i heart etsy

After a long while of holding out, I've started buying more and more beautiful things off etsy. Not that I'm going nuts, but there is so much beauty there, and I've been treating myself. I thought I'd share with you a couple of things that have arrived recently. Both of these artists are ones I've discovered just in the past few months and I'm so glad to have some pieces of their art.

This stationary from Emily of The Black Apple is so amazing, I had to snatch some up right away. I've used one piece so far, and I'm kind of hoarding the rest right now. I think I may have to buy an actual piece of art from her so I can have something to keep for myself! Not that I'm having too much trouble, but I was thinking that having such adorable stationary will help with my New Year's resolution of sending more mail.

I was so happy to buy this beautiful print by ah-yi, although I was feeling a little too cheap to buy the second piece (this one is the daytime print and there is an accompanying nighttime print). Maybe someday soon. I've bought some other handmade art recently, including some beautiful cards by Mav that I have framed by my front door right now, which is helping me in my other New Year's resolution of making my apartment a little more homey. I've actually made a lot of progress on this front so far, and I'm hoping to start sharing some "corners of my home" here soon. There are still many many other artists whose work I'm drooling over lately, but I'm taking it one piece at a time.

Happy Thursday friends!

Five for Five

I know I've already raved a few times about my new cookbook Veganomicon. But I just thought I'd share with you the fifth scrumptious recipe that I've made from this book in less than a month. So far, I've tried the Lemony Roasted Potatoes, Lower-fat Chocolate Bundt Cake, Lasagna Marinara with Spinach (seriously, I think this was the best lasagna I've ever tasted), Tangerine Baked Tofu, and now Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake.

Oh yes, vegan pound cake. Who'd have thought it was possible? I went through a serious pound cake thing a few summers ago when I lived in Berkeley and could use fresh plump blueberries from the Farmer's Market. Oh, my mouth is watering right now. Okay, well there were no fresh blueberries in this one because, well, it's winter in Minnesota and nothing is fresh. Not even the snow.

I made this one for my friend Milena's birthday party on Saturday night. I was a little disheartened that the center sunk down, but I covered it up with this chocolate glaze and later some sliced strawberries (which I actually felt really guilty about buying. see above about the winter in Minnesota thing) at my mom's suggestion. Anyways, I didn't try a piece from the center, but I can only assume that I just didn't bake it quite enough and it was maybe a bit gummy in the middle. But I got no complaints, so maybe it's supposed to sink, who knows? So here's the recipe. Give me a shout if you try it and tell me what you think.

Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake (from Veganomicon)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 cup blended silken tofu (blend the tofu first, then measure)
3/4 cup vanilla or plain soymilk (I used plain oatmilk)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon extract or grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. orange extract or grated orange zest
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbl. arrowroot powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 9x5" loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the soy yogurt, blended silken tofu, soymilk, sugar, oil, and extracts/zests. Use electric beaters and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder and soda and salt. Stir to combine, then beat with electric beaters until a thick batter forms, but don't overmix. (At this point I added about 1/2 cup each of chocolate chips and chopped walnuts). Pur the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes until toothpick comes out clean (again, I think mine was a bit undercooked at this point, so it may take longer). Let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy.

Just for your viewing pleasure, this was the present I made for Milena in addition to the cake. She has a thing for squirrels.

Mushy Mushy

Normally, I am not that into Valentine's Day. I've always had a sort-of angsty anti-valentine's day feeling. Something along the lines of "who does Hallmark think they are that they get to tell us when to tell people we love them? Why can't we just say that everyday?" or something like that. Now, I still feel that way, but for some reason I was feeling a bit mushy last week and designed a set of Valentine's Day cards.

Since Jared's been traveling so much this month, it almost feels like back when we were first dating and we didn't see each other every day. Not that I don't love seeing him all the time, because I do, really. But there's always something sweet about those first few months of dating. Before you really fall into a routine. And when seeing each other each time is really special because it doesn't happen every day. Maybe this is why I'm feeling all romantic and mushy. Oh well. Here's a little peek at some of the cards that are available in the shop now...




{For you local folks, these are also available at i like you and Crafty Planet}

full on awesomeness

I have been a huge fan of Hillary's style and work (and hilarious sense of humor) ever since I discovered her way back last spring sometime. Her dolls are beautiful and super cute, her patterns are simple and easy to follow, and I just generally admire her. (You may recall that I made my first softies from one of her pattern books back in December). Last weekend, she wrote that she was sorting through her basement and I was lucky enough to be one of the first five commenters on the post, making me the recipient of some of her "weird basement stuff." I seriously can't tell you how excited I was to get this box full of awesomeness today.

