This is the Story of a Girl (Tuesday)

Once upon a time there was a girl who was unhappy.
She couldn't find jewelry that she really liked. It was all either too fancy, too basic, too trendy or just plain too expensive.

"Hmmph!" she harumphed as she sat in frustration.
She sat and she sat. She ate pretzels from the giant barrel she bought at Costco. She drank copious amounts of water because the pretzels made her thirsty.

Then, a thought quietly entered her mind.
"Make it yourself."


"No!" she exclaimed. "I swore off art as a job for the rest of my life!" ** (editor's note: our girl did indeed swear off art as a means of occupation due to extreme disappointment at the hands of too many to list. It's a long story with many characters and gets very ugly in bits. Our advice is to wait for the tell-all novel that dares to name names due out in late 2011.)

After eating more pretzels and drinking more water, our girl has another thought:
"It won't hurt any if I just LOOK for materials on the internet."

Look she did, for hours at a time. She schemed and sketched and laid out plans. She used a calculator. She was very organized.

In the midst of all of this plotting and planning, our girl paused, not for a pretzel, but to realize that she was actually enjoying herself.


Our girl took to jewelry making like a duck to water and made all of the designs that were floating in her head but did not exist in the natural world.

UNTIL NOW...

That is the story of Girl Tuesday.
Hope you enjoyed it.
If not, well, at least it didn't cost you anything.


It's been a while since I've been so enamored with a profile on Etsy—and I've certainly never reposted one here—but I had to because Rachel hit this out of the park! It's amazing to me how much hearing the back story of a company and the voice of the maker influences my interest in a product. I guess for me it often really is about the relationship between the two and making that connection.

Italian Crostini, Two Ways

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted this? Well as I was deciding what to post today, thinking about how I set out to do original craft projects on Wednesdays—which has proven to be impossible given the reality of having to work at a job all day—I decided that I'd at least post something to make. And today that means yummy crostini from Organic Tuscany! I needed a chance to relive my cooking school vacation again and these recipes seemed as good a reason as any. They are super easy and great for entertaining—be warned. The salsa verde is so darn good that if you serve this as an appetizer, you will eat enough that you will entirely ruin your appetite for dinner!

Crostini
Crostini are little appetizers that you can invent yourself depending on what’s in season and what you have in the house.
Cut thin slices of firm bread (Tuscan-style bread is best but baguette will do), toast if you like, and top with:

Roast Peppers with Goat Cheese
2 or 3 red peppers
Garlic
Olive oil
Basil or parsley
fFresh goat cheese

1. Roast or grill a couple of peppers. Put them in a plastic bag or a closed container to cool. They will “sweat” and be much easier to peel.
2. Peel and de-seed the peppers, Cut into fine strips.
3. Dress the pepper strips with salt, pepper, raw finely sliced garlic (optional) good olive oil and fresh basil or parsley. Leave a little while to marinate. Discard the garlic if you have used it.
4. Top the bread with a little slice of goat’s cheese and some pepper strips.

Salsa Verde (or Salsa Verde with Tofu)
2 boiled eggs OR 100g firm tofu
Parsley, bunch
Capers, 10
Garlic, 1 clove
Olive oil
Vinegar (apple or wine), a splash
A little anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet (optional)

1. Combine the above ingredients into a fine paste using a food processor. Use to top crostini or to accompany other dishes.

Instant Heirloom: Indiana Blue

I'm so happy to share this Instant Heirloom with you today! Indiana Blue has been book marked in my Etsy favorites for months (literally) but somehow I never got around to actually emailing her. Barbara, the genius behind these embroidered bound books is as sweet as she is talented and to be honest, I'm completely in awe. Here's a bit from her about her work, her process and where she finds her inspiration.

Where do you live? Though I lived in several states (Indiana, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia), I currently live in the small town of Morgantown, West Virginia, where my fiancé is attending medical school.

Tell me a little bit about what you make. I make paintings, hand bound books, and embroideries.

How did you decide to start the line? I had several paintings that I had created for a competition and decided to open a shop on Etsy to sell them. After setting up my online shop, I realized the paintings didn’t give a full representation of what I wanted my work to be. I began to really think about the things that I liked, and started recycling materials from existing projects and recreating them into fresh pieces that better expressed the sensibility that I wanted in my own work.

How did you learn the technical process of what you make? I have been drawing, painting, and sewing since I was a little girl, though I did learn the basics of bookmaking while I was in art school. Process has always been very important to me. A lot of the work that I do has been learned through trial and error. If something isn’t working, then I’ll take it apart and work to reconstruct it until I get it right. There is a lot of experimentation with materials involved, as I am always striving to create a more tactile sensibility in my books and embroideries.

Where do you find your inspiration? Everywhere! I get ideas from pictures, magazines, movies, design blogs, and all kinds of found ephemera. I used to just do a quick sketch and then start a project, but I realized that it is more helpful for me to get the ideas out of my head. I now keep a sketchbook full of the imagery and colors that I am thinking about, and seeing them down on paper together often leads me to develop the idea further.

What’s a favorite item that you’ve made? I was asked to make a piece for part of a job application process for a display coordinator position. The idea of the piece was to create something that embodied the spirit and look of the company.

