New Ink

Yesterday was Eric's birthday, and we celebrated with an all day adventure that included, among other things, finally getting the anchor tattoos we both wanted. We each had different designs in mind, but Hector at Tattoo 13 in Oakland did an amazing job on both. Mine is from a drawing I did of an antique engraving, and Eric's is in more of a traditional tattoo style.


They're still a bit shiny, so these aren't the best pics, but it's interesting how different they look. Eric's is on his bicep, and mine is on the inside of my ankle.

Rec Room

These photos are from a house down the street from us that is for sale. I am so jealous of the knotty pine!! I am secretly hoping that when the new owners tear it all out (inevitably- have you watched any home improvement shows lately?), I will be able to salvage some of it for our den. The bar is my favorite part... look at those stools! I am willing to bet that the previous owners played lots of Mancini records and made canapes with pineapple and ham.

Well, Okay, You Can Tread on Me

This month's special "Good Things" issue from Martha Stewart features all sorts of fun DIY projects, including this one for a custom doormat.

Considering what terrible shape our old doormat was in, I decided to give it a shot. After some serious stencil making (I used acetate), I pulled out the spray paint (I keep this mint green around because it perfectly matches the trim on our house, and comes in handy for all kinds of things). Here's the result! I feel like it still needs a little something extra, like maybe a motif below the address? I will have to check with Eric and keep you posted on that.

Craft Service

Here in the retail/ wholesale world, the holiday season is already upon us, and I'm happy to announce that I will be selling cards at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle, WA on December 1st and 2nd, and Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco on December 15. I'll also have cards for sale at Craftland in Providence, RI from December 1-22. So if you're in SF, PVD, or SEA, please drop by! I'll be posting more info as we get closer to the events.

Magic Forest

This is the little faux bois lamp I bought in Oregon last weekend. Isn't it magical?

Also, this little log planter... so cute!

A Good Week for RISD

Wow, this has been a good week for RISD alumni on this blog! Last night Eric and I watched a documentary on Vh1 called NY77, which sort of contexutalized the innovative music of the time (punk, rap) in the socially uneasy setting of New York City.

As we were watching, we were very impressed with the graphics and animation, and I suddenly had a hunch that I'd seen something similar before. Sure enough, a quick visit to fellow RISD grad Wyeth Hansen's website, and we discovered that he not only directed all the visuals for the project, but also composed some of the music. Impressive! Yay for RISD's class of 2003!

Abandoned

Speaking of RISD alumni, I always love looking at Rob Dobi's photography. He's been photographing abandoned buildings and institutions for years, and was the leader of many "urban explorations" while we were at school. Here are a few pics from his flickr page, and you can see more on his photography site here. He also does amazing illustration work and sells really well designed t-shirts on his main site, here.

Porcelain Pomegranate

Here are some gorgeous new pieces from fellow RISD alum David Wiseman. I love the little pomegranate so much! If you aren't already familiar with David's work, you should definitely check out his website to see all his beautiful work. His chandeliers are amazing!

Cozy Kettles

It's a bit cold and rainy in California today, so here are some antique tea kettles from Ebay to keep you warm.

The Letters Society

My friend Kara has started a little club called The Letters Society, and I am really excited about it! Each month, we write letters to a different member, about a specific theme. This month's theme was "the color red." Here's the package I'm sending out:

I hope the recipient likes it!

Must Have

I think these pajamas were made for me!

(from Victoria's Secret)

New Plan

So it turned out to be much too much trouble to carry a large wood cabinet home from Oregon, and I'm glad it was because now that I am home and have measured the space, there is no way it would fit! My new plan is to find a smaller cabinet, such as this antique medical cabinet, that will still serve to display my cookbooks and mixing bowls, without taking up so much space.

Anyone have one for sale?

Greetings From Oregon

I'm here in Southern Oregon for the weekend with my friend Jane. Coming to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland has been a family tradition for more than 20 years, and for the past three years, Jane has joined us.
This year we decided to do some things besides playgoing, so we spent today on the Southern Oregon Wine and Farm Tour, in addition to cruising our favorite antique mall west of Pennsylvania, in Medford. We started off with breakfast at another favorite spot, the Breadboard, home of some of the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had.
Then we drove up to the Rogue Creamery in Central Point, where we sampled their excellent cheeses, before heading on to Eagle Point's historic Butte Creek Mill, where they still make flour using water power. Next we drove on to historic Jacksonville for more antiques and a sampling of smoked meats at Gary West's. I found a gorgeous Cathrineholm lotus pot for a steal, and Jane bought some lovely lemonade glasses. On our way there, we stopped at a local strawberry farm and split a pint. Yum! At the Medford mall, I bought a hilarious faux bois lamp (pics soon) and planter for our den, and I also have my eye on a Hoosier cabinet, if I can figure out how to get it back to Berkeley...

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Kitchen Dreams

I am meeting with our contractor and cabinet maker on Tuesday, and it's got me thinking about what else we can do with the kitchen space. What I really want is an antique Hoosier cabinet like this one from Ebay... it has a built in flour bin and sifter, a pull-out enamel work surface, cooling racks, and lots of storage space. Imagine if I had glass put into the upper cabinet doors, so I could display my cute mixing bowls and coffee pots... so cute!

I wonder if the cabinet guy could make something similar that would match the new cabinets and look like a built-in (or actually be built in)? That would be pretty cool!

Three Sheets to the Wind

Last night we took a trip to Target for some necessities, and I took a quick look in the bedding section. I was so impressed! There were some really cute sheets, and I even bought a set to use for reupholstering the dining room chairs! These are from the Thomas O'Brien collection, and I think they'll work really well. It's kind of hard to see the detail in this pic, so I'll be sure to take better ones when I start working on the chairs.

I also really liked these sets from the Woolrich collection, although I don't see them on our dining room chairs...

Shelf Life

Oh! I am loving these lacey metal shelves from RE. I wish I could afford to use them in my trade show booth- they would be such a cute way to display my cards! But for $160 per shelf, it seems a bit much. Trade show booths are pricey enough ($100 per electrical socket, for example) as it is...

Ice Hotel

There is something so magical about this hotel in Quebec. It is built from scratch every year entirely from ice and snow! Apparently the concept originated in Sweden (of course), with the gorgeous IceHotel. I'm not sure how I feel about sleeping on a block of ice in temperatures below freezing, but I guess if the Eskimos can do it...

Sicko

I've been sick for the past few days, so I thought I'd show off some cute nursing ephemera from Ebay.

My Father, the Fruit Pusher

Johnny Appleseed's got nothing on my dad. He has in his urban backyard roughly 30 fruit trees, and most of them are apple trees. Throughout the year he unloads bag upon bag of plums, apricots, blackberries, pears, and lemons, but nothing compares to the fall when he harvests the apples. Last week my parents paid me a visit in which my mother gave me this hilarious article, and my father gave me SIXTY POUNDS of apples. So naturally, I decided to make apple sauce. Check out my recipe blog for the details- it took me three and a half hours to peel just half of the apples, which filled a 20-quart pot!