friday favorites: wainbowmudd.etsy.com

Candy Apple Bunch

Wainbow Cuties

Stawberry Lime Collection


This Friday, my favorite Etsy shop is wainbowmudd. I love Laura's cute and modern hair accessories, as well as her overall shop design---that soft green background color perfectly complements her colorful products!
Above are my top three picks from her shop---see everything else here.

P.S. Since I'm a sucker for packaging, I could help but include a picture of how Laura's packages her products. So simple and yet very special.

art (in my room)

I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite arty things decorating my room.

Color-phobics beware!

Eye Candy
I made this sculpture/artwork/I'm-not exactly-sure-what-it-is when I was twelve. There's this little Amish grocery store I sometimes visit in Iowa City, and they sell containers of sprinkles for around $.88 each.

I had no use for bulk sprinkles when I was twelve, but I loved the way the stacked containers looked so much that I bought them anyway.

Then I decided to make some sort of decoration out of them---one Ikea frame and 1/2 a bottle of Gorilla Glue later, I had this.

Records
I used to have a bunch of piddly little postcards taped to this section of wall next to my bunk bed, so adding these records I acquired at a garage sale was a huge improvement. Plus, no room is complete without something Sound of Music- or Tony Bennett-related.

Green Glass Collection
This happened by accident (as many collections do). I started picking up green glass items at garage sales and Goodwill because they were to cool not to buy, and eventually I got a whole shelfful (I know--that word is hard to read). This shelf is above my desk, and my uncle, who installed the shelves, is afraid it'll get so heavy that it'll fall on my head.

But so far, so good.

out and about

Old Navy boots, leggings--gift, thrifted skirt, (r)elativity t-shirt, thrifted vest

Today's outfit had an accidental Sergeant Pepper's vibe to it, which I only realized when looking at the pictures. This morning I went to Wal-Mart and the library, and here's my observations from both places:

Wal-Mart

People have been talking about Wal-Mart's decision to get rid of their fabric section for a while now, but I was still surprised when I visited the department today and found it rearranged and the products discounted. In some of the small towns near me,Wal-Mart is the closest fabric source within an hour's drive, and many groups like the Girl Scouts depend on the stores' low-priced fabrics for their sewing projects.

It makes me mad.

Library

On a lighter note, I thought these two books side by side on the library shelf looked so pretty--just in time for Valentine's!

How did you spend your Tuesday?

inspiring spaces: tara anderson

I think that the space you work in and the products you make are very closely linked, which is why I love seeing other artist/crafters' work spaces. It really makes you think about their work in a different way.

I'm starting a new series called Inspiring Spaces, where I'll share some the best work spaces I've seen. Above is one of my favorites, Tara Anderson's Craft Room. It's so fresh and energizing, and the way she's arranged her supplies seems to make projects come together of their own accord.

Do you have a favorite work space (either your own or someone else's)?

my rig

When I first started photographing my items for Etsy, it was really helpful to see pictures of other people's 'setups', so I'll share mine. My generous brother bought me an EZcube light tent for Christmas (which is wonderful) but before that I was using a homemade lightbox (which is not so wonderful, but still works).
I usually do my photographing between 3:00-4:00 PM, with the light tent on a table facing a window. I use a piece of poster board for the background, and piece of wood for the 'floor'.
I set the light tent back out of the direct patches of sunlight coming in through the window, so I just get the general ambiance.

The result!

jean jacket

thrifted scarf, Gap jacket, Xhilaration blouse, thrifted skirt (altered), Target tights, Esprit boots

I love the exposed metal zipper on the back of this blouse I bought at Target the other day.

See by Chloe Cruise 2009

I love this collection. I want to sew myself some summer-y clothing for an upcoming trip to Florida, and I'm definitely inspired by these looks. Check out the rest here.

we have a winner....

Congratulations to Heidi/Digital Misfit, winner of my Blythe blouses GiveAway! Be sure to check out her blog.

