My birthday isn’t in 13 days, but somehow, two crazy girls in Manila conspired to send me an early present. Thank you, G and V, for kicking off the festivities in true Maring style. Your birthday parcel made me do a little dance in my office when the mailroom person dropped it off, and will most probably make me do the same thing in the shower! (My new gifts are Pink Martini sugar scrub and shea lotion from Klean. So THAT’S why V was asking what I thought about the yummy bath-and-body line! Sneaky!)

You girls have known me for 14 birthdays! And now that I think about it, how many cities and countries have we had to endure between us over these years (too many to count!) ? Thank you for sticking with me through it all. Frankly, when all of us ended up in Math 1 together, I knew we’d be friends for life.

Thank you again—lots of love and curly hugs from me!

You could be in Vickie Howell’s next book!

And I have to tell you that the DEADLINE’S TOMORROW (AUGUST 15)!

I only found out about this today, so I apologize for the short notice. Still, there’s enough time to cobble together a profile about yourself as a crafter. If yours gets chosen, you’ll be featured in a book Vickie plans to put together called Craft Corps, which hopes to “…focus on the community perpetuated by craft and the designers and hobbyists who feed it.”

Vickie is the uber cool, ultra-hip author of Knit Aid, Not Another Teen Knitting Book and New Knits On The Block. She’s also the host of a knitting TV series called Knitty Gritty on the DIY Network.

Here’s Vickie’s call to crafters:

As part of the content, I’m hoping to include 50-60 short profiles of crafters of all types. If you knit, crochet, embroider, decoupage, paint, sew, bead, tat, work with ceramics, collage, etc.—I want to hear from you! Whether you’ve found success selling your handmade sock monkeys on Etsy or you crochet chemo caps for charity, I want to know who you are, what you craft and why you do it.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL CRAFTERS (in fact, it’s preferable as the book’s other content will focus on that)!

I’ve been fortunate enough over the years to receive e-mails from people all over the world, sharing their favorite memory of crafting, what crafting has done for them or what got them started and how they’ll never stop. These stories–from hilarious craft mishaps to touching crafty life stories– have inspired me to collect more to share with the public, handmade community.

If you’re interested in possibly being a part of Craft Corps, please fill out the following questionnaire, cut and paste it into the body of an e-mail, and send it to: craftcorps@gmail.com as soon as possible (but no later than AUGUST 15th.)  If we’re able to use your profile, an editor will contact you directly with more info.

Thank you so much for participating! xo, Vickie

Craft Corps

Crafter Profilee Form

Name:

Age:

Location:

Profession (If you’re in school just put what level of student, ie College Student, Middle School Student, ect.):

Craft(s) of Choice:

Blog (if applicable):

Memory, Story or Anecdote related to crafting in your life (no more than 250 words):

It’s easy and painless! Here’s mine, if you’d like an example.

Name: J. Ana Fuentes Flores
Age: (Aha! I’m not posting this!)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Profession: Copy Editor
Craft(s) of Choice: sewing, quilting, jewelry-making, crochet, knitting, embroidery, fabric arts, baking and cake decorating
Blog (if applicable): www.thegirlwithacurl.com

My Crafting Anecdote (248 words):
I’m the 36th grandchild of a quilter who lived to 102 years old. Growing up in the Philippines, I watched my grandmother piece her pinwheels and Dresden blocks on a manual sewing machine until she was about 98. Many of her 12 children were crafters in one way or another, and most of her 36 grandchildren, especially the women, followed suit. All these numbers convey how, as the youngest grandchild, I often felt dwarfed by the crafting skills of the women in my family. I couldn’t start a project without thinking about how precise Tia Deding’s piecing was on her latest fan quilt, or about the delicate hand-drawn threadwork of Tia Etta’s table napkins.

For a long while, I was stumped, too intimidated to follow in their footsteps.

It was only when I came to the States five years ago that I welcomed my crafter self. As an immigrant, I came here with very little STUFF to remind me of an old life: some photographs, an old journal or two. In those early days of patching together a new life, I discovered what WAS rich in me: a history of hands picking up needles, quilting, knitting and purling, bending the will of fabrics. I finally embraced being cut from the same cloth as all the crafter-women in my family. Crafting, in all its forms, became my new home. I hope I live a full, long life just like my grandma, crafting to the groove of my own needles.

