Let’s Picnic!

With my law education coming to an abrupt end (in my view at least, I guess it was four years in the making), I had begun worrying about all the new free time in my hands. I honestly had serious concerns that I would become one of those boring people who just sit around and watch hours of television. (Although we did cancel cable a few months ago.) But, if anything, I’ve been busier since school ended.

This also may have been a natural result of my large family, many of whom, I’m convinced, were just waiting for me to have more time to take on some projects for them. So, here’s a quick photo to document the beginning of my projects. #1. Picnic shower for my sister bethany and her soon-to-be wife, liz. They wanted a causal get together and liz’s sister thought a grill out at a local park would be the perfect solution. I jumped that the opportunity to do a little design and volunteered to make the invitations.  (I’ll also be handling most of the food – I’m already spending any spare time planning the menu and set-up).

The invitations were printed on a natural brown card set that I picked up at michael’s .  I used that amazing washi tape in purple patterns to decorate the front of the card and mimicked the look on the envelopes. Because beth and liz’s wedding colors are going to be purple and gold, I ran with the purple and added in red gingham to advance the picnic theme.

More pictures to come… and then I’ll move on to project #2, #3, and #4…

-amy

Feather (or maybe leaf) sweatshirts

I made time for just one project right before christmas – and by making time for it,  it meant that I was sewing until 12 am on christmas eve! sweatshirts with fabric feathers… but they sort of look like leaves too. oh well. vintage fabric. different shapes. freehand sewing. super cute in person.

This one has a preppy theme with reds, greens, blues and whites. I made another with browns, one with aquas, and one with black and grays.

homemade oreos – halloween style

so, i’ve been baking most sundays for about the last month. this started to make some baked goods to celebrate birthdays at work and now, it’s something i look forward to. all week, i browse food blogs during class and then dream of what will be created in my kitchen on sunday. with fall here and halloween soon approaching, i decided on homemade ‘oreos’ with halloween colored filling – orange, purple, and green. the filling is vanilla flavored, except the green, which is mint. they turned our really yummy and look alright too. maybe not perfectly round.. but that’s okay for a first time. i’m just regretting only making a single batch. that’s the last time i take baking advice from a man. thanks ringo! (he was just worried that too many cookies = too many cookies in his belly… i guess i can’t blame him too much …)
enjoy!

The 7″ is complete

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After a few weeks, we have finally completed our first print of 1,000 jackets for the 7″ split by Mad Anthony and the Yellow Belts.  This was a fun adventure that allowed us to get to know the press, tweak our design and layout skills, and, of course, practice printing.  I’ve included a close up of the front cover art – type and an original linoleum cut by Karen “momma” Weber.  It is an image of a bear playing; roughly based on a picture of a bear in a stream catching fish.  The cover was inspired by classic punk rock designs and the back cover is a very simple layout.  We wanted to let the type speak for itself and we didn’t want the back to distract from the design on the front cover.

We decided to have fun with the ink and paper by printing on a variety of colors – white, black, brown, light pink, red, festive red (pink under tone), orange, yellow, kelly green, light blue, and blue-blue.   Most of the printing was with black ink, but on some colors, especially the yellow, we added red and purple to make a maroon color.   It is a great contrast to the yellow.

If you are interested in learning more about the music – check out Mad Anthony and the Yellow Belts online or try to make one of the release shows – Friday, August 26 at The Green Lantern in Lexington, KY or Saturday, August 27 at The Historic Southgate House in Newport, KY.

New projects – Letterpress

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Letterpressing! This is the latest project that we have been exploring using a motorized letterpress from the late 1800s and lots of type. Here are pictures of the jackets for a 7″ split vinyl by Mad Anthony and the Yellow Belts. We laid all the type ourselves and are using an original linoleum cut (the bear), by karen weber, as cover art.

Upcoming Craft Show: OTR Holiday Stroll & Shop

Webercrafthouse will be set up at MOTR Pub on Saturday, December 4th from 10 am – 6 pm for the Holiday Stroll & Shop on Main Street. We’ll be there along with 4 other vendors, the great beer and food available at MOTR.

Learn more about the Holiday Stroll & Shop at http://www.facebook.com/MerchantsofMainStreet.

We hope to see everyone!

