That Jolie Girl

Portland Oregon Sign Pinata

Karen and I have been friends since 1995. Her 40th Birthday party was last weekend. A month or so ago, she asked me if I would want to help her make a pinata of the Portland Oregon sign for her party. I think my exact words were "hells yes". We had made plans to meet two weeks before her party, but she was sick and we didn't meet. Then I was on vacation the weekend before the party. I have to admit, about this time I was pretty freaked that this wasn't going to happen. I had even started looking online as to where I could buy an Oregon pinata if our plan failed. 

We finally got together at my house the Wednesday before the party to start this project. One of my biggest worries was finding a template. Greg suggested that we use The Rasterbator to create our templates. It worked like a charm and Karen printed out templates. She also brought over the cardboard boxes we would need. I made us mango, blueberry, vodka smoothies and we got to work. Karen found this pinata tutorial and it was super, super helpful. 

Luckily, Oregon is pretty square. Cutting out the shape with an exacto knife was super easy. I left a couple of inches at the bottom of each piece to create the bottom. The two bottom pieces overlapped creating a strong base to hold all the loot.

Taping the body together is really a two person job. The tutorial used 4" strips of cardboard for the sides. We went with 3" strips. I gently rolled the strips first to bend the cardboard and make it easier to form the sides. Greg formed the sides while I taped them down every few inches. We didn't want to put too much tape on it since this would be the main weak areas for the pinata to burst open. We left space for an opening. Once it was done, it was easy to fold the flap inside to close it. 

While Greg and I made the Oregon, Karen was cutting crepe paper fringe. It takes a lot of fringe and she ended up with a blister from cutting for hours and hours. We got this far and called it a night. I was completely relieved. At this stage, I knew this would work and all my worries dissipated. 

I had a few hours on Thursday afternoon to work more on this. The fringe goes on pretty darn quickly. I was amazed at how much I got done in a few hours. 

I drew a bead of glue across the body and then gently laid the fringe on top. I found it easier to do this with Oregon upside down. There is enough time to adjust your fringe and to straighten lines before it dries.

The tutorial didn't really talk about how to fringe the top and bottom. I kind of just guessed and I think it worked out well. I started to do the top early, so that the rows of fringe along the sides could cover the ends coming down from the top. 

I also figured that I needed to get the holes done before I finished covering it. I just eyeballed the holes and poked through the cardboard with a knife. The twine entered on the left side which didn't have the opening. I tipped Oregon over and let gravity help me get the twine. Then I used a yarn needle to thread it back up through the second hole. This hole process took less than 5 minutes. 

I don't work Fridays and I was glad to have the whole day to devote to finishing this beast. I started in on the Portland Oregon. Karen had Rasterbatored a picture of the actual sign, so we had the exact font. Yes, the 'g' is really that funky. We taped the sign together (it was printed over six pieces of paper) and then taped the whole thing to cardboard. 

I slowly cut around the whole outside. After removing outside pieces, I would secure what was left with tape. I also traced the edges in pen. The Rasterbator image is made up of lots of little dots. It made it a little hard to cut straight lines which is why I traced the image. I knew those lines would come in handy later.

Here is the cardboard without the template. On my first go around, my exacto knife didn't cut too deeply into the cardboard. This was actually a benefit, because I could smooth out my lines when I cut deeper into the cardboard.

This piece took 4 passes, 3 exacto blades, and several hours. This was by far the trickiest part of the whole piece. 

I used silver glitter on the Portland Oregon and the stag to mimic the white lights of the sign. I diluted white glue just a touch and painted it onto the cardboard. It was pretty easy to add the glitter. Even though I had wax paper down and tried to be careful, I ended up getting glitter everywhere. I'm still finding it.

The Old Town letters were super easy. I printed out two different sizes. The bigger size was perfect. I taped the template to silver paper and cut it out in a flash. Much easier than cutting cardboard.

I glittered the old town letters and at the same time touched up the Portland Oregon and the stag. I was happy to put the glitter away. I rounded the edges of the red paper, used a ruler to line up the letters and glued them down with a glue stick.

While the glitter dried, I finished putting fringe on the rest of the pinata.

I glued the Old Town part first and then used that as a guide as to where the Portland Oregon should go. Greg held his fingers where the 'P' and the 'g' should be.

I slathered a ton of glue on it, because I didn't want it to fall off. The whole thing became super wobbly as I picked it up and tried to put it in place. It slipped once and it got white glue on the fringe, but luckily it dried clear and people couldn't tell where I goofed.

