5x7" & 8x10" options will soon be available in Etsy shop! River is very impressed!
Greeting Cards
Packaged greeting cards this morning. Ended up with only 1 paper cut.
Evening
Hanging out on the bed with Yoshimi... sketching sea otters (Eee!)... listening to The Whitest Boy Alive. This evening is swell.
DAD
It's this kind of night.
A Birthday Blog Post to my Sister
24 years ago today, 1988, I was ecstatic that my very own sister was born. A little sister that would play with me all day long! Barbies! Legos! House! Here's a snap to show you how proud I was. Check out that bighearted smile.
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be without my sister.
I wouldn't have a shoulder to cry on, I wouldn't have someone to listen to me, I wouldn't have someone to wipe my tears.
Vise-versa.
I wouldn't have to block my room's doorway with my Sesame Street footstool so she couldn't crawl in & mess with my stuffed animal set-up.
I wouldn't have someone that I could hook up to the sled & see how far our dog, Chelsea could transport... not realizing how dangerous 27th Street was.
Nor would there be someone I could play an April Fool's joke on by drawing huge spiders on paper & cutting them out & using clear tape to attach them to her bedroom ceiling in the corner.
I am thankful for having that younger shadow following me whenever I needed her. Best friends have changed with time. But my sister has been the best friend that has stayed my best friend forever.
I love you Sis. Wishing you a very sweet birthday!
A few Etsy Treasuries in December
Here's a few fun Etsy Treasuries that I was featured in recently!
Click on images to view treasuries on Etsy.
Quiet the Humming Robots - earrings
Get your handmade shop on!
Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! And... Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
Will you be there?
My booth number this year is 165! Stop on by and say hi!
Holiday craft show season is here
Here are a some snaps from the Lewis Elementary Holiday Bazaar that was on Saturday!
:: My booth ::
I displayed a vintage suitcase holding framings of Herb Series & Standard Movement Series drawings...
I decided to go simple this time around with the table display...
:: art prints, button rings, and more ::
My most recent vintage store purchase, a fisherman's tackle box...
Bingo chips, buttons, cabochons, and Scrabble rings...
Quiet the Humming Robots earrings on faux mossy rocks...
:: lunch time ::
Lewis Elementary's PTA made awesome soup! I couldn't resist...
Many thanks to the friendly parents and teachers who made a great event. I enjoyed meeting you! I'll be back next year! Better yet, I'll be signing up for the Lewis' Garden Fair in April. I had so much fun doing last year's. I think it's awesome that an elementary school has a garden program! For more info on Lewis Garden Program, go here.
Also, thanks to all artists participating in this sale who gave a portion of the their proceeds to Lewis Elementary School.
Lastly, thanks to those who attended and supported local & handmade!
An Arrested Development Halloween
Annyong.
For Halloween my husband & I decided to be Maeby & George Michael from Arrested Development!
Arrested Development is one of our absolute favorite television shows. Sadly it only aired for 3 seasons, from 2003 - 2006.
Storyline...
"Michael Bluth, a widower with a 13-year-old son, named George-Michael, is forced to keep his large and dysfunctional family together after his father is arrested for shifty accounting practices at the family-owned conglomerate and the Bluth family assets are frozen, making each member of the eccentric family panic. Michael's snobbish mother, Lucille, finds herself living alone in a penthouse without the financial means to maintain it, while Michael's two brothers, GOB and Buster, and his sister Lindsay with her husband Tobias and her daughter Maeby also find themselves having to recreate their lifestyles to fit their new financial status." -IMDB
The thing I love about Halloween is being creative and seeing others be creative. I really enjoy the process of making the costume, down to the finest details from dying a shirt yellow to rebuilding a banana logo so I can iron it on fabric. I hunted for the perfect pieces at thrift stores and on the internet.
For more photos from our Halloween night, visit my friend Camp Smartypants' blog. She has some excellent shots of our dinner, appetizers, and photo booth time!
Justin & I already have a bunch of ideas for next year's costumes!
