All posts tagged: san francisco

entwined.

Need a fun, easy, magical date night idea for the whole family? Now through March 12, Entwined is on display at Peacock Meadow in Golden Gate Park. It’s described as a ‘dazzling forest of light.’ It really is dazzling! I love a good art installation. Entwined is colorful and mesmerizing. There is an interactive component, too. Scan the QR code on one of the ‘flowers’ when you get there. You’ll get added to the queue to control the lights – the intensity, the colors – to create your custom art show. The field is covered in hay and they have a few chairs for sitting and admiring the display. All that was missing was a warm cup of cocoa. SF Parks Alliance hosts events on select days including salsa dancing, arts and crafts, and yoga! I didn’t do enough research before going, but apparently there are knots in the ‘trees’ where you can view miniature art created by local artists. I’ll have to go back. It seems like worth a visit during day just before …

hello dah-ling.

Some major flower crown inspiration here! I’ve been wanting to visit the dahlia farms in Petaluma. I didn’t have the opportunity to go this season, but I did get to visit the dahlias in Golden Gate Park. This garden is near the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers and is maintained by the Dahlia Society of California. It’s a small garden but packed with so many varieties of dahlias! Apparently, dahlias come in a range of sizes from 2 inches in diameter to over 10 inches! Some, I didn’t recognize to be dahlias. They are all so different! Lucky me, they were in full bloom on my visit (first weekend in October). I later learned that dahlias are the official flower of San Francisco, so it seemed fitting to go see the San Francisco dahlia garden first (before Petaluma). Are you a dahlia fan? What’s your favorite variety? Mine is all. 🙂

sample sale.

Jenny Lemons had a sample, seconds, and vintage super sale earlier this month. I snagged tickets to the VIP shopping hour for a less crowded shopping experience and first pick at all the goodies! There were lots of Jenny Lemons clothing for sale, plus other local designer goods like Nettle Studios and Harumi K. Also, limited edition Frankie (that’s Jennie’s pup!) tops. Jennie and co served light bites and bevvies, too. These mini cinnamon buns were so tasty. And everything in the shop was 20% off. Ooh la la! Shopping spree! Can we talk about these supah cute ceramics, too? In June, I’m scheduled to design the Jenny Lemons window display and host a pennant workshop for craft night, so I had a little pennant photoshoot after shopping. Eee, can’t wait! Support small! Support local! Support handmade! And more Jenny Lemons fun to come in June! 🙂

hooptopia.

It’s neat to be Elite! I scored free passes to the Hooptopia Warriors experience via my Yelp Elite status so I told Hubby it was part of his birthday celebrations. 🙂 You enter on the second floor overlooking the ball pit. First up, you get measured up. Wing span, standing vertical leap, and agility are all assessed. Then you get ‘the call’ and get picked for the draft, and you’re off on your private jet. Clearly this is a place for those who love to take photos. Swings over the Chase Center arena were my favorite! Locker room hangs and photos with your personalized jersey up next. Hubby picked out ‘Real MVP’ for me. Look Ma, I can spin a ball on my finger! Then down the slide to the lower level and straight into a ball pit. (Ball pit photo fail – that’s my arm in the photo! And some random kid!) Oh, and there is candy every so often up for grabs. We suited up for slam dunks! The bobblehead room has a …

block party.

I was invited to lead a Make & Take station at the SF Block Party hosted by Civic Center Commons in partnership with my SF Etsy team! This was the first in their series of 1st Sunday block parties for the summer, and it was a special one because the Women’s World Cup Finals were happening (and they had a watch party near City Hall). I set up shop. Bonus – event staff set up all the tents for us. Easy breezy. I brought some sports pennants for the sporty occasion, plus surprise bags, flower crowns, more pennants, and wall hangings. Today’s best sellers: flower crowns and surprise bags! And here’s the Make & Take set-up: a paper pennant DIY to celebrate the sports – and a win for Team USA. There were also street soccer matches, games, food trucks, and music. Plus the farmers market across the street. The DIY was super popular and both little kids and big kids enjoyed creating flags. And since SF Etsy curated the vendors for the event, I …

red, white, and mew.

