my aunt june

Ringing It In, I Guess?

2012-01-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

Ohhh, new year. You make us bloggy-types so REFLECTIVE. I almost begin to think my thoughts are poignant, but I am not entirely fooled.

I am going to summarize, though. Just a bit. 2011, you were a bit of a mess for me. Like, a mess that turned out to be a really good thing, but still a mess. I was all runny and soppy and ridiculous in the beginning, and then everything turned around and the me-goo solidified, and the process of re-sculpting began. God works in mysterious ways, friends. Sometimes he uses prescription drugs (amen!), frequently he uses people you wouldn't expect, and always he uses his Spirit, without which I am SOL.

So, 2012, I am starting you off with LISTS. I love lists, but I like to keep them in little books where other people can't see how many items are left unchecked; I am an ambitious lister. Anyway, these here lists are going out for general human consumption- firstly so that I can reference them when I forget them, and secondly so that you can tell me when I have forgotten them. (Note: lists are addressed to myself, so when I say "you," I mean me. All Lauren, all the time.)

Things I learned in 2011:

-It's good to figure out what you want, and then look at it, like the little naked-desire-worm it is, and decide if you really want it; if it's worth it.

-If it is, go for it. But you might not get it, because that's the way how life works.

-Doing fewer things will probably make you better at the things you do do.

-Any plan you make is probably backwards. Ask for help. Do you NOT KNOW how bad you are at chess?

-Listen to other people. For real. They are right more often than you want to admit.

-It feels better when there aren't dirty dishes in the sink.

-You can spend a lot of time worrying about the ways in which other people are better at stuff than you, but that time will not make you any better off.

Marching orders for 2012:

-Stop buying chairs. You have TOO MANY CHAIRS. (Unless they are dining-table chairs. You need more of those.)

-You have been consistently surprised by the illogical generosity that has been shown to you. Show that to other people. Try to give away more than you take in. It shouldn't be as hard as you want to think it is.

-Finish the projects you started in 2011. The bathroom, at least.

-WATCH LESS TV. Sooooo much less.

-Make more quilts, and then give them to people. You have a serious baby-quilt-backlog.

-You like blogging, so take the time to do it, even when it takes forever and makes you jittery.

-Go outside more, you dirty dirty hermit.

Oh, 2012, I hope you are less messy, but you might not be. You might be messier. We'lljusthaftasee.

Someone I forgot...

2011-12-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

FIrst of all, thank you for so many lovely comments about the banner. It was such an awesome opportunity to serve by doing something that I already love doing. I don't think I'll be using much purple for a while, though.

My husband reminded me, though, that I left out one very important member of the construction team... Rufus was by my side the whole time, to sit on things that shouldn't be sat on, and walk over things that shouldn't be walked on, and just look downright pathetic. Baxter helped, but at a distance, because he is smarter.
(Forgive the quality, it's an instagram photo, so it's teeeeny. Also, I stole it from my husband, thanks @chomperhead. Also, do you instagram? It's delightful, yo. Let's be friends, I'm @lauren_hunt )

The Largest Thing I've Ever (Kindof) Made.

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

So. This story is long, maybe, I think. But here goes.

Last year I was asked by my church (Redeemer Fellowship, holla), to sew Advent decorations for the sanctuary.

The church is giant and beautiful and 122 years old, and I gleefully accepted, and then realized I had, like, three weeks.

Grand ideas for a massive, glorious, banner were made and then immediately scrapped; and what we ended up with was a 15 yd piece of the fakest polyester dupioni you've ever seen, hemmed on the sides and thrown over a rafter. I called it The Worm. It looked like a worm. A shiny, sparkly, purple worm. It was serviceable but unfortunate, and plans were made to try again this year.

And soooooooooooooo, fast forward to this August, and the wheels begin to turn again. This time, however, there was TIME and SKETCHES and DISCUSSION and MATH. The fuzzy ideas of the previous year came into focus, happily colliding with my newly found love for Korean patch work, pojagi, or, as I call my method, faux-jagi. My friend Alex mentioned in this blog post how she and I had started experimenting with the technique, using this tutorial by Victoria of The Silly BooDilly.

So I wrote a proposal. And then ordered 6 bolts of shot cotton. And then waited for them to arrive. And then stared at them guiltily whilst I finished a few other projects. And then it began.

And I should say right now, the title of this post is misleading; I did not make this banner. I had so much help from other women in the church, many of whom I had never met before. We talked and we sewed and we cut and they ironed. Oh, how they ironed! Oh, how little I managed to iron! It was truly glorious. I asked them to sew the seams completely randomly, and then sew those pieces together randomly, and so on. There was no deliberating, no second-guessing, we just put it all together and let it happen. I was confident that it would be done-- only because at the end of the day, it wasn't in my hands, (my ridiculous, scattered, faulty hands); but it was guided by, and to the glory of Someone Much Bigger. It was EXCITING, and it was AMBITIOUS, and it was PRETTY and we were OPTIMISTIC! Anything, after all, was better than The Worm.

Near the end though, when I was constantly dragging 30 ft. lengths of patchwork around the house, sewing through the night, and seeing purple everywhere I looked, I began to get anxious. It all revolved around one issue: Would there be enough light? The whole point of all the Pojagi piecing was that light would shine through the thick seams to create one giant, glorious, abstract design. If there wasn't enough light, the whole thing would just look like a giant purple sheet. All of the work, all of the Fold-Stitch-Iron-Stitch-Repeat, it would all be INVISIBLE. I was terrified by the thought that it might just end up being The Worm's big brother.

The final day was spent frantically sewing, ironing, binding, and pinning. Brian was drafted and spent most of the day ironing, a service for which I will owe him for the rest of my life. It turns out, friends, that 60 ft. of anything? Is a LOT. I had three 60 ft. sections, each between 1.5 and 2 ft. wide, to sew together. And then bind. Not all of which, of course, managed to happen, but eventually it HAD TO GO UP. The last half-hour of sewing was not pretty, my friends. But I gathered up my giant pile of banner and wrestled it into the car in a giant heap that I couldn't see over. When we arrived at the church, I spent ten minutes pulling pins out of the unfinished bits, and praying that the height would hide the many (MANY) unfinished edges. I was tired and unbathed and hungry and WEEPY. And then it went up.

Light, dude. Providence.

2012 Overdue Book Calendar, Original Recipe, and, Oh, SALE.

2011-12-06T22:04:00.001-08:00

K, Y'all. I'm putting on my affected southern accent, which means BUSINESS. Also, it means ANNOYING. Consider it dropped. Business, yes? Where was I again?

Oh, yeah, the CALENDAR THINGIE. I've talked about it before, so you might know the drill, but just in case you're new to these parts, I make a thing called the Overdue Book Calendar, the point of which is to record your reading and keep track of library due dates, if applicable. It was inspired by Raych of Books I Done Read, unquestionably the best book-blogger this side of the interwebs.

And, allright, kids, I know what we're all thinking: libraries? What be those? They are AWESOME PLACES, but I know that the WORLD HAS CHANGED. E-readers exist. I know, because I have one, and I lurve it. Talk to me about my kindle, and I will ooze with passion. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN, dear friends, THAT THE CALENDAR IS IN VAIN.

Because, c'mon, while e-readers are awesome, they lack some satisfying analog joys. Who doesn't miss pulling out the bookmark, placing the book on the shelf, and feeling a bit smug in your literacy? Our overstocked bookshelves are a visual representation of what makes us tick, and that's something a plastic screen will never be.

THUS!, the blank version of the calendar, allowing for endless customization of its contents. It's a good way to catalog what you've read, and be able to hold it in your hot little hands. Tactility! My friends, we will miss it in the future! Also included are black and white "coloring book" versions of both calendars, great for classroom use.

H'Anyways, I said something about a sale? Yes, indeed I did. I mentioned earlier in the year that I had made an "Elementary" version of the calendar, expanded for use with younger children. Read more about it here. For the next FIVE days, until December 12th, buying ONE of the calendar versions will get you BOTH calendar versions! I'mma break that down for you:

That is access to EIGHT calendars.
-2012 Overdue Book Calendar
-2012 Overdue Book Calendar, Blank Version
-2012 Overdue Book Calendar, B/W Coloring Book
-2012 Overdue Book Calendar, Blank Version B/W Coloring Book
-2012 Elementary Edition Overdue Book Calendar
-2012 Elementary Edition Overdue Book Calendar, Blank Version
-2012 Elementary Edition Overdue Book Calendar, B/W Coloring Book
-2012 Elementary Edition Overdue Book Calendar, Blank Version B/W Coloring Book

That is 168 PAGES OF CALENDAR. Blood, sweat, and Tears for Fears, I tell you. And how much will it cost you? Four moneys. Thassaright, $4. Am I over-infomercialling? I can't tell. But the point is, it is CHEEEP and a great easy Christmas gift. Ya'll think it over. (Ugh, the accent came back.)

BUY, BUY, BUY!

On the next episode: The Project that Ate My Life (and I loved every minute of it!), and My Weird Christmas Issues. Stay tuned.

Hmmm.

2011-11-16T16:52:00.001-08:00

I think I might like putting fabric in little bundles just about as much as actually making things with said fabric. Probably not, but maybe. Anyone else in this boat?

Last Call for Tote Bags.

2011-11-10T11:32:00.001-08:00

I have sewn many tote bags in my life. Hundreds. I would say that I could do it in my sleep, but that would be a terrible lie, because I cannot SEE in my sleep. My eyes are closed. It wouldn't make any sense. But I might be getting off-topic. The point is, I have made many-a-tote, but I think the time has come to take off my tote-maker hat. I'll still be making and selling the actual fabric, but tote bags no more.

I love sewing, but the assembly-line sewing I do for tote bags is, well, dull. And I don't want to knock something that has been my bread and butter, but it's time to move on. I'll probably make end up making some totes on and off, but just with vintage fabric, when the spirit moves me. (Also, I WILL still be making tote bags with the custom-name fabric.)

What does this mean para tu? Firstly, I want to get rid of the tote bags I have in stock, so I am having a massive sale in my etsy shop. Like, most of the totes are $13-$18, which is CHEEP, dudes, for the amount of time and materials that went into them. (Not so subtle hint: Christmas presents? Anyone?)

Secondly, I plan on doing way more illustration, which means more fabric and probably some stationary. I want to explore different printing methods, like silkscreening fabric and letterpress cards. It's frightening to leave my safe little totebaggy world, but it's also quite exciting.
I didn't have a plan when I started my little etsy shop, and I can't really say I have much of a plan now, but I want to do what I usually do, and stumble along a wobbly path to what looks like fun. And, you know, take a lot of cat-pictures on the way.

Adieu, little toties, adieu!

Inside My Head Looks Like This...

2011-11-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

sometimes. Though, I've cleaned it up (both room and head) a bit since these photos were taken. As the Greatest American Film, What About Bob? teaches us, baby steps.

My Friend Chair. And Pillow.

2011-11-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

A long time ago? I recovered this chair. It wasn't hard, because there is only one cushion, and I own a staple gun. Drunk on my success, I made a pillow-cover that was also not bad. That, of course, was thanks to Katie's wonderful tutorial, Add Zip To Your Pillow. Try it, kids, it's easier than you think.

Because My Mother Demands More Blog Posts!

2011-11-04T22:43:00.001-07:00

Where have I been?
Overwhelmed.
This is not a statement that should induce any pity, because I brought it all on myself, dudes, but I have been BUSY and getting ALL THE THINGS DONE makes blogging, sometimes, feel like just another THING TO GET DONE.
Some I'm going to ease into it. Tiny posts. A few pictures. Minimal crazy-talk. It's an experiment.
On the docket today:A long time ago? I organized my scraps by size. And then by color. I have nothing much to say about it, but it was a small victory for organization in house where, on the whole, it's a losing battle.

I Lived In Nature; Did Not Die.

2011-08-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

So I am not, historically, the camping sort.
I am someone who shrieks hysterically when bugs fly near her face. I get itchy just thinking about mosquitos. I have very poor eyesight and a supernatural ability to manage to walk through spiders' newly constructed webs. I have developed a "special" walk to help me combat the into-web-walking. It looks like a child doing the elementary school favorite "crazy walk", but the child is drunk and has vertigo. Because I love you, I made a horrible-quality animated gif of my spiderwalk. It ain't pretty.

So, we were unsure exactly how successful our first family camping expedition would be. Why did we DECIDE to camp, you might ask? Well, we had DECIDED to go on a road trip to Chicago, but then we found an amazing couch for $150, and though, oh, well, we don't have any other big expenses coming up... Ha. Ha-ha. That's the sound of our air conditioner breaking, and Brian needing a root canal. Ha. Ha-ha. So we opted for a $26-a-night campsite, and told ourselves that Chicago was lame, anyway.BUT, camping is not cheap! Or, it isn't if you've never done it and don't have all the STUFF. We were betting on the fact that we could become "camping people", and bought a GIANT tent (on sale!) and all the other junk that must accompany one in the wilderness, if one is a city-fied sissy. T'was risky, friends, I will not lie. Behold our giant tent, which is larger than our car. It took an hour or more to put up, and I had never sweat so much as I did while helping Brian assembling the thing. Afterward, I busied myself organizing our new tent-home, enjoying the breeze that came through the open tent doors. OPEN TENT DOORS. This lasted about 15 minutes, and then I noticed I had invited EVERY GIANT DUMB BUG IN THE FORST INTO MY TENT. It was a turning point in my life. It was the moment when I turned into a cold-blooded insect killer, and also someone who will CUT YOU if you do not zip up the tent door as QUICKLY AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, thank you. I did what everyone in my position would do: I put a ziploc bag on my hand and started grabbing insects and smooshing them into bug-paste. I got really good. Every time I got one, I would call out to Brian, "That's SIX! I got SIX!" though he didn't seem terribly impressed. I should mention that the bigs were really dumb and slow. If I had to guess, I would say they were the unlit inbred cousins of lightening bugs, but I am no entomologist.Other things happened while we camped. We swam! We cooked! We hiked! All at 95+ degrees, because we went camping in a heat wave! Like geniuses! But what I will remember the most about our first camping trip was how many bugs I killed. The first day was only the beginning, folks, because despite my best efforts, the ants had moved into the tent by the second night. I was ruthless. I am sorry, ants, but you wanted the wrong person's graham crackers.
What would I say are the most essential camping supplies? Bug spray and ziploc bags, my friends. The former I applied about every 90 minutes when awake, and the latter I used CONSTANTLY.

Have you opened a food product? MUST GO IN ZIPLOC.
Are you putting something into the cooler? MUST GO IN ZIPLOC. (Beverages excluded.)
Do you need to marinate your kabobs? MUST GO IN ZIPLOC.
Are you about to form turkey-burger patties? ZIPLOC IS GLOVE.
Do you need to smash approximately 4,000 ants with your hand? ZIPLOC IS GLOVE.
My camping habits... might not be ecologically sound.

We survived, though, and we plan to camp again in the fall, when it will not be as heat-wave-y, and we will not have to seek refuge in the nearby WalMart/McDonalds/public library. It will be glorious, and I will know that if you run away from hornets, they follow you. Life lessons, people.

Very Good Things, Mildly Bad Things.

2011-08-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Oh, blog. I have neglected you. You have been INTIMIDATING me, because I know I have so much to TELL you. I am sorry, blog. Sometimes, just for a little bit, I imagine that I could be fancy. By "fancy", I mean "wearing clean clothes" and "having remembered to put on makeup" and "blogging on a weekly basis" and also "not the kind of person who leaves cherry pits on her nightstand for days and eventually finds herself making fruit-fly-traps at 2:00 am". That's all I mean by fancy. And, blog? I am not fancy. I will try to be okay with it, and not avoid you when I get overwhelmed by my unfancyness, and the fruit flies.

BUT. Moving on, to more important and (hopefully) interesting things: I am frequently amazed by how awesome people can be. People can be really, really awesome. It's super easy to forget.

