Oh the Cuteness!

Tres Chic?

2012-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

I try to be "fashionable" as much as I can, but most days I only have the energy to throw on jeans and a tee, haphazardly blow-dry my hair, and maybe put some jewelry on. But that darned Pinterest site is so full of lovely fashion inspiration, and it's making me want to put together "outfits" and try doing my hair and makeup here and there. I suppose it doesn't take that much extra time... So, is this any good? Or do I look like a dork?

Well, I like it, and I that's all that really matters, right? Shirt is very old, from Target, belt is from Urban Outfitters, my sister made me the skirt, the tights were from a swap party, and the shoes are Urban, as well as the glasses. Mom got me the yellow leather wallet and the pearl bracelet, and Dennis gave me the necklace and antique silver bangle. I managed to pull my hair out of my face and my bangs are getting so long that I have to pull them to the side now! I feel pretty! ^_^

Mini Mushroom Amigurumi Pattern!

2012-03-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

I made this little guy as a belated birthday gift for a friend, and I thought I should post the pattern! It's a great beginning amigurumi pattern because if it comes out a little wonky it's fine, because it's a mushroom, and they're all a little wonky in real life, right? I think it would be super cute with white pins in the top too so it can me useful. I was also playing with the idea of doing a "How I Make Amigurumi" photo or video tutorial using this pattern, might be fun... Anywho, if anyone catches any errors in the pattern please let me know!

Mini Mushroom Amigurumi Pattern

This pattern is worked in a continuous spiral, so be sure when you need to skip stitches for decreasing that you skip the very last stitch, which will simultaneously put down the first stitch of the next round, so you'll get the correct number of stitches. It measures about 3 1/2 inches tall when done. There's no guage, just crochet as tightly as possible.

Size US G7 (4.5mm) Hook, smaller is fine.

Peaches & Creme or Sugar & Creme 100% cotton worsted weight yarn in cream and 191 Peppermint

Small amount of batting

5 glass pebbles or rocks

Abbreviations: sc = single crochet, rnd = round, sts = stitches, slst = slip stitch

Start with Peppermint colored yarn.

Rnd 1: Create a magic loop and crochet 6 sc into loop, pull it tight and join with a slst. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc into each sc around. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: *1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (18 sts)
Rnd 4: *1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (24 sts)
Rnd 5: *1 sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (30 sts)
Rnd 6: *1 sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (36 sts)
Rnds 7-8: 1 sc in each sc around.
Rnds 9-12: Crochet into back loop only!
Rnd 9: *sc in next 5 sc, skip 1 sc*, repeat around. (25 sts)
Rnd 10: *sc in next 4 sc, skip 1 sc*, repeat around. (20 sts)
Rnd 11: *sc in next 3 sc, skip 1 sc*, repeat around. (15 sts)
Stuff cap with batting.
Rnd 12: *sc in next 4 sc, skip 1 sc*, repeat around. (10 sts)
Switch to the cream colored yarn.
Rnd 13: In the front loop only for this round: 1 sc in each sc around.
Rnd 14: 1 sc in each sc around.
Rnd 15: *sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat once. (12 sts)
Rnd 16: *sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (15 sts)
Rnds 17 -19: 1 sc in each sc around.
Rnd 20: *sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (18 sts)
Rnd 21: 1 sc in each sc around.
Rnd 22: *1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next*, repeat around. (24 sts)
Rnds 23-25: 1 sc in each sc around.
Rnd 26: In the back loop only for this round, *1 sc in next 5 sc, skip next sc*, repeat around (19 sts)
Stuff the stem with batting, leaving a little room for the weights.
Rnd 27: *1 sc in next 4 sc, skip 1 sc*, repeat around. (16 sts)
Add weights, and try to distribute them evenly so the bottom lays flat.
Rnd 28: *1 sc in next sc, skip 1 sc*, repeat around (8 sts)
Rnd 29: *1 sc in next sc, skip next sc*, repeat twice, close opening and weave in end.

If you have found this or any of my other free patterns useful and would like to help me keep creating them I accept PayPal donations!

Anyone need some padded envelopes?

2012-02-28T09:30:00.001-08:00

Okay this is kinda goofy, but it needs to be done:
My friend Vanessa sent me a message one day that a place by her work had 5 big bags of bubble envelopes out for free and if I needed some I should come by. It was when my car was in the shop, but a while later she reminded me of it and said there were 3 bags left. What luck! Sort of...

It's like The Blob... The rules were they were free but you had to take a whole bag, which was easily about 75-100 pounds. Good thing I had Dennis with me! We lugged this huuuuge bag to the car, and it filled up the entire back half of my station wagon. They're obviously off-cuts from the factory, so some of them were bad and I'm recycling those, but most of them are just fine and measure about 4 by 7 1/2 inches, though some are smaller because of off-center cutting. There's about 500 more than I will ever use, so I'm wondering if anyone would like some? If you're local I can drop them off wherever, but if you're far and willing to pay the shipping for a medium or large flat rate box I'll stuff it as full as I can and ship it off. Send me an e-mail at ohthecuteness@hotmail.com if you want to!

Pickles!

2012-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dennis helped me make pickles earlier this month! This was actually a bit of an experiment since I used Splenda instead of sugar because of the whole low-carb diet thing for him. I wanted to see if it would muddy the color or clarity or taste. The amount I used in the carrots, beets, and fennel is so small I'm sure it won't matter, but we've been wanting to make sweet pickled red onions ever since we had them on some tiny Moroccan spiced lamb burgers at one of our favorite local restaurants, The Hob Nob in Alameda. And now that we've perfected the recipe and method for making flax bread buns, it's lamb burger time baby!

Pickles with washi tape labels? Yes please!

The beets are spiced with clove, cardamom, star anise, allspice, and cinnamon. The fennel is just my plain picking spice blend, the recipe for which can be found here. The carrots have some of the pickling spice blend with extra whole cumin, coriander, mustard seed, and bay. And the sweet onions have star anise, cinnamon, and bay.

I had a handful of each kind of veggie left and I was going to make a mixed jar, but I ran out of vinegar by the end of the day. (These are big jars!) So I put them in a tupperware in the fridge and poured vinegar over them the next day for quick pickles instead! Om nom nom.

Blind Spots.

2012-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about my business situation lately, and I think I need some advice... Being semi-self employed and freelancing instead of having a usual 9-5 job has a lot of rewards, a bit of peril, and a definite learning curve. Even though I've kept this blog up for 6 years, and my etsy shop for 5, I feel like I still have a lot to learn. This has always just been a fun little side job, an outlet for my creativity really, but now it needs to be something more substantial. Having more time to focus on it now, I have seen it grow so quickly in a short period of time that I know I can make it into exactly what I need if I get over a couple key personal hurdles.

My biggest "blind spot", if you will, is in the realm of advertising. I'm a pretty shy person by nature really, and I've always just left it to etsy to advertise my shop, and blogger to get people to my blog. I've never been the kind of person to try very hard to stand out, and I need to change that behavior when it comes to my business. But really, I have no idea where to start, so I was hoping you all might have some advice to share, or some help to lend. I'm going to start small... Very, very small, and work my way up. First of all, I now have a mailing list! Check out the sidebar for the sign-up form. I'll be using it to send info on new projects, upcoming shows, and coupons, and I know myself well enough to know that I won't be sending out too many newsletters so don't worry about me spamming you to death! Anywho... Now you must all know by now that I am a huge dork, so this is the first piece of advertising I have come up with:

Okay, you can stop laughing now. Yes, this is one of those posters with the tear-off strips. I designed this a couple weeks ago when my new printer arrived, and just printed and cut 2 of them. (Mine say "Designed and crafted right here in Oakland" because I'm intending to hang them around town.) See what I mean about starting small? I've also got some new business cards printed up:

And these little guys are coupons for returning customers that I'm putting in my packages. They've got a thank you note and a code on the back in the same style as my cards:

(I used moo for the printing, www.moo.com.)

I've looked at buying some ad space on other websites, but I have such a limited budget right now that they all seem a little too pricey. So I was wondering if any of you lovely readers would be interested in trading some ad space? I have quite a good readership these days and it keeps growing (for the stats see the new "Advertise" tab at the top of the page), and if you have a site with comparable stats I'd love to do a straight-up even trade. In case you haven't noticed, I've cleaned up the sidebar to make room for some new sponsors, and moved the How-To's and Recipes links to the tabs at the top, and I've also added a couple new tabs. I'd love any feedback or advice you guys can offer, and please send me an e-mail at ohthecuteness@hotmail.com if you're interested in teaming up for advertising! And heck, if you wanted to print that flyer up there and hang one on your community bulletin board, send me a pic and I'll send you a coupon for the shop! Just click on the image for the larger version.

I also recently learned about this little doodad on Amazon... Apparently you can become an "associate" and basically build you own mini amazon shop, stocked with all the stuff you love. And when you refer people to an item in your shop, you get a little commission when they buy it. I think it's pretty cool, and since I'm always posting links to books and other stuff I blog about, I figured why not? So now when I link to a book it will still take you to Amazon, but it will be in my own little bookstore and if you buy it from there you'll be supporting my business! You can also check out the entire little shop under the link at the top called "My Bookstore". Hope you like my selection! ^_^

Prepare for incoming cuteness...

2012-02-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know this is just a gratuitous kitty post, but can you blame me? Look at how effing adorable these two are:

At times, I kind of hate living with cats, what with the puke, the claws, the hair. But this is not one of those times. I kind of want to re-create these pictures with me and Dennis doing the same poses, which could be kind of hilarious. Buddy (the white cat) is Precious' (the back cat's) son. They usually keep away from eachother or little squabbles break out. But they snuggled on the couch together with me literally all day, and magically did not bolt when I picked up the camera as most cats will do when you try to capture the cuteness. Mission accomplished. Please feel free to leave gratuitous squees and d'aawwws in the comments. You're welcome.

