Here comes…
SHOW OF AWESOME!!!

It is this Saturday, the 19th from 10am to 3pm.
And like old times it will be at the Doug Fir Lounge.

Come shop and meet crafty superstars from across the country selling handmade goodness!
- Featuring 40 local and national vendors and a few authors too!
- Free DIY project at the Make Something Awesome Area.
- All ages and free admission.

See the vendor list here: http://www.hellocraft.com/summit/the-show-of-awesome/

Come buy gifts, or maybe a little something for yourself!

This event is happening in conjunction with the Summit of Awesome and is sponsored by Crafty Wonderland, DIY Lounge and Hello Craft.

I do hope you’ll come!

This last weekend was incredible. I’ll cherish it in my heart always, as mushy as that sounds. I want to send out a huge thanks to Cathy and Torie for organizing such an awesome show! And lest we not forget… to you all that came out and supported it! Crafty Wonderland is definitely a staple in making Portland what it is. I’m so thankful to be able to experience it. So much creative talent at the event. It was so cool to see the faces behind shops that I have favorited on Etsy. I wish I had a chance to go around and meet more of you!

I took many photos of the weekend. You can check them all out on my Flickr. I posted a few below too.

Thanks to my friend Heidi for capturing this shot! www.heidihoffmanphotography.com

Make Something Awesome Area organized by Hello Craft

People a shoppin’. I got to sneak out of my booth when it was quiet for a moment to snap a photo.

I had a ball today meeting new friends and visiting with old friends. Looking forward to the 2nd day!

My booth…

Starting at 11:00am Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale will open it’s doors. You don’t know how uber UBER excited I am. It’s ridiculous.

Here’s a sneak peek of some handmade magnets that I will be selling…

Underneath the glass you can see vintage maps of Portland, Astoria, Corvallis, Tillamook, and more! If you look closer you will see that I drew tiny leaves around the outer edge.

Hope to see ya there!

PS: Yoshimi was being really goofy. She discovered a twisty tie and was playing with nonstop.

What a BEAU-TI-FUL morning we have here in Stumptown. I enjoyed the sunshine on my way over to Crema. I thought I would share some of the rays that are shining in the office.

I signed up for a DailyBooth account the other day. Do feel free to add me as a friend on there. In the past I’ve been kinda hesitant to sign-up but after moseying around a lil’ bit and viewing other users silly faces I was persuaded. DailyBooth is basically like a visual journal. It’s a place where you can upload and share portraits of yourself on a daily basis. Pretty fun concept, eh??

The last three days I have been blaring (at least twice a day) the new She And Him album, ‘Volume Two’. My husband would say he can vouch for this. He doesn’t have the nerdy obsession for Zooey as I do. And hey that’s okay. The album is not released yet– won’t be until March 23rd. Thanks to NPR’s website you can stream it! Take a gander here.

Wait, wait! Don’t leave yet. I know, you’re about to think… tl, dr. BUT I have some very thrilling news.

I was accepted into Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Spring Show! It will be at the Oregon Convention Center on May 1st and 2nd. Be sure to mark your Google Calendar, iCal, Moleskine, etc. It’s going to be glorious… 200 vendors with their handmade goodness. Keep posted on Crafty Wonderland’s site.

Last but not least… I have drawn a new kitchen herb. May I present Nutmeg.

Nutmeg print :: 8” x 10” :: View in Etsy Shop

“Nutmeg is usually associated with sweet, spicy dishes — pies, puddings, custards, cookies and spice cakes. It combines well with many cheeses, and is included in soufflés and cheese sauces. In soups it works with tomatoes, split pea, chicken or black beans. It complements egg dishes and vegetables like cabbage, spinach, broccoli, beans, onions, and eggplant.”

I found a photo of the actual fruit. I’m amazed of the dried “lacy” reddish covering of the seed… I see a resemblance to human capillaries.

Poster created by Matt Jones of London.

Yes, that’s right. 2010. Let’s make things. Let’s do things.

In fact, my ‘10 resolution is related to this inspiring poster. As I sit here sipping my chai latte, I’m getting excited for a brand new year. I want to share my art with the Portland community, be it in a coffee shop, a boutique, or a gallery. I have decided on another way that I will be giving back to Portland as well. For the year 2010 I will be donating 5% of my Etsy sales to the Portland Rescue Mission. Almost everyday I see homelessness around Portland. I really want to help give hope to those men, women, and children.

Year two in Portland has been life changing. I met lots of peachy creatives, either crafty, design, or technical. I submerged myself into the Portland creative community.  With these new friends of mine, we planned a few graphic design meet-ups. We did happy hours. We had crafting afternoons & evenings. We went to coffee shops and doodled in our sketchbooks. We geeked out over art supplies at art stores. We also did street fairs. We did craft shows. I did my very first Crafty Wonderland craft show… and a second one, the very last monthly Crafty Wonderland in November. And even the monstrous Crafty Wonderland Colossal Holiday Sale. 2009 was the year I started this blog, February 14th. In 2009 I also started making necklaces, earrings, Herb drawings, and lest we not forget the monthly documentary video shorts.

