goodbye SoCal, hello PNW
April 27, 2007 at 12:56 pm | Posted in california, chatty | 11 CommentsAndrew and I are on the home stretch with nearly everything packed up, and I just had a lovely last trip to Ord Noodle with Cathy, and have a last naked lady party tonight at Jessica‘s (and I’m bringing four boxes of stuff over!). Tomorrow we’re driving the first chunk of the 1100 miles back home, and we’re hoping to be settled in our new Portland place by Monday afternoon with wireless all set up.
I’m alternating between a little teary and a lot excited, but while I’m still online and (relatively) together I just wanted to say how much I adore and appreciate all the awesome people I’ve met here in two years in Los Angeles: I never dreamed I’d love it as much as I do, and I’m really sad to leave.
But I know I’ll be back for plenty of visits… and in fact I just got some exciting news: I’ll get to write all about my favorite things in L.A. for the Around the World in 80 Girls column in the next-next issue of BUST! That’s a very nice going-away present. Thank you for giving me so many things to love here.
Vote for your favorite Star Wars stamp!
April 26, 2007 at 4:39 pm | Posted in chatty, crafting with kids | 3 CommentsThe post office has some awesome new Star Wars stamps out, and they’re running a contest where you can vote for your favorite stamp of the whole collection — the winner will get its very own sheet of stamps. You can vote once a day for the next month, so if you have divided loyalties, you don’t have to leave a close second out in the cold. (Warning: the voting page has plenty of sound effects, if you’re at work.)
Speaking of: I’m so excited that Bonnie of Star Wars Kids Crafts will be at Maker Faire next month! I can’t wait to get her new book, You Can Draw Star Wars, for my nephew Julian… he told me last week that Return of the Jedi is his new favorite movie. Aww!
Crafty Curios in action!
April 25, 2007 at 12:16 pm | Posted in crafty to buy, reviews and interviews, vintage crafty | 3 CommentsI recently got a couple of Jennifer Perkins‘ Crafty Curios — colorful bags full of trinkets and vintage sparkly bits to remake into new jewelry and accessories. She includes a blank ring, hairpin, and earring wires to get you started, which is super handy. I got both a white and a pink mix-up:
and picked out these mini-treasures to use for my first round:
and here are the pieces I made in just a couple of minutes!
(please excuse the horrid photo, it seems like everything I own except for this wrinkled green fabric is packed away in a box — they really are sparkly and cute!)
I used 527 cement to glue the bigger cabachons onto the blank ring and bobby pin, and used my pliers to take a few links off the pink necklace to make earrings. As a bonus, I had plenty of the beaded chain left to make a little bracelet to match with the original clasp, and I have tons more stuff to use for future projects, too!
Jennifer’s having a huge sale right now: everything at both her Naughty Secretary Club site and etsy shop, including a rainbow of Crafty Curios, is 25% off for Administrative Professionals Week! All the details are here on her blog, and the sale runs through the 28th. So whether you’re looking for jewelry to make or jewelry to wear, she has you covered.
the once and future Portlander
April 24, 2007 at 1:44 pm | Posted in california, crafty events, oregon | 4 CommentsThis month has been a total whirlwind of busy-ness between travel and work and extra stuff, and I have sadly neglected my little craft blog for the last couple of weeks… but for good reason: Andrew and I are moving back to Portland next week! He’s been working up there for the last six weeks with more to come so it just seems like the right time to make it official.
I’m really excited, but I sure will miss Los Angeles. I know I’ll be back for visits and Rose Bowl flea market weekends, but it all happened pretty fast, so I am alternating getting everything ready for the U-Haul and hitting up all my favorite places for the last time. sigh. So things will be pretty quiet here over the next week, while we put everything we own in boxes and drive a thousand miles… but I’ll be settled in, and posting lots of crafty stuff, by the first week of May.
Just so this isn’t an all-about-me thing, here’s some exciting Portland news: DIY Alert and Lov.li are co-sponsoring a craft fair on June 3, and they’re looking for vendors and volunteers! No matter what, be sure to put it on your calendar for shopping and making… it should be super fun.
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VENDORS:
Here’s the details: The fair will be Sunday, June 3rd from 11-4. (And from 10-11, we’re offering a special learning, networking, and excitement-building reception just for our vendors!)
The Lov.li Fair will be held at RonTom, which is at 600 E Burnside. We have space for 40 vendors at both inside and outside tables.
This will be a 21 and over event, with food and cocktails available from RonTom’s menu. We’ll also have a live DJ and make-and-take tables.
Booths are free, and we take no commission from sales at all. Booth spaces measure about 5′ x 3′. We do have some specially-sized booths for people selling large-scale art or clothing, so please do contact us if you have any specific needs. In most cases, you will need to bring your own table and lighting (there are plenty of plug-ins). We have a limited number of round tables, so if you’re interested in reserving one of these, please let us know. They are first-come, first-served.
To be a vendor at this show, you just need to be a member of Lov.li, selling work on that site. It’s free and easy to create an account. Go to lov.li. This show is juried, so please have some pieces of your work listed on Lov.li that represent what you’d like to sell at the show. Here’s a link to more details.
If you’re interested in being a vendor, head over to lov.li and message Patrick. (His username is expatrick.)
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VOLUNTEERS:
We need two people to run make-and-take tables for us. In return for your time, we’ll place a free ad for your business/website in our event program. And you are also welcome to distribute flyers for your business at the table.
If you’re interested in volunteering, please email Diane at sisterdg at churchofcraft.org.
the American Sewing Guild of Raleigh’s birthday party!