I've been kind of dragging again this week. Again, the cold, the greyness, the fact that since my last post I have picked Jared up from the airport and then brought him back again (I'm losing track of him), blah, blah, blah. Anyways, this was awesome. Check out all the vintage goodness here:


Fabric+buttons+kids book+pillowcase with soldiers+vintage Japanese horse softie kit+apron+doily+paints+more+more=me very happy and thankful. And, in return for this awesomeness, I will pay it forward to some of my very own blog readers (although I have nowhere near as many as Hillary...). I'm not exactly sure how, seeing as I certainly don't have these kinds of treasures in my basement. But rest assured, I'll think of something. Soon. So stay tuned. Happy Thursday!

PS: Thanks for all the nice comments on my dress+skirt last weekend- they were so encouraging! I'll definitely be making more stuff from that book, and if any of you try your hand at some Japanese craft book projects, be sure to let me know!

I don't speak Japanese

I spent the better part of my three day weekend (which is not quite over yet, I'll have you all know) looking at this:

Well, actually, I was mostly looking at the next page. The one with all the diagrams and instructions in Japanese, but I figured that this would be more interesting for you all. In any case...I think I did a pretty good job considering my lack of comprehension of the Japanese language. But let's backup just a bit. Despite my ever increasing fabric stash, I decided that I needed to venture out on Saturday (despite the -20 temperature) to JoAnns, a different one than I normally go to, in the hopes that they would have a better fabric selection. Oh did they. And huge sales (seriously- on the order of $2/yard fabrics). So I stocked up on some fabric for clothing and some other supplies for a commission piece I'm working on. I came home and immediately set to work on this dress. I was so impressed with myself for getting it done in three hours, only to quickly realize that I had made it way too big (I'm seeing a pattern here). This was not my fault though- it seems that the sizing guide from the ebay listing of this book was just wrong. So, I got over myself and redid it. I'm pretty happy with it.

Day 2 of weekend (aka Sunday): Decided to make another version of this dress- the shirt. Ready to make it in the correct size, chose fabric, cut out. Hmm, not quite right. I added some darts in the back and I'm still feeling like it puffs out a little to much in the front, but I'm hoping that some wear and a few washings will take care of this. I think the fabric I chose for this one was maybe a bit too heavy (it's some kind of heavyweight linen? this is the problem with acquiring fabric from random sources).

I was originally thinking of doing some kind of simple embroidery along the bottom of the front of this one, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe just a running stitch with a simple pattern. Maybe in a dark blue. Any thoughts?

Anyways, I'm pretty proud of myself. A few more shots of these two pieces here. There's a number of other patterns in this book that I'd like to try out soon. The patterns are so far pretty easy to follow, despite being in Japanese. I'm sure there's some details that I'm missing out on (while making the shirt I realized that I was supposed to use bias binding around the armholes and neckline- oops, I missed that on the dress), but I feel like I have enough experience now to make it work. Wow. That's a thought. I'm really into this "jumper" style with the long sleeved shirt underneath. Although I think I may need to expand my collection of long sleeved shirts. Needless to say, a solo weekend with freaking freezing temps has done wonders for my productivity (read: I haven't left the house since returning from errands Saturday afternoon). I'm hoping to work on some Valentine's Day cards before I go pick Jared up from the airport this afternoon. And then maybe, a date night?

hope.

I try not to get political in this space, but this morning I felt that I wanted to mark the important day that today is. In exactly one year, we (in the US) will have a new president. I can only hope that whoever is being sworn in to this office on this day next year will have the courage and ability to work towards peace, reconciliation, respect for the earth and its resources, fair treatment for workers and all those who make this country and world work, and the health and well being of all those living in the US. And I can only hope that this next year, the final one of this administration, is filled with as many of those things as possible.

scenes from a friday afternoon

The heat at my office was especially broken today, so I decided to take the afternoon off for fear that I would end up filing a worker's comp claim when I came down with hypothermia. Seeing as the sun is out in full force today, getting out of the office early made me very happy. Just having a couple sunny hours to hang out quietly at home can really lift the spirits.


I finally washed and ironed a huge pile of fabric that was given to me by a random stranger, my friend Milena, and my mom. And then, I finished putting all of my fabric away onto my new shelf. Apparently my stash is way bigger than I realized. Hopefully having everything all organized and out in the open will make my crafting time a bit more productive and efficient. I'm still working on organizing the rest of my crafting space (i.e. corner of the living room).