Watercolor Party!

2012-02-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

My friends Alex and Patrick have their birthdays a week apart, so we celebrated by going to my friend Vanessa's house to celebrate. Alex wanted an art party so she brought over watercolor paper and gouache, and we noshed on vegan pizza and root beer floats and proceeded to paint portraits of eachother. None of us had ever done watercolors before. Hilarity ensued.

The birthday girl, how I love her. She's one of my most fabulous and fashionable friends. She wanted us to do a timer portrait because, and I quote, "Our parents used to do sh*t like this."

Such a handsome group of people. We had so much fun. I got to paint a portrait of Vanessa's dog, Carlton haha. I think that Alex's portrait of Vanessa was the hands-down winner and I'm thinking of commissioning a portrait from her. Vanessa's portrait of me is super sweet, and I love that I wore my glasses that night. The ones in the bottom corners were made later, one is Alex's pro-life poster child (it started with a conversation about not painting teeth and spiraled out of control from there), and the other is a round of "exquisite corpse" where you draw a body part, cover up all but the edges, and pass it around. Very surreal.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hmm, I wonder who did this lovely piece of yarn bombing?

It had to be more than one person, all the strips are so different...

Isn't it just the cutest thing ever?

If you're local you can go check it out on the corner of Piedmont and Linda, across from the movie theater. ^_~

Coupley Crafty Time!

2012-02-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

One of the things I truly love about Dennis is his willingness to share in my hobbies. We used to craft together a lot more before he got so into Magic the Gathering, which I personally think is an awesome hobby and I'm glad he's doing so well at it. I've chronicled some of our crafty exploits here, here, here, here, and here. Yup, that's a lot of cutesy-pootsy crafting together. But all those posts are a little old, and when I mentioned to him how much I missed doing art with him he told me I should bust out the Hama Beads (also known as Perler Beads and fuse beads), so we could work on something together. Oh Dennis, you are awesome!

For those of you who didn't have the pleasure of playing with these beautiful little choking hazards as children, they're basically little plastic beads that you arrange on a pegboard and then melt them together with an iron. My generation seems to have a penchant for taking these nostalgic goodies and crafting great pixel art pieces straight out of our favorite old-school video games. And we were following suit...

And yes, we were watching episode after episode of Star Trek while making video-game art with a child's toy. Coolest couple ever? Probably.

Dennis made a character from Chrono Trigger, more specifically the guy who gets turned into a toad. You may have to stand back from your monitor to get a clearer view. It's like pointillism in that way.

And mine is going to be pretty big so this is just one side. It's going to be a coin bank that looks like one of the question mark boxes from Mario Brothers. I've got two sides done so far.

And then we made dinner together... Yeeeaaah... Uh, don't ask...

Ah, love, la grande d'amour... Happy Valentine's Day!

...Little help?

2012-02-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I need your help with something! So, Dennis got laid off a couple weeks ago. Don't worry, we're fine. In fact, we're doing great. Having him home more is a pleasure and he's using this time to do some soul searching, plus he's been helping me with my business stuff more often. Anywho, we are designing a new little notebook to sell in the shop and we need your opinions on a couple things... It'll have this graphic he designed on the front:

Inside it'll have a grid printed on the 20 or so pages with columns for "When", "What", "Where", "How Much", and "Notes", and it will be a stitched binding like the mini notebooks already up in the shop, with this design hand-stamped on the cover. I'm envisioning light-colored recycled kraft paper for the cover, and maybe white ink, or a deep red or blue, for the graphic. What do you think? Our main question is about size. I was thinking of making it 6.5 x 8.5 inches (so we don't have to do any paper cutting and it will therefore be less expensive), but Dennis thinks smaller is better so you can stick it in a smaller bag, or maybe even a pocket, something more like 4.25 x 6.5. What would you guys prefer? Everyone to leave us a comment or e-mail about this will not only be helping us out, but I'll give you a 10% off coupon to the shop! Thanks in advance!

Adventures in low-carb cooking.

2012-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

I think I may have mentioned on here before that Dennis has been on the low-carb diet for a while now. He's doing very well and has lost a ton of weight already. I tried the diet for a bit but it didn't do much for me, but whenever I cook for us at home the meals are always low-carb. He was on it for a couple years before I met him, but he was doing it the wrong way (as bachelors will do), eating nothing but chicken wings and broccoli with Velveeta cheese. Yuck. Since we've been together, I've introduced him to the wonderful world of organic veggies cooked to perfection, and lean meats cooked the right way. But I've also introduced him to the world of gourmet foods, and he's become quite the foodie, which is hard with a restricted diet. You saw a sampling of one of my low-carb yet slightly indulgent recipes in my last post, and ever since I got my new camera lens I can't seem to stop taking photos in the kitchen, so I though I may as well share a few more...

