craft show!

Hey friends! I am participating in my first craft show this month! It's scheduled for November 12th at the Sycamore Mall here in Iowa City. Many thanks to my friend Melissa Eaton with whom I am sharing a booth and thus the whole craft-filled day. (See flyer below for more information and graphically challenged but well-intentioned excitement.) If you're in the area you should come and say hi!

I'm pretty excited. I've been working the past little while to increase my inventory and I came up with a few fun new items that may or may not make it out to the booth and/or onto the Etsy.

One of them is these pencil boxes I've made out of cereal boxes:

I was originally inspired by a tutorial I found online, but that version used hot glue (which I don't like to use for serious crafting) and I found that because I didn't use a Life cereal box my folding ratios were a bit off, so I had to improvise. I've made a few different variations and I'd like your expert, blog-reader advice about which I should run with. Here they are:

First off, I tried a few different closing techniques:

There's the paper button closure...

The classic cereal box closure...

The tab closure (partially open so you can see it's inner workings...)

...and the tab closure all closed up.

I also tried a few different things with the insides, too:

There's this one with a drop-spine.
The back flaps are linked in front of the top piece and the top and back piece drop down when the box is opened.

And this one where the back flaps are attached behind the top instead of in front of it.

I think my favorites are the classic cereal box closure and the second inside option because I think they play well on the fact that the box is in fact made out of a cereal box.

What are your thoughts? Which style do you prefer? Does the natural wear on the cereal box bother you or do you think it adds to their charm?

conflicted

I am always conflicted when I see something cool on Etsy that I think I could probably (but not definitely) make myself.

Handwritten stationary. $14.00 plus shipping.

 Should I support other artists and craftsman as I would hope someone would support me?

Whale tissue holder. $39.99 plus shipping.

Or do I DIY it and save money while still hoping that the universe will be more supportive of my personal capitalist endeavors?

Instant Comfort Pocket Box. About $10.97 plus shipping.

It's a question that plagues me daily.

internet fame and floral bliss

My esty is famous! Ok, maybe not really, but the lovely lady behind the blog Savvy Moms Save did blog about abookfull! And, as readers of my blog, you now know about it. She just finished up a little blog give away party and by reading and following the instructions on her blog you can enter to win all sorts of goodies from a variety of venders (including, but not limited to ExpressionsVinyle.com, Half Tees, and, of course, abookfull). It's a party! Literally. Be sure to check it out.

In other news, Braeden and I went on a date to the fabulous Dry Creek Urban Cutting Garden yesterday in Cedar Rapids. The lady who started it is a regular at the Farmer's Market we attend every Saturday (like this morning). We've chatted with her the last couple weeks and she told us about her garden and how she planted all the beds this past spring using environmentally friendly composting and building materials and so of course she was my favorite. She showed us pictures of her place and informed us that it was open for anyone to come and cut their own flowers anytime during the season. While we have been buying flowers from at the market her every week, we were intrigued by the idea of going and cutting our own. So we did.

We got to her house (271 27th Ave SW) and walked around to the back where there were beds of zinnias and herbs a plenty. At first we were a little hesitant because we weren't sure if we needed to knock on her door and tell her we were there, or what, but as we were standing out by the little awning where the scissors and tools were, our flower lady friend (whose name I realized I don't even know) came out and chatted with us for a minute, told us how the gates worked, then told us to "go and be free amongst the flowers." After that we felt much more comfortable wandering around in a stranger's garden. And it was fun! I highly recommend it. (In her garden, of course, not just any stranger's garden. That is not recommended.) If you want to find out more, feel free to send an email to drycreekurbancuttinggarden (at) yahoo (dot) com. (Although, Braeden emailed her Thursday morning and never heard back, so maybe it's best just to appear. Follow your heart.)

Here we are at the beginning of our adventure. We're pretty cute...

One of the little zinnias in the garden. I decided that the little ones are my favorite. My most favorite!

This was this amazing archway that she built out of metal she found at the landfill. I want one.

I took this picture of Braeden wading through the rows of flowers. I told him I wanted one of him walking and he said, "I don't know how be walking." I think that is pretty evident from this picture, since he is just standing there. Also, despite his fluency in English, Spanish, and Catalán, he clearly struggles in his native tongue. "I don't know how be walking." Ba haha.

Our flowers! We got so many. And they were so pretty. And only 50 cents a stem! And what is more poetic than walking around with flowers in the crook of your arm? I will tell you: nothing.

