[From Friends of Type]

Haven't done the resolution thing in years -- except one New Year's when I resolved to quit losing chapsticks, which I've more or less kept. And I won't, but let's say hypothetically, I will this year:

-Dress cute at least three times a week. Nothing wrong with my usual uniform of jeans and a tee, but there's something about dressing nicely -- whether it's added accessories to jeans and tee or nice dress and heels -- that motivates me to take care of myself. There were one too many days in '09 when I asked myself, "What the hell happened to you?"

-Spend more time actually doing things. I suppose this isn't so much a NY resolution than the battle I fight every. single. day. I do have amazing, fantastic ideas and amazing, fantastic skills that can make my dreams come true, but only if I DO.

-Be more positive. This long period of unemployment has shown how terribly negative I am. This one encompasses a lot of smaller goals: Trust people, remember things could always be worse, remember things are pretty good right now (negative self: Yeah right), pick out the weeny little joy in the shittiest of days, etc.

-Try to find things to do in LA that doesn't involve eating. Certainly, LA has a lot of great food, but I can't expect myself and visiting friends to consume 20 meals a day. I need to figure out non-food options to fill the lulls between each meal. OK, this one actually needs to be sorted out, STAT.

Colbert v. O'Brien

Who rocked the speed skating suit better?[via Sports Illustrated. Click here for the full gallery]
[via Entertainment Weekly. Conan was learning how to speed skate with Dan Jansen back in 2002.]

I Say a Little Prayer

This song makes me so happy.

Up + Gran Torino trailer mashup

[via Angry Asian Man]

Soul birds

[from Sanna Annukka's shop]  In Karelia there was an ancient belief in the Sielulintu or Soul bird. The Sielulintu was thought to deliver the soul to newborn babies and also to transport the soul to the afterlife at the moment of death.
It was believed the Sielulintu protected a persons soul at it's most vulnerable; when dreaming, and it was tradition to keep a carved wooden bird by the bedside to keep the soul safe during sleep.
Lovely.

Nice packages

Gorgeous packaging by Essimar

Giant flora

Making a "giant" rose was not as challenging as I'd expect it to be. I traced a large pattern using a seam gauge and the small pattern of the American Beauty Rose. I'm sure this enlarging and shrinking process can be done on a computer, but I don't have a scanner, so alas, I'm stuck going old school.



The small rose is about four inches in diameter and the large one is eight inches. Woot, I did a good job in doubling the pattern!

If I can perhaps increase the size threefolds, I think it'd be nice to have a bouquet with one giant rose with smaller flowers for embellishments. Or maybe three or four of these tied together will make for a nice centerpiece. :)

***
This is unrelated to flowers or anything crafty... but you absolutely must watch this fake trailer for "Dangerous Wands." The plot is basically about Hermione Granger teaching in an urban school after Hogwarts. And well, I really think "Dangerous Wands" should be turned into a real movie. Magic if the ghettos, street Quidditch... aren't you curious? And of course, it'd be outrageously funny.

Linky Dinks -- Money edition

On Fridays, I work at Marketplace. I take scripts, edit and format them for the web and I take Q&As and transcribe and format them. Not the most exciting job, but I get to listen to a lot of stories -- stories that explain things, stories that give advice. On all the things that I don't know.

I'm nearly 24 and I have no idea how to file taxes (which might not happen until I get more hours) or how to invest money. To my credit, I am an excellent saver and a pretty rational spender (not counting that one time in freshman year when I spent $90 on two scarves to fill the whole left in my heart after I lost a gorgeous cashmere scarf a friend got me).

Anyways, I've heard a few good stories on Marketplace and other places about money that made me think:
-Parents: Why make money talk taboo?: GOOD QUESTION, because simply put, I'm screwed. The only reason I know how to save is because it's the only thing my mom and dad talked about with me. But everything else -- taxes, retirement, etc... nada. So you don't make the same mistake your parents did, check out the series Marketplace did on teaching kiddies about money: Financial Futures.

-Dave Ramsey talks debt-free living: I really think this guy makes sense. He's the guy who wrote "Total Money Makeover". Basically, he's against credit cards and debt -- the only exception is a home mortgage. And it makes sense. My parents got me the best graduation gift: paying off my college debt. And I'm planning on keeping myself debt-free, because I feel like debt is just this gray cloud that'll just follow you around forever.

