I did it!

But you can't say it regular, you have to say it like somebody crazy.

Say it like.... like Bobcat Goldthwait. Ya, all high pitched and freaking out. Because that's what I'm doing right now.

Look at my little Etsy Shop thingy in the sidebar. *eeeeeeeeeeeek*

*deep breath*

Okay, I know its customary for crafty bloggers to have a giveaway when they add a new item to their shop, but... since I only have a handful of readers (half of whom I share DNA with) it seems a little silly. So if you can think of someone you know that cooks with cast iron and would like to have a set of these mitts, refer them to my little blog and we'll do a giveaway:

I have Analytics and I'm not afraid to use it, so all you lurkers get out there and drag your friends kicking and screaming to my blog. I'll do my part and go soliciting readers and we'll meet back here for the give-away, lets shoot for February 1st. How does that sound?

And do yourself a favor and go to that YouTube link for Bobcat, I just about fell out of my chair.

I'm gonna do it

Really.

Since I started this blog I've been telling you its so I can shamelessly hawk my Etsy Shop. Except it doesn't exist. Well, actually it does. Its just sitting there sad and empty.

A lot of things have been holding me back:

#1-I'm a weenie. Have you been there lately (Etsy, I mean)? Its full of fabulously talented creative people. I feel out-classed when I look at the things other people are making.

#2-I'm stinky (at graphics, I mean). But I kept plugging away at it and I finally made a banner and avatar that I'm not mortified to put up in my shop. You could stop by and tell me what you think if you have a minute.

#3-It would be insanity to start up my shop smack in the middle of the Christmas rush. Or that's what I was telling myself during December. Now we're halfway through January, so what's my excuse?

I guess I'm just being a weenie now. I need to set a goal. Yup, like 'I will open my shop by the end of this week'.

Did I just say that?

Should I poke "publish post" and let you all see that I just said that?

Cause then I'd HAVE to do it!

*deep breath*

John Deere Cake

I made a cake yesterday. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

I think I'll tell you what didn't work first, then cheer myself with the good news.

Flop #1: The Cake
I had a recipe for Buttermilk White Cake that I had high hopes for because buttermilk makes all baked goods lovely and moist, right? Blech, it felt like cornbread in your mouth.

#2: The Frosting
I've made Swiss Meringue Buttercream before. Now THAT is frosting, in the cookbook alongside the recipe I've written a little note that says 'heaven on a cupcake'. And it is, but its also very light and delicate and so I've never tried to use it for decorating. So when I found Italian Meringue Buttercream, along with promises that it is more stable than the Swiss method, I was excited to try it. Things were going along swimmingly until the last step *cue ominous music*, adding the butter. It turned into butter soup. It was delicious soup but useless for icing a cake. I tried adding powdered sugar, hoping to thicken it enough to salvage the mess but after adding enough to make my teeth ache, it was still a loss. So I whipped up a batch of the old standby.

And landing somewhere in between yay and boo: reverse icing. I'll briefly explain: you ice a piece of parchment, assemble the cake on top, ice the sides and flip the whole thing over. Why would anyone try this insanity? Its supposed to give you an absolutely level top and a sharp edge, which it did. But the cake was frozen (easier to work with) when I started and once it started to warm up weird things happened. The top became, ah... not level. And air bubbles started to push out the frosting on the sides making big, ugly cake hernias. Hmm, yep, I should probably file that under flop.

Here is the cake before things started going downhill:

I am depressed, maybe it wasn't a good idea to start with the bad news.

So, what worked?

My diy Bake-Even strips! I just dampened some strips of towel and wrapped them around the pans before sliding them in the oven. The cakes came out nice and high but with no dome. Of course, afterward it occurred to me to Google it and I see that other folks are wrapping their lengths of wet towel in foil. Must try!

I'm also pretty pleased with my first frozen buttercream transfer. I'll briefly explain: print a mirror image of a graphic, tape wax paper over it, outline the design, fill in with thin frosting and freeze until it turns into a pancake you can flip over and place on the cake. I know mine has weird lines, but I'm learning. This was actually easier than I expected, you should try it too.

Or not, if cake decorating doesn't blow your skirt up.

creamer query

Since I've refurbished the china hutch, I keep an eye open when I'm at the thrift store for pretties to put inside. Today we found a little vintage creamer that I like and at the store it had the little lid taped on so I didn't notice this at first. But when I set it in the hutch I noticed that the lid sits a little wonky:
I was curious so I Googled it and found a listing on ebay with the identical creamer and no lid.

Are any of my readers knowledgeable about such things? I wonder if the lid had been mistakenly added to mine? I'm displaying it without the lid because the wonkiness is really obvious on the shelf at eye level. What do you think?

Acorn Jumper

In the purple dress post I was belly-aching about the fact that the major pattern companies seem to be unaware that little kids are .... little, and bemoaning the fact that I don't know how to draft a sloper. So maybe now you're wondering (or not) 'if you don't ordinarily follow a pattern and you can't draft a pattern, what are you doing over there?'

Well its a very complicated and precise process involving... a Sharpie. To be fair, although I am labeling it as such, I should warn you that this is not an in-depth tutorial because I didn't take step-by-step photos as I was feeling a little frazzled. Its more like a guideline or an overview. If you're an absolute beginner, DON'T attempt to follow this dreck.

