too cute

My friend Amy got me these amazing earrings from Pollyannacowgirl for Christmas. I adore them and have been wearing them for days now. I am now itching to get this cute mushroom ring!

Tilt Shift Diner

Tilt shift miniature shot of the diner across the street from my house!



You can make your own miniature photos here:
Tilt Shift Maker.com

Coffee Time

A friend of mine over at Crummy Knitting has a free pattern for a french press cozy which is adorable! After seeing her free pattern, I decided to post the french cozy that I made recently. It isn't much - just some fabric and ribbon - but in the spirit of coffee I thought I would share it.

I have a mini french press made by Pyrex. It makes just enough coffee for one person, but the coffee doesn't stay warm at all. This cozy is insulated with felt to keep the coffee warm.

The fabric is made by Moda, except for the heart fabric. I'm not sure where I got the ribbon.

This is the inside of the cozy! It is reversible! I've grown quite partial to dots recently. : )

I haven't been using my french press much since Christmas because I received an AMAZING Keurig coffee maker that makes one cup at a time. My coffee collection has expanded and now I don't drink anything but Green Mountain Coffee. It is the best coffee on earth. Organic, fair trade, always fresh (especially with this machine) and never bitter. I haven't been to Starbucks since I started drinking Green Mountain Coffee...I suspect I won't go nearly as often this year as I did last year!

It takes about 30 seconds to make a fresh cup of hot coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

This is what I drank this morning. It is a cup of coffee in a little filter K Cup. All you do is place it in the machine and it does everything else for you!

I have a lot of other projects in the works that I hope to post soon. I hope you all have a happy weekend!

Craft Apron

Hi all! Forgive me for my long hiatus from blogging. I had a fabulous holiday and I hope you did, too. Now I am ready to start this new year off right with a fresh dose of blogging!
My wonderful husband bought me a sewing machine for my birthday! It is a Viking Emerald and I love it. It does everything I wanted, and then some, and it is built like a tank. It even has an alphabet! I have been sewing up a storm with this thing - I have only had it for a month now and I have made several projects.
My most recent project was a craft apron. The pattern I used was in the 2007 holiday issue of Adorn Magazine. In the magazine all the pockets are block printed with some really cute cut out patterns designed by The Small Object. I didn't feel like carving the linoleum stamps for this project so I did some applique as decoration instead.
I really miss Adorn magazine. It had a lot of good ideas and patterns in every issue without a ton of irrelevant ads. I only own two copies and I flip through them whenever I need a little bit of inspiration. Now I wish I had bought a subscription when they were still publishing!
You can probably find the Tutorial online somewhere, but if you can't find one, I will be happy to post one. It was extremely easy and fun to make and I think I will have just as much fun wearing it!

My art desk and my new sewing machine! The apron matches my chair pretty well, don't you think?

This applique is a little felt owl. I have been addicted to sewing owls recently. I also love rick rack!

Yo-Yo flower made with a Clover medium round Yo-Yo Maker with two felt leaves sewn to the back.

I just love this little heart pincushion! Here you can see some light green bias tape on the left that I used to bind off the edges. I have never used bias tape before, but it was really easy and it gives the edges a nice finished look.

I am committed to blogging more now that the holidays are over! Also look for some more art for sale in the shop soon!

Some Inspirations

"Speaking 1,000 Languages" painting by Suspect Shoppe

http://suspectshoppe.etsy.com

Lawn Ornament Print Set by Multiple Personality

http://multiplepersonality.etsy.com

Partridge in a Pear Tree earrings by Leaves of Grass

http://leavesofgrass.etsy.com

"Street Map" - the new EP by my absolute favorite band The Innocence Mission with some sweet artwork by Karen Peris! It comes out on Dec. 3rd. Can't wait. www.theinnocencemission.com

So, things have been going well. I just wanted to blog something since it's been a while. These are some of the things that have been inspiring me lately. I am working on a lot of new artwork but none of it is ready to photograph yet! Maybe I will be able to show off some stuff on here this weekend. 

I am thoroughly not ready for the holidays at all. Every year the holidays are more and more unwelcome to me. I just get tired of all the materialism that shrouds Christmas, and I hate that for most people that is all they think about when they hear the word "Christmas". Ian wants to volunteer for Meals on Wheels this year. I think it will be neat, but hard. We want to play music for the shut ins when we deliver the meals. Whenever we have played at Hospice it was always nice to see how happy the music made the patients, but it's hard not to get emotional when you realize how much time they really have left and what their life must be like now. 

Anyway, I am trying to cook more now and I've been utilizing allrecipes.com a lot. I'm sure I will find something new to whip up for Thanksgiving next week!