Happy Chinese New Year!

Some pictures from the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, L.A. this past Saturday:


The dragons were my favorite. I want to make one and run around the neighborhood in it. More:





Look! These ladies like fabric almost as much as I do!


The lucky golden bowl of rice:


Our hottt mayor Antonio Villaragosa:


Sage on a one-man ferris wheel with random high school hipsters posing behind him:


After a long day:

Look ma! I cleaned my room!

I've documented my newly organized, color-coded and folded fabric for posterity's sake (because it probably won't stay this way for long):


It took me hours this weekend but I managed to find the floor, put things in designated places, complete a few projects, assess all that I have and even (gasp!) get rid of a few things. I'm over the first trimester hurdle and finally feeling like I'm getting my creative mojo back (and not falling asleep before 10 p.m.). Last night I made six! pairs of monster pants. I'm even managing to keep things nice and neat. See?



At least, this is what I call nice and neat. Others might call it crowded and cluttered. I've never really been one for minimalism.




Here's my bulletin board, crowded with pins I've collected from craft shows, cards from shops that carry kokoleo, flyers from shows I've been in, and a few kokoleo labels waiting to be sewn into yet-to-be-made purses and clothes.


Too bad I'm going to have to give up this room when the baby gets here. We're thinking of converting the porch in to the new kokoleo headquarters. Or maybe the garage. Porches and garages don't really make good nurseries. I simply have too much though to NOT have a space of my own. We'll figure something out. Life would be so much simpler if I didn't sew. Think of all the time I'd have! All the space I'd have!

Nahhh, that would be boring.

My name is KB and I'm a fabriholic.

There could be worse addictions, right? Rather than a hoarder I prefer to see myself as a recycler; a rescuer of forgotten and neglected fabric. I'd choose to peruse a crowded old house over a crappy JoAnn Fabric store any day. And that's just what I did yesterday at an estate sale in Burbank. Check out my haul:


I fear if I keep up collecting that I will be like this woman in 50 years. One room was packed with fabric - huge piles and boxes of vintage linens, half-completed projects, patterns, purse handles, craft kits and more. Another room held lace and ribbon trim, velcro, embroidery floss, buttons, googly eyes, and lots more craft kit stuff that's not my style - styrofoam angel kits, latch-hook kits, crafts involving fake flowers and hot glue.

Poor Sage and his sister?brother?, one day after I'm dead they'll be trying to unload this stuff at their own yard sale. But 50 years from now I bet some yet-to-be-born crafter with happen upon that yard sale and be as excited as I was to find patchwork turtle and mushroom print fabric! gingham galore! needlepoint butterflies! googly eyes! (That is if I don't use it all first.) See? It's an investment in my family's future. Yeah, that's it.

Alien Invasion!

So, I haven't been blogging much and here's the reason why:


There's an alien in my belly! Okay, actually it's a wee little baby, no bigger than a strawberry, but it's what's been occupying a lot of my mind and time lately. I didn't want to say anything until it was for sure, because well, last time I was pregnant it didn't go so well. But yesterday we saw two little arms and two little legs dancing around and the doctor says everything looks perfect. I've been sleepy and nauseous and not able to crank out the kokoleos as quickly and as often as before, but I'm sure this will all soon pass and I'll be back in action soon enough.

I am however, keeping busy with banner and pillow commissions. When I told my new OB/GYN about kokoleo and my banners and pillows he said I should give him some of my cards, as he knows a few people with babies. Ha! Here are a few recent works:




It's pretty funny, my (newly redesinged) "Personalized Items" shop reads like a book on baby names:

Anna, Adowyn, Avenelle, Brooke, Clarissa, Lola, Malayna, Piper, Willa. . .

Dashiell, Evan, James, Jake, Jesser, Nolan, Sam, Tenzin, Will, Wyatt. . .

Hmmmm. . . choices, choices.

It's a new year!

Long time, no post. Those Christmas pics are looking rather sad and dated. The ornaments have long been packed away and I think I've finally gotten all the pine needles out of the carpet. 2007 is here and already looking like it's going to be an exciting year. More on that in blogs to come.

