dreambird's posterous

find me at www.dreambirddesigns.blogspot.com

Finally

Photo

It's happened. After much anticipation, a few sleepless nights, and some serious dread, I am on the road to crocheting.

As you will see above, I have mastered the tiny obligatory flower.

I also have a small swatch square of various single, double, and treble crochet rows. (Trust me, it's not interesting enough to photograph.)

I would like to thank the academy, the learn to crochet visually book, and my mother who pointed out (tactfully, even) over my shoulder, that the reason I had only thus far been crocheting messy triangles was because I was skipping every other stitch. She then corrected my skipping ways, and I am forever grateful.

You can read the picture books and watch the YouTube videos, but there's no substitute for an experienced eye critiquing your work in real live time and space.

(also, dear reader, forgive me, but I have found myself smitten beyond measure with the Shakeit app for my iPhone which produces the etherial and awesome polaroids you keep seeing. I have to warm you that there is probably no end in site to these rheumy gems.)

Beach typography

Today I walked the beach, reveling in tide pools brimming with life, the pelicans gulping down their lunches, delicate shore birds probing their needle beaks into the sand--and of course--the shells.  

Today I bring you found type, photographed against the stone tiles of my hotel room floor. 

I'm in Mexico, and oro means gold.

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Liberty. Obey. Cut. Happy. | A Photographic Essay

For those of you who follow me on my blogs, you'll know that I love a sign.  I also love graffiti, public art, and found typography.  (Oh, and cupcakes.)
 
Put me in Los Angeles for a conference (we're ending homelessness here, people) and send me out on an afternoon walk around the Jewelry District and the Fashion District, and I'll come back with iPhone shots of signs, stickers and graffiti I've seen along the way. 
 
Here are today's.

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Buttons for booties

Sewing on the buttons is my least favorite part. Which means that the booties get completed, and then tossed aside, until a day when I have the patience to bother with a needle and thread, with tiny knots and precise placement.  

So today, I give you my latest in a series of adorable booties.  This pair is destined for the tiny kissable feet of my brand new niece, Anika, who I will meet in late March when I have the privilege of flying to Alaska (thanks Mom and Dad!), where she lives.  

Until then, I will continue to knit the airplane for her brother, all while counting down the days until I'm on the floor zooming trucks and trading sticky kisses with the pair of them.

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gingerbread souffle with a white chocolate creme anglaise

Souffle

This photo was taken mid-dinner party, which is exactly how a souffle must arrive, straight from the oven to the table, so that your guests can see it in all its puffed up glory.  Because of the mid-dinner party setting, the melee of a post-meal table is visible around the souffle pan, as is the little-more-than-candle-light by which we were dining.  By the time it was dished out and draped in a silky sheet of creme anglaise, there was no stopping me for another photo. You'll just have to imagine the shiny sauce, white but flecked with the tiny brilliance of vanilla seeds.

What was dinner, you ask?  Homemade sweet potato ravioli and a roasted chicken.  And lots of wine. And a bottle of port while the souffle cooked. And lots of raucous laughter.

Want the souffle and creme anglaise recipe? Buy this book.

Wide body airplane

Okay, you're going to have to use your imagination on this one, since today's Thing-A-Day is only part of a thing. It's the main part of an airplane, a work-in-progress for my nephew.  I know it doesn't look like much, but that's because you have to imagine it with wings and a tail fin and a propeller.  Just imagine. 

Okay, it's hard; it looks like a blue and yellow sausage. But trust me.  Wings, propeller, and tail fin are forthcoming.  Trust me; it will be an airplane.

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Packed and ready


Today I packaged up my knitted hearts. Each was outffitted with a sturdy chair (complete with seatbelt) for the flight across the country to wish my loved ones a Happy Heart Day.  I then gussied up envelopes with a jolly house that puffs heart-shaped clouds from its chimney.  They are now stamped and ready to go. I wish them safe travels and all of you a Happy Heart Day.

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