lazy sue knits & other new shops

My buddy Susan, aka knitting superstar, finally opened an Etsy shop of her own! Here I am modeling her awesome neckwarmer.

Speaking of cool Etsy shops, have you guys checked out Casey's new shop? She's got a calendar and some cards with super fun illustrations. And what about Adele's new shop? I love her clean and simple aesthetic and really like her valentine card designs. These are very talented ladies and I've been enjoying their blogs for some time now - it's exciting to see them open their own shops!

weekend finds

I got to hang out with my cool design-y friend, Traci, on Saturday afternoon. She came with me to a fabric store nearby that was having a sale, and though the selection was just so-so, I found a few things that caught my eye.
















We spotted a garage sale in my neighborhood on the way back and were super excited to find some great deals. The globe was just $5! I love it, and now it's sitting happily on top of my Ikea expedit shelf.
















Oh and I picked up some metal trays at Staples this weekend as well (on the left in the picture above). They're perfect for keeping my fabrics organized and accessible.

Christmas is over but...

I've got another gift or two left to give.. (wrapped in a drawstring pouch I sewed, which I then stamped with a little tree I carved out of an eraser - forgot to take a picture of it until now!)
















..and I got a bunch more gifts over the weekend when my brother and my new sister-in-law came back from their honeymoon in Asia. They brought me so many goodies from Hong Kong that I nearly fainted. Fabric, trim, and a stack of sewing books! One of them is in Japanese (shown in the first picture - I've seen and drooled over this one before in blog-land), and the rest is in Chinese, which is fabulous because I think I'll actually be able to read most of it. Apparently there is an entire district of Japanese-y things!

Pink peonies

Here's the wedding invitation, program, and place cards I designed for my brother's wedding. My sis-in-law wanted bright magenta peonies to match the bridesmaid dresses. I struggled a bit since I wasn't quite sure how to draw peonies yet still have it be my style.

A time to sew

Happy new year everyone! It's hard to believe it's 2009 already. Time flies, especially when you're on vacation! I'm super bummed that my 2-week shutdown is coming to a close. It's been so nice to sleep in and take my time with everything. This is a bit late - but I wanted to share with you what Irving got me for Christmas - vintage pyrex! I guess I've been pining away at them enough that he knew exactly what would make me happy. I love them, and they'll be especially useful since I've been trying to phase out most of our plastic food containers.



While we were in Monterey on Christmas day, Irving actually spotted these pods on the ground and pointed them out to me because he knew I'd like them. I've never seen these before and love their simple shape.



I was hoping to start screenprinting this last week, but had an overwhelming desire to sew instead. So sew I did! This plastic bag dispenser was a quickie - just a tube that's open at the top (for stuffing in bags) and has an elastic opening at the bottom (for pulling out bags). It was nice to finally use some Amy Butler fabric I'd been hoarding for a couple of years!



About a year an a half ago my little mustard-colored wallet (which I bought in Japan and really liked) was stolen. Since then I've been using a plain old black leather one and have resisted buying a new one because I really wanted to make one. Recently I fell in love with these wallets and decided to use them as a model for mine. I used cruddy fabric to practice making a couple mock-ups since I knew it would take me a few tries before getting it right. I think the only difference is that I also made a pocket behind the coin compartment. The outside fabric is wool I cut out from an old men's blazer found at the local goodwill for $3. Even though it took me the better part of a day, I had so much fun making it.