im addicted to making these lined zippered bags that i found on this thread on craftster. i made them with all the scrap material in our house. zippers are really cheap and easy to "ninja," so they're virtually cost-free. also it's a great way to get used to zippers and the zipper foot. they're so easy!

also, i bought some great fabric from purlsoho. it was expensive but worth it.

i havent been doing too much sewing lately but yesterday i did hem a shirt-dress i got at good will. i also tacked the sleeves. it's a lot cuter now.

magnolia bakery cupcakes.



Will and i made cupcakes from the magnolia bakery recipe. they turned out delicious. they're pretty buttery and dense, but still taste light. it's hard to explain. i guess you'll have to make them to see.

i got the recipe from the 52 cupcakes blog

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line 2 muffin pans of 12 muffin spots each with cupcake liners. whatever they're called. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. In a small bowl combine both flours.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
4. Add the sugar gradually and beat for 3 minutes or until fluffy. (will did this because he's really good at mixing. he has good arms because his car has manual steering)
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.
7. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix.
8. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 15 minutes.
11. Remove cakes from the tins and cool on a wire rack before icing.

for the icing,

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add in 4 cups sugar, then the milk and vanilla. On
medium speed of an electric mixer, beat about 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well (about 2 minutes) after each
addition, until the icing is thick enough for good spreading consistency (you may not need all
of the sugar. we used about 6.5 cups total).

we frosted ours pink and blue and just spread on. you could pipe the frosting from a pasty bag for the swirly look.

There are all presents i've given my boyfriend:

I. I went through a softie phase and here is what came of it:

a.
this is an ankylosaurus stuffed animal i made in about an hour and a half without a pattern. it is very crude but cute in its crudeness.

b.
this is an elephant i made with a supremellllly complicated pattern. im not the greatest sewer so he didnt turn out perfectly, but he's cute nonetheless. he's bigger than i thought he'd be. he took about 5 hours total and i worked on him on and off.

c.
here is ankylosaurus #2. he was made by embroidering an image and then sewing pillow-style. i wish i had used a thicker thread, but i do like how he came out. the sewing was a breeze but i rushed it. the embroidery took long but was worth it. id say it took about 4 hours on and off.

II. He loves Haruki Murakami, a Japanese author (Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle) so i made a triple layer stencil. i really like how it turned out.


ive been addicted to embroidery. it's so relaxing and rewarding. i love how things come out when they're done with thread. im thinking about doing one and then framing it for my dad for father's day. i think ill do one of a california craft bungalow because he loves architecture and that's one of his favorite types of houses. he also likes chairs, oddly enough. and jay-z. i have a weird dad.

sorry for the long wait! i dont know if i have any readers but i do know that i should post in this more frequently.

it's been so long! i havent been crafting as much as i should but ive done a few things.

but this update is about other crafty people in my life.

firstly, my new (and fucking awesome) boyfriend will made 2 adorable easter eggs.


this is a squirrel easter egg (it's my favorite animal)

this is an audi egg he made for my mother.

he also drew me a squirrelysaurus, a hybrid ankylosaurus-squirrel:

it reminds me of the art in the royal tenenbaums. i love art like that. with a handwritten pencil title complete with a period at the end.

and for those of you who wonder where my crafty impulses come from, meet my mother, the crafting queen. she used to be really into making things for my class when i was little, but when she went back to work she had less and less time. lately she's been sewing again. she sews me a new lunch bag every monday, wednesday, and friday. i kid you not.

a pile of some of them

a few of my favorites.

my computer is fixed! yay!

so lately my crafting has been limited, but here's what i have.


i worked on a scrapbook for a friend, and i really liked this page so i thought i'd share. it's just a sorta messy page with artifacts from our relationship - a ticket stub, a sticker, pieces of letters, etc. lately ive been liking this exercise - mapped out compilations of things - or junk to some people - with hand-written explanations.

ive also been working on an "art journal." it is essentially a written and visual medium to journal or list, and it's fun to write whatever is on my mind or give myself an activity. here is a picture of a page, i tried to make it blurry but if you work really hard you can read what it says.



tons of buttons! im thinking of putting them in sets of three and selling them. anyone interested?


and finally, the screened shirt (please excuse my polka dotted bra):

would people be interested in purchasing one? id probably sell them for 15$. but i dont know. i might need to retire the screen. let me know please!

i think im going to get some stickers screened to promote this site.

my computer broke. well, i broke it. i dont want to get into the details, ill feel stupid again. but because of this it's hard to upload photos. i need to get a usb flash drive to do this, and i will soon, but i predict posting will be slow. ive been making a ton of new button batches, embroidering some more (monagrams and hopefully a new photobanner for the site), and i gocco-screening some shirts. Im thinking about selling them, im really digging them. ill post up pictures soon. it has the name MILKFISH printed on it, because that's my new design alias.

you should probably buy a shirt because i need the $$, and you'll just love to wear it.

so take care loyal blog readers, if youre out there.

my camera got lost in the woods and miz found it and i had to walk down the steep hill and i wasnt about to walk back up it in my condition soooo

there can be no picture posts at the present time.

