Dark Chocolate is a major food group…

I finished the Amy Butler In Stitches Bedside Organizer.

I am happy with the way it came out although I had a heckofa time with the last step – pleating the magazine pocket.  It looks weird on our bed only because it’s dragging on the floor, Koreans don’t believe in box springs for some reason.  Overall, it took me about 12 hours, there’s a lot of cutting involved and because of all the pockets there is a lot of stitching in small areas.  I would recommend, however, that you do both sides at once and then sew them on the deck rather than sewing one side at a time as Amy’s directions call for.

Since I joined the Amy Butler In Stitches Sew Along I have only 4 more days to do January’s SAL, the desk organizer and document duvet so I’m going to get to work tonight.  Joe left for a few days so I will have plenty of time on my hands to craft this week.  Good and bad thing…

I made some yummy muffins tonight too.  I used a Weight Watcher recipe although I tweaked it a bit to my specifications.

Banana Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins or 1 loaf of bread)
1 Point per muffin ( mine are 2.5 pt. per muffin)

1-1/2 cups flour
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup Splenda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
1 cup (about 2-3 bananas) ripe bananas, mashed
2 egg whites
¼ cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add egg whites, banana and applesauce. Stir until just combined. Pour into greased loaf pan or 12 muffin tins. Bake 50 to 55 minutes for loaf, 20 to 25 minutes for muffins.

Tweaks: Instead of Splenda I used 1/2 c. of real sugar.  I also added half a dark chocolate bar, chopped up into chunks because, well, I just wanted to and I love dark chocolate.

They are very moist and yummy and with the real sugar and chocolate bar they are only 2.5 points each so I don’t mind the splurge.

I Heart Amy Butler…

So the bedside organizer is coming along quite well.

I am very happy with the fabric I chose for this project and the pockets are big and roomy.  Amy Butler’s In Stitches, as everyone already knows, is a great book.  The directions are easy to follow and the projects are cute and functional.  Beki from Artsy Crafty Babe told me about an Amy Butler In Stitches Sew Along and I promptly joined.  Check it out…

Since I haven’t blogged in a few days, here are some more reviews of some very talented fellow bloggers:                              A while ago, Bee’s Nest posted about a bright orange toiletry case she made.

Bella Dia was the first craft blog I ever read.  I had googled the directions for making pom-poms and stumbled upon Cassi’s beautiful items.  She inspired me to try my hand at a purse organizer and ended up making my friend a diaper-bag organizer, basically just a larger purse organizer filled with trial-size baby products and a few diapers.  I, unfortunately, do not have a pick but I will definitely make more of these, they are great to just toss in a purse when you don’t want to take your whole diaper bag.

Lisa Congdon’s collages are inspirational pieces that do an amazing job at creating color and texture.  She successfully combines things you would never think to combine and she is a wonderful artist.  I check her blog everyday.

Gimme Your Stuff…

Gimme Your Stuff is a cultural exchange blog that pairs you up with others from around the globe to swap with.

I just joined and I am very excited to get something in the works. I have been wanting to start some swaps with people around the world because I have found such cute things here in Korea to swap.

Here’s what I can offer:

Handmade sewn gifts (knit/crochet needle roll, pencil roll, pouch, purse, etc.)

Fabrics (either scraps from my stash or other)

Cute stationery (notes, papers, stickers, etc.)

Craft Books/Magazines

Candies or food items

Hair accessories

Teas (asian of course)

Small pottery pieces

Souvenirs

I would enjoy receiving any of the items I can swap, especially fabric/notions, craft books/magazines, teas, small pottery pieces, stationery.

Bedside Manner

I’m working on an Amy Butler pattern from In Stitches for a bedside organizer.

Since Joe and I have the least amount of furniture allowable by law including no bedside tables we end up with a pile of items on the floor beside our bed.  I bought In Stitches a few months ago and haven’t made much from it although I look through it religiously.  I made the placemats and napkins for a friend as a wedding gift but haven’t attempted any of the other projects.

I’m using this beautiful fabric that I thrifted a while back.  It was almost hard to cut up but I was also itching to use it because it broke my heart to keep looking at it in my stash pile.

It’s former life was that of a vintage tablecloth.  The blues are sweet and I love the latin names of the flowers.  The fabric is soft from years of washing and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

This is a picture of all of the pieces cut out and ready to be sewn together.  The cherry seersucker fabric is being used as the deck to go between the mattress and boxspring even though here in Korea they don’t believe in box springs.  The pattern called for plain canvas for the deck but I have none and since I am working from my stash the cherries will have to do.

