Works In Progress: Ragdoll Love

The fog and rain have descended on San Francisco this week, so I've been holed up in The Stude getting my sew back on.  Not quite ready to start on a dress or other big project, I decided to make some snuggly little dolls (which will make good gifts for new tiny humans that are on their way!)

I found a perfect pattern from Simplicity and am waiting (im)patiently for it to arrive in the mail.

Simplicity 1900

Beth over at The Modern Lady recently made this sweet little lady using the pattern. I'm so smitten with the fabric choices for her dress, and the little flower headband is so perfect.

Bows. Flowers. Pigtails. Win.

I couldn't wait to get started, so I ordered another pattern from Sarah of Dolls and Daydreams. The 3d bangs, glasses, and braids made this pattern irresistible; and it's so customizable. 

Removable glasses! With hearts!

My version of this girl is fresh off the cutting board and ready to get pieced together. I ran out of black felt for her braids, so she's currently sporting a bob (like me) but will soon have some longer locks. 

I've been waiting for the perfect moment to use this cherry fabric.

Sarah's pattern is so straight-forward and easy to use.  I will definitely be frequenting her etsy shop (and the craft store) during my hibernatory season in The Stude.

What are you working on? Or am I the only one hiding from the cold? ;)

Giveaway @ Dragonflight Dreams

Want to win one of my bags? Hop on over to Amanda's blog ASAP!

Also, it is Wednesday and that means I need a nap. Adieu.

Variations on a Theme: The Bettie Bag

Here are the latest creations from the sewing studio!  These two new versions of my latest project (now known fondly as the Bettie Bag) are rocking a similar vibe but doing it their own way. 

Version 1 (Buttons) - This bag was inspired by (and is about to be mailed to) my lovely friend Katie who is far away in Kentucky.  Not much for bows is Ms. Katie, so I made this one a little less girlie and a little more everyday chic ;)

Retro fabric + lined pocket = hooray.

And now, Version Two, which just might be put up for a giveaway over at Dragonflight Dreams later this month. (Hint!)  I won a lucky sponsorship spot at Amanda's sweet blog, so keep your eyes peeled for updates if you want to add my newest bag to your collection.

I hope you all had a gorgeous weekend. It was in the seventies here in San Francisco so there was no shortage of fun around here.  (I actually put down NetGalley and turned off the sewing machine... I, too, am shocked.)

Creations from the Stude: Red and Black Tote

In the true spirit of hibernation, I have been reading like crazy and sewing and generally enjoying staying holed up in my apartment, aka The Stude. I've got a bunch of new reviews to post this week, but in the mean time...

Here is my latest creation, the gigantic red and black book tote. This was meant to be a test run / mock-up for when I bust out the fancy-pants fabric, but it turned out so well that I'm going to put it in my bag rotation.

My first attempt at pleating.  Still kind of shocked it worked.

Red-lined inside with pocket.

 

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Updates from a Rainy Weekend: Blankets for All!

Ex Libris Moi

Being in love with all things old-fashioned, I have developed a particular crush on the ornate "ex libris" bookplates from the days of yore.

What is "ex libris," you ask? Per Wikipedia:

Ex Libris is a Latin phrase, meaning literally, "from the books". It is often used to indicate ownership of a book, as in "from the books of..." or from the library of...

I collect lots of old books, so I've had the good fortune to stumble across some of these antiqued name-bearing bookplates. Further journeying around the web turned up these beauties:

So of course, the next step was to get my own ex libris on.  Lacking the graphic design panache needed to properly do the job, I found Stacey's shop, Asspocket Productions, on Etsy and knew she was just the woman to help me. 

Update (01/ 16/12): Stacey sent me a quick email describing her process for creating the custom stamps you can find in her shop!

"It's actually a really cool photo process where I make a negative on my computer and then expose special photoreactive polymer gel to a strong light through the negative and it hardens when it develops. I then wash away the unexposed polymer, and cut apart the individual stamps and mount them."

