Love is all around Phoenix...

...and these Palo Verde trees!

This is the May cover of Boston magazine, made of shoes worn in the Boston Marathon.

Image by Mitch Feinberg

Here's the thread, here's the needle. . .

Love is in the Air!

Thursday Tea Time

Mmmm-Mango!

Mango Green Iced Tea from Wildflower Bread Company in Arizona.
Right next door to my new favorite bookstore, The Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix.
Even if you are not in the Phoenix area, do check out their website for great leads on great reads!

Tic, Tac, Cupcake!

Love the Earth!
Love the cupcake (from Love Baked Cupcakes in San Marcos, Texas)
Love the bonus heart carved into the table in the top square behind the cupcake!

Some of my best ideas for projects start this way. . .

Sewing Elements

Love this!  From the Scientific Seamstress. . .

Happy Mother's Day!

Any Day Really is Good For Baking Around Here. . .

Friday Flowers - Walking Across Texas

Alas, this Walking Iris snuck-bloomed the other day, so it's on the downhill - but aren't the colors still gorgeous?

(Neomarica gracilis)

Thursday Tea Time - Double Chocolate Down

This week - The Republic of Tea Double Dark Chocolate Mate

Cost:  $10.99 at Central Market and Whole Foods
Number of teabags: 36
Caffeine:  Yes
Type of tea:   Herbal/Yerba Mate
Steeping time:  7 minutes
Add ins:  Fat-Free Half & Half and Sweet Bliss
Tea fragrance:   Dark chocolate chips!
Ingredients:   Organic roasted carob, organic roasted yerba mate, organic natural dark chocolate flavors, organic natural cocoa, natural cocoa flavor, organic natural chocolate extract and organic chicory
Opinion:   Wow!  I've been wanting to try a Yerba Mate and I sure picked a good one!   Not only is it good tasting, but good for you with all the antioxidants, and we all know that chocolate is good for you, too.  This tasted great all by itself without any sweetener.  A splash of fat-free half & half just made it even better.   I'm glad (and surprised) there are 36 teabags for the price.
Rating:  5

Of course!

Choco-love!

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

I love 2002, and when I woke up the other day, this song was playing on Pandora.  No big surprise, I practically give the thumbs up to all of their music.  So I decided to go swimming and put this on my iPod Shuffle.

2002 - "The Sea At Night" - 5:02

Cool Ways To Tie a Scarf!

Here's a link to a great set of YouTube videos from Cost Plus World Market
with some interesting ways to tie a scarf!
I especially like the Carmen Miranda, Criss Cross, Challah and Side Style Braid (pictured).  I've seen the last three actually being worn on people and on the displays at Nordstrom.  (My apologies to the associates there as I tried to see how they were tied, fortunately I caught the mannequin in time before she crashed to the floor!) There's also the Classic Nouveau, Forget-Me-Knot, Urban Cowgirl, Girly Windsor and Wrap Around.

http://bit.ly/17JnJrg

Garden Update

Here are the figs!  They get a little bigger each week.  The tree branches are  now spreading towards the back fence.

My beautiful orange and yellow two-faced rose!

Wow!

Kelly Rae Roberts

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Pattern Sales

Sew & Save - May 5/11
50% off all buttons
5/$5 Simplicity patterns

Super Weekend Sale - May 10/12
$1.99 McCall's
$3.99 Vogue

Friday (Wild) Flowers

Wine Cup Mallows and Wild Purple Prairie Verbena wildflowers outside Wimberley, Texas - April 2013

Thursday Tea Time - "It's a Lovely Winter we are Having this Spring"

This week - Twinings Winter Spice


Cost:  $2.99 at Cost Plus World Market
Number of teabags:  20
Caffeine:  No
Type of tea:   Herbal
Steeping time:  5
Add ins:  Just a teeny bit of sugar
Tea fragrance:   Fruity cinnamon
Ingredients:   Camomile, natural apple flavor with other natural flavors, cinnamon, cardamom and clove
Opinion:   Might as well take advantage and review this tea while the cold front is blowing through!  Glad I did, and you certainly don't need a crazy Texas Spring to enjoy this.  It had a nice flowery-fruity-spicy flavor, with an apple-flavored kick at the end.  Not overly apple-y, not over-cinnamonized, the cardamon and camomile help hold it together quite well.  I really enjoyed it after supper last night, and the fact it was herbal and caffeine-free made it even better.  I plan to drink this through the Spring, iced as soon as our weather will be hot again...and look forward to getting another box this Fall/Winter.  What season is it again?!
Rating:  4.5

Bonne Fête du Travail!

