where did the week go?

1.25.2011
Happy Friday peoples!

I'm trying to get so much stitching, packaging and tie up some administrative stuff (no fun).

Some good reads for the weekend:
+ Design*Sponge Biz Ladies Online Ethics: Grace gives a informative overview of her talk with OH Joy! & Once Wed from the Altitude Design Summit in Utah (damn, that would have been great to go to!) It's kinda blowing my mind. Simple & important information for any one blogging and commenting on blogs. I need to go through the whole series- it's pretty much a serious business course.

+ Jerry Saltz's On the apartheid between “art” and craft a never ending topic (1,017 comments!). I appreciate the gesture. If you're not on FB and can't read the link, then try it here.


Otherwise, this weekend I'm trying to tame the studio mess (i'm addicted to supplies) & stitch . What are you up to?!
linen colors

brooklyn = winter wonderland

snow day 1.27.2011
Last night it snowed, thundered, and poured freezing rain. So today has been filled with the sound of shovels scrapping cement. My window seals have lovely little pillows of snow along the edges and I like the view of snow covered trees and white blanketed streets. All this might be the usual fare for most east coast people, but as a California girl I'm still in awe of winters, even if I did live in Rochester for a few years. Also the snow hardly ever stays too long here and quickly turns to mud. yay. As long as I don't have to dig a car out and I can sit inside a stitch all day, me and winter are ok.
Although sledding in Central Park  sounds amazing!
snow day 1.27.2011snow day 1.27.2011
snow day 1.27.2011

big yawn...


big yawn..., originally uploaded by miniature.rhino.

Bug & I just wanted to wish you a happy weekend....

Valentine's Day sweet treats


Valentines Gift Box, originally uploaded by miniature.rhino.
Homemade + Handmade...

My friend, Nicola runs Kiki's Baklava, where she makes the best baklava anywhere! It's her families traditional recipe all the way from Greece. I've teamed up with her to create the sweetest and most personal Valentine gift box, her baked deliciousness + my Message in a Bottle.

I'm really excited to collaborate with her and make some lovely valentines... Right now we are taking pre-orders and offering a special price. You can find them here!
Valentines Gift Box

Valentines Gift Box

Looking back...

afterMR stitches...
Looking at all these pieces in a row, makes me want to say something monumentally corny like, "This bitch can stitch" and there I said it. I'm proud of all these pieces and hope their new owners love them too! If you have a little MR piece I'd love to hear where you put it and even see a pic. Send me words + pictures, it makes my day!!

p.s I've got Valentines sweets I'm cooking up... look out for an update tomorrow for a unique Valentine package, think  homemade//delicious & surprise//romantic...

Out of hibernation....

new years day...
On new years day I woke up and wanted to feel different, have a clear delineation from the past year, a fresh start. Somehow, things don't feel too much different. I was in California for awhile, taking my vacation very seriously, and not paying too much mind to the internet. I'm rarely home and love being with my family so much. Sorry blogland for my absence and neglect of this little blog.

Some excellent holiday press in InStyle Magazine had my little fingers so busy that I really needed that time away to decompress from the hustle of my handmade, freelance life.  I missed you though, and am back full of new ideas and renewed energies.
after
all the little stars...
after
I've got high hopes for the new year. I sat down with myself and made a list of the things I'd like to see unfold for Miniature Rhino:
  • Stress less about work! This is my job and I take it very seriously. Yes, I take hearts and stars that seriously. It's a unique job, with unique problems. It's physically demanding and keeps me on my toes all day, everyday. It's only me doing everything, so I stress a lot about all the details.
  • Create wholesale relationships, especially here in NY. Know stores that MR would be great for? Have a shop & you'd like some MR? email me! hello{at}miniaturerhino{dot}com
  • Teach more. HEY! I'm teaching at Squam!!
I'll be teaching at Squam Art Workshops this spring in New Hampshire. Squam is like summer camp for adult creatives and I am so very excited to be participating. Just take a peek at some of the classes offered and read about it here and I bet you'll want to go. My class is "pictures & stitches" combining two of my favorite things- photography and embroidery! I'm only teaching two sessions and the first is already full!


So, I guess I do feel a bit different. I'm excited about upcoming projects and have a lot of hope for the new year...

I know it's late, but Happy New Year Everyone!!