Thrift Thursday - Swap-O-Rama-Rama

Who needs to shop when you can swap? This Saturday, I'm going to be helping out at the Swap-O-Rama-Rama in Venice.

I'll be at a table demonstrating how to embellish your boring clothes with fun and funky appliques. I usually cut my appliques freehand, but I made these stencils tonight so people could trace them if they wanted:

That, or they could make their own and leave them for others to use. We'll be using fabric scraps, Heat 'n Bond Lite, an iron, scissors, a sewing machine, and a needle and thread for hand-sewing. If people aren't sure how to sew things to other things, I'll help them, or if they do know how, I'll just provide the materials and let them go to town. I just found out Jenny Ryan will be there with me, so together we'll help people applique their asses off. If you live close, stop by!

I've been cleaning out my closets in preparation and came up with TWO garbage bags full.

Imagine if I just sent that to the landfill instead. I love the concept of the Swap-O-Rama-Rama. My friends and I used to do this in college, only on a smaller scale. Usually it was 5-10 of us meeting at someone's house, each person bringing a bag of clothes and a drink or food to share. When everyone was there, we'd dump all our bags in the middle of the room and dive in. Then, of course, we'd end up doing an impromptu fashion show. Good times. We didn't have sewing stations on the sidelines though.

I hear the other designers are offering plushie-making, screenprinting, and altering and tailoring at their stations. Sweet! Just think, all these neglected, unloved, under-appreciated clothes are getting packed into bags right now ready to be tossed into the Swap-O-Rama-Rama. Soon, they'll be transformed into stylin' new creations, ready to hit the streets of L.A. in all their handmade glory. I promise there will be pictures.

Retro Wednesday - For the Little People

I know I've shown our Little People village before, but tonight I gave them a sky.

I wasn't happy with the way the wall used to look behind these toys. There were cords hanging down and this ugly thing

which regulates our sprinkler. When I found that cloud print fabric I knew what I wanted to turn it into a backdrop. I measured, cut, and stitched them to fit and inserted some tension rods to hold them in place.
Much better. The kids love this area and it's nice to finally have a space for them in my studio. A collector would gasp to see how hard they are on these rare and precious toys. I don't mind. That's what toys are for, right? These particular ones have logged hours of multi-generational enjoyment. There's a grain silo that goes with the barn, but the last time I saw it Sage had packed it full of Little People and was and was flying them around the house on a "rocket ship field trip". I can't wait for them to return and see their nice new sky.

Made by Monday - Skirts, etc.

First, for the family, I have to post this:

There, that should tide you over for a while. Now, for the rest of my readers, here are some other things I made. First, some skirts:

That one's a reversible wrap, this one has an elastic waistband:

I have some sort of fixation with Raggedy Anne, I guess. She won't leave me alone!

I made these last month:

That little girl likes to come around kokoleo every once in a while as well.

Good thing I don't have many of these all over the place. They can be dangerous:

I've had that purple and red lobster print fabric for a few years and when I found a screenprinted lobster linen napkin at a yard sale recently, I knew it was my duty to have them meet each other.

I'm sick of skirts, lets move on:

This weekend I made some hats.

I'm not quite sure they're finished yet though.

Now some shirts:

all size 6 months.

My mission this week: Get these things up on my website already, fer craftsake! All this sewing and blogging and kid-rearing is distracting me.

Artsy Friday - Skylines

I got this mug at the Veteran's Thrift Store in Glendale today:

79 cents. I couldn't resist. The minute I picked it up I had flashbacks to Savannah and Charleston (South Carolina) and New Orleans and San Francisco. When I showed it to Erik he said it looked like Shepherdstown. It's all of those places rolled into one lovely mug.

What does it remind you of?

Speaking of skylines, it's Artsy Friday. That mug reminded me of this, that's hanging in our hall:

My friend Fred did it. It's titled "dis be dat for k.b." Fred and I (and Kendra and Eric [but not my Erik]) shared a house in Shepherdstown when we were in college. A few years later I was in Savannah and Fred lived 4 doors down. He made me this drawing of the Savannah skyline as a going away present. That bridge was amazing. He said it was a map/maze of my life beyond Savannah. So far it's been pretty accurate.

Thrift Thursday - Beat that!

Call me a desperate housewife, but I love watching my total go down on the grocery store cash register. I always wait to swipe my card at the end so I can see the numbers roll down all at once. It's like a Vegas slot machine without the bells and lights. Also, I'm one of those annoying shoppers in line ahead of you who insists on handing over a stack of coupons just to prolong your impatient agony. Sorry! Our grocery store doubles them too. WooHoo!

Retro Wednesday - 8 years ago. . .

And for our gift this year, we got my car an alternator. Because, as you know, the traditional anniversary presents are 1st - paper, 2nd - cotton, 3rd - leather, 4th - linen, 5th - wood, 6th - iron, 7th - copper, 8th - alternator. Happy anniversary, babe!