Ol' home sweet home
I miss you dearly, ol' home sweet home.
Sigh...
I once lived in Lincoln, Nebraska... for four and a half years. Three of which my love & I lived in this awesome historic building near the zoo. It once was a water pump station, many many years later it was renovated into condominiums. I miss those big atrium windows letting all that natural light in. If my cat, Yoshimi could speak, she'd probably say the same.
I want to give a shout out to my friend Russ... Thank you for snapping this photo on your run. You made my day!
Penguins chasing a butterfly
I discovered this video taken at the Philadelphia Zoo of silly & cute penguins. Happy Monday!
Show of Awesome, this Saturday!
Here comes... SHOW OF AWESOME!!!
It is this Saturday, the 19th from 10am to 3pm. And like old times it will be at the Doug Fir Lounge.
Come shop and meet crafty superstars from across the country selling handmade goodness! - Featuring 40 local and national vendors and a few authors too! - Free DIY project at the Make Something Awesome Area. - All ages and free admission.
See the vendor list here: http://www.hellocraft.com/summit/the-show-of-awesome/
Come buy gifts, or maybe a little something for yourself!
This event is happening in conjunction with the Summit of Awesome and is sponsored by Crafty Wonderland, DIY Lounge and Hello Craft.
I do hope you'll come!
Take this here rain check
Good morning to you all! It's very early for me... 4:00am. Some silly reason I've been waking up this time early every day this week. Let me state– THIS NEVER EVER HAPPENS. I heart sleeping. Make that a gigantic heart. Ok, so I've been pretty terrible about updating this blog. Eek! Has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? I really need to kick myself in the rear. It even has been perfect blogging weather...rainy. Bleh, I am pretty tired of this stinking hard core rain we have been having in Portland. Well, I don't hate it completely. I love having my apartment windows open. Hearing the pitter-patter is nice. And so is the smell. Mmmm. But I am yearning for a little Vitamin D and bicycling that doesn't involve soggy skinny jeans.
For some odd reason the rain has gotten me thinking of "David the Gnome". If you were a child in the mid to late-80's like me & you had cable... you probably were a big Nickelodeon fan. I'm curious how many of you out there liked the TV show "David the Gnome"? I had a flash back of being around the age of 5, all curled up on the couch with my mom, watching the show that would eventually be subdued by an afternoon nap. All while it was raining, of course. I wonder what I would think of it, if I watched it today. My mom sure loved it. And I'm pretty sure today I'm the same age as she was then.
Very soon I will be making my first roadtrip of the season out to the coast. And absolutely NO Mr. Rain! You are sooo not invited. Sun? absolutely!
Speaking of roadtrips, remember when I posted on here about my drive out to Mount St Helens? Oh... back in the Spring of last year? Well here's the post if you would like to read it. With all this H20 jibber-jabber, here are some earrings that I crafted. With Clearwater Lake on the brain, I named them...
"That time my toes met the shoreline"
:: View in Etsy Shop ::
I adore these faceted glass beads. They're awesome! See how their colors, teal & amber, blend together? It's especially cool how they hit the light. I really wish I had more of them. Yes, unfortunately I only will be able to make a few more. I guess you can say they are limited edition. He he.
Well you nice folks have an excellent weekend! I will leave you with a sketchbook drawing from yesterday. Enjoy!
Maybe see ya on Monday!
2010 Alberta Street Art Hop
This Saturday, May 15th is the 11th Annual Art Hop on Alberta Street here in Portland. It's from 11:00am to 6:00pm. I'm looking forward to being an art vendor for the first time ever! What is it you ask? "Art on Alberta’s annual Art Hop is a beloved day-long arts focused festival drawing over 20,000 people to see displays by local artists and vendors of various disciplines, juried exhibits, and performances along a 17-block stretch of NE Alberta Street. The street festival is lively with plenty of opportunities for participants to interact with the arts and artists."
Art Hop links: Facebook Fan Page • Facebook Event Page • Official Website
My booth will be located at NE Alberta Street & 24th Avenue, where the leaf is shown above. Stop by and say hello!
