road warrior

berkeley today

i'm gearing up for a cupcake party michael and i will be having together in berkeley, guest list: 2. the last time i was at his place two weeks ago, i snapped these photos in his gorgeous backyard. can you believe the size of that dahlia? i included my hand in the shot for scale.

here's oscar and his hedgie friend before we subjected him to six+ hours in a hot sports car. we were all congregating at michael's before heading down to LA for the weekend. there were seven of us--- i am still trying to catch up on my sleep.

michael shares the backyard with alan and his wife marie who have tended nicely to this giant plum tree. every limb stooped with the abundance of the fruit. jam heaven!

extra fancy

the choos have recruited me to embroider large monograms for their series of custom prize ribbons. if you must have one, float jill & alethea an email here. the one pictured above was a gift for the lovely leah who was a tremendous help at the fair and as always, a delight to be around! while modeling the L at the fair, i was followed around a few times by admirers--- it was quite a hit!

everyone's a winner

jill made everyone's day at the renegade craft fair with this amazing cutout of the coolest bunch of hot steppers you ever did see.

for more fun fair photos, visit small stump's blog.

aftermath

with renegade finally over, i find myself awash in projects that couldn't be wrapped up in time for the fair. this means that i will be posting new stuff on etsy a bit more often!

i am slowly getting back to work, but will be taking a much-needed trip down to LA for a long weekend. when i get back, i will be starting work on a sketch series as well as some new designs for little otsu.

a wee prize

little bits

should i stay or should i gocco?

my gocco equipment finally got to see the light of day again! i was up late in to the night printing a new button design for, yeah-huh, the craft fair.

i opted for candy instead of dinner.

two birds, one stone

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.