So after my first attempt at a craft fair (which wasn’t really a craft fair, it was a flea market) being a success….I decided to try my hat at an ACTUAL craft fair. So, on September 12, I will be working Feria Urbana.  I was so excited when I found out that I got in, its just additional validation. I would love it if you all came to say hi. Not only will my Wunzees be on sale, but there will be all sorts of other crafters there too, from jewelry, to plushies, to photography, etc.

I’m excited, not only to be surrounded with talent, but to be in the back area of Pizzaiolo, which apparently has great food and is a pretty cool venue. The restaurant will be serving coffee, toast and pastries with Blue Bottle Coffee and Blue Chair Jams till 12:30.

I plan on being pretty exhausted, seeing as though my Karaoke evening will be the night before….but duty calls. Come have a drink with me.

This week’s Etsy Tag Monday is for all things using the keyword “tentacle”. Now, there is a slight fascination with cephalopods in my household, Mick being a HUGE fan of all things with tentacles, including Cthulhu. So, I asked him for a word, and tentacle it was. Though I gotta admit, they are quite tasty.

Lets start off with these adorable Octopus Amigurumi by AlyssaCritt

If you like my tentacle, put THIS ring on it. OctopusMe makes their jewelry out of REAL tentacles. They grow back…don’t worry.

Who doesn’t need a squid hat? Obey My Brain would answer “No One”

Tattoo Socks and More has a few items I’ve been oogling. This toilet seat decal is pretty sweet.

As are these tights. (Too bad they are out of my size)

I also really dig this silver octopus necklace. Velvet Mechanism has alot of really sweet Steampunk style jewelry

I wasn’t in the mix when the Wolf Shirt Phenomon started. I didn’t really get it. An article of clothing to go viral? But then I read the Amazon.com reviews. I saw the beauty of the shirt, and I understood. It started with this review.

“This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that’s when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to ‘howl at the moon’ from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn’t have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn’t settle for the first thing that comes to him.

I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women
Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the ‘guns’), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark.”

It became an overnight success, and now this shirt is selling quicker than the small business can make them.

I thought it would be funny to post the pictures of my friends in their wolf shirts. First up is Andy Couch. Its his birthday today, August 31. His red beard is outstanding. When Mick and I went to Austin and stayed with Andy, we decided that this was the best thank you present we could get….and now, I want one of my own.

Happy Birthday Andy…

(photo by Heather Leah Kennedy)

I don’t know whats come over me, but I had to share my newfound love for paper lanterns.

Every girl plans their wedding in their head. I’m not engaged yet, but with the knowledge that I’m done searching, and that someday I’ll be getting married, I like to look for inspiration. So yah, I cruise some wedding blogs, and read some magazines. I’m not gonna lie. I used to have cherry blossom lanterns hanging on the wall of my bedroom, and whenever I’d turn those on as my only source of light there was just this calm I felt. This whimsical calmness (if that’s even possible), and there is something about the soft light that they emit that just makes me feel good.

SO…where better to feel good than at your own wedding, and with my search yesterday, there are a TON of colors out there and for a really reasonable price! Whatever my theme, whatever I decide to do for the day yet determined….there will be a color for me. Just check out this Paper Lantern Store. Who knew that there were that many options. Aren’t they pretty??

I like the idea that these lanterns can be used indoors as well as at an outdoor wedding, though it looks like they primarily occupy the tent space if its a covered wedding. Obviously decisions cant be made till a venue is found…but maybe this helps with the decision making process. Maybe the lanterns become non-negotiable? I’m sure thats unreasonable…but I guess I just wait till its my time to start planning.

::side note. This was my first photoshop collage. what do you think?

This is my redux of Friends of the Farm. It’s a feature I’m going to be bringing back, so I thought I’d use the  profile of the cutest lil southerner I’ve ever had the privilege of calling a good friend. She is also one of the most talented photographers I know. She  has been killing it in the wedding business, has a beautiful website for her Elizabeth Ray Photography site, and sells her fine art prints on Etsy under Fly With Me.

1. What made you want to start takin pickshas?

I took a class after digging up an old camera in a junk drawer. Something about Photography was so personal. It changed the way I looked at everything. You just find beauty when you look at life. Your friend can be talking to you and all you see is the blue of the tv on one cheek, yellow lamp light on the other side of their face, and thier expression mixed with the textured wallpaper. Life looks unbelievable. Once you start seeing pictures all the time you can’t stop.

2. What inspires you? what do you love to photograph?

Everything! Well, I like that moment when you connect with whatever you are photographing. Everything makes sense. Some photographs I take are just like eating candy. A little cute sweet picture of birds, flowers, puddles, clouds.  I like to photograph things that make me  as happy as chocolate. My portraits are inspired by ideas and themes. I like to pick out backdrops, colors, and props and set them into action with storylines and emotion behind the eyes.

3. You have been succeeding this past year in the wedding biz..whats the hardest part?

Not crying when people exchange beautiful vows during the ceremony.

4. Will you photograph my wedding and engagement photos when the time comes?

YES!!!!!!!! can I be the flower girl too?

5. Why you so darn cute?

Why you are making me blush!

6. Top 5 TV shows

1. True Blood 2. Lost 3. True Blood 4.Lost 5. True Blood

7. Favorite Muppet?

I hate the muppets.

8. What do you miss most about SF when you arent around? (other than me of course). What about NOLA?

SF – I miss wandering the city from neighborhood to neighborhood and finding cute lil shops to peruse. I miss the beeeaaauutttfiul drives, mountains, the pacific ocean.
I miss california adventures and parties at the Big Blue House.

