Spooning.

::::falls over and d.i.e.s. from the cuteness::::

I never knew it was possible to desire measuring spoons.

[Beehive Kitchenware Co. via oh joy!.]

Cutting.

Oh, "<-----Place On Straight Grain Of Fabric----->", how you do make me so very nervous.

Welcome to the Alexander Henry Dress Factory.

Wondering.

Unless you are Jenna Small Bird, you can go look at this flickr set of a project that's been in the works for over a year now (or I worked on it for 2 months solid and then let is sit for a year, and then I did something with it a few days ago). If you are Jenna Small Bird then it's going to be in your mailbox in a few days anyway so I wouldn't peek. I shouldn't even be posting this until it's in transit but I couldn't resist and it looks like rain so no bike ride to the PO for me.

Digging.

I went to the thrift store today. The DAV never disapoints.





When the house started "coming together" a bit (it's still far from done, but what I mean is more like, "when we got a couch"), I was surprised how many people were surprised by the decor (words like "Pottery Barn" and "Martha Stewart" are being used). Is this more what you were expecting?

Biting.

I skibbled into Steve and Barry's (who I see have dropped "University Sportswear" from the chain's name) on Thursday on my way to work to check out dear SJP's new collection, Bitten. Like everybody, I was skeptical of whether it was actually going to be cute. I think in the wake of Sex and The City, we're having a hard time separating Carrie from Sarah Jessica. Carrie's style was created by Pat Fields. Sarah's style was created by I can only assume Sarah and possibly a stylist. Holy moly, it's actually cute. I'm going back. In a place with no H&M, my beloved source of cheap and interesting clothes, Bitten is a good thing. H&M is one of the top five things I look forward to most about my trip to Rochester next month (1. fam 2. knitters/wedding 3. various friends who don't knit 4. thali 5. H&M. Ta-da.) I feel bad about my lust for trendy made-over-seas clothes, but I don't know how you can assuage that guilt when you're on a tight budget. I like SJP's motives, which are (so she says and I want to believe her) growing up in a big family with no money. That's pretty noble. I'll toast to that. Any thoughts?

Practicing.

Just so you know, for the past month or so, nine out of ten nights, this has been the scene in my basement. The upside, for you, lovely reader, is that this is a still picture, with no audio. I can dig the audio these dear boys are producing, it's just that it, like, permeates my entire stinkin' house. It's not very peaceful. You think you wanna be one of those moms (wives?) where all the kids feel welcome at your house, but this whole "Um Shit You Guys We Have A Show In Six Days And We Gotta Learn Twenty New Songs By Friday Night Holy Crap Dude" ordeal has taught me that probably, you don't. At least, not four beer swillin' dudes with amplifiers and drumsticks, anyways. Oy.

Coupling.

First & Most Biggest & a few days late:



As of 6/4/07, this dude and I have been married for two lovely years. And I still have done nothing in the way of creating a wedding album. He is my best friend in the world and I adore him a little more every day. I smile when I think of him. This photo is apparently the most glorious picture of us ever taken because I have a pillow case with it on it. Long story, you don't really want to hear it. Anyways, to commemorate this stupendous occasion, Aaron surprised me with a pink rose at work, and after my shitty twelve-hour workday was finally over, we went out for pancakes. It was stupendous.

Also on the subject of weddings:



It's really no secret that I am a weird Martha Stewart semi-fanatic. I am not alone. Many a blogger has confessed that she will buy pretty much any magazine that Martha publishes. I am among them. My only regret towards our very brief engagement was that only two issues of the utterly gorgeous MS Weddings came out during my time as a Bride(zilla)-to-be. OK but did you know that if you buy the fancy Collector's Edition of Weddings ($9.95) that's on the stands right now, that you get a free year of Blueprint? It's crazy. My plan is buy it with the 50 percent off coupon from the JoAnn NPI so then I get it for five dollars. FIVE DOLLARS = SIX ISSUES of Blueprint and the magic fancy issue with it's many pictures of lovely flowers and cake for looking at when I am sad and when I decide we need to renew our vows in 18 years so I can have a mini-wedding with cupcakes. Oh, blog, I knew you would understand.

Squishing.

