Courtesy of Comically Vintage
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Elizabeth's Cake
Last Sunday, One of my dear friends, Elizabeth Garner, turned 20! So, what better way to celebrate than a great cake, right? Elizabeth, also self dubbed "E in the Pink" (insert giggles here), is obsessed with the color pink. She claims to have worn some item of clothing that was pink since she was in the fifth grade. A little dedicated, don't you think?
So, I started with the obvious- pink cake, right? A friend later suggested to make a pink checkerboard cake- far more genius than my idea. Elizabeth, who attended Sweet Briar College in VA, still adores the school colors, pink and green.
So, I started with the obvious- pink cake, right? A friend later suggested to make a pink checkerboard cake- far more genius than my idea. Elizabeth, who attended Sweet Briar College in VA, still adores the school colors, pink and green.
I had to get two large bottles of red and green food coloring, but it was worth it!
I found a standard checkerboard set at Michaels- Wilton's brand I believe. The batter was a standard pound cake recipe. 
Alternating colors were used to create the checkerboard effect when cut. Since three pans were used, there would be nine squares in all in a cut piece.
Oh yeah, and of course- the icing!!!
Pink and green, of course, to keep with the colors. Nice pale pink for the background, dark pink for the writing, and dark green for the edging. Accidentally dropped the bottle of green- not the lime green I intended- whoops!! I obviously needed my typography geek Elizabeth to help me center letters, tee hee. 
Environmentally Conscious Couture
I'd like to take a trip back to some of the older, more fun designs that I've made. These two that I've found are from my Junior and Senior year of high school. I went to an all-girls school, and our mixers and formals were usually a whole lotta girls and an unfortunate handfull of boys. Without a date, I tried to create the most off-the-wall dresses for kicks and giggles for formal. I was pretty broke, so "off-the-wall" is just a translation for "whatever I could find in the janitor's closet." No joke.
My Junior year, I was boarding the plane to get back to school from visiting my Aunt Anne for the break. Anne is always very particular about fashion, clothes generally have to be set within a certain norm. I had mentioned sometime my sophomore year that I'd probably do a duct tape gown for formal and I think I gave the woman a heart attack. So of course, I plan to wait until I'm boarding the plane to figure out a dress arrangement because I'm sure as hell not going shopping. "I need a dress for formal" "....I guess you're S.O.L. then? Have a good time at school! Bye!"
So I return to school convinced that I do want to go to this formal, but no dress to wear. The night before, I decide that trash bags will be my best option for something funky. Cheap, disposable, and I could tape the durn thing on me. So I scrambled through my closet, found a long piece of sturdy ribbon to tie around my waste. I took about fifteen giant, black, industrial sized trash bags, opened them up to let some poof into them, and stapled them around the ribbon. I then took two other bags, cut the sides and opened them up, and duct taped it into a strapless, form fitting, top. Well dressed as a bag lady for the evening, I grabbed my stunningly good looking date, Nicki, and headed to the dance.
Over the next year, I had recieved so many compliemnts about the dress, that I decided to make another dress of some kind. This year, I grabbed an old newspaper and tried to design away to make newsprint look relatively fashionable. I took a long piece of ribbon (the same one I used for the last dress, staples still in) and measured it to my waist. I then took newsprint longways and pleated it to make it a little easier to move in. I then stapled it to the ribbon. Since paper isn't quite as flexible as garbage bags, the top was a little more difficult. I managed to measure out some form of a paper corset that was strapless and extended below the ribbon to hide the edges of the skirt. I made it to measure hips, waist, and bust with a split at each side. I pressed it againt my back and stomach as a friend duct taped up the sides to keep me in it. The movement around the underarms and bust was a tad uncomfortable, so I cut a small slit in the top, folded over corners, and taped the edges down to give it a scalloped effect. Same as last year, dressed to impress any environmentalist, I grabbed Nicki and headed to the mixer. It was surprisingly easy to move in, but didn't last long, since I had plans to go see The Mantras rock out at the Blind Tiger that evening. In hindsight, I should have just kept it on and danced around all night covered in the classified ads.
