The Craft Dilettante

Boxes

2012-01-02T15:27:00.001-08:00

The girls had John use a clamp and big Forstner bit on his drill to cut holes in old hardback books to use them as boxes as gifts. What to do with the leftover paper? Cover a box!

Married to Mr. Wooly

2011-12-20T20:53:00.001-08:00

Husband goes back-and-forth between clean-shaven, goateed and bearded. I modified a $3 Mr. Wooly toy to be him. Shhh...it's almost ready to go under the Christmas tree!

Crafty kid turns old tights into sweater

2011-12-10T17:16:00.001-08:00

Armoire Sister Date

2011-10-30T21:24:00.001-07:00

Sis and I had a whole, kidless day together to paint the old armoire I got for her for $10 at a yard sale. Added shelves, cork, new knobs and a mirror. Here is what NOT to do:
- screw the mirror on too tight so that it cracks. Doesn't really matter if you put shelves in front, right?
- Carefully level and install the shelves while the cabinet it on the uneven flor in the garage
- use cork on a roll...that stuff doesn't want to lie down. I had to savagely attack it with a hammer stapler.
- fill in holes with putty if you're putting knobs back in the same place.

Halloween

2011-10-30T21:18:00.001-07:00

If in doubt, zombify it. Any costume I made better with some green eye make up and fake blood. Our gang has a blackberry queen, tv, vampire and beach bum zombie.

Felt rug

2011-05-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

I bought a huge box of roving at a yard sale a few years back and have been slowly learning to make felt using instructions from the internet. I comb it with $80 hand carders, lay a 1" fluffy layer on a big towel, another layer on top of that with the fibers going the perpendicular direction and one final layer, again with fiber orientation in a direction perpendicular from the previous layer. Roll the layers up in the towel, tie with twine to a long cigar and toss in a hot, soapy wash. Wash and dry. Unfurl. Wash and dry again. It becomes smaller and super thick; just right for a bath mat.

Sausage making

2011-05-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

After long ogling them, I received a food grinder as a birthday present. I found a chicken appple sausage recipe online and made it. I followed the recipe clearly but forgot that I don't like allspice. I need to re-find my Aidell's recipe because THAT chicken/apple sausage recipe is awesome! The secret is boiling apple cider into a flavorful syrup.

Banners

2011-03-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the fabric banners I saw on Etsy I made my own version. The kids came home to Valentine's Day banners in their rooms. They say "We love you!" with different colors and fonts superimposed on different images.

1. I right-clicked on pictures and patterns on the internet to save.
2. I pasted the images into Publisher (but Word or another program would work, too).
3. I placed letters in different fonts/colors on top of the images.
4. I printed the banners on plain paper and cut them into long triangle shapes.
5. I stapled the papers on top of wrapping paper ribbon to form a banner.
6. I tacked the ribbon to the wall.

Glitter...now with depth!

2011-03-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have perfected the glittering! Here's how: paint a base color to match the color of your glitter. Paint layers of glitter mixed with polyurethane until you have as much depth as you desire. The base coat may peek through in some spots but won't be noticable because it's the same color as the glitter.

Top it all with a coat of resin. I like the pour-on Envirotex Lite, which I get at the hardware store and which is made in Humboldt. I poured it on the seat and brushed it on the legs. The seat has a thick coat that the legs have enough of a thin coat to provide protection and depth.

Engineered flooring

2011-03-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

Flooring for the rest of the house...purchased! Handsome Husband started installing it in the south living room. We got Aiden Maple from http://www.simplefloors.com/. It's engineered with a handscraped finish. I'm really pleased with how it lays and feels.

The buffet not bought

2011-03-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

This was $75 at the Lincoln City Goodwill (Oregon) in February 2011. Luscious. the handles to the doors are where the ovals meet.

cool skirt

2011-03-25T12:48:00.002-07:00

A woman at the gas station last summer wore this skirt. I love it for its simplicity...would be easy to make out of jersey fabric of any combin

atino of colors

Vessel sinks. Meh.

2010-09-16T09:48:00.001-07:00

We got all DIY and crafted a vessel sink out of a $20 bowl from Target, $65 in plumbing and an old record cabinet I found on the streetcorner in McKinleyville. I'd sanded the cabinet (it was 80s Southwest style), stained it teal using watercolors and latex and poured a coat of Envirotex on top for more waterproofing.

A year later, I'm not so in love with it. Vessel sinks don't drain nicely unless they're designed to do so. This wasn't. And it's aged in an unattractive fashion as a result. Next time I'll pony up for the good stuff. Or maybe I should get a big, thick WOOD bowl and carve out a recess for the drain to sit and then put spar varnish over the whole thing?

Chevre

2010-09-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

We have goats. Snickers and Teaspoon are mini-Nubians. Willow and Jellybean are Nubians. Through the magic of Artificial Insemination Willow and Jellybean were impregnated last February with the sperm of a prizewinning buck that died in 1996. Jellybean miscarried but Willow birthed two adorable kids in July: Tiki and Luna. Willow, Snickers, Tiki and Luna are in the pic, at the County Fair. Gigi showed Snickers and got a trophy for being the [only entrant for] Junior Dairy Showmanship. 4Hers in Oregon wear white shirts with black pants, instead of the white shirts/white pants/green hat/green scarf I grew up with in California.

We have since sold Tiki and Luna and are milking Willow. We're getting only about 1/2 gallon/day, which is insufficient to meet the family's desire for cheese, milk, ice cream and soap. We get about a quart in the morning and one at night using the Henry Milker, which is a vaccuum-pump attached to a teat via a mason jar to extract milk. It's an ingenious devise that is easy to clean and use and saves my hands from hand-milking.
That's my kitchen counter. It's marmoleum flooring. I love it.

Using http://www.cheesemaking.com direct-set chevre culture, I followed the instructures to make this awesome cheese, just using milk, culture and salt. The other cheeses are (left to right): yogurt cheese in a half-pint jar, fromage on the princess plate made in the cup-shaped molds, chevre. The yogurt cheese was a happy accident. I had yogurt culture in warm milk but forgot to turn off the oven where I'd set it to culture overnight. So it cooked at 170 in a closed jar for 10 hours. I drained it for a day in cheesecloth and it was luscious mixed with salt and herbes de provence: like alouette from the store but nicer.

Landscape transformation

2010-06-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

In what used to be the carport of our house we have placed the South Garden. Using thin boards and stakes that are scrap from a Port Orford Cedar milling operation in Bandon, we built raised beds. They're filled with a mix of bushes and vegetables. By the time the bushes crowd out room for other things we will have built more beds.

Lots of carrots, lavender, roses, radishes, and spinach.

John built a bean teepee out of cedar and we're training Snap Peas to climb it.

I love my new electric cultivator, which has made all of this happen!

Shellac is magical

2010-06-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

We let the girls color all over the unfinished drywall, thinking we were cool parents and OUR folks would never have let us do that. And then we primered and primered and painted and grey primered and grey primered and painted ONLY to find that the marker STILL bled through. Ace Hardware's guy came through, though...He said to paint a layer of shellac over the marker and the problem would stop. I did and it did. Whew!

Paint in drywall mud

2010-04-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in the nine months since we moved to the new place. For three months I based my office in the trailer I wrote about a while back until my home office could be completed. Pale yellow walls with a burnt umber glaze. Idea desk and cabinetry. The all-important white boards. This section of the house has a very cold cement slab foundation. So we put 1" thick styrofoam sheets down on top of the cement. Rather than installing flooring (at the time we had very little money) we put thin boards of cedar down, adhered at each end by baseboard nailed to the wall. It's all totally removable and extremely cozy. We purchase the cedar as scraps from a mill for $100 for a trailerload.

