Hey everyone. I've been on a little blog vacation this week. My wrist has flared up again, and as you all know typing is the one thing that really irritates is. So I've descended into lurkdom for now. I'll be back when I have full mobility in my wrist, or when something really great happens that I simply can't contain. There's nothing on the horizon right now, but you never know. Something might happen!
Well, not nothing, but you know what I mean.
Earlier this week Hannah posted a link to this website that can make your photos look old. I loved, really loved the photo of her and her girls that she posted on her blog, and have played around a tiny bit with some of my pictures. I can tell I'm working on a bit of a new obsession. Here's the picture that I converted tonight. Thanks for the great tip, Hannah!
I taught a bookbinding class Saturday. I'm too tired right now to do a recap so look for that tomorrow. I will say that I had a very enjoyable day with some ladies that I didn't know very well. It was a pleasure having you all at my house!
If anyone is interested, I'm planning on doing another class either July 19th or 26th. If you think you would like to attend, let me know in the comments section which day would work better for you so I can plan for the day that is convenient for the most people. I have so much fun teaching these classes that I'll do them as long as I have people who want to learn!
I hope you all had a great weekend!
Spring fever has finally struck me. I've been working outside, cleaning my house, and generally avoiding my studio. I have several projects in the works, but nothing finished to show. I must plant my flowers first. Until I come back full force, I thought I'd post a slideshow (my first) of some of the photos from mine and Kaitlin's date on Saturday.
Jeremy showed me two great websites for photo stuff. The first is Picnik. Picnik is this really cool, free photo editing site. I was going to buy Photoshop elements this weekend, but that is no longer necessary. Now I just use Picnik. The second is RockYou. I haven't played around on this site too much yet, but they do have really easy to figure out slideshows. Oh, and if there's music on this post that can't be turned off, it's from the slideshow and I apologize. I'll figure it out tomorrow. For now I'm off to bed. I've been up since 4:45 this morning and I'm exhausted!
As promised, though late, here are the samples for the bookbinding class I'll be teaching next Saturday.
German case bound book and ribbon book.
Detail, spine of ribbon book.
I still have a few openings, so if you'd like to come, check out the details in my previous post and leave me a comment or drop me an email amy (dot) b (dot) hanks (at) gmail (dot) com.
Jeremy got home last night from a four day trip to California. My method of pretending I'm a military wife failed me this time, probably because this was a last minute, very unexpected trip, so I didn't do very well with this absence. By the afternoon, I think we had all had it with each other. The kids were whining and needy, I was trying to fix them dinner, and Alex spent a good amount of time in the laundry room screaming until his tantrum ran it's course. At this point I lost it, and began yelling.
As I went down to the basement to get my camera so I could document Alex laying on the floor crying, Kailtin started singing one the sweet Mother's Day songs that she learned at preschool. My first thought was that she was being so (inintentionally) ironic and critical, like when my mom sang the hymn "We are sowing, daily sowing, countless seeds of good and ill" when my brothers and sister and I would fight. But then, my cynical side lost the battle, and I realized that she was really trying to calm me down and remind me that she loves me. I'm proud to report that my temper died down, and the rest of our night went much better. The voice of a small child singing is such a beautiful thing, it can even calm the untamed beast that lives inside me.
How does so much time seem to pass in the blink of an eye? I can't believe that I'm sitting here after 9:00 on Tuesday night. Where did my weekend go? And for that matter where did yesterday go? The busyness is a good thing, as a have lots to report. So, sorry if you don't happen to like numbered recaps, but I'm going to write one. Hey! This is my blog! And you can just ignore the numbers.
1. Bookbinding and Books On my last post I think I promised that I would have a Japanese binding to show off. Well, that hasn't happened exactly. I've got it all cut and ready to go, but I think I've decided to go the Keith Smith route, rather than the Kojiro Ikegami one. I really want to try out some of Ikegami's binding, but I don't have the patience to sit down and figure it out right now. Life is too chaotic. I'll put that project at the back of the line for now. Maybe when Jeremy's travel schedule settles down normal life will return as will my ability to concentrate.
I did manage to make a book over the weekend. Well, really I started it on Friday when I was teaching my friend Julie how to make a coptic book. We finished our books today, and I have to say hers turned out fabulously. The person she's going to give it to is very lucky! Of course, my failure-to-document-life self forgot to get a picture of her book. But here's a couple of pictures of mine. I love the spring feel of the paper. Too bad I made it over the course of two very cloudy, cold days.
