Afternoon Delight!

Afternoon Snack at the Sewing Machine, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

No- I didn't have a quickie or sing a song with Will Ferrel and Paul Rudd- dang! I did make the cake recipe I found on Jcasa's blog
jchandmade.typepad.com/jc_handmade/- Weakness Cake.

Here I am enjoying it as a quick- snack in between sewing and I might have a piece later too!

I'm working on coffee cuffs today a new apron and a couple of other things.

Hope you have a great night. Tomorrow I hear the weather is going to be super warm- which is scary. It bothers me when I hear people complaining about what little cold-weather we actually get (thanks o global warming) - They usually say "ugh it was freezing yesterday" or the weatherman says " we're sorry we've got another cold front" hello it is winter!!
okay enough of my weather rant!

Bonjour Monday

French Secretary?, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

This weekend was really enjoyable. Friday we watched Torchwood which I am now really into- amongst all of my snickers etc. Zach packed for an overnight- Mass trip. Saturday I made brownies- from a box- which I don't really enjoy doing- but I added flaxseed to try and neutralize the bad things in the box.

Saturday the girls came over for dinner and drinks and Sunday Mom and I went on a mini adventure. Visited the health food store for vitamins, new lipgloss and other must-haves. Then we stopped at the market and then made banana bread. Hers came out deliciously-wonderful tasting and looking. Mine was really sad looking and didn't taste very good. I had mixed a few of the recipes together and sort of ruined it. Oh Darn~

Zach came and picked me up on his way back in town and he brought treats from the http://www.clarkdalefruitfarms.com/ which our friend's family owns. A gallon of stupendious apple cider, a bottle of homemade hard cider and a bag full of apples of course! Super sweet~

Today I made 1 cup of coffee. That is my quota- I took some photos of coffee cuffs outside during the light snowfall and I have a few packages to get ready to mail out.
So right now I am LOVING The Other Boleyn Girl although I didn't read the first one. This is seriously feeding my need for gossip in the 1500's England!

I'm also going to be making some 3-bean veggie chili(I'll list the recipe tomorrow) and start working on a few ideas to sketch,create and submit to this email request I recieved. (more about that laters)
Have a good Monday
xothanks for reading- Look for a Free Coffee Cuff Giveway- Coming up this weekend.. More details later.
p.p.s
check us out in the Storque Showcase Today
http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php?showcase_id=5

Party Shoes

Party Shoes, Check Party Tights, Check, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

The Card Zach Sent me..

The Card Zach Sent me.., originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

Sometimes you don't realize you need something until you get it. Zach sent me this card in the mail. He was going to be away fro the night and when it arrived it just made my day. He designed it and the version with out the name tags is available in our shop.

Tonight I had the girls over for hummus, olives and pita then spaghetti and brownies and oatmeal-raisin cookies. We had a good time- great to catch up. Talk about buying a house(Brig)- going to court reporting school ( Sue) and kids ( me). The kitties were hiding for most of the night nestled on their warm Hello Kitty fleece blanket.

Tomorrow mom will pick me up and then we're going to make banana bread at her house and maybe go for a walk in the neighborhood. Dad is going to my brother's house for a SuperBowl party. I'm happy to NOT watch any sports at all.

We have a spot in the Storque Showcase for Sunday Feb 3 and 4th. I've added some new coffee cuffs.

I'm going to be working on a new collaged-journal for myself.. for family-kid-related stuff. I like to make these journals to keep me focused on what will be going inside. What info. I've made them since middle school and have always loved them. Collage and mixed-media work has always been my favorite.

With that- we'll be seeing Juno tomorrow night after. I heard mixed reviews and my heart is actually with There Will Be Blood.

I've also grabbed Uptain Sinclair's The Jungle on cd as well as Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. How I'm going to listening to them both will be a feat in itself.

Have a great weekend xo

Wednesday! Hump Day- Coffee Cuff Madness

I Got A lot done today!, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

I'm really excited that I was able to get so many cuffs made today. I still have a few more to go. It just goes to show that when I pin and cut out the pieces the night before I can just focus on sewing and the little details that I so love to attend to.

Tomorrow I made a dr appt to figure out what is wrong with me. I started thinking maybe I had been drinking too much grape juice- but when I reserached that (googled it) nothing actually came up about exces of grape juice.

A Valentine I purchased from Etsy arrived- however I have to wait to show you till after V-Day since certain people may read this and it could spoil the fun! A large envelope arrived that had my adorable kelly green moon/snow boots from Lands End. I have been looking for affordable vegan snow boots- I heard it may snow on Friday- I look forward to using them!

