Collections

Yesterday, I saw this post on SFGirlByBay and thought about submitting something I collect, but then I realized I don't collect anything.  I mean, you could say I collect books and journals and paper goods, I suppose.  However, I tend to accumulate more than I collect them--they pile onto my desk and into boxes without any specific intent of building a collection.

Source: flickr.com via Tammy on Pinterest

Yet I like the idea of having a collection, even if it takes up space and time.  Collecting requires time, thought, and effort, unlike picking things up here and there.  Of course, there is a certain organic nature to picking things up more randomly, but there's still a natural pattern to collecting--knowing what you're looking for and finding it.  It's a conscious act.

Source: flickr.com via Tammy on Pinterest

Perhaps I need to start a collection.  Any ideas?

Doesn't that first collection make you laugh?

reading (and writing) the unprinted word

Sometimes I feel a little silly for blogging.  This happens for a few reasons.  Do I have anything worthwhile to say?  Why would I think that anyone would want to read what I have to talk about?  My current life is not exciting, folks.  It would make a pretty dull autobiography.  It's happy, sure, but not incredibly interesting.  I've written and thought about this before and I always come to the conclusion that I keep blogging just because I like it.  I mostly ignore the fact that I only have a few dozen page views per day (actually, I get a little excited to think that a few dozen people have actually clicked their way over to read what I write every day).

{blogs and coffee print by Jen Ramos}

So I was a bit tickled and surprised to discover a few extra visitors last week, who I soon discovered were sent here by the Liebster award Kimbirdy passed along.  I was in the middle of a week that was busy and decently stressful and she truly made my day.  Someone likes reading my silly little blog and thinks other people would, too!

The next part of the award is to pass it along to four other blogs with fewer than 300 followers that you think deserve to be read, and I know a few.  For the most part, they're way ahead of me on the whole having-followers/daily-readers game, but I'll send you to them, anyway!

1. Pink Argyle, by Mo

2. KT's Refinishing School, by KT

3. Mo Pie, Please, by Meagan

4. What Made You Smile Today, curated by Mandy

In creating this post, I discovered three main things that hook me as a reader: great pictures, DIY projects or tasty recipes, and anything smile-inducing.  You get bonus points if you live in the midwest or midsouth.  And if you write about books?  I'm your best friend and the first to comment.

What do you like to read?

ventures into the blogosphere :: screenprinting tutorial at Lil Blue Boo

For at least the last year, I have wanted to try my hand at screenprinting.  I haven't had time to take a class and there's no way I'm going to try it in a completely carpeted rental, even if this kit at Urban Outfitters has been teasing me with its all-your-supplies-together-ness. There are a million tutorials available that tell you how to screeprint, but I've always found them incredibly confusing, even the ones that claim to be simple, except for this one from Lil Blue Boo.  The materials are simple enough that I can get them at any craft store, and the method doesn't require anything too complicated or expensive.  Guess what I'll be doing this summer?

Lil Blue Boo is the internet home of Ashley, maker extraordinaire.  She paints, sews, prints, operates a clothing and pattern store through her website, and still has time enough to post clear and helpful tutorials.  Right now, she's doing a series of posts called "What would YOU make?" that features a bunch of different bloggers.  She sent a bundle of the same fabric print to each of them--a darkish floral number--and asked them to create their own pieces from it.  All the different creations from the same fabric are so interesting, because they are so similar and yet each one is completely unique to its maker.  I really like the premise of the project.  It'd be fun to do with all sorts of materials--maybe a packet of different papers, or a notebook and a pen, or some other limited number of raw materials.

If you have some time, take a look at her other tutorials, and maybe you'll find one you'd like to try, too. 

Have a lovely day!

Ventures into the Blogosphere :: my blogging friends

I'm not the only one in my circle of friends that casts my voice out into the great big internet.  A couple of my friends and acquaintances have things to say and recipes to share, so I'm sending you their way today. 

Beth has been my friend since we were Girl Scouts in third grade and both new to our school and the state of Kentucky.  She posts ridiculously delicious looking recipes like this chicken satay.

{by esimpraim on flickr}

Amy and I went to college together for a few years (before I pretty much picked up and ran for a state school, but other people liked and stayed at Asbury).  She also posts good recipes, most of which are pretty healthy.  This key lime pie may not qualify as healthy, but I'd still like to learn how to make it, and I'd really love to eat some.  She says it's easy, so maybe I'll try it, even if it would mean yet another trip to the grocery store. 

{by roboppy on flickr}

I'm feeling really hungry right now, so we're going to turn from my food-blogging friends to my cousin's blog, where she writes about daily life in her beautiful personal style.  Jamie and I live far apart and only see each other once a year, maybe twice at most, so keeping up with her life and the life of her five sisters and aunt and uncle has gotten so much easier since she started blogging!  You hear that, Jamie?  Keep writing!

