pingu

Do you guys remember pingu from your childhood?

(claymation : pingu is great, but I have to admit that I prefer when there is dialogue...like Wallace and Gromit)

I'm not even sure if it came to the States, or if I only ever saw it in Canada (insert Canada joke here). This is what I thought of as I worked on my latest sewing project:

(look! I'm a penguin!)

(Now I have little orange feet, finally, I can stand on my own!)

(Maybe if Alina had any small black buttons I would have real eyes, alas-hand stitched it is)

So he's a little sloppy (mostly because I didn't take a whole lot of time to hand stitch the closing on the wings, or the back. And I didn't leave a large enough seam allowance, I was just trying to see what result I would get, and, well, I was lazy. Unfortunately, this means that I can see some of the stitching (done with black thread...gasp!), and also that his belly could open up at any moment.

(Yes, he did get tagged...)

(So did this robot skirt: For my sister, not for me...sadly)

C'est tout.
alina

Yay!

 I have tags/labels!

I realize I've only been sewing for umm, two months? But after much perusal online, my jealousy of other peoples labels got to me. Obviously I did not order actual tags because those cost hundreds of dollars and you have to order HUNDREDS of tags, which I most certainly have no need for. Instead, I did a custom designed fabric at spoonflower, and now I have little framboise labels to put on everything!

(oooooooh.)

(I handstitched it...and made it purposely "hand made" looking. Oh wait, it is handmade)

(I thought I would make this card holder a little bit more professional by sticking to black and gray...until I added a bright pink button that is)

(One last view from behind)

Oh, so about the fabric: I bought just a fat quarter of a repeating pattern with my label, but it gave me over a hundred little labels for $10!! All I have to do is fold the edges back, press on some fusible interfacing, and sew it on! so fun.

I feel like I need to start sewing several projects a day now, just so I can put labels on more things!

alina

Chips

Not the kind that are deep fried and packed into noisy bags which sit on the grocery shelves for months(ew)
Also not the kind that are referred to as "french fries" by Americans. (really? french? not that "freedom" was any better...but still?)

Paint chips.

(paint chip boxes. pinterest, how did I ever waste time before you?)

Taking a large stack of paint chips from Lowe's is completely legal; it is also a little bit less socially acceptable. I must say that I felt red in the face and sweaty as I stocked up on literally tens of paint chips last week. I also felt like I was stealing as I stealthily placed them in my bag. I kept trying to tell myself that they are there so that you can take them. Annnnd, who knows, maybe I will use them to help pick out a future paint color. In the future (far far future). But no. I felt awful, I also felt like the paint department people were looking at me like a crazy person.

Speaking of which: that seems to be a common theme lately.

Hm. I'm ok with that.

Back to what I was trying to say. Those paint chips were for a purpose. I think most people who use paint chips for other projects are looking for a way to use up paint chips they already have...I'm special. I didn't have any paint chips, wanted to do a paint chip project, and so did the unacceptable. gasp.

But look at the awesome result:

(clearly only a small percentage of the chips I actually took...woops)

It was so easy (apart from all of the emotional distress), and looks cool! I have to admit that I was particularly lazy about cutting the chips, and so had a lot of not quite square little boxes. If you see (even though it is a particularly poor quality photo) that they are not evenly spaced: SHHHH! I did them in a completely non-technical and non-measured way. I eye-balled it. Apparently I am wonky. Or at least my eyes are?

What do you think?

alina

Unzipped

Hmm, where to start.

I have huge news!

(ooooh....rainbow...)

I can sew zippers!!!

This may not sound very exciting to my non-sewing friends, but I could hardly contain my excitement. Seriously, I feel like this has opened up the doors to the million sewing projects that are out there and require zips. Any truly self-respecting piece of clothing (or just skirt or dress) has a zipper. Well, maybe not every piece of clothing, but the nice-fitting, slightly more formal looking clothes do.

I hope this skill will catapult my sewing projects to a completely new level. It is VERY exciting. (Thank you to anyone who understands my excitement. Shep looked at me like I might be running a dangerously high fever...)

