Cozy Cake

Good bye boring coffee cake.

Hello heavenly Spiced Sour Cream Coffee Cake!

Today is blustery, dark, damp and cold.

That's about right for this time of year in Upstate NY. 

So, after a morning of last minute (literally) garden 

clean-up, I came indoors, fired up the oven and

baked this cozy, comforting coffee cake. 

Not only does my house smell great,

but the cake was easy to put together, and 

I can't wait to share it with my nephews!

Give yourself a treat and check out 

Abby Dodge's "Baketogethers" on her blog.

A few months ago, she came up with this neat way 

to bake together even though we're all miles apart. 

You can join in!

Her wisdom alone is worth the read, but baking 

her personal recipes and reading how other bakers 

change things up are just as rewarding. 

Fire up your oven.

Open Studio Sunday

 Earlier today, I was honored to attended a wonderful
 baby shower for the lovely Kacie McLyman (center). 

She is beautiful inside and out, cool, and fun-loving. 

She'll be a great Mom, and making a few gifts 
to help her on her way was truly a joy. 

Weeks in the making, I had to keep these gifts 
a secret from you because Kacie's mom is 
my dear friend Vickie, and Vickie reads this blog. 
Hi Vickie.

 Now without further delay, here are 
the gifts made with love just for Kacie. 

 Because every mom needs a dependable diaper bag, 

and Kacie likes zebra print, this bag quickly became 
the starting point for the gift.

If you need a diaper bag that doesn't look 

like a diaper bag, you have to try this pattern by 
Rebeka Lambert.

Cute, hand printed onesies.
In case you're wondering, "M" is for Max. 

 All rolled up, ready for the diaper bag.

 Apologies for the dark photo, but I wanted to tell 

you about this wonderful travel changing pad.

A pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's book 

Simple Sewing for Baby, it's a really useful gift
 to make and give. As you can see, it rolls up 
and pops right into the diaper bag. 
Every new parent needs this!

 No restless baby is safe from the powers of a good book, 

a flannel tab blankie and a soft bunny. 
(These PDF patterns are available on my Etsy shop.)

All loaded up and ready to give to the most 

beautiful new mama-to-be. 

Wishing you the happiest motherhood, Kacie! 

Stitch & Tie

The original paper & paste 

 Welcome back for Part 4, the final installment 

in this series called Paper & Paste.

Last Wednesday I hinted about texture & shine. 
The bad news is that the "shine" fell through. 
The good news is the "texture" is ready to strut its stuff!

Have you tried sewing paper? 

Personally, I'm happier sewing thicker paper, and 

I like any thread that will breathe life into the design.

Here, I really enjoy the effect of variegated thread. 
(Better photo below.)

Today, I made a little booklet from plain paper I had 
lying around, and of course used the gorgeous 
machine stitched paper for the cover. 
A bit if wax linen thread, button hole thread 

or embroidery floss will work nicely for the binding.

 

Outside cover, bound with orange wax linen thread.

Inside the cover is just as nice as outside.

For me, free-motion sewing is like holding a pencil.

Anything can be "drawn".

A clearer view of the variegated thread.

My little booklet will be used as my personal phone book.

Yes, I still write them down...after all, an electronic

device just doesn't offer me this fantastic texture 

each time I reach for a friend's number.

Well, my friends, thanks for coming by 

for the Paper & Paste series.

I hope you'll cook up a quick batch of paste with 

young people and make some wrapping papers, 

holiday cards or gift tags, cut your paper into strips 

for gorgeous paper chains, or any thing else 

you can dream up. Most of all, have fun!

Open Studio Sunday

  

Today has been about my continual quest to find 

the perfect bag. Comfortable with both customizing sewing 

patterns and making my own, when I saw this bag I thought, 

"maybe that's it, the perfect bag." 

So, I figured it would be worth sewing precisely as designed by 

the very talented arsty-crafty babe, Rebeka Lambert.

  

 Immediately after sewing Rebeka's "Pleated Tote", 

I knew I really liked it. This bag is deep and holds 

a ton o'schtuff, the strap length is just right, and it 
looks equally great carried by a tall or short person. 
Now that's saying a lot. 

 

Pink never fails to cheer. 

I know my friend receiving this gift will be very pleased, 

which makes me very pleased.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful Pleated Tote

tutorial, Rebeka. I can't wait to make one for myself!

Simple & Stylish

 Welcome to the third installment of Paper & Paste!

Remember how easy it was to whip up the paste recipe 

(scroll back two Wednesdays) 

and spread it over the stencil and onto your paper?

 After removing the stencil and letting the paste dry,

you were promised limitless potential for using 

your newly decorated papers.

Without further delay:

 Here's a look at what variegated thread 

in the sewing machine can do for a solid paint color. 

More on this technique to follow, especially

since the back might even be prettier than the front!

Destined to become a special note card or book cover, 

more experimental sewing is needed (darn my luck) 

so stay tuned to see how it turns out.

