Hummingbird Monthly

This was my second filet crochet project. Made for Jon's Aunt this Christmas. I started working on it back in late November and just finished it last night. While it's a tedious project I did have about 4 other projects going at the same time. Oh, the holidays how I love thee! I'm very happy with how it turned out and I'm beginning to really love the more intricate lace-work that can be created with the crochet technique. I hope to work smaller and maybe even make tiny stitched jewelry. Thank goodness I work for an eye doctor, I'm gonna need new glasses SOON!

Babber's Bonnet

It's been quite chilly here in beautiful Seattle, so much so that we're snowed in at the moment. in celebration of the icy weather I've made a snug little head warmer for my tiny companion. I know I know, tormented she may look but I assure you she appreciates this sucker while out in the brisk northwestern air.

Oh my!

seems it's been WAY too long since I blogged. many creations have come into existence since July. I'm really excited about a new crochet technique I've been working hard to perfect. It's known as filet crochet and just about the most fun I've had with a crochet hook. so much like a crochet jigsaw puzzle that slowly comes together before my very eyes. my first attempt was this small dragonfly design table doily.
I blocked for the first time with this project as well. the sheer size increase that occurred by simply blocking will have me doing this with every filet project I attempt. my next project is about 1/3 done and a holiday gift for a close family member. I'll post images of it once completed as the recipient has never used a computer and there's absolutely no way she'll ever see it before it arrives on her doorstep. some other gifts I've whipped up in the last few weeks will have to wait for unveiling as their soon-to-be owners are net junkies to the fullest extent and I don't dare spoil the surprise!

Happy 5th Birthday Clover!

Mount Rainier

Wow, it's been awhile! A few weeks ago we went on a day trip to Rainier and I FINALLY edited the pictures this evening. Check em out if you've got a thing for huge mountains, pretty parks or like really REALLY cute dogs ;)

Pike Place Market

It's been a fun extended weekend so far. We welcomed a couple friends in from ATL yesterday and took them to Snoqualmie Falls, Fremont and Pike Place Market since they arrived. I mainly focused on the market. Check out my Flickr page if you'd like to see more.

Melody's Cookie Cupcakes

Last night I decided to make some treats intended for my co-workers and some friends coming to visit from Atlanta this weekend. Luckily an adorable Facebook acquaintance of mine happens to be quite the culinary queen and shared this recipe with me. They taste a bit like a chocolate chip cookie and a cinnamon bun spawned a cupcake. The work buddies LOVED them and of course the boyfriend isn't shy about devouring them either.

Here's the recipe if you're interested:

"wet ingredients:

-3/4 cup sugar... See More
-3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup (236 grams) butter, softened
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon natural almond extract

dry ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon

other ingredients:
- at least 2 cups of chocolate chips (dark or milk up to preference)

mix wet ingredients with hand mixer until very smooth. combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. then combine wet and dry ingredients with hand mixer until very well blended/sort of stiff. once dough is mixed, fold in chocolate chips and whatever other fun stuff you may decide to add to your cookie cupcakes. i like to chill the dough for an hour or 2 before i bakethese, but not everyone does, and this recipe does not require chilling the dough before use.

drop the dough in to greased muffin tins (i prefer butter) and bake 10-12 minutes in a pre-heated oven @ 375. allow to cool for an hour or so before decorating.

buttercream icing is just a stick of room temperature softened butter, a ton of confectioner's sugar (i used the entire box), and a touch of cream (milk will also work well) blended with a hand mixer for about 3 minutes and piped out all ghetto style with the tip cut off of a plastic sandwich bag stuffed with frosting.

i should add that these keep longer and taste better if they're refrigerated. they tend to melt in the summer heat otherwise."

Joshua Train

Over the last couple of weeks I put together this little train complete with puppet passengers. A friend in Atlanta wanted a specially crocheted gift for her son's birthday in a few weeks. I really hope he likes it!

