angry chicken

hood river, oregon

A few weeks back we went apple picking in Hood River. I love it there. We drove around, parked, and then walked in the neighborhoods, had some great espresso, found some sweet parks and shopped. We picked apples at Draper Girls Country Farm. I noticed this is their last weekend for picking. On the way there we stopped at Multnomah Falls, which is always so impressive to see. I hadn't been there in years and the girls never had. We kind of went apple crazy—I made a lot of apple dishes and some apple/raspberry sauce, which is delicious. Seeing Delia wear the sweater I knit for her makes me want to finish Sadie's shrug, which is one-sleeved at the moment.

 

my newest video class at creativebug—make a pillbox hat!

I'm super excited to have my newest class over at Creativebug! I teach how to make a simple pillbox hat (no-sew!). You can see a preview by clicking on the photo in the link. I hope you dig it!

assemblage art boxes (Louise Nevelson)

I keep going back to my favorite art idea book, Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters, which I have been using for a few years now with all three girls and I still marvel at what they come up with. They draw and paint almost every day, but when I take the time to really put an "art class" together and we read a little about the artist each project in the book is inspired by and I show them some photos of the original pieces online, (the books doesn't contain any photos of actual pieces) it really is special. I know they get excited about the formality of it all—they are so free to do their own thing, that's the norm for them, so something prepared with some parameters really excites them and forces them to try new ideas and techniques that are unfamiliar to them. I help, so they don't seem overwhelmed/frustrated, especially with the 6-year old.

Using the Discovering Great Artists Book, these boxes were inspired by the artist Louise Nevelson. Her wood box scupltures. She would use scrap wood and found objects and then paint the sculpture one color. The girls gathered up bits and bobs from the house and outside. Then we got out the glue gun and some epoxy for the rocks and got to work. They really dig them and have them up in their rooms.

We have done triptychs from this book too, along with so many other projects. It's great for when I am having a "what are we doing today?" homeschooling moment and I can tell we need to get our hands dirty.

Then, if the stars align* and I am not dealing with a paint emergency, we talk about the historical context— was there a war happening? What were other artists up to at this time? What were some of the major themes in the artists work? What was happening musically at that time? I stream music from that era while we work, or later while we are cleaning up. Pete's music degree comes in handy here. It's a great way to thread history together while we are gluing and painting.

*Sometimes we only talk about what we are going to have for lunch, the ideal vacation, and tell fart jokes.

grammie made me a quilt

Grammie is really back in her groove quilting and taking care of her new puppy. She told me she wanted to make me a quilt using this pattern she was excited about and asked me to pick some fabrics. We decided to use almost all solids from her stash—a sunset-colored range that reminded us of her Mom, my Grandmother Jean, who was a great lover of orange. She was a true modernest. This quilt feels like it was made for her, really, and it turned out stunning. Grammie machine-pieced this zig-zag pattern and machine-quilted it with an organic design which compliments the bold lines of this beautifully. She has been busy machine-quilting for Tille Studio, but was able to sneak this one in between jobs, lucky for me.

One of the photo stylist is on the run.

a puppy & other exciting things

It's been a crazy-pants week around here—we are all nursing low-level head colds which I hope will slow us down a bit. This week we had some house construction. Each girl has their own bedroom now! We also start Nutcracker rehearsals this weekend. This year all 3 girls are in it, with 5 parts between them. Gah!  But the big news is Grammie got a pug puppy, Toaster, a little boy, 8 weeks old. He's trouble—so funny and cute. Our 7-year old pug is so sweet and patient with him, it's just hard to do anything with a puppy near by. The girls are exploding with love for this little fellow, which is nice, but also makes me happy we can leave him at Grammies, you know what I mean? Lots of intense love boarding on mania.

• Last night we went to the opening of Emily Winfield Martin's art show at Land here in Portland. Her paintings are so beautiful and impressive—you can see them online, and in person they are even more stunning. The show will be there for a bit, it's really worth checking out. One of my favorites is this one.

• This Sunday, 4:00PM October 13th, Susan Beal is having a book event at Powells for her newest book, Sewing for All Seasons: 24 Stylish Projects to Stitch Throughout the Year. Susan has contributed so much to crafting, sewing, and creating over the years—both locally and nationally, her books are always solid and this newest one is no exception. All the details about this event are on her blog, the book is not quite out yet (I got an advance copy—I am a lucky duck!) so this is a great way to see projects and ask Susan about it before you buy it. It looks like it will be available in the next week, so Amazon says.

 

building a family library

Over the summer, while I was on a morning walk, I was thinking about books in our house. I had just finished read The Great Gatsby. I read it on the kindle. I knew I could find a used copy, but at the time instant gratification won out, so I downloaded it. I wish I had bought the actual book. It's a classic—a wonderful read and one I plan to suggest to the girls at some point, but not on the kindle. Seeing books on our shelves is becoming so important to me. I still look through Grammie's bookshelves and we often borrow books from her, ones she has had on her shelves for more than 20 years. I just don't see how this would happen on an e-reader. I love my kindle, but I am thinking long term, and the nature of an e-reader feels very short term and inherently private to me, not to mention the books are impossible to loan out.

My first thought was to formally start our own library, inspired by Grammie's. One for our house, that our kids and future grandkids could enjoy. I started to think of all the titles I wanted in it but then I realized I didn't really want to be the only one involved. Homeschooling is such a joy. It also comes with the reality that Pete and I control so much of what the the girls are being exposed to. We want other influences in the house, not just books we chose, but special ones family and friends want to share with them to read and enjoy.

Trying not to  over think it, I quickly sent out an e-mail to a few friends and family telling them about this project and asking for 1 or 2 book selections. Few people could stick to one, which was wonderful. Many people added or changed titles, some wanted to know about duplicates and then changed again. I made it clear I was buying these books, I just needed recommendations and a few comments about why the book meant so much to them.  It was that last bit, the thoughts about the selections, that was the most meaningful part, but at the time I didn't know it. I was more excited to see what titles they selected. Then the selections came back with the comments about why that title was chosen and we were so moved.

I asked for fiction, high school/college level, and it didn't have to be considered a traditional classic. It was so fun to guess what would come back. Who would select Austin? (A few.) Would anyone choose Moby-Dick? (Yes!) We knew my father-in-law would choose Dickens, but which one? (David Coperfield) Both my husband and his sister selected the same author (Murakami) and I selected not a book that is my favorite, but one that really changed the way I thought when I read it, 1984.

