for the time being, instead of completely filling the chain with beads and baubles.
i had a good time with this project! i think the next one i make will have a fabric base instead of a chain, and there will be more beads involved, and maybe some silk ribbons or bits of lace. oh, and i could do a little embroidery, too! so many possibilities.
nothing to see here, folks!
August 5, 2007 at 7:56 am | In non-craft | Leave a Commenti have no crafts to post today! whoops. it’s been a hectic week. i worked on my sooper-seekrit** project yesterday, and i won’t be posting any photos of that until it’s finished and in the hands of the person who is the intended recipient.
i don’t know if i’ll be doing anything postable this afternoon, either. maybe sometime during the week… ?
** not so sooper-seekrit anymore, since three of my friends were with me while i was working on it. i should just call it semi-seekrit.
a note from our founder…
hi, i'm shawnee and this is my craftblog.
you may remember me from such crafty gatherings as Felt Club, Bazaar Bizarre (the craft sale and the book) and the Uncommon Threads teevee show.
i'm a desk jockey by day and a craftmonkey the rest of the time.
thanks for stopping by! oh, and don't forget: if you'd like to republish anything i post here, be sure to ask permission first (see the contact page for info).-
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