I like my soul much more now.

So, I finally put up my first Coney Island EP for free download at CLLCT.
I recorded it while I was on tour in Bismarck, ND. You can also hear Billy Mack and Chris Dempwolf on the last recording.
I hope you enjoy it!

Download it for free: Here!

Felt Alive.

The show this weekend was awesome. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend, it was a pleasure spending the evening with you! Everyone else, it's okay! :)
(I'll post more about it tomorrow.)


In other news:
My friends Cat and Edwin of Plum Union (Please go take a listen, they make absolutely beautiful music together.) stayed with us for a good portion of the weekend and we had some pretty interesting conversations. One particular conversation dealt with the craft of needle felting (probably one craft that I can't picture myself doing, at least not today.)
While looking for some good examples on google images, I stumbled upon this deviant.art page that equally amazes me and scares me half to death... leading me to this post.

FeltAlive

I never thought I would live to see the day
a felted Bob Dylan would be in existence.Photo by FeltAlive.


Conclusion: Scary/Amazing/Mostly scary.

Mad Men and Women.

So, I think basically everyone likes Mad Men, and I especially love the fashion, so I decided to Mad Men Myself.
And Jason! They even had his glasses!

My First Crush.

My First Crush by Julia Pott.
An animated short based on interviews with people about their first crushes.
www.juliapott.com

Creative Space/September's House Show Preview.

Madison is home.

If you're in Madison, please come to my house this Saturday for some great mid-western music.
You will not regret it.

Recycled Mittens Tutorial

This week has been the first indication of the changing seasons where I live in Madison. The air is a bit more crisp, sweat shirts are coming out of closets, and flip flops are being put away!
Due to this change of weather, everyone is getting their last minute yard sales in this weekend before the cold weather comes (still a while off, but obviously well on its way.)
While I was looking through almost all of the yard sales off of Willy St. I met a lovely old, shrunken, and felted sweater from Anthropologie...for FREE!
Yes please.

I decided to give it a second chance at life,
and here is how you can give a shrunken sweater of yours new life too!

Felted Sweater ---->Recycled Felt Mittens

What you'll need:

• a felted sweater
• scissors
• paper
• something to write with
  
• a sewing needle with a big eye
• thick thread or thin yarn

Directions:

1. Cut the seams of the sweater.
2. Take a piece of paper and trace your hand, then cut it out. This will serve as a templet. Remember to leave seam allowances!
3. Lay your templet upon the sweater (pin it down if you choose to) and proceed to cut out two pieces with the thumb in one direction, and two with the thumb in the opposite direction. This will provide you with a front and a back to each mitten.
4. Now lay your pieces together like they're supposed to look when you would be wearing your new mittens if you want the stitching to show, if not lay them out as they would look as if they were inside out. Thread your needle and begin to sew in blanket stitch around the edge of the mittens.
5. Oh hey, you're done! Don't forget to reuse the rest of the sweater for another project and recycle your leftover paper! Good work!

Etsy loves.

Well, I just sent out a lovely goody from a recent purchase from my Etsy, and I would just like to remind everyone that I put some extra love in what I send to buyers.
Plus a special surprise inside.



Currently Hearing: Beck (Jason loves him.)
Currently Knitting: Pea Pod Cardigan (I hope to be done by the end of the winter!)
Currently Loving: Days at the park with little girls.

Count your blessings, Day 6

Okay, so this marks a week of counting my blessings (althought I didn't do all 7 days. Cut me a break, will ya?! I'm a working girl!)


Count your blessings, Day 6.
Lovely comrades.

Let's end it on one of the best notes ever sung.

Bing Crosby, singing "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)"

I love all of the music from White Christmas,
but this one has to be the most tender of them all.



Back to crafts and baking tomorrow!

Count your blessings, Day 5

So, I've been sick all weekend, mostly because of the fact that the sweet baby girl I spend the majority of my waking hours with was a bit sick. It's no big deal, just a cold, but it has made me really tired and therefore emotional and whine-city- 2009.
If there's one thing that I've always been good at (besides eating) according to my father, it's whining.
Poor Jason has to listen to me whine about how I don't have health care, even after I went to college and earn two degrees so I wouldn't have to worry about finding a good job that would supply me with health care, blah blah blah. I'm in the same boat as basically everyone who has recently graduated from college. I should take my own advice from this week and be thankful for what I have.

I have moved to a new city with practically nothing but my bike, a sack of my favorite clothes, books, fabric, and my sewing machine and have built a new life in a city that I love more and more each day I grace its sidewalks.



With that being said,
Count your blessings, Day 5
I'm thankful that I live in a city that I love, with a man that I love and chose to be with over soooo many potential steady beau's (do I sound like Scarlet O'Hara? Fiddle-dee-dee!)

Photo from Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Also, I sold something on Etsy today, which I'm pumped about.
Why am I letting anything get to me anyway?

Count your blessings, Day 4

Count your blessings, Day 4
I am truly blessed to have a supportive, loving family.
I don't call nearly enough, and I've moved very far away, but I love my family more than I could possibly describe. I know I'm lucky.

Anyway, here's a swanky picture of my G-pa.
I feel like I can smell the cigars and red wine from just looking at this picture.

Break it down now!...so I hear you like pita bread?

Okay, a little break from the blessings. Blah blah blah (I hope that's not what you're hearing, even though I know that's probably what you're hearing!)

Pita Bread Recipe!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 package of yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
  
• 1/2 tsp Italian herbs (or just one of your favorite Italian herbs would be fine too, I'm sure.)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar (nuh-uh, you say? yes sir/madam, I say!)
• olive oil

How to do it, and do it well (according to Connie):

1. Pre-heat oven to 400*F.
2. Add yeast to 1/4 cup of warm water, wait a few minutes to let it activate.
   
3. Mix dry ingredients together.
4. Make a well in the middle to the dry mixture (basically, dig a little hole). Add 1 additional cup of warm water. Mix together, then knead and let it rise is a warm place for about an hour. (My mom always put her dough to rise on top of the steps with a towel over it.)
   
5. Divide the dough into smaller balls (depending on how big you would like your pita bread to be), then roll them out with a rolling pin.
6. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil, and place the rolled out pita dough upon it. Put a little olive oil on top of the rolled out dough to keep it moist and D-lish.
7. Bake for 10-12 mins. This really depends on how chewy/crunchy you would like your pita bread to be.
8. And now the best part! Eat!!
   

Oh hey, look what you can do with it!

Hello, dinner.yum!

Count your blessings, Day 3

Count your blessings, Day 3
I have two big blessings attached to my body, with 10 smaller blessings attached to them. These blessings are called hands. They're pretty nifty, and although I don't say it enough (like almost all things we're so blessed to have), I sure do love them.


P.S. Tonight I'm baking Pita Bread for the first time! Fun!
I'll post my recipe tomorrow!

Count your blessings. Day 2

Count your blessings. Day 2:
CLLCT is back!!! Hooray!
It's time for independent musicians who play music with the intent of it being heard and enjoyed to upload their albums and fans to download them for free.
I can't wait to re-upload Yes Please from The Bossettes (expect more from us in the near future, I'm writing!) and some Coney Island goodies.

Update!!!
You can now download Yes Please by The Bossettes for free if you don't have it already!

Count your blessings. Day 1

I read a lot of childrens books. A LOT.
This past week I read a Berenstain Bears book called Count Your Blessings.
This has inspired me to count my blessings, and for me to ask you to count your blessings with me for a week.
Blog-a-long!



Day 1:
I'm thankful that I'm able to see these two faces everyday.

Darling little drawings.

I worked six days this past week, and honestly, I didn't mind.
I've mentioned before that I'm a nanny (for three fantastically creative and independent little girls), and I think I might have sounded frustrated with it.
I'm frustrated that I can't do anything with either of my Bachelors Degrees, but I walk into work everyday with a smile on my face. Not many people can say that.


One of my favorite parts of my job besides partaking in tea parties and daily visits to the park would have to be all of the darling little drawings I come home with.









Also, a naughty series of events, documented for your enjoyment
Willi: Bringing down the house.

What gets my blood pumping?

What gets my blood pumping, you ask? Great deals on craft supplies.
I love it. I never buy clothes, and I buy shoes once a year when I absolutely have to. I'm a saver.
The only thing I spend money on is food (duh), going to the movies, and materials to feed my craft addiction.


I will be the first to admit that I have a hard time saying no to pricey fabric in Gayfeather Fabrics (3 blocks from my house...could it be any harder??) and I certainly can't say no to buying at least one yard or fat quarter of vintage fabric at any thrift store I walk into.
Whatever. At least it's not crack.



Anyway! For those of you who have similar addictions as mine, I want to share with you a somewhat recent discovery that has certainly been an enabler.

After purchasing something at Michael's Arts and Crafts Store (a craft store with locations all over the United States and Canada) they will give you a 40% off coupon with your receipt for your next purchase.
Fantastic, I know.

Today I bought a 28 Piece Tip Set for cupcake decorating for $20.
It was originally $33.

Yes please.

August's House Show.

Once a month Jason and I throw a house show at our place for touring musicians traveling independently.
It's good fun. When I throw a house show, there are about five things I always try to focus on.

1. lots of good music
2. lots of friends
3. lots of fun
4. lots of great food.
   
5. no drugs.

August's show was no exception to these rules,
and we had a blast of a potluck dinner house show!

Neil Sutherland, a lovely gent from London played, and we simply adored him.

Very polite and so kind.

Next month: Plum Union (Chicago), The Cones (Milwaukee), The Weather Duo (Madison)
Any suggestions on what we should do to make it fun and interesting?

Milwaukee/WILD PLUMS.

I went to Milwaukee this past weekend.
It was fun.
Milwaukee is an okay place.
Some pretty cool people live there.
It is currently being taken into consideration for the home of my future bakery.
We'll see.

(Speaking of which, I am about to bake a tart for Jason out of wild plums that our friend Ben gave us on Monday!! Isn't that the coolest thing you've ever heard in your life??

WILD PLUMS!!)

Anyway. I found two unbelievable items while I was there.

1.) A Reconstructed Ralph Lauren Polo
from a pretty neat vintage shop for $12.
I never buy clothes, but I couldn't let this one slide.

2.) The Labyrinth on VHS for free from my new friend Ana.

Most girls daydream of finding the perfect shoe or purse...
I daydream about finding one VHS for months, and finally it finds me.