Month: May 2020

ice ice baby.

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My friend Rebecca of Oodlebadoodle released ice dye kits last month. Remember when I ice dyed with Rebecca at Craftcation 2019? So magical! I bought a few kits to try with my fam, and we scheduled a Mom’s Day virtual hangout. My Sister chose the Mushroom in the Mist color palette: sapphire blue, glacial blue, shiitake mushroom, tangerine, and mist grey. I picked out the the Playful in Palm Springs pack for my Mom (scarlet, rust brown, palomino gold, terra cotta, and moss green) and Snorkel in San Juan for myself (Caribbean blue, coral pink, emerald green, powder pink, and ecru). Each color palette is carefully curated by Rebecca. Here’s my kit: The ice dye kit comes with step by step instructions and links to ice dye project inspiration. It also comes with a fabric swatch so you can get an idea of what your final projects might look like, and a notebook and pen so you can keep track of your ice dye experiments. I set up my dye station on my patio, and …

virtual pop up.

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As part of Craft + Work’s second anniversary, I participated in their virtual pop up! Craft + Work is a maker and workshop space in Pacifica, California. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to teach my felt and fiber workshops in their space over the last year, and though I’ve never actually gone to the beach in Pacifica, I always enjoy every visit to the studio! 🙂 At last year’s celebration there were seven vendors. This year, 20! And 10%+ of sales in our shops over the weekend were donated to two local organizations: Pacifica Resource Center & Pacifica Community in Action. In total we collectively raised and donated $800. Thank you to our supporters for shopping handmade and local! I set up my craft booth in my apartment! As part of the virtual pop up many of us hosted virtual shopping events or interactive crafty sessions – like my felt flower craft along! There was also a demo on how to make cold process soap with Starblast Co. Ooh, I also made lots …

felt flower bouquets.

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My last crafty event that was cancelled was my felt flower bouquet workshop at the Alameda Free Library, so I hosted a free online class instead! Like my online weaving workshop, I sold kits for those who needed materials. This was the perfect craft for spring, and also the perfect craft to host right before Mom’s Day! Per usual, I set up my craft desk on top of my bed. 🙂 It’s the best lighting in the apartment so it’s ideal for photographing product or shooting a video. I created a mini bouquet and answered questions live. Here are all the bouquets made during the demo as shared on Instagram. Thank you to those who joined me and shared their work. Yay, flowers to last all shelter in place! It’s funny because 2020 was the first year in my crafty biz existence where I felt so organized – I had six months of crafty programming lined up since January. Events are slowly being cancelled or rescheduled as online events as we work through this new …

pizza.

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My East Bay Yelp Elite crew held their first virtual event: a pizza making demo with Homage, another gem in Martinez, California (remember States, too?!). The day before the event we picked up pizza kits in person in the restaurant with option to either go inside the restaurant or have your pizza walked to your car. I wanted to go inside so I could see the restaurant and take photos, duh (#yelpelitestatus). It’s airy and bright in the restaurant, there’s a small pantry/market shelf, and it smelled so good inside. Mmm, I couldn’t wait for our pizza demo! We chose the pepperoni pizza kit. It came with enough ingredients for four personal pies. The dough and sauce are made in house with their sourdough starter and San Marzano tomatoes, respectively. The pepperoni is sourced from a local Richmond meat spot. The kit even comes with chocolate chip cookie dough! Also, we all got some new Yelp goodies: a tote, mug, and ahh, coveted hand sanitizer. On event night, owners Rachel and Erik hosted from their …

pennant party!

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I hosted another interwebs event for my crafty biz: live pennant cutting! Sometimes for in-person events, if there is electricity and space available at my booth, I’ll create pennants on demand. I had never done one live on the interwebs before. There’s a first for everything during shelter in place! I took preorders and took suggestions from the audience, too. I showed some samples, prepared a few blank pennants, and had a box of scraps and my scissors ready to go. First up was a duo of 2020 pennants for a high school and college grad. And a plant lady pennant for, well, a fellow plant lady! I created a shop tiny pennant for the SF Etsy first ever virtual show (I co-hosted! You can watch the recording online.) and some pandemic-inspired pennants: good vibes, let’s stay in, and it’s ok. I also cut out a love and a yay pennant, two of my best sellers. But the request of all requests were these yay pennants complete with 3D toilet paper roll. Super fun! And …

cactus fiesta.

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Just because we’re on SIP doesn’t mean we can’t have a fiesta at home! Let’s make a cactus piñata! Materials: corrugated cardboard, box cutter, scissors, masking tape, crepe paper streamers, glue stick Cut two of the same shape for the front and back of your piñata. Cut 1.5-2in wide strips of cardboard for the perimeter; make sure the corrugation allows you to bend your strips along the length (corrugation should run parallel to the bottom). Decide where you want to place the piñata opening and start wrapping one of the shapes with the cardboard strips at the base of the opening. Use masking tape to attach strips to shapes. I prefer attaching the strips to the outside border of the shapes (versus in line with the shape perimeter); this makes it easier to bend the strips to conform to the shape. End with a flap that is not attached with tape. You may leave a slight overlap. Attach the second shape to the opposite side. For this step, you could add all the tape to …