I don't think I've ever been really clear about my "dayjob" (while I blather on about my nights-and-weekends-and-school-holidays job at the Fabric Hole). I am a para-educator (which is nothing more than a fancy Iowa word for teacher's aide, I think, just like "guest teacher" which is Davenportese for SUB) at an elementary school and I work with behaviorally disturbed kids K-2. It's the hardest goddamn thing I have ever done in my life. But you get to love the kids so much, even when they're being A W F U L. The classroom teacher I work with is a doll and one of the things she does is first thing in the moring, they draw a name out of the basket and that person is the Warm Fuzzy. The Warm Fuzzy gets to be the line leader all day, and go first at whatever, and everyone has to give them a compliment (A WARM FUZZY, PERHAPS?), and then we go do the calendar. So the Fuzzy is denoted by the sticker he wears on his shirt (all five of our kids are boys) but the problem is that the stickers keep falling off and getting lost. And that can be pretty disasterous to a seven year-old. So with five days left 'til the end of the year, I had a Stroke of Genius and I made a little badge out of wool felt and DMC and a safety pin. How hopelessly nerdy can you get?

Treasuring.

I wanted to start this post with something cute about how enamored of the Alexander Henry Collection I am, as I know I've mentioned before. Yes, Alexander Henry is totally my boyfriend. But it's just getting out of hand. I think about it all the time. I don't buy that much, I guess, but I think about buying it. Just to have. Because it's delicious. You can't trust me around it. I try to think of ways to smuggle more home and not get caught (by my hubbers, not STEALING from work, heaven forbid). The prints get in my head and follow me around. I'll get a third of a yard or whatever here and there just so I can sleep at night. It's sick. I won't lie. It's completely weird.

I don't know. At JoAnn a few weeks ago I was (gleefully) cutting some Alex fabric for a guest who was grumbling about how you used to only be able to find AH and Robert Kaufman at the independent quilt shops and was all wistful about how they sold out and wholesale to the big chains now. I don't know where to stand on issues like that anymore. I personally am at once grateful and tortured by AH's deal with JoAnn.

Here, let's talk about something else. In this last batch of photos I just dumped off the camera, of stacks of coveted fabric, a maxed-out GC-card-worth of speakers and mixing boards, here's a new photo from The Cave AKA The Master Bedroom, version Lots of Dots Point Oh. We've become bedding junkies. I've always been a fan of the dot. Way too much hoarding and excess going on over here. Must be some kind of weird compulsive personality type we both are. Way too wanty. Get zen or die.

Missing.

I have such lovely friends.
Thank you, Ms. Small Bird. You are so cute. I'm working on your swapperdoo still. It's coming!

Birdwatching.

Too cute! matteart, @ etsy via Domino via Oh Joy!. Every single item in his shop is darling. Please go buy something from him because he makes my new favorite stuff and I have no money right now so I can't!

All-Knowing.

Eighty-six grannies down, infinity billion to go. So, so boring!!!!! Only twelve colors remain to mix up and it's so un-fun.

I have started the most dinky little compost heap in the backyard. Do you remember Madame Trash Heap? I hope mine turns out like her and is all wise and stuff.

You can listen to the new Interpol single at Spinner. Interpol makes me all squshy. I love that band to little tiny pieces. New album out July 10.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies in the house.

'Cuz today, my heart swings.

Boing.

Oh. Sorry. Hello. This will catch you up.



We painted (ok. Aaron painted. But I did the taping off and the corners.) the spare room. Good-bye, ugly green extremely poorly-done faux finish. Then Aaron's mom breezed into town (HA!) and slept in that room for a couple days and we had to amuse her (which mostly fell on me, somehow). So that was that.



Then on Saturday we drove to Chicago to see this baby get dipped in holy water and cry a lot. I think this is a very sweet photo and I plan to get a nice print run off for Eric and Kate, but secretly, and you have to promise you won't tell, Elke's intense sweet little gaze is totally transfixed on a candle flame. Wee baby pyro!



While in Chicagoland, the culmination of me staging many fits ("I NEVER GET TO DO ANYTHING I WANT WHEN WE'RE IN THE CITY EVER.") over the course of two years was finally realized and we went to IKEA. Dude. We were there for three and half hours. It was bananas. I was very pleased to finally get there, but by the end, I was completely burnt out and dehydrated and tired. A's mom bought us this bistro table FROM THE FUTURE as our housewarming present. I think the peeling paint on the garage looks almost romantic here, but that's going bye-bye this summer.

