In Search Of The Hot Cross Bun

March 24, 2013 by mymateriallife

It’s amazing how much flavor, comfort, nostalgia, and tradition I find in these little buns.  They are one of my favorite foods; it’s probably a good thing they are only available for purchase during Lent or I would eat way too many of them.  I’m always excited when I realize that Lent has begun and hot cross bun season is underway.  This year that happy thought occurred on one of those first Saturday mornings in March when I went to […]

Categories: Easter, Sweets • Tags: easter recipes, evelyn birge vitz, food, good friday, hot cross buns

Spool Knit Wrist Warmer

March 19, 2013 by mymateriallife

This is a wrist warmer that I made with a homemade embroidery hoop and popsicle stick spool knitter (similar to the larger knitter used to knit the poly cord drawstring bag).  Isn’t it exciting to see another accessory* that we can create with our spool knitters that will actually work for us humans as opposed to the many things we can make with our knitters for dolls – not that I have anything against dolls.  In fact, I may just […]

Categories: Clothing & Accessories, Crochet, Knitting • Tags: crochet, diy, embroidery hoop spool knitter, french knitting, knitting, knitting nancy, spool knitting, wrist warmers

St. Patrick’s Day 2013

March 18, 2013 by mymateriallife

Clockwise from top left: Maybe this was overkill.  I thought I’d try a little food coloring in my recycled Irish bear snow globe. I am totally judging this book by its cover; isn’t it beautiful?!  I could not resist buying it when I found it at Recycle Bookstore in Campbell last week (though this one is new).  I just started it last night. A gift of Irish whiskey from our next-door neighbors. We enjoyed some in Irish coffee, but nice […]

Categories: Beverages, Celebrations, Miniatures, Other Holidays, Other Textiles, Reading Material, Sweets • Tags: green punch, lemon-lime kool-aid, st. patrick's day, whole wheat honey wafers

The Paper Doll Post, Part 1

March 11, 2013 by mymateriallife

This is the doll that I got from Dori Duncan at Camp Fashionista when Samantha and I went there to make paper dolls last month.  I finished mine at home because I knew I had some fabric from a previous project that I wanted to use with Dori’s coat and boot patterns.  When I saw her doll on her website in a grey flannel version of this jacket and the boots (complete with the small brads you see above used […]

Categories: Clothing & Accessories, Kid Stuff, Paper • Tags: birthday party invitation, camp fashionista, fashion, fashionary, louise de vilmorin, lucky guide to mastering any style, paper dolls, red plaid, style

Make Your Own Storage Sleeves, Portfolios, Binders

March 2, 2013 by mymateriallife

I made this sleeve to store and transport the drawings from my fashion illustration class.  I already had a nice ITOYA portfolio from a previous drawing class, but it’s sleeves were too small, and the plastic sleeve I found with my art things was too large.  So I made a new sleeve that is the perfect size for my drawings by combining three favorite materials – high density polyethylene sheets from TAP plastics, Dura-Lar (a polyester film that replaces the […]

Categories: Paper • Tags: art sleeve, binder rings, binders, diy, dura-lar, high density polyethylene, illustration, portfolios, tap plastics

A Blanket for Birthday No. 9

February 27, 2013 by mymateriallife

Last week I made the decision to tackle all the uncompleted projects in my rather large knitting basket.  Luckily, I had a long car trip to look forward to (very useful for knitting as long as you’re not the one driving) and with Samantha’s birthday approaching, I decided to begin the task by finishing this blanket that I started for her at least five years ago.  It’s a project from the book, Greetings From Knit Cafe.  I really like the […]

Categories: Celebrations, Kid Stuff, Knitting, Sweets • Tags: greetings from knit cafe, home, key lime pie, knit blanket, knitting, yarn dogs, zucca trendsetter yarn

La Brea Tar Pit Chicken Wings

February 25, 2013 by mymateriallife

This is a favorite dinner in our house; even the cat goes crazy when he smells these wings baking in the oven.  Having just visited the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles last week, now seems like a good time to share this dinner idea with you.  I got the recipe for the wings (a reader contribution) from the February 1999 issue of Gourmet magazine.  The wings are baked in a sauce made from red wine, soy sauce, sugar […]

Categories: Places, Savories • Tags: cooking, dinner idea, gourmet magazine, la brea tar pit chicken wings, la brea tar pits

Mood LA

February 21, 2013 by mymateriallife

One of the things I learned in the March issue of Threads magazine (read more about it here) is that Mood Fabrics of Project Runway fame has a shop in Los Angeles.  I was very happy to learn this because I was about to make a trip there.  I’m just back from that trip and though the West Pico site listed in the article has closed, we did find Mood in a very nice, large and light-filled space on La […]

Categories: Clothing & Accessories, Places, Sewing • Tags: cloth magazine, design, fashion, fashionary, mood fabrics, project runway

Valentine’s Vignette, Hearts, Flower

February 14, 2013 by mymateriallife

Happy Valentine’s Day 2013!  I had a few things I wanted to try this year, like the scene above.  Here you can see two more champagne chairs – one with a few beads, one without (the red cap is from a bottle of Lambrusco I bought to go with a pizza we had last week).  The table is made from one of those plastic things you find in your pizza box to keep the pizza from getting crushed and a […]

Categories: Embroidery, Kid Stuff, Knitting, Miniatures, Other Holidays, Paper • Tags: champagne chairs, crafts, diy, embroidery, knitting, miniatures, mobiles, valentine's crafts, valentine's day