A couple weeks ago, I headed to Amberland, the Perpetual Groove music festival. I had an absolute blast with all of my festival family for the weekend. There were two themed nights, Jersey Shores and Anything but Clothes. I decided for the first time in a while that I wouldn't dress up. I have a nice collectrion so far of handmade costumes for festivals but I thought I'd take a break.
On ABC night, my good friend from Atlanta, Molly Blair, ran up to my camp covered in what looked and sounded like a giant tinsel nightmare. She stopped, did a quick model pose and said, "it's a future toga!" My friend Megan and I were not dressed for the evening but did admire the well fashioned Mylar blanket wrapped around her. She then surprised us with two pocket sized Mylar sheets to fashion to our fancy for the evening. Molly's dress was actually fashionend together by Tahnee Bassett, a local Athens designer who had a booth set up at the festival. I heard that she's designing Molly's wedding gown as well as a gown for Conley Narozniak, the fiancee' of the bassist for PGroove. Way cool. We handed her the blankets, a giant roll of duct tape and she went right to work. I admired her technique- she seemed to kind of look at the blanket, look at us, and then throw it on us perfectly. That's some major skills if you can make a Mylar blanket look fashionable.
Needless to say, we were totally stylin' for the evening. It was nice that Megan and I couldn't lose each other because you could hear our dresses so loudly as we walked. After the late night set, we stumbled upon a bachelor party, who dubbed us the "baked potato girls" becuase we looked like giant, wrapped baked potatoes going through the crowd. Future togas were definitely a prime memory in my excellent adventures at Amberland.
My Junior year, I was boarding the plane to get back to school from visiting my Aunt Anne for the break. Anne is always very particular about fashion, clothes generally have to be set within a certain norm. I had mentioned sometime my sophomore year that I'd probably do a duct tape gown for formal and I think I gave the woman a heart attack. So of course, I plan to wait until I'm boarding the plane to figure out a dress arrangement because I'm sure as hell not going shopping. "I need a dress for formal" "....I guess you're S.O.L. then? Have a good time at school! Bye!"
So I return to school convinced that I do want to go to this formal, but no dress to wear. The night before, I decide that trash bags will be my best option for something funky. Cheap, disposable, and I could tape the durn thing on me. So I scrambled through my closet, found a long piece of sturdy ribbon to tie around my waste. I took about fifteen giant, black, industrial sized trash bags, opened them up to let some poof into them, and stapled them around the ribbon. I then took two other bags, cut the sides and opened them up, and duct taped it into a strapless, form fitting, top. Well dressed as a bag lady for the evening, I grabbed my stunningly good looking date, Nicki, and headed to the dance.
Over the next year, I had recieved so many compliemnts about the dress, that I decided to make another dress of some kind. This year, I grabbed an old newspaper and tried to design away to make newsprint look relatively fashionable. I took a long piece of ribbon (the same one I used for the last dress, staples still in) and measured it to my waist. I then took newsprint longways and pleated it to make it a little easier to move in. I then stapled it to the ribbon. Since paper isn't quite as flexible as garbage bags, the top was a little more difficult. I managed to measure out some form of a paper corset that was strapless and extended below the ribbon to hide the edges of the skirt. I made it to measure hips, waist, and bust with a split at each side. I pressed it againt my back and stomach as a friend duct taped up the sides to keep me in it. The movement around the underarms and bust was a tad uncomfortable, so I cut a small slit in the top, folded over corners, and taped the edges down to give it a scalloped effect. Same as last year, dressed to impress any environmentalist, I grabbed Nicki and headed to the mixer. It was surprisingly easy to move in, but didn't last long, since I had plans to go see The Mantras rock out at the Blind Tiger that evening. In hindsight, I should have just kept it on and danced around all night covered in the classified ads.
A couple weeks ago, I headed to Amberland, the Perpetual Groove music festival. I had an absolute blast with all of my festival family for the weekend. There were two themed nights, Jersey Shores and Anything but Clothes. I decided for the first time in a while that I wouldn't dress up. I have a nice collectrion so far of handmade costumes for festivals but I thought I'd take a break.