I designed book plates with a space to fill in who selected the book and the reason they selected it. I have been slowly buying and adding these books to our shelves for the last few months. There are some duplicate choices, which is not surprising. When this happens, I just add both names and the comments of each person on one bookplate. I'm not in a hurry, it's not that type of project. I love fussing about which edition to buy and how the book looks. In some cases hardback doesn't make sense. There are some very nice softback editions. Most are used. I have many more to collect and more people to ask. And then there's poetry and non-fiction and graphic novels to ask about. It's amazing how this has a life of its own now, I just collect the suggestions, buy the books, and add the bookplates. It's so satisfying to see it develop.

We have sold back many books to make room for this. We have a collection that makes sense now, one that reflects what we want them to see and pull off the shelves over the next decade or so. The comments that came with these titles are so personal, poignant and thoughtful. Feelings about being different, being empowered, being understood, seeing the world in a different way—they told me personal things about my friends and family that I had never known. Each book is now connected to a person who means so much to us and has given a part of themselves to us in the form of a book. It's priceless.

coat for Lydia

The third coat is done. Liddy wanted something comfy and fluffy and she wanted white trim. I used the same pattern for Sadie's coat. This is becoming a favorite pattern. It's McCalls M5743.

This white fluffy trim was sort of crazy and hard to sew with. I think it's minky, or something like it. It sheds and stretches like crazy. To use as a trim, I sewed it into a long tube first, so there were no raw edges to deal with. This made attaching it so much easier, and also a lot thicker, which was fun becasue it makes the coat flare out a bit. The purple is polar fleece, not my favorite material, but she loves it and I couldn't find cotton sweatshirt-weight jersey in a purple.

She likes to come inside and keep it on and nap in it—which I think means it passes the comfy test.

Since finishing Delia's sweater I have not re-found my knitting groove and I miss it.

I'm in between books right now. I finished The Straight Man (good, but I was frustrated with the characters and I found the book more stressful than funny) while we were in Sunriver and The Giver I read over this last weekend. I had never read it before, it came out when I was in college and was not on my radar. It was good although it did have that heavy-handed required school reading vibe to me. I do appreciate the discussion potential and ambiguous ending. I'm trying to figure out when the girls should read it. Early in the summer I read Holly Black's Modern Faeire Tales trilogy (Tithe, Ironside, and Valiant) which were absorbing and fun in that it-sucks-to-be-a-teenager-with-a-lame-mom-and-now-I-realize-I'm-a-pixie-but-I-didn't-know-it kind of way. I was a bit confused at times, but that could have been me needing a nap.

11!

I can't believe my first born is 11. Unreal and so much fun. She had a cosmic bowling party that was insane. I had never done this, it had been a long time since I had bowled, apparently. It was so crazy, fun, loud, and hysterical—it was perfect. She has the kindest heart, the most generous spirit, and a wonderfully absurd sense of humor. I feel so lucky to see her grow.

candy corn in a jar

We somehow ended up coming home with a bag of candy corn mixed with peanuts. I've never really liked candy corn, but with peanuts, it's not bad. The girls love it with popcorn and m&ms. I love making these cookies with candy corn. We were looking for the right candy dish and remembered these great jars with little animals glued on top that Gramme had made with Lydia. They are perfect! The mouse popped off already by accident (don't twist the mouse, twist the ring!) but it was easily repaired with some hot glue.

new coat for delia

I finished Delia's coat last week. It ended with a bit of swearing, the fabric was hard on my serger and I just felt very done with it before I was actually done. Despite everything the coat turned out really pretty and now the frustrations are a distant memory, party because I am working with some new fussy fabric on Lydia's coat, which is also almost done.

Delia designed this coat—she wanted a tie, and she picked out all the fabric. I didn't have to line this, the backside of this textured light blue fabric is slippery, so there was no need to line it because it already remedies any sleeve drag, which all kids seems to loathe. All the buttons for all the girls coast this year have come from their Great-Great-Grandmoher Birchie's button tin. I used Simplicity 2534, again (I think this might be the 5th coat I have made from this pattern) and once again, I just love this pattern to bits.

After Lydia's coat I'm on to Halloween costumes and am also going to try and finish this vest I started knitting last spring.

We just got back from a short trip to Hood River and picked apples and ran around outside. The weather was on our side, which was lucky. Tonight there will be apple crisp, a fire, and hot cocoa to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox. And possibly a game of Kingdom Builder, which Pete and I like more than the girls, but we still try to get them to play.

And unrelated, I was asking about buying owl pellets for the girls to dissect when we were at the nature center in Sunriver, and they told me about Acorn Naturalists, which is a big big website with all kinds of wonderful supplies, books and resources. Time suck alert! It's pretty wonderful.

end-of-summer vacation

We have been making a tradition of going to Bend and Sunriver, Oregon right after school starts for a few years now. We get a great deal on lodging after Labor Day and the crowds are completely gone. The kids can take their time in the Nature Center—we are often the only ones there. This year we met an angry swan. I love this part of Oregon so much. The quality of light when we are riding our bikes on the endless trails just give me goosebumps in the best way. It's magical.

Thank you so much for all your oil orders! I am getting most of them sent out in the next few days.

new items in the shop!

I have been testing these all summer, and so has Grammie and some friends and I am so excited to be selling two new oils, a Treatment Oil for Eyes and Cuticle Oil. ($12 each)

Both are made using only organic oils and both are in the handy roll-on bottle. Easy to use and they smell wonderful. I am also selling a Customized Box Set (two for $$22)—You can select any two of my roll-on oils (there's the Lovely Floral Perfume and the Tension Relief Oil, also) nestled in a sweet little gift box and save a few dollars. These make really sweet gifts. (Please treat yourself!)

I have a long write up about the details of these oils over in the shop, but in a nutshell, they, like everything I sell, were created because I wanted them. I also didn't want to pay what the high end natural lines are charging, which is a whole lot. I used some fantastic oils in these blends— evening primrose, hemp, and avocado oils (just to name a few) are so lovely and beneficial for skin.

I needed this Cuticle Oil for a long time and it works wonders on my nails beds and hangnails. The Treatment Oil for Eyes was created because I knew the healing and medicinal properties of the oils would be wonderful for adding hydration and nourishment to my wrinkle lines without creepy chemicals. I don't want to look younger, just not as tired. And I want to take care of my skin. The more I looked at the chemical laden eye serums and creams the more sketched out I was, then after researching the more natural lines, I realized I could make something similar, sell it for much less, and be confident that I was making a health decision for my body. And these are only $12 each, which is really 3 times less than what most natural lines are selling similar products for.

The Facial Oils and Fortifying Oils are still available. You can read about how these were developed in this blog post. I have only come to love them more in the last 2 years and I have had many re-orders, which makes me so happy!

A quick packaging note and last year, a few of you reported some disintegrating droppers that come with the Facial Oils (a natural reaction with the rubber and the oil) and I now ship these bottles with a cap, include a dropper, and advise that you don't store your dropper in the bottle, but use it only for application.

