the gentle art of domesticity

on the spoonflower blog, they posted a link to a BEAUTIFULLY photographed blog named yarnstorm. not wanting to infringe on her no photo re-posting request, i am only showing you a thumbnail of her book from amazon (which i would imagine has her amazing photographs on the cover :) when i read about her--she never uses flash and maximizes natural light...my absolute favorite kind of pictures!

definitely check it out, the pictures are REALLY, REALLY great.

knitted ascot

a pattern for this knitted ascot was posted on the purl bee today--doesn't it look adorable??? i'll just add it to my looooooong list of things i want to make! it seems SOMEWHAT easy, so maybe i can squeeze it in between my many other projects...

pointy kitty

daily candy wrote about wee wonderfuls the other week and the blog is SO cute! when i googled it (so i could link it correctly), the blurb said "life of a non-practicing librarian, a former vintage clothing site owner, and now a stay at home and craft it up mom." aw :)

the best part about the website is she has posted SUPER CUTE FREE PATTERNS!!! this week i made the pointy kitty for elisa A as a belated birthday present, and it turned out really great. i sewed it by hand which was time consuming, but also good practice since i have never done a 3-dimensional toy before. elisa A named her francesca, and she and suzie set up a kitty bed + bench for her at work. everyone thought she was so funny and cute...thanks hillary!

raffle tote

i made this tote bag for a united way raffle at work--and it turned out pretty cute, so i was really happy with it! due to many very nice compliments from work friends, i'm planning on making some for elisa's holiday boutique now too.

the tote bag had a medium-weight canvas exterior with a patterned cotton lining. i topstitched the handles and bag opening with coordinating aqua thread, and embroidered with a lighter aqua embroidery floss. i also screenprinted on the front AND the interior pocket has a surprise guy peeking out of it!

it ended up being the perfect size to fit some reading materials and a snack, or your newest knitting/crocheting project, yay :)

tag, you're it!

my friend melissa bag tagged me here and i am FINALLY taking the time to divulge the super secret contents of my purse for you...scandalous! we saw a game of tag making its rounds on orange you lucky and melissa was nice enough to start a NEW game so i would get the chance to participate...THANKS MELISSA! :)

here's what my most-used purse looks like. i got it at the flagship freitag store in zurich when chris and i were on our european honeymoon. i love it because not only is it recycled, i'm also less concerned with it getting dirty...therefore, i am less stressed out every time i have to put it down! (i get stressed out by weird things) also visible is my "tot obv" button my cousin trân made me:

...and here are the contents of my bag! NOTE: i forgot to detach my octopus-like tripod (birthday present from mike+dana) from the camera and also forgot my jump drive in the pocket...so sadly, they are not pictured below:

1. bath & body works mint lip gloss
2. digital camera (well, camera case since it's in my hands, and non-pictured tri-pod)
3. coupons (i always have random ones--i guess for shopping emergencies???)
4. pen (to write down books i want to request from the library or random to-dos. also, i do not carry around a notebook and will write my notes down on anything...aka coupons and bus schedules)
5. (the always "temporarily revised") EP bus schedule
6. kleenex (for my allergies)
7. work badge
8. bus pass
9. checkbook (i'm a luddite)
10. cell phone (can't wait to get a new one that actually gets reception)
11. ipod (for long bus rides and treks to/from the "temporarily revised" bus stop)
12. coach wristlet (in a fall-friendly turquoise color)
13. kate spade sunglasses (a la marshalls ;)

ok [paper bag of pearls owner] kara...you've been tagged!

an apple a day

the fall season has come to stay. last night i went to my friend sarah's house (which is SO AMAZINGLY DECORATED, and with lots of her OWN beautiful photography! i wish i had remembered to take pictures...i already told her that i wanted her to "do my house" but feel that i'd need to purge about 70% of my items before she could) and we huddled by the fire bowl and made s'mores and everyone was all bundled up cute in vests and scarves.

i think apples always get a little more limelight during the fall season and i got this craft email from martha stewart and i thought it was so fun. not only because apple prints make me think of elementary school, but because i want a mini tote for MY apple a day!!! and i don't even eat apples regularly--i just really want one to TOTE around. (haha) but seriously, how cute is it???

