sprout

I bought some sprouts from the Japanese market the other day to throw in some salad and could not get over how pretty they look.

weekend in wine country

I'm finally getting around to posting some photos from our weekend up in Santa Rosa / Healdsburg. We took Friday off and spent the weekend in a 6-bedroom house we had rented with a big group of friends. There was a lot of eating and lounging around, and a bit of enjoying the good weather outside too.






I'm working on getting some new things in the shop by the end of the month. I hope I can do it!

breakfast & lunch

Every once in awhile, when the lighting is good and when inspiration strikes, I like to take pictures of my food. Here is a recent breakfast of blueberries and yogurt, and a recent lunch of home-made potstickers.

Lazy days

I've slowed down a bit since my flurry of crafting activity in December. January seems to be filled with resolutions and new things for many, but I'm having a slow start to the new year. Maybe because sometimes I just need a break from my natural need to always be productive. I think it's a good thing. Things are slowly picking up though, and hopefully there will be a shop update soon!

A merry chistmas indeed

Some gifts wrapped, some still yet to be made! I've been enjoying my week off so far - it's been restful yet productive. We're spending the night in Monterey for a mini-getaway and am looking forward to a bit more crafting next week.

Merry Christmas everyone!

First Saturday

This past Saturday I was invited to showcase/sell some of my goods at an open house event for a new residential development in downtown San Jose. Not too many people came by but I sold some things and had a good time. They had hot spiced wine there (which I've never had) and it was so good!



Also had a bit of time to make more burp cloths and also a bit of art for a baby shower gift. So many friends are having babies, I can hardly keep track! Gotta look for some more ideas for handmade gifts.

Busy busy

In the last couple of weeks the leaves have started falling like crazy around here. We have a big mulberry tree in our front yard and it's been dropping big, beautiful yellow and pale green leaves on our lawn.



This month has been busier than usual. It's been quite hectic for the shop, with a dooce mention leading to a surge in sales, and more things to make for Little Otsu. Some good college friends came to visit last weekend, so I took this past Monday off and we spent the afternoon in San Francisco. The highlight was having afternoon tea at Crown & Crumpet, which had a great selection of teas, delicious scones, and super cute decor. I'm not much of a pink person, but found the jolts of hot pink here and there fun and refreshing.



I haven't been taking pictures of Charlie with it getting dark so early. But I had a few spare minutes this morning and forced her to sit through a little photo shoot. She's 6 months now and getting bigger and more mischievous, shredding paper or napkins and basically treating whatever is within her reach as a toy.

Mischief

See how she looks all wide-eyed and innocent here? Well, look at what this little puppy did today. Twice.



I was tagged awhile ago by my friend Anita, and more recently by Laura. Here are 7 random facts about me:

1. I like to organize the dishes in the sink before I wash them.
2. In 5th grade, I starred in a musical called "The Most Amazing Snowman." I was the snowman.
3. I used to only wear colors like light gray, taupe, and light blue. And then after college I started liking red, then orange, then green, then yellow. Now I appreciate them all.
4. I prefer comfort food over fancy food. A good burrito will always win over sashimi.
5. I love the beach and the ocean, but can only swim the backstroke. I have issues with the whole breathing thing.
6. I can't stand the feeling of nail polish on my finger nails, but don't mind it on my toe nails.
7. I'm a night owl, but am constantly trying (unsuccessfully) to go to bed earlier.

Happy campers

We had a wonderful weekend camping up in Point Reyes with some good friends. Breathing in the fresh air, hiking, talking and making s'mores around the fire.. we loved every moment.

Mendocino anniversary

Irving and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary with a weekend getaway to Mendocino, a beautiful seaside town about 3 hours north of San Francisco. On the way up we stopped at the Marin Cheese Factory for a little lakeside picnic lunch.



We stayed at MacCallum House Inn, a quaint bed & breakfast just a short walk from the coast. We ate all our meals there since breakfast was complimentary and the restaurant was fabulous. The ingredients they used were locally produced, organic, and house-made.



We explored the coast, picked the blackberries which were everywhere, biked, and walked around town. A perfect weekend. And we were able to bring Charlie along, since the inn is pet-friendly. She seemed to enjoy herself, but was deathly afraid of the waves, as you can tell by her sad little face in the last photo.









Happy anniversary to us!

A new place to call home

I wanted to wait until I had some decent pictures before I shared the news, but I still don't have decent pictures, and I just can't hold it in anymore. We bought a house and we just moved in this past weekend! So yes, that's why the posts have been few and far between. Packing, unpacking, and cleaning has been taking up much of my free time in the last week or so. The place is still a mess with boxes everywhere, so all I've got is a boring shot of the front door.



This new place is actually smaller, but we'll have a yard, and I'm actually looking forward to small space living challenges. It'll be good to be forced to de-clutter and not have stuff hanging around just because there's the space for it. And of course, I'm looking forward to decorating and making it feel like home.

And Charlie has been growing like crazy! She's more than 5.5 lbs now - more than double her size when we first got her. Here is the little sleepy-head this morning.

