soft boiled eggs at Cooking For Engineers

how to boil an egg at Kottke

orchid-filled ice spheres at Liqurious

where to find ice sphere molds at NY Times

Corn syrup vs. golden syrup at Baking Bites

Soft Seasoned Pretzels at Joy The Baker

Open a Wine Bottle Without a Corkscrew at Wired, via The Food Section

I had a lot of fun at the Craft Release Party last weekend. It was held in Stitches, a really great fabric store in Capitol Hill. They had some Japanese fabrics right inside the door that were fantastic. One was a gray print with a border of leaves and pears that I cannot stop thinking about. I might have to go back this week and get some some of that to make pillows.

I got to make some rings, Kristen from Plush You and her store Schmancy (which you simply must visit) brought along a huge box full of interesting buttons and supplied elastic and thread. Sorting through buttons was surprisingly relaxing and mesmerizing. I was a little greedy and made two, this one is a little tall, like wearing a small pagoda on my finger:

Moxie of Made By Moxie was there teaching needle felting and I picked up one of her felted flower kits, the kit is fantastic. It contains vegetable starch eco-foam, two felting needles, a nice pin back, an adorable little container of glue and more roving that you need for one project. Here are my small test flowers:

But of course the party was for the new issue of Craft magazine, which I skimmed through and it's a fantastic issue. I'm intrigued by the paper loom (scroll down), which they include right inside the magazine, you just cut it out and fold it.

I recently had the chance to try out a few things from Product Body, and I've been ridiculously pampered all week. These are a range of natural scrubs, lotions, bath soaks, bubbles, balms and cleansers that work fantastically and smell divine. I've been using the Crush On You scrub in the shower and it is a miracle, it exfoliates, moisturizes with shea butter and gently cleanses at the same time. I emerge soft and ready go. And, this is nice, it doesn't leave the tub dangerously slippery. I have this in Lemon and it smells exactly like the fresh squeezed lemon aid you get at a fair (you know, the one where they stick the lemon halves right in the cup), it's just the right amount of cheerful I need in the morning. Crush On You is the one that Bust magazine called "quite possibly the greatest exfoliant known to women."

The day I used the Sugarfoot scrub Scott rubbed my feet (he's a very good boyfriend) and commented on how smooth they were. The Ruby Red Grapefruit smelled so fantastic that I went over both of my feet twice. I got the Velvet scrub in Sweet Vanilla Mango and it smells like a fruity beach and offers a wallop of moisturizing oils. I also got to try out the shea butter infused Cream in Lavender and I'm very impressed by the texture and how quickly it soaks in, leaving nothing but soft behind. It smells so good I keep stopping as I type this to open and sniff the jar I have sitting on my desk.

(p.s. The jars in these photographs are half empty because I've been using them copiously.)

Product Body also offers salt and milk bath soaks, solid bubble bath and a gentle wash (Bath & Shower), a whole range of salt or sugar scrubs (Body Scrubs), creams, balms and whipped butters (Moisturizers) and a whole range of natural products for pregnant or new mothers in the Mama Bomb line.

The things from Product Body are very, very good and I know I'm not alone in this since the testimonials page is filled with happy customers. You can feel good ordering from them as it's a small business started and run by a woman, each item is made when it's ordered so it's always fresh, and the ingredients are natural and locally sourced. You can read more about Product Body here.

And know what? Product Body likes you so much they're offering a $75.00 Goodie Box, including a Crush On You and a selection of other products. If you'd like to win please leave a comment with this post, the usual fine print applies and I'll let the Random Number Generator pick the winner on Monday, Sept. 8th at noon PST. This giveaway is only for those living inside the US, sorry everybody else, catch you next time. The giveaway is over, thanks to everybody who entered. If you didn't win remember there is a 20% discount:

In addition to the goodie box Product Body is offering a 20% off coupon, enter notmartha at checkout. There are no minimum orders and you get free shipping over $75, good through the end of September. Yay? Yay!

Good luck!

Hey! There will be a Craft magazine release party here in Seattle this Sunday afternoon, I'll be there! I blatantly ripped the following details right off of Moxie's site:

Come play with us as Urban Craft Uprising hosts our very first CRAFT magazine release party! Join us Sunday, September 7th, 1 - 4pm, to celebrate.

