Dottie!

Photo courtesy of Uppercase. 

Last Friday night, Joe and I ventured to Assemble Gallery and Studio (my new favorite local gallery) to celebrate the book launch of one of my favorite long-term bloggers, dottie angel.

dottie is the alter ego/blogging personality of one Tif Fussell, who I met, and who is very sweet and not yet snooty-star-struck. (not that I am assuming that she will become snooty-star-struck, but one never knows.)

(Also, I hope that she, and her publisher, won't be sad that I poached these photos.)

I told her I was reluctant to come to her party, since I didn't want to appear to be some raving lunatic of a fan. It's weird to meet someone in person who you seem to know so much about, while still knowing that you don't know them in the real flesh--only their web persona.

Luckily, Tif agreed with me regarding the weirdness (on her end as well), but she has thus far been delighted to meet people who are not raving stalkers but rather crafty people like herself who are genuinely nice and normal. I hope that I too came across as nice and normal. (or at least, not scary or raving.)

Photo courtesy of Uppercase. 

You may remember dottie as the inspiration for the bunting I made for my studio. Although our color palettes would seem to disagree, our crafty philosophies are quite similar. We do not take ourselves too seriously, we must have dogs on the floor to get anything done, and we both fight mightily against a very long rainy season here in the upper northwest.

Also, dottie's new book is amazing. So, so much better in person than could ever be shown on the interwebs.  (And yes! It comes with an amazing envelope of real life goodies, including buttons and scraps of happy.)

I heart (public) art some more.

There's an installation in Carkeek Park this summer, and it's filled with site-specific (mostly) natural-element sculptures, integrating themselves into the landscape of the park.

There's a horrible map with no scale and too much information that doesn't tell you how to get to see any of them, so you must pretend you're on a scavenger hunt or you'll get frustrated and give up.

Nevertheless. When it's sunny and you feel like a wander in the city, this is the place.  

My favorites are these here cardboard shelf fungi. They're so innocuous, so small, so perfectly placed around the fence line, you almost walk right by them. 

Aren't they fantastic?

I heart (public) art

Thank you Suzanne Tidwell, for making my year with this surreal, colorful, and thorough yarn bombing of Pioneer Square.

And thank you, Seattle, for being the kind of town that not only says yes to this project, but provides grant money for it as well.

Didja notice?

right over there? -------------------------------------------->

I thought I'd share the blogs that I follow relentlessly. I mean, I follow a number of blogs about a number of topics (crafting, advertising, branding and marketing, social media, food, etc.) but these are the ones I'd take to a desert island with me.

ich habe genug

Joe brought home Maira Kalman's book (which was made from her visual blog in the New York Times), The Principles of Uncertainty.

I was immediately smitten: by her deluxe descriptions of things, her jaunty paintings, her handwriting a mix of lower case and upper case and cursive and block print, her outlook, her in-look. She paints portraits of people's sinks, and photographs couches that have been abandoned on New York streets, and is the curator of several amazing collections: candy bars and sponges and suitcases and whistles.

Anyway, I thought you should know about her. Because I'm happier now that I do.

Also: She's got a new gig going at the Times, about our country's history. Check it here.

Time = abundance

Big ups to Jess Gonacha for posting my lastest digital drawing on her FABulous blog, peacannoot. Jess is an artist and a visionary for the Internets...pop on over to peacannoot and see for yourself.

Shopping List Saturday: teeny tiny

everything's better small.

I learned my love for the little when my father built me a dollhouse. My mother bought me a tiny tiny old fashioned bathroom set--a claw-footed tub, an ancient toilet with the pull chain flusher, and a tiny pitcher and wash basin to grace the bedroom dresser. I also had a tiny grandfather clock, a tiny fireplace set, a tiny tiny set of dishes for the kitchen cabinets. My grandmother helped me decorate the house, laying down a small turkish rugs on the living room floor, hanging pale blue floral wallpaper in the kitchen, pasting paper that looked like tiny tiles on the floor of the bathroom. I was always on the lookout for teeny accessories for those six rooms. And, I guess I still am.

