Even more pictures!

Well, here are those "other" pictures that I promised you earlier. They are the illustrations that I fell in love with at the children's public library.






















































































































Oh so cute!

Here is the vintage apron pattern that I bought off ebay for $3.50 (including shipping).



















And here is another print that will be for sale in my etsy store by the end of tonight.



















Well that's all for now, have a good night.

Pictures!

Here are the two drawing that I did last night.
"Tree repeat"

"Look What I Made"

Well, I was going to post images of the illustrations in the children's books that I found, but it seems that I am bad at keeping things in focus and most of them are out of focus, so I will retake them and post more pictures later tonight.

woot!

So I finally sent out the quilt blocks to my quilt block partner, jeeze, what kind of example as a host am I setting here. I actually recieved my blocks in the mail today and they look so great. I will post pictures tomorrow, i'm really tired right now, too tired to get my camera out and upload pictures, no I'm just being lazy... dang. Well lazy tired whatever I am posting all pictures tomorrow.

I am working on two small drawings right now, even though there are about another 100 things I should be doing, but that is another thing I will do tomorrow. I have not had one day off work and school in 2 weeks, so i'm at least taking tonight off for no school. On that note I was thinking that this next week was the last day of class when really there are two full weeks left. Such a stupid mistake. And I'm paying for it. You know how I said that if I'm given too much time I tend to slack off, well I think that is what is happening, I mean look at this, I'm doing things not for class, even though they are still art things, totally not for class. I hope I get back on it. These pictures that I'm drawing are really cute and way more interesting that sewing in the loose ends of my weaving. Tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I went to the children's library today, it was so great. I simply gorged myself on great illustrations and nice stories and I also rented the wizard of Oz and Castle in the Sky. I watched the Castle in the Sky tonight and will watch the Wizard of Oz Sunday.

Well, back to drawing and than off to bed for me. Have a good night, pictures are coming, I swear!

Almost done!

So this super secret art project is almost done, it's not really super secret though... I just want to post pictures of the whole process in one post, not just one at a time here and there. Unfortunately I can't take pictures in the wood shop, so no pictures of that, but there will be pictures of test prints and weaving and assembly and than the final project, which is sure to look nice.

I'm actually down to the line here, I have finished all the "art" part of it and am now just working on the hanging and presentation, which equals a lot of time in the wood shop for me. I love making things out of wood, it gives me a refreshing feeling of "look, I made this, and i am going to use it." It was funny, my instructor gave me a talk about good craftsmanship yesterday (after I had told her about all the woodworking I was going to do for this), and how "you can have a really nice piece and than destroy it with poor workmanship, you know, split wood and crooked hidges, the little things" and than she saw the look of horror on my face because that is one of my pet peaves, maybe I'm old fashioned, but i'm not going to muddle up my work with not putting hidges on right and I happen to be fairly proficient at wood working. I mean, i'm not amazing, but I do know how to put two boards together so they make a 90 degree angle, and how to measure. So she said something like "well I'm not sure how you work, but I have seen a lot of students ruin really nice pieces by presenting it poorly." Which I do have to give her that, I've seen it a lot too.

So we have our first critique today, and than 3 working days, and than our final critique one week from monday. This class has come and gone, it's been fun so far. I think I will take 400 and 401 this way too, you know, during the summer. I like it short and concentrated, it keeps me focused. During the semester they don't give me enough to do so I end up taking on my own projects and just throwing together the projects for class. So it goes I guess. Two much down time is actually what caused me to pick up knitting, it's something I can do while I read and I can take it anywhere with me. I think I am going to lay off the knitting for a bit though and start drawing more, I've really enjoyed this class and I think I want to make a point to work on art for at least one hour a day... my own art, not art for school. This kind of plays into the idea of having a show every sememster or once every 4 months. The work I produce at school tends to suck because 1. the assignment are restrictive and annoying 2. I don't put enough value into it so it is done poorly 3. it's just random, there is nothing that really goes together. So another one of my goals is that every assignment that I get (I'm taking 3-d forms in fiber, sculpture, and painting II) I'm going to tie into a theme so that way I can show them in the spring as one group that makes sense. Anyway, I'm full of coffee so I'm typing as fast as I'm thinking so there is a lot for you to read and I'm not sure if it's any good, so if you get all the way to here, I will apologize for the spelling and the grammer and i'm sure missing words or letters here and there.

