Marion handwarmers

I am currently working on a pattern inspired by my grandmother-in-law Marion who passed away recently. She was basically as adorable and sweet as you can get. But a little sassy too, just the perfect amount. She will be missed dearly but I will always think of her whenever I see these.

I was able to finish the first one this weekend and I hope to offer the pattern for free after I am done (that is if I can actually WRITE a coherent pattern after I am done).

I'm using leftover Nashua and Malabrigo from other projects so these suckers promise to be warm.

time flies when you're a sleepy fox

I can't believe it is already Memorial Day and the summery days of June are around the corner. Where does the time go?

I also can't believe that this adorable sleepy foxy plush is on sale this weekend and no one has scooped him up! (from bibelotforest.etsy.com)

contest winner!

Is Mia!

Thanks everyone for participating, I will have another contest in the near future :)

(Mia, can you email me gerrijo@gmail.com with your pin choice and address?)

give.a.way!!

Hurray for give.a.ways!!

Just sign up to follow my blog between now and Friday the 8th and you will be entered to receive a free pin :)

Your choice - choose between the bunny or squirrel pin. Both are popular products and both have been featured on etsy's front page. Winner will be announced and contacted Monday.

Just use the handy "follow button" on the right and you'll be set :)

I will be the May featured artist at the Electric Fetus!

How exciting!

The Electric Fetus is featured me as their "Minneconomy" artist-o-the-month for all of May. They will offer 10% off all my work and on May 14th they will have a big hullabaloo with me doing in-store demos, live sets by locals bands, and free treats.

I'm super jazzed since I have only been selling to them for six weeks - hopefully this means my jewelry is selling like hot cakes :)

I am a tad nervous about doing the in-store demo. I've never been good at public speaking, even if the "public" part is a total of a five people. My face turns red, I get a little shake in my voice, and I seem to forget even what my own name is. I always wanted to join one of those "Toastmasters" groups but even the thought of practicing public speaking gives me weak knees.

Beaner Beanie

I don't know what possesses me sometimes. But I like to make winter hats and clothes just as summer approaches. Is it a psychological yearning for warm woolens and cozy knits that I know I won't need for the next five months? Who the heck knows.

But I acquired this cute sweater for 25 cents at the goodwill outlet. It was felted a bit and too small for me but I loved the stripes and colors. The beaner received a similar styled hat two years ago that she has unfortunately grown too big of a head for (All dem brains!). But it's so simple to make it's sick. Just sew a two squares of sweater together along three sides (best if you use the bottom of the sweater for the head opening for an instant trim). Take ribbon bits and tie around corners to make ears. And now 10 minutes later you have a cute hat!

Of course now she won't be able to wear it until forever (assuming there will be no freak snow storms in July, you never know with Minnesota).

New vintage shop!

Sound the horns and roll the drums, I've opened a new shop on etsy!

It's called apartment 1213 and will feature vintage clothes, shoes, and accessories as well as some original hand painted shoes I have been working on (like the ones above).

Be sure to visit :)

Holga fun!

I finally got a roll shot and developed with the holga that I bought last summer. I am now addicted!!

You can see my whole roll at my flickr page here (will navigate away from this page)

new beaner shirt

Hubby was tossing some old shirts that no longer fit him and in the spirit of upcycling, I quickly grabbed them away and began turning them into shirts for the beaner! I did a similar project last summer and it amazes me how quick it is to whip this up - maybe an hour?

Here is our little model doing her best Tyra (or something) &hearts

Bathroom window "treatment"

I saw this post a couple weeks ago on design sponge and inspiration struck! Our bathroom window basically is a peep show when we are in the shower - we live in an old apartment that has a free standing tub/shower*. To give us a little modesty but let nice, natural light in, I used the same technique with a paint pen and contact paper. I had fun just doodling and now it serves a good cause too (aka letting me bathe and see what I'm doing).

*don't worry, we weren't the neighborhood flashers - we have ugly mini blinds that cover the window but also cover all the light.

Favortie cooking links

I am usually late on the train for hip, awesome, everyone-and-their-mother-reading-it blogs and cooking blogs are no exception.

But here are my favorite three, in no order:

smitten kitchen always shows up on those "best of the web" type lists and you can see why. Gorgeous photos that literally provoke your salivary glands to juice up and she follows the philosophy that you don't need to spend a lot of money on ingredients to cook well.

have cake, will travel is a vegan dessert blog. I am not vegan myself but love vegan desserts since I feel like they take a lot of creativity and I feel less guilty about eating them (ha!)

vegan dad has done a tremendous job of vegan-nizing childhood favorites and comfort food (think mac and cheese, hot wings, and chili dogs). Even as a vegetarian, good fake-meat recipes are hard to find on the web.

Are there any that I missing out on?

photo credit: flickr commons

Crocheted button fascinator

Photo: Linda Permann
So I think the universe heard my call last week when I post a short list of things I felted I needed. Because over the weekend, I found this pattern through ravelry for a similar-ish styled headband/fascinator. It also fulfills another need I have, figuring out something to do with my random yarn scraps and pretty buttons that I have accumulated. I think this looks like my Easter-weekend project, wish me luck!

Things I've decided I need

no, really, I think I need these

camera camera case from hine.etsy

I played clarinet all through school, so I have a soft spot for this card from FleurRendell.etsy

wee polar bear pendant, HeliS.etsy

felt floral fascinator, giantdwarf.etsy

Presenting...*insert drumroll*

gerri jo jewelry at the The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis!

Yes, my jewelry can now be found at one of the coolest locally own record and gift stores in the Twin Cites!! MPR said the Electric Fetus is "widely regarded as the pre-eminent indie record store in Minnesota."

Here is a quick (and terrible) photo I snapped in-store:


It's the first time a local place has carried my work so it's the first time I have ever gotten a chance to see my work merchandised!! Can you feel my excitement through your monitor? :)

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.