Big Country

If you know me even a little bit you probably are aware that I am kind of really into Pandora Radio. As if often the case, I was listening to it today at work and for the first time In A Big Country by Big Country popped up on my Jens Lekman station. I got totally psyched as soon as I heard the opening notes because a few years ago this was my ULTIMATE JAM OF THE YEAR. I don't know why I loved this song so much all of a sudden in the summer of 2003, but, before today, I don't think I'd heard it since then. Somehow it doesn't sound the same on computer as it did played from the tapedeck of my stereo. Still, it sounded pretty awesome. This of course reminds me that this year I saw a movie called The Big Country, starring Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston:

The thing about this movie is that it is SOOOOO long. It's like three hours long. The other thing about this movie is that it has the best fight scene in cinema history. I used to give that distinction to Class, with Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy, but The Big Country's fight scene is in a whole other category. It's in a whole other galaxy for that matter. Just a The Big Country is an almost ridiculously long movie, the fight scene, between Peck and Heston, is ludicrously long. As you're watching it and it's going longer and longer you're thinking, "what the heck is going on? This is insane. How much longer can I watch these two grown men tussling about in the dim light of evening? There hasn't been a close up since this thing started." But as it goes on and on and on you slowly come to realize that it is the greatest fight scene ever comitted to film. I can't explain it. You just have to watch it. I know I haven't been painting the most flattering picture of the movie, but it is one the best movies I've watched this year. So, to recap, I am recommending Pandora.com, Big Country the band, and The Big Country the movie. Now it's all up to you.

mel

Boo

So, the craft fair was....bad. I don't know, it was fine, it's just that I didn't sell anything. Which is ok. It was still fun. And I got a buncha buncha books made, and I've been slowly getting those up on my etsy page, and now they are selling like hotcakes! So everything is ok. I just don't think the holiday craft fair at my place of work is the right market for me. But hey, I learned that lesson, and it's important to learn, right? Anyway, do you want to see some of my books? Ok, here we go

I really like this one, it's from this really old atlas (1942!) that I bought a long time ago, but I had never used before. I am really happy with how they turned out, I think they look really great. You can see that I did these a little differently than usual, they have "wrap around" covers and I think they're cool. And since the maps are interesting because they are so old; the world looked pretty different then. I think on this one you can see that there was no Vietnam yet, it was called French IndoChina. These would be perfect for history buffs, they would really get a kick out of them I think.

Not too much else going on, just chugging away making books and knitting a lot. In fact, I taught Steve how to knit! It's pretty cute. He asked me to teach him, I think, because he can't stand that there is something I'm good at that he can't challenge me at. He's very competitive. And I'm happy to report that he's doing really well, he's picking it up very quickly. All my success with teaching people how to knit tempts me to start offering lessons on craigslist or something. Steve is the seventh or eighth of my friends that I've taught the knitting basics, but probably it's different teaching your friends than it is teaching strangers. It's something to think about though, I guess.

Oh, just one more thing. I've been really enjoying this blog lately: mccain blogette. It's written by John McCain's daughter, who is on the campaign trail with him, riding the "straight talk express" or whatever his bus is called. Don't be scared, this is NOT a political blog, it is pretty much 100% fluff, but Ms. McCain is strangely winning. And she has the cutest clothes. But mostly I like it because it is a look at campaigning from a point of view that someone like me (early 20s, female, not particularly interested in politics) can appreciate. And it makes John McCain look really likable, which is a feat; you would think the McCain peeps would be pimping it a little harder, they could probably win some lady voters.

mel

click click

Okay, as promised, here is the clickable list of BEST holiday sale participating shops. Enjoy!
Flurrsprite
Roska (hey, that's me!)
Yatsu
subu
DeckeldegdeBindery
YellowcraftyChick
Arrrt!
Moonbindery
KupoKiley
MyHandboundBooks
Temno
TheCraftyKitten
RePaper
JennysBooks
LadyArtisan
Jellygnite
Tomoebookarts
Scodioli
MoonlightBindery
LifeStoriesBooks
ThisisBexx
LostMyMarbles
DevilsParadise
LolaLuv

mel

the BEST sale ever!

Just wanted to let everyone know, the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team is having a holiday sale, one week only starting today! You can see all the participating shops above, just barely. I'll post later today with links to all the shops. By the way, I'm offering free shipping on everything. Too bad I only have five items....I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend, in addition to getting ready for that darn craft fair.

