A Stitch in Time

I have been a horrible blogger lately because I have been working non-stop to prepare for Stitch Austin. The event was my first major vending experience, and it was a great way to get my feet wet. Stitch was a fashion show and guerilla craft fair that happened last Saturday down at the Austin Convention Center, and it showcased the talents of designers and crafters from all around.

I shared a booth with my friend Jenifer, and our load in time was at ten in the morning, although the show did not officially open until 2:30 P.M. I managed to pack my garment rack, over a hundred garments, and all the other accouterments into a giant suitcase and Rubbermaid box with wheels. I also had a folding chair, and a giant two year old (Harlan measured in at 3' 2" at his recent two year check up) in tow. My plan was to pull into the loading dock, strap Harlan into his stroller and make short runs with all of the gear into my booth inside. There were a bunch of volunteers working at the loading dock whom I had been told via e-mail would be willing to help vendors load in. The volunteers who stood by the entrance with clip-boards in hand were a bunch of barely-twenty-somethings with a Delia's aesthetic, who seemed to think that the woman running laps between the station wagon and the kid in the stroller was invisible. By the time I had gotten the suitcase past them and ran back with Harlan to the box and chair sitting in the middle of parking lot, an older volunteer approached me and asked if she could help. Usually I'm one to say, "No, no, I got it" even if I'm on fire and someone approaches me with a bucket of water, but on this day I happily handed my child over to a stranger while I ran back to pick up the box and chair. When I got back Harlan was surrounded by nice women all chatting with him, and he did not even notice my 30 second absence. The helpful stranger then helped me even more by dragging the massive box and chair all the way to my booth for me. Big thanks kind stranger!

The show was a lot of work but also a heck of a lot of fun, not only because I got to experience total strangers rushing over to ooh and aah over my efforts, but because I met so many cool, talented people who were all trying to do the same thing that I have been- earning a living by making things. I managed to do some great trades as well, but unfortunately I can not show you anything I received nor any action shots of Rose & Duke because MY CAMERA BROKE!
Great timing, as my father just bought me a micro lens for my birthday too.

Moving right along, I know I need to post something visual, so I'll mention some holiday crafting inspiration for any of you who don't have enough already:

Sew Mama Sew has a post each day this month with a different tutorial for something you can make as holiday gifts.

Anthro has some adorable hand sewn felt house ornaments that have inspired me to make some for some upcoming ornament swaps.

Alicia P. is going to sell some kits to make her famous Santa Lucia dolls. You better bet I need one. Speaking of Alicia, if you know any Corgi lovers you need to get a gift for, how about this book?

And lastly, I have a new Japanese fabric ALERT for all you fanatics out there:
LOOK HERE
Or don't if you like money and want to keep any.

Again, apologies for the lack of photos, hopefully the matter will be resolved shortly.

I've got Bento Fever and I'm in Love

Now that Harlan goes to school in the mornings, it is up to me to pack him a lunch each day. Never mind that he only seems to like hot dogs cheese and fruit, I still need to pack these items in his super-duper lunch bag. I'm sure many of you who pack lunches are familiar with this site about bento lunches and ideas for what to put inside them. For those of you who love all things cute and Japanese, here are my latest acquisitions, all purchased under the premise that Harlan will like to eat what is inside things that are cute:





The best place I found online to get great bento boxes and accessories is ebay. There I discovered the colorful silicon baking cups that make great food holders inside larger bento boxes (or any larger plastic box). They sell a good assortment of these on amazon.

Here are good websites that carry Decole and other cute goodies. WARNING: LOCK WALLET UP BEFORE PROCEEDING:
http://www.sugarpinebeauty.com/ (type decole into search)
http://www.pancakemeow.com
http://spiralling.typepad.com/shop/
http://www.loloko.com/catalog/decole.html
http://www.shelovesstars.co.uk/

Click here to see the most amazing bento lunches ever.
My Nikon D70 SLR takes great photos but unfortunately one can only use the manual settings with a specific lens that I do not own and can not justify purchasing right now. My condo (like most structures in hot climates) is very shady. It is surrounded by dense trees and has long eaves that hang over the windows, keeping it cool but also quite dark. It's nearly impossible to get a good photo of anything on my porches or inside, but here are a few peeks. This is my trendy gnome and mushroom doormat, courtesy of Target:


This is the are in front of my front door. My mother gave me the beautiful bougainvillea, which I have always always always wanted to grow, ever since seeing them all over Florida. Anyone remember Poppy the Pig? I have filled him and a metal bucket with various succulents. I love me some succulents, ever since seeing them all over San Francisco. Now I live in a climate where they will thrive happily. The man at the gardening store warned me to bring them indoors when the temp. drops below forty. How can this be? What about all the giant ones I see on everyone else's front lawn? Does anyone know? I have many more planted out back on our deck but no photos yet.