Wetland Trail

Well, I'm officially part of the workforce again and it feels great! I really love the people I work with and it's absolutely wonderful to work for another small company. It would really be hard for me to go back to working for a large corporation again so I'm thankful to be where I'm at now. I was so busy this week that keeping up with my 365 went completely out the window. Oh, well...I'm happy with the pictures I have of my year thus far. I'll try and keep up on a weekly update at this point as I'm sure I'll have my camera with me every weekend anyway.

This weekend was a bit of a downer because there was so much going on in Seattle but even more obstacles to overcome in order to join in on all the fun. I was looking forward to the Solstice Parade/Fremont Fair all week and even the weather man was positive the weather would hold out for it. Boy was he WRONG! Not only did it rain all weekend but getting even close to the festivities was an issue. Bridges were closed, cars were jammed into the tiny streets of our neighborhood all the way to the other side of the hill that leads to Fremont and it's bridge. We decided to backtrack and try a different route but once we made it into Fremont it was even worse so we vacated all plans to attend and took off with the pup over to Carkeek Park.



We have been to Carkeek several times but never walked the trails so we went through the wetlands there and I snapped a few shots of the foliage during our walk. Among the colorful shrubs, foamy flowers and little streams it felt great to get away from the city sounds even if it was for just an hour or so. Clover had been cooped up all week so she quite enjoyed the walk as well.

Here's one of the pictures I took while there and the rest can be found in my Carkeek Album on Flickr.

Today we went to the Asian Art Museum here in Seattle and saw a wonderful exhibit of the woodblock prints by Hokusai, Harunobu, Utamaro, Eishi and Hiroshige. The most familiar of these prints are Great Wave off Kanagawa and Red Fuji but all of them were simply gorgeous. We spent all afternoon there gawking at ancient art and spending some time in a few of the rooms we didn't have time to see on our last visit. I also picked up pamphlets from the other museums in town that have some really interesting exhibits at the moment so I hope to catch a few of these over the next few weeks.

Clover Training

Clover has had a leash pulling problem and we're trying a no pull harness on her. So far we've had to trade it in for a smaller size and we're still not sure if it's going to be effective but may be worth a shot. It looks so uncomfortable to wear but this happy dog doesn't seem to mind one bit <3

World Cup

First USA game at the World Cup and many were out celebrating. Even in the waters around Seattle. These guys stirred up some yelps and woohoo's while we were enjoying the sun. Really a fun day to be at the park!

Fremont Troll

Finally visited the Fremont Troll this weekend. Huge, ugly and a perfect bridge troll if I ever saw one!

Ninja for my nephew

My nephew's birthday was just a few days before my niece's so I'm sending them a combo cupcake/ninja package.

Emma's Rainbow Cupcake

My tiny three year old niece is just about the cutest little girl in the world. So adorable in fact that she would fit comfortably in a Disney animation. She lives in PA so I've only gotten the pleasure of meeting her once. I get to see pictures of her though and she's growing up to be a beautiful little girl. For her birthday I made her this little rainbow colored cupcake that will be on it's way to her shortly. I really hope she likes it as much as I liked making it for her!

Proof of the cute, little Emma!

Masala Yums

This one took awhile since I soaked the beans & barley(in veggie broth) and basmati(in milk) all day. Masala was the easy part because I tried TJ's simmering sauce and it was AMAZING! Add some nan and dinner was delicious! i even have beans for some lunch and dinner left-overs later this week...yay!!

Rottger & Meredeath

Meet my new zombie pals! They followed me home while seeking out a replacement lamp for my dining area (no luck yet btw). Among the stowaways were these two, a pair of gigantic rubbery goldfish, a corked bottle and a bag full of tiny paper parasols. All under 10 bucks too! Right now these adorable zombies are resting comfortably on the backs of my goldfish until I decide what to do with my newly acquired accoutrements.

