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!

Renegade Craft Fair!

Reunited and it felt so good! It seems like eons ago since Sue and I worked together at our beloved Finnegan's Toys and Gifts. But we immediately got back into our tag-team shopgirl groove a few weekends ago when we shared a booth at Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco.

We both sold like crazy and had the best time doing it.

It didn't hurt that this was Sue's first West Coast show, and the California crafterati was clamoring for her beauteous creations.

We used to stand like this behind a counter for eight hours a day drinking coffee and shooting the breeze! Man, it was great.

Our cozy corner of Fort Mason.

These two days were truly the highlight of my year; it's hard when your dearest friends are scattered around the globe, but it makes it that much more magical when you get to see them again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ooops! Time flies when you're having "fun!" I truly don't understand what happens to the passage of time once the weather turns cold, but all of a sudden Christmas is over and it's the crazy robotic future times of 2010!

I'm starting off this magical year with the Pollyanna post-holiday classic, an oozing coldsore that appeared once the clock struck midnight, but I'm not letting that deter my excitement for what the next few months have to offer. Luckily, I don't have to show my hideous face to the general public because I'm back to working at home! I'll be taking a short break from corporate drudgery while I prepare for a major new project that I hope will blow your mind as much as it's blown mine. Keep your ears open!

Since I won't be sitting in a cubicle reading about the varying types of conjoined twins or the Reverend Sun Myung Moon (thanks, Wikipedia, for all the entertainment during the past few months), I'll have a few more hours free to get down to PC business. That means more time for blogging, picture-taking, and making, making, making!

Narcissism

I like to sit in my backyard and do a little self-portraiture sometimes.

Usually I already have the camera out for taking pictures of something else (like my doll, you know?)

I think overexposure is the greatest thing ever. Photography-wise, that is.

Pink Slip Special!

In honor of my recent redundancy, I'm offering a super deal: Just mention "Firefly Express" and get 20% off any order in my Etsy shops until the end of August! My loss is your gain!

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!

Less than 48 hours until the big days. SO NERVOUS/EXCITED. However, I'm not feeling frantic. I spent last weekend being so edgy and crazy that I think I'm plumb out of panic, and have moved into a resigned (though I prefer to call it relaxed) state of mind. So that's good, right?

Last night we watched some episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation while I cut chain, glued feathers and charms onto vintage plastic hair combs, and ate a chocolate bunny left over from Easter. Multitasking?

Hey! I disappeared there for a while, having a strange, wonderful, painful, eventful birthday weekend. I swam in the ocean, saw Carrie Fisher put on a Princess Leia wig, ate fig & prosciutto stuffed quails, laughed a lot, cried a lot, received many greetings from friends I desperately miss, got my hair did and my teefs cleaned, and now I'm back to face the music, whatever that may be. Mostly, crafty catch-up!

I'm going down to Los Altos tonight to pick up this sweet old school desk for my display at Renegade. I don't like being behind a table; I feel hidden and also like I'm reaching and fumbling awkwardly all the time. So I thought it would be nice to be a little more accessible to customers, while still having flat space for credit cards, wrapping, etc. I've been scouring Craigslist for a good, affordable desk, and amazingly, this gem was still available. Isn't it cute?!

As usual, I'm scrambly and panicky trying to get Pollyannacowgirl stuff made in time, but that's the way I've always rolled, so why would it be any different now that I'm the big 3-0?

Day 1: The Contenders

I'm not going to offer any commentary in an attempt to keep neutral. That said, here are the first four entrants in the Contest. Keep 'em coming!

Highlights from Maker Faire!

I had a great time at Maker Faire this year, although it was all spent behind my booth, hawking my wares at Bazaar Bizarre! I'd never done a show of this size so I was pretty nervous to begin with; but everything ran smoothly. I made a ton of sales, met all kinds of amazing people, and learned a lot about what I'll do differently next time, which will be in a few short months at Renegade SF. Now for some pictures! I got a super-cute necktie cuff from fellow CCA grad and Oakland lady CC Star, who I hope to chill with in the near future. Mine has wee blue whales on it, but I also love this stegosaurs combo.

I traded one of my birdcage necklaces for a gorgeous ceramic cup with an otter on it made by the delighful and talented Hue Yang. Trading is one of the best things about doing shows!

I got a new Chickenpants from Absolutely Small, who is now taking up residence in my work cubicle.

Katy Kristin and I were suprised to meet the supplier of our German plastic mushrooms; I also met the designer of a polka-dot fabric used in one of my purses.

I met a new amiga, Polly Danger from LA. Aside from sharing a name, we have a lot in common and I was so happy to finally meet her! I'll be using this awesome coupon holder to keep my receipts organized.

The whole Conway family was enamored with Archicraft's product line. My mom bought a crocheted cowl for herself, the below bandana for my brother, a plastic doily, and I purchased a handful of charms and rings made from cast-off plastic architecture models.

Here's little old me surrounded by my stuffs. You can play a fun game called "Find the Giant Cup of Beer" in this picture. What a weekend!