After a careful search, I found exactly what I was yearning for, and when the package arrived I couldn't have been more pleased with the end result.  Ta daaaa!

Now for the fun of tackling my personal library, one book at a time, and a-fixing this eerily lovely little tag.  This feels like such a great way to get my reading life a little bit closer to organized.  (One step closer to checking off that New Year's resolution, and it's only January 13!)

Ex Libris the night away!

Crafting Treasure Trove

What an amazing weekend. My sister, the illustrious Kelly, came to visit from Cincinnati, and we had an absolute blast. We ate Indian Pizza, went to an independently curated film event, brunched in the Castro with wonderful friends, and walked all over my neighborhood to take in the sights.  Kelly was celebrating her recent birthday, and I was celebrating the recent end of grad school, so there was no excuse not to kick back and spend two days doing nothing but having fun. 

AND she brought me a total treasure trove of crafty love!  Books galore, some really fancy yarn, and a hand-stitched mermaid that I have been dying for her to make me.

!!!

Now that I don't have classes, I think it's pretty clear from the picture above what I'm going to be doing with my free time.

So. So. Cute. I love her.

Also, I started a new afghan that I can't wait to post... but I need to get a few more stripes in there before it's impressive enough to really be talking about.  Now that the days have calmed down a bit (after last week's flurry of school activities and the weekend's festivities) I'm back to my regular posting schedule, so more soon!

FIN!

For the last two years, August 16, 2011 has been on my mind.  In a few hours, this epic date will arrive and I will relinquish my thesis to the USF MFA faculty.  And you know what? I couldn't feel better about handing this puppy over.

TADA! All boxed up and ready to go!

In honor of this momentous occasion, I have decided to unveil my other masterpiece.  I've been working on this 7-color ripple stitch blanket for, well, almost as long as my thesis. (This blanket is BIG.  Like, two-people-snuggled-up-in-an-armchair big.) The two feel very interconnected to me.  When I lost steam with writing, I turned to my other, crafty outlet for some clarity and quiet.   Despite the totally different types of discipline and brain activity these projects required, they both called upon a level of dedication that I'm proud to say I now possess. 

Crazy snuggly. Bring it on, winter!

Tomorrow night, I'll join some of my very best friends in celebrating our new book-length creations, and we will all read from our work at Lone Mountain.  And then? Well... on to the next adventure. 

Finished Ripple-Stitch Blanket: Purples and Pink

As promised, here is my newest finished project! This is my medium-sized blanket (about 2.5 feet by 4 feet) and it's extra stretchy and soft. (I put Coco in the last picture for a bit of perspective.)

 

One step closer as I stock up for the opening of ... my Etsy shop! I can't wait to realize this goal I've had for such a long time, and it feels so good to be getting nearer all the time. 

Speaking of which, tonight I'm sitting in on an online workshop via Scatter Girls called "Setting Up Shop 101." This is just the push I need in the right direction and I'm ready to take tons of notes. So glad to have found these ladies who are totally in the know about getting things going!

Renegade Recap

The Renegade Craft Fair, San Francisco style, was as totally inspiring and full of eye-catching goodness as always.  I was really excited that Emily Martin of The Black Apple made it again this year.  Her blog is one of my favorites, and I've been collecting her art for over a year now.  I excitedly picked up another print from her "Lost on the Midway Series" which is now awaiting a frame and a place on the studio wall.

Lost on the Midway.

My favorite discovery was the booth of Good Bye Blue Monday, run by fellow Californians Shoshana, Erin and Dru.  They make some of the most adorable hug-ables I have ever seen.

"Hug A Cloud" and "Celine" - Both available on Etsy!

I couldn't resist such sweet little faces, and brought a new friend home:

Coco! (She loves Instagram.)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!  Time to enjoy the last few hours of Sunday.