Have a good thursday!

Dull day... for you!

I made quite a bit of progress on my art project today... but I want to post all the pictures at once, I hate it when people look at my work when it's not finished because there is always this look on their face like "i don't get it" which is fine, because it's not done. So even though I've been super busy getting things done, you will not see any of it. Well, I need to head off to lowes now to see about some supplies for my projects. Have a good day.

Picture laziness

So I was planning on editting these so they look nice, but I'm lazy and other things to do right now and because of that you are getting the "straight off the camera" pictures. And keep in mind that if I sell the little pencil case cluch in my etsy store three things would be different.
1. no little fraying edges all over
2. fancy
3. editted pictures so you can't see all of my junk in the background.


Here is the newest edition to my green little family.

Here he is with his lady friends.

I found him in Aldi when I went grocery shopping this week, I wanted to save all, but I left that to some other grocery shopper who has an inclination to all things green and growing such as I do. He was a whole 3 bucks, what a steal. I need to give him a name though, any ideas?

Quicky Post 2!

Well, I'm really trying to at least post a little something everyday. So I have a few seconds now so I will give you an update.

I got everything on my to-do list finished except laundry (which seems to be the bain of my existance, I'm almost ready to get it dry cleaned! ugh, can't afford that). Yea for getting things done last night. I even made a little cluch for my carving tools! It's so cute. I will post a picture of that later tonight (I will edit it in). If you would like one let me know, I was thinking about making them (more fancy of course) and selling them on etsy for $5. What do you think? Good idea or no? Well I'm sure you can't say now because there is no picture, but that will change later in the evening.

The quilt block swap deadline is up for the July swap and the August deadline is July 27th, just so you know, you can check it out, there is a link in the side bar. We have four new members this month, what fun.

I'm in a bind with my art project, I need a way to cut some doll rods and the wood shop doesn't have offical hours during the summer, but the wood shop guy is doing odd jobs around the uni, I'm trying to track him down, but to no avail... here's to hoping right! If I can't get him to open the shop for me I will have to figure something else out, which sucks by the way because this is only a three week class and there is not much elbow room for changing your ideas. I may have to go to the hobby shop and see if they have anything precut to the sizes that I need or I may just buy a saw, which would be nice to have anyway, but money always is an issue with buying things.

I've gone into "I want to make everything out of canvas" mode and well... I am... hehe, first the tote and now the cluch. I think next an apron, then what, we will see.

Bye for now!

Quicky Post

This is just a quick little post about the Print Gocco. For all of those out there who are wondering, "what the heck is that thing and why does she think it's so great?" Well, Jason sent me a link last night to a tutorial that someone made about it. It's the best one I have seen so far so I thought I would share it with you. Here it is.

I also had a fun time messing around with my quilt blocks and also doing more drawings for my block prints. So close to being done with this part, it's almost time to do some test prints!

To do today:
1. finish quilt blocks for swap
2. finish drawings for art series
3. do laundry
4. work at encore
5. make dinner (at home to eat dinner for the first time in a week, geeze)
6. finish last woven mini tapistry for art project
7. go get some groceries
8. clean up a bit

Wow! What a day! can I get it all done in time? We will see. Here's to hoping.


Edited in: I forgot to mention, today is the last day to sign up for the July Quilt Block Swap! Go sign up now! hehe.... only if you want to though.

Also, this is my 100th post!

