Show, show, shows

This has been the year of shows, shows, shows...I didn't do as a great a job as last year with remembering to bring and use my camera. Which was always a heartbreaker, as there was some great eye candy this summer..

Whiskerino-Just this past weekend, in coordination and cooperation with Petaluma's own Whiskerino, I had a booth at Crafterino. Again..my picture spidey sense was lacking, but luckily both Nicole from Vinyl Frontier and Polly of Pollyana Cowgirl got some good snaps..and Polly blogged about it on Readymade.

Kristine and I just couldn't be left out of the hairy lip brigade..we went felt. 

Current offerings from rocknrollcrafts...hats, jewelry, vintage wares and og artwork...

all told, a most loverly day in the park...ahhh..

Artists & Farmers-This was such a great, great, great day!! Artists, farmers and lovers of life all gathered at Cornerstone in Sonoma and shared a beautiful sunday...of course, forgot my camera, but look at these lovelies from Paige Green Photography...

I had a table full of papers, pens, stencils and glue sticks..we leisurely made fans, to cool us..

Dave Best, art car artist, had a plastic cow for all the little magpies to glue shiny things to..

Of course, great music from Arann Harris..even the little lamb was grooving..

a fun time for the whole family...and a big Thank You to Tyler and Kelly from Project Here!!

Handcar Regatta- Talk about Eye Candy!! Holy cow..was there ever a spectacle to look at!! I once again, say it with me, forgot my camera!! aargh..but google search Handcar Regatta and you'll be entertained for hours!! 

I just couldn't get over this beautiful headress...stunning.

just on the corner of where our booth was, a live cuckoo clock. right on time.

The only picture Melissa and/or I got of our booth..this dapper couple were so funny!! 

IndieMarts..there were two, and now I can't remember which was which. but the show at Thee Parkside is always a fun way to spend a day in San Francisco..

My hats and glittery hoops..

Snake Charm Haberdashery is a little line extension from Kristine and I. We had so much fun making hats for the Lagunitas Beer Circus, we decided to make some more to sell..it's fun. Lots and lots of feathers and ribbons..more to come on that soon..

a newer project of mine..hand drawn characters on sheet music, decoupaged to plaques for display. 

love this one..it's the shadows of the heads that Melissa uses for her Blue Ribbon Salvage necklaces..

Here Melissa and I entered a Project Runway type Diy competition..20 minutes to make anything with the random stuff in a bag. So random..yet I got the bag with Stencil 1 stencils in it...serendipitous..

We didn't win the grand prize..but, you know, I still love me some crafting competition!!

RiverTown Revival- This one goes back to the beginning of summer..and what a spectacle as well..a little like Handcar, only with the River as it's focus. If you aren't from Petaluma, you won't get the subtle irony of celebrating the river..which is actually a slough. But heck, we had crafts, bands, beers and robots destroying stuff. It was a good day. And thankfully Fred at the Unneccessary Umlaut got some good pictures...

 

Tim McSweeney with the ultimate thumbs up..

The lovely Melissa and her Dangerous Parts for the Arts.

One of the many costumed patrons..love that she's on her cellphone!!

My one and only picture  of my stuff from the day..here a hand stenciled t shirt of the train station, with a nice dollop of beer down the front..:)

Stay tuned for the winter shows...hopefully I'll remember my camera!!

Artists & Farmers

 If you're like me, you might have driven past Cornerstone a million times, always meaning to stop and continuing to drive on. I still haven't stopped..but I will be this sunday! October 3rd, I will be at the Artists & Farmers event at Cornerstone, from 11-4!

So lately I've been making personal fans from Vinyl Frontiers leftover album covers and a wee bit of sheet music. These go over pretty well in the sweltering heat..

While I won't have my sewing machine at the show, we will be making some pretty nice recycled, 

re-use, new purpose fans..

If you're in the area, join us from 11-4...besides myself, Melissa from Blue Ribbon Salvage wil be there, plus a nice grouping of local music and food!! mmmmm...can't wait!! :)

Take out the Ruler

and slap the back of my hands, bad, bad blogger! I've been away and gone and doing a million trazillion other things, that this where I let me creativity slip. Yeah, my sister got married and we all put together the most amazing day September has ever seen..and I've felt like I was in a daze of what to do next. First on that list..update the friggin' blog!! So much to share!!

I'll start with ALL of the great events coming up! I'm not doing this show, but a few of my friends are;

IndieMart..always good time to be found at Thee Parkside! and if you're there..stop by and say hi to Melissa from Blue Ribbon Salvage and Carrie from Moonpath Designs! (September 19th, 12-6)

I am gearing up for my next big show...the Handcar Regatta in Santa Rosa!!