My favorite snack. Stove popped popcorn topped with a little vegetable oil, nutritional yeast, and sea salt. In my new favorite vintage pyrex bowl.

There's a rainbow in my living room. Happy weekend everyone!

happy vs. sad

so the sun finally came out today. which only sort of made up for the fact that it "feels like" -11 right now. i've been feeling kind of sluggish this week, so i thought i'd get inspired by this burst of sunshine (which by the way i rushed home from work to photograph- gotta start carrying that camera with me all the time) and think about what's making me happy vs. what's making me, well, not so happy this week.

happy
::good health news for me
::we got a big grant at work that i worked really hard on
::the heat in our car works now
::going to see good music tomorrow night with a friend
::my first japanese craft book has arrived and i'll (hopefully) be making something from it this weekend {more on this later}
::three day weekend ahead=lots of sewing/decluttering time
::all the yummy meals i cooked this week
::lots of good movies in the house
::my new inspiration wire, and other art recently hung in the house

sad
::not getting into craftstravaganza. again.
::it's freaking cold out there!
::jared's in san francisco. again.
::my messy house.

hmmm. so i can't actually think of anything else for the sad list. clearly i must be in a better mood than i thought i was. this weather is just kind of icky. especially with these infrequent appearances of the sun. i'm thinking about getting that happy light. or at least some vitamin d. sorry for the self-indulgent rambling. thanks for stopping in here to share these little moments with me. i really do appreciate your presence. hoping you all have very happy weekends.

inspiration:: wire

a while ago, i discovered the inspiration boards blog. which grew out of the inspiration boards flickr group. which made me contemplate the blank white wall above my sewing machine. how inspiring is that? not very. it had remained that way for over a year primarily because i wanted to find the perfect, most inspiring piece of artwork or whatever to put there and i was just waiting for something amazing to come by and hit me on the head. i had considered (and still am, although with a different wall in mind) the embroidery hoop fabric wall hanging thing that i've seen so many beautiful examples of all over the web (can't even begin to look for all those links now, but here's the original one-i think).

in the end, i opted for the inspiration wire. two, in fact. (as an added bonus, for the wires i used old guitar strings that i had been saving for who knows what). click here for details on each item. i'm sure there will be frequent (or infrequent as the case may be) rotation of some of these, but this is what's inspiring me right now. so hopefully, with a little inspiration, i'll be back here in a few days with something to show off.

{and ps: so sorry for the dark as crap photo. will try another one in the daylight tomorrow. arrghh.}

chocolate cake anyone?

Who doesn't love some chocolate cake now and then? Really. I for one, am almost always up for a piece of cake. Last night I came home from work and was getting set to make some brownies to bring to the office holiday party, and suddenly had a thought that maybe my new cookbook would have a brownie recipe that I could try. Well, there were no brownies, but there was an intriguing sounding recipe for "Lower-fat deep chocolate bundt cake." I hadn't made a bundt cake since I went on a blueberry pound cake binge a few summers ago. I had all the ingredients (with one small substitution), so I figured I'd give it a go. Plus, I finally got to use my cake carrier that I bought at a yard sale for $1.50 last summer (and Jared said I'd never use it...ha!)

I think it turned out pretty darn delicious. You should all try it.

Plus, it's pretty good for breakfast the next morning too. With a little organic vanilla yogurt (okay, sometimes I feel like eating vegan food with non-vegan food is sort of sacrilegious, but it kind of needed something. I'm sure soy yogurt would work just fine too), yummy.

Lower-fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake
(from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups freshly brewed coffee
2/3 unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup cornstarch (I used potato starch because that's what I had- you could probably substitute arrowroot powder or kudzu or something else if you're anti-cornstarch, but I'm not sure what the ratio would be).
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp confectioners' sugar

Directions: Preheat the oven to 325 and grease an 8" or 10" bundt pan. Bring the coffee to a simmer over medium heat. Once it is simmering, turn down the heat and whisk in cocoa powder until it's dissolved. Remove from heat and bring to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, oil. applesauce, and cornstarch until the sugar and cornstarch have dissolved. Add in the extracts. Once the chocolate is cool, add that too.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until relatively smooth. Pour batter into the bundt pan and bake 45-55 minutes (until a toothpick or knife comes out clean).

Remove from the oven and let cool for approximately 20 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate and allow to cool completely. Once cool, sift confectioners' sugar over the top and enjoy. Yum.

more lists

Back in December (man that feels like a really long time ago) I kept mentioning my "post-holiday projects list." This list has now been mostly combined with the "continue crafting" resolution I made for the new year. Here's a glimpse at some of the projects/crafty goals I have for the upcoming year.

