sunny sunday

photos from our fun opening
thanks to those of you who came!

quiet camera obscura today

cleaned my flat and lazed in the sunbeams (not with the cat, because once the vacuum comes out, PL stays under the covers for the rest of the day)

come over tonight

if you're in the bay area, come to our spring opening tonight from 6–9

project sprout gallery
900 tennessee st., #16 (at 20th st.)
san francisco, ca

jen explores botanical lore and medicinal folk tales about dogpatch plants in her pieces.
i am showing sewn leaves (a playful look at the many shapes nature takes) and botanical watercolors.

hope to see you there!

one last

sneak peek. and then i'll post about something else!

in the meadow

photo by bob lake

these are the necklaces jen and i collaborated on. i like how they turned out—thanks jen!

different views/purchase here.

jen's other artist-of-the-month necklaces here.

some more

spring blossoms

spring

blossoms from two different trees. (casually snipped.)

heart-shaped leaf. it curls too.

(a sneak peek of this.)

❀

flickry spring
from heather
also from heather
no. 2 | a few days after
no. 3 | that windowsill
heads up
like so many clouds
forsythia

this shouting across the divide this american life episode aired again yesterday. the first part is about an american muslim family that gets discriminated against and abused after 9.11. the worst of the family's troubles occurs a year after 9.11, when a hateful book is distributed to fourth grade classes throughout the family's school district. the fourth grade teacher at this family's child's school allows (and fuels) the students' cruelty toward their muslim classmate. a powerful, sad and angering story. the teacher should have been fired in my opinion. and it's shameful that none of the other families in the district complained about this book or about the hateful environment that was being fostered in the schools.

on a curling paper

nasturtiums. another.



jason munn is one of my favorite graphic designers. had to get his fantastic book of music posters when i saw it at rare device the other day.

a few of my favorites

saturday treats

jen and i delivered some of our show opening announcements around town saturday. we went to prairie collective (pictured above) for the first time. the shop is lovely.




midway through passing out cards, we were forced (by our sweet teeth) to stop by tartine. i almost want to eat the cakes and pastries for their stunning good looks alone. luckily they taste even better than they look.

fashion, sustainable and un

the other evening at art murmur, we stumbled upon a show of work by permacouture artists. i loved it. such thoughtful work that clearly requires a lot of process and craft. dying, weaving, sewing.

(i dyed yarn once in the cutting cold in sjövik, sweden. our class collected various plants from the area {i was on blueberry leaf collection duty} and spent all day outside dying yarn. in the end, we each had a wheel of yarn in so many colors, little tags dangling from each yarn swatch telling which leaf, berry, flower in nature lent its color to that swatch. it was a long and very cold day, but satisfying in the end to see the rainbow of natural colors.)

above is (a not good photo of) part of one of sasha duerr's woven dresses. so pretty. she is the founder of the permacouture institute. she also co-created a dinner to dye for, a slow fashion/slow food event.

and in what must be very unsustainable fashion, here are some photos from valentino and chanel books.





the valentino book is beautiful with great photos. his dresses are luscious sculptures. look at (fuzzy) young brooke shields.

bear with a view

this california bear looks out over the bay. well, the bay is over bear's right shoulder.

this is some of the view from the place where my friend was pet sitting. the place with mini. the house has an almost 360 degree view of the bay. from the front deck, the house overlooks sausalito, tiburon and angel island. one can see downtown sf, the bay bridge and the richmond bridge. from the back/side of the house one can see the golden gate and the point bonita lighthouse and the marin headlands. it's incredible! and so peaceful with all that water surrounding. so much blue passing through every shade.

the house perches atop the ridge across the highway from sausalito proper. and it really feels like a perch. like a birdhouse. i slept in a bed high up off of the floor. going to sleep i felt like i was on the tip of a triangle on top of another triangle on top of another triangle (the bed in the house on the hill). i am a bit afraid of heights, so the sensation was not entirely pleasant. i could almost feel myself swaying out over the ocean. tipping. but i gave in to the idea of falling and slept so soundly.


(since my camera is really on its last pink leg, the view photos don't do the view justice. the sky wasn't pink at all. both days it was blue, blue, blue. tried to adjust the photos in photoshop, but the pink is just too much.)

emporio rulli aka decadence

fika in larkspur

emporio rulli is an italian cafe, gelateria and wine shop with an old timey italian feel. there in the kitchen they make candy, tarts, gelato and many italian pastries. (the pastries were definitely better than the cookies.) the chocolate pastry above had a raspberry paste inside. so good! mmm m.
oh and the coffee is delicious too.

snake attack

this is mini, one of the fine dogs my friend liz is pet sitting. mini was rescued in baja from a dumpster. she was but a wee puppy. (how someone could leave this charmer {or any puppy} in a dumpster is beyond me.) when she was discovered, she was malnourished, but she is very spry and snappy now. look at and listen to how ferociously she attacks the snake. mini struts when she walks. her front legs are crooked, but that doesn't stop her! she is fantastically soft too. and likes to snuggle a lot. she also likes to stand on her hind legs, her front ones on your lap, and have you rub her back. she leans her head back then as far as she can and smiles.

background bits

cat tormenting (though he didn't mind. in fact, he may have liked it.)

flickrs
fade into
where the sea and the sky are the same
next stop greenland

these squares on treat street

(bigger)

remind me of chiclets. it must be something in how they fit next to each other because not any old squares remind me of chiclets.

