Blog Love and Upcoming Shows

I was so happy to be featured on the American Craft Council blog Heck Yes Craft! (the best blog name, btw)

My first ever real show for Papaver Vert was in 2008 at the ACC show at San Francisco's Fort Mason. I was juried into the first ever Alt Craft section with other emerging artists and I swear I was at craft camp. I had so much fun at that show and afterwards, I've never been so tired! It was my first look into how much work can go into having a booth at a show.

Speaking of shows, here are some save-the-dates for some Papaver Vert Holiday Shopping!

Rejuvenation on 4th St, Berkeley - Saturday, Nov 10th, 10am - 5pm
This new lighting studio just opened up on 4th Street in July and they specialize in period authentic lighting and house parts as well as some very great salvage pieces. 10% of sales from the event go to the Berkeley Food & Housing Project.

Renegade Craft Fair, San Francisco - Sat/Sun, Dec 15-16th, 11am - 6pm
It's been a while since I've been to Renegade, but I'm so excited to be back in December!

Hope to see y'all there.

Coming Up...Fun with Sunset Magazine

On June 4-5 I will have a booth at the Sunset Magazine Celebration Weekend! I'll be there with several other Etsy artists including my friend & boothmate Whitney Smith.

It will be on their campus in Menlo Park and even though I've never been to one of their celebrations before, after checking out the video on their site, it looks like a really fun weekend of cooking demonstrations, wine seminars, a street food exhibit including the Korean BBQ on wheels, cupcakes from an airstream, and home and garden ideas including a talk on how to have your own backyard chickens! So cool! 

Check it out here. Oh, and I just read that Rick Bayless is going to be there....you know...that chef with the show "Mexico - One Plate at a Time"? I'm hoping to sneak a front row seat.

Sunday Eve Trunk Show

Some pics of the trunk show from Sunday evening. It was a fun night, with some very talented designers, good music and good drinks. It was a bit of a quiet turnout due to it being Mother's Day, but shows like these are always fun. I met my fashion neighbors, played around with a new way to display my pieces and found out that my felted wrist cuffs and pods look fabulous with my friend Jennifer's designs.

Trunk Show Event!

Hey All! Come on out this Sunday, May 8th, where I'll be selling my wares with other fabulous designers while celebrating the opening of my friend's salon  - Bijoux, in downtown San Francisco.

Stop by for drinks, music, hair, fashion and moi :)

5 pm - 8 pm.

Bedford Gallery's Bg Craft Fest

This Saturday, November 13th in Walnut Creek!

Kick off your holiday shopping with some beautiful handmade designs AND check out this really awesome gallery at the same time. Their current exhibit, "The American Scene", commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Workers Progress Administration (WPA) created by FDR in 1935 in which thousands of artists were employed to create posters, murals and paintings.

Looks very cool. Hope to see you there!

Felting Class! (class is FULL)

I'll be teaching an intro class to wet felting at Peace Industry Rugs in San Francisco!

Ever wondered how a bunch of cotton-candy looking wool turned into a solid and beautiful fabric using water, soap and agitation? Then you'll need to sign up to find out :)

Space is limited.....e-mail me to join the class - papaververt@gmail.com  CLASS IS FULL(yay!)

Check out some pics of my last class - we had so much fun!

Blog? What blog?

Apparently I have a blog. My brain has mentioned this to me several times, but as usual I was crocheting, felting or watching endless amounts of instant-play Netflix while doing the crocheting and felting to hear exactly what it was saying. But just now it yelled rather rudely in my face. Geez!

Instead of writing that I will do a better job at keeping at my blog, I will post some pics of some new items that will be at Renegade this weekend!



I'm so excited about the show. I've likened it to going to craft camp before, so imagine that feeling when you were a kid, packing up, getting ready to go on an awesome weekend camp adventure where you get to see all your old friends! It's totally like that - minus the s'mores but there will be beer there. An adult craft camp :)

And one last thing....some cute l'il hanging lanterns I made, playing around with some cream wool that I handfelted. I used glass yogurt jars and made metal wire hangers. They would look equally cute filled with fresh cut flowers on your breakfast table.

(poppy)shop

I already got a sneak peek yesterday of this awesome pop-up shop when I dropped off some of my pieces. Be sure to stop by to check out a beautifully curated mix of vintage and local handmade talent, new & mid-century furniture, art & home accessories!

