All posts tagged: colorful

paint markers.

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I attended the Jenny Lemons virtual craft night on Friday with Dan Garzi, SF artist and designer. Such a fun activity to kick off the weekend! Jenny Lemons sent participants supplies (if you needed them). The craft night supplies included watercolor cards, envelopes, and a set of four paint markers. I had never worked with paint markers before so I was excited to learn. First, we sketched out smaller versions of the evening’s designs: a cactus, a parrot, and a family of pineapple cactus creatures. Dan shared tips on how to achieve proportions and dimension. Here are my sketches: Then, we transferred our designs to the watercolor paper cards. Time to color! Dan shared tips for layering and blending colors with paint markers. I love how the colors are so bold, and you can hide the marker streaks with additional layers. This color combo is so fun, and the black outline is so good. Yay us! Progress so far during class. Spot me! After class I continued on. Here are my final pieces! Thank you …

make it pretty.

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On my last visit home my Mommy set aside some broken jewelry to be fixed. She usually packs them all in a baggy with a note that says broken or Can you fix these? It’s basically become tradition for me to take a container of broken jewelry home for fixing. I use my the Bead Smith tray to keep all the beads in place as I create pieces. Sometimes I can fix the pieces to look like the original jewelry; sometimes she let’s me get creative and I add some beads from my current stash. Here’s what I’ve been working on. I love creating long necklaces to showcase beads. I’m not super confident in working with stretchy jewelry (I feel like I can’t get the knots right to be secure.), so I prefer working with beading wire. My current favorite is Soft Flex brand which I use in all my necklaces. For all of these necklaces I’ve combined some of my Mommy’s jewelry with my bead stash. She has a broad collection of jewelry so …

natural dyes.

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I’ve been wanting to learn how to dye with natural dyes so when Craft + Work offered a class I totes fangirled and jumped on the opportunity! Our instructor was Heather Marano, hand-dyer, designer, and knitter extraordinaire. She brought some samples of her hand-dyed and knitted projects for inspiration. Heather walked through the dyeing process and showed us swatches dyed with different plants and food scraps – like turmeric and red onion skins. We prepared our fabrics by soaking them in water and creating optional folds and knots. Heather prepared our dye baths. We decided on cochineal (bug scales!) which produces reds/pinks, logwood which produces purples, and weld and marigold which produce yellows. Dip and soak! For some pieces I soaked my fabric in one color; for others I layered dyes. We experimented with different types of fabric and different soak times. My favorite dye bath was the marigold; it smelled like a vat of tea. Or maybe it was the cochineal because those pinks! Our color palette was very Spring. So pretty! I love …

ink stand.

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On vacation, I craft. 🙂 While in Tokyo I heard about a creative space called Ink Stand where you can design your own ink color. Lucky for us they had space for two while we were in town. We arrived a little early for our color appointment so we admired the space and all of the color inspiration on the wall. Ink Stand has a laboratory feel – the staff wear lab smocks and everything was clean. The glassware also added to the feel. We worked with beakers and glass stirring rods. Also, the staff use those magnetic lab stirrers to mix larger amounts of ink. Ink science! Each station has a 17-pigment selection (plus a dilution solution), mixing cups, a glass rod (for stirring), a paper pad, a pen (for note taking), a glass pen (::ahem:: a $300 handmade glass pen, for testing your inks), and a menu with a color blending chart. Each setting was neatly organized – the placemats had outlines for where everything was to be placed! At the beginning of …

pigment.

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Next up in my San Diego tour guide is Pigment, a shop located in North Park – really close to Artelxia (OMG, go to both!). Everything at Pigment is beautifully made and merchandised; you could say there was too much too look at, but the tones were inviting and organized by color palette (You know how much I love when things are organized by color!) so it was easy on the eyes. Look around and spot housewares, accessories, shoes… …candles, so many plants and pots, … …cards, pillows, clothes and toys for baby and kid, and party goods. They have a succulent wall where you can build your own terrarium. Genius. And a living wall backdrop / in-house photo booth. Hi! I love, love, love the modern boho vibes with quirky colorful feels. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see everything because there was so much in the shop. It really felt more like an experience than a store; I could hang out in this corner and people watch on their cool chairs all day (until I …

¡hola!