(I think this is mostly because highways exist, and for the most part, driving on highways does NOTHING to convince me that humans have even the POTENTIAL for good. I am a hateful, vindictive person when I am driving on the highway, because I have been WRONGED and why won't this guy SPEED UP and HOW ARE YOU ONLY GOING 55??? I am roadrageous. But I digress.)

So, a MILLION YEARS AGO, I complained that I had lost my scissors. I am a champion complainer, usually to no effect. But then, lo and behold:

Yeah. So this delightful individual, whom I shall refer to as "K", because she is so awesome she only needs one letter, SENT ME SCISSORS.
GINGHERS. SCISSORS. PLURAL.
They are HUGE and FABULOUS, scissors the likes of which I have never seen before! They are "Tailor's Shears" instead of Dressmakers, and they cut like BUTTAH. Seriously, these are the best things in the world for making tote bags, and cutting through multiple layers of upholstery, something I happen to do all the time. And K just SENT them to me. Because she is a scissor philanthropist! (Note: Use of the word "philanthropy" is in jest. I assure you I am not a worthy cause.) Check K out at her blog, Totes McGoats, because she is awesome, and also the phrase "Totes McGoats" is awesome and she OWNS THE DOMAIN NAME.

(True uninteresting story: for a while I kept saying "totes mcgoats" in place of the word "totally", and I had NO IDEA why. I asked several friends if it was a thing they had said to me, and all of them denied it. So when I saw K's blog name, I laughed a lot, because, what? HA! T'was MEANT to BE!) THANK YOU, K! You are the Totesiest of McGoats.

So, that was Very Good Thing. Mildly Bad Thing? This:
Long story short: I was going into a store to buy pie. (Reason for pie is a MUCH longer story than one post can handle. Maybe later.) My hand was sweaty, I dropped the phone on the sidewalk, hard. BROKEN! Made sad face. Went in to buy pie. Pie store not open. NO PIE! Sad face revisited. WORST EXPERIENCE INVOLVING PIE EVER! (For me.)

I was sad about this for about 15 minutes, at which point I realized that it was incredible that it hadn't happened sooner. I am a thing-dropper, and I have dropped this phone a LOT, but never on its face on the sidewalk. Lesson learned: If you lose the bottom part of your phone cover thing? Get a new one. Don't use half a case for over a year, because at some point, you will realize why it is necessary for the case to go ALL the way 'round. It's been about a month now, and I'm not planning on getting it replaced, because it still works fine. So.

I did went camping, and I did not die, and I enjoyed it. Except for when we thought we might have gotten salmonella poisoning. Photos of ludicrously large tent in the future.

2012 Calendar? Already? Yes. Already. But BIGGER.

2011-06-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

So, interweb friends, for the past few years I have made a thing, and that thing is called the Overdue Book Calendar, and what it does is what you might guess it does. (Helps keep track of library due-dates. Yo.) T'was inspired by my friend Raych, of ye olde books I done read (REEEEEEEED EEEET!!!) and it has been used by such notables as Vancouver Public Schools. (That was not sarcastic, I am deeply impressed with anything that exists in Vancouver. Case in point, Raych used to live there.)

But this year it has EXPANDED, and so I am pleased to introduce, the 2011-2012 Overdue Book Calendar, Elementary Edition! Yes, that is a RIDICULOUSLY long name, I am not known for brevity. And since it is 18 MONTHS of awesomeness, and every month has two pages of big spaces and it is pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

Gratuitous calendar pictures! It's either cats or calendars around here, people!

Now, you might ask, why are you coming out with a calendar in July? Isn't that a bit silly? And the answer is: Yes. It is. But the reason why is this: I was totally honored when I found out that the AWESOME kids at lmnop magazine wanted to put the calendar in their book-themed issue, and I had been planning a version for younger kids for a while, and thought, why not now? Also, school years start in all sorts of crazy months, so why shouldn't calendars?

(True confession time: It feels really silly making a calendar in June. It's fun, but you feel ridiculous, and when you tell people that you can't hang out because you have to finish "making your calendar", they give you they "is-that-a-euphemism?" eyebrow raise. But it was worth it.)

Would you like to get a bit of calendar-taste for free? Well, you are in luck. I have put together a download for lmnop readers, and you, because I love you. Click HERE, dahlings, and get the month of July to do with what you will. And if that little taste makes you hunger for more calendar, there is a whole heaping 18-month pile of it RIGHT HERE.

And check out this issue of lmnop, for reals. It is totally children'sbookland, and even has paper figure illustrations of Roald Dahl books. (True fact: in 4th or 5th grade I was involved in a "Night of the Notables" where everyone had to dress up as their heroes and tell about their lives. I was Roald Dahl. I think I wore khaki shorts? Maybe a hat? I handed out chocolate, that's all that I remember. Second true fact: I spent the majority of one summer talking like the BFG. I am told it was insufferable.)

But wait, what was I talking about? Just kidding! Ha! The magazine! It has printable bookplates! ANd lists of amazing children's books I have never heard of, but will probably buy now! (Hush, I know I don't have kids yet. It's an investment!) And amazingly photographed pop-up-book reviews! And absurdly cute Australian children, who wear far nicer clothes than I ever will.

Ok. That's all I got for now. Coming down the chute next: my NEW SCISSORS, and our CAMPING TRIP. The camping trip has not yet occurred, so there is a slight chance I might not make it back alive and that post will remain unwritten. My ability to camp is yet-to-be-determined, so. Should be interesting?

Most Narcissistic Blog Post, In the World, Ever.

2011-06-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

What also has the most narcissistic post title, ever, if you consider that the internet is 60% narcissism, 13% actual information and 27% dirties. These percentages MIGHT not be accurate. But most likely they are.
So, remember when I whined, hard, about getting a bad haircut? Because I was SO attached to my long, lustrous*, locks?

I got over it.

I find that when my hair is short, I dream of having ponytails and in the few times I have had ponytail acceptable-ish hair, I dream of cutting it all off. Literally I dream, like wake up in the morning and remember it. my hair is eternally indecisive. So, summer has come, and it was hottt, and Brian was dropping not-so-subtle hints that my constant doo-rag/ponytail combo was perhaps not what I had dreamed about, hair-wise. Because I complained about it all the time. I had to DO something to it! The horror. Also, he's a big fan of the short hair.

Laziness and public opinion won. I wanted them to. I was dying to do it.

But it was HARD, because it took me TWO YEARS to grow my crap-hair, and that is a lot of time to dedicate to something that is ultimately a failure. But my face, it is not built for long hair, and my hairstyling aptitude is lacking. The only way I could make myself feel better about cutting it all off? Spend three hours doing it, and have AS MUCH FUN AS I POSSIBLY COULD. If I can't keep it, I better darn well enjoy the removal process. And, I photographed it all. Because I am hopelessly vain and self-absorbed. It's a fact. I apologize in advance for the photos in which I am making my "prison-inmate" face. There is a reason my product shots do not include face, and it is because my face either looks DEEPLY depressed or somewhat insane in photos. Y'all've been warned.

Without further ado: Narcissism!

Pre-cut. The sitch was kinda dire, as you can see. Prison inmate face alert!
Snippage! Dumb upward-looking face! Hoo-ha.
Continued snippage. This part is kind of boring, I should have done a bit more. The mushroom-cut of my childhood was attempted, but failed. Show of hands, who else had the mushroom haircut? How of hands, who ALSO had an eyepatch? Oooh, looks like I win the pathetic-child award.

This is me pretending to be a bored model, ANTM-style. I have no explanation or excuse, the bob just made me feel classy and silly.

Note: I do not have an abnormally hairy neck. It's just hair-sawdust. Do not judge.

I forgot my quail-piece in that last one.

Closer.... I am verrra serious when cutting hair, as you can see. Not accurate, or technical, but serious. I finished off most of the back with my husbands clippers, because it was way easier. No photos of that. Saaarry. I know you are just DYING for more. Ha.
Ta-daaa!!! I made silly faces.
Final product. Yes, I was going for the thatched-roof bangs. Blame the wip-hairport flickr streat (which is awesome!) Spaniards (is that the proper word? I think it's correct but it sounds a bit wrong. Please correct me if it's wrong.) have the best style, I think maybe. Or, the women do- jury's still out on the men.

Summer-hair! I have got you!

Thank you for indulging me. I am fully expecting my subscriber-numbers to go down after this post.

*Yeah, this is a ludicrous exaggeration. "Lank", "bedraggled", and "frequently dirty" would all be more appropriate adjectives.

Things I Made, Thing I Lost.

2011-06-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, I had another post planned for today, but it has MANY PHOTOS and requires MUCH WORDS (not really, just SOME WORDS), but it was stressing me out and sucking up time and so this is the one you get.

Because all I make is Birdie Slings, the pictures are of a Birdie Sling I made. Awesome sentence award! This one was for my wonderful mother for Mother's Day. Side note, mom, you're awesome, thanks for not killing me or locking me in the basement between the ages of 13 and 17! I surely deserved it!

In more whiny and self-absorbed news, I have lot my scissors. The IMPORTANT ones. You know. The Gingher 8-Inch Knife-Edge Dressmaker's Shears. THE scissors. I took them to work when I was teaching my class (FOOL!) and now they have disappeared. They had a gold ribbon tied to them. I still managed to leave them.

If you sew, and if you own these scissors (which, obvs, you SHOULD), and if you lose them, you feel like you have lost a hand. Or, not a hand, but some important part. A hand accessory? Wait, that is exactly what you have lost. I lose at metaphors. But WHAT I AM SAYING IS, they are important, and you will constantly feel sad, because NO OTHER SCISSORS can pretend to be these scissors. Not in my house, anyway. All our other scissors are scuzzy and dull and are lazy and lack the ability to cut fabric entirely. Sorry, scissors, it's the truth.
SCISSORS! Come back! Mama misses you! And will never take you for granted again, or drop you (no, I will probably still drop you), or curse your not-very-sharp-ness. You are sharp enough for me! You are my favorite fabric-photo prop! You are SHINY!

TOFUTTI! Where ARE you when I NEEEEED you?

Things I Made In the Interlude, Vol. 3.

2011-05-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

So, I work at a quilt fabric store. We have a lot of classes, and starting this summer we will have one more: Improv Studio! And, fr some reason, they are letting me "teach" it. Quotation marks because I would consider myself to be more of a facilitator than a teacher- I'm sure that some of the people who will participate will be more accomplished sewers than I am. The basic structure will be a brief presentation (Powerpoint! Woot?) of some images of whatever the theme of the month is. Since improv isn't about patterns, but inspiration, I think it's a good place to start. This will be followed by a demo of the technique, and then SEWING TIME! I'm kinda jazzed about it, and if you're local and interested, you can sign up on at Harper's, by phone, and eventually it will be up on the website. It will be the third Tuesday of every month, from 6-9, and the cost is $20 per session. This is the ticker-tape quilt I did as a sample, as that will be one of our first sessions. I'm kind of in love with the technique, because it's pretty much a color study and a puzzle all in one, and also pretty quick and simple. AND, I finally have a use for the itty bitty scraps I used to throw away!

Things I Made In the Interlude, Vol. 2.

2011-05-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Messenger bag for my sister-in-law, Mandy. I have to say that I was insanely fortunate to marry into the family I did, Brian's parents and sister are all really amazing people. Mandy and her husband Robert and their kids (Noah, Riley, Lily, Gabriel and Aiden) have been in missionary training for the past 7 years. This fall, they will be leaving for Senegal, to work as church planters in a tribal setting.
Now, I'mma gon get a bit serious here for a minute, which, not standard for me, but I promise we will soon be back to cat photos and craftastrophes. I met Mandy and Robert and the kids right before they started down their path to be missionaries, and it has been an extraordinarily inspiring and beautiful journey. When I met them, I wasn't even a Christian, but regardless of one's religious convictions, you really have to respect people who believe SO strongly in something that they will sacrifice an easy and comfortable life for it, despite numerous challenges. It can't be easy leaving all of your friends and family to begin YEARS of schooling that will then lead to YEARS of being overseas, all the while having to find support and also deal with those who don't understand what you're doing-- but I'm sure it's exponentially harder when you are a family of seven. Watching how God has always provided for their family, sometimes in bizarre and completely unexpected ways has really been awesome. In my opinion, they are doing the most important work that there is, and it is difficult and beautiful work. Like I said, I was blessed to have been made a part of this family, and am really excited to see them again this summer before they leave for West Africa.A few notes on the bag-- As far as I can tell, Mandy carries boulders in her messenger bags. This is a replacement for another I had made her, hopefully it will prove tougher than its predecessor, which came back to me looking as if it had lost the war. There is SO MUCH THREAD in this bag's innards, as well as LAYERS of interfacing and roughly 40 pockets. I'm hoping that now that they are out of school, this bag will not have to deal with the roughly 700 books that the other one had to carry. The fabric is a wax block print that I got in a local African grocery store, and it is lovely stuff.
If you are curious about Mandy, Robert and the kids' travels, you can follow their blog here.

Things I Made In the Interlude, Vol. 1.

2011-05-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

Modified Birdie Sling, because I was feeling stingy with the wonderful fabric-- used a 1/2 yard and nixed two of the pleats, and it worked wonderfully. My favorite part, because I am silly, is the inside pocket with selvedgy detail. Melody Miller, you are unbelievably sweet, and I love you for making this fabric exist. Mwah!
This bag currently lives at Bon Bon Atelier, where I got the fabulous fabric-- when summer comes I will steal it back, and pretend to be listening to the radios all summer long.

A Post From The Animals

2011-04-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

Rufus and Baxter have been complaining. It pains them, apparently, to be away from "their public" for so long. Baxter has taken it especially hard, and has had his revenge by rubbing his snotty cat nose across my face to wake me up at 5 am. Cold mucus in the wee hours is not really my cup of tea, folks. So here they are, in all of their glory...
Rufus has absolutely perfected the art of looking forlorn. He would win awards, if there were any for the taking. Having such a simultaneously impressive and disgusting beard helps.And Baxter may never forgive me for this, but he's just so ADORABLE when he's bathing! Though not so adorable when he discovers he's been photographed bathing... At least he's too tired to attack.
What's that? No one wants to see four pictures of my cat sleeping? Well, I edited it down from ten, so you're welcome.

Just a Little Something... Liberty!

2011-04-04T12:32:00.001-07:00

Hi, all, just wanted to let you know I'll be back pretty soon, but I wanted to let you know about the tutorial I put together for Bon Bon Atelier on how to make this Liberty Scarf. It's super simple, and very close to other "infinity" type scarves. In any case, check out the Bon Bon blog, it's an awesome store that I am super lucky to live just a few minutes from, and the girls who run it are just fabulous. Tutorial, Website, Shop!

Catch Up.

2011-03-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

I have been a lazy bee-er. But I am finally caught up with my blocks for the MidModBee, and I thought I would share them. Because, they took a long time, and I already took pictures of them, and I am pleasantly surprised by how not-completely-terrible they are.
for Amanda
for Debbie
for Rebekah
and for Robin.
I'm also going to include a little commercial here: Several of these blocks required quite a few pieced curves, which, a week ago, I had never done. If this is something you do often, and you have a Bernina, GO AND BUY THIS FOOT: It's called the leather roller foot, and it isn't cheap ($70 ish?), but it is so, so worth it. You can turn on a dime, it's a ton of fun for doing quilting, and when doing pieced curves, it is BRILLIANT. I don't think I pinned anything more than in the middle-- since it takes absolutely no effort to turn the fabric, you can concentrate completely on keeping the edges together and don't need to worry about the angle. I really can't imagine doing this stuff with a regular foot, this makes it so fast and easy.
Ok, commercial over, and I should mention that I have absolutely no affiliation with Bernina, I just really love this foot. Which I hope is not a sentence that google starts sending people here with, because people in search of "foot love" will be terribly disappointed.
Also wanted to give you a heads up that you probably won't see me around here for a while, at least a week or so, and the shop will be closed as well. Don't worry, nothing turrible has happened, just some prioritizing needs to be done, and it will take some distance in order to accomplish it. Over and out!