Here's the cabinet I bought at Ikea recently to keep my fabric in. I may not have my craft room yet, but at least I don't keep it all under the bed anymore.

This is the area over our sideboard in our living room. It's what we see when we are sitting on the sofa on the opposite wall (which I will photograph when I finish making pillows for it).

Here is a close up of my Halloween chicks, purchased from Jennifer Murphy.

They're just so dang cute, and the fact that they are made in China did not deter me from buying them in the least. It's great that Jennifer had such a high demand for her products that she was able to outsource making them. One lesson I learned back when I went to that Design Sponge sponsored event for people starting their own businesses (be sure and click the link as it goes to all the files from the event) is that most buyers are interested in the design and price of items, along with the story that is behind them. Were they designed by a famous RISD grad who used to work for Martha Stewart but then dropped out of the corporate world to raise her daughter and sit around crocheting pot holders that she started selling on the street corner? Apparently most consumers are only interested in the story up to a certain point, and after that the price is an issue. Making things by hand in the U.S. is costly because the cost of living here is so high. Minimum wage is even up to $7.50 an hour in some states (still too low in my opinion but that's another discussion). If any of us expect to make a living by making things by hand then we have to charge accordingly and the question that remains is, Will people buy a bunch of Halloween pom pom chicks for $20 a chick? I wouldn't. Not because I don't respect the time that went into making it, but because right now I can't afford it (although I have found a way to justify such purchases many times in the past). Now, happily there are some people who can afford it and will shell out the big bucks for things that are locally made. These are most of the people who buy my stuff, and I'm happy they are there, but the truth is that I can only make one or two items a day and that is not enough to live off of. So, I have finally found a company in New Jersey whom I am working with to make a couple of my designs by machine. The process is not cheap, because they are in New Jersey and not China, but I want to keep my products 100% American made and charge accordingly, hoping that customers will still support me because they like the designs, the workmanship, and the fact that the products are all locally made. The one glitch I am having right now is color matching machine threads to DMC colors. We'll have to see the results when my samples get back. I hope that I can eventually have everything I design made professionally so that I can spend my own time making things for myself and designing. You get tired of embroidering or sewing the same exact design over and over by hand. Getting back to Jennifer Murphy for a moment, does anyone know where one can buy the material used to make the kind of bears she and Molly Chicken make? I would love to try making a few for gifts (gifts for myself that is) but I have never seen any place that sells that type of faux fur.

This weekend Joe and I did some iron-on transfers on t-shirts for Harlan. They came out pretty cute. Guess which two designs I found and which two Joe found. Scroll down for answer.


The two of the left are Joe's. The first is an Pogo image that is super cute. He wanted to do another one using a Love and Rockets image but we could not find any that worked on a t-shirt for a little boy. Instead he went with a good old fashioned Black Flag logo. I chose a page from Richard Scary's most beautifully illustrated book I Am a Bunny, and of course the Stray Cats logo. We have to keep Harlan old school.

I have one last question to pose for my readers. I've cancelled the business Bun Bun Babythreads with the state of NY. I need to reopen it here in Texas, but I also want to change the name so that people don't assume everything I sell is for babies (I often hear, "Oh, I don't know anyone with a baby"). I'm thinking I should keep Bun Bun as a prefix for the name but don't know what to put after it. Let me know if you have any ideas.

For good tunes, go here and listen to Petra Hayden's genius cover of Thriller and breathtaking a Capella version of God Only Knows. I heard Petra's a Capella cover of a Journey song while driving Joe to work one morning on a local radio station. The music in Austin is one of its main draws, and I'm relishing in discovering new artists to listen to now that I'm here. I don't get out to many (many being zero) shows any more, so being able to actually depend on the radio for good music is a saving grace.

Hey Bub, Where you goin' with that lunch bag in yo' hand?

My little man started his first week of school this past Wednesday.

Harlan has loved carrying a bag around for a while now, and for once he is carrying one that he actually needs: His new Cream Cram lunch bag!

I told you all that I would find a way in despite names that were deposited on waiting lists while the students were still in-utero!

