Happy Halloween!

Work's been kind of challenging lately. And by "challenging," I mean HARD. But nobody better f with me tomorrow, because I will be dressed as Peter Pan, per the request of my colleagues who are planning an epic team-wide Disney Halloween costume. And Peter Pan likes all insurance plans to cover at 100% with no need for prior authorizations. Dig?

Question

I've been wearing the occasional suit jacket to work for the past few years. I still don't feel quite right in them; but I kind of love a really well-fitting blazer. These teddy girls have it right; so why do I always end up looking like Angela from Who's the Boss?

Dare I say it: OMGOMGOMG!

Spicy Labels // ReadyMade Blog, originally uploaded by giant dwarf.

Hey, friends! Some big news: I have a fancy new gig: craft blogger over at Readymade.com! I am so insanely excited about this. I'll be putting a lot of my crafty content over at Make Nice from now on, but I'll still be here doing what I do! Please stop by and let me know what you think--eeek!

Hardly Strictly Something

We're not so good at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, SF's yearly free festival of various musics. Oh, we go every year with big plans to stay all weekend and see all the best bands, but between bad timing, huge crowds, public transportation drama, and general social discomfort, we usually end seeing half a band and hitting the road.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Today we watched Aimee Mann's set, which was pleasant enough from hundreds of feet away, ate some salami sandwiches, split a beer, and got hit repeatedly by a Frisbee-throwing toddler. Instead of sticking around to see Neko Case, we walked through Golden Gate Park to the beach.

It was windy. There were jellyfish. It was beautiful. Then we walked back up to catch the N-Judah. On the way there, we found this.

That's right, an abandoned dollhouse. I'm sorry, but I would rather encounter a filthy ramshackle doll mansion than see a rock show. And that's what makes me special. Very special.

New Weekly Feature: Sunday Laptop Matinee!

Hey gang! I just wanted to clue y'all in to the fact that a very special movie is now available on Netflix Watch Instantly for your lazy Sunday matinee!

I've mentioned The Ruling Class on here before; and it's a weird and haunting and hilarious piece of art. Here's a preview, but it doesn't really offer any insight on the range of insanity that you will see if you watch the whole movie. Seriously.

No, seriously. It's got auto-erotic asphyxiation, slapstick comedy, a murder mystery, lots of dry British humor, and more Peter O'Toole than you can shake a stick at.



If you do end up watching it, and find yourself asking, "What the hell was that?" here's a helpful article about the historical/theatrical context. Then we can have a fun conversation about whether it was more influenced by the Theater of Cruelty or Theater of the Absurd! I'm ready!

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Penny

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending the day with ten other East Bay crafters and artists in the Parlour Gallery loft at Pretty Penny, Oakland's favorite vintage shop! Here are a few highlights:

The lovely Monica of Wonderwear. Her work is delicate and really beautiful; just like her! I lusted after a necklace made with a triangle of vintage lace and gems, but foolishly left it behind. My life is a series of regrets!

Lauren Davis of CrookedSister organized the event along with fellow artist Bennykelly; above are Lauren's flowers and bowties, made from all vintage fabrics, many of which came from the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, a resource that we are SO lucky to have in the 'hood. I got two awesome hair clips, but also coveted her hand-embroidered bags (she does everything by hand!). Here's me with my seashell hair clip along with my bunny earrings and my sexy tank from Queen of Hearts.



A rare tolerable side-view pic!



My space. It was fun to scale down from the previous weekend's monster space to my good old wee table. It was also divine that all my stuff was already packed and ready. If only it were always this easy!



Laureen and John are the proprietors of Volta Press, a printing studio that just had their open house yesterday! Their work is just seriously awesome, and their studio is cute and tidy, with butter-yellow walls and a kick-ass Vandercook letterpress. They take the art of letterpressing seriously and it shows! Dare I say that if I ever get married, I know who's making my invitations.


I fell in love with these earrings from It's Scrap, my booth neighbor to the left. They are made from scraps of bookbinding leather, and printed using the same kind of machine that prints book covers. Awesome, yes? Lara, the designer, is also a poet and a super-cool lady; I never thought that I could find jewelry emotionally touching, but there's something about her stamped phrases that really gets me!



I made a handful of excellent trades, including a gorgeous pair of bottle-cap bunny earrings from Lea of Salvaged Beauty, and two haunting hand-sewn notebooks from Allison of Abeo Bestia. My table was located next to these two hilarious ladies, and their good cheer made my day. Seriously, I have never encountered such a friendly group of ladies; it was a total party up there; we dished about exciting things like business licenses and sales tax and small-space crafting, which was great.

Below you'll find me yakking it up with Bess from Bird vs. Bird, a famous Etsian and fellow container-gardening, tiny-home-living, full-time-working, Yahoo-News-reading Oakland lady. Yes!



I just had the best time; from time to time a young man came around to serve us ice-cold beers, which may or may not have contributed to my epic slo-mo fall into a pile of my own purses. If that isn't a sign of a great craft show, I don't know what is. But seriously, this event was so well-curated and I left wanting to hang out with everyone again soon. I also sold a lot, which is always a bonus. Cheers to Pretty Penny, Lauren, Kelly, and everyone else who made last Saturday rock!

Not a fast learner...

Remember yesterday when I wasn't freaking out? Yeah, scratch that. I'm freaking out a little. So much to do, so little time! Like, seriously! This is the plight of a life-long procrastinator. I'm pretty sure that there hasn't been an time that I haven't procrastinated, no matter how important the event/assignment/job. I always wait until the last minute. And amazingly, I learn nothing from the disastrous results!

But I miraculously squeeze by every time, which should happen this time as well. I'm also really excited; I have a lot of new products and an all-new display, including my beloved pea-soup green school desk.

When I'm at work and I need to get things done, I like to listen to French 60's pop. When I need to do mindless busywork, I listen to stand-up comedy. Right now, I need to get things done, so here's a Scopitone of France Gall singing "Baby Pop," one of my nose-to-the-grindstone superjams.

I can't tell if this is the most boring video I've ever seen, or the most awesomely nuanced piece of film of all time. I suspect a little of both.

Let's do a vote; whose dancing do you prefer, the girl in the white dress, or the black?

Happy 4th of July!

I know it's the 5th already, but I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm at my parents' house, eating as much as I possibly can and playing with dolls. (Which is an ideal weekend for me, obviously.)

I feel like griping about all the indignities I constantly suffer, but instead I'm going to simply say that I love the extra hour of sunlight that we get now. Blog post done!