The Month of Love

In this gritty city finding frill is a little like looking in a "where's waldo" picture book. If you look really closely, that striped red tunic and tuke will glare right at you. Bless these urban artists and their creations for bringing a little bit of romance to the concrete jungle.

  

While, my creations may not be worthy of sidewalk art or wall murals, I like to do my part to celebrate the month of love. This year, I decided to get crafty with ric rac and ribbon and make some placemats. Frilly and functional. Again, I don't have enough photos for a full tutorial (and apologies for the iphone photos), but I found this one the other day (which I didn't use, but why reinvent the wheel when there is already a fabulous step-by-step out there?)

After pre-washing my material, 3 yards of heavy red canvas that I picked up at one of the many fabric stores in the Fashion District, and the ric-rac from my favorite (Daytonna Trimming). I used a store-bought placemat as a pattern and cut out 16 rectangles for 8 placemats, traced a bowl on the corners with tailor's chalk and then cut them into curves for added femininity. Each placemat got it's own hand-stiched, lovey-dovey message. (I also used the tailor's chalk to write the messages and pictures before I attempted to embroider.)

I didn't knot the thread so that it would lay flat, but I was worried that over time after washing the stiches might get loose. I ironed a little bit of interfacing to the back of each message to *hopefully* fix this. At least it gave me some peace of mind. Then I pinned the ric-rac between the front and the back (right sides together) and stiched around the edges, leaving about a 5 inch gap open to pull the right sides out. But don't turn it until you've notched the the seam allowance on the curves. It lays some much better if you do. And it's easier to top stiched.

Top stiching. I ran out of heavy duty red thread mid-way through. PS Fabric is my go to for this product at $1.80 a spool, so I had to wait (they aren't open on Saturdays) until after the weekend to restock and finish.

I rather like how they turned out and our table looks festive, like a handmade valentine.

Bon Chandeleur!

N'oublie pas des crepes aujourd'hui.

February second is not just for groundhogs. It's for tossing crepes too! Tossing them over your shoulder into a cupboard while holding something of value in each hand and leaving it there all year...all in the name of good luck. It has to be the first crepe, which is fine by me--it never really turns out right anyway.

Yum!

(Yes, that is our Christmas tree stand on top of our kitched cabinet. Don't judge. We live in NYC.)

Not Your Mama's Flute

Wow! Maybe I still have some band geek left in me, but I'm totally inspired by this guy. Tim and I have been "jamming" together on the flute and guitar, as one of our New Year's resolution, and I wanted to show him how the flute can be cool. So we looked up Ron Burgandy's flute solo on YouTube, which lead to a search for "Jazz Flute" and we found Dirko Juchem. 

Dirko, where can I learn to play the flute like that?!? And after that, I could take some lessons on videography ;). 

what's in a name?

There seems to be new press on my Church published daily. And understandable so, what with (up until recently) two high-profile members vying for the GOP presidential nomination. Some of you may have seen this cover not too long ago...I happened to spot it on the coffee table of a doctor's office waiting room. (I found the image here, her comment on the cover art is good for a chuckle.)

One of the senior execs on my team (who I don't directly assist and happens to be from New Zealand and is very boisterous--just to help paint the picture) plopped himself down in the chair next to me this morning and excitedly said, "I have just found out some wonderful news about you, and that is that you're a Mormon!" He went on to say that one of his clients is Zions Bank, a detail which I knew, and that he probably knows more about our faith than the average person AND that he teaches the high school aged Sunday School class at his church. He gave me a clipping from today's New York Times titled, "Why Evangelicals Don't Like Mormons."

新年快樂

It is the year of the dragon, but I was born in a sheep year...and here is my horoscope for 2012.

You are connecting to the dragon year quite well. Hence there will be luck for you, together with new projects and opportunities. New projects and opportunities are on the horizon. You will succeed in the fields of medicine, art and design. Your money signs are strong, and investments will do well. New sources of income are on their way. In general, your relationships will be good. An older man will help you. Pay attention to your digestive system. Eat healthily.

Highlights for people born in sheep years:

(specific to my birth year) Things you do tend to be ups and downs. Hence be conservative. If you are employed, stay put. If you are self-employed, do not expand.

Of course, there will always be new projects on my horizon. In fact, I'm hoping that my hubby will have time between classes this week to pick up a rocker/recliner that I saw at the thrift store on the local Army base that I am dying to reupholster. I even have the fabric already (I used it for the big pocket on the inside of my new shoulder bag).

As for everything else, it sounds pretty good to me. I don't even mind the warning to be conservative. Well, 2012, year of the dragon --  bring it on!