All in all? Our date was a smashing success! I'm really glad that we got to go. Also that Braeden took me.

new new new new

Claire, one of my dearest friends, recently designed a new banner for my etsy store (hooray for friends who are illustration majors!) and I just tonight uploaded it to the store. Check it out! It makes everything better in so many ways.

last call!

Today is the last day to enter to win something from my Etsy shop! 10 hours and 20 minutes left of the day! Make 'um count!

best thing since before sliced bread

What's the best thing since BEFORE sliced bread, you ask? I will tell you: homemade bread. I made some today, checking another thing off my secret "Things I Will Do Once I Move To Iowa" list. I'd made homemade artisan bread before and, while tasty, I was looking for a recipe that would be a more everyday type bread. I googled simple bread recipes and came across this beauty, reproduced here for your baking pleasure:

Prep Time: 3 hours

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

·      3/4 cup warm water

·      1 package active dry yeast

·      1 tsp salt

·      1-1/2 tbsp sugar

·      1 tbsp vegetable shortening

·      1/2 cup milk

·      3 cups all-purpose flour, approximately

Preparation:

1.     In large bowl, add the warm water. Slowly stir in dry yeast. Continue to stir until yeast is dissolved.

2.     Add salt, sugar, shortening, and milk to bowl. Stir.

3.     Mix in the first 2 cups of flour.

4.     If needed, begin adding more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough chases the spoon around the bowl.

5.     You do not need to use up all the flour called for in this recipe, or you may need more flour than called for. The amounts vary depending on many factors, including weather, which is why most bread recipes only give an approximate amount of flour needed.

6.     Turn dough out onto floured board and knead, adding small spoonfuls of flour as needed, until the dough is soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.

7.     Put dough in buttered bowl, turn dough over so that the top of dough is greased. Cover and let rise in warm spot for 1 hour.

8.     Punch down dough. Turn out onto floured board and knead.

9.     Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.

10.  Form dough into loaf and set in buttered bread pan. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.

11.  Score dough by cutting three slashes across the top with a sharp knife. Put in oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

12.  Turn out bread and let cool on a rack or clean dishtowel.

I accidentally let my bread rise for two hours the first time instead of just one, and though it turned out a little misshapen, it was still delicious. Here, you can see for yourself:

Check out that golden brown goodness! Doesn't it look good enough to eat? (I'll let you in on a secret: it was.)

The lovely white innards. The bread was light and fluffy and SO good. You can see how it's not exactly symmetrical, but that didn't affect the taste at all.

So, I encourage you to be bold and try making some bread of your own! If you don't feel comfortable kneading, I'm told there are some very helpful videos on YouTube (right, Chaela?).

In other news, I have officially sent out all my emails requesting letters of recommendation for my graduate program applications (6 in all), have a meeting scheduled for next Tuesday that will hopefully end in an offer to become a binder at the conservation lab in the university library, have posted new items on my etsy (good news for all of you out there following and making comments! More goodies to choose from if you win!), and am planning on participating in a world record breaking hokey pokey dance tonight. You know, normal things.

And I am still LOVING my red velvet cake box planner.

i don't follow...

My family laughs at me because I talk about my blog a lot. But I just love it! I think it's such a fun way to share things that are going on in my life with those that I love. (Or any random person on the internet...) One of the things I talk about most (to the amusement of all) is how few people are following my blog. Now, I realize that many more people actually read my blog than those that are just listed under "blog stalkers" (a number that has been inflated as of late through my own coercion of my family to sign up as followers), so I now extend an invitation to all of my readers to become blog stalkers. It's easy! And, to help increase your motivation to follow, if you sign up by midnight Central Time (that's the time zone Iowa is in, folks) on September 4th then you will be eligible to win a FREE BOOK made by yours truly! (You can choose from any item at my etsy store that is $10 or under. Just let me know your preference.)

Already following my blog? Just comment on this or any blog post until September 4th to be entered to win. You can comment as many times as you'd like (though be reasonable about it) to increase your chances of winning, as each post will give you an additional entry into the raffle. At the end of the week all the names will be put on a list, with multiple entries for people that commented multiple times, and a name will be selected at random using the number generator at Random.org. The winner will be announced the morning of September 6th.

NOTE: You must be registered as a blog follower to have your comments counted as entries into the contest.

So! Now that you are motivated to follow my blog, all you have to do is the following:

1. Find the section entitled "blog stalkers" on the far right column on my blog. 
2. Click on the button that says "follow." Here is a picture of what you are looking for: (Don't click on this though because doing that will only make it bigger, not send you on to the next step.)
   
   
   
   
3. Now this window will pop up asking you to sign in:
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Choose which ever account is applicable to you. If none of them work you can easily create a gmail account that you won't have to use ever again if you don't want to (though personally I prefer it to every other type of mail server, but that's just me).
5. Every type of account has a slightly different protocol from here, screens having you verify your account, things like that. Just follow those instructions until you get to the screen pictured in step 6.
6. Now it will ask you if you want to follow publicly or privately. Make sure the bubble selecting "follow publicly" is filled in and click "follow this blog."
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. I believe it's at this point that you can then play with your new blogger profile, adding a picture or changing the name that appears with your account, things of that nature. Though you don't have to, you can just remain a mystery face if you would like.
   
   
   
   

And there you have it! Pretty easy, yeah? Now get to it! The clock is ticking!

typewritten love

Today I got this in the mail from these people. ☞

☜ And in an effort to figure out how it all worked, I typed this.

Up close, it looks like this.  ☟

I was surprised to learn that I'm a much better typist than I thought. (Also, fun fact: I am punching my lap top keys a lot harder than usual due to my intensive typewriter-key work out.) Additionally, I think I am in love with it.

i admit defeat

Ok, ok. I admit it: I did not complete 31 projects in 31 days. I just didn't make it. But I did get super close! I blogged about 26 projects and I have at least 3 more that still haven't been posted, but even so that only brings us to 29 projects total. Sad day. But it's ok because I still got lots of stuff done and I learned things about myself. And, as Stephanie always says, every day should be a learning day!

I learned that it is way better to be doing something in the time I'm not working instead of just watching tv shows online, even if I think I'm so tired I could fall asleep at 8 pm (because I will never, ever actually get in bed before 11 pm). I learned that I love making things, not just books, and sometimes making other things is even more satisfying that making books! (Is that ok to say? I still like making books too, just maybe not all the time all the time.) I learned that sewing never takes as much time as I think it will (except when the machine freaks out and then it's just best to walk away and come back later), that pictures are best to take right after I've finished something, and blog are better with stories and the good ones take longer to write than I think they will. I learned that sometimes the rewards of having at etsy store are just so that I can say that I have one and not to actually sell anything (in other words, I'm a terrible promoter but I'm not thinking about that right now). I learned that it really is better to measure twice and cut once. I learned that maps are the most fun kind of paper and that they are everywhere. Also that rubber stamps can cool, not lame. I learned that some projects take longer than others but that doesn't mean that short projects aren't fulfilling. I learned that the longer I sit and stare at my work table the less inspired I am to go back up there the next time: when I'm tired, I just need to leave. I learned that even though I have a craft room I still craft all over the house and always manage to leave my scissors in the kitchen when I need them on the third floor, and vice versa.

I learned that I like being crafty in my own way because crafting make me happy.

additionally...

I would be remiss if I did not tell the blogosphere about the package that I received just yesterday. I recently won a little gift certificate to the Lugo's etsy shop and redeemed it for this amazing bowl. It is tiny and I love it!

However, as if the give away of one of Rob's amazing creations was not enough, they sent me another bowl also free! These people are really just amazing and I can't say enough nice things about them (and not just because they give me free stuff, although, let's be honest, that never hurts).

the etsy revolution

I've done it. It's official. There's no going back. I officially started my etsy store today when I posted my first item, an envelope Valentine's book. The store is called A Book Full and can be found at abookfull.etsy.com. As of this moment that is the only item listed, and there is only one, but in reality I am working on a couple more variations of this same book, as well as other books entirely.

I wish I'd gotten the first book done and posted sooner because it's a really cute Valentine's Day gift, especially for new married couples and stuff, though I think the only reason I think that is because my group of friends is slowly but largely seeping slowly over into that other realm of married-ones. (Note: Guys this would be a great gift for your lovely wives...) I only posted the one book because I don't think enough people will see it/want it enough to order it in the next week or so before Valentine's Day to make it worth my time to make more (at least, this year) but if anyone knows for sure that they want one let me know and we can make it happen fo' sho'.

Yay for being a small business... owner? starter? crafter? ...person.

The book.

 

The inside of... the book.

etsy?

So for a while now I've been thinking about starting at Etsy account where I can sell some books and other things I've made, like jewelery or hats or cards or whatever. I've been toying around with the name Books & Things but I feel like that's maybe a little lame, though I am a fan of the ampersand. Any suggestions?