Saturday in the city

This past Saturday a group of us drove our bikes up to the city and rode from Crissy Field, across the bridge, and down into Sausalito. We had lunch in Sausalito before taking the ferry to Fisherman's Wharf. I managed to get my camera out of my bag while biking on the bridge -- I had to get some pictures!



Then we rode to Ghiradelli Square and ducked into Kara's Cupcakes. It was heavenly. Not only were the cupcakes amazing (I got the passion fruit. Yum.), but the store design had me snapping pictures left and right. They letterpressed their logo onto the napkins! How awesome is that?



Before heading back home, we stopped by Little Otsu to check out the store and drop off my order. I loved the store -- they have some really neat stuff by indie artists and also under their own label. And it was so fun to see them put out my paper goods!





Oh, and Charlie came with us on the bike ride. We got her a little basket thing and strapped her in. She looked quite comfy in there and adorable as usual.

Typesetting (and yellow kiwis)

I'm taking a 4-day letterpress class and the first class was this past Saturday. We learned about typesetting and had a chance to try it out and proof some prints. Next week we'll be able to print on the real presses. I've always loved letterpress for its textural quality, but learning about what people used to do to print a page of text, and seeing all the drawers of physical type just took my appreciation to the next level. Seriously amazing stuff.



We went to my parents' for dinner last night, and look what my mom bought. They taste a bit milder than normal kiwis. Yum.

A good weekend

This weekend I made guacamole for my dad...



... and visited a friend who patiently waited while I snapped multiple shots of the numbers on her door. I like metal numbers on wooden doors. I'm not sure why.



.. and went to an orchid nursery in Pacifica, where I saw many things that caught my eye besides orchids.

Printing with Lotta

Lotta's printing party up in the city was so much fun. I tried not to get too worked up on the idea that not only was I in the same room with my favorite designer, but she actually TALKED to me (only for 5 seconds, but still!). Of course I stayed cool on the outside, but inside I nearly died of excitement. Basically there was a big table with chairs all around and blank squares of white linen and everything you needed for printing with potatoes, stencils, and lino blocks -- all pre-cut and ready to go. Lotta was super duper nice and went around the table to help people out and give tips and just make sure everyone was having fun. I did end up bringing 2 slices of lotus root which others seemed to enjoy printing with as well.

Here's Lotta and the very amateur print I made at the party using my lotus root slices, a stencil out of Lotta's book, and a linoblock she provided.




We had dinner afterwards at B Star, where we had these great lotus chips (yes, a very lotus-y day it was). We also walked around Hayes Valley where I enjoyed plenty of eye candy at Lavish, Fiddlesticks, and Cotton Sheep. I love bringing back little paper souvenirs.

Millie the bunny

I sewed another bunny doll for another friend's little girl's birthday earlier (the birthday was earlier, the gift was not early at all) this month. It's fun to finally start cutting into some of the fabrics from my stash.



I tried some different things this time - and some of those things worked well, some not as well. Sewing these little bunny dresses is making me think about how real clothes are made. I would love to make real clothes at some point, but that is further down on my list of crafty endeavors. Jenny is starting a series of posts on sewing tips that I'm pretty excited about. I feel like I sometimes make things up as I sew and wonder what is the proper way of doing things.

Irving is off camping with the guys this weekend, so I had a good time shopping with my mom and hanging out with my family. I also got to hang out with these fellow artsy and craftsy pals which was tons of fun. Tomorrow I plan on spending the afternoon at home just doing whatever I feel like. I love time with friends and loved ones, but boy is it nice to be alone sometimes.

Greens and roots

This past weekend we went to Muir Woods and once again couldn't resist taking pictures of all the beautiful greenery we saw along the trails. This one in particular is something I'd never seen before.



Earlier tonight I was slicing up lotus root for some soup. Again, beautiful shapes.



I would love to work these into something I design one of these days. Nature really is one of the best sources of inspiration.

Sky, water, and sand

We spent the weekend with some friends at a beach house we rented. Saturday afternoon was spent on the beach of course. The fresh air, the sand under my feet, the immensity of the ocean -- such a treat for the senses.





Even found some refreshing bursts of color in and around the beach house - the shed in the back, and some vintage containers in the kitchen.

Shady greens

I had the day off on Monday, so went hiking with my parents in the afternoon. It was nice we got to enjoy the last bit of good weather for awhile because the rain came back today.
















There was wonderful greenery everywhere, and I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the little greens growing on the edge of the trail. So inspiring.


























I also stopped to marvel at this -- piles of folded newpaper artfully stacked and arranged between tree trunks. Yes, in the middle of the woods!

Snow and snails

The weekend in Tahoe proved to be quite snowy and enjoyable. I took this as we were leaving so I can remember all the snowy whiteness. Check out the loaf on top of the red Prius in front of us!
















While my buddies were out braving the slopes, I stayed in our toasty cabin and worked on these little guys.
















I've long admired amigurumis and finally decided to tackle crochet after spotting this irresistible pattern by Amy Gaines at Bobbin's Nest Studio. It was a pretty beginner-friendly pattern and didn't take too long to finish. There's actually another little snail that goes on top of the mushroom, but I'm okay with it as is. I have a couple sewing projects in mind for this month, and hope to set up an etsy shop too with some paper goods.