Month: October 2019

plants on plants on plants.

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SJ Made invited me to set up shop at a plant themed event – PLANTS ON PLANTS ON PLANTS – at Backyard SJ. It was my first time to Backyard SJ. It’s literally situated on a parking lot, but it’s set up to host all kinds of events. In addition to maker pop-ups, they also host movie nights, wellness classes, and crafty workshops. It’s filled with lots of sitting/lounging areas, plants (of course!), and a cafe. I brought my Feed the Fish co collection of pennants, wall hangings, and flower crowns, and created a more plant-forward display for the event. Here’s the before and after. I brought samples from my craft workshops, too – felt succulent and flower gardens, wreaths, and memo boards. And I made some special pennants for the occasion. Please grow! The crowns were a hit! As were the surprise boxes. I met some lovely makers and shop owners, too. Natalie of Natalie’s Workshop hosts plant potting workshops and sells mini plants, and Sarah from Fractal Flora brought a plant and pot …

saturday market.

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I miss weekly farmers markets at work (they were discontinued), so whenever Hubby and I get a chance, we visit a local farmers market! Most recently we visited the Downtown Berkeley farmers market. I hadn’t been in years. There are ready-made foods, lots of fruit samples, local honey, flowers, and services like table massage. But you know me, I’m there for the PROOO-DUUUCE. Today’s bounty: zebra tomatoes, malunggay (OMG this stuff is so hard to find!), basil, radish, tiny eggplants, pears, and peaches. When I shop I usually don’t have a recipe in mind; with a farmers market like this it’s easy to be inspired. If you ever shop this market, you can also treat yo’self to the bounty of restaurants in the area. We went to Imm Thai for lunch and Asha for treats. You’re bound to run into street festival, too; there’s always something happening around the Downtown Berkeley area. Always looking for farmers market suggestions. Share your favorites below!

glazed and confused.

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I went back to Play with Clay for the second step in my clay creations: glazing. We found our pieces on the student shelves. Looking good… We had a lesson in glazing, marked our pieces with our initials, and picked out our glaze colors. There were lots of colors and color variations to choose from. I went with more green/blue shades and decided to layer my colors to look like the tile glaze samples. In it’s liquid glaze form, the color is not the final color, which is kind of confusing, but that’s science for you! My pieces will match the tile samples after another fire in the kiln. I love glazing! It’s so simple and satisfying. I only had three pieces to glaze. I wish I had at least a dozen more pieces to dip. 🙂 After a second fire, here are my final pieces! My favorite of the three is the one on top. They turned out thicker than I was hoping for – something to work on should I do this again! …

chandeliers!

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My window display at Mischief inspired a new workshop series: pajaki (pah-yong-kee) chandeliers with a modern twist! Pajaki chandeliers are a traditional Polish folk craft designed to brighten up the home with bold spring blooms during the long winter. They are made with natural straw and paper is used to create pom pons and flowers. For my workshop series I’m teaching how to construct the chandeliers with paper straws and decorate them with felt flowers (the modern twist!) instead. Here are some snaps from the last workshop! I begin class with pajaki construction. We pick out straws and coordinating paper and build the chandeliers together. Then a brief lesson in felt flower making and a show-and-tell of different ways to complete the chandeliers. Shop owner Julien constructed rope hangers in the studio space specifically for this class so our chandeliers could hang as we build them. Sweet! Student work! 🙂 I’ll be back at Mischief at the end of the month to teach a yarn pom pon and tassel version of this workshop. You’re invited, …