I don't want to be all down, so let me end with something good. My MOO cards came yesterday! They are so awesome, I am really really pleased with them. They are so tiny and cute and they have that nice kind of rubbery matte finish; they're just great. I plan to use some of them as price tags at the fair, I think they'll be perfect because they have my website on them and they say thank you and they have a big white space on the back so I'll even have room to write the materials for scarves. I'm getting excited!

mel

be careful what you wish for

Okay, I know, I know! I haven't posted in a really long time. I'm sorry. There, now that's out of the way. I've been really busy with class and all kinds of things. I'm working really hard to get stuff ready; I was accepted to be a vendor at the holiday craft fair at my work, but it's on the 14th! So soon! And I barely have anything to sell! Today I started to get a little stressed out. Before, I was just excited at the prospect of my very first craft show, but today I'm nervous. I have sooooo much work to do. I will try really hard to remember my camera that day, then I can post some pictures of my table. I don't know how I'm going to set up, I have a few ideas but I haven't thought about it that much. I'm selling my books and some scarves and maybe some hats. My mom sells her scarves at her work and she displays them in a big vase with the scarves all spilling out, so I might do something like that. I don't know! You should leave a comment if you have any suggestions for me, ok?

I started doing my Christmas shopping today. It's going pretty well, I guess. I found things for four of the people on my list. I'm trying to do most of my shopping online this year, mostly on Etsy of course. I don't really have any ideas of what I want to get for people though, so I'm just browsing and choosing randomly. That's why it's not going especially quickly.


Well, gotta get back to work. I'll leave you with this cool shop I came across on Etsy today. 2ndDraft, they're pretty new to Etsy but they had this bracelet on the front page today. Everything in the shop is made with film; microfilm or regular film. It makes for a really interesting look. I love this clutch:

mel

I Heart You, Porkins

Sigh. Ok, geeking out alert! I don't know why, but I am having some nostalgic Star Wars withdrawals. I guess watching Star Wars used to be a pretty common occurrence for me; my roommate and I both loved it, she had it on DVD and I had it on VHS. You know what though? My roommate moved to Sacramento and took her DVDs with her, and we got rid of our VCR and all our (my) VHS tapes when we moved. For the first time in probably 10 years or more, I do not own the original Star Wars trilogy! I can't just watch it whenever I want, which is pretty sad. Something must be done, or my once formidable store of Star Wars trivia will dwindle out of existence. I'll have to check out netflix and see if Star Wars is one of those movies you can watch on their website. Probably not I guess.

Anyway, enough of that geekery! Sorry for that. So, oh my gosh you guys, we have so much catching up to do! Obviously, I failed at NaBloPoMo, but that's ok, because while I was doing it I had so much fun. I have total faith that next year I will succeed! I'll be training all year. The awesomeness of the Jens Lekman show was enough to make up for my failure. It was sooooo good. I am so glad that I was able to go, and that I got my tickets early because it totally sold out! I recommend to all of you, if you get a chance, go see his show! He sounds awesome live, the energy is so high, and you can tell that he loves music, and the joy is infectious. I don't want to go on too long, especially since I don't have any pictures to share, but I will post this link to a song from his new album, and I hope you'll all click and listen to it. Click Here Y'all.

In more "music" "news", I am seeing two more shows next month! Both are at The Great American Music Hall, which is a super awesome venue that is only a few blocks from my house! First is Jonathan Richman (love love love) and second is Stephen Malkmus. I am a little leery about the SM show. Pavement is my all time favorite band, and I have been known to embarrassingly, drunkenly call Stephen Malkmus a genius, and I love the first SM solo album to DEATH....but I kind of hated the last two albums. So...it's kind of a shaky proposition. I hope it doesn't suck. And Steve is going to go with me! Even though he never goes to shows! I'm going to be keeping my fingers crossed. I know Jonathan Richman will be awesome, I saw him once before, actually twice, and I'm sure this show will be even better because it's not at some douchey bar in the Mission.

