Incoming: Vegan recipes

The vegan recipes I got from two partners couldn't be more different. Unless one had meat in the recipes, or unless one wasn't actually recipes, but a giraffe. Neither of them are giraffes, so they have that in common. Pictured above is a mini-cookbook written, designed and sent by the manager of a food coop in Urbana, Illinois. The recipes look easy, nutritious and cheap: Garlicky Asian kale & tofu, tempeh avocado sandwiches (with directions for marinading the tempeh), tamale pie, and chana masala. Yum! The recipes even smell delicious, having been packed with a bag of garam masala. It also came with one of my very favorite snacks in my favorite flavor, mesquite lime vegan jerky*, and a long, thoughtful card.

Another partner sent me two recipes that looked like they'd been well-used already, or maybe the envelope got wet in the mail. I'm all for reuse, it's just a strong contrast. The recipes are for a weird-sounding milkshake with ingredients I wouldn't normally have around the house, and tofu tacos. At first I thought "well that's useless," but then it dawned on me that as obvious as it seems, I've never thought about putting taco seasonings in crumbled tofu. And I freaking love tacos. Also? I love milkshakes. So I'm grateful for having gotten both of these envelopes!

* not pictured, because I ate it immediately.

January 21: "F" Animal ATCs, hither and thither

There were three partners for this swap, so I made three ATCs and I got three ATCs of animals whose names start with the letter "F." Here's a long list of those. What are the chances that I'd get two flamingoes who look like they called each other that morning to see what each other was wearing?


The ones I sent are speed-collages. I just had to make a flamingo card. With a falcon, naturally.


This one I call "foxes shoe shopping," because of a little drama I imagined while I was taking its picture:



This frog laid eggs in a tv. All the fish are coming to check it out.

Incoming: Another postcard

The returns are still trickling in from the 10-postcard swap I mailed on January 2. Here's the latest, with some good advice.

Incoming: Writing-prompt notebook

This is the one thing that jumped out at me from the writing prompt notebook my swap partner sent (the rest are about fun or children - what is it about fun and children? I'm not sure I want to fill a notebook with the answer):

Yup. Projects and Hedonism, what it's all about.

January 20: Friendship star quilt block

I had no color constraints for this quilt square except to make the background dark and the star light; my partner says she likes making scrappy quilts so just send whatever I like. I chose fall colors again. It's been a long time since I made a quilt, but I think I was more exact with this one square than I've been for any quilt I've finished. Here's the one I got in return.

January 19: Destash Swap

For this swap I had to send at least ten craft items to my partner. I sent a skein of cotton embroidery yarn, a square of felt, a score of buttons, a purse frame, a wheat-colored sharpie, a roll of quarter-inch navy ribbon, a roll of quarter-inch silver tape, a measuring tape (why did I have so many?), a half-yard of floral cotton fabric, an eight-inch purple zipper, eight gold filigree beads, forty-some round gold beads, and some origami paper (not pictured). I still have lots of craft supplies I've had forever without using, and I'll be getting at least ten things back, so this isn't much of a destashing.

Incoming: Fabric postcard

This is a miniature quilt, made in Finland! Its maker says about herself, "I have been a quilter for 20 years and a crazy one since 2005. I love stitching by hand and use almost all my leisure time to do it." With so many different elements of handwork, it must have been fun and time-consuming to make. It's a work of art to live up to. Here are the back (it got sent in an envelope, though these can go through the mail) and a detail shot: