New Pillowcases

Hello. I did a little printing of some pillowcases last weekend and they are now in the shop. I think they look better in real life than in the pics. I took these on a dark and stormy night and I have to say my pillows are not the most photogenic. At any rate, I hope you can see the cuteness that is these pillowcases.


If you want to get one for a friend (or yourself!) mention this post and I will include a zine of my house fictions. Perfect bedtime reading for these pillowcases.

These pillowcases are all vintage and can be washed and dried in the machine.

let love

I never really mention current events and politics in this blog. However, I saw this on thesugarmonster's blog and I must share it.

Keith Olbermann speaks so perfectly, succinctly and passionately about his and many of our feelings about the issue of gay marriage. I have never heard my similar feelings about it put so eloquently and thorough. You can read the transcript here.

some things i forgot to mention...

I have been adding more stock to The Cedar Chest. Expect some more really great vintage postcard books soon.

Etsy Buy Handmade thecedarchest

Also, a little while ago I started the Fat Activist Network. I have seen We Make Zines (also a network I started) really flourish in the few months it has been in existence. We now have 556 members and people are really using it. I could see how this would be a really great resource for fat activism. So, one afternoon over brunch Carrie and I discussed it and I went home and signed us up.

The Fat Activist Network is a place for all people who are fighting for Fat Rights to come together. We can use the place to connect and network and plan. If you are a size equality activist, please join us there.




Visit Fat Activist Network

birthday season

The last two weeks have been busy, but busy with fun, mostly. The week of Halloween I was on vacation. Steve and I went up to Mount Hood and had a secluded cabin on a river. Unfortunately I spent half of the vacation with a stomach flu, so that really sucked. Still, it was nice to be laying around a nice comfortable cabin with the sound of the river and Steve, who took good care of me. Here are a couple images from one of the days when I felt better. We took a little trip to Trillium Lake


I couldn't get over the patterned ring around the lake from the trees and the reflection of the trees. It looked like an ornamental loomed belt or something. I took about 30 pictures like this.


Then Wednesday was my birthday. I took off the rest of the week and have had a grand time, just spending time with people, eating amazing food and I even went and got a massage and The Dragontree.

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday with my mom by going to Myrtles Tea House and Herbery in Washington. It was totally the kind of thing I like to do and seldom do. It was really good and lots of fun. I just love all the little sandwiches and tea with cream and sugar. I had a special Earl Grey tea.

Across the street from the teahouse is a really neat old church. I walked around and took lots of pictures on the grounds.

The whole place was like some shabby chic photo shoot. I have no idea what this huge Knight is all about.
So, now I have a couple days before I go back to work to try and clean up from all this fun. I am also hoping to get some pillowcase printing done, too. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Cider Pressing

Yesterday Steve and I went out to the annual cider pressing that happens at the historical grist mill in Washington. We have gone a couple of times before, but have missed the last year, maybe two. It is a lovely drive and the mill is beautiful.



You have to wait in a very long line if you want to get some fresh pressed cider, but it is such a beautiful place to wait in line. When we got there we started on the path, leading to the covered bridge.


Once on the bridge you can lean out over the railing and look at all there is to see. Many leaves were falling during the bursts of breeze and enjoyed watching them fall in the creek and ride down out of sight. The day was sunny and the trees were so beautiful.


The water reflected the golden yellow of the trees and the creek looked like a pool of gold. It was so stunning. These pictures were not enhanced.

The cider is really good. I am drinking some right now. They press 8,000 pounds of apples this one day once a year.



I loved seeing kids with handfuls of leaves. At one point when waiting in line a big breeze came through and a bunch of leaves fell, swaying and floating down on us. All the kids started laughing and whooping it up and even the adults were overwhelmed. It was neat.

scary cupcakes

I had to make some cupcakes last night so I could use these cute Halloween cupcake toppers. Since I will be out of town for a few days this week, I wasn't sure I would be able to fit it in unless I did it soon.

I got these toppers from abelemporium during the summer when she had a sale. They are really neat. The cupcakes I made are pumpkin with a butter cream frosting. I got the recipe from Martha. I sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on the top, too. I recommend the recipe. It turned out pretty good and it was easy. They are almost muffins, but not quite.

Today was a neat fall day and I had a neat fall outing. I will tell more tomorrow. What is your favorite fall event? I can never fit them all in. Baking is definately one of them.

postcard exchange

This summer I was invited by a co-worker who is a letterpress artist to take part in a postcard exchange. The Basement Printers have been creating and exchanging postcards for around 15 years, I think. It was mostly letterpress printers, but has evolved to include other artists. Since I have been wanting to do collage again I saw it as a good way to get back into it and created my postcard.

There is a theme each year and the theme for this time was gratitude. My co-worker, Judy, was the curator this year. So, she collected the postcards and created the packaging for them. She did such a great job I can't imagine having to follow it. I am glad I do not have to. There were about 18 people who ended up taking part.



Most of the people who are involved in this project don't seem to have websites. In fact, there is little correspondence between the members of the group. No yahoo group, no mass emails. Many of the particiapants are older and/or just are not interested in the internet. For someone like me, this was a little mind-boggling. However, once I got the pack of postcards I was surprised by how I still felt a kinship, a kind of community with these women, even though I had never seen a profile, a flickr account or a blog.


Here are two of my favorites:



The postcard you see here below was done by Springtide Press. The only other postcard besides mine to have a website.


If you are interested in taking part in this project let me know. It is once a year and they are looking for new participants.

I really liked this project and it has been making my mind whirl with ideas for other kind of swaps with zinesters. But, that would probably take more planning than I have the time for these days....

Have a great weekend!