On ABC night, my good friend from Atlanta, Molly Blair, ran up to my camp covered in what looked and sounded like a giant tinsel nightmare. She stopped, did a quick model pose and said, "it's a future toga!" My friend Megan and I were not dressed for the evening but did admire the well fashioned Mylar blanket wrapped around her. She then surprised us with two pocket sized Mylar sheets to fashion to our fancy for the evening. Molly's dress was actually fashionend together by Tahnee Bassett, a local Athens designer who had a booth set up at the festival. I heard that she's designing Molly's wedding gown as well as a gown for Conley Narozniak, the fiancee' of the bassist for PGroove. Way cool. We handed her the blankets, a giant roll of duct tape and she went right to work. I admired her technique- she seemed to kind of look at the blanket, look at us, and then throw it on us perfectly. That's some major skills if you can make a Mylar blanket look fashionable.
Needless to say, we were totally stylin' for the evening. It was nice that Megan and I couldn't lose each other because you could hear our dresses so loudly as we walked. After the late night set, we stumbled upon a bachelor party, who dubbed us the "baked potato girls" becuase we looked like giant, wrapped baked potatoes going through the crowd. Future togas were definitely a prime memory in my excellent adventures at Amberland.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Attention PGroovers!!!!
C'mon Perps- get excited!
This is one of the projects I started this past semester. With some thought and some help from an excel spreadsheet, I devised a nice knitting pattern for the Perpetual Groove Logo. Knit twice on a swatch, the pattern can be folded over itself and sewn into a little coin purse. Next project: Pgroove Toboggans.
Any knitters?
Row 1: K 13
Row 2: P 13
Row 3,4: repeat 1 and 2
Row 5: K3 Red, K10 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 6: Repeat colors in P
Row 7: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 8: Repeat Colors in P
Row 9,10: Repeat 7 and 8
Row 11: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K6 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 12: Repeat Colors in P
Row 13: k7 Red, K 10 Blue, K3 Red
Row 14: K Red
Row 15: P Red
Row 16: k7 Red, K 10 Blue, K3 Red
Row 17: Repeat Colors in P
Row 18: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K6 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 19: Repeat colors in P
Row 20: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 21: Repeat Colors in P
Row 22, 23: Repeat 19 and 20
Row 24: K3 Red, K10 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 25: Repeat Colors in P
Row 26,27,28,29: Stockingette stitch red
Let's start a knitting revolution!!!!!
This is one of the projects I started this past semester. With some thought and some help from an excel spreadsheet, I devised a nice knitting pattern for the Perpetual Groove Logo. Knit twice on a swatch, the pattern can be folded over itself and sewn into a little coin purse. Next project: Pgroove Toboggans.
Any knitters?
Row 1: K 13
Row 2: P 13
Row 3,4: repeat 1 and 2
Row 5: K3 Red, K10 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 6: Repeat colors in P
Row 7: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 8: Repeat Colors in P
Row 9,10: Repeat 7 and 8
Row 11: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K6 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 12: Repeat Colors in P
Row 13: k7 Red, K 10 Blue, K3 Red
Row 14: K Red
Row 15: P Red
Row 16: k7 Red, K 10 Blue, K3 Red
Row 17: Repeat Colors in P
Row 18: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K6 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 19: Repeat colors in P
Row 20: K7 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 21: Repeat Colors in P
Row 22, 23: Repeat 19 and 20
Row 24: K3 Red, K10 Blue, K2 Red, K2 Blue, K3 Red
Row 25: Repeat Colors in P
Row 26,27,28,29: Stockingette stitch red
Let's start a knitting revolution!!!!!
Don't Start A New Project Until You Finish The First!
Yeah right.....
Two projects on hold for me: (among others.... I think I have a nice pile of unfinished work?)
I got out of school this past month and went "oh my gosh- work- NOW!" I've been putting so much on hold for a little bit.
