BRAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNSSSSSSS

Squares

First of all, I just have to get out how much last week SUCKED. It was a horrible week. Work really got me down, I have to say. I am determined for this week to be better. Blogging always makes me feel at least productive. :)

I've been working on my next big project for a few weeks now. The comforter that's currently on my bed is a loaner from my Mom, and it's very nice, but it is a little heavy, and I am a HOT sleeper. Meaning, I get really, REALLY hot when I sleep. It's a weird thing, I don't know why it happens, but I have always been very sensitive to getting too hot when I sleep. Then I overheat, and have to run to the bathroom to be sick. Lovely, I know- but it's something I have always had to be careful about. I NEVER sleep with the heat on during the summer, and I keep it very cold in my apartment during summer nights.

So, I've been trying to find the perfect cover for my bed, and I remembered the quilt that I used during college, that my grandmother bought for me, and how PERFECT my temperature was while I was using that quilt. Unfortunately, it is a twin-sized quilt, and my bed is a full. So then I thought, well, why don't I just learn how to quilt, and make myself my very own custom-made cover! And I did some research, found a few books (that I need to pick up at the library), and in the meantime, got very antsy without a major project, and decided, screw it, I ALREADY know how to crochet, why don't I just do a quilt-like crocheted blanket? So I chose a pattern:

This is the Babette Blanket, specifically, the photo above is the Purl Bee's version of the Babette Blanket. I chose a different palette, blues, greens, creams, (my go-to palette lately, I suppose). Here are the yarns:


This pattern requires that I make 50 small squares, 49 small-medium squares, 16 medium squares, 7 large-medium squares, 2 large squares, and 2 extra-large squares. So far, I've finished the small ones, and am about halfway done with the small-mediums. It takes me about 40 minutes per small-medium. It is going to be a long process. Here are some of my squares:


So, I'll keep ya updated on my progress. I hope I don't get too burned out. I'm already dreading sewing them all together.

Puppy Pie

Something horrible happened yesterday that I've been having a really hard time not thinking about ever since it happened. Around 10 am, I was taking my recycling out, placing it neatly into the bin, when I heard a woman right across the street from me call her dog's name out frantically. "Buddha, Buddha!" It caught my attention, and I looked up just in time to see the big black lab, who had run out into the street, get hit by a car. Hard. He screamed, ran over to the side of the road where his owner was watching in horror, and laid down at her feet. He never got up again. It was so devastating to see that happen, I was paralyzed on my porch, sobbing, and couldn't even go over to her to help her. Luckily, the man who hit the dog and several other pedestrians came over to help, but the dog never even made it to the vet.

Besides feeling angry at the woman for not having her dog on leash in a very heavily trafficked part of town, I've also been feeling panicked that something like that could happen to my dog. I ALWAYS keep Yoshi on a leash and harness when we are out, and he's never gotten away from me in the 3 years we've been together, but he has gotten away from others, and he is so strong-willed and unpredictable when we are out. All it takes is for him to get away from me ONE time, and I could be in the same situation as that woman. I haven't been able to get enough of Yoshi since I saw that. I just want to pet him and scratch him and snuggle him until he can't stand me. He got a new bone today, and a lot more treats than usual yesterday. And in Buddha's honor, I felt inspired to share some photos of my Yoshatron.

Door Candy

I have a huge list of projects I intend to complete for my apartment. It's coming together, slowly but surely. Every month or so, I'll take a look at the (ever-expanding) list, figure out one or two big projects I want to tackle over the coming weeks, and a few smaller ones that I can use to break up the tediousness of the larger projects. Then I'll figure out all the supplies I'll need to complete those projects, and I'll make an order online for the supplies I need. For June, my big project was to recover the couch. I picked about 4 or 5 smaller projects. One of the smaller projects was a new wreath for my door.

I found the instructions and the feather pdf download for this wreath on the Etsy Blog called The Storque. It was fairly quick- the most labor intensive part was cutting out each of the feathers. And I was REALLLLLY skeptical that the glue was going to bind the paper to the metal, as they kept slip-sliding around- but leaving them under some books for a few hours helped hold them in place while the glue set.