I've been focusing on coffee cuffs lately- they're a lot of fun to make and just feel like functional pieces of art. They also give me the chance to create something that might help cut back on trash and our footprint on the earth- even if it is the littlest bit.

For dinner tonight I made up a recipe I'm calling New Year Soup~
You Need:
1-2 chp. veggie or real sausage,1 chp onion, 1c. black-eyed peas,3 or more peeled,chopped carrots,1can of drained kidney beans,1 1/2c. collard greens,1tbsp. olive oil,
1tbsp. hot pepper flakes,1tsp. celery salt, 2tbsp. garlic powder or 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tbsp. hot sauce

Start w/ olive oil- chopped sausage, carrots & onion- saute ( 5-7 minutes). Next add collard greens,black-eyed peas and 4 cups of water. Stir in spices and kidney beans. Stir frequent add drained kidney beans. Cook till carrots are softish. Enjoy on a cold night with your cutie of choice and toasty bread or cornbread.xo yum


Shout out to Heatherjeany.etsy.com on her new baby boy~ Congrats!

Vintage Lace, Birds and Cornbread

Pecking Order and Lace, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

I'm silly.

*This morning I listed a bunch of Snuggle Bunny T-shirts and Coffee Cuffs in our etsy shop. I haven't been feeling well so yesterday I took a bit of a mental health day.. well in the afternoon. Yesterday morning I made cornbread in our cream-colored
Le Creuset frying pan. I had never heard of the brand before and recieved it from a former coworker as a wedding gift. Now that I have it I love it! The cornbread came out perfect and popped right out of the pan.

*I added a new music player to my blog- from Project Playlist. It just makes reading a blog that much more fun!

*Since I was sort of couch ridden yesterday and feeling that way today too- I pinned about 13 coffee cuffs together and in a bit I'll pop over to my machine and stitch them up! Depending on the light I'd love to photograph them and get them into the shop. Z has been working on assignments so at night the computer is his- so I need to try and get everything done in the daytime.

*I realized from when I was REALLY sick that trying to stay in a semi crunched fetal position- is effective-since standing seems to worsen my cramps. I should probably have the lactose-intolerant test- but my doctor sort of made it seem as if I shouldn't get it done and might want to wait a few months. It has been a few months- I've cut out milk, cheese etc and was fine for a couple of months and recently started having pain again! Ugh I'd like to make the push to being vegan, again.

*Friday wasn't as productive as I would have liked. I was still enamoured by the gifts I recieved from the Harvest Farm Girl swap- as well as working on an intense-5 disc cd mix I made for a friend. We listen to similar music- but I tried to dig into some of my college days and high school and really grab bands I hoped he'd never heard of. Examples? Bitch and Animal- who I think have solo careers now- which I want to check out, Matrimony, The Blake Babies( Julianna Hatfield's old band before the solo career), Jane Siberry, Tom Waits and Team Dresch to name a few.

*I finished my boxes for three shops and mailed it off brewing with new goodies. I'm so appreciative that Hobocamp can be found in brick & mortar shops around the country! We're working on some new t-shirt designs that we'll have ready for a lil' bit warmer weather- I can't wait to show you!

*Hope everyone is well- have a great day!

My Bike, It is Broken- Sit on it and Close My Eyes xo

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

This isn't my bike. But we took this photo a few years back at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago and it has always been one of my favorite shots.

This week I've been taking more of an active roll in exercising. Of course it was one of my New Year's resolution ( as it usually is). Several years ago when I was training at Barnes & Noble to become a Community Relations Manager ( who also runs all of the instore book events) my mentor had an event with Exercise Guru, Leslie Sansone- anyhow it was during a snow storm and there were like 10 people who showed up- one being my mom ( who was a huge fan) and my sister. Leslie was the NICEST person ever and ended up sending us each a bunch of VHS walking tapes. It was really so sweet of her. So on Monday I used her 1 mile tape plus abs ( and could feel the burn the next day) this morning I used the 2 mile brisk walk- which really felt great!

It is always such a struggle- getting enough exercise- I feel like I want to be in my best shape possible before I have children- because I really want to be active with my children. I know I have some time (thankfully) but I felt it was crucial to really start now.

I've been inside the house for most of the day- except for a quick jog to the mail box for some junk mail.

Today was full of putting together three boxes to send out to three different consignment shops.. so it has been pretty busy in Oatland. Just trying to add clothing labels-then price tags and managing the contracts & keeping it in order has been a positive challenge.

Tonight for dinner I am going to make minestrone soup-
Real Simple's Minestrone Soup

I also need to vacumn xo
oh happy day