fifty is nifty

rhymeswithfun has reached 50 posts...hip hip hooray!
thanks to all of you who stop by and visit, big hug!!!

i heart NYC

ok. so life got a little jam packed, we jetted off to the big apple, then came back in time for work to kick my butt all over again. however brief, i had a FABULOUS time in new york and managed in 4 days to cram the following into the trip: bryant park, street vendors, times square, korean dumplings, staten island ferry, etsy craft night, central park, lunch with lindy, williamsburg, NYC public library, nolita, walking in general, soho, cooper-hewitt/gugenheim gift stores, and more...

here are my most favorite pictures of the trip, i hope you like them too:

1.heart-shaped leaves at bryant park 2.my view while walking to grand central station 3.cooper-hewitt sidewalk 4.model boats at central park 5.interior shot at the NYC public library 6.shelves of books at the library 7.cute sign at the library 8.funny drawing in a window 9.bus ride through brooklyn 10.memorial ribbons at a church 11.view from the staten island ferry 12.street view in soho

does anyone actually work 9-5?

once dana wrote me this really funny (yet sad) email about how no one ACTUALLY ever works 9-5 and i have to say that it has never been truer than the past few weeks of my life. someday i hope to work at a place where the morning doesn't have to start at 8am...that would be SOOO nice.

however, the moneys are off to NEW YORK CITY in 2 days so i am starting to get super excited!!! if i don't have time to do laundry and pack, i'll just buy all new everything there...right?

time off from work in a fun place = makes me REALLY happy :)

felted owls

my friend melissa over at ends & picks is super multi-talented and on friday taught me how to needle felt. IT'S CRAZINESS!!! but i love it...despite the fact i've already stabbed myself how many times.

so far i can only create spherical shapes, so i made these three alien-esque snowmen owls. the one on the right was my first attempt...you will notice his right eye (our left) is approximately 30% LARGER than his other eye, oops. the left-most guy went home with my cousin kim, and the middle one was given a funny flyaway toupee to adorn his little head.

birds in eyepatches

my friend elisa A! sent me this really cute card site from the website little otsu (their about us is interesting--and explains what "otsu" actually means too) and from browsing the artists of the cards i then went to kate sutton's website and LOVE IT!!! the home page literally has a bird in an eyepatch--how cute is that??? i went to her blog and have learned that she does a lot of the renegade craft fair posters and artwork too so no wonder her style seems so familiarly great.
OKAY. (imagine time has passed since you read the 1st paragraph and this one, so then the abruptness of the "okay" would make more sense) not only is everything she draw insanely cute--but i just took the time to go through her sketchbook and think that maybe someday her sketches and my sketches could be friends...???

her super cute sketch:


my [hopefully you will agree] cute sketch:

(thanks for the scan dana! i would have posted one of my monster doodles instead (as these are actually bunnies) but they are all living on post-its scattered throughout peoples' cubes at work :)

one lucky helen

i saw this post today on design*sponge--a sneak peek into the lovely home of helen dardik and i can only HOPE that someday my house will be as fun, happy, comfortable and well-designed as hers! every room looks inviting and cheerful--and still organized and clean! how does she do it and still have time to create such great artwork??? i went to her blog and it's really cute too so you will have to check it out. here are some examples of her fun prints:

baby isaac

many happy congratulations to sara and brian--bff dana is ECSTATICALLY a new aunt as of this past weekend!!! i can't wait to see more pictures. do babies know how excited people get for their arrival? maybe that's why he came early--he was ready for the love.

project tote bag...done!

I HAVE FINISHED PROJECT TOTE BAG FOR CRAFT SWAP BETA!!! there were no huge issues so i am VERY happy it was easier than i expected. since i am really tired from sewing nearly all day, here is 1 [exceedingly dim] photo for you...that's it for now.

project tote bag

yesterday i buckled down and finally worked all evening on my tote bag for craft swap beta. i'm excited to report that i finished the lining--i'm nearly halfway done! i had to re-size the interior pocket as the original one became the size of an business card after all my folding, but i'm happy with the way it is now. you can actually fit a cell phone AND other stuff like an ipod or your bus pass. here are some pics so you can see work-in-progress.