  Convallaria majalis

May Day in France is celebrated by giving loved ones a bouquet of Lily of the Valley for good luck!

How perfectly fitting it is also the birth flower for the month of May.

I remember how Coty had a perfume which was only available in the Spring - Muguet des bois.  Oh, how I loved the scent!  It smelled just like lilies of the valley!  The drug store I worked at carried it.  I used my employee discount - 20%, and it was still a coveted luxury for a teenage girl.  I was able to afford the push-up solid stick.  The spray, was aspirational.

Too late for my birthday, too early for Christmas present

I tried to make it last until the next year, but I loved it too much!

Remember this ad?

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

Van Morrison - "Into the Mystic" - 3:28

Actually, into the deep end...of the pool!
The front was starting to come in and the wind was gusting to over 30 mph.  It picked up my basket holding my towel and flip-flops and tossed it, everything!  Fortunately flip flops float (say that 5 times!) and the Vera Bradley beach towel was so fluffy (and absorbent), it still had enough air bubbles to stay on top of the water.  The basket, alas, sunk to its 12' bottom.   And the Girl Scout in me had an extra towel in my locker.   But trying to wring out that towel was a fun adventure.  It wouldn't fit in the swimsuit water extractor, so I got in an extra bicep/tricep workout using a shower towel hook to twist and wring some of the water out.  

LOVE this craft fair!

If you are in Austin, or planning to visit Austin May 18 & 19, check out the Austin Renegade Craft Fair at the Palmer Events Center.  Lots of fun, lots of creatives, lots of crafts.
Visit their main website for other cities and other dates this Spring/Summer and Winter - www.renegadecraft.com

Love is all around us. . .

And I love Thomas' Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins!

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

My ice skating warmup song. . .magically beautiful!

Loreena McKennitt - "The Mummers' Dance"- 4:06

How to be amazing at anything!

And have a good time doing it!

Netflix Stars - Magic Mike

2.25 - Oh. My.
Eye candy, but after awhile, you just have to laugh.  I'm sorry, but this is geared towards the under 35 demo.  For us over, good for a peek-a-boo, then shove it back in the envelope.  Or pants.

No complaints here

"Instead of complaining that the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses."
~German proverb

Another beautiful bloom from my "Pink Promise" rose

Thursday Tea Time - This Chai, Pass By

This week - Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Chai Tea Latte Mix

Cost:  $3.99 at Trader Joe's
Caffeine:  Yes
Type of tea:   Black
Add ins:  Water, ice, toothpaste/something to rinse your mouth out. . .
Tea fragrance:   Cardamon, caramel, honey
Ingredients:   Sugar, nonfat milk, coconut oil, maltodextrin, black tea and darjeeling tea, natural flavors, salt, honey (sucrose, honey), spice blend (cinnamon, clove, cardamom, anise, ginger), sodium caseinate, silicon dioxide, guar gum, vegetable mono and diglycerides, carrageenan gum.
Opinion:  You look at the label, you read the description and you think this has to be the ultimate chai tea latte experience, right?  Then you turn it around to see the ingredients (carrageenan?!) and you wrinkle your nose just a little, gamely trying to silence the voice of your nutritionist inside your head by saying "it's for the blog!"  And whining just a little, "but it's chai!  I love chai!"  I made it with hot water (some suggested trying it with milk), and wow-ie!  A glucose test isn't this sweet!  That's the power of 30g of carbs/26g sugar working right there.   Let's also factor in 3.5g of saturated fat.  (Inner nutritionist is now shaking her head, or is it mine spinning from the wallop?!)  So then I poured it over ice to try and dilute it, and it still made my teeth hurt.  I didn't even use a full scoop/three (!) tablespoonful.   It tasted like salted honey.  Pa-tooey!  Poured that right down the drain and brushed my teeth.
Rating:  0

Quilts For Boston

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is making and distributing quilts for those affected by the tragedy last week.

