Happy New Year's Eve!

This picture I took at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago last week seems appropriate for this holiday. It's from the exhibit of Ron Terada's work called Being There. I'll have to do a better recap of my trip in the next few days, but for now: Happy New Year!

I thought I'd have some fun in the shop and do a coupon code for 15% off for the new year! The code is: HAPPY2012 and it's good on everything including custom orders! It will be good through the end of the day Jan. 6th, so enjoy!

Road Trip! Chicago to Ohio

Usually the highlight of the trip between my parents' house and my grandma's is the wind farm in Indiana. But this time we were traveling at night. I slept most of the way, but we stopped in Lafayette for diner. They have a brand new Chipotle! I used to work for an architecture firm that designed the stores so I tend to geek out a little overtime I eat there. This store was a very different design so there may have been some extra geeking. Cleaner, more modern and simple, there was no art in this one! Not even the burrito king, and there's one of those in every store. But I have to say it was pretty nice to see them move on from so much corrugated metal and simplified light fixtures.
Another highlight of the trip was a very lovely sunset!

Calendar Giveaway Winner

 

And the winner of the 2012 PDX Architecture Calendar selected using random.org's number generator is...

Congrats to jhitomi! I will be emailing you shortly to get your shipping info. And thank you so much everyone who entered!

Thanks Crafty Wonderland!

 

I had so much fun, sold well and learned a lot! Can we do it again next weekend? Well, that might be a bit much. It took me a few days to recover (hence the lack of posts the last few days, sorry about that!) and I've still got a few small bruises. Carrying all this stuff via transit can do that to ya. 

 

I'm happy with our booth layout too. We decided to set it back so people could come in, do their shopping, and we wouldn't be staring them down from the other side of the table. We were a bit cramped off to the side, but I think it was worth it. The day went so well, I sold out of mitts and scarflettes! Right now I just have a custom listing up in the shop until I can get some more mitts knit up. That should be soon, though I might take a few more days to recover and prepare for Christmas!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, only one more day to enter!

2012 Calendar Giveaway!

The Giveaway is now closed, thanks to everyone who entered!

 

This year I thought I'd do a calendar giveaway that will ship out in time for Christmas! 

The winner will get, as pictured above:

• Portland, OR 2012 Architecture Calendar including hanger for wall mounting, and easel for desk display.

This giveaway is open to both U.S. and International people and will include shipping.

Two ways to Enter: 

Become a fan of my shop on facebook, or if you prefer Google+, and leave a comment below letting me know you're a new fan,

or

Visit my etsy shop and leave a comment below indicating your favorite item.
(Also please make sure I can find a way to contact you! If I can't track something down I will unfortunately have to skip your entry and you won't be entered to win!) 

I will announce the winner on December 16th, 2011!!! Thanks for entering & Good Luck!


The Giveaway is now closed, thanks to everyone who entered!

Crafty Wonderland is this weekend!

The illustration for this show is my favorite yet! I'll be there, in Booth 183, next to the I Heart Art booth. I'm so excited! Come and see me, and get there early to try to get one of the Goodie bags! Oh, also you could RSVP on facebook if you plan on going. Yay!

2012 Architecture Calendar Update

 

I recently added a second listing of my 2012 Portland Architecture Calendar to my shop. We took some time over the weekend to make some black paperboard easels for desk display. So now all the calendars will come with this easel, a hanger, and a ribbon, all great calendar display options. The idea is that between the two listings you can get a very good idea of the display options and the contents of the calendar, more than you would have with just 5 images. Of course there's also the PDF version, for last minute gifts. You'll  have to come up with your own display for that one, but I've found the binder clip works pretty well!

Speaking of Wreaths

I wanted to have some Christmas-y-ness for Crafty Wonderland this weekend, so I made up a bunch of these knit wreaths. My grandma has been suggesting for a month or so now that I make some ornaments to sell, even going to the trouble of sending me a few really cool crocheted snowflakes my aunt made a while back. At thanksgiving I noticed a cute crocheted wreath on her tree too, and decided to do my knit version of the idea. Maybe next year I'll try to make some snowflakes if I can figure something out. For now these fit with my current enthusiasm for wreaths. I made a dozen or so, and perhaps I'll make more if time allows!

Christmas Decorations!

 

I had a few reasons I wanted to get the tree up right away this year. First I was very excited to try out the tree topper I got at the Chriskindlmarket in Chicago, and second, I'll be out of town again soon. So all the decorating happened almost as soon as I got home. We have a little tree so it is easy for me to deal with on my own. I'm also excited to have an advent calendar this year for the first time in a while (thanks Dad!) also from the Chriskindlmarket. It's of Rothenberg, Germany, which is a Medieval town between Frankfurt and Munich. I had to look that up, I've never been...maybe someday.

 

Yesterday we walked through the PSU market and picked up a wreath. It was very hard to choose. I still had a tough time once we decided which booth we wanted one from. This booth had peppers in a lot of the wreaths, and several wreaths had moss-covered twigs which I seriously considered. I really liked the one that was just moss-covered twigs, it just seemed perfectly Pacific Northwest. However we decided to go with a bit more variety. I really like the purples and reds in the one we came home with! 

Crafty Wonderland Preparation: Small Preview!

Crafty Wonderland is next weekend! I have so much to do. One task I finished last week was making some pom-pom pins to sell, and packing up a few to drop off at the Crafty Wonderland Pop-up shop. These will be in about 16.7% of the 150 goodie bags that will be given away to the early birds at the door next weekend. They were packed up with some fun magnets with my shop info that I had made up recently using a coupon I had for Vistaprint. 

I'm so busy, but I'm having fun. Tonight I'm working on some wreath ornaments inspired by Grandma's Christmas tree, and using some cool ribbon I brought home from her collection. I'll try to take pictures if time allows. I can't believe how soon the show is, and I should really get back to work right this instant!

Chicago Walk: Last hours on State St. & Wabash

I am back in Portland now after a nice long thanksgiving visit with my parents in Chicago, and other family in Ohio. The Midwest is alright, but it's just too cold. It was so nice to take a walk here last night. It was chilly, but not nearly as troublesome as Chicago winter. That being said my last day in town (Wednesday) was pretty perfect, with clear skies...and I don't need to reflect too much on the weather the day before which involved so much wind there were 20 foot waves on the lake. Yeesh.

 

We met my Mom for a lunch downtown and some shopping at the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. Dad and I also did some walking along State St. and Wacker, and could check out the progress on the Sullivan Center (formerly the Carson, Pirie, Scott Building,) the new LEED certified dorms for Roosevelt University, and the "Lightscapes" Street decoration for Christmas (pictured above. You can almost make out the purple, green, and red lights here.) I was happy to find a way to sneak in a few purchases from the market in my already packed suitcases, including snowflake ornaments, an advent calendar, and (at long last) a tree topper that fits my medium/apartment-sized Christmas tree!

 

And lastly, of course, we had to drop in Macy's to see the holiday decor. The trees in the Walnut Room were my favorite. I also noticed for the first time that there seems to be a Christmas fairy that goes around the restaurant granting wishes. The decor elsewhere in the building was just as I remember. I'm not a big fan of the ornaments hanging below the Tiffany Ceiling, since that's pretty enough on its own! 

I'll be headed back for another shorter trip right at Christmas time. Between preparing for that, Crafty Wonderland, and the holiday season, I should be pretty busy through the end of the year!