Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

I made THESE cookies tonight. Yum!

Many Misfits Imaginary

My book is done and for sale on Lulu as of about an hour ago!!
If you look to the right of the screen you will see the link where you can preview and purchase it.
Or just click HERE

Sebille, The Spring Fairy

Sebille has been very busy. There's so much to do for a little Fairy during the Spring. So many new flower buds needing to be opened, so many trees that need to wake up again...

Lil' Mizjah

With a face only a troll mother could love, this little guy will find his way into your heart like he found his way into my clay. I was planning on making a human baby, but as the clay came to shape, I sort of started to fall for this little troll baby. Most everyone's reaction has been "Ewww... actually that is pretty cute in an ugly sort of way!"
Don't worry, Mizjah has thick skin, but whoever adopts him better not have any pets, I noticed he has a tooth coming in!

Dear Jane Letter...

Here is my latest recycled wine cork doll.
Her name is Jane. She just got a letter from her boyfriend that reads, "I'm sorry, it's not you, it's me..."


Her body is a recycled wine cork. The rest is Polymer clay, some yarn, and old wrapping paper. Her headband is from a clothing tag and an old crystal from the junk jewelry drawer.

A weekend of firsts...

My dad just went home after spending the weekend with us. It was kind of a last minute, we have air-miles that need to be used before they expire and you have time off, kind of trip. But I was really excited to see him, and we made good use of our time.

I thought it would be fun to make it a weekend of "Firsts" for him.

Here is a short lists of the firsts.
He had his first massage at my office by the very talented Toni. I think we got him hooked.

I got him his first pedicure at my favorite salon. That was kind of fun to watch because he kept squirming. Who knew he was so ticklish!

I made him eat Calamari for the first time. He said it was, "Different" but seemed to like it. He didn't have seconds though.

He was one of the first people to see the inside of the new Crocodile!

He saw Jon play solo for the first time in said Crocodile.

He watched them making a video of the performance.

I took him to Dick's drive-in for the first time.

We went to the butterfly house for the first time. He had a butterfly hitch a ride on him for most of the visit.

We discovered a great new art store in the U-District, so that one was a first for me as well.

None of it was bungee jumping from the Space Needle, but it was a lot of fun. Also, the sun was shining all weekend! It didn't even sprinkle for the first time until he was about to leave. That is kind of a first! Usually when he visits, it rains the whole time!

My only complaint was that the weekend didn't last longer.

Part two...

The kitten is no longer a kitten. I think he might be bigger than Buddy now. He certainly weighs more!

Whose bed is it??

Our boys reminding us who actually runs the place.

Doodle blog: A conversation...

If you ever get back to Hackensack...

Meet The Mills

Here is my first custom cake topper. This is more of a gift to celebrate 22 years of marriage between my lovely friends, Mark and Suzy Mills. It was also great practice! http://www.dreamingviola.etsy.com

Here is the original (I stole it from Suzy's flickr)

And their clay characters

Now for sale!

I'm selling my wedding cake toppers online now. I can either sell the ones I have already made or I can take custom orders and create a topper that looks like the happy couple. These would also be great for anniversary parties or birthday cakes.
Here is my store: http://www.dreamingviola.etsy.com

Happy Birthday Mr President...

OK, two things happened. First, I realized that I put Marilyn's mole on the wrong side, so I fixed that. Then, I thought she looked lonesome, so I made her a John Kennedy of her very own! Here he is with a tiny champagne glass being serenaded by Miss Monroe.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...

Here are today's installments of "Things I made on my days off from work"

Mini Marilyn Monroe

The Happy Couple - cake topper

SMOOCH!

Trio

Lil' Red

Blossoms...

Little Sakura:

A Rose For Emily:

Duet

Spirit in the bottle.

Here are more wine spirits in better detail. (I took the photos with my fancy new camera!)


The idea is, that every bottle has a different personality or spirit. That is why each of these are a little different.

Back detail:

Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand...

I just finished this little recycled doll project I've been working on.
Here are a few pictures of her.

This is just before I made her dress:

I call her, Tiny Dancer.

