35

last weekend, i finally got to take a letterpress class through oh happy day classes that i have been wanting to take for years. i have been dying to test out letterpress and, as i expected, think i might be hooked.

we made these!

34

my dad is coming to visit from australia and winter has become spring and our backyard is a mess. it seems everything is adding up to this: it's time to whip our yards into shape and get some projects done!

To help us experiment with different looks, i've been trying to learn to use Google Sketchup, which - if used by someone who knows what they're doing - can be a really useful, beautiful tool. I started with the screened-in porch we're looking to revitalize:

um, yeah...i have a long way to go.

Nothing to do with anything, but quick note to self: these awesome zig zag streamers would look great anywhere

(photo by oh happy day, and instructions are here)

in other news, i'm getting closer to being done with this jumble of yarn;

i'm working on knitting samples of different stitches;

and just for kicks, i got these earrings recently, after the successful purchase of a gift for a friend from this shop (which has tons of great stuff). i think i look a little funny in earrings, but i really love these and am going to wear them all the time anyway. also, ears look funny up close.

33

This video makes me want to be young, blonde and, well, Mary Weiss:

Also, i'm doing a bit of an experiment, so if anyone knows of someone who wants to learn to knit (or who would be willing to learn to help me out) for free, or if you already knit and just want to learn a particular technique you haven't tried on your own, please let me know!

32

I am obviously terrible at this, but there's no good excuse other than...life...and no real way to get better except for just diving right in and starting:

I want to do a big update on unfinished projects i've slowly been trying to finish, mostly just to prove to myself i've gotten through some of them, but i made this in early fall 2010 - so that might help illustrate how far behind i am in even documenting projects i've been working on. please ignore the cat hairs, unflattering hands-in-pockets pose and the excessive wrinkles.

I am really loving these hair tutorials on A Cup of Jo and find myself wishing my hair was a tiny bit longer.

This is a pretty great project by Aymie Spitzer; I may NEED my own collection of hand-carved letters now. this is just in time for my renewed interest in linoleum block carving - it might be time to break out the tools.

These are still sort of awesome.

lastly, i'm really, really excited about an upcoming project that i think could be pretty great!

And, like that, i'm back on the wagon again!

31

there's so much to catch up on, but in the meantime, you can download a song from jenny lewis and johnathan rice's project jenny and johnny here or below:

Also, this is just so, so beautiful. I can't get enough of it:

Last but not least, this song is going to be in an upcoming movie and I'd heard it around. It really does me in:

30

the past several weeks have been a blur. my dad is visiting from australia and work has been insane. we've been making a little bit of headway on the yards and inside, but still have a long way to go. it's been busy, but good. i feel laziness approaching, though, and need to work on maintaining some sense of motivation to keep up the momentum.

29

what i'm working on tonight:

tracing pattern and cutting fabric for my sewing class

this one's cheating because i started this months ago and haven't spent much time on it, and probably have run out of time to do anything with it tonight, but it looks like i'm more productive than i actually am with a second picture up.