12.31.11 ... looking back & ahead

a collage of projects from early in my create every day of 2011 challenge. 

i am glad i made and met the challenge.
now on to 2012 and a new challenge. 

many ideas have floated through my head and i haven't decided on one in particular. 

i am leaning toward a variety of challenges for the new year. 

stay tuned and see what kind of mayhem i conjure up next. 

happy new year dear readers. 

oxoxoxoxoxo

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.31.11 ... framing my first caricature chibi print by scout

today i framed scout's first impression of the chibi stamp she made for me. i found this frame at fred a while back and couldn't resist it because i love the design of it and the original photo...

how sweet is that? when i took it apart i found another adorable photo of this young lady when she was younger. i wonder where she is today? i bet she looks exactly the same. i had no idea what i would use the frame for when i bought it and when i saw the size of the chibi stamp i was happy and hopeful that my guess that it was a match would be correct. like it's previous insert, it is just a simple something that is special to who it is special to.

i know i will love seeing this everywhere i move. it will easily find a new home in our houses. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.25.11 ... a wonder boys treasury challenge

scout and i played a treasury making game. we chose one of our favorite movies - wonder boys. the treasury above is the one i created. here is a link to visit it:

my wonder boys treasury

and here is scout's...

and the link to hers:

scout's wonder boys treasury

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.19.11 ... saving a favorite shirt

those of you who visit here occasionally have probably seen a post or two where the day's project was mending something or other. today i tackled this shirt. i have been without it all summer all for wont of what turned out to be about one hour's work. why, oh why? well, let's not tackle that issue tonight. the story behind this shirt: i found it about 7 years ago at a resale shop in northampton, ma. it was 1.25. i love this shirt. every time i wear it someone compliments me on it. i trimmed the neck so it wouldn't choke me. and i keep adding patches.

i think i added 10-ish today.

this photo shows two previous patches and two new. the sprout applique i have had for well over 20 years. maybe closer to 30. i have been saving it for just the right place. i forgot all about it. but it peeked out from my huge pile of tags and i decided today was the day. i used fabric pieces for all of the other patches on his shirt today but i also fixed a pair of my favorite pants, which i will share tomorrow. i used some tags as patches on those.

thats all for tonight, folks. i had quite a productive creative afternoon but too many photos for one post so i'll be back with more tomorrow. here's to a wonderful weekend for us all. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.13.11 ... a birthday treasury

in celebration of 1956, the year i was born. hope you enjoy it. you can visit it here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzE4NDc4M3w1NzQ1MzY2NDY/1956-a-very-good-year?in...

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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8.8.11 ... helping scout today so baby photos tonight

hello ladies and gentlemen. i was crazy busy today with no time to photograph my creative doin's so i would love to share with you all a few more photos of my lovely grandson and his happy aunt scout. i snapped these last week. day five of his life in the outside world.

i love how he is looking at her.

they are happy together. i will return with some new projects that scout and i have up our tricky little sleeves. it's a stay-at-home tuesday for us. yee haw.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.31.11 ... french toast

this morning's french toast. i have a confession to make. i have a reputation for superb french toast. i will admit it is really delectable. but i have no idea why it should be so good. sorry for the iphone photo today but we had a pretty chaotic day and i didn't want to hunt down the camera. i had my french toast with fresh strawberries. note: good idea. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.27.11 ... a simple little piglet bookmark

i made this yesterday as part of a pooh magnets sale (in my joonbeam shop) extra surprise. isn't it sweet? the illustration is from a 1947 edition of an a a milne collection. that's all for tonight. i did start another project today but no photos. i was clipping from magazines. this is much cuter. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.22.11 ... recycled map bookmark

i made this as an extra for a buyer who lives in connecticut. i placed a heart on her town. i made this using a vintage map, my sewing machine and string and yarns from my collection.

here's the reverse.

i really like the yarn and string combination.

i hope you all are headed into a beautiful weekend. stay cool and safe. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.19.11 ... rhubarb pie

it has been so long since i've been able to bake a rhubarb pie because, for a mysterious reason we cannot fathom, there seems to be no knowledge of rhubarb here.

it tastes as good as it looks.

we had a slice with a little ice cream. but now, looking at these photos, i am craving another piece before bed.

i always carve a heart in my pies.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.18.11 ... pierre packaging

not too exciting, i know, but cute. these are now headed to england. across the pond.

