ha! bet you thought i wasn't going to do it!

If you thought I just wasn't going to post a paper doll for July, your wrong baby, wrong.

I made it in under the wire with four hours left to spare.

Meet Lily Wu. Lily lives in San Francisco with her little cat Temperance and her mother and father. On Saturdays, Lily's grandpa takes her to his bakery and she helps him make moon cakes. Lily learned to knit last summer and she has made lots of pot holders and a sweater that turned out a little lopsided. Lily is looking forward to the August Peach festival where she will debut as Little Miss Peach. Her grandpa is making special peach moon cakes just for the occasion.

I forgot to add folding tabs to Lily's outfits so before you cut her out, pencil in some tabs. You can print Lily out any size you like. You just need to click on the image. It will take you to Flickr. Choose the "all sizes" tab. You will be able to select from various sizes. The original prints out legal paper size.

mindy's music

I have a friend. Her name is Mindy Gledhill. She is lovely in every way. Mindy is an indie singer/songwriter and a mother. I think that pretty much makes her Wonder Woman.

Yes, I checked the Official Super Hero manual and she definitely qualifies for Wonder Woman status. And here I sit, stuck in Etta Candy status.

Mindy's new album is going to be released in one week. I am lucky. Mindy sent me one in the mail early. I know, don't hate me. Just let me feel special for a week okay?

So I opened my mail box and there is was. I raced into the house like someone might jump out at any minute only to tackle me to the ground and steal away with my precious package. It was all that I knew it would be. I danced barefoot in my kitchen with my babies. We twirled.

Mindy's music makes you feel that something magic might happen at any minute. It's like looking up at speckled light shimmering through swaying branches. I think my heart actually leaves my chest and flutters around the room when I hear Mindy sing.

Mindy's album release concert is August 2nd. If you live in the Provo, Utah area, get your hiney to the Covey Center for the Arts at 7:30. I do so wish I was going. Just a bit far for me to go on a Monday night.

But nevermatter. I'm one of the special ones. I got my CD a week early.

If you want to experience the happiness that is Mindy Gledhill's new album, click on over to her blog and you can listen to the entire CD.

Thanks Mindy, for being Wonder Woman so the rest of us can feel a little magic in our mortal lives.

je t' aime

Yesterday was delightful. I had help during the morning hours and I was able to work in my studio and I was feeling very creative and productive.  Usually those two things don't go together for me.  When I feel really creative I usually find it hard to focus on one thing and see it to the end.

Yesterday I finished up a couple project proposals for classes I would like to teach. I also designed a whole new "item" for my winter jewelry line that I can't wait to debut.  I also sketched out this ship and put it on a canvas.  Not to toot my own horn, but I'm love, love. loving my lacy sea.

It's ten inches square and available for purchase here .

i wonder

(plumb pretty sugar)

I wonder about you. My dear readers.

You are like a little gift I get every day. Another person that is actually taking time to read what I wrote. It amazes me. And I wonder about you and what your daily life is like.

Isn't it amazing how the internet has made our world so small?  It has brought me friends from all over the globe.  Julie from Hungry. Jo and Claire from Australia. Teresa from Israel.  Katie from New York Michigan.

Isn't it strange how one can meet their "people" and become good friends but never really meet at all?

There is something to be said about seeking out "your people". You know, people who get you. People who understand why vintage brooches and old type writers give you happy tingles.  People who know what it feels like to put on a new shirt only to be barfed on again for the third time.  People who drink Red Bull and don't really consider damnittohell to be a curse word, just an exclamation. People who hate laundry... well you get the idea.

Your people. Your peeps. That's what I'm talking about.

Dear reader, are you my people? Or do you read this blog like you would read a newspaper article about the rising use of elicit drugs amongst suburban mothers? Interested, but somewhat shocked and mildly disgusted?

In my brain you are my people. And if we were ever to meet in person, we'd be instant friends. You wouldn't mind that I obsessively read tweets because you'd be reading yours too.  We'd go out for macaroons and talk about how Etsy is just not what it used to be.

I want to know you. I want to know more about you. You know my quirks. Now tell me yours.

The comments are open.

the renegade photographs

If you didn't make it to the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend in Los Angeles, don't worry. I've got you covered. You can see it here.

Because that's just the type of friend I am.

Enjoy.

And my favorite purchase of the day: a dolly for the Bird.

statement is an understatement

I could look at photos of India all the live long day. The colors do something to me deep down in my being. The gold jewelry makes me weak in the knees. If only I had a cute nose. You know I'd be piercing that thing so I could wear an Indian nath. Sometimes I wear a bindi just for fun.


