I think I may have found my new hobby.

Here.

these awesome tiles reminded me of some of my awesome friends.

Awesome.

I just came across these on the Design Crisis blog.

They reminded me of a couple of my very colorful friends... you know who you are.

there's a new bathroom.

So, I've been pretty absent this summer... as I said, I've been busy dealing with this an that, and this is one of the good thats.

or something...

Our house has a daylight basement that we've turned into our bedroom. It all needs work, but the bathoom was the worst.

A narrow little room, made narrower by the smallest shower cubby that exists. Throw in a low suspended ceiling, leaking fixtures, and bubbled vinyl, and voila! You have a bathroom experience that darkens your every morning.

So we ripped it all apart...

moved the wall to cut into the (massive) utility room, and plopped in some new fixtures.

Fixtures that include a massively long tub.







Now I am actually excited to get up and take a shower in the morning. Yay!

I made envelopes out of stuff I found.

Tara over at Ephemera has started a great new project called the Elevated Envelope. It's just what it sounds like, a chance to brighten some people's day with an artsy envelope (made by you); and you get cool envelopes back! The theme was "Summer," so I used my summer obsession with handmade paper to my advantage.


I started with a blended concoction...


which included cotton paper scraps, cut off pieces of cover paper, and (of course) junk mail. I did my usual process (blend, screen, roll out, dry) with one big change.

For these envelopes I did some quick-pressing to get plants I could add into the paper. I used the microwave, board and rubber bands to get nice flat pieces I could embed.
When I pulled the screen out of the pulp, I laid a few leaves on top, and gently poured more pulp over them with a spoon. I then went ahead with the rolling and drying process.

(drying.)


A few days later (so I knew it was really dry) I trimmed and scored the paper to fold into an envelope. I decided to stitch the ends together with my sewing machine rather than glue it like a normal envelope. (This was both creativity and laziness on my part.)

(a finished envelope, ready for addressin'.)

I included an extra piece of handmade paper inside of a little story. Some of the pieces were seeded with wildflower seeds. (If you want to add this to your paper, make sure you have really small seeds, and add them before straining your pulp. Don't blend them or try to sprinkle on top.) I put the whole thing together and sealed the flaps.

So now these little envelopes are headed out all over the world. It was an awesome excuse to do my favorite summer things (wander around my yard picking flowers and making paper.)

Now back to the real world.

I can eat anywhere.

I go through jeans like something someone would go through quickly. Could be that they are my main means of coverage.

Like most everything else in my (hoarder's) life, I try to find a second use for what's left of the denim. I was inspired by this project in Ready Made magazine, and my constant search for a great picnic blanket.

Of course I gave my own spin to the piecing and construction.

I used the quilting from an old heated mattress pad to back it. (Look at all that upcycling!)

Now if things would just settle down enough for a picnic.