On my desk...

Nothing! :o

I know I promised to blog about Renegade (and I still will!) and I know it's a day late for the meme, but I am just so elated about my revamped desk area that I wanted to show it off. I wish wish wish I had a before picture so you could see how horrendously messy it was, but just imagine piles of papers and trinkets everywhere rendering the entire surface unusable. My sewing machine lived in a corner of the living room and my laptop on the couch, or on the floor next to it... never could I have dreamed of fitting either on my desk, let alone both! I am so excited that for the first time ever I actually have a usable craft workspace. Though, knowing me, I'll still do half of everything on the couch ;)

And the room revamp doesn't stop there. My mom and I squeezed a table (now trust me, that was interesting) into my shower (which is never used- I use the "guest" bathroom- mine was always filled with cat stuff, but I figure Casper should be able to share) so I can have an area for printing and cutting and things, instead of crouching in the bathtub, haha. I still need to do more physical cleaning of the shower area before I use it though, the dust that was caked on everything was pretty ridiculous... Well, hopefully I'll be inspired to keep cleaning and make even more room for crafty storage and etc now that I actually have a workspace. :D Yeah I know... still kind of can't get over that ;)

Anyway, here it is:

Probably still looks rather crowded to most of you, but to me this is practically empty ;) haha I'm also excited about how I hung my scissors, brand new rotary cutter (hiding behind the old computer), and voodoo pin cushion on my bulletin board/bed. (Yes, this whole shebang is underneath my loft bed).

And here's above the desk:

You can see the underside of my mattress ;P as well as the spool and bobbin storage I'm so proud of- I just stuck straight pins in to the bulletin board at an angle! Obviously I have some more to put up there, but I'm super happy with it for now :)

Other people's prettier desks can be found here. ;) And I suppose this also goes well, though rather late, with last week's this is... because this is the space in which I will create!

Finally, yesterday I also went to Dick Blick, Pearl Paint, and a few random fabric stores to stock up. I got:
A rotary cutter
A cutting mat
A smaller squeegee (preparing for my gocco already ;P)
2 more colors of fabric ink (dark purple and dark green)
A sheet of speedy cut
A rubber brayer
More stencil plastic
Tracing Paper
"Friskit Film" - something new for me to try :o
3 yards of interfacing
3 yards of muslin
3 yards of a plain grayish cotton

I don't think that's too shabby for under $100 in NYC. Oh, but another thing I'm bouncing out of my pants about: I also bid on and won this print gocco - I'm so unbelievably excited! It looks like it should be in full working order and oh I hope it is, because with shipping and many special extra fees to get it, it obviously comes to a lot more than the 3600 yen listed... but should still amount to about $50 less than getting a new one from printaddict or somewhere else... so, my fingers are crossed! I don't know how I'll be able to wait for it to get here, because it's also much slower than getting one from printaddict... could be a couple of weeks. Also, it looks like it might be missing a blue filter, and I might need to get some other inks, but I'm trying so hard to prevent myself from placing an order with thinkink or anywhere else until the gocco is in my hands and I can properly assess it.

Now, what I really need to do is stop spending my birthday money before I get it ;) ... less than a week until I'm 19, time really does fly.

Bicycle bicycle bicycle

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

So, I meant to blog about last Friday's bike ride much sooner... last Friday or Saturday perhaps, but as usual got distracted with other, more useless things. So, I will blog about it now. Simply put, it was a lovely ride. Sometimes, living in the city that never sleeps, with construction making my daily commutes an ever changing maze and cranes collapsing down the street, I forgot that it takes less than 10 minutes of easy peddling to get to something as delightful as this:

Which is free for the crossing, and quite fun to ride down the other side of. And on that other side, it's like a different land, where you can chase ferry boats,

or stop and get distracted by some pretty horses,

or even a mother and her lovely ducklings.


This place is called Ward's island, and I used to bike here with my mom when I was a kid- it is just a short ride along the east river to the bridge- and while the island has great potential to be creepy and sketchy at night (I do believe it is home to some mental wards... though strangely enough, that is not how it got it's name) it is really lovely during the day... at least, the part they aren't doing construction on, haha, I guess some things never change. It seems they are renovating a great deal of the park right now, a lot more of it was bikeable when I was a kid, I think they are trying to redeem it for it's former status as a home for all things undesirable (garbage, bodies, the insane...) and make it more useful/open to the public. Point being, I need to take my bike out more, ride along the water, go to Ward's island, and other parks too. I mean, that's what summers are for, right?