Here is the finished pinata! I lowered the angle of the stag on purpose. I wanted more of the body on the pinata, so it would stay on better. You can see the white glue where I mislaid the Portland Oregon at first. 

Karen and I stuffed the pinata right before her party. Greg and a really nice worker bee hung it up. I was so relieved when it was hung and out of my hands. It was nice to get a cocktail and enjoy the party.

Karen's party at Wafu was just incredible. The food was amazing. It was great to see old friends and to talk to new folks. Everyone had a great time celebrating Karen.

Karen got a few whacks in, but it survived a few more beatings before it burst open.

We filled the pinata with booze, lottery tickets, and candy. We were going to also put in dollar coins, but chickened out at the last minute. We didn't want anyone losing an eye.

The pinata was the talk of the party. This was such a great project and I'm so glad that Karen came up with the idea. After I finished making it, I walked around giddy for days. I can't believe I pulled this off in three days. It took about 16 hours total to make this. I also had all of the supplies already on hand (Packrat Power!) except for the cardboard and the red paper. This was such a fun project that I think I'll definitely make another pinata. Maybe for my 40th...

Hump Day Art Festival

I've been really excited to check out Hump Day Art Festival. This brand new art fair is held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 6-10pm at SE 9th and Morrison. 9th street is closed for about 4 blocks, but there is lots of potential for this event to grow in the inner SE Warehouse district. 



We arrived about 6:30pm and it was starting to get dark. There was still plenty of time to see everything. About half of the booths had lights; the other half started packing up early.



There was a beer garden with music and a few food options. 



I recognized a few booths, but mostly artists were new to me. There was a lot of great stuff.

 

 

There were a few acts and music in the intersections. There was even 1 guy on stilts. As I said, it is small and not crowded. It was easy to see all of the booths and everyone was very friendly. Hump Day is an off shoot of the very crowded Last Thursday. The focus of this event is the artists and their work. Last Thursday began that way, but now it seems to be more of a carnival feel than a craft fair. 

Last Thursday is great fun and creates an unique experience that is so great for Portland, but I'm so glad that the Hump Day started in my hood. I look forward to see how this craft fair grows. I encourage you to come out and support this event. Also, with the holiday season approaching, I found several gift ideas that I hadn't seen before. It's definitely a wonderful untapped market. 

 

 

Of course, I couldn't leave without a treasure for myself. I bought this Oregon necklace from Mitch Designs. Ashley told me that this was the very first Oregon necklace she had made. It's so beautiful and the workmanship is stunning. I hope she makes many more. 

 

Mango Circle Backdrop for WDS and A Lesson is Staying Calm

Photo by Tammy Stroebel

 

A couple of months ago, I was asked if I wanted to help with 2 photo booths for last weekend's the World Domination Summit.  I immediately said 'yes', but almost just as immediately I thought 'eek, what am I getting myself into?'.  I took a deep breath and knew it would all work out.  My good friend Jen (in the middle of this picture, I'm on the right) had this crazy idea to create a backdrop made out of felt circles.  

 

 

She created this grid of what it would look like.  OK, that's a lot of dots.  I counted all of those dots to figure out how many circles I would need to cut.  It turned out to be over 5,000 circles.  Gulp!  I had cut up the 6 yards of felt we had bought and only had about 3,000 circles.  

 

 

To make the circles, I cut the yards of felt down into 1.5 inch strips. Then I cut the strips down into 1.5 squares.  With a T-square and a rotary cutter, this whole process went pretty fast.

 

 

After I had my squares, I cut 3 of them at a time with my Sizzix Big Kick to create circles.  I spent at least 15 hours cutting 3,000 circles. Here was another point of the project where I just didn't know how this project was going to turn out - if it would at all.  But I just kept telling myself that I was going to be zen about the whole thing and that it would work out. 

 

 

I packed up my circles and headed to Jen's house.  She is an expert with the sewing machine and I was so grateful that I didn't have to sew.  My sewing ability is poorly lacking. I counted the circles for each row and got them ready for her to sew.  We quickly realized that our math was off.  We hadn't allowed for spaces between the circles.  So the math was re-calcuated and adjusted.  I was adding and dividing until my eyes crossed.  The great thing that came out of this process was that the number of circles we needed quickly dropped. Knowing I wouldn't have to cut another 2,000 circles was a huge relief.

