New fabric in my Spoonflower shop

Based on the Celestial Mandala that I drew at the beginning of the year. (coloring page, printable box and printable card) I had the swatch printed on the new cotton silk from Spoonflower to see if I'd like it for a fashion scarf. The answer is yes. It's got a gorgeous hand to it. Now I'm debating between a nice tasteful scarf or going all out and making myself a colorful shawl.

You can order this fabric or any of my other fabrics from my Spoonflower page. I do like the sun and moons on this one.

I also recolored the dolphin mandala I did yesterday just for fun. This is a pretty reduced version, but I was thinking of setting it up as 12 inch panels for throw pillows. 

Test edit.

A bunting necklace project and other stuff

I completely forgot to link to this project on the Beadwork at BellaOnline page.
Button Bunting Necklace Project
This is what it looks like. Modeled by the Turnip Girl in one of her favorite teeshirts.

I also reviewed Tapestry Bead Crochet over there. It's a wonderful book if you like crocheting or beadwork.

Other than that, I'm on Google+, have been for a while now but keep forgetting to post it here. Just look for Shala Kerrigan if you want to add me to your circles. I haven't been using it much yet. 

We plan to go to the State Fair this week, during the week because it's too crowded on weekends and my darling, wonderful husband gets very cranky with long drives and huge crowds. Hopefully we will be able to get some good photos!

I'm thinking of having a couple book giveaways. Is anyone interested?

My husband is my hero this week. He bought me lilies to start the week, and installed a new faucet for me. The faucet is just wonderful, it's a lever operated Moen gooseneck faucet. (In the Amazon.com affiliate link). I got it as a part of the Amazon Vine program. He installed it with a left-handed mount and it took him about an hour to install (including pulling out the old faucet). I'll be writing a review for it later at Amazon.

I *love* it. I'm absolutely enthralled with my new faucet and keep telling people "I have a new faucet."  My big stock pot that I use for canning fits under it! It's a thing of joy. My review will be more than "YAY! I love my new faucet." which is why I haven't written it yet. Still just too thrilled with it to be truly coherent. 

Just this second occurred to me that I'm not sure he didn't throw away the old one. I'll have to check since William will probably want it for sculpture. I guess that's proof that I'm an adult now. Being so thrilled about a new faucet which will make cooking a lot easier.

Dolphin Mandala

I've spent a huge chunk of today working on this and another mandala that's just spirals. I'm still deciding if I'm going to post the other one. I hope you like this!

Click on the image for the larger version.

Book Review- Carefree Clothes for Girls

Carefree Clothes for Girls by Junko Okawa is, in my opinion, simply charming.

Not everyone will agree with that assessment. If you love french seams, dart fitting, couture techniques and heirloom quality sewing for girls, this is not the book for you.

If you like simple shapes, fun and irregular details and dresses that you won't mind getting dirty, this might be a great book for you.

It has 20 projects, and full sized patterns in the back under the flap for all but 2 of them. Unfortunately, my daughter is too big for those projects, but the simple lines are easy to size up for her (or yay! for me!) and some of the details and effects used in the garments can be used in other commercial projects.

Unfinished hems left to softly fray, scraps of lace and old doilies are all used to wonderful advantage here. The look is decidedly homemade. It's a very earthy, comfortable look. I was thrilled going through the book, bookmarking dresses that had details that I want to use in sewing for myself. It's patches and buttons, and reminds me of a favorite old stuffed animal or possibly a sweater you won't give up even after it's all darns and stitched up tears.

Which is why I say this book isn't for everyone. Some people prefer a very finished look. My favorite piece in the whole book was a Cinderella style, pretty fitted dress with mismatched buttons up the back. My daughter loved the whole book. It's inspirational.

Full size patterns in the back including an smock type apron that buttons in the back, a few adorable dresses, a chemise, a tunic and pants. Instructions for some accessories like hats and a patchwork scarf that would be perfect for fall.

You can get this book directly from the publisher, Shambhala Publishing

Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support my book addiction.


You can get more information about my review policy here.

2012 Black and White Calendar

Jenn recently requested a calendar like this one that I made for 2010. She asked for one just like the original, but I really prefer to come up with new designs. I hope you like this one as well. It has the same design elements, dots in spiral patterns, but it's a different spiral dot design. The font used is Chocolate Box by Paul Lloyd. Click on the image for the 8x10 calendar. I found the 2010 year at a glance calendar very handy, and hope you enjoy this one as well.