They are asking the quilting community for help in making blocks for these quilts, or donations of fabric, in blue, yellow, gray and white -- solids and prints are both welcome.   Please click on the link above for the particulars.

The deadline is May 24, 2013.

Hat's Off!

Kwik Sew 3397

Burda 4239, View D - Middle row, Left

A friend of mine needed hats.
I needed to get in some sewing time.
Win-win!

She had patterns and fabric at home, but she lives a bit far away from me.
I, too, had patterns and fabric at home.
Win-win again!

"Something in red!"she said.
(And doesn't everyone have an inner Hello Kitty?)
Win, Place, Show!

I found two patterns in my stash, some cute Hello Kitty fabric from Jo-Ann's (2010), and a fun red lacy print fabric.   She could decide which style, which fit and which pattern flattered her.  And which side, since they were lined and I made them reversible

We called the Kwik Sew 3397 the "cake hat", as it looked just like a round cake, and the Burda 4239 the "baseball hat", as it had the six pieced top similar to a baseball cap.

Burda 4239 is the "old-school" Burda, albeit over 20 years old - the green tissue paper, adding the seam allowances.  Oh how I've missed this type of Burda pattern!  You may be able to find it,  it still pops up on the Internet/Etsy/Pinterest.

Kwik Sew 3397 is still available online from the Kwik Sew website.

Here's how they stacked up --

Burda 4239

Burda 4239

Yeah, wow!

Burda View D kind of showed its age, style-wise.  The other views maybe as so much.  But the pattern piece engineering, as usual, as it used to be, was perfect.  Look how the pieces all matched!

Serged/Trimmed

By cutting duplicate top pieces, I was able to line it and make it reversible by serging the brim/cap seam.









However, View D probably had its day in the sun and was not the most stylish.  The 2 1/2" brim just didn't seam (sic) in proportion to the top pieces.  It looked too short on my head, and I think that was a factor for my friend, too.

Kwik Sew 3397

Kwik Sew 3397

Now the Kwik Sew -- grab this pattern!  Look how perfectly the top fit into the side piece.  No need to ease, or expand your cursing vocabulary.  It slipped and sewed right in.
As did the band, which measured 2 3/4"

Circle in the square, so to speak.

It also looked the best on us.   I'm ready to make it again in all sorts of fabrics.  For both of us!  This is a universally flattering hat!

Here's a sewing tip - fuse the interfacing to the fabric before cutting out.  Do a quick layout and see how much you will need to interface, fuse, then cut.  I don't know about you, but what I cut as the interfacing never seems to match up as well to the fashion fabric.  This insured no glue residue on my iron, ironing board or "near misses".  A little iron touch-up after cutting out and you are ready to sew!

Love is all around us...

Even deep inside my "Pink Promise" rose!

April 2013

Hello Earth!

Thou art the flower

"My God, my aim and my fulfillment; 

I am thy yesterday and thou art my tomorrow.  

I am thy root in the earth and thou art my flower in the sky, 

and together we grow before the face of the sun."

~Kahil Gibran

Proportion

The fig-ettes are about the size of peas

I'm six feet tall
and wearing heels (boots) in this picture

Thursday Tea Time - Souper Duper!

This week - Numi Savory Tea - Carrot Curry

Cost:  $5.99 on sale at Whole Foods
Number of teabags:  12
Caffeine:  No
Type of tea:   Green
Steeping time:  10+ minutes
Add ins:  None
Tea fragrance:   Carrot, curry, veggie
Ingredients:   Organic-- carrot, curry, cilantro, onion, ginger, turmeric and decaf green tea.
Opinion:  Further proof if it is weird, I will try it!  Actually I liked it.  It was not unlike a veggie broth, only portable.  "A Garden in Your Teacup" as promoted on the Numi website.  The only ding I give it is there are only 12 teabags per box.  And the regular price is $7.99.  A little pricey.  But on the other hand, low in sodium (none added, just naturally-occurring from the vegetables - 135mg, and 2% calcium)   Plus you get the added benefit of healthy spices like turmeric and ginger.  It also took the edge off my appetite during my melt-down hour from 3-4 PM.
Definitely worth seeking this out and the other flavors of Tomato Mint, Beet Cabbage, Fennel Spice, Broccoli Cilantro, Spinach Chive and Garden Sampler
Rating:  4