Let's get to the crafting, shall we? After all, this isn't a music blog, dude! There is some exciting crafting stuff to discuss, first, I made a sale! Very surprising, because I hadn't listed since the beginning of October and I was sure no one was even looking at my shop. I guess I was wrong. People are looking at my shop a bit now, because I finally posted new items! Two new notebooks, take a looksie:

Well, people aren't really looking that much. I have a bunch of new notebooks just waiting to be listed though! I'm really excited because I haven't had new stuff in so long, and I'm really proud of these notebooks, I think they're really cool and well made.
In case you were wondering, things are coming along very well with my homework. I'll post a picture when it's done, so y'all can let me know if you think it sucks.
love ya!

mel

SuperOrange

All right, I think I am seriously addicted to Orange-Carrot Juice. For a while I was having it everyday for breakfast. Then I stopped for a while, because I am lazy to walk to Jamba Juice from my office, but I was thinking about it ALL THE TIME. Now I'm back. It's just soooo good. I don't know what it is, there's just something so refreshing, yet slightly creamy about it...it's really flavorful and satiating. The way they make it at Jamba Juice it gets all frothy....yum, just thinking about it is making me salivate. Anyway, the point is that I'm a little worried that having the same thing for breakfast everyday is not good for me. Also, I am a little worried that I might turn a little orange, even though, really, I know that won't happen. But still. So I tried having yogurt and an apple for breakfast but it's just not the same! I'm going to try the yogurt thing for a while though, because I bought a TON of yogurt, and maybe eventually I'll be as obsessed with yogurt as I am now with Orange-Carrot juice. It could happen.

It seems like I am finally starting to feel creative again. Unfortunately, so far it seems like I'm feeling most creative while I'm at work, where there is nothing creative to do but doodle. Like I've mentioned before, I've really been inspired by this collage project we're doing in my drawing class, and by the Joseph Cornell exhibit at the SFMOMA. In fact, I went to see the Cornell exhibit again last night, with my boyfriend, and I feel like I wouldn't mind at all if I were going to see it again. I loved it so much. Last night I wanted to walk across the scary bridge they have on the top floor of the museum. The walkway is metal, but the floor is kind of a grid (they call it steel truss), so you can see through it. The walkway is on the fourth floor of the museum, and you can see all the way to the ground floor. And these are gallery floors so I they're a bit taller than normal floors I think. If you get a chance to go to the SFMOMA and you are not too scared of heights, you should definitely do the walkway. It is so incredibly terrifying. But fun! Really! It's indescribable. I was giggling in terror for like five minutes after. But I did it twice! The real point is that on the other side of the bridge was the Olafur Eliasson exhibition, which was also super cool. It was all about geometry and it was organic, but it had elements of collage as well, but used in a totally different way than Cornell used them. It was a really interesting contrast.

The museum lobby and the bridge with Eliasson's work "One Way Color Tunnel." Unfortunately, it doesn't make the bridge look very scary. Sorry.

So, yes, very inspiring. But it doesn't really mean anything unless I make myself sit down and get to work. And now I'm thinking about doing the Holiday Shopping Fair at my work. My coworkers have been on me about it all year, asking me if I'm going to sell my scarves and hats. I want to because then I would get to basically take a half day off work, which is always awesome. But it also means that I would need to start cranking out the knitwear like NOW. So, I guess I'll have to see what happens.

mel

countdown - tomorrow

Sipping on the Sweet Nectar

mel

countdown - 2 days

Ok, I'm real tired, but I just wanted to let y'all know: I am so excited for Jens Lekman! The show is day after tomorrow! I'm so so psyched.

It's going to be so awesome! In the meantime, check out these pretty flowers my boyfriend sent me at work.

Aren't they so pretty? I hope they're still ok, I was homesick from work today and I think they probably really needed their water changed. I love looking at them, they're so vibrant and so unlike the rest of my office, I find myself just staring at them for really long stretches. I'm thinking I should always have flowers on my desk.


I'm off to bed, but I'll leave you with a pretty crappy picture of the last book I made. I know, I finally made another book!

Nighty night!

mel

blogs y'all pt. 2

1. my love for you is a stampede of horses - Ok, first of all, I just love the title of her blog. So romantic, huh? The author, Meighan, has a great eye for art, jewelry, and fashion. I have been introduced to so many innovative and unique artists through this blog. When I started reading this blog, Meighan was living in San Francisco, and in a section called cutiepies I could check out what all the cool kids in my town were wearing. Recently she moved to Boston, so I'm excited to start seeing how the cool kids in New England are gussying themselves up.

2. Wooster Collective - On the Wooster Collective site they have the most amazing collection of street art I have ever seen. People send in their photos of works from all over the world. If you are ever feeling a little rut-ish, Wooster Collective is a good place to look for inspiration, you will be awed by the art, trust me. Here's an example of one of my favorites, from London.

3. little doodles - This is Kate Wilson's blog. Kate does the most adorable illustrations of little birds and the most drool inducing fashion drawings. She makes clothes and (especially) shoes look even more delicious than real life. For the last few days she's been putting her impeccable taste to use making holiday gift guides for her readers. Looks like a very stylish Christmas.

4. typewriter - Here is a fun blog out of Canada. It's written by the mastermind behind KiwiPunchDesigns, where you can purchase lovely hand stitched greeting cards. She often posts her works in progress, but the blog is definitely more personal journal than all business. Which is fine by me because she is quite the winning writer; she is funny and cheerful and sweet. Also, I love reading blogs and feeling that something isn't quite right, and gradually putting the pieces together to find that they are writing from some where outside the US. I just love blogs from foreign lands! That is one of the cool things about typewriter, I feel like I really get a sense of Canadian life.

Lunch Break Musings

Sigh. Why is the weekend so short? I have somehow broken through the wall that did not allow me to sleep past 8 am and, let me tell you, I am NOT happy about it. I used to think there was nothing lovelier than sleeping in past noon on a Saturday after being up all night on Friday. That was way back then, when I would have weekdays free to go to places that are open during the day only. Now, I have but one day to do things like go to the post office, or the museum,or a matinee, or, god forbid, the bank: Saturday. Waking up at 8 made it possible for me to do all that and still feel like I was having a nice relaxing weekend day.

Like I said before, I got a big, fat NOTHING done this weekend. But, sitting here at work, I'm starting to get a little inspired! I'm thinking about something cute to do for Christmas ornaments that is kind of 2-dimensional, yet sculptural...I'm being inspired by that Joseph Cornell exhibit I talked about, so I want to something in collage. I hope I won't be too tired when I get home from class tonight to work on some stuff.

Okay, so I have to give a shout out to an awesome Etsy shop, Bradli. A little while ago, I purchased this facial soap and it was soooo awesome. I had this little rough patch on my chin (that I am praying is not psoriasis, as that is something runs in my family) and I couldn't get it to go away; I tried exfoliating and moisturizing, different facial washes and nothing was working. The Bradli face bar was the only thing that made the rough patch COMPLETELY go away. It's amazing. As long as I use the bar, no rough patch. As soon as I stop, the patch comes back. So, there it is, my ringing endorsement of Bradli's Luxury Facial Bar with Avocado, Cucumber, Clay, Chamomile etc., etc.,...

...which, I just saw, is no longer in Bradli's shop. Bradli! Please! This is my plea to you: bring the luxury facial bar back! I don't just want it, I need it.

mel

boo hoo pt. 2

I hope things work out better today! I don't know what happened yesterday, my post just kept getting deleted. I guess, technically, I've now failed at NaBloPoMo. Boo. It shouldn't really count though, because I was trying to get a blog post up yesterday! It wasn't my fault! I guess I should have tried to post earlier. I think weekends are going to be the hardest because on weekdays I'm at my computer all day, so it's not so hard. On weekends though I'm usually out all day. This is definitely going to be a challenge.
Anyway, this was another unproductive weekend. I don't know why I've been so uninspired to work lately. I hope my passion will reignite soon and I'll get some cool new books made. I am excited about my art class, we're doing photo collages and then blowing them up and drawing them. I already made my collages, they're pretty neat, but it's going to be hard to decide which one to use in my final project. If anyone is thinking of taking a drawing or printing class at CCSF I would definitely recommend taking one with Robin Kaneshiro, he is really really great teacher. I love this class so much.
Along with the NaBloPoMo, this month I am also trying to cut down on the amount of times I eat out. Right now, we eat dinner out almost every night, and I eat lunch out at least half the time. It's really bad! So, we're really going to try hard to cook more. I cooked tonight and last night. Both times it was super delicious. Last night we had a kind of tamale pie/taco casserole thing and tonight we had miso chicken and mashed potatoes. Yummy. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can sustain!

mel

boo hoo

things are being weird, my posts keep getting deleted. check back tomorrow to see if things are improved. i'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

Soft

All right, this is some exciting stuff here folks. Courtesy of the Etsy front page, today I discovered that there are items in Lizette Greco's shop! Her shop was on my personal favorites before I even really knew what Etsy was. I can't remember where I first heard about her, but I guess that doesn't really matter. All we need to know here is that she is amazingly talented. She creates plush dolls and other sewn items based on drawings done by her two children. I'm not exactly sure how old they are, somewhere in the four to six range. Lizette recreates the drawings in 3-d with an accuracy that is almost magical. I fell in love at first sight. Look at this rocket bag!

