Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
March 9th, 2010
I saw this lovely tutotial over on Mairuru’s blog here: http://mairuru.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-make-origami-drawstring-bag.html
I had to give it a try the day I saw it. The tutorial was easy to follow, took no time at all, and the final product is adorable! I made this sweet little pouch for my favorite nine year old to hold her little mp3 player. The long ribbon lets her hand the player around her neck keeping the player easy to reach while enjoying her music.
The little pockets on the sides are so cute and clever. I was delighted to find that they were being put to good use when I borrowed the bag back to snap some pics and found tiny flowers she had gathered all dried and precious safely tucked away. Adorable!
Action shot! She loves the little bag so much, and that makes me happy.
I used 8 inch squares to make this bag. the final size is about 4″x4.5″.
I remembered this little pouch last weekend when I was having a minor bag emergency. I needed just a little backpack to tote along a few items on our trip to opening weekend of Saturday market. I had less than an hour to whip something up, and I liked this so much more than just grabbing one of my totes.
I simply altered the design by using larger squares of fabric (33 inches) and folded down the triangle flaps and making the drawstring channel before sewing the sides. I ran the straps through the channels and stitched the ends to the bottom corners when I sewed up the sides.
The final size for this bag was about 13″ x 15″.
It was just what I needed!
Be sure to check out this blog if you’re not already following her. I love seeing the adorable and beautiful little things she sews. Like the tutorial she shared for her little Sarubobo dolls
(This is one I made)
February 25th, 2010
I finally took my camera out with me yesterday. I’ve been meaning to snap some pictures of the lovely blooming trees in my neighborhood. These bright trees are easily my favorite part of spring and I look forward to it every year. I’m thinking it might be time to take a walk through the Japanese garden again soon! I hope you’ll enjoy these photos from my day, and I hope you’re taking the time to enjoy the scenery where you are.
January 8th, 2010
Drew Carney (from PDX channel 8 local news) was out visiting the “Breadquarters” for Dave’s Killer Bread early this morning. I’m a huge fan of Dave and his bread. It’s the best bread in Portland. Healthy and organic, local to Portland, and unbelievably sinfully delicious! But don’t take my word for it, you might think I’m biased having a handful of friends and family proudly working for the company. Take a look at Dave’s facebook and you can see what everyone else is saying. Honestly, once you’ve had this bread, you’ll never look at bread the same way again.
Anyway, when I heard that the bakery would be on the news this morning I borrowed a television from my mom and set my alarm for 5am. It was fun to see the segments throughout the news showing different parts of the bakery, and a few familiar faces (Hi Zac!), but what got me personally quite excited was right at the end. Dave and Drew were talking and standing by a table covered in the different kinds of killer bread, including one of my favorites, Good Seed:
And right on top was Good Seed, a stuffed version of the lovable logo I made as a gift for Dave from our little group.
Yes, I felt silly taking a photo of a television, but I was really excited!
I had made a set of Good Seed for myself last summer and had them sitting out as an xmas fireplace decoration this last December:
A friend of mine mentioned that Dave would love them. It thought it was a great idea, and something personal I could do to show my appreciation for Dave. He’s an inspirational person, and the opportunities this company has given to people I care a lot about has changed our lives so much. I started right away on a second set of good seed to give.
They’re a simple stuffie, made from fleece. I embroidered the faces and ended up doing a lot of hand sewing on these guys. They were just one of those projects that I totally underestimated how long it would take (and completely forgot how much time I spent on the first set). Something I thought I could knock out in just a couple of hours ended up taking close to ten hours over the course of a week! Turning those tiny limbs right side out and getting them smoothly stuffed, and then getting everything stitched together was rough. Totally worth it, though. Their sweet smiling faces just brighten the day, I think, and I was just so proud to see that Dave liked them enough to include them in their interview this morning. Thanks!
January 2nd, 2010
I’ve been keeping up with ton of great craft blogs lately, and I’ve noticed a quite a few new posts sharing crafty goals for the new year. I love the idea, so I thought I’d share some of my own.
We’ll see how I do!
1. Finish my black and white quilt
I’ve been working on this one for a couple of months now. I’m about a third of the way through it now, and I can’t wait to have it done. I’ve been hand quilting the blocks, which is a first for me!
2. Post new tutorials online
I love sharing project how-to’s as much as I enjoy reading them. I’ll give myself the goal of ten new tutorials for 2010.
3. Get my supplies better organized.
I’m looking at you, giant basket of buttons! And yes, even the as-of-yet unpacked boxes marked “misc.” tucked away in the attic.
4. Continue with Social Crafting
I have so enjoyed going to local meetups, crafternoons, and craft and cocktails around town this last year, so I’m going to pledge to keep my attendance up and make sure I get to at least one event a month. (I’ll look forward to seeing you all!)
5. Participate in some Craft swaps on Craftster
I’d like to complete 5 swaps this year, so I’ll keep my eye on the swap board for all the newest swaps!
I might just check out swap-bot, too.
6. Fill my closet with more handmade fashion essentials
Ideally, I’d love a wardrobe of all handmade items, but for the year I’m going to aim for a minimum of five of each of these items:
- Sweatshirts/Hoodies
- Long sleeve tees
- Tees and tanks
- Dresses
- Fitted jackets / vests
- Coats/capes / wraps
- Skirts
- Undies
- Accessories (hats, scarves, legwarmers, etc.)
7. 100 crafted things
Maybe 100 is too many, but I’m aiming high and counting the little projects, too. I guess that should lead me into another goal to keep track of this one:
8. Keep a record of completed projects
Being prolific in my crafty endeavors and having a horrible memory means that I can never remember what I’ve been doing with my precious time. I’ll start a simple list to keep by my desk, and a folder on my computer to record a photo if I’m feeling ambitious.