Unfortunately, the timing of this newly learned skill could not be worse. I sewed my first zipper yesterday evening, and this morning the spring semester started. I wish I could say my grown up attitude of really wanting to get an education and understanding the importance of my education has given me a great positive approach to returning to class after break, but alas, I wish I were still on vacation.

Why is winter break so long? I think it would have been much better had I only been given a week of vacation. Instead I had five weeks off to get adjusted to sleeping in, sewing all day, cooking extravagant meals, and forgetting all about studying and writing. Woops. Well, one day down?

Going back to school (and my composition course) reminded me of my original intentions in wanting to write a blog. I just wanted to write.

My first semester back in school (yes, this past fall) reminded me of how much I enjoy the act of writing. It also reminded me that I write pretty well, when I put some effort into it. The whole idea of starting a blog was so that I would have an outlet for my writing. Instead I've been focusing on other creative outlets. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have found sewing! I'm really lucky to have found more than one way to express creative ideas, but I'd like to push the direction of this blog a little more into the writing. Particularly since I will most likely have less time to create a new project to share here everyday. (sad, I know)

I will continue to share experiences, projects, food things, and other stories, I just hope to put a little bit more focus on the quality of writing (as much as I enjoy putting random comments in parentheses...)

That being said, tomorrow I start a modern dance class! I don't know which scares me more: my first dance class or my first calculus class (which also starts tomorrow).

My apologies for the general lack of witty comments and pictures. As a part of my apology, a taste of what I was up to this weekend (hence explaining my unusual hiatus from blogland):

(cookie monster cupcakes...cute and delicious!)

(flower buttons. pinterest is so good at giving me ideas for projects to do while babysitting)

If only...

...I had my own business!

Then I would have business cards to put into the nifty little card holder I sewed up today.

(blue and green dots- back to the old "me" colors)

(ooh! a different blue and green fabric...I see a trend)

(seriously, so cute. )

It was SO easy to put this little friend together. I stole a button from a pair of pants that refuse to fit nicely, found a hair thing to use as the elastic, and then just cut little bitty pieces of a few fabrics I had on hand. And voila!

I originally found this project on pinterest. (Thank you pinterest for turning me into a crafty domestic lady?) And was a bit intimidated because it required difficult techniques like turning things inside out and topstitching and lining. Little did I know that these crafty sewing skills are actually...ummm...easy? I used this really helpful tutorial, and I think it turned out soooo nicely.

I might make a few more. Anyone need a cardholder?

alina

monster

My younger brother got jealous of all the things I was sewing- unfortunately I don't know how to sew anything for boys. So I bought some fill and made him:

(garrrr, I'm a scary monster)

Yes, my brother is a bit old for stuffed toys, but even I kind of want one like this...

alina

practice makes perfect

In order to help get past my fears of "messing up" everything I sew...I bought several yards of cheap cotton at joann fabric this week. I have wasted too much time just staring (and drooling) over beautiful new fabrics, but I've been too scared of cutting and sewing them, because I have ZERO technical knowledge.

This way, I can cut, sew, mess up, throw out, experiment, and try again, without feeling bad about wasting so much money. So I took on a challenge: re-creating one of my favorite pieces of clothing: a navy high waist skirt from Zara (while we're on that topic: why is there no Zara here in uh-merica??).

Still working on it, but I've integrated a lot of new sewing techniques/skills:

(front of skirt: pocket)

(back of skirt: shirring)

(close up: the shirring...my new favorite sewing technique)

Not bad for someone who doesn't know how to sew, eh?

The fabric isn't quite right for this project, it's a little bit too light to hold the 'pattern' correctly, but again, this was mostly just to try out my ideas and not feel bad about ruining expensive fabrics...so even if it isn't perfect, it's doing its job.

alina

it's ok if you get jealous...

I have really high expectations for 2012.

Or at least, I'd like 2012 to be awesome, because 2011 was HUGE.