I hope you all enjoy these! I can't tell you how much I love developing and creating these products.

sadie's new fall coat

I sewed this coat for Sadie from McCalls M5743. She had more design input for this one than the one I made her two years ago. I made that one big so she wore it two seasons. This one is made with sweatshirt jersey, mostly cotton, and it's unlined except for the hood. It has a formal look, but is super cozy, which was requested. The cuffs and hood lining are printed polar fleece, so there is no itch. It's been so warm here that she hasn't been able to wear it yet. She's modeling this in 80 degree weather because she is a trooper.

This sewed up really fast and was very fun to make. Delia's is almost done and it's completely different. There is some real texture going on with that one. And fake fur. It should be an interesting challenge. Lydia has been unclear about a new coat, she might want Delia's old one. It's hard to pin her down, that 6-year old, she has been obsessed with her new jean jacket lately, so that might be all she wears for a bit.

I know I have written this before, but I love, love, love sewing my girls' coats and nightgowns/robes/pjs. Because they wear a coat and pjs everyday, I get to see those so much more than other types of clothes I sew for them and it's so satisfying.

lifting fingerprints, a camera obscura, and a poem

It's pretty awesome when Pete comes home and asks what we did today and the girls say they lifted fingerprints, (for the detective badge) made a camera obscura, (for the photographer badge) and wrote a poem (for the writer badge). We are continuing to have loads of fun on the DIY site. The only thing that is a challenge for me is to slow them down. They get all crazy and I feel like I am chasing Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3 around trying to keep up with all the supplies, requests, and energy. It's rad, exhausting, and really tears the house apart.

We were waiting for the real embroidered patches to become available and now they are! This is Sadie's Baker patch. They come in this cool rigid mailer with a DIY window cling. I'm shaking my head here that this site is free and the patches are only $5 once you have earned them. Go internet! And DIY!

a finished sweater for an almost 9-year old

I finished this sweater for Delia that I had started in April. I put my Cypress on hold because I wanted to knit something colourful and stripy so I switched to this project using a fabulous yarn Delia selected that is self-striping. All the info is on my ravelry page.

The pattern was generated from a phone app, Raglanify, which is pretty great to use. I really like choosing my yarn first and then using a pattern that is customized to my gauge. This my second sweater, I was all accessories and small project before now.

Fall is coming. It rained the last two mornings. There is a hustle in the air with all the back-to-school energy in the world that we watch but doesn't affect us, being homeschoolers. We still do the exciting stuff—the girls buy school supplies because that is just so much fun and the prices are so good. I also have finished Sadie's fall coat (I will show this soon) and am about to start Delia's. I love sewing their coats so much. This year they have had a lot more interest in the design, so animal prints and faux-fur are making an appearance.

I just finished an Ann Tyler book, Searching for Caleb I always like her work. It's poignant, quirky, and relatable.

We just saw the newest Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine. It was good, but it was heavy. Not really date-night material. We saw it at Cinetopia, (groupon deal) and watched it while eating food. You can order from a menu from your lounge chair, with your feet up on an ottoman. We ending up sharing the Nacho Supreme and a brownie. There was an opening musical act, a guy who was really good. He was playing accordion and singing. The last song seemed pretty personal and I wondered how many people were listening to the lyrics.

homemade baking mix with whole grains (mostly)

Early in the summer we were thrifting at the beach and I found these two cookbooks. I love vintage cookbooks from food companies, like Jello, Betty Crocker—that kind of thing. The one on the right is older and full of really funny and helpful entertaining advice. I could pull quotes from the whole thing, it's just so well written and wry, but also crazy and dated. Like how to entertain and cook for your husband's boss when he and his wife come over for dinner. That type of thing. A friend also pointed out that the tag line on the cover makes it sound like you are planning to eat your guests.

Anyhoo, I got all nutty and preoccupied with the other book on the left (So Quick with new Bisquick) when I realized that I actually had never really used baking mix at all and what a clever thing it is. Once, I bought a Trader Joe's baking mix when we were on vacation, but besides that, I never used it. I have no clue if my dad used a baking mix to make pancakes and waffles (grammie, did he?) so I don't even know if I had it growing up. I have always just baked it from scratch, mostly because I love baking so much. But this book was so addictive because it has about 7 basic recipes you can make from your mix: pancakes, waffles, biscuits, shortcake, coffeecake, that kind of thing, and then a ton of recipes with a variations. Some of which sound fantastically horrible. I immediately thought I needed to make my own mix, but not with white flour or shortening.

I did a bunch of online and cookbook searching and found so many recipes. I ended up making two different mixes and I love them both. This is the coffee cake I made from a mix #1.

and I made biscuits, too (recipe #2)

We also have made shortcake, waffles, pancakes, muffins, and cookies. I love having these at the ready and the efficiency I find so pleasing, especially early in the morning when I am not fully awake. The girls love using them because they are so simple, so much of the work is already done. But, they do like to measure, pour, and mix so going fast and speedy with very few ingredients isn't necessarily what they like about baking. I do love that I can mix 3 ingredients together and have muffins, however. There are a lot of limitations cooking with these mixes, but I still find it fun and thrilling.

Awesome title page from the book.

 

Here are the two recipes I made.

Recipe #1 (adapted from the King Arthur Flour recipe)

• 4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 3 1/2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats
• 3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Chop the oats in a food processor until fine, dump this in big bowl of a mixer (I use my kitchen aid and it fillis it to the top) and add the other dry ingredients and slowly drizzle in oil. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Recipe #2

• 5 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 4 tablespoons flour (optional)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup butter, cold

Mix all the dry ingredients and cut in the butter until it's finely mixed in. I do this with about half the amount of flour in the food processor and then mix the rest in a big bowl distributing the butter throughout. Store in the refrigerator of freezer.

5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)

3 Tablespoons Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Cup Shortening

- See more at: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2012/05/homemade-bisquick-baking-mix-recipe.html#sthash.f2Zozz6R.dpuf

5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)

3 Tablespoons Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Cup Shortening

- See more at: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2012/05/homemade-bisquick-baking-mix-recipe.html#sthash.f2Zozz6R.dpuf

5 Cups All Purpose Flour (I used unbleached)

3 Tablespoons Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Cup Shortening

- See more at: http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2012/05/homemade-bisquick-baking-mix-recipe.html#sthash.f2Zozz6R.dpuf

To make all the different items, I used my vintage book, but online you can find a lot too, there's a ton of recipes at the Betty Crocker site using Bisquick. I have found that across the board, the whole grain makes a much drier dough, so I always add more liquid. Sometimes a lot more. I definitely go with what looks and behaves like a typical dough or batter for what I am making rather than rely on the recipe. Also, Mix #1 has a lot more texture and flavor, with the ground-up oats, so I save that for hearty baking rather than anything I want fluffy—like shortcakes or biscuits, which is better with #2, because it's also got the butter.

color at cargo

I was showing Éireann around Portland while she was here and took here to Cargo, one of my favorite Portland shops. I didn't know there was a location in Astoria, which we were delighted to find recently. My middle child was thrilled because she was out of wax lips, so those were purchased and worn immediately.