For breakfast on Sunday I made hollandaise for the first time ever. It was easy, though I added a bit too much butter. When the recipe says add only as much butter as the sauce will handle, they mean it! I made a version of eggs benedict sans the english muffin. Instead I laid down a bed of spinach sauteed with caramelized onions, then some smoked salmon, poached eggs (also a first for me, but super easy), and finally the slightly over-buttery (if there is such a thing) hollandaise and some capers. Super good, and I didn't even miss the muffin.

And for dinner that night I wanted to get chicken breast but the Trader Joe's near us was swamped and all they had were tenders. So I busted out the almond meal (which we use to make that amazing low-carb pumpkin cheesecake, and we made our own pumpkin puree for it this time, which explains the pumpkin-top shield Dennis is wielding with the carrot sword in the first picture), my jar of herbs de Provence (usually a mix of parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, and oregano), and some Greek seasoning. I mixed a 1/4 cup almond meal, 2 heaping tablespoons of herbs de provence, and about 1/2 a teaspoon of Greek, dredged the chicken strips in egg and coated them with the breading, and fried them in olive oil in my cast iron pan.

So yummy! Has anyone out there found a good recipe for a low-carb bread of sorts? I'd like to be able to make Dennis sandwiches once in a while but bread is such a big no-no, I'd be happy to hear if you have a good one!

Oh and on a very carb-y side note I had a burst of genius borne of necessity today:

When I was in the produce section they had a box of Nilla Wafers on sale for four bucks with a coupon for free bananas, and I thought I had vanilla pudding mix at home so I naturally couldn't resist. But when I got home I found out I had chocolate, not vanilla, pudding. I knew it would be fine so I made it anyway, but then the light bulb above my head went on and I decided to take 1/2 a cup of creamy peanut butter and mix it with a teensy bit of powdered sugar and about 1/4 cup of milk to make it almost pudding-like and include it as a layer in the dessert. HOLY PEANUTBUTTERBANANACHOCOLATENILLAPUDDING BATMAN! It MADE it. Oh my sweet sneakers it was good. Do it. Do it now!

My kitchen just keeps getting fancier.

2012-02-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've been on some kind of mission lately... I suppose the main objective is to make my house as colorful and cozy as possible. I keep looking around and just wishing there was more visual interest. I think I'm most at home in a place that is riotous with color, and luckily Dennis is pretty obliging in the matter. The pillows and photo wall in the bedroom are just the start of a much larger plan. Recently I started working on the kitchen; hanging more art that had been stashed under the sink before the housewarming party, preparing some garlands that I want to string about the ceiling (more on those later), and this:

I picked this up for 12 bucks at MaiDo (a Japanese stationary store in San Francisco). It's a chalkboard wall decal, and it was actually just a big black square with the frame in the center but I decided to cut the border off. It's hung in the pass-through between the kitchen and living room. We've been wanting to hand something there, but were wary of framed pictures for fear someone might run into them, so this seemed like the perfect plan. And I even made a little piece of hanging chalk:

A little dab of E600 all around, and then some baker's twine:

Et voila! I love my goofy five-year-old's cursive, and yes, those are real dinner options. I'm a fancy-pants, remember? But man, I just have to share the recipe I made for the baked fennel and leeks, it was amazing!

I was picking through some magazines when I came across a recipe for fennel baked in cream:

Looks friggin' amazing, but since we get an organic produce box delivered to us every other week I like to tweak recipes to use what we already have on hand. We had about half the fennel the recipe called for so I sliced and cleaned the two leeks that came in our box to make up for it. Leeks, to me at least, seem very underused and undervalued in modern cooking. I love leeks to death and encourage anyone who has not tried them to do so. Immediately! The recipe also called for cream, but I used half-and-half mostly because it was there, but also it cut down on the fat a bit. And it called for Parmesan cheese, which we didn't have, but we had an amazing garlic jack we picked up from the farmer's market so I used that instead.

So I tossed all the ingredients together with salt and pepper, dotted it with butter and cooked it as the recipe instructed...

Oh. My. Goodness. It was absolutely delicious. I've had fennel baked in cream before and, don't get me wrong it was good, but it's a little bit of a one-note. This dish, however, made me and Dennis swoon. Please make this. It's so easy and delicious, and anyone can make it. Impress your friends! You'll thank me...

Fennel and Leeks Baked in Cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

2 small fennel bulbs, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 leeks, sliced 1/2 inch thick (be sure to pull the layers apart and clean them thoroughly in a bowl of water)

1 cup grated garlic jack cheese

1 1/2 cups half and half

Generous pinches of salt and pepper, to taste (Don't be shy with the seasoning!)

