Making My Morning Better

On my way to the El most mornings, I see a car whose license plate brightens my day, so I thought I'd share it with you:

And here are the fabulous cupcakes that I decorated for our Halloween party. I think my favorite is the scared little looking cupcake near the middle of the bunch.
Finally, here are some of the pumpkins carved at the party. Mine is the one on the left. And it is totally coincidental that there are two pirate themed pumpkins - we were keeping our designs secret from each other until we had finished carving. Could it be that we were subconsciously influenced by someone's recent move to Tortola, an island once inhabited by pirates???

Things Made and Eaten

One of these things is not like the other, meaning that I made all of them, but one never got eaten. Okay, I didn't exactly "make' the apple either, but I picked it. That's right..I went apple picking for the first time ever this past weekend. It was splendid, and the weather was perfect...I don't think I've had this enjoyable of a day in months! Look how pristine that apple is!
This is the baby swing seat that I made on commission - I got the check for it in the mail the other day and I am still super psyched about the whole experience. Speaking of selling things, I brought a bunch of the scarves I'd been working on to Wolfbait& B Girls last week, and they have them in their front window! Woo Hoo! Now get in there and buy them! Or contact me directly!

And here are the two things I actually did make and eat...this was a sweet cherry bread, perfectly crisp and delicious when warm...mmmmmm!!!
And this is salsa made from tomatoes straight from our own garden!!Get ready for a Halloween party post soon!!! I just finished frosting some sweet looking cupcakes (including a pirate pumpkin)!!!

Loving Everything Equally

I am enamored with the emails I get from storypeople every day. They are usually a little bright spot in my inbox. I really loved the story open heart the other day, and it turns out my sister did too, so I think I need to share it:

He told me one time he forgot himself & his heart
opened up like a door with a loose latch & he tried
for days to put it all back in proper order but finally
he gave up & left it all jumbled up there in a pile
& loved everything equally.

[Here is a picture of a heart, just for show...] [via metrohealth]
[and here is a picture of a heart latch, because it fits the theme of this post, and it is pretty sweet itself] [via Van Dyke's Restorers]

Anti. (And Quilts)

But not anti-quilt.

I have been feeling extremely anti-consumer lately. My motto as of late has become "simplify." I saw this picture, and I just had to post it. There were rumors that Banksy was behind it, which is doubtful. But I do still love both Banksy and the billboard.
Picture by sepultura [via the girl in the green dress]That being said, I will now show a quilt I completed for my friend Amy in New York earlier this year. When I asked her for some inspiration, she said she wanted primary colors, so primary colors she got - I aim to please.
More quilt posts coming soon!

Color Hues

I just discovered this test that was blogged about at Lloydandlauren.com and it is simply amazing! You can test your color IQ by arranging various color tiles by hue. A score closer to zero is the best. (My score was 11 for those of you wondering.) This picture is what the non-online version of the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test looks like...pretty sweet, eh?

I have also been working on my first commissioned project, which I delivered yesterday. It was basically reupholstering a baby swing seat. I must say that the seat looks super chic now. :-) Pictures to follow.

And We're Back

There were massive computer problems, and breakups to endure, but I have returned. Triumphant. I recently completed several projects! First, this chair was rescued from an alley by my friend Michael. It had sat in my room for many months, missing its seat, and being ridiculed as "the toilet" by my roommate. And oh, how it did look like a toilet. My landlord was able to cut me a new seat, and I cushioned and covered it the other weekend. Here is the result.
Other new and exciting things:
I am currently rocking to the band State Radio. I love the song Keepsake, which was featured in the season finale of the third season of Weeds. I also like the fact that the lead singer of State Radio used to sing for another favorite band, the now-defunct Dispatch. You can find out about Weeds and listen to State Radio's Keepsake here. Weeds has featured great music pretty consistently, so listen to some other great stuff there as well.

I went to Red Bull Flugtag when it was in Chicago the other weekend. It was pretty fricking sweet, and I have been inspired to start a team to create a crazy flying machine of our own for a future year. I encourage you to go see Flugtag when it comes to a city near you. And get there early - I cannot emphasize that part enough!

I went to the Renegade Craft Fair yesterday. Although it rained (read: poured), and is still scheduled to pour for the second day of the fair today, there were some pretty awesome crafts to be seen and scored. Here are my two finds:
I scored the tee from Red Paper Record. I love it! I also love the little notepad business cards, rather than the traditional card! I got the bee necklace from Erica Weiner Jewelery, and they were even nice enough th remove a few links from the chain while I waited!

Last but not least, the rainy outdoor events of yesterday (including a hole in my rain boots) prompted me to order these cute Wellingtons from Emilyhannah Ltd! They are currently having a 30% off sale, so check them out! I can't wait to have dry and stylish feet once again!

A Little Preview

Here is a little preview of what I have been working on lately:
(hint: think winter - yikes!)