I have been sewing a bit and not knitting but really wanting to. I am almost done with Delia's sweater that I started in the spring—I just need to knit the collar. My latest cooking excitement is making homemade bisquick mix, which I have made (2 kinds) and baked from for the last 2 months with freakish enthusiasm. I need to write about this with recipes.

This link (the 25 best websites for literature lovers) is making me happy and is an epic time suck. I haven't even come close to looking at all these links, but I like knowing it's there. I thought I'd only look and read one link every two weeks. That's my goal, so I don't get all click-crazy and forget everything I have read and where I read it.

the 3-minute cake (also known as cake in a mug, but we don't use a mug)

Delia made this cake last night. She makes it often and cuts it into 3 slices, covers it with powdered sugar and serves it to her sisters. It's this cake in a mug recipe, which I have ever so slghtly changed over the years. We don't make it in a mug. We mix it in a bowl first and then microwave it in this small dish for 3 minutes and it works like a charm. I remember how much I loved my easy bake oven, and this is just like that, only better.

I know a microwaved cake sounds gross, but this one is not—it's just not like a cake baked in an oven. The texture is very similar to a steamed pudding. I remember the boxed microwave cakes and brownie mixes you could buy in the 1980s and how horrible they were, this is nothing like that (pete swears these mixes were really good if you didn't eat the middle). It's lovely with whipped cream on top or a scoop of ice cream while it's still warm. Caramel sauce is good, too. And it's the perfect amount for them to split 3-ways. The quality of cocoa powder and chocolate chips make a huge difference. I also use melted butter, not oil. And if it's for me, I add 1/2 tsp. of instant espresso powder.

The best is watching them make this all by themselves. Once they made it with quinoa flour by accident. It was so foul, and I couldn't figure out why the kitchen smelled like wet mushrooms.

Here's how we make it:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla and instant esperesso powder (if desired)
• small handful of chocolate chips 

It's so easy, just mix everything together and add the chocolate chips last. Then microwave at full power. 3 minutes is perfect for us using a shallow dish with a very old weak microwave—so it might take less time for a new microwave. It should cool just a bit before you cut it and eat it, but not too much, it doesn't keep well.

my new workshop over at creativebug—magic wands

Sadie, Lydia, and I had so much fun shooting this class for creativebug on paper mâché magic wands. You can see a little video preview here, just click on the photo. It was an action packed messy production, I was sweating in that wool cardi, I tell you. But it came together really well. The technique I teach for the basic paper mâché wand form, glueing, and finishing can be used for any shape you can think up, all with newspaper and tape and stuff you have in your recycle bin. Sadie is 10 and Lydia is 6— it was fun to see how they did this project differently. It's great for all ages. Now I want to make some paper mâché black cats, ghosts and pumpkins for Halloween and then a turkey and some Christmas decorations, too.

Susan Beal and her daughter Pearl made some clothespin dolls from a creativebug class I shot with Delia and she is giving a little doll kit away to make your own dolls! Head on over there and leave a comment to win it—and she has a code for you all too, that is good all summer on a discount for creativebug classes. Thanks Susan!

a day and night in Astoria, Oregon

The Astoria Megler Bridge

We spent a day and night in Astoria and its surrounding areas and it was so fun. We hadn't been there in over 10 years, never with kids. We all loved it. There is so much history in this town, the old buildings are really special. This bridge heads over to Washington state.

Delicious food and cake at the Astoria Coffee House and Bistro

The Lightship Columbia, which we were able to tour

Great hands on fun at the Columbia River Maritime Museum

Crazy good espresso at Street 14 Coffee

 

Looking up, the amazing view of the Astor Hotel Lobby, all decrepit and beautiful. The hotel closed long ago (it was built in the 1920s) and was vacant for years and is now low income housing above and retail below—this is Vintage Hardware, and incredibly, it's in the lobby of the historic hotel, but it has not been restored in any way. I had a little heart attack in here, it was so cool to stand in the lobby of this incredible hotel, which has been run down since the 1960s. Here's the way it looked in its prime.

I did my thesis project in college (B.A. in interior architecture) on the renovation of a historic movie/vaudeville theater in Albany, Oregon (the Venetain)—this kind of thing is very close to my heart. The kids weren't quite aware of how amazing it was, but that didn't stop me from talking about it. I didn't make them go to the woman's restroom of the outstanding Astoria Post Office, which I was told is untouched and wonderful. I will save that for next time. I'm laughing at the idea of Historic Bathrooms, now. That would be quite a theme vacation.

And so much fun at Fort Clatsop, where I asked a ton of questions about tinder boxes and flint and steel. I was also quite enamored of the buckskin pants, of course. My family was interested, to a point, and then very patient. There was a ton to do in this area—we have to go back and also explore Long Beach next time.

berry picking with grammie

On one of the really hot days last week we went back to the berry farm to get even more raspberries and blueberries which have gone crazy this year. It's been such a great year for berries here in Oregon. Gammie came with us and she is doing so much better, it's such a relief. She is in remission for her breast cancer now—she finished her last radiation treatment about 7 weeks ago. She is doing so well and I am so grateful that I am so close to her, emotionally and physically. This would have been unbearable to go through long distance.

She has been a busy bee, she already made jam from her raspberries berries and has also finished 3 machine quilting jobs in the last month. It's making her so happy to work and quilt again. If you need a top machine quilted, she is back up and running, you can find her over at Tillie Studio. Go Grammie!

She wants me to mention that this is a wig (there have been quite a few wig jokes and one wig singeing incident with the oven) and she is greatly inspired by Judi Dentch's pixie cut, which she plans to rock when more of her hair comes back.

stuffed animal and doll hospital intake forms

We have a lot of handmade dolls and stuffed animals in the house, some of them made by the girls, some made by me, many made by friends, and they often need extra love and a little bit of repairing. A pile was developing with long descriptions about what needed to be repaired and I suggested making an Intake Form for the hospital, which is on top of my ironing board in the sewing room. All the patients are lined up under a "heat lamp" waiting for triage, an exam, and treatment.

I created these forms for the girls to fill out and leave with each patient. It's been a huge hit with all ages in the house (6-10). Using the templates in pages (I think microsoft word has them too) is a great love of mine. We make brochures, business cards, signs, and all kind of things with very little effort and the girls like them because they look so official. I love them because I can customize them instantly.

There's a spot to draw since writing can be hard for younger folks. Anyone can be the doctor or can help with the intake paperwork and process. Often an extra (unplugged) phone is involved. How great is having an extra real phone, not a cell phone? They love playing with it. These forms were used for both real injuries (stitches that need to be re-sewn) and made up ones. Sadie just filled out one for her dog's anxiety issues. I'm prescribing tea, meditation, and long walks as a treatment.

Here's the form to play with and customize.

I saved it as a word file (not a PDF) so hopefully you can open it and customize it for your own needs. It's written in a serious/funny way, which is our sense of humor. I printed 5 and then had to print 10 more. They are kind of heartbreaking after they are all filled out. As the doctor, I date stamp them and fill out the rest of the form and when I finish I fold it up small and tape it to the patient. I also try to add a little something, a cape, new collar, or a ribbon to spruce them up—I think a photo attached would be great, too, if they are so inclined. These forms are keepers for sure.

Éireann is coming to town and reading from her new book

Mulit-talented writer and artist Éireann Lorsung, who I have blogged about before, is coming to Portland for a few days and is reading at PNCA. I am so thrilled to see her in person again. The first time I met her I only had two girls—that was more than 6 years ago. It was a wet and dark day in the park and we chatted about being creative and watched my girls play. I have seen her vision grow since then and she has gone on to do so many wonderful things with her passion and energy. I can't wait to hear her read from her newest book of poetry, Her Book, which is not out yet, but will be in August 2013. Here are some details about the reading directly from the PNCA site:

Monday, July 29, 2013
6:00pm until 7:30pm

CT+CR Headquarters
1241 NW Johnson St.
Portland, OR, 97209

This event will take place in CT+CR Headquarters, room 204 at the main campus of the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

PNCA’s MA in Critical Theory and Creative Research (CT+CR) welcomes poet and editor Éireann Lorsung for a reading from her new book “Her Book,” published by Milkweed Editions.

Éireann Lorsung’s luminous voice is distilled through multiple unnamed female speakers in her second collection. Full of youth, wonder, and imagination, “Her Book” crosses distances and generations to celebrate the lives of women, their individual and shared experiences, and the bonds that bring them together. This is also a book about translation (of experience into art, of knowledge across time and space) and conversation (with, for instance, work by Kiki Smith, widely known as a feminist artist). Lorsung writes additionally about her time spent in England and friendships she formed with women there. Together, these poems comprise both her book (Lorsung’s), and her (encompassing all who identify with that word).

and here are some links about Éireann from her blog and all she is up to, which is a lot.

 

the elements of style, illustrated

I was thrilled to discover The Elements of Style Illustrated, which I didn't know existed until a few weeks ago. It was on sale at Anthro. It's so exciting to me that it's illustrated! The Elements of Style is so smart, simple, and easy to read, I forgot how amazing it is. I realized we didn't have a copy in the house. The copy I grew up with is still in Grammie's bookshelf, as it should be, so it was time to get one for us. This version has artwork from the fabulous Maira Kalman, who I am obsessed with, so it's a real win-win. And now I want to check out this book, too.

As the girls get older, we are working on building an adult library for them (and for us) full of classics and our personal favorites. Real books, both fiction and non-fiction—a collection that is considered and not just old college textbooks, random fiction classics, and obscure music and art books, which is what it is now. It's been fun to think and talk about. It feels like a good way to spend my money and time, you know what I mean? Sometimes, at the end of a week, I scratch my head at what exactly I am buying. My purchases often feel dumb and unnecessary later (I will happily blame the girls here, but I did buy the ceramic spoons) but buying a wonderful copy of Pride and Prejudice for an at home library that our children and future grandchildren can enjoy? That feels great.

each time it gets better

After discussing this comedy sketch a few nights ago I had to watch it again (and again) and I just can't believe how funny it is. It's so funny I can't laugh. It's less than 4 minutes and every line is golden.

Around the World in 80 Plates - from Portlandia.

oatmeal excitement!

I like to make a big brunch at the house at least once a month for my brother. He's easy to please, appreciates good food, and is a total hoot. He also doesn't mock me when I photograph these brunches, which is kind of him. I have made so many now—waffles, pancakes, egg dishes, you name it, and this time I wanted to do something different. I realize not everyone is excited by oatmeal, but I am, and in this case, I think I even surprised myself with how delicious and fun this was. I made an oatmeal bar. My brother is a big fan of participatory food. I'm going to point out the details here that made me so happy. In this shot it's the tiny creamers, for everyone to have their own milk to pour in. I love these things, we use them all the time. This oatmeal here has a homemade plum-apricot-orange spiced compote on top which will get its own post because, dang.

The muffin tin of toppings. This is what made me so delighted. I won't tell you how many ways I thought about displaying the toppings that was both pleasing and practicable. I am thrilled with the muffin tin solution. And who knew buying small handfuls of toppings in bulk was so fun? This was all without kids, buying anything in bulk with kids makes me crazy. A wonderful cheap thrill. To serve, I just ladled in the hot oatmeal (Bob's Scottish Oatmeal) and then passed the tin of toppings around. The girls loved it, too.

In the tin: there's a tropical dried fruit and nut mix, dried cranberries, brown sugar, flake coconut, pumpkin seeds, and chopped pecans. That ceramic spoon broke during the clean up. Who would make ceramic spoons? (Anthropologie.) And who would buy them? (Me.)

My pleasing bowls, which were stacked like this by accident, but how photo worthy. Also from Anthro recently, on sale, and they are making me so happy.

I also served fresh fruit and hard cooked eggs, juice, and coffee. The hard cooked eggs— my brother said he had never eaten one before. For real. The things is, I believe him. I ate them all the time growing up, and we did grow up together, but I don't recall him ever eating hard cooked eggs. He ate one at brunch, but I don't think he loved it. I mean, if he hadn't of had one by now, I think there's a reason why. But who has never had a hard cooked egg? I think this is really funny.

I've been making lists lately of things I do that make me really happy and gluing stuff to paper and making brunch for friends and family keeps coming up very high on my list. This last weekend reminded me of that. I didn't glue anything on paper, but still.

I also have been writing down everything I do that I find really lame, or tiresome, or frustrating, or just low-level depressing. Some of it I can't avoid, but much of it I can delegate or get help with. This was a challenge to do honestly— I feel guilty focusing on what I don't like (always telling myself to stay positive, don't complain, be grateful) but then I never really admit what really makes me grumpy. Like wearing shoes that hurt, or going grocery shopping, or using my phone to read the news. But now that I just admit that there are things that tend to bum me out, I can avoid them if I can, or at least know when I do these things, I tend to get grumpy and plan accordingly. So simple. What's interesting is how often I do stuff with my extra time (out of habit) that I don't really like to do, like read the news on my phone, and how seldom I glue stuff to paper. I plan to make some adjustments.

washi tape frames for photos

The girls love their Fujifilm INSTAX MINI Film Camera so much. They also fell hard for the special film that has colored frames and the super cute stickers you can apply to the photos. We have run out of both and only had the standard white framed film left. Although I love all the stickers and cute films packs, they add up and are a lot more expensive than just getting the standard white packs. So we made our own.