I will end this entry here as to stay on topic... but Renegade was this weekend and it was grand! Though, maybe not quite as grand as last year... due to the rain perhaps? Anyway, I will blog about it soon... my main reason for waiting that I have yet to photograph my goodies ;)

And happy belated poppa's day to all you fathers out there. I hope you had a good one :)

On my desk.... ish.

Well I've been busy browsing some beautiful photos from the Wednesday on my desk meme, begun by Kootoyoo, and I must say I'm having a little bit of desk envy. I tried to make one of those cute little mosaics of some of my favorites but it didn't seem to work. boo :( Guess I still have some blogging tricks to master. Well, anyway, my envy spawns from the fact that at home, I can't say I really have a desk... I mean, I do, but it contains my old, not really working desktop computer, and piles and piles of paper, rendering it rather unusable. My main workspace is the living room couch and floor and so things have a tendency to become very messy and unorganized. In fact, I hardly spend any time in my own room at all... it's become more of a storage area :/ And at school, well, my desk is all full of boring school-type stuff, and nothing lovely and crafty.

Well, yesterday in my beloved flamingo print dress (thanks to e-bay for the photo) I found myself in a 1950s housewife sort of mood where I wanted to clean and organize and perhaps make my desk and room into something usable once again! However, I was working most of the day (from 11am-12:30pm and from 3pm-10:30pm) and so didn't have the time. Today, I have had all the time in the world but haven't had that same punch of desire to organize, no matter how many photos of pretty desks and clean craft closets I lust after.

Alas, for now, even though It's not Wednesday, I did want to show you a picture of what's on my "desk," aka the couch, which is what I've been working on today rather than doing any sort of cleaning whatsoever. I'm pretty excited about it, but can't show you much more as it may end up being for a craftster swap I've just signed up for... though this is still kind of a trial run.


And speaking of swapping, head on over to Jezzeblog and check out her Swatch Swap which I think is an absolutely fabulous idea. I've only printed fabric once or twice before, but I had a great time with it, and if you do too, or if you've ever wanted to give it a try, you should head over to swap some swatches too!

Anyway, time to whip myself up a quick dinner and perhaps I will feel a bit more inspired after I eat...

Ran away to Renegade

Wow, it's been a long time again, hasn't it? Well, it really is summer now, and I hope to be able to bring you more consistent, continuous, craft filled posts in the near future.

Any the way, this weekend was the Renegade Craft fair in Brooklyn, and it was absolutely spectacular! It my my first time attending the event and my mom accompanied me since Helen couldn't come with (her grandfather passed away, and on father's day- how awful!) :(

Despite the sad news, and once I overcame my shell shock, I had a truly terrific time! While I was still too shy to really say hi to some of my favorite bloggers/craft world idols (such as Heidi and Emily) I did partake in the buying of their wares, which are only that much more wonderful in person. If anyone saw me, I was the sheepish girl with big rectangular sunglasses and a brown t-shirt reading "Natch." (I made it for the occasion, but don't have photos as of yet because it's in the wash- boy it was hot yesterday!)

In the end, I did my best to control my spending (that was certainly a challenge) and came home with:

Two journals (I am so in love with everything this guy makes! These books are blank journals with some of the original pages interspersed and are quite possibly my new favorite thing!) from Jacob at ex libris anonymous. The tuba one is for me (of course) and the other (which also has the most charming illustrations inside) is for Helen. This guy will even make notebooks out of books you send him for only $9 a peach! How fantastic!
And, a beautiful print from Miss Emily at theblackapple which is already hanging on my wall (though still in it's plastic as I have no frame and it is certainly worth protecting)


A used tissue for Helen (I thought it was ironically appropriate... but also darling) from the wonderful Heidi over at mypapercrane. Though I'm wishing I bought something of hers for myself, I kept gazing wistfully back at those cute little milk cartons...
A wonderful monster from Mad Science, who is new to me, but I'm so glad I discovered.
and a cute little clutch from cotton cupcakes, which is the only purchase I'm regretting just a twinge, because I know if I tried really hard, I could have made it myself. (Though not with that lovely owlie fabric...)


