Have you ever been browsing at a bookstore and found a book that you just had to have? And then you were so inspired that you went straight home and made something right away? Well that’s what happened to me with the book Little Birds.

I want to make everything! But I started with this sweet birdhouse by Abigail Brown. I just love her style and am lucky enough to own a piece by her (a little fox — better not let him get to close to the birds, eh?) and I also have a framed series of her postcards hanging up in my sewing area.

Next I plan on making making Mildred the Dove by Samantha Cotterill — can’t wait!  Mildred is hilarious — wait until you see. And then I have to make the birdie on the cover by Margaret Oomen. (sidenote: she is also the one who makes beautiful crochet sea urchin rocks. I want to make those too!) And THEN…!

Oh and!  This book has a trailer!  Who knew that books have trailers?  I sure didn’t.  But now you can browse it with me.  Just don’t yell at me if you want to run right out and buy it and then start sewing, ha ha!

And!  Can’t wait to show you photos of my new little sewing area.  It’s really coming along!

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This weekend, play a little joke on someone!

Bird-day Bunting

Faux bois, little lambs, and flowers, oh my!

The title says it all: some things don’t turn out how you want them to. I was thinking that this week I would show you all the crafty goodies that I found in my recent travels. Then they’d be photographed all nice and proper-like and I could play with them without worrying about messing them up.

But the week didn’t turn out that way at all. Not that I’m complaining, mind you — it was a great week! Just super crazy mega busy, and filled with unexpected surprises like:

• going to the dentist for a regular cleaning and finding out that I might need braces (going to the orthodontist on Tues!)
• going to the eye doctor’s and finding out my eyes are getting better (yay!) and
• ordering a pair of retro 50’s looking glasses (can’t wait until they come in!)
• eating Libby’s yummy hatch chile pie, and
• two unexpected packages that came in the mail (from two Jennifers) (thanks!)
• going to yoga — first time after my ankle surgery and my ankle did great!

And then my friend Scott had to go and send me this photo of a gayfeather, with this note:

If I had a weekly blog, I would post the attached picture “principle of structure (sepia 2010)”

Wowzers, don’t you think he should start a blog? I’ve been telling him that for years! What an awesome photo. (I couldn’t resist adding the vintage cabinet card from Kitschy Digitals – doesn’t it just seem to go somehow?)

Scott’s photo reminded me of one that I took of a gayfeather and J that didn’t turn out exactly the way I wanted it to. But I like it anyhow.

I like it — even though it looks like the gayfeather has turned into a giant menacing man eating plant!

Bet you weren’t expecting that photo to be in color, eh?  :)

So how about you, did anything unexpected happen this week? I’d love to hear!

Hope you have a great weekend filled with unexpected, happy happenings,

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You just never know!

Brought to you by the letter (L)

Make colors pop! (white balance tutorial)

Hi everyone! Pull up a chair a look at my lunch today:

Doesn’t it look super yummy? Here, look closer — too bad we don’t have smell-o-screens yet, because this smells incredible:

It’s a recipe called Smokey Spicey Cheesy Yummy Hatch Chilie Pie that my super fun friend and chef extraordinaire Libby cooked up for the Whole Foods Austin virtual food fight. Whole Foods gave each contestant a pound of hatch chilies and a $25 gift card and said “go create”.

It’s got heirloom tomatoes, grilled corn cut off the cob, corn spaghetti, smoky cheese, and grilled Hatch chilies. It’s oooy and gooey and yummerful!

Did I mention that it has hatch chilies? Mmmmm, they are sooooo good. Never heard of them?  Well, Hatch chilies are grown in the town of Hatch, New Mexico. They are perfecto — not  too hot and not too spicy.  This time of year everyone in Austin goes crazy for them.  YUM.

Now, how can you help me help my friend win the food fight?  Just tweet this:

RT @stampinlibby Pls RT so I can win? Hatch Spaghetti Pie http://bit.ly/99dj7L @WholeFoodsATX #ATXFoodFight

Let me know if you did it!

Update on August 31: Libby won!!!  YAY!  Congratulations, Libby! And many thanks to everyone who tweeted!

And, Libby has a step-by-step recipe for you right here on her blog — pop on over and say hi! And tell her that sideoats sent ya.

YUM.

And apologies to J, because I just ate the last piece that Libby gave us.  Sorry J!  Well, not really — it’s too good to resist!  :)

Oh and apologies to anyone who is hungry or hasn’t eaten lunch yet, too! :)

Many thanks to Libby for the yummy lunch, and have a delicious day!

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Spicy summer zucchini soup (recipe!)

Some things just don’t turn out the way you want them to.

Hi everyone! I thought I’d start travel week off with someplace I wanted to go to for ages and ages: Renegade Handmade in Chicago! Have you heard of the Renegade Craft Fairs? Well, the shop is an extension of the fairs and features over 300 artists — it’s a permanent location for people to buy and sell unique handmade items year ’round.  Kind of like a fair that doesn’t move!

Oh my, how I squealed when I stepped inside!  (I think I startled everyone in the shop, ha ha!)  Here are just a few things that I had to have. (I could easily have bought the whole store, but then J probably would have squealed when he saw the credit card, ha!)

From top to bottom:

A cute Happy Woodlands pin from Custommade UK. I know I’ll be happy wearing it!  And, I happen to have that fabric already — I got it from Torendi a few months back. Maybe I should get some more…!  It’s by Shinzi Katoh, one of my all-time favorite designers.

