Best T-shirt

First I must admit that I am a fan of Abba, much to the distress of my husband who teases me mercilessly. Kind of like when he caught me reading a bumpy cover novel or what he calls bodice rippers, but I digress.  

Well David was attending a book signing of Dirty Donny who has a new book out called Monster Revolt.  Donny style is really heavy metal and he has done extensive artwork for Metalica.  David noticed this t-shirt and asked Donny what Abba was thinking it was an acronym for something.
Nope Donny's a fan.

So David gets some serious credit for buying me this shirt as he really hates Abba.  But I guess the irony of the design and the band was irresistible.

First time I wore it, a checker at Trader Joe's (who was obviously a metal head) complimented me on it.  He looked baffled when I told him it referred to the band

Best Dog Costumes

Well it is now October so I'm starting to think about Halloween. I also have dog on the brain since losing my Weimaraner 6 months ago. Well I thought I'd combine the two and give y'all some fun dog costumes.

Dr. Spock

Watchdog

Taco

Rabbis

USS Enterprise

Bunny

Willie Nelson

Pooh

Skunk

3 Headed dog from Harry Potter

Skuba Sam

And last but not least Chia Pet

Viva La Revolucion

I've been a bad blogger (slaps self on mouse).  Within the past 2 months we bought a house, moved into said house took a canoe camping trip and generally had first homebuyer meltdown.  But...just saw some eye candy I had to share.

We went down to San Diego (for a total of 22 hours) to see an art opening called Viva La Revolucion a dialogue with the Urban landscape.  Husband is publishing the book that documents the work so we did had an invite.  It was curated by Pedro Alonzo and I must say he did a fine job.  Many of the artists did works in the city outside of the gallery.

Above is my favorite work.  I'm not sure if I was supposed to photo or not (Guard was unsure but hell it is supposed to be street art so I went guerilla thus bad photo).  It was a guitar made out of a man.  His toes held the top frets of the strings.

Also Sheppard Fairey  (of Obama poster fame) was there and even took over some DJ time from the main DJ.  Gotta say that boy must be my age cause he was pulling out Blondie riffs and such.  Here is a piece that popped up outside the museum after we had entered the show, and by the look I can only say it was a Sheppard.
Piece

So if you are anywhere near San Diego check out the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (vs their La Jolla campus)

Enjoy the eye candy.

Sushi Art

I don't even eat sushi but you must check out some of this amazing art.

Epiphany

I just had a weird moment.

As I was walking into Trader Joes this somewhat strung out looking dude asked me for money for food.  I was annoyed and stressed and ready to blow him off, but I stopped and asked him if I could buy him a sandwich.  He hesitated for a moment like he was going to blow me off then said yes.  I asked him what kind of sandwich he liked and he seemed amazed that I would ask.  He asked for salame sandwich and chips.

I got him a whole package of salame, a loaf of bread, a big bag of chips and I even threw in some cliff bars and a chocolate bar, so he could eat a couple meals. When I handed him the bag of goodies he had a big grin on his face and dashed off away from Trader Joes.

It felt good and it reminded me of my prejudice in assuming he just wanted drugs and wasn't hungry  (maybe he did want drugs I don't know) but today he was getting food. It also reminded me how rare the kindness of others must be to him.

And in the end as I took home the makings of Coq au Vin worrying about signing papers on my first home.  I realized how blessed I was.  Although he might have benefitted, the gift was to me.

New House

Well I think we have gone and done it. We've accepted an offer on a house. We did inspections yesterday and discovered nothing too surprising. We also got our appraisal yesterday and it appraised at $10,000 over what we will be purchasing it for, which I gather is a good thing.

The house is on top of a hill with views of El Cerrito. It was raining yesterday when I took photos but when I went back today the views were even better. It has a great kitchen. And best of all is the yard. There are 3 Koi ponds that cascade down into each other. It looks like a tropical jungle with tons of palms and other exotics.

Oh and did I mention there is a large inlaw unit that will be my felt studio. Yay, I'm about splitting at the seams in this house.

Gnome pest management

Beware this invasive species!

Happy Cinqo de Mayo

Wanna look like a freak well get a TV Hat

 

I stumbled across this ridiculous product and had to share.  It's called the As seen on TV hat It's a device that allows you to watch your iphone hands free.  It comes in both a visor or a hat.  It also has this magical device (read magnifying glass) that enhances the picture.  But wait there's more if you order now they will throw in the amazing neck protector (which you will need after wearing a hat with a foot long brim).

So if you really want to look like a droid, this is the hat for you.

Excercise Ice Cream In Perspective

Oh I only wish I thought of it this way. Life would be easy.

Try something new

Since wool season is almost over I thought I'd try something new. I've always wanted to try origami so today I took a stab.

