A Little Origami

My friend Tomoko brought me a fabulous gift from her last visit to Japan: a generous package of beautiful origami paper.

I love the colors and wish you could feel the textures.

There are even a few prints of little bunnies!

There's a section on origami in the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts.  Did you make these little fortune tellers when you were little?  The pattern for the box is on her website

along with instructions for a quick placecard holder.

I can't imagine folding 1,000 paper cranes for a wedding despite the lovely symbolism.  Tomoko says in Japan they send them to someone who needs some cheering up.  Mila was skeptical:

but then curious

but leaned in for a little kiss anyway.

And I hung a few cranes on some quince branches for good luck I guess.

And then yesterday the porter at our kitchen made this elephant out of paper and masking tape!

And I saw this video of an elephant who speaks Korean.  Fun stuff, have a good day!

Easter Wrapup

It's already been almost a week since Easter so I figure it's time for a recap.  I made this basket from Martha Stewart's instructions for a pussy willow nest and then bent some stems into a handle and added a flower arrangement

made up of lilac

lily of the valley

and hellebores.

They all smelled so amazing together.

The basket actually took quite a while!

After starting with some older pussy willow branches that I tried soaking to soften them, I got some new ones instead and they were much easier.  Just a few little touchups...

and it was finally done.

There were some little pieces for leftovers, which I always love

and a little arrangement for another room.

Then time to use these candies, stickers and confetti 

for another Martha Stewart project:

crepe paper carrots.  And an egg-shaped strawberry lemonade cake with JELL-O beans.  

Such different size strawberries!

Confession: there was a cake toppling on the way to the party, but my Mom's Easter bread stayed intact until after the egg hunt

but Mila slept through dinner.

100th Post Giveaway! (& my newest follower)

This is my 100th Post on Craftiness NOW!  

To celebrate I'm doing my 2nd giveaway: 12 greeting cards of all seasons made with Martha Stewart craft punches 

in hearts, flowers, leaves and snowflakes.  

My 1st giveaway was knit sushi for kitties, and speaking of kitties...meet Mila!

She's now the official blog mascot.  Strangely enough I just redecorated my bedroom in grey and then she came along and matches it quite well.

But back to the giveaway: the 3 heart cards say:

1) happy valentine's day (inside: to my one and only)

2) you & me (inside: meant to be) 

3) love to love you

The 3 snowflake cards say:

1) happy holidays

2) merry christmas to you

3) happy first snow to you (inside: and many more)

And...oh...uh oh, kitten card bowling, excuse me a minute...

Apparently if she's the center of attention she'll allow the photo session to continue.

Although she's thinking about knocking them all over again...I think...

Ahem...anyway, the 3 flower cards say:

1) miss you

2) happy birthday (inside: to you!)

3) happy day to you (inside: from me)

And the 3 leaf cards say:

1) i'm falling in love (inside: with you)

2) give thanks (inside: today & always)

3) thank you (inside: for all that you do)

And each card is stamped on the back with my new logo!  

Don't eat it, Mila...

OK, there's a better shot -- the stamp is from RubberStamps.net, highly recommended!

After the busy photo shoot she fell asleep, so now I can explain the giveaway:

1 entry will be given for each of the following:

- leave a comment with a favorite or unusual holiday you celebrate

- leave a (separate) comment with a crafty event coming up

- leave a(nother) comment with a great craft supply source

- be a blog follower

- follow me on Twitter

- like the Craftiness NOW Facebook page

The winner will be chosen at midnight 

on Monday, February 14th, Valentine's Day!  

Good luck and thanks for making Mila feel at home here :-)

Happy 01-11-11

I love thinking about dates -- maybe a little too much.  Like having a lot of New Year's resolutions, I tend to keep a lot of calendars. Walking by A.I. Friedman, I saw this gorgeous calendar in the window from Snow & Graham Letterpress and fell in love with it.  

Last year I made much simpler calendars here and here, but it's a busy week and I actually love each and every month's picture from Snow & Graham -- and that doesn't always happen with all 12!  Then of course, there's the Blackberry.

And a printed calendar at work -- and a CAT CALENDAR! from my friend Rachael.

And a page-a-day from my friend Carlie.  I like all of them for different reasons.  

And a few more things made me happy on this historic day -- we won't have another one like it til 11-11-11.  Surprise: there were still leftovers from my arrangement for Koru Kate.  I heart this saijo persimmon Voluspa candle, which reminds me of a delicious persimmon bellini recently.  Also have a project in mind for these other 2 candles...

Got the February issue of Martha Stewart Living -- yummy and gorgeous and chock full of inspiring Valentine's ideas -- love it!

That inspired me to get a red velvet cupcake from Sweet Hoboken, mmm.

And I finally bought flowering branches!  I longingly eyed the quince in the flower market last March so I was surprised to see it in the market today.  The salesman said it would continue blooming so it'll be nice to see what happens.

Crafty Holiday Event Round-up

Yup, the BUST Craftacular wins for best show I've been to in a while, biggest and great selection with 2 floors at The Metropolitan Pavilion, nice.

Even Amy Sedaris was there signing her new book, which cracks me up: Simple Times, Crafts for Poor People.  I can't show what I bought for gifts, but I did buy myself a small present: delicate hammered silver knotted bangles by Baublettes by Beth who I bought a pretty ring from in April at the Not Yo Mama's Craft Fair.  They're sitting on a pretty leather journal gift from Hermes, yay holidays!

Also went to the Handmade Cavalcade in a new location at the OpenHOUSE Gallery.

And to the very cool Brooklyn Kitchen to see pastry chef Joanne Chang demo her recipe for a roasted pear and cranberry crostata.

Man, was that good, so flaky and yummy and Joanne really explains the science behind baking for everyone who's ever wondered what's going on in the oven.  She's also just about the nicest pastry chef I've ever met. 

The recipe's in her new book Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe (and her famous sticky buns beat out Bobby Flay in a throw down!) so trust me and stop by one of the Flour locations if you're ever in the Boston area.  You can also read more about her tasty treats on Justin's blog.  Then we checked out the Degenerate Craft Fair for a change of pace.

Bunnies painted on a diaphragm case anyone?  Hmmm...and not, but not least, was an event at White Castle to celebrate their hamburger candle (yup, that's right...)

The proceeds from the sales helped to raise $500,000 for Autism Speaks, wow!  And attending?  Martha Stewart!

And Vera Wang.

Celebs, martinis and fried food for a good cause, I like it.