Shinhatsubai!

a little bit girly

This weekend I made this dolly using the "Nutcracker Doll" pattern from Alicia Paulson's "Stitched in Time". While reading a bit in "The Likeness" where one of the characters is restoring a Victorian doll, I suddenly had the urge to make a doll of my own. The next day I got notice from the library that they had "Stitched in Time" ready for me to pick up. I was so happy to see the doll pattern, so I stitched her up right away.

She's got a shrinkydink heart and multicolored hair. The face is one I've been using in my own doodles for years, so I'll take credit for its goofiness. Next time I might just go with the face Alicia provided in the book. ^_^

I'm quite proud that I worked exclusively from my stash here. Her head and legs were made with thrifted curtain lining fabric; her hair was made using yarn that I've had hanging around for 7 years or so. The shrinkydink heart was even leftover from a kick I was on a couple years ago. I was afraid I'd have to buy a yarn needle to do her hair, since mine was nowhere to be found. I slept on it though, and had a dream about the yarn needle being stuck in a long forgotten pincushion. When I woke up, I dug through some boxes, and sure enough: there was the pincushion, with the yarn needle waiting patiently for me. I love it when stuff like that happens!

I'm going to make her a detachable peter pan collar, and maybe some more skirts. And perhaps a few more dollies to keep her company.

(And I just noticed that her arms are on wrong. Whoops!)

lacy trim (ignore the pokey stitches!)

By the way, "The Likeness" (by Tana French) was such a great book. I never knew detective novels could be so lyrical. I'm making great progress already on my "50 Books a Year" challenge. I've read 6 so far, with lots more good books lined up. (It helps that the TV has been out of the picture for some time.)

Also, I've been more active on Twitter and Facebook than here lately. It seems I'm better at keeping it short and sweet these days, rather than "real" blogging. 

wednesday afternoon miscellany

Christmas wishlist:
Simply Breakfast: More Please
3191: A Year of Mornings
Uh... Kindle? Pretty please?

Christmas craft:
Clothespin church tutorial at Bloesem
Origami stars at  A Foothill Home Companion
DIY cereal gift box at Green Upgrader
Little birdie advent calendar and a candy wreath how-to at Skip To My Lou 
Martinmas laterns at Uncommon Grace and Mayfly

not-necessarily-Christmas cooking (The "I've got two chickens and a new-to-me vintage roasting pan from Nana" edition):
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Pot-roasted chicken and vegetables
Zuni Cafe's Roast Chicken
Thomas Keller's favorite roast chicken

Christmas listening:
The New Possibility: John Fahey's Guitar Soli Christmas Album (thanks to Angry Chicken)
December, George Winston (A childhood favorite, though I didn't realize it until now)
Light of the Stable, Emmylou Harris (so very nice)
and the supercute A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas, from Kristen Chenoweth

roundup

 

mending the Christmas whirligig

contemplating:
Light Keeper
Bread Meeting
(from Holy Experience)
Are You Good at Waiting? (from Go To Bethlehem and See)
I'm a Recovering Unconscious Consumer (from Five More Minutes)
The Story of Stuff
The Waste No Food Challenge (from The Non-Consumer Advocate)

loving:
This Sara Crewe homage (at The Unicorn Diaries)
listography
twitter

cooking and eating:
These paper baking baskets (at Wild Yeast) are genius. I don't know why it never occurred to me to make my own!
Veselka's Cabbage Soup (from Smitten Kitchen) looks nice and warming.
This mushroom casserole (From 101 Cookbooks) will be on the table tonight.
Magic Coffee (from Study in Brown) sounds tasty.

Christmas crafting:
"Joy" snowflake trees (from The Long Thread)
Nordic house ornaments (from Orange Flower)
Little house ornament (from Pimp Stitch)
Fabric tree tutorial (from Resurrection Fern)

weekend miscellany

craft:

• Indy-style bullwhip made from duct tape. This is so cool, I might need to make my own and play Indiana Jones in the backyard. I'm not too old for games, right? Maybe I'll just pass this on to some kids that I know.

• I've been making pleated bags, getting back in the crafting gig. I bought a ton of corduroy for dirt cheap, in lots of great colors like charcoal and navy and grey. 
  pleated bag links:
  Etsy
  a simple tutorial
  more tutorials at U-handblog

etc:

• Real Simple blogs. I've stopped subscribing to Real Simple, in an effort to curb my magazine addiction. But every so often, I cave in and buy an issue. The blogs (and the website as a whole) are a good online stand-in for the real thing. 


• Speaking of Real Simple, this "How To Fold Anything" feature is awesome.