4 tbsp cold butter, cubed

1. Toss all ingredients except the butter together in a large casserole dish.

2. Scatter cubed butter on top and cover with a lid or tin foil, and bake for 1 hour.

3. Remove tin foil and bake for another 30 minutes until nice and brown.

That's it! So easy and so creamy and delicious! I'd love to hear if anyone tries to make this dish. I served it with a simple green salad and salmon, but it would pair well with most any meal, and would be a very nice thing to make for a potluck. (Though you may want to double the recipe since it will go fast!)

And, just for fun, look at how beautiful this little head of lettuce is. There's a stall at the farmer's market that love to spend a lot of time at because they sell the most beautiful assortment of greens I have ever seen... Le sigh. ^_^

All things sweet...

2012-02-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

As Valentine's Day approaches I've been getting a hankering to bake cute sweets and make nice things. I know a lot of people out there aren't really into V-Day, but I think it's a sweet holiday. The historical background is very romantic, and in modern times I see it as a nice way to spoil the person you love for no reason. Dennis and I usually keep it low-key and as of right now we don't even have any concrete plans but I know it will be a nice day all the same. I've been feeling kind of nostalgic lately, as I usually do during the first few months of a new year - I go through old stuff and get rid of things without sentimental value, and rediscover those items that do hold meaning in the process. I've been starting to post old pictures of me and my friends from high school on my Facebook account and everyone is loving it! That inspired me to pick up my scrapbooking endeavors:

I have two other two-page layouts of stuff Dennis and I have done that I will try to get photos of soon. This one is of Mom and Dad (obviously) from a fairly recent visit back home. I love these pictures; they're just being goofy and cute and I love that about them. I kept this page simple, with kraft mats for the photos and little brads that look like brass screw heads, and a vintage button card.

And that night our house guest, Aubrey, came home and we decided to have a girl's night since Dennis had gone out to play cards with the boys. We watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and decided to try out the mini donut pan my mother gave me for my birthday. I always have stuff to bake with on hand so we whipped up the recipe on the package and I even managed a yummy strawberry-flavored icing for them. How freaking cute are these?!

And they were deeee-licious too! The recipe made 4 dozen little donuts, which was a lot, but we scarfed half of them that night and the other half were gone the next day. I definitely want to try different recipes, maybe an old fashioned sour cream cake one. This could be dangerous... And speaking of dangerous:

Our cat, Precious, was dangerously close to giving me a heart attack from cuteness today. She's so sweet and just rolls all over the place when she's happy. I can't get enough of this little old cat. Oh the cuteness! ^_^

Pinterest IRL

2012-02-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

Some of you were wondering what the patchy background behind the dressmaker's dummy was, and I can't believe I forgot to post this! In my tutorial section there's a how-to for the wall of inspiration that graced the wall of my old bedroom. Ever since I've been in this new apartment I've been longing to have another inspiration board, despite the wonderful addition of Pinterest to my life, but we have very limited wallspace. So When a friend of mine gave me a pack of dark cork tiles I made the decision to completely ruin a closet door (which I will be replacing for about $100 bucks when we move, which won't be for a very very long time). I got the rest of the tiles on Amazon for about $20.

I only put the tiles on the outer closet door because the closet's usually open so I can get at my supplies (aka that big semi-organized pile-o-stuff), and I was afraid the pins would get knocked off the back one as the doors slid past one another. They're just stuck up there with mounting tape, which I had to buy because the tape that came with the tiles was absolute crap. But it worked out just fine, and the tiles were very easy to cut with an Xacto knife so they fit just right. I love having a board again, and it turns out it makes a decent photography background too!

A Day in the Life...

2012-01-31T09:34:00.000-08:00

This post was supposed to be written quite a while ago when the whole "Occupy Oakland" thing was still going on, but as I have siad I was going through a transitional phase and didn't get time to post it. I just had a really cool day and finally remembered to bring my camera along for the ride, and I got some neat pictures!

You ever have one of those days when everything just kinda feels right and works out? This day was one of those days. It was a Saturday and I got up nice and early, did my usual morning routine except for the fact that my hair turned out unusually nice for a change. Must have been because it was dry and warm out (my hair goes all poofy when it's wet outside), and it probably helped that I was relatively awake when I did it. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to try my hand at putting on some makeup, including eyeliner, which usually makes me look like a retarded raccoon. But today was a good day! So I took pictures to document the fact that I am not a complete derp when it comes to getting purdied-up. I'm glad I did too because my feather extensions came out a couple days later, after an impressive 4 months. I've been thinking about getting some and learning to put them in myself so I can do them for friends too. Anywho...

