It's overflowing!!

The plush bin is at an all-time high. Rightfully so as I have 5 (FIVE?!?) craft fairs this summer. The 5 doesn't include the one I'm on the waitlist for, and the two I'll find out about on April 8. Ohhh brother.

I dreamt about a white bunny rabbit. He was little at first, but as I took care of him, he got bigger and bigger until he couldn't fit in the shoebox home anymore. He also had a giant carrot growing in the patch of dirt in his home. My sister said I should put him in a cage so he wouldn't escape but I wanted to give him the freedom to roam if he wanted. It eventually came to a point where he had to have a new home (his butt was sooo big), so I wandered around to find him a new box. When I came back, he was gone. There was another part of my dream where Kevin teleported to me because I needed help working a fair but that's another story.

I love interpreting dreams so here it goes. My dream according to dream moods:

To see a rabbit in your dream, signifies luck, magical power, and success. You have a positive outlook on life.

To see a carrot in your dream, signifies abundance and fertility

To see something growing in your dream, indicates that you have reached a new level of maturity or spiritual enlightenment.

So I guess it's all good, but turns bad news bears when the bunny gets too big or my space is too small. I am starting to feel anxiety about having enough inventory for the upcoming 5 fairs. So I guess luck is pushing me to grow & expand. All I know is that if I'm able to survive this summer, I can handle anything. Last year I did 5 craft fairs, and it's hard to imagine I'll be doing the same number in 3 months. How's that for perspective/reality check/say whaaaat/isyouCRAZY?!?

Okayyyyy, back to sewing....!

Oh, & on another note I uploaded my current work mix on 8tracks. Now you can listen to what I listen to while I work :)

Bay Area Maker Faire!

Yay... I GOT IN!

I kind of applied as a last minute decision & didn't realize what a big deal it was until Friday, the day of acceptance notification. I went to the maker faire website and read the tag line: 'world's largest DIY festival.' Oh brother!!

I always get so stressed out on notification days, obsessively checking my email & searching twitter for tweets about the fair & its vendors. Friday night, I went out to meet with my childhood friend. I hadn't seen her since middle school and it was wonderful. It was as if no time had passed :). Ugh, but in the back of my head was the constant question... DID I GET IN!? Buzz kill. Kevin was even checking Maker Faire's twitter every 15 minutes and texting me updates and reassuring words to stay calm & optimistic. Ohhhh brother.

It was 11pm and I said adieu to my friend. I decided to look at my phone one last time then walla... I GOT IN! Yeaaaahhhh! I'm absolutely thrilled and honored to be one of the 80 vendors. I'm especially excited about this festival because it's so much more than handmade crafts. It's about makers and technology, engineering, handmade goodies and everything in between. A community of tinkerers! :D

Here are a couple videos to give you a good idea of what is to come!

So yay! Buy your tickets & stop on by! I'd love to see you :)

Maker Faire Bay Area

San Mateo County Event Center
1346 Saratoga Drive
San Mateo, CA 94403

May 21 & 22, 10am - 6pm

Urban Burp SF

I bought a groupon on a whim: $40 for $20 worth of vintage fabric at Urban Burp. I had never been so I hopped on Bart & braved the wind & rain.

This was the building across the street. Reminds me of Paris or something.

I found the shop hidden behind a salon, which I later learned was Urban Burp's husband's salon. He bought the space, and they agreed to create a partition splitting the space so walla! You have the best curated fabric store I've ever been to :)

They specialize in 20s-70s fabrics. They have a whole section for vintage cowboys! I did find some nostalgic prints like carebears & fabric my mom used for Christmas table runners when I was a kid. An hour later with a significantly lighter wallet (beautiful but pricey fabrics oh boy), I walked away with these gems:

Not sure what I'll do with them yet. Perhaps a special vintage fabric line or something. Who knows. I'm content just staring at them :)

Thundercats Are Goooooooo!!

Looks like I'll be illustrating a children's book. Woo!

Ok, that is all.

:)

64

...is the number of plush I currently have. BAM! Magic! The goal is 75 for the summer craft fairs. Picture of my overflowing plush trunk soon to follow.

Yay I can post this now!

the gift has been given so i won't be ruining any surprises.

a custom order for rohin :)

Another dumb retail experience

So I went to Michael's to stock up on polyfil and watercolor paper. They have weekly 40% off coupons in the newspaper ads & online. Usually I just 'em my phone with the coupon pulled up and that works just fine. So today I went to Michael's with my sister with an expired coupon to see if their eyes would glaze over the date and a current coupon.

