Work and Play

These boys love to stay in a hotel.  They both pooped out at the same time.

 These are composition book covers I made for Kati who wanted bears.  I couldn't find bear fabric I liked so I did some drawings myself and had them printed at Spoonflower.  The bear above was a sketch that I then cut out of paper.  I scan the images into Illustrator and use Live Trace to make them vector images that can be manipulated. 

The Southwestern Family Road Trip

 It's been many years since I've driven across the Southwest.  Earlier this month me and Ash, Theron, Oli, and our friend Vanessa drove to Albuquerque for the annual conservation meeting.  Ozge and I had a booth for IVS and Ashley had a booth for PACCIN.  We rented a mini van and filled it to the brim with display furniture, products, and snacks.  Note to selves, Cheez-Its are delicious but no substitute for real food.  On the way back we GOT OUT OF THE CAR and ate food.  It was fried but it actually made the trip easier.

 Here is Oli taking a load off.  I can tell it's when we first got there because the decorative pillows are still in place. 

 Here's a shot of the IVS booth.  This was the first year we took credit cards at the booth.  It was nice to see repeat customers.  It was also great being able to bring our clothing rack and 2 grid display stands without the worry of shipping. 

 This is Ashley at his booth educating everyone to the amazing resource that is PACCIN.  Next to him is our friend Liz who has launched a non-profit called Indigo Arts Alliance that makes grants to people, not just conservators, to help fund professional development. 
Booth sitting occupied two days but we had help and were able to get away during that time to see talks, and the day after our booths closed there were still sessions going so we were both able to attend presentations we wanted to see.  It was amazing how fast the time went.  We didn't really have a chance to see much around Albuquerque.

On the way back we decided it was better to get out once in a while, not just at the gas station.  We stopped at the dinosaur, Indian, petrified wood trading post. 

 Theron refused to stand with his back to the dinosaurs.  Inside the trading post he got himself a piece of petrified wood and a necklace with a "mood" tipi pendant.

 In spite of all the cheapy tourist souvenirs there was actually a room of the good stuff and a nice selection of kachina dolls by artists I know, having been recently immersed in the subject, are well respected.  Outside there were these interesting pieces of glass and larger chunks of petrified wood.

 We stopped at one place that had interesting sheet metal statues - I don't have a picture, maybe Ashley took one. 

 Here's Oli being a good dog.

And misc, this is a quilted notebook cover I made as a graduate present for a student I helped with her thesis.

 Oops, the back is rotated - oh well.

While driving through Arizona we sang along to the Eagles song about standin' on a corner.  Yay for satellite radio.

Because

First, the conference went well, even though my two partners were MIA - Ozge had a baby that Friday and Rebecca was on her honeymoon - the nerve! 

 Some of our new products included leather tool rolls in right and left hand friendly styles.

 I also designed a tool holder that opens into a caddy.  It was duly admired and sold out.

Next was the AIC to AIC (American Institute of Conservation) dishtowel calendar sold on a hanging dowel.

Things were great - sales were strong - can't complain.  Fortunately Molly was available to help me while my partners went about having private lives (Thanks, girls!!!!).  (Just kidding!!)

As life gets back to what passes for normal our unique family dynamic comes back into play.  Example: get assigned to bring a dessert to a going away party.  Desserts on Top Chef are the kiss of death but in the normal world that's the cherry assignment.  I decided to make cupcakes as Americans seem to like cupcakes lately.  I was reminded of a Martha Stewart project where she stuck flower-frosted minicupcakes into a foam sphere.  So pretty.  Then I thought, hey, I have styrofoam.  We have a styrofoam head we used to display safety goggles at the conference.  So I started putting toothpicks in the head to plan. 

This is where it begins.  Ashley sees the insanity and keeps his distance.  He evaluates the cost, because no matter how much he backs off it still affects him - will it be time?  Neglect of the family? multiple trips to the supermarket? Mess?  He waits.

First I made the batter for the "Best Birthday Cake" from Smitten Kitchen.  Poor Ash went to 3 stores looking for mini cupcake papers. 

