elingeling = migration + rhinofluff

just-popping in...

...to mention the J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL this weekend in Japantown, San Francisco.  I've been itching to attend/vend here, but alas, it just hasn't worked out. It looks like so much fun!

I am participating just a little, long distance, in this part of the event.



Creators for Japan organizes makers to raise funds toward Japan's recovery post-earthquake/tsunami/nuclear problems.  I donated some handmade pieces (headband, hair accessories) for their event at J-Pop.  Please consider stopping by if you are in the Bay Area!  It looks like the festival is coordinating several fundraisers to aid Japan.   

And don't forget, I'm carting all my lovely new goods (and old faves too) up to Picnic in Portland, Maine, this Saturday.  Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are!

piles of petals + picnic in portland

I've noticed that many of my recent favorite photos have been the quick ones I've snapped with my phone of things I'm working on around the studio-- piles of petals, pieces, and beads -- because this is honestly what I spend a lot of my time looking at.



While my brain is frequently pondering new designs & jumping on to the next thing, the reality of my life & current business status is that I have to be producing.  Fall shows are right around the corner, and holiday events right behind that.  Since everything I sell is made with my two little hands, building inventory requires lots of hours of cutting, sewing, piling, assembling, and packaging.  Good thing I can keep myself relatively entertained by playing around with lots of color combinations.

I do try to make sure I add new designs regularly to my catalog, and I always debut these new items in person at craft fairs or in my studio first.  This weekend there are some new cute home goods (toast magnets!) & flower designs I'll be bringing to Picnic in Portland, Maine.  



I've been looking forward to this show for quite a while!  There are going to be lots of great New England vendors there, so I'm planning on getting a jump-start on my holiday shopping, too!  

We'll be in booth #38 at the show-- toward the center of the park and across from the Picnic information booth.  Please stop by and say hello if you get a chance!  

pudgy wedding bears

Just wanted to pop in & share these little bears-- a custom order that I worked on recently.  It's a pair of pudgy bears, to be used as a wedding cake topper!  These little bears were hand-sculpted, painted, & sealed.

The couple had a relatively small & simple cake, so they just wanted some small bears & a VERY simple stand to coordinate with their colors.  I LOVED working on these, even though wedding customs are nerve-wracking for me!  It's such a big day for a couple, and I want to get everything just right.  

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  The wedding was this past weekend, so I thought it would be a good time to share.  Congratulations, Laura & Haoqi!!  

dog days of summer

Something I didn't mention in my earlier rewind posts is the ongoing theme in my photo-taking.  For the nine(!) years that we've had her, I have always taken a ton of pictures of Daisy.  That hasn't changed, but recently she seems to have lots of canine company.  These are just a portion of the puppy photos from the last few months.  

If you're not into dogs, you can just go ahead and skip the rest of this.  It's pretty much all pooches from here on out (ok, I did sneak one kitty in).

  

I love how expressive animals are when photographed.  Some of them seem like natural hams, playing to the camera.  Others are just uncontrollably, ebulliently happy or noticeably mopey.  I guess they're animals, and for the most part they just are what they are.  

Although, I've seen some pets who seem to know exactly which second to move in order to ruin a shot.  Do you have a photogenic pet?  Please share in the comments!!

rock & roll yard sale this weekend!

After YEARS (no, seriously, this is my 6th year of doing indie craft fairs) of dragging D around to show after show in city after city, and countless discussions about craft fair boyfriends/SOs (he actually introduces himself as a craft mule when meeting people at shows), I finally booked an event (mostly) for him.

We'll be at What Cheer's Rock & Roll Yard Sale this Sunday, August 21st in Union Square, in Somerville.  Well, one of us will be in the booth.  The other one will most likely be digging through records all day.  But that's the point, right?  

What Cheer's Rock & Roll Yard Sale
Sunday, August 21st, 2011 (raindate August 28th)
11am - 5pm // Union Square, Somerville, MA
more details/vendor list here // facebook event page here  

Please stop by and say hello!  

 

tour de fleece 2011

Something else I was doing this summer... the Tour de Fleece is a mostly-virtual, motivational, cheer-each-other-on and challenge yourself spinning event.  It follows the Tour de France annually.  People form teams, set challenges, award prizes, etc.  I guess it's kind of a Ravelry thing.  Anyway, since we seem to travel a lot every July, I've never actually participated in a Tour de Fleece before, though I watch longingly from the sidelines every summer.

This year, I couldn't stand it anymore and joined a team captained by the lovely Laila (of LaiGrai).  I was inspired by the fun theme (vintage circus), the creative people on the team, and the friendly, laid-back vibe of the group.  Everyone picked a circus character for themselves, and made a (r)avatar to go with it.  I chose to be the Fire Eater.  



I wasn't able to spin every day as is sort of the point of the Tour, but I did set a goal (one yarn a day) and tried to spin extra on the days I actually had to spin, to make up for the off-days and keep up with this goal as best I could.  Here are a few of my favorites:

You can see the whole set of Tour yarns here.

