Make it

Designers + Sparklers =

2010-07-07T06:59:00.001-07:00

One Accomplishment

2010-07-05T21:10:00.001-07:00

So I had a week off from work and my to-do list was about 300 miles long. I pretty much did none of it, and it was spectacular. I did however manage to cross one thing off my list. Make a cover for Jack's crate. Since he's still a puppy, he isn't allowed to roam the house (we let him do that a few times, and have been finding little poops hidden in various locations ever since). So he's confined to the kitchen and living room, with his crate in the kitchen. Up til a few days ago, his crate was covered with various towels and blankets to keep the light out and give him some privacy. But it's been like a million degrees here, and I worried that the blankets and towels were making his crate too hot and he was going to have a heat stroke or something in there. Enter, the crate cover:

I'm terrible at measuring. The little lines on the ruler mean nothing to me, and trying to fold a flat shape into something 3D is near impossible. Long story short, it took forever, and I think I measured 14 times before I cut anything. It's basically a three-sided box with a flap and little ties on the front, to roll the flap up and tie it when Jack is awake. I have been making everyone I know come in my house and look at it. Oh. Before any of this started? My sewing machine broke and I went on a craigslist rampage searching for a new one. I ended up with this:

1964 Singer that folds down into a little table when you're not using it. I might actually be glad the old one broke?

Furry Fury

2010-03-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Meet Captain Jack Sparrow. One of the many reasons I've been so busy lately. When I told my next door neighbor Jack's name, he informed me that his 6 year old niece named her hamster the same thing. Clearly that girl's got good taste.

Things to do in 2010

2010-01-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

This list will grow as I think of more things

1. Sew a dress (may require help of fashion-minded sister)

2. Take web classes and get Tim's site up. It's designed, but coding... is another story.

3. Update portfolio, you never know who's looking.

4. Make my Europe scrapbook. A page a month sounds reasonable.

5. Finish at least most of the projects I've already started. Chopped up pieces of fabric waiting to be sewn, pictures looking for frames, you know how it goes.

Catch up!

2009-03-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here is what's been going on.

Here's a shot of our living room fireplace/bookshelves. Mandy has some great before shots that I'll post as soon as I can get ahold of them. The flowered trays on the top shelf were a thrifting with Colin find.

I used the directions I found ages ago on Crazy Mom Quilts and made a sweet checkbook case, to encourage myself to keep track of my finances. Yes, the inside is bright orange. I love it too. Clearly sewing is not my calling (the seams on the edges, yikes), but it's still fun.

Again thrifting with Colin and found this awesome 70's lamp. It was $2! I am in love with how giant the top is. Also, I already accidentally yanked the cord and flung it down from a shelf onto my desk, and it lived! Hooray for old things that are made well. In the background you can see the top of a chair from my table set. It was a Christmas present from my parents and I love it. It needs some serious work to fix it up. But it's giant, so that's a summertime project.

so Italian...

2009-02-24T21:18:00.001-08:00

This might be the crown jewel of my Italy black and whites. Here for you now. Yes, they actually do this. Mostly for tourists, but who cares? Some day I will have to go back and ride in one.

i am still alive

2009-02-11T09:52:00.001-08:00

is a totally amazing web site. Here is an example of just one of the prints that I wish was not sold out, because I would hang it in my house right now. Go see the other amazing things here.

Winter Wonderland

2009-02-02T16:49:00.001-08:00

Wow, it's been a while. Holidays and moving were CRAZY, but things are finally settling down just a little bit. We had a massive storm resulting in a half inch of ice on my car, but look at the trees! I will be posting before and after pictures of the new house soon. As soon as I finish painting the entryway to my room, actually. The goal is this weekend. So watch for those pics mid next week! Here's a link to all the sizes of the wintery picture up there, in case you want to make it your desktop background like I did.

From Cute to Tragic

2008-12-03T08:19:00.001-08:00

Kat and I finally had cupcake making day. We lamed (or awesomed) out and used confetti cake mix, and tried to combine two fantastic things: cupcakes and mini ice cream cones. They started out with so much potential, but somehow... fell short in the end. We're thinking we should have baked them at a higher temperature, or that the mini cones didn't have a lip on them the way larger cones do, so instead of poufing up and staying on, the cupcake tops just slid off the side. Also, we may have overfilled the cones. Le sigh. Don't worry though. We still ate a lot of them and they were delicious despite their sad appearance.

Before and After

2008-12-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

Who remembers scary doggy lamp from about a month ago? Well, he's finally made his way back, only this time, he's pretty. Top pic is the lamp as I got it originally, spiderwebs and all. Second and third are shots of the completed lamp, and last is an in progress shot. After the yucky fur was removed, but before the painting began.