If I were richie rich it would so be mine. It's so cool. Another cool thing to do is to go to her website where there is a link to her flick page where you can look at all her work next to the drawings her kids did so you can do a little compare and contrast for your very own self! Neat, right? You should totally check it out

Tonight I am seeing Lars and The Real Girl, so, I gotta scoot. As Neal Cohnan would say, bye bye.

mel

NaBloPoMo...JoShmoDadeedadowhaddayaknow

So, I am participating in NaBloPoMo....which is National Blog Posting Month....which means I have to post on my blog everyday! For the whole month of November! Even saturday and sunday! This is for sure going to be a challenge for me, because I am one of the laziest bloggers I know. I'm excited though, I hope I find some really cool stuff for y'all to read about.
That being said, I unfortunately have very little to say today. I am sooooo tired. I actually had to do real work at work today (as opposed to every other day, when I don't) and it really tuckered me out! I had this really awesome dinner planned to, but now I'm almost 100% sure that it's not happening. Which is sad, but, whatever. I took a shower though, and I feel fairly refreshed, so don't worry about me.
Oh! I thought of something cool to talk about. On Saturday I went on a little field trip for my drawing class to the SFMoMA to see an exhibit of the work of Joseph Cornell. I wasn't expecting too much, but I was really blown away. I can't believe I had never heard of Cornell before. I was totally entranced by his work. He created amazing, ethereal collages on paper, but what I found most interesting were his "boxes" which were like 3-d collages. He was influenced by movies and starlets and birds and surrealism. His work is so intricate, but they have a childlike feeling of wonder and innocence. I'm not sure if this exhibit is touring, but if it comes to your town you should definitely check it out. I found him to be so inspiring, I'm going back this weekend (maybe). If you live in San Francisco you should FOR SURE go, like right now. The museum is open until 8 or something on thursdays. Click here for more info.
See you tomorrow!

mel

blogs y'all - pt. 1

Well, I haven't been crafty in a while because I have been supa supa busy supastar! And that means no blogging either. Sorry. But whoa, whoa, that just won't do, so here's something fun and easy; riding on the coattails of others' craftiness! This will be a regular feature, popping up whenever I am having a bit of the ol' "crafter's block." So, without further ado, the first six (in no particular order) of my very favoritest blogs!

1. jenslekman.com

This is first on the list because I am sosososososososososo excited about the Jens Lekman show I'm going to next week! I am super psyched about it. Jens Lekman is a totally amazing Swedish popstar singer/songwriter. When you read his blog, you can almost feel what it's like to be Swedish. Also, he talks about music he likes (usually it is awesome; afrobeat or more Swedish pop) and he sometimes puts some rad mp3s up from his EPs or mixtapes that he makes. My favorite thing about the blog is that Jens is not shy about his fondness for Paul Simon, which, hey, that's kind of a brave stance to take! Paul Simon is, I think, generally thought of as not very hip.

2. jezebel.com

Jezebel is my current favorite celeb gossip type blog. I have been reading the gossip blogs for a few years now and I've had my favorites, but Jezebel is, I think, really the best of the lot. They have the most pertinent gossip without going so in depth that it gets boring, but they also have actual news sometimes, and political news and clips from the Tyra Banks show and fashion and it's REALLY funny. And it's pretty rude. Sometimes it may be NSFW, depending on how conservative your office is. My favorite regular feature on Jezebel is the "Crap email from a Dude" which is basically emails guys sent to break up with girls. Oh, they are so cringe-inducingly awesome.

3. gofugyourself

This is my favorite blog of all time, as you may know if you are a regular reader of this blog. It's hard to elaborate on the basic premise: pictures of celebs and wannabe celebs wearing ridiculous clothes with commentary on just how ridiculous the clothes are. Sounds a little dry, but the Fug Girls are probably the funniest girls EVER. I laugh out loud at least once a day at gofugyourself.

4. Ace Jet 170

If you are a typography nut you will looooove this blog. If not, guess what?, you will probably still love it because it is just sooo stylish. The author is British, and that definitely comes across in his writing. It's like he writes with a British accent. It's all about type and design on Ace Jet 170. My favorite feature is the Found Type Friday, where he posts pictures people send in of writing in public places; signs, labels, graffiti, etc. Oh, and he talks about maps a lot. He has some of the neatest things I've ever seen. I am super jealous of him.

5. My Folk Lover

This is the blog of the amazing artist Catherine Campbell. She draws the sweetest pictures of things like bunnies and girls sailing in tea cups. Her blog is just as sweet as her drawings. She posts about works in progress and life in Australia. Often, she features other artists that she likes, and I almost always like them too!

