How about a second entry, to make up for the time I was gone? Firstly and foremostly, I finished my Christmas quilt, just in time for. . . um, the new year.

Click on the image to enlarge, or click here to see it on the bed. I brought all the pieces to America and used my mom's nice machine to sew the remaining 3/4 of the top together and then finished it off. Projects like this require an extended period of ridiculous concentration, I find -- if I put it down, I'm not likely to pick it up again.

The finished size is 80"x80" (or just over two metres in both length and width), which is perfect for wrapping around yourself without any bits of skin being exposed to the surrounding air. It would also be a nice bedspread size for a twin-size bed, I think, but it just barely covers the top of our (UK-size) king bed. I didn't put in any batting, as I've been tricked into using horrible overly fluffy stuff before (and had to even things out by under fluffing?), but I backed it in a soft green flannel, so it's 'cuddly' without being hot.

I spent an hour today with the above. When my desk is clean and clear (not often), I like to gather all the home magazines sitting around and cut out the good bits. It keeps them from piling up and has produced a book with all my favourite ideas -- like a Country Living magazine distilled down just for me.

This is as close as I get to scrap booking, and it's really not very close at all (for instance -- there are no stickers and a complete lack of paper borders and frames). I briefly flirted with scrapbooking in high school, but I've found sewing and painting and creating my own textiles (felting!) to be much more satisfying.

The rose-printed envelope in the corner of the picture has nothing to do with my idea book, but I carved that stamp this morning and wanted to sneak it into the picture. I recieved a pleasingly large selection of Speedball block printing inks (and Mastercarve blocks) for Christmas and remembered to bring back my other printing supplies from America, so I think I'll be doing a lot more of this. It did take a surprisingly long time to ink and stamp that entire envelope. I wonder who it's for?

A nice pile of books, mostly birthday gifts from Rob. I figured that, since we're back in London, you deserve a picture of something pretty, and books can be nice. There's a general theme of domesticity, with Tom Wolfe to round things out. I read I Am Charlotte Simmons in America (bought at Gatwick as my travel book), but I've never managed to read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, though it's been on my list for years. I really enjoyed Charlotte Simmons, by the way; it's university life exaggerated enough to be interesting, and the writing is just superb. I'd publish it.

In more squirrely news, here's one of the fluffy tree rats on my parents' deck. My parents put out seeds and peanuts on the handrail, and when the food's gone, the squirrels come up to the window and look inside to beg. Like pets, but without the cuddling!

The birds apparently acquired a crack habit while at the bird minder's for two weeks. When Em watched them in October, they came back plumped up quite a bit (she feeds her cats caramel, you know). But I think their stay at the minder's was more akin to bird detention camp than a visit to their kindly aunt's; they're much leaner and have picked up words I would have never taught them.* I also suspect they saw very little of the outside world, as I think they were kept in a heated shed with about ten other bird cages and a tarantula (really). Ever since I opened the curtains by their cage, they've been pinning themselves to the side and peering out with great interest. Is that flaming disc in the sky going to get us??

* Since they are birds, and some birds mimic, I should point out that they haven't actually learned any new words. Why expand on a perfect routine? A-beepa-beepa-a-beepa-beepa!

Long time, no post, blah blah blah. Trips to America often mean two things: sporadic updates and animal photos. I've checked off the first, now for the second:

Some big dogs like the snow. They'll just sit and sit and sit in it without a care in the world, even if you've been calling for them for five minutes.

Some spotted cats like to be upside down. Instead of enjoying the snow, they like to lie on top of the gas fireplace, warming themselves to just below their boiling point.

My mom and I baked cookies about a million years ago (Sunday); I contributed cream cheese lemon bows (except instead of bows, they were not bows) and chocolate malt sandwiches, both from Martha Stewart's Christmas cookie issue.

I'm not a huge fan of MS; maybe if I were I would think she was very clever and original, but I haven't examined her work thoroughly enough to be inspired by it. Still, that cookie issue was pretty good, no? Perhaaaps better to look at than to use. The lemon cookies were a bit to overly lemon-and-buttery for me, and (though everybody else loves them) the chocolate malt sandwiches are also a bit overpowering. MS can keep her strong and same-y recipes to herself while I search for something a bit more subtle. They are pretty, though:

Displayed in one of my new Nigella measuring cups (bought for only $24 from the local Anthropologie -- I think they're selling for £35 at Waitrose). Now, Nigella -- there's somebody to be inspired by. I am now rich in NL cookbooks thanks to Rob and my birthday (which was yesterday).

