PDX airport carpet & Oregon earrings going to Peachtree Gifts today!
New magnets & postcards
As of this morning Bridge City Mercantile boutique is now stocked with my new magnets & postcards! This cute shop is located at 4759 NE Fremont St, Portland, Oregon.
A Tea Leaf goodies
A Tea Leaf goodies for the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale goodie bags! The show is this Saturday at the Oregon Convention Center!
Bridge City Mercantile
So excited!!! A Tea Leaf handmade goods are now available at Bridge City Mercantile, 4759 NE Fremont St, Portland. Go check this adorable shop. So many lovely things.
It's up!
Father's Day window display is up at It's A Gift in Montavilla neighborhood!
Drawing a Family
New jewelry at Wanderlust
NEW A Tea Leaf handmade jewelry, magnets, and greeting cards at Wanderlust Handmade & Vintage! Stop by and treat yo self!
Taking down
This afternoon I'm taking down my 'April Showers' window display at Wanderlust. It's crazy how fast a month flies by!
Last weekend!
This is the last weekend to see my art window installation at Wanderlust boutique! It's at 28th & SE Ankeny Street in Portland, Oregon. Hours: Saturday 11am-7pm & Sunday 11am-5pm
Tomorrow!
Vanessa of Wanderlust wrote a wonderful blog post about my window installation at her shop. Also, Tomorrow night is the opening party! You're invited! Read about it here! http://www.
Valentine's Hike
Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate with Justin. Saturday we spent most of the afternoon exploring in the woods at Forest Park. It's so lush & green. Everywhere you look there was an array of trees, mosses, and ferns. I think it's pretty wild that the forest is so close in to downtown Portland. We both agreed we ought to explore the trails more often... maybe once a month.
Along the trail we got to see the Stone House, a landmark built in the 30's.
Warm Coastal Winds
A few weekends ago I got the opportunity to spend the night on the coast. It was wonderful. Especially getting to share it with family. The weather was warm which is rare for the Oregon coast. The visit included places such as Seaside, Rockaway, and Cannon Beach. I'd thought I share some photos that bring a smile to my face. Hopefully they will do the same for you.
Berry Picker's Heart
One of my favorite Stumptown summer activities is to drive out to Sauvie Island. Just ten miles northwest of downtown, I love exploring this expanse lush area. Off on Gilliand Road we stopped at Columbia Farms to do some berry picking.
We couldn't have picked a better day to visit. There were not very many others out that day surprisingly. Walking through the fields and sun shining down makes you really feel at ease. We took our time picking blackberries, marionberries, and boysenberries. It was hard to resist nibbling them right then and there. So sweet, so tart!
Now the time has come to share!
I'm so thrilled to share with you a new necklace created by me. And it's available in the shop!
"The Berry Picker's Heart" - necklace
The pendant's face is composed of 2 elements. The top is a slightly domed, vintage lucite cabochon with a burgundy raspberry shade in the craters. The bottom element is a Patikan wood square pendant made in the Philippines that measures 35mm in width & height. The woodgrain may vary slightly from the one pictured since it's real wood. Patikan wood display a rich and distinctive grain that makes each unique.
Each necklace is completed with an antique brass-finish chain. The necklace is a 3mm chain, 20" in length, finished with a lobster clasp finding.
Necklaces are shipped in an adorable box, ready to give as a gift. I pay special attention to the packaging to make it special for you or your recipient. It's a lovely gift to give a friend, family member, co-worker, or partner.
I'm looking forward to revisting Sauvie at least once more before the summer season ends. Any of you readers out there do share if you have any favorite spots on the island. I would love to hear about them!
Follow-up: '11 Lewis Garden Fair
Happy Monday to you all!
I want to thank you all that came out to the Lewis Elementary Garden Fair on Saturday to support the school's garden educational program!
For those who couldn't attend I thought I would share some video & photos with you.
I loved the music program performed by Lewis students...
Alea's groovy Garden Fair ensemble
Tea & cupcake, bake sale goodness
My booth...
More photos from the event here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewiselementary/sets/72157626560423180/
Goodies that I got to take home!
Surrounded by snowflakes
Portland, Oregon had it's very first snow of the season yesterday. It's the first time that it has stuck itself to the ground. To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled that it was coming our way. Being born and raised in the Midwest, I've had my fill. But, I admit, it was exciting to wake up to a winter wonderland. Especially with the flakes planted on Stumptown's many many trees.
Yesterday afternoon I went for a stroll around the neighborhood. It's been awhile since I've been surrounded by zillions of tiny snowflakes. It was sorta magical. Especially walking through my favorite secret courtyard.
Once my picture-taking finger felt numb, I ended the chilly walk. I came back to headquarters and rejuvenated with some chamomile tea off the stovetop and a couple of nuked blueberry muffins that Just & I made last night. Mmm.
Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale 2010
December was a busy month! I've been meaning to post about the Super Colossal Holiday Sale for almost a month. Here we go... finally!