Work in Progress

Well, it's been a long time coming, but I finally put together what will hopefully be my gallery site for my art work. Jason said he would help me with the code and such to make it operational... well... he said he would write it for me if I designed it. So I whipped up a design in no time at all. I think this will actually be my store for my artwork too... etsy is nice, but I would like to cut out the middle man and most of the hits I get on the store come from this site, so they aren't doing much for me. I figure I will just put things up for display at first and than put in the selling features later, it will be easier to manage. Here is a little preview of what it will look like:

So that is roughly what is will look like and the little bird will move to the next or previous set of thumbnails. You will be able to order prints of selected works, some originals, and anything else that I feel like putting on there. Also, eventually, I will add a Events page to list past and upcoming events and openings where my work is featured. Hopefully it will be all finished up by the time I have my first DeKalb show. I'm researching the woman's center here and it looks like a good match, the only thing is that they have funky hours for their gallery so the opening would really be the only chance to sell. I've been talking to my instructor about other places to contact regarding showing my work and the conversation we had was kind of funny. I look fairly young and keep in mind that this is a drawing class that has 301 - 600 levels in it and I am in the lowest level, so she is expecting me to know a whole lot of nothing about showing/selling my work, granted I have a lot to learn, but I'm not stupid. She suggested a dorm, a "gallery" in a garage of an instructor, and a "gallery space" (a glass case in the hall) of the student center. I don't think anyone has really sold anything out of any of these spaces, so no thank you. I mean, I'm not all about sales, but it would be nice to have the chance of one. Once she realized that I was serious and that I had showed my work before, one of which was solo, and I had sold work before she finally gave me some names. So it goes. She couldn't just look at my work and say here is what you need good luck/give it your best shot, she had to know that someone else had already given me a chance and than it was okay for her to. It almost makes me want to become a compulsive lier and tell her that "oh yeah, one of my works got into the MCA in chicago, I sure am a prodigy" I actually had an artist friend awhile back that spread a rumor about himself that he had gone international and had shows in Cuba, France, Spain, New York, London and Chicago... maybe I should too. Hehe, that would be a hoot!

I'm being kind of disgruntled about the whole thing, but as long as I keep on task it will be fine. That's why plans are good to have. They help you to keep working toward you goal with little steps so it doesn't seem so impossible. Which having a show in 3 months in the gallery of my choice and than having a show once every three months for the next year or so is seeming to be right now, but that is my goal and I have a plan, so it will work. It's just hard when the instructors around here are so "what are you doing thinking you can have shows when you are only a junior, that's not allowed, no... it's not normal!" Their complete lack of confidence in undergrads is astounding, but I suppose that's because they let just about anyone into the painting program, it's like the degree for those who messed up in other majors. I'm so used to my old professor Jeanne sending me links for "Call for entries" saying "Kristin, you should do this, you need to get your work out there" It's so sad her not being around, I miss her something terrible. She's a great woman and most likely the biggest influence on my life. Anyway, enough being disgruntled about the NIU instructor's complete lack of confinence and involvement in their students, on to better things.

Look what I found at work in the basement, and that my boss said I could have! It's a Three-Dimentional Travel Treat! And I can "Take Magic Carpet Tours of the Countries of the World!"

I really want to go travelling soon.... like to Scotland or France! I should have a show there! They don't know I'm a nobody, hehe. Well, I'm going to finish up those quilt blocks and do some sketches for my block carvings, goodnight all!

Inspiration!

So while perusing the internet I came open the Knit Scene site and their new magazine is up. It looks to be really good. These are the the ones that particularly caught my eye and made me drool.

I really want to make all three of these, they are beautiful! I just got home from a 10 hour shift at work and am pretty beat so this is all you get, I will post some pictures of my projects and stuff tomorrow. Goodnight.

Kristin.Roach.Originals.

I added two more items to my etsy store last night. They are prints of two drawings that I did awhile ago. I had a bunch printed and matted for a show that I did and although most sold there are still a few left. I figure I will put the rest up by next wednesday, most likely sooner. Both prints are matted to fit a 8" x 10" frame. You should go check it out.

I've been working almost everyday, plus summer school has gone into full swing. I really love it. If I could make a living off my art work I totally would. For me, it is so easy to work from 9 to 5 on my art. It's like not working at all I love it so much... ah to be a full time artist.

I started cutting the blocks for my series dealing with patterns, it should be pretty good. I'm actually really happy with the way that they turned out, especially the second one, I took extra long to carve it and it was worth it. I'll add pictures later, I need to get ready for school.

My heart is all aflutter!

