junk drawer

be there...be square

Hey gang-

Kinda took a little leave of absense there...

With two weeks (TWO WEEKS!!!) to go until our wedding, I've been kinda busy over here.

Therefore, I dub this, week o wedding.  Each day this week I'll fill you in on a bit about our day.
Kinda exciting stuff.

First up:

Our invitations. 

If you recall I mentioned a very special fabric project a good while back.

Well- here is the main reason why I spent all those hours at spool.

Take a look:

Our envelopes (from paper source. They have the most dreamy colors!).  Calligraphy was done by our very good friend JZ.

Each guest recieved an invitation wrapped in very special fabric that I bought when visiting my friend Aimee at work. so fun. (thanks for the fabric guidance girlie!)

I designed the invitations myself on illustrator.  It was quite the process and WAY tougher than the sewing bit.  It had been a while since I had used a graphic design program...kinda cool to access that side of my brain again.

Otis and I really wanted to include our nicknames in our invitation.  Afterall,those names are what we call each other (Otis and MB) but we included our formal names on the main invitation.  (erased for posting here)

Our response card.

Our response envelopes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project.  Most people thought I was crazy to sew all these little pockets (over 200!!), but I thought it was really fun concept and a personal way to set the tone for the party.  Best of all, by doing all the labor myself I estimate that I saved $2,000!!

And to be fair, I got the idea for this project from "The Knot" Magazine and the concept is from local Philly gals Bird and Banner. Thanks for the uber creative mojo ladies!!!

Magical fabric wonderland

When Otis and I started talking about what elements of our "celebration" were important to us, on the top of my list were some DIY goodness....(his was a rock and roll band. We both got our way)

I really wanted to incorporate fabric and pattern into something. This special addition was totally WAAAaaaaaay easier to accomplish with the opening of a very awesome fabric shop here in Philly.

Spool Sewing: Welcome to the world! (gah! this place is soooo awesome!)

Best of all (and perhaps most dangerously) it's located right smack dab next to loop, my most favorite yarn shop.

And the big time added bonus is that one of my best girl's, Aimee of betsy ross patterns fame, works there.  Familiar faces make fanatical fabric shopping sprees so much more special!

My super secret fabric projects will be revealed right here very soon.

For now, here is a sneak peak:

happy tuesday!

Leapin Lizards!

Happy extra day of the year everybody!

On this very special day I'll leave you with a photo of a very special wall in our house.

Not my finest designing hour...but you get the idea.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh (sigh of relief)

thanks for all of your lovely emails and comments.  So nice of all of you!!!

PS- Keri- Yes that is a quote from father of the bride. I LOVE that movie.  Mostly for the chipper chicken. I lost your email.  could you email me your address girlie?

Feli- yours too!

Things are starting to SLOWLY come together...but at least I feel like Otis and I have hatched a very fun, very "us" wedding plan.

On to unfinished bizzzzness: What I made for my Christmas vacation i.e. gifts I made and gave away.

Up first: knitted items.

Cap Karma  with brooklyntweed decreases for my Dad and soon to be Father in law-

Calorimetry for my lil sis -

Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal hat for Otis' niece -

And a mug cozy for my other sis.  This one didn't come out as well as I would have hoped....

And I made 2 more nest totes for my Mom and Otis' stepmom. I really love that pattern.

you can find photos of ones just like them here.

I also gifted otis yarn for a new pair of socks...so those are on the needles now.

next up:
sewed up gifts!

bad santa

Oh I've been a very neglectful blog elf indeed....

thanks for all your sweet words about my trees....needless to say additional ones were promptly crossed off my list.

Things have been amazingly busy around these parts, with lots of crafting and merriment and work.

And with so much top secret holiday craftin going on, there's not much to share.
BUT!

I never showed you all the cute Sailor Jerry inspired name pillow that I made for my friend Erika and her new baby Cash  (can you think of a cuter name?)

check it out:

Front

Back

These baby name pillows seem to have become a signiture item for me. They are so fun to make and personalize.

Here's wishing all of you a very happy holiday. Thanks for another fabulous year of inspiration.  I'm hoping that there will be some exciting additions round these parts in '08! stay tuned.

I'm signing off of here for a while.  See you after the new year!

SO. MUCH. FUN!

That's what I had yesterday. So! Much! Fun!

O's sister and I headed into the "city" to go see a taping of The Martha Stewart Show. Otis had picked up a VIP package at an auction and we had been hording the tickets till the holiday season...

Martha's set is amazing to begin with, but her set at Christmas time, UNREAL!