First, I started a knit dress. No pattern, but relatively based off of the cream top in Twins from Knitty. It's being made with a salmon colored Sugar and Cream Cotton yarn. If you look at the pattern, its a top-up design, so I've started a flat front with a back seam that decreases about waist length with an open back and halter. We'll see how that goes. No pattern, wish me luck.
Second, I've started on a patchwork purse. Based on a pattern I saw at a small fabric shop a couple weeks ago, it is essentially triangles cut to make a zig-zag pattern.
I used some very earthy blue and green tones, left over from a quilt I finished a while back. Essentially 5x5 squares, cut diagonally, and arranged. The bag should lengthwise be roughly 14.5in, by about 20(ish)in, and I'll finish with a lining. Planning to make several others with similar color schemes from my nice messy bin of fabric scraps :)
Two projects on hold for me: (among others.... I think I have a nice pile of unfinished work?)
I got out of school this past month and went "oh my gosh- work- NOW!" I've been putting so much on hold for a little bit.
First, I started a knit dress. No pattern, but relatively based off of the cream top in Twins from Knitty. It's being made with a salmon colored Sugar and Cream Cotton yarn. If you look at the pattern, its a top-up design, so I've started a flat front with a back seam that decreases about waist length with an open back and halter. We'll see how that goes. No pattern, wish me luck.
Second, I've started on a patchwork purse. Based on a pattern I saw at a small fabric shop a couple weeks ago, it is essentially triangles cut to make a zig-zag pattern.
I used some very earthy blue and green tones, left over from a quilt I finished a while back. Essentially 5x5 squares, cut diagonally, and arranged. The bag should lengthwise be roughly 14.5in, by about 20(ish)in, and I'll finish with a lining. Planning to make several others with similar color schemes from my nice messy bin of fabric scraps :)Curry, Anyone?
In episode 220 of House, House and his ex-Wife, Stacy, are stuck in an airport waiting on a delayed plane and debating getting a hotel room to wait out the delay. House is also in the middle of diagnosing Stacy's new husband who is showing serious symptoms, while he and Stacy are in the midst of unresolved tension from their former marraige:
House: "...when you have a fight with Mark, and you try to avoid me, I have to think that—"
Stacy: "That I'm feeling vulnerable and I don't want to be around you because it might lead to something."
House: "Right. But then a hotel room—"
Stacy: "Might also lead to something."
House: "Hmm. So... which is it?"
Stacy: "Our relationship is like an addiction. It's— like—"
House: "Really good drugs?"
Stacy: "No, it's like— vindaloo curry."
House: "Ok, sure—"
Stacy: "Really, really hot Indian curry they make with red chilli peppers."
House: "I know what it is! Didn't think it was addictive."
Stacy: "You're abrasive and annoying and come on way too strong, like... vindaloo curry. When you're crazy about curry, that's fine but no matter how much you love curry, you have too much of it, it takes the roof of your mouth off. And then you never want to see curry for a really, really long time but you wake up one day and you think... god I really miss curry. [the two people move close together] You're a jerk.
House: I know [They kiss] If you hadn't just had a fight with Mark—
Stacy: "For once in your life will you shut up?" [she kisses him]"
Blame it on the curry, right?
Curry is one of my favorite meals. Indian or Thai, it's all good- the hotter the better. "Curry" refers to a dish that is prepared with various peppers and spices, possibility a derivitive of the Tamil word "kari" meaning "sauce." The western world has taken the base spices of the dish and homogenized it into what is a common staple in American kitchens, curry powder. It doesn't really reference an indian dish, but rather an American invention of what "seems" like indian curry. Buying unique blends of curry powder isn't very economical, and the standard version of curry in most supermarkets is in most stores today. It usually contains coriander, tumeric, cumin, red pepper, ginger, garlic, fennel seed, caraway, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, cardamom, mace, nutmeg or black pepper.
So, I decided for kicks and giggles to try a new recipe for Curry Cookies. Yes, curry cookies. I was planning a trip to Savannah to visit some family this past weekend and decided to take a nice batch of cookies.