So, I have not been able to get online all day! The horror, hehe, it really wasn't so bad, but I did want to mention the new projects that I'm working on in my Intermediate Drawing II class. But first! I did obtain a lap loom and a PRINT Gocco over the weekend! And just to prove it here are some pictures.


So, there, that is proven because that is my ugly carpet. Hehe. Anyway, art project. It's really so exciting, I'm really enjoying this class. Basically it's an upper level drawing class that is a semester concentrated into 3 weeks, really only 12 working days and 2 days for critique. The class lasts officially from 7:30 A.M. - 1 P.M. Yikes! But my instructor said that's crap and said that class starts unofficially at 8:30 A.M. She then informed us that because she was not going to buy anything for the class, we could have our studio fees back by going to the book store and we could all spend $40 on art supplies! Yeah! So I decided to get a staple gun, 2 carving chisels, and a roll of vellum that is 5 yrds long! How exciting.

My instructor also told us that we needed to type up our project proposals for the class. So I decided to work on two series. The first one will explore patterns found in nature or just patterns inspired my nature, and all though that is not very straight forward I do have a definite direction, but it would be easier just to show you the pictures when it is finished.

The second series is going to explore the difference between art and craft and it will hopefully end up in a gallery space at it's completion. The problem is that there are not really any galleries around here. For this project I am going to create 12 woven textiles and then use a printing process. They will then be hung and weighted with wooden rods. The point of this is that there are many people that are more proficient at weaving than me, but people have no problem touching and exploring the feel of the textile that they create. By placing my little woven swatches on a gallery wall and calling them art, even if I invite people to touch them and feel the fabric that I have created, they will be reluctant because it is art and it is therefore not to be touched.

This is a drawing I made of how it will hang.

I finished the first 4 woven textiles today and am almost done with the fifth. They don't look so great right now, but they need to have the ends cleaned up and the bottom weighted, plus they all need their own hanging system, but this rod will keep them off the floor and away from Mr B.

So that is all for today. Back to work! Or should I say back to art making!

I'm sorry to say....

I have to now require people to use word varification and all comments must be approved. I saw that someone commented and I was like "oh, yea! someone read my blog, and left me a little note, how excited." I do really like getting comments, I mean, who doesn't? It's nice. Unfortunately this was about phone sex..... so, if you know how to delete past comments let me know.... I want to delete it so bad, but I don't know how. I'm really trying to keep this blog clean and upbeat and appreciate everyone who has commented without being vulgar... it's really not that hard.

So I'm also sorry to say that today is my first day of summer school and I have to be there in less than a half hour... that's right, I have to be to school at 7:30 A.M.! Blah.... hehe, I'm sure I will make it just fine. I'm even packing my new bento box full of goodies to snack on... so great!

Have a good monday!

Roses!

Suprise Visit... kind of.

Well, everything for the past couple of days was put on hold. I was swept away in a dream for a bit, but I'm back. Basically, I flipently said to Jason, "you should come visit me tomarrow" and he said "okay" and I was like "okay? really" and he was like "I don't see why not." I haven't seen him for two weeks and we didn't have plans for a visit until mid July (because of me working and being in school) so it was really a pleasant suprise that it worked out so well. And, even better, he came early and showed up at my work with a dozen long stem roses..... so pretty! What can I say, I'm a sucker for romance. He really made my day, I sure do love him. It was a quick visit, but well worth it and I'm so glad he made the trip. I will take post a picture of the flowers later today, but no time for that now. So here is a picture of Jason instead.

Working in Progress

Have you ever had one of those days where you set out to conquer the crafting world..... And than just don't? Well today was one of those days for me. I was going to get my "To-do" list all checked off. Tick, tick, tick... Off they go. Well, things don't always turn out like you plan them to. Mainly, I just didn't feel like it. I was tired, really tired. I do feel better today that the past few. I think I am allergic to my parents, every time I get around them I get really sick for three days and start thinking "I should go get this checked out I'm starting to feel really bad" and than the next day it's pretty much gone. Maybe they just are hosts to some kind of parasitic spore that I am allergic too.... And yes I have been watching too much star trek, or maybe not enough... By the way, even if I am allergic to my parents I love them all the same... That's right I love you two. Anyway, enough of that.

