i sorta neglected the blog for a bit and im going to try to make up for it. lately ive been sort of prepping for moving out so i guess i havent had as much time to craft. im worried that my dorm room wont be big enough to suit all my crafting needs. i have so much to think about. should i bring my gocco? how and i going to cut straight edges without my mother's nice paper cutter? will i have room for all my paper, markers, pens, x-acto knives, rub on transfers, stickers, glues, glitter, etc? im worried but excited! i also want to decorate my wall, if i have space. there are three of us living in a small room and so hopefully ill have some wall space to make my own.


ive been watching futurama a lot lately. it's very funny. in fact, will and i had to make a mad dash to barnes and noble before it closed. we made it about 2 minutes before closing and picked up season three. so bender, the robot on the show, deserved to be immortalized as a pseudo stuffed animal. he was originally a zippered pouch but the lining bothered me because zipper kept eating it up, so i cut it up and made this.


ive also been into accordion books. they're really easy and i love to cover the squares with martha stewart paper. she has so many awesome color combos.
i bought a bunch of stuff to make a scrapbook, but ive decided that ill probably never get to it. so i cut up all the photos and supplies for accordion book use. theres no use hoarding this stuff. after all, shutterfly's not going anywhere.

i've missed this blog!

today i cannot get motivated. i need to get a chest xray. but id rather stay home and make accordion books. does anyone else feel that way?

right now i am waiting for will to come over and poke me until im ready to don the lead apron and get the stupid xrays done.


he is good motivation.

smores cupcakes

Will and I made smores cupcakes and they were delicious. I got the recipe from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman. This is the only recipe i've tried from this book but it was super delicious.



graham cracker cupcakes
.5 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 cups finely crushed graham crackers
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
.75 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
.75 cup milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. mix flour, crushed graham crackers, baking powder, and salt together and set aside
3. cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. add vanilla and then alternate the flour mix with the milk. beat until smooth and then fold in the chocolate chips.
4. spoon the batter into cupcak liners and fill them about 3/4 full*
5. bake for 20-25 minutes. remove from oven and cool

marshmallow icing
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
.25 cup sugar
.75 cup corn syrup
marshmallows, crumbled graham crackers, and milk chocolate for decoration

1. beat egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. the egg whites get a lot bigger than you'd expect.
2. add sugar slowly while beating
3. gradually add corn syrup
4. beat until soft peaks form
5. drizzle the frosting onto the cupcakes
6. decorate

makes about 15 cupcakes, but i recommend doubling it. you cant have too many of these.


i decorated my cupcakes by microwaving marshmallows for about 15 seconds, placing a hot m-mallow on each cupcake, and piercing it with a graham piece. then i grated chocolate over the sticky topping.


will used crumbled graham crackers and chocolate chips and sprinkled them on his cupcakes.

we gave them out at fort reno. i think people liked them.

made this for gideon for his birthday. he liked it. i was satisfied. i didnt think c3po looked c3po enough, but yeah.






here is a rhino embroidered pencil bag that will be for my etsy shop once i set it up. until then, im selling it for 23$ if anyone is interested. it's hand embroidered and hand-sewn. the embroidery is from an original drawing by yours truly.





this is another embroidered bag with another originial drawing - dead batteries - from a series called 10 things that are annoying. this one is smaller and is 20$. if you're interested let me know!

i know i havent posted in so long, but i have kept crafting. will and i will be going to california on thursday for 10 days. we are going to another diy craft fair in la called felt club and we're excited. it should be bigger than pile of craft.


i picked up this book, the guerilla art kit by one of my favorite bloggers, kerri smith. i made these king tomato stickers using a recipe she had for lick and stick stickers. the picture on the left is the drawing process. the stickers are all cut up now complete withthe mixture on the back of them. you need to get this book and try it out, so much fun.

hope everyone had a great 4th! i have more to post but ill try to break it up.

im addicted to making these lined zippered bags that i found on this thread on craftster. i made them with all the scrap material in our house. zippers are really cheap and easy to "ninja," so they're virtually cost-free. also it's a great way to get used to zippers and the zipper foot. they're so easy!

also, i bought some great fabric from purlsoho. it was expensive but worth it.

i havent been doing too much sewing lately but yesterday i did hem a shirt-dress i got at good will. i also tacked the sleeves. it's a lot cuter now.

magnolia bakery cupcakes.



Will and i made cupcakes from the magnolia bakery recipe. they turned out delicious. they're pretty buttery and dense, but still taste light. it's hard to explain. i guess you'll have to make them to see.

i got the recipe from the 52 cupcakes blog

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line 2 muffin pans of 12 muffin spots each with cupcake liners. whatever they're called. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. In a small bowl combine both flours.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
4. Add the sugar gradually and beat for 3 minutes or until fluffy. (will did this because he's really good at mixing. he has good arms because his car has manual steering)
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.
7. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix.
8. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 15 minutes.
11. Remove cakes from the tins and cool on a wire rack before icing.

for the icing,

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add in 4 cups sugar, then the milk and vanilla. On
medium speed of an electric mixer, beat about 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well (about 2 minutes) after each
addition, until the icing is thick enough for good spreading consistency (you may not need all
of the sugar. we used about 6.5 cups total).

we frosted ours pink and blue and just spread on. you could pipe the frosting from a pasty bag for the swirly look.

These are all presents i've given my boyfriend:

I. I went through a softie phase and here is what came of it:

a.
this is an ankylosaurus stuffed animal i made in about an hour and a half without a pattern. it is very crude but cute in its crudeness.

b.
this is an elephant i made with a supremellllly complicated pattern. im not the greatest sewer so he didnt turn out perfectly, but he's cute nonetheless. he's bigger than i thought he'd be. he took about 5 hours total and i worked on him on and off.

c.
here is ankylosaurus #2. he was made by embroidering an image and then sewing pillow-style. i wish i had used a thicker thread, but i do like how he came out. the sewing was a breeze but i rushed it. the embroidery took long but was worth it. id say it took about 4 hours on and off.

II. He loves Haruki Murakami, a Japanese author (Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle) so i made a triple layer stencil. i really like how it turned out.


ive been addicted to embroidery. it's so relaxing and rewarding. i love how things come out when they're done with thread. im thinking about doing one and then framing it for my dad for father's day. i think ill do one of a california craft bungalow because he loves architecture and that's one of his favorite types of houses. he also likes chairs, oddly enough. and jay-z. i have a weird dad.

sorry for the long wait! i dont know if i have any readers but i do know that i should post in this more frequently.