'Tis Craft Fair Season

Even when I'm busy up to my ears I still miss things, but I'm so glad I snapped this picture on the L train from Brooklyn this weekend.  This papier-mache sheep was actually life-sized and the artist was protecting it so gently and agreed to having his pic taken.  I've started a list in my sidebar to keep track of upcoming crafty events.  Here are some I went to recently: I'll try to keep up to speed!

Saturday, April17th: Not Yo Mama's Craft Fair, Parlay Studios, Jersey City

Walking through the 2 rooms of the warehouse-y Parlay Studios, I admired feltwork by Anne Messley of Felt It, picked up a postcard from sewing website BurdaStyle, bought 2 card prints of Liberty State Park by Billy John Moore Photography, met his girlfriend Alice, CEO of James John Lip Balm, and bought a lovely glass bead wire ring from Beth Fliegler of Baublettes by Beth.

Saturday, Aprl 24th: Handmade Cavalcade, Berry Park, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

At this 2-level bar/restaurant/rooftop terrace space I met Rachel from Swap-Bot where you can join in and swap your creativity with other crafters by mail, learned more about The {NewNew}, the group of independent artists and designers in the NYC area, talked to Juan Arango Cano of Caja Jewelry about his amazing, hand-cut, eco-friendly pieces, marveled at the hand-punched cards and lampshades by warpeDesign, admired the handprinted dresses by Karin Persan, founder of the Better Than Jam Handmade Co-Op, loved the messages in a bottle, personalized embroidery and vintage-inspired letter books from Miniature Rhino, bought a glass tile magnet from Linda Catalano of Purty Bird, enjoyed the adorable animal drawings by Jess of LittleBunny and adored the vintage lucite beaded jewlery from WishbyFelicity (and I do WISH I had bought a specific necklace I was admiring, so I'll have to visit her Etsy shop!)

Saturday, April 24th: opening party for the new Purl Soho Store, NYC

I've been looking forward to the new digs that are now the joint home of Purl and Purl Patchwork and it did not disappoint: a beautiful light, airy space for fibers and fabrics...and a lovely gift bag, so much inspiration...where to start?...!

Me in 3's

Saw a "me in 3's" post on Trishie's beautiful blog: Under Lock and Key and it was fun to put together.  So, this is bibimbap, one of my 3 fave dishes ever: rice and vegetables all mixed together with spicy Korean sauce: my lunch today for just $8.50 about 3 minutes from my office: perfect!

But first, please go to the purl bee, the blog for the newly combined Purl + Purl Patchwork store in Soho to enter their online raffle for 4 fabulous crafty prizes!  And if you're in the area on Saturday come on over to Broome Street for their customer appreciation party to celebrate their big move.  Now for the 3's...

3 names I go by:

Jen

Jenny Kim

Craftiness Now

3 jobs I’ve had:

Victoria’s Secret Bra Specialist

Editorial Coordinator

Event Planner

3 places I’ve lived:

More than a few in New Jersey

Saratoga Spring, NY

Boston, MA

3 fave drinks:

Thai iced coffee

Korean 2% Energy Drink

Raspberry Stoli and Tonic

3 TV shows I watch:

Glee

Cake Boss

30 Rock

3 places I’ve been:

Seoul, South Korea

Bermuda

Niagara Falls

3 places I’d like to visit:

Atlantis Resort, Bahamas

Paris

Galapagos Islands

3 fave old TV shows:

The Muppet Show

Quantum Leap

Murphy Brown

3 fave dishes:

Bibimbap (above)

Pommes Frites

Lobster

3 makeup products I cannot live without:

Bare Minerals

M.A.C. lip pencil in Whirl

Mascara (haven't found the perfect one yet)

3 things I’m looking forward to:

Sauna @ the gym tonight

Boyfriend coming home from a biz trip

Planning a vacation

3 people I’m tagging:

tris1978ton from The Girlie Blog

MadsaboutU

Jozen from Lola's Girl

Enjoy!

Crushing on Color

I'm adoring the new issue of Martha Stewart Living for May, all about finding the "hue for you."  I write about pink a lot and sometimes purple, and love the palate of both with cream.  It got me thinking about shades, flavors and textures, for example:

A Pink Marc de Champagne truffle from Charbonnel et Walker, a gift my boyfriend brought me from London a few years ago,

lights at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in the Lower East Side,

water kimchi at Bibim-Bar in the East Village.  We weren't sure what it was when we had it a while back, but loved the color (and the taste),

mix for macaroons that reminded me of wampum: beads made from shells highly prized if they were rare purple,

nail art done in Korea with O.P.I. polish in Hawaiian Orchid, so pearly it reminded me of a pink seashell,

and this pic from last spring on Hudson Street.

Pink and purple together can make a gorgeous sunset,

and then it's just a tiny step away to blue, like these hyndrangeas for my Mom's birthday

and at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco.

And in more macaroons.

I've always loved water, and each ball in this display was filled with it at the Dining by Design tabletop event for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids).

At another event, Zaha Hadid's mobile art installation for Chanel emanated a futuristic blue glow,

and back at Angel Orensanz Foundation, this is their starry ceiling.

Hmmm...I see another blog redesign in my near future.

What's your favorite hue and do you love it alone, or mixed into a palette?

NYC in Bloom

"When proud-pied April, dress’d in all his trim hath put a spirit of youth in every thing" 
-- from Sonnet 98 by William Shakespeare, 1609

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

Wow, it's been 9 days since the Martha Stewart sewing party!  My other visits to the Martha offices for their Tastemakers Event and Holiday Craft Sale were fun and this was another inspiring night. 

I went with my friend She Crafty, her co-worker Amy and we met another Amy as well. 

The event celebrated the release of the brand new Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts and the book was included in the admission price.

I loved the embroidery section since I've been getting into it these days.

This is embroidery with ribbons.

And little fruity cocktail napkins.

I'd like to learn about patchwork.

And quilting: this was a machine that could do it all by itself.

I love this thread from Gutermann: quite strong and such great colors.

These beautiful displays were sooo Martha, looked like they were right from the magazine.

And there was an area where you could make your own tomato pincushion.

This was a station about dyeing fabric with Rit Dye.

And there was one about stamping below.  We also met the talented Lotta Jansdotter who's teaching a class over the summer about fabric printing, wish I had snapped a pic of her too!

At the end there was a generously heavy gift bag with the book, magazines, scissors, threads, needles, coupons, dye and more!  And the towel on the upper left was machine embroidered at the party.  Now I really have to get started!