the coast and a bbq.

My big Portland crafty post may have to wait until I get back to SF-- but in the mean time you can read an awesome recap of our day on Diane's blog. She lists all the places we went and has some great photos.


Yesterday Ron took me to the coast, and it was a perfect day to go since it got into the 90's here in Portland. Pacific City is this beautiful little ocean town you hit after driving through the mountains for about two hours. It was so bizarre to me that we could be in the high mountains one moment and than come upon this flat sandy expanse the next. And i still can't get over the fact that people can just drive their cars right onto the beach here. We watched someone get stuck in the sand twice.




We picked up some fresh, astoundingly cheap fish on the coast and had a nice bbq when we got back to the very hot and sticky Portland. Jordan and Ron have a beautiful fig tree in their backyard and I wanted to make something with figs that Jordan would like, since she says she hates them. So I stuffed these figs with blue cheese, wrapped them in bacon and soaked it all in a little balsamic vinegar. I wanted to take a picture when they came off the grill, but it was dark and they went fast.



A scene from the bbq. Look at that moon! I swear it's been full the whole time I've been here.

Portland streets.

i am way too tired to give a proper post on the amazing crafty tour that Susan and Diane took me on today. That will have to come later. For now here are some pictures I've snapped up while walking around Portland.


the sunlight was in the wrong place, but this is a bunny. .



i know it's blurry, but isn't it still pretty?

a sea of books.

I woke up with a belly ache from laughing so hard last night. The four of us ate at a new tapas place on Alberta street called Lolo's. Do you like how I write that as if I knew Alberta street even existed two days ago? It was good, tiny plates so we got lots of them. Everything was funny to us for some reason and by the end of the meal I'm certain the waitress was tired of us. But we enjoyed ourselves.


Today Ron drove me through many different neighborhoods in Portland. We ended up downtown, walked around, met Jordan for lunch and spent a long time in Powell's. You know when you hear so much about a place and you go there and it doesn't really live up tp your expectations? This was so not the case for Powell's. I have heard so much for so long and I still couldn't get over how amazing it was. If I didn't have a map I surely would have gotten lost. At one point my legs started to feel all light and I really felt like this place was something like what I imagine my heaven to be. Oh my goodness. I love how they have old used books mixed in with all the new. It took all I had in me not to buy a beautiful pattern book from 1963, I'm certain I never would have really used it but I just wanted it so darn bad.


Outside of Powell's is this colum of concrete books, Ron told me the story of how this man wanted to be buried in Powell's but it wasn't allowed so they built this column and put his ashes in it. He said that if you rub the column you'll never read a bad book again in your life. Of course I rubbed it.


Tomorrow is my crafty tour of Portland with Susan and Diane... I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

first day.

i liked Portland before i even landed, all green and pretty with perfect little houses dotting the landscape and a river snaking through it all. last night i slept better than i've slept in months, and i still can't get over how wonderfully quiet it is here.

pictures below of the ever cuddly Chyna, Rimsky's-- where Church of Craft was held (the last one there), adorable curtains in the bathroom at Rimsky's which Susan made when she worked there years ago-- i think she said they were one of her first sewing projects, and some amazing earrings by teresa sullivan (who i'll post more about later)...

Crafty Northwest!

I'm heading to Portland today and am just thrilled to check out that crafty city and visit with some old and new friends. Susan and Diane are taking me on their now famous crafty Portland tour and I'm lucky enough to be there for Church of Craft tomorrow! After Portland I'm headed to Seattle for work and more play with some dear old friends. I plan on blogging during my travels, so stay tuned!

Here are some pictures from last weekend I've been meaning to post.


When Susan came to visit she brought me this awesome necklace she made.

At my craft fair I bought this sweet doll named Carson handmade by Hilary of Hilary's Dolls. Her stuff is a-ma-z-i-ng and I adore Carson, look how cute his backside is too.


That cute little owl is from another one of my favorite vendors at the fair, Kate Durkin.

And here's a plate someone drew on at the Daniel Johnston show I went to on Wednesday.