We had Christmas in the unfinished space. Without a good place for a tree we painted on on the wall. We like it so much we think we may do it again next year. It's craft paint ($1/oz) from Walmart applied directly to the sheetrock. We glittered paper and glued the shapes to the wall. I got the cool multi-dimensional color by doing a base coat of brown for a trunk and branches, with neon green applied as needles while the brown was still wet, so it had some streaks. I then applied two different, darker colors of green as needles going out from the branches and trunk, again using the wet 1" flat brush and on top of the wet paint. It made the streaks resembling needles again.

Greta's room was next. We tried something really super cool I've never seen done before...It's paint mixed directly into the drywall texture and applied to the wall. We have to texture anyway and this saves a step. By using different amounts of paint with the texture we come up with different tones of the same color. It's topped in this room with glaze to keep the texture from shedding.

The same thin cedar planks are used as baseboard and trim here.

Aaand...Elia's room was finished yesterday. The same thin cedar is used as trim. She wanted pink and turquoise on her walls. We used plain red tempera paint and some "oops" turquoise wall paint from the store. It's topped with a clear coat into which I mixed three tubes of pink, turquoise and white glitter. Instead of putting clothes in the closet we put her bed! So she has a secret, curtained hideaway. If you look in the last picture you see a hole in the wall...it's a piece of 8" pvc pipe stuck in the drywall and insulation as a porthole between Greta and Elia's room so they have a secret passage. John made Elia's bed (we only had a mattress) out of those same cedar thins, laid on edge about 2" apart to be a breathable box on stilts. It's comfy and sturdy. I'll take pics of it someday...

Our continuing project

2009-07-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

A coupla years ago I posted a pic of this house from the other angle. It's getting closer to done. The turret makes great guest quarters and you can see Humbug Mountain. Will post more on house-related projects, including the vessel sink I'm putting together. Goats and chickens are in the backyard now.

Mum Lampshade

2009-05-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

My grandmother bought tissue paper chrysanthemums in Chinatown aeons ago. I knew if I held onto them long enough I'd figure out something to do with them...

I decoupaged the flowers onto a plain lampshade this evening with modpodge and a flat 1" brush. I'll do another layer of modpodge when this layer dries.

resin

2009-04-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

I bought a beginners kit of resin dyes and a mold at Ace in Arcata last week. I tried making one thing and it sure takes a long time to harden. But it's fun to put glitter in the resin!

This group, http://www.afhboston.com/revisionC.html, encases old junk mail in resin for stunning tables...very inspiring. Sure would take a lot of resin to do that, though...

roving

2009-04-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

I bought a huge sack of dyed roving at a yard sale a while ago and thought about what to make with it...bath mats? Yarn? I needlefelted a little bit for a soap holder. Done. Boring but pretty.

But this is awesome and I'm onto something: rugs. I made a bedside rug and know how I'll improve it next time: I'll use 5 layers of carded roving instead of 3, I won't let a baby chicken run into the middle of it and stomp its way out, I will roll and stomp on it instead of scrubbing and tossing in the dryer and I will block it to make it square. But this feels luscious underfoot!

Martha still does it better

2009-04-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=5d16497c74b51110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&backto=true
I guess it helps to have a whole team and to not worry about using your good cheesecloth for dying...The best egg we got a Saturday's hunt was dyed using this method: egg wrapped in ferns wrapped in onionskin wrapped in cheesecloth and boiled for 20 minutes in water with vinegar. Beautiful!

Soft Star Shoes

2009-04-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

I've been researching shoemaking lately in a quest for increased (work? frustration?) self-reliance. But the kids need shoes NOW and not after I learn to make them. So I went to http://www.softstarshoes.com/ and boughtthe purple/green shoes for Elia and Greta designed a pair of Ocean and Black ramblers. Hopefully the shoes will last into the autumn...

4-gore, 1-hour skirt

2009-03-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I made a skirt for Greta's friend's 10th birthday...

I cut 4 identical "triangles" of cotton batik to a few inches longer than the finished skirt length. The flattened "top" of the "triangle" is 1/2 of my estimate of the friend's waist size.

I cut two large squares of fabric for patch pockets and free-formed a curvy design on them. I turned them right-side in, ironed them, stitched the top closed and then patched them onto the two front skirt panels.
I flat-fell seamed all four panels together.
Hemmed.
Turned waistband under and stitched.
Inserted elastic.

The process took 1 hour from start to finish. As per usual, I was surley and sewing like a madwoman for the last 25%. After all, don't you curse like a sailor when hemming?

Lice, Part 2: Diatomaceous Earth

2009-03-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

I have become an unwilling expert on the subject of lice, since I live with two huggy little girls. The essential oil treatment I described in an earlier post does work (especially with the mechanical action of meticulous nitpicking) but I have added a new technique into my regimine. Upon first notice of lice or nits I make a thick paste of diatomaceous earth, the same essential oils and cheap hair conditioner, which, in the shower, I massage into the scalp and hair roots. It cleans up any dandruff and (theoretically) kills critters because diatomaceous earth has sharp edges which cut into exoskeletons. Follow that treatment with: a oil/essential oil soak for 1-2 hours under a shower cap, shampoo out, rub baking soda into the hair to get rid of the rest of the oil, re-shampoo, condition hair as usual, then comb and manually nitpick. Meanwhile, you're tossing all bedding into the drier for at least 30 minutes on high to kill any critters.

We noticed lice 2 weeks ago. I did this treatment and checked hair every night for a couple of nights (a cozy, snuggly time, not bad at all) and then did a hair-check 7 nights later. All clean and lice free.

Kids roll around on the rugs at school, hug each other and get close: it's tough to eliminate infestations entirely but if you do the above (which takes several hours) upon first notice, you'll take care of the problem.

felt rugs

2009-03-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking about what to do with my old wool sweaters and came across the Felt Rug concept. In essence, you make a big ‘ol piece of felt and call it a rug. Laser cut felt rugs (Google it) could be replicated with an X-acto knife. http://www.peaceindustry.com/ has beautiful pictures of abstract designs. 3-D versions are at http://artculture.com/interior-design/celebrate-designs-that-embrace-the-season. Pet hair can be turned into felt and, after a couple of years, you’d end up with a rug, if you use instructions from http://www.getcrafty.com/blogs.php?user=Project%20UK!&entry=4560. And my favorite concept would be to make a plain felt rug and apply laser cut felt ribbon from http://www.queenandco.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2246 to the borders.

bath bombs

2009-03-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

What not to do when making bath bombs:
- Make up a recipe as you go along
- Have too much water mixed with the citric acid
- Dry it out in the oven

Why:
A big fat mess you chip out of the stove.

Glow, Inc.

2009-03-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to make glow-in-the dark paints, glass, molded items, etc? I found this company when I was researching grout add-ins. I didn’t do anything with the knowledge but it’s satisfying to know, all the same.

From: Express Email Marketing [mailto:mailer_response@emailcounts.com] On Behalf Of Glow IncSent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 7:39 AMTo: bonserbishop@yahoo.comSubject: Glow Inc Newsletter March 2009

Glow Inc. March 2009 Newsletter

Glow Inc. Introduces New Particles Sizes
There are three factors that determine the charging speed and brightness of a glow pigment. First, is chemical makeup. For example, strontium aluminate is generally 10 times brighter than zinc sulfide.Within strontium aluminate products, there are several grades determined by the purity of the chemicals and manufacturing process. Higher grades are brighter and of course are more expensive.Within a grade, larger particle sizes are brighter. However, the larger particles create rough surfaces and grainy texture. Therefore posing a problem in small or detailed projects.Glow inc.'s Ultra Green V10 is the highest grade material manufactured. However, until recently Glow Inc only sold our popular V10 product in 55-85 micron particles. We are happy to now stock the V10 in 55-85, 35-65, 15-35, 10-20, 5-15, and 2-8 micron.You can find a comparison chart of all our green products on the Which Green? page.Ultra Green V10 in the new particle sizes can be found on the Specialty Powder page.We also now offer a Green Sample Pack that includes every green powder in every grade and particle size.

