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.

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!

(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.

Out and About in Oakland

(make sure to click on the photos to see them bigger)

Alleyway in Chinatown
Chinatown Fish Market

The guy saw my camera and made me take a picture. When I said no he yelled really loud.....never argue with a large knife wielding fish guy.

The Cathedral of Christ the Light

Wow. This place just blew me away. (second pic is of a building nearby, not the cathedral). The new cathedral just opened recently and was awe struck when we walked inside. It's like a big honeycomb, made up of Douglas fir and by far the most amazing part was the 90-foot high Omega window made of aluminum panels. It is actually perforated with 94,000 holes (94,000 HOLES people!) and an image of Christ shines through. According to their website, the image was borrowed from a sculpture in Chartres Cathedral in France. 

It was very beautiful, modern and peaceful inside.

Come to the Island

If you know me, and you get me talking about where I currently live, then you'll know that I can go on a bit......and then some.

I live on what is technically an island.
Yes!
An island!
Smack dab here in Northern California in what is called the San Francisco bay area.
Ahhhhh Alameda......how I love thee.

Well, after the studio sale at Whitney Smith's this weekend I decided to take a real, whole day off. So Charlie Bravo and I headed out to one of the many splendors of our Isle of Love......a vodka distillery! (complete with palm trees)Located on the now defunct naval base on Alameda Point, (which also holds the monthly antique fair. And if you haven't gone yet, then you need to have a serious sit-down talk with yourself) in a huge hangar is St.George Spirits which is home to Hangar 1 Vodka. Some real serious stuff in the vodka world, handmade and using real fruit. For $10 I got to try all their offerings plus keep my cute little trumpet glass. And yes, I felt reallllll good and happy afterwards. They are also home to the first place in the U.S to make and carry Absinthe which was banned up until 2007. Crazy! It was a little out of my league but I gave it a go like I knew what I was doing. The best part about St.George Spirits is that they have a great tasting room up front so you not only have a cool view into the distillery on one side, but a great view of the San Francisco skyline on the other. I'm definitely going to come back with some friends. Maybe with a picnic since they have seating outside!Afterwards, we took a long walk exploring the naval base. I just love that kind of landscape - part ghost-town, part old-industrial with some cool historic buildings and barracks. We felt like little ants in between the huge hangars.We found some vintage mobile homes sitting together in their final resting place.

We tried to peek into some of the hangars and warehouses hoping to see something but it was all very spooky and airy.

I would love a place one day with these kind of metal and glass sliding doors.

Some bicycle wheels artfully displayed on a fence.

I *heart* Alameda :)