Strange? Maybe, but what do I care? If I'm going to be a housewife I might as well be an eccentric housewife.

Of course India inspires me to create. I made this pendant.

Then I started on the rest of the necklace. It kept getting brighter and bigger and more intricate and just, well, more Indian.

I'm calling it a "statement" necklace, but really it's more than that.

It's electric.

It's $175. I know expensive, but well, a little piece of a Eastern nation doesn't come cheap. If you want it, leave a comment.

everyday magic

i. Anton

We have this puzzle that we must have bought when Thom was little. It is a wooden puzzle made up of a scale of notes.  There are light sensors in the puzzle so that when you place the correct piece into it's place that particular note plays.

When Thom was a baby we kept all his puzzles stacked nice and neat in his play room.  Today we have no play room.  Our wooden puzzles are stored hap-hazardously in a wicker basket in Birdie's room.  All of the puzzle pieces sit at the bottom of the basket. Cows mingle with notes that cover rescue vehicles. Things have changed around here to say the least.  So the musical note puzzle is somewhere in that basket with all of it's little light sensors exposed.

In the evening, when I rock the Little Mister to sleep and the light in the room wains, the puzzle chimes out a note about every two minutes in a descending scale. It feels like magic, winding me down for the evening.

And sometimes when we lay in bed and talk our small talk that we like to talk before sleep, I get an itch on my back. And every so often, at the moment I get the itch, Sugar Daddy reaches over and rubs my back and I wonder if, after being together for so long, we share a kind of simple intuition or if it is magic.

i'll get by with a little help from my friends...

Please click here for photo credits

I wear white. I mean I really wear a lot of white.  Most people wear black. Mature people who read the Wall Street journal. Sophisticated types. People that live in New York and drink a lot of coffee.

I wear white. I like to fancy myself a bit of a Daisy Buchanan.  It makes me feel light and airy and clean.

Even if it is a poor choice with six dirty little hands that like to leave their mark.

*********************************

Okay you internets you.  I need a little help.

In September I will be hosting an annual fund raising party. There will be good food, great people and a really fun raffle that will hopefully bring in a nice pot of cash.

Here's where you come in.  As of yet, we haven't decided on a family or cause that the money will be given to.  Each year we try to find a family that really needs a helping hand. We don't donate to any foundations that have overhead or salaries to pay.  We want all of the money to go directly into the hands of the people who need it.

If you know of just the right situation where a little help from friends would make all the difference, please email me the details. 

Also, if you are so inclined, and would like to donate to the raffle, we would love it! We are hoping to put together gifts starting at fifty dollars and up. 

the happiest place on earth

When you are eight, the happiest place on earth is a place where one might find a castle smack dab in the middle of a fantasy land with princesses strolling around, waiting to take their photo with you, and pink cotton candy sold on every corner.

And a daddy to pay for it all. Every whim.

When you are thirty-six, and sick to damn death of princesses or anything with a high voice or robotic or sticky or crowded or overpriced, the happiest place on earth is a warehouse in the middle of industrial Los Angeles, with stinky chemicals, old machines and no children.

And a Sugar Daddy to pay for it all.

Tis true.

Sugar Daddy and I went on a date. An all day date which is a luxury we decided to build into our life once a month because well, to be honest, sometimes having three kids makes us want to gouge our eyes out with hot pokers and if we can just have a day a month to regroup and focus on each other we think we can make it. And when I say "make it", I mean raise three kids to be great people without becoming nasty bitter people ourselves.

We took a letter press class at Lala Press. The classes are run by Mable, who doesn't really seem like a Mable at all in person. She is actually young and petit and gorgeous and Korean.  But I do love the name. It was my great-grandmothers.

And I love Mable. She was such an easy going, low key kind of a girl. She seemed so small operating her old printing presses.  Like a elf.

Lala Press offers several different classes. You can make anything from wedding invitations to Christmas cards. If you live in the Southern California area, I think you should book a class. Like right now.

Sugar Daddy and I made business cards.

We started by mixing our own ink and let me just tell you, Pantone books make me light headed. I must procure one pronto schmonto.

I'm not exaggerating when I say it may have been one of the funnest days of my life.

After the class we left with two hundred business cards in hand, soaked in sweat and feverish to buy our own press. We plotted out our plan over Thai food.

I guess now that we had our fun we owe the kids a day at Disney.