I'll be there with our selection of Snake Charmer hats, fans and other lovely little lady bits..Melissa will be there too!!

I won't be able to make out to this one..but if you're on the East Coast, I have three words for you;

Maker Faire New York

oops..four words.

In October, I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing..but I'll be at Artists and Farmers out at Cornerstone in Sonoma, ca...

It's a Project Here event..so it will be awesome!!

and finally, but nowhere near lastly..our own homegrown Crafterino..the crazy crafters of Petaluma's one and only Whiskerino!! Beards, bears, battlestar gallactica. Need more?

phew...

:)

Stencil Sale, Stencil Sale

To help celebrate my birthday the month of August and hot, hot summertime, Stencil 1 has all stencil sets on sale!!

These 8 pack mini sets are ideal for making cards, embellishing clothes, adding a little somethin' somethin' to anything you can paint! Each 8.5" x 11" sheet comes with 8 stencils on it, each measuring about 4.5" x 2.75".   Seven different themes to choose from!  ORIGINALLY $19.99, now $10.99

Head on over to save NOW!! 

Stencil 1

naturally inspired

my husband and i recently left the cave and travelled the lovely 20 minutes for some ocean air.

we found some great light in an overcast sky and i came home inspired...

The Polymer Muse

...happily stumbled upon this most inspiring work by Meredith Dittmar. I am in awe...

Poste Secrets

geez, I feel like the worst blogger. Almost a month has gone by and I haven't felt any inspiration to share. boo. 

Forward to this morning, as I lay out my day, I took a quick trip to PostSecret.com. If you haven't been, go now. It will change the look of your day, but it will also warm you from your cockles to your cusps. 

Here are  a few of my recent favorites...and at the bottom, one that will change many, many peoples lives.

grab a hankie and follow the picture to the story...

A Year Long Makeover

I've been trying and trying to not only clean my craft office, but to also define what it is I like to actually work on. Having been in employ with various craft companies, I've always had my job define my projects. Not that I don't love to rubber stamp cards, stencil clothing or make miniatures, I've been wanting to use this time to also figure out what I really enjoy making. And going through my stuff piece by piece has been helping me do that. I'm "throwing" out old artwork and samples, or actually just boxing them up and putting them in my barn. I think I need room for new creativity...So these pictures are a part of that process. Above is a shelf unit I've had, which has always housed things in transit. Artwork for sale, thrift finds just coming into the house..the like. Here's a picture of the cleaning after 2 months...

almost there..but still too many old canvases ad empty boxes..

found this crazy microscope kit from the 60's or 70's..love the shelving inside..for holding slides. But I'll be using it to hold my Conundrums...

the current top shelf, showcasing minis, dioramas, an occasional drawing or painting..and some hats. 

Love this jar, found it at the goodwill..this whole shelf is jars of things. Mushrooms, clips, plastic pendants, stuff and things and more stuff..

This is the shelf now..I just put the cigar boxes there. Loved the post from Cathe Holden, of course, on cigar box storage..I'll be labeling them next. 

next up..the other side of the room...

Rain on my Parade

A little bit of inspiration for a hump day...
turn it up and so you can sing along too, the lyrics:

FANNY BRICE;
Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter
Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter
Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade
Don't tell me not to fly, I simply got to
If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you
Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade
I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum
And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir
At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir
I guess I didn't make it
But whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection
A freckle on the nose of life's complexion
The Cinderella or the shine apple of its eye
I gotta fly once, I gotta try once,
Only can die once, right, sir?
Ooh, life is juicy, juicy and you see,
I gotta have my bite, sir.
Get ready for me love, 'cause I'm a "comer"
I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer
Don't bring around the cloud to rain on my parade,

I'm gonna live and live NOW!
Get what I want, I know how!
One roll for the whole shebang!
One throw that bell will go clang,
Eye on the target and wham,
One shot, one gun shot and bam!
Hey, Mr. Arnstein, here I am ...

I'll march my band out, I will beat my drum,
And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir,
At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir,
I guess I didn't make it
Get ready for me love, 'cause I'm a "comer"
I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer
Nobody, no, nobody, is gonna rain on my parade!

Toppers

The Lagunitas Beer Circus is this weekend and to prepare, a few friends and I dove head first into diy millinery. A few round pieces of cardboard, some old cigar labels from Melissa, and of course, some mini flora and fauna and glitter..and we were off!!

Topper o' the morning to you! This is the hat that matches my dress...

Kristine's beautiful bird's nest...such bella la vida beauty!