Happy Birthday To Me!

Yikes...today I am 27. I feel good about it. I swear I was just 23 and meeting some cute blonde guy named Ben...where did the time go?

I Conquered My Fear of Zippers!

I've had this cute little pouch all cut out and laying on my desk for almost a month. I used this great tutorial on Skip to my Lou, and it seemed simple enough...until I got to the assembling and sewing. I'm a novice sewer and the thought of using a zipper was terrifying me! Thankfully, the directions and photos were very clear and once I thought through my spatial challenges with the second side, it worked out great!

I can't wait to whip up a bunch more of these for friends. You can probably make at least two of these from two fat quarters (one fat quarter for lining, one for outside) and the zippers are cheap!

4D Experience

We had a great time in Chicago this past weekend...we squeezed in a lot of fun! Renegade Craft Fair was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you ever have a chance, please go to one of these events. All of those cool crafty ladies and gents you read about are there, selling their handmade and lovingly crafted wares. Miles and miles of booths lined the street (ok, a few blocks). There were so many awesome things, it was a very good thing Ben and I decided on a 'souvenir' budget for our weekend before we got there. It was also a very good thing Ben did not leave me unattended with our trip money.

I was so blinded by everything around me I forgot to take many photos, but here's a view of the street. Miles of tents I tell you.

We also hit up the Shedd Aquarium, a nifty little record store, TJ Maxx for some new shoes for me-ha, Park Grill for a romantic dinner, and Wishbone for breakfast. Yum.

Oh, and the U2 concert, which was our main reason for going. It was great. I was blown away by how close we were to the stage. Bono's buns were very close to our heads and he looked right at meeee when he was on his little walkway.

Can't wait to go back. Oh, and here I am with my 4D Experience glasses. You know you want some.

Easy CD Covers

Last night we celebrated my dad's birthday (57 for those who are counting). We gifted him with an Ipod Nano. Ben carefully curated a collection of tunes he thought my dad might enjoy and burned them onto three CDs. I didn't want to give him boring jewel cases, so I quickly crafted up some sleeves out of scrapbook paper.

The scrapbook paper is usually 12" x 12" so it's really not a lot of cutting. I try to make each cover about 5" x 5".

First, cut two inches off one side of the scrapbook paper. Next, trim two inches off the now shorter side. You should now have a square of 10" x 10" paper. Trim it in half, and fold each piece in half. I like to fasten two edges with stickers, but you could also use tape along the outside. I would avoid using a glue stick or tape on the inside, as it may gunk up the edge of your CD. Finally, I like to use a craft punch to put a small cut out on the open edge of the sleeve. Voila! A totaly customizable CD sleeve. You could jazz it up with your own photos, print the playlist on the back, etc.

I originally saw this idea on Marta's blog, M.Writes. She has so many wonderful ideas and the cutest little boy.

Yes I Can!

So, you know sometimes life gets all complicated and you are separated from the things you enjoy because you have to focus on keeping everything else going? Yeah, that's been my life for the past month and a half. With work stress, other stress, and a general blah-ness surrounding me, I've been neglecting this little blog.

Don't fret too much, because yesterday as I was showering (where I think up some of my greatest ideas) I realized that I CAN do all of these things that I want to do and I need to stop making excuses about it. I've had such a little cloud over my head that I forgot that the sun is still out there! Sometimes I let myself feel so defeated by things I can't control that I forget how much I can control (in a good way...maybe control isn't the right word).

Anyway, this lil' blogger is back. It is my favorite season after all, and a change in seasons is just what I needed to pull myself outta this funk.

Rock Solid

Photo by David Lebovitz

A few weeks ago, I decided to make homemade ice cream for a belated Father's Day celebration with my family. I carefully cooked up a huge batch of custard and tried not to think about all the damage I would inflict on my loved ones' arteries. The recipe I followed used ten (10!) egg yolks! I even sought out a good deal on precious vanilla beans at Costco and dragged Ben out to purchase them (I'm not allowed to go to Costco by myself lest I come home with ten lbs of exotic something or other that was such a good deal but doesn't fit in our humble abode).

I dutifully chilled the mixture the next day and prepared my parents ice cream maker I had stealthily snagged from their basement a few days before. I layered my rock salt and ice and plugged it in. I expected to hear the metallic whine of the motor...instead I only heard the ice collapsing as it melted. Major bummer.

Luckily, I had a solution. When I was younger, I was lucky to have a Barbie Ice Cream Shoppe play set. As if I didn't enjoy mixing up potions enough, now I had the ability to mix things up and EAT THEM, no oven required. My favorite thing to do with unsuspecting babysitters was make ice cream with all sorts of ingredients...sprinkles, food coloring, the works. The set had a freezer tub that froze the ice cream as you turned the paddle. I reasoned this same method could work on my parents defunct contraption. It took some patience, but after about half an hour, I had soft ice cream! I put it in the freezer to harden the rest of the way. It was amaaaaaazing. I let my parents keep the leftovers after our meal, but last week when I went to help paint, I took it out of the freezer and brought it home...very yummy.

I couldn't stop thinking about all of the flavors I wanted to try to make so early this week, I did some ebay browsing and bidding, and am now the proud owner of my very own ice cream maker.