Bulbs for Charging Phosphorescent Paints
It is common knowledge that black lights are the best way to charge glow in the dark paints. However, they are not always practical.Compact Flourescents Lightbulbs (CFL), which are the spiral type bulbs are a great alternative, especially in the "Daytime" versions.If you want to use a laser or LED, forget about using red or green. Only blue, purple, or ultra-violet will actually charge glow in the dark pigments.For much more detailed information on charging bulbs, visit our new article: Light Source!

Isn't That Special
It has been a while since Glow Inc. offered a good powder special. I think the masses will be thrilled with this one:Buy $85 worth of any products at Glow Inc., not including shipping, and we will add 1 pound of Ultra Green Glow in the Dark Powder for FREE!!!To get your free powder, go to our Specials Page and add the Green Powder Special to your cart. Then add at least $85 worth of additional products like paint, powder, or sand to your cart. Checkout as normal.Offer ends May 7th, 2009 at midnight EST. If you send us an email on the 8th saying that your dog ate your computer and you missed the sale, then we will only laugh at your misfortune. Also note that you must add the above mentioned "Glow Powder Special" to your cart. Offer can not be combined with any other discounts or specials.

Project Pictures
If you are looking for project ideas for your glow in the dark purchases, then we highly recommend that you check out Glow Inc's Gallery. All of these pictures have been taken by our customers. We encourage you to add your completed project as well.

© 2009 Glow Inc

This email was sent by Glow Inc, 1539 Florida Ave, Severn, MD 21144, using Express Email Marketing. You were added to this list as bonserbishop@yahoo.com on 12/26/2007.
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I pale in comparison

2009-02-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

Claire Joyce is amazing and currently has a show in Eureka.

She's like glittery Diana Bryer but with more focus on the present and self-awareness.

Yummy art.

Making Valentines

2009-02-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
Card stock in pink. Maroon, white and red,
Glitter,
Heart stamp
Letter shaped cutters
2 heart shaped cutters in different sizes
CropODile
Ribbon
List of kids in the class.
We have even made one for the teacher that incorporates her husband's name.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Homemade Detergent Recipes

2009-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Recipes : TipNut.com and http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

I was reading about somebody making their own laundry detergent and it seemed like a very thrify, DIY solution. "Washing Soda" is the same soda ash that I buy from www.dharmatrading.com when I'm doing tie-dye. I'll give it a shot next time I need detergent.

I always thought that homemade, eco-groovy cleaning supplies was a good solution and I see folks marketing them now, and for a pretty penny.

My top solutions are:
* Use dishtowels instead of papertowels and toss them in with yourregular laundry load. I only use paper towels when draining bacon.
* Cut your old clothes into rags to use for cleaning the house and dusting. The thick fabrics (like old pants) can be layered on dirt in the garden and covered with bark to be a weed barrier more effective than the purchased ones.
* Make a paste of castille soap (like Dr. Bronner's) with baking soda and scrub onto the tub and fixtures for a mildly abrasive, effective cleanser. You can add essential oils, too. I like lavender because of its cleaning properties. This works also with stovetops.
* Spray your counters with a mix of water and Dr. Bronner's and wipe off with a rag.
* Use a mix of vinegar and water, and rags, to scrub your hardwood floors. I sometimes add an essential oil for the scent.
* Clean your drains with vinegar and baking soda. It's also fun to play with.

Paper beads

2009-02-01T09:13:00.001-08:00

How to Make Beautiful Beads From Recycled Newspaper A Storybook LifeKid #1 and I were talking how she wants a beaded curtain to her doorway. She wants to make her own but that takes a heckuva lot of beads and we can't afford to purchase that many right now. BUT, upon googling "making paper beads" we feel inspired to make our own. She can roll paper beads from old magazines while watching a movie and later we can make round beads out of paper clay together.

Glitter portrait

2009-01-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

John might've made me a cheese press but I made him a family portrait with our motto, Somos Conjuntos (We are together). I uploaded this photo to http://www.befunky.com/ and "cartoonized" it so it was clean lines. I printed that black-and-white cartoonized portrait on paper, and sandwiched carbon paper between the cartoon and turquoise-painted canvas. By tracing over the cartoon I transferred an outline to be painted onto the canvas.

I then colored in the canvas with glitter paints and flesh colors I hand-mixed and generated a frame out of glitter and words. I didn't like the dull look of the flesh so I mixed some luster powder with flesh colors and re-applied it. The background is painted of Elmer's star-and-moons glitter glue.

Farmhouse Cheddar

2009-01-05T10:44:00.001-08:00

I made cheese last night using the cheese press John made for me as a Christmas present from plans he modified from Fias Dairy using the redwood and Port Orford Cedar we had available. I applied some homemade furniture polish (equal parts of beeswax and oils, like almond and coconut, melted together) to it to waterproof the wood and make the pieces slide more easily.

I have a hard cheesemaking kit from New England Cheesemaking Supply and followed the recipe. It so magical to see the milk separate into solids with the yellowish whey coming out after you add rennet...

I drained the curds and stacked them in the mold with the follower in the press. The photos below show the press setup. A cut-away pie pan allows the whey to drain off the press into a bowl below. I added handweights as necessary to increase the pressing weight to 50 pounds. Once I ran out of handweights I added 10 pound sacks of sugar and flour. The height of the frame meant that those weights wouldn't fall off the press. When I jerryrigged presses in the past, that was always a problem and it was tough to balance more than 20 pounds.

After 12 hours I removed the cheese and will let it air-dry for 2-4 days to develop a rind. I'll then wax it and put it away until April so it ages nicely. I'll let you know how it turns out. If my scraps are any indication, I think it's going to be really tasty.

The picture below shows how 2 gallons of milk turns into a cheese cyllinder roughly 4" high and 6" round. It's white because I didn't choose to add traditional cheddar coloring.

Disco mailbox

2008-12-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

What to do with old CD-ROMs? cut them up in small squares, triangles with scissors and glue them to your mailbox. The black of the box shows through like grout and the CDs are pretty in the sun.

What doesn't work:

Using CDs of different colors

Smashing CDs with a hammer - they just crack, not break

Using paper-based CDs as opposed to printed CDs (once you break into a few you understand)

Gorilla glue (spreads too much and dries too yellow)

Big pieces

What does work:

Rubber cement

Doing a little at a time (I'm not quite done yet, as you can see)

Maintaining space to raise and lower the flag

2008-12-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

Aside from a pawn-shop guitar for Greta (a like-new Baby Taylor for $165 instead of $300 new) and a new guitar for Elia (the Imagine by Luna, that functions as a wet-erase blackboard for customized, changeable decorating), with a couple of books, almost everything I gave for Christmas this year was handmade. I just couldn’t post about it because my family reads this blog! Sibs and parents got baskets filled with these candies:
· Cranberry jerky (cranberry sauce with gelatin, sliced in thin strips and dehydrated for a coupla days)
· Chocolate covered dateballs (medjools processed with sweetened, shredded coconut and almonds, rolled in balls and covered with microwave-melted Ghirardelli chocolate)
· Chocolate-covered seafoam (seafoam is like marshmallows but made with a hotter syrup)
· Dehydrated homemade marshmallows
· Almond/chocolate toffee
· Candied walnuts

I also included these canned items:
· Applesauce with apples picked from around my neighborhood
· Cranberry sauce (huge bags on sale at Costco)
· Spiced pears
· Blackberry jam
· Strawberry jam
· Huckleberry jam with berries we picked at the piano teacher’s house. It wasn’t, actually, very good. Not enough sugar and the huckleberries are too iron-rich for a good flavor. I tried making a pie with the jam but the iron flavor was too strong. Next time I’ll strain the berries for a jelly, instead. Maybe the hassle’s not worth it.
· · Lavender jelly (I learned that Pomona Pectin is vastly superior to Certo, which doesn’t’ set up very well.)
· Hot pepper jelly
· Local, canned tuna (I bartered with my friend for it, since I don’t have a pressure cooker. I used a conversion ratio of 2 jams = 1 tuna.)