6. Things I've Bought That I Love

The main author of this blog is Mindy Kaling, a writer and actress on the American version of The Office. I have never seen the American Office, but now I may have to watch it because if the show is even half as funny as this blog then it is HILARIOUS. I am seriously in love with Mindy Kaling now. Hello, this is a blog about buying really expensive things! And it's funny! Mindy seems like the coolest girl in the world. Hi Mindy, let's be best friends, ok?

mel

Boner!

I was thinking today, what with Halloween right around the corner and all, about these cute dangly skeleton earrings that my mom had when I was a kid. This innocent bit of nostalgia led, of course, to an Etsy search! and, once again, Etsy does not disappoint.

First, these Dancing Skeletons by TeaCupieShop

These are probably the most like the ones my mom had, but these don't move. Mom's had limbs that were connected by little metal rings so they would dance around when she moved. Like these by emmbob


Ah, reading the description of these Skellingtons, emmbob says they are "articulated." That's the word I was looking for. It means awesome, right? Ha ha.

Those two pieces best embody what I was looking for, but the great thing about Etsy is you always find something you never knew you wanted. Like these Pygmy Skeleton earrings by Dionythicus
and these Evil Green Glowing Skull earrings by whatshesaid which, Bonus!, are on sale!
Scary!
These Spine Tingle earrings by TillyBloom are definitely different, and soooo beautiful.I was trying to pick my favorite pair of earrings by JessicaFink that I came upon in my search, but I just couldn't choose only one, they are so cool! So here they all are
Day of the Dead Skeleton earrings




Fire Skeleton earrings in neon yellow, neon orange, and neon pink.

And, because I just can't resist, her adorable Monster earrings in yellow and pink.



Because monsters are for Halloween too, right?
I hope these amazing earrings will inspire you to come up with some great spooky outfits for your forthcoming Halloween parties!

mel

Frustrated at Everything

Okay, so remember the buttons I was so excited about making? Well, the supplies I bought to make them are totally janky, as in they don't work. So, I am gluing buttons. IT IS TAKING FOREVER. Also, sometimes I have to stop and be sad and frustrated, which is really time consuming.
And I realized I haven't seen a movie in a very long time.

mel

Strangeness

Hi, I am back. Back to blogging. I've been out of town for a week. I've seen some people I haven't seen in ages and ages. It feels very strange to be back home. Everything is a little bit surreal. I figured, what better way to get back in the swing of things than to do a little bloggity blog bloggy? So, what is up with me, you ask? Well, things are going better than I ever expected. My notebooks are selling surprisingly well. Tonight though, I am not working on notebooks, I'm working on buttons. The Sampler is doing a new thing called City Sampler where they feature products all made by artists from a certain city, and the first city is San Francisco! Since I've lost a week, I really need to get to work so I can make the deadline for submissions. I'm really excited about this because I had been planning on getting something together for the next Sampler anyway, but it will be much cooler to have my first sampler be a San Francisco sampler.

Other than that, I am just relaxing, trying to get ready for the shell shock of going to work tomorrow. I'm downloading music by Mika and Mickey Avalon; my sister introduced me to their music while I was away and I liked it, which is odd because my taste in music and my sister's generally do not overlap. I guess I'm just feeling the dancy trashy stuff these days. Also, I am shopping on Etsy of course! I'm really considering buying jewelry from one of my very first favorite shops, Marshatoh. All of her pieces are so gorgeous, I'm just worried that, if I were to buy something, it would become another of my jewelry casualties, because I almost never wear jewelry. For some reason I am super self conscious about it. But just look at these, how can I not obssess over them?

So pretty, right? I just love the lariat necklace. I like the polished wood, it makes the pieces look so light and cool. Decisions decisions....

mel

Lithium: The Lightest of All Metals

So, hooray, the lithium solution worked! I popped those babies in the digicam and; presto! Worked like a charm. And here is the evidence: two new listings on my etsy page! A cute lil' Kris Kristofferson notebook and a larger than normal Jane Fonda Workout notebook. How do the pictures look? With the Jane Fonda book, I used this lightbox that Steve made for me. I think they turned out pretty well. Oh, also, I have to give credit to Steve for the lithium idea, he is the author. Sorry for being misleading in my last post.

