Valentines for the Universe

 I took part in this year's Aunt Peaches Valentine Swap - the premise is simple, send a few strangers a handmade Valentine to spread a little bit of crafty love. What could be better? (Click that link, it's neat blog, and she has few enough fucks to give that she called out a reader who failed in their Valentine making. That's my kind of sass!)

I wanted to spread bright, bold, colorful, fun around the world. Not light, fru-fru business. I already had the watercolors out (see my previous post) so I made colorful backdrops for stitching. I cut out a pile of hearts from a scrap of bold geometric print.

 Each card got four hearts stitched on to them. It's remarkably easy to sew on paper, though it has no stretch so I got some bunched fabric. The best part is that the stitches form a nice image on the back of the paper as well.

 I used this "blank" side for my writing. The message - The Universe Loves You! - was surrounded by doodles and swirls. I knew all that scribbling in the margins of school papers would come in handy one day...

I happened to have a bundle of Astrobright oversized envelopes, good thing since I didn't consider my card size before I started. (Might be a lesson in there, I'll let you know if I figure it out.) I sent all that love out to the world!

 I love the idea of spreading positive thoughts, compassion, and excitement to the world! It's a good practice to remind us of our power, and the importance of caring for others. I might meet the woman who received one of these cards one day, and I would never know that I had already touched her life in a good way. I'd hate to mess that up, so I try to think of every person I see as someone potentially worthy of a Valentine from the Universe.

And of course, the Universe reciprocates! I got a mailbox full of happiness. And yes, that is a flip-flop. Did you know you can mail anything so long as you can glue a stamp to it and read the address? Use that knowledge only for good gentle readers...

Are you making and sending Valentines this year?

Painting - What I did on my January Vacation.

January has always been my slowest month for bag sales. After the shopping orgy of the Yuletide people seem to be broke and tired and generally not buying much. (Who can blame them?) Many years I've spent the month getting my inventory together and signing up for fairs, but this year I decided to take some time off from the business entirely. Other than Etsy and answering E-mails I didn't sew a stitch for Green Jeans!

But, I was not idle! I've been working for some time on a graphic novel idea, last year at Anomaly Con I met a number of local comic artist who were very inspiring, and I spent months doing sketches and honing stories. I decided at the turning of the new year to stop preparing and start doing! Done, after all, is better than perfect.

And so, after one month I have 10 pages of story, drawn, inked and colored with watercolors. I'm working on finding someone with more computer skills than I to do the lettering, I'm not crazy enough to do everything myself. I'll keep updating on this project, I expect to launch in the spring.

What do you do when you take time off from your number one hobby? (In my case, numbers 1-5)

Winter Incense

 The Yuletide is long passed, which means that old trees are popping up each and every trash day. The Crafty Household has been dragging them home to be cut up for firewood and mulch, nice smelling work on a sunny winter's day. It's traditional to burn all the leftover Yule at Imbolc, but first I did some collecting...

I collected needles and branch tips from a variety of evergreens - Pine, Spruce, Fir, and even some Cedar and Juniper. I left them in this jar, breathable fabric on top, on a warm porch to dry for a few days. We've been alternating between blowing snowstorms and 70 F and sunny, just a normal Colorado January.

 Usually I do all my incense making in a small mortar bowl, but this was quite the pile. I used the Cuisinart to quicken the work. Pulsing it gently for a while.

 There were a few bits that hadn't dried as much as needed, so I put the whole thing in a cracked-open low oven. At this point Mr. Crafty and the Crafty roommate were attracted by the smell, and came to ask why this was not an everyday occurrence...

 After a short while drying further the needles all fell apart perfectly! I pulsed a while, not trying to pulverize the bits, just break them small enough to be heaped on a coal.

It fits a much smaller jar now! I can use it a bit at a time, grinding fresh what I'm going to burn. Yummmm, winter smell...  For Yule I made a version with cinnamon chips, clove oil, and frankincense. For Imbolc I added lemon peel and flowers. Note - don't put resins in your electric grinders, they will make a sticky mess!

Don't bother with cheap imitations, if you want a "Forest Fresh" scent, use the real thing!

Curds and Whey

Ever have an "Oops"? A kitchen Oops? An I-left-the-oven-on-now-a-gallon-of-yogurt-has-curdled Oops? Yea... let's take a page from Bob Ross, call is a happy mistake, and turn it into a bird. Well, not an actual bird, that would be weird.

I keep my yogurt at temperature in the oven by preheating it on the lowest temp and putting the warm packed jars on a tray in there with the oven off. Usually it's just enough heat to keep the fermentation going, this week it was enough heat to kill the culture, so a gallon of milk was made into not-yogurt.

 No panicking! First rule of cooking. So, I got on the Google, asked some fellow fermentors, and started looking for ways to salvage this. First, I strained the curds out from the whey. stirring the mess from time to time to let more liquid drain. I then placed a bowl and some weight (A jar of water) on the cheesy bit to force some water out. That whey, is of course being reserved for other uses.

In the morning the curds had formed a fairly firm cheesy mass. So firm, in fact, that I added some milk back to it to make it more mixable. Then I ate it with jam for breakfast - Fan-fucking-tastic!

 As for the rest, the majority of the mess had become whey. I used skim milk which has considerably higher percentages of water in it. I discovered that *gasp* one of my favorite cheeses is not in fact a real cheese! Brunost, which is sometimes sold as "Ski Queen" here in the states is made from boiled down whey with a little cream added. The color comes from the milk sugars caramelize, thus it's slightly sweet.