We got smart and realized washi tape would work perfect to decorate the frames. Oh, washi tape. And there is no shortage in this house, it was just a matter of finding all the rolls I have squirrelled away.

It's very forgiving and easy to use and reposition—any misalligined strips are unnoticeable.

We just laid it out and folded it over. I know above it looks like she is trimming, but we found that not trimming, just folding, worked best. Sadie mixed more than one tape pattern on a single photo and it was really cute.

4 days at the oregon coast

new book—favorite crafts for kids

I was sent this review copy of Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids: 175 Projects for Kids of All Ages to Create, Build, Design, Explore, and Share a couple weeks ago and it has been close at my side since then. I have all the martha Kids magazines (RIP) and all the Baby magazines (RIP)  and pretty much all of the MSL magazines stored away in my bookshelves. This pulls projects from all those issues, plus (I was told when I e-mailed them to ask) there is some new content as well. Even if there weren't, seeing all these craft projects in one source is pretty thrilling. I have since loaned it to Grammie, who is loving it as well.

There are so many great project ideas on Pinterest, but nothing beats a book or magazine for me. The girls love looking at this book for project ideas and it's off the computer. They can carry it around, put it on the craft table, take it to bed, take it outside—it's making me appreciate physical sources for us all even more now that they are older.

I feel good about saving all my magazines, books, everyday foods, etc, over the years. It was such a drag to move them so many times since college, but I'm so glad I kept what I did. The girls look at them all the time. I remember how much my parents' books, magazines, and albums lying around had an influence on me growing up. I wonder about all the e-reader books and digital music we have in a clould—if that's all we had, how would kids browse a collection in their home? There is nothing to look at. No book covers or album covers lying around. I'm not anti-digital for media. I use my kindle all the time, but I do think about this a lot. I have slowly been reading more e-books and getting more music online over the last few years have realized while it's nice to have less stuff in the house, it sort of removes it all from the rest of the family. Which is fine— I don't need or want to share everything. I'm not saying I need to do it differently, it's just something I think about and try to make a conscious decision about it when I buy a real item versus a digital one.

a big bag of postage stamps

We were at our neighborhood thirftstore yesterday and found a goldmine—which has taken up hours of our time already. I love these kind of surprise crafts.

For $1.99 I found a huge bag of stamps still stuck to letters. I mentioned to the 8-year-old that I loved to soak off stamps and save them when I was little. I didn't know if she would know why I did this or if it sounded fun to her, but she immediately got it. I shouldn't have been surprised, this is the same child who collects corks, string, and bits of recycling which she crams under her bed.

We soaked them in water for about 10 minutes and they slid off easily. I don't think I have done this since I was 10. I loved do this so much.

They dried in about 10 more minutes. Not totally, but dry enough for her.

And we found a blank book. She wanted to put them in right away.

So fun! We have so many left to do. The BEST part is we found a whole envelope in the bag, with a typed letter inside—it's like a nancy drew mystery! The girls are so excited. It is from Spain, written in english. The stamps come from all around the world all addressed to the same couple, but so much is torn off the address, it's hard to know, which makes the mystery more fun.

I want to show them craft ideas with stamps too, like these shoes. I especially like mounting the stamps grouped by color, and this drawing with stamps is also wonderful. I know just gluing them in books is pretty satisfying too, so I will try to back off. Or get my own pile of stamps.

our new girl

After talking about getting a dog for about a year with the girls, and researching Boston Terriers and  Pugs, we adopted one last week. The girls were hoping for a black pug puppy, I was hoping for an older pug which needed a home. Pete was game for whatever. We found an older one, and we all love her so much! I am so glad to both help an adult dog and not have the crazy puppy vibe in the house right now. I love puppies, but you know what I mean. Maybe a pug puppy in a couple years. I love her fawn color, she really is so cute, and I am not just saying that because she is ours. I was willing to adopt an adult pug with issues but fortunately she has none and was very loved at her old house. Her previous owner is elderly and her health and limited mobility was making pet ownership really hard.

She came with the name Angelina, which of course we have kept. The girls added the middle name of Meatloaf. She is 7 and has the sweetest personality. The cats are displeased, but are coming around. She doesn't know they don't like her, I have to break it to her gently. They are slowly meeting each other under my watchful gaze. Cat's claws and pug's bugling eyeballs are not a good mix. She's used to cats (and other pugs) sleeping with her, so she's game. I do think the cats will sleep with her at some point. Maybe.

homemade frozen yogurt treat

My almost 6 year-old (!) and I made this raspberry frozen yogurt (with no ice cream maker) after watching jamie oliver make a similar one with mango. Here's that recipe. The trick is to use frozen fruit. We also added a bit more honey and sugar because the raspberries were pretty tart. This was all in the food processor and took no time at all. We just played with the proportions until it seemed really thick—like it would freeze well. White sugar made it grainy, but after it froze overnight, the graininess was gone. We ate it right away and it was semi-soft, after freezing overnight it was perfectly scoop-able. I always have a ton of frozen fruit on hand because I am crazy about not wasting it, it's so great to put in smoothies, but I never thought to make it into a frozen yogurt ice cream type treat. It's lovely between two lemon ginger cookies.

creatvebug class special! ends soon!

Creativebug is offering a great sale on all their a la carte classes. You can buy a single class, and have access to it forever, for only $9.99! This offer is good on all the a la cart classes, and mine are in there, too.

This sale ends on June 22nd and is a perfect way to see the quality of classes they produce if you don't want to jump into the subscription plan.

My classes:

Homemade Apothecary

Clothespin Dolls

Rock n' roll Undies

Journal of family life

Peter Pan Collar

bracelet making and more

I made some leather and jute bracelets with Delia a few weeks back. I used this fine tutorial right here. They were so easy to make and quite addictive. I wouldn't use jute again. It's pretty, but itchy. I think this is now being used as a key fob, or it's tied to a dance bag or something. I want to make more.

related to making stuff:

The whole family has been taken over by DIY Skills. It's a site for kids to tackle challenges and to master skills. Think baking, animating, camping, hacking, film making, sewing, chemistry, computer programing, you name it. Insanely fun and motivating.There is too much awesomeness to write about here—it's pretty involved. But you can get a sense of it all if you watch the video, and look around at all the projects kids have done and read the FAQ.  The real embroidered patches are supposed to be available for sale next month. I asked and they answered.

new class at creativebug—clothespin dolls!

