My very sweet friend Elaine and I took a trip to Voodoo Doughnut Too the other day. I bought a bucket of doughnuts. Crazy huh? And no, I didn’t eat all of them by myself. I like to share, I really do. I bought them with the intention of sharing them with my coworkers. At Voodoo they have a photobooth…

Elaine makes wonderful and very intricate crocheted jewelry. If you are interested you can check out her Facebook Fan page here.

Here’s a quick drawing of Monkey Flower I did the other day at Drawing Club. I love Gelly Rolls’ pen series called Moonlight. I really love that they are opaque, waterproof, and you can draw on vellum to. I only have a few pens of the series… blue, white, and turquoise. I saw on Amazon that there is a pack of 10 assorted colors. Weee! I’m adding these to my Art Wish List.

Lastly, the earrings that I made titled, “That time my toes met the shoreline” are being mailed out to their new home all the way from the West Coast to the East Coast, New Jersey! Shortly after that order was made another order was placed. So exciting that these cute little earrings are selling like hot cakes today. I have a few more left. So if you’ve had your eyes on them, you may want to make the jump!

My love and I took a bike ride to Mississippi Avenue for the weekend. It’s one of my favorites. There are so many shops and street art.

We were so excited to see that Cup & Saucer opened a location on Mississippi. We couldn’t resist eating there for lunch. If you haven’t ate there I totally recommend it!

Check out the delicious grub we ordered…

Garden Omelet with scone & potatoes
Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, mushroom, spinach and cheddar

Lucky Scramble
Bacon, mushroom, green onion, cheddar cheese scrambled with three eggs on top of potatoes

Lastly, here’s a recent drawing I did when I was visiting Nebraska. I finally snapped a photo for you to see. Enjoy!

I have so many things to share with you about my recent visit to my homestate, Nebraska. Being there for 2 weeks, I couldn’t help taking lots of photography. I plan on dedicating a few future blog posts to the highlights. Above is a shot I snapped in rural eastern Nebraska. I do miss the drives; being out and about between Columbus, Lincoln, and Omaha. It was nice to be reacquainted with the rows and rows of corn stalks. One thing I didn’t miss was the 90° – 100° humid mosquito infested summer weather.

When I left Portland at the end of June I began reading my friend, Kim’s novel suggestion… The Time Traveler’s Wife. Wow, it was such a good read. It’s confusing at first with all the time traveling dates. I don’t think I have ever read a novel (that was not a mandatory high school or college requirement) so fast. Niffenegger’s writing is to die for. I fell in love with her writing style. This is really her first book? I didn’t notice. Very well done Niffenegger. Before I read this book I wasn’t fond of the name Henry. Felt so old-fashioned. After reading this book, let’s be honest, I have a new appreciation for it. I loved the dreamy character Henry. Who wouldn’t. He’s compassionate, dashing, and a time traveling adventurous stud. I don’t normally read chick novels but this one went well under the radar for me. I give it 5 stars. I’m a little leary of watching the movie. It seems like when books are made into movies they are just not as good.

Chick novels… chick flicks… I only like a handful of either of them. Maybe 3 or 4.  Love & Sex is an adorable and funny one. I watched this flick a couple times this week. One of my favorite quotes is when Adam says to Kate, “I cheese sandwich you.” If you haven’t watched it, the 2 were discussing, that after a while, saying “I love you” is like saying “cheese sandwich”.  Saying “I love you” starts to lose it’s meaning.

This is off subject, but I’ll give you a little heads up of what I have been crafting up these days. I crafted these… “Handpicking La France Pears In Japan” earrings. When the day comes that I get to visit Japan, I do hope to visit a pear orchard. I love how the La France Pear is uniquely spherical, like these lemon jade beads. I have listed a few pairs in the ol’ Etsy shop. Click here to be directed to my shop.

Well I hope you lovelies have a great weekend. If you are in Portland… stay cool. It’s going to be a warm one! It would be a good time to go to the coast.

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!

Good morning to you all! It’s very early for me… 4:00am. Some silly reason I’ve been waking up this time early every day this week. Let me state– THIS NEVER EVER HAPPENS. I heart sleeping. Make that a gigantic heart. Ok, so I’ve been pretty terrible about updating this blog. Eek! Has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? I really need to kick myself in the rear. It even has been perfect blogging weather…rainy. Bleh, I am pretty tired of this stinking hard core rain we have been having in Portland. Well, I don’t hate it completely. I love having my apartment windows open. Hearing the pitter-patter is nice. And so is the smell. Mmmm. But I am yearning for a little Vitamin D and bicycling that doesn’t involve soggy skinny jeans.

