It’s a whirlwind of laundry and packing over here, but I didn’t want to leave without a quick goodbye! I’ll be back on Monday, with photos of the gorgeous California coast and redwoods, and probably doggies in cute sweaters. Until then let me leave you with a little cuteness to tide you over!
It’s that time of year again. What time of the year is that? Time for Camping! Every summer my whole family treks up the coast to Big Sur to revel in the majesty of the glorious redwoods and ocean . . . and to toast marshmallows. We put aside squabbles (something we don’t even do for Christmas) and just relax and enjoy each others’ company. Our yearly trip has been the highlight of my year as long as I can remember. The only thing that taints those memories is the utter lack of loveliness in our campsite itself. I mean, yes part of camping is enjoying nature, but why does that mean neglecting aesthetics and style?
When I was a little girl it was easy to fantasize away the blue and khaki nylon camp gear and replace it with mini palaces carved into the giant trees. I always imagined a grander way to camp. As I got older I realized that once upon a time people did camp more grandly. William Randolph Hearst spent childhood summers camping with his mother’s very special camping china, not to mention an army of servants to do all the real work. What I wanted was something in between that kind of camping and khaki and red nylon chairs.
Now I’m a grown up and I have quite a bit more control over the style in which I camp (I’m still having trouble finding the camping china and the servants) and I declare war on khaki nylon! I’ve begun the process, but until my Renaissance-Fair-meets-Strawberry-Shortcake tent gets made, here’s a little list of stuff I wish I’d ordered in time to camp:
Lovely Girl Scout canteen from Sweetshorn.
Red enamel mugs from 5 Gardenias.
And of course, what fun would camping be without a slingshot or two?
Slingshots by Katesy.
I do think I’ve found some inspiration even if I didn’t have time to make purchases! Maybe next year . . .
It sounded like a dream. A machine that would do all the ironing for me, releasing my poor right wrist from the suffering of ironing hundreds of yards of fabric by hand. How awesome would that be?! Like magic! As soon as the $30 off special went into effect at Joann’s I was there. I scurried to make my purchase before any quilt-making so and so’s could get there before me. I scurried home and read the directions front to back and back to front and lovingly went through the steps that I was prepared to take for granted as a daily ritual. sigh. If only. Now, if you know me then you might know that I have very little faith in technology. Sadly this is a perfect example of why. A fantastic idea. A promise, really. And then a horrible failure at execution.
Look at it. It promises to do so much work! What a time saver! I can’t tell you how fast this little puppy is (it does about 4 yards of tape in 60 seconds)! But that’s exactly the problem. It’s a little too fast for the heat to do its magic on the fabric. So what I ended up with (after following the directions to a T) was this:
Not quite the crisp fold promised by the photos on the box. The time-savingness of it is also distorted by the fact that you have to roll the bias tape onto a spindle by hand. Sigh. It would be fantastic if you could control the speed of the motor at least. Maybe the next model will be a little better.
Needless to say, I’m returning it.
I hate to share any not-positive stuff on my blog, but I really couldn’t hold back my disappointment on this one. My compromise is to follow it up with a LOVELY thing that happened along with the yucky. Big sale at Joann’s this weekend. I found this fantastic decorator-weight fabric to use for a tent cover ( I can’t stand the icky colors they come in) and it had no tag. I knew it was on sale, but I didn’t know if it was $3, $6, $9, or $12. I figured six or nine maybe if I was lucky. NOPE. I got it for $1.50 a yard!!!!!!!! Mind blowing! I slapped the counter so hard that the fabric cutter jumped! I just love a deal. Who doesn’t? Check out my score- and keep your eyes open for it at craft shows because it’s about to be my new tent!
YUM!!!
Another Sunday, another Rose Bowl Flea Market. I think one of the nicest things about not working at the craft center any more is that I always have Sundays off, which means I never have to miss a flea market if I don’t want to. Yesterday I had a lovely day out with my sister. She bought some (exxxxpensive) scrumptialicious pajamas and I bought . . . fabric!!!!! Here’s a little peek at what will soon be buttons and bias tape and maybe welting or piping!
Sadly no cutting today, I had to take a couple of the muttleys to the vet and now I’ve got to catch up on all those errands I didn’t do yesterday!
Phew- what an incredible weekend! We’re still trying to get an accurate head count, but I heard that there were supposed to be a hundred thousand people at Maker Faire this weekend! I’m pretty sure I saw every single one of them. The event was incredibly packed full of not just people but awesome demonstrations, performances, and activities, in addition to thunderous, fifty foot blasts of flame every so often. And the costumes- sweet siren were they incredible! Here are just a few highlights;
The Neverwas Haul- an incredible 3 story victorian house on wheels. It’s as beautiful inside as it is outside. They actually take it on the street! I was told that the bottom floor is actually a ballroom! I think my favorite thing about this is that it’s built from reclaimed items. I’m pretty sure I saw my grandma’s old bathroom cabinets in there. You can find out more about this gorgeous building on wheels here.