My best attempts at finishing my bath mat tonight were thwarted yet again by me starting a new pointless project involving too much jute string an not enough, well, not enough common sense. But that is just the way those things go. I reallllly wanted to make the fruit bag from Simple Crochet, but unfortunately I do not have the right materials, but wouldn't a jute string fruit bag just be all the rage? Because I messed up the first part of the pattern and than moved into some kind of weird hyperbolic plane thingy, I gave that up and finally started on the bath mat. I was determined to finish one or the other and now at close to bed time neither is anywhere near done. So it goes. I did add some more stuff to my DIY Planner and I will post you pictures of those.

It is still a work in progress, but I've started using it anyway. I figure I will add to it, or block in sections of color as I see fit. I'm going to carry a little "add on" kit with me that will have small scissors, a glue stick, and a hole punch. Than I can add little inspiring things as I find them. Even though I covered the whole thing in cut outs from my image folder (I have a big folder full of stuff I have cut out of magazines and adds, it inspires me) it is fairly open to alteration because I have not really drawn on it at all. I want to do some print making stuff to it along with a little painting and other things I think of... So ... Work in progress, it will look better than it does right now, it will just take a little time.

I will not post the pictures of my other two projects until the wrongs with them are righted and that is that, no complaining about it, you are just not going to get to see them in the state that they are in as of right now.

Oh and here is a picture of the purple asparagus that my dad bought for me at the farmer's market... Purple on the outside, green in the middle... Neat!
And with that, I just have one more little thing to say... I am going to train how to open the yarn shop tomorrow! How exciting! I get a 20% discount on yarn and stuff! I'm not officially working there by myself, but the goal is that I wander next door from time to time and learn stuff over the next three weeks and if I'm not up to speed by then I will actually be scheduled over there. I need to be able to work by myself there by Aug, which I'm sure will come quick enough as is with school and all that.

Well, Codington! And sorry about the lack of spell check and proof reading as of late, I will get better about that, I swear. Cross my heart and hope to die.

Planning a Planner

Well really there was no plan at all except, "I'm going to make this thing right now and now stopping until it's done." And that is what I did. Here is the start of it... I should have taken a picture of the Avon binder first, but oh well, too bad, you are lucky I stopped to take any pictures at all. Oh and here is a silly picture of me gearing up to craft, do you like my apron? I'm actually wearing a skirt today. It's my belief that the only good time to get dressed up is when you are sick because it really makes you feel better. So a skirt and fancy sweater for today.


And here it is kind of finished, but not yet dry.

And of course, here is Mr B being cute trying to get me to stop making stuff and play with him instead, oh that little sneaky guy, but not today, there are things to be made!
I am of course I am going to do some drawing and other type of things to my planner, but this first coat needs to dry.

On another sad note, my dick blick, yes, mine, I have been going there since I was 6 years old, is closing! I'm going to cry... well not really, but it does make me sad that the only good art store in a thriving art community is going to close. Why were all those artists going to Micheals or Ben Franklin when they should have been going to Dick Blick. Jerks! Anyway so everything is 50% off right now, so I just called them up and they are going to put a Gocco Printer and 2 jars of GAC900 acrylic medium (it makes acrylic into fabric paint). I am going to go pick them up on Sunday... I'm still really sad, even though I do get a Gocco printer for 50% off, which totally kicks some butt. I'm going to have to stock up on paper and pencils and pens and paint too, but we will see what is left there, they started the sale awhile ago. The guy on the phone was funny, he told me that it was my lucky day there was one gocco printer left and that there were 3 jars of GAC 900. I asked him how much the GAC 900 was and he said "1000 dollars, very reasonable, we can set you up on the installment plan if you want."hehe, they were really $5, which is a great price! And with that I bid you adoooooooo, go to your local art store and buy stuff, now!

Recycle, it's good for the sheep!