row one: tiny little frog finger puppet by staceyrebecca; canbot robot by sage12888; tiny zodiac monsters coloring book by monstergallery
row two: taraxacum officianale by dolittledesign; itty bitty mouse by allthingssmall; micro mini toy kitty by sparklerama

row three: tiny book by LeiLaLoo; tiny chick by dreamalittle7; tiny white pin cushion by wooke

as always, find more SLS at fancy picnic

Shopping List Saturday: Eames ♥

you know about ray and charles eames, right? the hipster gods of mid-century modern. if not, get thee to a wikipedia entry or two. also. rent this. and watch it. you'll be so much cooler at your next design/architecture/art-nerd party.

row one: black cat print set by kerrybeary; i like to rock by jaimers; original veneer no. 3 by mimidoodles

row two: eames rar by pleasebestill; modern hang around chair by byrdandbelle; eames plywood chair necklace by chocolateandsteel

row three: graphic eames rocker by NanLawson; eames style print by ImJustRick; midcentury birds by FourcrowsArt

as always, find more sls at fancy picnic.

Shopping List Saturday: SCREAM

it's been a rough month. i take that back. it's been a rough year. (thankfully, the year has only just begun...there's still time for it to get better.) on that note, without boring you with the details, i give you nine (powerful, funny, if a bit haunting) screams.

row one: try screaming by wearmycolors; screamers by jrodriguez; scream two art print by sandrabilokonsky

row two: the crazy ungulate in bovine pink by PterodactylPants; screaming man by alphagirl; screaming bird by badbird

row three: screaming girl by HancockFamilyArt; whisper no. 2 by thelostegg; scream by retromance

as always, find more shopping lists at fancypicnic.

tf shout out!

Thanks to poppy seed tree for the tiny footprint shoutout on her blog. Check it out here. And, while you're at it, visit her sweet little etsy store where you can pick up stuff like this:

Shopping List Saturday: gavron style

Happy Heart Day! And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

For those of you playing along at home, you know that the graphic design business the mister and I run is called gavron designs, and that gavron is the phoenetic spelling of gawron, a family surname from the mister's polish heratage.

The best part? Gawron means crow. Thus, our logo (a crow) and our sweet fascination with these hilariously smart, fiesty, and loud birds.

In our home we have one crow painting (an original sumi-e painting on silk) and two adorable wooden crow sculptures (a male with a top hat and a female with a scarf on her head), but we're always on the lookout for more crow. Not too much crow. We don't want to eat crow. (har har). Nor do we want to be those crazy "collector" people who fill their house with hundreds of similar knick-knacky objects. However, I would be more than happy to add any of the pieces below to our crow collection.

Row One: A murder of silhouette crows brooch by sana; Crow over rooftop by Ketzelphotography; Raven cawing by crftyscrapper

Row two: Crows on a wire by Teha; Crow with hat by poordogfarm; King of his castle by CafeBaudelaire

Row three: Crow line hoodie by RedBootsDesign; Thoughtful crow by FawnandLark; Crow by auras

As always, for more shopping lists, visit Fancy Picnic.

Shopping List Saturday: Cupcakes

It was really only a matter of time, wasn't it? I've been in love with cupcakes for awhile now. They're just...so...yummy. Plus, they're like little vacations wrapped in paper and slathered with frosting. Little clouds of joy and freedom. Monuments to sugar-scented kitchens across our round, sweet world.

Row One: The original cupcake necklace by sorryi'mlate; Keep calm and have a cupcake by jennysbakeshop; Cottage Soap Cupcakes by juliag1969

Row Two: Cupcakes by nottoopink; Yummy cupcake card by thecuteinstitute; Jumbo love cupcake by poppyseedtree

Row Three: Cupcake with cherry friend by cagedtomato; Monster cupcake-Barry by dkoss2; Purple cupcake and zombie by rockythezombie

Shopping List Saturday: white on white

New obsession: white on white. It all started with a 7 on the letter wall. More on that later. For now, I bring you monochromatic bliss found on etsy this week.

Row One: Quimby Necklace by Muntedkowhai; Cloud Factory by PearsonMaron; Pearl and Sterling Disk Bracelet by elegantexpressions

Row Two: Map paper bird by cottonbirddesigns; Ceramic dog by LucindaChips; Victoriana Scarflette by TickledPinkKnits

Row Three: Cashmere Sleeve Arm Warmers by stacyleighatelier; Miss Purr Kitten by lullabylily; January No. 3 by fernanimals

As always, find more Shopping Lists at Fancy Picnic.