Actually, it is because of this blog that Harlan made his debut at a tony pre-school this week. A wonderful woman here in Austin ("R") e-mailed me a while back to let me know where I could buy Violet Crumbles in town. We wrote back and forth a couple of times and she recently wrote after reading my post about not being able to get Harlan a spot in a reputable local pre-school. She told me about a wonderful school right in the neighborhood ( a huge relief now that I am spending way too much time in the car) that her son had gone to. "R" recommended that I call the school director and tell her that we knew each other. It worked.


The first day I left Harlan in loving hands I was elated; proud of my independent and social son who waved bye-bye to me non-chalantly as he ran off to play some other kids.

The second day was not so easy. The third day even less so as I had to drive away watching Harlan weep at the realization that I was not staying with him. I spent this morning feeling like a wretched mother, abandoning her first born. I know of course that everything Harlan is experiencing is normal and that he will quickly acclimate to his new fun-filled mornings at school, but you can't reason with me when today was the first time I had to walk away from my crying baby.

Yellows Blues and Reds

Violette Crumble Double Corn Peach Muffins:

1 cup buttermilk, warmed
1/2 cup plus 1 tbl cornmeal
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tbl zest from organic lemons (probably 2 lemons- non organic rinds are pretty bad so skip the lemon if you can't find organic)
2 eggs
splash of vanilla
3 ripe peaches, skinned and cut into chunks (blueberries also work great)

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Warm the buttermilk on low heat and add 1/2 cup cornmeal, mix & set aside.
3. Whisk remaining cornmeal with dry ingredients.
4. Cream softened butter, add sugar, then lemon zest, then vanilla, then eggs.
5. Add soaked cornmeal and buttermilk.
6. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
7. Add peaches.

Fill muffin trays (this makes about 12 muffins) and place in oven. Check after 18 minutes. Tops should be lightly golden brown.


A good thing to use the de-skinned lemon on is a nice Violette Crumble Quinoa Salad:

Juice from 1 lemon
1 cup quinoa
3 beets- I used three different types, but they all tasted the same
Chopped pecans
Dried cherries
2 scallions
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

1. Boil, skin, and slice the beets. Marinate them in some lemon juice and olive oil for a couple of hours.
2. Prepare quinoa (follow box directions or boil 2 cups water with quinoa, turn heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes until all water is absorbed).
3. Chop up scallions, and throw it all together. Mix in more olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

Our bedrooms walls are my favorite Tiffany blue:
I bought these Anthropologie knobs for the closet doors. Too bad you can't really tell in this shot.

Harlan's crib is still beneath my favorite collages from One Good Bumblbee:


Not yellow red or blue but still new and very cute: Decole mushroom timer and magnetic picture holder, placed upon stove top:


Looking for some really beautiful music? I just bought this CD:

Perla Batalla sings in Spanish and her voice will send chills down your spine. I bought the CD after hearing her rendition of Cucurrucucu Paloma, one of my favorite songs ever.

Looking for a fantastic read with pictures that will also help fill you in on recent Iranian history?


Read Marjane Satrapi's Autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis 1 and 2. I just finished the sequel and must say that I enjoyed it even more than the first book. In the sequel Marjane leaves Iran to live in Austria during the 80's as a teen and boy did she have some good adventures.

Blousing around

I made this blouse last week and I like how it came out despite its flowey, slightly maternity-esque shape. It was easy to make and for that I love it. I think for the next blouse I may give the old Simplicity 4589 a try that I have seen some other crafty bloggers make. It's also a bit boxy, but then if I want anything form fitting I have a closet full of such blouses that are just sitting there, waiting for me to stuff myself into them and return to work.

My Superbuzzy fairy tale fabrics arrived over the weekend.

I bought enough to make Harlan a bunch of shortalls for the summer but I love it all so much I am not sure what to do with it. It's almost too great to use. When I received the e-mail from Superbuzzy that new fabrics were in I checked them all out, made some bookmarks of the ones I wanted, and then went to sleep to avoid my usual urge to immediately buy everything I like the looks of. In the morning when I went back to open the bookmarks pretty much everything I wanted was gone. Who knew that online fabric shopping would become as competitive a sport as sample sale shopping? When did the day arrive that we turned into Betty and Wilma at one of those sales where the cave women dive into a pile beneath a SALE sign with limbs flailing and items flying overhead?

Also in the mail was this photo album from Shutterfly:

Last year when Harlan turned one I made him this album for his birthday. I put all the best photos from his first year in it along with a kind of letter to him that narrates what happened over the course of the year. It took me this long to edit and re-edit the damn thing and I finally gave in and ordered it last week. I love how it turned out although there are some typos that I did not catch when I edited it. I suppose that will add to the personalized charm.