I also picked up some fabric (and a free lolly) from the reprodepot booth


and won a raffle at the adorn and knit magazine booths! The bag was filled with yarn and other goodies, and the included crochet hook inspired me to give crocheting another try when I got home...

resulting in my first crochet FOs, three lovely little flowers:

I'm certain I didn't do it "correctly" but I think they came out alright. Now I want to make a cloche hat to put them on. (I tried on and fell in love with this hat at the fair... but $100-$140 for a hat, even as stunning as that, I just can't afford)

More craft and less shop soon. I have a few FOs to blog about. I know you don't believe me, but I swear!

Vintage Heaven

I spent the better part of yesterday with my mother at the Manhattan Vintage Show, and it was absolutely wonderful. When I entered the doors of the Metropolitan Pavilion, I was in absolute vintage crafter and designer heaven. I was so overwhelmed that I don't know if I made the best use of my time, but I did manage to find what I was looking for: the perfect non-traditional prom dress, which turned out to be 1980s Mary McFadden, and not a bad price either! I also fell completely in love with a 1950s summer green and white eyelet dress, which although was not on the agenda, was deemed the perfect graduation dress, and also purchased. This one was a bit more pricey, being vintage Dior, but after getting such a good deal on the prom dress, and seeing how in love with it I was, my mom bought it for me anyway. She also got a kick out of how eternally grateful I was, doing favors for her for the rest of the day.

I also bought some amazing saddle shoes and an adorable, bright yellow 70s culotte. There was some lovely vintage fabric at the show, and I was especially drawn to a gorgeous piece with little poodles all over it. However, I was turned off after discovering the $24 price tag, though in retrospect, the booths all had such a wide range of prices that I should have looked harder. Ah well, there's always next time... I believe the next show is in October... hopefully I can come back from school to go!

Anyway, enough boring you with my rambles, and I apologize that I can't show you the dresses, but both of those must wait for their respect reveal dates before anyone lays eyes on them ;)
However, I can share a few things:

Those perfect saddle shoes, with real buckles in the back!


Can't you tell I'm ready for spring? Thank goodness the weather has been fabulous since Friday! (Oh, and do excuse the dirty hair ;P)

Well, I suppose that's all I have for now. I'm sorry this blog has been more clothes and less craft lately, I've been awfully busy, and mostly working on things for other people, but I promise to have some crafts to post soon!

Across the country and back again

Well, Spring break is over and done, and now it is time to get back in swing with the rest of the year. I had a fantastic time both in Brunswick and San Francisco and was not without crafty things on my mind.

One of the highlights of my fabulous weekend in Brunswick with Mary was the fabulous flea market inside an old mill. There was so much to see and so much I wanted to get my hands on, but I managed a few especially stellar finds, The highlight being a potential dress for prom, Vintage Gunne Sax, for $12.50! I know for a fact the original price was at the very least over $100. It makes my thrifty bones tingle a bit ;)

(I'm afraid I don't photograph myself very well, and can hardly do the dress justice)

I also snagged a few beautiful vintage buttons for about $6 and a fantastic pair of black, gold plated cameo earrings (1920s-30s so the woman who sold them to me said).


I also picked up some fun fabric remnants and a bounty of colorful acrylic felt from a cute everything store in town and a few fabulous deals from the Ralph Lauren store in Freeport. Not to mention that Mary and I had a wonderful time.

Then, after a few days at home, it was off to San Francisco to meet the gang. We saw the sites- Chinatown, Fisherman's Warf, Ghirardelli Sqaure, Japan Center, Haight Asbury, the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito- and I picked up a few fun things. While I managed, barely, to pull myself away from the kitschy ceramics in Brunswick, particularly a cute squirrel salt and pepper shaker set, I could not resist this little bank in Chinatown for only $2.


I also found a few great pieces in the Haight area at a store called Buffalo exchange, the highlight being this Mark Jacobs sweater for a mere $30. Normally, I am not such a brand oriented person, but beauty and quality can just be so hard to resist.