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but I joined a bookbinders' street team on Etsy! It's called BEST for short, and it is awesome! Here is a link to the blog. I am psyched to be in the company of so many awesome etsy sellers like myhandbound books, comfortableshoes, operationpapercut, and lots and lots more. There is a list on the blog, and I highly recommend taking a look at all the shops. You should also take a look at the BEST treasury on etsy...because I'm in it! Yay, I love being in treasuries.
I'm hoping to make this a big crafting weekend; I have a few plans, like going to see Lawrence of Arabia. It's playing at the Castro Theater (which is pretty much the most awesome theater in San Francisco) as part of their 70mm series they do every so often. L o A is one of the films they show all the time, they also always show Ghostbusters in 70mm, which is SO awesome, but I've never seen L o A before. I was going to rent it through netflix, but Steve told me to wait. We'll see if it's worth it, because I think I'm even going to have to pay for it! Also, I think we might go bowling, which would be awesome, and I am supposed to go to a game night. Sounds pretty action packed, huh?

mel

Whither the Weather?

I'm being a very lazy blogger. I have two excuses: one, I have been having busy exciting days recently, seeing as how I have sold six items from my etsy shop! I am beyond thrilled, honestly. It's like a giant weight off my shoulders. Unfortunately, excuse two has put that weight right back on; my new camera has not worked since I replaced the batteries two days ago. I have been spending a lot of time whining about that. Tonight Steve and I conjecture that perhaps I need to put in lithium batteries, which is the type I was using before, instead of regular batteries. Hopefully that will prove to work because I have made some really cool notebooks and it is just killing me that I cannot list them on my shop right now!
I've just had an aha! moment. I was feeling like I had gotten some sun today, my face feels all sore, but I couldn't figure out why. Now I think I know, it was the crazy wind today. It was seriously insane wind, especially strange because it has been disgustingly hot (for San Francisco anyway) here lately. Then today, cold and insanely windy. Tonight there are supposed to be thundershowers! That is truly the one thing I hate about public transportation; having to use it while it's raining. It's just the pits.
In other news, I have had my first feature on a blog! It's a cute little thing called Treasure Trove, all about featuring DIY artists. I have a feeling I am going to be in some pretty awesome company. Check it HERE.
I have seriously got to get to bed y'all. Hopefully tomorrow I will have good camera news!

mel

Craft is Back, Baby!

All right, so the general consensus seems to be that readers of this blog (all one of you) have had enough of my spotty fashion week coverage. Well, that is fine with me because I am kind of tired of it as well. I enjoyed writing about it, don't get me wrong, it's just that deciding which pictures to post and then actually posting them and getting them positioned right; what a pain that was. I guess at the current time I'm just not cut out to be a big time web editor. If you want to see/read more about fashion, I definitely recommend checking out the Show & Talk blog from New York magazine, I think it is the most fun and comprehensive coverage of fashion week on the interwebs. And, of course, it is the fashion week home of the Fug Girls.

On with the Craft! I have been lagging a bit on my crafting lately, it's been tough with my evening class two nights a week and an obligation on tuesday night (pub quiz is very important to me, ok?) to find time when I'm not exhausted. And my crafting area (our coffee table in our tiny living room) is super super messy right now. I did manage to crank out two really cute notebooks last night though, because on Wednesday night I cut paper for a couple hours. It really helped! It was so nice to have all my paper ready to go. I think this will have to become a regular thing. Anyway, like I said, the notebooks are super cool. One is made from a Supremes album cover and I used insert as the inside cover lining. The other is made from a New York subway system map from the seventies. I'll post pictures and have those up in my shop later this afternoon (I hope).

The other thing I'm excited about is this awesome roving I bought yesterday! I've been thinking about making felt beads for a while now, I love how they look, so yesterday I bought this:

Isn't it pretty! It's merino wool and the name is orange creamsicle...yummy, no? I bought it from etsy seller alittlequacky's shop, A Knitting Duck (ha ha). She has so much pretty roving, it was hard to choose, but I like this to start. If all goes well with the felting, I will definitely be buying from her again. I'm tempted to already because it looks like she posted a bunch of awesome new lots today! Look at this one:

I really love this, it's called duck pond. How cute! It reminded me right away of Duck Hunt on NES. Heh.

Just a quick note, I hope to get started soon on a weekly post featuring etsy sellers, sometimes with interviews. So, be on the lookout for that.

mel

Critical Jacob

The rad gals at Jezebel have a roundup of critical mouthing-offs about the Marc Jacobs show. Read.

