Liquid Paper

wip friday: intentions

Today's wip post is all about intentions. First up is my studio, which is sadly still in boxes. I have a goal to put it all together this weekend so that I can finally re-open my shop -- the key word here being goal.

I ordered some of the small object's crafty recipe idea cards and I swear that two minutes later they arrived! That woman is fast. I hope they'll help me to avoid any inspiration loss until I have a functioning workspace.

Anyone remember way back when I said that I wanted to make some fun little totes/bags? Well I am still planning on make some zakka-inspired totes/bags so I had to get some new fabric to inspire me. I got this fabric (picturedd above) from Cia's palette -- that woman is also a lickity-split shipper.

Did you notice those cute little beaded alligators up there? My sister's best friend Anne made the yellow one and she taught me how to make them too (mine is the aqua and blue one). Ooh, and guess what? In addition to being a great teacher and fellow crafter, she also happens to live in the same town as I do now! I already told her that I see some collaboration in our future because I totally think that those gators would be adorable embellishments for the aforementioned zakka-inspired totes/bags.

Ahh... this lovely fabric comes from tonic living. I (and much of the crafty blogosphere) first spotted the fabric here and frankly I obsessed about it until I finally gave in and bought some. Those tiny green flowers (which are actually beads from The Bead Co. down the street) will be a part of the eventual design I have planned for the fabric. I love that they are slightly different shades of green.

What you see here is a very simple, very plain and very cheap mouse pad from Staples (duh). Although it may be simple and sad, in my mind it is fabulous because it is covered in a cute fabric and is sitting on my desk at work. (Did I mention that I'm working out of the house 2.5 days a week now?) I still have to decide which fabric I want to use and exactly how to adhere said fabric to sad mouse pad. Are there any ideas from my crafty friends out there?

And finally, what we have here is a sketch for a website design. It's my first paid website design job and I haven't gotten very far. I can't help being embarrassed at my note "fancy M" -- how dorky am I? And I don’t even remember what that wiggly square is for, the one that's floating up in the left-hand corner of the page. Oh well… that’s why it’s a wip!

my friend the urban chef

Just before I left Houston I had the opportunity to take a basic knife skills class from my friend Chara. I was a little too busy to be running across town for this class but it was possibly one of the smartest things I've ever done. Chara is a wonderful teacher. Through her new venture Urban Chef she offers a range of classes from "How to Cook" to "Savvy Chef" -- if you're in the Houston area I highly recommend that you sign up for one of Chara's classes. She also has a blog called food life that you should check out too.

Here's a photo of the couscous we made with diced red onion, green onion, green pepper and tomato. Good golly... I had NO idea how small you had to make those pieces of veggie to officially be called diced.

And a shot (a little dark sorry about that) of Julienned carrots with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. (The pieces I did are the blobby ones.)

Oh, and here's something else that I eat up: Domino magazine. It is my drug of choice. Hi, my name is Laurie, and I'm a Dominoaholic.

Oh-my-goodness
Did anyone else see what Hillary made? Good golly that woman is crazy creative. I guess I'll have to add Wee Wonderfuloholic to my introduction too.

p.s. Mark noticed that I used the phrase "good golly" too much and thinks it's because I've seen that TV commercial with Little Richard too many times. Is Little Richard the one who sang that song Good, Golly, Miss, Molly? I thought it was someone else... Chuck something.

Rats! I just Googled it and Wikipedia confirmed his accusation. I guess this outs me as a TV watcher too. Hey, I'm not the only one who loves their TV.

consider this a warning

I know. I know. It isn't even Labor Day yet and I'm already busting out a Christmas ornament. After twelve years of living in exile from the elements (except those nasty hurricanes, let's not think about them), I'm dreaming of leaves that change their colors, air that turns chilly and crisp and a very, very white Christmas. So consider yourself warned that this year I'm starting the hunt for Christmas ornaments early.

This is a vintage (?) pipe cleaner Santa that I found during a recent thrift store adventure. I found two of them and the interior has a small sticker that reads "Japan."

These are not Christmas ornaments. Just some lovely beads that I bought at the bead shop down the street from our apartment. Dangerous places those bead stores. I'll probably use them as buttons or ornaments on something. At least that's how I justified the purchase.

found anniversary

My grandparents were married on this day in 1935. While Kim was rummaging around in the storage room today she found this and gave it to me. How providential is it that she found it today? I was only five years old when they celebrated their 40th anniversary so I don't remember the party, but I do remember seeing this in their house - now it will hang in mine. ♥

orange you glad

Today I need a break from trying to (i.e. pretending to/intending to) organize the new place so I'm off to explore the thrift stores in my new/old town... wish me luck!

While I'm away I thought you'd like something to look at - here are a few of my favorite things:

IZZE sparkling clementine along side some vintage salt & pepper shakers that I won on ebay. On the bottom is a delightful book I bought in Point Loma, CA this summer: Leave It To Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse. And yes, I did buy it because the cover was orange.

A couple of new pins I bought at Zandbroz placed on a favorite bag made by a creative little daisy.

wip: the apartment + more

There is nothing but work in progress going on here. Working on the new place, working on my niece's belated birthday gift, working on work, working, working, working... did I mention work?

*sigh*

There won’t be much crafting going on here until this apartment is finished. Anyone surprised? How about a couple wip pictures of the new place? If you're like me, every so often you need to see how people really live. Granted, more often than not I'm drawn to the beautiful shots of neatly arranged rooms and carefully assembled items. But sometimes I just need to see a photo that shows a real space - warts and all.

Here’s one of each for your viewing pleasure.

1. The one that makes me feel better:
The fabric is from the pillows on my sofa. Both were specially purchased for our new place and they represent the newness and unfinished-ness of our new space.

2. The one that does not make me feel better:
This is an actual, unretouched shot of the apartment. If you checked out the before pictures you probably don't even recognize the place. Sorry for the poor quality - I took it quick, like removing a Band-Aid.

gone too long

I know, I know… I've been gone too long. I apologize. In my defense the month of July was about as crazy as they come. Allow me to plead my case:

1. We received an offer on our house just 10 days after we put it on the market.
2. I had three weeks to find a place to live, pack up our old house and move across country.
3. With the help of many people including Dad, Kim, Ron, Dave, Mom and Judy I moved everything we own (including the cat) from Houston to Sioux Falls, SD. (Which is where I was born.)
3. Mark was traveling all summer and missed out on all of the fun that goes along with packing and moving house. After I moved into our new place in SF I flew out to Seattle to meet him.
4. Mark and I drove back to SF together with just five days to spare before my birthday on July 30th.
5. Two days before my birthday we drove to the IKEA in Minneapolis to buy bookshelves and more for our new place.
6. On my birthday I was sick.
7. We are smack dab in the middle of unpacking and cleaning. Ack!

So you see, I have good reason for being so absent. Plus, my craft room is still in boxes so not much crafting is going on here… yet!

However, I refuse to let all this madness get in the way of a good celebration. I’m back and I want to celebrate my birthday a bit late with these photos I took with my new camera (thank you Mark).

This is my very own baby mobile in the original box.

Here's a close-up of one of the little angels on the mobile.