craftopia

6.28.2005

Strawberry Truffle

here's a bag I just finished...
IMG_1328

a shot of the six inside pockets...
IMG_1332

like it?
;)

engrish

I was telling some people about this website the other day...some of these almost made me pee my pants!
flesh-meat

hot-pond

go see their site, and try not to pee your pants!

frog show in UK


jemina_and_nathan.sized
Originally uploaded by Alexia Abegg.
Here's a great shot of Jemina at the last show they played last week. They had a great trip to the uk. They played glastonbury and got a great response, and thankfully did not get a case of trenchfoot...
Also their new single came out the 20th over there and they entered the UK charts at 59. Welcome home Jemina!
go buy their new single...
www.beyourownpet.com

mmm cupcakes

Sarah asked me to help with Dorothy's birthday party....so I made these cupcakes...


I also made a chocolate cake to go with the theme...Dr.Who!


The party was a lot of fun, we got to see some people we had not seen in a while and I always enjoy all the kids.
Dorothy and Ellie were in rare form! It was great.
Here's d with her one of her gifts...


see more photos from the party here

  • party album
  • 6.27.2005

    sparkler party

    Rob and I went to derek and jaqueline's fun wedding celebration on Saturday night. We had a blast eating great tamales and salsas and ended up playing with sparklers for two hours....
    It all started with this....



    Then it turned into a game of guessing states...Tony's idea...here is his California



    And then things got a little more abstract...


    Check out all of our crazy sparkler drawings here

  • sparkler photo album


  • I think we are planning a spakler party soon!
    It was way too entertaining!

    6.25.2005

    June-tie one on

    Here is my submission to the June apron tie one on...the theme is home on the range
    http://angrychicken.typepad.com/tieoneon/





    it is reversiible...here is the other side

    6.24.2005

    little embroidery

    I am working on some baby shower gifts... and I think I will put this little orange I embroidered on our cabin trip onto a onesie...I was thinking of doing some other little characters and doing a set....should be fun.

    more birthday cheer


    Joel's Dr. Who screening turned into a birthday celebration for Rob....he is now 35! Happy birthday!!!!
    I made bbq chicken (in the oven, not on the grill, it was 93 yesterday....yes 93!!!) I made sweet potato fries a la Bobbie's Dairy Dip...yum! Lora made an awesome homemade salsa and guac. and we had fresh lettuces and peas from the hendersons garden!

    (pre-frying)
    and here is a shot of the attendees...it's a little last supper-ish but it really was a happy time.

    Rob has been wanting one of those info-mercial food vacuum sealer for years.While shopping for a gift for Rob, I found this great 1970's sears "seal and save" with two boxes of original plasic seal bags, it made a great gag gift. Everyone ended up in the kitchen sealing leftovers from dinner! Geoff was especially fascinated by the device, although we were all dissappointed to find that it does not actually suck.

    Well, cheers to Rob...Happy Birthday

    thrift store goodies

    I came across a bag of vintage fabrics at the thrift store the other day...only 2.00!
    here are a few




    studio friday







    here is my sewing work space in all of it's mess and glory

    6.21.2005

    threadbared

    this website is hilarious...
  • threadbared.com
  • prize winner

    my cousin Nathan is stationed in Germany at the moment, and he is a very talented artist...he makes amazing ceramics and pencil work. All of his art has astrong asian influence...maybe it is a family thing?
    Anyway, he recently got a new tattoo and won a prize at a german tattoo convention. I think it is so cool so I thought I would post it, it is his own original drawing...


    and here is his trophy...


    hmm...when will my next trip to the tattoo shop be?

    pancake follow-up

    here's the recipe for the lemon zephyrs


    Lemon Zephyrs
    pancake cook off winner by Jimmy Abegg

    makes 50-60 silver dollar size pancakes

    4 eggs (separated)
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    2cups sour cream
    3 Tbl sugar
    zest of 3-4 lemons
    3/4 to 1 cup flour
    (this is one of those recipes where the appropriate
    amount of flour is different every time you make
    them...changes in humidity and whatnot, so you have to
    add enough that they are a good pancake
    consistency)

    -whip egg whites in a glass bowl till soft peaks form
    -in a small bowl combine egg yolks, sour cream, lemon
    zest and sugar
    - in a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and
    add the egg yolk mixture, incorporate until just
    combined. Fold in egg whites.
    - cook on a skillet at med heat in any size you want!
    These are really best with fresh raspberries or
    raspberry syrup.

    she dared me

    10 things I'm thankful for ... inspired by (and dared to) by bananie, although mine won't be so beautifully written... ;)

    (in no particular order)

    1. coffee (alexia - coffee =bruised bumbling idiot)
    2. black licorice (intoxicating and delicious)
    3. my husband (see above)
    4. watercolor paint (my way of journaling has always been with watercolors)
    5. my family (they love me no matter what, and they are awesome)
    6. homemade granola in the kitchen (makes the house smell like a cinnamon dream)
    7. fabric (um, can you say addiction? at least I can make something out if it)
    8. imagination (so glad I have one)
    9. friends (make me feel like I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me)
    10. vacations (although this almost didn't make the cut because I always suffer from post-vacation depression syndrome)

    Passing on the dare, I double dare you...make your own little list

    6.19.2005

    my june buddies

    there are so many june birthday's...my husband, my sister, my roommate, one of my closest friends, more friends...what happens in October? Or why am I surrounded by these cancer and gemini people?
    Well, whatever the cosmic reason...I love my june buddies.

    we had a great party for my sister last week, loads of fun! she's 18, I can't believe it.