 

 

We met several times to sew all of the circles together.  The ends of the piece where it was only mango circles went crazy fast.  The section with WDS in red was challenging to say the least.  The incorrect math really messed with the letters, but we kept plugging along.  I chanted my mantra 'It's all going to work out' over and over silently as we worked.  

 

Jen working her magic on the very complicated S. 

 

While Jen corrected the letters, (which meant eyeballing where the red circles should be and cutting/sewing circles into the correct position) I tied each row to a curtain rod.  It felt so great when the last row was hung and we wrapped the entire backdrop in a sheet for transport.

 

 

We used this backdrop at the photo booth for the opening party and the closing party.  When we arrived at Pure Space last Friday to set up the backdrop, I was super nervous.  We spent over an hour untangling rows after unrolling the piece from the sheet.  When it was finally hung, I finally relaxed.  It was done!  It looks so great in the photo booth pictures.  I had brought along the photo booth props I had made for my niece's graduation party in June.  The addition of mustaches, glasses, bow ties on sticks and chalk board thought bubbles that people could write on made the whole project come together.

 

Photo by Armosa Studios

 

This entire project was a great lesson for me. I'm a natural worrier. I'm really good at worrying about everything.  I was able to keep my worry in check, because I had confidence in my abilities and in Jen's abilities.  When she told me that we'll just make it work - I trusted and believed her.  She is a wiz at problem solving and I'm not too shabby either.  I wasn't passively thinking that it would all work out.  I knew it would be successful, because I knew we would work until it was perfect.  And we did.  

 

Mixer Match Round 4

All photos by Jen Neitzel

I Heart Art: Portland's latest Mixer Match event was last month.  This was the first Mixer Match I participated in as a member of the Leadership Council.  I helped organize the event with Jen Neitzel and Deenie Wallace.  I had a great time and learned so much.

 

 

The night of the event, I worked the check in table with my sis.  We did this at the last Mixer Match too.  I did most of the email correspondence with folks about the event, so it was easy to check people in.  It was great matching faces to names and meeting lots of new people.

 

 

The event was at the very cool Design Within Reach.  This is such the perfect venue for our event and the folks at DWR are so gracious and nice.  We had a great spread of food and I made 120 mini cupcakes.  

 

 

This is most of the Leadership Council.  It's such a great group of people and I'm really honored to be apart of this incredible organization.  Our next Mixer Match even will be in July.  I can't wait!

 

Buttons for the TEDxConcordiaUPortland Gift Bags

 

This is the last big project I did for the TEDxConcordiaUPortland gift bags!  I wanted to contribute something to the gift bags, since I was in charge of coordinating them.  After much brainstorming, I settled on making buttons!  

 

 

I arranged for I Heart Art: Portland (Thank you!!) to sponsor the buttons.  At first I was going to borrow their button maker, but I've wanted a button maker for years and this seemed to be the perfect excuse to acquire a new tool.  I bought mine from Buttonmakers.net in Seattle.  I am super impressed by their service and their site is filled with videos that I found very handy.

 

 

With much help from my husband, I made 1800 buttons!  Each gift bag will contain 3 different buttons.  Bubba is the orange fish.  He is the mascot of our event and you will see Bubba in many places around Concordia.  He represents how everyone has the potential of becoming extraordinary.  I'm really happy with how this project turned out.  I'm also glad that I was able to make something for the gift bags.

 

 

Our event is just a little over a week a way!  You can still buy tickets here.  Tickets will be on sale until Monday, March 26th.  I do hope you can attend the event.  Seeing all of the behind the scenes greatness going on, it's going to be such an incredible day.  I can barely contain my excitement!

 

Thank You Cards for the TEDxConcordiaUPortland Gift Bags

I'm super excited to share this project that I helped put together for the TEDxConcordiaUPortland event on March 31st, 2012.  When the planning team was brainstorming on what we wanted to put in the gift bags, we came up with the idea of having a thank you card in each bag.  

 

Egg Press

 

We thought this would be a great way for the attendees to participate in the day's event by writing a thank you card to the person who moved them the most that day.  It would also be a way to engage the audience and get them conscious of all the greatness around them since they had to focus on the one thing that inspired them the most.

 

Jill Bliss

Now it was my job to make this project happen.  We definitely wanted to have thank you cards from artists in the community, but asking a small business for 600 cards seemed to be too much of a hardship.  So instead, I asked 6 local artists to each donate 100 cards.  