Last month the excellent people from creativebug were here at the house (while they were in Portland for Quilt Market) and we shot a couple classes.

The first one is available now! It's right here!

And you can see a preview here.

Delia is teaching this one with me and she did a great job. It was pretty fun to do a workshop with my 8-year old daughter. The other two girls appear in the next class, which was a hoot to make, for sure. Right now this class is part of the subscription package, which is a great deal—unlimited classes for a monthly fee.

And, they have a cool promo right now where you can watch a class for free.

They also have a Father's Day free printable card on their blog. The blog is really wonderful, so much good stuff in there.

packing tape postcards

We made some postcards out of packing tape a bit back. And then we mailed them. They were received without any issues. So exciting!

We got this fabulous idea from All About Collage, by Todd Oldham, which we picked up at the library along with all his other books in that series. They are pretty swell—nice big photos and simple clear directions.

We put the stamp over the tape and everything else was sandwiched in between. Liddy even got the brilliant idea to add flowers inside of hers. Mail art makes me (and the kids) so very happy. I want to send a can again.

recent books I have read:

I am almost done with Some Kind of Fairy Tale (I really like it so far) and I finished The Best of Youth about 2 weeks ago which was light, yet sad and funny. It was nail-biting in a good way. For some reason I was wanting a tragic ending, which it did not have. This book reminded me of a less zany version of a Johnathan Ames novel. 

I am so obsessed with the book list you all helped me with, I can't thank you enough. I've read 4 books from that list already that I never would have found (I think some titles were in the comments, too) and Pete has read Dog Stars. Thank you!

a better batch of homemade dry shampoo

I made dry shampoo a bit back and it was almost perfect, but not quite. I used corn meal in the blend, which was too lumpy. It was kind of chunky and grainy and my eldest daughter complained of bits. It was also too light for her brown hair. I looked around and found this great tip for adding cocoa powder to make the whole batch darker—which is much nicer for most hair colors, I think. I also ditched the corn meal. We added grapefruit essential oil and have been using this a new batch a whole lot.

I know some people wonder about dry shampoo. Why not just wash your hair? Well, you know how it is, especially with long hair, it's just not reasonable sometimes, or even needed all that often. Also, my hair, as I have gotten older, has gotten a lot finer and the powder adds some body and fullness that I really like, especially on my roots.

 

brownies, with some additions. (no, not that kind.)

These are our everyday brownies. I make a few kinds—some with melted chocolate and some, like this one, with cocoa powder. I have been making these since about 1982, when I was first learning to cook, which is when I think this family cookbook was created. They are perfect for kids to make by hand. I always melt the butter first. For this batch I didn't add the nuts. Sadly, the kids would really be upset, if I did. I did add instant espresso powder (1/2 tsp) which the kids like. I topped it with marshmallows when they were done, and popped them under the broiler for a second.

I only make a half-batch of this recipe. This is  (9" x 9") and I only cook them for about 30 minutes, maybe even less. Oh, and I added chocolate chips. Just to be extra sick, I served them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. I never knew Cammy, but I love her brownies.

the best birthday gifts come from my brother

Inflatable turkey. It's way bigger than you'd think!

playing outside in the rain

It rained pretty much all weekend, but it was still warm, so we tried to get some yard work done. And we did, but there were some moments of tension. It wasn't looking productive until I remembered the scavenger hunt idea I had pinned to a board of mine. I forget to look at my own boards on pinterest (why!?)  I should look at them first thing, because not surprisingly, I love all the things I pin. Here's the direct link to this nature scavenger hunt idea. I wrote our list by hand in about 3 seconds, handed it to the nearest child, and they were off—all making piles of items. I wrote down about 7 things I think:

1. 3 types of leaves
2. something red
3. a treasure
4. something slimy
5. something rough
6. 4 pinecones
7. 4 rocks

It was a huge hit and I marveled at what they found red in the yard.

Unrelated:

• I saw The Great Gatsby and was so happy I had re-read it so recently. I liked the movie, it was very entertaining which is always my biggest hope. There were some troubling omissions in the ending, and it was a bit, crazy, but overall I really had a good time watching it and it made me appreciate the book even more. I am now reading The Best of Youth, by Michael Dahlie, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I am only half way through and it's stressing me out in a tragic/comedy of errors kind of way. Cringe-y reading. And there are some parallel Gatsby themes (very rich white boys under 30 in NYC) which is fun.

• I had a great birthday (41) over the weekend, ending in a fabulous dinner at st. jack.

• We all watched the wonderful Nova program, Hunting the Elements, and the girls are dying to watch it again. The periodic table rocks. And I can't believe all the free resources out there, this amazing 2 hour show you can stream for free. So cool.

celebrating kathreen ricketson

Ann and Kay over at Mason Dixon Knitting have come up with a great way to celebrate Kathreen's life this long weekend by suggesting we spend time looking at whip up, link to a favorite whip up post, and encourage anyone who wishes to do the same and spread the word and contribute to funds for the surviving children of Rob and Kathreen.

Now, paypal can make this even easier.

To contribute to Otilija and Orlando's education fund, please head over to Paypal and use the email address set up by Kathreen's brother Jonathan Ricketson: otilijaandorlando@gmail.com

Kay and Ann are sharing a new knitting pattern—a blanket designed by Kay to everyone who donates (the info is in this post)

And as for my favorite whip up post, it's too hard to choose! But I have always trolled the tutorials like crazy, especially with my girls. Here's a link to the tutorials archives—so many good ideas.

7 really uncomfortable minutes

**update! Action Hero directed me to this timer JUST FOR THIS WORKOUT! It has the pictures and everything and breaks up the 30 seconds/10 seconds for you.

This type of cross-training-workout-for-a-short-amount-of-time-until-you-feel-like-you-might-die is great for me. Occasionally. Like when I'm not hurt. When I can do this kind of thing, I just keep thinking about how it's only 7 minutes, and it makes it easier. Sort of.

I printed a few copies of this excellently illustrated Scienctific 7-Minute Workout from the New York Times to put around the house because somehow the cute illustrations make it seem less horrible to do. I haven't done it yet. I have done really similar workouts, but not lately. My back, while much improved (time and this book have been the key) isn't ready for this kind of stuff quite yet. But, Pete has done this and digs it. We both normally do a different circut that repeats 4 moves for 10 minute total, and this is more interesting because you only do one move for 30 seconds, resting 10 seconds in between. I actually am a little afraid to do this around him or the girls because I get into laughing fits when straining myself physically when I am not alone, and then I often get even more hurt.

I love the blue shoes this guy is wearing.

There's complete info in the link. Please don't get hurt if you try this. No one cares if you only do two moves or skip a bunch.