Come See Me at the De Young

I've been wanting to check out friday nights at the De Young Museum for a while and now I get the chance to be a part of the evening! The East Bay Express, partnering with the museum and coinciding with the Amish quilt exhibit, is featuring local artists "at work". I'll be setting up a table there with other artisans where we will showcase our work and how we make it.

And the best part? A live big band orchestra, a dancing coach to teach you some moves and the cafe open for dinner and cocktails. From 5 pm - 8:45 p.m....read about it here.

First Local Social Event

With me! Patty Benson! Felting extraordinaire! Well...not quite, but the gals of Local Social did give me a very lovely intro before the class. If you haven't heard me mention Local Social yet here's the low down on this very cool new venture:

"Local Social is a burgeoning events-based collaborative where we will be hosting intimate events about once a month.
Our focus is on the Bay Area and our mission is to merge elements of design, art and craft through community collaboration."

The next event is called "Plant. Shake. Enjoy." where guests will be learning from a talented cocktail expert how to make specialty drinks using fresh herbs from your garden. You'll also have the chance to pot your own herbs to take home. Oh and did I mention that it will be held at the Margarido House? Yes please! (rsvp by April 23rd)

Back to the felting class now.....Catherine and Gretchen of Local Social laid out the most beautiful and tasty spread based on all things tea: hot and cold mint and jasmine tea, tea infused vodkas, (now THIS is my kind of class) home baked goods, fresh fruits, agave nectar and more.

Each person got to go home with their own hand felted wool trivet/pot holder/ decorative piece.




See more pics here.

Craft Hope for Haiti

Before I found out about Craft Hope, I wasn't sure where to give in regards to the devastation in Haiti. There are so many ways to donate money but it was overwhelming and I felt stuck. I stumbled upon Craft Hope through facebook and thought it was such a perfect way to mix donating my work while helping out a charity like Doctor's Without Borders. A little about Craft Hope:

Craft Hope is a love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those who need them. It is our hope to combine our love for crafting and desire to help others into a project to make a difference around the world.

They opened up a Craft Hope Etsy Shop and I donated an Individual Felted Bowl and a set of my Roly Dot Bowls and within a couple of days they were sold, with all the proceeds going to charity! They have made $20,000 since January 15th and it just blows my mind. My sincere gratitude goes out to the ladies of Craft Hope and all the work they are doing behind the scenes. You gals rock.

So please check out the Craft Hope for Haiti shop on Etsy and know that anything you purchase there will have all the proceeds go straight to Doctor's Without Borders.

And the Nominee's Are.....

The forever faboo blog Poppytalk is launching an online award ceremony celebrating the handmade community called "The Poppies".

First of all, how cool is that? Any chance to show any love and respect to my fellow artists is always great so I've been all over it this past week, voting for every category so far.

And secondly, I'm happy to say that I'm in the "Favorite Handmade Housewares Category". I can be the worst self-promoter, but I'm putting that shyness aside and yelling at you to VOTE FOR ME!!!

And hello? The Poppies? Papaver? My business name means Green Poppy in french & latin. Coincidence??? :)

Fun Times at the Pop-Up-Shop

Oh my stars, I am so pooped after this weekend. My pal Kelly and I met up Friday night (she pulled an all-nighter and I went home to sleep for 3.5 hours...sorry Kelly!) to work on the shop and Saturday morning at 11, we opened up the Holiday Pop-Up-Shop! It was busy, busy with lots of her past Relish at Home customers coming back to shop some good deals and I got to meet the nicest people who came out to see & shop my designs.

The store will be opened this Friday, Saturday & Sunday, Dec 11-14, 11 am - 5 pm. Check out Kelly's site for more details.

*note* the site doesn't mention that the shop is open this Friday but it is!

Come Say Hi! Oh...and a sale this Friday

First things first.....
Sale this Friday, December 4th
Get 10% off orders over $75 and 15% off orders over $100 in my Etsy shop or website. All discounts are before taxes&shipping and will be refunded to you after purchase.

I can't believe it's December 1st, but I'm pretty sure I say this EVERY year. I absolutely love the holidays and I've always had such a romanticized view of this time of year. You know....hot chocolate in front of a roaring fireplace, singing Christmas carols, going to see all the lights and decorations in the city (especially London when I was a kid living over there) and watching all the classic movies that go along with the holidays. If I don't see "It's a Wonderful Life" at least once during the season, then it was NOT a proper holiday season. My husband likes to quote all the famous lines in his best Jimmy Stewart accent months in advance to get me riled up and annoyed....and if I hear "Zuzu's Petals!" one more time, he'll be very surprised where he will find that lump of coal.

