Today's obsession : Monkey Brand black tooth powder

I want to try this! I want dental cleanliness! I am going to make an effort to leave my house and locate this in person! Perhaps tomorrow in Manhattan! Or maybe a road trip to mysterious Queens this weekend!

Has anyone tried this brand? I'm almost finished up with the Uncle Harry's tooth powder so I wanted to try something new.

Free house-shaped souvenir? Yes, please!

I was at a restaurant in Venezuela and the waiter heard I was collecting some souvenirs made in Venezuela so he gave me this house-shaped napkin holder. Without hesitation it went directly into my bag along with a nicely designed packet of sugar and an old-school coca-cola bottle. How did he know about my love of all things house-shaped?

Off topic: Sal thinks the lines on the left side of the new blog header look like "squoooooshed cupcakes". Please note no cupcakes were harmed during the making of that drawing, it is just a yarn suggestion, maybe I will fix it, or not.

Cake toppers on the cake~cupcake tier

Here's how the toppers looked on the cake~ cupcake tier if anyone was wondering.

my first wedding cake topper!

Commissioned by my friend for his wedding this Saturday! These are two of his characters.

I spent all last week working on these, I told him he owes me a fancy ice cream sundae for sure. :D

Italian children's shoes

I love the way these look. Maybe the start of a new collection?

mini formalwear

This mini tie is for a cake topper commissioned by my friend. I tested it out on Mr. France. He is ready to party. He's bringing the forever stamps.

New additions to my stationery stash

brought back home from a last minute trip to Venezuela.

Mixing it up.

I've been spending some time this summer working from the model at the Art Students League and this past weekend at a workshop at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. You can check out some of the paintings on my painting blog if you're curious of what I've done so far.

Edit: Cute stuff, illustrations, and crafty shananagans to resume in September :).

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.

I ♥ Tools

I visited the Talas shop in Brooklyn this past Friday and purchased this English paring knife. This tool is used to thin down edges of leather pieces. My main goal is to learn how to use this knife effectively *without* injuring myself.

From sweaty pig to guinea pig.

I've been trying out some Indian hair and body care products these last 2 weeks. This experiment all started with an online purchase of inexpensive ($.67) Chandrika herbal soap. This soap smelled so good, it filled up my whole apartment with a fresh incense-y scent. The hunt was on for some more, more, more. I couldn't afford to hop on a plane to India so instead I hopped on a train to "Curry Hill" located around 28th street and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan.

Here are some items I purchased to try out along with some info about the ingredients that I gathered from the internet:

1. Herbal shampoo - Amla & Shikakai with Reetha. Amla(Indian gooseberry) is known to nourish the hair and scalp and prevent premature grey hair, Reetha (Soapnut) is known to fight dandruff and keep hair tangle-free, and Shikakai (Acacia concinna) is an herb known to strengthen roots and detoxify the scalp.

2. Vatika - olive enriched hair oil with almond, cactus and lemon extracts. Massaged into the scalp and left in for a few hours it functions as a deep conditioner.

3. Aloe Vera soap - already finished this bar of soap (too small), made my skin feel nice and smooth while it lasted.

4. Mahabhringraj Oil - herbs in a base of sesame oil. This was recommended by the clerk to help with thinning hair. You massage it in your hair and leave it in overnight. The label says it encourages healthy hair growth and better sleep. zzzzz

5. Shikakai shampoo soap- this is the first bar soap I've ever used for my hair, it lathers up extremely well but it smells kinda funky, a bit like urine... lovely, right? It is known to strengthen hair and promote hair growth. You'll smell like pee-pee but your hair will look FANTABULOUS! Just joking, after you wash it out it smells fine. In theory you don't need to use conditioner with this because it doesn't strip your hair's natural oils like traditional shampoos.

6. Chandrika ayurvedic soap - smells like herbal awesomeness, like that hippie guy with the dreads and his dog begging for money on St. Mark's Place in the 90's. You know what I'm sayin'? Recommended!

7. Coconut shampoo- smells like the beach! From the label, "increases blood circulation of the scalp, ensures fast and luxuriant hair growth (ooh la la), checks falling of hair, prevents premature greying of hair". Sounds good to me.

Next month I'm sure I will have long, thick, fortified, lustrous, non-greying, dandruff-free, detoxified, luxurious hair and be the envy of the town. But seriously, if these work well this would be an excellent replacement for the chemical-filled shampoo and conditioners I've been using.

How awesome would it be to just use bar shampoo for your hair and be able to save all those plastic bottles from going into the landfill?

Guess what? I'm a sweaty pig!

Some lady at the post office just called me a sweaty pig because I wouldn't let her and another lady cut me off in line. I wish I had ninja skills at that moment so I could destroy her with my SWEATY PIG HOOVES!

recycled pants shoes

recycled pants shoes, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

Here are the shoes with the tongues put in. Definitely a mistake to try to put in the tongues after it is all stitched up.

Dear storage, stop tempting me. Thank you.

This storage cabinet from Target has been tempting me to buy it for at least the last 2 months. Sorry cabinet I have no monsies for you right now. If you have some extra monsies you can find it HERE.

recycled pants

Pants that no longer fit :( turned into a yoga mat carrier and shoesies awaiting their tongues. The idea for the yoga mat carrier was inspired by Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing.