Oh the Cuteness!

This post was supposed to be written quite a while ago when the whole "Occupy Oakland" thing was still going on, but as I have siad I was going through a transitional phase and didn't get time to post it. I just had a really cool day and finally remembered to bring my camera along for the ride, and I got some neat pictures! You ever have one of those days when everything just kinda feels right and works out? This day was one of those days. It was a Saturday and I got up nice and early, did my usual morning routine except for the fact that my hair turned out unusually nice for a change. Must have been because it was dry and warm out (my hair goes all poofy when it's wet outside), and it probably helped that I was relatively awake when I did it. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to try my hand at putting on some makeup, including eyeliner, which usually makes me look like a retarded raccoon. But today was a good day! So I took pictures to document the fa...

Remember, like, oh I don't know, a couple years ago when I completed the Me Made May challenge? For those of you that weren't around, I wore nothing but clothing I made myself for a whole month, and I knitted a sweater during that time too, and I promised myself that if I completed the challenge and finished the sweater that I would buy myself a dressmaker's dummy. Well, not to soon after I completed the challenge I got a huge car repair bill that I'm still kind of recovering from, and the dummy fell by the wayside. But recently I have been wanting it more and more and Singer just came out with one that's about half the cost of the one I was looking at, so while dad got me my camera lens for Christmas, mom got me the dummy! Ain't she a beaut! I have a bunch of custom projects that need doing from etsy and friends, but now all I want to do is sew a dress! But that will have to wait. I bought the dummy that does sizes from 10-16, and though I waver betw...

Dennis and I have been slowly but surely adding goodies to the house to make it more cozy and warm, but our tiny little bedroom was feeling a bit boring as of late so I decided to add some colorful touches. While we were in Portland a friend of mine told me to check out Bolt, a charming little fabric boutique she used to work at. So for one of the days Dennis and I separated and while he went to a game shop to play cards with his brother I went off in search of Bolt. The neighborhood it was in was absolutely amazing, and if we ever decide to move to Portland we are living. Right. There. Unfortunately I have no pictures, but all along Alberta Street there was one crafty shop after another. A yarn shop named Close Knit right nextdoor to Bolt, then a music store that had a wall of ukuleles and even a banjolele (WANT!), a co-op market, a little art store called Collage that had everything I love, an open sewing studio/machine shop called Modern Domestic, a place called Make House that had...

The last A Fair to Remember was very fun. I only brought owl pincushions and my new owl plushies to the table, and I felt very prepared and happy. I had a great time hanging out with Errol and meeting the other vendors, but a Giants game that started in the afternoon on that day really cut down on our foot traffic and affected sales. Oh well, what can you do? Great hipstery band. Owls looking longingly for a new owner. Errol in his lucky sale flannel. I remember making these as a kid and I loved that she was selling them. The bar nextdoor had Errol at hello. He suddenly realized that this is a serious matter. Until next spring...

Oh yeah... Fresh wild bird cherries in three colors (I guarantee you have these dwarf plum trees in your neighborhood) given to me by a dear friend, cooked down, strained, sugar added, cooked to soft ball stage, and canned properly. So much jam, so delicious. Everyone I know got a jar and we still have 2 left. Life is good.

Hi all! The shop was updated a few days ago with some more owl pincushions and just a couple of hipster ones, some jewelry, soap, etc., and since it's the new year and I always try to do a purge of unnecessary items from the house, there's a ton of random supplies in there too, all new and all very inexpensive! Hope you find something you like!

Recently I've gone through quite a few changes job-wise and I realized the other day that I haven't even shared what's been going on with me, and what has been causing some of my absence on here. Where should I start... Well, I finally couldn't hack my commute out to the toy store in San Francisco anymore, and Dennis and I wanted to go to Portland for Christmas this year, which my boss would never have let me do. So the winds of change came blowing my way and I gave my notice after I got a part-time gig at a scrapbooking store in Berkeley and a couple ongoing freelance gigs. This was at the end of September, and all was well until a couple months later when I was spectacularly laid off from my really fun position at the scrapbooking store. But the funny thing is, I wasn't really all that broken up about it. Granted, I honestly enjoyed the job and it was a source of endless inspiration; I learned a lot of new techniques and had fun starting to make a scrapbook. But...

... And we're back on track! We got back from Portland the day before New Year's Eve and my sister came into town about an hour behind us so I got to spend the New Year with her! We went to a party thrown by my friends Vanessa and Glen. Good times: a balloon drop, party poppers, good food and champagne, and pretty people! But sissy made it extra special for me by doing my hair and makeup. For anyone who knows me this is a big deal! Fake eyelashes even, which took some getting used to but were really fun, and I felt very pretty. It was a great start to what is sure to be a very interesting year, but more on that later. Cheers everyone!