I decided to walk to the Lakeshore Farmer's Market, which is one of the best in town, instead of driving there like a lazy bum. And I'm glad I did too, because I would have been sitting in traffic forever as a huge crowd of protesters marched on all the banks and made them close for the day. I can't say I really followed the whole "Occupy" movement, but I did agree with some things here and there, though in general I feel the whole thing was just a gobbledygook of angry hipsters with nothing better to do. But for the people who were really trying to change things, it was a good try. And hey, they convinced me to close my bank account and join a credit union. Occupy: 1, The Man: 0.

After scoping out the crowd of pretty people forming drum circles and deciding not to join in, I wandered by the newly revamped Kwik Way Drive-In and they were having a car show and I had a look around. My decidedly rockabilly look of the day garnered some attention, so I shyly decided to bugger off to the market and pick up breakfast.

After picking up what I needed I started to walk home when I saw the tightrope walkers that are in the park from time to time. This guy in the superhero costume (aka his undies) was coming back from the protest and asked if they would teach him. I had a great time watching this...

I love people, they are so interesting. But I'd had enough excitement for one morning so I returned home and put on the new Django Reinhardt record Dennis had just bought us and sat down to a breakfast of a ham and cheese croissant from the market, fresh orange juice, and a pink lady apple with Nutella. You really can't have a better morning than that.

And check out that awesome fabric covered in a mod transistor radio print that I made into a tablecloth! Oh yes, such a good day. I've had quite a few more like that which will be elaborated on very soon. Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

She's here... And already a big help!

2012-01-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

Remember, like, oh I don't know, a couple years ago when I completed the Me Made May challenge? For those of you that weren't around, I wore nothing but clothing I made myself for a whole month, and I knitted a sweater during that time too, and I promised myself that if I completed the challenge and finished the sweater that I would buy myself a dressmaker's dummy. Well, not to soon after I completed the challenge I got a huge car repair bill that I'm still kind of recovering from, and the dummy fell by the wayside. But recently I have been wanting it more and more and Singer just came out with one that's about half the cost of the one I was looking at, so while dad got me my camera lens for Christmas, mom got me the dummy!

Ain't she a beaut! I have a bunch of custom projects that need doing from etsy and friends, but now all I want to do is sew a dress! But that will have to wait. I bought the dummy that does sizes from 10-16, and though I waver between a 14 and a 16 it seems a little small even on the largest settings, so I think I will have to add some extra batting in certain places (aka the bust line and butt) to make it more like me. So until I get some more free time (as always), she's been an excellent model for the new round of infinity scarves I just put in the shop, just in time for spring! Click on the pics to go to the listings and be sure to look in the store for more!

Adding color to the bedroom.

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dennis and I have been slowly but surely adding goodies to the house to make it more cozy and warm, but our tiny little bedroom was feeling a bit boring as of late so I decided to add some colorful touches. While we were in Portland a friend of mine told me to check out Bolt, a charming little fabric boutique she used to work at. So for one of the days Dennis and I separated and while he went to a game shop to play cards with his brother I went off in search of Bolt. The neighborhood it was in was absolutely amazing, and if we ever decide to move to Portland we are living. Right. There. Unfortunately I have no pictures, but all along Alberta Street there was one crafty shop after another. A yarn shop named Close Knit right nextdoor to Bolt, then a music store that had a wall of ukuleles and even a banjolele (WANT!), a co-op market, a little art store called Collage that had everything I love, an open sewing studio/machine shop called Modern Domestic, a place called Make House that had silk screening classes and such, the list goes on, all in a span of three blocks. Anywho, long story short it was magical and I had just enough fun money to get a couple treasures, including a couple yards of this amazing cotton voile:

I saw it and instantly fell in love with the plaid, and then I touched it and it was so silky-soft I knew it was what I needed to make pillowcases so I snagged a couple yards. I was in a boutique in Berkeley when I got the idea to make some, because they had some nice ones from India that I loved but they were a whopping $36 a piece! Sheesh. I think I ranted about pillow prices in this post, and I feel the same way about pillowcases. Seriously people, it took a yard of fabric and 10 minutes of sewing to make two pillowcases! I just used an existing case as a template, measured a 19 x 58 inch rectangle (which is from selvage to selvage), folded it in half, sewed up the sides and zig-zag stitched over the cut edges to keep them from fraying, and just left the soft selvage as the edging. I'm extremely happy with them!

So cozy, and they add so much warmth to the room. I'll show off a picture of the whole room once it's completely done, but I still have some more to do.
Also a couple weeks ago I found this on Pinterest and I knew I had to do a version of it in our room since I had a bunch of photos that didn't fit into some recent scrapbook pages and we had a huge blank wall above the bed. A few tack nails, some baker's twine, and two packages of tiny red clothespins later and voila!

Even Dennis had to admit this was pretty awesome. It's so nice having our favorite pictures up, and we can change them very easily as we get new ones. And thanks to my dad I have a fancy new camera lens to use this year (which is what I used to take these pictures). It's a 50mm with a 1.8 f-stop. Yummy depth of field, and I've been taking more pictures than ever now! Thanks Dad!

