Year: 2015

yay 2015!

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As usual, the end of the year is approaching way too quickly, but what a year it’s been! I started this blog almost one whole year ago. Thank you for following my adventures in craft and explorations throughout the year! Since I’m feeling nostalgic, let’s finish off this year’s posts in Throwback Thursday Top Ten fashion. (10) I started at a new job. It’s almost my one year anniversary. (9) I created an eggcellent egg decorating workshop for West Elm Emeryville and have since thrown a few crafty events in store. Talk about crafting in fabulous places. (8) I was approached numerous times so people could take pictures of my feet, ahem, Lego shoes. Fan club much? (7) I played hooky (ok, fine, I took vacation days) to craft with Zelma Rose on the Creative Live set! (6) This past summer I was Guest Craftmaster at the cutest Alameda shop – Modern Mouse. (5) I took a watercolor lettering workshop with one of my favorite artists when she was visiting from the Philippines! (4) I learned …

garcia garden: winter edition. 

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Home for Christmas means more time admiring the garden and it’s bounty. Here are some lovelies from the front yard. ‘Twas a sunny 59 degrees. This sago palm has been growing in same spot for 30+ years. I have a picture with it the day after it ‘snowed’ in Duarte. No more functioning fountain because of the drought, but it makes for a beautiful succulent garden. Tall palms live here, too. And poinsettias because Christmas. My Dad ‘reddened’ them by keeping them in the sun during the day and in complete darkness (i.e. covered with a cardboard box) at night everyday for over a month. More succulents and colorful blooms! What blooms in your garden? Share below! And check out the backyard, too.

tag, you’re it. 

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Looking for a fun way to sparkle up your Christmas gifting game this year? Try your hand at heat embossed gift tags. For this DIY you will need: Festive stamps Watermark stamp pad Embossing powder in assorted colors Embossing heat tool (I have Paper Source and Martha Stewart brand heat tools; they both work great.) Tags (Create your own or purchase them precut.) Coordinating twine/ribbon Scissors Tray/scratch paper (to catch the extra embossing powder) Instructions are simple: 1. Stamp Using a watermark stamp pad, apply ink to your stamp of choice. Press firmly on your tag. When it comes to heat embossing, using stamps gives images clean, crisp edges. Handwriting or drawing can be a little tricky, especially since the ink from the pens tends to dry more quickly than the ink from the stamp pad. Experiment with it! 2.Powder Cover your design in embossing powder and shake off the excess. If you are using more than one color, apply one color at a time and shake off the excess in between colors. You can reuse the …

Christmas treasures. 

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Let’s be honest, I will travel for all things crafty. Now, Berkeley isn’t much of a trek, but I convinced my friends that we should visit uBe Art on San Pablo and Dwight for their holiday party and ornament decorating station. What a lovely art space! The gallery is filled with all kinds of art (watercolor, collage…) – each piece inspiring.  The owner, Winn, is major friendly and all smiles. She had sweets and warm beverages for all, and a full buffet of craft supplies to create handmade ornaments. I loved all the gold and textures. I created a glittery acorn and a golden tag. My friend created a fuzzy snowman, which she gifted to me and is now the angel atop our Christmas tree. Head in to peruse the art, enjoy some conversations, or to get crafty — uBe has a line up of workshops, too. Are you creating your own ornaments this year? Share below!

lined and noted.

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Snail mail is the best. Here’s a fun way to add a little fancy to your Christmas greetings this year…or any greeting any time of year! All you need are: envelopes decorative paper (I really like washi paper) templates (you can make your own or get these nifty ones from Paper Source) a pencil scissors glue stick Choose the template that fits your envelopes of choice. Trace onto your decorative paper and cut. Ensure the template fits in your envelope snugly. Fold and glue. No need to glue the entire piece of paper, just the flap. Open up the flap and press down to secure. Fold the envelope and crease. And viola! Now you have a lovely lined envelope for an extra pop of handmade. You’ll never look at envelopes the same… Are you hand making your Christmas greetings this year? Share below!

wrap it up.