Cutting and Stitching.

2011-02-28T14:24:00.001-08:00

Just a few pictures to show what's been going on around here lately- lots of starting, not a lot of finishing quite yet. Why are new projects so much more appealing when you are on a deadline with previous projects? Ahdunno. The KCMQG is taking part in the Robert Kaufman "No Prints Allowed" solids challenge- RK provided Kona charm packs for our entire guild, and we can use as much additional fabric as we want, as long as it is a solid. I am... not done. A lot not done. We are supposed to bring our quilts to the March meeting, but I'm afraid mine might not make it until April. As far as I know, there will be no beatings administered on the basis of quilt tardiness, but I have been wrong about these sorts of things before.

I'm In the Papes!

2011-02-22T08:14:00.001-08:00

So, somehow or other I ended up in the newspaper. I've known about it for a while, but I wanted to keep mum just in case I looked like a turtle in the picture, or said something totally ridiculous, which I am known to do. (And quite possibly did- I have NO memory for anything I say.) The fabulous Jacquie, (who was also featured, and whose fabulous quilts are pictured throughout the article) and I had a few nervous conversations about the shape our little article would end up taking. But fortunately, the picture ended up with a minimum amount of turtleishness, and I don't think anything that was quoted ended up being offensive, insane, or totally incorrect. Can we all sigh with relief? Thanks.Really, I'm very honored to be a part of this article about our awesome guild and the movement behind it, and I truly hope that it encourages some people to come see what we're all about. I don't see myself as even CLOSE to a person most deserving to be included in the article, I can think of so many other guild members who have done so much more than I have., but the starts aligned themselves in my favor, I guess. Susan, who wrote the article, contacted Harper's (the quilt shop where I work) to get some info, and when she came to interview Elaine the owner, I was there as well. Talking. I talk a lot when it comes to quilting, and the Modern Quilt Guild, and apparently if you throw enough words at someone, they end up sticking like so much wet spaghetti. You'll know this if you've met me, I am a perpetual flinger of word-sghetti.Eventually this led to a photographer coming over to take a photo of me sewing, which was definitely the most nerve-wracking part of the whole business. Because, seriously, this means everything must be mildly presentable, including my face, and I have to make sure I am not hunching old-lady-style while I pretend to sew naturally. La-di-da, no one is pointing a big camera lens at me! La-di-da, of course my sewing room is always arranged in little vignettes to display pretty fabric! La-di-da, oh, I have perfect posture? Why, thank you so much for noticing! ...It ended up not being as bad as I thought, despite the fact that the light was really bad because of an impending snowstorm. And the bonus of it is, I actually have a semi-presentable sewing room right now. I took advantage of it and shot some photos of the room in its pristine state, marvel at it while it lasts. Because trust me, it won't.(Also, does anyone else love Newsies as much as I do? Trick question: It is not possible to love Newsies as much as I do. Snap.)

Olympic Dreams (Vote for Me?)

2011-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

When I was in elementary school, I became mildly obsessed with figure skating. Katarina Vitt skated a Robin Hood-themed program that burned itself into my 11-year old brain, and led to months of my friend Melissa and I wearing pantyhose over our sneakers during indoor recess and "skating" on the basketball court. But then, I went to a friends birthday party at the ice skating rink, and the dream died a cold, cruel death. I have weak ankles and devastatingly poor gross motor skills, and spent most of the party pulling myself along the wall. Another girl, who was tall and blonde and already a basketball star, was declared "a natural" and by the end of the day was skating backwards effortlessly. I decided to stick to violin and drawing.

That said, I never dreamed of being an Olympian. It was clear that athletic greatness was never in the cards, but it was a DELIGHTFUL surprise to be informed yesterday that the Overdue Book Calendar has been shortlisted in RikRak Studio's 2011 Handmade Olympics. It is in the "handmade goodie with an innovative design" category, and was put on the shortlist by Jaime Derringer, founder & editor of design milk, which just gives me warm fuzzies. Anyway, The Handmade Olympics is a pretty cool contest, so check it out, and if you wouldn't mind, maybe give me a vote? The prizes are really pretty sweet!
In other "making" news, I have listed a bunch more Vintage Sheet Shoppers in ye olde etsy- I love making these because they combine my love of vintage fabrics with the added bonus of recycling and avoiding using more plastic or paper bags, plus they are SUPER SOFT and fun to sew. Please note my ridiculous bag-holding-self-portraits, in which I look seriously into the distance while doing various silly things with my grandma-hands. While taking these yesterday, I couldn't resist incorporating one other prop that is frequently found in the craft room, so please enjoy these Baxter Spencer Hunt product photos as well. And, PSA of the day, from my accountant to me to you- get one of those little mileage tracking books and be DILIGENT about tracking your business mileage, it can TOTALLY make a difference when doing your taxes. Now, if you could only deduct the time spent in line at the post office...

Something FREE! For you!

2011-02-10T12:01:00.001-08:00

Remember how I was all, "I don't remember holidays, scroogity scrooge scrooge" that one time? Well, it is probably still true for the most part, but I have cooked up a sweet little V-Day nugget for you, my bloggity BFFs. You may remember that I drew up these little Lovebirdies last year, so today I decided to pull them out and smacked together some delightfully FREE printable Valentine's cards! Just for you, because you're cute, and because I don't want you to have to go to WalMart for Hannah Montana cards. Or whatever the kids are into these days? Anyway, I LOVE them, but I am biased towards all my little creatures, though I hope you will enjoy them too. Tell your friends, y'all.
You can download the PDF here:
https://dropulous.com/3626320347 Make sure when you print it out, you set it to "No Scaling" (or remind your friendly copy-guy to), because the margins are already included, and there are cut-lines to guide you when cutting them apart. And if you don't already have Adobe Reader, you can download it here for free: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
Happy Valentimes! (No, not a typo. If you get it, we are already best friends.)

Your Daily Lesson.

2011-02-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

Public Service Announcement of the day, folks: never chop onions before you've put in your contacts. You will forget, and put in your contacts with your twice-washed-but-still-stingy-as-HALE fingers, and you will be very sad. In fact, you will cry for like, ten minutes. Lesson learned the hard way.Oh, Rachel (British Rachel, not Canadian Raych), Baxter is still alive and kicking. If you need proof, look no further than this photo to see that not only is he fine, he is planning universal domination. And no, I didn't make him sit on that book, he did it on his own. Clever cat.For the past few days we have been blizzarded in, but today it is SUNNY, and so I am walking around the house in slippers taking photos of random stuff. And by house I mean, like, two rooms. Behold, the bed is "made"! The quotation marks are necessary because the bedmaking is nontraditional, in that it is two twin-sized quilts on a queen sized bed, going the wrong way. The husband and I are not blanket-compatible, you see: I MUST be cocooned in such a way that I can feel blanket under me on every side of my body, and he is a sleep-quilt-kicker-offer. So we have our own. Surely we can't be the only ones?Check it, the blizzard was so bad that the world turned black and white again. Crazy, huh.

Little Bits.

2011-01-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

I don't really have a ton of stuff to say, but I have some pictures, and I think that might be enough to do a blog post. Prepare for the random!Item number one: I have been working on a City News quilt for a while, since the Cherri House workshop I took in October. It has been slow going, for a number of reasons, but the biggest one is that I was doing it as a sample for work. Which, is fine, but the way my brain works, the second that I HAVE to finish something, is the minute that I start avoiding that something, however pleasant it may be. Self-sabotage much? The other big holdup was that I was terrified to quilt it, seeing as it's the largest thing I have ever quilted. I know it can be done, awesome people do it all the time, but I was super intimidated by it. FORTUNATELY, I know people. Robin, a friend from the quilt shop I work at, offered to teach me how to use her long-arm, and let me do the quilt at her house. I have long harbored ambitions of doing some longarm quilting, and hope to some day take lessons from the awesome Angela as well, so I jumped at the offer. It was awesome. Like seriously, it was amazing to have that kind of freedom when quilting. At first it was terrifying, but once I got into a rhythm, it was just the best. thing. ever. Also, Robin is just fabulous to hang out with, and her house and studio are amazing, and I got to eat bean soup and cornbread and drink Taiwanese tea with she and her mother. It was the best. And I am really happy with the way the quilting turned out, despite the shaky start!Next item on the list: I have a dog, and he is adorable. Also, I have the most self-indulgent pet-photo blog ever.And these pictures, they are the result of me wandering around the house and craft room. Really no point to them at all. Slowly getting over the Januaries, plan on rocking it in the Februaries, folks.

Quilt Guild Changed My Life.

2011-01-23T18:32:00.001-08:00

It's a running joke between Shea and I that eventually we will have t-shirts made, "Quilt Guild Changed My Life", and "God Bless Google Reader". They will sell like hotcakes within our circle of friends, for sure. But, I am getting a bit ahead of myself, and this is a big sappy mushy post, so I will try and take it from the beginning, so.A year ago today was the organizational meeting for the KC Modern Quilt Guild, organized by Shea, Jacquie, and Tula, and attended by myself and 33 other folks. It was nerve-wracking to be meeting a bunch of quilt people in person, since there are times when I begin to feel like I only exist on the internet. Not really, but you know what I mean... fortunately there was at least one person I had met before (HEY LAURA!), so I wasn't totally terrified. In any case, it was new and exciting and it required me to put on real shoes, so a definite move forward in my creative pursuits.

I remember leaving the meeting all glow-y and excited, having met so many people who I connected with in a way that I wasn't used to- it seems strange now to think that at that point I didn't really know any other quilters IN REAL LIFE, but it was kindof true. And i feel like I am being really rambly about this whole thing, but the fact is that being in this guild, from the very beginning, and getting to know the people I know because of it, has had a very large and concrete impact on the course of my life. I have the job I have now because of quilt guild. I am still working on designing fabric because of quilt guild. Lots of the people who I consider good friends? Know them because of quilt guild. It's difficult for me even to write this, because I don't feel like I can possibly convey HOW MUCH this group of people and set of circumstances has changed my life.

This is how many joy-cats the KCMQG has brought to my heart.

SO anyway,switching off the mushy, this is just a post for me to say how much I appreciate everyone who is involved with this great big ol' Modern Quilt Guild movement. The ladies in LA who started it, Tula, Shea, and Jacquie, who conspired to bring it to KC; Jamie, Jenny, Shea and Jacquie, my fellow officers, who make things like putting together bylaws fun, and ALL the awesome people who continue to come to meetings, and are willing to speak with me in real life. You are awesome. For me, it has taken a while to figure out where I'm going in my life, creatively and "career"-wise, and while I am nowhere near having all of that figured out, I know I am a lot closer because of the people I have met through guild. This all seems a bit awards-show-speachy, but it's true. I should go through all of our members and say what I love about them, but there are 96 of us now, and I am too lazy. But, thanks. You're awesome. I'ma let you finish, but-

Happy Everything!

2011-01-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

I am awful at doing things on a deadline, so I consistently fail to do posts that relate to holidays. I apologize for this now, and wish you a late and pre-emptive Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. ENJOY! I think there might be other holidays, but if I can't remember them, how pressing can they really be? Anyway, now I have exposed myself for the curmudgeon that I am, and I have nothing much else to say. Or, I do, but it is a bunch of long stories, and I am too lazy to type them all out right now, but here are some pictures I took? You are being photodumpedupon.
Brian made fried chicken, and I have been sewing, and Baxter has been sitting on things, and Rufus has gotten much better at posing for pictures. To tell you the truth, blogfriends, I am having a bit of trouble getting back on the proverbial horse. And it isn't like I fell off of it, it's just that at some point after my last dismount, my head got stuck in a puddle of Januaryness, which has never seemed Exciting and New to me as much as it feels Cold and Long. Also, the backlog of things I have done but haven't shown you? It is long, and exhausting to think about, and then I consider all the work I still have in front of me, and, Ugh. January. Apologies for what a bummer this post is... anyone want to skip out and hit Australia with me?

The Finest Christmas Gift $4 Can Buy + WINNNNNER!

2010-12-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Did I mention the fact that I happen to sell the best last-minute Christmas gift that $4 can buy? 2011 Overdue Book Calendar, folks, get them while they're hot. Or, warmish. Or, you know, whatever temperature PDF files should be. Product shots, commence:

Thank you for putting up with that crass commerical interlude, now, will the winner of the Three Dog Bakery goodness please step forward? That would be.... AMY! Congrats, Honey and Zeke!
I want to thank the good people over at Three Dog Bakery for giving up the goods, and for making such awesome treats. Amy, just email your address to me (laurenspencerhunt at gmail dot com), and I will let them know so they can send your booty out to you!

Rufus Reviews: Three Dog Bakery + GIVEAWAY! SAID IN OPRAH VOICE!

2010-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

First of all, I need to tell you that Rufus got free treats for this. I think the police of the internet require me to say that? But before you go thinking I have sold my soul to the product-review devil, I want to say that I would never recommend a company that I didn't think made a high quality product, and I love the fact that these guys are local and so mindful of the ingredients they use, and they REALLY love dogs. Also I should mention that I can now see just how badly my dog needs a haircut. We have clearly gone far beyond his normal level of hobo-dog-ness. His grandma has already volunteered to give him a Christmastime haircut.
I thought about writing this post from Rufus's perspective, but then I realized that would get SO schticky, so fast, so I am going to continue to be me, and try my best to convey to you all of Rufus's innermost thoughts and feelings, because, yeah, he has those?
H'Anyways, the wonderful folks at Three Dog Bakery sent us three of their holiday- themed treats for reviewing. (I want to mention that my lame-o product shots were taken after we had already consumed half the treats, which is why they look a little empty.) First up was the Begg Nog Squares, which smelled REALLY great. Like, really great. Like, you probably would have tried one too. I did. I know that this is supposed to be Rufus's deal, but in my opinion, it was pretty good for a dog treat. BY FAR the best dog treat I have ever eaten, anyways.
Rufus liked them too, as you can see. His review was "chomp chomp chomp", and I quote. Next we tried the Snickerdoodle Mini Biscuits, which are a really good size for smaller dogs like Rufus. I have no "dog eating" shots, because it was pretty much impossible to get a picture of them disappearing into his mouth after being thrown. But maybe these photos will tell you how Rufus really felt about them. (The TONGUE! THE LITTLE DOG TONGUE! I love it, even if no one else does.)Finally we broke open the big jar of Classic Wafers, in the holiday flavors of Cranberry and Banana Nut. These, I think, were his favorites, based on the amount of irritability when he was being forced to wait to get one. (It took a long time to take photos, people. It was a lot of sad puppy whining, and me telling him, "I'm metering!" It was sad.) I only got photos of him eating a Cranberry, but he enjoyed the Banana-Nut just as much.
So, in the end, all of the treats definitely got the doggy-seal of approval, and they get my vote because they smell nothing like the fake-meat treats that are probably made of plastic. We also shared some of the treats with Jacquie, whose pup Bruno (remember him?) apparently got quite fond of these treats, camping out in front of the treat jar so often that she finally had to hide them somewhere else. I'd say that's a win, review-wise.

Oh, and did I mention there is a GIVEAWAY????How would you like one of these, for your dog friend, for the dog-friend-having-person in your life? You would? Well of course you would, it is delightful and free! Leave a comment and tell me what your dog's dream-biscuit flavor would be, and I will randomly draw a name to weeeeen zeeeeeeeee priiiiiize! I'll pick on Sunday, so enter before then, or you will be sad. And, if you're not the gamblin' sort, Three Dog Bakery has given me a coupon code, so's you can get your dog-treat fix on the cheap. Just use the code MyAuntJune (no spaces) for free shipping on orders of $35 or more. The coupon expires 12/31/10.

PS: Baxter wanted me to mention that he would be MORE THAN HAPPY to accept corporate sponsorship, especially if it is a company that only makes turkey cold cuts. Baxter would sell his soul for some turkey cold cuts.

