the state of my desk

I'm quite hard at work over here working on crafty things. One of the things I can share right now is the state of my desk: a big old mess.

I am not a clean crafty person. When the art gets made, the stuff comes out. And then goes everywhere. The current project is a result of the fact that I discovered that I was running low on thank you tags for my shop, so I pulled out the big shot and the inks and got to creating.

These are all just at the ATC phase. Next I'll clip the corners to make them look like tags and punch a hole and add the cute "thank you" label part.

Oh, so looking forward to the long weekend ahead. It will be a great time to get caught up. And hopefully the skies will be calm on Saturday and I will be going up for the previously delayed hot air balloon ride. We'll see.

Happy Friday!

Lovely Stationaries

Can I just tell you how much I love living in Seattle? All the benefits of urban life, but nature-ish stuff is still fairly close to hand. Also good food and fusion of culture. And I can buy cute Japanese paper goods anytime I want without needing to pay for shipping.

I have previously spoken of my love for Kinokuniya bookstore and I found myself there recently one afternoon after work (I had a major jones for an iced sesame bubble tea, and it is right next door). They recently remodeled and it's a very good thing, because their stationary and washi section was majorly expanded. 

I used my discount card to pick up some Cath Kidston washi tape and an adorable magazine about cute Japanese paper goods called (as far as I can tell) Lovely Stationaries. Bbetween this and the copy of Mollie Makes I picked up, I'm about to declare this the summer of the cute international magazine.

Even though there's pretty much no chance of being able to buy the adorable items shown in the magazine, there are plenty of cute DIY and other inspiration ideas to make it a good read. Or at least, good to just look at the pictures. ;)

Hope you enjoyed a bit of the color from this today. Have a great night!

Apricot Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

I am super backed-up on editing photos and getting blog posts written, but I wanted to take a moment to share with you the cinnamon rolls that I baked for Greg's 30th birthday last week (see, told you I was a bit behind).

I don't bake very often, as we are quite lucky to live in a city with many good and affordable bakeries nearby. However, I do believe that home baked goods = love, so I'll get my hands all doughy for a good cause. Like a birthday.

It started a few years ago, after I took a breadmaking class. And he was hooked. And then I started making them every Christmas. And then for his birthday. And since my guy gets his favorite carrot cake for his birthday elsewhere (his mom), it's up to me to make the cinnamon rolls each year.

(It's a tough life)

Seriously though, I've tried a few different variations and I think this is the best "do" yet.

Since this isn't a foodie blog, and I don't really follow any recipe, I'm not going to give you specifics on the how-tos (unless you comment and tell me you really really want them). At the very least, I will say that I always toast my pecans and use three kinds of sugar (mmm Demerara), and that cream cheese frosting with a bit of orange flavor is a must. I think for Christmas I'll do dried cherries and apricots, but leave the booze out of the frosting and use it to soak the fruit instead. Mmmm yummy.

Who needs a birthday cake when you can have this for breakfast? With coffee of course.

p.s.
All photos taken with my powershot. The Rebel is down for the count (needs repair), but I am really loving how these are turning out. It did set me back on the whole trying new lenses experiment. Ah well...

p.p.s.
My grandmother was a nice Southern lady, so I grew up saying peeh-can. Not peh-kawn. How do you say it? It's quite a matter of contention up here with my Northwestern friends. :)

Giveaway Winner(s)!

So sorry to post this a bit late, but to make up for it I am going to be giving away extra prizes! Hurray!

First, I just want to say thank you very very much to all of the sweet, kind and amazing people who left me comments on this post. You really truly made my day. Cyber hugs for all.

Second, if you aren't a winner today, no worries. I have a little something I am cooking up for later in July which is going to be fabulous. And will also have more giveaways. Nuff said on that for now. ;)

And... here we go.....the winner of the Springtime Curiosities Kit: 

Commenter #12 LAURA

Please send me your mailing address and I will get your kit shipped out to you!

But wait, there's more!

Commenter #37 Joanne! 

You win a copy of my previous class kit Bits & Pieces (I hope you don't mind). 

Please send me your mailing address and I will get your kit shipped out to you!

Lucky Commenters #31 Lydia,  #12 SandrinEve and #3 Rebecca 

all win a free access pass to the Springtime Curiosities class site.

Please send me your current email address and I will get your access info out to you!

I really wish that I could give out prizes to everyone, but unfortunately, that's not a very sustainable business practice. However good things will be happening round here very soon. :)

Happy Monday!

