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!

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.

“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!

» Read more: Sept Birthday Swap Finished

(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…

Today marks the end of the first month of my Photo-A-Day Challenge that I mentioned at the beginning of September.  So far, I think I’m doing pretty well.  I’ve got two fails, from the 16th and the 27th of September, but I’m hoping they will be the only ones!  It hasn’t been too hard yet, although there have been a few close calls, a couple of posts that just barely made it up before midnight.  One night I got a flat tire on my bike on the way home from a friend’s house and I was sure I wouldn’t make it.  One of the failed days I was sure that I had uploaded it, and only realized the next day that I had gotten all the way through setting it up, but just failed to hit the upload button!  Another day I posted my image early in the day, and then took a picture I liked a whole let better that afternoon and was so disappointed I couldn’t change it.  Rules are rules, though, so no going back and no cheating.

It has been a lot of fun so far, though.  I’ve been trying to take a photo that means something to me, that relates specifically or is significant for that day.  Somehow it surprised me to find that something at least mildly significant happens most every day.

Anyone interested is welcome to follow along,  You can keep on eye on my photo-a-day at my aminu3 page here:

http://laupre.aminus3.com/

There’s even an Rss feed for easy viewing.

30 days down, 325 more to go!

click more to read about some of my favorites so far.

» Read more: First Month of Photo-A-Day

I felt the urge yesterday to take a try at rolling sushi!  I decided to go with one of my favorites, the California roll.  It uses crab, cucumber, and avocado.  I think it came out really well.

The recipe is pretty simple.  I started the rice in the rice cooker and let that go while I prepared the other ingredients and set up my workspace.  The cucumber, avocado, and crab pieces got cut  into long strips.  In a frying pan I heated up about 3/4 cup of rice vinegar with salt and sugar, bringing it just to a boil once the rice was finished.  To roll I used nori sheets and a sushi rolling mat I picked up from the asian grocery around the corner.  The rice vinegar mixture got added to the rice and I tossed them together until it was all absorbed.  I was a little nervous about the actual rolling process, but it was so much easier than it looks!

I

I had a lot of fun with it, so I made up some other ones with some random goodies from my fridge.  There are also scrambled egg, cheese, and bacon rolls, and pepperoni and cream cheese rolls!

Regarding the second half of my post title, the Birthday Wish, I just wanted to share that it’s my birthday today!!  Wooo!  unfortunately I don’t have anything wild planned, but it should be a nice day anyway (here’s hoping those grey clouds break up soon so I can have some sunshine at least).  And the wish part?  There’s only one thing I’d really wish for if someone was looking to get me a gift.

It’s a tiny little camera made by minox.  It’s so absolutely cute!  The best part is that Minox has styled it to look just like the iconic Leica M3.  This new digital homage is decent midrange quality with a 5 mp ccd,  a 1.5 tft lcd screen on the back, an sd card slot, and a rechargeable li-Ion battery.  Now, I already have a great camera that i got a couple of years ago, but it’s a heavy beast!  It meets all of my requirements to make it my perfect camera specswise, but it’s sizecan make it a little hard to carry around.  This little guy would come with me everywhere making sure that I don’t have any more of those “I wish I had my camera” moments.

So if there’s anyone out there still looking for a gift for me (It’s okay, I don’t mind a late birthday present!) this camera can be found at a number of online retailers and runs in a price range just under $200.

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/product-featuresb.asp?id=964729976

http://www.adorama.com/MXDCC.html?searchinfo=minox%20m3&item_no=4

Cheers!

This summer I faced quite the dielemma.  I had two personal truths conflicting.  First, If the temperature is above 70 degrees it is physically impossible to remain indoors, and second, a day shouldn’t pass that i don’t sit down and spend some quality time with my sewing machine.  How could I bear sitting inside when i know it’s a beautiful day?  I knew my problem was solved when I found this amazing desk abandoned on the side of the road.

It’s huge!

I mean, really, really big! It took three people to drag it home and get it onto the back porch.  It’s vintage, all solid wood, so it weighs a ton.  It is about 3.5 feet tall, 5 feet long, and almost 3 feet from front to back.  The fact that there isn’t a single place I could put it inside the house couldn’t stop me from falling in love with it and once I had it I knew it would be a perfect new home for my sewing space.

click more to see more photos and read more blahblahblah…

» Read more: My Summer Sewing Space

Back to school tradition, "What I did this summer" Be sure to write your own, too!

It’s been a little quiet here on the LauPre Blog for a while.  To be honest, you just can’t keep me inside when the sun is shining and the birds are calling my name… Well, not really calling my name, that would be creepy.  (There is a bird in the neighborhood that I swear is singing Beethoven’s 5th, though.)  A lack in blog postings doesn’t equal a lack of activity, though, so I have a lot of fun stuff to catch up on and some great ideas for the upcoming fall!  I’ve been working on some new projects to share with you, including some Back to School tutorials and ideas.  I’d like to show off my super special summer sewing station (just because I am physically incapable of sitting inside when the weather is nice doesn’t mean I can live without my sewing machine!).  I’ve also got some photos to share thanks to two cool new cameras I found out thrifting, and some new skills to work on since finding a dressform on Craig’s List. (A line of LauPre clothing in the future? it’s possible…..)

Well, I hope you all made some great summer memories like I did.  Oh? Is that an Ice cream truck I hear?  Summer’s not over yet, but I’ll be back soon!

This was a pretty rough mother’s day for me, but It had a beautiful beginning. I slept in until after 9, and then when I did get up I was quickly sent back to bed by my very excited 7 year old.  I was treated to breakfast in bed of sunnyside up eggs (my favorite, but since everyone else likes scrambled we usually have those) and toast.  My daughter gave me a flowerpot she painted at school with a little baby sunflower in it and a calendar for this month decorated with a picture she drew of us having a picnic at the park.

» Read more: Mother’s Day

There are so many great sources for materials and supplies for crafting out there.  It seems that with the current popularity of being crafty as being trendy, more and more supply shops are popping up.  Combine that with the amazing resources on the internet and you may never have to worry about finding just the thing you need.  One of the great resources for unique supplies, and one of my favorite sources for my personal crafting, is thrift stores and garage sales.

As much a game as it is shopping, you get a chance to hunt and dig, to stretch your imagination and find things to craft with that you may not have thought of otherwise!  I have seen so many great projects popping up that utilize thrifted, recycled, “up-cycled”, and trash materials to create fantastic one-of-a-kind pieces!  It’s really exciting!  Finding a new use for unloved junk, and saving us all a little bit from the landfill is a noble venture, indeed.

There are some things you’ll find the most while thrifting.  Old patterns and notions (bias tape, elastic, buttons, snaps, etc.) can come in handy and are generally dirt cheap.  You shouldn’t have to pay more than a dollar for any of this old stuff.

Click more to continue reading about Thrifting to Craft

» Read more: Thrift to Craft