Cashier: Um, this has expired.

Me: Okay, let me pull one up on my phone.

Cashier: We don't accept those.

Me: Yes. I've done it before.

Cashier: Not at this Michael's.

Me: Sooo... now at this Michael's you want me to waste paper and print out a coupon?

Cashier: (beat) Yes.

So I just get one item using the good coupon.

Cashier, waving the expired coupon: Do you still want this?

Me: Do I still want an expired coupon?.... that you didn't let me use...?

She kind of grumbled, the people behind me laughed and I walked away shaking my head at how dumb some people are. Ha.

I'll just go back tomorrow with a fresh Sunday coupon for the polyfil. I refuse to print coupons that I can just pull up using my phone. So wasteful!

Oldies but goodies

I was sifting through my old sketchbooks and found this one. Now you know where the banner art came from. I was volunteering in a kindergarten class in Thailand and the kids borrowed my sketchbook to write the Thai alphabet & the days of the week in English :) . I can't believe that was more than a year ago. Oh brother I miss traveling, says the girl who was in Hong Kong less than two months ago.

Then I found this in an old new york sketchbook:

can you spot the sketches that later became the paintings below? :)

Rawr! card

for moments when only a hearty 'rawr!' needs to be said.

now on etsy!

A Preview.

Fighting the Good Fight, take two!

I haven't thought about this phrase in a very long time. I think it's because the meaning is now lost on me. In a good way.

When I was living in Asia, trying to create a foundation for my business, I clung to that mantra to stay afloat. It was my reminder to keep going. It was my way of moving against people's inquiries about getting a 'real job,' or that inner voice asking, 'what are you doing with your life? You need money!' Whenever I backpacked, I felt at home & at ease. I met fellow 'fighters' and we connected so intimately & infinitely on that common philosophy alone. I was afraid of coming back to the US, where reality would slap me in the face in the form of a relatively low bank account, and unfamiliar, unsupportive faces.

Now, I realize that the fighting has simply become living, and somehow I've managed to surround myself with fellow fighters/livers without having to leave US borders... namely Bruce who strives to make Silverlake/Echo Park/Los Angeles better in every way possible, Kevin who works his 9-5 without ever doubting that he is a writer first & foremost, and Victoria, my partner in craft-crime, who is so disciplined in her work & {paper & type} (more than she gives herself credit). I guess that's why I love visiting LA and find my time with friends so nourishing & rejuvenating. Fighting isn't necessary if no one around you is against you.

So. Yay :) I can't wait til April for another stay.

The state of my desk

I guess I was so intrigued by the state of Oliver Jeffer's desk that I thought to take a picture of my own and examine it in a similar way.things to note:

• a mason jar filled with randomness: 7 bouncy balls, a dried flower from a hike, a piece of confetti from a Flaming Lips concert, a necklace from Greece, twine from the 2010 calendar, rolls of pennies, thread, shells from Philippine beaches and small, green toy soldiers.
• new card in progress, on screen & printed
• outgoing orders
• photobooth strips, including stickie pics from japan
• my daily, weekly, monthly to do list
• trusty stamp & pad

work & play balanced & equally represented. key to maintaining sanity in a one-woman operation :)

Craft Night at Modern Mouse!

Unfortunately I didn't get to go but after reading the article & seeing the photos, I had to share. It seemed like a great time and I'm bummed I didn't attend. I stopped by Modern Mouse to deliver inventory the day before the event UGH! I know I had something else planned the night of craft night but now I can't remember so it must not have been that great. Dang it.

Eleen, the shop's owner, showed me the space pre-set up and it's really exciting to see it filled with people crafting in the photos. Yay! Looked like it was a great success :)

Read more about it here & make sure to visit Modern Mouse in Alameda if you're in the area! & don't be shy around the staff. They're the nicest people ever.

Narwhals have arrived!

find them on etsy :)

Narwhals & Whale

soon to be added to etsy!

just as soon as they're done listening to radiolab :)

From the desk of Oliver Jeffers

I stole this from his facebook. I hope he doesn't mind. He's also my hero.

Geeking out... he has an entire CASE of caran d'ache watercolor pencils! Holy moley!

A Craft Fair Apron

An idea conceived by Albert & shared by Victoria, I too thought it'd be good to invest in an apron for craft fairs. I considered making one myself and found patterns & such for this:

but my heart skipped a beat when I saw Anthropologie's 'Tea & Crumpets' apron:

MUSTARD & GRAY! OMG!!!!

