Oh the Cuteness!

Lately I've noticed that my love of all things cupcake has subsided slightly, giving way to a new love; all things toadstool. I keep finding great little bits here and there that are covered in mushroomy goodness and I can't help but take them home. I've found tiny spun cotton toadstools on etsy and larger crepe paper ones at the World Market, sweet little magnets and clips in yellow and red in Japantown, and postcards, notebooks, and wall hangers in a fantastic little boutique by the lake called Urban Indigo. But wait! There's more! I finished another thing on the apartment to-do list. I painted and hung the shelf of my dreams above my bed with some help from Dennis. I got it for 14 dollars at a craft store and painted it white, then I painted the pegs red and added white polkadots: insta-toadstools! I'm using it to hang all my scarves and display all my fun little plushies and other junk I like to look at. I got the toadstool kaleidoscope and Playmobil mushroom du

I think this year I was a little slow when it came to getting the house decorated for Christmas. Usually I get it done in the first week of Decemeber so I have lots of time to enjoy it, but I've been so busy! But I did manage to set aside some time with Dennis and the cat to make a garland for the kitchen while we drank hot cocoa and watched Prancer. I know, everyone makes fun of me for liking that movie so much but it really is one of my favorites this time of year. Also on the list is Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and of course all the old Rudolph claymations. Anywho, on to the garland. I got a package of dried orange slices last year at a farm shop near my parent's house and I had an idea to make a garland with them. I always see these amazing garlands in magazines made from whole walnuts or nutmeg and knotted ribbon and I've always wanted one, but I also wanted something colorful and nice enough to leave up year-round. So I was sho

Sorry it took me so long to post this, but I've been working 9-10 hour days at the toystore the past few weeks and by the time I get home I don't have any energy left! It's great that the store is busy, though. And what makes it even better is that my boytoy Dennis is working there with me now while he's on the hunt for a more permanent possition elsewhere and we have lots of fun together. Anywho, my first craft fair was a complete success in my eyes; Monica made a ton of deliciously-scented flax-filled eye pillows out of Japanese fabrics and flannel, and I brought my etsy wares along with some new earrings, owls, and scarves, and we ended up making about 100 dollars each! Not quite the sold-out fantasy I had in mind, but good enough for me since a little extra cash goes a long way this time of year. But even better than the money was the experience I got - I met tons of amazing artists and even got to trade for some of their wares. I love trading with people so much!

I got invited to share a booth with a friend of mine at a craft fair that's on the circuit for the first friday art walk in downtown Oakland. I found out about it wednesday night and have been crafting like crazy since. It's Friday, Dec. 5th from 3-10 pm at The Warehouse Red Door Gallery at 416 26th Street. Come out and see us if you can, it's bound to be a good time. Pics will come later for sure.

Another shop update! I've got a ton of new stuff up in the shop just in time for the after-Thanksgiving-shopathon. All of the cards I made are finally listed. Took me long enough, I know. They were quick and fun to make but I didn't think of how long it was going to take to list over 40 of them while I was making them. Oh well, they're in there now, I just hope some of them sell so it'll be worth all my time and effort, lol. Along with the bagillion cards I have for you *ghasp* SEVEN, count 'em, seven new owl pincushions with more on the way soon enough. It's been over a year since I've made some, but I got burnt out after making so many and I needed a break. I'm enjoying it again now and I'll try not to do so many that I get sick of them. Also in the store are some lovely new crochet accessories I've been working on, as well as some made by my mom. So stop by and get some Christmas shopping done early! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Just letting you all know that the new items I made this week are up for sale in the etsy shop , along with a great pair of vintage costume jewelry clip-on earrings I found at an antique store while I was looking for vintage tea towels. More on that later. Be back soon!

Dennis and I went to Ikea a little while ago and ended up bying an inexpensive, huge tub of Hama beads. You remember Hama beads, right? Those little plastic cylinders you put on a special little pegboard in pretty patterns. Then hopefully you get to iron them together before something terrible happens to it and you have to start over again. It's tedious and actually pretty hard to do, it's a wonder kids like them so much. I'm not yet convinced Dennis has the patience for them, but I ended up finding lots of inspiration at an awesome blog called Sprite Stitch . I love old school video games and have been wanting to incorporate them into my crafting for a long time. So I decided to make a set of coasters featuring the mushrooms from Super Mario Brothers! They'll be up in the etsy shop soon. I want to do some with Final Fantasy characters on them and some PacMan ones too. In other news, I've got a bunch of new kinds of beautiful vintage beads for sale in The Slug . M

Ahh, the craft table's all nice and clean and it's been so nice to spend the day working on crafty goodness. After a year of living here I finally put that ribbon rack up in its proper place a couple of days ago. I made it from a couple cheap pine mini shelves and dowels from the craft store. Only other thing needed is a drill. I finished a scarf made from ArtFibers yarns. It's made from red and pink Quipu and orange Valparaiso. Instead of weaving in the ends of yarn as I switched colors, I left them loose and tied them with weaver's knots, then trimmed the fringe to 3/4" and I adore it! I still can't decide whether to keep it or sell it, but selling usually wins out. I finished a little zakka lunchbag that I started lord knows how long ago. It's crocheted from cream, chocolate, and robin's egg blue yarns and the pattern is from one of my many Japanese craft books. They always turn out smaller than you think they will, but somehow they're still the

I added a rediculous ammount of links in the "Favorite Fellow Bloggers" section further down on this page. I had so many neat blogs languishing in my disorganized favorites file that I just had to do something about it. Now at least they're all in one place for easy access, and hopefully that means I'll read them more often and get more inspiration. (Speaking of inspiration, I'm loving those pink dahlias I got at the farmer's market, so pretty! I need to do that more often.) Major shout outs to everyone, so go check out all the new blogs! In other news, I've been working on some hand-sewing projects, but mostly just little things here and there. The constantly chaotic craft table was cleaned up for the Halloween party, so hopefully it will stay that way long enough for me to get some real work done on my day off. Of course, that's never going to happen unless I get my butt off to bed. 'Night!

I have a large collection of paper buckets, but I never could afford the antique ones. The large cat and devil are handmade by my mother and me. We used strips of brown craft paper dipped in liquid starch and layered them around balloons. Then we cut holes for the eyes and mouths and painted details on construction paper inserts. The designs are based on some of our favorite antique ones. Cheesecloth adds a spooky touch. The kitchen looked really cute this year with little vignettes on the built-ins. It was Dennis' idea to put the big spider behind the TV. I really like the way he looks and don't really want to take him down. While visiting my parents we went to San Luis Obispo and there was this eight foot tall lego storm trooper walking around downtown. It was so cool!

My new job is at a lovely little toy store in the north bay called A Child's Delight . It's a lot of fun and it has helped furnish my budding Re-ment collection (maybe you'll get some pictures soon?), and I really enjoy working with the public. This past sunday the mall that one of the stores is located in was having a trick-or-treat for the kids, with every store handing out candy. We were encouraged to come in costume so I busted out ye olde fox tail and cosplay ears, plus a set of really realistic fangs and I went to work. Only one other person dressed up, and she was only there for 3 hours! It was fun being the odball in costume; the kids and parents alike loved it, and it was extra funny because the fangs give me a lisp when I wear them. Though the tail is by far the best part of the costume. People see me coming and they smile at the ears, then when I say hello they say "Oh my," when they see my fangs, but the best part is after I passed them by I hear them