Time to pack...

this is for Shannon.

Shannon is the third friend of mine that New York is stealing this summer. It goes in waves like that, where all of a sudden New York just up and decides to take some of San Francisco's finest.. It's an unfair fight and New York always wins. I don't blame them for leaving and being from the east coast myself I always understand. But I let myself be sad that these friends won't be in my day to day anymore. I don't know if Shannon knows how great I think she is, but I can tell you she's pretty fantastic. I met Shannon when I was living on dirty Shotwell street about seven years ago. Someone told her I wrote too and so we started talking, she was so immediatley open and kind and we became friends instantly. A few years back Shannon decided to start doing comics and the first project she did got published. She's one of those people that always seems to attract other amazing people. She's a doer that Shannon and I like me someone that does. She's got a big world waiting for her in New York and I have no doubt she's gonna thrive there and create some wonderful things. I'll miss her, but I'm thrilled for her too. Look out for her comics, her stories, and her wonderfully big heart.


These illustrations are from a mini-comic Shannon did called For You, which will one day be a small part of a bigger project she's working on called Crimes Against Shannon. If you want to see more of her comics go buy her book, Pet Noir.

i love my home state.

I have so much to show and tell you from my crafty weekend and busy week, but I'm stil in the process of getting all my photos together so you'll just have to watch this amazing tribute to my home state which a friend just emailed me. If someone finds me one of those dirty jersey sweat suits she's wearing I'll rock it everyday.

fantastic friends

Andrew called me yesterday after he read about my Etsy shop. He left a very sweet message telling me how great my stuff looked but how he could make it look a lot better if I wanted him to shoot my stuff. Andrew is a great photographer and happens to have a fancy new camera, so we had a nice day in the sun and now my stuff looks sparkly and sharp and oh so pretty.



Yay for good friends.

Etsy Shop.

I finally got around to setting up my Etsy shop! Yay. It's called Tweet Sweet and there's no turning back now. Click here and have a look around. I'll be adding lots more soon, spread the word. xox

reasons i still love the city.

graffiti and sunshine.

crafty weekend ahead. . .

I know I haven't been around here much this week, I've been a busy little bee making stuff for my friend's gallery opening this weekend. I've made my usual duct tape goodies but I've also made a ton of jewelry I'll be selling. I didn't even get it together enough to take pictures to post here, but I'll be sure to take some pictures during the event. The gallery is called Secession Art and Design and there's lots of great stuff going on there all weekend, for all the details click here.

Here's a link to a great article on political crafts that was on Slate (which I first saw on the Craft Blog.. (where I see everything)!

And this afternoon I'm hanging with some very crafty ladies, we'll be going on a little crafting adventure and I can not wait!

it's my house. .

i received the most amazing gift this weekend. janice had kept telling me she had a very late birthday present for me and when i went to see her at the Modern Times craft fair this weekend i finally got it. she makes these wonderful journals out of old books. wonderful for so many reasons-- for the great covers she finds, or what she silk screens on them and how she binds them up again packed with a delightful assortment of recycled paper. I've always wanted one. and I kind of can't get over how perfect it is.
Just look. . .

such attention to detail.. the inside covers are maps of New Jersey. look you can see where i was born and where i grew up.


as i was flipping through it i found this bus transfer - it's my birthday. .


and i mean, it's a book called the House of Christina. Janice said it was a romance novel. as much as i would have loved to have seen the text i'm glad she gutted it and filled it up with blank pages for me to fill up again. janice sells these fantastic journals at Modern Times, so you can have one too. just not this one, this one's all mine.



thanks Janice!!

crafty weekend . .

if you're in SF and looking for something to do this weekend i posted about some crafty events on SFist. Read it here.

i'm so glad I eat meat again.

'cause i think this might be heaven.

happy hump day.

grizzly bear.

muni makeover

i've got another muni project up on SFist today. i got to play with shrinky dinks for this one! read it here.

all i want . (today)

a porch.
some good music.
friends near by.
country.