form & function

with all of our traveling lately, i've had a bit of trouble keeping up with my embroidery largely because i couldn't take my snips on the airplane with me. while in phoenix, i made a quick stop in a bead store and found this cute pendant that has a blade running through it; you can cut thread between any of the grooves along the edge. it looks like a harmless piece of jewelry to airport security!

i strung it on some chain from beyond beads and added a little gingham ribbon (my new obsession) from the ribbonerie. now that i have so much sewing and embroidery to do before rcf, i'll be wearing this piece a lot.

phx to sfo

i can never seem to get a photo that does justice for the view from an airplane.

hot

on our last day in phoenix, we ventured out of our air conditioned clubhouse and into the city to find neat places to hang out. both yelp and rick insisted that lux was the best place for a good cup of coffee and both sources were correct!

the parking lot was lined with sky-high sunflowers.

the coffee shop was a bit crowded, so we all decided to brave the outdoor seating area. we're talking 100+ degree heat out there, and against all sense and reason, i decided to order a latte. HOT, not iced--- and i somehow lived to tell. with renegade two weeks away, i also forced myself to work a bit on some embroidery.

phoenix foodie

i ate a lot of betty crocker, including this red velvet cake with dark chocolate frosting. april turned out some delicious chicken tikka masala and nan that i am still thinking about.

4th

nathan's brother moved his little family out to phoenix from kansas recently, so we decided to pay them a visit this holiday weekend. you might remember shorty from here. i like the muppet baby feel of this photo. cogan is wearing the ferdinand onsie i bought him at last year's renegade craft fair.

weekend

it has been a busy few weeks! nathan and i flew down to los angeles for my cousin's wedding which was conveniently scheduled on my grandmother's 80th birthday, so there was extra celebrating.

kris and skye's ceremony was very lovely. my favorite part was when we were all asked to join the bride and groom on the altar and do a sort of group hug while they had their first kiss.

gimme eyebrows

this past sunday, i got up at five am and headed to palo alto for a film shoot. i'll be appearing in bryan's super cool sci-fi serial the curse of the black lotus which should be showing at the next scary cow screening in october. my role? a shrewd board member who tries to crush the protagonist in one of the opening scenes. i tried channeling joan crawford and patrick bateman, and once in the makeup chair, i kept urging ashlei to "bitch me up," hence my amazing eyebrows.

brian clarke built some incredibly awesome set pieces for a control room scene. to look at these consoles, you wouldn't believe how much of it is tape, foamcore, and scrabble tiles.


this is the ridiculously cool van brian transported all of the set pieces in. according to his scary cow profile, his other car is a 1981 gull-wing delorean. i think i just found my new best friend.

very

i'm posting this ridiculously cute button i just made as the first entry for my new label past lives. in its past life, this button was a pair of embroidered silk underpants. i thought such a cute sentiment would garner more compliments on my sweater than my butt cheek.

today, i am toiling with choopy-choos at choo headquarters getting ready for rcf. our agenda for the day is prize badges!

roll like a writer

i had a pretty big script deadline this past weekend, so much of last week was spent cloistered in the shoebox, crouched over my wee laptop with nothing to cheer me but my little sunburned tourist cat doll.

the left end of the sofa was my office...

... and a bottle of scotch, my water cooler.

hey dad!

today is my dad's birthday, give him a hip-hip-hooray!


usually, dad's birthday falls within days of father's day, plus my parent's wedding anniversary is on the 15th. my dad pretty much dominates june.

i love love love you, papa!!

culinary delight!

here is a photo of my dinner from last night, very exciting, i know. it's a bright red bowl of shrimp curry with butternut squash, sweet potato, and (my favorite addition) mango. i've made it countless times and it never tastes the same as i am always fiddling with the ingredient ratios. this time, i was very liberal with the red curry paste and cilantro, and hiding under all of that soupy deliciousness is a mound of my new favorite pasta, lemon pepper tagliatelle from tj's. the curry recipe came from, where else! nigella lawson, who is a holy figure here in the shoebox.

you can find a close variation of the recipe here.

studio choo visit

the choos and i got together again this week to do some more planning for renegade. look at this lovely planter business that alethea made. strawberries & marigolds!

the little boys loooovvve when you put your bag on the ground.

jill is having a blowout print sale and was oh so kind to gift me with one of my favorites based on the inside-out dollhouse her and alethea had been building in seattle. this print reminds me of the paper dollhouse my mom had as a kid, pictured at the top of le blog.

button breakthrough

i learned a new trick today! this choo-approved cuteness will be available on my etsy shop soon and of course at our booth for the renegade craft fair come july.

make a wish

every morning, i make a wish on ellie.

fun with chemicals

pouring over my fabrics the other day, i realized that there were quite a few i'd like to use but the color schemes weren't really jiving for me. a fun and smelly way to fix that is with a plain ol' bleach bath. i love watching the colors fade slooowwwlly and letting intuition tell me when i should pull stuff out. and look! that stack of fabrics look so cute together now whereas before, they would have been way to clashy for my taste.

the bleaching party was a part of my preparations for the renegade craft fair in july where i will be sharing a booth with the choo twins of studio choo. i can't wait!!


who doesn't love a "before and after?"