Crochet + shoes

Cross a crochet fetish with a shoe fetish and you equal crocheted shoes in every color. Can it get any better? Pattern purchased from sylver.etsy

Pattern is relatively easy, you just need to make sure you won't be interrupted much since most of the pattern involves carefully counting your stitches. The pattern gives you the option of working with help or jute for the bottom sole. I am happy I choose to go with the latter option. My hands are torn up enough from the jute so I can't imagine what they would have looked like after the hemp.

I am thinking yellow or spring green next...

Homemade ginger ale

So the family has been struck by the evil stomach flu. And not the nice 24-hour-here-and-gone type. The full throttle, all out, sick for a week type. Yuck, yuck and more yuck.

So on the quest to find something to help ease the nausea, I came across this this wonderful homemade (and easy!) ginger ale recipe. I have always found ginger very soothing for my stomach but unfortunately most commercial ginger ales don't contain any real ginger. You may need to tweek the recipe a bit. It comes out a bit too sweet and too strong for my taste so I halved the amount of ginger and only used 2 tablespoons of the simple syrup in the final drink. I absolutely plan of making this again and again even after everyone finally feels 100%. It is really fresh tasting and so much better than anything you could find in a store. I think it would also be really delish spiked with a little vodka and some lemonade - perfect for a hot summer evening.

And if you are not interested in spending your whole afternoon grating ginger, look into getting a jar of minced ginger in a jar (I especially love the one from The Ginger People which I found at our local co-op for $2.50 for almost 7 oz.)

p.s. Photo above is from the Flickr group "The Commons", most easily described as pictures with no known copyright restrictions complied from the "...world's public photography archives."

If you are looking to spend an afternoon looking through amazing and inspiring photographs, this is the place to do it.

handmade battlestar galactica

Links that pay tribute to the show that has introduced "frak" into the vernacular.

"Well frak me" notepad, pigseyart.etsy (shown pictured above)

Knit yourself a cylon centurion hat, a free pattern from Lick the Light Switch.

Maybe you are the final cylon? Button from ursulaandolive.etsy

Stenciled BSG shirt at craftster

Also from craftster, crocheted Admiral Adama and President Roslin.

Personally my favorite cylon, Chief Tyrol. Art print by geekboypress.etsy

wip - first gouache test

So I broke out some paper and my new paints and played around with them, I think I am really liking it! It's hard to get used to - fast dry time and new layers pick up colors from old ones like water color but they are brighter and the colors lay down more like acrylic or oil paints. I want to try them on particle board, that used to be my favorite back in school and I think the gouache would work really well.

One sock down and one to go

How exciting! I crocheted myself a sock! Okay, admittedly worthless until I have a pair but sometimes you need to celebrate the small milestones too.

Yarn and pattern are from epicurus.etsy. Pattern is listed for advanced crocheters but I didn't think it was too hard. And I was in doubt as to how a crocheted sock would look but since the pattern uses lace weight yarn, it isn't bulky or uncomfortable.

My etsy splurge

Who am I kidding, this really isn't a splurge but I am so excited that I found this simple and gorgeous soap dish from urbaneden. I kept looking (foolishly) at Target or the like for a decent yet simple yet inexpensive soap dish.

*palm to forehead*

I should know better now to just check etsy.

how freaking cool is this thing? yudu screenprinting machine

WANT!

painting bug

The painting bug has bitten me once more. And I am super excited for some cheap, student-grade gouaches I got from ebay. Mmmmm...dontcha just love new tubes of paint? They seem to just be like little vessels of creativity, just waiting to get out.

thrift store art + acrylics = new art for our walls

So when I visit my local thrift store (LTS), I pretty much keep my eyes peeled for anything and everything. I adore thrift store art and was super pumped when I found this forgotten acrylic painting that someone obviously had spent some time working on. So it's no Mona Lisa but hey, in my book trying counts:


But it needed, hm, something. Some point of interest. Why not a shadow monster taking a nice bubbly bath? Seems good enough. So a couple hours and some tubes of acrylic later I came up with this:


Still no Mona Lisa, but now I feel like it fits in more with the decor of our apartment (and what exactly does this say about the decor of our apartment??). I still need to get a better full on picture of it, the flash is washing out the colors and reflecting off the paint. But that will need to wait until the weather starts to finally cooperate with outdoor photography.

So I highly suggest the next time you see a once loved painting sitting lonely at your LTS, see if you can give it a little new life.