Desert Flowers

Yes, even the desert has Spring!  Prickly Pear, Cholla, and Palo Verde are all in bloom.  Beautiful flowers spread across the barren desert and make Spring so beautiful.

Wildflowers are blooming everywhere.  Purples, yellows, pinks, and whites.

The bare Palo Verde tree blossoms bright yellow flowers and reminds me of the desert's own cherry blossom tree.  

Peach and orange blossoms adorn prickly pear.

Can I pick it and wear it in my hair?  I don't dare...

New life and color embraces the brown, dry, sandy plains.

I love the bright pink blossoms that are all over this particular cactus.

Wow, these are a treat.  A cluster of flowers so big you would never guess they could come from something so prickly!

Metalwork Jewelry

Here are a few more pieces of my metalwork jewelry from my class.  I am pretty proud of these bangles.  I have a few that I purchased from a craft fair last year and I really wanted to make them myself.

Check out these babies!  Sterling silver and freshwater pearls.

I also learned how to make post earrings.  I can't wear dangle earrings to work, so these are perfect!

Birch Fabric Store

I had the luxury of visiting Birch, an amazing fabric store in California a few weeks ago.  Maybe you've heard of fabricworm?  It is their online shop.

Check out their walls of adorable Japanese fabric.  

I totally love their little projects all over the store.

Their children's section is vast and fantastic too.

Look at the amazing displays in the window!

This quilt is freaking amazing.  I am brainstorming for one of my own.  Don't you love the birds and the bunting?

Metalworking Basics

I am taking a basic metalworking class at the local community center.  We learn sawing, stamping, soldering, riveting, bezel setting, tube setting, flush setting, chasing, etc.  It is an amazingly diverse class that isn't project oriented, so everyone is making different pieces.  Here are a few of the things that I have finished during the class.  I still have a few more to go, but this is beginner goodness.

My first bezel setting.  I really wanted to put this on a ring, but since I am a newbie I totally set the stone before I went to solder it to the ring...  Oh well, beautiful pendant it is.

These circle earrings are so simple but I love them.  I really wanted to learn how to make something like this in my class.  Total success.

Another simple and versatile design.  You can expect to see a lot of these popping up.  I am playing with different sizes of rings and varying numbers.

These are long, lightweight, and eye catching.  I love the mix of colors, it feels so natural and open.  I totally had to salvage the top ring on the right earring.  Can you tell?  I almost melted it and it bowed and shrunk.  It took some time, but I made it look almost like new.  The coral is from a necklace my mom had in highschool so they are extra special.

More pics to come!  I can't wait to see what I learn to do next.  I am going to sign up for another session because it really is something where practice makes perfect.

Applique Washcloth Tutorial

The kitchen is my favorite place in my house to be.  I love to add little feminine, fun touches to make it even better!

These easy applique washcloths are perfect for scrubbing up after a day of baking or drying dishes.

Start with a dish cloth/ washcloth that you would use to dry your dishes normally.  

Then pick out a fabric that you can cut to add an applique.  I used cupcakes, but flowers or monograms would be cute too.

Cut out your fabric piece and line it up in the corner of your dish cloth.

Make sure you line up your applique so when you are finished it will be in the bottom right corner.

Pin the piece of fabric in place and sew around the edge with a straight stitch.  I went around twice to make a shabby top-stitch look.

Then when you finish with the straight stitch, go around again with a small zigzag stitch.

VOILA!  Your own fancy dish towel to clean up your messes with!

Patchwork Pillow

I have been using and abusing my sewing room lately, and this patchwork pillow took 2 sittings, but I love it.  I think it is a variation of a log cabin.  Anybody know?  I just started with a square and then kept adding strips around it until it was 21 inches by 21 inches.  My pillows on my new couch are huge!  They are a good 3 inches bigger than my massive sectional couch pillows.  Weird.

I used a ton of different fabrics that I have been collecting.  The outside print is from Hancock Fabrics.  It is one of their premium quilting fabrics, whatever that means.  The umbrellas are from a shop in Hawaii, the little blue birdies are another Hancock print.  The pink fabric is from Bella Quilts in Tucson, and the brown polka dots are from Cactus Quilts in Tucson, I believe.  

I love the bright colors and flow of these fabrics.

The center block is a sweets piece that I got at a fabric store in Hawaii a few years ago.  I have been waiting for the perfect way to display the fabric.  I love sweets and baking and this panel is so cool.  Ice cream and chocolate sauce...

For the back of the pillow, I sewed an envelope closure.  I like these because then I can rotate pillow cases when I get tired of them, or when they need a wash.

The fabric is bright and bold and goes great on my couch!

I think my favorite is... AGH!  I can't choose.

Do you have a favorite fabric?  I think they all look great, but secretly I love birds, sweets, and lime green hexagons.  I mean... all of them.

Felt Flower Wreath

I have been oogling at festive wreaths for weeks on pinterest and I finally decided to make one for myself.  I made 3 different types of felt flowers in three different colors and wrapped my wreath round in a gorgeous turquoise yarn left over from a slouchy knit hat.

I like the pink flower the best.  It came out full and girly. I used this tutorial video to make it, easy and fast.  I am going to make a lot more of these babies!  Hopefully my husband doesn't think this is too girly or it will go from the door to my craft room in the blink of an eye.

I love making felt flowers.  All you need is a felted wool sweater or some store bought felt.  I used recycled sweaters for all 3 flowers and they are fuller than normal felt would be.  Another great option would be wool squares that you can get at most quilt shops.  

Spring is only a month away, right?  The yellow flower is a typical rolled flower, just use a glue gun and make MAGIC.

I hung it with some pale blue rick rack that I picked up on my last trip to Hancock Fabrics, 50 % off all rick rack. Who could resist??

I love my new wreath.  Bright colors, new techniques, and fun.

Mug Rug - Quilt as You Go

My Mom's birthday was last month and I wanted to make her something she could use that was creative and fun.  I came up with this little quilt as you go style mug rug.  Why quilt as you go??  I wanted to practice on a small scale project before I tackle a quilt.  I actually really like the technique and find it makes it easy and fast to quilt anything.  My next project is going to be a runner, then a quilt.

I started by picking out my fabrics.  I chose neutral tones that could go in her sewing room, desk area, or even at work.  I started with the brown flowers and went from there.  The brown polka dots are a big favorite of mine, and she loves polka dot fabric, so SCORE.

Then I stamped the natural tan fabric and started picking out trims.

I used a store bought bias tape and yellow rick rack to add some pop!  The bird is from a t-shirt hang tag that I cut up and appliqued on.  It was hard to part with this little guy, but I know he is going to a good home, so... fly away little guy.

The tea cups are a Christmas gift from my husband for Christmas.  I LOVE them.  There are 4 of them and I have a matching teapot to go with.  We use them almost every day and I feel so sophisticated drinking out of such delicate porcelain tea cups.  "Why yes, I would adore another cup of green tea my love." (in a british accent, draw out the word ADOOOORE.)

The Cookie Cabin - Mt. Lemmon

I went to Mt. Lemmon last weekend for some sledding and nature time.  We went sledding for a few hours and then took a little break in Summerhaven and had some snacks.  We stopped at The Cookie Cabin for a giant cookie and a break.  Wow.  Not disappointed!

We didn't try to the pizza, but it looked goooood.

Nat enjoying her oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.  Yum.

$5 cookies the size of a plate.  I got the chocolate chip and ate it for 2 days.  !  Great snack for sledding and a driving day.  If you are in Summerhaven or Mt. Lemmon for the day, stop in a get a cookie to go or stay there and enjoy some hot chocolate in their warm little shop.

Mythbusters Behind the Myths Tour

My husband and I got to see the Mythbusters Behind the Myths Tour a few weeks ago when they stopped in Tucson for a show.  It was a pretty cool show with a lot of audience participation.  If you are a die hard fan, you would totally LOVE it.

I am a fan, but not a OMG I LOVE YOU!!! fan.  So, I had a really good time watching the show.... and the crowd.  The people watching at this show was pretty awesome.  Hard core science fans, CRAZy children fans, and then the usual tv watching fans.  I have never been to a show like this and fans are always pretty crazy, but I would say the Mythbusters fans are INSANE.  

Here we are at the very beginning before the show even started.  The people behind us were the CRAZY fans with children.  At one point, the young polite boy stood up and said, "ADAM SAVAGE GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!"  Whoa.  Probably not the best way to get picked to participate, just sayin'.

I am going to leave this one to your imagination.  Look!  Child participant.  I wonder how they got picked...

Pretty cool set.  

Adam trying to catch an arrow being shot from a crossbow.  What??  

One lucky guy got to wear this suit!  They are showing a video of how they wore it diving with sharks and now he gets to wear it for...

THIS!  Getting shot at with paint balls from about 15 feet away.  AWESOME!  (this little stunt elicited screams and screaming laughter from the crazy people behind us - we both needed earplugs for this event, but not from the show...)  :)

They even let fans participate in playing with the high speed camera.  So cool!  They pulled people on-stage and had them shake their heads, flap their lips, and make crazy sounds just so we could watch the slow motion capture.  FUN!

Want to learn more about the show?  Go to their website and check out all their cool videos, myths, and info.

Check out their tour site to get more info on their upcoming shows, pricing, etc.  

RECOMMENDED for sure.

Rocky Road Ice Cream Recipe

I got a new ice cream maker this week and decided to try Rocky Road.  Why Rocky Road?  I love chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts.  Oh, and my husband will eat it!

RECIPE:

1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 cups fat free 1/2 and 1/2

1 tsp. vanilla

handful of chopped walnuts

handful of chopped marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:

Heat condensed milk and cocoa on stove for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa powder is dissolved and the mixture is creamy.  Remove from the stove and add the rest of the ingredients, hold the nuts and marshmallows until the end.  Place the mixture in the fridge or freezer to cool.  The colder the mixture, the better it will freeze in your machine.

Turn on ice cream machine and pour in mixture.  Mix as directed for your ice cream maker and add the nuts and walnuts at the end of the mix.  Freeze overnight in an airtight container and ENJOY!