I went online and found all these technical diagrams, with terms like valley folds and mountain folds. I have to admit I was intimidated. I am slightly dyslexic so things like diagrams pose a unique challenge for me. I cannot use a chart to knit and have resorted to retyping entire charts into words. My husband jokes that I'd make a great computer programmer because I spend so much time recoding.

So after a few failed and frustrating attempts I found this video showing how to make a star box. I tried it out with some cardstock and it came out pretty well I think.

I've been having a bit of a creative block and this just got the creative juices flowing. So when you are stuck creatively, try something new new craft new medium new color whatever. Kind of obvious I know, but it works.

This looks like my kitchen

In a Pickle

Well this lovely print from Simoneshin says it all for me. I admit to being a pickle fanatic. When I was a child, my cousin and I would squabble over who got to drink the pickle juice. So I wanted to share these Pickle finds on etsy.


This lovely photo is from JessicaRoseArt. I just love the translucency of the pickle here. It's just screaming for a burger.


This pillow from 4hands is just too cute. Although my good friend Joy who hates pickles (what is wrong with her) might not sit on the couch if this was gracing it. LOL.



This cell phone charm by jitterbugbark would definitely be a conversation piece. I guess you might have to find the Vlasic crunch sound for your ringtone.


I envision this super cute collar by CaliforniaCollars gracing the neck of a Dachshund named (you guessed it Pickles).


And last but not least are these super fun soaps by LoveLeeSoaps. Not only do they come packaged in this great bag, they actually smell like cukes. What could be better?

The Crucible in Oakland

I went to the open house at the Crucible in Oakland on Saturday. For those who are not familiar with the Crucible, it is an organization of artists who deal in one form or another with fire. They have a huge building with lots of studios dedicated to different arts, where they also offer classes. They have everything from glass blowing, welding, neon, ceramics to fire dancing.

So Saturday they threw open their doors and let folks walk around ask questions and generally watch them do their stuff. First off I'll say that I always wanted to blow glass so I was particularly drawn to that. But some of the other fascinating things I learned about were making neon sculptures, glass etching and forging.

They also had fire eating and fire dancing performances. Apparently once a year they put on what they call a fire ballet. Amazing!

I'm saving my pennies so perhaps I can take a glass blowing class.

Sorry for the blurry pics of the firedancers. It's really hard to capture.

Mmmmm Mmmm not

Just had to share this. It is wrong in so many ways that I struggle to begin. Putting aside the fact of what it is. Did they really need to call it assholes? Can't someone come up with a euphemism like Rocky Mt. Oysters or something.

And what's with the Manhattan style. Well you know them there Yankee fans have just a particular way that they like their fish assholes.

And well you know, if fresh Manhattan fish assholes are a bit questionable what about canned? Not to mention the can looks a bit worse for wear.

Well being not much of a fish eater anyway, I'm struggling to think of a can of anything else I'd less like to open.

Well all you crazy New Yorkers enjoy your fish assholes!

Review disclosures and follow up

I haven't been a good blogger lately. My husband and I are trying to buy our first house. It sometimes seems like a full time job. We live and want to buy on the East Bay of San Francisco.

So we found a house we really liked. Good neighborhood, nice yard, big enough house with no major upgrades needed. We read through the disclosures. Nothing jumped out at us. It was in an earthquake zone but here in the bay area you would be hard pressed to find anything that's not within 10 miles of a fault.

We decided to pounce. We told our agent to write up an offer. I looked into earthquake insurance and we both decided to pay the non-refundable $600 to have a seismic expert assess the risk.

When we went to review the offer our agent had found a way to create a map that showed the faults in our neighborhood through google earth. Holy crap apparently the Hayward Fault ran through the middle of our next door neighbor's house. Our house is highlighted in yellow and the Hayward fault is the red line. The hayward fault is deemed to be significantly more dangerous than the San Andreas at this point since it is long overdue to shake.

Well lesson learned but boy do I feel like I dodged a bullet.

So read disclosures and follow up.

Lacis in Berkeley

I feel the need to share. I stumbled upon a shop as I was looking for those clamshell frames for purses. I found that this store Lacis carries them locally. Well I stopped in and WOW.

So the store is basically both a museum and a store. Obviously lace is their main focus but they had everything from the hardware to make a corset, stays and ties etc to vintage books, to needlefelting supplies to every kind of ribbon you could imagine. Seriously the list goes on sewn and crochet flowers to add to something, pre-made to an item, felt and straw hats, and of course thread for making lace. And that's note even close to a list of just their supplies.

So of course carry lace as well. Every kind shape form date that you can imagine. I'm not an expert in lace but I tried to get up to speed. I had no idea how many ways there are to create lace, tatting, knotting some special crocheting, knitting and the pilllow method. They even had some work in progress displays showing how (for example the pillow method) it works.

