Pretty Stitchery

I think these are so pretty. I spotted them at an estate sale, and I just couldn't leave them even though I have no practical use for them.  They're hand made, so I think the slightly crooked stitching is really charming.

I have them hanging over my bed, and they are pretty much the only wall decoration that I have.











I love that each of them has a different basket of vegetables.  It's possible that they might have been a kit to stitch (one of them still has the washable fabric marker on it).

Orzo with Sausage and Bell Peppers

This recipe is so yummy and and really not that hard.  I'm just bummed that the Crabby Cook isn't posting recipes any more.

We used a spicy turkey sausage and roasted the bell pepper.  And maybe accidentally set off the smoke alarm while roasting the bell pepper over an open flame.

This makes a ton of food (probably because it's a pound of orzo), there were leftovers for days.

It's a pretty cheap dish too.  $1 (on sale) for a whole box of orzo, $0.33 for one bell pepper, and variable on the sausage, but no more than about $3/pound.

Yip yip yip yip yip yip

Basically favorite character(s) on Sesame Street.

Also, tiny whisk!


Made from a free Ravelry pattern :)

Requisite Sunset at the Beach Pictures

Everyone who gets a new camera has the sudden urge to go to the beach at sunset and take artsy pictures.  Myself not excluded.  It just took me 2 years to get here.

On a related note, I have absolutely no idea how to edit pictures so that they actually look good.  Maybe I should look into that.




I love this picture (regardless of any actual photographic merit).  I like how the seagull in the foreground waiting for a snack is lit against the dark rocks.





Piers make good geometric focal points, don't they?



Funnily enough, there was a couple taking professional engagement/couple shots standing right at the water line, they must have been freezing!

Mushrooms Stuffed with Spinach, Feta, Bacon

These are so yummy. They take a little bit of work but are totally worth it.  Plus, it's crazy when they bake and the centers fill with liquid!

Mine are nowhere near as pretty as Deb's, but I think they're still tasty.

Recipe via smittenkitchen

(haha, the mushrooms were just out of the oven and steamed up my lens!)

When pigs fly...

I've recently had a sudden obsession with putting everything into glass jars.  And then I came up with this brilliant little gem:



I even added some poly-fil "clouds" for realistic flying effect :)
And of course, I have a limited range of safety eye sizes so tulip puffy paint in a slick finish gives my piggy some nice glossy eyes.

How to dress up a boring pack of $1 cards

I love beautiful handmade cards, but I find it difficult to make 8-10 of them all at once. Plus, when you're pressed for time, it's all you can do to jot down thank you notes and get them mailed off.

Here's how I dressed up a pack of cards that I picked up from Michael's dollar bins (in just 3 easy steps!):


I love Melissa's modern calligraphy style, and I would have totally printed these out in a heartbeat, but alas, I am out of color ink on my printer, and I already had these in my stash.
1. Add a pretty sentiment to the front of the card.


2. Just add a fancy envelope seal, also picked up in the dollar bin at Michael's.


3.Add "faux-calligraphy" for the address like Melissa's and hop off to your local post office for some pretty postage stamps.  Try Centeria for your look-a-like calligraphy from dafont.com.

4. [optional] Beam stupidly at the post office lady when she admires your hand lettered letters, and tell her proudly, that, yes, you did do those all by hand.

Obviously, these still require a neat bit of handiwork, but I find that they have a nice hand made touch without having to design and make up a whole card from scratch.

Also, I love these Staedtler triplus liners, they come in a bunch of colors and have a 0.3 mm nib.  And the reason they're called triplus is that the barrel of the pen is actually a triangular prism, so no more pens rolling off the desk :)