I made a small multimedia book that was about a girl and her dog. The book became a story about the girl dreaming of visiting her grandmother, who lives far away. I used a theme that was relevant in my life, and embellished it within the parameters of the assignment. I loved the project because I was really pushed in a small amount of time (2 or 3 days) to create something that was both unique in vision and specific to a brand. The book is a small treasure that I still enjoy.

Is this your full-time work? No, at the moment I work full-time in a bookstore. Whatever time I’m not there I can usually be found at home with headphones on, stitching or painting.

Why do you enjoy doing this type of craft, which takes a lot of time and manual effort? Craftsmanship is very important to me. I think one of the things I enjoy is gaining more technical skills. I’ve learned a whole lot while working on various projects (and still have much more to learn!). There is something special in knowing where you started and seeing how much you have learned over time.

What’s the best part of your day? I think the best part is when I’m really lost in a project and the piece is starting to take shape, that’s when it feels like the magic is happening.

June Print of the Month

For the first time since I started my monthly print purchase, I bought this one in person! (I sincerely apologize that the magical nature of this screen print totally does not come across in my bad photo!) I visited my new friends Arin and Karen in their paper and gift shop, Ephemera, just a few blocks away from where I'm living, on Saturday. Arin gave me a little tour of their workspace, which includes some really awesome craft gadgets, and also a stack of these prints. I immediately nearly dove for this purple one since it's in the same color family as my bed linens and I knew that it would be great on one of the blank walls in there. They hadn't had time to package the prints yet, but they were nice enough to sell me one—I think they realized I wasn't going to leave without it!
This is the first screen printed piece I've ever purchased and it makes me so incredibly happy. I can't wait to get it framed and stare at it whenever I'm in my bedroom!

I have a lot to say about these ladies and their many talents, but I'm going to save that for a dedicated post to give them plenty of space to talk and show off their creations.

Inspired Image: Andrea of Sunshine & Molasses

Hello, my name is Andrea Breitman

You can find me at Sunshine and Molasses

This image comes from a quaint, adorable little town named Annecy in France.

It inspires me because it embodies the life that I daydream of having soon, full of quiet afternoon walks, cafes where I can sit and draw for hours, local bakers who know what breads I like and butchers who know what cut of meat I enjoy, the sound of water, the smell of peace and fresh air.

I particularly love the idea of riding my bicycle around town, picking up fresh ingredients and a bottle of wine for dinner. I also love the idea of being surrounded by folks who are interested in something other than the hustle and bustle, people who take time to say hello...

It makes me feel peaceful and hopeful.
The 3 words it conjures up are inspiring, calm, priceless.


Andrea is behind a line of super cute greeting cards that are a little quirky and a lot of fun. I like that they feel very unique and that I know that if I received one of these in my mailbox, it would totally make my day. This is the company's self-assigned mission, which is as good a reason to make things as I've ever heard: "to bring wee bits of sunshine and happiness to an otherwise ordinary day." Check out some of the designs below and head over to her site for more info. Happy weekend everyone!

Thinking Vintage Bags

I checked out one of the antique malls just outside of town last night after work and wow, what an amazing resource. I was, I admit, entirely distracted by the feed and grain bags (apparently there is a lot of hybrid corn around here!) and the secret mission I was there completing, but I also started thinking about vintage purses because I saw the prettiest beaded one.

I have a wedding to go to soon and I haven't decided what bag to carry, which is sort of surprising to me because I have meticulously determined every other element of my ensemble from earrings to shoes and hair pins. I'm not sure which direction I want to go in with the bag—my dress is bright berry pink—but I have decided that I am really going to give it some thought over the next few days so that it's considered, rather than rushed. I remembered that I had bookmarked these bags from Karuski, which are made with recycled fabric and trimmings wherever possible.

Minna, the designer who makes them, lives in Finland but spent time in Japan. These bags definitely have a touch of that culture and they are similar in shape to the ones I adore from Oktak.
But it's the combination of the Scandinavian-feeling textiles she uses (like linen) and the shape of the bags that is very Japanese that I particularly enjoy.

It also makes me happy that I have lace that it's very similar to the one shown here. I have more research to do (have I ever told you that I'm seriously indecisive? I'm a Gemini, through and through!) but this feels like an excellent start!

Quick Craft: Fabric Card

I have been experiencing a renewed interest in the gooey stuff lately—it's just so darn handy for transforming all manner of things. Mostly, I love how easy it is to make impressive cards at home using cardstock and fabric scraps. (Wow, I sound like an infomercial!) You all know that I quilt, but sometimes I want to make something quickly, to get in and out in less than an hour and this card totally hit the mark. It uses some of my favorite fabric that the folks at Purl Patchwork told me was picked up on one of their buyers trips to Japan and shows it off. I didn't really want to do anything that would get in the way of the pattern, so I simply cut pieces of fabric slightly larger than two plain white flat cards, applied a thick layer of Mod Podge to the cards and secured the fabric on top. I let them dry under a dictionary for about a half an hour, then punched some holes, threaded some vintage lace through both sides to tie them together, and voila! Finished card! It will be going via the USPS to someone special later this week, but for today, I'm just going to enjoy having this pretty thing around.