1/2 Over Recap

The year's 1/2 over, time for some VACA, but 1st, a look back over 2010 so far.  Sent this card to my sister Emily while she was studying for 1st year med school finals.  My job may be crazy, but as someone told me today: there are very few real emergencies in life (and Emily's much more likely to face them!)  That's my usually relaxed cat, Tobey.

I try to catch a few chill moments at work when I can, like this shot from The Museum of the City of New York, the calm before the event began.

Made this amigurumi flamingo for my friend, designer Mika Wyche, and she added it to her family of lovely handmade animals from around the world, I was touched!

Baked for the first time in a looong time: pink rice krispie treats!  Oops, there miiight be a bite missing from the one in the front....

...but in a much more accomplished baking endeavor, my friend, pastry chef Michel, who helped me with this Valentine's Day project, created this beautiful croquembouche with sugar flowers.

Been really enjoying the ever-changing array of vendors at The Hester Street Fair (seems their site is currently down, but don't let that keep you away from the fair!)

Posted about seeing the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, loved it, then saw this street art in Chinatown.  Wanna check out Soapstone Gallery's Graffolution next week, where the exhibitors will include my friend, Miles Wickham, who's shown his work at Coney Island, The Museum of Sex and even The Museum of Modern Art: check out his site for graffiti tutorials!

Bought some cute, little glasses at Ikea, but alas, a few months later and they have proven so delicate that now there are only 2 left, sigh...

on the up-side, my parents' dog, Guinness (lower left), enjoyed watching Dug in the movie UP, it just makes me happy.

Got some lovely fabric, not to make something, but....because these are 2 bikinis from Hollister.  They've been to the beach one time each, but the season is still young...

...and speaking of clothing, how did the new AllSaints boutique in Soho get a bazillon antique-looking Singer sewing machines for its displays??

and yes, posted about going to The Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, but haven't done a full report: it felt like just about the hottest day ever....kinda like today.

Soothing

This beautiful tub is in The English Room of The Manor House in Norfolk, Connecticut, where I stayed a few years ago.  I've been making soaps and scrubs, so have been wishing for a lovely bath, so how about some of these.

The Oriental from The Overflow Collection by KÄSCH

Morphosis from Jacuzzi

My friend, Alexandra, is blogging about renovating her home in Red Hook, Brooklyn and will soon have a beautiful view from her parlor level tub

A simple freestanding oval from Waterworks

And my sweet blog friend, Jozen from Lola's Girl, has a gorgeous master bathroom, lucky girl!

Really interesting glass bathtub from Wasauna

Tub in progress from another home renovation blog

and finally, this Amaltea Amethyst stunner of solid amethyst with
24-karat gold-plated legs from Baldi of Florence for just $190,000.00
on Luxuo.com

Not to Eat...

In about 8 hours I'm going to be very happy: it's been like final exams all week with so much work, but it's wrapping up with a wedding tonight.  Then I'll be having a drink at one of my favorite tapas places and coming back to this Dewberry Sugar Scrub.  I just hope no one eats it before I get home!

This recipe from Martha Stewart calls for 2 cups sugar,

1 cup oil (I used grapeseed),

8 drops essential oil for scent and 1 drop of food coloring.

I used a little more sugar (around 1/3 cup more) and a lot more scent (a few times the amount called for), but it all came together.

So, I'm glad this will be waiting for me when the day is done. 
Happy Saturday!

Destress Me

I already know it's gonna be kind of a stressful week, so I figured I could use a little aromatherapy in my life.  I got some dried lavender at the flower market:

and got out my buckets of melt-and-pour-soap from Majestic Mountain Sage. 

For my Valentine's Day Heart Soap I used clear, but this time I mixed it with some white.  I took a suggestion from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts and bought a mini loaf pan, and I already had some lavender oil from The Body Shop.

Then a little food coloring

and some time to rest, ahhh...

and then there were 6 little, purple bars.

There was a lot of lavender left so while I waited for the soap to set I sewed a sachet with the silk chiffon I got from Mood Fabrics and some purple cotton from Purl Soho.

I hand-sewed it since it was such a small piece and the fabrics were different weights and I didn't want to snag it in the machine.

Wishing you a peaceful week!

Renegade Brooklyn!

Here's where I'll be this weekend: so excited!  Pretty much the mother-of-all-craft-fairs, keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds up.  Take a look at this lineup and check out my sidebar for other crafty happenings this weekend.  Will report back soon!

Always FREE-TO-ATTEND – our craft, art, design and DIY spectacular will feature over 300 of today’s finest indie-craft talents from all over the nation, free workshops, entertainment + other features

Crafting-guru and how-to author extraordinaire Lotta Jansdotter will be at the Fair leading interactive workshops furnished by Rowenta! Join Lotta in her innumerable craft pursuits – and learn a few new techniques while you’re at it!


Be sure to join the fantastic folks from ETSY.com at their hands-on booth! Stamping, sewing, printing – you name it! Etsy will guide you through many quick + simple, make + take projects!

Visit the BurdaStyle Make and Take Lounge, featuring the original OurGoods experiment, the Work Dress. Learn how to sew with BurdaStyle’s FREE Make and Take project: a Drawstring Bag with Bags for the People!

Join Brooklyn-based artist Aya Rosen in the Pébéo Creative Lab! Experiment with fabric, glass and porcelain paint provided by Pébéo at this free-to-participate workshop space!