Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Holiday Card Shopping at Olive Hyde!


Please stop by the Olive Hyde Art Guild's 27th Annual "Holiday for the Arts" show and sale this weekend - Saturday, December 5th and Sunday December 6th. The sale benefits the Olive Hyde Art Gallery and visual arts projects in the Fremont community and schools. Shop local and support a great cause!
I will be selling an assortment of my iris folded cards (including the robin featured here) and photography.

More information can be found at: http://www.olivehydeartguild.org/gala.html

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Speaking of Black Cats. . .


How about my two adorable kittens, Laurel & Hardy? Here are a few pics:


Kutusita Nyanko



I bought some adorable Kutusita Nyanko stickers from KitKnitty (http://www.etsy.com/shop/KitKnitty) on Etsy recently. I think that San-X must have read my mind when they created a cute, black kitten that loves music and lives in Paris!

Monday, November 16, 2009

These are a few of my Favorite Things



Yesterday I had an opportunity to go to San Francisco. It was a great trip, lots of food and craft adventures (those are the best kind, after all :).

Highlight of the day:

A fabulous “Sweet Wedding Almond” macaron at Paulette Macaron in Hayes Valley (http://www.paulettemacaronsf.com/). I have previously been to Pamplemousse in Redwood City (which is also quite good), but a girl can never have too many macarons! C’est parfait!

Some old favorites:

Lupicia Tea (www.lupiciausa.com). I have been going to Lupicia since random curiosity brought me into their Valley Fair location in July 2007. Their service is impeccable and their selection fantastic. At least one of the many cups of tea I have a day seems to be from Lupicia. Try their Sakurambo, Japanese cherry.

Kinokuniya Bookstore (and Stationery Store). My recent fascination with the San-X character Kutusita Nyanko led me immediately into the stationery store. I ended up with some really cute bunny stickers and a Kutusita Nyanko mini notepad. It was difficult not to leave with more.

While in the bookstore, I spent at least half an hour perusing the craft section. This is THE PLACE to go for inspiration. Not only do they have a large selection of Japanese language craft books, but they have a well-picked selection of English language craft books. It’s getting more and more difficult to find bookstores where you can tell the buyer knows their audience (I do miss Stacey’s). I really wanted to get a Japanese book of adorable knitted tunics, but settled for a volume of amigurumi patterns. My next goal is to try to figure out how to read knitting patterns in Japanese!

While you’re there, try a crepe from “Sophie’s Crepes”.

One disappointment:

Puripan, a cute little Korean tea shop that I visited twice in the last year, has closed their San Francisco location. I love their “Tea in a Jar” and am disappointed that they may be yet another casualty of the economic downturn.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

New flickr page


Greetings! Just wanted to share my new Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35619715@N08/. This will be the home for future postings of vintage card finds. Here's a sample :).

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Bee Hive Yourself in Public


A bee hive hat I knitted with bee buttons attached. It is modified from the pattern found in "Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation". This gets a lot of compliments, and was a breeze to make! The only thing that I struggled with a little was my gauge - I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in Sunburst Gold, and it knitted "taller" than the gauge listed in the pattern. The buttons I got at Joann Fabrics. :)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Mel the Bear


By far the largest animal friend I've ever crocheted! This was made using a pattern from the Jan./Feb. 09 Crochet Today! Issue. I substituted Lion Brand Wool-Ease (in the color Mink) for the Red Heart Fiesta yarn.

Fluttering Butterfly


That fluttering sound near my desk at work must be the latest addition to my crocheted collection. Here she is playing in the flowers outside.
She is adapted from a pattern in the Kyuuto! Amigurumi book (http://www.knitpicks.com/Kyuuto!+Amigurumi_BD31016.html). I changed the crochet hook to a size "F", and used sport and worsted weight yarns.

Giraffe for a friend


This tall drink of water is a giraffe I crocheted for a friend at work.

Felted Hat


I decided to felt a hat for myself.

Here it is being modeled by a friend. Ok, so it's just a tiny bit over-sized... Wait... What-do-ya mean there's more to it?







Tada! With a little swim in the washer and some shaping with a rubber band, it looks wonderful. The red rose is a felted pin I had done before. I think they play well together.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Happy Valentines Day!


My gift to you, just in time for Valentine's Day - some cute vintage valentines that you can use for any of your own crafty ambitions. Perfect for decoupage or a last minute valentine!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelbyauer/sets/72157613635532423/