The baskets also included digestifs using recipes from http://www.chow.com/. I made orange, mint and fennel digestifs. Fennel I didn't give away becuase it's like cough syrup. I made it more as a medicinal tonic than as a fancy drink. The orange digestif is great mixed with sparkling water and the mint has pretensions of mojito, if I mix it with limonade.

I created labels in MS Publisher and am really pleased how they turned out. I printed them on plain paper, cut them out and glued them to the front of the jars and candy bags with gluestick. I think I’ll use rubber cement next time since the labels fell off the plastic bags. The labels totally make the difference between loving-hands-at-home and a more polished product.

Greta made butterscotch marshmallows, bagged them, and sold them at the school craft fair. She bartered some of them with other kids to get presents for her family, so Elia and I got jewelry as a result.

As a hanukkah party present I gave my friend a jar of applesauce and a box of individually frozen yam latkes. I made them several days before and froze them individually so they could be placed in the oven for a worknight hanukkah meal. You just put them in a 450 oven for 10-15 minutes and you have cultural tradition, carb and veggies all in one.

Glitter helmet

2008-11-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

Washable glue. 1 jar of microglitter.

Curb appeal in Seaside

2008-10-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

Anybody want to buy a house? http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=ListingReport.printProcess&listingReportID=Client&listingID=7602675&cmaMainID=&showHeader=0

John and I spent about 30 hours and $183 this week fixing the front yard.

1.5 yards of bark: $53

plants: $50

landscaping cloth: $40

dump fees to get rid of roots and the nasty oyster shells that were used as a ground cover: $40

Gardening in Seaside

2008-10-12T21:26:00.001-07:00

I'm up in Seaside, Oregon right now, helping John prepare his mom's house for sale. I've been ripping out the front garden so we can replant and put bark down. It's very satisfying work. I spoke with our neighbor, Marlene, and she's given me 5 dozen quarter and 1.5 pint canning jars, plus I bought her old Huffy Good Vibrations cruiser for $20. Now I have a bike with brakes to ride around town. Woohoo! I think the frame needs glitter.

Spiced pears

2008-10-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

I canned spiced pears on Wednesday, using the recipe from So Easy to Preserve. Sugar, vinegar, allspice, cinnamon, lots of cloves and oreled, hard ish pears.

Glitter shoes

2008-10-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

You know those cute red glitter maryjanes for little girls? They’re hard to find in adult sizes. So I made my own. I had some of the new Jacquard Pinata paints on hand, and tried to mix up some hot pink. It turned out purple so I went with it, seeing as how I have a rainbow of glitter colors. I painted beige shoes with this multipurpose paint so the base color wouldn’t show through. Then I painted glue (Aleene’s) on the shoes and sprinkled microglitter over all of it. It took an entire tube of glitter for both shoes.

The project to about 20 minutes, total. They’re drying in the sun right now.

more uses for essential oils

2008-04-04T09:54:00.001-07:00

Since I had essential oils left over from lice treatment I thought I’d incorporate them more into my life. I have started mixing a drop or two with hair gel and scrunching it through my hair in the mornings when I have waves left over from the braids the day before. I’m smelling geranium right now.

I also like to mix them with melted beeswax and oil to form a wood or body lotion.

Heather

Lice and essential oils

2008-03-11T22:28:00.001-07:00

We brought an unwelcome souvenir back from South America in the girl’s hair and it was impossible to get rid of. We tried the traditional method (Rid) and went back to Humboldt roots and were successful. Here’s the recipe that I generated after perusing http://www.wingedseed.com/Agora/Lice_page.htm.

Add 20 drops of cinnamon leaf oil, 20 drops of tea tree oil and 5 drops of oregano oil to 1 cup of vegetable oil.

Massage into hair, coating thoroughly, especially at the scalp. Cover with shower cap (a good reason to collect the ones from hotels!) Let sit on head for at least an hour. Shower as normal. Little bugs suffocate in the stuff and it makes it easier to comb out nits. If it’s too oily after bathing scrub with baking soda and then shampoo and condition as usual.

Comb hair and look through closely, in bright light, to pull out nits.

Every evening and morning., apply a spray of either alcohol or vinegar with the same 20 drops of cinnamon leaf oil, 20 drops of tea tree oil and 5 drops of oregano oil to 1 cup. Or you might choose to add the same amount of essential oils to a kids’ detangling lotion.

For a week, check for nits every night and morning. At the end of the week do the oil treatment again.

I treated the kids AND myself, even though (for some miracle) I didn’t have a problem. The spray is gentle (although the alcohol version does smell until the alcohol evaporates) and I didn’t mind using it.

It goes without saying that all the textiles that touched the affected hair should be laundered. Toss all blankets or sofa slipcovers in the drier for 60 minutes.

Heather

List of some of my favorite things

2007-02-05T15:00:00.001-08:00

Elvis

Glitter

Diet Pepsi

Babies

Chartreuse green

A warm Orange

Thinking in Spanish

Getting into a sewing groove

Glitter eyeliner in daytime.

Getting a grant

Having my doggie roll onto her back for a belly rub

When John kisses my neck

The thought of the camaraderie of roller derby

Having Conversation Heart conversations with my sister

Being around the PTO ladies, who are so inspiring to me

Bar jokes

The coffee table my dad made for me

My abalone necklace – only $10!

Giving Greta and Elia popsicles in the tubby

A good salad

Homemade tortillas

Meringue

The first crab of the season

Going to Costco with JB

How silly and respectful Tory and I are with each other

My prom dress, which I’m resurrecting after 17 years to wear to the Trinidad School Ball

Having Elia drool on my arm in her sleep

How Greta helps other children

Being part of a community and being known

Mexican Brownies

2007-02-01T21:21:00.001-08:00

Make brownies according to recipe. Add ½ t. cinnamon and 1/8 t. chipotle powder. Nummy! Enough spice for flavor, not so picante that the girls won’t eat them.

The performing arts

2007-02-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

Mimi reminds me that starting at about age 4 I was very into doing Fashion Shows. I remember doing them as a teenager, even. I would take yardage and drape and tie it around my body and then prance into the kitchen, pose, make everybody admire me and then go and create a new outfit. That's about as much of a performing artist as I ever was.

Greta and Elia, however, are quite taken with dance. They were in a creative movement class earlier this year and yesterday we hit our first Belly Dancing Class. It was amazing! We learned the "shoo shoo shimmy," "snake arms," "push the cake away" and other moves. It's such an elegant art form and entertaining to watch even when amateurs do it. My mom even took a few belly dancing lessons in the late '70s. I still have her old music album. I'll have to break it out so we can practice at home. John will like practice, at least.

Had the neighbor kids over for a while this evening. Broke out the old clay tools and some air-dry clay I got for $2 at a discount sale. They had fun and tried to make something but really just made a mess.

Elia lost a tooth

2007-01-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

Elia had a tooth dangling by its root in her mouth when she jumped off the bus this afternoon. (Greta and Elia actually insist I catch them off the bus and jump into my arms everyday - goodness I love being home to meet them after school!). By the time I got my camera to take a picture to email to John the dangling tooth was out.