Pinterest Check in: June 2011

I've really been enjoying doing this little series on my blog. I want to somehow add it to my 2011 in review book. June was a big month for pins. Hurray! Inspiration everywhere!

Here are a few of my favorites:

For all of my pins and boards, check out my pinterest profile here: http://pinterest.com/coffeegrlcrafts/

p.s.
Don't forget to comment on this post to enter the giveaway!

Springtime Curiosities Class & Kit Sale

Also, for the first day of Summer, I realized it was probably a good idea to clear out some class kits from the PaperZone class I taught earlier this Spring. Note: there is a good reason for this, which I will be announcing shortly. ;)

The listing is up on Etsy now. I'm also offering the access to the class separate from the kit (if you can't swing the kit or have too much stuff on hand). Otherwise, if you buy the kit, for a limited time, you get access to the site for FREE.

In the class we'll cover quite a few techniques including: using transparencies to add dimension, adding texture with spray ink, learning to stretch your supplies by creating embellishments made from cardstock, design principles for small projects and tips for minibook photo management.

The site also includes an exclusive video tutorial and step by step photos of the finished book as well as access to exclusive photoshop templates.


I'm pretty excited. I love this stuff. 


So to celebrate, I am going to be GIVING AWAY one of the kits AND class access to one of my lucky commenters!


Simply post in the comments what you like (or don't like) about this kit, and I'll pick a random winner on Friday. Internationals are welcome as well. :)


Thank you for letting me share. Have a great night!

First day of summer

Around here we're starting to see a bit more of that big blue sky that hides most of the year. Happy first day of summer. And here's a little poem for you:


To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee.
~Emily Dickinson

Sketchbook Project 2011 Tour: Seattle

As previously mentioned, I participated in the 2011 round of the Sketchbook project. Before I sent it off into the wide world, I did take photos and share on the blog (full Flickr set is here). 

Well, you know what they say about when you love something and it's meant to be... 

Just kidding. Actually, I was extremely fortunate that Seattle ended up being one of the cities that the project was going to tour. And last weekend, it came to town (like the circus! but with sketchbooks).

Greg and I took the light rail downtown, and then hoofed it over to Belltown to visit the project at Form Space Atelier, a teeny tiny little art gallery. The line to get in was quite long, because unbeknownst to me, they were requiring all visitors to sign up for new Brooklyn Art Library library cards. (So pro-tip, if anything from the BAL comes to visit you and you already have a card because you were a participating artist, do not leave the library card at home).

So once we got our cards we were each able to check out two sketchbooks at a time, of the 10,000 that were available at the gallery. It was pretty strictly controlled, there was no random browsing. Once you got your card, you went into another line and the hipster docents that were running the gig let you pick two sketchbooks at a time, by artist, location or theme. I decided to first grab mine (to see how it was doing) and one by Pam Garrison. Greg got two really cool random ones from some theme that was about numbers. 

There wasn't hardly any room in the gallery, so the whole sidewalk outside was just full of people reading all of these different and crazy cool sketchbooks. The whole scene was so full of positive happy people, brought together in community, in celebration of these personal pieces of art. It was a very cool experience. Even if my book hadn't been there, I still would have gone to visit.

After Greg and I swapped books (so we each got to read four), we went back for another round. Greg got another interesting set, and I got a random one and some from Kim Smith. Hurray! 

We ended up doing a third round, of one more book each. The goodness levels were variable, but it was all still very interesting. 

After that we were famished! So we headed to Pike Place Market for lunch. And that is a tale for another day. Needless to say, deliciousness was had. And then naps were needed. 

And that made it pretty much an awesome Saturday.

p.s.

More to come on this topic... I totally signed up for 2012 too. :)

The Mini Smash Book

Hello hello!

Well, between working a relatively normal day and the fact that the sun came out for a bit properly toward the end of the day, I was able to successfully photograph my little mini smash book, which I previously mentioned here.

Don't tell anyone, but I think I might love this little mini smash more than my big one. I know, I know, but seriously, it's so adorably tiny. And everyone knows things are way cuter when they are small. 

Anyway.. I am so excited to share this with you; I think it turned out pretty great. The theme used was my trip a few weekends ago to the Fremont Sunday Market. Enjoy.

I am also especially pleased that I found a coordinating rubber band to keep this little sucker closed up. I was tempted to put stripes on it using a sharpie, but refrained. 

Happy Wednesday!