New Couch (Sort of)

Well, the "posting every day thing" went well for a few days...but whatevs. I've had a busy few weeks. Lots of travel for work, a couple of vacation days, and mostly working like an insane woman to get my apartment in some semblance of readiness for a baby shower that I threw for Glenn's sister. I didn't get all of the projects that I wanted to have done finished before the day of the shower, but I definitely think the apartment was much improved by the date.

One of the major things I undertook was recovering all of the cushions on my couch. I am by no means skilled in reupholstering, but my couch has seen better days. It is the most COMFORTABLE couch I've ever sat or slept on, and is still very structurally sound, but years of living first with multiple dogs and kids at my parents house and then multiple young adults and Yoshi at MY house, the cushions are beyond being able to wash the dirt out. Here's a reminder of what it USED to look like:

So, keeping in mind that I can neither reupholster the entire sofa myself NOR pay someone an outrageous sum of money to do it FOR ME, I picked out three Amy Butler fabrics from Fabric.com, 4 yards each of 2 and 2 yards of 1, all for less than $80. Here is my "inspiration board" from Fabric.com:
I thought the colors were modern but would still complement the current fabric on the couch well, since I'll have to leave the body of the couch as-is. I planned to use the top left fabric for the main seat cushions, the blue-flower fabric for the throw pillows, and the green and lime fabric for the back-cushions.

My mom brought me my Grandmother's OOOLD sewing machine. Brought it to my office, and I carried it up- the thing must weigh 50 pounds at LEAST. I had to switch hands every five seconds carrying it out to my car. And then the stupid thing WOULDN'T WORK!! It's missing a part, and it's old, and I can't find the part, and I can't find an owner's manual- so, long story short, I ended up hand-sewing each and every cushion. Took me about 4-5 hours per cushion. But I finished at around 3 a.m. the night before the shower. OK, I'll admit- the seat cushions haven't been sewn yet and are currently only pinned on tightly- but I couldn't bear to have them showing in their former dirtiness with the bright clean cushions surrounding them. Here's the finished product:

Now I just have to find a way to keep Yoshi from licking himself on the sofa...

Cuppitycakes

Ahhhhh, Thursday evening. Settling in to watch the Braves usher in a new pitcher (very excited to see him play!), sort of thinking it might start storming any second now, and feeling EXHAUSTED. It's been a big week! Work has been busy, as usual, and I put a lot of energy and effort into getting ready for my little get-together last night.

About 8 of my coworkers came over last night- and it was a great time! It was the first time any of them had seen my apartment, so I put extra effort into making it sparkle (and yet, I STILL spied Yoshi fur floating around throughout the evening!)

It was a wine gathering, so everyone brought a bottle (we had a lot of wine!) and I sort of improvised a Sparkling Wine Sangria- and it was delicious! And so refreshing! Here is what I used:

1 cup Triple Sec
3 clementines, sectioned
2 limes, cut into wedges
Ginger Ale (about 3 cups)
1 bottle sweet Sparkling Wine (I used Cook's Spumanti- very inexpensive)

I put the fruit into the pitcher first, then poured in the Triple Sec, and about a cup of the Ginger Ale. I muddled the fruit (without destroying it) and placed the pitcher in the fridge for about an hour while I prepared the food.

Once a handful of folks had arrived, I pulled the pitcher out and poured in the sparkling wine (wait until just before serving so the bubbles don't flatten). Top off with additional Ginger Ale.

I served a pretty basic menu of snacks- a few dips and things- and of course- CUPCAKES. And oh man. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started those cupcakes. Who on EARTH has the time to bake everything from scratch on a regular basis?!? I started the cupcakes around 9:30, and popped in Twilight to watch at the same time. By the time the movie ended, I still had plenty of baking and finishing left to do.

Let me take you through my process.

1. The materials
I made the chocolate-chip cupcakes from the February issue of Martha Stewart Living. Although, instead of the chocolate-chip frosting, I made the Basic Buttercream, and tinted it pink.

2. Mixing up the Batter

3. I guess these are Stiff Peaks??

4. Finished Batter
At this point, my brain kept telling me- this looks like MUFFIN batter, not cupcakes!- and I started to doubt myself- but the batter tasted much sweeter than muffins, so I tried to relax.

5. Cupcakes Cooling
Still looking a little muffin-y....
Now, let's get that frosting started....

6. HOW MUCH butter???
Three sticks, to be exact. Oh, and a POUND of confectioner's sugar. geeeeeeeez.......

7. Lots and lots of mixing later...
I'm really not a big "pink" girl- I'm not sure what inspired me to go pink with these- oh wait, yes I am.