Oh, and as a crafty element, here's a picture of a baby hat I made the girls. Was/is too big for them so I wore it all day today since it's about 45 degrees here with a heavy cloud covering. I made a matching hat for John out of Italian blue wool fleece that same Christmas of 2001 but it was about twice the size of his head because I couldn't eyeball his size and he's got too big of a noggin for normal patterns. I guess I stopped sewing things for him that year.

Office crafts

2007-01-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've got to look into creative ways to present professional reports. Know of any good sites? I received a proposal once that was a regular folder but had corrugated board and strings and a button glued to it so you unwrapped it to receive the report. It looked elegant and professional.

Trinidad School Party

2007-01-25T11:18:00.001-08:00

Here’s your chance to craft with me: I’m donating a Buy-In Party for the Trinidad School auction on 2/10. Participants will pay [probably] $20 and will craft with me in my studio to make the Ipod cozies that I have featured earlier in this blog.

For more information, go to www.trinidadschool.blogspot.com.

Heather

slumber party

2007-01-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

I had written a longer post that got lost in some kind of Google Server problem but will give a quick crafty update.

I held a slumber party for 8 little girls last weekend, in honor of Greta turning 7. We started by having the girls follow individual strings around the house to find their Treasure Box filled with supplies for making Valentines (glue sticks, scrapbook paper, foam heart stickers, fancy scissors). The big, unexpected, hit of the party was Pirate Gems in the driveway. We use a recycled gravel mix seeded with recycled glass and all the girls had a blast poking under the Pole Barn and in the driveway looking for the Pirate Gems, Gypsy Diamonds and Mermaid Pearls. You see, once I realized my daughters loved searching for stuff, I started seeding the driveway with craft rhinestones and pearlescent beads and telling them that they must’ve bounced off the back of a Gypsy’s truck. Shhh! Don’t tell them! I let Greta and Elia think that the Gypsies really did lose their jewels.

The next morning 5 girls decorated and ate the cake. We lost 3 of the girls at 11:30 the night before because they wanted their mommies.

What I'm working on now

2007-01-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

tonight, while watching a Dawson's Creek DVD (I'm a sucker for TV on DVD after the girls are asleep: latchhooking strips of cotton scraps into a 18" square canvas grid, to be used maybe for slippers someday?

this afternoon: painting the frame of an old bulletin board with chartreuse gloss enamel, then doing designs over it with dimensional irridescent and glitter paints in gold, fuschia, navy and turquoise, with an edging of gold sequins around the whole thing. Looks OK but the center of the board is mundane. I'll ponder what next with it. I toured the Chartreuse factory (an old abbey) in France once.

A few weeks ago: a long skirt comprised of gores of different Elvis fabrics. He turns 72 tomorrow! Gotta make a cake! My next step, when I get around to it, is to cut layers horizontally and offset them so it's checkerboard Elvis gores.

Also tonight: baguettes from the King Arthur flour bag recipe.

Tomorrow: spinach enchiladas for 2 sets of friends that are new first time parents. A big shout-out to Tim, Lisa and son Dorian (12/20) and to Jeff, Annalisa and son Noa (12/17). These couples were due 3 days apart for later in January and both birthed early in December. Man, I remember the first months as a new parent. I sure appreciate the age my babies are at now: Greta can make her own spinach in the microwave and Elia made waffles for breakfast yesterday. (yes, I helped).

Patty Thurlby

2007-01-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

In my "My Pictures" folder I have a file called "Other People's Crafts." Here are some of the more amazing pictures from it. I took them - with permission - at the Sun Rose Gallery on Boradway in Seaside, Oregon. We went there for New Years and drove home the day after, arriving at 2am. There's no stoppin' you when you're headed home.

The artist is Patty Thurlby and her email address is patty@pacificwy.com. The gallery will be at sunrosegallery.com.

These valances and other items are comprised of stained glass, iridescent beads, silver spoons, driftwood and wire. They inspired me to buy a Dremel with my Christmas money so I could drill holes in stained glass and suspend them from jump rings but it turns out that Patty edges her glass in copper tape and uses the wire to suspend it instead of drills holes. That's OK - I want to drill holes in agates and use the dremel to clean the rust off the trailer frame before I re-prime it. Click on any of the pictures for more detail about what Patty's done. It's inspiring and cool.

hez

My Office

2006-12-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

Thought you’d be interested in photos of my new office space. I do adore the wall color: “Gypsy Rose” scrubbed over “Nacho Cheese.” Amazing what one can accomplish with a laptop and cell phone…

Heather

Glitter diary

2006-12-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

Elia’s top favorite Xmas presents were the diaries she asked for:

Greta made her one by stapling construction paper together and drawing lines to guide Elia’s writing.

I made one for Elia out of a journal I picked up at a conference. It wasn’t even a conference I was attending but was next to my meeting. So I took a black Verizon journal and covered over the logo with glue stick and glitter. I wrote Elia’s name in cursive in dimensional pink glitter paint. She loves it.

hez

December

2006-12-30T00:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some December photos.

I made "tubby tea" for gifts for folks by mixing aromatic flowers with kosher salt into little, tied bags. We painted seashells with iridescent paint as ornaments. I also made "office boxes" out of painted wooden cigar boxes I got for $1 at Michaels. I hot-glued magnets to the box and to tape, a stapler, pen, staples, paperclips, a letter opener and scissors and made a "latch" for envelopes and made mailing labels. You can pick it up and have everything you need, all in one place.

The picture of the girls in front of the tree is one I took for Greta to email to D. Dynamite, her favorite XM Kids DJ. Greta-from-Trinidad-California called and requested her favorite song (Nerves by Terri Hickman) all the time. Greta'd chat with D. Dynamite and tell her about "heelie"-ing in the living room. D. Dynamite said - on the radio - what a cool mom Greta has for lettting her rollerskate all around the house. Cool mom - that's me.

My Studio

2006-12-30T00:36:00.000-08:00

Since August I've set up my studio with a carpeted sewing area, a workbench for painting and a cutting table. The loom takes up a huge amount of space and I'm still trying to figure out what I'll want to do with it but Lisa Roberts is my big inspiration to keep it. If I could do half of what she does with crafts I'd be a busy and productive woman.

I spent a few nights painting, after Greta and Elia were asleep, until 2 in the morning. It's nice to have most of my books out of boxes in the closet.

Long time V. 2

2006-12-30T00:21:00.000-08:00

At the end of summer my family went to Seaside, OR again and Tory drove down with her niece, Eve, to visit. We hit the Lewis And Clark Salt Boil reenactment and now I know how to make salt over an open fire. The stuff tastes mineral-y but good. I've also played with Hawaiian red salt and am enjoying the crystal size of kosher salt these days. It sticks nicely to food and forms a decent crust on yam fries.

The quilt is one I made for Annalisa and Jeff's new son out of fabric from Hawaii that Jer and Ellen brought back for me.

I made fleece cloaks for the girls for Halloween. I was the granny, Bluedog was the Big Bad Wolf, Greta was Little Red Riding Hood and Elia was a cheerleader. Yes, in the exact same cloak as her sister. I lined the hood in white microfiber fur. The lining wasn't part of the pattern. I cut the lining from the regular hood piece but made the part near the face about 3" larger and then stitched it to lap over the front so it would show more of the white. Then I attached it to the neck by stitching in the ditch.

Long time no post

2006-12-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

Above is a relatively recent picture of "Broken House," the place in Southern Oregon that John spends beaucoup time remodeling, Bishop Style. It was ultra-nasty beforehand.