WIP

Right now I am knitting this cute little number from Knitty. When I’m done with the headband I plan to make this. Pics on the projects later.

I’m loving this…

While I am spotlighting my favorite blogs, I am also finding wonderful inspiration and getting to know my fellow bloggers.  It’s a win-win situation for all.

I love Babybug’s idea to sew fabric scrapbooking stickers on shirts for a quick gift or personalized item.

I know Christmas has been over for almost a month but I cannot say enough to describe this beaded tree that Bad Fortune Cookie made.  She found the idea here but I think hers is just the most gorgeous piece of holiday decoration I have seen in a long time.  I would venture to say that I would keep this up year round.

When I stumbled across Bagaholics Anonymous I knew our paths were meant to cross.  Not just because I’m a bagaholic (my husband and my paychecks would agree) but because I was just thinking about starting some bags.   I think they call it kismet.

More fab blogs…

Okay, some more plugs for my favorite blogs… My wonderfully talented cousin Carissa makes beautiful felted jewelry and has also jumped into the blog world with her new blog Wound Up Tight. Her work is beautiful and I’m not just saying that because she’s related to me or because her daughters were my flowergirls, she is, in short, an artist! You can see her jewelry on her website J. Claire Designs.

Angry Chicken has the cutest baby booties (her post was from a year ago but who cares, they are still super cute). I would love to make some of these. Her beautiful mini quilts are small pieces of artwork and can be found in her online shop, KingPod, check her out.

When I found Applehead’s little felt box tutorial online I thought I had hit the jackpot. I went to the thrift store immediately for some sweaters to felt andwhipped out about a dozen of these. I gave them to co-workers who thought they were the wackiest things ever. “Boxes, out of sweaters? Where do you find this stuff?” they said. They always knew I was a little zany but they love and use those felted boxes everyday.

Last, but certainly not least, is Artsy Crafty Babe, who just today has put up a post about donating to charity for her de-lurking comments. Talented and philanthropic, that’s my kind of gal. A while back she had made some bibs that I fell in love with. As soon as my sewing machine arrives from the States (supposedly tomorrow, cross your fingers) I am going to get to work on some of these for a friend of mine who just had a baby boy about a month ago.

I can never think of any catchy titles…

Ok, not really in alphabetical order but I just found a really cool site.  How Can I Recycle This? is a site where people find ways to reuse and recycle items they don’t otherwise know what to do with.  I don’t do enough recycling and while the site is a little quirky for me, I did find some pretty helpful things.  I found it on Tree Hugger, a website dedicated to informing people on healthier ways to coexist with the environment.  Pretty cool if you ask me.

Just call me a blogaholic…

I can’t get enough blogs! I look at them whenever I can steal a moment at my computer. Sometimes, no actually, all the time, I spend more time looking at other people’s blogs then I do at actual crafts. I have a few theories on this… The first being, inspiration. I love all the projects people come up with and the links to other blogs and books I could never find on my own. The second theory I have on this is fear of commitment. If I spend more time looking at blogs and less time on projects I won’t have the urge to unravel the scarf I started or tear out all the seams on something I think isn’t good enough.  And none of this would be possible without the help of Google Reader.  For those of you that have not signed up for Google Reader do yourselves a favor.  I can honestly say it changed my life, along with Tivo, French Bread and Cadbury chocolate.

But that leads me to my next self-proclaimed title – Lurker. I just recently learned the meaning of this word and I am guilty! So, with that being said, I vow to introduce myself and make reference to at least one of my 180 (yes, you read it right) favorite blogs every time I post an entry.

I have blogrolled all the As and Bs so far, 180 is a daunting task, but I am determined because I love them all.

So here is my first reference…

3191 is a photo blog depicting the mornings of two women who live 3191 miles apart. Their photos are simply beautiful and this blog has made me look at my boring, repetitive mornings in a whole new way.

Adorn Magazine needs no formal introduction.  The only reason I have it on my list of blogs is so I never miss a beat and because I wish this magazine came out with new issues more often.

My last and final reference today is All Buttoned Up.  Her fabric boxes are super cute and I would love to get my hands on some of them or the pattern or both.

Well, that’s it for today, I think I have sufficiently bored you with plenty of useless info.  Wish me luck in my delurking endeavors.

Morning and night…

Fried egg and swiss on a toasted onion bagel with a steaming cup of Chai latte.

Oreos and milk are the same no matter where you go.

There is nothing like having your comfort foods when you are halfway around the world.

The walls and counter of this kitchen remind me of a stark hospital room. Our landlord won’t let us nail holes in the wall so I am going to have to come up with some creative ways to make this place a little more colorful. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.