During a bit of recent cleaning out of things I came across the perfect frame for the embroidery I made Joe for valentine's day:

Happy Easter and Passover everyone.

It was the naush

Is this a cute "pear" or what? These are a couple of samples of my new line of children's wear. The only problem is I can't use them because I made the appliques from wool felt and didn't stop to think about how this would hold up during a machine wash and dry cycle (answer: Pretty well but slightly fuzzy- not so great for selling). I have to order some acrylic felt and start over with these and my other designs. I also came to the conclusion that I should stop doing onesies and shirts and instead use dresses and rompers and hoodies. The applique process will require the same amount of work but the resale value will be much higher. There is only so much one wants to spend on a t-shirt for a baby no matter how cute it is. I did not come to this conclusion alone, but instead from talking with Jeni a couple of weeks ago after going to the Women in Business meeting organized by Grace of Design Sponge. I learned a good amount at this get together and am actually totally rethinking what I am doing with Bun Bun Babythreads. We all know there is only so much one person can make by hand, especially when the only time alloted for making things is about ten hours a week. What I didn't know (although really I kind of did) is that buyers are more interested in design and the story behind the craft/garment then weather or not it was all hand made by one person. What I also didn't know (although again I really kind of did) is that to get your brand name out there you have to really schmooze and network, two things I am instinctively adverse to. I test out as an INFP, but I'm borderline extroverted. I'm what I like to call an extroverted introvert. You see, I like having a lot of friends and knowing everyone at my job or in my neighborhood etc, but when it comes down to it I just want to be alone most of the time. I rarely answer the phone but I love to write and receive e-mails and snail mail. I hate going to parties and risking having to talk to people I don't know, but I love throwing parties and inviting everyone I do know. My friend Jennifer is the same way. One way I bonded with her early in our friendship was when we discovered that we both used to throw parties to avoid having to go to any. We both also spend the entire ride to any social event creating an excuse to have to leave the second we get there. In fact I did this on the way to the Design Sponge event despite the fact that the only person there who would know me is Jeni. OK, I am rambling, I admit it. The point is, I don't schmooze.

Last weekend we went down to Austin and it was Harlan's first plane ride. Unfortunately, he came down with a stomach bug that everyone in Brooklyn seems to have had recently. He barfed the morning of our flight down and again on the flight down. It was miserable. He coated his car seat in 100% dairy barf (which smelled even better the next day in Austin when the temp in the car hit 80 degrees) and I had to change him into a new diaper and a sweater of mine since I was too stupid to plan ahead and pack an extra outfit for him in our carry-on. The poor kid cried the whole rest of the trip and for some reason the entire group of passengers surrounding us could not have been nicer or more sympathetic. I assume this is because they were all Austinites returning home from a trip to NYC, and not native New Yorkers visiting Texas. Once we returned home, I got hit with the bug too and spent most of this past week laying on the ground feeling nauseated and feverish while my poor son attempted to play with me. I had The Naush. If you don't know what The Naush is, you obviously were not in the elevator in the Atlantic Ave. subway station with me and Joe and Harlan that time a couple of months ago when it stank like barf. We piled in to the elevator with a woman of unknown origin who waved her arms around saying over an over, "Ohh, it give me The Naush, it give me The Naush!" I told her that it also gave me The Naush. Joe thought it was mean of me to say this, but I disagree. If I had said anything other would she have understood me? Probably not. I was just trying to make myself clear so she would understand that we were in the same boat (or in this case elevator). I think that nausea will always be referred to as The Naush in my household from now on.

Since I don't have much else to share with you on the creative front I thought I'd show you the awesome Shinji Katoh tote bag I got on ebay:

I got it for a great price ($10) and the seller has more designs, so feel free to go buy one before they sell out. I added the bag to my Aranzi Aranzo bags quite happily:

Time, stupid time, bringin' me down.

Anyone get that one? It's from a Daniel Johnston song and it always gets stuck in my head when I'm stressed for time (which is the past 15 months essentially). Harlan is napping and I am simmering some dinner for him while I write this post. Multi-tasking at its best.
I now have a rather large stockpile of fabric and a nice list of plans for execution. I'm going to make a bunch of different items, all baby & kid related and see how they sell.