So what's new with you?

Running.

Erin's Top Ten Things Of The Moment Ready Go:
1. All prints by Alexander Henry. I am going completely bananas for this guy. I can't stand it, really. Above is the product of my latest tiny stash enrichment expedition. Thank you, JoAnn credit card, for giving me free money at the place I spend too much real money.
2. I had a lovely idea for the rick rack theme at Tie One On, like, two days ago. Of course the theme is posted two months ago and I get a good idea at the ass-end, days before the deadline. Sigh. I accept your apron challenge, Amy Chicken!
3. I really want the guest room to look nice for A's mom, but dang. So Number Three on this list is Worrying about the Guest Room. Help. When you stay with somebody what makes it special?? I got her a bar of my favorite handmade soap and I am going to make her a magic pillowcase. Any other ideas? Keep in mind probably that when YOU come stay with me you will sleep in this room too!!!! No I am not going to put a lasagna on her pillow.
4. Stranger Than Fiction. Rent it, it's really cute and it made me cry. Will Ferrel is just good, he can't help it. Maggie Gyllenhal has a punkrock bakery in the movie and even though I don't listen to punk anymore or define myself as "PUNK" (except I still adore X but they don't count cos they are transcendant) I appreciate doing stuff punkrock. If that makes any sense. No.
5. Mint Chocolate Chip Pop Tarts. Sounds so gross, secretly so tasty.
6. I've been struggling to make pillows for our room.

It sucks. I don't want them to be all dog-eared, but the rounded corners one looks awful. Ugh. I even sprang for the NICE poly-fil!!! I want to punch these pillows in their face. Yes. Pillows have faces.
7. I never took a picture of them but for Bunco this month I made Cathedral Windows (this definition makes it sound a lot more bitchier than we are. My group just likes to hang out with other girls and drink). One of the cute little old ladies at my old Jo-Ann made them once and I thought they were cute and hilarious and kind of scarily trashy and delicious. One girl told me "I know we just met, but I could kiss you for making these". WOOO!!! Yeeeeuuh.
8. I'm getting SO ANTSY to start a garden. I have no interest in annuals. I want my garden to grow and spread and go crazy. I brought my little herbies outside today to start hardening off, and then I forgot about them and left them out half-an-hour longer than I planned to. And then it rained. Oops. I hope that is no indication of what I will be like as a Cottage Gardener. I also hope they will be ok.
9. Today at recess I learned a lot about Mean Erin and so did one of the students in my class. It was weird. Cos I never yell, I usually nag, but they don't listen. But there is a Mean Erin in there, and they'll listen to her. I wish it weren't so, because negative reinforment isn't the greatest way of managing behavior, but sometimes they leave you no choice. Good luck reasoning with an eight year-old. I think children are fabulous and amazing but what do you DO with them sometimes??
10. I don't remember the last time I made a granny square but, hey, if my girlfriend Teva Durham is hookin' it up, then somehow it must be right that I am having major knit block and crochet fever.

Smashing.

I feel like such a follower these days. I've been getting swept up in crafty internet phenomena lately (the grannies and now the Purl Swatch Portraits). What a geek. Go get your own idea, Erin, jeez.



Anyways, for the one in the bedroom I used Heat-N-Bond to do the bird on a branch applique and I think that H-N-B is one of the best things to ever happen to me. It's the most fun ever. The one over the mantle is just a quarter flat. I used quilting hoops because they are nice and big and interestingly shaped and I found them on clearance for less than a dollar each. I think that both of them could benefit from being flanked by a smaller ones on both sides. Fast, cheap and wicked cute. Love it. It's really starting to make me crazy how blank our walls are. So I gleefully pound brads haphazardly into the plaster (makes Aaron cringe) and top them with silly things.

I got a lasagna in the oven right now so hey let's all make lasagnas and start a Lasagna-A-Long and a flickr group and blog about lasagna.

Presenting.

Finished the quilt for Afton's baby yesterday. It's Baby Quilt 2.0: The Green Version.


I started it two days before the little dude was born. Like an idiot. Then to make matters even worse, I ignored it for a while.


Hi, Baby Adrian. Hi. I'm your cousin. Welcome to Life, buddy. It's really hard sometimes, so I made you a quilt. I hope you like it. I can't wait to meet you.

