Inordinately Proud

I am inordinately proud of my husband's recent excursions into the world of crafting, especially since I have been experiencing a crafting dry-spell myself (more on that in a few days' time). John has been making pieces for various games he plays, including Heroscape. The picture above is of some columns he crafted from cake-decorating materials purchased from Michael's. Although I was away in NYC during most of this crafting experience, John did call me to tell me that the cats were very involved in the process. Meowzle, our older cat, apparently enjoyed licking the modeling clay that John put inside each of these columns for stability.

The pieces in the photo below were each painted and then covered with a layer of flocking. The green flocking looks remarkably like catnip, causing Meowzle to sample some yesterday. Aside from the cat-related difficulties, John thoroughly enjoyed his foray into the world of crafting, and I, for one, hope he continues with such projects. :)

Uncle Tom: Holiday Crafts, Part Deux

My Uncle Tom got crafty this Easter (not unlike Christmas). Here is a picture of the canning jars he repurposed to make lovely candy gifts for all of us. Note that this one has a cat sucker on it-- not surprising, given my love for my kitties.

Becky's Babies

A long time ago I blogged about skirts that I made for my friend Becky's adorable twins, Isobel and Ophelia. Little peanuts that they are, the skirts still fit them! I love that they're wearing bandannas in this photo. Oh, and the fact that Ophelia is doing a number on Isobel's ear.

Hopping Back from NYC Just in Time for Easter

After a trip to NYC last week, I was very happy to arrive home on Saturday. I know this is probably abnormal, but I really don't enjoy visiting NYC at all. I imagine it's quite different if you actually live there, but I find trips there stressful and expensive. I guess it might be different if I enjoyed shopping (but I hate it) or if I had the money to eat really well (but I don't). Nonetheless, it was great to see my friend Sarah, who founded an amazing arts organization, to hang out with my long-lost buddy Tomoka, and to attend the CIES conference, but all in all, I'm just so glad to be back.

On the Easter front, I wrote an article about Polish Catholic Easter baskets (swieconka) for Buffalo Rising. Check it out.

Mea Culpa!

My apologies for being a scatter-brained blogger as of late. I am off to a conference today (the annual meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, in case you were wondering...) and won't be back until the weekend. But if I find some cool craftiness while in New York City, I'll be sure to take photos so I can be a better blogger upon my return!

Popcorn in the News

I wrote an article about a local popcorn supply company for Buffalo Rising recently. Check it out!

Crafty Bea

Terra has posted a great photo of Bea in crafting action-- here she is wearing the smock I made a while back.

Fabric Found?

I think I may have finally found the fabric I want to use for my kitchen curtains! I'd prefer if this fabric had a white background with a black pattern, but after MUCH searching, at least I've found the sputnik-ish pattern. Now I'm thinking I should get a clock to match, too:

If Only My Blender Looked This Snazzy

I think my appliances may experience craft envy! Donna felted this lovely blender cover from a piece of roving I gave her a while back. I love the idea of dressing up one's kitchen appliances!

Back from Cleveland, No Crafts in Tow

I traveled to Cleveland State University this week to give a lecture on higher education and gender so I haven't had any time to craft over the past couple of days. It was interesting to be a fly on the wall in Ohio on March 4th, however--- everyone I asked was really unsure of what the democratic primary results would be. Well, the results are in and voter turnout was at record highs across Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island, but my crafting productivity is still at an all-time low. C'est la vie. I'll jump back into the crafting swing of things soon, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday Ali!

My friend Ali only has a birthday once every four years, poor guy! But seeing as how yesterday (February 29) was his 9th (!) birthday, we decided to host a little surprise dinner party for him. In addition to really delicious food from Buffalo's Aladdin Cafe and cake from Sweet Tooth, we surprised Ali with some fun presents. John and I gave him this mosaic table for his new(ish) house. I found the table (and plates that I broke up to make mosaic pieces) at the Amvets Thrift Store in Buffalo.