Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Collections:: Scissors

I most certainly inherited my need to collect "things" from my grandmother. A quick snoop around her house and one would find an endless trail of memories, collections... a life well-lived. 
In her bedroom a windowsill was lined with pebbles, each one shaped like something very un-pebble like. In the study, a dip into a small wicker basket which held stamps lovingly torn from their envelopes,was akin to traveling around the world. A corner of the kitchen counter was jam packed with jars, each one containing its own collection (swizzle sticks, matches, bread twist-ties, watch batteries, and anything else that she could fit multiples of into a jar). Even in the bathroom, a floral porcelain bowl on the counter cradled dozens of toothpaste caps.

The lovely Ana from i made it so hit the nail on the head with her comment on my post from last week about the jar of silly string... "it really speaks to the "waste not" nature of that generation".  And it is so true, my grandmother's need to collect directly stemmed from her childhood growing up during The Great Depression. 'Waste not want not' was more than an expression, it was a recipe for survival for my grandmother.    


My grandmother and her home of collections are now gone. But, the evidence still exists in the contents of her sewing room, which were passed on to me. There are multiples of every tool within the many sewing boxes. Perhaps I will share more photos of her collections.  All but two pairs of the above scissor collection were my grandmother's. There are actually several more pairs than this... but it was a bit crowded and didn't make for a as pretty a picture.


Have you inherited any collections from a family member or loved one?

❤  
-t

Monday, June 27, 2011

1300 Things: Week 26


625.  Reuniting with old friends after 10 years. 
626.  Meeting awesome new friends. 
627.  Talking w/ Kathy from Princess Animal about plans for upcoming awesome events. 
628.  A sunny drive over the bridge.  
629.  An upbeat friendly toll booth operator at Bay Bridge. Rarely happens. 
630.  The cool shelving built special for me for the craft show.   
631.  My Hunky craft show helper. Super helpful and motivating. 
632.  The gift of laughter & awesome handmade gifties from Miss Zelma Rose
633.  Parking directly across the street from the venue in an area not typically easy to park in at all. 
634.  The feeling of cool wind on my face after being in a dank room for hours.       
635.  Japanese fabric w/ reedonk cute zoo animals.           
636.   My wonderfully wonky handmade banner (excuse the horrible photo):




637.  My love to organize translating into quick set up & break down of my craft show display. 
638.  Watermelon agua fresca.             
639.  Having a good hair day when you are in the public eye all day.  
640.   Lazy night of pizza, beer, and movies. 
641.  Hearing the words, "you haven't changed a bit in 20 years".  
642.  Cool old buildings in my neighborhood:: 

643.  Peppermint tea.          
644.  Positive feedback about my work. 
645.  Being reunited with an old painting that I haven't seen in eons.
646.  Louis the alligator. 
647.  Crafty trades.       
648.  Crunchy crispy juicy apples. 
649.  Biutiful w/ Javier Bardem. 






What are you grateful for right now this very minute? 

❤  
-t

Friday, June 24, 2011

Photo Days- Silly String


Doesn't everyone have a jar of multi colored thread clippings in their home?
I keep it on my sewing table and all of my thread clippings go into it. My grandmother had one on her sewing table, and when I was a little Tammy I called it her silly string jar. 

I have lofty ideas about using all of the clippings in some sort of craft project... but don't really have a clear vision of what that might be. I imagine something w/ epoxy or glue. Or perhaps I will just keep the lidded jars on a shelf, what a pretty display that would make.   

Do you have any ideas for a project with my Silly String?
Happy Friday Everybody!

❤  

-t

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Felt-Up Pillows

More of what is keeping me busy this week...

The Felt-Up Punk Rawk Pillows are ready for their debut this Sunday
Each pillow has a color coordinated set of hearts stitched onto their cute little backsides. How do you like their little name tags? Yeah, I love 'em too.  

Fingers crossed that they sell out at the event & that I have to make a whole new batch for my Etsy shop. Either way, I should have some in the shop by the end of next week. 







That's all for now! 
What kind of colorful fun have you been up to? 

❤  

-t

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A Busy Bee Be Me

Here is just one of the many things that is keeping me from being able to write up all of the fabulous blog posts that I have been dreaming up for you guys this week. I am most excited to share with you some tips about marketing and promoting your blogs and Etsy shops. So stay tuned for that next week, and please enjoy pretty pictures posts for now. 



This is one of the pillow styles that I will be debuting at the Hecho Local Market this Sunday. I am particularly proud of the labels, also handmade by me. I will share a photo tomorrow of the other styles that I have coming up. & Yes, they will be coming to my Etsy shop as well.


If you are a Bay Area local I will be looking for you on Sunday at the handmade market. If you aren't Bay Area bound... then be sure to shop handmade wherever you are this weekend! 

❤  

-t

Monday, June 20, 2011

1300 Things: Week 25


600.  Sewing fabric again.  
601.  A pretty jar of buttons   
602.  All of the many tools & accouterments of sewing.   
603.  Yellow Gingham.  
604.  Putting Birds on it::

yes... yes... I need to address the thread tension/fabric puckering issue. 