If you're wondering how this transformation took place, don't you worry, I'm about to tell you.

First I used acetone and a toothbrush to remove his old fur/paint combo. He's made of plaster so I had to be pretty careful not to scrub too hard and damage the actual shape. Then I used a really pointy knife to get into any places a toothbrush wouldn't reach, and to pry out the eyes (which turned out to be ancient metal tacks). I sanded the rod that the cord went through to remove the old fuzz and paint from that. He just sort of came off the base as I was doing all this, so removing him from it wasn't a problem. The base I scraped with a razor blade to get off the glue and junk.

I let him dry for a few days, since some of the acetone had sunk in, then painted with regular old glossy red rustoleum paint. I did 2 thinner coats and then a final touch up. The base and his eyes I used a rustoleum satin black. Replaced the old cord with a slightly newer cord that my dad had laying around, and then glued the doggy back to his base using an epoxy. I used the epoxy on his eyes and nose as well. The shade is new from Target.

All in all the entire thing took about 5 days. Not too shabby.

Finders Keepers

2008-11-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

I was at the bike co-op the other day (surprise surprise) digging through a box of nuts and bolts in search of the size I needed, when I came across these tiny gears. I have no idea what they go inside, but I really like them on my necklace.

Adorable things I need to make

2008-10-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

The short list

Who doesn't want a cloth CD cover with wrap around wiener dog?

Or the most amazing Halloween wreath ever? Understated, yet still a touch creepy.

A place to keep all your charge-able electronics WHILE charging them! I feel like this one could use a little redesigning, but the thought behind it is brilliant. I have a lot to keep me busy...

Halloween Thrifting

2008-10-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Whoapics. I know. I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist multiple shots of my two favorite finds. I went thrifting this weekend with Mandy and Colin. I was supposed to be looking for an All-American track suit... which I did end up piecing together. But I could not resist the amazing mixer, straight out of the 50's and it still actually WORKS! I made cake (from a box of mix) with it this morning. Totally awesome. And for serious, where other than a thrift store can you get something that cool for $15? I also couldn't leave behind the doggy lamp. It's going to take some serious love, cleaning, sanding and repainting (I might redo it red... or dark teal, I can't decide), but when it's done, it's going to be sweeeeeet. So I've come to the conclusion that I either need to go thrifting way more, or way less.

The only bad thing about cookies...

2008-10-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

...is buying all the ingredients. For families, not so bad. You'll probably use all those things some time or another. But just me? It's going to take me 3 years to use that giant sack of flour. So for some friends that are moving into a new house, I'm giving them housewarming presents of cookie mix in a jar. Just add butter and an egg. Homemade cookies without an excess of ingredients!

And it goes!

2008-10-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

With the exception of a slightly broken pedal, this is the final product. I'm not sure about all the little noisemakers just yet, they're beautiful and a rainbow, but also fairly annoying to listen to when you're not traveling at top speeds. So the jury is still out on those. Otherwise... here it is. My finished fixed gear bicycle!

The elusive "Lumpy Bird"

2008-10-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

This glorious creature has evaded photograph for several weeks now. Finally, thanks to a Friday where I arrived home before dark, I was able to capture him on film in his natural habitat. Or, on digital in my roommate's palm tree. Either way. He was a gift from Kat and usually he sits on my desk at my real job. He's good company. Doesn't talk much, just sits and looks good. I like that. Also, he is not actually lumpy at all, it's just a strange naming convention. Welcome to the blog, lumpy bird.

It's finished!

2008-10-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quick FYI. My bicycle is FINISHED. There are still some things that need fixing up, but it's fully ride-able. I in fact rode it yesterday, and nearly died trying to make it up a hill. It's been a while. Pictures to come this weekend when I'm home and it's light outside. More pictures of Kat's (adorable and not lumpy at all) cloth birdy to come this weekend as well!

