This swing in temperatures, however, can make an otherwise lovely hike through El Dorado Canyon become a rather monstruous battle between ice, snow, and Nelson’s love of chasing “the deers.” An otherwise lovely afternoon was interrupted by my foolish decision to let Mr. Willie Nelson Mandela off leash. He’s done fine before, normally running ahead and immediatley treking back at the first whistle. Rarely does he get out of my sight.

This week, however, he spotted some giant white tailed snacks and took off like a maniac for the hills. I spent no fewer than 15 minutes hyperventalating, calling his name, and cursing my stupid decision to let him roam free. Eventually, thankfully, he came back — but not after I’d gone 1/4 a mile off trail, through knee high snow in some spots, slippery mud in others, and up a steep mountain covered in tiny cactus.

I know. Snow. Cactus. Mud. Boulder County. What can I say? It’s a gloriously beautiful and weird place — those Flat Iron Mountains.

Thankfully, the little muddy beast came back fine, if not a bit shaken by the rare scolding. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he needed a bath afterward. (He’s currently sulking on the couch, curly and smelling of strawberry shampoo.)

Lessons learned: don’t let WNM off leash, bring a second pair of shoes this time of year, take more hikes. Even with the cleaning required after, it was so luxurious to be out in the sunshine, listening to the wind pour through the pines and watching that sweet little creature of mine adventure like he’d never before been let outside.

~K

Denver is a cycling town.

And if you don’t have a bike, but want to ride around town, there is a program to help you do just that. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if parking is such an issue in this city because city planners would prefer a cycling and pedestrian public.

~K

A former coworker turned 40 last week; the celebration gave me a much needed nudge to try Amy Butler’s charm clutch pattern.

I anticipate making many, many more of these with what I learned after the first go-round — including one for me, with vintage trim I tucked away for the perfect project.

~K

It took a bit of research, but I finally found and used this great tutorial. Deciding what to use for the center button was the biggest challenge. I finally picked mother of pearl buttons and silver starfish. I thought they complimented the cream color of the fabric and looked polished together.

Using Goody hair clips, a bit of heavy pink felt and hot glue, voila — project completed.

Nothing makes me happier than repurposing materials, especially for a friend’s big day! Plus, how sweet is it that Kara’s wearing her mama’s gown? Love that.

Good luck Kara and Ryan! Wishing you a life of happiness!

xo,

K

A knit cap for a certain Steelers fan I am friends with. My recent knitting binge has been fueled by my discovery of Damages. Have you heard of this show? Glenn Close has never been better. I absolutely loved season one and two. It is so smart, sneaky and well done. It is also great background noise when you are busting through a spreadsheet of handmade gifts you intend to create.

Blessing for day 8: Netflix. I’ve learned so much this year from the variety of shows I’ve been able to see. I truly love this service.

~K

I’m not a huge fan of decorating. I like tiny white lights, a simple tree, my African nativity scene and little else. However, with the new garden gate Matty made and painted earlier this year, I couldn’t help but hang a stocking to celebrate the season too.

Blessing for day 7: winter weather in Arizona that means wearing a jean jacket is more than enough.

~K

Taggie blankets are so simple and appreciated. At lunch this weekend with some friends, I noticed a table of doting grandparents hosting their infant grandchildren. They each had a minky-backed tag blanket.

These were sewn for expecting mothers I work with. I love the burst of color and the softness of the minky. Here is a simple tutorial.

~K

Well, November came and left in a flash and I didn’t get a single project on our craft-along list completed. In all fairness… Nope. I don’t even have an excuse. You were busy writing more than 50,000 words with NaNoWriMo and smoking a turkey and what was I doing? I don’t really remember, but nothing that incredible.

So, let’s extend those three great projects through the month of December and promise to finish off the year with a bang of prizes, announcements for the new year and kudos to participants.

Sound good?

Love,

Donk

What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters to what lies within us.~~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The bags are packed,  car fueled, maps printed, mixed CDs burned,  snacks baked and July birthday cards posted. I’m heading off on a solo road trip for the next couple weeks. I plan to see family and friends, sleep under the stars, fly fish, take long hikes through the Rockies and Tetons, ride a horse or two, maybe kiss a cowboy or two and document each spirit-refreshing step with an adventurer’s wanderlust.

Be well, friends.

xoxo,

Kelli

I figure I saved at least $40 by searching the pantry for ingredients instead of grabbing my car keys and the roommate for dinner. Plus, this is far from thin crust and therefore made dinner and lunch for two. It was considerably better than the crust I made Saturday. The only difference was the temperature of water I added to the dough. It calls for warm; the first batch’s water was too hot I’d guess. It was much harder to roll out and didn’t rise. This batch, on the other hand, was Goldilocks right. Then again, the roommate isn’t much of a food critic. He likes just about everything.

Sweet heavens, I never thought I’d be able to whip up a yummy pizza crust after work in time for dinner and make it something people would actually want to eat. Thank you again, Finny and my mama, for once upon a time being my domestic inspirations. Plus, there was that completely fulfilling feeling of using tomatoes, basil and rosemary we grew for our own dinner.

Earlier in the week, I made hummus that received a “This is better than that Pita Palace place!” review. It’s Pita Jungle, but who am I to correct with that kind of praise? Thank you kindly. I made my standard garlic hummus and then went a little sassy with black beans and a handful of cilantro for the other. This was like hummus salsa and was so, so good. With a bit of grilled chicken, whole wheat pita, spinach and a splash of Sriracha — dinner is served.