Re-cap of 2011:

January- still living in Tel Aviv, Shep doing the whole corporate lawyer thing and me working at Bar Lehem

(I found this article about Bar Lehem...mmm, I do miss those Parmesan Truffle Croissants)

Also in January we heard that Shep got into Darden

(and that I did NOT get into UVA. So much bitterness. Still)

Then we started packing our things and eagerly awaited "the big move".
We also started to train for 'Le Tour de Friedman' by doing mini-tours in the Golan heights

(we definitely needed a map to navigate the ONE road in the golan heights)

(testing all the equipment = camping)

(one cool thing about israel: coming across random ruins in the middle of nowhere)

In May, we said goodbye to Israel: we ate at all of our favorite restaurants, and spent as much time as possible with family and friends.

We weren't sad for long, because we flew out of Israel and straight in to Barcelona!

(yes, i'm building a bike in the middle of the airport terminal, doesn't everyone do that? oh...no?)

We celebrated my birthday in BCN by eating in tons of restaurants, it was a several day celebration.

(Cal Pep - oh bringer of happiness)

(Don't worry Dad, the jamon and calamari are kosher...ish)

 We also went to see Pep Guardiola. And his team, FCB. Ok, fine, I also wanted to see Valdez...and Messi... and Puyol) Fine, you caught me: I like watching soccer.

(Championes of the Leagua!)

Then we got on our bikes and rode our butts off to Paris. Literally. Might be too much info, but owwww.
(The tour itself is clearly a post/several posts of its own)

Eventually ( a month later...) we made it to Paris, and from there flew to London to spend time with my brother, and then I flew onwards to c'ville to catch a very important date: SFR's wedding.

(SFR is SOOO beautiful, yay best friends' weddings!)

Right after the wedding, I started to put together a home. Which is clearly still an ongoing project.
Then Shep joined me from London, and we went to another very important date: Turkey's wedding.

(no really, how did I get such good looking friends?!)

Add to that a few small trips to NYC, Tampa, and Washington D.C., plus a few visitors from the holy land:

( Yes, this hero neurosurgeon flew all the way from Israel, just to make me dinner!)

Not to mention several crucial reunions with this girl:

(Sisters? Teammates? Soulmates! So thankful she crossed the Atlantic -moved to the US- when I did!)

Luckily, she was around when I needed a companion for Twilight...and Black Friday shopping...

2011 was chock-full of adventures.

Oh, and I started undergrad. I had to give in eventually. And I'm working as Youth Advisor at CBI, and teaching!

So yea, 2012- you better be bloody awesome, or include the end of the world, and then I won't care how great of a year it is...

alina

fancy

I got distracted and didn't write the NYE post I had originally planned. Changing blog names can do that.

So, Happy 2012!

I'm not a huge fan of New Years as a celebration. I always feel a bit letdown after the countdown, a bit of an "oh, that's all there is to it?" kind of feeling. Of course, I still enjoy the funny "I haven't changed my underwear since last year!" and "I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten since last year!" jokes. Haha. So clever, no? But really, the holiday/celebration itself doesn't do much for me. I had considered just bypassing the whole thing this year, but was saved by great friends (thank you, great friends, you are awesome).

In honor of the coming year, or maybe just because I was on vacation and searching for sewing projects, I sewed a new tablecloth:

I wasn't intending to make a super retro table cloth, but then I walked into Les Fabriques (quickly becoming a weekly habit, uh oh!) and this fabric was sitting in front of my face. How could I say no?? Not only is it a print of forks, spoons and knives, it also has so many of my favorite colors going on. Look how well it goes with my favorite plates!! I feel like it brings the whole dining room together. Since we are renting I can't paint the walls, and all the colors in the dining room just make it feel alive! (the fabric even compliments some of the same colors in the chairs I recently re-upholstered)

Since the fabric was much narrower than my table I sewed in a solid "runner", let me just say that as a "beginner sewer" sewing lonnng straight lines is terrifying. I was certain that I would end up making zigzags, but it turned out fine. I just kept constant easy tension on the fabric that had gone through. The tablecloth cost less than $15 to make, and only about an hour to cut, pin, and sew (most of that hour was spent with me standing with scissors in my hands, terrified to cut the fabric in a non-straight line). So not only was it completely budget friendly (even the tablecloths at Marshall's run around $40-50), it also is completely unique and suited to our home!

