enJOY it

weekend links / 05.

February 8, 2014

As part of my word WHOLE this year, I want celebrate the work of others by sharing links to my friends, possible friends and complete strangers who are doing great things on the Internet. This is some of the rad stuff I recently saw online…

such a simple & modern DIY mobile.

thanks to Design*Sponge I found a few new Instagram accounts to crush on.

my parents got Paul a coffee subscription for Christmas and we love it.

love Summer's take on welcoming baby #2.

pretty sure I'll enjoy this craft book.

I related to this article and think the relationship advice shared is just fantastic.

how to cut a photo mat.

Little Pitterpat shoes were recommended to me after I complained about baby socks falling off all the time. We now have this pair and E wears them every day.

using fabric scraps to make a blanket border.

I'm not usually big on tons of colors in one project, but this cowl wins.
around here.

February 7, 2014

Ellerie had her first stomach bug this week and it was just awful for all three of us. I spent most of yesterday doing laundry and feeling nervous that it would return, but it seems like we're all clear. To celebrate we're signing off early and catching up on cuddles and sleep. This weekend, Paul has both Saturday and Sunday off which is rare and amazing. Three cheers for health & family time.

Have a great weekend.
playing with the waterlogue app.

February 6, 2014

This past week I discovered the waterlogue app (so far just available on Apple products) and I'm having way too much fun with it. It takes your phone photos and turns them into pretty sweet watercolor "paintings." In Paul's words, the human faces look "creepy" – I think it's the eyes – but the results are pretty amazing regardless.

You can play with all sorts of different watercolor "techniques" (just like you'd play with filters) and the images are saved as high resolution so I imagine they would print pretty well. I have a few different projects in mind for how I want to get images like this off my phone and into my house.

tons more info here. I am in no way affiliated with this app, just wanted to share.
adventures in water marbling / part 2.

February 5, 2014

I was pretty pleased with how my marbled cards turned out, but it wasn't until I had cleaned up all the supplies that I had the idea to try on some 3D objects.

I got everything back out and sacraficed a few white vases (bought on Target clearance last fall) to the cause. Figuring, per usual, that the very worst that would happen is it wouldn't work.

But hooray! It worked.

I used the same exact technique to swirl the nail polish and then I just rolled the vase on the surface of the water (remember to wear gloves!). The paint swirls came right up and adhered to the sides. Afterwards, I lightly patted on the vase in the places where the nail polish was a tiny bit clumpy. I found that if I got polish in a place I didn't want it or it smudged, I was able to remove it with a bit of nail polish remover and a cotton ball.

This method, because of the rolling, took a bit more effort, but the results were so fun. I found a bunch of small white bowls at Goodwill and marbled them (see totally addicting).

Since I used nail polish for the paint, I wouldn't use these for food, but they're perfect "catch-all" dishes for jewelry, keys and washi tape.

The trick with this project, is to be flexible. It's hard to make this look exactly like how you hope and so you have to just enjoy whatever you get. But practice makes better and the results are surprisingly cool.
winter book report.

February 4, 2014
Alright…last time I shared I was reading Pilgrims, short stories by Elizabeth Gilbert. I got about halfway through and stopped. Short stories are not my favorite, apparently. And I tried The Woman in White and couldn't get into it. I'll try again in another life season for sure.

Here are some of the more notable books that I did get through in the past few months…

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. I found this to be such a smart and funny memoir. Yep, I laughed out loud. Yep, I read parts out loud to Paul. But deeper than that, I loved how often Mindy mentioned her parents. It was clear that their relationships were special and influenced her greatly. This was notable to me because I, too, consider my parents my best friends and I hope to cultivate the same feelings of mutual respect with Ellerie. I also thought her section about marriage and how married people need to stop complaining that "marriage is work" was profound. There is no doubt that my marriage is something I "work on" but I choose to do it daily and I absolutely don't want to complain about that.

