a few weeks ago someone asked me for earrings and i had to turn them away because i didn't know how to make earrings or where to get them! it kinda ate at me for a while SO i took a shot at it :)

a few weeks ago someone asked me for earrings and i had to turn them away because i didn't know how to make earrings or where to get them! it kinda ate at me for a while SO i took a shot at it :)

I have literally dozens of ounces of hand spun yarn, some of it I've dyed in a variety of different colors. I'm moving across the country to attend graduate school, and need to get rid of it. It's very nice yarn too! Where could I possibly sell it online?

I can post pictures, if anyone is interested : ).

They are taking over.


the new guy hangs out with the Bests.

( Read more... )

It's been a fun weekend with a good balance of social events and hanging out at home.

Thursday: art openings and Linda's BBQ with Erica and Clayton
Friday: Grass Hut BBQ and art show and fireworks by the waterfront
Saturday: Domestic things-laundry, brownies, dishes plus baby registry and a big nap
Sunday: Katherine's ice cream brunch and puttering around the house

I have a busy week ahead!
: midwife appointment
: dentist appointment
: teaching class at DIY Lounge
: our first childbirth class
: store appointment for jewelry
: prenatal yoga
: bead faire
: antique expo!!
: Crafty Wonderland
and on top of all of that...work!

My sons day care has just started to offer formula. My little guy has always been on Enfamil, and they are using Nestle. What are the differences? Will it hurt him at all to switch?


Also if I do stay with enfamil. What exactly is the Next Step... is it necessary to switch him to that around 9 months?

If it matters he does half breast milk and half formula...

EDIT... I guess I'm more concerned with which formula is better for him?

I just posted this on my personal journal, and it seemed like something folks here might be interested in, as dehydrators come up on a semi-regular basis.

Every camping trip we take lately, I've been dehydrating more and more things. I bought the dehydrator a few years ago, thinking I would use it for the apples from my tree, and also to make jerky for Reid. I knew that he liked beef jerky, but didn't take it camping because it was expensive, so I figured for his birthday I would make him some jerky. I'd had it once, when I was a kid, and hated it, but I thought I should get some so I knew what the end result was supposed to be like. The stuff I got was good organic jerky, and it was better than I remembered, but not something I was very interested in eating. Oh, well, Reid seems to like the stuff. So, I researched some recipes, and made some jerky! I tasted it when it was done, and oh, boy. It turns out that I like jerky! This stuff was flavorful and salty and delicious. Now I make tons of it for every trip - I end up eating more meat on camping trips than I do at home as a result.

A few weeks ago Reid got a fancy new kitchen scale, and I've always wondered how much weight I save by drying things. So this time I decided to do before and after weights, and take photos as well.

Here's the result on flickr

The upshot -
2.5 lbs of rump roast yielded 13 ounces of jerky.
The meat was 3.99/lb for nice grass-fed organic and I estimate that I used about $2 worth of ingredients for the marinade, so that comes out to about $10/lb. Commercial jerky seems to be going for about $25/lb.

1 pound of frozen veggies yielded 3.5 ounces of dried veggies. Not good for snacking like the freeze-dried Just Veggies, but great rehydrated. We'll put some in the spaghetti and some in rice and beans.

1 pound of ground beef yielded 3 ounces dried. Good rehydrated in pasta sauce.

2 jars of pasta sauce, about 4 pounds, yielded 7 ounces of tomato leather, which will be rehydrated with the ground beef and some of the veggies. It's also yummy to snack on. I think this is not a weight win, because you can buy seasoning packets to put on your pasta, but this is a lot tastier.

A few other things I dried but didn't document or weigh:
mushrooms from Reid's kit (for the spaghetti sauce)
an onion (for breakfast burritos)
some more pasta sauce (for snacking)

We are starting to get in the habit of a bedtime routine. On nights we do a bath (usually every other night) our routine is about an hour. On non-bath nights it is much shorter.

I am wondering your routines and suggestions to fill the extra time on non-bath nights. She seems to get to fussy at her regular bedtime but without the bath, she is not quite ready for sleep.

**Also, I have not yet figured out how to give her a bath without getting in which is why we do every other night right now**

So over at egl sales community there have been many people selling little cupcake jewelry and pastel sweets and such...but nothing gothic persay. But in truth, what everyone was making could be turned gothic by just changing the colour scheme around and adding more gothic elements to the jewelry. Low and behold, dark sweets!




Comments and criticisms appreciated ^_^ any suggestions also for what I should make next would be nice as well.

is there any possible reason I can't dye a 100% wool hat with RIT dye? the wool is undyed, if that makes a difference.

