Fondle My Sketchbook!

Way back last September I was working on a sketchbook for the Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project, and now you can fondle it along with thousands of other's sketchbooks! The tour hit San Francisco today at the Madrone Studio, and will be open during the day all weekend.. Check it!

Sausage Party

I Have a new passion in life. Move over sewing, hello sausages!!

Sometime last winter I took a class on salumi making at the Fatted Calf Charcuterie in Napa. Then I took a Pâtés & Terrines class. Then I took a Whole Hog Butchery class. Now I am completely obsessed with the pig and crispy, juicy, flavorful SAUSAGE!

I am now the proud owner of a Kitchener 5lb Stainless Steel Sausage Stuffer. Sausage party anyone?!

Long Time No Blog

It's been Months since my last blog entry. It's also been months since I've worked on anything crafty...

When the Summer months take over, so does a lull in my creative activity. Vacation, staycation, BBQs, eating oysters on the beach equals good fun but not much productivity.

Good thing it's Fall.. I'm ready to have a "vacation" from vacation, hunker down and create!

Providing me with inspiration is the Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project. A community based project where anyone interested gets sent a small paper sketchbook with an open ended theme, and can fill it how ever one wants. My theme; Jackets, blankets, and sheets. The most "textile" related theme I could do. I'm now printing, sewing, and glueing all over this little book!

QUILT

Last weekend my lovely sister Molly and her fabulous husband Rafael got married in Brooklyn New York. It was quite the party! Not much is better then getting together with Family and friends, eating, drinking, dancing, and celebrating LOVE!

For the occasion I wanted to make something really special. Something my Sister and Brother-in-law would use and enjoy for years to come.. Something like, a QUILT! And what better person to help me with this large sewing project but my mom Josie, who is my inspiration and continues to be my sewing teacher to this day!

We started with a pattern idea that I got from quilter and crafty lady, Denyse Schmidt on-line. From there we drew out our version of the pattern, making it a little easier by enlarging the squares and amount of solid fabric. Then we headed to Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley, who has an expansive selection of quilters cottons and notions to choose from, and where I worked for a year last year!

The cutting and Patchwork went fast with both me and my mom working on it, and our haphazard way of throwing things together! We were done with the top in no time! What we didn't have time for however, was to actually quilt and bind all the pieces together.. So I called a local "Long-arm" quilter and quilting teacher at Stone Mountain, Angie Woolman. She was able to get started right away and within one week we had our beautiful Finished quilt ready to pack up and bring to the bride and groom in New York!

Elephant

Elephants are amazing Animals. They are extremely smart, social, and sensitive beings. Not to mention they're my niece's favorite animal!

Here is my hand embroidered homage to the Elephant.

If you would like to Buy this hand embroidered Elephant cosmetic wristlet visit my Etsy Shop!

Koozie Floozie

There's nothing like a snug Koozie around a cold beer on a hot day.. Really, there's nothing like it! Koozies keep the beer cold, are comfortable to hold, and add style and flair to any plain old can of beer.

I have some lovely lady friends who share this appreciation for the beer can Koozie. And, it is for them that I decided to sew some Koozies with SSStitch flair! I followed a free pattern on the Kwik Sew web site for "Cup and can cozy". It's a really easy pattern, great for beginners if you'd like to make a Koozie of your very own!

I'm a Koozie Floozie, how about you??

My Beating Heart

Valentines day is a bit of a blaa holiday.. Shouldn't one express his or her love on a day to day basis instead of waiting for one day a year to gift flowers and chocolates? Although, I might seem like a valentines day Scrooge, I do enjoy any excuse to eat heart shaped chocolates and go out to Dinner! And who doesn't love flowers?!

For the Fourth And Clay holiday sale this year I hand embroidered a "life-like" bright red heart on to some really great black and white check fabric for one of my oil cloth lined wristlets. The reaction to this bag was strong, people seemed to love it. So, I ended up making three of them which all sold pretty fast. I usually don't like making the same bag over and over because I get a bit board looking at it, but this bag is a special one. So, I present to you my fourth Hand Embroidered Beating Heart Wristlet! You can buy it HERE on my Etsy Shop for yourself, or someone you love! Happy excuse to eat sweets, buy flowers, go out to dinner day!
xoxo