Perhaps they will do really well and I can then outsource to a nice local factory as I have been planning on doing with the embroideries for months now. Here are some close ups of what I just got in the mail:

I almost feel sad to part with the lovely Amy Butler prints, but alas I must. The robot (or "robutt" as Joe and I like to say) is for Harlan of course, but I am just realizing I should have bought more since robots are so trendy suddenly. I bet it would be a hit to sell in the form of sun hats (one of my ideas).
My online spending fever has yet to subside. Last night I purchasedthis sweet little guy from one of my all time favorite crafters chet and dot. This chicklette is a birthday gift for a friend in early April. I saw it and could not resist, because she and I both have a love for baby chicks. When we both lived in Austin at the same time she bought a little chick at a flea market for a quarter and named him Eddie. We planned on sharing custody of little Eddie, but sadly he died on Christmas eve after taking ill and only walking backwards for a couple of days. Eddie's mom kept him in her bedroom in a nice coop so that none of the predators outdoors would kill him. Unfortunately for Eddie neither of us knew that chicks required pebbles and dirt in their gullets to survive. Here are photos of Eddie with Abby and me:

Getting back to chet and dot, everything she makes is so lovely and perfect, I'm practically a crazed stalker because I'm always checking out her shop to see what's new. It seems she has also picked up some superbuzzy fabrics and has undoubtedly done a better job of sewing things with them than I will. I am going to stick to making some pretty simple stuff with mine. I have to show the cutest thing she sent along with my last purchase.

My very own marshmellow towel-neck man! We keep him on this lamp switch and Harlan loves to stand at the edge of the couch and grab for him. Harlan has also taken to throwing things behind the trunk/side table and pulling himself over it to try and retrieve his losses:

Christmas goodness

I ended up giving soft tree gifts in trios: One large felt white tree, one red felt tree with a single vintage black silk and wire leaf, and one Tiffany dumpster felt tree with embroidered white stars. I like the way the look as a grove.

Next I got to work making us stockings (better late than never). I cut them out with pinking shears from some lovely wool felt.

I sewed a vintage red velvet flower and black silk leaves on to mine. Joe liked the idea of holly leaves and berries so his have some made from felt and vintage buttons. I made Harlan's with a festive tree and star, complete with an antique gold leather covered button that my grandmother gave me a pack of years ago.

Next, I got super busy in the kitchen. All of Saturday was spent baking and making nougat.

Homemade candy and cookies are always appreciated as gifts, aren't they? Joe had to run off to Target to buy me a candy thermometer, and even then the nougat required two tries. I followed the recipe from Martha's holiday magazine issue, and as I have found in the past, her recipes are not always properly edited. What would you think if you read the following?
"Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 242 degrees on a candy thermometer, 3 to 5 minutes."
I took this to mean that after stirring and cooking for five minutes I should reduce the heat and cook another 3 to five minutes until 242 degrees was reached. Well, it turns out that the only thing necessary to remember is the 242 degrees as an end point. My candy thermometer reached 242 after the candy boiled for only about five minutes, and so after cooking another three minutes I had to dump the whole first batch and redo it. Oh well, live and learn. It came out so soft and marshmellowy, I had to keep it in the fridge once I cut and wrapped up the pieces. Perfection.
Next I baked four kinds of cookies from the holiday issue of Everyday Food. It was all cookies. I had seen the little magazine on the check out line at Pathmark a few weeks back and saw that a great looking recipe for giant ginger cookies was inside. I have been searching for the perfect ginger cookie recipe for a while, and for some reason I did not buy the magazine. Lo and behold, the entire issue was published online so I was able to download a bunch of recipes for free. Perhaps Martha did this for me to make up for the vague nougat direction. Thanks Martha!

After the ginger cookies were complete, I moved on to the black bottom coconut squares. When I finished baking them and allowing them to cook I had to perform the requisite poison test and discovered that they were a bit dry. To jazz it up I melted some Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate and smeared it across the top. I think it may have been overkill, but the end result was like a fabulous, high quality Mounds bar.

The pumpkin chocolate chip squares followed (sorry, no photo, I packed them all up before I took out the camera), but I can assure you that they are divine. Soft and pumkinish and very, very, chocolatey indeed. Last I made a batch of chocolate espresso snowcaps and I ended up using ground coffee from Tillie's instead of the instant espresso called for. The cookies tasted extremely coffeeish but combined with the intense chocolate flavor this worked out O.K.

I thought that since we were on the topic of chocolate that I'd show you the great Japanese chocolate candy I got for Joe's stocking at the Sunrise Mart. I went there in search of the elusive green tea Kit Kat. No luck. Instead I found these lovelies which don't taste half bad considering their origin.

A merry Christmas was had by all, and everyone loved all the goodies I made. Harley J. even got to have a ginger cookie and some pumpkin square. He thinks he's hot stuff now that he can pull himself up and do a victory dance. It amazes me how much that kid smiles. I hope it lasts forever.