More Modern Crafted Necklacs

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Just two more contemporary craft necklaces that would be totally doable for the average hip crafter :) These are by Jenny of Wikstenmade and etsy/LaViejaTunTun.

There's also a how-to for Jenny's felt ball necklace on the Lucky Magazine blog.

Success: Peanut Butter BACON Cookies

Thursday, February 25, 2010

'Woke up to the scent of peanut butter and grease. The rather undesirable morning aroma betrayed the actual tastiness of Joy the Baker's Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies. Although, to be honest, I probably prefer straight up peanut butter cookies to this variation, and I will likely never make peanut butter bacon cookies again (unless for a porcine-loving friend).

Umbra Wallflower Wall Decor, Take 2

Monday, February 22, 2010

Awhile back I posted a photo of my spray painted yellow/orange Umbra Wall flower Wall decor on my refrigerator. I took a spare set of the lime green plastic flowers, sanded them a bit, then put several coats of off-white latex wall paint on them. With some metal tacks, they stick to the wall and their matching color makes them rather subtle and unassuming.

Or, unassuming when accompanied by a wall full of the craziness that is my living room. So long as they don't move around much, or fall, the paint won't chip. (The chipping is more a problem with the refrigerator flowers, as they tend to get knocked off frequently).

Tech Tip: Google Analytics

Saturday, February 20, 2010

I use Google Analytics in a shallow form, mostly to find out that the top Google keywords to bring people to my blog involve "how to make an upholstered headboard." It has a lot of other functionalities for tracking visitors and the like and all you have to do is stick some custom code into your blogger template. There's lots of beginner guides, too.

(Oh, and it's free, too)

 

Success: Traditional Black & White Cookies

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Pssst. I have a secret: I hoard black & white cookies and sun tea in my fridge. I could live on jasmine green iced tea and Joy the Baker's black & white cookies.
I had leftover buttermilk from the Superbowl Red Velvet Black & White Cookies and ended up making the traditional recipe to use it up. They're not dark, like the red velvet cookies. But they're oh-so-delicious, just like the other recipe.

Team Dennis: Multi-purpose Friendly Face Illustrations

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

My friend has taken an illustration I did of him one step further and turned it into a screenprinted image. In the past, I've used the image as part of a Friendly Faces Pillowcases collection for another friend. But it's nice to see my work re-used.

If you're interested in hand-printing techniques, like my friend's screenprints above, I highly recommend Lena Corwin's "Printing by Hand". It contains all sorts of techniques, whether it be the screenprinting above, or linoleum block printing, or stamping.

ZOMBIES Valentine's Day Cards

Sunday, February 14, 2010

I've put up some photos with instructions from my latest Valentine Card printing process on my flickr account. Although, there's already some really good printmakng resources out there (see Jezze's fabric printing tutorials: 1, 2, and 3).

Barbie, Computer Engineer

Friday, February 12, 2010

Barbie's career for 2010 is going to be a Computer Engineer. It's not too surprising, when you leave it to an internet popular vote...and the outfit really is no girlier/offensive than the rhinestone-studded logo shirt I got from Microsoft at a Grace Hopper Conference a few years back.

"Grow a Boyfriend"

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I could not resist these "grow-a-boyfriend" toys from S.W. Randall Toys in Squirrel Hill. Especially after reading the instructions for use. It's obvious they simply replaced grow-your-own dinosaur (or alligator or whatever) with "boyfriend", but with slightly humorous results...

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE:

• Place boyfriend in room temperature water.
• Your boyfriend will begin to grow within 2 hours and reach full growth within 72 hours. He will slowly shrink to smaller size when removed from water.
• Your boyfriend can be grown over and over again.

New Pink Mittens

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Little sister wore out her old Fetching Fingerless Mitts, so I whipped up a new pair in a weekend with some modifications. I think the lengthened knuckle-coverage will be handy. This time in her favorite color!

[Edit 2/28/10: Because the first pair got redirected in the mail, I made up another pair. I ran out of pink yarn partway through, and so added the brown palms]

Sucess: Red Velvet Black & White Cookies, Take 2

Monday, February 8, 2010

What says Superbowl more than some tasty black and white cookies?
Take 2 of Joy the Baker's Red Velvet Black & White Cookies, sans red food coloring (who needs it, anyways?). They're just as tasty as the last time. The vanilla icing needs a pinch more water to be spreadable, as usual.

Pittsburgh Snow Day

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I feel like I'm still in Canada.

In Progress

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I've got a pretty cool project in the making, but in the meantime all I have is a ginormous mess.