I did not get to see the museum part of the store as they were revving up for an opening. I saw many clerks carefully ironing bits of lace. But they did have a collection of amazing vintage shoes on display and I did get to peek into the exhibit through the door. But I'll be back for sure.

If you are anywhere near Berkeley, CA and are at all interested in fiber arts or victorian fashion check them out.

Lacis

Featured Artists

I wanted to showcase some great Etsy Talents. It appears I was in a green mood. Maybe I'm hoping for Spring. Check out these lovely items.




Sassybellewares Flapper Ring



Onetimestwo Cuff Bracelet



Mycrochetgarden Lovely cap




and JulieEllynDesigns Gorgeous Olivine Earrings.

Tara Donovan at MOCA San Diego

I just got back from a trip to Southern California. We spent most of the time in Los Angeles but we did do a day trip down to San Diego. While we were there we checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. They were having a show of an artist named Tara Donovan and all I can say is Wow. I was totally blown away. She uses everyday objects such as platic cups, buttons or tape to create these amazing pieces.

I cannot recall the name of the above piece but it reminds me of a cloud. It consists of a ton of straws of different lengths attached lengthwise to the wall. The effect is amazing. The visuals change as you move and peer down the length of different straws.

Some of the other pieces were stacks of plastic cups of different heights that created a kind of topographic landscape. There was also an object that looked kind of like a stalagtite which was created with hundreds of buttons.

If you are anywhere near the museum, check it out it is fabulous.

Win $75 worth of Goodies

My loud and wacky team is having Valentine's giveaway. Included in the goodies is one of my items. It's free and easy to enter.

Check it out!

Valentine's Giveaway

Playing around with something new.

I've been inspired to try something new. I read a post on a simple silkscreening setup that I thought I'd try. You can actually use images printed out on clear overhead transparancies.

Today I created the screens with fabric and embroidery hoops and applied the photo emulsion. They will have to dry overnight so I started thinking about images. I'm a bit of a novice on photoshop but I just let myself play around with some photos. I really wanted to create something iconic.

I'm not sure any of these will end up on a shirt but I had some fun playing around and I thought I'd share. Here are two different ravens and a coyote.

Oh a few new things in progress

The New York Times Sunday section had a half page dedicated to critter hats. Yay I knew it. I'm not the only one. Alas, although I'm still working on a few (including this pig hat in progress), I'm thinking in August these won't be so popular (except here in San Francisco when you need one in August more than January).







So I've started working on a few purse designs. These are still being hammered out. The colorblock design was an attempt to use up some leftover yarn for R & D. I like it generally but I've been struggling to find ways to reinforce the handles. Felt tends to stretch. I've sewn on some thicker fabric on the inside so that it won't sag. Not 100 % satisfied but R & D continues.





The snail purse is a different shape and is inspired by the things I love about my favorite purse. It's designed to be worn bike messenger style across the chest resting on the hip. I think the flap makes it more difficult to pick pocket. The snail was an attempt to find beauty in the things I hate. (The snails are eating my Myer Lemon tree urgh)

Greek Chicken

I'm sharing this super easy very delicious recipe for Greek Chicken Enjoy.

Ingredients

2 (or more) chicken leg quarters
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix everything in a zip loc bag and shake vigorously. Marinate at least half hour but no more than 1 hour (the lemon will "cook" the chicken). Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place chicken in baking dish and cover with marinade. Bake for approximately 40 min or until the chicken reads 180 degrees Fahrenheit on a meat thermometer.

You can simultaneously bake Yams while the chicken is cooking. I also added steamed sugar snap peas.

Easy peasy!

Enjoy!

Living in Cal in the rainy season

We have just been hit by the third crazy storm to hit in as many days. Today we had torrential downpours and hail. I'm not sure the rainfall total, but the water was up to the first third of my tire in our street.

Apparently it was too much for the hillside above our house. (Thankfully, the mud chose a route other than towards our house.) The street above us is closed so now all the traffic including the bus is going down our street.

Eeek winter in Northern Cal.

Ernesto Neto Sculpture

We just got back from a museum crawl in San Francisco. I was dual purposing. I wanted to see if any of the museum shops might be a good fit for my felted items.

We checked out the Museum of Craft and Folk Art. They had a show called Open Source Embroidery.

It was an interesting idea the intersection of coding and data and craft. Unfortunately, I was a little underwhelmed. It seemed like a show that was curated for a different context.

We then proceeded to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and saw a fabulous show called. When lives become form Brazilian Art from the 60's to present. Interestingly enough it had been curated by (I think) the Museum of contemporary Art Tokyo. Apparently there is a very large population of Japanese who migrated to Brazil.

My favorite of the day was a huge (almost obscene) soft sculpture by Ernesto Neto Shown above.