She is made of Polymer clay, a wine cork for her body and her dress is leftover wrapping paper that was sprayed and molded into a skirt and hat.

"Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand..."
-EJ

In my head there are Wine Spirits and Robots...

I made some really fun stuff today. I love how they all turned out.

These are the Wine Bottle Spirits. I have been trying to find a crafty way to use the corks I've been collecting, and today I did! I LOVE these ladies so much. The photos do not do them justice. I'm very proud of them.


Back:
And then, do you remember this guy from a while back?



He was one of my favorites, so I remade this drawing in Sculpey:
Even the worm is smiling! Isn't he too cute?
And I made a tiny robot charm as well. Here is the whole gang together.
I wish I could get a better photo of the grape detail in their hair. It is really cool looking.

There is something exciting happening...

over at www.emandherbrother.com today!

"My Christmas" - A photo blog

This is basically what our Christmas has looked like so far:

Moo says, "Peek-a-boo!"

Ri-i-i-i-pppppppp!

YES!!!!!!!!!

Are you ready?

Cheese!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD YEAR!

Em & Her brother 2009 calendar is here!

Just click HERE to order!!


"OK, this is the part where you are supposed to slide down the chimney..."

Big Love Santa

For all of my family, cyber friends and people just stopping by; I made this for you! Happy holidays!

Snail & Lolly

Today we have seen more snow than I have ever seen in Seattle. It is cold, and slippery out there. I've opted to stay indoors and do productive things. I'm four pages away from that children's book I promised earlier this year, and I finished the Em & Her Brother 2009 calendar. Who knew that all I needed was a snow day?

Mama's guide to surviving the recession ...

I know a lot of people are worried about money these days, maybe a lot more than they used to be. Since I was a young, single mother once upon a time, I'm a champ at spending less. I thought I would share some of my favorite money saving tips, because, as Ben Lee would say, "We are all in this together."

Cocktail hour: Bars are expensive. No doubt about it. Going out drinking with your friends can easily cost you $40-60-even $80 in a few short hours. I have a few tips to let you still go out and have a good time, but not wake up with a hangover and an empty bank account.
Bring cash. Put a certain amount of cash in your wallet and promise yourself that is all you will spend. If you have no will power after a drink, leave your plastic at home. Even if you end up taking a cab, and have no cash left, you can always have them wait a second while you run in and get your card.
Be your own mixologist. There are a few bars that my friends like to frequent because of the atmosphere. You know the place. It has all the right people, music, lighting, art, etc... The problem with these places is that a simple well cocktail will cost you $9, add the tip, that is $20 for two small cocktails!! (And that isn't even the good stuff!)
Enter the mini. You know, those cute little airplane bottles of booze? You can buy them at your local liquor store for under $2 each. You can even get top shelf stuff for $3! My drink is Vanilla Vodka and Diet Coke. I will throw one or two of those in my purse, and order Diet coke. Some bars don't even charge for soda, but if they do, it isn't usually over $2, add a tip, that is $3, plus $2 for the mini, you have saved $4!!

Dinner Time: Over the years, I've had times where I had to get really creative about stretching my food budget. I've learned that having these ingredients in my cupboard at all times will guarantee that I can always put a hot meal on the table. The root of all of my favorite low rent meals are:
Frozen mixed veggies (My favorite is the carrot, broccoli, cauliflower mix)
Cream of mushroom condensed soup
Cream of chicken condensed soup
Johnny's Seasoning Salt
Buy them on sale

Coffee: I had to give up my $5 a day latte habit. These days, I allow myself a latte twice a week. Invest in a couple of really nice travel mugs and a coffee maker. If you have a few travel mugs, you won't be able to convince yourself to buy coffee "Because your mug is dirty" or because you "forgot it at the office"

Pizza: There comes a time where even the thriftiest person just needs to order delivery. This is the one time where I think coupons are amazing. We get them in the mail, and I always flip through for the best pizza coupons. I keep them in the file where we keep the menus. You might also keep in mind that frozen food companies have tried really hard to be competitive and have improved the quality of their products quite a bit over the years. Frozen pizza is pretty comparable to delivery nowadays and you can usually buy it on sale, two for one. If you always keep a couple in the freezer, you will never have to order delivery again! You can also pimp out frozen pizza with your own fresh toppings. It still cost less than delivery and tastes just as great!

Clothes: Buy all new clothes in-between seasons. Stores need to clear out for the new season and everything goes on the clearance. The best prices are in early January because stores need to clear out everything they can before they do inventory and pay taxes. Whatever they still have in stock during tax time, they have to pay for, so they are really motivated to move.
Mid to the end of January is also the best time of year for any big purchases. Last year we bought a couch that was originally priced at over $1100 for around $500.

Money: I have a strict "NO PLASTIC" policy. I spend what I have, not a penny more. It is as simple as that. If you have the willpower to keep an emergency card, keep it in a safe, out of your wallet. Better yet, keep it with your parents, so you have to get the info from them if you ever have the urge to impulse buy.



Happy saving!

Don't judge me...

but I think I actually love him MORE now.

In no particular order...

I don't typically do year end lists, but here I am, bright and early on a Friday morning making a list. I think I've been inspired by all of the gift idea themed morning shows that have been playing in the background all morning.

Music: The two musicians that I "discovered" in 2008 are Ben Lee and Joshua Morrison. I've probably listened to more of them than anyone else in the last three hundred and fifty something days.

Television: Mad Men is the best show on television. Hands down. It has been a long time since I last had a TV show that I was truly excited to watch each week. This show has everything. It doesn't hurt that the cast is easy on the eyes and the costumes are amazing. I wish people still dressed like that every day!
Runners up: I think I would add 30 Rock to this list if I had seen more of it. So far I have really enjoyed every episode I've watched, but I have not had a chance to catch up with the series yet. Maybe in 2009?
Also, I really liked Pushing Dasies for how it is shot, the costumes, the cast and the set designs, but I think the writers strike killed the show. This season makes it seem like it might have been better off as a one season show. I read it was canceled, so I suppose I am not the only one who thinks this.

Books: I will admit that I got sucked in by the Twilight series in 2008. I read all four books in August and even went to the book release party. I won't say they were the best books of 2008, but they did keep my attention this summer. I'm a total sucker for a sexy vamp.
The other books I really got into this year were all about Tudor history. I found a book in a thrift store about King Henry viii and his six wives and became obsessed. I read everything I could find. I am now a walking encyclopedia on Tudor history, but I didn't have one particular favorite book.

Movies: This is a hard one. There is not one stand out movie. I though Tropic Thunder was hilarious, but it was not what I would consider the greatest movie of the year, it was the funniest movie for sure, but not one I could watch more than twice.
I recently rented Mrs Pettigrew Lives for a Day with my daughter and we both really, truly enjoyed it. I think I would consider that my favorite of the last four months.
I've seen several movies I really wanted to be my favorite, but they all fell short of my expectations. Mrs Pettigrew is the only one I walked away from pleasantly surprised. I guess 2008 was not the greatest year for movies.

Other 2008 discoveries:
Mrs Meyer's Basil scented soap- Everything about this is YUM!
O.N.E. Coconut Water
Synergy Kombucha tea- my favorite flavors are Mystic Mango and Cosmic Cranberry.
Febreze Air Effects: Vanilla & Baking scented air effects. Turns out this one only comes out during the holidays, but it is my favorite room freshener.
SoapNet on the weekends (Mostly because they play all of the old school 90210 episodes every morning. It reminds me of the 90's in a good way.)
Gossip Girl. Yes, I got sucked in.
iluvuma.com - I want just about everything on this site.
The Triple Door - The only place I ever want to see live music in Seattle again. (Unless they re-open The Croc.)
The Tudors - A very fun series that covers my favorite part of history.
Sweet Riot Dark Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs - YUM!!
HUE: Faux Fishnet Pantyhose - I love them and I think they look great on everyone. I was SO sad when they stopped carrying them at Nordstrom. I bought out every pair they had left. At least I can still find them online!
and
Hugh Jackman. No explanation needed.