my boy

turned 6 years old today!


i found this picture today while showing him his baby pictures.

*sigh*

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12 Days of Christmas with the EtsyKids Team!

On the first day of Christmas, the ETSYKIDS team members gave to me….a Christmas event you really must see!

November 28th – December 10th, join EtsyKids for 12 days of fabulous, festive fun and dreamy holiday prizes.


Here’s how to play:

Each day the EtsyKids blog will contain a post showing an image that’s hidden in an item listing on a few different EtsyKids team members’ shops, along with a clue on how to find it. When a contestant finds just one of the hidden images, they send an Etsy conversation to the day’s entry collector with a link to the listing where they found it. Once their conversation is received, they’ll be entered into a drawing for an amazing EtsyKids prize. Those who find images for all 12 days are entered into the grand prize drawing!

Participants may use one of two methods to find the images:

1. Begin by looking at each of the 7,000+ EtsyKids listings, or
2. Decipher the clue to the keyword to narrow down the listings to under 100.

The clues are word association to the keyword. After you think you have the keyword, enter that word and "etsykids team" into Etsy's search, and start looking!

Example: Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus...........nativity
Thus, you would enter "nativity etsykids team" to narrow down the listings to hunt through. The clues start out easy, and they get harder!

Please do not post the answers anywhere - all answers will be revealed at the end of the game.

If you don't jump into the game until after it's started, no problem! You can still enter that day's drawing, as well as the remaining days, then go back and find the previous days to enter the grand prize drawing.

The Etsykids blog will also let contestants know who to contact to enter, as well as the prize(s) that will be awarded that day. The number of prizes will increase each day and the winners will be selected at random.

***Contestants can enter once each day.

Within 24 hours of winning, the lucky winners will be contacted via Etsy Conversation, and MUST contact (via Etsy Conversation) the prize donor with their mailing address within 2 days of being contacted. If they fail to contact the prize donor within the given time, a new winner will be selected.

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holy hotpants batmann

yup. you read it right.

in my etsy store now!
ragamufyn.etsy.com

these are made from second generation recycled t-shirts! i use the waste material of a friend who makes recycled clothing. then i save my waste material from making them and pass it along to another friend who uses it to stuff pillows and whatnot.

it's like using the whole buffalo...
except we are vegetarians.

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catching up with life

yes. i've been busy... and not such a good blogger these days.

i've got so many updates to post and things to write about but it seems just not the time to do it right now so my life will have to be read about a little at a time and also a little behind schedule until i can catch up. so for now i leave you with a picture of book i found at a local thrift store. life is so much better now that i know it is in existence.

This weekend is the Miami Craft Market! It's an indie craft fair i am organizing at the Upper East Side Garden on US1 in Miami. It's packed full of handmade vendors and there is live music by 6 very talented local artists. add in an adult themed ice cream truck (Feverish Mobile Ice Cream Party) and free mini golf and you've got yourself a fabulous party!

hope to see you there!



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MIami Craft Market... one week away

Miami Craft Market

an indie craft fair
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
noon-5pm

Upper East Side Garden
7244 Biscayne Blvd
Miami, FL 33138

www. miamicraftmarket. com
www. myspace. com/miamicraftmarket
www. uppereastsidegarden. com

Over 18 artists and crafters will be selling goods they made with their own two hands.
The only sweat in our shops is our own.

Live music all day! Free Mini golf! Delicious vegan and raw food!
Buy Handmade. Shop Local.
Make the world a happier place.

click the title for the full post!

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See you tomorrow @ Stitch Rock!

Stitch Rock is this Saturday! Hope to see you there!



* Door prizes all day*

* Free swag bags for the first 100 people!

* D.I.Y Fashion show at 3pm

* Special feature: Live painting by local Miami artist, LEBO

* Plus your favorite Ragamufyn will be upstairs with some fabulous new goods for you to drool over

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yum

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hurricane/ tropical storm fay indoor fun

we've been so excited here with my son's first day of kindergarten(!) happening monday, however, due to fay, his first (and second day!) of school has been postponed till Wednesday.

meanwhile, we are having a blast making homemade playdough and making all kinds of floury and salty dough goodies. yum yum... nothing like a salty ice cream cone with sprinkles!

granny's super playdough to the rescue
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 T. oil
1 c. cold water
food coloring

Combine above ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. cool, store in a ziploc bag.

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lunch today.

• brown rice cooked with garbanzo beans pressed into a triangle shaped onigiri mold
• sweet potato fries drizzled with olive oil and jamaican country style hot curry powder, sea salt and some chili powder and paprika. baked @ 425° for about 40 min. flipped at 20 min.
• beets, onion and walnuts
• veggie stir fry: red pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, and red cabbage with a coconut curry sause

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oh yeah!

Trey Anastasio - Sand - 8/7/08, Brooklyn, NY

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jamiacan patties of love

yes these are the jamaican patties of love and goodness.

from: Passionate Vegetarian pg 348
by: Crescent Dragonwagon

filling:
3 medium potatoes, scrubbed
4 carrots, diced
1 zucchini or yellow squash, diced
1 bunch scallions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, quartered
2 serrano chilies, stems and seeds removed
2 cups fresh soft breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon mild veggie oil (corn, canola or peanut)
cooking spray
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

quasi-pastry for patties
12 6-inch tortillas
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

place 3 cups water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. bring to a boil. add the potatoes and cook until almost but not quite tender, 15-20 minutes. add the carrots and zucchini and return to a boil. boil for an additional 4 minutes. remove from the heat and drain well. let sit until cool enough to handle.

peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/4-inch cubes. return to the pan with the carrots and zucchini and set aside.

combine the scallions, garlic, serranos, soft breadcrumbs, and thyme in a food processor. pulse-chop several times, scraping down the sides of the work bowl, then buzz to make a thick paste, (you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of the hot potato water if you kept it.) set aside.

heat the oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet or one that has been sprayed with cooking spray. add the onion and saute until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. add the ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. add the scallion paste and season with the salt. lower the heat and cook for 3 more minutes, turning the mixture over and over with a spoon. remove from the heat and gently combine with the reserved vegetables. set aside. (this part can be done in advance.)

about 50 minutes before you plan to serve the patties, preheat the oven to 400ºF.

make sure that the flour tortillas and the patty filling are at room temperature. combine the melted butter, paprika, and turmeric in a small bowl. have a pastry brush, dinner plate, and a baking sheet, lightly sprayed with cooking spray, at hand.

now you're going into patty production, which moves much more quickly and easily than describing it. heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and briefly warm a tortilla, flipping it over once to make it just hot enough to be pliable. place the tortilla on the dinner plate and throw another tortilla into the skillet. as the second tortilla warms, put a large scoop of filling on half the tortilla on the dinner plate, folding the other half of the tortilla up and over the filling. this gives you a half circle filled tortilla, looking something like a turnover, except the filling is showing at the edge. transfer the filled tortilla to the baking sheet. remove the second tortilla from the skillet to the dinner plate for the filling, and throw another tortilla into the skillet to warm. repeat until you've warmed and filled all of the tortillas.

when all the tortillas have been filled, lightly brush each one with a little of the butter spice mix. place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. remove the pan from the oven, flip the patties over, and brush the other side of the patties with it. return to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes. serve hot!

the ones i made (above) were made with yellow squash and potatoes, no carrots (cuz we ate them all earlier with hummus), extra serranos, extra ginger, and tomato-basil flavored tortilla wraps.

you say you don't own the passionate vegetarian? wha?!

go get one now!

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back to my roots

this has been a summer of going back to my roots.

i studied pottery in college and thought that was how i would spend my days. however, i got a little sidetracked and making clothing and accessories took over. so now i'm back to let you know i can really shake 'em down..... er.. uh... i mean... to let you see some of my new ceramic goodness.

above is one of my new signature stamps (or signets as i like to call them). they will be stamped on all of my new ceramic work with or with out my written signature. i haven't decided yet. so stay tuned cuz i've got a whole lot of ceramic goodness coming your way.

there's lots more pictures on my flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/ragamufyn

and for a peek into my pottery past check out this spot for some of my old work.
www.ragamufyn-com/pottery


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tonight!

tonight!

the new i love yoga headquarters is looking as gorgeous as ever!

 i'll be performance sewing tonight so don't miss it!

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i want you!

i know you all want input into what i post on this here blog. so... now's your chance!

check the sidebar and vote!

what's it gonna be?

