Crafting again at the Chicago Craft Social

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This past summer, I attended the second Chicago Craft Social and led a table with this craft, Beaded Book Marks (a.k.a. Book Thongs or Book Wedgies). I had no idea how busy I would be at the table, but it was a great showing. I took no other pictures that evening. I wish I did; it was tons of fun. I really ought to post a tutorial on these, eh?

Ribbon and bead book thongs or bookmarks

So, I’m leading a table at this Friday’s Craft Social (Holiday version)! I’m going to tailor my latest obsession, scribble art (or doodling), into something people can learn and take home. From this…

A magenta design

… I started documenting the different patterns I use. Sort of backwards, but that’s okay. Work in progress.

Doodling notes

Tonight I took my notes, made a one page dictionary that I can hand out, and I’m planning on demonstrating the more complicated or complex designs on my daughter’s white board. None of them are really that difficult, but they might look incredibly intricate. Makes me feel like I’m brilliant.

Doodle dictionary

From twenty different patterns, you can mix and match (I’m bringing multi-sided dice, more than six sides), do little variations on them, and voila, you too can doodle crazy little things and maybe make a holiday card, gift tags, an iron-on t-shirt applique… the possibilities are endless. I’m working on our family Christmas card in black and white. This picture was a first attempt.

Christmas card idea

Hope to see you at my table!

Country Style Pork Ribs with Asian style marinade

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I think I got this marinade down, finally. It made delicious gravy for the kids to spoon all over their short grain white rice. We served sauteed spinach with garlic on the side. Sorry, no pictures. We ate just about everything, and the leftover wasn’t worth taking a picture. I would think this might work well in a slow cooker, too, but haven’t tried that yet.

Prep time: 15-20 min. / Cook time: 2 hours / Serves 4-6

Marinade

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 3 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine or sherry
  • 2 tsp. sesame oil
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic (I went heavy on the garlic)
  • 2 tsp. minced ginger (or 1 tsp. ground ginger)
  • 1 tsp. five-spice powder
  • 1 tsp. ground white pepper
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 2 lbs. country style pork ribs (boneless or with bone)

Mix all the marinade ingredients and pour over ribs in the baking dish or pan you will cook it in. May need to flip over once. Keep in the refrigerator for at least 4 hrs. I made it in the morning and let it sit all day.

Take meat out of refrigerator 30 min. before cooking. Preheat oven to 300 deg. F. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven for two hours. No peeking. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 min before serving.

One Fall Day

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Hope you all had a nice weekend. We certainly enjoyed ours. I should have been getting ready for the Craft Social, but I had other projects in line.

Enjoying the Backyard

The boy is crying not because he was hurt. He tried to lock me up in the garden and I yelled at him. Needless to say, he went back inside the house for a while.

Black and Decker Cultivator

This garden tool was pretty nice to use once the hard clay was amended with peat moss.

Planting Garlic

After planting the garlic, it was time to enjoy the leaves.

Fall Leaves

Life is Fun

**Updated: Wow! This is my 100th post – a great way to “celebrate”. Thanks to everyone who takes time out of their day to share time with us!

Favorite band names that aren’t real bands

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I’m feeling much, much better now and I’m catching up on lots of household chores. The laundry room was very lonely without me over the last week or so. In between loads, I was thinking about some construction terms, medical diagnoses and even some medications that would make really good band names. Why do I fill my brain with this bizarre information? Because it’s fun… share your own, or let me know if these are actual bands!

Frozen Corneas: heard about this on a morning radio show

Tessalon Perles: not only is this fun to say, but it’s my favorite prescription cough suppresant

Quarter-inch drill bits: this is my made-up band name

Hole Hawgs: this is a kind of drill

FDIOS, the dyslexic dogs: not medical or construction, but silly.

Jumping Frenchmen of Maine
Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is a form of the exaggerated startle reflex known as hyperexplexia, so named because it was first observed in French-Canadian lumberjacks in the Moosehead Lake region of Maine in 1878. Sufferers were reported to react abnormally to loud, sudden noises — screaming, flailing, muscle seizures and, most puzzlingly, obeying commands in a reflexive, involuntary manner. For instance, when instructed in a loud, authoritative voice to hit someone, they would do so without question. It’s believed to be a genetic condition caused by a blockage of an amino acid that calms the central nervous system. (Information from http://www.medicalassistants.info)

Stay tuned. I’m heading up another table at the craft social! This time… doodling.

Celebrating Halloween and a Birthday

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Happy birthday 3 year old Ollie

I’m still recovering from being sick. I think it’s sinusitis. Well, that’s just me the non-doctor that I am, self diagnosing, like I do all the time. Saw my kids’ doctor today though, and she said, “Yeah, 7-10 days… it’ll clear itself out. Come back if it’s bad.” Oy, this afternoon, my headache was so bad, I wanted to put my head in a vice and squeeze it.

Despite the sickness, we celebrated Ollie’s 3rd birthday with family and friends, and the kids had a nice little Halloween weekend. Abby was Raven from Teen Titans and Ollie was Pablo from The Backyardigans. I made Abby’s cape with no real pattern. Didn’t turn out too shabby, if I say so myself. I did trace the hood from her Jedi cape that she wore on Halloween when she was two. I couldn’t get it quite right, but I think it worked out. Ollie was going to be Robin, Boy Wonder, but he changed his mind a week before I started working on his costume. Good thing, too. We had just enough time to buy his costume.

IMG_3898

Happy birthday, Little Man!! We love you so much…

Raven from Teen Titans and Pablo from The BackyardigansWaiting for Dad to go outside

Visiting neighbors on Halloween

Sick Mommy Thursday

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Hard to get motivated when I’ve been a little under the weather, but life goes on. Ollie took a few pictures of me yesterday as I was trying to rest on the couch. Two-year olds don’t understand the concept of resting, and I’m not sure how to more clearly explain that “Mommy is not feeling well. Mommy is a little sick.”

sick mommy collage

He said, “I ts-icky, too, Mom! Chin mine chin, Mom. ” He doesn’t say “my”. Chinning: that’s just one of his ways of snuggling. He totally gets that way when he’s super tired or just wants to say he loves you, and I’m so glad I had a moment to capture it. I love when he smushes his little cheek onto my cheek, or his forehead against my face. It hurts a little now that he’s older, though. Thanks, Little Man, for sympathizing. I sat on the floor afterwards and played a little Candyland with him.

The upside to sitting on the couch, while the fever shivers are subdued by Tylenol, is having a little time to sketch another piece.

sketch 10-29

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