Fabulous prize box includes:
-Classic Cremes-Carob Cookies with Natural Peanut Butter Filling - 16 oz
Description: Carob sandwhich cookies filled with natural peanut butter filling. Carob and peanut butter belong together like dogs and tummy rubs.
-Classic Cremes-Golden Cookies with Natural Vanilla Flavor Filling - 16 oz
Description: Golden sandwhich cookies filled with vanilla filling. You'll be asking yourself, "Are these really for dogs?"
-Oven Bake Dog Biscuits Apples & Oatmeal - 16 oz
Description: All natural Apples and Oatmeal oven baked into a crunchy, dog-drooling biscuit!
-Roll-Over Rewards Apples & Oatmeal Dog Treats - 16 oz
Description: All natural apples and oatmeal baked to a cookie perfection. Its mini-size is ideal for puppies, little dogs and training treats.
-Gracie's Gourmet Entree for Dogs - Chicken, Carrots, Green Beans & Rice Recipe - 12oz
Description: We brought food from the dinner table to your dog with our all natural dog food Entrees. Packed full of succulent carrots, green beans and broccoli, as well as luscious chicken that’s been slow cooked – the result is the best gourmet dog food that leaves them licking their chops with satisfaction.
-All Natural Rawhide Braid - 6" Vanilla - 2
Description: 6" all natural rawhide dipped in vanilla flavoring.
-Aussie Pet Naturals Jute Rope Toy- The Perfect Eco Friendly Toy
· 100% Vegetable Fiber
· Strong and Durable Jute Rope
· 100% Biodegradable and Recyclable
· Environmentally Friendly
· Help Sustain the Planet’s Resources
· Inspired and Designed in Australia
-Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale (Paperback)
She was the loneliest pup in the litter--a deaf and partially blind albino Great Dane. She had huge sky blue eyes. And when Day Dye reached for her, she struggled to her feet like a clumsy foal, raised her forehead to his, and announced, as clearly as if she had actually spoken words, You know I'm the one. Now get me outta here!

Free stuff! Hoo-ha!

Quilt Market in Small Bits #4: Melody Miller and Echino

2010-12-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

I'm too lazy tonight to be wordy, folks. Enjoy the eye candies!I'm just going to say, I want to make out with Melody Miller's fabrics. Mmmmm, transistor radios.

Yipee!!

2010-11-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have SO MANY POSTS TO WRITE, like, a million, about market and about fabric and my birthday and painting the dining room and awesome quilts other people have made with my fabric, but I have been supa-busy and, let's face, it, fairly lazy, but I wanted to pop in to show you something awesome.
Jenny Rinzler of this humble abode (formerly ciuccio) has been awesome on etsy for FOREVA, but recently switched her focus to making excellent ties, some of which are made EVEN MORE EXCELLENTER (biased opinion here) because they are made of my fabric! Anyway, Jenny was recently featured by the San Francisco Chronicle! (Does Jake Gyllenhall still work there? It was only a movie? Whatever.) Take a looksie at the article and the fabulous drool-worthy ties she makes, and then stop over to marvel at this little post, which warms my heart's cockles immensely.
Check out her shop, and buy your loved ones some awesome ties that are a million times cooler than anything you will ever find at the mall. Make your dad a little cooler this holiday season!

(Photos stolen from Jenny's etsy. Please don't sue me?)

Quilt Market in Small Bits #3

2010-11-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

Cloud 9 my friends. It smells and tastes and feels as good as it looks. Which, I think, should be their new slogan. I'm sure everyone has already heard about their Designer Series, but HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THEIR DESIGNER SERIES? Julia Rothman, Heather Moore of Skinny LaMinx, and Geninne Zlatkis are all doing collections on Cloud 9's organic fabric! Also, It's going to be another price sensitive collection, so great organic fabric for under $12/yard, so that's awesome. I personally am really excited for the Nature Walk collection, which I am going to try and get at Harpers. KC folk, you would buy sweet organic fabric from us if it were under $12/yd, right? RIGHT? H'Anyways, Michelle was really, really nice, and the booth was beautiful, one of my favorites at market. The owl tote bag? I had seen it on interwebs, but it is even cuter in person. I briefly considered stealing it, but I already had enough to shove in my suitcase, and also stealing is bad? NEXT!Daisy Janie, another fabulous organic company! Jan was really awesome, and her booth won an award, which makes sense because it was great. There were a ton of really cute bags, as well as the Square Dance quilt, and a couple of adorable fabric boxes from Smidgebox. Their new Shades of Gray collection is pretty brilliant, because who doesn't love gray prints? And, ps locals, Bon Bon Atelier just got some sweet Geo Grand bolts in the other day. I am oogling the ogee print for another Birdie Sling.
Delicious market morsels, there are so many more of them to share!

Quilt Market in Small Bits #2

2010-11-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

Alexander Henry makes me die. Like, I want to live in their fabric. Look at these pictures and tell me you don't want to live there too.I breifly discussed Halloween costumes with one of thir friendly sales-folk. He had planned on being Vincent Price, but forgot his costume, and so he just waxed his mustache, which was pretty fabulous. I told him I had wanted to be Rachel Zoe but was afraid no one would get it. (Also? Why? Because I love her, a little.) Then he told me that before he realized Market was on Halloween, he and a friend had planned on going as Rachel and Brad! Anyway, fairly boring story, but it was nice to know that one person would have appreciated my Zoe-ness. If I had done it, that is.
Anna Maria Horner, anyone? (Have you picked up on my super-secret system of organizing these by alphabetical order by initials? I'm fancy.) So, her booth was really fabulous, and she was very funny, although I don't think I ever spoke to her directly, because I was scurred. BUT, also present in her booth was her assistant/seamstress/rockstar, Alexia Abegg. Meeting Alexia? HUGE deal for me. I was almost more dorky with her than with Amy Butler. The first quilt I ever made was based on one of Alexia's, and her blog was just a GIANT part of me getting really into fabric. It's a small world, this quilty one, and I really love it.
That's all for tonight, kiddies. Mama is going to go microwave her sammich.

Market! In Small Bits.

2010-11-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

The idea of writing one big Quilt Market post has been looming over me for the past, oh, week and a half, and it is INTIMIDATING. Because market is LONG and AWESOME and TIRING and OVERWHELMING and INSPIRING and TIRING AGAIN. I just finished editing my pictures today, which is ridiculous, but I took 500 photos, and now that I look at them, I keep thinking of things I DIDN'T get pictures of. There's just that much stuff. It's insane. And the people! I met so many amazing people, some who I "knew" from the interwebs, and then about a million more that I didn't, and the people at Quilt Market? They tend to be awesome. I'll try to remember all of them an give credit to their particular awesomes, but I will probably fail. Also, I don't really take pictures of people, (They MOVE! It is frust-er-ating!), so you will have to imagine what they look like, or google them. But the people are a big deal, and one of my very favorite people, ever? Kim Kight. Of Trueup.net. Who is awesome, so much so that I actually thought to take a photo of her awesomehood. I mention her first because I was lucky enough to be her market buddy, and because she was suuuuper nice and let me hang around her when she was meeting with fancy people, and she didn't mind when I followed her around like a lost puppy. Because for the first, say, hour and a half? I was a lost puppy. Thursday was the Schoolhouse sessions, where designers give little presentations about their lines, and other people give presentations about quilts and such, and for the first few sessions, I was walking around alone, feeling like the opening sequence of a teen movie about a new kid in town. It was a bit pathetic, and I started to think I would never meet anyone, and would spend all of Market alone in my crazyness, walking around with my head down like the kid who keeps Magic the Gathering cards in their pocket. (Sorry, people who like Magic the Gathering. Do you still exist? I'm feeling very high-schooly at the mention.) BUT THEN, I am standing waiting to go into Bill Kerr's schoolhouse, and I look over and see the most beautiful nametag ever! Kim Kight! And so, like most freaks, I say Oh! and hug her. Before introductions. Because that is how I roll. And then I intriduced myself, and we hugged again. And she's SO CUTE! And funny! And really, I should end this section, because it's making me sound all freaky-deaky, but it was just the BIGGEST relief to be market-buddied, and know I would not roam the red-carpeted halls all on my lonesome. But anyways. ON TO THE FABRIC!Of course, first has to be Amy Butler, because she's Amy Butler, and that's all there is to it. I met her when Kim and I were going to her Schoolhouse, and she was totally as nice as everyone says. And as tall as they say. She asked me if I knitted my vest, which I didn't knit, and then, like the dork that I am, I told her I got it at Marshall's, because Amy Butler TOTALLY CARES where I got my vest. BUT she said she liked my birdie sling! And then I gushed about how great the pattern was, and eventually she had to turn away from my gushing and go present her schoolhouse, which was great. Because the new stuff (Soul Blossoms) is pretty great. We ordered all of it at the store, so expect it in KC in December, my friends. And now, gratuitous booth shots.Is that enough to make your head spin? This is only post one, my friends, there is still SO MUCH MORE.

I'm Goin' Places. How INCREDIBLY cheesy.

2010-10-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

Oh, my. So. A LOT OF STUFF IS GOING ON! Not like, earth-shattering stuff, but all the little stuff that accumulates on the carpet of your brain-floor and then suddenly you can't walk around without stepping on a plastic dinosaur and WHY are there plastic dinosaurs on my brain floor? This metaphor got lost. I must consult my mind grapes. Is anyone reading this anymore?
Here's whats on the carpet.1) I got a new job, at a QUILT STORE! This means I get paid to cut, fold, fondle, and recommend fabric. Obviously, it's a big stretch for me. I wish I had pictures, but I keep forgetting to take my camera in, and also because I fear I will be mocked for takin pictures of my workplace for my blaaaaag. If you live in the KC area, though, you should totally stop by Harper's sometime, because I might be there, and I would probably creep you out with my fabric lust. Funzers? It's great because the people I work with are amazing, and I LOOK FORWARD to going in to work! Also, I get to take the store's classes, so I am going to begin to refine my "technique". It is in quotes because I have none, I am definitely of the SLAP IT TOGETHAH! WITH LOTSA THREAD! school of quilting. But skillz, I will soon have you!2) Cherri House came to Kansas City, and it was So Very Awesome. I was lucky enough to get to have dinner with her on the fist night, see her guild presentation, and then take her workshop the next day. She gave an amazing presentation to the KCMQG, and is just so so so nice, and her work is totally inspirational. The City News workshop was great, the block is really fun and pretty easy to do, now I just have to finish putting it together...3) I am having a little sale in the etsy shop, some totes marked down to $16, which is le cheap. Also, I am super close to 700 sales, so number 700 will get a little something extra!
4) And this is the biggie... I'm leaving for Fall Quilt Market on Thursday! I am super super super excited to hobnob with all of the fabric folks who are my idols, soak in the quilty atmosphere, and, of course, GO TO SAMPLE SPREE. (Hence the etsy sale, frinds.) Drooling about sample spree, and also drooling about CAKE PARTY! I have decided that I will force Lizzy House to be my friend, that's not creepy at all, is it? (Answer: it is.) I'm not sure I've ever been so excited about a trip as I am about this one. (Ok, my honeymoon probably, whatevs.) Who else will be there? WHO? Wanna hang out?5) I'm going to market, so I HAD to make a new bag, right? And what's better than a little blatant self-promotion? I made this bag (Amy Butler's Birdie Sling) in 3 hours, which was highly impressive to me. Of course, I cheated because I used upholstery fabric and so I didn't have to interface anything. The boat fabric is printed on Spoonflower's upholstery weight twill, which is pretty much pure heaven. And the pattern is so easy and fun that even I, the total pattern-fail, could do it, with NO MAJOR TEAR-INDUCING mistakes, AND I started the project after 10:00 pm! Things started at that time of night RARELY end well, but this one was a snap. Oh, the hubris, I am sure the next thing I sew will be an absolute disaster after this paragraph, look forward to my next post being whiny and sad. But for now, I am triumphant! Victoire!
6) A random girl at the city market yesterday told me that my hair was pretty. This has NEVER in my LIFE happened. I am sorry haircut, that I so wronged you. I miss the ponytail, but you have served me well. I am a whiny whiny jerk for crying so long. I'm sorry. Forgive me, follicles, for my sins against you.
7) These quilt blocks? I am in love. I might be biased, but I think they're like the best ones ever. Also, look how nicely bikes play with castle peeps? Another reason why Lizzy and I should be friends. Just sayin'.

I Think I Actually Sewed Something?

2010-10-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

Like, something that was not a tote bag or a kleenex holder or whatever other stuff I sew so often that it no longer feels like sewing. Or, well, no, it still feels like SEWING when I am making 20 tote bags, but it feels like I am sewing in my robot-body. My robot-body can make totes all afternoon, and never have to think a bit. What was the point? Oh, I sewed something! Act impressed, and try and forget that the point of this blog was supposed to be about me sewing things frequently. Ahem.This was just a little sew-as-you-go project I made with some of ye olde scraps. It ended up feeling rather fallish, and functions beautifully as a mouse pad. A mouse pad large enough to be used as a coaster at the same time. Nothing could ever go wrong in the scenario where you keep you giant plastic tea sippy cup on your mouse pad, right? Right.
Tomorrow the fabulous Cherri House (mother of Lizzy House) comes into town to speak at the KC Modern Quilt Guild and then give a workshop, and I will be in attendance at both, so that is super exciting, and if you live around the KC area you might consider checking it out. Tomorrow's guild meeting is from 7-9 at the Roeland Park Community Center, and costs $5 for non-guild members, email me with any questions! And here is a stack of fabric for my Castle Peeps Quilt (in progress) in honor of the House laydeez. Holla.

You Are THE BEST.

2010-10-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, everyone with a hair story, you are the best. I should explain that on the day of my hair tragedy, I hadn't bothered to eat yet, (It was about 3:00 when it happened,) and that might have contributed to the meltdown. Also, styling products can be used for good or evil, but most every salon I've ever been to has used them for evil. I guess I just like my hair exceptionally flat and unpoofed, and that is at odds with the salon worldview. THE POINT BEING, the haircut, it turns out, is not all THAT bad. It's just not what I wanted. And man, letting go of that hard-won ponytail... Well, I can think of it without tearing up now, but I'd rather not dwell on it.
The stories though? They made my day. And my week. And maybe my month, because they are HILARIOUS. Have you ever wondered, gee, is Lauren a person who likes to laugh at other's pain? (You've SO never wondered that.) But the answer is a resounding YES. I live to laugh at other's pain, as long as they are laughing too, an it's not pain from, like, cancer. So the stories were just what I needed. Along with a bowl of Spaghetti-o's (yeah, judge me.), and a Hershey's Cookie's and Creme bar, and later that evening, tea with Alex. Do you know Alex, interweb friends? She is a million times the quilty-person I will ever be, and she makes awesome tutorials so you can be cool like her, too. Also, she is good to have tea with and knows lots about books. But I have gotten distracted.
So, as a token of my appreciation for your hair-pain, and your sharing of that pain, I am going to pick someone from the hair comments and they will receive a fat quarter of...The HAIR-RAISING (ha! I segue!) new HALLOWEEN BIRDIES! This is just a little side-project I've been working on, and I'm so happy to have it out there for any Halloween projects you might have! (Seriously, waiting on the proofs for this just about killed me!) This fabric is ONLY available through my shop on Spoonflower, and comes in 5 colors, Ghoulish Gray, Ghastly Green, Boo Blue, Scary Berry, and Perfect Pumpkin. I just made those color names up, and it was fun. And now, GRATUITOUS BIRDIE PICS!
I printed swatches to test out the colors- the actual design has many more birdies than are shown on these pieces, like...Wizard birdie!Flapper birdie hearts football birdie...Ooh-la-la birdie.Groucho birdie, one of my favorites.Cat bird, Freddie Kruger of the bird-costume world.And the winner is... Jen Peterson! Your pain has made you one fat quarter richer! Please send me an email with your address and your color choice and I will send it out to you!

I'm Here, Even When I'm Not.

2010-09-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have a bigger better blog post for you, my beloved, but it must wait a bit, the forces of time an the internet are against me. I wanted to say hi, though, and tell you you look pretty today. No, really. And your hair looks good. Those pants, they really fit you well. Back with more, soon, including some giveawayness. In the meantime, look at my cat.

The Worst Haircut.

2010-09-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

I just got it. It's awful. It's cry-all-the-way-home and then cry-more-in-the-shower and then cry-a-bit-more-in-the-mirror bad. It's just SO SHORT and took me SO LONG to grow this sad little bit of hair. I asked to still be able to put it back. Is that not the oldest request in the book? And if I try to pull ANYTHING back, it just slips through my fingers. Nothing there. And it's horrible.
So I'm shamelessly using you. Tell me stories that are worse, please? This is maybe 4-5 months worth of hair, and I am crying like a baby, so now I TOTALLY get why all the girls on ANTM cry when they cut off their 3 feet of hair. It HURTS.
STORIES, PEOPLE.
NOW!
I'm off to wade in self-pity, and maybe do a bit more ponytail-less weeping.

Trips! From a Long Time Ago! And Fabric That I Bought!

2010-09-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, a million bazillion years ago, I got to go to Jacquie's house, and it was awesome. Here are pictures, and a bit of narration.This is the road to Jacquie's house, it is windy and hilly, and not unlike Arkansas. She lives in the Arkansas part of Kansas, which I didn't know existed. Anyway, it was an ADVENTURE, and even more of an adventure when I got to drive out, later, during a rainstorm, in my Suzuki Forenza. Which is not a car that is build for gravel roads and bad weather, but I survived, and need to get back to the point, which is, THIS IS THE ROAD. A lot of nonsense already, and this is just the first set of pictures.So, Jacquie has a lot of fabric. I touched it all. Her house is AWESOME, also, and I didn't take pictures, but she has a giant front porch with these hammock-y swing things that I want to live in. Also, living in ArkansasKansas is kindof beautiful, and has lots of pretty views and such. Which I failed to photograph, because I was busy touching all her fabric. She is lucky I did not lick it.
This is Bruno, Jacquie's studio assistant. He is very helpful, if you need a small-horse-sized dog to lay on the ground next to you. This is a quilt that Jacquie is going to make and I am SPOILERING it! But she said I could, so. It has my birdies!!!This is Jacquie's machine, which is a thing to be revered.
So, h'anyways, we had a bunch of stuff, and sewed and chatted and it was fabulous, and THEN, two days later, I had one of the most fabulous fabric experiences of my life. If you live anywhere around the KC metro/Lawrence area, you know Sarah's.
I had been told FOR YEARS that I had to go there, but I never managed to get there until recently. I went with a few of my fab KCMQG kids, Jaime and Jenny, and we met Jacquie there. Drool, friends, at the massive stacks of fabric, and I just BARELY scratched the surface of all the boltage. Not bringing a wide angle lens was a sad mistake. I showed some serious restraint, and made out with a good selection of goodness for not tooo many moneys. It's an amazing place, though, and I know I could get lost in there for hours if I didn't have people to pull me out of fabric-touching mode.
Guild "Sewing Saturday" was a few weekends ago, as well, and I left the fabulous Harper's with a small set of FQ's as well. I still remember the first time I went into Harpers a few years ago, being totally amazed by HOW MUCH FABRIC a quilt store has. It was a news flash to me at the time, because I had never been into a TRUE quilting store, it was my baptism into the world of fat quarters and WALLS of all the quilting cottons I could imagine. It was joyous.
Long story short, I now have more fabric. Is anyone surprised?
PS: What is this hedgehog doing to this apple? No, do not tell me. I do not want to know. He is certainly confused.

POSTSPLOSION!

2010-08-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

This is a giant load of post, kiddies. Changes have been afoot, and trips have been taken, and general mayhem has been achieved. Without the mayhem. Whatever. There has been STUFF! GOING! ON! Like massive amounts of tote-bag-makery. And a small bit of quilt-beginning. And a decent amount of fabric-shoppery, but I am getting ahead of myself. First things first: The internet kindof likes me. A little. Not like we're dating, or anything, but every once ahd a while the webs are dropping hints that they thing I am not so bad. You know google alerts? The little things you can set to see if people talk about you on the internet? If you are vain and silly, as I am? Well, 99.9% of "aunt june" google alerts are obituaries. There are a lot of beloved and dead aunt Junes out there, and I get emails every day telling me about them. But this past week, there have been a smattering of non-dead-aunt references, references to little old me, and it is always surprising.

Like most creative people, I think, I swing between the two extremes of, "I am AWESOME! Bow down to my awesomeness! Or at least, my general okay-ness!" and "ohmylord i am a hack and why would anyone be interested in me and am i even doing good work and is it original and where is it going and should i get a real job because i am only qualified for retail and i will miss not working saturdays ohcrapohcrapohcrap." Which, I am not saying this to garner pity, or have anyone reassure me, but I just think it is a phenomenon a lot of us go through, and it evens itself out generally, but it is why it is SUPER helpful to occasionally get the ol' interweb pat on the back from someone who is NOT your mother. This paragraph was supposed to have been, like, one sentence. Ahwell. The point, I think, was if you want to read about how generally ok a few other people think what I make is, you should go check out the awesome, really nice write-up Gwyneth, The Daring Librarian, did on the new Overdue Book Calendar. Which is out, and which I will eventually post about, but she did a better job than me anyways. Caitlin has been making some clutches from my bike fabric, and she and I are also going to be in a booth together at an upcoming local craft show, so yay for quilt guild friends! Also, Karla of ZAPOLDesigns wrote a little post on one of my bags. And then, there was a nice little mention of the calendar again on ohdeedoh! Thanks, guys, for putting a smile on my face!Ok. So. Early last week this was the way my sewing table looked, and I had no reason to think that it would ever change.This is the view now. What happens is, you start hanging out with the wrong kind of people (Bernina dealers) and then all of a sudden, BAM. My friend and fellow KCMQG officer, Jaime, told me about some pre-owned mechanical Bernina's they were going to be getting, and would I like to take one for a spin? Initially I was all, pshh, naw, but then THE BEST HUSBAND EVER made me an offer I couldn't refuse--- a combined anniversary/birthday/Christmas gift. But I was still not sure, because, folks, I hate change. And learning new things. And so when I went to the Bernina store Jaime works at last Tuesday, I was seriously hoping that I wouldn't like this machine any more than the beloved Viking, and that would be that, but people. Berninas, they are THE STUFF, and I had heard others say it, but a few minutes into the demo, I knew it to be the truth. This machine is a workhorse, not fancy, but it can do so many things so easily, and it is all so PRECISE and POWERFUL and SWISS and whatnot. I love it, I really do. I cannot yet bring myself to give up the Viking, though, for a lot of sentimental reasons... I still feel like a bit of a traitor, especially since I absolutely love that machine and was super happy with it.I meant to put a lot more stuff in this post, but I am getting the 7:00 lazies, and I want to go watch the fourth season of Dexter on dvd, so I will save the rest of it for the near future. Teaser? I go to someone's house, and I SEW! And then I go to a fabric store, and I BUY! When I write it down like that, it honestly doesn't sound too interesting, but it is? Mildly? To me anyway?
Baxter says hi, by the way, from the ugliest chair in the world.

I'm on decor8! WHAT?!?

2010-08-16T11:38:00.001-07:00

Wow. I don't even know what to say here- I was just ging through my google reader, la-de-da, and then thereisapictureofmyhouseandmyfabricandohmylordwhatblogisthisit'sFRICKENDECOR8! WHAT?! WHAT??!??!?Now, I swear I'm not going to get all Oscar-speechy, but I just want to thank everyone who reads this thing, end everyone who comments, and everyone who has bought something, and everything who has considered buying something, and everyone who likes QT iced tea as much as I do. You all make me SO happy. At this point last year, I was just starting to dip my toes in the fabric-design-serious-about-Etsy waters, and now... Well, the feedback I have gotten from people has blown my mind. I mean, I always knew that I thought I was making good stuff, (me = egomaniac, but only Tuesday-Thursday), but it's the most amazing thing to have other people like what I'm doing. So, thanks, all of you, even if you're just stopping by. You've made my day, and my year, and my decade. Uhm, maybe not that last one. But you're still awesome. Wanna come over? We just got a barbecue grill. And you can use the bathroom, but the sink water in there smells. Just a warning.
THANKS!

Oh, and also, Jessica and I are the same person. Who knew?

I Thought It Couldn't Get Much Better...

2010-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

But then the lovely Sonia of Cozy Homemaking sent me this link to her giveaway! Can you believe how awesome this pincushion is?!?! Maybe I'm biased, but I think it's just the best thing ever! Go over to her site and sign up to win it, IMMEDIAMENTE!

Today is the Day!!!

2010-08-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

I'm Etsy's featured seller! Check it out!
Also, check out the super-cheesy photo I had to take of myself... This was about 4 hours worth of camera-timer-setting-cheesy-smiling-torture, friends. But I am GIDDY with joy! And, you might notice some new additions to my shop... or should I say shopS.More on the new shop later, I'm off to do a happy dance!

I Bee Failure.

2010-08-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well, at least as far as deadlines go. Here is my block for Rossie's Mid-Mod Quilt Bee. This month was Rossie's month, and she wanted kelp shapes, and sent some of her FABULOUS hand-dyed fabric to work with! Mine is, uhm, simple. Maybe I'm lazy? Well, I am lazy, but I thought it would be a nice calm addition to the quilt. Or something like that. My brain is fried, I'll explain why later, more specifically, on Friday. FRIDAY! Don't get too excited, friends.Ughhhh, brain-fry. I must go and put things of cloth together with strings. Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.

I Promise, I'm Doin' Stuff.

2010-08-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

Craft room, anyone? Well, all has been quiet on the blog front, but around here there is a steady hum of activity. Right now I am working on finishing up a few things, including the 2011 Overdue Book Calendar and some other new projects I have been working on for the Etsy shop. Sneak peek? Don't mind if you do.The Ric Rac Roundup was AMAZING, it was a beautiful (if very hot) day, and I met a bunch of new people, and saw a lot of friends! It was really the best craft show experience I have ever had, which is saying a lot because I have really enjoyed some of the craft shows I have participated in. Right as we were beginning to pack up, though, it TOTALLY monsooned, and everything I had except for the merchandise got soaked! Everyone was running around like crazy, and we were all drenched, and Betsy and her boyfriend were sweet enough to help me pack up supa-fast-style and let me keep my sopping canopy at the store for the night. But even with the torrential downpour, it was such a great day! Thanks to everyone who came out, you're the best!I did something a little bit unusual this weekend, and whipped out a tote bag just for me. I buy SO much fabric, and then I never use it on projects for myself because, well, it feels so indulgent to make a tote just for little old me. This was such a fun and simple bag to make though, the fabric is from Lizzy House's Castle Peeps line, (which I LOOOOOOVE) and the whole thing took just 35 minutes to pop together. (I know the exact time because I did it while baking macaroni and cheese. Multi-tasking, boo-yeah.) If I were a little bit more ambitious, I would have made some cute covered buttons with the coordinating peeps fabric to sew on... maybe I'll have another macaroni-bake time sometime soon?
And a tutorial for the VIntage Sheet Shopper is coming, but my scanning elves have been sleeping on the job, so not quite ready yet. Lazy scanning elves, don't you know how badly the Sexy Asian Lady Bots (SALB's from here on out) want that tutorial. Also, how do I get rid of my SALB's? Anyone know? And there was also a ManBot named CEDRIC McCLOUD, of all things, who also turned out to be a SALB. I do not know what to do, people, I am drowning in their internet seduction-spamming!

Hello! Blah Blah Blah! How To Get 10% Off My Fabric!

2010-07-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

This summer, it is killing me. In an awesome way, though. Is that possible? I've been unpacking and sorting and staring blankly into our room of shame, (the front room that is full of unpacked boxes- what can possibly be in them?) and painting and obsessing over paint colors and doing crazy pre-craft-show sewing, and I have neglected my little old blog. Which, to be fair, I pretty much always do, but I REALLY WANTED to be better about it this summer... I need a timer that will go off five days after every blog post that says "You must post today, or you will have extreme blog shame the next time you do." Which is a lot of words for an alarm, especially since I don't know of an alarm you can program to speak. Does it exist? If not, someone needs to make it fast, it is the next great iPhone app.I left the room and forgot where I was going with that last paragraph, but I'm pretty sure that it was nowhere, so MOVING ON. I've been doing a of of craft shows, which is fun, except that the night before every show, I get some GREAT NEW PRODUCT IDEA that I MUST MAKE 20 OF before the show. It is a sickness, and I cannot say no to the urges, and so I usually end up getting to sleep at around 2am on the nights that I need to wake up at 6am. I am an angry person when I have only slept four hours, my friends, an ANGRY PERSON. I throw purring kitties off of my and spit in the faces of children. (Not really. Well, at least not the second one.) NOTE! Photos of Honeypot Shop courtesy of Melissa Lin Ellis.The upside, though, is that I end up with a bunch of new stuff, which I have been starting to put up in my etsy shop. My favorite, super-easy new things are the Vintage Sheet Shoppers because they are SOFT and PRETTY and look SO much cooler than all my other cheap grocery bags. You have served me well, giant Aldi's bags, but you do not have flowers on you! Would anyone be interested in a tutorial-thingie for these bags? It's really, really simple, so I don't want to insult you, but is there anyone who might want something like that? Let me know. I do wonder what the asian-sexy-lady-bots who have invaded my comments section will think.I have been spreading myself all around the internet like the proverbial Cheez Whiz, so iffin' you want to, you should check out the interview I did with Jeanee of Dirty Laundry on etsy and the Dirty Laundry blog. Seriously, how cute is EVERYTHING that Jeanee does? She's a Hallmark girl, and I love her fizzies, especially the "Pretty Pomegranate". I don't want to sound like a commercial, kids, but this stuff is awesome, and it's on sale for super cheap right now, and her packaging and everything is just BEAUTIFUL and they make great gifts, So, whoops, I pretty much am a commercial. My mom got one for Mother's Day. True story. Boring, but true. So, anyway, read the thing where I answer questions if you like that sort of thing, but definitely check out her etsy store. $4! End commercial.
Ok, what I looooooooooooove more than anything is seeing things that have been made from my fabric, so I was overjoyed to see this post by Sonia of Cozy Memories, (By the way, Sonia lives in France! My fabric is in France! This is the classiest I have ever felt!), and it finally got me to do something I have been meaning to do for a while: I started an Aunt June flickr group. So, post your photos of items made with Aunt June fabric, and JUST FOR POSTING you will get 10% off your next fabric order! Just send me a convo before you make the order, and I will set up a special listing for you. It's a pretty sparce group right now, so if we could fill it up, I'd be most delighted.And need I remind you, KC peeps, that the Ric Rac Roundup is just around the corner? Next Saturday! Merriment to be had by all! And if not merriment, Sno Cones!

And I Forgot To Mention...

2010-07-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

I also painted the door. He knew about this color choice, so it was not a shock, and I think it looks quite lovely. Bright, but lovely. At this point you probably think that my house is absolutely insane, but most of the other walls have been painted/will be painted gray, so these are the major "pops" of color. Is "pops" of color out of style? I've heard that "accent walls" are outdated, but "focal walls" are all the rage... Oh, designers, you so cray-cray.I also wanted to mention that mon amie Rebekah, sister of Raych and maker of aforementioned hippo cards, is giving away some art fabulousness. She is entering a contest, and needs to know what you think she should enter.. sound familiar, bloglings? Anyways, you should help her out, you might WIN something!
And, speaking of contests, I did not win the Spoonflower contest, but I was 5th, which ain't half bad! So thank you all SO much for your votes and love and the brownies you are going to send me. Right? RIGHT???

My Great Idea.

2010-07-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the before, mmkay?

So, Your husband had to leave town on a fancy-pants business trip, and you have an idea. Or, the beginnings of one. An idea-fetus, if you will. You decide you will PAINT something, while he is gone, to surprise him! How could that go wrong?!?! Because, this is what happens when you watch too much Design Star and spend time with Jenny. You get these IDEAS, like painting your hallway in a wacky way, and you go to the paint store, and 30 minutes later you walk out with nothing you came in for, and three test jugs of peacock blue paint. For the tallest wall in your house. And you think, well, I won't paint THAT wall yet. But then you get home, and you open them up and they are PRETTY and the brush goes in and as SOON AS IT TOUCHES THE WALL you realize you have made a major tactical error.Because now you have to finish.

For, you see, you have put a random splotch of blue on the largest, most visible wall in your house. And if husband comes home, and all you have is three sad swatch-splotches, he will NOT think, "Oh, my wife is so creative and surprising", he will think, "When is THIS going to get finished?!?!", and it is a problem. And another problem is, this wall is TALL. Like, two stories. Like, ladder must be in extension mode (not shown, much more precarious,) before you can get anywhere NEAR the ceiling to cut in. And have I mentioned that when you chose which paint you wanted from your samples, it was the only one that required primer, and so you must do TWO steps? And that, also, that specific paint doesn't come in the Classic99 you would normally buy, but only in the $30 kind (And $30 is with a 25% discount.) At this point, your little brain is spinning, and you want to give up, because you are tired, because, did I mention that just two days ago you were selling stuff at a craft show in 90 degree weather and you assembled and took down your own tent? Because you are a two year old? And cannot accept help or admit that you cannot do something by yourself? BECAUSE YOU ARE RIDICULOUS?!!And then, when you finish (the next night, at 9pm, after working on it for the best art of two days,) you realize, suddenly, HE MIGHT HATE IT. Because you have never even MENTIONED peacock blue to him. Ever. And while you are typically on the same page, design-wise, there is also a chance that this will be too much for the man. Just too much. And the thought of painting over your beautiful wall makes you want to hurl, because it was HARD TO PAINT. Like, very hard. Painfully hard. Occasionally crying-hard. And, it has flaws, but they DO NOT MATTER, because it was SO FRICKEN HARD that anyone who might point out those flaws will be promptly asked to leave. AND WHAT IF HE HATES IT?!?But he does not! He LOVES it! And was SUPERIMPRESSED by your super-human painting skillz! Joy! Triumph! And now you have a beautiful new wall. It doesn't matter if you ate nothing but Froot Loops with Marshmallows for two days and smelled like a rotting beast for most of the second.It was worth it, my friend. It was worth it.(And if you wondered what Rufus does when I am taking pictures of Baxter, here it is.

Winner! And Vote! And Stuff!

2010-06-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

I love you all. Really, I do. And I wish I could give you ALL fabric, but I am poor and so I had to use the randomometer to pick one of you...So congratulations, Elle, of Elle in da coop! You will get a FQ of the seafoam green boats!
I actually ended up entering the black and white version of the boats, despite the fact that the majority of you said blue. The B+W was a close second, and since the repeat is fairly small, I wanted something that would be very readable in the small preview that is given. So, if you would like, friendsies, please go and VOTE for me! There is a lot of really good stuff in the running, and you should vote for that stuff too, but when you vote for me, you should MEAN it more. Have I mentioned you should vote? Vote here? Is this pathetic? Yes. Am I ashamed? Just a little. Will that stop me? Does it ever? (No. Ask my husband.)
In other. non-ego-driven news, I am participating in a craft fair this weekend, the Honeypot Shop, put on by the Wedding Hive. If you're KC folk, you should come down and check it out, because otherwise I will be lonely, and also, there are going to be a LOT of really cool stuff there. I have been drooling over some of the vendors work online, and am hoping I can control myself and not spend all my change money on goodies for me. It's my first outdoor show, so I invested in one of those canopy things, and tonight I practiced putting it up and taking it down all bys myselfs. It was a roaring success (Up in 15 min, down in 5,) which is a huge relief.
I am elsewheres on the interweb, in little bits and pieces; Jeanee of Dirty Laundry interviewed me for her series "THE WASH, crafty chicks come clean", which will be up next Sunday, but she did a little teaser... and a photo of mine was used in this article by Dotty Logic (who's stuff I ABSOLUTELY ADORE!) about digital fabric printing.
I promise that soonish I will be back with posts that are ever-so-slightly less self centered, and more crafty. I have been sewing like a madperson for all the shows I have lined up (three in a six week period, I am a moron, no?) so casual photographing and musing have been lower on the priority list. Also, have I mentioned that my house is still not unpacked? Yeah, there's that, too. I will be sane again one day, I promise.

You Want Free Fabric? Yeah, I Thought So.

2010-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the deal, my friends: I am going to enter a Spoonflower contest-thingie, but I need your help. I always PLAN on entering these things, but suddenly the deadline is up and I haven't scanned anything, and I feel all failure-y and lazy, but NOT NEXT WEEK! Because next week's theme is NAUTICAL. You see where I'm going with this? BUT, I am terribly indecisive, and need your help picking out which boats color I should submit... Have an opinion? Well, even if you don't you should make one up and pretend you care, becaue I will be drawing a winner from everyone who makes a suggestion, and that lucky duck (uhm, what? Did I type that, for real?) will get a FQ of the color they chose! It's free stuff, people! And you don't even have to write a limerick this time! You are getting off EASY, people!
Also, I should mention that my internet ears have been burning a little bit. First, the super-inspiring Ara Jane mentioned me on her blog, You know what I love? Look at the post where she re-folds all her fabric. It's beautiful, and makes me tired just THINKING about doing something like that. Many's the time I have wished that there was a little more OCD in my blood, and a little less rather-watch-tv. That's a disorder, right? RWTV? Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah, so, Ara Jane is the bomb (Yeah, I'm bringing that back), and THEN I was also mentioned on the Ric Rac Roundup website! I am really lucky to be a part of the RRR this year, there are so many AWESOME folks involved in it! A lot of the crafters I have always admired in the KC area are involved, so if you live around here you should totally show up for it. THERE WILL BE ORGANIC SNOWCONES, PEOPLE. There will be PLUSH LOGS and CUPCAKE BATH FIZZIES and HAMMERPRESS and AMAZING JEWELRY. I would go even if I wasn't schlepping. It's being put on by the girls at Bon Bon Atelier, who are seriously cool, and have also started a ning group for their Summer of Craft, which I am participating in, if I ever manage to pull my sewing machine out of the moving-rubble. You should sign up too, because who doesn't want to be a joiner? AND, back to the original thought train, which was "people on the internets who love me, or pretend to because they are polite", the fabulous Jennifer, who i know from KCEtsy and from her being the nicest person in the world, mentioned me on her blog Trellis today! Jennifer is an arborist, and a painter, and a sewer, and an everything else-er, and did I ever tell you the story about her sending me the best little things ever? No? Well, I WILL, but not tonight, because my neck hurts and I am having a RWTV attack. But she is the nicest human being, and I will tell the story some day, soonish, while it is still floating in my swiss cheese brain.
Ok, so I have smashed a lot of stuff into this post, but do you remember the point of it all? FREE FABRIC! WHICH COLOR!? TELL, NOW!

EDIT: Ok, so, I had forgotten that I turned content moderation on, because I keep getting spammed by asian sexy-lady bots. And for some reason, I hadn't set the thing up to notify me when I needed to moderate, so I was all Eyeored this morning when I thought no one had commented, and no one wanted my fabric. Me = dummy. And comment moderation is off again, so beware of asian sexy-lady bots. AND ALSO, I TOTALLY forgot that Jacquie had mentioned me in her post about the amazing tree quilt she is making which happens to use my feather fabric! Jacquie is obviously the bees knees, and I have been totally spoiled to get to spend a lot of time with her. This is why I usually don't post after 4:00, because my brain turns to evening-soup. Thanks, Jacquie!

The Usual Stuff, and New Boats.

2010-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

When you move, your life becomes about nothing but moving for a week or so, and then it becomes all abut unpacking, and then it becomes about avaoiding packing but realizing you need a lot of the stuff that is still packed. I am in a pretty much constant state of inconvenience, my friends. It took me two days to find my rotary cutter, and I just gave up and bought a new cutting ruler. (But it is SOOO much better than my old one, so that counts as a victory.) Anyway, these pictures should have been taken a week ago, and they should have been posted a week ago, and I should have exclaimed a week ago LOOK! BEHOLD! COLORS! But I will do it now, because better late than never, eh?LOOK! BEHOLD! COLORS! Really, I am pretty enamored with these colors, and I am hoping to use them for a quilt in the near future. I think one of my favorite thing about the boat fabric is how gender-neutral it is, and how cute I think it would be in a baby quilt. And I am sorely overdue in making a baby quilt. EDIT: FOR A FRIEND! Who is NOT me.So, colors, yay! And I am offering the option of "fat sixths" which I am not sure is a thing that exists? But it is a yard printed with 14" x 18" sections of all six colors that the boats come in. I thought it would be a good option for folks who don't need a whole lot of each color, but wanted the variety. So everything is right here in the shop, if you are so inclined.

Going back to the unpacking... I stink at it. I have been wearing the same clothes for two weeks because I am too lazy to unpack the rest. Shows just how much I need all of the things I own, right? And one of the worst things about this whole house-moving-thing is the fact that while we are constantly being confronted with HOW MUCH STUFF we have (too much) we are simultaneously obliged to buy MORE stuff. House stuff, that you don't think about. Toilet paper stands, and fencing, and a garbage disposal, and a lawnmower, and furniture that will HIDE all of our stuff. We were spoiled before by having the attic space where we could stick any stuff we wanted to not think about, but now we have a closet shortage, and can only put things in the basement if we don't mind those things smelling like basement. The battle continues. But Baxter is just as adorable as ever, and is MIGHTY photogenic against the new office wall color.

Things I Am Thankful For. (In No Particular Order.)

2010-05-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

-Spacebags.

-Family and friends who are willing to spend hot sweaty weekend days hauling our crap across town. Seriously. We have the best people in our lives, and are super blessed.

-My hair being long enough to throw into some semblance of a ponytail. If it weren't I would have gone Sinead O'Connor after the first day of painting. The mini-tail has risen again!

-Spacebags again. Except for the ones that break, or deflate randomly, those are on the list of things I spit at.

-Getting the best mail ever: on the first day of moving, I got my vintage sheet swap package, and on the second I got my Dubb Nubb CDand an amazing pity-letter from Raych. Maybe the mail will always be more exciting at this house? (Ha.)

-My mother, who CLEANED OUR OLD APARTMENT. All of it. The kitchen, the bathroom, the 2-inch thick layer of animal hair on every surface. She even washed the dirty dishes I still had sitting in the sink. Sainthood, I think, is in order.

-My mother-in-law, who made brownies and cookies and macaroni for the 13 people that were here on Saturday, with a lot of leftovers, which she left for us. I have not had to even think about what will be for dinner for the past four days! Joy!

-Brian, for being patient with me when I was freaking out, which happened a few times. Also, for helping paint the millions (three) of rooms we painted. And for schlepping all my stinkin' craft stuff around.

-Having a back yard we can park giant trucks in. Convenient.

-Costco, for carrying the giant pack of Spacebags, and $10 pizza, and for the giant pack of allergy medicine.

-Netflix, and Netflix streaming, and Party Down, and The Sopranos on dvd. Because at the end of the day, you need SOMETHING to make you not want to curl up in your box-shanty-town and die.

-Tiny light, at end of tunnel.

I am sure there were more, but I have forgotten them, because my brain is still stupid with exhaustion. Come back again tomorrow, and maybe I will have found my card reader. And when I do, your eyes will be ASSAULTED with NEW FABRICS! Or something?

Cleaning, Packing, Painting, Pledging, LOST.

2010-05-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

There were potential new tenants in our apartment today. People I do not know, who I cannot ask to excuse the mess, along with my landlord. Do I need to say what I have been doing nonstop for the past two days? A massive cleaning effort, that for the most part is only a "pre-clean" for the one we will have to do after our stuff has been moved out. It was crazy, and we are tired, but it is nice to see a lot of stuff packed up, and GREAT to see a lot of things cleaned. Did I mention that my husband cleaned the bathroom? Meticulously? Did I mention that I have the greatest husband ever? In the history of the world? All of the above is true, my friends.Also, I am taking part in r0ssie's Process Pledge, here it be:
I, Lauren Hunt, pledge to talk more about my processes, even when I can’t quite put them in the in words or be sure I’m being totally clear. I’m going to put my thinking and my gut feelings out there.
So, there it is. Hopefully this will help me to start work on all of the sketches I have yet to turn into quilts? I hope so. I am also participating in r0ssie's Mid Century Modern bee, more on that later as it develops.A few REALLY EXCITING THINGS are happening, and number one is that today I went and picked up paint test-pots! AHHHHH! Right now four of them look pretty much identical to me, but I am hoping that will change once I get them up on the wall. And by the wall, I mean, "the paper I am painting them on and taping to the apartment walls". Because we close next Wednesday, and would like to paint some on Wednesday and Thursday before we move in on Friday. Not ideal, but it is the way cookies are crumbling, and we can probably get a fairly decent idea of what the colors look like? Worth a try.
Number two exciting thing is LOST! LOST LOST LOST LOST! Have I mentioned that I am a LOST dork? Because I am, people, I am. And less than a year ago, had you asked me if I watched it, I would have snidely said something along the lines of, That deserted island show? No, I don't really get the point. Well, I wouldn't have SAID that, because that's a pretty jerky thing to say, but I would have thought it. Because, from the outside, it really doesn't look like the show can go much of anywhere. People. Plane crash. Deserted island. Not really enough to be interesting, right? WROOONG. Dead wrong. There are a million people saying a million things about how brilliant it is, but what I love about it is that it is a fully formed fictional world in the way that most TV is just not. It is book-worthy fiction. It is a valid cultural text. They knew EXACTLY what it was they were making, and they CREATED it, they didn't just slap a bunch of wacky crap together at the last moment. My criteria for a really great fictional world is if it pops into my head while I am driving. This sounds stupid, but most of my best thought happens while I am driving, and if I find myself asking questions about the story during drive-time, I know it has sunk deep. Into my SOUL. Or maybe not soul, but pretty deep anyway. So, if you are someone who sees it as just another network melodrama, I encourage you to give it a chance and START FROM THE BEGINNING. You MUST start at the beginning, or you will get totally frustrated and hate it and I will cry. And also, be a little bit patient, it seems simpler in the beginning than it is, and ignore the Nikki and Paulo episode, because everyone knows that episode stunk.
Post summary: Wow, I forget. Cleaning, paint samples, process pledge, and most importantly, watch LOST, it will make you smarter?

Vintage Sheets and Tote Bags.

2010-05-12T14:02:00.001-07:00

Title pretty much says it all, folks. Today was the sendoff day for the vintage sheet FQ swap I am participating in on flickr, organized this year by the talented Kate of See Katie Sew. What you see here, my friends, it 80 vintage sheet fat quarters. 80. For serious. And I will get 80 back, and on that day, I will prance around like a moron, and make a big pile, and jump in it like Scrooge McDuck, but I will get hurt, because 80 FQ's a big jumping pile does not make. Expect sprained ankles. Anyway, I sent these off today, so alls I have to do now is WAIT.Last week I made a zillion tote bags (read: 15 ) for the craft sale I did on Saturday, where I sold exactly 2. A triumph it was not. But, this means a biggish etsy update, with more coming in the next few days. I am super pleased with how these came out, and I reeeeeally like the new shoulder/messenger bag things that I did. They have a magnetic snap closure and are a great length for carrying as a purse. And they are ships! Also, I am quite fond of the vintage fabric totes, because, c'mon, it is vintage fabric. I dream of this kind of stuff. So, everything is in the etsy shop if you're interested, and more coming soon! Also, take note of my fine (and by fine I mean awkward) modeling work. Somebody call up Tyra! Also, I have grandma hands. That is all.

