Whale Totes Are Here!

 This last weekend I spent Saturday in the silk screening studio at Vera. It's one of my favorite places to be. I love the mess, the other people working on their projects oh yeah, and silk screening. I feel like I've been trying for ages to get this projects finished. I drug out designing the whale and stalled on scheduling studio time but FINALLY they are done.  I'm SO happy with how they turned out, definitely not bad for a first attempt; they were easy to line up and the only thing that really gave me any sort of problem was the bit of fabric that makes the handles, it prevented that flat surface contact, but it gave me some experience in troubleshooting and somehow I made it happen. It helps that I love the bags to begin with. They hold absolutely everything I need from massive amounts of mail to a weeks worth of groceries, these are definitely dependable and officially up for sale.

Skirts Skirts Skirts!

So you've heard about my sewing machine.....

ya know when you learn to do something, but your skill is still rather limited so you do the same thing over and over and over again? like when you're a kid and you're learning to draw so you keep drawing a picture of your puppy... well that's me and my sewing machine. I've got enough skill to work the thing but right now I've just been making variations of a skirt. Regardless of how unrefined my sewing skills are, my friend asked if I'd be willing to make her something for work! Sweet! 

She picked out this awesome mustache fabric and let me go to town. Thank you K for trusting in me! 

The skirt takes about an hour and a half to me (for me) and I think the end result is remarkable. I know this summer it'll be so much easier to be in dresses and skirts all the time! I'm soooo looking forward to it. 

K wore this skirt to her job interview and posted this picture. HOW STINKIN' CUTE! 

I guess I can add this to my list of skills and services now. : )

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

This week I found myself looking for a creative pick me up. My normal routine is to make cupcakes... it's the fine like between precise therapeutic measuring (HA like I measure everything precisely) and a yummy way to make something that looks pretty. I however, am still winding down from all the goodies over the holidays and wanted something light.... okay lets be honest, I'm dying for summer, for no cold fog and icy windshields.... for fruit salads and picnics.... oh summer! This longing lead me to my cupcake decision. lemon cake with blueberries (a close relative to a muffin) with creamcheese frosting and a pretty blueberry jelly swirl.  They were a hit... and probably one of the prettiest cupcakes I've made yet, even though I piped the frosting through a gallon sized ziplock bag this time (this was nerve-racking for me).. Part of me is still baffled that I didn't end up mixing the frosting and jelly together in the bag on accident... anyway, I think they turned out great.

I got a sewing machine

I had an excellent Christmas, my mom and sister bought me a sewing machine (and a bunch of goodies to go with it). Today after a long day of silk screening I decided to make a skirt (remember: there's no such thing as too many projects)...even though I was really leaning toward a nap, but I got home and realized I've had this awesome fabric sitting on my art table for weeks now... I saw this adorable comic/superhero skirt that I really wanted to recreate and after reading a bunch of different  DIY skirt tutorials I decided to give it a go... this was technically my first real project and I technically didnt have everything I needed (I used the elastic band of an old skirt i was going to donate) but I'm SUPER stoked with how it turned out. I even ended up hearing from an old friend because she wanted to buy it from me! I can't wait to wear it to work this week!

I've had a cupcake customer!

The last cupcakes I mentioned were such a hit I landed a little cupcake job off it! $30 for 12 cupcakes - you have a deal!!! My co-worker approached me after the coffee and baileys cupcake debut and asked me if I'd be interested in making a small batch for her daughter's cake auction. It was right around Christmas time and I was itching to make a pretty themed cupcake. Last year I made reindeer and penguins for a friend's Christmas party but this year I've been feeling pretty simple and elegant. I decided on chocolate peppermint cupcakes with a peppermint buttercream frosting. From what I hear they were pretty tasty! They were even auctioned off for over $40!  CRAZY! 

I had one very pleased co-worker (some others rather envious) and a little extra cash in my pocket. I also learned that I dont really have a recipe that only makes 12 cupcakes... I gave Tammy 15 and left a few for  my roommates.

I probably didn't tell you...

I'm making totes!

Goodness....months ago I ordered some nice canvas tote bags. I had fallen in love with my trader joe's canvas bag and was pretty set on finding something similar to play with since I have been messing around with silk screening a bit this last year... I figure there's no such thing as too many projects so, why not? :P

like I said, this was months ago...

as soon as they arrived i drew up the outline for the thing I thought I wanted to put on it... I put that drawing on my bookshelf, safely tucked the totes under my end table and continued on with my life...for pretty much eternity... haha 

clearly I work better under pressure... and what's better incentive than actually scheduling time to silk screen in the studio? nothing. I reserved my spot last week and on Saturday I will have my first run of totes for sale. I'm only making 20 and they'll be signed and numbered. I can't even begin to tell you how exited I am! 

so.... 

do you wanna see the design?

This isn't entirely finished, or rather I'm not showing you the finished product until next week! 

SO EXCITED