 

so sad and shocked-

I just heard about Kathreen Ricketson and her husband Robert Shugg and the terrible circumstances of their deaths. I'm sending love and thoughts to their children and families. It just makes me cry. I remember when Kathreen started Whip Up and there was a group of us who were the very first contributers—it was all so new and exciting. Kathreen was so talented and went on to contribute so much to this online craft community we have. That time when it was all beginning and we were all first blogging holds such a special place in my heart. It seems like a long time ago, but it really wasn't. I can't believe she is gone.

There is a way to help her surviving children.

Here is the original blog post about Kathreen and Rob's death and a news article I found with additional information.

She brought so much passion and energy to the world of creating and crafting—she will be deeply missed.

photos on wooden blocks

Last week we made some photo blocks. We glued the photos to wood scrap and/or toy wooden blocks with YES paste and then covered them with 3 coats of gloss Mod Podge. Then the sides were painted.

We got this idea from my mom, who made a bunch of lovely photo blocks with family photos and beeswax using Courtney's video. Ours were done spontaneously, we didn't even take the time to melt beezwax, we just used what was in the craft cupboard. The girls used photos from the instaprints we just got. I am so happy I got these, they have already been mailed, altered, and traded, so I probably will not order them as magnets just so they are more versatile. For this last block, I used Maui photos printed from my printer and gave it to Grammie on mother's day.

Unrelated:

• I'm excited to be going to International Quilt Market this weekend here in Portland. That will be awesome.

• I finished The Great Gatsby and am so happy I re-read it. It was beautifully written and now I feel all ready to see the movie, although I know great liberties were taken. I loved Moulin Rouge to death, as over-the-top as it was. I'm also pretty excited for the new Star Trek, which my brother will take me to for my birthday next week, so he can fill me in on all things I miss when watching these movies. I get confused easily. I blame the editing. Like the last one, Red matter . . what?

yarn that I am using as ribbon

I found this amazing yarn that I am getting all crazy about at Michaels. It was on sale, I think it was $1.99 or something insane like that and I just can't stop tying it on stuff. I don't really troll the yarn there, but my middle child needed some neon orange yarn (does this exist? we couldn't find any) and I found this in the hunt. It's called "flaunt" by Loops & Threads.

Unrelated, I finished The Snow Child and liked it so much. It was odd reading it on Maui because it takes place in Alaska. I also did that thing where I read a bit too much about the author right after I finished it. Like seconds after I finished it, dang internet, and so I wasn't able to just sit with the story for a while, which I should have done. It's a quiet and still story and tearing the curtain back to learn all about the author ripped me out of it all too abruptly.

I'm now reading The Great Gatsby, because—well, you know why. I want to at least have a recent framework for when I see the film. I haven't read it since highschool. I remember the story, but not the writing. This was also true for me reading Lolita again a few years ago for a bookgroup. I remember reading it in highschool (not for a class, of course, but on my own) but it may as well been a different book. It makes me want to reread so much.

Happy Mother's Day! I'm having strawberry shortcake right now.

waffle brunch

We had my brother over last weekend for brunch and made a waffle bar-

I made a few different types of waffles. He brought the fake moustaches.

In that special way my brother experiences life, he made the best waffle sandwich ever using two different types of waffles, sausage, chocolate sauce, maple syrup, strawberries and whipped cream. The girls were ecstatic.

I love using these waffle recipes. Everything I have made from King Arthur's site and the cookbook I have has been rock solid. The whole grain cookbook has taught me so much. Like using orange juice to help balance the tannic flavors, and other really interesting hints. I keep going back to it.

And now I want to do this all again for Mother's Day! I need to make a chocolate waffle, pronto.

MIEL and helping with a bigger vision

I pre-ordered the most recent issue of 111O, a journal published by the stellar micro-press MIEL, and it was delivered in my mailbox recently. This issue contains a beautiful set of postcards created by different artists—

and words from different writers responding to the images on the back of each card. It was such a pleasing package to receive, unwrap, and read. The whole project is so carefully executed and crafted. There are back issues here of 111O and I can tell you they are just as special as this one. Éireann (half of MIEL) also sells her artwork in this shop, which I continue to love and look at daily—pinned up around the house.

I've been so excited by MIEL's publishing concept since it's started. This is taken from their website:

MIEL was established in 2011 to promote and publish difficult, innovative, intelligent, and deeply felt writing and visual art. We publish poetry, short prose, photographs, and prints in forms that bridge the trade edition and artist's book.

MIEL is hosting a writers retreat this Fall, and have started a fundraiser to help writers travel there and participate. I am jumping up and down cheering, hoping they meet their fundraising goal to make this happen. This wonderful and funny video explains it all, and of course the words below it do, too. Watching and reading about this and imagining the difference it would make in an artist's ife really moves me. This is just the type of thing that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about artists and the internet and humans in general. I contributed to this fundraiser and had a huge grin on my face the rest of the day.

maui, hawaii

We just got back from the greatest trip. We were on Maui for seven days and it was magical. We studied the history of the islands for about a month before we left, reading everything we could get our hands on and it really made the trip more meaningful for the girls. Especially the shave ice part of Hawaii. There was a whole lot of swimming, snorkeling, and boogie boarding—my back is so much better. The 5-hour airplane ride was ouchy, otherwise I was pretty much normal, which was such a relief. Pete was cracking me up on the plane ride home reading out loud his google search history based on totally random conversations while we were there:

Who was the Three's Company landlord?

Why are there metal bands on palm trees in Maui?

Can you take nail polish on an airplane?

How do you boogie board?

What was the plot of Bosom Buddies?

What do you put on chocolate macadamia nut pancakes?

another t-shirt for poppy

This is another t-shirt I had made for Pete. This one was for his birthday. Like the one I made before, I used CustomInk and was so happy with how it turned out and how fast it shipped. I did feel a little guilty, like before, that I didn't get all DIY on this and burn my own screen, but when I only want one shirt, it's such an easy way to go. I'm sure there are lots of companies that do this, feel free to suggest some others, this is the only one I've used so far. I think there's a local option, but I haven't checked them out yet.

I had the girls each draw something they know Pete likes, so Liddy drew a rocketship, Sadie a guitar, and Delia drew a robot. I scanned them and made them the same size and then uploaded the art to their site. I did convert it to line art first (in Illustrator) so I could change the ink color to white. I wonder it they could do this for you if you don't have a program that does it? I'm not sure.

Then a few clicks and and a few days later it was here and he loves it so much. We spend way too much time thinking about making t-shirts around here, mostly with sentences that are probably only funny to us. I'm sure we will make another for father's day.

the rock n' roll undies workshop is here, now.

Okay, the workshop is now available over at Creativebug. It's part of the subscription, or you can buy it as a single class. And you can watch a little preview right here. Just click on the photo. Woot!