draw your life

Here's a cool free e-book to download by Michael Nobbs called "Start to Draw Your Life" which also includes "75 Ways to Draw More." It's inspirational to read that the author took up drawing as a way to cope with an illness. (via The Pen Addict)

sagan all my love

My inner nerd needs to come out for a second to tell you about these hilarious (to me anyway) scientist valentines you can use to share your love of Curie, Newton, Einstein, Sagan, or Darwin while you show how much you care. Have a wonderful weekend, Valentine's Day, and Chinese New Year!

resurfacing

It's been a bummer of a couple weeks, culminating in my grandfather's passing. I have been in too much of a funk to post anything for awhile but finally am starting to snap out of it. More photos of Paris and my creative endeavors to come - for now, here are some bits and pieces that have helped reinvigorate my spirits lately...

ingenious cardboard spinning wheel

free printable affirmations by kind over matter (isn't that the BEST name?); check out their other great freebies, too (esp. love the garden and quotation cards)

free pattern by spud & chloe for a knitted cupcake pincushion

antique keys made of quilling paper

a great reason to add to your yarn stash

amazing embroidery sampler by amy of inspire company - look closely for the fabulous marie antoinette!

french musician named claire denamur - I heard one of her songs on a commercial recently and then came across this music video (she's not on US iTunes yet but I put in a request to add her):

fun freebies

image credit: whip up

Check out all these great sewing patterns!

grab bag
mousepad
tote bag by Jay McCarroll, Project Runway winner
flower bowl
buttercup bag
wristlet
fat quarter clutch purse
flip flops

fat quarter purse

photo credit: whip up

Here's a fabulous tutorial for making a bag out of a fat quarter. I've always wondered about what to do with this cut of fabric, and this project makes wonderful use of the whole piece. She uses a beautiful custom-designed fabric from Spoonflower but of course any fat quarter would work.

looking forward

make your own obama icon here

another cool freebie

As you may already know, Polaroid is discontinuing production of their instant film. Sad news for those of you who use the real thing in your artwork...but if you're just wanting to mimic the look, Poladroid is a wonderful free software download you can use to make your digital photos resemble those icons of yesteryear. Above is an example of what a converted photo looks like (if you click on it, you might even be able to see the texture of the frame, just like a real Polaroid). That's one of our Goldens, Ruby, hanging out in our snow-filled yard when we were still living in the Northwest.

happy new year!

photo credit: serious eats

In an effort to simplify my life, I've decided to consolidate and keep just this one blog, so welcome to my new digs! Please bear with me as I tinker with the template and learn some new-to-me Blogger features. My main goals for this blog are to post my projects (crafts, cooking, etc) and share cool stuff I come across on the internet. Speaking of the latter, here's a fun free screensaver featured in the photo above. I love that it even has crackling fire sounds!