Marc Jacobs Misses His Youth

I know I promised Vena Cava like a million days ago, but I have to talk about Marc Jacobs right now, and if I have time, I will get to more. But more likely, the other shows will have to wait again. Now, here's the thing about Marc Jacobs: I kind of love him, and I kind of hate him. I love his logo, I love his perfumes, I love the bottles his perfume comes in, I love the mouse shoes, I love Marc by Marc Jacobs with the cute totes and tshirts, I love the enamel apple clock pendant...but I hate the majority of what he puts out on the runway, I hate his advertisements with Dakota Fanning and Sofia Coppola and I hate his obsession with the 1990s. I get it, Marc, you were THE grunge designer, whatever. It's too soon to bring it back. He can't just let it die, though, so we get this: And this:

Nice midriff. Anyway, I read a few places that this show was supposed to be inspired by Grey Gardens. I've never seen that movie, blah blah, but I felt that the show was a little more Jackie O on crack. Witness:

What I do have to give Marc Jacobs credit for, which is also the reason, I think, that I am still a Marc Jacobs believer, is that he really has a great eye for color. Look at this:
Okay, please ignore the skirt (what is up with skirts this season?) and just focus on the color combinations. Red, turquoise and seafoam green? I never in a million years could have imagined this would look so hot. It's the perfect way to take advantage of how good green and red look against each other without coming off all Christmassy. And the shoes, even though I can't see them that well, I am totally coveting them. This is the look that made me fall in love with Marc Jacobs all over again for the first time. With the first few looks I was sad because I felt like it was really over for me, I was definitely done with him. I just can't parse with this:
Or this:

But then he blows me away with this:
Again, please focus on the colors. Yellow...and yellow-orange! Who know they'd make such a great team? I'm having heart palpitations here, I don't know if I can even handle the addition of the navy blue/turquoise handbag...it's all almost too much to bear. Ok Marc Jacobs, I can forgive you for this:
And even this:Yipes, almost. (Please god, don't let see through lounge pants be the new hot thing this year) But this may be your very last chance.

mel

"A Truck For A Truck"

Hey y'all, I nabbed another treasury on etsy! Take a looksie: roska's awesome treasury

Fashion Week Part Deux

As promised, I will now be showing you my hits and misses from the adam+ eve show. The designer is Adam Lippes, who was previously at Polo/Ralph Lauren and Oscar de la Renta, and it shows people. I found most of the stuff to be very fun, luxe but still effortless and casual. Refreshingly different from the couture shows. I wish every show were sportswear!

The really great thing about Adam+Eve, were the models! Attractive models! How novel! Although, someone had this bright idea:

Why the doorag, Adam? While I love this shirt (perhaps stripes are in this season, hmm?) I simply cannot get behind the headgear. Luckily, this gal was spared the indignity:

And, bonus!, she got to wear this beautiful dress. I am so in love with the dress, it's killing me. I'm so glad yellow is still in. This shade is much fresher though.

We get some boys strutting their stuff here too. Let's see, this is a yes:

Oh, sorry, this is a definite no:

Black sneakers with your crisp white pants? For shame! Also, you kind of look like Richard Kiel...I don't know how I feel about that.

Yes, it wasn't all good...here's a better view of that doorag:

But overall Adam+Eve is my favorite show so far. It doesn't have such stiff competition however. Take Erin Fetherston for instance. I've been hearing all kind of buzz on her, she's the next big thing blah blah blah, so I was very excited to view her show. Well, oh my:

Here's your show opener. A turban? Look, I know y'all are trying to bring the turban back, but I'm afraid (read: I hope to god) it ain't gonna happen. And y'know, if you're going to try, you might as well do it right and put it on a model whose head can handle it. Lord knows it's not this girl.

You may notice that this model's eyes look kind of weird. I was seriously disturbed by this because it turns out to be a reoccurring theme and I couldn't really believe that it was done purposely. But it was! These girls have their eyes covered in powdery white! Here's a close up look so you don't get all freaked at further pictures like I did:Sorry, I know that model's neck is terrifying. So, are models doing coke through their eyelids now, is that what's going on? Christ. Enough, back to the clothes.

Snoooooooooze....God it's so boring. And ugly. Ugly and boring. And don't forget dreary!

I did have my favorite though, this little swimsuit inspired number:

It's pretty and fun, everything the rest of this collection was not. It's flirty without looking like it was made for a child, like this dress:

Sigh. The highlight for me though, was this model:

I think she's absolutely stunning. I had to keep going back to look at her. I don't know who she is, but I will be definitely be doing some research because she is practically a vision. Anyone who can outshine these clothes has got some chops.

Tomorrow, Vena Cava and more!

mel