I designed new business cards. Front and back of card was printed on lovely 16pt dull cover with matte finish. Anyone up for a business card exchange?
Here's a little sneak peek of the jewelry I've been making lately. These earrings are made up of antique brass kidney wires and green to brown glass faceted beads. There are some big plans for my online Etsy shop. Over the next week or two you may see some items trickle in.
She's crafty!
This last weekend was incredible. I'll cherish it in my heart always, as mushy as that sounds. I want to send out a huge thanks to Cathy and Torie for organizing such an awesome show! And lest we not forget... to you all that came out and supported it! Crafty Wonderland is definitely a staple in making Portland what it is. I'm so thankful to be able to experience it. So much creative talent at the event. It was so cool to see the faces behind shops that I have favorited on Etsy. I wish I had a chance to go around and meet more of you!
I took many photos of the weekend. You can check them all out on my Flickr. I posted a few below too.
Thanks to my friend Heidi for capturing this shot! www.heidihoffmanphotography.com
Make Something Awesome Area organized by Hello Craft
People a shoppin'. I got to sneak out of my booth when it was quiet for a moment to snap a photo.
First day at Crafty Wonderland
I had a ball today meeting new friends and visiting with old friends. Looking forward to the 2nd day!
My booth...
Tomorrow is the big day.
Starting at 11:00am Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale will open it's doors. You don't know how uber UBER excited I am. It's ridiculous.
Here's a sneak peek of some handmade magnets that I will be selling...
Underneath the glass you can see vintage maps of Portland, Astoria, Corvallis, Tillamook, and more! If you look closer you will see that I drew tiny leaves around the outer edge.
Hope to see ya there!
PS: Yoshimi was being really goofy. She discovered a twisty tie and was playing with nonstop.
Made with love... Scrabble rings!
You can wear the first letter of your name on your finger! How rad is that?! I will be bringing a bunch of 'em to Crafty Wonderland this weekend. If you can not make it this weekend and you really want one... contact me and I'll make a custom listing in my online shop made especially for you!
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ONLY 4 MORE DAYS UNTIL CRAFTY WONDERLAND!!! YAY!!!
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40 Acres of Tulips
Hallo!
This afternoon Justin & I checked out the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn. So beautiful I had to share! Enjoy!
Goedenacht!
Caturday
Today has been fun. I took a trip down to Jo-Ann's, stocked up in some crafty supplies. I'm getting ready for the humongous show coming up next weekend! I then hit up Best Baguette for lunch. Delicious! It's becoming one of my favorite lunch spots. It's like French and Asian food fused together. This time around I ordered the grilled chicken with Asian spices on a baguette. I couldn't resist ordering one of their Mango Boba teas as well.
After lunch I made a visit to the Goodwill and found a vintage suitcase for only 7 bucks. What a steal! I also found a vintage travel Scrabble game. I plan on making some jewelry out of these mini letters. Since I brought them home, Yoshimi has been really into playing with the letters. I better be careful and keep them away from her. Otherwise they may be on the floor in every room very soon.
I'm really excited for next Saturday and Sunday! I've been counting down the days until Crafty Wonderland's Super Colossal Spring Show. Everyday I've been doing a little bit to prep for it. I have even made some new handmade goodies that haven't made their way into my Etsy shop. I found some great frames at Ikea the other day. At next weekend's show I decided that I will be selling some of my prints already in frames like above. I have even went in and signed the mattes.
Yesterday I found out where my booth will be next weekend! I posted it so you know where exactly where to find me and my handmade goods. I'm super stoked about my neighbors too... Soma Venus & Camp Smartypants. We are going to have so much fun.
Welp, need to get off the Mac. I have a date with crafting for the rest of the evening. Maybe Yoshimi will join in on the fun. Checking out the dvd collection... maybe watch some Veronica Mars (Yes, I'm a geek), Curb Your Enthusiasm, or Freaks and Geeks? Decisions decisions decisions.