Lately...

We can file this past week under: unusual. I filmed my first ever interview for Stitched Gifts!  I met Jenny Hart! I crafted all weekend with my mom and made some fun projects. We haven't had the chance to make together for, maybe years. And did I mention I met Jenny Hart!? More on that soon I have photographic evidence that I will share.

The interview was for Easy Does It, a new Yahoo! web-series. The host, Ereka Vetrini and I chatted, stitched and talked about the book. They have a feature called, One Good Thing & yep, Stitched Gifts will be that one good thing for this show, which airs in November....

And here are some sneak peeks of upcoming projects I've been working on with my mom. So nice to have this time with her, to just be together & to make together. We made some driftwood wall hangings & she taught me how to plant little cactus clippings....

What was you past week like? I'd love to hear!

Lately....

1. Bug & one of my latest Custom Hearts. This one's for a wedding in Alaska!
2. A mini heart for P & T.
3. Check this thing out: A giant squid of an air plant in our new wall vase we got in SF at Rare Device.
4. Jeremy & I made tiny glittery altars with Kathy the Crafty Chica! My mom is obsessed with Kathy's blog and products (it's super cute!). I shyly gave her one of my books and Kathy was crazy nice & sweet about it.
5. Got some new veggie cook books. Woot! Bug is pretty indifferent, but I'm excited to try some new recipes out.
6. Best part of Brooklyn in the summer- warm nights, like this one when we listened to Sigur Rós in Prospect Park. AMAZING!!

My lately...

Spent last week in San Francisco exploring the city & totally enjoyed all of it...

1. Bug wanted to come too.
2. Stitching on the plane ride over & back!
3. As soon as we arrived at the hotel we dropped our bags & ran out to explore the city. This was our explorer pose.
4. Standing on the outer part of the trolley & holding the railing with the wind blowing, sun shining, and great views of the city was so fun. Tourist trap, but really fun once we finally got on.
5. Matcha, mochi & koi fish at the Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park.
6. Visited Chronicle Books offices.... I took a bunch of snaps that I'll share this week.
7. The reason for our trip, Jeremy's show at Rayko Gallery.
8. Best vintage photo booth at the gallery.
9. KA POW! a remnant from my workshop this past Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum.

what have you been up to?!

my lately...

Finished up a fun Stitch Dictionary class at Purl. I usually have all women in my class, but this one had three guys in it. Love bringing embroidery to the dudes- manbroidery! I was happy to meet  Julie Pinzur in the class. She makes some pretty inspired things & has a really cute home.



So enjoying the long days and honey light of summer.


Afternoon break with lunch, tea and an inspiring embroidery book- just wish I could read Japanese!


Experimenting with drawn thread on a piece of scrap linen.


Working on a stitched portrait of my grandmother as a sample piece to an exciting upcoming workshop at the Brooklyn Museum!



Bug joins me in whatever room I'm in. When I'm in the kitchen he sit in the window sill...


What have you been up to lately?

My lately

a girl and a dog...


You might remember this guy as Biggie Smalls, a shy, scared dog I fostered awhile ago. He would cry almost constantly, had separation anxiety, would sleep a lot, and didn't play much. It was such a pleasure to dog sit him for the weekend and see this new confident, playful, energetic dog. He is such a goof, and made me laugh all weekend. In about a half hour I'll walk him home to return him, but for right now I'm enjoying the happy, sleeping pup at my feet...

my lately....

This past weekend Jeremy & I explored a new area (to us!) of Brooklyn, Boerum Hill. We rode our bikes there and then just walked around. There are a bunch of antique shops there and if there's anything I really enjoy it's meandering about looking at vintage goods.




Darr - loved the black walls and the display of mirrors ever where.









Collier West. This was my favorite shop of the many on Atlantic Ave. I'm obsessed with apothecary drawers, and this shop had so very many great pieces. The one in the last image is the most amazing piece I've seen (the photo doesn't do it justice), as it has so many little drawers of all different sizes. Also, who can resist a funny little Schnauzer named Tchotchke!






GRDN, not an antique shop, but such a beautiful, lush, garden shop. We'd die for a little outdoor space to have a garden.


We also had the tastiest lunch of garlic bread and lentil soup. Bike rides, old stuff, good food... it was a really nice day.