Cupcake design for screen printing or coloring

I liked that cupcake design so much that I went ahead and did the art and separations to turn it into a screen print. So the art does have registration marks. If you'd like to just color it, feel free to remove my registration marks from the corners. If you'd like to screen print it, please don't sell the finished product without my permission. Making aprons and stuff as gifts is fine. Click on the images for bigger versions. If you'd like to buy something with this design, email me and I'll save your email until I get the screens made on my handy dandy Yudu!

Baked With Love labels for gifts

Like the ones yesterday, the single versions can be used in your word process software. The whole sheets can be printed out and cut apart for tying to gifts or taping/gluing to your home baked presents. I colored these with an offset screen print look because I really like that effect and don't use it nearly often enough. Black and white versions to color, chalk, etc yourself or to have a child do it for something they baked as a gift. Click on the images for larger versions.

Check out my printable cupcake boxes and my review of the book Zombie Cupcakes.

Happy to be Me- coloring page

The Muppets! Because of the new cover album with groups like OKGo and Alkaline Trio, I've been on a Muppet kick all day. There are even covers of two of Gonzo's songs on there. The Wishing Song from the tv show, and I'm Going to Go Back There Someday from the movie.
So that inspired this line from the Wishing Song as a printable coloring page. Just click on the image for a bigger version. The above will also click bigger, but not very big.
I hope you enjoy it.

The link is to the instant download MP3 version of the album, and it's an affiliate link so if you buy the album using the link I'll make a small amount off of it that I'll spend on more music or books. Because I love music and books.

The Muppet Show was never really meant just for kids. Some of the humor is pretty racy by the standards back then, and children didn't care about the guest stars the same way adults and teens did. It's really aged well.

Some of the covers are hopping, happy dancing music and lots of fun, some are very thoughtful and sound very contemporary. My favorite Gonzo songs? I love them both.

Made With Love Tags

The image above can be used in your office software and is 2.625 inches wide by 1 inch tall . Click on the image for the full sized version. For a full sheet to be printed on plain paper and glued to packages or on card stock and used with a hole punch and tied on items, click the image below. I'll be make a few more over the next few days. Do you think I should make a pillow box to match? How about black and white labels that can be colored by hand?

Street Art Boxes

This weekend we stayed at the Millennium Hotel in Anchorage which is always lots of fun for Turnip Girl and I. Less fun for my husband since it's part of his job. We've been doing this weekends away (but still in Anchorage) for years at the hotels Michael's worked at. The Millennium is on a street named Spenard that's a bit notorious locally. While TG and I were out walking, we ran across this heart on the sidewalk. So I snapped a photo to use it for boxes. Click on the images for larger versions.

If you donate any amount to this site using the PayPal button at the bottom of the page, the thank you page includes the blank templates for both of these boxes in 300 ppi png format and in PDF format.

I have mixed feelings about graffiti. A lot of it is defacing and damaging property. Companies have to pay to clean it up, and those costs get passed on to their customers. That said, it can also be a vibrant and meaningful form of art. This heart made my daughter and smile. It was just there like a Valentine for everyone to enjoy. No words or explanation around it. Just a heart in the middle of the sidewalk. 

This piece, written in marker on a wall above a dumpster inspired my son to stop cold so he could write it in the notebook he carries. Photo taken in June 2007. That piece has since been cleaned off.

You have to make up your own mind about if you want to print this box depending on your viewpoints about graffiti. I liked it, and I hope it's not cleaned any time soon because I think it will make other people smile, and I appreciate unexpected art that makes people smile or think.

I'm a fan of occasional temporary graffiti and I used to carry a Sharpie and a Post-It pad to post very temporary messages. Quotes that I liked, or little cartoon-y pictures. 

Book Review- Manga Guide to the Universe

I told you I was going to review this as soon as I read it! 


I love this series so much for it's simple clarity and because the stories introduce the material in such a way that it's easier to visualize and understand.

In this one, 3 students need to put on a play to avoid losing their drama club. They decide to do the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, an ancient story about a bamboo cutter who finds a child in bamboo, the child is from the moon. Talking about it, they realize that they need to know a lot more about space so they can update the story and make it their own. The brother of one of the students is a university student studying astrophysics. With his help, and the help of his teacher, they learn a lot more about the universe.

The authors use things like soccer to demonstrate some of the current theories and discuss the history of astrophysics from the time when people thought the earth was the center of a very small universe, to realizing we weren't even the center of our solar system and on to realizing just how vast the universe is.

They explain the measurements used and a little bit about how our current data is being accumulated. They discuss theories as well as what is known and explain how tests and math are validating the theories that scientists currently have about the universe, it's origins, it's possible eventual end, and how it all works. Even talking about the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.

It's a fantastic introduction into basic astrophysics. Not just for kids but also for adults who would like more understanding. I'm not a scientist. Just an occasional dabbler, I watch Nova and read some of the more popular books on the subject. Where these books absolutely shine is how easy it is to apply the material to things you know so that you can learn it in the stories. The further detail in the text sections is then building on what you've learned so you can have a deeper understanding. Because it's engagingly written, these books have a strong appeal both to teens and adults. 


You can get this book directly from the publisher, No Starch Press and with the purchase of one print book you get a free e-book. I'd also really recommend Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred : Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make With Your Kids. You can read my review of that book here.


You can get more information about my review policy here.

I don't believe in boredom

On Facebook, one of the people on my newsfeed just complained that she was unbelievably bored. I replied that boredom is a choice. She said not always.

And now I'm feeling ranty, not fun. Usually I'm a very happy person.

Is boredom always a choice? No. I have a friend who was in an immobilization rack sort of thing in the hospital for a couple months after a car accident. At that point, unless someone was there to turn the pages, he couldn't read a book, couldn't write, it was before computers that did almost everything and I know that some days he was very, very bored.

If you're in reasonably good health and it's a nice day outside you can..
fly a kite
walk until you find a garage sale
go to a park and pretend your a spy, write cover stories for the people you see. Refer to them by letters.
garden
if you don't have a garden but have a yard overrun with weeds, see if you can find out which ones are edible
pretend your a tourist in your hometown- always so much fun to do those things "nobody" does.

If the weather is lousy and you have internet you can:
Go to Project Gutenberg and learn a new (old) skill.
Also on Project Gutenberg- re-read, or read for the first time, classics
Google Books has scads of old issues of Popular Science. I recommend the early 20th century issues
try a new crochet pattern or learn to crochet
finger knit or toe knit (my daughter sometimes uses her toes as a knitting loom that's 10 stitches wide) a scarf
make yourself a pair of knitting needles
learn to whittle
learn to do almost anything. Seriously.
Play with online graphic applications
Write a Kindle cookbook using old family recipes (Writing for Kindle in HTML)

You can try figuring out a way to fold a newspaper origami case for your phone, you can fold origami cranes from old magazines, practice simple quilled shapes using junk mail. Check out Ann Martin's All Things Paper for lots of great ideas.

It doesn't have to cost much to craft, to learn, to do. And there are so many things out there to learn and do. So yes. Boredom is a choice. If you choose to spend your time waiting for the universe to entertain you, it's saying to you "Hey, I'm the Universe. There are lots of entertaining things going on all the time with me."

When my kids were little, they complained about being bored once. They wound up scrubbing out my shower. If they really can't find something to do, I will. Then they will be annoyed. Not bored. Since then, if my daughter says she's bored, she quickly follows it with "But I choose to be and I'm enjoying it." Which is okay too. Sometimes you don't want to do anything, and it's okay to just do nothing. Just enjoy it, enjoy the moment.

Another boredom buster my friend Rebecca suggested once was working on something in one stitch, in one color. She suggested for beads, but it works for all sorts of things you stitch. After you do enough of that, you'll find ideas coming to you because in effect, it's a blank canvas and you start to realize all the things you can do with it.

That's life. This great big beautiful canvas that's just *waiting* for us to put down our reactions, our experiences, what we've learned, what we've done. Being bored is a time waster, and time is precious. Once it's spent, it's gone. Whatever we have done to that part of the canvas is done with no undos or erasers to re-draw, re-create that part, so we should be creating it as we go so that maybe we might have regrets and mistakes, but at least we have something in that spot, which is much better than nothing. In the end, it will all make up one life that will be yours.

Deer coloring page

Click on the image for the larger version. You can use this for embroidery, coloring, pyrography or leather tooling. 

I have lots of coloring pages that can be used for all sorts of crafty purposes, but I was a little shy about uploading this deer. Animals are out of my comfort zone and I never ever feel like they are quite good enough to post. My daughter encouraged me to post this one and got a good chuckle out of my example version. If you get the joke, get off the computer! Go outside and play! If you don't, tl;dr is used on a lot of forums, and also as comments on fanfic when someone posts something very long, either a viewpoint, explanation or story.  It stands for too long; didn't read. But if you try to say tl;dr it sounds like teal deer. Since I'm on a teal/purple/apple green kick, I couldn't resist coloring my deer teal instead of tan/brown.

New Mandala Coloring Page

For all the people who have said such nice things about my mandalas. I hope you enjoy this one. Click on the image for a larger version.

If you'd like more mandalas to color, check out my mandala coloring pages.