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. this book was recommended to Paul by one of his co-workers. Paul is currently a radiology resident and his goal for the next four years is to get really good and really familiar with what "normal" looks like in the human body and then be able to spot accurately and quickly when something is slightly amiss. Basically, it's intense memorization. This book was about building and training our memories and the crazy capacity the human brain has for storing images. I found most of it totally facisnating (and a few bits boring – I skimmed some longer of the historical parts). Overall, worth the read for sure and I picked up some memory training party tricks. (Don't you totally want to be at a party where people bust out memory tricks? No? Just me then?)

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I picked this up at the library because it was by the same author as my beloved The Time Traveler's Wife. When I got home I looked it up on amazon and saw the reviews were not great. (I shouldn't have done that.) It was …interesting. But not in that magic way where you're totally into it and can't get enough of it. I was mildly intrigued, if that makes any sense. I had to know what happened, but was at the end more let down than anything else. It was haunting and depressing but also well-written. I don't know. I guess I'm torn. Bottom line is that I loved The Time Traveler's Wife and I didn't love this.

Currently on my nightstand is The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver and I'm 692nd in line for one of the 77 copies of The Goldfinch in the San Diego public library system.

What are you reading?

For past book reports from me check here, here, here, and here.

Other posts you might enjoy:
adventures in water marbling / part 1.

February 3, 2014

Have you ever gotten lost on Instagram? It starts by clicking on the popular page and the next thing you know, an hour has passed and you're wrapped up in some drama involving two thirteen year old girls, a boyband and a heavy use of emojis. It's never good but always enthralling.

This is how I stumbled on the #barbienails hashtag and discovered "water-marbling" with nail polish. People do insane things with nail-polish. I had no idea. And while I wasn't interested in trying this on my nails, I decided to experiment with the technique on paper.

For supplies I used a small plastic container filled with warm water. (The water temperature is key. If the water is too cold or too hot, the nail polish "dries" too quickly on the surface and will not properly swirl.) I also gathered folded cardstock, a variety of nail polish colors and a bunch of toothpicks. Not pictured, but necessary were some rubber gloves; this gets messy.

Then I just poured some polish in various colors into the water and most of it floated to the top. I learned quickly that a little goes a long way.

I used a toothpick to drag the paint around the surface. If the paint just sort of clumps together on the toothpick or gets wrinkly, try adjusting the water temp (making it a little warmer or a little colder). When the temp of the water is right, you you'll be able to play with patterns and swirls. (Much like Instagram, it's totally addicting.)

When I was happy with the design, I stuck a folded card onto the water surface and lightly pushed it (there is no need to fully submerge it). After a second or two, I carefully pulled it up (wearing gloves).

The result was awesome. The paint stuck to the cards…

…and my plastic dish was now ready for more paint.

Seriously, so fun and addicting. I let the cards fully dry and tucked them into my crazy stash of envelopes. I loved experimenting with this technique and I ended up using it again on a few different materials… look for that in part two.

ps. nail-polish works, but a "real" way to do this on fabric with paint is explained here in an awesome tutorial on the Etsy blog.
weekend links / 04.

February 1, 2014

As part of my word WHOLE this year, I want celebrate the work of others by sharing links to my friends, possible friends and complete strangers who are doing great things on the Internet. This is some of the rad stuff I recently saw online…

loving the @morningslikethese Instagram account.

"Innovation is saying 'no' to 1,000 things." – wisdom from Steve Jobs.

I'm often asked where I found my thin gold ring… here's a similar 14k gold one.

a gorgeous free printable calendar.

ten simple yoga poses for common discomforts.

stunning photography in this helpful watercolor tutorial.

aaaand more gorgeous photos in this three part beginner's knitting tutorial.

I really don't need stickers, but these are rad.

wonderful tips for the aspiring writer.

this beautiful rug has inspired my next quilting project.

welcoming February with a sale : save 28% on my quilting eCourse with code "FEBRUARY" from now until the end of the month.
a simple but life changing indoor plant tip.

January 31, 2014

I have five hanging plants in my house right now. Three in our bedroom and two in our office. I love them an inappropriate amount. But they were always a hassle to water until my mom came up with the most genius idea.

Just throw a few ice cubes in there.

It's perfect. The ice melts slowly, giving the plant and dirt time to properly absorb the water. Ice cubes are drip free and spill proof. And best of all, I can reach up and drop in an ice cube (I can't just reach up and pour in water).