So, after about two months of pining, I finally went in to Anthropologie with an intent to buy. I had a rude encounter though. I tell the cashier that I want to return these two belts I bought last year & use the store credit on the apron. An employee slides behind the cash wrap and says rather curtly, 'next time bring your return items to the register before you shop' then leaves. So, while the cashier is ringing me up, I tell her, 'wow, she was quite abrasive.' She apologizes on her behalf and explains the abrasive woman is their store manager (whaaaat?!?). And she says it with a splash of fear & intimidation. Anyway, I leave but not before realizing no one will probably say anything to the manager, and hell if she ruins anyone else's day with that attitude. So I find her, interrupt her folding & say, 'Hi. I wasn't aware of policy but I know now to bring my return items to the register before shopping. Having said that, you were rude & abrasive.' She apologized a few times & thanked me for my honesty. I told her it was okay but I just wanted her to be aware, and I left. BAM!

Since then, I've taken power into my own hands and am working toward a more 'le petit elefant' apron.

I'm adding an additional hidden pocket & very subtle embroidery to not distract from the overall loveliness. You can see the makings of a boy's head peeking out from behind the pocket. This is just the beginning! It's my 'relax while I distract myself from the scariness of Dexter before bed' activity. More updates to come, but I promise it'll be done in time for my debut at Unique LA in May :)

A Summertime Traveling Show

I'm waiting to hear back on fairs and finalize the schedule... in the meantime, I'll paint. Here's a little preview.

Genevieve, Age 10

Multicolored crayon covered with black crayon then etched away with a paper clip.

Yes. A paper clip

My mom called me a week ago explaining she had just found an art gem from the past. Tonight, she excitedly ran to the room to retrieve it & reunite us.

I remember very carefully scratching away to make the realistic basketball lines and the Nike check on Mickey's shoes. I poured hours into this piece, several more than the hour alloted in my 5th grade class. Crazy. I'm very impressed with my Pluto (no tracing!)! Not so impressed with the lingo I decided to include ('U kno wuz ↑!'). I also do remember smiley faces on big t-shirts being 'big' that year. Pretty sure I owned Minnie's outfit. Oh, and I also like how everyone's eyeing each other (Daisy's such a flirt!).

As for figuring out when I made it... I didn't write a date or anything. But I did draw a crappy picture of Pocahontas on the back which makes me 10 years old. ZING!

Pinballs, Dance Moves & Birthdays

mickey's birthday at pins & needles

It's a pretty amazing space in echo park. Located in Bedrock Studios, it has over 15 or so vintage pinball machines. Mitchell, you're supposed to play not text. SHAME.

Cole & Kevin's birthdays at short stop. Megan made the cakes YUM!!

Silverlake Farms, Friends & Food

Three of my good friends work for Silverlake Farms & most of my friends are part of Silverlake's CSA. This gave me access to the potluck for its shareholders. Party food friend time what whaaaat :)

Kevin & I chopped up some lamb chops, bacon, heirloom tomatoes & shallots, & made our way to the farm.

So much good food including butternut squash, homemade beer, urfa biber chocolate brownies and carrot ginger soup.

Nikos sang. It was my first time hearing him play. Amaaaazing.

I also made my first fire! With Germain's guidance of course.

peach mousse afterparty dessert

We listened to LCD soundsystem fireside & chatted about songs with secret dirty lyrics we never picked up on when we were kids. It made for a great last night in LA.

Then it was home-homeward bound for me.

IF - Warning

A fair warning adventure is afoot.

Baptism Card custom order

I got the order last night, thought about it over brownies & whiskey, and painted it this morning in time to watch an episode of Veronica Mars before delivery. Sweet. Must have been the Tony Toni Tone! on repeat.

My Illustration Portfolio!

At long last I've started putting together my illustration portfolio specifically for children's books. May the children's book hustle begin! I did quite a bit of research, and found a good portfolio should have 10-15 images of:

• people, especially kids doing all sorts of things (check!)
• animals, different sorts & in various settings (sort of check)
• double truck spreads & single spreads to show composition
• color & b/w pieces (eeeeep)
• consistent characters (pieces showing the same characters in different scenes to prove you can draw consistently... check!)

It was hard to determine if a popular print made for a strong portfolio. I guess time will tell. I'm new to this whole thing so wish me luck!