Just a good ole’ rideable steel snail with flames shooting from its eyes, nothin’ special.
In case you needed more flame, here’s 50 feet of it shooting into the air. It would go off every so often, and not only could you feel the thunder from across the lawn and inside the Baz Biz building, but you could feel the heat from about 100 yards away. Totally cool. In case you need height reference, in the bottom left of the photo you can see some people’s heads.
But I know you crafty ladies aren’t here for giant balls of flame, so I’ll get to the cute stuff.
I finally got to meet Pollyanna Cowgirl in person! Yay! She was just across the aisle from me and holy cow does she have a cute booth or what! And hey, that apron she’s wearing looks familar . . . that’s cause I made it *=*
Also in the adorable sector:
Pie Bird Press and Honey Lux- I am in love. I’m sad that Honey Lux is kind of cut off in this photo, but no worries, I’ll post photos of what I bought from both shops (tomorrow- I need a breather man!)
Hambone and Jennicakes- so cute! I bought a sleepytime mask for my delicate eyes. I used it last night- Oh YES. Oh, look at that- she’s also wearing one of my aprons! I swear I didn’t choose these girls just because they’re wearing my aprons! We just all happen to have great taste!
Hue Yang Ceramics- so F-ing cute. I bought a couple of stamped ceramic magnets, but everything on her table was adorable- I’m not sure why Eric didn’t take photos of the actual things on the table. The booth itself is also really cute.
Um, oh yes, and my booth:
I know it’s kind of hard to see amongst the crazy backdrop of t-shirts- I was surrounded- but there I am, buttons, aprons, and all. This was day two so my booth is actually pretty picked over at this point. Those bias tapes sure did fly! Rest assured, I got the message- I will definitely be making more bias tape!
If you live in Southern California and you didn’t make it to Maker Fair Bazaar Bizarre, no worries, I’ll be doing the Handmade Brigade this Saturday, June 6 at the Tall Mouse crafts store in Cerritosl! Yay! I’ll be there, bias tape in tow, from 10 to 4pm, bringing you as much cuteness as you can handle!
I’m out of my mind busy, but I have to stop and invite you all out to see my first big crafty show in three years!!!! San Mateo, yo! Stop by, say hi, and get some crafty goodies! *You get extra special treatment if you mention that you read my blog *=*
And if you do come visit, don’t forget to bring armfuls of old clothes for Swap O Rama Rama! My booth will be in the center aisle, right next to the Swap!!!!
HECK YES!!!!!!!! See you there!
4:30 AM. Sunday, May 17. Been up since 3:30. Delirious. Time to write.
E and I went downtown today/yesterday for some delicious Clifton’s breakfast and a bit of fabric shopping. It’s only because I’m sleepy as heck that that last sentence isn’t full of enthusiastic adjectives. Because Holy Sweet Lordy do I love me some Clifton’s. And Holy Sweet Lordy do I love me some fabric. Our intention was to get out of the house early and get breakfasted and be finished by 11 am. But today/yesterday was our lucky day because we got invited to look around the forbidden third floor at Clifton’s! If you’ve never been to Clifton’s, let me share a bit with you.
Oh, look at that, a sweet, old fashioned bakery slash restaurant. BUT NO. This is but a facade of the glory that lies within. BEHOLD:
A forest wonderland.
Happy bears. When I miss Disneyland I come here. So now it will make a little more sense to you when I talk about my cravings for Clifton’s. It’s not just the food. Although, come on, cafeteria style rocks. Any place you can add confetti jello to a tray full of turkey, mashed potatoes, and french toast at 8 am is five stars in my books. Today I played it safe. I had pancakes, sausage, and bread pudding. I got a little crazy and tried the quiche. Not bad.
Anyway, now maybe it will make a little more sense to you when I say we’ve been dying to get a look at the third floor, which you can see a sneaky sliver of from the bottom of the stairs, making all the more enticing and forbidden-looking. So here’s where we’ll be having our fiftieth anniversary party, in forty-seven years.
Yep, it’s the same restaurant. And yes, that wallpaper is flocked.
They’ve got tons of memorabilia from some of the other Clifton’s- all themed differently! They also have some incredible portraits of the Cliftons.
Impressive, huh?
Try finding that building on 7th and Broadway.
Oh yeah, and afterwards I bought some more awesome fabrics. I will leave you in suspense about what they look like, but I will say that I spent a good four hours hunting down a decent bargain on cotton twill tape only to decide that I’d rather buy it online anyway. A hundred dollars for fifty yards of tape that man wanted to charge me! HA! I laughed at him and left.