9. Master a commercial sewing pattern
I don’t know why this is such a hard one for me! I can’t think of many things I’ve made (that I was happy with) from a store bought pattern. Is it impatience? Inability to adjust properly to my measurements? overcoming my need to “make a few changes”. I don’t know, but I’m going to find a pattern I like, sit down with it and follow the directions beginning to end, and make something good.
10. Set more crafty goals throughout the year
having a tangible list, or a written reminder is a great way to motivated. Have you heard of 43 things? It’s a simple website that allows you to list 43 things you want to do. List whatever you want! Short term goals, like “Kiss in the rain ” (completed by 6320 people) or go big and “become a millionaire” (1,675 people want to do this). You can list your goals, check out what other people want to do, comment or make entries about goals, and even give and receive “cheers” to support good goals. You can read all about how people have completed their goals, and share your own tips and advice on the goals you’ve completed. Check out the Zeitgeist list for recent activity, or swing by my list and give me a cheer. Let me know if you start your own list so I can come and cheer for you, too!
June 19th, 2009
Last October I captured some photos of this large caterpillar building it’s cocoon on out back porch. I photoblogged the image on my Aminus3 page http://laupre.aminus3.com/image/2008-10-03.html . I started calling him paul after looking online at photos of moths and guessed he’d be a polyphemus because of his big green body. Since then we’ve waited patiently for our little friend Paul to make an appearance. It was a kind of running joke that he was a great roomate. Never made a mess, was really quiet, that sort of thing. It’d been so long we were starting to wonder if we’d ever see him (and if he did come out if we’d be lucky enough to see him before he flew off.)
Today we spotted him all big and mothy, having emergerd from his cocoon. check him out!
Each of his wings were about 3 inches long, giving him a pretty impressive 6 inch wingspan.
He hung around for a couple of hours and then disappeared, but won’t be forgotten. Farewell, Paul!
March 29th, 2009
Just wanted to pop up a quick post and share these delicious argyle limb cozies.
January 9th, 2009
I spent a nice quiet evening with some needles and felt and made a couple of useful little things, and I just thought I would share them. The first one is an adorable little bottlecap pincushion. There are tutorials all over the net for making these, but I’d never made one before. I like the bottlecap pincushion as a place to keep needles separate from my pins. Needles always get lost in my big cushion, so a little one like this is perfect. I’m thinking abou making one with a magnet on the bottom so I can attach it to the magnet board I keep by my sewing machines.
Then I made a cozy for the remote for my new camera. Hopefully it will help me not to lose it! I added a little loop to the top, and I think I’ll add a keyring to hang the cozy from my camera strap. That should do it!
I’m not as comfortable with hand sewing or embroidery as I would like to be, but little projects like these can help you build your skills in a way that isn’t as intimidating or stressful as a large project would be. I think we all know about the satisfaction of completing a project; the feeling of accomplishment you get even with a simple or small item, so don’t forget to fit a few tiny projects into your time!
December 29th, 2008
The news people called it “Arctic Blast 2008″. They sat in their studio all day (for two weeks) and gave us constant updates and clips of traffic cameras and the poor souls not lucky enough to sit behind the desk (Gee, Anna, it sure looks cold out there!) They chatted all day about closure updates, driving tips, viewer’s photos and emails, and the white socks the anchorman was wearing.
Poor Portland, so ill suited for somewhat serious snowfall fell victim to stuck cars, power outages, and impassable roadways. I stayed snuggled up at home, occasionally venturing forth for a brisk walk on difficult sidewalks. I watched clueless drivers spin their wheels ever faster with no hope of escaping a drift, and slipping and sliding through intersections, despite their chains. Portland, I understand why you don’t sell snowshovels, why you don’t have more than what? a dozen plows?… It just isn’t supposed to be like that here.
It started raining again, though. Big beautiful drops of rain that tore through the piles of slush and snow. Drop by drop they cleared my back porch, my driveway, and eventually my road (not a single plow would pass down this road). Once again I can see the lawns as green as ever. The temperatures rose up from their murky depths to a respectable 50 degrees and the snow continued to recede in an orderly, though sloppy, fashion. Once again I can don my rain boots and prepare myself for a hopefully unevental rest of the winter season. Rain, rain, and more rain.
October 19th, 2008
“Do you swap?”
From time to time I like to sign up for craft swaps over at Craftster.org. They’re always a lot of fun, and what’s better than giving and receiving handmade gifties? This time it was the Sept Birthday swap. Anyone with a birthday in September was invited to sign up and post a wishlist of things they’d like to get. Then you claim one or more people in the swap to fulfill their wishes. I ended up sending and receiving two wishes.
Click more to see photos and read about all the gifts I sent and received!
(more…)
October 18th, 2008
(Just a quick crossposting from my photo-a-day photoblog)
I remember winters when I was young, and complaining to my mother that I was cold. She’d say, “put on another pair of socks”.
At the time, I never really appreciated the advice.
For years, the only socks I wore were the kind you bought by the bag. cheap, easy to sort out of the dryer, wore out too quick, bulky in your shoes (usually men’s) sport socks. (I just kept buying them out of habit, I guess.)
Now I know better. Socks can be warm and cozy. Socks can be cute. Socks can be long or short, coordinate with your outfit or your mood.
And when I’m cold, I’ll put on another pair.
I love my mom (Can’t wait to see you!)
I love my socks.
I also love
http://www.sockittomesocks.com
and
http://sockdreams.com
(local Portland sock companies)
I wish I could knit myself some handmade socks, but until then…