i took some snippets i couldn't use for anything else and adhered them to card stock. we had a busy day filled with many creative endeavors. hope yours was, too.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.17.11 ... chicken and green olive spaghetti

we had a full, happy day today. i hope you did, too. one of my last projects of the day was our dinner. i made this chicken, green olive spaghetti sauce. it was really delicious. it was simple but tasted sophisticated. i think because i added a little white cooking wine and a bit of cloves. it was a hit which is all i need.

may your evening be sublime and your monday morning a sunny start to a beautiful day for you all.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.16.11 ... sendak bookmark a la pierre

today i worked on packaging up an order and made this recycled bookmark to go along with it as a little extra. i love the result.

and here is the reverse. i hope she enjoys it. hope your saturday was marvelous. at the very least. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.10.11 ... simplicity

tonight i made flour tortillas and green chili beef burritos. we are working on a new puzzle that is insanely difficult. i don't have photos of either one because it is night time but i wanted to share this one from the other day anyway. i didn't have room for it on friday. this is how i sent these buttons along to their new owner. i love how this turned out. hope your day was fabulous. we have a crazy busy day tomorrow. hold good thoughts for me, please. :)

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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7.6.11 ... caraway cheese potatoes recipe

well, finally! here i am with the recipe tutorial for the beautiful casserole i made a few days ago:

here's what you will need:

4 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 

8 ounces grated mozzarella cheese 

1/2 small onion, finely chopped 

2 beaten eggs 

1 13 oz. can evaporated milk 

1 teaspoon caraway seed 

1 teaspoon salt 

pepper to taste 

3 - 4 TBSP. butter

cook potatoes in a small amount of water for about 10 minutes. do not drain. in a 2 quart buttered casserole, alternate layers of potatoes (use a slotted spoon to remove them from the cooking water) with layers of 1/2 the cheese and all of the onion, salt and pepper. end with the second half of cheese on top.

combine 1/2 cup of cooking water - add plain water if you need to - with the milk, eggs, caraway seed and some salt and pepper. pour over potatoes.

dot with butter. bake at 350* for 30 minutes. and viola!

i hope you enjoy it. please let me know if you try it and how you liked it. i think next time i will not precook the potatoes at all and just add 1/2 cup water and let it bake 10-15 minutes longer instead. they are sliced thin and i don't think they needed that step. we had another busy day. it has been a good week. we are all happy. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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6.30.11 ... decorated box for loved ones

today i helped scout rearrange her room so her new antique chest could find its spot. i also had sign language class and i had a number of other creative pursuits including some beginnings that i do not have photos of yet so today i am excited to share with you a little box i designed last friday but couldn't post until tonight so as not to spoil the surprise. scout made the adorable shrinky dink caricatures. they went inside the box. you can see her post about her room tonight and the shrinky dinks tomorrow night on her blog: defying-explanation.tumblr.com meanwhile...

... it all started with this boston breakfast bit i saw in an old cookbook. i have saved it for a while, not sure what i would with it but knowing i had to use it. how hilariously adorable is it? quite. then this idea sprang into my head and i decided to go with a map theme.

we're in austin so i put that inside with a heart.

they're in boston so the bottom has that map section. you can see the heart in the first photo of this post.

one side of the top is covered in row buildings (popular architectural boston feature) from a recycled children's book.

ditto the other side.

and here's the inside of the lid.

and, lastly, i hand folded and cut the paper nest confetti from tissue paper i have. i also threw in some of my miniature hearts. it was great fun collaborating with scout. i think we will do this kind of project again some time. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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6.29.11 ... photographing items for etsy

today i spent a lot of time photographing different items with different backgrounds. i took close to 200 but here are a few i messed around with and i had some fun and success.

i love my hawaiian tray. that stays. i love the bell, too, but it is going into my shop. i have two others. all adorable.

do you know anyone who collects bells? i bet they are some truly neat people. i would love to meet some. great hobby.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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6.28.11 ... button, button, who's got the button?

oh, boy do i! i was sorting through my two newest button acquisitions the past few days and i finished up this morning. my wonderful sister sent me some, which you can see inside this little tin - also sent by her. thanks, ghoulie.

these are from fred. a lovely woman shopper overheard scout and i talking about sewing items as we hunted and she said she'd just seen a bag of buttons and led us right to it. these are the buttons i am keeping. there are many more i will be listing in my vintage shop.

it's hard to pick favorites but the glass buttons might be my favorites from that batch.

some miniature favs.

i love this clipped flower. i had to place this lid on it to get it to lay flat but love the photo. time for dave so i must bid you adieu. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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