 

Little Canoe

 

Deciding who to ask was hard.  There are so many amazing artists in town and my initial list was long.  After I sent out a first round of asks, I was really surprised and grateful that so many folks said yes!  And the folks that declined were so nice to let me know soon.  I'm continually amazed at how wonderful artists in Portland are.  Their generosity is inspiring.

 

Rachel Ann Austin

This whole project couldn't have happened without the help of these artists.  All were so great at staying in touch and letting me know when I could pick up cards.  I have to admit when I first took this adventure on, I was a bit worried about pulling this off. What if nobody would donate?  What if someone flaked out and we only had 500 cards?  It was enough to keep me anxious for a month or two, but slowly all my fears just disappeared after working with these artists.  I knew we could make this happen and it would be amazing.

 

Lark Press

Maria, the owner of Collage, was also a huge help!  She generously offered to donate cello bags for many of the cards.  This really saved the day, because these bags would help protect the cards from getting squished.  I also wanted to include instructions for the attendees, so they would know what to do with the cards.

 

Arcane Arts

Figuring out the instructions was the next big task of this project. Besides what to say, I needed to decide what they would look like.  I wanted the directions to be cute, but not distract from the actual cards.  I also needed something simple to replicate 600 times.

 

 

I used my Sizzix Big Kick to create a nice edge to the instructions.   It was super easy to cut all 600 out in a few short hours. I originally bought my Big Kick to create my sister's felt flower wedding bouquet and I've used it so much since.  It really is a handy tool  

 

 

I'm so happy with how this turned out!  It was important to me to have a handmade touch to these gift bags.  I really hope the TEDxConcordiaUPortland attendees enjoy this activity.  I can't wait to see who inspires me the most.

Thank you again: Egg Press, Jill Bliss, Lark Press, Little Canoe, Arcane Arts, Rachel Ann Austin, and Collage.  This really was an incredible collective effort.  

Have you gotten your ticket yet?  You can register for your ticket here.  I really hope you can make it.  It's going to be an extraordinary day!

 

 

Tazo Tea for TEDxConcordiaUPortland Gift Bags

 

At the end of last year, I joined two committees.  I decided that since I wasn't going to sell in 2012, volunteering for organizations that I love would be a great way to stay connected to my community.  Now I'm on the planning team for TEDxConcordiaUPortland!  I'm thrilled to be helping them this year.  I attended their inaugural event last year and I was so impressed with everything.  From the speakers to the organization of the day, everything exceeded my expectations. 

 

 

I opted to help with the gift bags this year, because I figured that would be the best place where I could lend a crafty hand.  One of my friends works for Tazo Tea and helped me get a donation.  They graciously donated enough tea to create a 4 teabag sampler.  I broke down all the individual boxes of tea to create the samplers by wrapping them with hemp twine.  I liked the minimal packaging and the whole 600 tea samplers were pretty fast to make.  I became super adept at tying bows.  

 

 

Registration for the event is still open!  I really hope you get a chance to attend this year.  This year's theme is Becoming Extraordinary and our speaker line up is very impressive.  There will also be much more goodness in the gift bags.  

 

 

Wine Cork Ring Holder Tutorial - Glued Version

 

While gearing up for the craft fair season before the holidays, I knew I wanted to make a large ring holder as a display for my felt flower rings.  I created this wine cork tutorial last July.  I knew I didn't have the time needed to make another ring holder like I did previously. Under a time crunch, I opted to use glue. 

 

 

This holder is 2 feet by 8 inches with a total of 104 corks.  I started by putting all of corks into the holder I purchased from Goodwill.  I re-arranged the corks until I had them exactly how I wanted them.

 

 

Then I took out one row at a time, put a line of glue (I used E6000) down the middle of the open space, and gently put the corks back into the holder.  This was a very speedy process and the whole project took about 30 minutes.

 

Here is the finished wine cork ring holder.  It takes 24 hours for the glue to set.  Because of this, you can see how some of the corks shifted making the perfect rows I had started with - not so perfect.

The other issue I had with this holder is that the glue is firmly holding those corks in place.  When corks shifted, it created some spots that were too tight or too loose to hold rings. 

 

 

Gluing the corks is absolutely an option when creating a wine cork ring holder, but I think you would have better luck following the directions from my first wine cork ring holder tutorial that uses no glue.  This version gives you the option to move the corks around. The corks also aren't held too firmly in place, so rings easily fall into place and stay there.  You won't have the issue of spaces between the corks being too tight or too loose. I found that the first version created a better look and much better usability of the holder.

