Wow!

Do I have some great blog buddies or what?!?

You guys are the BEST!

I’ve had three emails offering to send the Pumpkin Spice instant coffee I’ve been looking for! And I have three bundles of wool cut. Wonderful! Thanks so much for all of your great comments on my last few posts. I will be sure to give you generous coffee senders a huge shout-out as I receive them! Thanks so much! : )

I have two new needlebooks in the shop:

Hi there! Hope you all had a good weekend.

This past Friday was a big day for both Josh and I… but for different reasons.
Apple released Mac OS X Leopard, so Josh had plenty of fun computer-ing this weekend. And I got to attend a local twice yearly fabric and button sale, so I had plenty of fun fabric-ing this weekend : )

About a year and a half ago, while Josh and I were walking to our favorite coffee shop, we passed a row of buildings that we had passed (uneventfully) many, many times before. But on that day, there was a sign in one of the windows that read “Buttons! Buttons! Buttons!” and you know, my sewing radar must have been on because I spotted that sign immediately.

Now, I’m not usually a nosey parker, but I had to know what “Buttons! Buttons! Buttons!” meant. So, I took a deep breath and walked up to the door of the building and stepped inside.

Holy Cow! There were two entire rooms filled with buttons! And I don’t mean a couple of tables with bowls of buttons. I’m talking about floor to ceiling, carded buttons including vintage 1800’s to Japanese to bakelite, etc, etc… basically any kind of button you could ever imagine. Two rooms full.

I handed my coffee to Josh and mumbled: “You may want to go on home. I’m going to be here for awhile.” I was there for hours. Me and several other women just poured over cards and cards and cards of buttons. Heaven.

Two things happened that day that really changed Jenn Maruska Design and my whole creative process. First - I found the little hedgehog buttons that I eventually used to make these sewing sets.

That is where I believe my interest in embroidery really took off. I had done embroidery before, but I think this is when I decided that I wanted to include it in some way in most everything in my shop.

The sale is run by a local clothing designer. She has twice yearly sales where she offers remnants of her fabrics and buttons and trims to the public, inorder to make room for her new supplies.

The second thing that changed Jenn Maruska Design was that I got on the mailing list for future sales.

When the next sale happened I went and found that this time she was destashing all of her winter wools (as well as more buttons). And this is where I first bought the beautiful high-end wool that I now use exclusively to make my needlebooks.
I will never use anything less.

This past friday was her winter sale - so she had mostly cotton fabrics, trims and buttons. There were a few pieces of wool though, and I brought some home with me:

I bought all of the little hedgehog buttons that she had left, which weren’t many. But now I’ll be able to make a few more hedgie sets in the future. I also got some little glass mouse buttons, too.

This is a vintage French trim that I got for $3.
I probably won’t ever work up the nerve to cut it!

While Josh was computing this weekend, I reorganized my wool supply. I found that there were some colors that I have quite a bit of. So I cut some 5″ x 5″ squares.

I think later this week I’m going to offer a couple of these bundles in my shop.
There will be 10 pieces in each. These are the exact same wools* that I make my needlebooks out of and use for applique. (* the white square is woolblend felt.)

But first…. ever since Ginny blogged about finding General Foods International instant coffee in Pumpkin Spice Flavor… I have been on the lookout for some. This past weekend I went to a grocery store that I never go to looking for it. But to no avail. So. I am offering one of my 10 piece wool stacks to anyone who will mail me a tin of said Pumpkin Spice Flavor GFIC. Unopened, of course. You pay for the coffee and shipping. And as soon as I receive it I’ll send you the wool (and some other little goodies!) and pay for shipping on that. You can see a photo of the tin HERE. If you’re interested in this swap - just go to my profile and send me an email.
: )

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In Orchid Watch 2007 news: we have blossoms!

They have just started to open.
You can see that they are a dark red and pretty orange color.

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And last, but not least. I recently went over to BuyHandmade.org and pledged to buy as many handmade items for the holidays (instead of mass produced) as possible. We did pretty good last year - with about 50% of our Christmas gifts coming from Etsy and local artists. I’m hoping to exceed that % this year!

