Renegade bound /  by jen geigley

I'm headed to Renegade Craft Fair again, and the Chicago show comes around just in time for fall knits. (You know, the ones I've been knitting all summer long!) Renegade is only a week away, so my needles are flying furiously these last few days. Here's what you can expect to see if you come out to visit me next weekend.
Big, huge insanely soft 100% virgin wool cowls. They're seriously giant.
Smaller super chunky seed stitch cowls in every color in the rainbow. (Here are just a few!)
Long drapey cowls that you can loop around your neck twice (as shown in the first pic above.)
My mom even got in on the action and crocheted this beautiful rainbow of scrubby cotton dishcloths. I'm in love with them.
One week! Chicago. Wicker Park, Division + Damon Street. Over 300 handmade artists will be there and it's always such a fun time. (More info here.) Come on out!

15 weeks /  by jen geigley

It's August, the height of summer. It's still hot, the state fair is over, I've been feeling better and I've been wanting corn dogs. (And delicious cherry limeades.) Sonic is my friend and luckily, we have one quite close to our house. So for just ninety-nine cents, I can indulge once in awhile.

fun with bento /  by jen geigley

Along with back-to-school time comes lunch time, and I love lunch time. Our kitchen is still in mid-demolition stage, but that has given me the chance to go through everything that was in our cabinets so I can sort and reorganize. Which reminded me that while I've posted some of my past bento-ish lunch plates in the past, I've never really shared what was in my bento stash. Like, the tools. If you're curious about bento, here are the supplies I've stocked up on.
First, the little things. In the upper left corner are some small ocean-themed cutters (for cheese or meat or what-have-you) and hotdog shapers. (I'll get to those in a minute.) In the upper right are various food picks. Lower left has tiny sauce/condiment containers, as does the lower right (with one more wiener shaper.)
If you've never seen hotdog shapers, this should tell you everything you need to know. They're the newest addition to my bento supplies, and Lo just recently started eating hotdogs so I can't wait to try them out. This pack has a crab, a fish and penguins. Super cool or kind of gross? I can't decide.  :)
Here we have some sandwich punches, egg shapers for hard-boiled eggs and baran sheets. (Which are little plastic-y dividers used to separate different foods in your box.) I ordered some of these new supplies last week with my pal Sarah from this website.
 Here are several food cups in various sizes, some given to me by my sweet friend Morgan!
I stocked up on some new silicone baran sheets and dividers, which you can wash and use over and over again, unlike the paper kind.
This is my most favorite Hello Kitty rice mold set with punches, also from my friend Morgan. My niece has dared me to make one of those really elaborate Hello Kitty bentos, like these. Umm, someday?
And finally, two new bento boxes – the first one is 3-tiered (the top tier is for silverware) and the second box has just one compartment. These are really inexpensive and so cute ... each one was only $3.50. I promise to share some lunches soon so you can see what can be made with these lovelies. In the meantime, you should definitely check out two of my favorite bento blogs ... Wendolonia and Adventures in Bentomaking. (Wendy at Wendolonia just did an awesome post about bento box basics/tools. Check it.)

goodbye, kitchen. /  by jen geigley

Bo and I been talking about doing a kitchen remodel for quite awhile now. It's always been on our to-do list (especially the floors, which were in major need of an overhaul.) And this summer, it's go time. The cabinets have been ripped out and the floor has been tiled. We have a long way to go, but I am so excited to watch this new kitchen materialize.
First came the new flooring. (And, well, ripping out the bottom cabinets. Ripping things out kind of scares me.) The new tile is a neutral gray and perfect for dancing on.
And if you've read here awhile, you may remember my obsession with yellow kitchens. I love yellow kitchens. We're going with IKEA cabinets and using four of these yellow doors that I bought on clearance awhile back. For $10 each. It was a crazy good deal. They'll be mixed with white cabinets and our plan is to get concrete countertops poured. Soon. (By the way, we've been super impressed with the quality of IKEA's cabinets and drawers. Wow. For anyone who challenges you with the argument that IKEA doesn't sell durable/high-quality stuff, you really must test these out in person. Even my father-in-law approves.)
So yeah, the old doors came off and here's where things started to get crazy. I had no idea how much stuff we actually had in our kitchen. The junk drawers. The mugs and knick-knacks and mis-matched dish sets. The cleaning supply cabinets. (And Lo's main concern, the candy drawer.)
For now, everything is laying in piles on our living room floor. So that's fun. Bo and his dad are doing the entire kitchen remodel themselves, so it has been in various states of de-construction as they move through each stage. They're both incredibly handy and I'm so lucky they know how to do all of this stuff.
This week will be the worst of it; we won't have a sink for a few days until we get the countertops squared away. But paper plates, pizza and carry-out are our friends and we're making the most of it. The end is in sight and I can't wait to pick up our next load of cabinets and see it all come together. Like, I really can't wait to see the yellow.  :)

I must be feeling a little better ... /  by jen geigley

Because look at me ... I'm back to blogging nearly every day! (Huh.) Anyway, here are a couple of pages I did for Kara Haupt's new online class, This & That. (Thanks, Kara!) You can sign up now, and you totally should.

