Sunday stroll through Mayfield Park

All pics taken at Mayfield Park, one of my favorite urban oases in Austin.

Kitchen Cabinet Remodel!

Welcome to the kitchen of the little old house I share with my sweet husband, Patrick, & our crazy cat, Pooky. We love old houses - they're full of charm & interesting details that you often don't find in new houses, like built-in hutches & bookshelves (I adore built-ins!). Our house was built in 1955 and has undergone pretty extensive remodeling (by previous owners), that has brought it up-to-date while still maintaining most of the home's architectural integrity.

The kitchen is really cute, with large windows & a new island in place of the original wall that has since been removed, making the kitchen a lot more spacious & open. I like spacious & open. I also like lots of cabinets, which our kitchen has. There are some things about these cabinets that I really dislike, however.

For instance, the layers of glossy white paint covering every surface of each cabinet are quite annoying. When you reach for a glass, you have to actually tug at it because it will have stuck to the paint on the shelf! ick. The painted surfaces also ensure that the big solid wood doors on the cabinets do not shut properly and often hang open slightly. Or if they do shut all the way, then you have to pull extra hard to dislodge them from the overly-painted surfaces.


And then there are the lovely extras left behind from pre-cellphone days, which you can see hiding behind the glasses there.

So, we've been wanting to do something about these cabinets for a while, and this past weekend we got started on it. All of my wishful gazing at beautiful kitchens in magazines & on blogs inspired me to do a low-cost, high-impact remodel of our wacky cabinets.

First off, Patrick removed the cabinet doors & I gleefully set them aside. Then I removed all of our dishes & he yanked out that telephone wire...























So what did we do next? What's our big plan for this little kitchen? Stay tuned...

Gatsby Afternoon?!! If that isn't the bees knees...

You probably don't know this about me, but I am a 1920s NUT! I love everything related to the Roaring Twenties - the fashion, the advertising & illustration (Oh! the fabulous illustrations!), anything Art Deco, the Bauhaus, Tamara de Lempicka, all books by F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. etc. etc. So when I saw this "Sewing Gatsby-Era Clothes" article in my Craft daily digest, I was floored. It featured pics of some very crafty lady's impeccable Deco day dresses she sewed for herself & a few friends. So I had to read the full post on the Nested blog to find out more deets.



Turns out there is this swell soiree called Gatsby Summer Afternoon that takes place every September in Oakland, CA. Man! I want to go to that! It looks so cool - they are strict about everyone showing up in period-accurate attire & appropriate picnic details and everything. I am making it my goal to get to this picnic someday. I have to go! I so want to go!

The Art Deco Society (what?!) has a great guide on how to dress Deco, for Ladies & Gents, of course, with handy click-to-buy items in the sidebar. How amazing are these green Kathryn Kerrigan shoes available from endless.com? Love these! I have some very cool brown, patent leather t-strap heels, but these... these are green!

I just can't get enough of 1920s illustrations. The fashion illustrations are just the best. Love the hats, the shoes (especially the shoes!), everything about 'em. I've started collecting 1920s sheet music for the illustrations, and I have a trio of them hanging in my dining room. If I weren't so lazy about taking photographs, I'd show you some of the many Deco & Deco-inspired things I have around my home. Maybe in a future post... for now, I'll leave you with my favorite Deco-era painting by Ms. Lempicka, "Portrait de Madame Allan Bott." I have a giant framed print of this beautiful painting hanging in my living room.

I want finches. Pretty little finches.

Look at them! They seem so peaceful and sweet. These beautiful feathered friends happen to belong to Susie Ghahremani of boygirlparty, whose work I love. She says, "Every day they give me a reason to be happy, the finches are so simple and so cheerful - always doing something tender and sweet like preening each other or singing softly." Awww! They were featured in Craft's recent pet series.

The series involved interviews with pet-lovin' crafty folks & had some really cool ideas for birdie crafts, like this DIY aviary from Empress of Creativity. How cool is that?! I totally want one of those. Not like I have any room in my humble abode for it...














I also want a chirpy little pal for whom I can make one of these:
Jessica Wilson gives you a full tutorial for this nifty Birdie Potpourri. Wouldn't it be fun to watch your bird pull her favorite ribbons out & make a spiffy, colorful nest with them? Maybe I'll just make some to hang on the porch & see if any wild birds appreciate it.

It just seems like having little songbirds like finches in the house would make my quiet, work-at-home days so much more cheerful...

Of course, it would probably be absolute mayhem with this trickster around.

Any of you out there in blogland have any stories of co-habitating birds & cats? Is it possible? A nightmare? I'd love to hear!

The Bash was a Smash!

back row, l to r: The WonderCraft: Kim Sae-Eua, Beth Albrecht, Jen Bryan, me;
front & center: Candace Carlisle

Last Friday night was the All Austin All Handmade Bash, a celebration of local (& primarily women-owned) creative businesses, which was also the official launch party of The WonderCraft. Man, was it ever a success! We estimate that we had about 1,000 attendees, and everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves. We made close to $800 for Austin Dog Rescue, which made everyone very happy. There was local music & food, and a raffle with wonderful prizes from local businesses, to benefit The WonderCraft's outreach program. I wanted to share a few pics - these were taken by Candace of Electric Promotions (the creative whirlwind who threw this amazing par-tay) & Trevor Ray Thompson, who sat up a photo booth inside the bar in front of their awesome, old school beauty shop chairs! You can view more Bash pics on Electric's Flickr and Trevor Ray's site.