Jason has been wondering for awhile when the conservation side of my personality would kick in to gear where knitting is concerned. Up until now I have wanted the best of the best needles and the nicest of the nice wool and cotton too. But it's starting to get expensive and thrift more than excess waste worries have made me look at ugly oversized knitted sweaters at thrift stores more than once. Well, mainly just the oversized ones. I can't help but think "that must have taken like 12 balls of yarn!" As you all know I have become obsessed with the Mason-Dixon Knitting book as of late and one of the patterns I have become particularly wistful about is the doubled up worsted weight cotton bath mat. Basically for all you non-knitters out there (and shame on you for not even trying you don't know what you are missing) reallllllly fat and soft bathmat! I want to make it so bad but am having a few hang ups like, well, not enough extra money to blow on a ton of cotton yarn for something I really don't need. There is also the issue of instant gratification at work here too. I could get it on eBay I'm sure... But than I would have to wait a few weeks... Blah to that! So back to the sweater recycling. I work at a consignment shop here in dekalb and our consignors, which we love dearly, tend to forget that we do not take winter items in the summer so even though that big bulky sweater is made of cotton, it is not a "summer" type of item to have on the shelf. It just won't sell. So some of our consignors, which we love so dearly, say it's okay that we donate anything we don't take, which we really do love that because it keeps our shop tidy and the salvation army truck stops by every Tuesday and Friday or something like that. Needless to say right now we have a stack in the back room ready to go off to the salvation army that is brimming with sweaters. I've been looking for the right sweater to recycle for awhile now and there was this one, right on top of the pile, that was absolutely perfect. Size large (fits the oversized bit), 100% cotton (fits the content bit), worsted weight (fits the weight bit), color is off-white (fits the color bit), and perfect! Absolutely perfect! I found the perfect sweater..... To completely disassemble! And disassemble I did! I have it half done, and made center pull balls too.

I was able to make a center pull ball fairly easy by using, of all things, a toilet paper roll. It works great. You just make a notch in each end and drop the end of the yarn down the center of the empty tp roll and secure it in the notches and then just start wrapping it around... Over and over.... It does take quite awhile, but it's going to be worth it. Why go through all this work? Because it is free! I will post some pictures of it tomorrow, I'm too lazy right now.

While I was doing all this winding I was listen to an older episode of Crafty Pod with Sister Diane... She is so neat!... Anyway, I was relistening to the episode about DIY daily planners and it was a really good idea starter. She recommends some great sites where you can get templates for calendar pages to print out (for free) and also has an idea about creating sections for collecting "Crafty goodness" ideas. After listening to all this and finishing off a third ball of center pull yarn I decided to come up with my own template just for me and my needs. This is what it looks like.

The grayed out section is for me to write down what hours I will be working that day (I work a lot and it can be difficult to keep track of). There are two reasons why I'm going to make a DIY Daily Planner. 1) I'm starting school and it will be great to keep all my dates in order and in one place and 2)I have all those Avon binders that are the perfect size to make into daily planners. I think I have about 6 of them, so I might make some to sell in my etsy store too... and no they will not have Avon all other them, I plan on covering the whole thing in wonderful art... that I make. So, if you want a hand made daily planner for only 300 dollars just let me know and I will make you one... just joking of course, I'm not sure how much I will sell them for. Most likely take off a zero and subtract some from that. I will get to that when I get to it.

Also, There are four new members to the quilt block swap so far this month, exciting! There are now a total of 12 of us which is so great. I was worried that there would only be 4 total, period, end of story and than those other three would see how lame the swap is and drop out... I guess other people get as excited about these things as I do, which I don't mind at all. I would really like this swap to become a long term deal with constant making, sending, and quilting each month! Yeah! And now, I'm sick and it's late so I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

Pictures in the order that they were taken

So... a little tour of my day with my parents picture style. But first I want to show you what I made for lunch on friday after being inspired by Vegan Lunch Box and also for dinner. The first picture is kind of sushi made with sticky jasmine rice and sun dried tomatoes. Of course with wusabi and soy sauce on the side. I'm not sure what the second dish was, but it had lots of delicious veggies from the farmer's market and some soba noodles... I remember something about adding soy sauce and black strap molasses... and that it was sooooo good!


And then I wanted to show you the actual shirt that I am afraid of sewing.... I repeat, ninny (am I even spelling that right?). Anyway, it's the New Look - Easy Level - 6952 - E or a moderation there of... I want short sleeves... not sleeveless... not long... not three quarter... And on top of that it's kind of bagging on the model. I may need to fix up the bust darts or something... So, a little alteration is in order. No wonder I'm not sure about doing this, haha.




So this is the beginning of our jouney. My mom and I went roller blading and biking. As she was making her way up a hill, I stopped to take a picture of some grass that was covered by the recent rain in water... I then promptly rode hard to catch up, she was a whole lot faster than I expected on those roller blades.


My mom fell during this little trip, which was so difficult... for me! It's been awhile since I've seen my mom take a fall like that. We were needing to pass these two ladies and instead of them moving into one behind the other, they just kind of scooted over, barely a foot on the side of a five foot wide path... and of course that one foot was completely coroded and rocking and my mom hit that patch and thankfully fell into the grass... Anyway, I didn't take a picture of her falling or those nasty ladies.... but I did take a picture of a plant on the side of the path while my mom briskly rolled ahead. She was fine and I was honestly more shaken up than she was.

And I realized water had collected in their leaves so I took a close up of that.


We went and put up my bike and her blades and were almost hit by a stray frisbee... After our shoes were on and our feet safely on the ground we met up with my dad who had discovered a book on my bookshelve that was called "Edible Wildflowers." He asked me "Can I borrow this?" and I said "Sure, it is your's you know" haha, he had totally forgot that went to the camping store and he bought that and than I stole it when I saw it not being used. So, point being he was reading it on the bench by the "river" (creek to me, that is not a river thank you very much). We decided to go into the woods and this is what we saw and he identified as "poisonous", "diretic", "vomit causing", and "edible." I like the last catagory best, although it is fun to see what will make you puke that the book says something like "you should not be deterred from trying new plants because they are puke inducing" well, not quite that exactly, but that's what they meant.


And at last we found something edible that is not toxic or will not make you puke... and what a find! Wild garlic or onions of some sort, I can't remember the exact name. We only took about 5 out of the 20 thousand growing. We also came across a mulberry tree and some wild raspberries. The great thing about this is that it is all only 2 blocks from my house! I love where I live.

We then went to a cafe in Sycamore for sandwhiches and across the street to the farmer's market. We bought... well my dad bought for me... some rhubarb-strawberry jam, purple asparegus (neat right?), lettuce, and some pecan cinnamon bread. I than made them a fabulous dinner that they loved and even had me write down the recipe for them. My dad said it was the best stir fry he has ever had in his life (it was the fish sauce I'm sure, he's a fishy kind of guy... hehe) and my mom said she enjoyed it better than the $40 worth of thai that we had the night before in this nice thai restaurant. I was flattered to say the least. We finished out the day by eating some of the pecan cinnamon bread with butter and than a second slice with the jam.

After they left I became super inspired and made a pattern for the quilt blocks I'm going to send out to my Quilt Block Swap Partner and than I actually pinned and cut all the fabric for them too... Amazing... But I cannot show you that here because I want it to be a suprise for her. I also picked out some fabric for my lunch box cozy... Yes I ordered a laptop lunch box, how exciting! And I went the cheap route, because they are expensive, and decided to get the bare minimum... only the lunchbox with the containers and the small thermos... no sets for me, no pouch, no case, no silverware, no nothing, just the basics. So I'm making my own case. My problem is that I'm going to be taking it to the dirty art school and putting it in my dirty art locker. So which fabric to use? The musical cats that I bought in Ames or the fabric a dear friend let me have for a graduation present? The grey is for the outside.


But I'm really not sure if I like the grey polyester even though it is the most logical fabric that I own for dirty art school situations... Should I make the lining interchangable? Now that would be fun... hmmm.... velcro? buttons?.... Buttons! what fun! Well that's all for now... most likely too much, so if you have gone this far, help be decide which fabric to use and here is a link for you to a site I just found. They have really great stuff for making patterns on and dying fabric. Oh and I'm going to have a new item in my store this Wednesday! Yeah!