A Closer Look at Ottoman

Rainbow Birthday Cake

Oh, I forgot...Boo celebrated a birthday while we were visiting our family last month. And after mentioning that I wanted to make him a rainbow cake...I did! Well, it's not true to rainbow colors, but it's still pretty rad (I got carried away following the color suggestions on the back of the box of food coloring...so it's more like Easter eggs - haha).

The little line/indentation there is from the toothpick that I used to keep the wrap off the frosting. I took this the day after the party (it was too crazy to get a good pic then). I used a white cake recipe and just made it into six layers. The frosting is a cream cheese frosting...and of course, rainbow sprinkles!

The best part was that I didn't tell most people what was under the frosting...so it was a surprise!

Mmm...homemade birthday cake!

Home and Good Luck Wishes

We're home! And while I visited my family, I helped my sister Lindsey get her Etsy shop running! It's called brokenlynx and she's had a great deal of jewelry made for some time and wanted a bit of help with photo editing and getting a couple of pieces listed....Man, to have had that help when I started (shudder to think of my first photos)! She's truly talented and I wish her good luck, but I don't think she needs it.

So, I thought it would be a bit of fun to make a couple of treasuries inspired by the first two pieces she listed. By the way, Lindsey upcycles vintage jewelry (most of which is tired and ready for a new life) into fresh, modern pieces!

Up first, good luck, of course...in the form of horseshoes!

charm bracelet no. 1 (third row, first picture)

Second, well, Southern California was baking while I was there!

bracelet no. 1 (second row, second picture)

It's been pretty quiet around these parts while I was gone, expect it to pick up! Thank you for your readership!

ZOEY

I received another customer photo, this time with one of the vintage letters!

Thank you Julia! That E looks very much at home methinks!

Oh, and a couple of my favorite blog folks are on Kickstarter. Check them out here and here!

Faux Seams

I found some bottles with hand drawn seams this morning on Etsy and the simplicity of the bottles are lovely....

Bottle - Seam Series by taylorceramics)

This made me think of the seams that used to be in nylons. So, I recalled these....

Prints Charming tights by YesNatalie

Oh yes, by the way, Poppytalk is doing a giveaway for $150 worth of product for the current market; you get to pick what you want! Enter here (you have until Wednesday)!

Poppytalk Handmade's Green Pop

I'm very excited to be in Poppytalk's Green Pop: An Eco-themed and Mother's Day Market!

Here's a sampling of what's in this month's market which opened today (up until May 9)...

(via poppytalk)

Oh yes, and on a personal note, we are still visiting family....We are planning on leaving tomorrow, a few days late. Boo has been feverish for several days and has strep throat. :( He's on antibiotics and is improving. Sigh, poor little guy didn't get to do much on our trip.

cosa verde + Modish = Earth Day Giveaway!

 
An incredible giveaway worth $1600 that will be split between 4 winners, valued at about $400 each!

 
This is a sampling of the goods up for grabs. Mine is the Lichen Jar, notions included, it's the second one on the top row.

Click here to enter! Good luck!

It's New Home: Ellen's Moss Jar

It is so nice to see pictures of the things I make in their new homes! Here's a Moss Jar that a fabulous customer adopted...

Thank you for the picture, Ellen...the jar looks so happy in it's new home!

Lovely readers, if you've bought something from me and would like to share a picture, please let me know....I'd love to post it here!

Back Home and New Materials

We're home safely from our trip. We actually got back Saturday evening, but the next day was church and a surprise birthday party, Monday was school etc., and yesterday was errands and decompressing.

So, today is the first day of really taking a breath and doing laundry and such. I have some pictures to share of the trip, but not as many as I'd like...I got a nasty head cold right after Christmas and I'm dealing with the last of it now. Really, can I not get sick once while visiting family?! Anyway, I'll share the pictures soon, but right now I have some new materials to share.

While I was staying at my parents' house, I bought some unbleached muslin and tea stained it myself (on the right). I also spent some time with the lichen and moss on the rocks around my parents' house and noticed some colors that I will start using in my work (the embroidery floss). Finally yesterday, I got some lovely 100% linen fabric that I'm going to use for something special (on the left)....

I'll have some finished projects to share real soon!

I hope you had a lovely holiday season...ooh, and I'm so excited for my dear friend Pamela; her daughter Jane was born on New Year's Eve! Congratulations to Pamela and her family!

Guest Curation on Etsy Stalker (Ceramics)

My latest post for Etsy Stalker is up. This post is on ceramics and here's a poster sketch of the pieces I highlighted to whet your appetite:

cosa verde's Give it Forward - Mine's Up!

My piece for the cosa verde Give it Forward giveaway is up! Here's what it is:

Enter here to win a Peace Doily Painting for someone you care about!

Here are the rules:
To be eligible to win, you must include the first name of the person you'd like to give the gift to, your relationship to them, and why you think they deserve a special surprise. (You don't need to write a lot, but please tell us more than "I want to win this sweater for Kimmy because she likes sweaters.") We will randomly select winners from all eligible entries received by midnight (EST) on December 16, 2009. Winners will be notified by email and must be able to provide the recipient's shipping address. Sorry, but we can only ship to US addresses.