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

Little Ziggy Stardust Scraparella

Little Ziggy Stardust Scraparella, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

Merry Morning! The weather is like 12F here. I shouldn't complain because I like cold weather- but snow to be more exact.

This morning while waiting for my coffee to brew, I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition and stumbled on their site and found The band Vampire Weekend They sort of remind me of a newer- slower- NYC/Brooklyn Specials. You can add a few of their songs to your playlist- and they have an album coming out at the end of the month.

This photo is of one of my latest Scraparellas, little Ziggy Stardust. The bolt is in a bit different spot- but I hope it is still recognizable.

This weekend I made steel cut oats in the slow cooker. I'll have to try it again- because they came out terrible! I had two different recipes one online and the other in a book and I sort of mixed them and well- the end result was not good!

I have 3 store orders I am going to be working on to send out. Today I'll also be adding two new Scraparellas the one in the picture and another cutie, a few more coffee cuffs and Snuggle Bunny t-shirts.

Thanks for stopping by~ Have a great day xo!

jane of the jungle cuff, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

Jane of the Jungle Coffee Cuff new to our shop.
It has been a long week. Now Friday has finally arrived and by the look of the clock has almost come and gone. Zach is finishing up an inky blue button bag - they have been one of our best sellers in ur etsy shop. We have to buy some more buttons to replenish our stash. Zach's sister for Christmas last year bought us 5 or 8 pounds of buttons from ebay- which Z promptly organized by color- the system is great!

Tomorrow I am going to pop my head into Anthropologie for any after holiday cuteness sales. Sunday we have a baby shower. Tonight I worked on the gifts. Two bib- matching onesie sets and two extra onesies appliqued and a cute iron on.

So tired~ Just a quick post then off to bed~ Maybe I'll have something cute to show & tell tomorrow!

New in the Shop & Update & Wednesday & Everything

Polkadot Go Vegan or Die Scarf, originally uploaded by hobocampcrafts.

So yes, I have already posted 1 time today- but I wanted to introduce the new colors & layout of the bloggie. I also wanted to post one of the items I'll be listing in the shop. Today & tonight will be the update.

I've been renting from the library (Veronica Mars & MY So Called Life)- I prefer Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars- to Heroes- but watching MY So Called Life- makes me think of my high school years and sometimes I wish I could do it over.(Well maybe just the wardrobe) But overall the feeling- clothing & music of the 90's I just love it! Plaid plaid with stripes- black tights w/ shorts & boots or skirts- it is all so Singles! And frankly I want to bring that back.. so if you check out my Flickr page-starting in the next few days you might see a little late 90's! YAY

With that here is a scarf I just finished- from a recycled t-shirt and a fleece polka dot scarf.
xo