If you craft in ANY way, do it! And good luck to you!

Today’s post is brought to you by Droids Of Naboo, Inc.

Ok, so yes, I am this shy of manic because The Clone Wars hits theaters tomorrow. For someone who sported Princess Leia hair buns when she was six, this is kind of a big deal. To celebrate, here are some strange, but fun, Star Wars gadgets for the kitchen.

Cookbooks

The titles are hilarious: Wookie Cookies, A Star Wars Cookbook and Darth Malt And More Galactic Recipes. Haven’t you always had a hankering for some Boba Fett-ucine, Ewok Eats and Yoda Soda?

R2D2 Trash Can

R2 pops his dome open when you step down on his center “foot”! Now, if only they had a C-3PO dustpan…

R2D2 Peppermill

Twist his head, and R2 deposits interplanetary pepper on your Corellian Casserole. So what if you’re eating something that just came out of a robot’s butt? You’re cool like that. Haha.

Darth Vader Popcorn Maker

Sure, it’ll set you back $1,100, but come on, it’s popcorn from the dark side!

R2D2 Soy Sauce Dispenser

Intergalactic siomai, anyone?

Cookbooks from Amazon. Trashcan and peppermill from ThinkGeek. Uncrate dishes on the Sith popcorn machine, and Craziest Gadgets showcases R2’s soy sauce-dispensing skills.

May the Force be with you. Yes, even in the kitchen!

Made these for Allen’s birthday several weekends ago. We spent the afternoon staking our claim at a fire pit at Dockweiler beach. Jen lent me a beach chair so I could park myself with a book in my hands and my feet in the sand for a good three hours (I was pretty toasty) before we built a huge bonfire, to welcome the sunset with S’mores. Since cheesecake is the celebrant’s favorite, I decided to make bite-sized versions for portability and easy munching—no need for plates and forks. (We had to be extra careful because the sand got EVERYWHERE—the pizza was slightly crunchy!)

What’s interesting about these mini cheesecakes was the shortcut in the recipe for the crust. These were baked in mini muffin cups, and instead of filling each individual one with crushed graham crackers, you just pop in a Nilla wafer, dome face down. Neat, huh? And I mean that literally, because you don’t have to futz around with crumbs, so there’s less cleanup.

After filling them 3/4 full of cheesecake mixture, you chuck them into the oven and they come out nice and plump.

They cool down into little treats with a slightly concave center, ready for the filling. I chose strawberry jam and fresh strawberry slices for half the batch, and honey with fresh blueberries, walnuts and orange segments for the other half.

Bite-sized, blissful, beachy birthday treats! Care to make some of your own? HERE you go!

I have plenty of “those dresses”—gowns, outfits and ensembles that all make my breath catch in my throat—filed away in my mind. More than mere frocks, they’re works of art, and all make me wish I were a seamstress.  After seeing a “That Dress” dress, I sometimes go home and have imaginary conversations with my sewing machine: “Hey old pal, old chum, do you think maybe we can try, you and I, to sew something more than circle skirts and aprons?” (Heehee. Fact is, I can’t even sew a decent zipper!)

I’ve already written a post on That Dress in Atonement, and now adding a new one to the list. This one’s the white number that Julia Flyte (played by Hayley Atwell) sashays in at her coming-out party in Brideshead Revisited, which I saw last Saturday.

Look at all this detail—the chiffon creation has hand-beaded swallows on the bodice! Are you drooling? Because I did. I was trying not to squeal out loud in the theater. (Pics from movie’s official site here.)

Julia Flyte’s character hails from a world of sprawling homes, summers in Italy and aristocratic sensibilities, so it’s no surprise that she has gorgeous outfits like these.

It doesn’t hurt the movie that I already have a fondness for vintage wardrobe. The costume designer is Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, who is a genius in my book.

Brideshead is based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh (who I found out is actually a man—Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh!) I was reeling when I came out from the movie, much for the movie itself as for the beautiful sets, scenery and costumes. Go see it! If the chance to explore a study in human behavior in 1920’s England doesn’t convince you to, be shallow like me and go for the pretty dresses and for scenes of the breathtaking Brideshead estate. And oh yes, for Matthew Goode. I loved him in Chasing Liberty. (No snickers! He’s really cute!)