The history of this cheese is interesting, and much newer than one might think. In earlier periods whey was a valuable animal feed for the small farm cheese maker, and it was also commonly added to soups and the like. As dairy productions got bigger and bigger there was more whey than could be given back to animals (it's more often given to pigs and horses, not cows.) Nowadays, Whey is in fact a problematic waste product!

For my Whey cheese I boiled the whey for hours... and hours... and finally it went from a thin yellowish liquid to a thick brown substance the consistency of gravy. I took it off the heat, and added a little bit of cream. It has to be whisked several times while cooling to avoid the crystallizing of the sugars.

Not quite as solid and brown as the Gjetost, but quite good on crackers nonetheless!

How-to - A Leather Sheath

Don't let leather work scare you, it's just sewing with tough materials. Plus hammers. Trust me, it's awesome!

 I've had this lovely hand forged knife for a few years now, using it for camping and cosplay alike. It's a very functional blade, comfortable in the hand, holding a good sharp edge.

I can't say that the sheath has lived up to the blade. Pictured is the second little sleeve I've made, just quick coverings made in a few minutes with a scrap of very thin leather. After a small bit of use the stitched become cut by the blade, and the tip pokes thru. Not a good way to carry it in your pocket!

I made some sketches of a simple one piece holster, and then took measurements. The whole item, sheath and belt loop are all one piece. Thus, the cover of the blade is the finished side of the leather, but the loop is sueded side out.

 I used rivets instead of stitching, to avoid the aforementioned cutting thru problem. The long post rivets let you try the item out before you commit with a whack! I was a bit generous on my measurements, so I brought in the bottom a bit. Notice the old holes near the edge of the leather, I simply cut a new shape after the riveting was done.

 The belt loop was a simple flip, and I made sure to measure it on the belt and give some room to slide. I then attached a little button strap, it loops thru the handle to secure the knife. Those snap sets are tricky to get thru the leather, I made marks with the prong halves and used an awl to poke all the way thru.

There was lots of hitting things with a hammer. A good kind of crafting violence!

 Perfect fit! Form and function, both in the knife and the holster. This knife has deserved better since I got it, now the world is right and good (For my belt anyway, still some other issues to work out.)

What is your favorite mix of beauty and everyday use?

New Curtains!

 Do you have an hour? A Yard or more of cute fabric? Make yourself some curtains, they will change your life room.

Before - Old scratchy lace curtains. Once they were white, but a layer of dust and food particulates has made them more "off-white". These are so boring I often forget I have curtains, only noticing when it's cold out and I want to cover the windows.

After - Holy shit, look at how cute that fabric is. I could have made a dress from it and ended up looking like Ms. Frizzle teaching food preservation. But for simply displaying an awesome print in all its glory, housewares are a sure bet.

Beehives overlooking the mead stash? Yes please! These curtains also offer a bit of shielding, like actually blocking one's view and darkening the room. Thus waaaay more useful than the fruu-fruu lace business.

  Each one took well under an hour, a bit more than a yard of the fabric, and the same cut of muslin. I ripped all my fabrics for square pieces. The three windows were slightly different dimensions, but I used the width of the fabric (44") as the horizontal measure. A little extra makes for some bunching and curling, not to mention good coverage. I ripped both fabrics straight down the center to split them.
 I measured the existing curtains, and the thickness of the rods. The lace curtains have a trim above the rod, about the same width as the rod space, which gives them a nice ruffle.

I marked double the rod thickness, and sewed the sides and bottom.  Line up the selvedge edges, it's easy to see thru the muslin and stitch right at the end of the print.

The last 2.5" of each fabric are rolled and stitched, this will be the rod holes. (Insert sex joke here.) Then the top is stitched, right sides together. The whole shebang is turned through either of the holes, just like a pillow or stuffy.

After turning, I top stitched the sides and bottom, stopping and starting at my rod holes. Two rows of stitching made across the top sandwich the rod and leave a little ruffle on top.

Out with the ineffective, boring, old curtains; In with some cute, colorful, functional pieces! Even my kitchen fairy seems to approve...

Such a small change, but it's impacted the kitchen in a big way! Much faster than a new coat of paint, but it's almost as big of an impact. I may end up with some spares to switch out, I do have enough fabric stashed away after all...

Go make stuff that brightens your life!

Turning Red

I'm preparing to do a teardown and rebuild of my spinning wheel this season. She put in a whole lot of hours for spinzilla, she deserves some pampering. In addition to the wood spa action, I was considering spiffying up the old girl. I intend to stain it a new color, and add some wood burning.

 First, is the making of the stain. (Of course I'm making it, that's how I roll.) I used alkanet as the dye stuff, alkanet it a root with a rich crimson color, but the dye particles are only soluble in oil or alcohol. Traditionally it has been used to dye wines a darker red,  color wood, and in cosmetics. So, basically for making stuff look like other stuff (buyer beware!).

I added the dried root to olive oil, and heated it in hot water. It sat overnight and then I strained it. The gentle heat helped the herb infuse without breaking down the oil. I then added beeswax, broken up and grated. Can I just say that grating wax is the smartest thing I ever saw in a Pinterest post...

After the mix cooled, it became a very soft paste. I found an object to test on - an old spoon that has never satisfactorily seasoned. I gave it a light sanding since it was already lacking in a good finish, and polished it with generous blobs of the oil/wax mixture. 

As you can see, the results were less than mindblowing. The polish has brought out the grain, and given the spoon a much needed protective layer. But it's not really all that red...

I did some more reading, and will try adding the rest of the alkanet, ground to a powder, to infuse into the polish. See, not even a Craft Bitch gets it right the first time!