stock piles in the "dining room"

stock piles "dining room", originally uploaded by m patrizio.

kinda freaky

My main squeeze's friend's wife (got that?) is in the process of de-cluttering their apartment to make way for a new baby and offered me this giant roll of grey-blue canvas. I just brought it home and compared it to the illustration of the dress I want to make this summer and it is the same exact color!!!

If you draw it, it will come!

Need to borrow a pencil or an eraser?

inherited collection

recycled broken hammer -> deco tape holder

I might end up hanging it horizontally so it looks less like medieval weaponry.

Phase 1: Bionic Bon Appetit Chef (hat)

I spent my weekend gluing the pieces back together and adding putty to the gaps. I still need to add some more putty, sand and then paint. [insert bionic woman sound effect here]

Here is a pic of what he used to (tear) look like.

Tip of the day:

Don't overfill shelves with precious Japanese collectibles.

I do not accept the Bon Appetit chef loss. I am going to try to rebuild him. The marble loaf was the straw that broke the camel's (hanging shelf) back. I knew we shouldn't have been eating that stuff in the first place! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! >>heartbroken<<

Here is a pic of the shelf from about 2 years ago.

Livin' on the ledge

New Ikea ledge for my office! I already filled it to the max! :D

Recycled fabric baseball cap

I used the "hi" bubble for the button. It came out a bit off-centered :/

Here is my first attempt at making a baseball style hat. I used the denim scraps from turning my jeans into shorts, recycled happy bears fabric from a pillowcase project gone awry*, and piping made from recycled gift bag handles. The only new elements I used were some eyelets, a cover button, bias tape, and a small piece of elastic for the inside.

* I had used wool for the backside of the pillowcase - it shrank so much that the whole thing became distorted and unusable. The good news is that I now have a nice piece of thick felted wool to use for another project.

Note: Do not use stretchy jean scraps like I did, it gets easily distorted.

Question: How do you sew stretchy fabric/knits without distorting it? Different type of sewing machine/needle?

{Note to self: for next time, a shorter bill , non-stretchy fabric, and add a 1/2" to the height.}

cloth tape

Dear tape fiend friends,

Have you considered handlebar tape for your self-adhesive cloth tape needs? It is not (super) cheap, but it is much easier to find locally and buy than some fancy imported tapes.

The yellow tape is from Newbaum's (14 colors currently available). The cotton cloth feels great and I love that it is made in the USA.

The turquoise tape is a fancy imported tape from Japan buuuuut it was easy to buy online and comes in 5 other colors.

I purchased all these tapes at Rivendell Bicycle Works.

Check out the cork tape! Imagine the crafting possibilities!

kitchen corner

Bunny plush by Danielleorama. I need to dust her little head, she's been hanging up there for a while!

Goal for the Summer: make a dress!

I want to try to make my first dress at some point this Summer. I've been wanting to make myself some clothing for um..let's see now... 20 years!

The smiling apples fabric is available in my Spoonflower shop if anyone is interested. I had the test swatch (pictured) printed on the organic knit fabric they have, it came out nice and soft. It might be difficult working with knits though so I might order some regular quilting weight fabric of this design for the dress. I still need to find some fabric for the top blue-grey part, maybe the blue-grey is too 1890's peasant ladyish?...

Tip of the day:

Do NOT put mushed banana in your hair! I'm serious, don't do it, it won't come out! I had 2 mushy bananas that I was about to throw out and instead I decided to mush it into my hair. After I washed my hair it left the most perfect banana booger bits all over, it was so gross. I had to wash and comb it like six times *no exaggeration* before it would all come out. I lost a nice bunch of hair and it made me late for a class! I got the idea from a Dr. Oz show - he mixed avocado and banana together. So 2 things I'm guessing I did wrong ~ I didn't mix it with something oily and I didn't whip it into a paste. Ugh. My dad always calls me "banana head" when I do something he doesn't agree with, yesterday I really was one in every way.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Is it possible for chemicals in shampoo and conditioner to cause allergic reactions that darken under eye circles?

I don't know if I'm going nutso or anything but it seems that after I stopped using shampoo and conditioner and started using the bar soap to wash my hair the dark circles under my eyes lightened up a bit. Does anyone know if this is possible? Hmmmmmmm...

Print & Pattern Book

I was honored to be included in Bowie Style's book Print & Pattern. 6 of my patterns/ illustrations were included in this gorgeous textbook-thick collection. Many of my favorite designers I've seen all over the web and beyond are featured in this book. I recommend purchasing Print & Pattern if your looking for some design inspiration!

screenshot of the final (for now) layout

This is the loading page for a printable that I'm working on for a kids website.

Cutie Pies

I spent my day drawing these 2 cuties for a project...then I realized I over-did some of the detailing (mostly in the Pom.) and need to make some new simpler, kid-friendly doggies. Maybe I can use these for something else.