8. FINISHED!!
These were the remains after the party last night. Can you believe after all that toil, I plumb forgot to take a photo of the finished, decorated cakes the night I made them? Thank God I remembered before I passed out last night- not the best beauty shot- but I have one more:

8. Cupcake!
And just so you know, they did NOT taste like chocolate chip muffins covered in frosting. PHEW!!

Springtime Crochet

I am making cupcakes for my get-together tomorrow night. It's my first EVER totally-from-scratch baking attempt. I am very nervous. Currently waiting for the butter to soften. It takes FOREVER!

I feel very behind getting ready for tomorrow. I have a LOT of cleaning yet to do, including freeing my home of all the fur tumbleweeds that Yoshi has blessed me with, just since Sunday (the last time I did a major fur removal). I lost my car key yesterday- the reason for my being behind. It just slap fell off my keychain. I realized it around 10:00 last night, and spent 30 minutes with a flashlight looking up and down my street searching for it. And thirty minutes this morning. AND thirty MORE minutes this evening when I got home from work (late). I felt SURE that I had given Glenn my spare- but he couldn't find. I had basically resigned myself to calling a locksmith and paying the $150 for a new key, when I thought I'd just check a couple of unpacked boxes I hadn't gotten around to to see if I could find the spare. And lo and behold, in a box full of stuff from my "Pens and Pencils and Other Spare Items" drawer- there was the spare!!! Miracle of miracles!! And as soon as I opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat- there was the original key, wedged between the seat and the console. I felt like celebrating by spending $150 on something frivolous. But instead, I will spend that money to FINALLY get the transmission fluid flushed. I guess. Grumble.

So, long story short, I am way behind. And butter taking forever to soften is not helping.

So in the meantime, let me share with you some springtime crochet!! I got on such a role with my crochet over the winter. Scarf after scarf after scarf- two winter hats, a set of gloves (none of which have I shared here, come to think of it), and I felt a little stuck once the weather started to warm up. What could I make now that I didn't need to keep any extremities warm??

Stitch n' Bitch The Happy Hooker came right to the rescue. A purse! So I grabbed some super green yarn (I am in a very green place right now-although, working in advertising, if I hear ONE MORE company use the word "green" in their campaign, I am going to lose it), some fabric, a few other notions, and whipped one right up. Here's the final product:

Glenn is going to help me build a light box for my photos. The green is so much greener in real life! Like, super healthy GRASS green. This was made using almost exclusively HDC- leaving an eyelet row in which to weave the ribbon. Here's the snap closure:


And as you can see, I used the same fabric for the lining that I did for the backdrop in the photo. Here's a better look at the inside of the purse:
And a navy ribbon detail:


One more look:

I like to think it's smiling at me. :)

Tomorrow I'll share some pictures of my cupcakes (hopefully NICE pictures and not pictures that indicate utter disaster...)

BTW- the Braves are up 6-1. Go Bravos!

A Nice Pair of Hooters

I'm such a blog slacker. I spend so much time reading my favorites- Apartment Therapy, Design Sponge, Bakerella, Posie Gets Cozy- if I took a tenth of the time I spent READING blogs to update my own, I'd have several posts per day. Now, I don't feel that that is necessary- but I am going to pledge to write one post per day for the foreseeable future, and see where it takes me.

I'm planning a little wine party at my house on Wednesday for a lot of friends from work, none of whom have seen my new place. I'm nervous, because I don't feel like the place is ready- but I have added three little design pieces to the mix that I am excited to share with you here.


I've sort of got a woodland theme going at my place. Well, I like to call it "Fantasy Woodland: Geek". By fantasy, I mean more gnomes than fairies. I decorated with fairies sophomore year of college- but I think I'm over that now.

Anyways! Back to the photo. I love owls. Besides being unbearably cute when represented as a softie or illustration, they are so MAJESTIC in real life. My mother always collected owls- I have been eyeing her collection for years, just waiting for her to get sick of them. She offered them to me recently, but I feel too guilty to just TAKE them from her. Anyways. The owl on the right is a candle I bought last weekend at Urban Outfitters. Love the way it appears to be an owl carved out of wood- but in reality is, obviously, made of wax.