I digress....I wanted to let everyone know where they can come find me in person for some holiday shopping this month!

December 5-6 and 12-13 - Berkeley, CA


My friend and I are doing a 2-weekend Holiday Pop-Up-Shop at ActivSpace in Berkeley. Kelly Sperbeck was the owner of Relish At Home for several years at this location, and she will be opening her doors again to sell beautiful jewelry, home accessories, stationary etc. I will be there too!

December 19-20 - Renegade Craft Fair - SF, CA


Don't miss the Renegade Craft Fair people...seriously... the fair is so much fun with the most stellar line up of artists . Period.

NY Times

My pinpods and dot vase were in the NY Times today! 

There is an exhibit called "Fashioning Felt" opening tomorrow at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and oh how I wish I could go check it out. 

Trunk Show Tomorrow Night!

Also, if you're in San Francisco tomorrow evening, stop by Rare Device where I will be having a trunk show from 7 -9 p.m. And yes, this means free wine....I won't hold it against you if you stop by for that. 

Papaver Vert Holiday!

Here's where you can find me in the Bay Area for some Papaver Vert holiday shopping!

Thursday, December 11th - San Francisco
Appel and Frank Productions
The Regency Center - 5 -9 pm
(put in code DESIGNERSF to get in for free)

December 19th - Berkeley
Relish at Home
Papaver Vert Trunk Show - 5-8 pm

December 20th - San Francisco in the Mission
Holiday Shopping Event w/Local Artisans
724 Valencia St@18th - 1-8 pm

Like Craft Camp

I feel like I have just finally recovered from the SF Craft Council Show a couple of weekends ago and today it was for-reals back to work, work, work!
I had the best time at the show and it being my first ever, it couldn't have been any better. The other artists in the AltCraft section were just the most perfect neighbors to have and at the end of the long weekend when we were all packing up, I seriously felt like it was the last sad sad day of summer camp and I had to say goodbye to all my new friends until next summer! It was like Craft Camp and I had the best bunkmates :)
Here are some pics of my booth set up, which I had a lot of fun setting up:
My new dot vases which I absolutely love......they should be in my Etsy shop soon....
And my new Pin Pods! These were a big hit at the show, selling out of all that I brought with me. These will also be in my Etsy shop soon!

My Virtual Market Table at Poppytalk!

The lovely people over at Poppytalk (a really great design blog and then some) have come up with a really cool concept they've been doing since late last year. They have a monthly curated online street market that changes themes, showcasing emerging talent around the world and giving you the chance to buy some great handmade finds. What's so great about it is that they've done the scouting for you so you just have to peruse the "tables" to discover some really amazing things.

And I get to be a part of this month's theme!! - "Home Sweet Home"-Housewares Market.
So please click on the Poppytalk link to the right to check it out.

Exciting News

I am so SO excited to have been chosen to be a part of the American Craft Council show this year in San Francisco! I will be in a new juried section called "AltCraft" with ten other designers. As excited as I am, I am just as nervous if not more so since this will be my first real show. This means product.....I gotta have product.....lots of it to sell. I am so happy to have someone new helping me crochet up a storm - thanks Maho! - so I'll hopefully have enough for 3 days of retail.

Being accepted to this show has been a real eye opener in regards to taking my business to the next level. It's not that I never wanted to, it's just that it sometimes takes something to shake me in my shoes to get that lightbulb lit over my head! I'm looking into possible overseas help, like fair trade co-ops that can keep my work handmade while benefiting the workers at the same time. It's been hard though, wanting to keep my products mine and made by my own hand, and I am realizing that it could get more and more difficult to keep up if I don't explore my options. I really want to keep my product something special, made my hand and not something that is cranked out of a machine so hopefully people will really get that and appreciate it too. I go back and forth between "must make more!" to the idea of "slow design". I need to find that happy balance and I figure if I'm ok with the process, then others will be too. My daily mantra needs to be "Chiillllllll..."

Here's a look at some new items in my shop:

Spring Open Studio

I will be selling my designs at Whitney Smith's studio in Oakland, CA next Saturday, May 17th for her annual Spring Open Studio.At least come by to get some Whitney Smith pottery and some jewelry by Leah Rivers!
Hope to see you there!