I also wanted to make jello oranges from Not Martha because I knew there might be kids and the oranges were a big hit at Theron's birthday party 2 years ago.  Anyway this was the beginning of an inspired design

The Hershey's Kisses were the result of insomnia.  I love them. 
Anyway, I thought we still had some food coloring sprays I could use to color the plain, whipped cream topped cupcakes.  Ash said they were gone, I said, okay, I'll use food dye and suddenly Ash said, No - that would be great!  And that's when it happened.  The surrender.  I love this part. It happens every time.  I have dream, it only goes so far, and Ashley takes it to the next level. 
So everything was done but he thought it would be better to do the "painting" at the last minute so about 3 blocks from our destinations we pulled over so that Ash could spray paint the cupcakes on top of a hedge. 

Theron was allowed to spray paint the extras.  Jello head was a big hit.  And delicious.  Thanks Ashley - who could have guessed when I married you that you would be such an awesome partner in crafting?

More Crafty

Thread catcher and pincushion anchor for an LA Modern Quilt Guild exchange.

Latest projects

 Bibs for Ozge's baby shower.  A good way to use up pretty scraps.

 IVS bags for the upcoming conference

 Leather tool roll



New Year!

I'm finally back - it's been a little busy around here.  But the new year means new habits WE HOPE. 

 In the new year we vow to try to give both puppies the exercise and play they need and deserve.

In the new year I will try to eat fewer of these kind of things.

 These are cake pops I made for Theron's classroom Christmas party.  After looking at about 100 posts about cake pops, starting with the famous Bakerella tutorial, I was ready to go.  First you bake a cake - I used a mix.  : /
When it cools you crumb it and then mash it up with something that will make it stick together.  I used sweetened condensed milk but you can also use frosting, or jam, or crushed berries.  Roll into balls, insert a stick, cool in the fridge or freezer.  When cool, dip in candy shell.  I used the Wilton melts available at Michaels.  Theron and Ash ate all the rejects and declared them a success. 

In the new year I will try to say Yes less often.  I'll probably continue to do the Holiday craft sale for the school but maybe I will start in the summer this time instead of November.   

 Some pocket tissue holders, my usual contribution.

In the new year and ever after I will no longer volunteer to do the soccer banner even though I really really love to do it. 
Theron's team, the Blue Ninjas, were UNDEFEATED the entire season.  Then in the playoffs, where EVERY TEAM competes, they lost the first game in penalty kicks.  Oh, it was heartbreaking.  There were tears.  There were questionable calls. Parents tried very hard not to say anything inappropriate.  Theron took it very well, though.  He said something about your destiny catching up with you sooner or later and let's get cheeseburgers. 
The end of season party was in December.  Ashley asked me, wasn't I going to do something with the banner?  Yes, I was. 

 I cut all their soccer balls off and made banners with a sleeve for a dowel.  Maybe Ash is a little bit of an enabler.  Anyway, I bought dowels to cut up but I had taken them away from Theron when he started using them as swords and couldn't find them all in the morning.  So, that's that. 

 Here's Theron working on his screenplay at Jamba Juice.  So far, a sprawling 26 page Spiderman extravaganza.

 Inherent Vice Squad gave these cotton lawn "Wash Your Paws" hankies to our 2010 customers.  We had them printed at Spoonflower.com and love them SO much.

This is a dishtowel I made out of a Blue Bird flour sack. 

Anyway, I don't know what else.  Just happy 2011! 

Panic and Anticipation

The time is here to pack and get ones self to Milwaukee
That doesn't mean the work is all done, by any means, it just means that by the end of today everything that needs to be done by machine will be done. And we'll be sitting in the hotel room sewing tags on stuff, etc.

There are more pictures on the IVS blog

I can't wait for Cafe Disco, but also I look forward to visiting with everyone. Emily and I are going to lay in bed with glasses of wine and talk about Nilfisk vacuums.

Now that I have all this left over leather I am especially inspired by these little Apache pouches that we unboxed at work this week.