CRAFT 08 has a focus on weaving, so we’ll be right at home at Stitches - the ‘not just your typical fabric store’ in Capitol Hill. We’ll have free hands-on craft projects including paper looms from the mag and Kristen Rask from Schmancy will be there to teach us how to make button rings, and Moxie of Made By Moxie will be doing a demo of her Felted Flower Flair Kit, which is also featured in the magazine.

When you add in the snacks, door prizes and the irresistible fashion fabrics, notions, and yarn at Stitches, you have a must-attend event on your hands! We hope you’ll stop in, have some nibbles, and CRAFT with us.

The Wine Offensive is the last person in Seattle to realize that barista is Project-Runway-Blayne, I say this with love! Love you The Wine Offensive!

It's nearly Park-ing Day (see the bottom of that post). I hope there is a space near us. More here at Rainier Valley Post.

Here's one for Dan Savage's files: Rottweiler fights pit bull to save boy

Neal Stephenson book tour dates for the release of Anathem

weekend trip planning:

Bike a trail, listen to chamber music in the Methow

Methow trails draw crowds, but solitude's near

Autumn in the Methow: Where road biking feels like hiking

Travel for Beer: The Methow Valley

really beautiful scrap bag at M. Patrizio Illustrations

So you want to study Knitwear? at Making Things

The Association of Sewing and Design Professionals

Know Your Weaves II at True Up

reusable sandwich wrap at The Small Object

Free Gift Box Templates at Bleu Arts

Help Create a Worldwide Map of Local Fabric Stores at True Up

The Thrifty Knitter has pictures of just shorn alpaca, they're adorably skinny

How to Make Japanese Papercraft Boxes at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories

Where I Buy Decorative Paper

at Craftzine:

crocheters on the quest to interview Joss Whedon

BurdaStyle Launches How To Series

yoga mat strappy sandals made by Sami Sue

How To Make a Vintage Fabric Basket with Grommets at Perpetual Plum

How To Make A Post Office Bag at Elsie Marley

How To Cut Rags for Knitting at Coco Knits

How To Make a Pinch Pouch at The Small Object

I got a Vermont Country Store catalog in the mail, the first one in years that I've been sent, and among the treasures from the past the Sweet Earth Solid Natural Fragrances in compacts caught my eye. They are three separate fragrances that you can mix on your skin if you'd like. Looking around a little these were originally made by Coty, the ones sold by the Vermont Country Store are reproductions, and I've found some good memories and some excitement to see that they are back. They have Woods (sandalwood, amberwood, patchouli), Flowers (hyacinth, honeysuckle, ylang-ylang), Rare Flowers (tuberose, jasmine, mimosa) and Grasses (clover, gingergrass, hay). I'm intrigued by these. Does anybody remember them?

The kind people at Chronicle Books have offered two copies of Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. It's a fantastic book, filled with clothing, toys and accessories for baby and for you. (There is a bag I'd like to make for myself.) The book is very sturdy with a pocket to hold the patterns, clear illustrated instructions and a spiral binding so it will stay open on it's own. Projects are marked on a scale of easy to difficult, but everything is equally charming.

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones please leave a comment with this entry. The winners have been notified, thanks to everybody for entering! The usual fine print applies. I'll let the Random Number Generator choose the winners at 12 noon PST on Monday, September 1st.

Good luck!

The Bring & Brag event at The Lab at Velocity Art and Design here in Seattle last week was fantastic. The Lab's site will have a list of all the bragees soon but two that really stood out for me were Suspect and Fugitive, a year long project combining edible or temporary materials with fantastically bad puns, and Good Stock, custom books made from family photographs and writings. I suspect we'll be seeing Good Stock will be in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine before not too long.

Also! You can listen to the recordings of past Labs here. You can also sign up to receive the Lab podcasts on the main page.

Our laundry room is cramped and has two doors which access it, so if you leave the hard plastic cheapo laundry basket we used to have sitting on the floor and exit via door #1, somebody coming through door #2 would find the door was blocked by the basket. This made for a bit of unnecessary frustration. I thought all was hopeless until I came across this laundry basket at a Storables. It's tall and holds a lot, but most excellently it is flexible, so not only are you able to grab it by the handles to take it downstairs but it will squeeze out of the way of door #2. Also, you will not bruise your shin if you stumble into it while moving laundry through the very cramped laundry room. Yay.

Seriously though, being able to carry it like a large tote makes it really easy to bring up and down stairs, rendering all other laundry baskets useless to me.