In the business of birthdays

2008-10-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

This is the second part of the birthday present. Tim does MMA fighting. He thinks he can make the cash money by renting himself out as a ninja for hire. Well now he's a legit businessman with a card and everything. He can write in the phone number himself because what kind of ninja keeps a permanent phone number? Or gives the same number to all his clients? That would be an unwise little ninja.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday

2008-10-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Birthday present part one. It was my boyfriend Tim's birthday the day after mine. I've been trying to convince him that Charlaine Harris is the best vampire novel writer there is, so he got Dead Until Dark as a gift. But it would be lame and very un-crafty to just gift a book. So I made 6 little origami bookmarks from instructables. 6, because he reads multiple books at once. The bookmarks are super easy to make and a really great way to use up some little paper scraps. I can't stand to throw them away, but what on earth am I going to use a 4x4 inch piece of paper for? An origami bookmark, that's what.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-10-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

First, and most importantly, happy birthday mom! Second, I haven't been home when it was light outside in like 3 weeks. Between working two jobs, quitting one job and starting school... things have been completely busy. I've still been managing to work on the bike though, and hopefully it will be finished next Wednesday. Here's a quick photo of the visible progress. a front wheel! All that's left is putting the wheels on and doing the chainline. And handlebar tape, but that's not really essential for bicycle function. It is yellow, however. I wanted red tape, because it would make my bike go at least 15% faster, but they were out. So red next time, yellow this time. In case you were wondering, I went with an 18t cog on the back and a 52t on the front, fixed, not freewheel. I overhauled the bottom bracket, putting in a new spindle and ball bearings which was pretty intensely old school. and awesome. So. full pics of the finished bike *knock on wood* next weekend. woohoo! More projects will be posted as i get my life under control. :_)

My Little Frankenstien

2008-09-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

My friend John at the MoBo bicycle co-op helped me tons and tons today building my first bicycle wheel ever. It took solidly 3 hours, but was only moderately frustrating thanks to John. In case you were wondering it is the original steel rim with a fix/fix TH32 36 hole black hub and spokes in a 3-cross pattern. The tire is one that I got used from MoBo and is a 27" 1 3/8ths, which is kind of wide, but it was cheap. Now all I have to do is find another one... and a sprocket for the back. I'm thinking a fixed 15t will go quite nicely with the 42t on my crankset, but I am still debating the merits of a freewheel. One more wheel to go and she'll be up and moving, my little frankenstein.

Reason #937 why I love my house

2008-09-07T22:01:00.001-07:00

The first one is just a normal shot from my back porch, about a 30 second exposure. Then I wondered what would happen if I moved the camera. Then I wondered what would happen if I moved it A LOT.

Holy Grail

2008-09-07T14:16:00.001-07:00

I went to Ikea for the first time (in this country) yesterday with my friend Colin. The only other one I'd been to was the original in Stockholm. But since this one is only 35 minutes from my house... I bought a lot more stuff. Here are two of my favorites. The top is a sugar pourer. I am forever spilling sugar, putting too much in my coffee, generally making a mess with it, so this little pourer that only lets out a bit at a time is AMAZING. I used it for the first time this morning and I adore it. The second photo is of bowls from the kids section. I think they will be my ice cream toboggans, so I don't scoop a mountain of ice cream and then regret it. I bought matching cups too, but half of them are already in my sink, so they will have to go unpictured. I wish they made everything in the kids section for grown ups too. If only they had all those awesome sheets for queen sized beds. I also bought the coolest kid's book ever for Robin's baby. All cloth, lots of textures, things that move and bright colors. Very exciting for little ones.

Be What You Are

2008-09-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

I think factories are beautiful. Abandoned factories are the best. I love industrial looking things. They are built for function, with zero regard for what they look like. I think if someone half tried to make a factory aesthetically pleasing, the whole thing would be ruined. They just are what they are. I appreciate that.

And I would like to thank Kat of Katfolio for letting me borrow her amazing camera 3 years ago to take this picture. This post is dedicated to her.

Freshman year flashback

2008-09-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Anyone take a color study class requiring gouache and paint chips and hours spent color matching, cutting, gluing? Ya? That was awesome. Now you can relive it via the internets. Take a color matching test here.

I am obsessed with

2008-09-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Old mailboxes. I think they are awesome. I dislike greatly those rubbermaid mailboxes. They're all big and chunky and have zero personality. And they would probably survive a head on collision with a car. Any respectable mailbox would not. I think it would be sweet to get a bunch of these old mailboxes for sorting mail INSIDE your house. This is my bills mailbox, this is my magazine mailbox... you get the idea. Some day, when I am a real grown up, I just might do it. Better start collecting mailboxes now.

Helpful hints

2008-09-01T22:49:00.001-07:00

A little reminder to start off the short week. Perhaps this should be my computer wallpaper. The hardest one is number 9...

Saw this was at the London Design Museum in December 2006.

Vivre Libre ou Mourir!

2008-09-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

Happy labor day! I have to go to work soon...

When I was in Paris about 2 years ago, I went to the Pantheon just to see it and as a happy surprise there was an installation by Ernesto Neto. This was the weirdest/coolest thing ever. It's multiple fabric sculptures hung from the ceiling and filled with little styrofoam beads. Yes, I poked one. It looked really heavy and I had to know what it felt like. Maybe something like this could be adapted for a normal sized home... but as it stands, it was pretty epic. I have more pictures, so if anyone wants to see them let me know and I will post more. Also, I just moved so pictures of the new (three month long stay) house will be posted soon too. It's awesome. I love it.

Rusty Sprockets!

2008-08-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, you're going to look at this picture and think I'm crazy, but remember my new old bicycle? Then you remember how rusty parts of it were. I'm not a big fan of using chemicals on... well, anything. So I googled rust removal, and came up with this crazy combination of things that works really well. Lime juice and aluminum foil. No joke. Buy some limes, make sure to cut them with a sharp knife, it gives you more juice that way, and rub the lime all over whatever it is that you're trying to de-rust. Then wad up some aluminum foil and rub it on the limey rust. The lime juice will turn sort of grayish, and the rust will come off. If you're trying to remove a lot of rust, you're going to have to recycle your aluminum foil and get new several times. Remember to keep rubbing it with the lime, the juicier it is the better it will work. When you're all done, wash the metal that you've cleaned, or else it will be sticky from the limes. This process takes a while, but it's pretty satisfying when you're done.

2/3 Done

2008-08-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

These are 2 of the 3 completed bibs. I'm still waiting on some white bias tape from my sister to finish the last one. I've never used bias tape before, and I'd be willing to bet I won't use it again, so there's no point in buying more than I have to. Anyway, the bibs are both far from perfect, but what they lack in skill is made up for in love and effort. At least that's what I keep telling myself. On the top bib I cut right out of the center of the fabric to get those little people and that cactus, but I think it was worth the sacrifice. That cactus makes me so happy! I think it will make new baby happy too.

Teacups

2008-08-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

I decided that when posting my Italy pictures I'll try to group them together by theme so it's not just a random assembly of photos. So here's the second one in this genre. In Sienna, I was walking past an outdoor cafe where people had just gotten up. I think this would be a good print to put in the kitchen.

Storefront

2008-08-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

When I was in Italy 4 or so years ago, I took a ton of black and white photos. I've scanned a lot of the negs, and I've been going through them trying to sort things out. I love this one. It's looking through a store window... straight into the 50's? I want that blender.

Handmade Journal

2008-08-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

For Christmas 2007, I made an unholy army of journals. I had tons of fun picking out papers and binding tape for each of them. This is the only one I have now, I made it for myself after Christmas when it came to my attention that I had ordered one too many text blocks. I got the text blocks themselves from Paper-Source, a store I found in San Francisco and fell in love with. If you want to know how to put one of these bad boys together, let me know and I can work up some sort of tutorial to post.

Yardwork

2008-08-19T22:28:00.003-07:00

We don't do it. But at least it makes for some good photo-ops!

Thank You!

2008-08-19T10:21:00.001-07:00

Whenever I go to Michael's, I leave with a million ideas and way more stuff than I ever intended to buy. For example these flower shaped grommets called out to me that they needed a home. The next time I make this card, I am going to print a light color on the inside, or maybe add a different colored paper flap so it will show through the grommet holes. I do kind of like how minimal it is now though. And just as a side note, it is actually fairly hard to smash those grommets in so they're secure, but not have the front flower part get all distorted. So if you're going to use these, maybe try a few practice ones on junk paper first.

You can download a PDF to make this card yourself here. There's some strangeness where this link takes you to a page where you have to click another link to keep going. I'm working on fixing that. But for now, just know that you have to click again, and it will indeed take you to where you want to be!

Bicycle Bike (pms 2995)

2008-08-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

I live in Clifton, in Cincinnati. Everything is pretty close, grocery store, library, you get the idea. But it's all still far enough away that you have to dedicate a fair amount of time to walking to each place. This presents a problem. Gas is expensive, and driving is bad for the planet, but I also have a limited amount of time to accomplish things. I have a mountain bike from when I was younger, but the thing is so big and heavy, it's almost impossible to get up the hills around here, especially for me, a not particularly skilled bike rider. So I was screwing around on craigslist when I stumbled across this bicycle frame... and fell in love. My friend Mitch convinced me to get it so I emailed the guy selling it, and went to pick it up the same day. I know it needs a lot of love, and a fair amount of work and parts, but I'm super excited about it. There's a bicycle co-op pretty close, and I think they'll be able to help me do what I need to do. I think I want a flip-flop hub in the back, new tires and rims, a crankset, and brake pads for the front. If you don't know anything about bikes, which I really didn't until I started looking into it yesterday, this is a good site to start with. It shows you how to do basic repairs, which is helpful, and at the same time you learn what parts are what. Anyway, when people post pictures of this type of bike, no one ever shows the graphics which are, in my opinion, really sweet. So here it is, in all its glory. My new bike!