Love, erin.

Coloring.

Act I:

Scene: Lowes, 53rd & Elmore. Erin and Aaron shopping for paint. (The siding needs to be painted rather desperately and it's finally Spring. Other bedroom needs to be spiffed up soon as A's moms will be here next month. All I am going to say is: Ack.) A is looking at a nice latte color for the bedroom, a pale blue for the house exterior, and red enamel for the front door. He holds a very conservative stack of color chips in his hand. E is over at the new Martha Stewart colors. Her take resembles a deck of cards.

Aaron: "Jeez, peanut, how many are you going to take?"

Erin: "Oh my god, I'm like Lowe's worst nightmare. Ohhhhhhh! Peanut, look, this one is called JORDAN ALMOND! Eeeeeeee MINT GELATO. Oh my god. Oh my god. Yeah, we should prob'ly go. Okay."

E and A walk away into the sunset. Fade to black.

END SCENE.

::shrug::: Hey, if you don't want me making off like a bandit with all your paint swatches, Martha Stewart, probably you shouldn't have come out with a new paint line with colors like "Pencil Eraser", or "Embossed Stationary". Or "Trousseau", or "Cuckoo Clock", or "Porcelain Doorknob." Or "Sewing Basket". Or "Fondant". Or "Dungarees". Or "Birdhouse". Or "Vintage Map". Probably that was a bad idea on your part, lady. Paint chips are free for the taking, and there's no shame in my game.

I'm looking at painting my kitchen "Newsprint" from her line or "Tea Stain" from the Valspar line. Pale greys.

Here is a tute for a cutie paint sample wallet over at flickr. It's a lot of fun, but it wouldn't work with the teensy MS ones. Not that I care. I'm content to just shuffle though these and squeal once in a while.

Climbing.

Iowa is proving to be lovely in the springtime.



I am getting wicked excited about having a YARD. It's a pretty small, urban neighborhood yard. Know what though? It's all made of dirt and I am going to grow some roses and some tomatoes and I can't wait. I want to plant a sour cherry tree and wait impatiently for years and years for cherries to bake into pies.

New job is going well. Damned if it's not the hardest thing I've ever done, but it feels good to be part of the system. To be there to help.

We went to Iowa City yesterday to visit friends and eat wraps at A's favorite lunch spot. We went to an unfriendly yarn shop and I DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING. It was a lovely afternoon. Saw a few students zipping around town on Vespas. Doesn't that sound like fun?? Hmm, there's a dealer in Geneva and one in Joliet, too..... Ciao for now.

Going.

I baked these to bring to Bunco tonight. They are much uglier than the ones in the magazine, but I assure you they are delish. I ate like five. Which was a very dumb idea.

I forgot how much I like to draw. I looove gouache. This is basically that tattoo I am always talking about. It's pretty much on hold indefinitley. I doubt the school district would see the awesomeness.

Tapping.

I love these picture frames, because they are the anti-frame. Not really a huge fan of the traditional frame. Much prefer to "float" the piece. Was criticized for doing so at my BFA show (frames make things look "finished", floating looks like you just are too cheap to frame). I think often times that framing closes the image off too much, isolates it from the rest of the space. And I know that this may come as a shock, but sometimes I actually do believe in spare, minimal. Totally not in keeping with the 99 percent of my aesthetic that's informed by the simple truth that I am my own tacky Italian grandmother. Click 'em for notes.
Anyway, I love these, I want more, they snap together so I can change the display easily if/when I get tired of it. Pier 1! On sale, $4 each for the 11"x14". Love love love them. Can't say it enough. Squeeee.

Also, are y'all familiar with Create For Less? Their prices are fantastic (wooden embroidery hoops for the bird lamp and the swatch portraits, and more floral birds than you can shake a stick at, oh my!!!); it's the dang shipping that's holding me back (I don't hate on the USPS, I love them deeply and accept that shipping is one of the few certainties in life, but if it costs 8 dollars just to get it here... I might as well trek over to Jo-Ann and pay retail minus team-member discount.) Probably what I will do is fill a shopping cart, dump it, fill it again, dump it, fill it again, say TO HELL WITH IT!, order it, and then get a free shipping code in the e-mail the next day. Happened with fred flare. True story. Ah, phooey. Whuttayado??