First Pyrex!

2010-05-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

I finally found a nice piece of Pyrex while thrifting! I have been drooling over In Color Order's collection for a while now, but it has been hard to find a nice quality piece. Yay! Of course, it is somewhat counter-productive to buy ceramics right before moving, but...And thanks for all the boat love. I am printing it in 4 more colors, and will post them just as soon as I get them... I can't wait!
PS: Sorry if this posted in your reader a bunch of times-- I tried using the new blogger editor, and had ISSUES. I am way behind the times.

Mah New Baby!

2010-04-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Ha! Perhaps we should have a dirty-jeans convention? We can bring the ones we have worn into dust and tell the long stories of their sentimental value to us? It will be like Violet Beauregarde's gum, but with denim, and we can have a prize for whoever has worn them the longest, and that prize will be a giftcard to the nearest laundromat. Have I told you, lately, that I love you?
Because I do. H'Anyways, moving on before I get too sentimental, I have been awaiting a package from Spoonflower containing my newest fabric designs, and they have finally arrived! This is not really as exciting to anyone as it is to me, but to me it is SUPAAAAA EXHIYTING. So, I present to you my newest design, which I haven't given a cute name to, but you are welcome to leave suggestions in the comments. I thought of "Ship-Shape" but it is possibly too cutesy? Who knows, but the fact is that I looooove this fabric. I do not care that it makes me a design narcissist, I really really like this one. Because adorable little boats! So many of them! None of which would really sail at all because I use reference photos extremely loosely! I love! So far, I have just printed it in the black and white and the blue, but I think it will end up in a few other colors, eventually. I went ahead and put it up in my etsy shop, though, if you want to get your sail on!

Blogging About Blogging.

2010-04-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

If you want to understand what I am talking about in this post, read this. If not, well, ok. Context clues, I guess?

So I read Kathy's post last night and it really really got to me. I get the feeling she is talking about ALL THE TIME, and so while it is nice to know that I'm not the only one, it also got me thinking about what this blogging nonsense is, and why I do it.
I do it because it is fun. That's the first thing, and if it wasn't the first thing, I would have no business doing it. I do it because I like the connections I make with people through my own little blog. I do it because my husband doesn't want to hear me drone on for hours about the things I write about here. (Although he does read this blog, and I do still drone on, so... Sorry, Brian.) BUT I also do it because I feel like it makes me seem like a better, cooler, and more together person than I really am. Because my blog is my life, but edited and styled and fluffed out a little, to make it seem a bit more fantastic than it is. A lot more, really. I know that no one who reads this blog thinks I am Martha Stewart or anything, but you probably don't think of me as a person who only does dishes once a week and will wear the same pants for about a month before washing them. Or maybe you do, I don't know, but I do know that EVERY PART of my house is a mess EXCEPT what falls within the angle of my camera lens. And I use a narrow-angled lens.

So while I have to admit, my life is probably just about the best it has ever been right now, it looks better online than it does in person. I don't think anyone out there is jealous of me, but if you were even considering it, I want you to know...

There are two food groups in my life right now, Easter candy and cottage cheese.
I really haven't washed the jeans I am wearing in about a month.
Today the boots that I have duct taped together started letting in water, and I almost started to cry.
I watch, like, a LOT of trashy tv. So much.
I have letters I started writing months ago sitting on my bedside table giving me dirty looks. I have emails that have needed replies for months. I am a complete communication-flake, which leads to constant guilt but little action.
I ALWAYS photoshop out my zits in photos, even, usually, in photobooth photos.
On the last post, I moved the moving boxes around so they would look more photogenic. This is the depth of my illness.
I don't eat organic food, I eat whatever is cheapest, and there is always Velveeta in my kitchen.
I always forget to take out the recycling so we currently have three bags of it sitting in various spots around the house. AND our entryway is filled with the boxes we bring home from Costco.
I own a bazillion reusable bags, but I always forget to take them to the store.
I yell Really Bad Word at the animals if they step on sewing stuff I am working on. EVen though, they are animals, and the things they stepped on were on the FLOOR.

Now you know.
But since you read this whole post, which was QUITE THE DOWNER, if I do say so myself, reward yourself by watching THIS:

Two Things:

2010-04-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

1) I was interviewed by the fabulous April of aprilmariemay.com and it is here if you want to read it. I = not wonderful interviewee, so keep those expectations low, my friendlings.
2) TODAY, after, uhm, like, eight years of sewing?, discovered that I have NOT BEEN USING THE SEAM RIPPER CORRECTLY. Like, I had no idea, I had been picking stuff out STITCH by STITCH, but it turns out it is SHARP and it SEAM-RIPS! Just like it's name! Yeah. I am awesome.
Picture, by the way, is a view of the thermos collection as seen from the floor under the thermos shelf. Currently, the thermoses (thermosi?) are in a box, but this photo still makes me happy.

2010-04-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on the house. I am trying not to go crazy thinking of all the things I can't wait to get in there and change, but it is harrrd. Especially when I have been hitting up flickr for some much interior design inspiration. SO, in the meantime, I have gotten myself a little project (like I need another one) to hone my decorating and paint selection skillz. I won't be keeping it, it is to be a gift for a delightful little girl, but I am SO excited to play around with it! It was a $15 craigslist score, and exactly what I had in mind, simple and sturdy. Are there any experienced dollhouse-folks out there? Any suggestions on making something like this tough enough to withstand a two-year-old? I'm really not sure if two is old enough to really get into this sort of thing, but then again, knowing me, there is the possibility that I won't get it finished until she is five.Another thing I am super excited about is Katie's Vintage Sheet Swap. I have been combing the local thrift shops for new and exciting finds, and cannot WAIT to see what I get in the swap. Pictured are a few of my recent sheet purchases in front of our newest poster acquisition, "Robot Stealing Swimsuit Lady". Or that's what it is called in my head, anyway. Nice, eh?
If you are the sort of person who actually GOES to blogs instead of feed-readering them you already know this, but I spiffed up my blogger page a bit. It had been driving me CRAZY for quite a while, but hadn't been something I had gotten around to until today. Also, I finally began to put some schtuff up on the Aunt June facebook page, so, be my friend? If you wanna?
And, on the list of thing I am trying to ignore...And for no good reason:

We Found One.

2010-04-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

And, it is perfect. It seems like we spent FOREVER looking, but once we finally decided what we really wanted, it ended up being simple. And, we got lucky.
First of all, I got what I wanted, which is, olllllllllllllld. This house would have great great great great grandchildren, if it could reproduce. It was built in 1900, and it FEELS like it, which I just love. And husband got what he wanted, because, get this, NOTHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED. This is the lucky part- in the past three years, the previous homeowner replaced all of those awful things that make you want to vomit when you realize how much they cost. Roof, new, windows, new, HVAC, new, etc etc but floors, delightfully old, plaster charmingly(? Ha.) cracked. And I am sure that there will be problems, but right now we are in pre-move-in-dreamy-state, where everything is rosy and I spend hours on end looking at paint samples. (Followed Jenny's advice on the Sherwin-Williams paint swatchy thing.)
So. We don't close until the end of May, but barring major catastrophes, it is our new home. And so now I can get back to making some things, (New fabric! In the pipes! Pipes bursting!) when I am not packing. Ugh. packing....

Just Checkin' In.

2010-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, there is possibly exciting news on the horizon, but I am super superstitious and hesitant to tell you all abouts it until everything is said and done. Or, until after some more things have been said and/or done. Whatever, you can surely guess what it is, but that is all I will say on the matter. What a terribly uninformative paragraph I have just written. I could delete it, but I am lazy, so apologies for having suffered through it. SUCKAS!!!ANYWAYS, I just wanted to let you know in case you may be interested that I am now selling my Bicycle fabric as 1/2 yard sets of four fat eighths. Does that make sense? It sounds really complicated when I try and type it out, but, four colors on a half yard, and there is a new color, turquoise, on the "cool" 1/2 yard set. So, you could get all of the colors by just purchasing a single yard of fabric, which is perfect for patchwork projects where you want a lot of colors but don't need a huge amount of any of them. And, it is perfect bike weather right now, so...
Ok. That's enough huckstering for me for today. I am off, to enjoy the lovely weather and stew in my own juices about Potential Major Life Events!

Stuff I've Been Meaning to Show You FOREVER.

2010-03-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

About a million years ago...
I got this map from my wonderful husband for President's Day.I made a kindle cover for the kindle he got for Christmas.I designed a logo for the KC Modern Quilt Guild Site.I bought a Liberty pillow! (Ok, so this one is fairly recent.)The animals were adorable. (This one happens every day.)FINALLY Spring has happened in KC, and I am feeling really excited and productive for the first time in months! Thank you all so much for your house hunting tips and reassurances. I am trying to remember every day that if it happens, it happens, and there really is no rush. (Well, other than that $8000 ticking clock...)

Where the Month Has Gone.

2010-03-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

I shall now attempt to sum April thus far in a neat list:
-house hunting (exciting!)
-house hunting (not so exciting!)
-HGTV on hulu (awesome!)
-house hunting (mneh.)
-hating house hunting (ugh.)
-being sick (insert phlegmy cough here.)
-freaking out about getting our taxes done (eek.)
-getting our taxes done, and having it be NO BIG DEAL. (hooray!!)
-KC Modern Quilt Guild (awesome awesome AWESOME!!)
The sewing machine has not gone unused during this time, but the camera used to document sewn-items has. The weather here has been a mix of really miserable and stunningly beautiful. Today was the latter, and Brian came home early, so we dog-parked it up, and now I am listening to Jeopardy from the next room. Folks, Jeopardy should be ashamed of itself. A category called "drinking games"? Whatever, but it doesn't even make SENSE, and it's really EASY, and Jeopardy is just not what it used to be. Thats my old lady PSA of the day. Tomorrow, I will do how no one writes letters anymore. (Not really. But they don't!)

I was a giant dork and went to Target on 8 am the day that the Liberty line came out, only to find that the two stores I went to hardly had anything put up yet, but several others in the area had put theirs out on SATURDAY! I had to really hold myself back, but I ended up getting a tray, one of the pillows, a notebook set, and then today I went back for a dress. I wasn't crazy about the women's dresses, but I read online that the girls' clothes were better made and that the XL sizes were decently sized- it's so true! I got a really lovely cotton dress for less than $17! Triumph!

I have always had this really romantic idea of what house hunting would be like, created by HGTV and looking at houses on the internet. Fun! I thought. Exciting! I exclaimed. Guess what? It is soul-killing. And EVERYONE I have talked to says the same! It turns out, everything you love online has a bad roof, or a crumbling foundation, or a wet basement, or windows that need replacing, or a rotted deck, or a neighbor with a crumbling house and a mean dog. Or, you see a really fabulous house, and then, wait a minute.... it is $10,000 more than you wanted to pay. Fab. Great. Delightful. SO, I am BURSTING with ideas about how I am going to decorate our fictional future home, but no idea if we will ever find it. Is there a house fairy? What do I need to put under my pillow? Come on, people, tell me the secrets.

Things Tied Up in Twine!

2010-03-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

You know what goes further than anything to restore my faith in humanity? Other than the Winter-Olympics-Visa-Commercials? Getting gifts from people in the mail. I might be kidding about this, but I also might not. I have not decided. A while ago Sarah contacted me because she had made some (awesome) pillow shams for her bed using my quilting method (If it could be called a method, which I am fairly sure it can't,) and offered me some vintage pillowcases from her apparently large collection. I was like, ok, cool, I will send you some scraps-and-stuff, and she is all, don't worry about it, and I am all, well, I forget, but I said something. And so there are a few months where I forget to give her my address and Christmas etc, happens, and then SUDDENLY, last Friday, I have a package on my doorstep. A LARGE package. With an apology for being late, as I pull at my imaginary necktie and gulp because I am not yet done PACKING her package. Not only did Sarah send me a heaping pile of awesome stuff, she LABELED every fabric, with the color (for the Kona) and the manufacturer and designer for the prints! And the pillowcases! They are glorious and all really, really soft, and I am just overwhelmed with how awesome people are, and how lame I am for never getting packages out on time. Thanks, Sarah, you are officially the bomb-diggity.
And not only did I receive that wonderfulness, but last week I got a package from the wonderful land of Canada. Have you heard of it? They drink milk from bags, and also have giant beavers with "Made in Canada" stamped in red on their backsides just floating around, apparently. And it is from Raych, my love, who if you have not followed my many links and started reading her hilarious blog, then I pity you, you are missing out onsome of life's most treasured moments. Raych's sister is a fabulous illustrator, and so I got some of her Cavorting Hippo cards and also her mom sent me some fabric I had been oogling from the cancer-pity quilt that she made Raych. So pretty much, Raych and her big Canadian (well, American too) family are awesome. I have much love for humanity right now, I want to give a speech, but I will end up talking about the sad Olympics commercials, and crying like I do EVERY TIME I SEE THEM. Just so you know, Raych's Christmas gift? Which I promised to send months ago? Still unpacked and scattered in various parts of my apartment. I am the opposite of the people who make me feel good about the world. (Also, how cool is Rebekah's business card? So cool.)Moving on, remember my little resolution? Well, this weekend I actually DID some stuff. Not a lot, but enough that I feel really good about it. I cleaned off the desktop, which is nice, since it is something I stare at for at least a few hours every day. I also organized my closet, which had pretty much been a human height pile of clothes all winter. We hung something on a wall (more later on that). I made and packaged four meals of faux-Chipotle-burrito-bowls, and made a giant pot of vegetable soup that should last us a couple weeks in leftovers. I made salsa! And guacamole!
And the result of all this is that, even though there is a TON of stuff that is left to be done, I feel really CALM right now. I hadn't realized how not-calm the state of things usually makes me. I think that up until this point, I had been thinking I was calm, but was actually just sleepy; it is an easy mistake to make.
And, I also wanted to mention something that I plan on posting more about, but the KC Modern Quilt Guild is really picking up steam relatively quickly. In January we had an organizational meeting with about 35 people, and our meeting last week brought in 69 quilters! Which is CRRRRRRAZY. And out ning site currently has 161 members, which is especially crazy, because I have officially been made the "Web Tech Officer" or some such thing. Which is kindof hilarious, because my knowledge of the internet extends to uploading pictures and embedding html links, but fortunately ning makes it pretty easy. (Nothing will compare in ridiculousness to the time I was an assistant cross country coach, having never before run more than a mile in my life, and only having run that mile because I was forced to.) I am currently working on prettying up the site, which should happen, in my usual fashion, "soonish". I like to say that, because soonish means nothing. So, if you are in the KC area, join us! We have free snacks!

Uncommon, Tote Bags, My House Is Messy.

2010-02-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

I finally ordered a case for my iPhone, after having a nightmare in which I dropped it and everyone gave me the "you-are-unbelievably-stupid" look and I WOKE UP TERRIFIED. Mostly of getting that look, and knowing it was 1000% justified. Thanks, dream friends. Anyway, I ordered my case from www.getuncommon.com, and it is beautiful. You will spend exactly what you would spend on an ugly case at Target, but instead you will get a Thing Of Beauty! You can also design your own, using the art available on the site or YOUR OWN PHOTOS, which I would have done, except I am lazy and indecisive. But I love the one I ended up getting, and the shipping was super-fast and if you google getuncommon coupon, you will find a code for 20% off, but I forgot it. Happy happy materialism. Note that I'm sporting my current favorite app, UYH, where you write lists using your own finger-handwriting. I love lists and am a handwriting narcissist, so it is IDEAL. Ok, enough iPhone talk, I am disgusting even myself. I have finally listed a bunch of the tote bags I made for craft shows, so, uhm, there they are. Marketing marketing marketing? I stink at this. Anyways, you need a tote bag? You knows where to find me.
I really need to clean. Like, I am not even worried about sweeping and scrubbing, I just need to do something about the PILES. I was thinking yesterday about how I dream of lovely interiors, but I always imagine that I cannot create them where we live now. Which, is just not true. We are lucky to have a pretty awesome apartment in a pretty awesome house, and the only thing holding me back from interior bliss is the fact that I am a crappy housekeeper. So, I am RESOLVING, to finally take the six bags of Goodwill stuff to Goodwill! To finish shredding the giant bag of to-be-shreddeds! To create a working mail system! To remember to take out the recycling so we no loger have four bags of it in the office! To maybe, even, throw some stuff away? You are my witnesses, so WITNESS! And, the kitties were meant to serve as a friendly reminder- do the laundry before the kitties drown in it. It's a good thing cats have multiple lives, friends.