Studio Tuesday - Hiding under the table.

There it is, the holy sewing trinity (although the middle one has been acting a bit hellish lately). I attached those curtains to my tables with adhesive velcro this weekend. It was a little obnoxious at first but I've gotten used to it. I just wasn't digging all my underthings being exposed for all the world to see. There seems to be an orange theme in the room and I happened to have a ton of this orange polka dot fabric (from this yard sale), so I went a little crazy with it. I still might bring it all the way around that table to the left. That, or take it off the side altogether. Having them up helps deter curious babies from getting into things she shouldn't - like drawers of zippers, bias tape, ribbon and yarn, and bins of neckties, pillow forms, dead bodies, and fabric scraps. What?

Made By Monday - Mishaps

I don't have much to show for this week. Sage is out of school and it's all I can do to entertain him all day, and then clean up after all that entertaining. Books, costumes, Legos, crayons, stuffed animals, couch cusions - it's a neverending task to keep these things in their places.

Speaking of misplaced things, last month two of my personalized pillows got lost in the mail. Thankfully, the customer was a friend and was very understanding. We waited FOUR weeks until I started remaking them. Here are the originals:

I was really happy with the way they came out too, which made it even more upsetting. I managed to gather most of the same fabric and make the new ones almost identical. I cut out and stitched on all the letters and was ready to turn them into pillows when I got an email that the originals had arrived! Yay!

So then I had "Mira" and "Stella" pillowtops laying around. I mentioned it to my friend Pamela, who mentioned it to our friend Molly who happens to have a niece named Mira who just so happens to have a green and purple room. Sweet! So I found a home for this one:

Now, anyone know a Stella? I'll whip you up a kokoleo for half the price.

Speaking of the aforementioned Pamela, 3 years ago I made this for her little girl:

It went perfectly in the pink room they had set up. The only problem was that Clara came out a Sam:


Oops! Let this be a lesson to always count your testicles before they hatch, er something. Don't worry though, I eventually sent Sam a "Sam" banner and Pamela sent back the "Clara" one.

Then, at a Halloween party last year I was talking to one of Erik's co-workers and he introduced his wife and baby girl named Clara. I said, "As in, C-L-A-R-A?" and they looked at me weird and said yes. I told them the story of Sam and said I'd love to give them the banner, since it was obviously destined for their daughter.

Sometimes mishaps have happy endings.

Love Your Dad Day

Sunday mornings won't be the same for me without Tim Russert. I'm surprised how sad I am about his passing. I'm a big newsie, I'll admit it, I'll talk politics with anyone. I loved watching his interviews with politicians on Meet the Press. He was the best at it. Also, he seemed like a really nice guy. Something about him always reminded me of my dad. My cousin Andy has been the cameraman for Meet the Press for the past couple years and he said he really was nice in person. 58! That's young. I'm going to miss him this election season. My heart goes out to his wife and his son and his dad.

On that note, Happy Father's Day! If you have a dad, or know a dad, let him know he's loved and thank him for his efforts. They don't go unnoticed. If you are a dad, please take care of yourself. We like having you around.

Artsy Friday - Lord North

Sorry for the recent deluge of kid pics. All our family and friends are on the other side of the country and sometimes I want to send them pictures showing how the kids have grown. I'm bad at email, but I can blog! Soon I will return you to your regularly scheduled kokoleo.

Today is Artsy Friday and I was looking for something around the house to post about. Instead of messing with the camera I decided to pull this one from Erik's website:

It's hanging by the front door. He painted it in 1999? I think. I remember walking into his studio in Savannah and seeing it in progress and proclaiming it was mine. This was years before Sage was born. Friends say it looks like us but he insists he didn't have that in mind when he did it. Either way, I love it.

That's not always the case. I mean, I love that he's and artist and I love how he can create something from nothing, but honestly, would you hang this over your dining room table?

Eek! I like it, but it scares me. It's not really something I want to stare at while I'm eating my spaghetti.

The first time I noticed Erik was at a party. He was wearing this ugly baseball cap with Mickey Mouse on it and dancing like a freak. I asked my friend John who that guy was and he said, "Erik VanHorn. He's actually pretty cool." I still thought he was a freak. The first time I really noticed him was at an art show at the epicenter. I fell in love with a drawing and asked my friend Jamie who the artist, Lord North, was and he pointed to the guy yelling into the microphone - Erik. The first time I really really noticed him involved my 21st birthday and bottles of Hot Damn and Southern Comfort, but I won't go there. The first piece of art he ever gave me was this:

Which is allowed to hang in our dining room.

Fast-forward 12 years and here we are in (North) Hollywood, CA with two kids and pets that aren't Koko or Leo. He's painting again. Canvases-in-progress now cover the garage. It's fun to watch. I can't wait to pick one out to keep.

Thrift Thursday - This is what I got.