Aye yi yi. Bring on the cotton candy.

come rain or shine

Yesterday wasn't so peachy.

No, in fact, it was pure crap.

But here's where the beauty of being surrounded by children all day comes in.  They teach you stuff.

Yesterday my one-year-old taught me to find happiness in a down pour and wonder in the tiniest sliver of sunshine.

Touche', Birdie girl, touche'.

renegade 2010

I'm going. Are you?

And if you aren't are you available to babysit?

Here's the deets.

I'm not going as a vendor because I am saving up all my goodies for Spark and the Holiday shopping season. 

Maybe next year. When I have two toddlers. Yeah right.

a little locket love

When I was a teenager, I wore a locket everyday. For a long time it was empty, with no photo inside. Eventually I got a boyfriend and I put his picture in it.

He cheated on me and made out with a eighth grader. It broke my heart and I removed his photo and cut it into tiny bits. We reconciled but not really. I mean, how do you really get over something like that when you are sixteen and naive to the cruelty of the world?  

Boys came and went but the locket stayed empty.

And then I met Sugar Daddy. Journey's end in lovers meeting. Bill Shakespeare said that. My husband's photo is still in it today.

I just wish I could find the damn thing.

1928

Bijoux d’Odalisque

earrings nation

baby jewlz

And yes, more polymer clay jewelry from yours truly.

Again, if you see jewelry posted here that you would like, please leave a comment with email or contact info and I will reserve it for you. The necklace above is $35.

lost in translation

I am often asked where I get ideas for the jewelry I make. The answer is cliche'.  I get inspiration everywhere I go. Sometimes from the weirdest of places.


I have a big magnet board in my studio that I use to display items that I love.  I saved the above canvas Prana tag off a pair of pants I bought like three years ago.  I loved the print. I little square is a sample of an Amy Butler fabric. And just who doesn't love anything from Amy Butler?


These items became the inspiration for a polymer clay pendant.  I know it's not exact. That's not the point in case you thought it was.  When I am inspired by something, and I set out to create using that inspiration, I hope something gets lost in translation. That's what makes it mine.


This pendant and many other items will be for sale early this Fall at Spark and then in my shop.  I will be posting photos of different pieces as I make them over the next month or so. If you see something you like, let me know and I'll save it for you.


Did I mention how much fun I'm having lately with clay?  Well I am really enjoying a new found artistic medium to work with.  And the best thing about it is that I can bring it down to the kitchen or outside in the yard and work on a project while the Little Mister sleeps and the other kids play. Although Thom has been sitting by me, having some fun with it as well.

I just love that my son enjoys art as much as I do.

Yesterday he made some marbles.  Today he wants to make little monsters.

Polymer clay is a perfect craft to do with kids.  You may need to knead the clay until it is soft and easy for little fingers to manipulate, but after that you can just let them create until their little hearts content.

The clay is hardened by baking it in the oven.

You can find clay at any craft store. It isn't expensive and comes in a bunch of colors.  But I have to say, mixing your own colors is super enjoyable.

It's serious Summer crafting fun for kids.


Check it.


Crafty Momma over and out.

rerun

For those of you who have been around here a while, you may remember this photo video I did of our good friends, the Davis family. Well, we were recently shopping in Patagonia and I saw a few more of Andy's designs on the shirts and I was reminded just how cool his art work is and just how amazing their home was. I was in photography heaven walking around, looking at all their amazing stuff.


So I'm reposting my video.


If you are an old friend, I hope you enjoy it a second time. If you are new to these parts, you may want to check out the original post.

just imagine

a little fun with photoshop

You know, I do love me a Saturday without commitments.
I might just go all out, make a dinner reservation and shave my legs.
Imagine that.

the good, the bad and the frustrating

Today I'm loving:

The above color combination.

Listening to the Bird and the Boy laugh together in the other room.

Polymer clay.

New red patent leather shoes.

Thai coconut curry soup.

News that my sophomore nephew will play varsity quarterback this year.

The sound the Little Mister makes when he sucks a pacifier.

Benefit Porefessional Balm.

Pecans strait out of the freezer.

The artwork of C.S. Neal.

Today I am not, no how, loving:

Trying to learn photoshop and how to use my new Mac at the same time.

Crappy weather.

Here's a first attempt at using photoshop to color my illustrations. I tried to use my color combo of the day but I think I failed.  If I had any time to spare I would enroll in a class, but as it were, I must learn on my own by trial and err. And that, is the source of much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.