{by Traveling Man on flickr}

Oh, and if you're in need of a laugh, take a peek at this hilarity.  Just make sure you watch this video, too, as long as you're in a place where you can laugh out loud--very loudly--without disturbing the peace. 

Today's images were found about on flickr, not on my friends' blogs.  The PC in the lab I'm in isn't being very nice about letting me share photos, so copying and pasting the code worked a lot better than uploading. Maybe this computer knows I'd rather be on my macbook, old and a little weak though it may be.  Who decided that four year old computers are old, anyway?  Mine still works and I'm going to use it until it falls apart, or until the internet quits functioning, whichever comes first.  I also published this post without proofreading it and just caught myself using the wrong there/they're/their.  Oh dear, I really do need a new contact prescription. 

ventures into the blogosphere :: Needled

For the last week or so, I've been reading pages and pages of Needled.  Kate Davies, the author, is a scholar and clearly a knitting genius.  She also writes regularly for Rowan and The Knitter and can definitely be classified as an expert.  I can't seem to get enough of the all the historical and sociological knowledge she shares of knitting, her home in Scotland (that looks amazingly gorgeous), garments, and, well, just about everything she ever brings up in posts.  Her patterns all have historical background and influence, and are available for purchase, but look incredibly complicated to me!  Perhaps someone who is capable of actually purling could create them, though. 

{manu cardigan; click image or link to see pattern listing}

I'm also developing a serious case of wanderlust since finding her very seriously gorgeous images of her outdoor adventures with her husband (and occasionally their dog).  This wanderlust is accompanied by a very serious desire to start graduate school.  If I ever find myself wondering if even more higher education is what I want in my life, a few minutes spent reading any well-researched and well-supported writing reminds me of the depths of my school-nerdiness--which reminds me, I need to begin reviewing my (weak) Spanish so that I can pass the proficiency exam before I start my Master of Arts in English.  Oh, yes, I decided on a degree plan--had I told you that?  I'll be spending the next two years (or six or seven, if I'm able to go on to get a Ph D) immersed in research and literature.

I'm afraid I haven't written as clearly as I'd like, and that I haven't fully convinced you to look at Kate's blog, but seriously--if you want to know more about the history of different crafts, and if you want to read about it in an interesting and clear manner, you need to go read Needled, now.  You'll walk away with greater knowledge and (most likely) a healthy dose of inspiration.

The image included in this post belongs to Kate Davies.  If you share it or post it elsewhere, please give her credit.

ventures into the blogosphere: this is keeping fingers crossed

I'm not feeling incredibly writing-inspired at the moment, so I'm keeping the links short today and sending you to the blog of a friend and former classmate, Laura, editor-at-large of the Asbury Collegian and great writer, where you'll find this lovely batch of words by Rosemarie Urquico.

this is keeping fingers crossed: date a girl who reads

{silhouette by mountainbrook on Etsy}

You may also want to take a look at the post I put up just a teensy bit ago and see how much has been raised by the blogging community for Shelterbox.  Visit here for information on how many boxes have already been sent, and how many are ready to go at a moment's notice.  Incredible!

winning, revisited

No, I did not win something else (except maybe a bit of a decision about grad school, but I won't say a thing until I know it sticks in my head and my heart).  I did not share the blog that hosted the handmade olympics which the lovely Dottie Angel won and from which was so kind as to share her lovely prizes with me and four others.

The lovely hosting site of the handmade olympics was the rikrak studio, where you will find many delightful giveaways, challenges, and lots of interesting things.  Her Etsy shop is closed at present, but you can look at her sold items and see that she is definitely one creative soul.  Aren't these pretty?  I like the mug, too.

{by rikrak studio, sold on Etsy}

I have a question, though.  Do I say lovely and gorgeous and beautiful too much?  Can you think of some good synonyms or almost-synonyms to use?  hmm...time for the thinking cap.

ventures into the blogosphere :: getting crafty with Poppytalk Handmade

I'm always looking for good DIY projects, things that you can personalize  and make your own, and this project, a guest post by Janis Nicolay of Pinecone Camp is most definitely of that sort.  Poppytalk Handmade is a site with that wonderful wabi-sabi aesthetic ever-present, so it's no surprise that I would find something I love here.  I don't know if the style in this project would fit well with my home in the style shared here, but I have some old wall paper found at the thrift store (formerly used to cover a headboard found on the side of the road) that just might work.  You could also use some odds and ends for this project--maybe the cover of a takeout menu with a pretty design or some wrapping paper.  I'd advise against any newspaper, though--with mod podge, the ink tends to run, I've learned.  You could always photocopy something, though, if you want that kind of a look.

poppytalk: Getting Crafty in Chinatown!

 

 

{Image by & belongs to Janis Nicolay}