Baby Lux Blog

With all the snow and freezing rain our pup Otis has been a little hesitant to wanna venture outside for potty time. It’s silly what a heat hound this dog is! He literally lays sideways on our floor heat registers. And if we light up a fire in the fireplace he’ll almost sizzle his whiskers off he gets so close!

I bought a doggie sweater for him last rain season but French Bulldogs are kind of tricky with sizing. With their stout chest and rather portly measurements the generic “medium size” dog gear doesn’t work out so well. So, I knew I’d either have to pony up and pay boutique prices for a “french bulldog” specific rain coat or make my own.

Done. One old pair of hubs swim trunks upcycled into Otis’ new, cozy, hip rain coat….

I utilized to 2 scrap pieces of fleece by zig zagging them together in the center to add warmth instead of  quilters batting. Shh, don’t tell Otis it’s pink.

straps are all ready and pinned into place next part is adding the backside fleece in which I used a very boy-ish charcoal grey color…

sewed on velcro onto the wide chest and belly strap for easy on off.

it even has a handy pocket on the back so Otis can now carry he’s own poop baggies and we’re never caught leaving home without one.

Otis loves it! And now he can venture out side for potty time- Hoo-RaY!

It’s snowing in Seattle!

Well… not at the very moment but it has the past 2 days.  Moving from Denver it’s pretty funny to hear people’s reaction to snow around here or should I say “feather dusting” of snow! Any who, my days lately have been full of coloring with Arlin, watching movies for the 2 and 3rd time and playing in the snow….because his preschool has closed because of this so called nasty storm (tehe-tehe) and of course trying to squeeze in some fun sewing in between Baby Lux orders.

I took an old sweater of mine that somehow ended up with two pretty big snags/holes on the back and a mystery pink stain across one of the front pockets into a new fun infinity scarf…

I just jumped right in and started cutting before I thought to take a picture…and sorry no along the way pics either. I grabbed a pair of scissors and this sweater and sat in front of my serger and went for it. No measuring or straight edge rotary cutting just eye balling it and having fun. I wanted it to be chunky and textured so every edge is serged and  I mixed up sections between the cable knit parts, the narrow ribbed sleeve cuffs, the wide ribbed waistline and the useable flat knit back pieces.

Here’s what I got. It’s really cute, and makes me think my sweaters in my closet may not be safe Wish the picture was better to show you the definition. I snapped it with my i-phone and uploaded it to flickr from my phone first time I’ve tried it and something fishy is going on with the resolution because the pic looks much crisper on my phone…anyone have experience with this?

it’s that time. where I get giddy in antcipation for ARTFEST!

Just sent in my balance payment. I am really looking forward to seeing my art pals again. I have an awesome dorm buddy this year too!

sewing ripped papers onto a playing card (from a deck of cards) then covering with packing tape to protect

it’s a rarity that I send a non decorative letter envelope or package. I’ve always believed packaging is just as important as what’s on the inside.

it’s time to start brainstorming my Artfest trades. I can’t hardly believe it’s the last year of Artfest…I suppose I am very fortunate to be a few miles away from Teesha’s Art Annex though. So, I’ll still be able to get a yearly dose of art workshops in, just not in Port Townsend with all my pals there at the same time.

sewing on paper yesterday. I have a bin full of ripped out magazine pictures and old book pages with text. Sitting at my sewing machine I  rummage through with scissors in hand and just start sewing. It’s messy fun.

and it makes me feel totally sane for keeping every scrap piece of failed art. See…. my creations don’t always work out the first time around but they do eventually. I’ve started several paper projects that don’t get finished, they all get thrown into a box. Rummaging in this box is a fun way for me to create “unplanned” art, which is totally what my brain needs every once in awhile. Freedom to sit down and NOT have to say “O.k. I’m gonna draw a bird today….”

I made this recipe tonight (from Vegetarian Times) and it was fantastic!!! A little bit of work but SO worth it.

“Chard & Tofu Wontons in Sambal Sauce”

Wontons:

• 2 tsp. roasted sesame oil
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
• 4 cups chopped Swiss chard leaves
• 6 oz. baked soy-seasoned tofu, chopped
• 1 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1 12-oz. pkg. wonton wrappers
• 3 green onions, chopped, for garnish
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, for garnis Sambal Soy Sauce 

Sambal Soy Sauce:

• 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 6 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbs. sambal oelek ( I substituted Go-Chu-Jang and only 1Tbs.)
• 4 tsp. organic maple syrup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

Directions:

1. Bake Tofu: heat oven to 375 drain and press tofu to rid of excess water. Slice 1/4″ thick, in 1/8 cup of soy sauce (I used Amino Braggs- a healthy substitute for soy sauce) brush both sides of tofu and let marinate for 10 minutes. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place tofu in oven for 30-35 minutes (or until crispy on edges) flip tofu half way through your  cooking time.

2. To make Wonton filling: Heat sesame oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped carrot, and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add chopped chard, and cook 5 minutes, or until wilted, add cubed tofu and mix throughly. Transfer mixture to food processor, add white pepper and soy sauce (tamari) and pulse until finely chopped. 

3. Set 1 wonton wrapper on work surface. Spoon 1 tsp. tofu mixture in center of wrapper. Brush wrapper edges with water, and fold wrapper into triangle around filling. Press edges to seal, and place on lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

4. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Cook 10 Wontons at a time in boiling water 90 seconds. Remove from pot with slotted spoon, and place in bowl. 

5. Make the Sambal Soy Sauce: whisk all ingredients together in small bowl. Top Wontons with Sambal Soy Sauce, and garnish with green onions and cilantro.

 O.k. now for pictures and some tips:

1 bunch of chard (discarding stems and spine) chopped is pretty much exactly 4 cups.

one block of tofu is 12 ounces, for this recipe you only need half a block of firm tofu. I only baked it for 25 minutes and it seemed to be crispy enough.

sauteed the carrots for 3 minutes, then tossed in my washed chard right on top. Took about 4 minutes for it to wilt. The I tossed in the baked tofu I cubed after it baked.

food processor time (I’m loving my Vita Mix my Aunt Patty sent me! we’ve put it to serious use the past month!)

adding a tablespoon of low sodium soy or Tamari sauce and 1/8 tsp crushed white pepper

I used Nasoya wonton wrappers and couldn’t get over how easy they were to work with (I’ve had a few failed wonton attempts in the past) With a finger tip lightly drizzle water only on the very outer 1/4″ edge (but not too much)

place about a tsp. of the tofu chard mixture in the center of the wonton wrap

fold up corners making a triangle and press edges together

make sure both sides are sealed up.

line them all up on cookie sheet or flat surface until you’re ready to boil them. I experimented and made 2 batches boiled and another batch I baked per the wonton package instructions (oven at 420 for 8 minutes) It’s crazy how different the outcomes were. Hub and I preferred the boiling method…but the baking is def food for thought down the road maybe just different stuffins’

Super delicious, garnished with chopped fresh cilantro and green onion and paired with a smooth glass of red wine. (or in my case, water!)

I’ve been lucky enough to get these handmade creations in the mail over the holidays from some old and new ART friends and I just have to share!

Janne Robberstad: for inspiration you can always count on Janne’s art blog here –she blogs about something, whether it be jewelry assemblage, costume making, painting, or journaling (just to name a few) and she blogs almost everyday! from Norway.

a three dimensional house crafted out of book pages and colorfully hand painted

Deidra Doan: a talented artist in several art magazines for creating lovely art dolls. I adore her oil paintings…Deidra’s blog here

a sweet hand painted mini bristle brush christmas tree diorama

Regina Lord: who I tease is the the new age “martha stewart” (and I admire) Regina does it all! Amongst being a Mama of two handsome lads. Regina’s blog here.

hand crafted, hand painted ornament made out of paper clay, twine and glitter

Tammy Mcgee: Another mama of 2 beautiful kiddos, she paints and makes all kinds of whimsy wonderful art out of her Canada home studio! For a taste of Tammy’s talent see her blog here

a canvas fabric stitched angel hand painted and adorned in glitter

Elizabeth O’Donnell a.k.a. Yarn Punk: You name it Elizabeth has probably made it. This gals’ got lots of tricky talent up her sleeve. Arting from chilly Alaska you can see more of Elizabeth’s story here.

this guy is a hoot! a hand crafted owl made out of a recycled shrunken wool sweater!
beaded eyes and a hand made clay beak

Michelle Allen: one of my Artfest pals, this gal has got a crazy eye for color…and it’s what drew me to her art a handful of years ago. Her blog photos are like eye candy! check em’ out here

a whimsy wood cut snowman, with (I think) a encaustic wax over an original painting print- and personalized with the 7700! It’s shimmery and bright!

Mystele: Arts out of the Chicago area and has a video visual blog where you can actually watch her paint! Love her unique style and use of color. Check out Mystele’s art here

a charmed chain of handmade trinkets and a shrinky dink mystele painting!

Lulu Moonwood: just got married! march on over and say congratulations and while you’re there check out all Lulu’s cool mixed media art dolls they’re fantastically detailed!

hand painted, hand sewn and stuffed santa! with built in wire hangar

Karla Dornacher:  talent in two’s! Karla is Michelle’s Mom (and now I know where Michelle gets it from!) I admire Karla’s illustrating skills….so precise! Look here.

hand painted paper mache’ birdie with a unique vintage book page tail feather

How’s that for a dose of inspiration??

what do you do with all the pretty picture cards you get in the mail from friends and family afar? Stack em’ a drawer? Toss them? No! you can’t do that, they’re too cool.

Well here’s an idea:

make a Christmas Wish Book

Here’s what you need:

3 book rings, hole punch, scissors, some crafty papers, a glue stick, some christmas color ribbons and baubles and all your christmas & new years cards!

take any bi-fold card from your collection and cut it in half on the fold. Use your glue stick to glue the handwritten message to the back side of the picture (turning into a postcard)

then punch three holes down the side, now you have a template to use to punch holes in the rest of your cards.

get creative and add trinkets to the edges, using left over ribbons, beads, twine, decorative tape, stapled papers etc…

doesn’t matter what size the cards are, it’s fun to mix and match them as you go. just make sure you center your template on each card as you punch your holes.

this is a super fun way to keep the memories all together. And a creation you can toss onto your coffee table the next holiday season for your family and friends to enjoy too…I’ve done this the last few Christmas’, it’s fun to watch the kids and families you know grow over the years!

Wishing everyone had a safe and HaPpY NeW YeaR!!!

I’ve been waiting till after Christmas to share this finished project with all of you, couldn’t chance spoiling the surprise for Miss Stella! I made her a ticker tape quilt using some of my favorite fabric remnants I’ve collected over the past year. Awhile back I’d seen a small baby doll sized (16×17″) ticker tape quilt on Sew Mama Sew and loved the simplicity and sort of modern look it had. You can also get lost in inspiration land via this group on Flickr.

I thought a ticker tape quilt would be a perfect style for Stella, and a great way for me to utilize some of these fun fabrics I had in only small amounts.

The first step was brainstorming a color palette: I rummaged through a bin and just started cutting.

I got to this stage above and decided to just go for it! After I had my quilt sandwich, top layer, batting and backing all pinned together I began sewing in the middle of the quilt spidering out in each direction as I went. I was hoping that if I started in the middle I wouldn’t get any bunching with my sandwich. It worked out perfectly.

This was my fabric caddy next to me….loaded up with various sized squares and rectangles anywhere from 1 1/2″ squares to 3″ rectangles but nothing larger.

This quilt was a labor of love!!! My neck, shoulders and buns were SO sore by the time I finished! I was almost tempted to get scientific on it and count how many squares it took to completely fill in the quilt top, then calculate how many times I had to muscle the quilt around to sew each side of the square/rectangle! The answer:

A LOT! But totally worth it!

It was fun to watch it grow as I sewed…thought it be fun to share the process, so every break I took for a cookie, or caffeine pick me up, I hung it in my studio and snapped a picture!

 finshed quilt measured 41″ x 52″

and the fabrics completely practical, comfy and soft. quilters flannel on top, and a pink fleece for the backside. I used cream thread on top and pink bobbin thread

I was super excited to give it to Stella for Christmas, almost enough to let her open it Xmas eve, but I held out till Christmas morning:). She LOVED it!!! And I was one happy step Mama.

I’ve been enjoying lots of family time.

our gingerbread house construction after touring downtown Seattle Christmas lights.

Papa was lead contractor

Mama was all about the little details…

and Miss Stella was all about her frosting stache!

and the masterpiece!

Stella’s been with us since the 17th and we’ve done LOTS of baking while Rudolph here was at preschool :

a big thanks to Michelle, a mama from Arlin’s preschool for inspiring these yummy treats: Peanut butter Chocolate Balls aka “Chubby Hubby Truffles” aka ”Naughty Bits!

Ingredients:

• pretzels
• light brown sugar
• powdered sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy skippy worked very well for me, Michelle says natural peanut butter is a bit oily to work with)
• 1 tablespoon room temp unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
• 1 cup dark or milk chocolate (I used one large hershey paper wrapped hershey bar) 
• plastic sealable bag and dough roller (to crush your pretzels)
• freezer paper
• cookie sheet or large flat plate for chilling
• room in your fridge or freezer for a batch of these to cool and harden

To make: in your handy Kitchen Aid mixing bowl: add 1/2 cup peanut butter, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 and half cup crushed pretzels and pinch of salt and mix together. Then add in 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix again thoroughly.

