Hello, Lover.

What could be more seductive than the sweet promise of smooth, creamy, dense cheesecake, with a good old-fashioned graham cracker crust, topped with the freshest berries, a homemade strawberry sauce and cream whipped from scratch? Nothing, I think! Like the city named after it, this dessert has me by the heartstrings. This is the only kind of cheesecake I really like. And hence the only kind of cheesecake I make.

This was to celebrate my brother’s girlfriend’s graduation. It bakes for quite a bit—I start checking at 45 minutes—and cools in the oven for at least four hours after I’ve turned it off. The slow cooling in the oven prevents cracks on top of the cake. It’s a cheesecake purist’s dream when eaten on its own.

What even made it more special is that I finally had the chance to use this beautiful handcrafted cake stand and plate made for me by my friend Sara’s dad, a true artisan in every sense. He makes awesome pottery as a hobby in Hawaii—he shapes them, hand-paints the designs himself and glazes them in his own kiln. I casually asked her one day if he’d consider custom-making a cake plate for me, not really being serious about it. She brought back two of different sizes for me after Christmas, one of which had my letter “J” cleverly built into the design. I swear I was speechless. This kind of craftsmanship deserves only the best desserts!

After decorating the top with fresh strawberries and my standard berry syrup (simple sugar + berries = awesome), I thought it needed a little something extra.

I found a bar of white chocolate in the snacks bin at home and found that with a potato peeler, you can make these elegant white chocolate shavings that complete this divine dessert.

Perfect!

Hope you have a sweet weekend, all! It’ll be a long one for us here in the US because of Independence Day, and I’ll be busy cookin’ and craftin’, but I won’t be too much of a stranger this time!

My name is J. and I’m a craft-aholic.

I’m still alive, folks! Just literally buried under fabric, yarn and flour. Sometimes I think I have to stop to blog about (insert latest crafty or culinary obsession here), but then…I don’t. When I’m knee-deep in crochet, or quilting or baking so much that all the days kind of run together in these long, craft-crazed weeks, I don’t want to lose momentum.

But there are posts to be written and blogs to visit, and I have to come up for air some time! And so, I’m jumping back in first with these curly updates on the Creative Swap (organized by Caryn) that I’ve joined.

First off, many MANY thanks to my awesome craft swap partners Fernand and Cyd. I  got this in the mail yesterday, all the way from Japan. Mini heart-shaped Hello Kitty muffin cups (which are just too cute to use), candy, green tea Kitkat and a lovely hand-painted tee done in my favorite color combination of black and pink. Beautiful!

Next are the two projects I did for two swap partners, which went out last week. I hope the recipients get it soon (one of these is a replacement and it had better get there this time!)

Bem’s Quilted Market Tote

Made with fabric I already had on had, lined with muslin. My first tote with a gusset!

Since Bem sews herself, I thought she’d appreciate something sewn as well. Made these in some of her favorite colors, with one panel of brown and pink, and the other panel of orange and yellow. For the many faces of Bem.

Sent with my favorite candy and a Simplicity craft pattern for plush, stuffed animals that she can make for her little one.

Gwen’s “Little Maddie” Doll

Because Gwen had mentioned she wanted a little doll, I found a pattern for one created by craft artist The Black Apple on Martha Stewart’s website. (If you want to try your hand at it, the pattern and cute hand-drawn instructions are HERE.)

Little Maddie was fun to make, though I have to admit her arms and legs made me want to pull my hair out and cry. They were so tiny and my big monster hands just ripped them to pieces when I’d turn them inside out.

I finally gave up and made my own. Crafting=improv. Haha. It turned out ok, yes?

Also sent with candy and a pattern for a cute peasant blouse that Gwen might want to try her hand at.

For more on this swap, Caryn’s blog is over HERE.

All in all, it’s been a couple of crazy, crafty weeks—with more ahead.

Stay tuned for more curly ramblings about:

-    a purist’s baked strawberry cheesecake that I made for a graduation party

-    fabric finds

-   discovering food in modern art

-   my current crocheted afghan work in progress

-   my awesome quilting class with Alissa at The Urban Craft Center (and I’m giving something away, too!)

I hope you’re having an awesome week. May your pots be boilin’ and your hands be busy!

My uncle sent this food quiz to me via e-mail. So much fun! I like how it has a bit of food history and information for each of the answers.

Think you know your brioche from your buckle? Try your hand at it HERE.

What do you think my score was? I can only tell you I got pretty sweet results!

With that, I hope your week’s off to a fun start!

After running all around the city to complete some yarn colors for my current crochet project, Mama takes me to Yarns Unlimited on Pico where they have two of the three colors I’m missing. The shop is small and unassuming. But it’s well-stocked and has a friendly salesman who smiles a lot and calls me “Mi hija.” And it has walls of yarn with names like “Flirt,” “Punk,” “Bella,” and “Pixie.” I am happy.

