Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour

 Chocolate Chip Cookies. 10 dozen.
Made for the drug dealer son and the freezer.

I made them with Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour - make your recipes gluten free.

By far and away -  the easiest gluten free flour I've ever used.
Exchange it for 1 cup of regular flour. I've used it in several recipes and I can't tell the difference. Cakes are moist, Cookies are crisp and chewy.

The 1 to 1 flour made these with a nice crackle surface. Very pretty.

I have reached that age in my life where I need to store flour in the fridge. I rarely bake - I can't eat what I make as I eat very little grains. My kids are up and out of the house. I can bake for work but things have not been friendly there lately. 

I particularly WISH  ( please!) that Bob's Red Mill would change their packaging to a ziploc-style closure. They are packaged in cellophane bags which have to be closed somehow. I always throw them into a ziploc bag once opened to keep pantry moths out and because I've had that cellophane tear and produce a mess. So - Bob's Red Mill - if you are listening??? Ziploc closure would be very welcome.

 I also made some Daffodil pens for work today. I buy the cheap back-to-school (already?) pens, drill holes in the end and hot glue the flower stem inside and then wrap with floral tape. Easy peasy.
 
 My only rule is extreme cheapness. The daffodils came from an estate sale - marked 25 cents. She threw them in as a bonus.

While I have some customers who will steal even a flower pen, these tend to stay much longer than a naked pen.

Writing Books - and Getting Published

 

On my nephew's wish list is a book kit where you write your own story and send it in and it comes back in published form. I recalled these small journals that Amy over at Angry Chicken makes for her family all the time and decided I had all the materials  to make two for him.

She even made one of her fabulous videos:

I used to do custom picture framing so for my outsides of the book, I used mat board but I think you could also use some cereal box cardboard (two sheets glued or taped together). I used my UPS box knife to cut the mat board just bigger than my paper.
For my book,  I used four sheets of paper, folded in half. I cut the mat board in half, applied the duct tape and stapled the papers in. I now have a long-arm stapler on my wish list.

When you use Amy's trick of opening up your small stapler and stapling into a rubber eraser, you have to push down the prongs before you can go onto the next staple. Tiresome.

This project took me about one hour to complete. It would have been less if I could have found my decorative tapes. I thought this would be the perfect  project to use them on but could I find them?   Twenty  minutes of pulling drawers out, pushing them back in, pulling them out again;  boxes rummaged through to no avail.
Along the way, I found some small envelopes to tape inside the back cover. For whatever.

Nearly everyone has duct tape, 1  ply cardboard (cereal boxes glued together make 2 ply. My mat board is 4-ply (heavier yet), computer paper, a pen and a rubber band.

After work tomorrow, I plan on driving to Michael's to see if they have one of those book kits. I researched amazon.com and saw this one. 

If the price range is near my budget, then I  will go ahead and get it. If it's not, then I can come up with something else to go with these handmade journals.

CAN YOU SEE THE FOG?

$79 Dollars

Great holiday bazaar yesterday. I am always overwhelmed with how creative people are. One gal made the cutest purses re-purposing a hard-back book cover. Lined inside with a pocket and bag handles attached- darn cute. There were quite a few jewelry designers who had some pretty pieces. I am intrigued by the Day of the Dead trend. You either love it or can't quite figure out the allure. These showed up at several jewelry tables.

One vendor had the most gorgeous felted garments. I got distracted and forgot (again) to take photos of the other vendors {'cause it's all about me, you know}.

A few of us vendors were cashing in on the Beaver/Duck---everything I own shouts to the world I am a seriously needy fan.
I sent postcards to friends and family letting them know I was selling my 'stuff' so I was one of the few with customers. A new location hindered the drawing in of customers. Since it was free to be a vendor, it was still a win-win event for me.

Kaleidoscope of stained glass mobiles.

 (private) Janine alert: Guess who showed up and bought you a present?

Now it's time to clean my house and (mutter,mutter) clean up the sewing room so I am ready to do my next projects.  I've got most of my gifts planned out except for my kids (20's) who are still too young  to appreciate new pretty hot pads.
If the work schedule cooperates then I am spending time with my mom and the local library hoping the ladies there can entice my mom into wanting a Kindle.  Once she figures out the font size on the screen is adjustable, I know she will want one . But until she wants one, there is no use buying one.

And it also time to get these unsold pretties into the etsy shop.