    Here's the great chocolate cake Linda made for Elizabeth's birthday.


    Rob's birthday is this week...not sure what the plan is yet but we will have some kind of fun celebration.

    fried chickens


    yum, Joel made some awesome fried chicken last night....it was gooood!

    6.18.2005

    father's day


    this is a recent photo of my dad on his trip to the friendship fest in Morocco

    I was thinking today about Father's Day...thinking on some nice things about my dad. He will be out of town tomorrow, so we will be celebrating later. I want to do something nice for him, of course. Every year at this time I find myself trying to figure out how to best express my appreciation to him for all of his love, kindness and quiet, yet strong, support. I start asking questions like...will this nice leather backpack show my dad we love him, or, will this travel grooming kit really express my heartfelt appreaciation of him? I feel a little rediculous trying to find a gift that says what I feel. I guess I usually feel pretty comfortable, even confident, shopping for gifts for people. But things like anniversaries and father's and mother's day stop me in my tracks a little.
    One of my favorite memories of my dad is a trip we took to New Mexico one summer...I think he was on tour with Rich at the time and, like most summers, we planned a vacation that coincided with dad's touring schedule. So that summer we vacationed in Taos, NM. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. High altitude and desert are a great combination...you can see the thunderstorms rolling in from miles and miles away....such a heavenly place....being able to see such a distance. Anyway, my dad decided that we would have a game on the trip of gathering hollyhock seed pods, as it just so happened that the flowers all around the town were going to seed while we were there. We plucked pods in secret, casually walking along...looking in a direction opposite our target flower and we would go in for the swipe. We would carefully place the newly plucked pod in our pocket. Taking care not to break the outer shell. They would be dried out later when we came home. I remember being excited to spot an unusual color of hollyhock, one we had not yet seen, and harvest a couple of pods...envisioning how excited my mom would be about the color. At the end of the week we laid out our collection on the hotel room desk, proud of our collection and each of us girls wanting to be the winner in this game of sorts. A game of hunting seeds, a game of a creative father posessing that childlike wonder for life. Those hollyhock seeds are still around...and I look forward to the next hollyhock summer.

    crazy campers

    as requested here are some more shots of our camping trip...

    tony and his fishing buddy...we're not too sure about him!


    here I am whipping egg whites for the lemon zephyrs


    here's a shot of the main room of the cabin...rob and elizabeth


    and just when pictionary was getting started...tony's about to make things interesting!


    looking forward to the next vacation including the Gerards!

    6.15.2005

    cabin in the woods

    we had a great time on our trip, to pickett state park, over the weekend. the lemon zephyrs were a hit...

    all of them


    We had fun. Although, the weather was greay and rainy....and cleared up right as we were leaving (that always happens to me!) we still got in one swim in the little lake and we did canoe. We played cards and games and one very intense pictionary game!
    Tony fished, and fished, and fished and fished but to no avail....not one bite.


    Rob and I had a great time and we look forward to our next weekend trip. I know there are more great spots in TN that are only a couple of hours away. fun

    6.09.2005

    camping

    we are going camping this weekend, and I am excited for rob and I to make my dad's famous lemon zephyr pancakes for everyone on Saturday morning. I made some blueberry syrup to go with...
    here are the berries starting to cook on the stove

    yum

    Pink

    here is some pink patchwork I have been working on...

    I think I will use it on a project for my mother...

    6.08.2005

    vintage saki

    I found some purses I made a few years ago...
    I did an entire series with crocheted granny squares and buttons.

    And some with vintage buttons too...

    6.04.2005

    attention all shoppers

    I now have saki designs online with paypal shopping power!

    please visit....

  • Saki Designs


  • and shop!

    6.03.2005

    yard sale

    On my way home from running errands, to get ready for my trunk show tomorrow, I spotted a yard sale. I saw some stacks of textiles so I thought I would stop and check it out. I was sorting through a huge stack of old fabric when I heard a familiar voice on the front poch of the house...it was an old friend from high school. I had a great time catching up with her. She and I had a secret code that we made up that we could speak and that we also used to write notes to each other in school. I still have a couple of those notes...I wish I remembered the translation. Megan says she remembers...maybe I'll have her help me remember sometime. Anyway, it was fun to catch up with her, I hope to see her around the neighborhood more often.
    Well, whilst catching up with her I did manage to score a couple of goodies...
    this cool fabric I might give to Jemina

    Here are some cool embroidered pieces I bought. And a purple flower/bead pin.

    And a close up of the strawberries embroidery...so cute.

    I love yard sales.