 

How to Make Jump Rings

 

Buying Jump Rings can get expensive really quickly if you use a lot of them in your work.  Making them yourself is fast and easy.  It does require some equipment, but the small investment you pay in tools will save you lots of money in the future.  Besides, these tools are very versatile and you can use them in lots of different crafts.

 

Materials

• A: 'C' Clamp Vise - I bought mine for under 10 dollars at a swap meet.  I love this beast!  It is so useful.
• B: Hand drill - I bought mine at Michael's with a 40% off coupon.
• C: Jeweler's Saw - I got mine at Ed's House of Gems on 77th and Sandy.  These folks are very nice and a great resource. They will answer all of your questions. I've had my saw for about 15 years and it will last forever.
• D: Wooden Dowel - the outer circumference of your dowel will be the inner circumference of your rings. Pick the size that is right for you.
• E: Wire Cutters
• F: Sterling Silver Wire - I buy mine from Fire Mountain Gems in Grants Pass, OR
• Safety Glasses

 

 

1. Mount the 'C' Clamp Vise to a table or work bench.  I'm using my dining room table for this tutorial because my work space is much too messy to show here.

2. Secure the hand drill in the vise.  Make sure you are able to turn the handle on the drill.

 

 

3. Manually wrap wire around wooden dowel a couple of times.  You can always use base wire to practice with before delving into the more expensive silver wire.

 

 

4. Bend the end of the wire to be parallel with the wooden dowel.

 

 

5. Insert the end of the dowel and the end of the wire into the mouth of the drill.

 

 

6. Tighten the hand drill, so that the dowel and wire are firmly in the mouth and won't fall out.  This takes a little practice because with one hand you  have to hold the handle of the hand drill, so it won't turn while also tightening the mouth of the drill. The other hand holds the wooden dowel in place.

 

 

7. Once the wire and dowel are secure, slowly turn the handle of the drill so the wooden dowel begins to rotate.  I use my pointer finger and thumb to guide the wire to make tight rings.

 

 

8. Cut the wire after you have made all the rings you want.

 

 

9. Remove wire from drill. Manually wrap the end of the wire around the dowel to get a few more rings. No need to waste this wire!

 

 

10. Slide the wire rings down to the end of the dowel.  This can take a bit of maneuvering, but it shouldn't be too hard.

11. Put the wooden dowel back into the hand drill.

12. Position the vise so that the dowel is facing down at about 45 degrees.  You will be sitting in front of the dowel to cut the rings, so make sure you are comfortable and your body mechanics are good. The beauty of the 'C' Clamp Vise is that you can pretty much position it any way you'd like.  Since you will be doing repetitive movements, make sure you aren't working your body too hard.  Take lots of breaks too.

13. Line up the jeweler's saw with the end of the wire and slowly start to saw.  Starting is a little tricky, but it gets easier.

14. Continue sawing until you have all of your rings.  Step back and take a moment to admire your handiwork!

 

 

When I saw my rings, I use my thumb and pointer finger to hold onto the wire and secure it while sawing.  I make a cup with my palm to catch the rings as they fall.  I keep a bowl on my lap so that I can drop the rings from my palm often.  It is a very smooth process and works well.

 

 

If you don't have a jeweler's saw, you can use wire cutters to create your rings.  I do this often when I only need a couple or I'm feeling extra lazy.

 

    


Note: Wire cutters will leave a barb at the end of your wire.  The ring on the left was cut using the saw and the ring on the right was cut using the wire cutters.  I always take the extra step to cut off this barb before using the ring.

 

 

Finally, always remember to wear safety glasses!  The saw will create a very fine silver powder and you don't want that in your eyes.  If you don't have industrial safety glasses, pick up a large pair of lightly tinted glasses at goodwill.  I like the pair on top because they also have side shields for extra protection.

This tutorial was first posted on Handmade in Portland.

Capitol Hill Holiday Market 2011

 

This Friday and Saturday, my sis and I will be sharing a booth at the Capitol Hill Holiday Market.  This is the first year that Capitol Hill school has held a craft fair and my sis is one of the organizers. This craft fair will be much smaller than Crafty Wonderland (which was fab and I hope to blog about it soon!) which I think will be nice change of pace.  This the last craft fair of the season that I will be participating in.  I hope you get a chance to check it out and help support Capitol Hill school.

