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This week’s humpday blog love goes to my friend Adria, who ironically thinks I’m mad at her because I haven’t had a chance to talk to her for a couple weeks. But no, I am not! And I realized my blog love post was about her blog this week (I schedule them all in advance) — so I’ve edited to include this blurb!

Anyway, my friend Adria and I go way back — all the way to 7th grade when she came to my school. That’s right. MY school.

Adria is SUPER crafty and she’s the one that got me into quilting and sewing last year.  She and I also went through terrible breakups at about this time last year and are both with fabulous men currently. She also has a weiner dog … well, he’s a chiweenie-min pin mix — McGruff!

Here are some of the fabulous things she makes … I’m lucky enough to get a lot of her fabric scraps, which is how I’ve made such lovely things on the cheap.

So you should probably go check her out, and leave her some lovin’!

This week’s Humpday Blog love goes to my friend Steph Hertel’s Turtle Soup blog.  Don’t confuse her with the yodeling sensation, Stefanie Hertel.

I don’t even know where to start! Steph is pretty much the perfected version of what I do at my blog … she makes things … creates things … designs things … bakes things … and is pretty amazing at it.  I met Stephanie through ISU’s graphic design program — and she is extremely talented.  She works for Hallmark, which is the most coveted job in our field (or at least in my eyes anyway!)

Here’s a random smattering of lovely things that Steph has created and blogged about … you should go check her out, and don’t forget to leave her some love!

Lovely tote bag Steph created a while back

Um, YUM. Peanut butter cup cookies! Oh yes — and she shares recipes as well.

Lovely Zucchini pasta

Seriously — she is a jack of all trades! Adorable felt flower pin …

Here’s a closeup of an adorable onesie she made

Here’s a little taste of some of her great design skills … an invite for her annual cookie party and what I’m guessing is the lovely packaging she created to go with it.

And … a beautiful quilt.

You must take 5 minutes and check her out! Definitely worth it, unless you don’t like looking at well-designed and yummy things. Then … um … why are you here?

Welcome to my much-needed new feature … FO Friday.  FO stands for finished object (as opposed to UFO — un-finished object).

To recap my embarrassingly long list of UFOs:

1. Mug for a friend’s birthday present (2 weeks ago)
2. Tattoo Dish Set (July 2009)
3. mom’s pleather jacket restyle (September 2009)
4. quilt for my mom (March 2009) — in my defense, I just haven’t had the extra $75 around to get it professionally quilted.
5. coin stack quilt (March 2009)
6. Thea’s Puzzle Quilt (April 2010)
7. Roseanne Afghan (November 2007) — this project is to work on when I don’t have any other projects to work on
8. fabric scrap greeting cards (May 2010) — I have 45 blank cards left to create
9. camera cases (July 2010) —  I have 10 cases left to sew — just need to buy buttons and elastic to get them done
10. fabric scrap flowers (July 2010)
11. jeans into summer pants/shorts (July 2010)
12. Map of the states quilt (April 2010)
13. Yellow fake-esta ware dishes (July 2010)
14. Nerdy cross stitch (April 2010)
15. cookbook (December 2009)
16. Portfolio/website/resume revamp (May 2010) — don’t worry — just time for a refresh.
17. Wonky Log Cabin Quilt #1 (February 2010)
18. Wonky Log Cabin Quilt #2 (February 2010)
19. Workout/Recipe/Craft project binders (February 2010)
20. Family recipe book (January 2008)
21. ironic greeting cards (May 2009)
22. T-shirt quilt for my cousin (August 2009)
23. Fabric Frame (June 2010)
24. touch up painting my kitchen (May 2010)
25. recycled t-shirt rug (September 2009)
26. Black and white quilt (March 2009)

Today’s FO is #1 — Mug for a friend’s b-day present.

My new coworker and friend asked me to create a mug for his girlfriend for her birthday, which was August 3. Don’t worry. I had this finished beforehand. I just wanted to save the blog post for Friday so I can have a Friday feature (and more importantly have to have some FO to share with you every week from here on out).

Also, I may have lied when I said I wasn’t going to add anything to the list … if I do this Friday feature I’m going to run out of things to blog about rather quickly. Some of the things on the list aren’t going to be able to be finished in a super timely fashion because they’re either too expensive to finish or too time-consuming to finish in my spare time that quickly. So, I’m going to probably add some projects to the list. BUT instead of including the list on my blog post every week, I’ve created a page where it can live.  There’s a link on my sidebar to it as well.

This week’s Blog Love goes to my friend Steph for her blog 33% Disaster.

Steph is a web designer at a local company and does a lot of photography on the side. She’s also getting married to a wonderful guy next May and I’m going to be a bridesmaid in her wedding (all after she got the schpeel about me not wanting to be anybody’s bridesmaid).