Shopping List Saturday: a little bit of 'stache

I can't get enough of them. I really can't. And, luckily, neither can the brave folks at etsy. Just look at all the mustache love!

Row One: Howdy Doody by Moustache Masquerade; Blue Handlebar by born lippy; mustache on a stick: the bartender by somethingshidinghere

Row Two: Grey Moustache Disguise by lupin; Mustache vinyl keyring by Majestyinc; Large Mini Mustache Necklace by wickedminky

Row Three: Mustache Ring by Isette; Mustache Pint Glasses by BreadandBadger; Mustache Envy (brown) by DianaTeeter

you had me at your skater shoes

super awesome project by design for mankind and booooooom. also. there's still time to play.

Shopping List Saturday: Illustration

This week, I'm happy to present a set of amazing illustrations and paintings by artists selling affordable prints and originals on etsy. I am continually amazed by the talent and variety that I find in the world--there is so much talent among us!

I'm currently enthralled by drawings that host semi-hard edges while still allowing a bit of a tender center to peek through.


Row one: the grand reach by corid; tell me by laurageorge; cannonball girl by DoomGloomBoom

Row two: knitty, knitty by ashleyg; water by birdsandswings; darwin's finches by dsudyka

Row three: runaways by ninjagrl; point by Jessica Doyle; lui by blancucha

As always, find more SLS at Fancy Picnic

Shopping List Saturday: home sweet

I have to admit: I'm smitten with houses.

Perhaps it's that the symbol, all boxey-bottomed and pointy headed, that says "house" across the western world feels cozy, comforting, and warm. Maybe because a universal symbol like "house" can be interpreted in so many ways and it still feels the same inside.

No matter, I love a house. A tiny house. A soft house. A sleeping house. A bird house. A wooden house. A clay house. Et cetera ad infinitum.

So, for this week's SLS, I give you houses. Not to scale.

First row: little house by madebymavis; Whimsical birdhouse by Rose4aname; Houselette 003 by ReneesPaperandYarn

Second row: clay house by callejas; my sweet house by LeiLiLaLoo; a house I could live in by LovesGasStation

Third row: House7 by WhataCharacter; A House is a House by turtlebones; Little mint house pendant by PeculiarForest

As always, find more SLS at Fancy Picnic

handmade shoutout

Thanks to Second Sam for her shameless shoutout about gavron designs and tiny footprint! Click on the picture to read her posting about locally sewn!

Shopping List Saturday: words

I'm a writer by trade (trade? Yes. This means that I will trade you one story for one piece of this awesome art) and I love the use of text in art. Here's an SLS to prove it.

Row One: Mad Scientist 4 Necklace by uncorked; Pale and Interesting by reform; Word Spiral Bangles by peaceofpi

Row Two: Seeker by kellierae; Four Napkin Rings by raedunn; Word House with Lady by gypsyandtwink

Row Three: Bearing His Soul by studiolyon; We Will Not Know by BlondeChick; Ask/Ask Not by UlaEinstein

As always, find more SLS at Fancy Picnic

Shopping List Saturday: SUPER hand made

Today's theme: super hand made.

As in: things that are lovingly handcrafted through painstaking handiwork: needlework, embroidery, hand felting--careful construction that comes from having held the object in your hands for sometimes hours to add tiny gorgeous details.

I love this stuff. I love wearing it and displaying it in my home. I love that it's an embodiment of the old version of the word "craft," the meaning that includes hours and hours of actual physical and psychic energy put into each object; the meaning that means, during construction, the crafter creates a relationship with the object and when you purchase that object (or receive it as a gift) you actually hold a piece of the crafter.

Row One: Queen anne’s lace cuff by waterrose; White walnut necklace by recycledrings; Dolores by youandyourbrother

Row Two: Snail scrap monster by hardyharhar; Leaf Wall Wear by neawear; Square number 3 by oddstitch;

Row Three: Frank the owl by cordiakitten; Jasmine, a pocket fairytale by lapommestories; Hand felted shapes by Alchemyfiberarts

As always, for more SLS, stop over at FancyPicnic