Ramsey also recommends you spend CASH. Even with debit cards, it's a lot easier to give into impulses. But when you're counting out and handing over the green stuff, well, it makes you re-think spending $90 on two scarves.

[But if you must use your credit cards -- for the airplane miles, points, etc -- a source from another story (can't remember which) says that whenever he uses his credit card, he puts that amount down in his checking account book. By doing so, he keeps within his means and pays off his credit card balance, no problem.]

-Lead Us Not Into Debt: Megan McArdle, the biz and economics editor at The Atlantic (and frequent guest on Marketplace), decided to put Ramsey's debt-free living lifestyle to the test. She and her fiance budgeted all their expenses -- down to date night -- and withdrew that amount of cash, divvied it up into envelopes and stuck with the program. And at the end, she realized it was a pretty painless transition and pleasant at that.

-A tale of debt and redemption: Russell and Kandy Hildenbrandt had $106,000 in debt... and they managed to pay it all off. Russell worked as a chemist by day and a janitor by night -- basically 80-100 hour weeks, for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS. But they stuck to it and paid off every single penny of that $106,000 debt. Isn't that insane? This story took FOREVER to transcribe, but the story was so amazing that I didn't really care.

Some people knock them for getting into debt in the first place -- the Hildenbrants don't deny it's their fault -- but a lot of people are in their situation now, and this story just shows that you really can conquer massive debt, if you really try.

Between the Folds

"Between the Folds" is a documentary on artists and surprisingly, scientists who have decided to become paper folders. They're not folding paper airplanes or cranes, they're folding incredible, complicated art. I know this was making the public television rounds a few weeks back. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be playing again on any of the public TV channels I have. * Le sigh grand *

Meanwhile, watch this video by an MIT student on how to fold the MIT logo, Mens et Manus, in "three easy steps." Right.

Pond Lily

[Both photos by me]
I made this last night and I like how it looks. It isn't quite perfect; it's a bit challenging for me to evenly distribute petals if there are 10 or more to a flower -- this one took more than 30. Nevertheless, I think it still looks beautiful. I can totally see it in someone's hair.

And check out this simply, but beautiful table that I saw over at the Ruffled:[Photo via Ruffled]
The fabric flowers are by Emerson Made who makes these into brooches, corsages, bouts, clutches... I absolutely adore her work! I think this could also make some cool wall art... Coincidentally, I was thinking about doing something like this, but putting it in one of those cabinet-type frames. Something like Carol Gearing did:[From Carol's flickr. Check it out, because she's pretty amazing]

The Beanie Baby Hunter

I was talking to Bri of The Craft Begins today and discovered she has a HILARIOUS store, selling these:




Clifford




Puglist Repugnae

Bri said she had a bunch of small plaques, which made her think of hunting trophies... And it made her think how sinister it would be to have a stuffed animal head as a trophy. She admits she does feel bad every time she decapitates a Beanie, particularly because they were such a big deal to her as a kid. But you know what, not all great ideas are warm and fuzzy.

As for the headless bodies, she says they will be put towards a Beanie Baby bearskin rug.

For something more sweet than sinister, check out her blog. Contrary to what you'd expect from someone who sells Beanie heads, it's full of inspiring images and great web finds (like this photo project). I particularly like her inspiration boards -- today's is very bright and warm.

Nela's Christmas

Some gorgeous creations by Nela.




She writes that she put all the random cutouts she's been finding all over the house to make this Christmas collage.






I have a Martha Stewart screw punch, which might be a good way to try making a card like this...




[All photos by Nela, from herflickr]

Russian Season

Rūpjmaizes kārtojums: Rye bread layered with marscapone and berries. Doesn't it look amazing? And it's so simple to make! [Photo from Russian Season]


I've lately been looking forward to new posts on Russian Season, a food blog by a Russian mother-daughter duo who live in Latvia. Most of the recipes are Russian and eastern European. Good hearty fare, like tvorozhniki, Ukranian-Russian fried cheese balls she claims is healthy. She definitely knows the cuisine a lot better than I do, so I'll take her word for it.