--more recipes?
--more adventures in the life of mufyn?
--more kanye?
--(less kanye?)

vote
vote
vote
--mufyn

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etsy muffins of the day...

once upon a time i was a part time vegan muffin baker. now i'm a part time vegan mufyn. here's some of my favorite muffin themed items on etsy right now. they are all $20 and under so go grab 'em while they're hot!

love muffins tags- $3

papercafegirl71.etsy.com

jealous muffin print- $15

WHIMSYlove.etsy.com

blueberry muffin charm- $12

pearberry.etsy.com

monkey muffins hand screen printed plushie- $7

DogboneArt.etsy.com

sad muffin mens boxers size small- $20

FortCloudy.etsy.com

now go grab your favorite muffin and take a bite!

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diary project 2009

i was one of 365 artists who participated in this year's diary project 2009.

each artist was given one page to design anyway they wish. these diary/journals will be for sale later this year. i'll be sure to post when they are available!

see more artist entries on the flickr group!

what's the delio kanye?

i really knew nothing about kanye west until i went to bonnaroo last month and heard everyone talking of the kanye west fiasco. rumors of what happened the night before filled the campground on sunday. everything from "he said he wouldn't go on stage unless phil (lesh) got off stage" to "he wasn't even here until 4am". i almost felt a little sorry for him.

fast forward to the day before yesterday when i picked up a miami new times and saw the above advertisement in the first couple of pages. wtf?! i totally don't get it. i even went as far as going to the website and i still don't get it. maybe that is the entire intention. there's even an infomercial on youtube. maybe it's because i don't have tv and don't get pelted with advertising and pop culture and thus don't have a clue.

can anyone enlighten me?

sunday crafternoon

i spent last weekend with some of miami's craftiest ladies as part of the miami artisans guild's sunday crafternoon. beanblossom was the host and chose the project of the day.

recycled shoe art.

i restyled these yummy leather boots. they will be sold in the mag etsy store in the near future and all of the proceeds will go to charity.

created with:
old leather boots
acrylic paint
martha stewart glitter

first off i painted the bottom section with red paint.while that was drying i found perhaps the most fabulous turquoise iridescent paint in the whole entire world and started in on the upper boot. i really didn't look too closely at what the pattern was up there i just started painting. back to the bottom section again... i used some sort of flexible mod podgeish type stuff but it wasn't mod podge... it was something else.... and sprinkled them with a lovely and ultra fine red glitter by martha stewart. lastly, i added some dots to the upper turquoise paint in just a shade lighter turquoise than the rest of the design. i don't think i'm done yet. they seem to need just a little bit more. i'm thinking swarovski crystals up the side and something flashy all the way around the bottom where the glitter meets the sole.

more photos on my flickr.


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kanye west hates hippies...

in case you were wondering.

his bonnaroo experience was not so good.

vegan banana split tea bread

from vegan planet by robin robertson

bananas, peanuts, vegan chocolate chips, crushed pineapple, dried cherries... heaven


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underwater basket weaving 101

although these pictures are completely unrelated somehow they belong together...

the first helps me realize that people won't necessarily read my signs...
the later helps me realize my need for straw, sticks and yarn.

please click through for the full photos.

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i made a new ad for the florida etsy street team catalog (fest). here it is.

loranscruggs.etsy.com wins cutest flippin' shop of the day.

ok. so there was no contest but wow(!)... i came across loranscruggs's etsy store in my evening perusal of the time machine numero dos and quickly fell in love. one of my favorite things is finding completely unexpected shops on etsy. sometimes it seems like everyone is making the same things... but not in this case. (although i haven't actually done a search on penny whistles... i doubt i would find a zillion sellers selling them.) in the enitire store there were only a few things in the store that i could see myself not buying. everything was just so flippin' cute!

i'm a big fan of this bubble gum pink vintage recycled soda bottle cap hula girl penny whistle!
(whew... say that three times fast.)

loranscruggs.etsy.com crafts these adorable tin whimsical yum yums in the seattle area and will, i'm sure, continue to melt my heart from now until eternity with recycled happiness.

fun with recycled crafts

even though i am technically in tennessee i still wanted to share with you one of projects my kids did this past spring. i teach 5-11 years olds recycled crafts and theatre. we have loads of fun playing and creating some really fabulous stuff.

these flower vases were made using the glass jars that i am forever collecting. we used acrylic paint. one thing i wished i would have done was spray them with an acrylic clear glaze to protect them a little.