Lake Sammamish

The sun decided to show it's face all day today! After making a quick stop at the post office we whisked the dogger out to Lake Sammamish to check out the park. There were a lot of people but the park has at least two dozen grilling areas, a playground, a few pavilions and trails all over so it wasn't crowded at all. They had a little horse shoe game area and we saw some big fields that groups had set up volleyball courts in. It's a really nice park even though it was a bit muddy from the rain all week. Gotta get used to that living here though.

If you want to check out some more pictures from our outing check out my Flickr album.

Poached Egg Success

I've always been terrified to poach an egg. Afraid that it would end up as scrambled goop. I've seen a dozen chefs on TV and even in films poach eggs so this morning I tried my luck. I must say, surprisingly easy and SO delicious!! I tried eggs over easy as a child and was disgusted so I wasn't looking forward to trying the runny egg yolk again but I'm glad I did. So rich and almost like thin cheese sauce. DELIGHTFUL!

Pictured is flaxseed toast, hollandaise sauce w/ cayenne pepper and a poached egg of course.

Dog Dress

Another project from this week. Burnt orange & cream colored knit dress. Made with organic cotton so it's super soft on Clover's sensitive skin <3

Stripe Bag

Finished my bag made from yarn remnants. Took me almost a week but I loooooooooooove it!! Now to rest my paws for a few days before I start on a another project I've been asked to do.

Fiber Duct

Am in the process of making a strap for the bag I'm working on but for now it's an ever growing tube. After a few hours of crocheting I decided to play around with it and a flashlight. The picture turned out looking a little outer spacey I think.

Recycled Yarn

Currently using up a basketful of yarn remnants to make a slouchy/messenger like bag for myself. Making this is been surprisingly therapeutic in a way because working with every individual yarn reminds me of past projects I've created. Reflecting back on my accomplishments in crochet this year sort of forces me to realize how far I've come working this craft. I started knitting about two years ago and ended up really disliking it so I strayed from yarn of any kind until we moved to Seattle. Once here and unable to find work I read a book about amigurumi called Creepy Cute Crochet that Jon gave me last year as a birthday present. The creatures in the book were adorable and this book is also where the patterns for my cute little ninjas came from(which I plan to make more of in the near future). After crocheting those I picked up a set of cheap metal crochet hooks and found a local store that almost always has a yarn sale and haven't stopped since. Not only do I find it relaxing, but others seem to like my work enough so that I can sell a few items(on Etsy mostly) a month and pay for more yarn, buttons and supplies to keep me making more. It's so much fun to create and keeps me busy when I'm not searching the job market or out on interviews.

Tiny Art

Perused the Fremont Sunday Market again today and found this tiny little treasure. Found it a home on a wall in my home moments after I walked in the door. I love it so much!!

Piggy Angel

Spent today designing and crocheting this tiny swine for my friend Krystal. Came out pretty cute methinks!

Red Bow Rings

I made two new rings today. Both in bright red. One a flat bow and one a puffy bow. They're both sweet little additions to my shop. Can be seen and purchased on Etsy now!

Emma Collar

Custom made dog collar for a sweet Emma pup who's Mom happens to be a classmate of mine from photo school a few years ago. She wanted a pretty pink bow collar her sweet girl could wear all the time. It even has a polka dot button to keep it snugly on!

More pictures on Etsy!

Yellow Bows

Yesterday I crocheted some bow-shaped yellow hair barrettes. Used acrylic yarn for one and that came out really bright, so cute! The other I used a cotton duo tone cotton yarn and it came out soft and more casual looking. I really like them both so up on Etsy they go!

You can see the duo colored bow here and find more pictures of the bright yellow bow here!

Matryoshka

For 20 years Fremont, a local Seattle neighbor and "center of the universe", hosts a European-style street market every Sunday. With deluxe junk, estate sale finds and nik naks galore it was a delightful way to spend last Sunday! After browsing the many tiny tents and digging through bins filled with anything from antique clock parts to vintage photographs I stumbled onto this adorable matryoshka doll. My obsession with dolls coupled with a dirt cheap price brought her to live with the rest of my pale painted faces.

Skully Tags Pockets

Got a request this week for a skull tags pocket so I made one for her and an extra. I love how they came out! Super cute and girly!!

More pictures of them on my Etsy Shop!

Banana Pudding

Rainy days call for some southern style banana pudding. Makes the house smell like visiting Grandma <3

Becky's Beanie

My friend Becky asked me to make her a beanie a few weeks ago and I found this super soft wool blend yarn that's perfect so here it is! Should keep her nice and warm while she's in Germany. Can also be seen on my Etsy Shop and if you'd like one I take requests!

Mr. Lego Cupcake

Last weekend I sent my best friend a baby gift package for her newborn little girl. In that package was the cupcake mobile I made some weeks ago and her two year old son fell in love with it! Well, I can't have him being jealous of his little sister so I decided to make a big cupcake plush that a two year old can kick around with. Will try and mail this out on Saturday with a little UNbirthday card! I hope he loves it :D




Here's a closeup of the strawberry and one with Clover for size reference...haha! mr. Lego Cupcake is the largest plush I've made thus far but I'm happy he came out so well for working pattern-free. I even free handed the strawberry!

Mango!

First mango of the year and it was soooooooooooooo good! Excited that all the yummy fruit is coming back into season. Can't wait for huge blueberries, strawberries, melons, cherries, peaches and nectarines! Our neighborhood farmer's market has their grand opening this Thursday and I can't wait. Seattle is great in that almost every neighborhood has their own farmer's market. Plus there are some excellent seafood markets as well. We're definitely food-spoiled here!

Disco Kitchen

My boyfriend took it upon himself to decorate my kitchen this evening. He comes home from work with strange and wonderful gadgets and a neon light kit showed up this week...haha!

Bow Accessories

After making a few crochet bows last week I fell in love with how sweet they are! Some people caught a glimpse of them and said they liked them, so this week I made new bow accessories for people to buy if they so choose.

You may either click on the Etsy link located on my blog or simply click here!

I also take requests if you'd like anything in particular.

Stuffed Peppers and Sweet Potatoes

Had a boring day of laundry and tidying up. For dinner I was getting tired of our regular weekly menu so I made something new tonight! Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers and Honey/Cayenne Glazed Sweet Potatoes. To my surprise it was really easy and only took about 15 minutes prep and an hour cook time. And now I'm SO full and ready to veg out with my two favorites for the evening!

Olympic Peninsula Trip

On Friday we decided to get out of Seattle for the weekend and head further west. Neither of us have been beyond the Olympic Mountain Range and Jon had never seen the Pacific Ocean! On Saturday we went down to Ocean Shores and spent some time on the beautiful sandy beaches with Clover. The town was nearly empty and the beach only had a few people on it so that was really nice. From there we drove up the coast along South Beach and Ruby Beach and climbed around the cliffs and crazy looking forests. The view of the ocean was breathtaking and I could have spent a few days in that area alone. That evening we pulled into Forks, WA around twilight(pun intended) and stayed in a cute hotel overnight. The next morning I got to be cheesy and see some of the Twilight sights in Forks, WA. After that we headed to the Hoh Rain Forest to see what a NW rain forest is like. We got to see HUGE trees, moss everywhere and some really pretty mountain scenery. After leaving the rain forest we went up to the top of the peninsula to Port Angeles. I'm so jealous of the people that live there, the Olympics tower over this little city! So magestic!! Once we left Port Angeles we were going to take the ferry from Kingston but the wait was really long so we decided to drive through Tacoma to get home. That was fine because we wanted to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge anyway AND we were able to see Mount Rainier larger than ever.

We had so much fun and Clover did really well on the trip. It's nice to be able to pack up for the weekend and see such beauty in nature. I absolutely love where we live!

If you want to see my pictures from the trip they're on my Flickr page, just click here!