The trailer is a 1968 17" Aloha I bought for $800 from our Nesika Beach neighbor. It has the original avocado and turquoise upholstery. I love it. It's also a great place for my family to sleep during the remodeling process and has a heater and bathroom. I've done some work with metal primer and will paint more in the spring.

The big thing that's happened since August is that I've left NCCN to start my own community health consulting practice: www.bonserbishop.com. My primary motivation is to work from home so I can spend time with the girls so they can come home on the school bus. Elia loves to cook and Greta likes to draw and I want to be home with them in the afternoon more. That's why I have kids, right?

I returned some of my Xmas gifts this week and used the money to buy a Dremel. I'm very excited. What I really want to do is poke holes in things (wood, shells, rocks, glass) so I can hang them and also make jewelry. We'll see. I have a lot of glass left over from when I made these (below) and to do something fun with it.

Backpacks

2006-08-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

John insisted that Greta and Elia have quality backpacks for school instead of the pretty P.O.C. ones I picked up at Fred Meyers. POC means Piece of Crap and is an acronym we developed to avoid saying "Crap" around the kids. So now they'll refer to POC Barbie (the one bought at the Dollar Store) and even POC food. So John bought service-able pink Jansport backpacks at Costco but they were so plain that the girls and I decorated them. Greta's has a butterfly stenciled with glitter glue and hearts out of leftover felt from my ipod case. Elia's has glitter hearts, an eyeball (her favorite word) and her name in hot-glued buttons. The latter is because when you ask her to introduce herself with first and last names she'll say not Elia Bishop" but instead will say "Ellie Button. " Although sometimes she'll call herself "Eyeball," too.
heather

MyHeritage.com

2006-08-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

Check out MyHeritage.com. This website has a neato demo of face recognition. Upload a photo of yourself or family members and it will tell you in a few seconds which celebrity looks just like you.

This was fun! John looks 71% like Annette Bening and 61% like Tom Cruise. I look like 66% Kelly Clarkson and 60% like Julie Roberts. I guess because we have oval faces. To see the celebrity results I got on my photo, click here: http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/face-recognition-results.php?temp=dbf46c447wdar004&server=Server10&database=1&startYear=1800&endYear=2005

Heather Bonser-Bishop

To visit MyHeritage, click here: http://www.myheritage.com

Fijian sundress

2006-07-31T14:28:00.000-07:00

Found this picture from me in 1994, when I was backpacking around Fiji on my way home from New Zealand. I made the dress. I realized I was wearing a complete Heather outfit today: black linen jumperdress and the quilted sari fabric jacket with the black satin piping. Smashing look.

heather

Beautiful Babies

2006-07-31T14:25:00.000-07:00

Still the best thing I've ever made: Greta and Elia. I picked them up Friday after Fit Camp and took them to the mall for photos in whatever they were wearing. After a summer in the sun, this is as tan as they get.

Quilt mending

2006-07-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

I stayed up late last night watching bittorrents of Gilmore Girls and patched a hole in the quilt pictured here. Word to the wise: don't use old fabric for quilts. I made this one out of John's old shirts as his first Xmas gift from me (he gave me a wetsuit). The BHPs (Best Hawaiian Prints) he let me use were old ones HE was done with and he'd originally got them from a thrift store. Of course, those blocks fell apart first. So I hand sewed a patch last night and probably will stitch another one tonight.

HBB

SimplytheBest Fonts cartoon fonts

2006-07-25T14:12:00.001-07:00

SimplytheBest Fonts cartoon fonts is great. I do very little font-requiring work but for birthday invitations, etc, these are great.

Heather

Last Chance Redwood

2006-07-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, John had a dream of being a furniture maker. He did a line of outdoor Adirondack-style furniture made of twice-salvaged redwood: he got the scraps from a salvage redwood operation and we further milled them up on an old bandsaw we bought at a school auction. We had visions of him making chairs and me doing upholstery. We even sold a couple of chairs through Mad River Gardens and sold an arbor through a contractor. But it was tough to make a living off of gorgeous chairs, so we gave up that dream.

But at least I have deck furniture.

Catch up

2006-07-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm doing a number of entries all at one time. The girls are asleep in bed. I'm watching Shall We Dance, a decidedly mediocre film. I don't think I've made much in the last month - keeping up with mountains of laundry, making dinner, working out, working. I did make another tasty sorbet from scratch: nectarine/Triple Sec with swirls of syrup of cherry. It's really good. And Greta and Elia as enamoured of my Pico De Gallo: 1 yellow onion, 1 lb. tomatoes, 1 bunch cilantro, salt, pepper, vinegar to taste, all mixed up in the cuisinart. Perfect on top of corn fritters: fresh corn sliced off the cob, 1 egg per cob, some flour, salt, pepper, fry like pancakes in butter.

The picture's from June, when Poppa took the girls and I on a walk in the Redwoods. I love the colors in the photo. The dress is about 8 years old and one that I made from 3 yards of 60" black linen that I got for free. With a pattern I drafted myself and buttons that were only $3, that dress has gotten me to meetings, the beach, hot weather and cold. It's the perfect pattern. let me know if you want me to draw up the pattern. I usually draft patterns on newspaper (taped together if I need a bigger piece), and then fitted against myself or my dressmaker's figure.

artificially complex quilt

2006-07-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

One of the Seaside Montero Sisters told me that this awesome star quilt is actually a stack-and-whack. It would take up to 6 years of a fabric with a 24" repeat to make this pattern - and that's only the central motif!

I would love to do this quilt with Mom some weekend.

Links and vacation

2006-06-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

www.supernaturale.com - links and articles about crafts
http://adornmag.com/preview.shtml - a new magazine
http://kiddley.com/ - crafts to do with kids
http://www.blogger.com/www.madewithsweetlove.com - soft porn rug hooking

These seem like fun, and worth checking out. I find that blogging sites is a lot like having an online "favorites" list.

We're going on vacation starting tomorrow. Can't wait! John, Greta, Elia, BlueDog and I are driving north and ending up in Seaside, Oregon, a resort town his mom used to live in. The fourth of July will be the fourth day in a row of massive fireworks. We're bringing bikes, rollerblades, etc and going to rip up and down the promenade on wheels. I think we'll bring Elia's mehndi kit Aunt Jen gave her for her 5th bday last week and stain our skins and soak up the sun.

heather

Little Brown Dress

2006-06-21T12:46:00.001-07:00

I'm fascinated with www.littlebrowndress.com where the author blogs about her experiences wearing one homemade dress for an entire year. She's considering wearing only homemade clothes for a following year. I'm a woman currently wearing a plaid flannel homemade dress that's seen six years. And I have 4 more versions just like it at home - blue rayon, lavender batik, short brown cotton and black linen. If it weren't for the suits I feel most comfortable in at City Meetings, I'd be right there with her for the next year, working and playing in homemade costume...

Joyce Jonte

2006-06-13T10:33:00.001-07:00

Humboldt Artworks: Joyce Jonte

After several years of goddess-worshiping of Joyce Jonte I finally bought my first piece of hers, at the North Coast Open Studio using my tax return money. It's one of her life studies, a woman holding a book. It exudes contentment to me. I'm so thrilled that I can support such an amazing woman and a talented artist. She even made sure that art supplies were available for visiting children.

