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.