While browsing online for Christmas presents, I stumbled upon these. I don't really need a clock in my home office since I can see the time on my monitor. But... they're so cute! Left: from Target.com. Right: from Wrapables.com.
I made a bag using this helpful tutorial at Craftster. I changed a couple things—most obviously, the orientation of the bag. I'm very slow at sewing, so I will never start a bag business. That's what I learned from this endeavor.
Cool red fabric on flap and lining is from my friend Megumi in Japan. Fun little button is compliments of Orange Beautiful's schwag bag.
I made this recipe recently and thought I'd share. I'm not a huge frosting fan, and I do love easy recipes, so this is the perfect rich and decadent cupcake to make, in my mind.
From ijm.studio in Amsterdam, via SwissMiss. Clever.
We all must be very smart if I'm writing and you're reading at this level. I seriously question the reliability of this test. (Via the Right Steel Navy.)
If you want to further test your vocabulary, visit FreeRice.com. Apparently for each word you get right, they donate ten grains of rice through the UN to end world hunger. My vocab level came up 40 and I just donated 130 grains of rice, so I feel I've done my part and can now stuff myself on green bean casserole without any guilt. But seriously, this would be a fun way to build your vocabulary. (Via BB-Blog.)
VectorMagic, an online tool from some smart people at Stanford, will trace your raster image (an image made of pixels, like your digital photos are) and convert it to a vector image (an image made of smooth shapes and curves with hard edges that is completely scalable.) Here's my test. Via Photojojo.
We went for a walk in the drizzle on Saturday to admire the leaves.
It was also a chance to use our umbrella for two that we bought on a whim in San Francisco during a downpour. We hope everyone in the passing cars admired it. You can get your own here.
I'm intrigued by this house up the street. Its owners had it painted at the end of the summer, and I swear it was fuchsia the first time I saw the new paint job. Two weeks later, it was this bright red. Still fun, but the hot pink was awesome! I had been planning to leave them a little anonymous card on their porch praising their bravery. But I guess they reconsidered.
These are some moldy berries. I don't have much to say about that.
Emily of Orange Beautiful threw a wonderful party Friday night, an open house/meet-and-greet at her charming studio. I first learned of Orange Beautiful while flipping through a HOW Magazine awards annual and seeing her website featured. I liked it so much (and being a fan of orange, of course) I emailed to say how much I dig it. Ever since, we've been stalking each other's blogs and sending the occasional note, so I was excited to finally meet the girl. She's terrific, and so is her work. I loved talking with B, too. Thanks for throwing a great party, guys!
Thursday night was Design*Sponge's Chicago Biz Ladies Meet Up. I'm not planning to ditch graphic design and start sewing pillows for profit, but I am interested in the design licensing angle, so I thought I'd check it out. I enjoyed hearing from Stephanie Waddell of Agnes and Hoss, and you can download Grace's excellent presentation on marketing your products right here. Thanks to everyone who spoke and to Jayson Home and Garden who hosted.
Wow, thanks for all your thoughts on the Craft Controversy, everybody. I love interesting conversations, and I was hoping to stir the pot a bit. I must admit I've got a nasty streak of devil's advocate that emerges now and then, so I've been gleefully reading all of your comments and thinking you all make great points. Especially whoever mentioned the Midol.
I have to get something off my chest. The word "crafting" makes me squirm in distaste. As in, "I'm going to do some crafting now." I realize this is an inflammatory statement, and I'm honestly sorry if I've offended anyone. I imagine I'll dig myself into an even bigger hole here as I go on, and I'm going to start sounding snobbier by the second. 
It turns out Dad wasn't the only one to get special handmade presents. Mom sent over more pictures. Looks like I was trying to express love with every fiber of my little being. 
Oops! Put my foot in my mouth there.
Whew, fixed it.
Well, the end.
Whoops! Ran out of blue paint on the back?
I have mastered the scissors.
A quick little pencil cup I made this weekend to satisfy a crafty urge:
I'm a huge fan of Eleanor Grosch so I'm delighted to see she's got more free wallpaper to download: some fall and Christmas themes are available here. I've got Quail (pictured above) on my desktop now.
If you're a graphic designer and you've worked with clients for awhile, you will die laughing when you watch the commercial for Make My Logo Bigger Cream, a special new product available to your clients. 
I hate to say it, but I think those websites where you upload your own photos to print on cards usually have some pretty ugly designs. But I just saw these at Kodak. I think the accordion fold design is cool because they didn't muck it all up with decorative doodads. And I see they're offering Martha Stewart designs, too. I dare say they're actually cute.
If you feel a hankering to make some decorations before Thanksgiving rolls around, here are some ideas:
We've had this Bialetti stovetop espresso maker for almost a year, and I love it. As Alex regularly reminds me: "You love that thing." So does he. We have the 6-cup stainless steel model. I'm not convinced it actually makes 6 espresso-sized cups, but it makes enough espresso for a latte for each of us. We put some milk in two cups and microwave it for a minute; then dump in the brewed espresso (we grind Metropolis beans). SO GOOD. Not to mention the pot design is very attractive and simple to clean.
The folks over at Sew, Mama, Sew! have compiled "100 of the best sewing tutorials on the web" and will feature a couple each day during the month of November. And November starts today! So go have a look and see if you get inspired to make your own gifts this year. To view the schedule for the month, click here.
I made some desktop wallpaper available in two sizes to download from my website. And then I got a new monitor with a wide screen that has a different aspect ratio, so I can't even use them on my own computer! So if anybody else wants a 1680x1050 version of this image, download it here. The other sizes are available here.