House: "...when you have a fight with Mark, and you try to avoid me, I have to think that—"
Stacy: "That I'm feeling vulnerable and I don't want to be around you because it might lead to something."
House: "Right. But then a hotel room—"
Stacy: "Might also lead to something."
House: "Hmm. So... which is it?"
Stacy: "Our relationship is like an addiction. It's— like—"
House: "Really good drugs?"
Stacy: "No, it's like— vindaloo curry."
House: "Ok, sure—"
Stacy: "Really, really hot Indian curry they make with red chilli peppers."
House: "I know what it is! Didn't think it was addictive."
Stacy: "You're abrasive and annoying and come on way too strong, like... vindaloo curry. When you're crazy about curry, that's fine but no matter how much you love curry, you have too much of it, it takes the roof of your mouth off. And then you never want to see curry for a really, really long time but you wake up one day and you think... god I really miss curry. [the two people move close together] You're a jerk.
House: I know [They kiss] If you hadn't just had a fight with Mark—
Stacy: "For once in your life will you shut up?" [she kisses him]"
Blame it on the curry, right?
Curry is one of my favorite meals. Indian or Thai, it's all good- the hotter the better. "Curry" refers to a dish that is prepared with various peppers and spices, possibility a derivitive of the Tamil word "kari" meaning "sauce." The western world has taken the base spices of the dish and homogenized it into what is a common staple in American kitchens, curry powder. It doesn't really reference an indian dish, but rather an American invention of what "seems" like indian curry. Buying unique blends of curry powder isn't very economical, and the standard version of curry in most supermarkets is in most stores today. It usually contains coriander, tumeric, cumin, red pepper, ginger, garlic, fennel seed, caraway, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, cardamom, mace, nutmeg or black pepper.
So, I decided for kicks and giggles to try a new recipe for Curry Cookies. Yes, curry cookies. I was planning a trip to Savannah to visit some family this past weekend and decided to take a nice batch of cookies.
I figured it'd be a little off the wall, and no one really thinks about curry being a blend to put into pastries. King Arthur Flour Cookbook had the recipe along with other oddball delicacies. The recipie is a variation on traditional gingersnaps, but substituting honey in for sugar and curry in for ginger and cinnamon, etc.
A little fluffier than gingersnaps, but still pretty good all around. The curry added a nice spice to a very sweet cookie. Also learned that honey can scortch. Whoops. I also found that nearly 60 cookies is a lot? Maybe? They have all been eaten.....
Monday, June 14, 2010
Um, Blog?
I guess it's that time to post one of those obligatory "Uh, Hi? This is my blog?" posts.
As for myself, I am a rising junior Chemistry major. Shudder, cringe. I think when I went to declare my major I checked the "Masochist" box and found a semester of Organic Chem in my schedule. But I do love every minute of each equation and reaction.
I like to think of myself as a domesticated animal. Tomboy by practice with an awkward domestic streak, Emily Post sits and collects dust on my shelf. But, I do knit, sew, quilt, and cook. I try to be non-traditional, with each project reflecting something different than all of the regular forms of art. I finished my first quilt this past January, and I make tons of patchwork bags and such. My end goal is to try to make some extra cash (hey, gotta get to shows somehow, right?) but we'll see how that goes :)
Welcome. I'll do my best not to bore you.
As for myself, I am a rising junior Chemistry major. Shudder, cringe. I think when I went to declare my major I checked the "Masochist" box and found a semester of Organic Chem in my schedule. But I do love every minute of each equation and reaction.
I like to think of myself as a domesticated animal. Tomboy by practice with an awkward domestic streak, Emily Post sits and collects dust on my shelf. But, I do knit, sew, quilt, and cook. I try to be non-traditional, with each project reflecting something different than all of the regular forms of art. I finished my first quilt this past January, and I make tons of patchwork bags and such. My end goal is to try to make some extra cash (hey, gotta get to shows somehow, right?) but we'll see how that goes :)
Welcome. I'll do my best not to bore you.
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