I've been trying to be thrifty. I hadn't left the house in 3 days until today. This morning we were out by 10 (early for us) for Sage's reading club at the library, only to get there and find out it's next week. Oops! So he played on the playground instead.

So then I figured, well, since we're close to the thrift store, we might as well stop by. I'm glad I did. It was a banner day. Sometimes it's just nice to get new things, even if they're old. I got a patchwork tin, some ugly eyeglasses, and some nice new shoes. McKenna got a book and a little talking Ernie that rides around in a bumper car (Ernie's her favorite). Sage got a book, a playdough barbershop, and a fireman raincoat (he had hats but no raincoat). I know, I spoil them, but why not? It's $5 of joy.

So then I figured, well, since we're near the mall, we might as well stop by the mall. . . and then we ended up in the Food Court. . . and then we ended up on the moonfoam playground. . . and somewhere along the way we ended up in a bunch of stores and found some father's day presents. Sometimes it's nice to get new stuff too, as long as it's on sale. I hadn't been to the mall in a few months. Everyone's having SALES! that still aren't very good. The department stores are like ghost towns. Macy's was eerily empty. Also, I accidentally walked through the set of some show that was filming there, but I can't remember the name of it. Look for me on some show!

On the way home Sage said, "Wow mom, that was a fun day! I played on two playgrounds and got lots of stuff. We should do this all the time!" I told him how that would make us A. poor and B. crazy, but once in a while is nice.

Retro Wednesday - or not.

So, I was deciding what to do for Retro Wednesday today when all of the sudden a package from Annette arrived on my porch full of all sorts of retro awesomeness. So I thought, I'm going to take pictures of this! But, I can't find my camera (the one that's not at the fix-it shop) so nevermind. I will just show you the sundresses I make from this stuff later on. Thanks Annette!

Studio Tuesday - What's with the lattice?

You may have noticed the intrusion of lattice behind my work recently. It's not my favorite design solution, but it works for now. The walls of this sunporch are thin and I was told not to try to hang anything on them. Bare white walls make me uncomfortable so I picked up this large piece of lattice at the hardware store to cover it up. It keeps changing depending on what I'm working on at the time and makes for a nice inspiration trellis.

The Raggedy Anne and Andy in the right hand corner used to hang on burlap banners in my childhood bedroom. They're much happier now that I freed them from their burlap and now they're just standing there waiting for me to attach them to something better.

The monster to the left is a stick puppet I made a while ago and stuck up there one night. He looks down at me with that big goofy grin as if to say, "Hey there crafty lady, whatcha gonna make today?"

Made by Monday - City Life.

I made another cityscape:

Why? I don't know. I'm addicted to them. This one's the biggest one yet. I have yet to sell any, so instead I'm just covering the walls in McKenna's room with them, along with the Lonely Trees. Poor girl, trapped in a patchwork world.

Here are those pillows I blogged about last week:

(Sorry for the weird lighting.) I think that vintage spice shelf fabric is my all-time favorite fabric. And now it's all gone. Side view:


Actually, those were just the covers, here are the pillow inserts:

It's two for the price of one! There was just a small amount of fabric left, so I made this:

It's composed of the vintage shelf fabric, vintage velvet upholstery on the sides, a naugahyde bottom, mod vintage lining with a pocket and magnetic snap enclosure. I'm really happy with how it came out. I wish I would have made a pattern along the way so I can make one like it again. On second thought, nahhh, I like one-of-a-kinds.

On Sunday I went to the CRAFT: issue launch party at an awesome gallery/shop called Reform School on Santa Monica Blvd. in Silverlake. Halfway there I realized I forgot my camera so I borrowed my friend Lauren's when I dropped Sage off at her house for a playdate. I haven't gotten the pictures yet, so I'll show you this one Jenny Ryan posted on Flickr:

I managed to sew a couple buttons on that vintage yo-yo at the craft table, but that was it. McKenna wasn't in the best of moods (teeth). Also, she pooped in her diaper as soon as I got there. Hi everyone! We're here! Can you smell us? Consequently, we didn't stay very long. I did get to chat with Jek and Christine and Jenny a bit. I would have loved to sit and chat and make the funky flower shoe clips everyone was sporting. There were some adorably accessorized older little girls (ages 4-8?) making all sorts of awesome craftiness. I can't wait until McKenna's that age and I can let her craft to her heart's desire and not have to worry about her tipping over or eating the sequins. Still, I'm glad I went. I won a raffle I didn't even know I entered. It was a Sublime Stitching Craft pad full of embroidery patterns. Sweet! Now, I don't really like to follow someone else's pattern but I do like iron-ons, so that night I ironed all the images onto a shirt for myself:

Very tattoo-esque.

Lastly, here's something Sage and I collaborated on this weekend. He drew this picture of a monster he wanted to make with me:

And here's the monster in progress:

And here's the monster made: