I've been in manic creative mode lately. This usually happens as visible signs of fall start to emerge, but its especially strong this year. Combined with all of my nesting urges from our upcoming move, it makes for one crafty Katy!

A couple projects I've been mulling over:

- Holiday-themed candles as Christmas gifts for family members.. I"ve already begun toying with lovely little labels for each scent.

- Pinecone firestarters.. During our last visit with Adam's family, I spent some time collecting a mountain of pinecones from their front yard. I want to dip them in some spicy fall-flavored scent and package them up as firestarters for my mom and dad. Its a shame our new place only has a gas stove - I'd want to have a few for myself!

- Wirebound journals. After a particularly depressing search for a hardcover, wirebound, lined journal to keep time logs at work, I have had ideas of making up my own custom ones and having them bound up at a local print shop.

Anyone have stories of similar projects?

Posted by katybeck at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)

We got our keys to the new townhouse over the Labor Day weekend.. Adam and I did a walk-through on Sunday evening and took loads of pictures. The house is in good shape, except for the cooking oil smell in the kitchen and the eye-wateringly strong moth ball scent in the basement guestroom.

I bought some odor-absorbing goo that promises to get rid of all of it:

We'll see if it works. After that I'm going to try this stuff.

Posted by katybeck at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)

I got started on my goal of making pinecone firestarters over the Labor Day weekend. Well, really it all started when I collected two heaping bags of them while at my boyfriend's family's house for dinner. But this weekend I pulled them all out of the bag, cleaned them off, and pulled off any stray twigs or pine needles that were stuck on.

I preheated the oven to 250F and piled as many on a cookie sheet as I could. I left them in the oven for 20 minutes and then turned the heat off and let the pinecones cool down slowly inside.

And oh what a fantastic smell it made! The temperatures are high enough to get the sap to melt a little, and it had this tangy, resin smell that reminded me of the stuff we used to crush our toe shoes in when I still danced. Yum.

Once they are cooled down, the pinecones were a much darker, richer color of brown than before. They are going to look great when painted!

Posted by katybeck at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)

My second quilting class was last night. Our homework over the past week was to purchase our fabric, wash, dry, and iron it, and cut out the pieces for at least one 9-patch block. It took a lot longer than I expected! But I was happy with the results - I chose some very muted turqoise patterns and a verm warm dark red to set it off.

I differ a bit with my instructor on approach: Her attention seemed to be on the individual quilt block - she wanted the focus of our composition, contrast, patterns, etc to go into each block. The theory being, I guess, that if each block stands on its own as a composition, then when you peice them all together the entire quilt will "work."

On the other hand, I am approaching the entire quilt first, and then addressing each block individually. And so I am going to intentionally create blocks that don't have much contrast and don't use too many colors. I am intentionally creating monochromatic blocks and placing them next to high-contrast ones so that parts of the quilt recede and parts advance when you look at it.

Its a difference of opinion, I suppose. Plus the real learning in this class is in the details - down to the very type of stitch you make at each point in the process. Its fascinating to learn all of the minute details of a quilt and then look at completed pieces. Its mind boggling how much work goes into it!

Posted by katybeck at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)

My mom gave me a sewing machine as a housewarming present. Woohoo! I vaguely remember sewing something when I was little on the big, green boat we called a sewing machine, but for the most part I have no experience with it.

I'm hoping to learn because I want to make these things (among others):

- curtains for our new place
- a fleece blanket
- flannel pajama pants
- bags for: knitting stuff, quilting stuff, etc.

If I make anything it will go here. :)

Posted by katybeck at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

The new Crate & Barrel holiday catalog is out. These sorts of things always get my ideas flowing for my holiday decorating!

Posted by katybeck at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)

I've always been a little intrigued by the concept of collecting art. I grew up around it, but my parents were never really "collectors" in the traditional sense. Pieces were passed down from other family members, or created by family members, but my parents rarely went out with the sole intention of buying art.

Lately I've started to read some blogs about local and national art scenes, and soon I want to venture out to some small shows or openings. The one that has kept me riveted, going back through every last archive, is Art Addict. Its the daily musings of Paige West, a founder of a notable web gallery called Mixed Greens.

In both blog and gallery I get a sense that this is anything but your stereotypical dealer/collector. There is a palpable sense that she is attempting to get past all of those unwritten rules of "fine" art - it must be serious, it must be elite, and it must be expensive. On the contrary - a lot of the art (and venues) she talks about are approachable, friendly, and (relatively) affordable!

My education continues...

Posted by katybeck at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)