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Oh boy! It’s that time of year- time to wrap up pretty little gifts with the most adorable packaging! Darby Smart teamed up with Gap to create a gift wrapping set, and as a Darby designer I got a sneak peek to get the party started. (Yasss!) It’s full of all the things to add a handmade touch to any gift.  – Get your own here! The kit comes complete with kraft paper, a set of gift tags by Darby designers, wooden tags, candy cane bakers twine, silver sparkle decorative tape, and a silver marker. And if you’re like me, you consider the shredded paper filler part of the kit, too! First off, can I say that I looooove kraft paper. It’s simple and clean, but has so much potential and can be dressed up in so many ways. Here, I’ve just added a wooden ornament to add some shape and dimension to the package. Easy peasy. And next up, I was inspired by the snowflakes on one of the gift tags and drew my own abstract versions …

crEATive.

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You can’t spell “creative” without “eat.” It’s true! Feed your brain and your imagination will thank you! Remember when I took a couple of  days off of work to attend a craft workshop? YASSS!!! This post is all about the food I ate whilst a cast member of the Zelma Rose show. I felt so fabulous. Working at my day job has it’s perks. You know, discounted hotel rates, …hmm, ok, that’s it. Hanging out at fun companies in San Francisco is way more glamorous. With breakfast, lunch, and snacks provided, my insides felt so great, my blood sugar stayed on point, and I felt focused all day. On the first day I enjoyed a bagel with smoked salmon, cucumber, and cream cheese for breakfast, and tamales with rice, beans, and assorted salsas for lunch. On the second day of taping I went straight for the bagels. What I should have done was made a beeline for the waffle bar. What?? I know I own a waffle maker, but having it there for you all set up with …

you wood.

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Watch out world, I built a triangle shelf! I took a class with Wood Thumb in San Francisco. They make cool things and they teach common folk like me to make some of those cool things. I’m super impressed by the outcome of this workshop. And as my friend Joy of Lighten Up Shoppe put it best — we’re basically carpenters now. We started with a lesson on wood — for example, did you know that soft wood trees produce pine cones and hard wood trees produce flowers? If that’s ever on Jeopardy, I win! We then learned to use a few power tools, played with a little wood burning, and did lots of sanding. Using the power saw made me super nervous but it was my favorite tool. Ok, maybe the nail gun was my favorite, too. Once our shelves were nailed and glued together, we got to staining. We all left with amazing, structurally sound shelves…and all of our fingers! I’d say it was a huge success! Are you handy in the woodworking department? …

shop feature: beadweaver

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Solo adventures in Santa Fe mean less outdoor nature explorations (I could get captured by wildlife! You never know!) and more safe activities, like going to the local bead store. #whatsnew I spotted Beadweaver while driving down a main road in Santa Fe and made sure I added it to my itinerary. The ladies in the shop are super helpful and entertained all of my bead inquiries. They had a great assortment of beads, including shapes I hadn’t seen before. Those were appropriately displayed in the “Fun Shapes” section. Check out these decorative finds and imagine all the lovely pieces you can create with them. There were walls of bead tubes. And walls of bead strands. If you think you can only make jewelry with beads, think again. These bowls, animal figurines, and flower garlands are made with tiny beads. Beadweaver has lots of inspiration pieces on display and bead books for purchase. Unfortunately, they do not hold classes in the shop. They do, however, have relations with bead artists who teach elsewhere; just ask. …

chalkboard.

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I love simple Thanksgivings at home with the family. We still cook tons of food, plan tablescapes and decor, and host family friendly activities, but it’s totally simple! 😉 This year I’m making chalkboard name plates, mostly because I saw these wood slices in the craft store and exclaimed “I must have them!” These are easy to make and you only need a few materials and patience (for drying). Gather wood slices, chalkboard paint, a foam brush, and chalk. Apply the chalkboard paint as directed on the bottle. Allow to dry. If you want your chalkboards to last / be reusable, make sure you condition your mini chalkboards by rubbing on chalk, then wiping it off with a cloth or paper towel. Otherwise, I find that you can just write directly on them. Pro tip: sand your wood chips for a smoother finish and writing surface. For writing, try regular chalk for a rough look or chalk marker for a more crisp look. Get fancier and paint the perimeter with autumn colors or add sparkle, add …