Back to NYE. Dinner was "pot-luck", but way classier/fancier than any actual pot-luck I've ever been too, and not only because of the several bottles of wine and champagne that were emptied. I love doing get together dinners with other people who also love good food, it's bound to be delicious:

One of the dishes we contributed was a favorite of ours from Spain: Patatas Bravas. Now, we've never made them at home before, and were a bit concerned that they wouldn't taste just right, but they were awesome. One of our guests enjoyed the allioli (yes, allioli is the right spelling for the catalan version of aioli) dipping sauce that came with them sooo much, that he resorted to dipping crackers in it once the potatoes ran out. Score one for team alina! Also score on the fact that we baked the potatoes instead of the traditional deep fry, but they were still delicious.

Patatas Bravas

Cut potatoes into approx inch cubes. Boil them for a short time, but drain them (stop cooking them) before they are fully cooked, such that they are not yet completely soft. Spread them out on a tray and generously sprinkle with paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper, add a drizzle of olive oil and mix potatoes so that all pieces are coated. Bake them for about 15 min, then take out, flip all the pieces over and add more paprika and cayenne, and return to the oven until full baked

(when the exterior is slightly crunchy, and the interior is like a bake potato)

For the sauce (I cheated because we were out of eggs...) I used mayonnaise, finely grated (on a microplane) garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Whisk together all the ingredients except the oil. Once everything is combined evenly, continue whisking while slowly pouring in a small amount of oil (there should be about a 3:1 ration of mayo to oil).

Note that I haven't given any amounts here because we were making this up as we went along. It also depends on how many people you are serving, but I would err on the side of making more, because as I said, they were a hit (and reminded us of Barcelona, which is ALWAYS a good thing).

Eating awesome food and drinking great wine with friends is just about the ideal evening for me, so as far as I'm concerned it was perfect, and much more fun that getting all sequined up for the ball drop.

How did you spend your NYE? partying? or low-key?

Stay tuned for my new years "resolutions"

alina

fickle

Hi!

To all those who have visited before, you'll notice I've changed the name of my blog.

Oh really?

Yes. My initial title was more of a "I don't know what to call my blog so here goes nothing, sometimes I get inspired" kind of title. But now, for the new year, and also since I've already written a few posts, the time has come for a "true, this is who I am kind" of title.

Framboise, for those of you don't know, is raspberry in French. Which may seem both silly and insignificant to many of you, but in fact sums up a lot about me: my love of France, languages, food, color, and raspberries.

(Self-incriminating photo: I couldn't NOT steal the raspberries on the side of the road during our bike tour through France...)

In fact, although it seems silly, raspberries are possibly the first food I really knew I loved. When I was young we had a huge, and appropriately spikey, raspberry bush in my backyard. I would not have braved the scratched hands and face if I hadn't loved the fruit so much.

I didn't pay much attention to what I ate at that point in my life(except for my grandma's spicy indian food, which I noticed mostly because I wanted to prove I was a "big kid" and could handle the heat!), this is way before I turned to food as a way of experiencing the world, but raspberries, they brought me happiness.

One of my biggest comforts when we moved (no matter that we moved a different country, new school, no friends, etc.), was that I discovered wild raspberries in the "forest" beside our new home.

So yes, I love them. They have long been my favorite fruit. But more than that, they are aesthetically pleasing, sweet and tangy (I'm not one for only sweet fruits), feel tropical, and are very cleverly designed to fit on the tips of your fingers:

(FRENCH and RASPBERRIES! Now I get why Amelie is one of my fave films!)

So there you have it:

Raspberries were my first introduction to appreciating food as a source of interest and enjoyment. Look where that's brought me today: umm, eating a lot?

And they have those teeny tiny little hairs, which only makes me love them more, because I love anything that has frizzlies, like me.

Which sums up what was supposed to be a small post about a new year, some resolutions, etc. I guess that means my resolution is to eat more raspberries? Regardless, happy 2012!

alina