I've been steadily working on commissions but my website is looking kind of sad. I haven't updated it since November, except to note the sold items. I even have stuff ready and waiting in my studio, it's just all the picture-taking and HTML-ing that slows me down. Work sucks up a lot of my time, and then there's family and friends, playdates and parties, and sleep. I need to start scheduling more kokoleo time into the mix. I promise that by the end of this month the website will be updated with fun new stuff.

(The good thing about blogs is that when you make promises in writing like that, it really forces you to keep them.)

So this past MLK Jr. holiday weekend we slipped away to sunny, or rather, unusually frigid San Diego, California. We explored the museums of Balboa Park:


That's Sage in his pirate balloon hat and balloon sword running to slay the fountain monsters.

Here's a tree in the park. Erik is alwys taking pictures of bark and grass and roots and rocks for use as "texture maps" in his animations. So we always have a few pictures like this:


A view from the bridge that connects San Diego to Coronado, where our hotel was:


Our spooky old hotel, way better than any Best Western or the like:


Sea World!




Shamu!


More Shamus!


Sage fed a dolphin:


and harassed a starfish:


And rode a sea turtle (or at least it looks like he did if you cover up the two of them and just look at the turtle and their reflection):


That night we ate at a traditional Irish pub in the Historic Gaslamp District of San Diego:


And Monday we hit the San Diego Zoo which is both beautiful, and a bit sad. Poor caged creatures. Let's gawk at them while they eat and poop:




Here ends the VanHorn family vacation slide show.

Before we get too far from the holidays, I thought I'd post a few pictures. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of tree trimming, shopping, cookie-making, present-wrapping, present unwrapping, sight-seeing, and family bonding. Observe:

A tiny nativity I made in 1991:


In my family it is tradition (going back 30+ years) to "hide the ugly Santa."


Sage makes cookies with his grandparents:


Twas the night before Christmas:


. . . and then the morning after:



I hope your holidays have been full of family, friends and fun. Happy New Year!

BazBiz in brief

Last Saturday was the Bazaar Bizarre at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown L.A. It certainly wasn't as well organized/publicized/attended/financially successful as Felt Club, but it was an opportunity to meet some indie aficionados and hang out with cool crafters. The night before, I made these cupcakes for the BazBiz Cakewalk:


They were little strawberry cupcake boobs and each one had a flag that said "Breast Wishes for a Happy Nude Year!", inspired by my contribution last year. I heard they were one of the first to be chosen among the cakewalk winners. Someone liked my boobies!

Here I am at my booth:

Wow, that looks kinda sparse. To the right is a wall-o-racks that isn't translating well. Two tiers + one clothing rack+ one purse rack + one table full of stuff = kokoleo overload.


When I see other vendors walking in with only a bin or two and setting up in less than 15 minutes, I'm jealous. Meanwhile, I'm making numerous trips to the car lugging tons of clothes, pillows, monsters, purses, accessories and the paraphernalia needed to display it all. Why do I always do things the hard way? Why am I not drawn to creating small things like toothpick sculptures or matchbox paintings? My life would be a lot simpler then. . . but then also, less kokoleoier.

I didn't have much time to mingle during the show, but toward the end Erik and Sage showed up and I quickly took Sage around to see all the wacky stuff. I bought him this shirt from The Mighty Squirm because it remined me of him and Kali, and this hat from Things That Are Square:

Don't dare call him a frog though. He will inform you, "I'm not a frog! I'm a dead monster." This hat paired with some kokoleo flame print monster pants makes Sage the weirdest looking kid at preschool. Luckily, he doesn't mind.

It was nice having extra hands at the end to disassemble my racks. Sage gladly lugged bags out to the car and wheeled my clothing rack through the parking lot like a scooter.


I, in turn, treated them to a nice dinner at our favorite Italian restarunt. Two purses sold = one nice dinner out.

I promised them I'd cut down on the craft shows for a while to do more family fun stuff. Speaking of that. . .

Happy Holidays!