I’ve been making these for years, ever since an aunt gifted me with the cookbook Mrs. Field’s Best Cookie Book Ever (ever!). Well, she didn’t so much give it to me as I hinted, repeatedly, that I’d really really really love a copy. So, she gave me hers. Maybe more to shut me up than anything. Haha.

Jessica’s Marshmallow Clouds are made with frozen mini marshmallows that you encase in chocolate cookie dough before baking. I wish I could post pictures of how I made these, but I have to say these are a bit on the messy side to make, so my hands were full of dough! The result is a gooey chocolate cookie that’s extra soft in the middle because of the marshmallow surprise. You see a little of the yummy stuff in between breaks on tops of the cookies. Heavenly! These are among my favorite cookies to make, despite the mess.

 I made these for a recent movie date with friends. Concession stands in movie houses here charge so much for snacks—so the next best thing is to sneak some of your own in! I packaged these in individual sandwich bags, along with little snack bags of gummi worms that I had gotten in bulk. The two snackies made for awesome theater treats! 

Hope your week is off to a sweet start!

Above: Awesome, recently bought crafts book. Details HERE.

I’ve realized that I’m pretty much a craft whore. Take note that I’m not the sort of person who throws the “w” word around—you can ask my friends, who chide me for my prudishness, about this. (I even had trouble buying the book above because it has the word “ass” on it!) I’m using the word for effect, to say that I craft so much I’ll throw myself at pretty much anything that involves thread, needle, fabric and yarn. On other days my crafty vices involve scissors, paper and, even recently, animal hair! Tatting? Sure! Bobbin-lace making? Yes, please! And why wouldn’t I like to learn how to construct a lamp from woven popsicle sticks? Are you kidding me?

Whereas being this kind of crafter-of-all-needles can be gratifying, it also can wear a person out. I end up wanting to do so many things at once that I often spread myself too thin. And as you know, I bake and cook in my free time as well. And have a job to go to, and people to be friends with, and hockey games to catch and movies to see. Naku, talaga. Over.

So. I guess I’m writing this blog post to reign myself in and try to find a crafting focus, at least for the next three months. In an effort to streamline my crafting life, calm my crazed crafty self down and schedule time for each project so I enjoy the process of creating it, I will set aside all other crafts and projects in my big To-Craft List.

Over the next three months, I’m promising myself the following crafty goals:

Sewing
-    2 projects for a craft swap (can’t say what in case my partners read this blog!)
-    a coin-stack baby quilt class at The Urban Craft Center

Jewelry Making
-    3 pairs of earrings

Crochet
-    a crocheted throw/granny-square afghan

And now I can breathe!

So, I am forgoing sewing a purse, a skirt and some aprons, making more felt monsters, knitting mobious and pidge scarves, and everything else I have in my craft notebook. I guess what my dad says is about plants is true about my crafting life as well: There’s no blooming without any pruning.

I’ll post all my projects as I tackle them one by one! In the meantime, I hope your life, crafting or otherwise, is crazed as well—but in a good way.

Like most of you, Nancy Drew was one of my reading staples growing up. Remember these? I’m dating myself by saying I remember how the covers progressed through the years, but there you have it.

My childhood memories of borrowing these books from the school library and reading them like you would eat candy has now become a slight obsession. A love of books + a love of all things vintage has had me on a Nancy Neurosis! It started with this finding this set of postcards from Chronicle Books in San Francisco. I haven’t even used any of these because I love them so much. I take them out and flip through them and they make me happy. I know it’s weird getting a high from paper products, but that’s a crafter for you.

With sleuthing skills inspired by our favorite teen detective, I’ve hunted down some awesome Nancy Drew-inspired stuff for crafting and kitchenry. And I’m saving up for them because I think they’ll make great birthday gifts—for me! Haha!

Fabric

Think tote bags, a fabric clutch–the possibilities are endless! This first one is a limited-run fabric print. I wasn’t able to find it on any of the shops online that used to carry it. Finally found it on craigslist, of all places.

There are several sellers on eBay who have antique Nancy Drew book covers printed on muslin. These would be great as quilt blocks, don’t you think? Some of the very pretty samples (click on the images if you’re interested in purchasing them):

Cookbook

How can you become a really good cook?

“It’s no mystery,” Nancy Drew reveals. “You must do what fine cooks have always done—add your own special touch.”

YES, there IS such a thing! The Nancy Drew Cookbook was published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1973. It was a collection of thematic recipes, with titles like “Double Jinx Salad” and “Haunted Showboat Pralines,” using characters from the well-loved book series. Even Hannah Gruen, the Drews’ beloved housekeeper, shares some of her favorite recipes.

It was re-released in 2005, with a brand-new cover that still features a charming vintage drawing of our titian-haired detective. Currently available on Amazon.

Now the REAL mystery is when I’m going to find the time to craft and cook all these awesomely cool things!

I made yarn! Wow.

What you see above is my very first yarn skein from this past weekend’s yarn-spinning class at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica. Yes, it looks like something made by a six year old, but I’m quite proud of it. That’s four hours worth of spindling, working the treadle, listening, learning, hunching over the spinning wheel with beads of sweat forming under my curls on my forehead, quietly cursing under my breath, pulling and tugging at wool.

