sewing project: tissue holders

As a small thank you to the many people who helped us at our August wedding (by organizing a Sunday brunch, making whoopie pies, and lending me a sewing machine while mine was in the shop), I made lots and lots of tissue holders, using this great tutorial by Skip to my Lou.

It was an excellent project because I was able to use up a lot of scrap fabric and experiment with pattern combinations. I used Japanese fabric for a few of them, but didn't have a chance to photograph those before giving them away.

cross-stitch project: tru luv 4 eva

A few months ago, I came across an excellent booklet of cross-stitch alphabets at Half Price Books, and it inspired me to try out cross-stitch again (something I did back in middle/high school). Two weeks ago, I finally got around to buying some cross-stitch fabric from a local thrift store for $1, and started experimenting.

First up, something for our house. I chose one of the designs from the book, selected two colors from my decade-old stash of embroidery floss, and stitched up a saying my husband and I like to exchange: tru luv 4 eva.


I framed it in an old wood frame I had lying around, which I painted black.

beth retro photography

Loving these photos by Beth Retro:


They remind me a lot of Felix Gonzalez-Torres's work--the subject of my MA thesis.

freya art and design

As one of our wedding presents, my husband and I were given money to purchase artwork. We chose to buy this print by the artist Freya, which we'd seen months ago on Oh So Beautiful Paper and really liked. I've since framed it using a frame I found at Goodwill and painted black, to match all of our other frames.


You can view more of Freya's work in her Etsy shop.

clutch by jenny n. design

Check out the amazing clutch that I just found out I won!


It's made from vintage mint leather and is by jenny n. design, a great local bag designer. I can't wait to see it in person!

sewing project: passport cover

After returning from our trip to Canada (and using my passport for the first time in awhile), I decided I should make a cover for it (I always like a good excuse to sew a simple project). I found this great passport-making tutorial on bunnybum's blog, and here is the result. The blue fabric is the same one I used on the sailor bag, the green ribbon is from Pottery Barn's wedding present gift wrap, and the interior blue ticking is leftover scrap fabric.