places to see, people to...

here is my latest & greatest collection of blogs, design sites & online retail:

amy butler design - fabric & patterns
decor8 - interior decorating
how about orange - graphic design blog
design sponge - design blog
cut + paste - craft blog
queenthings - jewelry
reprodepot - fabric, buttons, craft supply
rebecca taylor - clothes

antlers

i just got my 8 point whitetail antlers in the mail yesterday; i ordered them on ebay & they were sent from detroit, mi. when i got the box & saw the points of the antlers, there was an initial fear that there was a deer head in the box. i was relieved to find two beautiful antlers with no fur to speak of. i've been fascinated with antlers for a while, but hadn't made anything happen. should i get a gold antler pendant, an antler painting, an antler tshirt (which will happen still) or actual antlers? decision made & validated by this article in the new york times.

my owl

i really like this new little guy. he's been around for a couple of months, since i created him for the nature onesies. these are a couple of cards that i've done featuring my owl. he goes well with bright colors & courier std bold type.

johnny cupcakes

i like to make cupcakes, every holiday or occasion deserves them. theme parties, valentine's day, birthdays, st patty's day & so on. that is why this t-shirt makes me happy.

johnny cupcakes has a great story. the "always business minded" jokester almost gets kicked out of high school, can't stick with college & starts selling pins & working in a screen printing shop. noticing that everyone added words to the end of his name (johnny appleseed, johnny coffeecake, johnny cupcake), one stuck & became the name of the company. now he sells his products from a retail space modeled after a vintage bakery, in select retail locations & online.

my head hurts

i went riding at crystal with some friends for the last day of the season. it was a gorgeous sunny day; the sun warmed up the snow as the day passed. at the end it felt like riding in a snowcone, but still fantastic. i hit my wall, but ming insisted on one more run...one more run that included my nastiest fall all season (back edge, right buttcheek, back of my head, with a full butt finale). after that, it was a really good thing there was a table in the sun on the patio, a great cover artist, pitchers of beer (maybe too many) & mcdonald's on the way home.

thanks to joe for all the great pics!

mobile among others

img missing
here has been a small lull in crafting, by this i mean i haven't done any new projects in a couple weeks. again, i am intimidated by the pile of potential projects sitting on my bookshelves. first, my mom gave me a 1940's pattern of my great grandmother's for a wrap around apron. i remember my mom wearing hers when i was little. it was navy blue & kelly green paisley & she always wore it when she made sour cream cookies. i bought three types of fabric & bias tape to make the aprons for a couple friends & myself. a week ago i pulled out the pattern & started cutting, only to find that multiple pieces were missing. i tried estimating the size of the missing pieces, but the project is on halt until my mom mails her apron to model my new ones after. second, i am making fabric tacks that i found of craft:. i bought buttons to cover, which i simply wriggle off the backing after covering with fabric & hot glue thumbtacks to the back. i think the idea of getting rid of fabric scraps while making something adorable is always good. third, i will make this (pictured above). i have tons of metropolis, dwell & other magazines lying around & this will look great in my new apartment (hurray!).

gone to vain

i cut my hair off on monday. i haven't determined whether it's really drastic or really safe; either way i will not be posting pictures of myself (but i'm posting the picture i took to the stylist saying, "i like this, but just shorter") because i like people's reactions in the real world. there seems to be an underlying feeling that all women look better with long hair, so people often give me the "ooooh, her long hair was so much nicer" look while saying, "you got your hair cut..." there's this awkward moment where some people are deciding whether or not to edit their opinion (i mostly look forward to this encounter with chris my most blunt friend next to divya, who i believe has already approved or at least she wasn't all awkward, giving false compliments at first site).

this whole post is less about me & more about vain & my new favorite stylist bijou. first, vain is a combo hair salon, art gallery & retail front in belltown. the space is huge, with open architecture & has great music playing. you can also check most stylist's profiles online. second, bijou was a great stylist, i got a fun cut at a really reasonable price. she was really sweet, chatty but not conversationally pushy; i also have to mention that she could have fit in my pocket & looked a lot like lily allen. i had a great experience at vain, i suggest checking it out if you're in the market for a new stylist.

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a birthday gift last year, feist's let it die album won my heart. i saw her at neumo's last summer & she won my heart. i saw her at bumbershoot & our relationship was rekindled. ragan gave me open season & we only became stronger. i can only imagine what her second album, the reminder (releasing may 1st) will do to me.

update: just bought the new album (fantastic), just got tickets to the show (can hardly wait) & am going to find a way to become a feist groupie, i know peaches would be down.

second reference to peeps

my peeps obsession runs deep. i love them fresh or stale. i admire their taste & their visual appeal. i love that peeps are a food, a toy & a tool for all. check out the peep show held by the washington post.

another jumper

there's a new jumper in town! this is my second jumper, this one is a little more fitted & gives less of that "she might be preggo" feel. i used a men's suiting fabric & no pattern. it's a 6 piece garment (front & back body, front & back top band & straps), with the only detail being two 4 inch darts on either side of my chest. see more pics.

30 peeps

easter sunday included 15 lbs of lamb, 4.5 lb poached salmon & 30 of my favorite people. it started on saturday afternoon with 3 hours at the market getting the meat, veggies & flowers. then chris & teresa came over yesterday at noon to head up the kitchen, their work always results in good food. i will leave this side of the story to chris, who i'm sure will write about it soon.

while they worked their magic with food, i made a playlist, place cards, napkin rings (simple yellow cotton blend cut into 7"x3" strips, stitched together & vintage button attached) & set the table. although i did make my sour cream cookies & deviled eggs chris says it best, "she was in charge of table aesthetics."

i have to say that i could not be more grateful for my friends. chris & teresa were fantastic (no surprise) to make such a huge effort. thank you to ragan & craig, justin & yachi & eric for bringing flatware, dishes & serving dishes. i also want to send a big thanks to all you who brought delicious dishes to pass, yummy pies & cakes, wine & beer, bunny bread & peeps. i had such a great time, what a fantastic group of people to celebrate, eat, drink & spend time with. thanks again!

there were lots of cameras, i'll update the links.

here are mine.
eric
ming
deann

fweet

i wrote about married to sea in the past. i love it & this is the best one i've seen in a while.

grandma's thread collection

i'm the daughter that inherited the domesticity. i'm the one that wants all of my great grandma & grandma's old needle point, cross stitching, sewing & embroidery supplies. this saturday morning i was going through the tin of thread my mom sent me & realized that it was photo worthy. i love the old spool labels & discovering that my great grandma liked orange & green as much as i do.

edible books

divya, stina & i entered a cake for the second annual cook the books, the edible books festival on sunday. our take on james & the giant peach by roald dahl: a two layer vanilla cake filled with peaches & whipped cream frosting, decorated with a variety of characters in the book & our favorite james (or the best looking james), james dean.

the event was held at greenwood space travel supply on sunday afternoon. the cool thing about the venue was that we all got to teleport. thank god there was someone helping us because divya & i were really close to teleporting together & apparently atoms can sometimes get mixed up in the process. that would have created the most neurotic bad ass ever! there was a great turnout, rumored to be a better one than last year. there were moments of claustrophobia, but once 3 o'clock hit & we dived into the entries, all was good. we also got photographed & interviewed for seattle metropolitan; we wonder if it's because we are cute or our cake was cute.

check out more pics.