Lemon Cake

2006-06-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

I used my tax return to buy a Kitchen Aid Pro 5 Bowl-Lift Mixer last week at Costco for $270. The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker I’d been coveting was next to it for $50. Now I can take both off my Amazon Wish List. My buddy Jer was out visiting from New York for a few days. He and I went to Jr. High together and have been friends ever since. Jer and I spent Friday afternoon makin’ stuff:

White Cake from the Kitchen Aid recipe book. I swear I followed instructions (with the exception of substituting oil for shortening) and even sifted pastry flour but it was too dense to be satisfactory. My sister Lainey’s 30^th birthday was Friday so I made her the cake (in the picture
Peach/Basil Sorbet – AWESOME. I didn’t use a recipe, which turns out to be the way I should continue to cook. I just added sugar and chiffonade of basil to fresh peaches and froze.
Lime/Thyme Sorbet – Eh. I followed the Cuisinart recipe (although I did steep thyme in the simple syrup) but it’s too sweet and all the sugar prohibits freezing to a hard-enough texture.
Lemon Curd – Turned out nicely. I used it between the layers of Lainey’s cake.
Candied Lemon Peel – ADDICTIVE! You boil slices of lemon peel in water and drain 3 times. Then cook in a simple syrup and place on a bed of granulated sugar when translucent, cover with more granulated sugar and you’re done.
Tea gelato – We followed the Cuisinart recipe to the letter, with all 97 steps. On Step 96 Jer burnt the milk (in which tea’d been steeped) and we had to throw the whole thing away.
Lemon/Cream Cheese Frosting – 8 oz. cream cheese, leftover lemon curd (about ½ cup), 4 c. powdered sugar. Mix. Yum.

A Day At the Beach

2006-05-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Better than crafting - playing with the girls at South Beach in Crescent City on a gorgeous, sunny Memorial Day. We learned to dig for sand crabs but didn't find a dungeoness like we did on one expedition. This same weekend Poppa took us up Howland Hill and we found tons of oyster mushrooms, I learned about redwood ginger and the girls ate some sorrel/oxalis. I guess wildcrafting food does count as makin' stuff...

update

2006-05-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just because I haven't written in a while doesn't mean I have made stuff. But mending is decidedly unsexy. I did stitch nightgown straps and seams back together. I pinned up the sofa slipcover even if it's not yet sewn (I might just hand sew it so I don't have to take it off the couch). When Elia was home sick last week I finally made the slipcover to the chair but did a terrible job. I accidentally put the opening to the seat cushion in the front. Thankfully, it doesn't look too bad. I bought pillow stuffing at St. Vinnies and finished stuffing and closing a set of Guatemalan wool ikat pillows. The fabric'd been free.

The big project for me has been setting up my new home computer and installing a wireless router. I've had dial-up and a dog of a Win 98 system at home for years and feel like I'm coming into technicolor now.

heather

Calliope Books

2006-05-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Calliope Books
Sad day Monday - Christa's last day at NCCN. The link's to her website. She's a truly creative woman. I've been working on a painting for her. Of course it's dorky and I have minimal drawing abilities, but it's satisfying to apply acrylic to thick paper. I even bought a black paint pen so I could do small detailing. I'll scan it and share it here when it's done.

Heather

Dot's Birthday Cake

2006-04-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here's the birthday cake I made for Dot's bday. Got the ruana she wears and everything...

heather

Cake Decorating

2006-04-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Thought both of you readers would be interested in seeing some of the cakes I've decorated in the last few years. I'm still learning how to pipe frosting but really enjoyed painting with food coloring on the fondant on the Trinidad cake that was for a Katrina-benefit bake sale. For the crab shape I gently pressed a crab cookie cutter into the fondant and painted it with a mix of yellow and red food coloring. Since the "paint' is translucent I just built up the layers of color where there should be details.

The doll cake pan was a great investment - I've made volcanoes, surf scenes, hula girls and other dolls from it.

Goddess Stencils from Goddess Creative Designs

2006-04-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Goddess Stencils from Goddess Creative Designs
I was just talking with Crhista about how she painted her bathroom pink with recycled paint. At night it was rosy, in the a.m. it was ultra-Barbie, so she painted over it in blue. I started talking to her about paint treatments and showed her this awesome website. I bought one of the stencils and painted $1/yd muslin with craft paints (scrumbled blues and greys) and hung 5 3x7 panels as closet curtains. The picture shows Elia at about 1 1/2 years old in front of the bottom part of them.

Bringing Up Ben & Birdy

2006-04-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Bringing Up Ben & Birdy

I just had the pleasure of lunch with Sandy, who turned me onto this blog. And then it turns out we both guiltily read USA Today's Pop Candy and people.com. I think this might be a secret pleasure shared by many working moms with highspeed....

Didn't make too much this last weekend. Painted some eggs in swirly colors and wrote names on them in dimensional paint. Those paints were $.77 each at Walmart, so I let Greta and Elia each choose one color. No suprise that they were both pink. Last night I stayed up late watching downloaded episodes from Season 3 of Felicity and strung iridescent purple seed beads on wire. I strung up about a yard of 'em. I don't know what I'll do with it, but beaded wire has tons of uses: crystal hanger, curtain tiebacks, electrical cord corral, gift wrapping ribbon, whatever.

This picture is of Greta and Elia on Saturday's Trinidad Easter Egg hunt. It occurred in the nmiddle of the most dreadful pummeling hail/rain I've seen almost all winter. It was so much fun! Everybody was manic and laughing and having a blast. I got so drenched my bra got soaked through the coat and shirt. Indicative of Humboldt, there were as many kids as last year, when it was sunny.

heather

Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit: Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Fennel Cream Cheese Frosting

2006-04-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit: Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Fennel Cream Cheese Frosting:

I like her fennel ideas. I boiled fresh fennel shoots with honey last week as a tea to freeze for when John has a tummyache. I super-reduced some of it to create a fennel syrup, which I then added to carbonate water (www.sodaclub.com). The result was lackluster but not so bad that I didn't want to keep toying with the concept. Can't you just see a whole line of organic or wild-crafted herbal sodas? I mean, if Lemon-Basil is an excellent gelato flavor (which it is, right up there with pink grapefruit/vodka/peppercorn as Dolce y Fredo in Houston), why wouldn't Rose Geranium/Splenda/lemon also be a good soda type?

hez

Barbie Tray

2006-04-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished the in box. The grouting was unnecessary. I felt it important to do something where the glass pieces met, especially on corners because it’s so sharp. I first tried using hot glue, with or without glitter over the top. It was tough to adhere glitter fast enough, tough to get an even stream of glue but it was impossible to keep from picking the stuff off. Too much fun! White glue was the next answer. I put a stream of white glue on corners and put hot pink iridescent glitter over it. The final, successful, stage three: Glitter Glue! Anyway, I’ll post a picture soon but the end result is an in-box suitable for Barbie. Or Greta and Elia.

Heather

Soda Club

2006-04-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Those that know me are aware of my gallon-a-day diet cola habit. I found an online source to make my own “homebrew,” www.sodaclub.com. You can buy CO2 cartridges and soda syrups with free delivery. It has halved my per-liter cost to about $.42/liter. Plus, Soda Club will give a 10% discount to you and a 10% donation to Trinidad School if you use the passcode “Trinidad.”

Merybus Adventure - VW Westie Across USA

2006-04-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

This is Mom's blog. I have done a remarkable job of not saying "I told you so" with regards to the cost of operating the Westie. It is cute though. It ought to be - at a cost of $80/night of use.

bonsers.blogspot.com

short hair

2006-04-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Since I was in DC for a week for the National Association of Community Health Centers conference I haven’t had much chance to make stuff. I did buy a paint by numbers kit at the National Gallery of Art on one of the days. I ordered room service and did a Kandinsky interpretation. After reading Nickel and Dimed I made sure to clean up after myself so I wouldn’t be making the maids work any harder than they already have to do. My flight was delayed an extra day because US Airways delivers poor customer service (as opposed to United, to whom I am still loyal), so I got home a day later than expected. Greta was home sick for the first time that Wednesday and John kept Elia home too. Since we were all home I took the girls to get their first haircuts.