Saturday, December 11th and Sunday, December 12th were 2 amazing days. One event that has made Portland so welcoming for me has been Crafty Wonderland. I am so humbled that there are people out there that get down with their art nerdy selves; appreciators & creators alike. I would love to give a shout out to all those who attended and supported handmade.
Over 12,000 shoppers attended! The organizers said that this show was by far their biggest and best event to date. It was so nice to meet new and old faces... sale goers & vendors. There was so much handmade awesomeness that I wanted to marvel over, but I had to man my booth. Ha!
A few snaps of my booth...
Greeting cards, Mini vintage Scrabble rings, button rings, bingo rings, compass rings, and vintage Portland map rings in a vintage fisherman's tackle box
Suitcase filled with Herb Series prints & framings • Vintage Oregon map marble magnets on edge
A handful of my favorite vendors handmade awesomeness...
View more snaps on my Flickr.
I really can't wait for next year's Holiday sale!
Crafty Wonderland Pop-Up Shop
Multnomah County Central Library & Finnegan's Toys has a new neighbor for November & December. The City of Portland has asked Crafty Wonderland to participate in their Pop-Up Shop program. Basically they fill vacant storefronts downtown with local talent over the Holidays. The Crafty Wonderland ladies have exclusively hand-selected 80-some awesome crafters & artists to sell their hip handmade work at their storefront in downtown Portland. They call it a "pop-up shop" because it is only open temporarily, from November 9th through December 30th. I was pretty stoked to be asked to sell my artwork and jewelry there, along with all the other local talented artists & crafters.
The shop is located at 802 SW 10th Avenue in downtown Portland. It's on the corner of SW Yamhill & 10th.
There's a SmartPark parking garage right across the street. Oh so very convenient. There is also parking available at metered street spots. The shop is open from 10:00am – 7:00pm, Monday through Saturday and 12:00pm – 6:00pm on Sundays. There are going to be some fun special events at the shop. For example, wacky holiday photo booth on December 4th, which is this coming Saturday. For more information about events, visit www.craftywonderland.com/pop-up-shop.
I took lots of snaps of the shop and have posted some below. If you would like to see more of them, hop on over to my Flickr here.
Give the gift of handmade this year. Instead of giving your dad a clichéd sweater, give him some something creative and unique!
Support a local artist. Viva handmade!
Azure Ray at Mississippi Studios
Fair warning: I'm a huge music appreciator... listener... whatever. Well, with good music... that is. I may possibly be a music snob ;)
For the very first time I got to see Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink sing in unison right before me. It was the first time too that I got to experience Mississippi Studios' intiment setting. It was awesome and magical. I've been a fan of Azure Ray since that day I came across their album, Burn & Shiver at a local record store in Omaha, Nebraska. Since the band disbanded in 2004, I've seen Maria perform a few times around her solo albums. I've seen Orenda alongside Adrianne (from The Anniversary) performing as Art in Manila too.
photo via azureraymusic.com
When I found out that Azure Ray was getting back together, I was a very happy girl. I think I even jumped up and down a couple times. Big dork present? Yes. When Drawing Down the Moon album become available on Saddle Creek's website, I purchased those mp3's immediately. I hope to own it on vinyl someday. Saddle Creek has a charming Drawing Down the Moon vinyl + t-shirt + flair package. Hint hint.
Along with A.R.'s performance that night... I also got to see Tim Fite. I had no clue who this guy was. I didn't bother to listen to his stuff before the show. And boy was I surprised after his first song. I was thinking, 'okay he's probably going to be some singer-songwriter artist, that would coincide with A.R.'s genre'. Nope. It's was like country, hip-hop, and alternative music mashed together. It threw me off at first. It was pretty fun music though. My friend and I giggled most of the time. I loved how his friend was on webcam singing along on the screen behind him.
He ended his performance with teaching us his "gang sign" which soon turned into hand/finger motions of Itsy Bitsy Spider. He told us we can join his gang even if we are in one already. Lol.
You can download his latest album for free on his website. To be honest I got pretty annoyed with every song after sampling 20 seconds of them. He has pretty repetitive lyrics... and a little too focused on the topic modern culture of consumerism and greed for my taste. So overall, I enjoyed his silliness live but probably won't jam out to his work in the future.
I'm leaving you with a snippet of Azure Ray playing their last song that night... one of my favorites, Rise. Even if Orenda didn't want to play the audience's request.
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!
Show & Tell: Urban Weeds blog
Who doesn't enjoy discovering a good read on the internet nowadays? On Thursdays I will feature one of my favorite blogs that I follow.
Let Show & Tell Favorite Blogs begin! :)
Happy Thursday!
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Blog: Urban Weeds - Portland Street Style
Urban Weeds is a blog that features hip and stylish folks walking the streets of Portland. Every post lists the street the photos were snapped at and breaks down each article of clothing. The photography is wonderful. I love how clean it is and how it captures the individuals and their surroundings so well. I'm totally a fan of all that white space too.
My friend Helen was on there recently. She's so adorable, isn't she?
Photo via Urban Weeds: Portland Street Style.