 Here's the same stencil with red paste on tracing paper.

A little bit of ribbon and a tag, and you've got a simple, 

inexpensive, personal way to polish up a brown paper package.

This says assembly line for holiday gift wrapping, doesn't it?! 

Remember last Wednesday's post showing how to make 

your own stencils? Think snowman, ornament, 

star, tree...or you could get fancy and cut a snowflake, 

reindeer or pine boughs from stencil plastic sold at 

quilt stores or online. Don't be intimidated though, because 

even the simplest design would look festive and fun! 

The same stencil and red paste on thick cotton paper

makes for a sturdy gift tag. You could get several tags 

from one piece of paper.

Take a fine point pen and draw "stitches" around all of

the shapes. If you're cutting your tag from a larger piece 

of paper, choose a spot to cut your tag that allows 

room for writing To & From. Once the tag is cut out, 

punch a small hole at the top, thread a narrow ribbon through 

and fasten onto your package.

Next Wednesday, I'll share ways to add sparkle and texture 

to your paper & paste papers! You wouldn't want to miss out 

on something shiny, would you?

Open Studio Sunday

 To look at these vivid hydrangeas today

you'd never know the sky is actually  

dismal gray and it's positively cold outside.
Fall has arrived.

Pre-drafted BFL roving, Pigeonroof Studios

Each fall, I look forward to attending fiber festivals.

Having just come off of Hemlock and Southern Adirondack 

my fiber stash is beefed up for winter spinning, 

or so I thought. As you may recall from last Sunday's post, 

thanks to my dear friend Mary Miller 

(or as you know her on Ravelry, dearmary,) 

I have found a new love, three ply. 

Pigeonroof Studios, BFL on the bobbin

Last Sunday, when I gathered some fiber to begin 

trying my hand at three ply, some fiber turned into 

lots of fiber, and then I knew I had just opened 

a giant can of worms.

Into The Whirled, Spun Right Round, to name a few more.

I was filling bobbins so fast that I had to phone a friend!
(Thanks for the extra bobbins, Vickie.)
With enough bobbins loaded, I went headlong into plying.

Thanks to my dear friend Steph who emboldened my 
sense of color combinations when she told me 
not to over think it - just do it! Those magic words 
allowed me to just let go and ply (almost) anything together. 
  
 Here's a look at the first fruits of my labor:

While I admit that all of that spinning was  
kind of a blur, I can still name names: 
Spun Right Round, Into The Whirled, 
Pigeonroof Studios and some mystery random 
bobbin ends. They were all wonderful to spin. 
I discovered I like mixing fibers in the same three ply - 
merino & BFL, for example. Another can of worms.

As Mary explained to me, three ply results in 

a much rounder yarn, and let me assure you, 

this is the squoooshiest yarn I've ever spun.

The next step in the process: knit!

Pattern suggestions, any one?

Paper & Paste, Take 2

 After thinking about last week's paper & paste demo, 

I realized that showing how to make your own stencils with

a material you probably have on hand could be useful.

Here we go: raid your recycling bin. 

Find and wash a styrofoam tray of any size and shape. 
You may decide you want a few stencils for the same paper 
or for making several papers with one batch of paste. 
We're focusing on one stencil today.

 

 You only want the flat part of the foam tray or container, 
so cut away the sides and trim the flat piece to the size you need.

 Simple shapes can be effective design elements, so freehand or 

find objects to trace, like these coins in various sizes.

Using a craft knife on a cutting mat, insert the blade 

straight through the foam, hold it in place and gingerly rotate 
the foam against the blade rather than trying to drag 
the knife smoothly around your shape. 

Don't fear, it's easy. Just remember, gingerly.

Position your stencil on your paper.

This is a good time to consider how you're using the 

finished decorated paper. In this example, I'm going to 

cut my finished paper into a narrow strip and wrap it around 

a Christmas gift wrapped in brown paper. 

There's something so cheery about white polka dots on red.

 With your cooled paste made from the recipe 
in last Wednesday's post, use your palette knife, 
plastic knife or spoon to fill each circle. 
Hold the foam in place with your free hand as you 
fill the shapes all the way up to the surface of your stencil. 

Once filled, carefully lift your stencil, wipe the back if needed, 
and lay your stencil down without touching the 
previously made circles. Repeat the process. 
You may decide to fill in some open areas of your design 
with only one or two of the shapes on your stencil. 

 Glitter. Because my paper will be used for decorating 
a holiday package, fine white glitter is in order.
Just sprinkle your glitter over your paste shapes before 
the paste dries. These photos aren't doing the glitter 
any justice. Glitter lovers understand. 

Here's a look at glittery white polka dots on red foil paper.
Let the paste dry completely before cutting the paper. 
The stencil is reusable, just rinse & dry.

Next week I'll share examples of how to use these 
decorative papers to their best advantage. 
Two words: limitless potential!