Single Send-Off for Koru Kate

I've known Koru Kate since kindergarten and we went to our first wedding seminar together 11 years ago to hear Colin Cowie speak. Now we're both event planners and she's getting married next weekend!

I brought her a flower arrangement and used white chrysanthemums and white roses with just a touch of a yellow hue and pink edges on some of the petals -- they looked sunny, which reminded me of Kate!

I've had a few questions about flower care & arranging, so here are a few easy tips. When I made my amaryllis arrangements I realized it was much better to trim and prepare all the stems first, then putting them into the container.

1st) Choose a container, fill with a few cups of water and mix in 1 packet of floral food until it dissolves.

2nd) Take off all rose thorns (careful!) and any leaves that will be below the water line so the water stays as clean as possible.  

3rd) Trim the chrysanthemums on an angle so the ends don't sit flat on the bottom of the container.  The stems will have blooms of varying lengths, so take off any that'll be too short to reach over the top of your chosen container.

4th) Cut the roses, again on an angle, while they're under water to prevent an air bubble from forming in the stem -- couldn't get a pic of this with just 2 hands!  Side note, at some point flipping channels I saw Robert on Everybody Loves Raymond with flowers of his own.

5th) Put the cut roses immediately into your prepared container: I made a ring around the edge and put one in the center.  Any stems in the center can be higher than the ones on the edge so the arrangement will have a nice dome shape instead of being flat.

6th) Fill in with chrysanthemums, poking them in around the roses, and even placing them under the rose heads to lift them up.

6th) And keep adding roses and chrysanthemums until you're happy with how the arrangement is filled out: here's a top view.

There were even a few chrysanthemums left over -- love that!  I also like Expendable Edibles: gourmet recipes from chefs and foodies using leftovers, and Craft Leftovers: creative ideas for using up your crafty stash.  So, I put some flowers in the bedroom.

And bathroom.

The best thing about these shears is that they can come apart to dry out completely.

Also picked up some mini cupcakes from Sweet Hoboken: vanilla, chocolate, coconut, red velvet, banana and carrot -- all yum!

And celebrated Kate's last few days of single-dom!  Congratulations, Kate -- can't wait for your beautiful wedding!

Snow Lover's Video

Trying out a shared-straight-from-Youtube post -- it's super snowy here in NYC today and I love this video -- it captures the feeling of today.  I'd like to make a music video someday with another song and maybe my friend Vince from Rolling Rhinos Productions could help.  So, maybe someday I'll post that too.  Until then, happy snow day, enjoy...

11 Craft-O-Lutions for 2011

"For last year's words belong to last year's language 

and next year's words await another voice." -- T.S. Eliot

I'm loving the New Year's Resolution Reviews popping up, from Heart Handmade, Sandy A La Mode and others, so I've made a few changes around here: a Facebook fan page, Tweets and more event listings.  Let me know if you hear about any more!  Here's what I want to do in 2011:

1) Ballet classes, took the 2nd one in 6 years last week at Peridance, very inspired by Black Swan!

2) Cello lessons again, it's been about 11 years now! also very inspired by this Korean horror movie

3) Jewelry class, maybe at Make Workshop or 3rd Ward

4) Sell something at a craft fair, so many to think about, now what to make??

5) Cake decorating, been years since I've done this too, so I got my last bday cake at Magnolia 

6) Get another flower arranging job, cause the first was lots of work, but really fun

7) Visit event vendors: like a baker, florist, stationer, designer...and a few others I have in mind...

8) Get another tattoo: already chose the place, thinking about the design

9) Sew a dress

10) Keep cooking, cause starting this year off with Korean dumplings was pretty tasty

11) And do a better job of keeping in touch cause, well, it just all around makes me happy

Good luck with your resolutions, crafty or otherwise!

Crafty Holiday Wrap-up

Craft punches by Martha Stewart, cards from Papyrus,

pink wrapping paper from Target, white and red paper from 
The Container Store

Better a belated holiday wrap-up than never!  What with such a range of prices for gift wrap this year I got a few different designs for a little holiday splurge and wrapped up my gifts, handmade and otherwise.

When I knit a hat for my Dad last year from Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Taupe Mist it only fit Guinness the dog, so I tried again for Christmas...it sorta fit, but quite snugly -- gee, a gauge swatch really is a good idea!  Off to buy more yarn and a new pattern, here's to hoping 3rd time's a charm.

I made my sister Emily a lace applique tank very similar to mine.

And used the Heather Prime Alpaca I got back in October from ImagiKnit in San Francisco

to make her a fluffy pink Diamond Knit Cowl from a beautiful pattern by Susan St. Martin.