The owl on the LEFT, I made myself- my second amigurumi, from Ana Paula Rimoli's fantastic book, Amigurumi World. Here's a close up:


Of course, true to form, Yoshi managed to grab him off the high counter-top within twelve hours of my finishing him- I came into the living room from taking a shower, and Yoshi just has that look in his eye- like, how long before she realizes what I've done, and can I make it under the bed before then?? And sure enough- there was the owl, covered in Yoshi fur (he has been shedding like a BEAST the past few weeks) and missing an eye. The eyes are the kind that you have to snap together BEFORE you stuff the thing, so, I did my best to secure it- but it's a little loose. :( Super cute though!! I'll just have to keep it away from babies. (And Shibas).

The third item I've acquired are my adorable mushroom salt and pepper shakers from Anthropologie. The most inexpensive things I think I've ever seen there, actually, haha!

So, we are just hanging out here in my apartment tonight, watching the Braves lose (but only by one run and there are still three innings to go!!) Trying to muster up the energy to clean in preparation for Wednesday night wine party......

Springtime Apple Pie

So, I have been in a bakey-place lately, although when I start to get the energy to actually act on it, the tools and ingredients and time requirements usually exhaust me mentally just THINKING about getting started...and then I walk a block over to the Atlanta Cupcake Factory and buy one of their delicious confections instead. :)

But, Glenn's sixth-quarter panel is today (yay, the end of the quarter is finally here!!), and he got some fantastic career-related news last week, so to celebrate I told him I would make him (or attempt to make him) any dessert he wanted. And he wanted Apple Pie. He loves my apple pies, and I never got the chance to make one last fall, so, although I normally don't have a taste for it this time of year, it seemed like the thing to do.

So, I made one. A new recipe I have never used before- and my first ever lattice-crust- and I think it turned out pretty well.
Here it is right out of the oven.
A top shot. Not a perfect lattice- but I think it's okay for my first try. And it looks so crisp!
Yum, gooey mounds of apply goodness....we will definitely enjoy cutting into this guy after panel this evening.

RAWR!!!!!

So, I was in a very productive place last week. I ALMOST finished unpacking (just about 5 boxes of stuff to go- stuff I'm not sure where to place...), I finished the painting for my Godson, and I finished my first ever Amigurumi!
Amigurumi is Japanese for knitted stuffed toy, although more often than not, they are actually crocheted. I bought a book called Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet, and after getting back into the swing of crochet with a few easier projects, some scarves and gloves and things, I decided to give it a shot. I started out with a lion.


I'm really happy with him!! His little crooked mouth, and cute little tail...Yoshi has been eyeing him with a look of desperation since I finished him. I've been keeping him on my high kitchen counters- but then this morning, while I was getting ready, Yoshi climbed on up there and got him. Luckily, I rescued him in time, but there are a couple of loose theads that I need to repair. :(

This will be another gift for my godson- next I want to make an owl. And I am going to keep that one. :)

This took a ridiculous amount of time to complete

So, I started the project below about a week before my boyfriend's sister had her first baby, my godson, Hannon. I just finished last week, about a year and a HALF later. If I were selling paintings, I would have to sell it for about $5,000 to see any type of return on the time investment, haha! But I think it turned out pretty cute- I can't wait to get it framed and see how it looks up against Hannon's blue walls...


It's acrylic paint on canvas, and I will post a much better photo once I get a frame and some decent lighting. I was a little concerned while working on it that the pinkish-purple undertones in some of the squares might be too feminine for a little boy, but we have since learned that there will be a little girl joining the family very soon, and for a while at least, she will be sharing a room with Hannon, so I think the colors will be fine. I have so many ideas for what to create for the little girl...I can't wait to get started.

Snowy Day

So, we had a somewhat unexpected snowstorm here in Atlanta a couple of weekends ago (in true Atlanta fashion, the very next weekend we had 77 degree weather, go figure), and I snapped a photo of Yoshi staring at the snowfall that I wanted to share.


It was so funny watching him jump into the air on our walk trying to catch the flakes in his mouth. He is so much like a cat sometimes.

Mini-Project

I have been struggling with finding a way to organize and store my jewelry. During my move, I ended up throwing away several hopelessly tangled necklaces (don't worry- I salvaged as many beads as I could), and am constantly frustrated at the annoyance of trying to find matching earrings in my hodge-podge of a jewelry box.