These two pages are based on mix and match page ideas/topics:

* What’s your band name? Choose a group of friends, your family, or your Significant Other and yourself, and decide on what your “band name” would be if you were a band.

* Give a shout-out to anything by finishing the phrase “Hey, ______”.


* Use a page of your planner or calendar on a page.

* Use a stamp to create a custom patterned paper.

(So, above is obviously band name + calendar/planner page.)


 And this page is the 'Hey' shout-out + stamping to create pattern on paper. (Fun, huh?)
So if you're stuck in a creative rut, or haven't scrapbooked in awhile, or have always wanted to try a journaling project but didn't know where to start, you should definitely sign up for This & That.  If you're busy during the dates class is offered, no worries – a complete class pdf will be available at the end of class to peruse at your leisure. So jump in – I know you'll have a fantastic time with this!

Missoni for Target /  by jen geigley

I realize that right now everyone is freaking out over the Missoni for Target preview but I am seriously excited about this. I posted about my love for the 2011 resort collection (wow) awhile back and started knitting that Missoni blanket. But this, this is too good. Here are my favorites and I can't wait to see the rest. (Ganked from all the way up here.)
Yeah, you can imagine my excitement when I saw the baby stuff. You can bet your ass I'm going to do my best to pull off a Missoni nursery. (Aren't these colors the greatest?) I hope we'll be able to find out if we're having a boy or girl by the time this stuff hits the shelves and I become the biggest Target stalker of all time ...  :)

this & that winner! /  by jen geigley

Hello hello – I (finally!) picked a winner for Kara Haupt's new online class, This & That! In the next day or two, I'll have some pages of my own to share from class so you can see how much fun this is going to be.  :)
And the winner is Holly Knitlightly – yay! Send me your info and we'll get you set up for class. (And if you didn't win but still would like to join in, here's all the info about This & That. Class starts on August 15th, so you still have time to sign up!)

this & that /  by jen geigley

Hey hey! My friend Kara is teaching a fantastic new online class called This & That. It's up for sale today, and you can register anytime between now and August 16th. Here's the details ...


This & That


Haven’t scrapbooked in awhile? Feeling uninspired with your current supplies and same old photos? Want to try scrapbooking or art journaling but don’t where to start?


This & That is a three week online class jam-packed with challenges, journaling prompts, and techniques designed to get you scrapbooking again. Mix and match and use this and that to create thirty plus pages! Choose one journaling prompt and one technique idea from the pool and combining ideas to get excited about creating again.
Price: $35 USD
Dates: August 15th-September 2nd
Included:
  • Access to private blog
  • 30 journaling prompts
  • 30 technique prompts and ideas
  • Tutorial for creating vintage handkerchief albums
  • Printable embellishment sheet
  • 2 instructor videos
  • Email access to Kara
  • Giveaways!
  • PDF of the entirety of the class
Looks like fun, right? So would you like to win a free pass to This & That? Leave a comment here (anything will do) for a chance to win. I'll pick a lucky person by midnight CST on Monday, August 8th. Good luck!

big news/little bump /  by jen geigley

Lately I've been taking some pretty long breaks from the blog. (The longest I've ever taken.) But all for a good reason. There's going to be a new babe in this family, and we could not be more excited. We're as ready as we'll ever be. Little Lo is not so little anymore; she'll be five by the time this new baby gets here. (I'm due on Valentine's Day!) And she is pretty stoked about the idea of being a big sis. I've been getting hit a little harder this time around with the sickness, and I had forgotten how pregnancy can instantly change your 'normal' into something quite different in a matter of days. I'm super close to being through my first trimester, and everything is feeling so familiar ... I want to nap all of the time, my favorite jeans are too tight to button, I eat completely bizarre things and can get sick at the drop of a hat. But I'm not complaining. It's totally, completely, absolutely worth it. We are blessed.