Inside the "craft cave" where The WonderCraft had a DIY upcycled t-shirt accessories table. Guests could make wrist cuffs, chokers & necklaces. {Intrigued? We have classes on that!} It was packed in there all night long!







Look what she made! a marvelous "grunge flower" cuff, based on Kim's design. She's also sportin' a lovely pink goodie bag - those were given out to the first 100 guests (who lined up around the block before the party even started!).









And here's the fashionable necklace local blogger Indiana Adams made at the Bash. {Indiana's photo, as seen on her blog, adored austin}









Team Fabrication was there with models wearing their fab creations.









They DJ, they sew - they're awesome!
















More photo booth fun! That's our pal Anne Marie in the red shirt - she was there with her pretty purses (the best - I custom-ordered one during Austin Fashion Week & I looove it!).


Stay tuned for the next art, music & fashion event from Electric Promotions: We Make Stuff! The WonderCraft & EtsyAustin will both be involved in this one. It's coming up on Sept. 19th. I hope you'll join us!

Toooooot! Toot! toot... toot.

That's my own horn there. I just couldn't resist - this is too cool! (and I promise I look happier in the actual photo - my hasty scan of the magazine doesn't do it justice.)


On news stands now! Now back to mad prep for the All Austin All Handmade Bash this Friday! wait, THIS Friday? ack!

Adaptive reUse Explains How to Deconstruct Tin

I was very excited yesterday to see that Austin's own upcycled jewelry superstar, Christine Terrell of adaptive reUse, was featured in Craft! Christine's jewelry is just the best - she makes wondrous & amazing things from old tins. Craft featured a great post from Christine's blog detailing how she takes apart those tins. It's a very interesting read - I had no idea just how she did it. It is no easy feat! So if you're curious too, hop on over and read her post, "Tin Deconstruction."

photo by Christine Terrell







Here's a pic {apologies for the blurriness} of my own adaptive reUse piece, a beautiful red rose. It's a real favorite of mine & I always get tons of compliments when I wear it. I love being able to tell people about the local artist that made it! I know Christine through the EtsyAustin team, and she is wonderful. In fact, I've been meaning to feature her on Local Talent Tuesday, but as you may have noticed, I've been slacking a bit with those blog posts. It is a very exciting time for me right now, with the upcoming launch of The WonderCraft, but along with all of the excitement has come a ton of work and filled-to-the-brim days (and nights) trying to get it all done. I hope to get back to posting more frequently in the near future. Until then...

The WonderCraft's first public appearance - a success & a total blast!

Last night my newest creative venture, The WonderCraft, unveiled our crafty plans to take over the world (or at least Austin)! 2 of my biz partners, Beth A & Kim, & I were at the Austin Handmade Grand Re-Opening Party (our other partner, Jen, was out of town this time). We had so much fun telling folks about our new biz, doing a make 'n take wrist cuff project with the party-goers, celebrating the success of Austin Handmade & their awesome new location (where we will be holding many of our WonderCraft classes - super excited about that!), and being a part of the Austin Fashion Week fun.

Local designer Robie of Parsimony was there showing her adorable dresses & tunics. I finally got to meet Adrienne of All Things Austin Design, whose blog I am a big fan of. I had a great time making upcycled wrist cuffs with two of my EtsyAustin teammates shown above, Cathie of Sweet Wolf & Brandy of Pigsey Art. I was totally digging that cheetah! I was so caught up in it all that I only took these 2 pics. Hopefully I can snag some more from other peeps that were there. Thanks to all who came out & shared in the fun!

If you missed us, I hope you'll come out & meet us at The All Austin All Handmade Bash on July 31st! It promises to be a great time. We'll be there doing more DIY projects and there will also be local handmade vendors, live music, a fashion show, goody bags & raffle prizes, tasty beverages and more! It's another Electric Promotions event, so you know it will be good!

Swing by the Austin Handmade Grand Re-opening Party this Thursday!

Austin Handmade will be celebrating the Grand Re-opening of its new store location at 2009 S. First St. Combining launch efforts with this year’s Austin Fashion Week, the party will feature a fashion show by local designer Robie Dodson of Parsimony.

The Austin Handmade store’s Grand Re-opening Party will offer special in-store discounts, along with free giveaways from participating sponsors such as the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls, select Austin based artists and a membership to The WonderCraft. Party guests will be able to try out the new Austin Handmade Do-It-Yourself Room using simple kits created by Austin artists with instructions and basic supplies available for purchase at the event. Continue with the on-site DIY fun with make n’ take projects provided by Austin’s newest creative craft-force, The WonderCraft.

Show entertainment provided by local band Lost Werks and DJ Beef Eigler of High Society. Event and fashion show photography by local photographer, John Pesina of www.johnpesina.com, featured in The Austin American Statesman, Envy Magazine and Austin 360.

Enjoy cake from Sugar Mammas Bakeshop with drinks provided by Austin favorites, Sweet Leaf Tea and Treaty Oak Platinum Rum. Treaty Oak is rum truly made in the spirit of Texas - Texas’s first & only distillery that both brews and distills locally, using only Texas ingredients.

One of the coolest quilts I have ever seen...

This is the cutest quilt ever with its prominent circle designs. Of course quilt blocks have to be square, so the artist, Jennifer Murphy, has an ingenius method for making them. And you can learn how she does it - she has the tutorial for this quilt up right now on her blog. Run & get it - it's a great one! And thanks to Craftzine for sharing this one today in their newsletter.