I can't believe Christmas is in 10 days!  Are you ready?  I'm about 75% ready.  :)

 

Crafty Wonderland - This weekend, Dec 10th and 11th

My craft bucket list is a mile long, but this weekend I get to check a huge item off of this list.  I will be selling my felt flower rings, barrettes, and earrings this weekend at Crafty Wonderland!

Ever since the very first Crafty Wonderland in the basement of The Doug Fir, I have wanted to participate in this amazing event.  I've applied many times and this year I was finally accepted!  They receive so many applications from amazing artists that I am truly grateful that I was selected this year.  In fact, I was so prepared to not be accepted that I was pretty much in shock for a few weeks after getting the acceptance email. 

That shock has now worn off and now I'm walking that fine line of utter excitement and sheer panic.  I know I'm ready.  I know I've done everything I can to prepare.  I know that I will have an amazing time this weekend. 

 

I do hope you get a chance to attend this weekend at the convention center.  Stop by and say Hi.  The first 150 people in the door each day will receive a great goodie bag.  It's also an easy way to get all of your holiday shopping done.  I will be looking up each vendor this week and making a plan of what presents I want to buy for friends and family.  I've found that doing this research ahead of time really helps me.  In the moment of the huge sale with thousands of others around, it's hard to make decisions.  Especially if you are as indecisive as I am.  But having a game plan, I find I actually buy more things and get more checked off my list. 

 

Felt Flower Rings - Now at Knack!

 

I have such exciting news!  My felt flower rings are now for sale at Knack!  I couldn't be happier.  This is the first brick and mortar store to carry my rings.  What a great store to start in. 

 

 

If you haven't been to Knack, definitely take the time to check out this amazing store located in Multnomah Village.  Leigh, the owner, showcases beautiful work from over 90 local artists.  This is a great place to get your Christmas shopping done; I drool a lot when I'm here and can always find a million things I'd like to take home for myself...and as gifts.

 

 

 

It's also very exciting that my rings sit right next to my sister's beautiful fused glass necklaces.  

 

 

My Sis Turned 40!

 

My sis turned 40 at the end of September. Her best friend and I threw my sis a party last Saturday to celebrate the beginning of this new decade.  My sis requested a special cocktail that she had tried on her last visit to NYC called Bee's Kiss.  I had never heard of this drink, but was happy to comply to her wishes.  I had found many recipes online and went with the version below.  

Bee's Kiss:

• 1 shot light rum
• 1 shot dark rum
• 1 shot cream
• 1 shot honey syrup
• Shaken and served in a martini glass topped with nutmeg

Several recipes called for honey and some called for honey syrup.  I decided to go with honey syrup to make mixing at the party easier.  I strongly encourage you to take this extra simple step.  I made my syrup with 3 parts honey and 1 part water that I heated on the stove until thoroughly mixed; this took about 5 minutes from start to finish. The cocktail was a huge hit and I spent much of the evening making them.  When I ran out of the syrup, I moved to straight honey and had nothing, but problems.  First, it didn't mix well, so the drinks didn't taste as good.  I found that I kept adding more and more honey which just clumped together in the shaker.  Then there was the sticky factor which became annoying fast.  Trust me, make the syrup. 

 

 

The fanciest appetizer I made was pear, goat cheese and caramelized onions wrapped in prosciutto and baked for about 8 minutes.  You can find the recipe here.  They were so delicious and not that hard to make.  I would definitely make this again.

 

 

At the last I Heart Art: Mixer Match, I saw this simple, yet elegant appetizer of cherry tomatoes, marinated mozzarella balls and basil on a toothpick. I splurged and bought fancy toothpicks at Cost Plus.  I cut a miniature watermelon in half and stuck all of the toothpicks into the watermelon.  It looked super fancy and took all of 10 minutes to create.  

 

Once I had one appetizer on a stick, I figured that I could create an easy theme and run with the whole stick idea.  I used the other half of the watermelon and created fruit salad on skewers.  Again, it doesn't get much easier than this.  There were many kids at this party and they loved eating food on a stick.  

 

 

This was my first attempt at artichoke spinach dip and it was gone by the end of the night.  I used this recipe and followed the suggestions in the comments.  

 

 

I made a huge vat of guacamole because my sis loves it so.  My co-host provided homemade salsa and chips as well as many other goodies.  It was a well rounded table and folks raved about the food.  It was teamwork at it's finest.  

 

 

A good friend of my sis insisted on making the birthday cake.  She previously made my sis' wedding cake and several incredible cakes for various celebrations.  I think she out did herself for this party creating this amazing 15" round 3 layered chocolate cake complete with fresh roses, iridescent frosting and chocolate butterflies that she made.  It was stunning and so large that my sis will be eating cake for months.  