Jelly Recipe Page

Spoonflower is getting ready to have their annual free swatch day on August 18th. Every year, they do this to help raise money for Heifer.org, they will mail you a swatch of fabric, but if you'd like to make a donation, the money goes the charity. 

The swatch I'm getting this year is this design, and after I get the swatch and approve it, the fabric will be for sale at Spoonflower.

Since I decided I really liked the layout, I made a printable recipe page using it. I hope you enjoy this.

Click on the image for the larger version. The dots are spaced approximately 1/3 of an inch apart for the lines. 

Lots more printable jelly things and recipes pages on Don't Eat the Paste.

Jelly and Jam Printable Labels

Printable Recipe Pages

Ready Player One

I'll do a real entry later, but I wanted to point out the brand new book Ready, Player One this morning.

The author, Ernest Cline is a favorite in my household for his poetry. It's intelligent, funny and full of pop culture references that make it very accessible even for my poetry hating husband. I bought his cd years ago and it's a favorite. You can find samples of it on his website.Click the second link under the game cartridge. So when I saw Ready Player One listed on Good Reads a few months ago I left this comment.
"Really looking forward to this one, so is my husband. So very envious of the people who got to read it first."
Ernest Cline saw my comment, and wrote me, offering me a ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of the book. I read it in one sitting, then gave it to my husband to read. 
I loved it. If you grew up in the 80s or have 80s nostalgia love and like science fiction, you'll probably love it too. Michael laughed out loud at several points and found the story just as satisfying as I did.
The future is grim and escape is a virtual world that's very 80s retro. 


This is what I wrote on GoodReads.



I'm just thrilled. If you've read or listened to Ernest Cline's poetry, you come to expect a certain kind of intelligent humor and hopeful cynicism. 
His first novel has that, a future world that's believable and based in current events, and rich with pop culture references to the 80s. Wade is clumsy, flawed and easy to identify with if you've always felt like a misfit. 
The future he lives in isn't a utopia. It's a natural extension of what's happening now. The poor people are poorer, there is very little in the way of fossil fuels left, and people are escaping into an online world that was designed by someone with a deep love for that decade.
It's about friendship and good versus evil with a bit of a love story thrown in. 
It's a lot of fun, and a book that I really recommend to anyone who was a teenager in the 80s or who has a nostalgic love for that time.
   
If you like science fiction and ever used an Amiga, tried to get to the hidden level on PacMan and know who Stringfellow Hawk is... you'll love this book. The future is grim, and escapism is 1980s popular culture. 

I don't want to spoil the book. All that information is included in the blurb.  I do want to recommend it though. It's already a best seller with movie talks happening, and just out today. 

Amazon.com affiliate links provide income to me personally, which I spend on my book addiction.

Raspberry Jelly Labels

 I like using Avery Sticker Project Paper (Amazon.com affiliate link) for labels because I can do custom layouts. For people who prefer other methods, you can download the labels individually and use them in your word processing or graphics software to make your own label sets. Click on the images for the larger versions. 

Other cute label designs in this series:
Rhubarb
Strawberry

A friend of mine who is also very into canning has been really wishing I'd make raspberry labels. So I started them this morning, but getting the face just right for the amount of cute I want was challenging. While I was posting in progress designs on Facebook, Lillian asked if I could make dark purple ones. I said "Sure, color changes are easy peasy." Then Jennifer (who originally asked for labels) made a joke about them. Then said "‎*giggles* Sorry, that was probably uncalled for, wasn't it *^^*;;;" which made me think of a bratty kid. Bratty kid! There was the answer to making the face cute enough. A raspberry giving a raspberry. Perfect.
So that's what I drew, then recolored it to make dark purple blackberry type raspberries for Lillian.

While we were canning jelly the other day (have I mentioned how much I love the Discover Canning small batch kit? You can read my review here) we couldn't find a ruler. Now, you have to understand, I have rulers. LOTS of rulers. Metal, plastic, great big T rulers and little 6 inch school supply kit rulers, but at that moment, we couldn't find any of them. Turnip Girl brought over the model I printed of the printable ruler to make sure it was exact. Well, a paper ruler won't work to measure head space in jars. So I had her grab her marshmallow stick and we measured on that and made a small notch at 1/4 inch. It worked very well.

The marshmallow sticks are our family's answer to the fact I won't let them roast marshmallows on coat hangers because of the coatings on them. We got a 3/8 inch oak dowel and sawed it in half. Then the kids sharpened them in a pencil sharpener and sanded them smooth. Their marshmallow sticks are their responsibility not to loose and to clean after roasting marshmallows. Every so often we saw off the ends, put the rest back our craft supplies for other projects, and start all over with a new dowel. The non-marshmallow end can be decorated with various things if you have kids who want to decorate them. Nothing loose or that dangles, but wrapping craft wire around one end with beads or coloring with permanent markers works.

Rose boxes

Boxes to match the rulers I posted yesterday. Click on the images for the full sized versions. Handy for paper clips and other little odds and ends! Print on card stock, cut, score, fold, glue together. 

Rose Rulers

Because it's absolutely essential that rulers print out exactly, the rulers are in PDF format. Both colorways to be printed on one sheet of cardstock in US letter and A4 format. The rulers are 3 inches wide and 10 inches long marked in both cms and inches. I suggest either laminating or spraying with clear acrylic. 

Right click and save the US Letter format rulers HERE.

Right click to save the A4 format HERE.

I also posted a memory wire charm bracelet project at BellaOnline.

Manga science and math geek happiness

Now that school is getting ready to start again, I'd like to bring your attention to No Starch Press's wonderful Manga science and math series.

These are brilliant. Instead of teaching what's traditionally very dry and boring material in normal text book fashion, they are illustrated in manga style, with stories that explain how the math and science work in real world applications that really helps retention of the material. These are not just kid level math and science either. If you're interested in learning more as an adult and only have a passing knowledge of physics for example, these books will help you understand it better.

My son really loved the Electricity book, my personal favorite was the guide to physics which explained Newton's Three Laws of Motion very well. One of the real advantages of the manga style is that movement is easily shown in cartoon format. We know what cartoon movement looks like and can apply it to real life movement. The wrap stories and characters are super cute and the chapters have more information in them once you understand the basics.

You can get the books from Amazon, but  No Starch has a deal for getting all the books for 75.00, or you can just buy them one at a time and get a free e-book with the purchase of a print book. So, the Amazon.com link is an affiliate link, the No Starch link is not. The best deal is to get them from No Starch if you're interested.

I'm really looking forward to reading the Manga Guide to the Universe next! If you've been reading this blog long enough you know my family loves planetariums!

Circus inspired printable box

An upcoming contest on Spoonflower is circus themed. I know there will be lots of absolutely brilliant designs and my plain little tessellation will probably fade next to what is sure to be absolute cuteness but I had fun putting together the design. You can see it on my Spoonflower profile by clicking designs.

Because stripe boxes are always popular, I put it on a 2x2 box. Hope you enjoy it. Click on the image for the full-sized version.

In other news, I love my new stapler. In a really big crafty geeky way. It's wonderful, a thing of beauty. I tore 3 sheets of paper into 16ths and made a 48 page mini scratch paper matchbook notebook with my stapler. It went through all the sheets and the card stock so easily. Now I have a bigger project in mind. I want to make myself a cookbook with your recipes. Yep. Do you have a favorite recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing with me? I'll do printable recipe sheets of some recipes but all of them will wind up in my personal cookbook which will be stapled together with my wonderful new stapler. If you have a recipe you'd like to share, I set up a special email account, recipes *at* donteatthepaste (dot) com

I'll be posting some specific projects using my new stapler soon. Because I love my new stapler and I'm making things like little matchbook notebooks with it. 

Rose Coloring Page

Haven't done roses in a while. This one, I visualized as being something that could be colored in with Zentangle type fills, or used as a leather tooling pattern. I hope you enjoy it. Use it however you would like.
Click on the image for the full sized version.

A few years ago, my son made his grandpa a leather mystery braid bracelet. It was brown, with a centered Celtic concho and then mystery braid on either side of the concho. Dad wore that bracelet until it fell off this weekend. He called me to say his bracelet had broken and he would really like a replacement. That it was one of his favorite bracelets and people complimented it all the time. So off to Tandy Leather we went. After looking over their supplies, we decided to check my leather stash before buying more leather. So for the time being, we picked up some basic veg tan leather blank bracelets and Turnip Girl and William picked out conchos for themselves, for their grandpa and for their dad, and picked out leather dye. Turnip Girl decided she wanted to learn how to tool leather. So Michael will be teaching her. He hasn't tooled leather in *ages* but this could be just the thing to get him started again and hey! New barrettes! I need new stick barrettes which make great practice pieces. They picked an eagle head for their grandpa, and for Michael, they picked a Texas star concho because it looks like a police badge and he used to be in law enforcement. For Dad's bracelet, they chose mahogany dye, for their own, they picked a lovely shade of blue.

I'm currently cross stitching a police box. When it's done I'll post it and the pattern.