Sew Darn Cute

Cookies & Milk

Oh, boy. My days are so scary busy lately the weeks just fly by. It's a little overwhelming but I'm doing my best to keep up! Lately I've been keeping busy with a lot of CRAFT blogging, running D.I.Y. demos at the L.A. County Fair, planning the Felt Club Holiday Show (applications are online now!), and working on around 4 top secret projects I hope to be able to reveal soon. It's enough to make a girl just plotz!

I managed to have at least one relaxing evening last week, having a little movie party with Johnny and my pals Jordan and Steve. We watched the hilariously bad (yet great) flick From Beyond, brought to you by the same folks who did the classic ReAnimator. It may sound weird considering how much I love cutesy stuff like cupcakes and baby bunnies, but I absolutely love disgusting and cheesy horror movies—and this one is a real keeper.

photo stolen from Shelteriffic

Speaking of keepers, you have got to try this chocolate chip cookie recipe I came across on Shelterrific. It originally ran in the NY Times and has inspired a lot of debate...everyone has their own idea what makes a "perfect" chocolate chip cookie, after all. I don't know if this one is completely perfect, but it's pretty damn close. Jordan must have eaten at least a dozen in the span of an hour and a half. Either he's a compulsive eater or they were damn good. Maybe both. Just be sure to try them for yourself and let me know what you think! The recipe is here.

ALSO! I want to thank you guys once again for your responses to my going out of business sale. I'm working very hard to fill everyone's orders and sent out a big batch of packages today. I do warn people on the site that everything is made to order, and with the crush of orders it can take up to 4 weeks before I can get everything stitched and shipped, but rest assured I'm working on it. Packages should start appearing in mailboxes this week—if you ordered a bunch of sewn stuff, hold tight a little bit longer. Thanks for having patience in this overbooked gal and her super-messy sewing room. Orders went out to the following zip codes today: 94118, 19508, 20016, 97206, 75204, 46220, 08244, 90404, 93110, 77550, 94116, 95820, 32766, 30306, 91423. Phew!

Last Chance

Today (Friday, September 14) is the very last day to place an order at SewDarnCute. I'll be closing ordering at midnight tonight. This blog will eventually take up residence at that URL and I'll continue to post all manner of craft projects and fun ramblings there. Thanks so much for the outpouring of love and support, you guys are fantastic. Thanks for helping spread the word about the closing sale, too. I hope you'll stick with me through my various other upcoming ventures, I promise it will be worth it. :)

Charmed, I'm Sure

Last night was the first in a series of craft demonstrations I curated for the L.A. County Fair. The demo, Charm Jewelry 101, was taught by my super-sweet pal Laura Stokes (and her likewise wonderful boyfriend Mike) of Charcoal Designs. The fair was not too busy, probably because it was a Wednesday night, but it was still a lot of fun. I ended up coming away with two new charm bracelets (I made one, Johnny made the other) as well as a pair of cereal box earrings Johnny made for me. They got compliments all night! Here's a pic of the goodies we made, plus my ultra-swank Felt Club airbrushed hat (I just had to match my friend Wendy, who had one made at last year's fair). Dig it!

I also purchased several D.I.Y. Bracelet Kits and Charm Packs from Laura, which I'll be offering soon via the Felt Club Web Shoppe. Expect to see a lot more crafty kits and supplies there soon. There's a lot of fun stuff in the works, for the event and website both, you'll absolutely plotz!

This Saturday from about 10am-3pm I'll be back at the fair helping to host a demo with CRAFT magazine Ed-in-Chief (and all-around awesome lady) Carla Sinclair. Our pal Wendy will be on hand as well serving as an assistant/cheerleader. We're gonna teach folks to make paper beads and will also be selling copies of CRAFT. If you've been considering visiting the fair I hope you'll stop by and hang out with us! The info is here on the Felt Club website.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation, Redux

Well okay, last weekend was really much more of a work trip than a "summer vacation" (I went north for meetings at CRAFT), but I still managed to pack in some fun on the run. I stayed at a different friend's house every night (Oakland, Santa Rosa, then the teeny-tiny village of Occidental). Sunday night was spent with my friends Vanessa and Trevor in Santa Rosa. Vanessa and I stayed up 'til almost 3am baking these cupcakes together and boy did we get punchy! It was so fun. The cakes were made using the Amy Sedaris recipe for "Tattletail's Vanilla Cupcakes" (from her book, though any Google search will pull it up) and the frosting is just a basic buttercream, to which we added fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. They are topped with edible flowers I scored at a Farmer's Market during my very brief time in San Francisco earlier that day...3 clamshells for only $2! (If you've ever priced edible flowers you'll know that is a major steal.) Verdict? Fresh and delicious, I definitely recommend giving them a try. I only wish I'd been able to eat more than one before having to leave town for the next stop on my trip!

PS: Thanks for the sweet comments on my last post! Yep, it is a real (permanent) tattoo...and was done completely on the spur of the moment (and is my first/only one!). The artwork is by Jordan Crane and the tattoo was done by Doug Hansen at Idle Hand. It was extremely fun and it's true what they say about it being addictive...now I can't wait to tattoo the other wrist, too!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

photo by Marie Kare