-webercrafthouse

Baking Blues

i love to bake, until it goes wrong. and usually when it goes wrong, everything goes wrong. i had one of those days last weekend. for a friend’s birthday, i wanted to make german chocolate cupcakes. yum right? wrong. well, they actually were very yummy, but a pain in the butt to make.

i decided to make them from scratch. bad decision #1. german chocolate cake is very moist and not quite stiff enough to support little cupcakes. next time i’ll have to add some more flour and cut back a little on the butter to make them stiffer. live and learn.  so as the cupcakes baked, they weren’t stiffening up and they weren’t looking too pretty either.  they kept coming out soft, and i would put them in for a little longer, and still too soft.  i finally had to take them out in fear that they would burn. (this was one of my few good decisions!)

bad decision #2 – try to stuff the german chocolate topping (coconut, pecans, and more chocolate) into the cupcakes.  because some of the cupcakes were just too soft, this killed a couple altogether. (something that ringo looks forward to because he always gets to eat all the ‘duds’ that don’t pass my approval process.)

bad decision #3 – cover up the hole where the topping was stuffed into the cupcake. this started out as a very good idea, but turned for the worst when i realized that there was a hole in my reusable icing bag.  my lovely ganache would not stop squirting out. awww. i had held in my anger until this happened. i’m redheaded. i have a small temper problem when things don’t go as i planned. (ringo doesn’t look forward to this.)

bad decision #4 – set up all the cupcakes on the tiers and take pictures. once again, this started out as a good idea (so i could share pictures with you of course,) but turned for the worse when we got in the car. do i really need to explain? let’s just say there was a lot of cupcakes sliding everywhere and me yelling “stop the car!” but, the cupcakes all survived and made it to the party… where [most people] enjoyed them and the birthday boy really enjoyed them. that’s all that should matter… right?

check them out.

fall is here!

i love fall weather. it’s one of my favorite seasons. i love how it is still sunny most days, but the air is cool.  the terrible summer humidity is gone.  oh, and it gets cold enough to justify a small fire in the backyard when friends come over.  i love pulling out all my sweatshirts and sweaters that have been hiding in the back of the closet.  i miss them.

and i love adding new cardigans and sweaters to my collection this time of the year too. let me define collection : my new Ohio line of shirts and sweaters [and yes, my personal collection for wearing and having so many that they spill out my closets… as i’ve mentioned before: hoarding is only one of the very few flaws in weber’s.]

Here are pictures of the ohio sweater in navy and black.  as you can see, the navy has a full ohio print, while the black only have an outline. as you know: i’ll custom one just to your liking!  the material is a cotton/synthetic blend with some stretch.  they won’t shrink and the outside feels like the inside of a sweatshirt. super comfy. i made one for myself.

send some love or hate

the u.s. post office is asking for another approval to raise the cost of a stamp. it won’t be long until we are paying 50 cents just to send a letter. oh wait. people don’t send mail any more. i’m not blaming you…i’m guilty too. [side note: i do have to confess that i get so excited every time i see that red envelope waiting for me with a new dvd]

i think it’s rather intimidating to send a letter. what should i say? how long does it need to be? is a couple of sentences enough? should i send a small gift? it’s just so much easier to give someone a call. or better yet, a text. or, if you’re part of the blackberry family, a bbm. or shoot them an email. or skype. or tweet. or facebook chat. awwww…technology.

webercrafthouse wants you to start sending mail again :: real mail.  but we’ve made the whole process much simplier with our “love/hate card collection.” these aren’t awkward birthday cards or “thinking of you” cards that require thinking (or googling) to find the perfect message to write or the debate about to whether or not include money; these cards come with simple, right to the point messages. messages mostly of love, just hello…a few of hate. you really don’t have to write anything inside if you don’t want to. but take a moment to sign your name, at the very least.

check them out. buy some. send some.

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fine art.

bethany has a knack for fine art. and i’m jealous. i see the world in geometric shapes and blocks of color, but bethany feels color, dreams in layers, and envisions texture ::: or at least that’s my take on it.

Here are some of her latest projects. usually a project will start and stay setup in a corner of her apartment for months on end. it’s a game to see if you can figure out what new addition has taken place each time you see it. and she’ll continue to work on it and tweak it until she declares that it is finished.

these projects are more about what bethany was feeling during the extended time during their creation than the final outcome.  it’s about the process, time, energy, attention, and love that each piece receives. they tell a story.

the bird creation found a new home when bethany gifted it to one of her best friends, who recently got married. the bubble still lives with bethany.

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