I bought Amanda Blake Soule's book The Creative Family over the weekend. I've only managed to read the first few pages. I'm saving it for my trip to California this weekend. But it looks really good, and I'm excited to turn the TV off and try some of her ideas with my children. If you don't read her blog already, you should really check it out. It's full of inspiration, beautiful photography and a philosophy on life that I find truly admirable.
Finally, I'm just about finished with Wild Swans. At the risk of violating the no pre-bookclub discussion rule (I'm always risking that!) I just have to say that it's a tremendous relief to have that book done. It was completely engrossing, but such a difficult read. There have been many times that I have put the book down in tears, times when I have been so disgusted with the conditions in China that I had to take several day breaks and times when I didn't pick the book up because I just knew I couldn't endure the stories it contained. That's probably why it's taken me over a month to get through it. I would recommend this book to everyone, though. It's so important to learn about the lives that people lead, to be aware of the injustices they suffer through, to be able to appreciate the comparatively wonderful lives we have.
2. (Granny) Craft I've been on a crochet kick lately that shows no signs of abating. I've made dishrags (such an unappealing name for something so charming), mostly following the patterns from this book which contains some serious eye candy for the crocheter.
I also tried another amigurumi project, this time a felted elephant. The felting didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, but I have some ideas to try next time to ensure that it goes off perfectly.
Oh, and I began Alicia Paulson's Tiramisu Baby Blanket which is a free pattern on her blog(and if you're not reading her blog, I just have to ask, really? Where have you been? All joking aside this is a precious little project, and easy to do as well.
On the not quite as granny front, I managed to get two of my baby rag quilts done this weekend, too. Photos are forthcoming--I couldn't get a decent shot of them once the sun went down. I'm pretty happy with them, but I especially love the pink one. I think I might need to keep one--I have about three more in the pipeline--for Kaitlin's dolls.
3. Movie Jeremy and I went to see Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day this weekend. Since all of my other numbers have been long, I'll be brief--go see this movie. It's thoroughly enjoyable. And even Jeremy enjoyed it, so you could probably bring your husband, unless you suffer from Post Romantic Movie Stree Disorder. Then you might want to go with a girlfriend. Then get some ice cream after. Just because.
4. Kids And just so my kids don't think, when they read my blog in the future that I didn't care an ounce about them, here are my favorite pictures of them lately.
Kaitlin has finally consented to let me play with her hair. These are her two favorite hairstyles. She's getting so old! I can hardly believe she's four!
As for Alex, well, he's contantly on the go, so this is the best I've gotten of him lately. . .
5. Recipe If you made it to the end of this monumental post, I thought I'd reward you with a recipe that I found for the best Mexican rice that I have ever made, or quite possibly ever tasted. I made it last night and it was fabulous!
Red Rice
1 cup rice
3 tablespoons bacon drippings or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped, or 5 scallions,
chopped, including green part
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups hot water
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
Salt, to taste
3 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Pinch of Mexican oregano
2 beef or chicken bouillon cubes
Pour hot water over rice and let it stand for about 15 minutes.
Drain the rice and rinse it well in cold water. Shake the sieve and let the rice drain for a while. Shake the rice to remove any excess water.
In a heavy skillet, brown rice in bacon drippings or oil over low heat.
Add remaining ingredients, reduce heat, cover tightly and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. You may use any mix of the spices you like best.
Seriously, try it! One note, I used about half the called for onion, and I didn't put any chili powder in. I like my rice to be mildly flavorful. Oh, and it's also delicious cold. I've been snacking on it straight from the fridge all day!
So readers, if any of you are still there, that catches me up--almost. There was an incident with Kaitlin and lipstick that deserves a post all by itself. But that will happen some other time. I'm tired and I'm going to bed!
The nice weather that we've enjoyed lately has gone away, and I have to say, that I am not pleased. Monday night wind blew the snow against my window so hard that it was difficult to stay asleep. We woke up to a completely white world. Even today there is still a good amount of snow on the ground. This is the view this morning out my window as I sat at my sewing machine.
It just doesn't seem right to have snow on the ground at this time of year. And I've just noticed (now that the snow is melted) that I'm starting to get a lot of weeds. I hope it will warm up a bit so I can get outside and break in my new gardening gloves and weeding tool.
The cold weather has had one good side effect. It's caused me to turn my thoughts to the many happy and very cozy stacks of flannel that I have cut out and ready to be sewn into baby blankets. They occupy one of the works in progress bins at the bottom of my shelving unit in the studio. I'm determined to get these bins cleaned out so I can begin some new projects.