And THIS actually fit (much easier)!  I whole-heartedly recommend Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off, a really nice finishing touch. 

The tank and cowl got wrapped up in little, pink packages with Martha Stewart craft punch Icelandic snowflakes.

I liked that her gift to me was wrapped so the penguin was peeking out around the little gold bow.

Feeling a little chilly myself I started a cowl for me with 2 huge balls of heavy grey wool my Aunt Jean sent me as part of a big box of craft supplies donated to my blog! 

It seemed the perfect yarn for the chunky seed stitch pattern of the GAP-tastic cowl by Jen Geigley.  I got about 1/3 through before running out of yarn (mental note: this and the hat fiasco proving I must work on more accurate yarn-age estimates...) but no worries, it's quite wide.

I can drape it twice around my neck and hopefully stave off these cold, cold days we've been having in NYC.  

Happy New Year crafting!

Craftiness Is Cooking Now

Happy 2011!  

I hope everyone's holidays were beautiful and delicious.  I was so inspired this year when I met Shauna, a.k.a. Gluten-Free Girl and read her book all about learning to cook while falling in love with her husband that I thought maybe I could do it too.  I made it #4 on my holiday prep list and here's my New Year's mandu -- Korean dumplings that my family makes on this day every year.

For Christmas I was busy too: my, that was a lot of spinach.

It was for Peggy Fallon's Emerald Spinach Fondue from her book, Great Party Fondues.

Then, Brie with Pesto and Pine Nuts and Cannellini Bean Dip from Great Party Dips, also by Peggy Fallon, and some Pointsettia Champagne Cocktails.

Of course we had eggnog and I love these Pottery Barn glasses with one for each of Santa's reindeer, sad that they're no longer available in the store!

And then today was Korean dinner day.

The filling is just shredded cabbage and zucchini, beef, breadcrumbs, onions, sesame oil and seasonings and I got a little fancy with the crimping this time.

I used 2 packages of wrappers so there were a lot!

They were being eaten just about as fast as I could fry them.  I'm by no means much of a cook (yet!), but I find it best to just deep fry a few at a time so they don't get crowded and stuck together and the oil temperature doesn't drop.

So, there we go, just a few simple recipes for the holidays.  And what of Shauna's book that inspired me in the 1st place?  I unfortunately didn't have it with me at my parents' house, but more to come in the New Year!

Great History Of Body Art Tattoos

The history of body art started with prehistoric humans. In the prehistoric era, belief in a soul, guarded by the spirit of another creature, inspired pictures of that creature on the body. The spirit of that creature guarded, gave safety, and led the soul down the path of life. Body art was a way to keep the spirit close, always.


Throughout time, body art kept its position as a spiritual expression, and it also became an expression of social importance. Native American and African tribes used tattoos and body piercing to express beliefs and stature in society. Chiefs, for instance, had different body markings than an ordinary hunter or any other tribe member. Where a chief may have had a tattoo that symbolized power or resembled a god, a hunter might have had a tattoo that resembled a buffalo or some game he hunted. Piercings and tattoos were signs of accomplishment and membership.

Certain tattoos stood for positions in the community, and in some cases, every member had some type of body marking that indicated their status. For ceremonies, the elite class donned the trappings of their rank and power. Women in the tribes received a special marking for marriage, to signify they were a spouse. The chief had more tattoos and more piercings because of his stature in the tribe, and the older members of the tribe had more because of age. In many cases, the markings had high, religious significance.

As time progressed further, body art stayed as an expression of beliefs, but the beliefs and reasons for body art strayed from religion and community stature. Some Americans believe that
body art grew in popularity in the 1960s as a revolt against the formalism of society. Along with that theory, some “flower children” used bodyart to demonstrate the incompleteness of all art. Some got tattoos to express love for another person, orto state a belief about an issue facing society. A quote in an article by Deborah Irmas states that “Tattooing has become an expression of art, a far cry from the times when it was viewed as a ritual of passage in ancient cultures”. Some men, however, got tattoos to demonstrate membership in a gang or group, much like the Native American and African tribes.

Body art is still used in ancient practices and to show status rankings in tribes like the Surma of Ethiopia. For example, in the Surma tribe, young boys still use lip plates. Lip plates are used to stretch the lips and indicate how many cattle a man’s family will receive from his bride’s family when they are married. The tattoos that women receive when they are married include symbols of prosperity and well-being.

Body art has lasted throughout history and is still important in society. The tribes of Africa keep old traditions alive by continuing to use body art, and Americans use body art to identify themselves and as a form of individuality. In a sense, as society has grown and changed, so has body art.