I also like that she doesn't weigh down each post with way too many words, but just enough, so her personality comes through and that I can learn a little bit of Russian/eastern European trivia. I think my favorite was the story about how kisel saved an ancient Russian town under siege by nomadic tribes. Kisel is "a thick, starchy drink made mostly of fruit and berries" or oats and wheat. It sounds kind of gross... But apparently it's healthy and can save you from nomadic tribes. And her cranberry kisel could potentially be delicious (probably even better over fluffy vanilla custard).



***
Sometimes eating regional cuisine in a country is hit-or-miss. I did quite well in Prague and Poland -- for example, the deli in a local supermarket I went to a lot in Gdansk had a big spread of pierogis, savory and sweet (which I didn't realize, until I bit into a sweet cheese pierogi that I warmed up in chicken broth. It sort of worked). Currywurst chili fries in Berlin, the sweetest peas in a pod in Helsinki, a surprisingly delicious rum ball in Vilinius (not sure if it's a Lithuanian thing, but I hate rum balls, but loved this one).

But I can't remember a single thing I ate during my three or four days in Riga. I don't think I went to any restaurants. All the food I ate there was from a good grocery store that was close to the hostel... But I can't remember what I bought. I figure Latvian food is probably a combination of central/eastern European and Scandinavian cuisines (potatoes, potatoes, potatoes... and rye bread. :P).

[a highly exciting photo of the hot balsam I had in Riga. (added: 12/14/09)]

If anything, I remember drinking one night -- a Latvian beer, a Zelta (which of course, someone else finished for me after I had a few sips), and hot balsam, an herbal-y liquor common in Latvia. My Norwegian dorm mate, Helene (who was going to be studying Russian in a small town a few hours from Riga), took me out for a night in Riga with a few Latvian friends of friends. One of the girls, who spoke accent-less English*, told me that whenever she gets sick, she puts a nip of balsam in hot tea. It is quite tasty -- I do like herbal-y liquors, like Jagermeister -- but very strong. I only drank half of it, before I started nodding off at the table. But I was really glad I had some, because it made the freezing cold walk back to the hostel a bit more tolerable (apparently, in places outside of southern California, summer does not go through September).

*Many younger Latvians were born in the U.S. or Australia, because their grandparents escaped Latvia during WWII. A former Latvian president actually was born and raised in Oz, but somehow managed to get the head spot of her homeland.

EDIT (12/14/09): Embarassing! I definitely should've checked my facts, instead of putting something from the top of my head. As an anonymous commenter pointed out, the former Latvian president I'm referring to, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, actually was born in Latvia, but eventually ended up in CANADA, not Australia.

Here's an article about her from CTV from 2006. And according to her wikipedia entry, she is whip smart. Maybe things are different than what it seems (as they often are), but I find it kind of surprising that she got where she was -- re-elected even! -- because eastern European men kind of strike me as chauvinistic. Here's a recent article from the Times on her slamming the "EU male elite" for suggesting there aren't suitable females to run the EU.


Am quite intrigued by this character... more research to ensue!

Living in a Tree by Priscilla Ahn

Rain rain don't go away, the sun can come back another day

A splash of color on a blustery day in Downtown Los Angeles.





In the backyard.

[All photos taken by me]

And some music by Priscilla Ahn to accompany your rainy day (and also where I got the title for this post).

Pattern tracing

I was mildly horrified with the results of my measurements and realized I want to have some of the larger sizes of the Beignet skirt pattern on hand. (I know, I can take these numbers to the grave. After seeing those numbers, I re-read this post Gertie had on sewing and body image.)  Knowing this, I decided to trace my onto some Pattern Ease (some folks recommend Swedish tracing paper, regular tracing paper or freezer paper).

Back in the day, sewing patterns were size specific. But now -- again, to save money probably -- sewing patterns are multisize. When you go to cutting out the pattern, you cut along the lines that correspond to your fit. This probably means that you're going to be cutting away the larger sizes.

Also, most patterns come on whispery thin tissue paper instead of sturdier papers -- probably to keep costs low -- which tear easily and makes it a bit difficult to save. Transferring a pattern on thicker paper or Pattern Ease (it's sort of like a thin thin felt) makes it easier to preserve the pattern.


Tracing is a painful process...