Procrastinating Creatively

Things I Am Dying To Do But Can't Because I Should Finish My Thesis First:

• Relearn / experiment with my Vivitar 3800N (a sturdy, all-manual SLR camera) from high school

• Make miniature granny square blanket with tiny crochet hook and sock yarn.

• Finish queen-size teal/gold/brown ripple stitch afghan.

• Blog make-over - new banner, new "bonus pages", new layout

• Buy and build new bookshelves.  (My IKEA shelf that I've had for five years collapsed on my foot this weekend.)

• Organize books by genre. Alphabetize within genre. Celebrate.

• Take pictures of completed blankets for Etsy shop. Open Etsy shop. Celebrate again.

• Bust out the sewing machine. Make whale and owl softies. Play.

• Finish reading Tao Lin's "Bed." (Update: Finished 06/16/11 at lunch.)

• Finish reading Arielle Greenberg's "Gurlesque."

• Research crafting, blogging and writing conferences for the upcoming year. Get excited about them, pick some, register.

• Apply for fellowships. Apply for residencies. Send poems to journals for publication.

• Respond to emails. Respond to Facebook messages.

• Write letters to my friends. Make them beautiful. Mail.

Oh, and did I mention that I also work full-time? Keeping busy is the best, but of course a few extra hours wouldn't hurt. 

What is your creative approach to procrastination?

DIY Valentines! (Just A Peak)

I decided to hand-make all of my Valentines this year (an exciting project for which I greatly underestimated the scope!)  This weekend, I turned my studio into a veritable Valentine factory and emerged triumphant last evening, though covered in glitter glue. Thanks to a debit card thief, I was low on funds this weekend so I holed up with Hulu and crafted my way to the other side.

Here are a few "sneak peaks" .... <3

Flock of Sparrows.

Love is all you need!

"xoxoxoxoxoxo"

The "xoxoxoxoxo" stamper pictured above is, hands-down, my favorite new crafting supply.  The Crayola twistable colored pencils are definitely coming in at a close second, however...

Happy (almost) V-Day!

Getting Things Done!

1) Thesis I = FINISHED! Challenging, rewarding, hugely enjoyable to create. I am so proud of what was accomplished, but sad to see the summer go. This schedule featured lots of free evenings (an absolute luxury) and spending all that time alone with my poetry was revelatory and useful.

Surprising to me is the huge turn my work has taken. There is a lot more experimentation going on and I have relinquished my panicked sleuthing to discover MY UNIQUE VOICE! Letting go of this self-imposed deadline to have myself completely figured out felt like a million bucks.

2) In conjunction with finishing Thesis I, I made my first ever Granny Square Afghan! This was one of my New Year's resolutions. (I have a particularly difficult time finishing crafting projects, especially BIG ones.) I started on this a month before my sister's birthday, and finished just in time.

In the middle of attaching the blocks:



All done and at the birthday girl's house:






3) I met my favorite blogger and crafter, Elsie (A Beautiful Mess) at Renegade Craft Fair here in lovely San Francisco! She was SO sweet and it was amazing to chat with her in person. So glad she made the road trip out to visit!


And who can resist doing some serious shopping at Renegade? I LOVED the handmade, vinyl accessories by Miss Allison. She helped me sift through her HUGE selection to find the perfect wristlet and sparkly wallet, which I love!


Another of my all-time favorite bloggers, Emily Martin of Inside A Black Apple made it to SF this year! I was thrilled to make off with a print of one of her fantastic paintings:



The second I had this framed and hanging on the wall of my studio, I felt the whole place come together. I love, love, love finding little treasures like this to make my space cozy and happy.


4) Back to school!!! One week from tonight, Fall Semester starts a.k.a "Hectic O'Clock." Something about this crazy schedule is comforting, though. Life has had some dastardly tricks up its sleeve lately, so the regularity (even if it IS sixteen flavors of exhausting) will be charmingly reliable. Also, I'm really looking forward to meeting all of the new first year grad students and working with boat-loads of talented new poets.



Bon soir, mes amis!