11.30.2008

thanksgiving weekend moments

Erik and I unexpectedly spent Thanksgiving at our friend Stacey's house in San Diego. It was a 7 hour drive from Sedona, that we decided to make at noon on Thursday. Hooray for spontaneity!

My favorite things of the weekend were A) Stacey's apartment, which was full of cute furnitures, beautiful flowers, and other lovely objects:



(I used to dislike the all-white apartments I encountered in San Francisco, yearning for the ability to paint or otherwise add a splash of color. However, now that I've lived in beige-walled timeshare hell, I would kill for the crisp white rooms and cute architectural details of a home like Stacey's!)





and B) the opportunity to frolic in the Pacific Ocean!




Sea Cone!



Happy Thanksgiving!

11.25.2008

Patrick Leger


Enjoy some amazing illustrations by Patrick Leger. They are so beautiful it almost makes my teeth hurt. In a good way.

today's project: wallet!


I get a queasy kind of feeling when I see a pile of thread from incorrect seams I've ripped out and it appears to be the same mass as an entire spool.

In other words, I'm trying to figure out how my sewing machine works again and making tiny baby steps in progress. The biggest problem is not that I don't know how to work it; it's that I'm using industrial felt, which is very unpredictable when I sew on it. And also, trying to incorporate reclaimed mens suiting material, which is woven and unravels like mad sauce :(

So after lots of frustration trying to make a rather complicated bi-fold wallet with credit card pockets, I decided to make a non-folding pouch/card sleeve. This got rid of the need to wrangle the suiting, stop fraying edges, fold seams under and press, etc.

Here is the result, made from 1/8 inch thick felt, silkscreened with red ink:


Back view (card slots):


Pocket for money:


Voila!


I am mostly happy with it because it uses the natural properties of the felt. That is, I can cut slits in it for cards and such and it is A. sturdy enough to handle being sliced nearly in half and B. won't unravel or fray.


I don't know that I've ever seen a wallet that didn't fold at least in half, if not thirds. Which makes me worry that no one will think it's a practical design. It is definitely minimalist; it can only hold some cash and 3-4 cards. But it's nice and low profile in my pocket. There is a small piece of hidden structure sewn on the inside that keeps the upper card from sliding all the way in. Otherwise, it's just a piece of felt, folded and sewn.

After troubleshooting is over, I am definitely making some for my Etsy shop. I have a few different designs to print on them that will work great.

And I'm still brainstorming other wallet design ideas, and will post if they pan out.

11.22.2008

most amazing scroll-down evar

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. For the time when the Craigslist post is gone, I'll summarize: Hi, I am selling my car! The body is in nearly mint condition! I want $1000 dollars for it!

And these are a sampling of the photos included:


Hmm, okay, looks pretty good...


It's maybe a little dirty...


Oh, the seat has a small tear...


OMG WTF!

11.20.2008

politics according to ffffound



And for good measure, a birdie illustration by Alice Stevenson:

11.19.2008

Why I Love San Francisco

OK, the trip was crazy fun. I became too absorbed by the good times to post. But here are just a few reasons I love it there:








11.11.2008

11.10.2008

ugly or pretty, it's still my city

I'm in San Francisco :)

Taking off over Phoenix, the suburbs look like crop circles.


On the plane.


Abstract color composition as we were landing at SFO (San Mateo Bridge)


Got off public trans at Castro and Market. What a beautiful sight.


Amazing friends Danny and Danae and I headed to the most amazing burrito place in the Mission for some great food.


Before...


After!


Then to Bi Rite Ice Creamery for more deliciousness.


They make all of their ice cream by scratch, in amazing flavors like Honey Lavender, Salted Caramel, Snickerdoodles, etc...


Nom nom.





Then we had to get a ZipCar to go to the airport and pick up my missing suitcase.



I made some light paintings while we were driving down the freeway.




G'night, SF!