The Internet Project Roundup
There’s an amazing process I’ve observed here on the internet. We have the ability to make stuff and share it with other people, or admire things other people have made. We post about it on our blogs, put it on twitter, bookmark it via Delicious, with the intention of making it ourselves or giving a hat tip to someone’s effort. There are people around the world, who you and I will never talk to, will probably never meet and may otherwise not exist at all except that they shared one thing with the web that they made and then allowed it to take on a life of its own. It’s those recipes, ideas, tutorials and inspirational blog posts that help me decide to do with my extra 10 pounds of tomatoes or make me search for project-specific materials in the area. This post is for you, oh contributors to the internet. And to the readers and makers of said projects, for actually taking the initiative to start and finish the projects in imitation and collboration.
Here’s what I’ve made recently:
Spicy Roasted Tomato & Black Bean Soup from Poppytalk and Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches
This soup was simple, delicious and easy to make. Head over to Poppytalk for the full recipe but it was essentially roasting tomatoes, garlic and peppers set to simmer in sauteed onions, celery and chicken stock with an after addition of black beans. After tasting post-roast, I only used 1 Poblano pepper and substituted the dollop of sour cream with some queso fresco. It was so hearty, the end result was deceptively like was veggie chili. Best part of this recipe? Leftover soup and getting to use a CSA Poblano, tomatoes and basil in it.
Leather chain necklace tutorial by Cucumbersome
For this next project, I sadly don’t have a photo of the finished necklace. My sister had an important birthday last week and in my rush to overnight her a birthday package (featuring almond and orange biscotti dipped in chocolate and this necklace), the camera was left behind in the rush. It turned out fantastically! Sister loved it and I loved it. Perhaps I’ll snag a pic of it in the next few months when I see her. I’d strongly recommend heading out to your local scrap shop (like I did) and picking up some leather pieces to make it.
My only tweak would be to look for thinner leather as it seems my grey was significantly thicker than what Cucumbersome features in her tutorial. The template you print up also was no where near scale that she had mentioned so this necklace so you end up sizing it yourself. That means there are quite a few size variations you could try. I’d like to try making the necklace with both smaller and larger chains. I closed by necklace loop by cutting the bottom looped chain in half at the center and re-gluing it together with the lead chain inside of it.
Both these projects were fun and I’d recommend not only the recipe and tutorial but the fantastic Poppytalk and Cucumbersome as blogs to follow. Enough about me, what’d you make last week? What’s up to bat in your craft room or kitchen for this week?
with the worst hangover in recent memory, I snipped quite happily for hours and turned out a few more cards. Most are for a birthday but I’m experimenting with new objects. What do you think? I’m pretty pleased with how they came out, the pho card especially. NOTE TO SELF: go get a damn glue stick. That wet stuff leaves a wee bit of markage.
from local authors and 