605.  Sitting in the sun, drinking coffee and sharing a scone with a hunky boy.   
606.  A cool breeze on a hot day.   
607.  A walk around the block. 
608.  A grilled cheese sammie w/ an over easy egg in it. (who knew?)
609.  Delicious chicken curry.      
610.  My staple gun.        
611.  This succulent garden from So Succulent on Etsy:: 



612.  Clouds shaped like ice cream cones & penguins & pic-nick baskets &...  
613.  Rosco wrapping himself up in the orange blankie at the foot of the bead & peeking out one eye at a time.        
614.  My iron. Yeah... I love to iron. 
615.  Cucumber, Neroli Blossom, & Linden Flower fancy candles.          
616.  The happy rhythm of cutting out a pile o' felt bones.  
617.  These ottomans from Fun Makes Good... or as I prefer to call them, pouffes::


{ via Design Milk }

618.  When puppy dogs get squinty eyes & blown back floppy ears in the wind.         
619.  Wiggly Toes in the sunshine. 
620.  Surprise gifts in the mail.
621.  The sound of the word 'Palooka'.  
622.  Pineapple juice.      
623.  A letter in the mail with some really good news. 
624.  The sound of Jeff Bridge's voice in True Grit. It's got a lil' touch of Slingblade::




Although Jeff Bridges voice did not make me swoon, I do get weak in the knees for a deep gravely voice like Tom Waits, Sam Elliot, or dear god... Matt Berninger {vocalist of The National).

Whose voice makes you swoon?

❤  
-t

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Event:: Hecho Local

Just one week from today I will be peddling my crafty goods at this awesome event in the Mission District of San Francisco, just one block from the 16th Street BART station.  



There will be live music, fashions shows, tons of crafty vendors, a raffle, and even face painting for the kiddos!  Being in 'The Mish', there are tons of amazing places to eat, including Reaction Restaurant right next door to the gallery, which I am told is tasty-awesome! (I will have coupons to Reaction Restaurant to share w/ the first 12 people who stop by my booth) 

But wait! There's more!
From PuNk rAwk pUrL you can expect to see:: 
  • A few new lines not yet available in my Etsy shop
  • Special Show Pricing
  • A lovely new felty banner that I have been stitching up
  • Lot's of goofy smiles and my silly glam rock haircut. 

RSVP to the event if you'd like. Or... just show up & surprise me. 

I'll see ya' next Sunday! 


❤  
-t

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Shop News


Had my 47th sale yesterday & I am super excited to celebrate my 50th. I will enclose a special gift made by me with this little milestone sale! Pass the word along... I sure would appreciate it. You know where to find the goods!

Happy Weekend everyone!


-t

Friday, June 17, 2011

Photo Days

It hasn't been a very bloggy week for me. Had a visit from the Flu-Bug-Fairy. And she wasn't a very nice guest. In fact, she gave me a pretty bad headache all week. But the awesome news is that I am feeling much better now. My flu addled brain hasn't much of an attention span beyond making pretty photo collages with the photos on my phone. So here is a quickie post about the iPhone app that I used... and of course the pretty photo collages.



In between power naps & marathon bouts of rocking back and forth while holding my knees up to my aching tummy I have been playing with my seemingly bottomless bag of photo apps on my iPhone The newest one to my phone is called PicFrame. Much like the Diptic app, PicFrame allows you to make photo collages with images that are stored on your phone. PicFrame however allows you to adjust the corners to different degree of roundy-ness. And as you may have noticed... I am often a fool for a photo with a rounded corner. I attribute it to having grown up in the 70's when photos came back from the Photo-Hut with rounded corners.


Speaking of iPhone photo apps... I am super excited about a post that I have been meaning to write up for a couple of months now and haven't gotten around to it. This Tuesday I will post about a photo app that has been very instrumental in the marketing of my Etsy shop and of this blog.



What about you... What are some of your favorite things to do when you are sick?

❤  

-t

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

How About Some Cute...



A couple of years ago I sat down to knit this mouse as a gift for a friend. This friend is severely allergic to cats, so while not working on him, I was careful to keep the mouse under lock & key { inside of a sealed ziploc bag }. Despite my efforts... Rosco got to Mr. Mousie. And by 'got to him', I mean that he found the bag, chewed a hole in it, and spooned Mr. Mousie into the wee hours of the morn. This is pretty unusual behavior for Rosco. In 6 years, he has never really interfered with my yarn or my knitting... maybe once or twice.

I came up with the name Buford because it just sounds like someone who would be friends with a Rosco P. Coltrane. And friends they are. One of the few toys that Rosco doesn't lick bald or chew to ribbons.

The mousie pattern is from Ysolda Teague's charming little self published book, Whimsical Little Knits 1. And is also available for individual purchase

Do you craft with for your pets?

❤  

-t