 

 

It was a great night filled with family and friends.  There were musical instruments and games on hand for kids and adults alike.  I even won a game of bingo!  

 

 

Two weeks earlier, my husband and I took my sis and her best friend to happy hour at ClarkLewis (great happy hour).  Afterwards, we saw Duran Duran at the Rose Garden.  I got to fulfill a childhood dream of mine.  They were my very favorite band and they put on a great show.  They played Rio as their encore and everyone sang along. It was a perfect night and I'm so glad I got to share it with my sis.

 

Hello Etsy - Gratitude Abounds!

 

Saturday was the Hello Etsy: Portland conference focused on small business and sustainability.  I was so glad for this day to finally be here!  

 

 

As you know, I put all of the program journals kits together for this event.  I didn't sleep at all the night before the conference, because I was so worried something unexpected would go wrong and the journals would be a disaster.  Thankfully, this was not the case.  I was happy to put them out on a table and to let go of this project.  

 

 

During the opening hour where folks ate food, mingled, and made  journals, I helped folks thread their needles and steered them in the right binding direction.  Collage had another table set up with pens and rubber stamps, so folks could personalize their journals. People loved this craft!  Even the non-crafty folks jumped right in and enjoyed this DIY project.

 

 

During the opening comments, Jen Neitzel, co-chair of Hello Etsy, talked about gratitude.  I got so much from her insights.  It helped to put into perspective what I was doing here and what I wanted to get from this day.  Jenna from Modish led the sold out crowd in a breathing exercise to help clear our minds and to get ready for the long day ahead.  While these things might sound out of place at a conference about small businesses; it really helped pave the way for an amazing day.

 

Right before lunch, we heard from keynote speakers Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee Creations and Duane Sorenson of Stumptown Coffee.  This talk, moderated by Sister Diane, was fascinating.  First, Duane was very funny which kept the topic light and friendly. When asked if he could time warp back to the past, keeping his present knowledge, what would he do differently, Duane answered, "I would have gotten a perm".  On a more serious note, he is extremely passionate about his employees and creating a better life for them is his main driving force to keep expanding Stumptown.  I could relate to Rebecca more, simply because she makes things and I make things.  It was interesting to learn how her business has grown and how it has changed her life.  After their talk, we went outside to get lunch from Koi Fusion, one of the food carts on-site for the conference.  Each attendee received a $5 voucher towards lunch.  

 

There were 3 break out sessions with 3-4 different instructors to choose from during each session.  I must say, it was really hard deciding what to check out.  All topics were very relevant and top notch.  My sis was also attending the conference, so we split up during each break out session, so that we could get the most information we could.  We will sit down soon and discuss what each of us learned.  While all of the presentations I saw were excellent, my favorite of the day was Jackie B. Peterson's talk on Better, Smarter, Richer: Seven Business Principles for Solo and Creative Entrepreneurs.  Her no nonsense approach was a great wake up call for me.  I have some work to do!  I think one small thing I'm going to start soon is tracking my time for at least 2 weeks.  I think seeing how I spend (and waste) my time will be a great exercise to find ways where I can be more productive.  

 

 After the conference, all attendees were invited to Hobo's for an after party.  Hello Etsy even paid for the first round!  This and the lunch voucher made the $20 conference fee very affordable.  It was so nice not to have to worry about where to eat lunch and they really made socializing and networking a big part of the day.  It was great to reconnect with my crafty friends.  By the end of the night, I was exhausted in a completely joyful way.

I will definitely need a few weeks to absorb everything I learned.  I will use many things I learned in my future business endeavors and also in my life in general.  I'm so grateful to Hello Etsy and to I Heart Art: Portland for creating this event.  Videos of most sessions will be on I Heart Art's website.  I can't wait to see all of the presentations that I didn't get to see and to learn even more wonderful things.  

 

Hello Etsy: Portland

 

Hello Etsy: Portland is tomorrow!  I've been so excited to attend this sold out conference geared towards the small business owner - not just crafters.  The schedule of speakers is top notch and I know I'm going to learn so much.  

A few months back, my good friend Jen Neitzel (co-chair of Hello Etsy) asked if I would be willing to prepare all the materials for the “make your own conference program journal”.  These journal kits will be given to each attendee and they will bind and decorate them. Once complete, folks will have a personalized journal for taking copious notes during the day. I was so happy to help and I'm glad I could give back to such a worth organization as I Heart Art: Portland.