With your hands roll the mixture to form 1 x 1 inch balls…Tip: if your mixture doesn’t want to stick together you need more peanut butter….then maybe a little more powdered sugar. These are the 2 ingredients I found myself adjusting when making multiple batches of these yummies. As you roll your balls place them onto freezer paper and place them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. You can speed this process up tremendously by placing them in the freezer. Do not skip this step or your pretzel balls will fall apart during the chocolate dipping process!

when your peanut butter balls are ready for dipping make a water bath to melt your cup of chocolate and remember to add 1 table spoon of vegetable shortening as chocolate melts. I found tipping the bowl so that all the melted chocolate was on one side worked best. I dropped each ball in and let it roll to the bottom, making sure chocolate covered all sides, carefully with tongs I removed letting extra chocolate drip off and transferred them back onto the freezer paper. Once all coated in chocolate place them back into the fridge to harden the chocolate. If your feeling extra fancy after peanut butter balls are completely hardened you can drizzle carmel and sprinkle some crushed pretzels on top!

while we were at it, Stella and I had fun thinking of all the things we could sprinkle on chocolate dipped pretzels. We did, peanuts, candy canes, coconut flake, M & M’s, and x-mas cookie sprinkles. Stella got a real kick out of the “smashing” process!

We wrapped handfuls of them up to add to bundles we made for neighbors, friends, and Arlin’s preschool teachers. Just took sandwich baggies, cut the tops off and used some x-mas tape…

we also managed to make cranberry drop cookies (back on popular demand) gingerbread cookies, snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies too!

And yes, we also managed to have a few stomach aches along the way taste testing each goody!

Lots more to share. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families and friends!

it’s crunch time for Santa’s helpers (if you know what I mean!)

Geesh! and the crowds in the stores holy mole’!

another handmade ornament:

she’s got wings! sewn fleece and tule

and hand bent wire antennae with tinsel…

she’s oddly cute.

O.k. I’m off to make cookies.

Are you ready for Christmas???

a lot like Christmas!!

I was sipping tea last night cuddled with my favorite boys. I love having a lit tree in our living room. Really why can’t it just stay there, white twinkly lights and all?! It also dawned  on me as I sat there… our living room looks completely different than it did last year. Look…

2010:

2011:

almost all the furniture is different! I’m loving our low modern sofa we scored at the Kasala (outlet) downtown Seattle. It’s so low you can sit on the back side and join conversation with people sitting at the dining room table. And see our (real)Danish modern pieces in the corner?! Those we acquired through our neighbor who over heard our itch for some mid century modern chairs and side table. It’s amazing how pristine the pieces are with original wool upholstery….I just love how well they fit in our home.

Funny the steer is back in action. We’ve had this hung in every home we’ve ever lived in, in Colorado. The hub thought I would never go for it being above the fireplace…but to his surprise I actually really like it right there. See the metal pieces in front of the fireplace opening? Those have a master plan (don’t know when- but eventually) they’re steel eyebrow pieces from a downtown Seattle commercial building. I got them at Second Use. My vision is to build an encasement to sit on top the entire flagstone surround made out of large subway set white plexi-glass panels with all the mounting hardware exposed (imagine rivets) very modern/industrial looking. The goal is to make this a frame to set over the existing stone without damaging or drilling holes into the stone. The steel eyebrows will either be mounted to the interior fireplace cement and able to swing open from the middle OR will be put on sliding caster hardware…still debating this. BUT the fireplace looks SO cool with the brows in front of a roaring fire. Ok….more holiday pics

It’s official (I think) we’re going to cut our own tree down next year. I really miss the smell I remember as a kid. And I want Arlin to have the same sensory memory. Not to mention the poor hub spent a few hours fixing light burn out issues on clumps of branches. We’ve had this tree for about 5 years now it’s served us well considering the money we’ve saved not buying trees- they’re SO expensive!
I finally got to get this guy out. I bought him last year for Arlin on some fire sale and was so sad I had to pack him away. It’s a music box and when you wind him up it’s head moves. There’s another piece, a retro t.v.with a train that moves on the inside that goes with this robot, I have my eye out to score it this year, but they’re not cheap.

emptied out all of our wine corks and put in some shiny ornaments from our overflow. It’s pretty obvious I have an ornament addiction. I just love how they all tell a story and remind me of a certain time when I was little.

I’m still playing around with making them. Here are some more I just finished up!

There’s more sewing to share this week! And of course there will be more Christmas ornaments too!