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¡Hola! I visited Artelexia and it was amazing! You are welcomed in by this gorgeous mural! Elexia of Artelexia curates the most colorful items from Mexico. It’s like Coco come to life! 😍 Hats, pom pom garlands, cards, pillows, stickers, books… …chocolate, gift wrap, bags, embroidered clothing, piñatas, … …papel picado, jewelry, art, candles…in all the bright colors! And all the Fridas! This may be overboard eye exhausting for some, but I loved it!! My fave items: everything with conchas! Artelexia also sells popsicles, has a fun paper flower backdrop, and hosts crafty workshops and Mexico tours! Oowee, this place is magic. This is a must-visit the next time you’re in the North Park area of San Diego! So jealous I’m missing out on all their fun Dia de los Muertos events!

get some color.

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I’m on a project at work that sends me quarterly to the Coachella Valley. I stay at different hotels depending on where my meeting will be and this time I was able to book a night at the famous Saguaro ~ where Instagram dreams come true. 🤗 I wasn’t really sure what to expect on my visit, but I knew I wanted to see the colorful doors for myself. It was definitely off season during my stay, which is much more to my liking – it was quiet and not crowded. Look, no people in my photo! 🙃 The vibe was like 70s motel (on purpose) and desert mod; my room was orange and yellow with purple carpets. Color everywhere! The old school camera was a nice accent, but I felt like I was being watched. 😝  The black and white photography – nice contrast. With all this color, you know I brought some Feed the Fish co goodies to photograph! (And yes, also specially made for the occasion.) The lobby had neon signs, ping pong, …

moic.

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I visited the Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco. So, here’s a bunch of pink photos! We arrived with ice cream pennants in hand reppin’ our favorite ice cream flavors. Before you enter the installation you are grouped with strangers and you have to come up with a team name. Behold: Team Toffee Ooh La La (minus two girls who didn’t want to hang out with us, lol)! I was named team leader, which was kind of stressful even though I consider myself a hype girl, ha! Too much responsibility; I just wanted to play! There were over a dozen rooms and attractions to enjoy – mostly in pink! There were ice cream fun facts on the walls, a ring toss where you can win a free scoop of ice cream (Protip: Let them know if you’re celebrating something awesome like a birthday and you’ll snag a free scoop without having to win one.), a juke box room with ice cream tunes, mochi ice cream to sample, a pink letter magnet room for spelling …

color factory. 

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I got excited when I heard about the opening of the Color Factory in San Francisco because the founder owns a party goods business which gets all my money. I wasn’t sure what to expect or how the artists would highlight and interpret colors. I also thought that seeing photos on social media would spoil the experience, but it really was an interactive museum with many had to be there features. It turned out to be unexpected, amazing, and inspirational. All the colorful sites + tips for your visit: One. 575 Sutter Street, San Francisco Get a nice view of the building stripes from the north side. Then fall in line thirty minutes before your selected ticket time; you might get to go in a little earlier! Two. Rainbow stairs to registration + Photo Stop #1 The color guards let you in slowly so you can get a ‘We’re the only ones in the museum’ feel. Nice touch, Color Factory, nice touch. Head down the rainbow to the registration area, enter your email for a photo card, and …

balloon animal parade.

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I’ve been a sick poop these last few days, but I learned a new skill whilst sipping tea and breathing in humidifier vapors. Ahhh… BALLOON ANIMALS! I found the Balloon Animal kit from the Oh Happy Day party shop. It comes with lots of balloons, a pump, animal ideas and how-tos, plus sticker eyes. I ended up making a giraffe, lion (my fave!), wiener dog, and fish. I’m now thinking I need to give these as Valentine’s greetings. Wouldn’t the lion be so cute with a tag that said “You’re a cool friend. I’m not LION. Happy Valentine’s Day.”? 😉 Being sick is super lame, but this definitely cheered me up for a little bit. What are some of your sick day activities of choice? Share below!