Not quite an Independence Day post, but…kittens! KitTea is a cat cafe in San Francisco. There’s a small shop with cat related goodies, a cafe that serves small bites and teas, and the kitten hang out area. There were two spots left when my friend and I arrived – lucky us! There are 15+ kitties at this venue. You can pet them and hug them, and play with them if they’re awake. Most were sleeping during the hour we were there. Ah, cat life. I wanted to take a nap after this visit, too. Here’s what my Instagram feed would look like if I had a cat. Yay kittens! And yay independence! Hope you and your furry friends stay safe tonight!

wunderfaire.

Another show in the books! I’m on fiah this craft season, and it’s getting easier and easier for me to just pop in somewhere with one cartload of goodies, meet all the fun people, then roll out. One of my favorites – Wunderfaire – was last week at IDEO. They went with a wonderland theme for their 10th annual event! This year was my second year participating. The show is open to the public, but it’s largely an event for IDEO staff to shop small for the holidays. Plus, the booth fees that are collected are always donated to a local organization. This year all the booth fees went to Rebuilding Together San Francisco, an organization that provides safer and healthier living situations through home repair and renovation programs. My booth! I set up so fast I had some time to visit maker friends and meet new ones ~ Timmy Mays (I met her at a West Elm Local event!), Moonwalker Things (I totes Instagram stalked her! :)), and Batsu/Maru! (we met and even did a crafty …

sip & shop.

I coordinated a lil private jewelry shopping party at Covet! Something about having a whole store to yourself feels so fancy! Shop owner Adrienne is a long-time jewelry designer and shop keep. And she’s my maker friend! 🙂 Her space boasts a jewelry bar where you can mix and match your favorite charms, her whole collection of jewelry, assorted locally handmade goods, and special finds from all her travels. The shop check-out area doubles as her work space. Brilliant! We looked around the shop at least three times each. It’s a small shop but there’s much to see. I made a gift list so I could shop for specific people and occasions, which was really helpful because – oh, look at this cute sparkly thing. Yea… Thank you to Adrienne for hosting a fun event for me and my crew! If you’re in the SF Bay Area and want to host your own Sip & Shop, contact Adrienne to set it up! Sip & Shop birthdays, graduations, just becauses, Wednesday nights, …. And then we …

animal ears!

As part of the Make Art Family Day programming, the Museum of Craft and Design invited me to lead the animal ear headband craft inspired by the current exhibit: Judy Kensley McKie’s Cast of Characters. Charlotte at the Museum gathered all these great supplies to use, including this fascinating glitter fabric paper that (get this!) doesn’t flake off or make a mess! We had headbands in all the colors, plus sparkly gems and furry poms. It was fun to see people get creative with the supplies set out. Some made headbands inspired by real animals; some created their own creatures. We got your polar bear, your ram, mythical leaf creatures… Headbands inspired by starfish, bunnies, deer, lion cubs… Yay, crafternoon! Also, headbands and headdresses need to be a thing people wear on the regular. They are so fun!

west coast craft.

Going to a craft show when you’re not vending is so relaxing! You get to shop and chat without having to run back to your booth, and take your sweet, sweet time. Last weekend I got to do just that at West Coast Craft with with my friend Joy. We visited with some maker friends and met new-to-me makers. Featured above: Zena Segre / Corrin Ceramics / Cute Circle Bag Lady / Case for Making Featured below: CA Makes / Baggu / Zelma Rose In true maker status, I brought pennants and crowns. 🙂 I made the Lit pennant for my friend because she makes soy candles, but then it also paired well with her big purchase of the day. I also waved around an I Luh You pennant. Our flower crowns were a hit – people kept asking if we bought them at the show. Perhaps I’ll need to apply to be a vendor next time…but I just wanna shop! 🙂 There was a free custom tee making station with my friend Sam of …