birds on a wire

this bag makes me think of one of my favorite songs, and i want one. they're new work by my friend jen of jennyjen42. check out her shop!

come see me this weekend!

it's this weekend! i promise i will get preview photos up before friday, but in the meantime, i'm busy sewing and cutting, cutting and sewing all kinds of new work to add some color to your fall wardrobe. i'll be introducing at least six new pieces, and maybe more if i decide to just keep the coffee pot crankin' all week. make sure to come see us in booth 3! follow me on twitter and i'll be sure to post photos and updates from the event, and maybe even a coupon code!

in the meantime, i wanted to share this little bit from my friend juliet, over at the broken plate. it's a great tribute, i think, to the wonderful craft community that i am so lucky to be a part of.

I guess my bullshit reason is that I am really proud of what I have been able to do with my silly breaking plates business. I am proud that I am surviving the crappiest economy that I have had to deal with by making things with my own hands out of objects that would be trash. Although I may not break plates forver, I want to remember the time I did forever because, well, it was pretty damn fun. I want to look at this tattoo and remember all of my awesome BEST girls, all the silly fun had at craft shows (spray tan and wine, anyone) and all of the odd calls, seemingly out of the blue, from a magazine that likes my work. Really? Rachael Ray? Crazy. So yes, I wil be a grandma with a tattoo, but when my grandkids ask about I can say “Sit down Deary, let me tell you a story about breaking plates.” The real reason, is that it is awesome.

i get by with a little help

i'm hurtling toward the holiday show season at a pace i had never imagined i could maintain. but with the bean off to school in the mornings, and the little guy being bored into sleep by the sounds of me cutting felt, i'm actually getting things done. no matter how freeing working for yourself is, as anyone who has ever been self-employed can tell you, it is the hardest work you will ever do. i'm pretty sure there is more caffiene than oxygen running through my veins, and my side of the bed has hardly had a dent in it over the last few weeks. but i will get through!

when exhaustion collides with stress, which for me is mostly over having too many ideas of new work and not being able to convince my darling children that they will be happier if they sleep more, often i have to cry for help. luckily, my BEST friends helped picked up my slack for the street team, my mom came over to help me pack and price an entire rubbermaid container of work (woohoo!), mr. bean has been dutifully pricing work and repairing displays, and my sweet friend jill brought me a little handmade finery, a beautiful necklace from pressed glass and silver. and really, not to sound shallow, but jewelry and shoes will always cheer me up.

and crafty bastards, which i am beyond excited about, is next weekend in dc. i'll be sharing booth 3 with my good friend shannon, from sweet pepita, and will be among some of the most amazing crafty talent around. so keep watching, i'll be posting some previews of my new work, soon! if i can stay awake.

check out this shop

my dear friend, and one of the most talented artists i know, just opened her etsy shop! it's called chidra stitch, and she's going to be featuring really beautiful hand-embroidered leather cuffs. i love the one she gave me, and i wear it all the time. so stop by and show her some love!

enchanted

we had such a great time at the bean's birthday party yesterday... it was at clark's elioak farm, which, aside from being a working farm, has recovered many of the rides and buildings from the old enchanted forest. i grew up going to enchanted forest, and loved it in all of it's kitschy wonderful-ness, so i probably had even more fun than the kids!

new baby

i am so excited - my dear friends kristy and chip had a baby yesterday! a long-awaited, somewhat late (following in his parents' footsteps) but now-here baby. i am not baby-crazy in the least, but i really can't wait to see this little guy...

i'm trying not to bug them, so i was looking back at the gift i bought. it was a struggle to find just the right things, but i did! an organic cotton carrot rattle from oompa, a dinosaur onesie from red praire press, a bib made from material from recycled bottles and organic cotton hat from sweet pepita, and the crazy cute frog bowl and chopsticks were from Japan at EPCOT. (kristy and i share a mutual obsession with sushi and disney world.)

congratulations guys!

the pack runs wild

BEST had a big end of summer bbq last weekend, and the bean had the best time ever playing with all the mini-BEST. thanks so much for having us, jill!

oh baby, obama

sweet pepita is having a t-shirt giveaway! for the democratic preschooler, a size 5t t-shirt, in a combination of recycled fabric adorned with a way cool iron-on transfer and combined with the softest organic rib knit cotton.

just leave a few words in the comments on shannon's blog describing your earliest memory of going to the polls! the contest ends on august 29th, so hurry! and good luck!

the baby "bath"

my dear, dear, wonderful (and impossibly picky) friend kristy is having a baby. not just any baby, an all organic, natural, feng shui baby. this means no plastic toys, no crazy baby accoutrements, and certainly no baby shower.

now, when i got married, kristy was wonderfully patient enough to make thousands of Mexican paper flowers for our tables. (i had just seen frida and was totally in love with this idea.) she was also bridesmaidzilla - she questioned every decision i made, and forced me to drive an hour away to go to a spa that she had chosen so i could relax. (i am one of those crazy people who are actually stressed out by spas.)

so, with that in mind, i decided that there was just no way she was getting out of having a shower. i did, however, minimize gifts- choosing only organic and local products. we kept the event small and hosted it at the very fancy Pazo. and instead of buying baby decorations, i made my own.


the "tree" was made from a few branches from our backyard. the leaves were cut from double-sided patterned cardstock, and the bird and nest were cut from felt and sewn to the branches. oh, and three little eggs are just very small plastic beads. i was especially excited about the little bird, because it was my first, albeit simple, 3-d stitching project.

i'm really excited to try more now! more photos here.

flickr friday - sweet pepita

it's really easy to walk into one of those big fabric stores, pick up a bolt of fabric, and take some home to whip up an outfit for your little one. what's not so easy is scouring thrift stores for old tees with more life left in them, then taking them home, washing them a million times, and putting them together to make something new. as those of us who use found materials know, half of the battle is actually getting the materials to make what you want to make.

yet, shannon of sweetpepita still manages to find the greatest vintage tees around, and even uses organic cotton for things like trims, and fabric made from recycled plastic bottles for bibs. (how do they do that?) and no sergers here, each seam is double-sewn for durability.

i mean, how can you argue with space ghost? sweetpepita has a huge assortment of tees, now in sizes up to 4t, plus pixie hats, bibs, scarves, and those cool dresses which can be worn as shirts as your little one grows.

check out sweet pepita on etsy, or on flickr. i promise you'll smile, too.

want to be on flickr friday? go to my flickr page and mark me as a contact, and you may be chosen for an upcoming feature!

just between us

Just Between Us is a solo exhibit of drawings by local artist and curator (and friend!) Jackie Milad.
Exhibition: May 15 - June 15, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 15 from 7-9 p.m.
The exhibit will include catalogues for sale and a catalogue essay by Jack Livingston.

“Ms. Milad's exuberant andro-fem figures mix archetypes, channeling the likes of Nefertiti, Carolee Schneemann and Courtney Love into one timeless sweetly odd and transgressive "her". They possess a fairy-tale power similar to the late works of the poet Ann Sexton.”-Excerpt from review in Peek Review, by Jack Livingston.

More info at Paperwork Gallery. See you there!

little clocks

i went to see BMAC yesterday, and i took this little clock to one of my favorite people, even though i see him only once a year. his name is roger wood, and you must check out his clocks... they're so much better than mine!

super cool owl cuff.

this was a gift from my good friend kristy... i never know about the "rule" that says you have to wear your jewelry so others can view the image in the right direction. i'm wearing it facing me, so i get to look at it all day... if only i could convince her to make them for everybody, because i just love it.