embroideryyy

lately ive been really into embroidery. i had a hard time at first because i had no idea what i was doing but i bought a book with instructions and it really helped. im trying to do an embroidered portrait of steve nash (my favorite basketball player), and im learning as i go so it's not that impressive but it's fun!'


this is what i have so far.


i also did a little ghost. i dont know what to do with him, but i kinda want to put one on everything now. he's so cute but sad.


mmm new threaddddd

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

i like rubber stamps. a lot.

ive been wanting some good alphabet rubber stamps but i couldnt find any in a suitable font. so i decided to make my own. i took out my linoleum and my carving tool and, after tracing Bill Hicks font onto tracing paper, i transferred the image to pieces of linoleum block. many rubbery strips on the floor later, i finished. it gets easier the more you do it, so z is a bit better than a, but whatever.

gocco a gogo.

last night my print gocco came from japan! it's a beautiful pg5 kit for fabric and paper. for those who are unfamiliar with gocco - it's a screenprinting machine from japanese brand riso. you draw an original with a carbon pen or pencil, then slide in a master screen and expose the screen with camera bulbs. you use the screen as a stencil to push ink through the mesh.

it's just like silk screening but it's less messy and much easier. i was so excited when it came i quickly drew up a messy squirrel to test it out. it might have been a waste of screen but i got some good cards out of it.

and i made a chromosome card. oh how i love science.

valentine's day

valentine's day is a good excuse to flex your martha muscle (which is anatomically located posterior to the sternocleidomastoid). the average man spends about 150 dollars and the average woman spends 80 dollars. me, i spent about 5. and used a lot of stuff around the house.


for my friends, i found some playdoh valentines with really ugly stickers on. i took off the stickers and put them on my dog, then i made my own stickers and stuck them on. i used recycled paper i had lying around the house from french paper. playdoh doesnt make you fat and it's more fun than flowers.





for my valentine, i made a homemade card - the essential gift for valentines day. last year i made little coloring books, but this year since i have a special someone i decided to make a unique card for him. lately i've been obsessed with shrinky dinks. a lot of people dont know what they are... which is ridiculous - did you have a childhood? shrinky dinks are these thin plastic sheets that you can draw on, and then you stick them in a 325 degree oven. they shrink and get thick. they're great for jewelry (more about that in a different post).


Well the boyfriend really loves Casablanca, and since it's a pretty beautiful love story i chose that as my shrinking subject. i found a picture online and drew it onto the plastic (tracing is easy too because the paper is pretty clear-ish). then i stuck it in the oven and watched it shrink down (it will curl up at first but then eventually lay flat, so be patient!), and then took it out and let it cool. then i used a glue gun to stick it on a doilie and some more recycled paper. it makes a pretty memorable and unique valentine.



i also made him red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. i dont like red velvet cake and i hate cheam cheese frosting, so i dont really know if they're any good. they look pretty! and they're bright red. we'll see if he likes them.

i have one single shoebox and i need good ideas for what to do with it. i want to make something. please help!

coca cola cupcakes

cupcakes

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks margarine
2 tbsp. baking cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows

Combine flour and sugar. Boil margarine, cola, and cocoa. Definitely watch the pot/pan while you're boiling, the cola bubbles over like crazy. Pour over flour mixture. In a bowl, beat eggs; add marshmallows, buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Combine both mixtures and mix well.

Put cupcake paper cups in muffin pan, dont try to make them without these - the cake is sticky! spray them with pay to insure no sticking. Pour equal amounts of batter into the muffin tins and bake at 350º for 18-20 minutes.


cupcakes before baking.


coca cola frosting

1 stick margarine
1/4 cup Coca-Cola
3 tbsp. baking cocoa
2 heaping cups powdered sugar

Boil margarine, cocoa, and cola. Pour over powdered sugar; mix until smooth. You'll need to add a bit more sugar into it to make it thicker and fudgier. I also added a bit of vanilla into mine to counter some bitter taste. While the frosting is still hot, dip a spoon into it and drizzle it over your cupcakes. it will set smoothly.

xmas.

im posting backwards because i want to share my christmas stuff.

as an atheist i dont get to into the spiritual side of xmas, it's just a fun holiday to celebrate. in my family we usually all get together and pretend like we get along and try to make up traditions to salvage, which we will inevitably forget to follow through with the next year. this christmas my mom didnt want to decorate, which is wholly depressing, so i took over. since i was in charge, i decided to scrap the usual and go with a cowboy themed celebration. here's what i came up with.

my dog, hank, in full cowboy attire in front of the cactus tree. I made it by cutting foamboard and spraypainting it. then i made snow with adhesive dots on a string and hung them around the tree. i made a custom stocking for my brother ben, who loves futurama.


the table.


the placecards were made with rope alphabet stickers. i used paper bags to make placemats. the napkins were cowboy bandannas. i took mini cowboy hats for dolls, tied ribbons around them, then glued them to a 1inch ring cut from paper towel rolls to make napkin holders.

it was a fun christmas, and for the first time in years, no one cried! haha