Is It Really July Already?

On the Way to South Dakota

Cathedral Spire Formations in the Black Hills

Mule Deer at Custer

Sylvan Lake in Custer

Wild Burro Greeting at the Car Window

Beeper Moment at Mount Rushmore

Mountain Meadow in the Rockies

Rocky Mountain Overlook

Elk in the Mountains

Hike to The Loch

The Loch

Hi.  Here I am.  Back again with my fully functioning camera--see?   Is it really already mid-July?  I feel like I fell into a very humid, very hot hole over here in this place we call summer in Minnesota.  I missed you, dear blog and lovely blog-readers, but it has just been curiously difficult to find my way back here.  Want to know what I have been doing all this time?  Well, we painted almost the whole of our downstairs in various shades of slate and heavy-cream, put chalkboard paint all over the ugly half-bathroom door to encourage bathroom-stall style graffiti, framed some prints that have been lurking in their poster tubes for months (years?), planted some veggies (chard, couple kinds of melon, and all the other usual suspects of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini), got real cozy with my iPad, and then headed out for a 10-day summer road trip to The Rocky Mountains via the Black Hills.

I really, really fell hard for Custer State Park--the free-range wild life everywhere (buffalo shuffling through our camp site during the night, burros greeting us at out car window, stopping for pronghorn lazily crossing back into waving prairie grass), swimming in the breath-takingly gigantic boulder strewn lakes, the various resorts that put me in mind of 1950's-style summer camps.  Then we drove onto the larger-than-life Rockies where we hiked, swam, ate homemade ice cream, slept, then did it again the next day.  You can see more photos of the Black Hills, here, and the Rockies, here (including my Instagram photos which I uploaded to my Flickr--I have become very sweet on the immediacy of whipping out your phone to grab a photo out the car window of the passing landscape and the snappy photo editing all right there).

I tell myself that my plan is to ease into blogging this month--sort of like how you slither down into a really hot bath.  But who knows, maybe I will just take a running jump off the dock, right into the deep end....it does feel good to be here again.  Little bit like coming home.

Camera (and blog): Temporarily Out of Order

Here's the story: One day last week I was taking photos of some candies I was making for Easter--recipes to be shared here--and my shutter just quit working after I snapped off about two photos.  I am told by the camera experts this is not good news--at all.  I am told to expect camera repair bills upwards of $200.  I am told my camera may be out of commission for 6-8 weeks while it is being repaired.  

So, I guess that leaves me to tell all of you that I will not be around here the next few weeks while I await the repair of my beloved camera.  I am taking this as an opportunity to finally do some of that work around my house I have been meaning to do--painting, repairing cracks in plaster, making some new roman blinds for our bedroom...without the happy distraction of this blog and my camera sidekick.

I have lots of blogging plans though for the summer--some new toy designs, new tutorials already in the works...so, really, please consider this an extended spring break.  Me and my camera--once recovered--will return.  See you in early June and enjoy your spring.  

8 Projects: Pretty Things to Make for Spring

All of these projects are just so dang pretty.  That little Junebug Dress, that deliciously beautiful rabbit doll, that clever egg with a moustache and a party hat, and a jar of yummy coconut sugar scrub...I will take one each--or maybe, I will make one of each.

Project Links (clockwise from top left): Junebug Dress by Craftiness is Not Optional; Trick Up My Sleeve Coin Purse by Family Chic (photo from Upcycle Your Life); Coconut Sugar Scrub by A Pretty Life in the Suburbs; Little Egg Man from A Bit of Pilli Pilli; Hase Bunny Doll by Lieschen Mueller; Hippity Hop Easter Clutch by Sew Together; Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs by Two Men and a Little Farm; Easter Chick by Myrtle and Eunice

Make Something Spring-ish

Need some spring-ish projects?  How about 15 of them using an assortment of techniques, from embroidery to sewing to paper craft to making scented play dough?  Just wanted to drop in and remind you about my Spring Variations project set I put together last year.  It contains several projects perfect for whipping up a little something last minute but handmade for Easter--as well as other projects that would be just peachy for May Day or other spring-y events.  All the projects you see in the first photo are contained in this project set--so, yes, if you like my funny bunnies made from recycled sweaters, or those scented jelly bean bags--this project set contains the patterns and instructions for making both of those (and lots more).  You can find the project set here, in my Etsy shop. 

In My Shop: Funny Bunnies

3 lovely cashmere funny bunnies, all awaiting adoption into good families who will not judge them for being ear-challenged.  Did I mention they are made almost entirely with recycled materials?

You can find them here, in my little Etsy shop.

Whoops! About that Zakka Style Lucky Day Give-Away...

What?  I'm only 14 days late to announce the winner of the Zakka Style Lucky Day Give-Away like I said I would.  Punctuality is over-rated--and, clearly, for people with better memories.  So, if you are still lingering, wondering if I am EVER going to announce the winner...well, yes, I am.  Right now, in fact:

#12--LALANIA SIMONE!

Come on down and claim your copy of Zakka Style.  Please email me with your mailing address and other essential info and I will happily get the book off to you in the mail.

To everyone else who left comments with suggestions about what you would personally like to see in a Beeper Bebe book--thank you.  It was helpful to me to hear from you and will certainly help shape the direction of future book-ish endeavors.

In My Shop: Jelly Bean Bags & Vintage Button Barrettes

Check it out, baby: more stuff in my shop.  A few sets of jelly-bean-scented jelly bean bags, done up all tidy in an appliqued draw-string bag, and some new Cute as a Button barrette sets (made with all vintage buttons).  Have a look--but, really, only if you care.