And here's the loot I was fortunate enough to win in two giveaways over the past few weeks. Vintage patterns from Lisa at The Hem Line, and a repurposed notebook from Rebekah at Urban Wheel House.

GiveAways are so fun.

GiveAway

This GiveAway is closed! Thanks to everyone who participated.

I'll announce the winner tomorrow.

In 2009, I will be giving away one handmade outfit or garment for 18 in. Dolls, Blythe, or Barbie on the 15th of every other month!

If you like, I can email you updates for each giveaway.

To enter GiveAway, leave a comment with your name and email address.

I can be contacted at muxoriginals@mchsi.com if you have any questions.

This month's item:

Floral Blouse Set

Red and white blouse features long sleeves with gathered cuffs, peter pan collar, and button detail. Green blouse features rolled collar and dolman sleeves. Both 100% cotton blouses close with snaps and all seams are carefully finished with Fray Check. Please hand-wash.

This GiveAway closes at noon on Jan. 17.

Winner will be randomly selected that night and announced the morning of Jan. 18.

Blouses will be shipped first-class on Jan. 19.

Check out my other doll clothes at muxoriginals.etsy.com.

Thanks for participating and good luck!

hand pies

I made these yesterday after coming across the recipe in an old Martha Stewart magazine. Here's the recipe. I didn't have any dehydrated strawberries, so I substituted the same amount of thawed, drained, frozen strawberries and omitted the water.

They were really delicious!

stripes and paisley

{on me}

-thrifted sweater

-Star City skirt

-? tights

-thrifted shoes

-thrifted watch

Me and my friend Mikah, trying to look like we're not freezing.

what I'm reading...

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
I got this for Christmas last year, and I'm just now finishing it (embarrassed grin). It's hard to get into, but I'm really liking it now, especially since I discovered my copy has a character list (this comes in handy since each character has about 2 different names and a handful of titles).

Craft, Inc., Mateo Ilasco
This is one of the myriad crafting/business books I checked out at the library recently. I haven't read much of it yet, but the cover's really cool :).

24 Favorite One Act Plays, edited by Bennet Cerf and Van H. Cartmell
I love short stories, and a one act play is like the short story of the theatre world. Plus, this collection features the likes of Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, and Anton Chekhov. Need I say more?

Crafting a Business, Kathie Fitzgerald
I love this book. The bulk of it is interviews with women who run businesses centered around their craft-related interests, and it's so interesting and encouraging to read their stories. If you just check out one of these books, make it this one.

The fact that almost all of these books have library stickers on them shows how much of a library nerd I am. Or just that I'm very cheap.

What are you reading?

inspiration board

I'm certainly not the first person to have an inspiration board in their workspace, but I love to see the ways people personal theirs, so I'll share
mine. Today I switched it from Christmas-themed stuff to pictures that inspire me this January.
Most of the pictures are from my collection of magazine
clippings and ephemera I've been amassing for the past few years.
My board is a magnet/dry erase board from Ikea.

{before}

{after}

Sorry about the weird pictures. The lighting in my room is horrible.

I can't stop sewing...

...clothes for my new Blythe!

Here's what I've made so far:

Gypsy Queen Jacket

Prim White Blouse

It's Hip to Be Square Dress

Edit: this dress has sold. If you'd like to purchase something similiar, please contact me!

Everything's for sale in the shop.

What are you sewing?

chevron

-thrifted vest
-Gap turtleneck
-thrifted skirt
-? tights
-Dollhouse shoes

Okay, here's the first of the outfits incorporating garments from the 1980s that I mentioned in this post. The skirt is classic 80s stonewash denim, and fairly high-waisted to boot. I paired it with a sweater vest (I know, I know--the epitome of modernity) and dark tights and shoes.

What do think?

I just noticed that the tag on my new shoes matches my turtleneck. Pretty sweet.

My brother kept trying to jump into the photo juuuusssttt as the self-timer would go off. Blogging + brothers= trouble.