PS: If you're interested in making ice cream, David Lebovitz has the most amazing recipes ever. See more here.

Blooms

A few shots of things in bloom around the house.

Jalapeno pepper flower

Coleus

Good ol' banana plant

Slightly out of focus impatiens

This is about day four or five of this dahlia's bloom. Almost through, but there are two more buds ready to burst.

Vintage Travel Posters

Look at this wonderful vintage travel poster from ebay seller The Distant Future. Doesn't it make you want to book a flight to Paris immediately? Le sigh...

I think it would be lovely in a nursery. (Not an announcement)

So many activities...

Whoops, so much for that near daily posting I was going for. I had a little flexible time last week so I spent my days at helping my mom get organized and working with another attorney. I really enjoy going through other peoples 'stuff' and helping them make the most of their work space. It was good to spend time with my mom doing our summer things we used to do every summer...make sun tea, eat mermaid salad from Marsh, and plot how to re-arrange the furniture.

What I did not do last week was any of the things I thought I would have time for...starting aprons for my friends, figuring out what recipes to use for my State Fair entries, working out how to reload my Adobe software on my computer, finish organizing my craft room, or exercise. Since we returned from vacation over a month ago, I'd been having more energy to get little projects done, but last week I hit a bit of a wall. It's so easy to come home after work and laze about with a good book or my favorite blogs on the couch.

Today marks the first day of the second half of the year, and I'm going to make some mid-year resolutions. I'm posting them to make myself somewhat accountable for my pledges, and I'll check in on December 31st to see how I've done. Here we go:

1. Work on sewing projects three times a week.
2. Learn to make healthier dinner meals for us.
3. Pay off all "little" consumer debts by end of the year.
4. Get to the gym at least 4xweek for cardio and include weight training at least 3x week.
5. Become involved with one organization this fall to meet new people.

Holy DIY Wedding!

Everyone knows I love Martha Stewart. I don't really mind that she was in jail, because it was in the town where my grandmother grew up (Alderson, W.Va) and brought them a little bit of attention and an economic boost. I've had the Martha Stewart Housekeeping Handbook checked out from the library for over a year (shhhh....).

Anyway, Laura Normandin used to work for MS as a craft editor, so you know her wedding is going to be amazing, right? I've been following Laura around on some blogs and I'm consistently in awe of her work. The craftsmanship is beautiful! We did a lot on our own for our wedding, but she and her now husband Ben did almost everything themselves for their Prospect Park wedding.

I love the colors of the wedding, the same ones you'd find in a garden in full bloom. The bright green is so refreshing paired with the vivid poppy tones. You can check out the full slideshow from MS Weddings right here.

All images from Martha Stewart Weddings

Growth Spurt

Most of the dahlias look pretty healthy, I'm not sure if the containers I'm using are large enough. I still have plenty of pepper and basil plants to give away, I have too many pots to water!
My plants I started back in March are really taking off! The tomatoes have bloomed and some baby tomatoes have started peeking out. The plants are huge and I'm reluctant to prune them. This year is an experiment, and I don't want to mess them up too much yet.

The impatiens have a lot of greenery but no buds yet. Both columbine plants have buds, one has bloomed and is a beautiful purpley blue. The few coleus plants that survived look pretty good, I'm not sure how large they will end up getting. They had the worst time in the seed growing trays, being crowded out by the larger plants and getting moldy.

Nearly the Weekend

Well, so much for that daily posting goal. I'm back on the Facebook train and it's been distracting from my posting...or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Summer is one of my favorite times of the year in Indianapolis because of all the festivals. Up for attendance this weekend is the Italian Street Festival, Talbot Street Art Fair, INDIEpendent Craft & Music Festival...I think I'm going to try for all of those on Saturday.

Tonight we're headed to the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the European Design exhibit and a picnic. I hope you all have wonderful weekends!

Rainy Day

This song always pops into my head whenver it rains. Today is the kind of day you want to spend curled up with a good book and a cup of tea. My craft room looked so cozy and inviting this morning when I was ironing before work. It was hard to leave, but at least I have my craft club tonight!

Starting Anew

This past week, I had a creepy email from Facebook telling me my email address had been verified by another person...aka...my account was hacked. I haven't had access since. I feel disconnected from my friends lives, but I also miss being able to share what is going on in my life. I've had this blog for awhile now, but haven't yet gotten around to actually keeping it up. I think this will by my starting point.

The most recent exciting event in my life was returning from a rain soaked trip to Florida and Georgia. Although we didn't have much sunshine time at the beach, we thoroughly enjoyed traipsing around Savannah. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip. I would love to go back and explore more corners of the city. Even though it isn't a very large area, there are many cute boutiques and antique shops that are begging to be perused. It would make an excellent destination for a girls' weekend.


A lovely shot of the iron work on so many houses in Savannah.

The fountain in Forsyth Park.


This home had a wonderful front garden with lush plants.

A shot of Ben bringing my rain jacket after a sunny morning.

I hope to update daily with photos since I have a new camera (yay!). Summer is upon us and this is one of my favorite times of the year for being out and about around Indianapolis.