I’m not going to lie—it’s probably one of the hardest crafts I’ve ever tried to learn. But I think this absolutely explains how fascinated I am by it. You’re basically taking wool from a sheep and twisting it into itself, either manually with a drop spindle or with the help of a spinning wheel, to make thread, so you can use the thread to create something else. You’re working with fiber in its raw form, and you get the chance to be a true artisan and craft something from start to finish. I don’t know about you, but THAT is pretty awesome.

I’m quite horrible at spinning my own yarn. I can’t quite make the threads thin enough so they look like they’re made for a giant, I manhandle the spindle and wield it like weapon and I end up with wool all over my clothes and even in my hair. But that all didn’t stop me from trying my hand at it several times, even after the class that night in front of the TV (while re-watching Transformers, because there’s nothing like cars coming to life to get you spinning!) I’d like to think that with any craft, I hope to get better each time I try my hand at it. I just try to always remember my teacher Ana’s words: “Just keep practicing!” And the best ones yet, to make myself feel better about my knotty yarn: “It’s not supposed to look like a machine made it!”

“Spinning class” in a city like Los Angeles usually means that aerobic, sweaty thing you do at the gym. So I’ve gotten the strangest looks from people when I said that I was busy on Sunday afternoon spinning–that is, learning how to make yarn. But I’ve also had people say they want to be with me at the end of the world, like during a nuclear fallout. In case we survive, I can spin my own thread to make clothes. That makes taking yarn-spinning class worth it, strange looks and all.

By the way, I want to LIVE in The Urban Craft Center. It’s a studio space/crafts store for crafters on the west side that has all the equipment, resources and classes for all your creative twitchings.

It even has a library full of art and craft books that you can thumb through while you’re working!

I love it so much I’ve signed up to learn this Coin-Stacked baby quilt in June, and hopefully will get the chance to ask my quilting teacher how to the best finish my own quilt.

I hope to pass some crafting tips and ideas that I learn to you. And some day do a post on how yarn is actually made on a drop spindle (my hands were too busy in class to take pictures!) And some day, make enough of my own yarn, craft a big, wooly scarf with it and live to tell the tale.

Learn more about all the wonderful classes at the Urban Craft Center on their website HERE.

…is that I’m spinning yarn!

Am at a yarn-spinning class right now at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica. Enjoying myself even if I’m making the world’s ugliest yarn. Haha!

Will blog about the experience soon, after I crawl out from under all this wool!

Felt monster CYCONE says, “Eye see you!”

Making Cycone was a mini breakthrough for me. This little fellow is proof that as a crafter, you learn something new with every project. In an unprecedented moment in crafting history, I agreed to work on something with someone else, and actually really enjoyed it!

See, I’m sort of a crafting monk. I like working by myself. When I cook I’m often the only one wielding the wooden spoon/whisk/spatula. When I sew, it’s just me and the hum of the Singer. I mean, I can certainly craft with other people in the room, and can even talk to them as I flit about sewing, beating, beading and kneading. But I have to admit I have problems handing over the rolling pin after I’ve started a piecrust or watching my knitting needles in someone else’s hands on an unfinished scarf.

Chalk it up to my curls, I guess. In my culture, curly-haired people are supposed to be alabuton, an Ilonggo word that means “prone to unwarranted fits of sullenness.” This implies that my fickle moods make it difficult for me to work with anyone, especially when I’ve been seized by the malady called craft-itis.

But since I’ve always wanted to make a felt monster and didn’t know how to design one, I had to rely on someone whose needle and thread was a mouse and a computer screen. This meant turning over my felt and scissors to the Monster Maker tracing, cutting and shaping.

This design was the prototype. Felt Monster beta, if you will.

However, it was quickly decided that the design wouldn’t work, despite initial approval from the production team (me). The “tentacles” were too tiny. When the fabric was turned out, the little monster looked disturbingly unfinished because where there were supposed to be fun, tentacle-y appendages, there were sorry-looking stumps! Back to the drawing board, where a more basic conical shape was designed. (The nerd in me secretly liked the revised design better because it resembles a single straight quotation mark! I heart punctuation.)

After all the new pieces were cut (while I sat back and nervously bit my lower lip waiting for my turn at the project), I set about sewing the pieces together. Monster Maker stepped in from time to time to help stuff the body with fiberfill, arrange the facial features on the body and suggest some stitches and colors for thread that would deliver maximum monster effect.

It was WEIRD working with someone like that! But somewhere in the middle of all that needling (both figurative and literal), I realized, why hey, I can actually do this! I’m all grown up now! Haha.

Cycone’s first Monster Mission is to watch over little Noah. Here you see he’s doing a darn fine job! Hee.

I have a lot more felt left, along with the discovery that it’s never too late for an old crafter to learn new stitches. There will definitely be more monsters to come!

Many curly thank you’s to E. for being a monstrously patient craft partner-in-crime. We will one day take the felt monster world by storm. All their base are belong to us. Hehe.