I Just completed my first clothing sewing "project."  I think it looks decent, but it could stand for some improvement.
This billows at my back too much (elasic waist) and gets rumpled over my butt. Im also afraid i look pregnant-ish (maybe i should stand up straight).



I think the front looks really wide- I could take in the sides a bit, but the I am afraid it will just get more rumpled over my back area.  I also modified the pattern to make gathered sleeves- otherwise it just looked like a bad kimono.  perhaps also i should take out some fabric over the shoulder area?

any sewers with ideas?

I have also made in the past: a pajama top and bottom set and several bags.  I have some great silk fabric I want to make a nice shirt out of, but I'm waiting until my skills are up to par!

so i definitely looked through the memories, but every entry on thin hair is years old, and i was hoping people have had more experience and more recommendations now.

my mom, dad, and brother have very very thin hair, which of course, leaves me having really thin hair as well.
my mom has cancer and is now losing her hair. my dad already lost his hair in his early twenties. and my brother is now losing his hair, as he's in the early twenties too.

so i am tremendously desperate for help!!

my scalp likes to make an appearance sometimes between hair being pulled back and bangs that fall into my face.
oh, and my hair is curly towards the bottom, but the top is very flat.

recommendations?

also, forgot to mention this, but i am a vegetarian and am constantly eating dark greens.

I want to make myself a blanket it will be done with block repeated nine times with different colours. Those colours will be formed like this:

Red Black Green
Yellow Grey Purple
Blue White Orange


So far I have two patterns. One was a star and moon pattern created by using knit an purl stitches.
I've done the first square and I don't like it at all.
The next has a diamond in the middle in seed stitch. Around it is what looks like ribbing (four rows stocking stitch, four rows reverse) with a cable on either side.
I used this pattern for my mother's friend's baby and though I like it, I'm not sure if I want to do it for myself or find something new.


Does anyone here have any blanket patterns that are created with a repeated square?

Hi.

My name is Laura Kuenzli, owner of Thee Basket Boo-tique and Rivet. I am one of the volunteers helping with Craftin' Outlaws this year. "What is Craftin' Outlaws?", you ask. It is an alternative craft fair which is celebrating it's fourth successful year on August 16. With each previous year, the attendance has doubled and the interest has grown and we expect this year to be no different. Last year's event saw over 2000 attendees.

We are putting together canvas tote goodie bags to be handed out to 100 people in attendance. I'd like to gather an assortment of items/samples to include in these goodie bags from businesses and artisans. This would be a way for your business and creations to be noticed by those in another area and possibly gain yourself a new customer in the process. 

I'd like to ask you if you would like to take part in this year's Craftin' Outlaw Goodie Bag? If so, we'd like to ask you to send items/samples to us in plenty of time for us to put together the arrangements. The deadline to have items to me would be Monday, August 4th. The maximum number of items/samples would be 100, but if you'd like to submit less that that amount that would be fine. Examples of items/samples-soap, pendant, magnet, hair accessory, etc. We'd like to keep it from being just a bag of fliers and cards.

Also
Craftin' Outlaws will once again be giving a charitable donation to http://www.rwandaknits.org/. We will have games which will allow donations to be made and a prize to be won almost every time, so everyone is a winner in the end. :)

Rwanda Knits is another extension to the crafting community and is a great chance to help. Your creation donations helps money to be raised and donated to assist with supplying these women with machines as well as technical and business training.

If you'd like to donate one of your items to be used as a prize for these games, we'd love it. We'd like to have items in all price ranges between $1-$30 (more is not expected but greatly appreciated). If you are a crafter or business wanting to take part, please contact me at: craftinoutlaws@gmail.com with any questions and additional details.

If you decide to send an item, you may also include some business cards to be distributed in some of the goodie bags. Deadline to receive item donations will be August 1st. 

Samples/donation items would be mailed to:
Rivet
attn. Laura Kuenzli, C.O.
1200 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43201

If you'd like to participate in either of these offerings, please respond with any additional questions you may have and I will reply at my earliest convenience. Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
Laura Kuenzli
craftinoutlaws@gmail.com

http://www.craftinoutlaws.com

I was wondering if there was a way to buy organic produce (fruits, vegetables, etc) online so you can have them through out the year?

I live and am going to school in a climate that's mostly cold through out a portion of the year and I would like to stay organic through out the year too. I will attend farmer's markets during the appropriate seasons, but how can we get by through the fall and winter?

Please forward me any links and advice.
TIA!

Recent research for some writing I'm doing has got me thinking about Victorian spiritualism, both earnest and bunk. These were fun to make. Click through to my Etsy store for a closer look.


(1) Vampire Hunter's Monocle. My first foray into doing my own woodwork. I carved the little stake from a scrap of cedar from the Spousal Unit's shop and stained it with walnut-finish oil. In addition to the stake, there's a cross for protection. The monocle has a tiny pinhole aperture in the middle for safe viewing of the undead.



(2) Clairvoyant's monocle. The monocle has a very strong prescription (unmarked, but I suspect it's about -4.00) which makes faraway things appear very close and very clear, much as someone with "the gift" might see things invisible to the rest of us. There's a wooded skeleton key to open the doors of perception, a cross to ward off evil, and a pink crystal for clarity and to concentrate the divine feminine.




(3) Two pairs of gearrings with Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, and dragonflies. No spiritual meaning here, just pretty.

Now...as some of you know...I so don't get along with my in-laws very well. Some days are good, some days are bad.

I 100% do not get along with my brother-in-law or his girlfriend....

Last week my mil and fil kept my 3 year old son and his 3 1/2 year old cousin over night. The following day the husband and I stopped in to check on Xander before we left on our mini road trip.

We left when the in-laws were getting ready to take the kids out for lunch. When I saw my mil open one of the back doors to put my niece in the car...I noticed no car seat..only one of those backless booster seats.

My niece is roughly 42 inches tall...and weighs maybe 35 pounds, if that. She's a bean pole.

I know that she is no where ready for a backless booster seat, but I really don't know how to approach the situation. Before they left, I told the husband to bring it up and their response is, that's what my bil and his girlfriend gave them to use, so that's what they are going to use.

I think she fits the weight requirements, but holy hell. I'd like my niece to not die in a car crash because of their ignorance.

So...how should I bring this up? I would feel incredibly terrible if something happened and I didn't try to do something about it.

Hi guys, I'm new here. For about a weeks I've been making my own shampoo and I haven't been pleased with the results. I was wondering if anybody could please help!

The first recipe I used was for 1/3 cup water, 2/3 cup Dr. Bronner's, and 18 drops rosemary essential oil. This left my hair feeling extremely "stripped" and strawlike. Some of my friends said I needed to rejigger my recipe to dilute the Dr. Bronner's and follow with a vinegar rinse.

So my second recipe was for 1/2 cup Dr. Bronner's, 1 cup water, 18 drops rosemary essential oil, and 1/4 tsp of olive oil. I used this today, and after I'd washed I sprayed my hair with white vinegar diluted in water (about 1 part vinegar per 3 parts water).

While the vinegar was on my hair it felt nice and slippery but after I rinsed it out: same problem, stripped. My hair feels like straw and now I smell like sauerkraut, to boot.


My questions are this:

• I am using Dr. Bronner's HEMP castile soap--should I be using a different kind?
• Should I be using apple cider vinegar instead of plain old white vinegar? Is there a difference?
• I've heard that baking soda adds softness--is there any way I can work this into my recipe?
• Can anyone offer other recipes that have worked for you? If it helps my hair is about shoulder length, not very thick, a dark brown, almost black, oily at the scalp, dry at the roots, and naturally very very curly.
  

I've also heard that when you start using all-natural shampoos there is an adjustment or detox time, during which your hair learns to live without the harsh chemicals you've been putting on it. Could this be the problem?

Thanks! Love this community!

Given the last post about the number of "selling" related posts, I thought I'd try to start some discussion and get help in the process.

I feel like this is a really dumb question, but almost everytime I walk into a fabric store I feel incredibly overwhelmed and don't know where to start and end up walking out with nothing. (It should go without saying that I'm new at sewing, I took one class and have a couple books but nothing really explains in any depth how to pick out fabric.)

I have basically been told to stick to cotton. But I find in a lot of stores, the patterns are boring or simply NOT very hip. Plus, there are so many other kinds of fabric out there that look good or interesting! Plus, in many less-organized stores it's really just piled up to the ceilings and they aren't labeled well (or at all) and salespeople may or may not be helpful so I don't even know if it's cotton or some kind of blend or something else entirely? I think part of my frustration is that some days I have trouble "seeing" how the fabrics will work with my project or work with each other. (Some days I'm certainly more successful).

Soooo, my questions:
Does anyone have any good tips related to purchasing fabric?
Anyone have the same issues?
What kinds of non-cotton fabrics are easier to work with (especially for a newbie!)?
Favourite kinds of fabric to work with?
Any Canadian websites that sell hip fabric? (So I don't get nailed on shipping and duty fees)


Also - on the off chance anyone from Montreal is reading this, I'm interested in hearing about where you buy hip fabric without going broke! Also, if anyone knows of any English sewing classes/sewing groups/sewing drop-in "things"?