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