I didn't quite make my goal, but I was pretty productive!  And seeing other people's yarns (participants post spinning photos throughout the Tour) was really inspiring.  I think having some accountability for your progress as well as knowing others are finding time to work on their goals is really motivational.  Of course it helps that everyone who participates genuinely loves to spin, too.

I could really use this sort of motivation on every day things. Is anyone out there up for organizing a Tour for "keeping up with your paperwork/housework"? 

summer rewind, fast-forwarded (part 3)

My brother-in-law & his wife came to town at the beginning of July so we headed on the long road trip north for some quality extended-family time in the wilds fields of Maine.

Then they headed on a road trip south to Virginia while we flew out to San Francisco for Renegade SF.  This has sort of become an annual trip for us, so this time around we focused on catching up with some old friends. And eating, of course. Oh! and we squeezed in a trip to the deYoung as well, and managed to time it so we caught the Picasso exhibit while we were there.

Tried to efficiently get work done with TWO others keeping me company in my studio.  It didn't work so well. But it was nice to have some quality immediate-family time.  We don't get much of that during the school year. 

Had a great time at Art in the Courtyard, which is part of the larger Lowell Folk Festival in my new studio-home city. So much fun! I got to visit with a number of my fellow Western Ave artists, especially my talented boothmate Liz. Also, fair food!  My only regret is not having time to get out to see more of the performances, especially by these beautiful sisters, who bought some of my headbands and wore them on stage! 

The weekend was so busy that this was the only photo I took!  But there are some lovely recaps of the festival (including my work and/or my goofy face but also with much more of the rest of the festival) here & here. 

Shot back up to Maine for an annual cookout at D's cousin's house.  It rained, but that did not stop us from consuming ridiculous amounts of food.  Then we met up with a friend in Portland and had more, extremely ridiculous food at Silly's. Hello, fried pickles. Oh, you want your pad thai wrapped up in a tortilla and deep-fried chimichanga style? Yup, that's on the menu.

 

Did NOT make it to NY as desired to catch the McQueen show at the Met. DID make a mad dash to catch the Chihuly exhibit at the MFA in Boston on the last day.  

Shot back down to Madison Wool for a little trunk show at the shop.  Seriously, Dayna is stocking this place with some really great yarns.  Hard for me to not try to buy everything there.  

And hey, that brings us to just about now!  I'm excited to talk about current AND UPCOMING things!  

spring, er, summer rewind, part 2.

So when last we left off with our story it was late April and we'd just finished talking about Pittsburgh & Handmade Arcade.  But I'm realizing that I best tell the story faster or I'll be recapping what I'm doing now in, oh, about 2013.  So without further ado, the short version...

Made a piñata for Craftland's Cinco de Mayo celebration, and took a mini road-trip (full of fun, window-shopping, food & knitting night!) down to Providence with Liz to deliver it. 

Took Mimi's AWESOME Tiny Worlds class. SO. GOOD! to make something just for the fun of making it!

Narrowed it down to just two films (it was so hard to choose! such an incredible selection) to go see at IFF Boston. We watched Page One & El Bulli. I loved them both. 

Super fun times at Twist in Northampton. Great show, crazy 70s hotel, finally getting to catch up with Shannon (of The Spun Monkey fame) since she moved back east.  What could be better?

Shot down to Philly for Art Star Craft Bazaar.  This is always an excellent show, and despite the weather's lack of cooperation, this year was no exception.  I got to see lots of awesome returning customers, had a chance to visit with my boothmate Faune, and I ate Pennsylvania Dutch soft pretzels for breakfast (thank you Reading Terminal Market). Win-win-win! 

I flew down to Atlanta on my own to meet up with my fun fiber sister Carrie, who hung out, ate, and, most graciously kept me company at ICE's Wedding Day Hooray event. Pictures from Atlanta are in this post.

Also, some gorgeous shots from the event here, by professional wedding photographers!  My table is featured in the last five shots of the slideshow. 

Then, down to NY for Renegade Brooklyn!  The weather was not amazing that weekend either, but boy did we eat!  Thanks to So Softies & Co., we managed a morning jaunt to Smorgasburg for donuts & tacos, plus I forced someone to make multiple trips to the new momofuku milk bar "nearby".  

I also took a quick overnight trip down to visit my friend Dayna's adorable new yarn shop (and of course, spent lots of time with Isaac the shop dog).  For its size, it is remarkably well stocked. (Can you say Habu?) It's in Madison, Connecticut, which is pretty much the cutest little New England town ever. We even went to the beach!  Dayna also always indulges me with a breakfast trip to O'Rourke's. Nomnomnom!

Went to my first Pints & Purls at Gather Here, my favorite new (almost-in-my-) neighborhood fabric store.  It's a great space, and the owner Virginia stocks some amazing fabrics.  So fun to meet some of my twitter & etsy friends in person!  The lovely Ana has a great write-up (with much nicer photos than mine) about that night here.

Whew!  That brings us to, gee, the end of June.  Back in a few for July!