In Box

2006-03-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny afternoon and John was home. It seems I spend more time cleaning my studio than actually working in it, because so much dirt and dust get in through the garage doors. He showed me how to use his Rotozip tool and I’m intrigued by the possibilities. It’s a like a jigsaw/dremel.

For Christmas Santa brought Elia a long wall mirror which I promptly broke. I had to replace it but it only cost me $13. But then I had a 14”x48” broken mirror in my shop cluttering up the place. I broke out my stained glass tools and cut up mirror to glue to a cheap wood tray.

After the special School board meeting tonight, and after I put the girls to bed, I intend to grout the tray. (The road to hell is paved with good intentions.) When that’s dry, I’ll wash it all off and glue micro glitter (www.artglitter.com) to cover all the grout lines. Not that grout’s bad, but that glitter’s better. I’ve tried, in the past, to mix glitter in with grout but it doesn’t work very well because the grout hazes the glitter so it doesn’t shine. I might try to sprinkle glitter on as the grout dries. The last step will be to seal the grout.

Ingredients required:

Mirror

Tray

Glass cutter

Pens for marking glass to cut it to shape

White glue

Wood cutting mat

Safety goggles!

Grout

Glitter

Sealer

Beaded Sconce

2006-03-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

I bought $8 worth of misc. glass beads at Michael's in a kit. I don't tend to buy beads at the myriad bead shops because they refuse to sell kits and make me pick out beads individually. I'm not into that. The girls and I strung beads on a thin wire, then hot glued it in a spiral around the outside of a jelly jar-style sconce I bought for $5 at Fred Meyer's. I also made one in blues that's very pretty.

I enjoyed the process of beading wire that I gave my Board Xmas 04 gifts of beads and wire so they could do a project during a meeting, too. I always find that if I keep my hands busy I pay better attention to presentors. With just a pen in hand I take notes and make to-do lists rather than pay attention. The perfect project for a 1.5 breakout learning session at a national conference is a crocheted baby hat. $.75 of thrift store yarn, a hook and spiraling single or double crochets and you're got a good start.

I'm working from home today and it's very refreshing and productive. John's home too. He's going to paint a room across the street this afternoon and changed the swing direction of a door downstairs this morning. We plan on going to HealthSport this afternoon for Pixie's Hatha yoga class. With Kids Corner open, we've got babysitting for GretaandElia and a much-needed yogadate for Mommy and Daddy. John picked the girls up yesterday and I got to work late and go to Groove Yoga and come home with a nice yoga buzz.

Tin Cans

2006-03-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

I have a ton of tin cans around the house because Bluedog’s 8 years old now and prefers canned dog food. We put the can in the dishwasher, when empty. Elia empties the dishwasher (after a great deal of nagging) and has chosen to remove the label from all cans citing that cans should be saved for projects. Our can stash is now huge – and saved for projects – so I have to come up with projects to do with GretaandElia that involve cans. At Xmas gifts we glued alphabet letters to cans, spray painted them gold and then painted over that with purple or blue paints. But there’s a limit to how many pencil holders one family needs, and I don’t care for luminaries because I’m justifiably afraid of open flames in my home, so we need to come up with more ideas. I did a google and came up with several ideas I want to try:

Tin Can Flowers: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_metal_wire/article/0,1789,HGTV_3257_4021144,00.html

The Fine Art of the Tin Can: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579906796/002-0880295-8085615?v=glance&n=283155

Sculptures and jewelry: http://www.annabuilt.com/. She also does cool stained glass. I have stained glass tools (thanks JB! That was the best birthday and valentines gifts ever – you’re still coasting on those ones!) but decline to do too much of it because GretaandElia would start playing with glass shards and pokeaneyeout.

Embossed Cabinet

2006-03-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

What's better than thrift store finds? Those from the streetcorner! I was driving to Lala's house last autumn and found an '80's Southwest pickled oak style record cabinet exactly like what I'd been trolling thrift stores for. Free! I put it in the back of the Corolla Wagon and took it home. Many hours of sanding later I was ready to stain the thing. I used some Pthylo Green and Prussian Blue watercolors, mixed with water, and washed the outside of the cabinet until I was satisfied with the color. After drying, I took my embossing pen (filled with the ink that people could also use for rubber stamping) and free-handed a school of fish on the side, then shook embossing powder onto it and heat-set per instructions. You couldn't do this on a painted cabinet because the heat gun would blister the paint. I clear-coated x3 with an oil varnish and voila!

Ipod Cozy

2006-03-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here the Ipod cozy I mentioned yesterday. The girls and I made the felt from $3 of pink roving and $3 of purple roving. Felt's not tough to make - I layered roving on top of my sushi roller, topped it with screening, and swooshed it around at the bottom of the bathtub filled with hot, soapy water. (I normally don't use dish soap in the tub after the cute, but messy experiment pictured here). This process is called felting. After that, I rolled the felt into toweling and "fulled" it. I'd go online to get better instructures. I don't feel inclined to make more felt because there's not much I do with it - too itchy for clothing. Attracts too much Bluedog hair for home decorating.

The cozy is made of layers sandwiched together, forming a windowed pocket for the ipod, and a pocket for earphones. Felt won't unravel so you can cut holes for plugs. A ribbon's there to hold it around your neck. I used plastic for windows because the cozy frayed and wasn't strong enough to hold the ipod in securely.

Drop Cloth Slipcovers

2006-03-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Other than a coffee and end tables my father made for me and my $80 Kmart dining table, all my furniture is hand-me-downs. John wisely advises that we not purchase anything until the kids are grown because they’d just ruin anything nice. My 1930’s sofa has a lovely shape and is very comfortable but the upholstery is thrashed and it’d cost too much to have it professionally redone, I’d have to commit to an expensive fabric choice. My old slipcover (a gorgeous blue and orange batik, pictured in the background) had a small rip with Elia exacerbated. So I had to make a new one. For my birthday I finished paying for my new Husquevarna $500 machine and as its first project I stitched up a new slipcover out of $33 worth of painting dropcloths, which I scotchguarded. Best fabric purchase ever! It works out to about $3/yard for 60 inch 10oz canvas. The same fabric is $4-5/yd at http://www.dharmatrading.com/ so I highly recommend stopping by your local paint store. Greta used the scraps to make Barbie sleeping bags.

The power went out before I got a chance to hem the sucker. And the same darn thing happened the next weekend. Hemming’s on my to-do list now. Someday…Nevertheless, the new slipcover really perks up the living room. Might I dare say chic.

Speaking of…

What do you call a fashionable man in the casbah? Chic (sheik, get it?). More of
an audio joke. But a dumb one, just the way I like ‘em.

Heather

Band Aids

2006-03-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Greta's six and Elia's 4. The picture's from Seattle face painting. The challenge now is to keep them from painting their face continually. I made the mistake of purchasing Dr. Doodle band aids at one point because I thought they'd be cool. Instead it's just small squares or circle bandaids with a marker and a book of ideas of drawing. And the drawing's not for the bandaid - noooo, kids are encouraged to draw on their skin. And then they remove the bandaid within 20 minutes and are left with a stencil of antennae on their knee. I'll stick with classic Band Aids - the glow in the dark kind.

Welcome

2006-03-14T16:29:00.000-08:00

JB gave me an Ipod for my birthday and I downloaded www.craftychica.com podcasts. I'm now so inspired to kick into high gear on makin' stuff. Having a GretaandElia can be prohibitive to getting crafts accomplished (nevermind yoga) but where there's a will, there's a way. I'll try and put a photo up of the felt ipod cozy I made, or at least the second iteration of it. I found that the self-made felt was too unstable to hold up to tossing around, so I had to line it with some see-thru plastic.