::make a quilt
::make something from a japanese craft book
::sew clothes for someone other than myself
::make myself a dress to wear to my friend's wedding at the end of August
::carve my own stamps and print on fabric
::use recycled sweaters (felted wool)
::make fabric bags for bulk food shopping (i.e. stop using so many dang plastic bags)
::make a duvet cover, tv cover, and chair cushions, among other small projects for my house.
::knit at least one sweater

Okay, I think that's pretty good for one year. We'll see how far I get on these. What's on your list?

{PS: thanks mom for sneaking this stack of great fabrics from Purl into the box you just sent me!}

Project number one of the new year

This project has been on my to-do list since before the holidays. Needless to say, it kind of got pushed aside in order to get all the craft-showing and gifting done in time. Now that all that's behind me, I finally had time to make this new shirt a reality.

After the last effort with this pattern (Built By Wendy/Simplicity 4111) I was really wanting to try it again. I immediately thought of the fabric that I should use and it's been just sitting there in the vast unknown of projects someday-to-be since November. I picked up this fabric back at the world's largest garage sale in early November and I'm not sure exactly what it is. Some kind of jersey knit/sweatshirt/polyester deal, who knows. It feels pretty 70s, but I'm digging it. Unfortunately I originally made it one size too big (why do I always think I'm bigger than I am? I guess I could have worse problems. I'll be quiet now), so I had to take out the sleeves, undo the hems, resew the side seams and the sleeves, reattach the sleeves, and rehem the cuffs and the bottom. Harumph. It took an extra hour or so, but well worth it, I would never have worn it the other way. This pattern already borders on the maternity look and having it be too big would only emphasize that. And who wants that?

So I like it. Check one post-holiday project of the list. On to the next one...

hello 2008

Ahh. It has been a nice break. I had planned on getting back to the blog a bit sooner, but I was just so enjoying the break from the computer. Jared and I had a really nice time in Florida with his family and then after a quiet New Year's Eve back in Minneapolis, we had a quick trip to visit an old friend of mine over in Madison, WI. I'm very happy to be back home and to have a few more days of rest and recuperation (my apartment is still a bit of a wreck from the holiday gift-making extravaganza that was December) before going back to work next week.

In the spirit of the new year, I have made some resolutions for the coming 12 months and I figured I'd share them with you all. You might notice that these resolutions aren't your typical (or what I think seems to be the typical) ones of chores like lose weight or save more money. Not that there's anything wrong with anyone else's resolutions-to each his own. But I've been thinking a lot about this past year lately and I've weeded out the things about the year that I really enjoyed and the things that I wish I'd done more of and that I look forward to doing more of this next year.

::Slow down. Aka be less busy, aka get better at planning ahead. I certainly don't regret any of the things that I got involved in over the last year, but it has been quite action packed, and I'm looking forward to slowing down a bit this year and taking some more time to enjoy and savor the "little" things.

::Cook more. Maybe from the recipes that I share here you all think that I'm a regular everynight cook. But that is far from the case- especially during the aforementioned busy times (see above). There have been plenty of (meaning too many) popcorn for dinner nights around here, and I can't even count the number of beans and chips for dinner nights. Hopefully this beauty that I picked up today will help. In an effort to meet this resolution and also be realistic, I'm making a goal of cooking two proper meals each week (this will actually create more meals because of leftovers, etc...)

::Send more mail. I had so much fun mailing off all of my holiday presents this past month and I think I've been doing a pretty good job of writing more letters, but I'd like to continue this trend even more this year.

::Continue to work on all my crafting with an emphasis on continuing to learn more all the time. Last year I learned a lot--how to follow a sewing pattern, how to insert a zipper, embroider, make clothes that actually fit, how to quilt something, make a softie, I figured out what interfacing is and why it's important, how to put on a snap, and much more. My photography has also improved immensely and I know that's because of this blog and my reading of other beautiful craft blogs and flickr pages. I hope to take even more photos this year and improve the quality.

::Nesting-it's been over a year since we moved into our apartment and there are still photos and other art waiting to be hung on the walls. I spend so much time at home and I would love to continue to really make our house a home. Even though we foresee moving before the end of this year, I'd still like to work on making our home more home-y.

Phew. Okay, that's a lot to work on. I've already got the post-holiday projects list going and I should have some new craftiness for your viewing soon. Hope you all had happy, healthy and safe holidays and are as ready for 2008 as I am. Have a great weekend and we'll be back to regular posting next week.