But seriously, what baby wouldn't be happy to be wrapped up in one of these? They're so warm and soft and colorful. I'm particularly excited about the girl blankets. And they're cute, with flowers, pink and white ghingam and a wild flowery, paisley design. I want one for myself! Although I have doubts about my choice to use teal as one of my backing colors. I love teal--maybe it's a throwback to the '80's. I don't know, but every time I consider teal for anything I hear Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner calling teal the color of gangrene. Not exactly the visual image I want when I look at teal, or a baby blanket for that matter.
I have a short commitment tonight but I'm hoping to get some studio time in this evening. I think I may try a Japanese stab binding. I have a nice roll of kozo paper that has gone unused for too long. I think it would like to be made into a traditional binding from it's homeland. This,, from what I understand is a very simple binding technique, so it shouldn't be too difficult. I'm excited to break out the book Japanese Bookbinding and give it a whirl.
So I announced yesterday, somewhat boldly, I might add, considering that I have two sick children--yes Aex came down with it--that I was going to make a book last night. I had a book in mind that I've been wanting to try for a while. The binding is called The Secret Belgian Binding. You can find a tutorial here. I knew this would be a quick, easy book to make, so I set out. I so enjoyed the process! As I stood at my island in my almost perfectly clean room, I remembered just what I love about bookbinding. It's the deliberateness and the exactness. Everything that my little Type A heart desires! I have only made a few books since November when the old studio was disassembled to make way for another guest room to accommodate all of our Thanksgiving guests. When I did get to make books, my work area looked something like this
Not exactly the most inspirational of spaces, is it? The other distraction was, of course, my children. This winter has been a trying one with Alex as he has spend a good amount of his waking hours crying at my feet. Anyone who has tried to do anything with a child vying for your attention knows that things tend to go wrong under those circumstances. I had to start over multiple times on every project I began. Several pieces of binder's board were ruined in the process. Many, many feet of linen thread went to waste. Simply put, trying to be creative was almost more stress than it was worth.
Last night was different. I had some nice music playing in the background. I remembered to write everything measurement down so that I didn't make a single mistake. I delighted in the precision required to make a beautiful book. I went slow. And this was the result.
Aside from the terrible taken at night photos, I'm very happy with this little book. I finally used one of the papers that Jeremy brought back from India. This is a beautiful one that looks like letterpress, but there's probably some term for how it was decorated that I can't recall right now. It was nice and forgiving to work with, too, but still not as nice as Japanese paper.
Kaitlin's sick again, which is no fun. But I thought I would take the slow day at home to finally photograph and post pictures of the studio progress.
Here's an overall picture. I added my work island in the middle of the room and another desk. Against the wall. I'm loving the idea of having work stations for different activities. How spoiled is that?
And a picture of my Ikea Expedit bookshelves loaded up with all my favorite things.
Here's a detail of my favorite Rod Works find. I decided to use it to hold thread. Isn't it cute? Eventually it's going to be hung up in the wall above the shelves that hold my fabric, along with a little cube unit I bought and embellished from Ikea. You'll have to wait to see the shelves.
And here's a view of the room looking over the island. Notice Alex there in the shadows quietly playing with some random tool. I love that! I hope he spends lots of quiet hours on the floor of this room.
Like I said, there are a few things that still need doing, but for the most part the room is done. Tonight I think I'm going to bind my first book in there. Give it a proper room warming. Now, to decide what kind. . .I'll keep you posted.
Oh, and sorry for the dark pictures. It's a dreary day outside. The sky has turned greyer and greyer all day. Hopefully it will rain and wash away the last bits of cupcake that Alex smashed into the desk yesterday. Do you think the neighbors thought it was funny to see me vacuuming my deck yesterday evening?
Hey! I've been a little absent lately, but not without good cause. I've been busy working around my home and enjoying the wonderful warm weather we've been having. It was so nice to open my garage door yesterday to feel warm air on my face! It was a nice preview of days to come. Sadly, the good weather isn't here to stay yet. But it is so fun to see kids out on their bikes and people out and about without winter coats on.
So, in honor of Spring's preview, I thought I'd give a little preview of my studio. This is a picture of it last week before I brought anything into it. It doesn't look like this anymore--it's a mess! But that won't last. Jeremy has kindly offered to take the kids to his parents without me again so I can have some quality time with my new spaces! This weekend I'm planning on giving the toys a once over to determine what we really need to keep, and, I hope, finish getting my studio ready. Although I love crocheting, I'm truly anxious to do something with paper!
I don't have much time for a post today, since I'm busy building my bookshelf from IKEA and moving furniture. Look for pictures of my new studio soon!
