Confessions of a Craft Addict

Cover of the CD, which will be released one month from today. Mostly Wordless Wednesday.

Last month, my sister-in-law and her band made the trek down to my house from Bloomington, Ind., for a photo shoot. The occasion? Her next CD, Hotel Confessions, which will be released Oct. 23.

Jenn and I had been talking about doing these pics for several months and one thing we’d agreed on very early was not to share any of the photos before the CD release so the impact would not be diminished. What we really hadn’t counted on was how tough that would be!

The photos turned out even better than I expected. She’s so fun to work with and needs very little direction. My biggest challenge was to make sure I left myself room to crop the pictures properly for the front of the CD. Normally, I crop in nice and tight with the camera, which does not lend itself to that fabulous square format.

I was glad to have some time to hang out with the guys in her band before I threw them in front of the camera. I think it gave them the chance to relax so being photographed wasn’t as heinous an ordeal! It really helped me get the kind of pictures I’d hoped.

Of course, I can’t show them to you. Yet. Well, except that one up there. Which is similar to the photo I used for this promo poster. So you’ll just have to believe me when I say we made something amazing that day, something perfect for the music it accompanies.

Just wait and see.

ETA: I updated the link to the poster, since it apparently was done wrong the first time. Sorry!

My older son sort of volunteered me to make a laptop bag for one of his friends. She was having trouble finding one to fit her new computer and he knew how much I liked her, so he asked if I could help her out. She’s one of my favorite young adults, so I really couldn’t say no.

I knew when I saw this Amy Butler fabric in the shop that it was “the one,” but the boy insisted she’d prefer something else. While he juggled bolts of fabric, I snapped a pic with my phone, uploaded it to Facebook and tagged it with her name so she could see some options. As I expected, she loved the fabric I chose. (Score: Mom – 1,000,000; J – 3)

I drafted the bag to her computer’s dimensions with a little more room to accommodate the AC adapter and maybe a notebook. The bag closes with a parachute clip and strap to make it tough for someone to open it without her being aware.

She’s been at college a couple of weeks now and says she loves her one-of-a-kind bag, which mostly has been used as a messenger bag to carry her books to class. I’m just happy to have sent a little handmade love with her to college.

I like baking.

It’s gratifying, in that I not only get to make something but I get to make something consumable that sometimes looks pretty cool, too. Plus, I have a sweet tooth like you wouldn’t believe!

Two of my friends had birthdays the same week and I felt compelled to bake for the occasions. My friend Eryn went home with about three dozen Chocolate Salted-Caramel Mini Cupcakes, which she said made her very happy. They were yummy, I have to say, even if I did mess up the caramel and it ended up a little grainy. *sigh* She had no complaints, though, and genuinely seemed to enjoy them in spite of the not-so-gooey middles. I completely forgot to snap pictures of them, so you’ll have to take my word that they were incredibly cute. (Confession: Some of the chocolate buttercream got too warm and when I piped it on the cupcakes looked a little poo-ish. I may have eaten the evidence.)

Next up was my friend Sarah’s birthday and I made her a cake from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Whimsical Bakehouse. I used their recipe for House Buttercream and have to say that it’s still not my favorite. I think it’s not a good match for Southern summers. It tends to be a little on the soft side so it doesn’t hold up very well to dam the filling (the cake was supposed to be tilted at a rakish angle).

The cake, as a whole, was so yummy, though! I made a raspberry mousse filling (also from the cookbook) that’s been a hit with everyone who’s tasted it. (Confession: I spread the excess filling on the cake trimmings to snack on while the crumb coat is setting.) I rode to the shop to take it to Sarah on her birthday, in the rain, and held on to the cake plate really hoping I would not have to stop abruptly and watch it slide into my dashboard, since it was too tall to fit in my cake carrier. “Sorry, officer, I was trying to save this cake!”

Are you familiar with this whole Twilight phenomenon? It’s possibly a little wacky if you’re not into the books (or the movie and it’s upcoming sequels) but fans come in all ages — and include me. And a few of my friends.

I needed a break from some other things on which I was working, so I dusted off the Yudu and made a couple of tees to surprise a friend. I was a little afraid that they wouldn’t turn out, since I haven’t done too much with the screenprinter and my results have been inconsistent.

Luckily, the lapse in use didn’t erase everything I’d learned and I actually pulled these two shirts with minimal gnashing of teeth and sweating the details. Whew!

They’ve made their way to their new home and I can’t wait to see them modeled. Of course, I may still need to make one for little ol’ me …