The Last A Fair to Remember Recap

2012-01-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

The last A Fair to Remember was very fun. I only brought owl pincushions and my new owl plushies to the table, and I felt very prepared and happy. I had a great time hanging out with Errol and meeting the other vendors, but a Giants game that started in the afternoon on that day really cut down on our foot traffic and affected sales. Oh well, what can you do?

Great hipstery band.

Owls looking longingly for a new owner.

Errol in his lucky sale flannel.

I remember making these as a kid and I loved that she was selling them.

The bar nextdoor had Errol at hello.

He suddenly realized that this is a serious matter.

Until next spring...

Makin' Jam.

2012-01-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah...

Fresh wild bird cherries in three colors (I guarantee you have these dwarf plum trees in your neighborhood) given to me by a dear friend, cooked down, strained, sugar added, cooked to soft ball stage, and canned properly. So much jam, so delicious. Everyone I know got a jar and we still have 2 left. Life is good.

New year, new outlook, new stuff.

2012-01-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hi all!
The shop was updated a few days ago with some more owl pincushions and just a couple of hipster ones, some jewelry, soap, etc., and since it's the new year and I always try to do a purge of unnecessary items from the house, there's a ton of random supplies in there too, all new and all very inexpensive! Hope you find something you like!

It's all about the results.

2012-01-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Recently I've gone through quite a few changes job-wise and I realized the other day that I haven't even shared what's been going on with me, and what has been causing some of my absence on here. Where should I start...

Well, I finally couldn't hack my commute out to the toy store in San Francisco anymore, and Dennis and I wanted to go to Portland for Christmas this year, which my boss would never have let me do. So the winds of change came blowing my way and I gave my notice after I got a part-time gig at a scrapbooking store in Berkeley and a couple ongoing freelance gigs. This was at the end of September, and all was well until a couple months later when I was spectacularly laid off from my really fun position at the scrapbooking store. But the funny thing is, I wasn't really all that broken up about it. Granted, I honestly enjoyed the job and it was a source of endless inspiration; I learned a lot of new techniques and had fun starting to make a scrapbook. But the pay was pretty low, and I found myself wanting to cut my hours back and pick up more freelance gigs and focus more on my own stuff. (Not to mention it was very tempting to spend all my money on their wonderful products.)

I had quit the toystore in hopes of working part time for someone and spending the bulk of my time crafting for myself, but I ended up working a full-time schedule between everything. Now after being laid off I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something and I better listen. So instead of moping about or starting a job hunt, I worked extra hard on my displays and products for the RAC craft fair I sold at on the 1st and 2nd of December. And the result was more amazing than I ever could have dreamed...

This year I shared a booth with my friend Suzanne from my S&B group, and Errol of Metaphor Organic (I did the photography for their new website!), whom I met at A Fair to Remember. Oh! That reminds me I never posted pictures from the very last one. Next time... Anywho...

Suzanne, of course, made gorgeous knitwear. I couldn't resist trading for a pair of sparkly pink, purple, and black fingerless gloves. Very Madonna. She is the undisputed goddess of knitting in our little group.

In addition to the must-have owl pincushions and the new owl plushies I made some great crocheted wrap bracelets which were quite popular, a couple little mushroom and bird ornaments, and the real stars of the show, my fascinators and feather hair clips...

These babies were just flying off my table! I made more money at this fair than I have ever made before, and I feel like I've found a new niche. For the first time the dream of paying rent and bills from things I've made myself seemed like more than just a dream. So for now I'm freelancing and making stuff, and not being a wage slave to the man! Wish me luck... Gulp... Anywho...

A few years ago I found I had amassed quite an odd collection of craft supplies that were best suited to 3D collage or shrines, but when I started combining them with beautiful feathers and putting them on headbands they became these super fun and quirky accessories. I made 4 all that time ago, and I ended up giving 3 away, as people would come over and try them on and fall in love, and keeping one for myself. I wear it all the time still, as it looks great for getting fancy and when you just want to dress up jeans and a tee. And I think that's what people like about them. Honestly, even after people liked the first round I was a little apprehensive as to whether or not these would sell. I was afraid people just wouldn't get it, but boy was I wrong. I took these pictures right before the fair started and I had no time to take anymore! I made about 12 or 14 ranging in price from 15-40 dollars, most being about 30-35. The first day of the fair, which was only a half day, I had sold more than half, so I stayed up really late that night making 6 more which I sadly didn't get to photograph - they sold too fast!

Each of the headbands are one of a kind and use a combination of vintage and new millinery, trinkets, and metal bits. The batch I made for the second day were all very steampunk and I'm so sad I have no pictures to show. The first one above I called the Christmas Goose, and it was very theatrical with curly goose feathers for the base and two mid-size white feathers sticking out to one side on the top, laser-cut wooden leaves, and a little moss bird's nest. The second one was called the Winter Woodland and was made from 100% vintage goodies (except the headband), the star of which is that beautiful brass bow. I've seen these big ones done on clips before but I prefer the headbands because for one, no matter how long your hair is you can rock it, for two it's super easy to throw on and wears almost like a hat, and for three they are super comfy. I'm picky about my headbands and these kind are the best - very flexible, large, and they have a bit of padding on the ends.