The first step is having a dress that resembles the look you're after. Buggy already had this jumper in her closet so I laid it on a big piece of blank newsprint (freezer paper or standard sized paper taped together also work) and traced around the front and back using a marker.

The skirt is made up of tiers but I didn't think that would look as nice with the print fabric I had, but I wanted more than just a basic A-line. Hmm, what to do? I cruised through some of the websites of popular children's clothing lines and stole ideas found inspiration. I found one I liked that had large box pleats on the front. In this next photo we see the finished bodice and the front of the skirt with contrasting fabric for the inside of the pleats. That's a pretty big leap (actually that's a huge leap, it should be illegal for me to call this a tutorial) so I'll do my best to explain what I did.After tracing all the pieces of the original jumper, I cut them out with extra around the perimeter for seam allowance (I like 3/8" for garment seams). If you're planning to make the large pleats in the front, add an additional 3/8" to each side of the front of the skirt for seam allowance. The original jumper also had facings, which for some reason I don't care for. I cut a front and back bodice piece from the contrasting brown fabric for a lining. Also I should mention that I wanted to forgo the zipper in the back so I extended the back bodice at the shoulder straps enough to overlap at the front for a button closure. If you're also liking the look (and ease) of buttons, just measure over your daughter's shoulder to find the right length for the strap and don't forget to add extra for seam allowance.

When the pieces are all cut out its time to sew the bodice. Put the print fabric pieces right sides together and sew at the side seams (under the armhole); repeat for the lining pieces. Press seams open. **If I forget to mention it, always assume that you should press a seam after it is sewn**

Place the print fabric and lining together with right sides facing and side seams matched; sew all the way around the top (all the curvy parts, ie. armholes, straps and neckline). Turn right side out and press.

For the skirt, I measured an equal distance from each side and just cut right up the front. The contrasting pieces are just rectangles that measure 6 3/4" wide and are a little longer than the skirt (so I can cut them to match the curve of the hem once I sew the skirt together. Like I said very precise...).

This next picture shows the front of the skirt with the inserts, um... inserted and on the right side you see that I brought the print fabric together. Sew the pleats closed, along the seam, to about 3 1/2" down the seam line (or about the distance to the hip). Spread the contrasting fabric so that an equal amount overlaps each side of the seam and press. Thus forming the box pleat.

With right side together, sew the skirt front and back together at the side seams and press.

Time to sew the skirt to bodice. Place them right sides together and match the side seams. Sew around, taking care to keep your pleats nice and flat.

Sew on the buttons and make button-holes in the straps.

Hem the bottom to the desired length and press the pleats again to get them nice and flat.

Here is my finished jumper laying flat:

Here it is on my favorite four year old:

And here is a picture that shows the pleats nicely flared out:

I realize that parts of this are pretty vague, so if you need more specifics about a step, please don't hesitate to ask.

Also, one of my favorite blogs to read, Ikat Bag, has promised a jumper tutorial soon. Lier knows what she is doing, so wander that way and see what she has in store. Her blog is worth a visit anyway because it is stuffed full of free tutorials (real ones), plus she is witty and hilarious.

Perfect Storm

My eye is twitching, its too much.
The delivery man just dropped off a package of new books including this one:






Remember this post when I mentioned I'd like to splurge on some delicious yarn? The really tiny town I live in has a really great yarn shop! I'd never visited before so I almost died when I walked in and saw the floor to ceiling cubbies and baskets filled with yummy, soft yarn. And a table with chairs where a couple of ladies were knitting and clucking about grandbabies. It was all so wonderful but I forced myself to make a decision and came home with this:

This yarn is a wool, alpaca and silk blend and it. is. heavenly. *squeals* I am not blessed with knitting skills but with yarn that is such a pleasure to hold in your hand, who cares!

Plus, I have some corduroy that I found on the sale rack when JoAnn was having the 50% sale. It has an acorn print, which Buggy is wild about, so I've been working on a jumper for her. I took a few pictures and I'd really like to finish because I'm excited to share them with you guys.

I'm surrounded by fabulousness and I just want to immerse myself in everything at once. So now you're wondering how all this combines to make a perfect storm?

1. The landlady is visiting on Friday so I need to kick some of the toys under the couch and try to keep the house somewhat clean until then.

2. The baby is getting 4 teeth all at once.

Just like that.

Photography Attempts

I've been experimenting with taking my camera off of the auto setting. So yesterday when we went for a drive, it was a perfect opportunity to try some of my new-found knowledge. Some of the results were truly lame:

And sometimes I take a shot that gives me hope that I won't always be stinky at photography:




It has been pretty typical Oregon weather lately (hallelujah, single-digit weather does not amuse me) so the streams were full and rushing along. Around every corner was a surprise waterfall created by the run-off water. This photo is actually taken on a bridge (mossy surface in the foreground) over a creek. I set the aperture as high and as low as my camera would allow for two different photos. This photo is the one with the aperture set high (8.0 with ISO at 100) and I like the flow-y look it gives the water.
If you're interested in learning a little more about photography, I like the articles on Pioneer Woman's site. They give enough information to inspire me without making my head hurt.