One last note: On the way home yesterday, I dropped my daughter's chairs off that we used in the bazaar set-up and drove out Killingsworth to get to I-5. Passing the Florida Room - the sign said (something like) "Hey Portland - Occupy this building". (lol)
I almost turned around and took a picture and should have because then the camera would have been out in order to get the photos of several Santa gaggles. I passed three groups of people dressed in Santa-esque costumes walking along Killingsworth - on their way to a Santa fling on a Saturday night?  There was definitely a Wish to be Santa in the air.

Sewing Trends

SewMamaSew has posted in their blog a chance to be a soothsayer in the sewing world.
Having two days off in a row for two weekends in a row has created a positively bored mood here with time to contemplate what's in store for sewer's.
                  *** For the year 2011;  I have some answers:

Looking back on the sewing scene of 2010, what trends stand out in your mind?
Owls and Japanese fabrics & trims.

What were some of your favorite things? (Trends, fabric collections, patterns, blogs? Whatever you really loved.)
I loved continuing to discover some very creative blogs, and fine-tuning what I want to read about. i.e. The Selfish Seamstress declaring war on hemming for others.

What was your very favorite fabric collection or print? (If not listed above.)
I am drawn to the clean esthetic of the current Japanese fabrics out there, reminiscent of prints from the 50's. I am partial to any fabric with airplanes in it and I was definitely able to hoard more of these. I continue to have fun with garage sale fabrics (church rummage sales are where it is at). However, I cannot seem to overcome my huge dislike of 100% polyester stretch from the 1970's.

What was the best thing you made in 2010? (Be sure to share a photo!)
I think the best thing I made in 2010 was the Chalk Bag for my son. Made a day or so before Christmas 2009, it still counts. I enjoy figuring out how to make something turn out like retail, but better sewn and much cheaper.

Chalk bags are used in rock climbing - to chalk your hands for a drier grip. 

The bag is designed to keep the chalk contained without spilling.

What is one of the best things you saw that was made by someone else?

This bunny is still bookmarked as something I will make.  Alluring in it's simplicity.

And this Anthropology-knock-off necklace is still calling for me to make it. I have all of the materials too.

What do you think 2011 has in store? (Again, trends, fabric, patterns, etc.)
More sewers, more blogs, more sergers.  I believe sewing will continue to bloom in it's excitement amongst newbies as well as those rediscovering the joy of sewing. I also predict  fabric stores will stock MORE than just quilting cottons, such as damasks, silks, & pant-weight fabrics.  I truly hope to predict that bloggers who claim as their own designs - designs that have been around for fifty years if not a hundred years - will get over themselves.

Anything you’re ready for the sewing world to get over?
Owls were cute...

What’s on your sewing agenda for 2011? What are you excited about? What would you like to learn more about?
I just learned how simple sewing with elastic thread in my bobbin is. Wow.
I recently bought my first serger and I am loving how fast it makes the seams disappear. I want to recreate a polar-fleece jacket that has worn out plus some athletic t-shirts with seam details I can now re-create with my new serger.

I want to not only sew more often but work on fitting issues. My work schedule is still crazy enough to preclude taking a class or two but if it is possible, I will work a couple of classes in.

And of course, the usual - I will attempt to use up more of my stash before buying more. I solemnly promise...   

Inspiration

One of the blogs that seriously inspires me is running a contest to nominate someone you know who uses their crafting talents to help people in need.

I nominate Joan Vardenega. She is teaching 4-H sewing as well as cooking to a fantastic group of girls in Columbia County, Oregon (Warren/Scappoose).

She doesn’t have a web site or a blog (yet) but inspires me through phone calls and e-mail. The challenge to create has been raised through her thoughtful interest in not only what her local fabric store in St. Helen’s is promoting, what her girls inspire her to teach, and her knowledgeable feedback to what I am currently creating.

She loves to teach and is always ready to take on a challenge.

She recently completed theater curtains for a backyard theater.

With her 4-H girls, they recently embellished t-shirts with Bleaching, bleach pens, tie-dye and dip-dye.
With me, she recently came over to Canbyland to help me with organizing all my sewing crap into one dedicated sewing room.
She has recently completed teaching a series of garment sewing classes to quilters from her local fabric store, Fibers & Stitches.

Joanie raises the bar.

Thank you.

 

This is Pencil Girl's Tie-Dye T-shirt. Twisting Spirals.

This is the Towel bag Sewing challenge for the 4-H Girls. They were given the sample and the materials and had to figure out how to make the Towel Bag.

Many ripped out seams later, they figured out they needed to make the pocket first.
--After figuring out the measurements.
--Don't forget to attach the straps.

Here is the full-size towel with bag attached. All folds up into the bag and the bag has room for other beach or swimming pool necessities.