{Btw — Mark Bittman says Sriracha is one of his kitchen staples and I couldn’t agree more. If you like spicy, pick up a bottle. They carry it in the normal, generic grocery stores in Phoenix. Plus, it is so hot all you need is a drop or two.}

This was a good week to stay in and cook from what we had in the pantry. Why? Because I’d much rather spend the dough (dough! ha!) at the beach, where I am escaping this weekend to visit some of my most favorite friends in the world. And now, thanks to a bit of frugal domesticity, I’ve got the cash for wineries in Ojai, pedicures in LA and lots of fun spoiling sweet Roscoe in between.

Happy weekend, friends!

~K

Bowling wrapped this weekend, with our team some how taking the league championships. That’s right — I’ve got a bowling trophy on my desk. While the sheer joy of winning was worth attending, watching Rebecca bowl 9 months pregnant was truly oh-my-God entertaining. (Adam’s Big Lebowsky impersonation was a close second.)

~K

My mom used to tell my brother, “It’s time to get crackin’!” when we were dragging. I thought of her this weekend when making the breakfast for the masses.

Thankfully, Rebecca added several great suggestions, including bacon and fruit. She sent her husband over with two large bags of oranges and grapefruit and encouraged me to fry up some piggie to go along with the eggs.

Thankfully, I don’t have photos cooking the bacon. So, let me just paint you a brief, gruesome picture. Me, leaning over a skillet, watching these strips start to crackle and pop, telling the woman next to me, “I’ve never cooked this before!” when BAM! Bacon grease starts going bananas and I really regret wearing a v-neck t-shirt. The burns weren’t bad, but stung enough to strengthen my resolve that pork is disgusting. Ew.

That said, guess what they loved most? The bacon.

Breakfast for the masses:

48 eggs

2 packages of phyllo dough

1 container of half & half

2 cups grated cheese

2 bags of fruit

2 pounds of bacon

{Another woman from the church brought coffee, juice and toast.}

Total cost to feed 45? $32.  Giddyup.

~K

You know how I was supposed to select a winner from our January CRAFT ALONG contest? Well, nearly impossible. I mean, did you see how cute these two are? How do you pick between them? And while we are in the hoodie department, um, he’s pretty darn cute too. I’m completely usless at selecting who wins when the entries are this great!

And if that wasn’t hard enough, the cookies! My goodness, the cookies. There is some serious food porn, great packaging and ones that nearly made me lick the screen. As well documented, my cookies flip flopped. They still tasted good, but they didn’t look anything like these. Wow.

So, the selected at random winner this time around is Ms. Sarah H! Bravo! And thank you all for your great submissions this month. I am writing this from a coffee shop and you have no idea how hungry I am suddenly for a giant plate of mouth watering lemon treats.

On to February — I’ve got some ideas. I know we said we’d consider posting two projects in different categories, but I’m already breaking the rules. There were two sewing projects posted on Craftzine.com in January that are just so rad. I think we have to make them.

First, how great is this fabric bowl? And second, how useful is this wall pocket thingie? I’ve got great plans for the second — I’m going to transform it into a diaper changing caddy for one of my many prego friends.

To restate the rules of the great CRAFT ALONG 2009 challenge: anyone can play; select one or both of the month’s projects and post your photo in the Flickr pool to be included in the monthly winner drawing. Let us know what you think of the projects. Blog about it, talk about it on your photo post, email us. We love it.

Huh, Fin?

xoxo,

Donk

~Kate Winslet. I know a day late and a dollar short on this one. I saw “Revolutionary Road” this weekend and while the story left me hollow, her beauty was the strongest character. There are scenes when she walks in a room and you could nearly hear the audience gasp. She is remarkably gorgeous.

~Beki’s Lily Beth handbag pattern. Beki gets pattern writing. Her directions are clear. Her layout is smart. Her pattern is simple. I love this bag. I’m doing a bit of a handbag pattern review this week — so stayed tune for the next adventure. I’m currently working on a Taxi Tote out of Seams to Me.

~Fat free greek yogurt. Have you tried this stuff yet? With a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds and a dash of cinnamon, it is sweet heaven. Great for breakfast or a snack. Plus, each little container has 25 grams of protein, so you stay full.

~Barak Obama. I am reading, “Dreams of My Father.” It was written before he was elected to the senate and it is more honest and human that I could have imagined. His stories of childhood are heartbreaking; his tales of trying to organize the poor communities of Chicago are frustrating. I am so pleased this man will soon be our President.

~Bon Iver and the mix of Jay Z and Viva la Vida that Salty Senor passed my way recently. New good tunes!

Smitten hearts for all,

K

When I was little, I had this awesome mint green Hello Kitty sticker book. The pages were slick so you could add stickers and then later put them on other pages, or your notebooks, little brother, etc. I loved that thing and would regularly use it to add a bit of flare to penpal envelopes. I should have known then that I’d have a somewhat ridiculous life-long passion for correspondence.

When Tiffany sent me this idea for her daughter Rory, I knew it was just a matter of time until I passed on the joy of a good, old fashioned sticker book. Last night I whipped two of these up — one for little Rory and one for sweet Persephone. Cheap, easy holiday gifts. I can’t wait to make these for my own kids one day!

Anyone want a tutorial? These take about 25 minutes to sew and are a great way to share that odd collection of stickers you may have hanging around.

~K