Every other Thursday Josh and I have a small box of organic produce delivered.
We aren’t big veggie eaters on our own - so this kind of forces us to include some green stuff in our diets.

It’s starting to become a routine, that on “box day” I spend the afternoon in the kitchen. And I am really enjoying it.

This week’s box included one lonely pomegranate.
What on earth do you do with one pomegranate??
Well, I got on the computer and went to the Food Network
and found a recipe for Pomegranate Cosmos (sounds yummy!).
And it just so happens to be a recipe from one of my favorite cooks: Ina Garten.

But the recipe calls for pomegranate juice.
(As I glance over at my whole pomegranate,
with it’s delicious little seeds all hidden in the rind).
Hmmmmm. What to do?

Fortunately, some clever person has figured out an easy way to extract the juice.
And I will share the technique with you.

First: cut off the top of the fruit (this is the pointy end, that resembles a crown).
Then use a knife to cut slashes down the sides (maybe 5 times, don’t be afraid to cut into the fruit - you’ll barely hit the seeds).

Second: put on a pair of kitchen gloves (this is to protect your hands from any random sharp parts but more importantly to keep your hands from being stained by the juice) and immerse the fruit in a medium bowl filled with water.
Gently pull the fruit apart and separate the seeds from the pith.

Here’s the cool part: the pith and the skin all float and the seeds sink to the bottom!

Lastly: throw out everything that floats and put the seeds in a blender. Blend them up, and pour onto a cheesecloth lined strainer over a bowl. In a short amount of time, you’ll have your juice. And, the instructions that I followed stated that one pomegranate will yield about 1/2 cup of juice. I got that amount exactly.

And here is the end result - yum! *

(* I found this cosmo to be good, but pretty strong… I would almost double the amount of pomegranate juice. I guess Ina likes to party alittle harder than I do ; )

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I also made cakey chocolate chip cookies from Martha’s Special Cookie Issue 2005. I’ve made these before… they are fool proof.

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And last but not least - to go with pan seared cod for dinner, I made basil pesto from Jamie Oliver’s cookbook: Jamie’s Dinners.

Two of my birdy business card wallets are in my shop.

Have a great Tuesday!

These will soon be new business card wallets. I’ve sold a few in recent weeks - I wonder if folks are buying them as stocking stuffers? I think they’d be perfect for that - they’re a good stocking stuffer size, at a great price.

I think these are my favorites - this birdy trim is from Japan. So simple and pretty.
I added rick-rack for a little extra color.

I got the fronts sewn onto this next group of needlebooks.
Can you tell that I like earthtones?

And here is a small army of snowmen ornaments, in their early stages.
About three more sets.

So that’s the secret! Now you know.

So what are you waiting for?
Throw on a jacket, go to the grocery and get yourself a chicken!

Your family will love you.

And you may find some time to be creative!

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!

I think this is more of a “Significant Ice Event”,
rather than a “Significant Wind Event”!

Exciting news for Orchid Watch 2007: our little blossoms have pushed away from the stem and are getting bigger each day. They will be a dark shade of red when they are in full bloom. The excitement in the Maruska household is palpable!
Stay tuned for the latest updates!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

These little snowmen are now in my shop.

Last night Josh and I were talking about all the things we have to do this weekend and realized that the only time he’d have to photograph my new shop items would be tomorrow morning. So, that means I have to get everything I want photographed completed today. I will be very, very busy! But before the sewing frenzy begins I want to say a quick “thank you” to Josh for being my photographer.
He does a wonderful job and I love him!

I also thought I’d share a moment of calm with you.
Below are some photos that I took this morning.

Every other week we get a small box of organic fruits and veggies delivered.
Tucked into the corner of this week’s box was this adorable little pear.
And I am just in love with it.

I love that the leaves are still on him.

I love that he’s only 3″ tall from the tip of his stem to his round little bottom.

How can I bear to eat him?

Happy Friday!

I will have three sets of Snowmen ornaments for the shop on Monday.
One set has already been spoken for. Now I’m off to work!