Looking back through my old Blueprint mags, I came across this idea in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue:

I love tree branches anyway, and this is so rustic AND elegant at the same time. I really do plan to get this system worked out for my own jewelry (although- realistically- how many pieces of jewelry could you fit on that branch? And I know I don't have space for multiple jars with branches in them throughout my apartment).

In the meantime, I finally got fed up on Sunday, and put together a make-shift organization system on the back of my bedroom closet door:

It's not the most beautiful/stylish display right now- but I plan to maybe put an empty frame around the space, replace the standard push pins with some decorative ones, and try to make the display a little more symmetrical. Honestly, I am just glad to be able to open the closet door and find a matching pair of earrings right off the bat!

Has anyone else come across an ingenious way to store and organize your jewelry?

My new digs

SOOO, it's been awhile! I have a reason- besides the fact that work has been a particularly debilitating nightmare the past three weeks (like- 20 Excel spreadsheets open at a TIME nightmare-), I moved!

The move itself was soo much harder than I anticipated. I'd been holed up in my last place for almost four years, and it's amazing how much stuff you can amass when you have that much time and way too much space.

Just to interject a short story about the move- at 2:45 am on the last night I was legally allowed to be in my apartment- and only about an hour after Glenn and I hoisted my one-cushioned loveseat that would never find a home onto his Xterra and stealthily drove it to the dumpster and crammed it in there (feigning ignorance of the giant sign that says "Please Do NOT dispose of furniture at this recepticle)- we stood in the mostly empty apartment, feeling sentimental. It was the place I've lived for more years than any other, save my childhood house in Jonesboro. Then, we turned to leave. And promptly knocked over the 80% full can of white primer. With the top on loosely. And it went EVERYWHERE. I thought Glenn was going to throw up (he doesn't handle stress the best...) I ran out to my car, grabbed my fabric shower curtain liner (which I had PLANNED to use again- it was still pretty new), and while Glenn cut it into strips, I frantically tried to wipe the primer from the floor. Thank God it happened in the foyer, where there is this fake-wood linoleum. Somehow, 45 minutes later, we had managed to get it all up. But I could see our perfectly-preserved (to that point) security deposit just SLIPPING away as that primer spread across the floor.

So, anyways, I am in the new place. And it's great!! Right in the heart of town, in the Highlands- I can walk places! That I want to walk to!!
I wanted to post some photos here for you to see. And mention some projects I have in mind.
This is the house my apartment is in. I have the bottom left. The porch is ALL MINE!!!
One of my first projects will be to recover all the couch cushions. I love this couch, but the fabric has seen better days... I also need to figure out how to fill all the wall space- the ceilings are 12 feet. Hmmm, I also need to learn how to take better photos, lol.
This is a pretty good shot of the kitchen. I'm not crazy about the plum color of some of the wall areas- but I am still wiped from priming my last place. Painting is not very high on my list of must-do projects right now...

I just really like this door and window layout- and that's how I access my porch!! (yes, I still have random boxes laying around).
The bedroom- smaller than my last, but I like it! I have finally decided that I am old enough to have a headboard. So I am going to make one. I like this one:

And the doggy. :) But I have enough of those...

Speaking of which! Here is a gratuitous Yoshi-shot. He is chewing his new bone. Just being adorable.
He is afraid of the hardwood floors- keeps slipping on them- and he also thinks that the air vents are somehow to blame- he is REALLY wary of those...so he spends a lot of time on the rug in the living room.

So, to recap- got a new place. Lots to do, including recovering my couch cushions, creating a new headboard, and trying my hand at planting some flowers on the porch. I'll keep you updated! Now time for dinner...spaghetti with day-old breadcrumbs and anchovies....yum...

Eyebrows....

So, I know it's been a ridiculously long amount of time since I've posted, and I've got so many great projects to post here!! I am just really intimidated by product photography- how do I make sure to get the colors right? How can I present the texture? How can I make sure my photographing area has the right light??? My boyfriend did present me with a shiny new (purple!!) Nikon Coolpix camera for this very reason- I just haven't gotten down to taking the photos and posting my projects...

In the meantime, please enjoy this bit of eyebrow deliciousness- another pick from my industry....