Hello, world. I am now in America. It's very snowy here. I don't know why there's a seatless chair in the garden.

Rob and I are keeping our fingers crossed that there won't be any power cuts/burglaries/general badness in our flat while we're away, because (as you may remember) this site is hosted on one of our (Rob's) own machines. So if twelve22.org suddenly disappears, it's probably because our building has burnt down -- in which case, a missing website is the least of our worries!

Oh, ha ha. I'm going to go ahead and stop thinking about that now.

Anyway, what with the snow and the extreme decorations (my mom is obviously in the spirit), it really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas (which, as I sing it, is the Bootiest time of year).

Also. . . Booty the Cat is still lovely and squeezy. And. . . it took eighteen hours to get from our flat in London to my parents' car in Minneapolis. Phew.

Thanks for the nice bloggiversary comments. It's funny to see how blogs (and mine in particular) have changed over the last five or six years. Remember when websites had to be 'about something'?

A little pouch I made for somebody. The fabrics are from the Seaside Rose collection by 3 Sisters. You may remember 3 Sisters from that nice Christmas quilt. . . which I haven't gotten any further with. Sewing squares together is so boring. Maybe I'll take it to America and see if that helps.

Mmm, bobble felt, as seen on Six and a Half Stiches. I crocheted my piece, and I love how it felted up. Now I'm not sure what to do with it, but I like how it looks with the Hanna Werner paper.

I think there are also textiles in HW prints, but I'm not sure where to find them. Oh, how I wish I had this one as fabric. I love the little birds (but then, I love most little birds or little-bird-shaped things). If only there were a project that called for bobbly felt and paper. Hmmm.

Phew. How many snowflake cookies do you have to bake and frost before you're considered a professional? I think I must have reached that point -- and I did get paid for it, after all.

I meant to say on Tuesday that it was my fifth blogging anniversary. I started on a free site and quickly moved to my own domain. I changed to twelve22.org in February 2004, just for something new. Of course, I don't have all my old archives up (I don't even have all the twelve22 archives up since I got dumped by my old host), so you'll just have to believe me that I've been doing this for five years. Back then, it seemed like nobody had a blog, and if you did, you did it all by hand. Now everybody has a blog (even my mom!), and everything is automatic. Technology is weird.

So, when I started blogging, did I think that I'd still be doing it in five years, having moved to London? And that I'd have a job where I'd be in charge of not only making books but baking cookies? It's hard to remember, but I don't think so.

Crafty craftiness, all around. Have I mentioned how much I love felt making? It's such a satisfying process. One minute you're creating a bed of plucked muppet fleece, and the next minute you've got a piece of felt. There might be something in between there, but it hardly seems like it.

Anyway, I needed a new pen case to tote around my favourite pens (which otherwise shuffle around at the bottom of my bag):

I actually made two -- one for me, and one for the shop. It's a sadly, sadly neglected 'shop,' but perhaps the pen holder can keep it company for a while.

Incidentally, the pen holder is going to go in my new bag, which I made last weekend:

I had planned on making an entirely different bag, but when I started going through my fabric, these pieces worked so well together that I couldn't resist. The print is from Liberty (Mariko got the other half in our trade); the faux suede (the side) is a leftover bit from my mom's bag; the lining is an Ikea apron (which I didn't want) that came packaged with hotpads (which I did want). The back is a linen coloured solid, with a big pocket for important things I don't want getting lost.

Lastly -- WHAT HAVE I DONE?! Okay, that's just red oil-based ink, but it was pretty stupid to rinse it into my porcelain sink (would you believe that I didn't use the SS sink in the kitchen because I couldn't be bothered to take out the dishes? Yes?). I eventually got the ink off, but I really wouldn't recommend dropping a lit match into that sink for a couple days.

Just in case you're in my flat any time soon. With a match.

The ink came from a little print shop in Southwark (where I'd like to live), which we just stumbled upon when we were wandering after Borough Market last weekend. The shop seemed to cater to every form of printing except letter pressing. And they didn't have Mastercarve blocks. So, they pretty much had everything except the few things I wanted. The guy recommended a relief ink to try with the Adana, and as soon as I put in on the plate, it was clear I needed to thin it out.

Since I didn't have anything to thin out the ink, I just used the plate like an inky stamp pad and played around. Ignoring the horrible mess it created, I really enjoyed making things that were anything but perfect. I also like all the red on the white, so I'll have to go back to that shop some day and buy extender (which I hope will thin it out -- ?).

And that's what I've been doing.