When I meet people in person who read the blog, I am surprised how often they bring up my canning adventures. Apparently, I am not the only one who looks at canning as some charming and old-fashioned pinnacle of domesticity…
Mondrian Quilt is finished!
With Bear’s parents visiting us last month, I wanted the house to look as perfect as possible, which meant that I not only wanted to get my quilting mess out of the way, but I wanted to be able to…
2011 Year of Pleasures #25
When things need to be put away upstairs and I don’t feel like going there, I have a habit of just setting things on the stairs so I can take them up on my next trip. I did that a…
Tiered Necklaces: Using Crimp Beads
I’ve been loving the trend lately of the really dominant necklaces. I haven’t found a bib necklace that worked on me yet, so I’ve been following the “dripping with beads” trend. Bear’s grandmother left me a ton of these jet…
Maximum Fun Baby Shower
I’ve been on board with MaximumFun.org since the very beginning. And being around so long, spending so much time chatting on forums, listening to podcasts, supporting this new experimental media, makes me feel so connected to Jesse Thorn that he…
2011 Year of Pleasures #24
Not one single thing this year has gone the way I planned it. Not one. And with the Africa trip falling through I was twice as bummed because of all the other plans I put off in favor of it.…
Showing off the beads: Eye Loops
I loved these red faceted beads so much I really wanted to highlight them. But stringing them all by themselves didn’t seem very special, so I used this really simple technique that sets each bead apart to really shine. Each…
2011 Year of Pleasures #23
For years, YEARS!, I’ve had this idea in mind for a project using a ring with a premade bezel. I searched and searched and came up empty. When I could find one in a jewelry finding catalog it was the…
Reaching a milestone of my own
It’s time to accept that I’m not a kid anymore. Sigh. It’s been nearly 12 years since I dyed my hair, but the day has finally come when my vanity has overcome my laziness. I was a little nervous, so…
Chain Necklaces: Working with Jump Rings
I bought a big spool of chain with a coupon at the craft store so I could make a simple necklace I could wear with anything. It’s just a whole mess of chains attached to one chain that goes around…