I naively searched for short cuts in the Sew Mama Sew forums and there aren't any. Even in this day of great technology, you still need to hunch over a table and inhale a large amount of Sharpie fumes to trace a pattern. If anything, you can just buy multiple copies of patterns, given that there's always a 99 cent pattern sale at Joann's. But it's highly unlikely I'll find a Colette Pattern in a bargain bin somewhere.

***

You Sew Girl had a post on less labor intensive pattern copying, which involves a scanner and printer (unfortunately, don't have the former). The end result is patterns saved on stiff pattern card, which you can save all the pieces on a binder ring and use forever and ever.

She also has this "no duh" set-up solution for optimal photographing.

***

I expected to get to cutting fabric and sewing the skirt together, but according to CP sizing, I'm a size 0 in the hips and a size 8 in the waist (sigh) -- which means pattern alterations, something I've never done. The skirt is made for a tailored fit, so you have to put together about four pieces to make the skirt body (not including the waist pieces, etc.).

My sewing books only had advice on altering simpler skirt patterns... So I asked Sarai, the CP pattern maker. Because CP is a small, indie pattern company, you can ask the pattern maker directly any questions you have about her patterns! And she told me what I feared: make a muslin, alter and mark it and transfer it onto the pattern.

[For those who do not know what a muslin is (ahem... Peter): It's a type of cheap fabric that is used to make test garments. Because no one is going to perfectly match the sizing of a pattern, you make a test pattern and alter it to your body.]

Cracks me up! They also have a shirt that says "When urine love..." And shows two cute bladders squirting urine at each other. Somehow, it all manages to be cute.

Right? I've wanted this shirt for forever... We'll see how I am post-Christmas and birthday (it's great to have a birthday soon after Christmas, but not so close that people can double up a gift to be a birthday-Christmas gift! :P) The website is full of funny, cute guts, including the uterus and a black heart made of patent leather. If you're going to be unhealthy/evil, might as well look good, yes?  And they now have glands, including testes!
 


[Both photos from I Heart Guts]

Paper wonderland

How cool was the decor at the home of the Danish ambassador (assuming to the U.S.)? Click over to to see more, but below are some of my favorites.





[Photos by Emily Eisinger, Breeze Giannasio, Jody King, Chris Svetlick for washingtonian.com]

Career advice

Career advice from Charlie Hoehn:

Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren’t real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I’m following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go.

(via Swiss Miss via kottke)

Wood cuts + Cubism

[From A Journey Round My Skull's flickr] 
For some reason, I'm really fascinated by wood cuts and particularly the wood cuts from this post on A Journey Round My Skull, La Danse Macabre. A total 180 from the graceful prints of Swan Sky.

Not sure if the style above would also be defined as "cubist" -- care to chime in Teri? -- the woodcuts reminded me of some the works in the Museum of Czech Cubism (...apparently they don't have a website???), which was one of my favorite sights in Prague (along with the completely different Mucha Museum). Photos below were taken by me (which was totally allowed in the museum!).





[Self-Portrait by Bohumil Kubista, 1918]






[Head of a Woman by Vlastislav Hofman, 1918]

All this... has me wanting to grab a block and chisels and make my own wood cut prints.

Swan Sky by Tejima

[From A Journey Round My Skull's flickr]

I found these illustrations on A Journey Round My Skull and bought a copy for myself (the book's been out of print for a while, so you'll have to check places like half.com and such). Even though the illustrations are static, wood-cut prints, there's still so much movement to them.

***
A Journey Round My Skull is a great blog filled with amazing art work -- book covers, posters -- from all over the world, over the decades. So much inspiration! Here's another favorite, from French children's books from the 30s and 40s.

Hipster music

I really hate hipsters. Really really hate hipsters. I hate hipster guys with their way way too tight jeans (I always wonder... is their... is it all OK?) and hipster girls with their holier-than-thou "I only buy local/organic/grown with the pure water of babies tears" bullshit. But what really annoys me about them is their "I thought of (wearing tights/growing a beard/wearing blunt cut bangs/drinking Pabst's Blue Ribbon) first" attitude. Then why is everyone around doing the same exact thing?

I have to admit that I do have hipster tendencies here and there -- a little bit of the style, a lot of the music. And I dig Silver Lake and Echo Park, although both neighborhoods could improve significantly with the removal of hipsters.