An iron-on transfer book from Sukie — I just love their super fun style.  I can’t wait to use these iron-ons — I’m thinking of putting them on tote bags and little drawstring travel bags, and maybe even a wall hanging.  Love their blog, too.

Then there’s the Renegade Craft Fair posters — I got the one for the first ever Austin fair in the top left.  Somehow I missed it when I was at the fair. I plan to frame it and hang it next to a prairie print that I have, it will go perfectly.

And then I let out a major squeal when I saw this belt by souldier.us. It was handmade in Chicago out of a seatbelt!  And it’s orange and brown. And owl-icious. How could I resist?

And then. Then there was this sweet little donut by my paper crane. The funniest thing was that I’d just drooled over them as I read Handmade Nation. So of course I had to have one!

I also got J a cute card that he loved — it had a library pocket and a card that pulled out that said “I’ve been checking you out all day.” — hee hee :)

Check out the Renegade Handmade online shop for more goodies, or their blog for lotsa crafty inspiration.  You may not want to look until you are in a squeal-proof location, tho!  And! If you’re in Chicago September 11-12 you can go to a Renegade Craft Fair! Lucky you.

Back tomorrow with some sewing goodness,

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CHA: Sassafras retro flowers!

Hi everyone! How has your summer been? Can you believe it’s almost September? I sure can’t.

I feel like I’ve been on-the-go since early July — in fact, last weekend was the first weekend J and I were in Austin for 3 weekends in a row!  Whew.

(photo taken at the visitor’s center in Cedar Falls, Iowa)

It’s so good to be back home in ole Austin, Texas — even if it is 106 F and our air conditioner died, ha ha!

I’ve got so many things that I want to share with you from my travels — especially crafty things!  Can’t wait.  But first I gotta get the million billion photos that I took organized.

See you tomorrow,

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What a week!

Tutorial: Photo backgrounds for crafty projects!

Happy {long} weekend!

Hope you have a wonderful day — full of love and laughter — and Taco Deli!

Supplies:  All stamps by Hero Arts. To make the background, I used a technique that I learned from my friend Sally where you ink an acrylic block and then stamp it on cardstock.  I think I used pool, lavender, soft leaf and daliaha Memories dye inks.  The friendship definition background was stamped on an acetate notecard using white Staz-on ink.

Libby was actually here when I started the card, and I made her not look at my desk, hee hee!  What a friend I am, eh?

Happy happy,

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Dots, dots + more dots!

Who needs the sun, anyhow?

What a day…

When my friend Kelly Marie from Lawn Fawn asked me if I wanted to play in the “Lawn Fawn Hearts Cards for Kids Blog Hop” I said sure thing right away!  It’s such a good cause, and I have always wanted to do it but never made the time.

If you haven’t heard about it already, Cards for Kids collects cards for sick kids and their families. I knew I wanted to make a card that was happy.  And I wanted to make it something that kids could touch and feel.  And of course it had to be fit for a girl or a boy, so not too much pink. :)

So I started off by stamping the sweet Lawn Fawn pup on felt, like so:

Then I cut him out, and colored a bit with markers (all supplies at the end of the post).

Next I embossed a kraft notecard with a cool herringbone pattern — I thought it really went well with the felt pup! Then I went to town with something I love to touch — Japanese washi tape. I just love how it feels and how it softens the layers below it.

Finally, I finished it off with some sparkly heart gems! Yay!

Supplies: Pup from Critters in the ‘Burbs set by Lawn Fawn. Notebook paper background by Hero Arts. Tiny heart gem by A Muse, and big heart gem by Hero Arts. I stamped the pup on felt with Stewart Superior’s black dye ink and colored it with Momento markers by Tsukineko — being careful not to color over the lines because I was impatient and didn’t want to wait for it to dry, ha ha! Lotsa Japanese masking tape from my stash. Felt heart and the border punch from EK Success. Herringbone embossing folder by Cuttlebug.  Font for the message is American Typewriter.

Now, on with the hop! You should have come here via the super sweet Vera, and next on the list is the mega talented Laurel — click on over to Paper Crafts by Laurel to see the clever cards she’s made.  And guess what?  There are lotsa great prizes that you can win just by leaving comments on the blogs in the hop! The whole list is at Lawn Fawn if you’d like to start from the beginning or you get lost.

Happy hopping!

And!  You don’t have to be part of the hop to make cards for kids.  Find out more.

Hugs,

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The List.

Inspired by Marisa from Creative Thursday!

Why yes, those are gingerbread men.

And yep, it’s still August.

Are you confused?

Well, you’re not going crazy — although sometimes I think I am, especially when I’m making Christmas cards in June and it’s over 100 F out and my snowflakes melt just as soon as I stamp ‘em — ha ha!  It’s all because today is The BIG Day: the Hero Arts 2010 winter and fall catalog, Jingle All the Way, has finally been released!  Yay!

Now you can see what all I and everyone at Hero Arts have been up to.  And I gotta say, I think it’s one of our best releases ever!  There’s truly something for everyone, from traditional stamps to super cute ones.  Check ‘em all out and let me know what you think!

AND!  I’m doing the happy dance because those little gingerbread men made it on the cover!  Hee hee.

Oh and!  That super cool frame is from Kitschy Digitals — they are having a big sale right now, woo hoo!  Love their stuff.

Have a merry day,

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