NOLA – when I’m not in nola I miss the heat how laaid back and slow it is – Sitting outside a bar sipping a drink while the ice melts and going inside because of the roaches. Then the neighborhood character of the month walks up sings you a song asks fo a dolla. you laugh. you put your feet up and stay out till 5am. I miss the horrible accents, Yats, how ya ma’am an em’?,  and walking around the quarter and finding a parade not during mardi gras.

9. Any advice?

p90x is not a joke.

(Originally posted May 28, 2009)

So the California Lottery Jackpot right now is at $325 million dollars. Seriously, I’m going to the liquor store tomorrow and buying tickets, because as the Beastie Boys say…”Its like Lotto, you gotta be in it to win it.” What would I do with that much money?….well, I guess I can save that for another blog post.

However, if I don’t win (highly unlikely I won’t), BUT…if I don’t, I came across this great way to create your own lottery tickets, or any other kind of scratcher. Pretend to win, or put a surprise under the silver that you actually DO win. Either way, its a win win. Fun making it, fun receiving the prize!

ArtMind has come up with this clever way to do just that with this tutorial. I’d recommend looking at the tutorial on her site if this is something you want to do, but all you need is cardboard, a print-out of your lottery ticket, glue stick, sticky back plastic, metallic acrylic paint (preferably silver) and washing liquid.

Your final result can look like this! How cool is that?

It arrived yesterday! The most magic of wands you have ever experienced! The start to my budding music career! Well…likely not, but  now I can pretend I’m the next lady of chick rock with my Magic Sing Wand. My early birthday present arrived at Mick’s office yesterday, and while I knew what I was getting (I’m throwing a Karaoke party for my birthday), it was still pretty fun to test it out and sing with just the two of us in the comfort of my own living room.

My history with karaoke hasn’t been too stellar, and only this summer, at the age of 31 have I finally come to terms with my singing in front of a group of people. Maybe I’m not a performer. My favorite way to go to a karaoke bar was in SF at Encore. It was a huge dance floor with a microphone at the front of it, and TV screens with the lyrics all over the bar so EVERYONE can sing if they want to. If you want as well you can have a large group singing one song on the floor as well. Took the pressure off.

I never liked the Japanese bars where it was just me on stage with a bad sillouette of a cityscape, and most of the performers were singing songs I didnt understand. Even though no one cares…I was still self conscious, and wouldn’t do it. I will say however, that my experience at La’Amour Nightclub in China town was one of my favorite Karaoke experiences ever. I won’t bore you with a long story, but you can read my Yelp review.

This summer we went back to Austin to stay with friends, and I got to know their Rock Band. I actually used the microphone, and held the band together with my skills. Singing in a room with 3 other people apparently was all it took for me to get over my fear of the microphone. I guess my birthday party will be the true test of my confidence.

The other reason that karaoke and me don’t really see eye to eye is my vocal range. I have always had issues with my vocal chords. I can’t reach high notes, and my vocal chords get tired out really easily. Last night, when Mick and I took the Magic Stick for a ride, after two songs I was exhausted, and my throat hurt. I went to the doctor at one point to have them looked at, and he said to just use my voice less, and speak softer. I thought that was the funniest diagnosis…cuz it made perfect sense, and it was true. So…I guess I will just have to let others have the Magic Stick experience as well..and in order to prevent my vocal chords from tiring out, just sing a few favorites.

I’m looking forward to it, though it should be interesting and loud, seeing as though our apartment isn’t that big. Sound will echo. Fun will be had. I’ll post photos after the party, and possibly video, as we are going to try and film some of it on my Flip.

So random story. My friend in Austin tells me that her friend from HS has posted pictures of her baby and she thinks he is wearing one of my onesies. “Did you buy it for him?” She said no, and that she doesn’t know where it came from. So I do some sleuthing, and figure out that we have a mutual friend in the Bay Area who DID in fact buy the onesie from me. The friend from HS currently resides in SF, so it makes sense. BUT….weird right?

The Facebook “friends in common” has led me to some other weird connections too. Love it.  I love seeing my onesies on their owners. It makes me smile. Im going to find more of the photos that have been sent to me and upload them as well. At any rate, adorableness below.

(Originally Posted July 21, 2009)

With this new and improved (slowly) blog,  I have decided to incorporate different topics, even if they are not necessarily about kids or crafts. If the mood suits me, I will have new themed entries : What I had for dinner.

There will be a sense of DIY in these posts however, because they will all have to do with the meals that Mick and I had, all prepared by us.

This one, the goat cheese pizza with tomatoes, pesto and asparagus is likely my favorite home made pizza to date.

OK, so making your own crust is fun, and maybe you feel a sense of accomplishment when you do it…but don’t knock the Boboli. Seriously. Its 2g fat, tasty, and browns perfectly.

I will preface this by saying that I got the recipe out of a Weight Watchers book. Each slice is 7 points, and it yields 6 servings. This may, no will become a regular part of our diet. (I will discuss the meal plan that Mick and I are on at a later date).

1 Boboli
3/4 cup goat cheese
2 plum tomatos -sliced
8 asparagus spears
pesto – Mick made this, though store bought pesto would work too.

we put some sliced garlic on it as well

Cook for 10 minutes at 450 degrees, and if you are using a crappy oven like we were, and the olive oil drips off the pizza, your oven will catch on fire.

However, that fire made for a perfectly crisp, delicious dinner, and what will be a re-heated delight for lunch.

(originally posted August 20, 2009)