Presenting the Musical Stylings of

2008-08-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

My friend Sean is in a band called The Giovannis. They've been playing a lot of local shows recently, and decided it's time to take their music up a notch and get in the studio to do some recordings. They want to get their name out there, and they decided that they should get a logo, some t-shirt designs and other various things that bands need. That's where I come in. They asked me to work up some logo ideas, in the vein of italian gangster. This is the final piece I came up with. It's a logo all together, but it's also a kit of parts that can be broken down and applied separately so it's pretty flexible. Anyway, enough design talk, this is about rock 'n roll! T-shirt ideas coming soon. Stay tuned.

Green Thumb

2008-08-13T16:04:00.001-07:00

At my parent's house my dad has herbs growing in pots outside on the back deck. When I'm home, I can wander outside, pick some fresh basil, parsley, you name it he grows it. It's pretty fantastic. I was at the farmers market the other day, and there was a woman selling potted basil plants. They were only a dollar, and I figured if I killed it, at least I would get a dollars worth of basil out of the deal. Well it's been 5 whole days, and my basil isn't dead yet. I move it around on the porch to keep it in the sun as long as possible. My roommates have taken to moving it to the sunny spots too. It's like a little pet. Anyway, I figured its 5 day anniversary was a necessary post. Happy 5th day alive with me, basil!

I'm crabby

2008-08-12T11:46:00.001-07:00

I bought an ipod shuffle to use when I go running, and I absolutely love it. It's the perfect size, it isn't big or heavy like my old ipod G3. The only problem is, when I wasn't running... I kept losing it in the piles of "work in progress" on my desk. I'm moderately sewing challenged. I'm a terrible fabric cutter and I run out of patience for sewing very quickly. I'm a paper kind of girl. But I found this really great tutorial on craftster, and thought it was time to give sewing another chance. This little pouch is FAR from perfect, but I think the mistakes give it character... I'm pretty happy with it despite the terror of putting in the zipper (which is still slightly off center, even though I tried to fix it like 8 times). I will for sure never be the fashion designer in the family. I'll leave that one for my sister who actually is an amazing fashion designer. She shakes her head and sighs when she looks at my sewing. But I haven't lost my shuffle since I made my crabby pouch. So mission accomplished!

Key Holder Envy

2008-08-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

drove me to create a key holder of my own. I kept seeing really cute key holders like this and this (which is really more a coat rack, but close though) and getting jealous that I didn't have a sweet way to keep track of my own lost all the time keys. I was going for grandpa-chic with the design. I've really gotten into wood burning lately. I went to Home Depot and one of the gentlemen there was kind enough to do the hole drilling for me. I don't own any power tools of my own just yet. Soon though...

Little beginnings...

2008-08-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Robin and her sister Krista have the market cornered on adorable children. Robin has one, and another on the way, which will no doubt be as cute if not cuter than the first one. So to go with this addition to the family, she's going to need some new baby bibs. I went on a little fabric shopping spree after finding this adorable pattern. Soon these fabrics are going to be darling little bibs! Granted some of the fabrics are a little more practical than others... But I'm still pretty excited to get started. Apologies for the fabric wrinkles, my iron has yet to be unearthed after the recent move.

Out with the old

2008-06-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

So this isn't really anything that I've made. It's more of a tribute to my old flip flops. I loved them so much that when they wore out (in 2 short months) I bought the exact same pair again. I figured it's still the same season, so I could get the same shoes again. Maybe no one will even notice...

Remember when friendship bracelets were awesome?

2008-06-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

They still are. I'm re-obsessed. The more complicated the better. I have a ridiculous collection of embroidery thread that I'm finally organizing. I'm pretty sure I have every color ever. Who wants to be my friend?

When in Italy, recycle

2008-06-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

I took this in Venice two summers ago, and I still think it's a neat idea. Tons of cute little flowers made from bottle tops. I haven't had time to experiment with making them yet (in two years, you'd think I'd find the time, but no) so I'm putting it out there as an idea and hopefully someone will figure them out. When you do, I want to see em!

I was on your porch last night...

2008-06-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

No, seriously. I was. This is a sneak peek from a little summer project. It's pretty amazing what people will leave lit up at night. I've been wandering around with my camera taking super long exposure shots. It's pretty relaxing. When I'm taking these pictures I kind of feel like I'm reading someone's dairy that's been carelessly left out. If I get enough of them, they might eventually become a photo book. Or I might get arrested. I'll keep you informed.