Cats and Fails and Dirty Floors.

2010-02-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Rachel, the fact that you think my floors are clean made me LAUGH OUT LOUD. So hard. I have the dirtiest floors of anyone I know, and if they look clean, it is a testament to the power of shallow depth of field. Maybe you were joking? Seriously, my path is constantly crossed by meandering tumbleweeds of animal hair. All doors hide secret stashes of dust. Is everyone appropriately disgusted? Great, someone come over and sweep my house, I will pay you in fabric.
Moving on. There has been much sewing in anticipation of craft shows, and much craft show failing. This is, I suppose, to be expected. It is not the best time of year for craft-showin', and the ones I have been in recently have been rather small. The plus side of this is that I now have a TON of stuff, if I ever get my backend around to photographing it.
Speaking of taking photos, Baxter and I have been working on his headshots. He has decided to get into the acting business. I will spare you from explaining all the subtle emotions he is trying to portray, and let you guess.
I am absolutely sure that there was something else that I really wanted to say, but I have forgotten it. You have ow had the exact experience of having a conversation with me in real time. Sense-making? Bah.

The Spewing of Much Information!

2010-02-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

The amount of awesome stuff I have to blog about is inversely proportional to the ease with which I blog. Got it? That is my excuse for not being here more often, and I am sticking to it. Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild! Amayyyyyyy-zink. Seriously, I have to do bullet points, or I will never remember all the stuff I want to say.

-KC Modern Quilt Guild had its organizational meeting three-ish weeks ago? And it was awesome. Not only are the people organizing it really great, but a million people showed up. Or, you know like 35. But EVEN MORE have joined the ning group, and so maybe more will be at the next meeting? Which is fabulous, and also overwhelming, because, where will everybody sit?

-One of the folks organizing the whole shebang is Jen, aka, Tula Pink. You know. LIKE THE FABRIC DESIGNER?!? And she said she liked my fabrics, and I swooned into her arms (or, well, not that,) but long story short, I HAVE MADE HER BE MY FRIEND. And it is awesome. I could go on and on about this, but I don't want her to think I am a huge dork if she reads this. Well, she knows I am a huge dork, but I am going to try and retain some dignity.

-(OHMYGODOHMYGODIAMFRIENDSWITHTULAPINK!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMGOMGOMG!!)

-Google Chrome is kicking Safari's lame butt all over town. And, Firefox, I would have stuck with you, if you hadn't decided to SHUT DOWN every five minutes. Thank you, google, for being the one thing in the world I can always count on. (Well, not the only thing. But top three, most defs.)

-We got iPhones. The rest of the world does not feel the earth-shaking impact of this on our lives, and we are confused. iPhones are straight crack. For real. iPhone flickr is so much more dangerous than regular flickr. HOURS. HOOOOOOOUURS. (I love drawing out words that lose all phonetic sense when the letters are doubled. Ha.)-I bought some fabric. THE BEST fabric. New Anna Maria Horner voile, and LIBERTY fabric. A YARD. Of LIBERTY. And 20% off. What will I do with it? Rub my face up against it for the next 60 years until it eventually turns to dust. Good plan? I got it at Bon Bon Atelier, if you are in the KCMO. Check it out.

-I did my third craft show this weekend, and it was LAAAAME. I "made" $12, and by "made", I mean "lost $40". It was a learning experience? Or something?

-I am doing another show THIS WEEKEND, so if you are in KC, come down to the Westport Flea Market on Saturday. I will be there, hopefully not looking at flickr on my phone. But no promises. Other people that I know and are cool will be there, too, so it is worth the trip.

-I have been stalking houses on the internet, and it has put my decorating hormones into overdrive. I cannot look at a room now without spending five minutes thinking about the color I would paint it. Usually it is dark gray, light gray, white, or green. I am creature of habit. Oh! Or maybe dark blue.

-APPARENTLY, not only do you have to make your designs public and for sale on Spoonflower, but you have to make your profile public, as well? This, to me, makes no sense, and I am still irked by it. I didna mean to put a useless link up, my friends! 'Tis nonsense! If you still want lovebirdie fabric, if you ever did, go HERE. For real, this time.

-I made shrinky dinks of some of the birdies, and it was super fun. I love shrinky dinks. ALSO, discovered that not everyone knows what shrinky dinks are, so if you do not, LOOK IT UP! It is the most fun you will have... all day?
Thas it. Love you.

What is this?

2010-01-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

Why, it's more birdies!But these ones are IN LOVE!I will be uploading some pictures of things made with the actual fabric in the nearish future, but I wanted to go ahead and put it up because I lurve them so much. Those silly birdies, falling in love.The fabric is available right here (http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/laurenhunt) through the Spoonflower Marketplace. You'll notice if you go there that the pattern is on it's side- that's because I wanted the design to run from selvedge to selvedge, instead of running horizontally across the width. Does that make sense? Well, it does to me, and that's why I did it, so DEAL WITH IT! (Better Off Ted reference, anyone?)Woohoo!
Fabric + Birdies + Love = Awesome?

The BIG ONE.

2010-01-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I am a fail at the end of year wrap-up. I always plan on doing it, and then I get swept up in all the real life things that need to get done, and it just doesn't happen. 2009 was a good year for me, especially when compared to 2008, which was somewhat of a disaster. But 2009, you treated me well. I figured some things out, and I started to really think about What Comes Next, something I had, up to that point, avoided.
And 2010. So far, I have been unable to get quite get into the swing of the new year, which hopefully will end soon. I have things to do! Places to go! People to see! Or something. I'm not quite sure about all that yet. But enough of this drivel. I DO have things to cover! I have about 5 blog posts that will be crammed into this monster post, because I am tired of them sitting in my head, unused and giving me guilty stares! Begin!
First things first, I have to thank the people who made the Overdue Book Calendar such a success. I had no idea how it would be received, and it was one of those ideas that I knew I thought was great, but had no idea if anyone else would. (I have a lot of those ideas, and for the most part, it's just me who thinks their great. Tragic.) The internet is magic, though, and it turns out other people liked it too. I am deeply indebted to the blogs it was featured on, am so, so grateful to all of them. Clearly, we should all read them because they have such FABULOUS taste!
Thankee to:
Design*Sponge
Coming Home To Roost
Bailey, Meister & Co.
Like Fire
designer blog.it (Italian!)
compradiccion.com (Spanish!)
supafine (Who is made of magic!)
Crazy Loves Company
Mystery Fanfare
Shelftalker (At Publisher's Weekly!)
Bookmark
studiothis&that blog
and of course, the love of my life,
books i done read.

Thank you to anyone else I forgot to mention or didn't see, and everyone who tweeted about the calendar, I am FOREVER in your debt! I am still pretty jazzed to think that people tweeted about me, and they weren't making fun of my hair. (Which I sometimes worry about, I have kinda dumb hair.)

The calendar is now also available at Crafthope for Haiti's etsy site, which is run by a group of just Seriously Amazing People who are working their behinds out to help support Doctors Without Borders' relief efforts in Haiti. So, if you were still thinking about snatching one up, grab it from their site. They have some really great stuff donated by some really fabulous crafters, so check it out.
Secondly, I have been meaning to post about my first craft fair experience FOREVER, and have been generally too lazy to do it. When I committed myself to the show, I was totally unsure about what I was going to do, how it would work, and whether anyone would even be interested in my stuff. I tried not to think of the last one, and threw myself into McGuyvering myself up a semi-respectable booth. Part of my love for crafting, and for making in general, is in problem solving. I LOVE thinking of how something can be made, (as cheaply as possible, of course,) from random stuff. One of the best lessons I learned during my internship was that many expensive pieces of equipment can be duplicated for almost nothing, and work just as well, if you are willing to forgo the slickness of commercially produced stuff. Anyway, I'm babbling, but I think I put together a pretty reasonable display for very little moneys. The night before, I was terrified that everyone would laugh at my little booth, but it ended up looking fairly respectable, and it turns out the crafting crowd is a lot more supportive than the teenagers in "Carrie". (They're all going to laugh at you! They're all going to laugh at you!") (Sorry if I have insulted you by explaining the reference.)
Anyway, I was REALLY pleased with the turnout at the event, and I thought my stuff was received pretty well. The show was held in an actual fancy movie theatre, so it was rather dark (hence awful flash photos,) but the setup I had to work with was quite nice. I sold a few bags, but mostly I sold these:
This was the project I thought up a week before the show, and made like 50 of them on a whim. They have Kleenex in one side and Purell in the other and they sold like hotcakes! (I'm not sure hotcakes exist anymore, but they sold well, is what I'ma saying.) My nephew says I should call them, "The Germ Exterminators". I think I will hire him to make a commercial for them, and it will be AMAZING.
So it was a great experience, and I have done another small one since then, and have plans to participate in a few more in February. The hardest part of these for me is trying not to be INSANELY awkward when talking to people. Because, internetten friends, you have probably never spoken to me in person, and so you do not know exactly how ungood I am at basic human functions, such as talking. I say things that even I don't understand, and get flustered, and then I laugh, but no one else does. The new plan is to smile a lot and do Vanna-White-like gestures in lieu of speaking. It could work, right?

NEXTLY! I made curtains! Minimal typing, maximum photos!(Baxter approves.)Also exciting, I inherited a used Wacom tablet with a broken usb plug in, and I fixed it, because I am clearly an electrical genius! Or, well, maybe it was not so much genius, because, after all, the wires were color coded. But I matched them! And now I get to use this fabulous new toy, with which I drew THIS CARROT!
Lastly, I am extremely excited because this weekend is the organizational meeting for the shiny new Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, which is being put together by three fabulous ladies, Jacquie, Shea, and Tula. Come on. How can it NOT be awesome? So if you are in the KC general area, I hope to see you this Saturday! Information, IN YOUR FACE!

Saturday, January 23rd
10:00 am to 12:oo pm
Urban Arts & Crafts
4157 North Mulberry Drive
Kansas City, Missouri 64116

Seacrest, Out.

Wow.

2010-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

I have a huge post coming up, so huge that I am MAKING A DRAFT of it, instead of just spitting out random words onto the blogger screen. But, it is slow going, I am dragging this year, and I need to Post something, or the giant post that has tons of stuff in it will just keep GROWING. So, while there are so many things I need to say, including a million bazillion thank you's to everyone on the internet, and especially you, I am just going to post pictures of my cat and dog. Because, they are like cookies that are SO GOOD that you just keep eating them but then you feel sick, but then you see them later and eat them again, and eventually you just have to give them away, because their goodness is destroying you. Well, the cute animal pictures are not quite destroying me, but I do feel the need to force them on others. Just wait until I make babies, people. And, seriously, why does my local news dedicate 2 minutes to American Idol every night? America. Whatever. (JK, I love America, BFFs!)
Prepare for cuteness, NOW!Rufus LOVES the hair dryer. Like, runs when he hears it turn on, and sits by you until you point it at him. Loves it.
Baxter, obviously, does not care for the hair dryer or the amount of attention the dog is getting. This is his "just abut to bite someone" face. You can see he means it.But, wait, what? Did someone just put a fitted sheet on? Because that is Baxter business.

Sigh.

The Overdue Book Calendar!

2009-12-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

Ah! Ok, so I have been working on this project (read: procrastinating) for quite some time, and I am really really really really happy to have it done and out in the world. Reading is great, right? I am assuming everyone here knows how, because, well, yeah. So literacy, and three cheers for it, and all that, but books are Expensive, and so we need libraries. As some of you may know, I am deeply enamored with a certain Canadian(a) book blogger, and happened to one day wonder how she managed to borrow so many books without dying of late fees. Because, I, my friends, am plagued by late fees. My husband worked for the KC Public Library for 5 years, and as an employee had a get-out-of-late-fees-free-card, but I still managed to accumulate some $50 worth of fees, despite the fact that he checked out most of my books for me. Which is to say that if I TOUCH a library book, I automatically will owe at least $1 for it eventually. So, I thought, what would make it easier to keep track of these things? And THUS was BORN the 2010 Overdue Book Calendar! Fanfare! Shouting! Bored Silence! You pick! In any case, it is a GREAT last minute gift for any readers on your list, and since it is sold as a PDF it comes QUCK and you can print as many as you want for all those random aunts you never remember are going to be there. Here you are, Aunt Lillian! Oh, you can't read? Well, it is still pretty! Enjoy!
It has books, you see!?! And you label them, with the books that you check out! And then you write in the due date, and you circle it, and it is PRETTY! And you can KEEP it, to prove to people that you can read! I feel pretty dorky to be so excited about this kind of silly little project, but I do love the way the final product came out, despite all the gnashing of teeth that comes with any extended bout of Photoshop editing. Our computer loves to freeze, my friends, but only when you've just gone 45 minutes without saving your changes.
If you are interested, they are EEEEN the etsy shop, for a measly $4 for as many as you can print. You will get instructions to download the PDF emailed to you within 24 hours of the order being made. I had mine printed at a color copy place, but that's just because I like their fancy paper. ENJOY! and GOODNIGHT!

Hi Blog!

2009-12-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hi! Remember me? We used to party a bit, back in the day... Uhm, December 3rd, to be exact. I really will eventually write the craft fair summary post, but today I am to lazy, and also have these adorable pictures of My Children. Rufus's nickname (or one of them,) is Muppet Face, I think this photo makes it clear why. Baxter loves to pass by Rufus and wrap his tail around Rufus's neck. Is this a thing that cats do? I suppose so, as the cat does it. This is some stretchin' for the ladies, Lottie and Millie. Note the little kitty paw in the upper right corner.

Liberty of London for Target

2009-12-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

(Image has absolutely no relevance, but I cannot post without one.)

Ok, so I typically am not a blog that is all, Oh, I will buy this thing, because this thing is so good and you should want it too. Because I TRY not to be too wanty about stuff, and not get reoccupied with brands and that sort of thing but O.M.G., Liberty of London for Target, people. And not just clothes, but home decor and organization and BICYCLES and lingerie and kids stuff and GARDENING EQUIPMENT? And I know I'm feeling that somewhat gross crazy consumerist itch all over, but I am EXCITED. I have been obsessed with Liberty fabrics for a while now, but could never justify it. But Target, Target you sly fox, you. You have made my shopping dreams (potentially) come true.

However I need to remember not to get my hopes up, at least not until I see some pictures. I remember the Orla craziness, and I got uber excited, and then went in and... well. Eh. It was good stuff, but I just didn't really NEED any of it, and wasn't so in love with it that I could pretend I did. I ended up with two plastic cups and a laundry bag that I got on sale. Is this going anywhere? Probably not. Are you kids excited for this? Are you already planning Black-Friday-esque morning raids on March 14th? Are you slobberng over the thought of a Liberty bike? Are you dying to know if they will sell curtains? (Fabric! FABRIC, PEOPLE!)

Winnnnnnnners!!!!

2009-11-30T19:28:00.001-08:00

Well, we all know of course, that all of you are winners, in your own special way. That said, only two of you are actual winners as in "the people who get the stuff". So, congratulations to: who won the Flock charm pack, and also to who won the limerick writer's FQ giveaway! Thank you all for playing, I wish I had something for everyone, but sadly I have not yet come into my fortune. Alas, alack (sp?) and Craft Show Blah-de-Blah coming soon!