I hope everyone has found the Holiday Season enchanting. I hope you were able to create memorable moments with close friends and family even if you were snowed in and unable to be with them in person. I am personally thankful for Skype & webcams. I do hope this blog post finds you well.

I will leave you with this mosaic. The first mosaic I have ever made. It’s filled with photos from 2009 of the things that inspired me.

Passing along some 2009 inspiration bliss, enjoy!

Click on mosaic to view more details.

Just this weekend was Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Holiday Sale. Not only was I a shopper this year, but I was also a vendor. This was my first time ever vending at the holiday sale. Last year I & Chelsea Ann aka Itty Bitty Birdy came to the event as shoppers. We had a ball, so we decided to make it a goal to be vendors this year. I had oh so much fun Sunday. I met so many wonderful people– Crafters, Artists, and appreciators alike. I wanted to give a huge shout out to those who came, all 7,500 of you who supported handmade. I am so graciously thankful to have had the opportunity to be involved! I’m definitely doing the next, and the next, and the next…

I took a bunch of snaps from that day. Click on the pics below to see larger & more details. Enjoy!

Our booth!

My booth!

My friend Chelsea Ann aka Itty Bitty Birdy’s booth!

My new acquaintance Suki aka Bird’s Eye View Studio and her booth!

My friend Cate Anevski and her booth!

One of my favorite Artists, Rachel Ann Austin & her booth!

I even got to meet one of my favorite Artists, Kate Bingaman-Burt aka Obsessive Consumption!

I wish I could have taken more photos of all the others. It felt like the whole day flew by!

Well… I better get to creating my holiday card for this year. Eep! Check back tomorrow… I will have some news for you Stumptown locals out there.

Oh my! I haven’t written a blog post since October 12th! Here’s a quick run-through of the latest.

New Earrings…
October Nights and Black Kitten’s Green Eyes
are available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

My Dill drawing of my Herb Series is featured in an Etsy Treasury called
Dill or Sweet. They can’t be beat!
Click here to view.

On Sunday, November 8th I will be selling my art and jewelry at Crafty Wonderland.
More info here!

I’m doing my very first give-away on here!
I will be giving away an 8″ x 10″ print of my Poppy Seed drawing!

There are 2 ways to win:

1. Send a tweet on Twitter with the hashtag: #atealeaf. Maybe something like: “Hoping to win this awesome print: http://tinyurl.com/poppyseed! #atealeaf”. I’ll watch the hashtag and automatically register you for the contest.
2. Or register using Facebook. All you have to do is invite 10 friends to become fans of the A Tea Leaf Facebook fanpage here. Once you’ve done that just let me know in the comments below and I’ll register you to win.

The winner will be contacted and announced on Friday, November 6th.

Over Labor Day weekend my hubby & I hit the open road. We decided to make our way down to Salem for some Oregon State Fair action. Those galoshes that I received for my birthday came in handy for sure, walking around those muddy fairgrounds. We both had cravings for some prime, deep-fried, fair food. We chowed down on corndogs and elephant ears. I took a lot of snaps of amusement rides and game booths for inspiration for a current project of mine. Maybe I’ll share them at a later date with you. I feel like I’m about to bombard you with other snaps that I took. Subject… Oregon State Fair animal cuteness & silliness.

There were so many bunnies, I wanted to take a nose-scrunchin’ character home with me. This furball stuck out among them, he’s a French Angora rabbit. It was as if my Ragdoll cat was transformed into a hare.

What is there not to love about an Alpaca?! Look at those ears! I got some good footage of him munchin’ for my September documentary video.

So I learned that this lil’ guy is a Pygmy goat. He was under 2 feet tall! I’ve kept my distance away from goats, due to a past incident. A traumatic incident of a goat chasing & bucking me at camp when I was 8. We’ll let this one fly under the radar.

This one I couldn’t resist submitting it to Cute Overload. Check out that dopey lower lip!Okay, last one… I posted a short clip on Flickr. *Suspense*

Now I gotta do some “getting ready for this weekend’s Crafty Wonderland” work this evening.

Mark your calendars for Portland’s Monthly Art and Craft Extravaganza…

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Doug Fir Lounge

830 E. Burnside, Portland, Oregon

11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Free Admission

I will be selling my art as well as my latest handmade goods…

Sequence of blankets – earrings – Click here or image above to purchase & for more info

I love to meet fresh faces, so do stop by and introduce yourself on September 13th!

Oh and check out the other vendors on the Crafty Wonderland site here!