{Off & Away}

One of the great perks to being married to a music man is that you get to travel a lot, visit a lot of interesting places, meet a lot of interesting people, and hear a lot of good music. I'll be out of state the next 6 days, at a music festival in Washington. I've been promised an excursion to Portland (the beard capital of the USA) along the way, which I am very excited about. I've never been to Portland, but have heard so many great things about it. I'm hoping to come back with a few jewels to share. I'm so excited!

I've done some serious html/css coding research lately and added some great things to this blog. A new header, which still needs a little tweaking. And you can now contact me (and please do! I'd love to hear from you) visit my Flickr page, my Facebook page (right now it's a link to my personal one, if I ever have time I may start an AG one) and finally subscribe to my RSS feed via the neat little tags on the left of the page!

I've also added an about me link in the new menu bar, and a link to the Etsy shop. I'm still working on getting items up, so not much is going on there yet. I'm hoping that all the new additions will make Abstract Grace a more user/reader friendly blog. We all need easier in our lives, right?

Well, this is my Friday, so i'll see you all next week!

{Baking It Pretty}

Hands down, one of my favorite leisure activities is baking. It's such a stress reliever for me that I bake every chance I get, at least once a week. I've posted before about a lovely little site that sells adorable baking goods called Bake It Pretty. Last week I ordered some light blue office-esque tags, chocolate brown mini and regular sized cupcake liners, and my new favorite cookie cutter, which I have affectionately named "the 'stache". I am already thinking of a few people who will be receiving cookies made with "the 'stache" very soon, and the husband has already requested I make some for his upcoming birthday.

It's so exciting opening the mailbox to see a package you know is going to be filled with great things. I was very excited today was delivery day. My items were packaged nicely in a brown paper bag with a Bake It Pretty sticker seal. I love details like that.

I suggest you stop by the site and take a look around. It's filled with a million awesome things for the baker who obsesses over making food pretty. Because eating cute food is a millions times more fun, right?

Oh, in other AG news...I've started a Flickr account. (I know, I know, who doesn't have a Flickr account? Apparently no one except me until today.) I'm hoping it makes me more diligent about taking photos and blogging about them. You can see the scant collection so far here.

{Renegade SF Spotlight-I Made You A Beard}

Well, I'm back. The birthday extravaganza weekend was great! I have some awesome friends, and am still wishing I was floating on the river, soaking up the sun and eating mexican food....ahhhhhh. Not to mention I got some gifts that are burning holes in my wallet...eh hem...anthro gift card. Anywho...

above image courtesy i made you a beard

I'm fond of beards. My husband has one (in fact i've never seen him without one) and I wouldn't have it any other way, well except that time he decided to grow it out crazy David Bazan like...that was a little much. That's why I was super excited to come across Erin Dollar of I Made You A Beard.

Not only is she from the unofficial beard capital of the USA (Portland!) but she makes the most charming beards and blogs about them and other beardy things. Take a look for yourself, her Etsy store is chocked full of bearded goodness.

These photos are from Erin's booth at Renegade SF. The moustache (not mustache) pins above are my favorite item. (Especially that little bright red one). I mean really, can you get any more creative then making colored beards out of yarn and felt!? The shapes, the styles, the textures...the whole thing makes my un-fuzzy face smile. Do you think the office people will stare if i wear the pink one to work??? Hm........tempting.

P.s. She also has non-beard related items. Art done under her own name, and a separate Etsy where you can buy prints.

P.p.s I think i'll be doing more posts on the beard topic, i've been running into some great things recently...keep an eye out.

{Happy Weekend}

Have a great weekend. I know I will, I'll be celebrating my 24th birthday on Saturday! I've been waiting years and years for this specific birthday, just so I can listen to this song. Happy Weekend everyone!

{Renegade SF Spotlight-The Black Apple}

Emily Martin and Co., of The Black Apple were probably the biggest name at Renegade this year. After her appearance on Martha Stewart making dolls a while back, Emily has become the go to Etsy Store/Blogger for her paintings and her signature dolls (add jewelry, paper goods, and books to that also). Rumor has it that Emily even had fans at Renegade. Well deserved however, because her work is amazing. (Try getting any of her original items, they sell out FAST!)

Her items are whimsical, soft, and very well crafted. Especially her dolls, which are in real life works of art in themselves. The quality and craftsmanship of them is far superior to my attempt at the pattern.

You can read and view more pictures from The Black Apple at Renegade SF here.

Next we'll visit the amazing mustaches of Erin Dollar and I Made You A Beard!

{Etsy. Etsy, Etsy!}

I am soooooo excited about this next post.

I officially have an Etsy store! I'll be selling handmade items for women, children and baby. Over the next few weeks i'll be getting the store up and running, but you can still check it out in the meantime. Hopefully this new endeavor will result in more frequent blogging and an upsurge in my creative juices. Please visit the Abstract Grace Etsy Store (so excited to be typing that!) and in the meantime keep reading the blog and drool over this fine Etsy item from June Designs, I know I have...

Golden Heart Necklace

{Renegade SF}

So, we're back from Renegade San Francisco 2009, and I must say it was a lot of fun! Over 225 different DIY vendors were there, and there was a great public turn out to the event. Getting through to all the booths was definitely doable in one afternoon, but the crowds made squeezing in to see every last item a little troublesome. The event showcased some great DIY-ers, and products ranging from jewelry, clothing, handbags, paper goods, stuffed items, ceramics, posters, art prints, crayons, candles, baby goods, children's items, reconstructed clothing and jewelry, soaps, etc. It was a lot of fun seeing what other people create, and most definitely got my creative juices flowing.

It made me think about the potential that all sewers/crafters have to make a living doing what they love. There was definitely room for more types of goods, and it made me think about getting my Etsy store up and running. I've been putting it off for no good reason, but after seeing the results at Renegade it's now on the top of my to-do list.

I took some great photos of the event and over the next few weeks, i'll be sharing them with you. Showcasing some new vendors and some already popular in the blogosphere. Overall the event was great, even Travis was excited about all the exhibitors and my upcoming Etsy shop. He always encourages me to sell my crafts, and his entrepreneurial mind is always scheming up ideas, I love that about him. Plus it was nice to be out of the 105 degree Sacramento weather and in the breezy 73 degree San Francisco weather for the day. Here's a pic of Travis and I outside the Renegade Festival at Fort Mason. Can you believe Tuesday is out 2 year wedding anniversary! Yay!

{2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair-SF}

I am sooooooo looking forward to this! For more info check out the website.

{Little Shoes for Little Feet}

Like I mentioned before, I've been sewing a lot. And it seems that all I'm sewing lately are patterns for baby related items. While I have no kiddos, everyone else seems to be adding new additions to their family, and it's keeping my fingers busy.

These are the most adorable little cloth baby shoes. The pattern is relatively easy, and free to download here (thank you Michael Miller Fabrics and this lovely blog). The great thing about this pattern is that all the pieces are so small it's a great project to do with all those scraps of fabric you can't bear to throw out, but don't know what to do with.

The pattern says it fits babies from 0-6 months. I would suggest that it can be altered as far as materials go. Skip the bonded fleece (I used what I had on hand--standard felt) and interfacing, or substitute with what ever you have and all will turn out fine. In essence this is a basic pattern that can be used to make casual lightweight slippers or bulked up with leather bottoms for a dressier look.

Either way your baby will be adorable in them. These green polka dot and pink striped booties are going to a special little someone due this Fall. Meanwhile, if you're curious about what other people have done with the pattern, check out this Flickr group!

{Petite Treats}

Yes, the evil empire that is Starbucks is my arch nemesis. I don't even want to know how much money we spend a month there. I think i'd have a heart attack. Between me and the hubby we have been known to visit TWICE in one day. (Well, a coffee in the morning, then one in the afternoon for a pick me up...) Horrible, I know. Even more costly is the urge to add a pastry or scone to your drink order, and Oh, I often do. Especially those Petite Vanilla Scones. Those are my favvvvv. Well, I searched the web for a copycat version, and got a few different ones.

Going by picture, texture, and ingredients, I modified one recipe a little, and came out with a VERY good replica. These vanilla scones are spot on in flavor, and appearance, however the texture is a tad (I mean very minimally) lighter. The Starbuck's ones are dense while light (does that make sense???), and these ones are on the lighter side, a tad less dense. Perhaps I'll reduce the amount of baking powder next time, that might do it. Overall these are amazing! Make them and you'll be pleasantly surprised, and so will your wallet.

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup of full fat sour cream

1 large egg yolk

1/2 vanilla bean (pod split, seeds removed)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze

1/2 Vanilla Bean (pod split, seeds removed. other half of bean used in dough)

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Heavy cream as needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Whisk together dry ingredients

3. Using any method you prefer, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until flour resembles coarse meal.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg yolk, vanilla bean insides, and vanilla extract until blended. Add this to the flour-butter mixture and mix on low until dough forms a cohesive ball. Use a spatula to get the dry bits fully incorporated. (It may seem a bit sticky, but this is the texture you want.)

5. Pat dough on a floured surface into a disk about 1-inch in height. Cut into 1.5 inch triangles. Place the pieces on silpat or ungreased baking sheets.

6. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top.

7. Prepare glaze while scones are baking

8. Place powdered sugar and the other half of the scraped vanilla bean seeds in a medium bowl, and add water/heavy cream one teaspoon at a time, mixing vigorously until smooth and runny.

9. Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer of glaze over the cooled scones. Brushing rather than drizzling gives a smoother appearance and requires less glaze. Reapply glaze once the first coat had dried to the touch.

10. Serve immediately. Store cooled scones in an airtight container. Or freeze unglazed scones for future use.