We has an amazing trip, and got some exercise too while biking across the Golden Gate bridge!


Sorry this post was so much thrift and ramble, and so little craft, but the many plane rides did give me an opportunity to get some knitting done.

I am now well in to knitty's satchel, a project I started especially for these trips and am very excited about.

I also had a chance to test an adorable pattern for a stuffed turtle by everyone's favorite Hillary Lang, but I shall refrain from posting pictures just yet.

More soon now that the window escapades are through with and I am back home in the land of craft.

Realizing... toast.

Today I stumbled upon this wonderful woman's incredibly beautiful work space and decide that when I 'grow up' I want an amazing space like that. My corners of piles of junk are not creatively conducive and I just wish I had the space time and energy to surround myself with such exquisite things. I craft to make the world beautiful, and I wish that my surroundings could always be neat, tiny, and full of splendor. When I grow up, I want a craft room, or at least a nook, that can be at least 1/10th gorgeous as that and conducive to my creativity. Meanwhile, I'll survive with my piles and messes, because at least I have the space for that, and maybe someday I'll be able to get it a little bit more organized.

In my clutter, last night I pulled a table out to the living room rather than sew on the floor as usual, and whipped my mom up some pot holders for her birthday (I only managed to finish about 13 pattern repeats of the branching out, I suppose she'll get that for mother's day.)


She liked them, and they are certainly an improvement on our old ones, which were really just old and falling apart.

Also, Wednesday I had some sort of mystery stomach flu, and stayed home from school. I wanted to craft, but could hardly muster up the energy, I was feeling this bad. Instead I rented Little Miss Sunshine and the Devil Wears Prada- both inspiring in their own very different ways- and spent most of the day on the couch. I did however, manage to make this little guy, because what's better when you're sick than a little toast?


As I believe was pointed out on Creative Kismet, it is good to feel sick once in a while because it makes you appreciate feeling better. Well I know I appreciated feeling better on Thursday despite my unexciting lunch of crackers and jam to appease any possibility of a lingering upset stomach.

Well, that is all. I did receive a craft package with some nice earrings recently, and had a good evening of babysitting, and dinner and pinkberry with Mike and Laura. However, they did not appreciate how delicious pinkberry is, and their lovely 'kawaii' Japanese decor, as much as Helen and I do, so that may be a venue reserved just for us in the future. Otherwise, I'm a busy girl, so crafting is somewhat limited at the moment, though I do have a swap package to work on, but busy is good, and sometimes, that's just how it should be.

An Inspirational Adventure

On Monday, Helen and I went on a craft/inspiration adventure. We didn't end up buying much crafty stuff, but I did get some needed cable needles at school products (I still can't believe I was able to restrain myself and not buy yarn since I didn't "need" any :o) and I got a cute new shirt and sweater on sale at H&M. We did have a great time wandering around in the cold and getting inspired though, and she ended up with a cute pink wool/mohair sweater from goodwill for recycling purposes.

We enjoyed the container store:


wouldn't those wrapping papers make fabulous fabrics?

Discovered a cute Japanese boutique on 19th St:

too bad the fabric was like $9 per fat quarter... I was tempted though... especially by an adorable little print with bunnies. Well, now that I know it's there, I can always go back ;)


who on Earth would blow their nose on these?? So pretty!

And the best part: Since we were in the area, my mom let us raid the "trash" pile at her office... she is the president of a textile mill! We set aside piles and piles of gorgeous upholstery fabric to add to our stashes. I already have 2 specific projects in mind. Since it was heavy, we left most of the fabric there for her to UPS back uptown (or to Queens in Helen's case) but I took my favorite piece home with me:

It's fairly soft for upholstery fabric too... though I haven't decided what to do with this particular piece yet. There were also a ton of great paisleys, florals, and geometrics patterns, including one other print with birds (peacocks I think) which I claimed and a smallish amount of a great print with strawberries which Helen and I are sharing. I foresee I lot of bags and pillows in my future! Any tips for other good upholstery fabric projects?

Otherwise, besides working, hanging out, and doing my vacation homework, I've been working on a lot of stuff for swaps and I've reached the 13th repeat of my mom's branching out. I think my goal is 30... *sigh* it's going well though, and is much more interesting to knit than a plain scarf!