But remember, the defining characteristic of a hipster is their attitude that they discovered everything. So, don't hate when I tell you to listen to these two songs:


Obi Best "It's Because Of People Like You" Official Video from Social Science Recordings on Vimeo.


[via Priscilla Ahn's blog, Girl in a Tree]




Ray Gun by Bird & the Bee[via Araks]

To Etsy or not to Etsy?

Store news, sort of. The Etsy store is still open, but I'm rethinking the store and gearing up for what I hope to be a profitable V-day season.

In the rethinking, I've been wondering if I want to stick with Etsy. Because of its visibility, you're more likely to get found. Then again, there are those fees you have to pay with each listing and for each sold item. Sure, it's only 20 cents a listing and 2.5 percent per transaction, but they do add up and really suck if you're not making the sales you want. In addition, there are PayPal fees. There's also the inflexibility of the store look. You're stuck with the template Etsy's given you.

Granted, I'm sure I'll be beating myself over the head trying to sort through HTML-ing a Big Cartel store. But Big Cartel has flat monthly rates (or none if you choose its small plan) for its more flexible services. I like that I could have my own URL and that there's inventory already built in.

I spoke a fairly successful Etsy seller a few months ago and she said that while Etsy is a great starting point, it prevents you from being as profitable as possible. So let's say I stick with it (which I might, because I have biz cards printed with the Etsy address on it) and I want to change venues.  This post from Fabricworm -- a very successful fabric seller on Etsy -- really psyches me out about trying that.

In a nutshell: Etsy said she was against their linking policy: "You may not use Etsy to direct shoppers to another online selling venue to purchase the same items as listed in your Etsy shop, as this may constitute fee avoidance. This includes posting links/URLs or providing information sufficient to locate the other online venue(s)."). She removed the offending link, but they still threatened to shut her down for some reason. Well, her situation got sorted out, but what if I want to jump ship? How would I let customers know? I can't put a link to the new store URL or a blogpost URL telling folks about the move.

Perhaps the whole linking policy the least of my worries... but what say you other sellers about whether to Etsy or not?

Break dancing in Tehran, 1991

Put it in your mouth

I love photos of food. Blogs like Cannelle et Vanille are the reason I find the will to live. However, shooting gorgeous, or at least decent, food photos is a massive pain in the ass. When I eat, I want to just put whatever deliciousness in my mouth. When I bake and cook, I want to go through the motions of folding, whipping, mixing without being distracted by anything.

Bless the food bloggers who have the patience to pause and capture. Below are three recipes I tried recently, sans photos (but there are photos that the original creators have put in their respective posts and articles):

-Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats: Smitten Kitchen takes a classic kiddie treat and makes it adult with browned butter and sea salt. Such a simple twist, but makes all the difference! Unfortunately, my dog -- who has a history with eating the fruits of my labor -- tipped over the last batch I made and proceeded to lick every single one. On the bright side, it takes about 20 minutes from melting the butter to finish.

-Leftover Turkey Pot Pie: I never understood the appeal of turkey and a lot of people I know don't understand the appeal of turkey. But unlike most people, my family screwed tradition and ditched turkey years ago. Now we just have an extra nice Korean dinner -- you can be just as thankful over spicy Korean pork ribs and kimchi as bleh turkey. But my friend's family got a massive 16-pound turkey for Thanksgiving and he still has leftovers. (To his credit, his turkey was not so bad and it was quite moist.)

So we made two pot pies, which took up maybe... a bit more than a third of his leftover turkey pile. Flaky crust, creamy filling and chunks of carrots, celery and potatoes really make turkey tolerable... and even delicious. We didn't use ramekins as the recipe suggested, but instead used a 9-inch glass pie dish. If you go that route, you will make enough filling for about 1.5 pies. Also, depending on your oven, you may need to increase the time by 10 minutes or so, to get the crusts to be browned sufficiently (you don't want soggy bottom crust!).

-Carmelized Onions: Had a pot of chopped onions carmelizing next to the pot pie filling. I concluded that onions should only be prepared by carmelizing the life out of them and spread on top of toast. The ingredients are basic -- a little butter and chopped onions -- and really what you need is time. The onions sat over low heat for at least 40 minutes. The end result is sweet, almost creamy onions.To die for.

Something to keep in mind when I get older

[From MediaBistro via Serious Eats]

Book printing and binding

[from Folding Trees]