For some odd reason the rain has gotten me thinking of “David the Gnome”. If you were a child in the mid to late-80’s like me & you had cable… you probably were a big Nickelodeon fan. I’m curious how many of you out there liked the TV show “David the Gnome”? I had a flash back of being around the age of 5, all curled up on the couch with my mom, watching the show that would eventually be subdued by an afternoon nap. All while it was raining, of course. I wonder what I would think of it, if I watched it today. My mom sure loved it. And I’m pretty sure today I’m the same age as she was then.

Very soon I will be making my first roadtrip of the season out to the coast. And absolutely NO Mr. Rain! You are sooo not invited. Sun? absolutely!

Speaking of roadtrips, remember when I posted on here about my drive out to Mount St Helens? Oh… back in the Spring of last year? Well here’s the post if you would like to read it. With all this H20 jibber-jabber, here are some earrings that I crafted. With Clearwater Lake on the brain, I named them…

“That time my toes met the shoreline”

:: View in Etsy Shop ::

I adore these faceted glass beads. They’re awesome! See how their colors, teal & amber, blend together? It’s especially cool how they hit the light. I really wish I had more of them. Yes, unfortunately I only will be able to make a few more. I guess you can say they are limited edition. He he.

Well you nice folks have an excellent weekend! I will leave you with a sketchbook drawing from yesterday. Enjoy!

Maybe see ya on Monday!

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.

Today has been fun. I took a trip down to Jo-Ann’s, stocked up in some crafty supplies. I’m getting ready for the humongous show coming up next weekend! I then hit up Best Baguette for lunch. Delicious! It’s becoming one of my favorite lunch spots. It’s like French and Asian food fused together. This time around I ordered the grilled chicken with Asian spices on a baguette. I couldn’t resist ordering one of their Mango Boba teas as well.

After lunch I made a visit to the Goodwill and found a vintage suitcase for only 7 bucks. What a steal! I also found a vintage travel Scrabble game. I plan on making some jewelry out of these mini letters. Since I brought them home, Yoshimi has been really into playing with the letters. I better be careful and keep them away from her. Otherwise they may be on the floor in every room very soon.

I’m really excited for next Saturday and Sunday! I’ve been counting down the days until Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Spring Show. Everyday I’ve been doing a little bit to prep for it. I have even made some new handmade goodies that haven’t made their way into my Etsy shop. I found some great frames at Ikea the other day. At next weekend’s show I decided that I will be selling some of my prints already in frames like above. I have even went in and signed the mattes.

Yesterday I found out where my booth will be next weekend! I posted it so you know where exactly where to find me and my handmade goods. I’m super stoked about my neighbors too… Soma Venus & Camp Smartypants. We are going to have so much fun.

Welp, need to get off the Mac. I have a date with crafting for the rest of the evening. Maybe Yoshimi will join in on the fun. Checking out the dvd collection… maybe watch some Veronica Mars (Yes, I’m a geek), Curb Your Enthusiasm, or Freaks and Geeks? Decisions decisions decisions.

“CocoRosie are two American-born sisters, Sierra and Bianca, who started making music together in Paris in 2003. Their first album, La Maison de Mon Rêve, was released in 2004 and their second album, Noah’s Ark, followed in 2005. Their third and, to now, most recent album, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, came out in 2007. All three of these albums were released worldwide on Touch and Go Records and earned critical acclaim both overseas and at home. The nomadic duo (currently and temporarily residing in New Mexico) spent much of 2008 writing and recording in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Berlin, New York, and Paris, finding amazing and diverse musicians to collaborate along the way. The result is their eleven song Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans.” -via Insound.com

Last week I discovered that one of my top 10 favorite bands, CocoRosie is releasing a new album this May! AND you can pre-order the LP from Insound.com!  In college/dial-up days I used to regularly surf Insound, I feel a lil’ nostalgic for the first days of exploring all the bands out there. Epitonic was another favorite site. Hmm… I wonder if they are still up and running. I’m really really really looking forward to putting some new vinyl on the turntable!

And then yesterday while flipping through the Portland Mercury a friend and I found out that CocoRosie is performing here in Portland on June 26th! I have never been to one of their shows. Their music is pretty wild… very unique. Their genre is kinda indie… folk… experimental… and a little bit electronic. In a few of their songs you can also hear children’s toys playing in the background. I first heard their music back in Nebraska on UNL’s radio station, KRNU.

A few interesting facts that I found out about CocoRosie…

• The name CocoRosie comes from their nicknames from their mother. “Rosie” is Sierra’s and “Coco” is Bianca’s.
• Both of their parents have Native American ties which influences their music.
• Sierra & Bianca lost contact for about 5 years. Sierra wanted to be an opera singer and moved to France to pursue her interest. Bianca had an interest in visual arts & writing. Off she went to New York. They reunited in 2003 to begin making music together.

Lastly, I leave you with some of my favorite tunes of theirs. Enjoy and have a great weekend.