The first one here was my favorite, and I was secretly hoping it wouldn't sell so I could keep it and of course it was the one that sold first! I called it the Pheasant Hunt because of the base feathers, and the orange ones are vintage, and the berries as well. I found the pinecones at my parents house, and the amazing little coque feathers sticking off the top looked like antennae and made me so happy! I topped it off with a solid brass stereo knob. The second one is called Fruits of the New Year and had a vintage German feather pad, faux fruits, and velvet leaves.

The first one here was called the Happy Holiday and was the most Christmas-y by far. All vintage/found objects on this one, with a real pinecone. And lastly, the Steampunk Debutante, which I think speaks for itself!

I also made a ton of clips (And I made the cool magnet board and headband holder covered with blue Dupioni silk, so fancy!), using vintage trinkets, bowties, and feathers. I called them "Whimsical Holiday Finery" for the Christmas fair, but I have recently restocked my supplies to make a whole new batch and needed a name. When people ask me to describe these I always find myself using the word "theatrical", so I'm calling them "Whimsical Theatrical Finery", which does double duty in its shortened form, WTF. As in, "WTF is on your head!?" Perfecto. I will do a post when I have the new batch ready to go into the shop!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

... And we're back on track! We got back from Portland the day before New Year's Eve and my sister came into town about an hour behind us so I got to spend the New Year with her! We went to a party thrown by my friends Vanessa and Glen. Good times: a balloon drop, party poppers, good food and champagne, and pretty people! But sissy made it extra special for me by doing my hair and makeup. For anyone who knows me this is a big deal! Fake eyelashes even, which took some getting used to but were really fun, and I felt very pretty.

It was a great start to what is sure to be a very interesting year, but more on that later. Cheers everyone!

Merry Christmas... Getting closer!

2012-01-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas up in Portland, yet somehow I managed not to take a single picture. It was a big vacation in every way, as we spent the entire week mostly sleeping and eating. That's sure to come up in my new year's resolution, but that's another post for another day. We had some mini-Christmases at home before we left, and I got to visit my parents the week before. I made cards this year with scraps and off-cuts, but I only made 25 and it turns out I have a ton of friends and family all of a sudden...

I sent out a total of 53 cards!

I wore the ugly Christmas sweater I won at last year's white elephant gift exchange while we decorated the tree. We had hot coco and listened to a 5-record set of music that I used to have on tape from my childhood.

We did the tree using all of my glass ball ornaments with a vintage wooden peppermint garland and red and white lights.

Mom made us stockings out of that fantastic retro fabric and I finally have a mantle to put my light-up village on! It has a skate pond that you can wind up that plays music and has two little skaters that move around on it.

Gratuitous cuteness coming on...

And bonus! I forced Dennis to wear a Santa hat and from then on it was all snotty faces to the camera. Oh how I love him!

Happy Thanksgiving... Better late than never!

2012-01-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Finally my whirlwind holiday season is over! I am so backlogged with blogs it's kind of ridiculous... I guess I'll just start with Thanksgiving and try to work my way back from there, with a couple detours. This year we had our usual "orphan's feast" where we get all our friends who aren't able to visit family together and pig out. It was lovey, and there were 11 of us in total which was the largest yet!

I made little place cards for everyone, total cost was $5.00 for the supplies!

Had to rearrange the living room to fit in all the borrowed tables and chairs!

I used our plates and some Bambu plates, mismatched water and wine glasses, and mismatched colorful napkins tied with ribbon scraps. Candles in vintage milk glass and mercury glass holders formed the centerpiece. Dennis and I made the turkey, sweet potatoes (fresh, not canned), roasted squash, and butternut squash pie, and everyone else brought tons of delicious goodies to share.

As is tradition, we played Zombies!, my favorite board game. As well as the game where you stick a name on your forehead and try to guess who you are. Does anyone know the name of that game? And of course we had to play with the hamster that belongs to our house guest, she's just too sweet! (These pictures were taken by my fabulous friend Alex.)

Also, just a little new year's update: I hope you all like the new blog design!

Shop update!

2011-12-04T20:05:00.001-08:00

Just in time for Christmas, I've put a bunch of owl pincushions, new large owl plushies, moustache straws, and mini notebooks in the shop! I can guarantee that stuff will arrive for Christmas (within the continental US) if it is purchased before or on Friday, December 16th, but I will continue shipping orders until December 20th. I have a bunch of owls that need photographing too, so if you are looking for a specific color I don't have listed feel free to convo me on etsy and I can see if I have one hiding in the studio!