I like the scarf Lil Kim has on in the Jumpoff video. It has her name in pink on it. I bet it would be pretty easy to replicate.

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I just got back from New York City. The American Folk Art Museum was pretty neat. Their gift store had all sort of neat things. lanamano.com finger puppets, very nice letterpress stationary from Brookfield Press, and ironic days of the week dishtowels (Monday: business meeting day, Tuesday: social activism day, etc.). Most of the exhibits in this museum seem to change regularly, so I will certainly go back.

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The Martha swirled eggs are not as easy as they sound in the magazine. It works if you break up the oil a whole lot and then roll the egg around the dye just until the whole thing’s coated. Even then they don’t look quite like the pictures.

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Do you think it’s funny that an armadillo cross stitch pattern exists? I think it’s funny.

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The little purses at cutxpaste make me want to learn applique.

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Extremely silly Cork Dolls.

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These little felt-covered books

or those nice ones with the card covers and the window and the ribbon ties should be pretty easy to make.

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I’m looking through archives today. Loobylu has some awful cute felt dolls that I might just have to copy. The ones at Orange Mushroom are also very cute (harder, though). Not to mention Scary Stories, Shawnimals, Goblinko, Spasmodica, and these guys. I invoke my little neice and nephew as good cover.

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Ran across Erica Mulherin‘s site today and noticed I’ve got a bunch of illustrator-type people linked. Some of my other favorites: Lealand Eve, Jan Brett, Exploding Dog, Children’s Books, Jotto, Loobylu, Miss LJC, Nathan Jurevicius, Seonna Hong, Jim Flora.

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Another one from before I started this log. Man, duvet covers are expensive! I got Mark a feather comforter for Christmas last year, and the covers are rediculous. Sewing together 2 sheets works pretty well (I swear I did this before Martha suggested it). I got 2 king sheets (of different colors, oooh reversible) on sale at Ikea and spread them out on the floor. Then I laid the comforter on top and pinned the two sheets together around the periphery to get the size right. If you use the finished edges for 1 of the sides, then you won’t have to hem up the edges of the hole. Sew it up on three sides, and on the 4th sew in from each corner about a quarter of the length, strengthening the seam where it stops before the hole. Cut off excess material from along the seams. At each corner, on the seam allowance, sew down the middle of an 8 inch length of ribbon to make ties. (It turns out that I rarely use this feature of the duvet cover.) Turn right side out. Unless you used the finished sides of the sheet, you’ll have to finish the edges of the hole to avoid fraying. I sewed sections of ribbon along the hole as fasteners, but they don’t tend to stay tied real well. I will probably use buttons on the next one. Finally, stuff your comforter into the cover, tie the corners with the corner ties, and tie up the hole.

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