Craft and Create II

Is it just me or is it impossible to find a nice, black, wool, pea coat with a hood! Yeish... I've been searching for years and still haven't been able to find one. So, this last weekend I made a hooded scarf from a Jamie Christina pattern. Super-duper easy and I love how it turned out. I think it looks very nice with my coat and it saved me a few dollars to boot. Perfect for snowy, rainy days. Pretty sure I will be making many, many more!

Craft and Create I

Did I mention I'm a new member of the PMQG? The first activity I'm participating in as a member of the guild is a scrap swap. All members were encouraged to bring in some of their favorite scrap fabric to our last meeting...the trick was it all had to fit in a plastic zip-lock bag. All of the zip-lock bags of fabric were then put into a pot and each person chose one at random. Our task is to use the fabric in the bag we picked, add one piece of our own fabric, and then use any amount of notions to create something cool for the original fabric owner to use. So, this coming Thursday I get to present my creation to the original owner of the fabric and I also get to see what somebody did with my scrap pieces of fabric! It's like Christmas! I'm very excited! So here is what I made for my buddy:

It's an Amy Butler bag...pretty cool and useful as my mother-in-law made one for me in the past that I use all the time!

An Etsy Score

I'm loving the new art in my craft studio by Cori Kindred. Isn't it the cutest?

Crafty Wonderland

The other big highlight this weekend was hitting up the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale. Amber, Sciarrino and I have been planning for this event for months. It is by far the best and largest craft fair I've ever been to. Packed full of Etsy-like vendors it is pure heaven. We arrived extra early to be sure we were one of the first 150 through the door, only to find we were not alone! I guess those special loot bags for the early birds appealed to more than just us. But we scored them, and it was worth it! I did a great deal of Christmas shopping, and found some beautiful art for our place. It's so exciting and very fulfilling to actually meet the artists behind the art you love and swoon. 

Katie and Amber waiting to get through the door! 

We went nuts at Magpie Ethel, a whole booth filled with vintage Christmas Ornaments

Awesome screen prints by Craft Svcs Design Co

Sewing Kits by Polly Danger

 Portland inspired Bingo cards, which include identifing, beards, Subarus, nudie bars, and bicycles to name a few designed by Bishop Lennon.

Not only is Cristine Aucone the sweetest but the jewlery she creates, Modica Design, is beautiful. I dare say I spent lots of time at this booth!

Adorable bird houses designed by both teachers and students from the Portland Waldorf School.

Sciarrino channeled her inner Mad Men when trying on this gorgeous vintage number at the Wanderlust Mobile Shop.

We did not go home empty handed, in fact I'm pretty sure Amber will be pulling her rolling cart next year. Oh and see that cute forest green bag... that was our loot bag. Packed full of little goodies. For more pics go to my Picasa page.

What A Weekend!

Holy Mackerel, I had the best weekend ever!  Loads of Portland fun. To kick off the weekend Erik and I met up with our close friends Tex and Martin for the main event: a Broken Bells concert. Pre-show we met for happy hour and a few classy drinks at Clyde Common.  After drinks and libations we were off to the venue to hear the much anticipated duo of James Mercer (from The Shins) and Danger Mouse! Could it get any better? The show rocked our world!

Concert Pic. Tex and I 

Of course we didn't go without these.  Gotta protect our lobes.

Friday was spent sewing it up! I took a mental health day and spent 12 hours hanging out at Modern Domestic with my bud, Sciarrino. With only a break for lunch, we chipped away for the whole day at many unfinished projects.  To prove how focused I was on my projects, I didn't even take any pictures to document this event.

Eat, Shop Portland

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned these travel guides before but the most recent Eat.Shop Portland book has hit the stands and I just have to share the wealth of information! If you've never heard of these books, I suggest you give them a gander. I've used them for all the major cities I've traveled to; NYC, Chicago, Vancouver, Denver, San Fran and my quick jaunts to them are always saturated with urban discovery. Sometimes when exploring a new city, picking the right neighborhood to shop in or the best restaurant at which to eat can be daunting. I mean, you only have a few meals in this city... you want to make sure you select the choice eats! These books are no fail, and best of all, they only feature local businesses. I promise, your travels will be enhanced with an Eat.Shop book packed in your pocket. I'll be tourist-ing it up in my home town with Edition 6!

I Heart...

My favorite thing in the morning is waking up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The sweet, sweet smell of a fresh new day.  But trust me when I say, drinking your coffee from a fine bone Dunoon china mug does not get any richer. Equipped with a perfectly thin and curved rim, a sublime handle and weight of true quality it's the perfect decadence to start your day .