Here is an article they wrote about me and my mad hole punching and corner rounding skills.  

Art in the Pearl

 

Art in the Pearl is one of my very favorite events.  It is held during Labor Day weekend in the North Park Blocks.  I've been out of town the past couple of Labor Days, so it was such a treat to be able to attend this year.  

 

 

The quality of art at this juried show is just astounding.  Every booth was more amazing that the one before it.  I was so inspired by how creative people are.  This show is more geared towards fine art and basically everything was out of my price range.  I was happy to see lots of people carrying away lots of art.  The event was packed!  Sometimes is was hard to get through the crowd to be able to see the art.

 

 

Besides the 100 artists booths, there was also live music and food.  Around the perimeter of the event housed booths for the different art schools and collectives around town.  They held demonstrations and had activities for the whole family.  

 

 

I loved seeing many of these stations around the event.  

 

 

Cupcakes + Art + Bacon = all of my favorite things.  Voodoo Doughnuts had a large booth set up with craft activities for kids.

 

 

Even though it was in the 90's that day, I wasn't overly hot since Art in the Pearl is under the big canopy of trees in the Park Blocks.  It's such a beautiful setting.  

 

Summit of Awesome 2011 - Baltimore, Maryland

Summit of Awesome 2010 from Hello Craft on Vimeo.

Last year, Portland was fortunate to host Hello Craft's Summit of Awesome conference at the Kennedy School.  I attended this three day conference and had a great time meeting new people and learning from their incredible workshops.  

Today, I received an email about signing up for this year's Summit of Awesome in Baltimore, Maryland.  Included in the email was this video. What fun!  I was thrilled to see my Felt Flower Project I created for their Make Something Awesome table.  I'm also personally in the video for a split second.  Don't blink or you will miss me.  Yes, I think I've watched this video at least 15 times.  I'm sure I'll watch it at least once or twice again...

Check out Hello Craft's site for more info on the Summit.  

Brave Bot

 

Today I am headed to the Mixer Match event organized by I Heart Art: Portland.  I know I've talked a lot about this event in the past and I think I'm ready.  I have my rings in a display that is very portable, business cards and a wholesale sheet to hand out to folks.  I've been practicing my elevator pitch and taking deep breaths to keep calm about this exciting adventure.  

I'm as prepared as I can be, but I'm also going to take along this secret weapon.

 

 

My sis bought this Brave Bot for me for my last Birthday.  She thought he would help bring me courage and boost my confidence.  I'm hoping my Brave Bot does the trick!  Any kind of public speaking makes me want to cry.  Just attending this event is kind of a big deal for me.  I hope that he reminds me that I can do this.  I can meet people and not cry.  I can talk about myself and what I create without my brain leaving my body.  I can do this.

 

 

Gary Hirsch is the mastermind behind Joy Bots.  He creates many different types of Bots to help assist you in any endeavor.  From Listening Bots to Love Bots, these friendly guys painted on dominoes are sure to brighten your day.

 

 

 

Trusty Sidekick

 

I met my newest cousin last month at a family function in Idaho.  I wanted to get him a present and knew that this onesie from Trusty Sidekick was just the thing.  I had first heard of Trusty Sidekick when she was at the booth next to me at a craft fair a few years ago.  I just love her brilliant idea for kids clothes and she is also super, super nice.  Go buy her stuff!

 

 

I also bought this cape for new cousin's older brother.  I didn't want him to be left out and I figured what kid wouldn't want a super hero cape.  I want one.

 

 

Here is my baby cousin.  Doesn't he look like a Trusty Sidekick?

Accepted to the next I Heart Art: Portland Mixer Match!

 

I found out this week that I will be participating in the next I Heart Art: Portland's Mixer Match on August 17th!  Yippee! The first couple of days after I found out, I was in shock and walked around in a daze.  Now it's fully sinking in and I have much work to do!  I'm so grateful for this opportunity; this will be my first real experience trying to sell my product to others.  I'm also crazy nervous, but I've started practicing my 2 minute spiel and I will be ready for that night.  My sis (I Heart Shade) was also selected!  I'm so happy to that we will be there together, supporting each other.  I know it will make the evening which will be nerve racking, just a smidge easier.  

Jen Nietzel of I Heart Art and DIY Lounge made this amazing video of the last Mixer Match.  Check it out and you will get a feel of what the event was like.