Official website, with even more juicy tidbits on the props and wardrobe, HERE.

Thank you, Ma!

- for being a big fan of my curls, sometimes even more than I am

- for always telling me, “Don’t say you can’t.”

- for understanding my “artistic outbursts” (that’s code for “pagka-alabuton”)

- for fueling my own creativity with yours (Please teach me how to tat. I know you’re been trying to teach me since I was in sixth grade, but maybe this is the year I’ll finally learn!)

- for saying, “This is my song for you,” each time you hear Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance on the radio (We both know it’s really corny, but we always sing along to it anyway!)

Happy birthday to the most interesting mother in the world. Your Girl With A Curl loves you!

(Yes, that’s me on her knee, and my brother behind her. Note that my curls are dormant, and will pounce on me like a thief in the night by the time I’m 12. And oh yeah, thanks Ma, for saving my virtue by your, er, creative hand placement!)

I found that quote online and thought it was a hilarious way to start off this post!

Several weekends ago, I was a like a kid in a candy store at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA. I found out about the event back in January and promptly marked it down in my datebook. Back then, it wouldn’t take place until months later, but I (and Mama) was jumping out of my skin and didn’t want to forget to go.

So, what happens at a quilt festival?

-    There’s usually a gallery of beautiful quilts that showcase the very best handiwork in the country. The ones I saw made me swoon.

-    There’s a fairly large vendor section that should make any craftster keel over. Bits and baubles for all the sewing projects in your head, fabric of every imaginable kind—even vintage ones!

-    There are usually classes as well, to teach you everything from cutting techniques to sewing perfect mitered corners and all that. I would’ve taken some, except I’m quite insecure about my sewing abilities. And I had nightmares about sewing my finger in public. (Don’t laugh, it’s possible, just ask my friend Via!)

Would you like to spy my stash from that crafty weekend?

FAB FABRIC
I found some with the prettiest prints from Japan (which made me think of Caryn) at a bargain bin—most were $1/half yard. I was like a maniac digging through the piles, shoving little old ladies out of the way (Well, not really, but close! They shoved first and they had CANES!) And the fat-quarter* set on the right made my heart flutter—I love those colors. I had the BIGGEST grin after I decided to get those, it was such a high. Cheaper than therapy, I tell you!

* In the quilting lexicon, “fat quarters” are ¼ of a yard, but cut into a square-ish shape that measures 18”x22”. This is a more usable shape for craftsters (especially quilters) than the standard long-ish 9”x44” piece. (Just in case you were wondering, because I would, ha!) Diagram below by Janet Wickell.

BANGIN’ BUTTONS
Ok, so these three tiny things cost more than all my fabric. Before you balk or freak, hear me out. I spent about half an hour at the Susan Clarke button stall. These babies were not the cheapest things because most were one-of-a-kind. In fact, the domed one with the clock image uses an actual print from a vintage postcard. I stared at those buttons and sighed, and stared and sighed some more. I told myself that if I were still thinking of them three stalls over, I would get them. Otherwise, I’d lose sleep and have reverse buyer’s remorse. (Is there such a thing? You know, when you regret not getting something you really wanted?) So, yeah, three stalls over, I had to go back. I think these would be great statement pieces on some purses!

You know what’s one thing you DON’T usually find at a quilt fest? People my age. Ok, so I may not the springiest of chickens, and I AM old enough to remember the heyday of Hall and Oates, Aquanet and Tretorns, but still, the crowd at the show was…how do I put this delicately…further in their years. I’ve been to other quilt shows before and this is always the case. My mom says it’s probably because these ladies have all the time in the world to dedicate to quilt-making.

I’d like to think that in this DIY age, quilting shouldn’t be such an, er, old craft! Many young craftsters out there take to clothes construction, sewing, jewelry, paper crafts and needlework (modern embroidery and knitting) but not a lot are working to keep quilting young and hip. Quilting IS a long-held tradition, but maybe, with modern fabric and designs, it can become a craft that’s loved by all.

Ah, this post was long! The weekend’s coming up, and I can’t wait to get started on a quilt of my own, hopefully something fun and hmm, less octogenarian . I hope your own weekends are happily busy!