Bow Bracelet

A few weeks ago I made some baby toys with this super-soft green yarn I found at a local yarn shop. Having over half a skein left over I made this bracelet and a few other items I intend on putting up at my Etsy shop next week including: headbands, hair barrettes and maybe rings and necklaces. I'll let you all know when they're up!

Bows

I wanted a new headband so I decided to make one. Well, once I was done with the bow all I wanted was to figure out ways to make more bowy stuff. I haven't even really liked bows since I was a kid but I think I do now. I can't wait to make more headbands among other things I can think up. They're adorable and I feel all girlie waring them. SO CUTE!!

Beanie Stripes

After making Jon a beanie yesterday I got a little hat-jealous so I made one with new yarns and a few recycled. It's so soft and snug!

Bonita

It's Star Wars Day! I wanted to make a picture with an old Ewok toy I got at the FAO Schwarz in San Fran back in the early 90's but couldn't find him. Instead I stumbled upon Bonita, a marionette that has been a part of my bedroom since I was an infant. I'm not entirely sure where she came from, but my Mother seems to vaguely remember finding her at an Indian festival in southwest Florida. She's one of the few treasures from my childhood that has stood the test of time.

Organic Tam

A windy day here in Seattle. I posted a picture of my destroyed hair while walking to lunch on Twitter if you want to see how silly I look windblown.

Jon and I had yum sandwiches at Jimmy John's. A veggie on wheat with no mayo was PERFECT for today! I have to say they make an awesome veggie sandwich complete with lettuce, cucumber, sprouts, avocado, tomato and provolone!

After lunch we visited three different liquor stores that claimed, online, they were open but were not. FAIL! I also went into a Joanne Fabrics to see if they carried an item I was looking for but before I could even ask the sales woman about it she pointed at the door and told me to leave and that they were closed. Taken aback, I just turned around and left. So rude! Come to find out after looking at the hours on the door they didn't close for another 5 minutes. Don't worry, I'll leave them a review on Yelp, if anything but to make myself feel better. *shrug*

When we got home and played with the dog to wear out her excitement I settled down to watch reruns of Jerseylicious (so terrible, but it makes me laugh) and crochet this snuggly hat with some of the organic yarn I picked up yesterday. I like how it came out and I can tuck my hair up into it on the days when I'm feeling hair-lazy.

Hope everyone had a good Sunday!!

May Day

Out running errands this afternoon with Jon and snapped this. Wanted to make a different picture but didn't find what I was looking for so it'll have to wait. I DID pick up some organic yarn that was fabulously cheap because of a super sale I stumbled upon. Will have to get to work on some projects I've had in mind and I think I'll make myself another snuggly hat with my new yarn since it's still pretty cold out. Maybe even crank out a beanie for Jon's head since the hairs have forsaken him.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Saturday! I had yummy fish tacos for lunch with Jon at our fav Mexi place and got Clover some new treats while we were out. Even though it was a bit on the chilly side we went for an evening stroll before the sun went down and met a Bostie neighbor pup named Rocky that tried to hump Clobbs but thankfully that won't work on her...hehe. Oh! I showed Jon a little hidden park he hadn't been to so that we fun as well!

Good Night Everyone!!

Mani Day

After my gardening session yesterday, my nails needed some serious help!

Spring Repotting

I've been meaning to replant my little green children for a few weeks now. Jon and I stopped by Home Depot last night and picked up a few gardening necessities and I woke up to a SUPER sunny day so the timing was perfect! Drilling holes into the bottom of the new and much larger planter proved to be a slight obstacle, but mission accomplished after charging my power drill. Getting some of the more spiny succulents out of their previous homes was a bit challenging as well, but after much delay, a few splinters and wrestling a bag of potting soil, my plants are finally settled into their new homes.

Now, to tidy up this little home of ours. There's yarn bits everywhere and my kitchen needs some attention! Enjoy your Thursday everyone!!

My Little Hatter

Yes, I made her another hat. She just looks SO cute in a tiny top hat!!!