April 19, 2007 at 3:50 pm | Posted in crafty events | Leave a commentI’m in North Carolina to visit my mom this week, and the paper this morning had an article on the Raleigh chapter of the American Sewing Guild. The members are having a birthday party on Saturday and inviting people to stop by for a big rummage sale of sewing supplies, plus there’s the chance to sew pajamas for children at the Shriners Hospital. I’m going to try to make it over! I want to hang out with lots of sewers, that sounds fun. So if you happen to be in North Carolina as well, maybe I’ll see you there…
If you go:
American Sewing Guild (Raleigh chapter)
Wake County Commons, Carya Drive, Raleigh
Saturday, April 21 from 10-4
p.s. Sorry, no pictures right now — I’m on my mom’s computer and it doesn’t get along too well with my camera! I have high hopes of taking my laptop to a coffee shop with wireless soon, though.
too sad for crafts
April 18, 2007 at 6:26 am | Posted in craftivism | 2 CommentsUpdate from Anna:
One of the sellers in the etsy_lj group on Livejournal is donating all of the proceeds from her shop to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. She suggested listing items and tagging them with “hokiefund.”
thanks, Anna!!
Like so many of us, I’ve just felt utterly sad and wrung out since hearing the awful news about the shootings in Virginia. My heart goes out to everyone mourning friends and family, and to the students who went through that terrifying ordeal. I can’t even imagine.
My heart is too heavy to write about crafty stuff so instead I’ll just post this information from the head of the Virginia Tech Foundation that was passed on to me yesterday, in case anyone is interested:
“Many have asked how they may send financial memorials… any memorial gifts, payable to the “Virginia Tech Foundation,” designated specifically for the “Virginia Tech Family Fund,” should be mailed to University Development, 902 Prices Fork Road (0336), Blacksburg, VA 24061.”
If you’d like to, maybe you can make something by hand, and sell it as a fundraiser for the memorial fund in honor of the students and professors who were killed. If I hear of a way to directly donate crafty gifts or cards, I’ll post it, so please let me know if you have heard about anything like that. I would really appreciate it.
the Wonderland Retreat fundraising shop
April 16, 2007 at 10:35 am | Posted in craftivism, crafty to buy | 2 Comments
Alison Gordon, crafter of WonderlandQ, co-organizer of Bazaar Bizarre and Sampler Contributor Relations superhero, very recently faced a medical emergency. Like so many other independent artists and crafters, Alison is without health insurance.
The Wonderland Retreat etsy shop (named in honor of Alison’s website) was created by her friends to help ease the financial burden of her ordeal, and etsy is waiving all fees. If you would like to help a fellow crafter, please consider purchasing an item from the shop or donating an item of your own. To donate an item, please contact Renee Garner at wonderlandretreat at gmail.com for more information. To make a monetary donation of any size, please send paypal to info at auroraseven.com.
If you’d like to donate something handmade, please send the following info to Renee:
–name
–1 biographical sentence
–website for more detailed info on the artist/goods (if you have one)
–address/contact email
–a photograph of the product
–a short description of the product
–suggested price
–mailing info: will you mail straight from their location or will you mail to her to ship upon item’s sale� If you mail will you cover shipping or should that be added to the transaction?
Thank you for reading! And Alison, hope you’re feeling much much better after all the craziness.
update: the wonderful Renee has already added my donation to the etsy shop! You can find two of my op art a-line skirt kits here.
Don’t miss Nancy‘s beautiful St. Tropez bag, or any of the other cool handmade things for sale, too! I snapped up a birthday present for a friend, donated by Jenny of Sew Darn Cute, just now… love it.
springtime bounty from St. Vincent dePaul
April 13, 2007 at 5:16 pm | Posted in california, crafty to buy, vintage crafty | 3 CommentsI’ve been swamped with all kinds of stuff this month so my getcrafty column is going up so late — oops. I’ll post it tomorrow, and next week I’ll have some crafty stuff to write up, including a couple of how-tos.
I hope you’re having a nice Friday! It’s sunny and pretty here in Los Angeles after a really scary windstorm yesterday that brought trees and fences down — Jenny and I braved the gritty whirlwind to go shopping at the best thrift store in LA, St. Vincent dePaul, where I found a wildly flowered 60s dress and these cute cloth napkins.
Jenny found some awesome vintage floral sheets — and have you seen her beautiful new bags yet?
Happy birthday, Crafty Wonderland!
April 12, 2007 at 5:33 pm | Posted in crafty events, oregon | 2 CommentsThis weekend is Crafty Wonderland‘s one-year anniversary, so co-organizers Torie and Cathy are throwing a super cool birthday party to celebrate! Come shop for fabulous handmade work from more than 40 vendors and decorate your very own birthday cupcake at the DIY table to enjoy on the spot.
They’re also giving away secret goodies to shoppers, so be sure to stop by on the early side for all kinds of fun treats.
If you go:
Crafty Wonderland
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E. Burnside in Portland
Sunday, April 15 from 11-4
All CW artwork is by Ryan Berkley!
Forest Coral at ReForm School
April 11, 2007 at 6:15 pm | Posted in art and craft, california, own it love it, recycled crafty | 1 CommentThis Saturday is the Jill Bliss opening at ReForm School — I can’t wait to see her new work! I’m really looking forward to the show. Lovely co-owner Tootie mentioned that there will be a mix of pieces, from terrariums to original drawings and limited-edition prints, and Jill wrote about some of her ideas for the artwork here, which was so cool to read.
I love Jill’s illustrations — I have a journal and address book of hers, plus her native flowers notecard set and her Farm Life calendar with Saelee Oh. I’m especially fond of her recycled and reclaimed fabric pieces… and did you know she has a whole gallery of vintage sheets on flickr?
If you go:
Forest Coral by Jill Bliss
opening Saturday, April 14, 7-10 pm
ReForm School
4014 Santa Monica Blvd (at Sunset Junction), Los Angeles
323-906-8660
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