SweetAnd Condensed

Oh my, oh my has it been a crazy month: welcome to December! I feel blessed, I feel happy....I feel...tired.  I heart the holiday season there's just so much to do and so much going on... 

I love being busy though and made some cookies for the 2nd Annual New York Holiday Cookie Swap event today organized by Bloggers Without Borders to benefit the Cookies for Kids' Cancer charity.  So many great blog friends to catch up with and new ones to meet.  Oh and did I mention all the cookies?!  

So, someday I'll catch up on blog posts about flower arranging, (birthday present, 2 Thanksgiving dinners, 2nd year of amaryllis for a big fashion client), canning (Brooklyn Swappers event and Justin's first pickles), sewing (new book and material to make my first skirt), knitting (another beautiful book and lilac-colored socks), felting (have the tools, don't have the time), paper crafts (squirrel place cards and so many great friends who are into this!), craft fairs ('tis the season), friends visiting from out of town (yay!), holiday parties (double yay!) and holiday projects (oh so many in mind...)  

But this week is the busiest one of the whole month for catering, so I'll resurface very soon.

Here are some much better recaps of the event, enjoy:

Three Many Cooks: thank you so much for organizing such a fun, tasty event!
Justcook NYC: in which he made THREE kinds of cookies, oh my
The Diva That Ate New York: with a video!
Sweets by Sillianah: she even volunteered for the event
One Tough Cookie: my award for best presentation with her cookie TREE
Healthy Green Kitchen: mmm iced ginger bars...
Abby Dodge: sooo sorry I didn't grab a piece of her caramel 
macadamia coconut shortbread before they all got snapped up
Open Mouth Insert Cookie: an amazing picture summary of the assortment

Last Slice of Summer

Today's the last day of summer and I hope everyone had a great season.  It's strangely grey outside in NYC but I'm thinking back over the last few months and these Citrus Coasters I made from the Purl bee.

Here's the process going backwards.  
I still want to make them in all of the summery colors.

So simple and so cheerful. 

Craftiness at its Finest

[from Pursuitist]

Happy NYC Fashion Week!  

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending a gallery reception at the 

Hermès boutique on Madison Avenue showcasing photographs by 

Koto Bolofo.

[from Wallpaper*]

A fashion photographer originally from South Africa, he is the first to gain access to the famous and historically secretive Hermès workshops where the beautiful leather, silk and other objects are hand-crafted.  Over seven years he documented and compiled his work into La Maison, a collection of 11 volumes: Horses, Saddles, Kelly Bag, Clothes, Perfume, Bugatti Veyron, Gardens, Special Orders, Silk, John Lobb and Collection Émile Hermès.

11 Craft-O-Lutions for 2011

"For last year's words belong to last year's language 

and next year's words await another voice." -- T.S. Eliot

I'm loving the New Year's Resolution Reviews popping up, from Heart Handmade, Sandy A La Mode and others, so I've made a few changes around here: a Facebook fan page, Tweets and more event listings.  Let me know if you hear about any more!  Here's what I want to do in 2011:

1) Ballet classes, took the 2nd one in 6 years last week at Peridance, very inspired by Black Swan!

2) Cello lessons again, it's been about 11 years now! also very inspired by this Korean horror movie

3) Jewelry class, maybe at Make Workshop or 3rd Ward

4) Sell something at a craft fair, so many to think about, now what to make??

5) Cake decorating, been years since I've done this too, so I got my last bday cake at Magnolia 

6) Get another flower arranging job, cause the first was lots of work, but really fun

7) Visit event vendors: like a baker, florist, stationer, designer...and a few others I have in mind...

8) Get another tattoo: already chose the place, thinking about the design

9) Sew a dress

10) Keep cooking, cause starting this year off with Korean dumplings was pretty tasty

11) And do a better job of keeping in touch cause, well, it just all around makes me happy

Good luck with your resolutions, crafty or otherwise!

Crafty Holiday Prep 2010

[from Martha Stewart Living]

One week to Thanksgiving!  Once again, Martha Stewart Living is having a Holiday Craft Sale, this year on Saturday, December 4th.  I really enjoyed it last year, so I'll sure be going again.  And I can't wait to get their December issue packed with exciting, new projects: ornaments made from strings of sequins?  Yes, please.

Amy Atlas has a very pretty Thanksgiving Crafty Round-up.  I want even just a few more days to do all of these.

I want to make this sweet, little knit pumpkin I saw over on FlowerPot Designs.  How many can I make by next week?!

I'd also love to have these felt oak-leaf bowls from Martha Stewart on my Thanksgiving table.  And how cute are these paper pilgrim hats?

It isn't too early for holiday gift project plans.  Over on the purl bee are ideas to get you started on your knitting and sewing: they have the most gorgeous fabrics and luxurious yarns, a lovely way to make your projects even more special.

Great array of holiday gift tutorials over at Sew, Mama, Sew with categories for Hipsters, Pet Lovers, Foodies and more.

Paper Source has fun holiday card kits.  Looking forward to visiting the new Brooklyn location with Koru Kate!

And lots of holiday decor patterns over at Lion Brand Yarn.  If you're in the NYC area don't miss visiting their beautiful studio.

Those are just a few for now, and this year I want to get back to things I haven't done in years:

1) get a real Christmas tree
2) make a gingerbread house
3) send holiday cards
4) actually cook something
5) have a party
6) go see The Nutcracker
7) and finish a few gifts I've started on already, shhh...

Happy holiday planning!

I Left My Heart...

...in SAN FRANCISCO...That's where I saw this cool graffiti last year and we're heading back next week: Justin to speak about cookbooks at the BlogHer food conference, me for some much-needed vacationing, so if anyone has any cool, fun, crafty, foodie SF tips I'd love to hear some recommendations!

I've finally completed a (small) sewing project: a little drawstring bag with pink lining and silk ribbon, just in time for the end of National Sewing Month.  It isn't as awesome as the Wonder Woman costume my Mom made, but it's a start and the pattern is perfect for my next bout of car crafting and to take some supplies along for my trip west.  What to do with all that plane time?

There was a bump in the road when my worst fears were realized and my beautiful machine jammed: the very thing that had made me hesitant all this time!  Fortunately, Justin stepped in and I didn't need to carry it into the city for a check-up and she seems to be running well again, phew...

I also had time to package up all the bath fizzies: it's good to not be working until midnight these days!

I can't wait to give them to all the hard-working ladies who helped me so much during Fashion Week, thank you, all, I couldn't have done it without you!

In Between Weekends

I wish I could tell you more about this beautiful Korean sewing book from Nobel Bookstore in the H-Mart shopping complex in Ridgefield, New Jersey.

I've tried Google Translate, used the Google tool bar on this Korean Sewing Factory website and am working through Rosetta Stone, but I have a long way to go.  Maybe now that my work for Fashion Week is winding down and it's almost Friday again I'll have more time. 
Last Saturday we had lunch on St. Mark's Place

and spied a very cool Singer sewing machine at a sidewalk sale, kinda like the ones lining the walls at the AllSaints boutique in Soho.

A colorful collection of glass bottles and jars made me think of this great article from Martha Stewart Living and some of the photo shoots I've visited where they've had lots of different props.

On University Place we passed Gigi K, a shop full of interesting stockings....made me want to pick up a crochet hook again since I haven't used one since I made a few little animals.

At H-Mart on Sunday we had bibimbap, one of my favorites

and bought more ingredients to bring home

to do some more cooking too

and ended the weekend with a nice, quiet meal at home.

I've always admired the fascinating Japanese craft books at Kinokuniya by Bryant Park, so it's great to have a Korean bookstore nearby too.

Maybe I'll be able to interpret enough to make a fun project someday.

Happy National Sewing Month and...a Winner!

I just found out that September is National Sewing Month and this is 2 bunches of fat quarters from Purl Soho, a birthday gift from my boyfriend "for encouragement and inspiration" as he says, very sweet, as he's also contributed to my crafty endeavors before.  There is a fantastic selection of projects you can make from fat quarters on Sew, Mama, Sew! and I'm definitely picking one soon.

Walking down by South Street Seaport this weekend we passed a fence adorned with sewing spools that stretched for blocks and blocks...until we came to a description:

noting that it's a temporary installation by Katherine Daniels: check out her site, amazing work with fabric, beads, wire and more.  I'm so glad I passed by this!  We also saw some cool graffiti in the East Village.

And I started a new project on the way up to Northampton, Massachusetts for a little trip.

We saw a Crafts Avenue:

and while there weren't craft shops on that block, there were 2 yarn boutiques in town:

and we had such a nice time browsing through the fantastic gifts, cards, books, Japanese and Korean design products and great craft section at Essentials where we had the pleasure of meeting owner Sydne and manager Colette: so lovely to chat with both of you! 

For dinner we had a sushi Love Boat for 2...

which brings me to the winner of the Knit Sushi Giveaway:

Thank you to everyone who entered...the futomaki prize goes to entry #4: Small Burst! 

So, I will be sending this along to Small Burst just in time before NYC Fashion Week, which will mean lots of work for me, culminating in the 2nd year of Fashion's Night Out on Friday, September 10th:

And next week on Tuesday, September 14th, CBS will air a special behind-the-scenes look at the planning and the parties, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (who I'm watching sing about suits right now on How I Met Your Mother).

Yes I Can!

Happy "Thread the Needle Day, dedicated not only to the act of sewing but also to overcoming something difficult.  My beautiful sewing machine has been threaded for a while, but today I finally used it to sew.  My Mom made all of my childhood Halloween costumes: a black cat, pink princess and of course, Wonder Woman. There was also Princess Leia (no, not gold bikini Leia) and Spider-Man for my brother.

I've been trying to learn for some time now, so here's how it went:

- August 2009 - January 2010: gifts!  Received Amy Butler's book, In Stitches from my Aunt Liz, a beautiful Singer machine from my parents and Anna Maria Horner's book, Seams to Me from my encouraging friend Gypsy who says I should just go for it!  Still the fear...

- March 2010: fabric!  Bought a beautiful packet of fabric from Purl Soho and considered its possibilities

- April 2010 - July 2010: party!  Attended Martha Stewart's sewing party to launch their new Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, checked out Purl Soho's big move to a bright, new space, went to lots of craft fairs, then vacationed in DC:

and Philly.

- and today, July 25th, finally sewed some stitches! and a chart to test the different widths and lengths of my machine.

These stitches don't amount to much yet, but someday they'll all be straight and my fabric won't pucker.  Someday I'll be able to thread the machine without using a chart.  Someday when I step on the peddle it won't take off in a frantic whirl and I'll fall into an easy rhythm.  And someday...maybe someday I'll be able to sew like my Mom.