I love this idea so much that I've started throwing ice in all the plants. I just walk around the house with the tray and drop one cube in with the small plants and two in with the big ones about once a week. It's been months since I've had to hold a plant funeral so this is totally working. Thanks, Mom!

ps. another tip…turn your plants every few weeks or they'll grow toward the sun (like that one in the last photo) and here are a few more tips for raising indoor plants.
one little word in january.

January 30, 2014

My word for this year is WHOLE. It feels so much more abstract than my past words. Whole what? Whole personal life? Whole business life? The "Whole-y" Grail a.k.a the impossible "balance" between the two? Whole body? Whole grains? Whole house decorated?

Yes, please. All of the above. I am not sure where this word is headed, but in January I implemented two new habits (okay three if you count the mornings project) in an attempt to bring in more WHOLE (or maybe a better term is complete) living.

The first habit is public and it is my weekend links series.

I decided to make this part of my blogging routine because while I cannot keep the negativity off the Internet, I can focus on the positive stuff. It's easy to be anonymous and attack or nit-pick existing content. It's hard to be authentic and generate new content. I'm celebrating the hard.

I've learned through years of reading blogs and writing my own that competition online is more imagined than real. There is not a limit to the amount of great content that can be shared with the Internet. In fact, there is always plenty of room for thoughtful, honest and unique content. The "better" one blog does, the better the whole community does. This past month I have been actively seeking out more good stuff and, perhaps surprisingly, it's making me feel less competitive.

The second habit is personal and pretty much the opposite.

I am working on not taking my iPad or iPhone to bed. I've realized that reading blogs, looking at Instagram or scrolling Pinterest before I go to sleep makes my mind whirl. And not in the good way. There is a noticeable difference in how long it takes me to fall asleep on the nights that I read a book (on paper not my kindle app) and the nights that I read online content.

After the constant online refresh and continuous waterfall of all so many images and ideas, I find myself totally hyped up and tend to toss and turn. After paging through an actual book, I feel calmer and am generally asleep within minutes after I put it down. Obviously, good, restful sleep is a huge priority and this habit switch (which has been embarassingly hard to break!) is for the best. What I really need is an alarm clock that is not an app on my phone. Then I'll be able to keep the devices out of my bedroom completely.

So that's my progress on WHOLE so far and my attempt to make this abstract concept a little more literal. I am celebrating the content generators by day and eliminating the noise at night.
Lesson 4 : Use up that washi tape

January 29, 2014

I love washi tape. It’s so versatile. The pattern combinations and colors are endless. It seems like it’s sold everywhere. It’s not cheap, but it doesn’t break the bank either so it’s easy to collect. I use it all the time to decorate packages, close envelopes, secure stuff to my wall and wrap gifts. But in order to really get through roll after roll of washi tape, you have to do more than just stick one thing to another.

LAYOUT ONE | Washi tape is a perfect way to create your own patterned paper. For this first layout, I adhered washi in a diagonal line over and over again until I had filled an 8.5×11 page. I choose tape patterns that fit within a color scheme (red, gold and yellow).

I left a few “breaks” in the pattern to add my handwritten journaling (this is the best part about customizing your own pattern paper!). Then added my photos on top of the tape at the same diagonal and used my sewing machine to stitch them into place. The giant ampersand was something I had been hanging onto for way too long and this was the perfect excuse to finally use it.

LAYOUT 2 | You can also use small pieces of washi to fill a page or create large-scale patterned embellishments.

For this layout, I free-hand cut a large heart out of cardstock – you could do any shape or even a large number or initial. Because washi is pretty transparent, it’s a good idea to use a light colored cardstock.

Then I used small pieces of tape, about 1-2 inches long to cover the heart. I started at the top and layered the tape down until it was full.

I printed out a photo that had a lot of “white space” or portion of the image where without the main subject and covered the extra space with the heart. I adhered my photo to cardstock and added my journaling around the outside edge of the photo.

To finish things off, I machine-stitched around the photo border and added a letter sticker initial to the heart.

Covering simple shapes with tape is also a great way to make gift tags or handmade card embellishments.