Are there any areas where you live that you'd like to explore? Anyone in NY have any mores suggestions of any more places that would be good to visit?

Hope you've been having a great week so far!


p.s Check back on the blog today, because I'll be posting about a daily project/challenge to myself for the month of May...

My lately....

in instagrams....

1. Highlight of last week was the 5 Boroughs Ladies Arm Wrestling charity event where I cheered like a crazy fool for my friend Julie aka Nancy Drew Blood. I had no voice the next day. Accordions, a Glocktopus, burlesque dancers, ladies arm wrestling for their lives, dance offs- you gotta find an event near you and go!
2. We carted a bunch of stuff to donate to the Goodwill. On our long, slow walk I kept noticing building details, I love exploring my neighborhood.
3. Love my boy friends new old vintage shoulder bag.
4. Got a bunch of fresh zodiac fabric to make a bunch of kits and prepare for Renegade.
5. Eps! Yesterday I went to an all Etsy Martha Stewart show. Everyone in the audience was an Etsy seller and they featured lots of Etsy goods.
6. Each seller brought an item they made to the show to share. This Ring Bearer Hoop was what I brought.

Hope you're having a great week!!

lately...

and usually, it's mostly pets + food.

This past week was a blur of number crunching for tax time, so I really didn't pick up my camera till the weekend. That's always when I give myself more time to document and enjoy myself, and it was such a beautiful weekend! Had my first bike ride of the year on Saturday, took a meandering 2 hour walk with Lillian, our foster pup.

I loved our Sunday brunch of tofu scramble and cinnamon pancakes. Always craving pancakes! Then later for a second sweet brunch we had wagashi treats, these fancy Japanese sweets Jeremy got for us. Every year he makes a point to get their seasonal cherry blossom candy. I had a green tea cake, a peach jelly with a cherry in it and Jeremy made me a sweet matcha, yum!!

I'm also already cutting buttons for Renegade. Yeah, I hand cut each circle!

What did you do this weekend?

my lately...

After discovering instagram, I think I forgot about my DSLR for awhile. For shame. I dusted off my camera this past week and made a concerted effort to snap some pics here and there. It didn't hurt that the light is changing with the seasons- longer, brighter days, and warm honey light in that late afternoon.

This past week I took a little break. So I concentrated on some stitching projects, our little zoo of animals (especially our foster dog Lillian who needs so much care and attention) and had a great Sunday with Julie & Laila (love her pattern/color combo up there!) at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. It was so warm and lovely out. It was a perfect day!

Hope you had a great weekend! 

My lately...

1. Studio organization never ends.
2. Banjo cat with his little pouty lower lip. You should have seen his eyes when we first found him. What a recovery!
3. My new Purl class is tonight! I'm really excited, so I made a new sample piece for it. You can check out my classes page or FB to stay up to date with my latest classes.
4. Did you see my latest DIY project to make snail mail even better?
5. Exploring an old building with my fave model, the handsomest Jeremy.
6. This is my favorite pic of the past week- Bug watching me walk our new foster dog Mrs. Lillian Vernon. Jealous, creepy and cute.

Speaking of, meet Mrs. Lill in all her tiny, sweetness. She was found wondering the streets in the Bronx, dirty, scared and starving. I'm fattening her up and hopefully helping to restore her confidence with people. She's 12, but so spunky. If you or anyone you know would like to adopt her hit me up or Badass Brooklyn Rescue.

Her funny tail kills me! Hope you had a great weekend!

my lately...

Goats & greek food.

This past weekend I visited friends in my old hood, Rochester. My friend Nicola is an amazing chief and makes the best baklava from an old family recipe. She was going to cook a Greek Feast for 40 in a small town just out of Ithaca, so I really wanted to visit and take part.

Part of the feast for Nicola was curating the fresh, local ingredients right off of farms. The highlight for me was visiting Clover Meadow Creamery where we picked up goat's milk and yogurt. It's baby season and the farm had 30 new kids! They are expecting about 60. They were so kind and brought out lots of baby goats for me & Nicola. I've seen baby goat's before, but to see these children carrying them out just for us made me start crying. Such a cry baby!

I loved seeing the behind the scenes in this amazing kitchen where the feast was prepared. I've never been in such an open, bright, and functional kitchen.

Opa!

You can also click on each image for more on Flickr....
More goat pics here!
More food pics here!