notice one of my students mixed their paint with water to create a translucent look. way cool. A+


*i promise i'll post bonnaroo stuff as soon as i get back*

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well.... how-di doo....

i'm at bonnaroo baby.
i'll be here through the weekend.

see you next week!

nice. i made the front page last night.

making the front page is always a happy ending to any day!
thanks to my lovely rabbit friend i got a chance to snap this screenshot
(and carp, i know i messed it up and missed capturing the whole page).

special thanks to curiosity killed for creating this great treasury!

todays project

I've been busy working on lots of custom work for i love yoga.

today i did some shirts for the duncan wong collection.

i'm having fun experimenting with different ways of sewing patches on t-shirts and doing decorative top stitching.

i love yoga is having a workshop/celebration at the omega institute in rhinebeck, ny this weekend!

simple ways to green up your life

we like soup.

a lot.

i made another batch of coconut curry soup this week. this time using around 5 types of dried beans and rice in the soup. this time i also made some yummy delicious dumplings.

curry dumplings

1 1/2 c wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
garam masala
zahatar (middle eastern seasoning)
canola oil
1 c water

mix up and drop by the tiny teaspoon into bubbling soup. put on the cover and let cook 15 min. * measurements are approx.

i ended up making so much that at one point i had to split the soup into two stock pots. dried beans really have their way of expanding. even with our dinner guests there was still a whole lotta soup left over.

so what to do with all the extra soup?

i save all of my glass jars from everything we buy. they are perfect for recycled art projects, storing buttons, dried beans, rice, and bottling homemade jams. today, they made the perfect storage container for some extra soup without the worry of those nasty pvcs found in plastic storage containers.

guests can easily take one of these home for a meal the next day (it's always better the next day anyway!) and there is also plenty to take to share with a neighbor who is living alone.


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todays project

This is one of the new wrap tops i made this afternoon!

i'm really happy with the rose floral fabric i added to the front. i also ran many rows of stitches lengthwise on it to give it a quilted effect (see close up below).

i haven't yet decide if this one is finished yet. i feel the need to 'jazz it up' a bit with something but i'm not sure what that something is yet.

i was also able to upload some more new superpower wrist cuffs to my etsy store today.

yeah!

go me!

ragtrade is back!

clean out your closets.... cuz..... ragtrade is having their grand re-opening party tonight!

re-opening party:
Tonight! 7-10

ragtrade
4600 ne 2nd ave. ste #6
miami
305.573.1478

www.ragtradeco.com

don't you just wanna?

etsy faires and the magical wrist cuffs

Oh my goodness!

It's like a miracle has happened. New items appeared in my etsy store as if by magic, overnight. I love it when the etsy fairies come down, photograph some groovy goods and then post them in my shop. It's a wondrous day the whole world round!

These are some lovely hand stitched wrist cuffs I made during the tepid late winter months and are finally made available to you! So go on.... don't be shy.

Maybe I'll sprinkle more magic dust around my crafting space and see what happens tonight!

Get yours @ ragamufyn.etsy.com


*note to self*
even more amazing, it seems, is that i wrote most of this post using correct capitalization. what is up around here?

Recycled Sweater Wrap

hooray for threadheads inspiration!

i watched this video the other day and became completely inspired to make some yummy tops myself!

i had a performance sewing gig last weekend and thought it would be the perfect experience to break out the bag of dumpster finds (and yes, i washed them first).

i was sewing up a storm having the most fabulous time as people would come by to see what was happening. as one wonderous wrap creation came off the machine, someone would try it on and parade it around the party. it was fabulous and i made sales right then and there.

these pictures show one that i just made this afternoon out of an off the shoulder sweater from american eagle(i think?). i cut it at the waist, cut it up the front and chopped the sleeves off with a little curve so it would be more tank style. i added patches and used black jersey for the waist ties. the first picture shows before i decided on a closure for the top. i didn't think it looked right without it and i was happy with the way it all turned out.

if you are in the chicago area you can find this top and more for sale at the midwest yoga conference in the i love yoga booth.

here's some before and after shots of a few more of the tops that came out of last weekend's festivities.

this ugly/ginormous/holidayish sweater turns into a chic zen top.








this nasty/gold/sparkley mock turtleneck got a new life!

i think don't think i've ever seen a larger purple chenille turtleneck.

ever.















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