Me, being the nerdy tv producer that I am, was totally enthralled with the ENTIRE process. I'll write more about this tomorrow after the show airs.  I'm a little uptight about publicizing things that haven't aired yet (wouldn't want to break my own rules)

But check out your local listings and tune in to tomorrows show to see my mug on camera. Francis Ford Coppola is the guest and let me tell ya, you don't want to miss it...

As if that whole experience didn't make my day already...after the show I said goodbye to O's sis and headed downtown to Soho.

Bet you could guess where I headed....

Purl Patchwork.

Purl soho

And the topper?

oh yeah.

It was a very very very fantistic day.

magical "elf tampons"

How did last week get away from me?

I kept busy, that's for sure...

My new gig doesn't start until wednesday, so I have been trying to get as much holiday shopping and crafting done as I possibly can.

(2 cups flour, 2 cups water. pinch of salt)

When I was home during thanksgiving week I went out shopping with my mom and sister and saw some cute cardboardish christmas trees that were painted in such sweet patterns.

I thought to my self, "self, you could do that"...and off I went to Michaels to get some heavy paper stock and some glitter, glue and paint.

 

Sadly, the store didn't carry heavy duty paper stock in the sixe that I wanted.....what's a girl to do?

why, make a tree out of paper mache of course...i was certain that it would turn out fabulously.

(so certain that I even took pictures of the whole process)

And I was under deadline too...a big holiday party this past saturday...and what did I have to show for my 3 days of effort?

One sad, lonely, and pathetic holiday "elf tampon."
(Sadly I can't take credit for the nickname...Otis won on that one.) 

With just hours  minutes to spare, I finished this tree up. "UGH" was all I could think to myself as I looked at my finished product. It is soooooo ugly.

But don't think that stopped me from giving this away.  I plopped this paper mached goodness into a cute holiday gift bag and lugged it to the party, practically holding my hostess at gunpoint to ensure that I would be there when she opened it....we had a nice long chuckle.  I think she appreciated the time and effort which is a good thing.

So yah, not so successful after all.  But, if Elf tampons are your thing....people, have at it.

 

jack-o-lantern

These scary pumpkins need t-shirts that say:

"I survived Halloween 2007"

They were still standing strong this morning...perfectly intact.

I knit, therfore, I am.

 

These days it seems like all I want to do is knit.  Truly. 

At work, nestled in my cubicle, away from all natural born light sources, I wish that it would be OK if I worked just a few rows or two in between writing proposals and scripts...at the Martha Stewart Show I hear this is encouraged upon their staff (can you imagine?!)

But in my little corner of the television production world, that would, with no doubt, cause such perplexing stares and double takes, I don't believe it is worth it. 

It's bad enough that every day on my way to the microwave to heat up my lunch I swing my hand knit lunch bag beside me and nearly shout...."DID YOU SEE WHAT I MADE? ISN'T THIS BAG GREAT?"  to which people kinda shrug and look at me like I am some kinda crazy woman...and that's before I hoist up my pants leg and show them my hand knit socks.

But lately, the edge has been taken off...I can satiate some of that pent up energy right at my computer.  My ravelry invite has finally come. 

whoa boy.  it's pretty sick. and efficient...and addictive...and just overall awesome.

The best part is being able to compare my new knit and tonic fad classic sweater vest which I cast on for just a few short weeks ago to other peoples.  Dear readers, did you know that on ravelry you can search and then LOOK AT people who are knitting/ have knit the same pattern and see what yarn they knit it with? (cue chorus of angels)

It's down right ridiculous.

(this is lions brand cotton ease in taupe btw)

So yeah...that's kinda how I spent my last week...cruising ravelry like some kind of yarn addict.

AND to top it all off- the yarn harlot, Stephanie pearl-McPhee, spoke at a bookstore over in jersey last Friday.  I've been wanting to see her speak for quite some time now and she didn't disappoint. I mean, how many people tell jokes outside of their LYS about DPN's? - my point exactly.

Best of all...fellow Hoosier (did you know there are like eighty million of them in Philly?) Marissa of Vanillabean kints came with me.  By the end of the night my cheeks hurt from laughing...and friends...there as loads to laugh at.

more soon!

why hellooooooo

This morning I am easing into my day...I feel mildly drained, but in a very very good way.

Last night was the design*sponge crafty business meet-up here in Philly.

Um...yeah. That was beyond inspiring.  I am so glad I went.  Grace and Joy did a fantastic job of gathering gals together and rounded up some amazing speakers to come talk to the group about harnessing and capitalizing on their potential.

It is so great to be connected with people who are as passionate about the same topics as I am.

just lovely. I walked out of the door buzzing and inspired and ready to take on the world!

phew. Can't wait for the next one. (hint hint)

I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely FALL day.