Big Hair for the Big Event

Happy National Craft Month!  Here's a postscript to my last post about the big birthday party: got these pics from the hairstylists today and they're way better than my cellphone shots.

The talented (and patient!) team from Julien Farel worked their genius on 14 ladies and 89 guys, including a few on-site haircuts!  

Rachael and I were playing the part and standing up straight for the photos.  I feel like I could've gone to the Oscars with this updo!

At the end of the night I counted 34 bobby pins: haven't had that many in there since my ballet recitals.

On a random note: this amigurumi penguin I made in 2009 reminds of my current Droid Pro distraction: Angry Birds!  I think this little guy would do a good job on those piggies.

And finally I have full wireless computer & internet access, including LogMeIn to access my whole work computer from home.  Now I'm not tech-savvy at all, but to me this is incredible!  Can't wait to revisit all of your sites again and see what you've been up to.  Thank you, Supersum Technology Group, this will change my life!

Sushi 4 Kitties Giveaway!

Yay, my 1st Giveaway!  This kappamaki (cucumber sushi roll) is made of yarn: a knitting pattern by Christen Haden, author of Yummi 'Gurumi and Creepy Cute Crochet.  Her pattern is my very 1st Etsy purchase: the PDF has 16 sushi pieces (including knit wasabi, ginger and decorative grass) and I can't wait to make them all.  But I had to make this one for a quick welcome gift....

[photo by Jenny G.]

for my friend Jenny's newly adopted kitty, what a beauty!  The last time I made gifts for kitties was some Christmas catnip mice and I figured something fishy would be appropriate, especially when I saw this ad: kind of looks like this kitty, right?

I've mentioned that I've always loved the sea, so I've been reading The Story of Sushi by Trevor Corson (loved his 1st book: The Secret Life of Lobsters) and as I started looking for craft projects Christen's Etsy page really stood out.  She e-mailed the pattern quickly and the directions are super easy to follow.  Plus, it's a great way to use up some yarn!

If I make all the pieces I'll be using all of these colors, so I'm excited to make more soon. 

You'll need double-pointed needles, a stitch marker, row counter, yarn needle and of course I like my crafty, little scissors.

Each piece is a combination of a few layers, all the better to stuff catnip in!

And then there was packaging: one of my favorite parts...

I didn't have time to knit up the condiments this time, so I used the real thing, added some chopsticks too.


So, to enter the giveaway, all you have to do is:
1) be a follower (thank you!)
2) leave a comment, any ol' comment will do
3) and specify if you'd like your sushi with, or without catnip


And on Labor Day, I'll pick one name randomly (U.S. residents only, please, just for shipping purposes) and you'll receive the next sushi piece I make, packaged similarly to the one I gave Jenny today.  

Good luck!

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.

Damn Groundhog...

Really, Punxsutawney Phil, you had to see your shadow and run away for weeks and weeks?  I was loving this amigurumi groundhog from Planet June, so cute and innocent, and then you doomed us to 6 more weeks of winter?  You may be the most famous ever, but the other groundhogs don't even agree with you!

It's raining in NYC today and supposed to change to sleet, ice, snow... and then a NOR'EASTER by Thursday??  Well, I'm thinking about spring anyway and these flowers were crafted out of sugar by the amazing Sylvia Weinstock.  Here are some closeups (don't mind the traces of icing from the cake they adorned).  I'm SO into these...

My Valentine's Eve arrangement reminded me to surround myself with flowers until spring comes (ok, well, *always* would be nice too), so this is my desk at work right now: a white phalaenopsis orchid and orange ranunculus:

I wasn't familiar with the ranunculus until I saw this beautiful arrangement on A Little Sussy and now I'm definitely obsessed with them.  On my way home last night I got some tulips because I agree with Suburban Zen about buying some for yourself instead of waiting for someone else to send you some.

I also walked by Carlo's Bakeshop, the bakery from the show Cake Boss on TLC.  I wrote about the long lines that are now outside on the weekends, making it impossible to get in there for a cannoli, but the cakes sure are pretty.

P.S. the animal-directed sarcasm at the top of this post is done waaay better by the author of FU Penguin: Telling Cute Animals What's What.  I'd go into further detail, but my Mom is reading this, so expletives will be left out for now.

Here's hoping that spring gets here soon, it will definitely improve my mood, but for now, flowers will have to do.

2nd Christmas, Late Valentine's and Other Celebrations

It was almost like 2nd Christmas yesterday as we celebrated 3 birthdays, an anniversary and I brought some late Valentine's Day gifts too.  And this after the start of the Olympics, President's Day, Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras!

I had to wrap up the heart soaps I made, so I made a few miniature gift bags from a Martha Stewart pattern. 

And I wanted to be purple for the day, so I wore this beaded tank from Forever 21

and some light purple jewelry: this beautiful beaded necklace from Cameo Sisters Designs and ring from a trip to Chicago

My Dad had bought my Mom some little purple glasses

and I brought purple wine (and yea, my grandfather likes the box stuff )

And of course there were presents!

I got this gorgeous lilac Le Creuset casserole dish for my Aunt Liz.

[from Yummery]

On the Yummery site, Erin from Erin Cooks explains that this color was only recently made available in the US and right now Sur La Table has the exclusive on the lilac and the darker purple cassis colors, fab!

The other day I mentioned a gift that made me think of pink, pearl and ribbon and that was this Lion Brand knit flapper cloche for my grandfathers wife, Ruth.

Instead of the Landscapes Yarn in the pattern a very helpful woman in the shop recommended the yarn on sale this month: Wool-Ease Thick and Quick.  It's a lamb' s wool/acrylic blend, also a Super Bulky weight and surprisingly soft: it knit up in about 5 hours, so yes (relatively), quickly!  

I say pearl because at some point the shape reminded me of Pearl, the pink octopus in Finding Nemo.  It was even able to stand up on its own!  Let's compare:

[from freewebs.com]

Actually, this would probably make a pretty good amigurumi.  Eventually I got to the end of the knitting part and was all proud, until I realized that I hadn't joined the round.  Oops...

It was sewn up quickly, just ironic since I was already using circular needles, so why didn't I think of that before?  But it turned out fine and then I added this cool 2-tone pink/blue ribbon from Paper Presentation.

It was a good, relaxing day.  And I love that my Mom always has flowers around the house.  Maybe someday i'll learn how to keep a plant alive.