• Heard of Mygazines? Like I mentioned, I have a weakness for glossies. I think it's brilliant, but I don't know how the publishers feel...

eat:
I made a birthday cake for my boss the other day. I'm quite proud of it, though the photos I took at midnight don't do it any justice. I used a recipe for a devil's food cake with chocolate ganache from Martha's Baking Handbook. Instead of peppermint flavoring for the ganache, I used orange flavoring. It was a delicious triumph. And surprisingly easy, since it was my first officially decorated cake.

I've made some linen napkins. I'm working on a whole batch from my kitchen fabric stash. That way we can stop using paper towels. I already have dozens of dish towels (most from IKEA for 49 cents!) that stand in for cleaning, but now we have something nice to use at the table.

the chicken soup post

Not quiet literal chicken soup. The house is full of the smell of it, though. Trash Day Eve is always "Clean Out the Fridge" day, and oftentimes it means chicken soup. I've got the odds 'n ends of various veg simmering away on the stovetop, along with the remains of a rotisserie chicken.

But back to the point. Here are some odds 'n ends links to clean up my bookmarks a little. Like internet chicken soup. Get it?

to do:
Mini fridge-magnet planter made with a credit card. Sweet! I've got a few cards headed for the trash right now. Since it's way too hot for my taste to garden outside (and besides, we're still in a drought), this is a cute (and tiny) alternative.

Rolled hem hankies. These look so nice, and I have lots of fabric I can use. I can see a stash of these coming in quite handy.

Paper flower tutorial at Dozi Design. What more can I say?

Oilcloth lunchbag tutorials here and here. I have some oilcloth laying around (who doesn't?), so this will be a cinch.

miscellany:
Books: Keep it or pass it on? Criteria at Unclutterer.  Cookbook clutter is addressed here, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to face that issue just yet.

Keep Calm in charcoal from sfgirlbybay. Argh! I already have it in red, and I recently bought a mini version for my dad, so I can't really justify another one. But, charcoal!

Mystery on Fifth Avenue at the NYTimes. Found via notmartha.  So amazing. Ever since I was a kid, I've been leaving trinkets and notes behind in the houses and apartments we lived in. I read about it in a book somewhere and the idea stuck with me. I've lived in about 20 houses and apartments in my life, and at least half of those have a note from me stashed somewhere. This house is a much grander version of that, of course.

new to me:
uncommon grace
garfield minus garfield
bread & honey
puhti
journey mama
s t i l l

an update for Christina

This is for you, my dear. ^_^

Maybe these projects will snap me out of my crafty slump:

Fabric-covered tin can tutorial. Beautiful and simple, zakka style.
Fabric bucket tutorial. Very handy, and I can never have enough storage.

Plus, I have some lightweight summery fabrics and a desperate need for new shirts.  Built by Wendy blouse, aka "Simplicity 3835",  to the rescue!

List of latelys:

• My mini trampoline is my new best friend. Together, we will tackle the growing "problem" around my middle.

• Audiobooks are my new addiction.  I'm listening my way through the Chronicles of Narnia right now, and it really helps make cleaning the house entertaining.  I can't wait for Alice in Wonderland read by Jim Dale.  He did the Harry Potter books so well, I doubt I'll be disappointed.

• Pushing Daisies is totally coming back this fall.  Hurray!

• Summer's here in Florida, and that means plenty of iced tea to drown my sorrows (I wilt in the heat). Jasmine tea, Lipton tea, mugicha, Earl Grey, you name it, it'll be on the rocks. This watermelon on tap ain't such a bad idea, either. I think I'll opt for watermelonade, though.

• The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper. Honestly, one of the best cookbooks I've ever bought. I made the Big Tomato Sweet Sour Salad the other day (with some mighty tasty green tomatoes and Ugly Ripe heirlooms), and it was a knockout. Definitely a keeper. If I had to scale my cookbook collection down to only a handful, this one stays. Along with How To Cook Everything, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, and Joy of Cooking, of course.

Speaking of scaling down book collections, I think I'm going to give BookMooch a try. Looks easy enough (and free, to boot). I've been on a fiction bender so far this year, and it's getting expensive. And I'm pretty sure the number of volumes in my library is bordering on the ridiculous, so it might be a good time to let some of them go.

Wow, blogging is not my best skill!  I'll try to keep it up.  Again.  Keep your fingers crossed.

finally!

Therese Laskey's book is now available at Amazon, and I'm more than proud to be a part of it.  What a great book!  I can't wait to get started on some of the other patterns... 

I also think it's extra-cool that I'm between Jenn Docherty and Rosa Pomar.  I just love their work.

WIP

So far, an idea and a color palette. Now on to formulating a plan of attack.

red + yellow + blue

I think I'll make a quilt.