(treat street has many treats.)

spring on treat street

oh, what a lovely photo: news

jen is collaborating with artists and making artist necklaces each month. jan, feb, mar...
also on etsy

can't wait to check out this gorgeous new shop here in sf

fluorescent

flickrs
Louisiana (in Denmark)
O
Miko Pull
near Stinson Beach

Jen and Jake
Little City Gardens

time to return Bright Star (so good)

more scraps and bits

i am making something very tall. pinky leon helps as usual. i will show you more in april. unfortunately i think i may have to seam rip a very, very, very, very long seam because it did not turn out right.

found this video on emma's blog. you must listen to the sound too. the sound makes it.

PL investigates

i now have to totally adjust my photos w/ curves because my camera takes pink photos. pink! it may be time to invest the tax return in a new camera.

friday flickrs
these two look like such rascals with those sneaky smiles. (found through sandra's flickr faves.)
from snjezana
anna emilia's forest pond

oustanding in the field

end junk mail + usda letter by this wednesday

two actions for you

1. if you want to stop getting credit card offers (for 5 years or forever!), check this out from the FTC. there's also a lot of info about stopping other kinds of junk mail here, but i don't know who sponsors this info. seems good though.

2. the usda is accepting public comment about GM alfalfa until this wednesday. here is the USDA email page. here is some wording from credo:

I am writing in regard to Docket APHIS-2007-0044, and I demand that the USDA reject Monsanto's application to market genetically engineered alfalfa. The USDA may not believe it matters if GE alfalfa contaminates organic and other non-GE crops, but I certainly do.

Consumers must be able to avoid genetically engineered products. Farmers must be free of the threat of contamination and the USDA must not put organic farmers' livelihoods at risk. The USDA admits that approval of GE alfalfa will make transgenic contamination inevitable. This is unacceptable.

Therefore, I urge you to reject Monsanto's application to sell genetically engineered alfalfa.

here is more info from credo on the matter. (you can also send your email through the credo site, but then you get added to email lists.)

cross posted on sew green

rainy friday

having one of those especially clumsy days today. i've tripped twice—once catching myself on the kitchen sink with my elbow. have knocked several things over. gotten scratched by the cat (ok maybe that's not due to my clumsiness, but i did pet his tummy, so partial clumsiness, partial ornery kitty). and i made a bad soup from delicious ingredients. that is hard to do. hrmph.

flickr beauties
black & white (like a fairytale)
we welcome you, spring
pieces for building a world
Goat! (always good to end with a goat i think.)

spring napkins

in the few warm days we had last week, i started daydreaming about outdoor fika and picnics, complete with china and cloth napkins.

this weekend i made these pink napkins for myself. the floral side is cut from a thrifted pillowcase. the other side(s) from left-over quilting fabric. i like to mix floral and geometric patterns.




did you see stephanie of 3191's simple, yet classy indigo napkins?

longer and more DIY version of this post over on sew green.

ps. check out how seattle rocks with their big urban gardening plans!

look + listen links

got lost in these two photostreams recently.

maman xuxudidi
lots of old country/homesteading beauty. check out her marmalade making photo.

aino sal scandinavian goodness, plus sewn and knitted lovelies.

this past this american life episode was a good one! (prepare to cry though for both stories.) that janis carter is an amazing and wonderful woman.

gratitude

when i opened up the csa box last night and saw this cabbage (which looked better last night, pre-refrigeration), it reminded me of abby's beautiful photo of the amazing kmk cabbage.

i am not going to tell you where in the flat my cabbage photo was taken though. let's just say the turquoise walls (which are way more blue and bright in person) of a certain room seemed like they'd make a pretty background for the purple. (i hope my housemate and csa box sharer is not reading this.)

today i wrote a letter to one of my favorite authors to request permission to include some words of his in this book i'm compiling. the piece with his words in it is not by me, but the permission request "allowed" me to express my gratitude to him. (of course he is probably not the one reading the letter, but i wrote as though he would be reading it, and that felt quite nice.)

❀ ❉ ❀ ❉ ❀ ❉

another, bigger

happy v day

o glad alla hjärtans dag!

for valentine's day i'd like this breakfast. (or maybe this one.)
i'd like to go here or here.

♥

noah's ark of groceries

bigger.

i seem to have done my grocery shopping in twos this week.

the dill and porter beer is for a dill bread i'm going to make right now! i had it at a friend's house and it was delicious. it requires no yeast. you can see the recipe here if you scroll down.

a beautiful iceland post from anna emilia

the sock dryer

and PL

good stuff
jenni rope

i keep meaning to mention that we have some new contributors over at sew green. and we've had a couple of fun recent posts about green crafts (a DIY valentine robot and a sock monster draft blocker).

a friend sent me this relaxing sheep video. it's like the musical video equivalent of counting sheep.

lace and spots

i don't know who does the print design for the sf store painted bird, but i always dig it. a lot.



remember these from last week? still pretty i think.

feel so different

shari recommended the book driftless. i just finished it last night and really enjoyed it. lots of good characters and stories, so i'm passing along the recommendation.

happy weekend to you!

the next door neighbors

have a thing about potted plants. they multiply. huller om buller. (translation: pell-mell)

herriot grace

ida björs

a little over a week ago, i attended a talk about urban homesteading. if you're interested in urban homesteading, there are some good links in this review of the event.