Steph writes about lots of things going on in her life and mind. Recently she’s done a lot of book reviews and movie reviews.

She’s also keeping a tumblr blog for her wedding inspiration.  Go over and check her out … and leave some love!

Yesterday I signed up for a new project on a whim.

I know. I swore off new projects last week.  But … I came across some gorgeous imagery on Pinterest and it lead me to The Sketchbook Project 2011 by the Art House Co-op. The name rang a bell because my friend, Kim, had done the project last year and it was really interesting.  So, for $25, I decided to give it a try.

Here’s the image that did me in …

So, I picked a theme (apparently it’s important to have a cohesive sketchbook) — “It’ll be fun, I swear” is my theme. This could be interesting …

Wish me luck. I will let you know when I receive my sketchbook and I will keep y’all updated.

Also, if you’re artsy or craftsy, you should sign up for this project as well. I’d love to see what you come up with.

Just for fun … here are some lovely images of other sketchbook pieces from last year …

Aaand Market Day. Take 3.  Here’s me in my booth with a lovely new hairstyle and some wonderful new pieces. I was pretty well setup.  I also was the FIRST ONE THERE at quarter to 7 and got an awesome corner spot right in front of the big ol’ fan (which, as it turned out, I was so not appropriately dressed for that). So it was hot, but not in my spot. What a way to get some traffic.

Did I mention that I bucked up and got some real price tags? I had some mini-cards made and used them for price tags. Voila! Pretty and functional.

It was extra exciting this month because my friends Adria and Jen had a booth too. I saved them the spot behind them. Adria was selling tampon wallets, which cracked me up continuously all day … Plug Pouches … Curse Purses … Jillfolds … what to call them? And stopping random burly men and asking if they were looking for tampon wallets? Priceless.  This is why she’s still one of my besties from high school.

VOGUE. Check out my hot wind-blown look.  Yeah. That’s from standing in front of a fan for 5 hours.  Turns out it was really a good move for me though.  I felt like crap all weekend, and it would have been super rough at MD if I was as hot as everybody else (haha, sorry).

Check out my cool vintage earrings from my friend Tory. She got a bunch to make jewelry out of and gave me and my friend Shelly a few pieces she couldn’t use. Oh, and the lovely flower is courtesy of Bean and the Sprout.

cool prints from cicada grove

Delicious DarbyCakes

Fabulous earrings from MimiBird

aaand a completely random thing on the back of a door at the warehouse.

Super fun. Super cool. Sweet.

Love goes to Des Moines local Cara Hall this week and her ironically titled blog, Failed Feminist.

I met Cara last year through Craft Saturday in Des Moines. In her own words, Cara “is a writer in Des Moines, Iowa (which is cooler than you think). And as much as she never expected to, she loves all things Martha. Just try to pry the knitting needles out of her hands. She’s always trying new recipes and DIY projects, and she hopes you’ll try them too. She’s also always working on herself, and there is oh so much work to do.”

I read Cara’s blog for her crafty updates, her dog photos and commentary, but mostly for her recipes. One of my favorites is inside out egg rolls, which is pictured in the screenshot above.

So, check her out. She’s also a fellow Des Moines Register Featured Blogger.

it’s really exciting when something that you design gets printed … but it’s even more exciting when something you designed not-for-work (for FUN) gets printed!

I received these pretty packages in the mail …

They’re CDs that I designed for my friend Flip’s band The Half Hearts. My friend Kim did the paintings and I created the layout. They had them professionally printed and packaged and sent me a couple for my portfolio. Sooooo exciting! (probably WAY more exciting to them though!)

I’m getting my hairs cut … I’ve been pining over this haircut ALL week — saw it in Glamour magazine on Monday or Tuesday during my workout and decided that it’s beyond time for a haircut and I needed something new, cute and different.  Especially since I’m taking a mini-vacay this weekend to Galena, IL for the man’s b-day.

My friend Lora who is a hair genius is doing it.  Tomorrow.  Early AM.  Awesomeness.

Wish me luck! She will make it awesome. She always does.

This week’s featured blog is look a little closer.  My friend Kim who lives in NYC is the author of this blog. She’s an artist, a volunteer and an all-around amazing person. We’ve collaborated on some album artwork a couple of times.

I met Kim back in 2002 at Wartburg College. We bonded over not wanting to be at Wartburg and both having less-than-ideal roommate experiences and the need to get out and experience something else. Kim went to Iowa and I went to ISU. She ended up in NYC and I haven’t seen her for years.

But, we keep in contact and I actually helped her build her website and her blog.

Kim writes about all sorts of interesting things. Mostly, she finds beauty in unexpected places and finds a way to brighten everybody’s day.

One of her cute little bunnies that she posted all over the city to remind people that somebody loves them.

Her adorable, but mischievous kitty, Lavi.

And one of her beautiful paintings.

You should check her out!