baby elephant

this eames molded plywood mini elephant was featured on one of notcot's holiday gift giudes and i LOVE HIM. i wish it were full-scale, but the molds were so intricate it was too hard for them to ever enter into production. still, baby elephants are always cuter anyway--i would definitely NOT be disappointed to have one of these lil guys on my desk hanging out with me!

save handmade.

the more i read about the consumer product safety improvement act (CPSIA) i cannot believe that instead of focusing on ways to regulate large toy companies (ie. to avoid issues like the lead scare coming out of toys manufactured in china) they are trying to create regulations that will basically prohibit any independent or small-business entity from being allowed to create and sell amazing handmade toys, clothes, and other wonderful items for children without paying for thousands of dollars worth of testing to prove that their items are not toxic. even though an average person in an average house would probably NOT AT ALL be exposed to any sort of toxins that would have been found in a factory anyway!

what will happen to etsy...or craft fairs! will handmade items soon be delegated to a black market of plush toys and knit baby hats???

i am in no way an expert, so please check out handmade toy alliance or coolmompicks or change.org to learn more information. hopefully this act can get turned around, or amended in a way that will allow crafters and artists to keep on doing what they do best.

thanks so much for listening.

clapotis

the infamous clapotis by kate gilbert...i read about it in not 1, but 2 knitting books already and have found out it is THE scarf that all knitters/crafters/cool people are supposed to know about and have. i've asked melissa to help me out and the best part is when she called me back she said "...is this scarf the...clapotis??? ok! do you need me to pick up some yarn for you?" wow, this girl is efficient!!! no wonder she can churn out 20 billion cable knit hats in a day!

resolutions

here are my 9 resolutions for 2009...i often have problems keeping them once time starts passing but i've tried to make them more realistic this year so i think i'll be ok. also, since they're broken out into categories it's not as overwhelming:

BLOG RESOLUTIONS (or blogolutions for chris ;)
1. create header. i mean, seriously.
2. be more succinct and post more images (after this post, promise)

CRAFT RESOLUTIONS
3. post actual products on my etsy site
4. draw more often
5. continue sewing, knitting, and paper crafting

LIFE RESOLUTIONS
6. send emails, letters, and cards in a more timely manner
7. continue learning to cook and bake
8. continue purging the house of "junk"
9. improve overall physical and mental health (ok, this one is sort of a doozy but i know in the end it will only help make me happier!!!)

yay, i'm now OFFICIALLY ready to start the new year!

the bird machine

i was SO excited this morning when notcot posted her praises about jay ryan and his wonderful posters--i love his work!!! i had bought my friend mike his book last year: 100 posters / 134 squirrels just because i thought he had such a great hand to his illustrations, and all the animals especially, are always doing something fun or have these spectacular emotions on their faces (look at that buffalo, ha!) and if you read the book, some of the most amazing prints he does are using a very few number of screens--it's CRAZY.

when i took screenprinting at MCAD this summer i learned how to do gradients, and this was my print that was inspired by jay ryan's style (on purpose. because he is amazing.)

happy new year. and that's a fact.

our new year definitely started off with a bang. yesterday morning milo had a seizure, so the day was spent at the vet and the emergency vet. we're awaiting test results as it could be something minor (ie. he ate something poisonous--DO NOT let your dogs eat gum with xylitol) or major (ie. he might have some sort of hereditary disease in his liver). i stayed home with him today and he seems fine except for abnormally low energy level (but funny thing...this is pretty average energy level for most other peoples' dogs ;)

i'm thankful that he's ok, and glad nothing worse has happened so far in the new year!!! here's to a year of good health, good family & friends, and all around good cheer. happy 2009 everyone!

merry merry!

i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas and holiday this year with lots of time spent with family and friends...cheers!

tiny art show

my cute friend lindsay nohl asked if i wanted to submit some artwork for her "tiny art of winter show" at the st. paul tea garden. i was REALLY excited, because i had never done anything for ANY show before! so i started doodling and ended up doing 4 drawings and adding some watercolor details so they had some fun pops of color.

the opening reception was last friday, and i was already emailed on saturday by a nice girl interested in purchasing a couple drawings for her husband as a christmas present...i was so excited!!! and she ended up purchasing all but one, so i was really glad she liked them together as a set :)

if you have time, please stop by the tea garden to visit kitty and her festive balls of yarn, and all the other great prints and drawings still hanging up!

(these three fun guys went home already with the nice lady and her husband :)

tweet tweet

i started a twitter account to try it out and it's sort of fun so far! but since i only update it how often, it's like i'm only documenting the highlights of my day so it makes my life sound that much more exciting ;)

maybe someday i will figure out how to link it to my blog! and maybe someday i will also have an iphone or other addicting super-phone so i can literally tell you a play by play of my fantastically-amazing life. (i know...you are probably ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT)

if you'd like to see what i've been up to, you can follow me at twitter.com/rhymeswithfun

hope to see you there!

a paper bag of pearls

my cute friend kara has made these LOVELY labels for her jewelry and other hand-beaded items for finch's holiday boutique this weekend--i can't wait to see them in person! who doesn't love typewriter font on kraft paper???

(chris--you must already be aware that i'll be keeping one of her labels in my "packaging" storage box forever ;)

festive weiner dog

i just saw this post on orange you lucky! (you can even email for the pdf of the pattern)...and how cute is this pup?! SOOO CUTE!!! i love the red and aqua color combination too, it always makes me happy. i definitely want to make time to learn this guy sometime...

minnesota monthly is my friend

some really exciting news--minnesota monthly has featured elisa's craft sale in their december issue...and my baby monster cards were pictured!!! elisa has kindly scanned and highlighted the article, so here it is for your viewing pleasure. also, thanks so much to christy desmith for putting the accent on my name, i really appreciate it!

ps. bff dana should totally have been called out as my "printed baby clothes" partner-in-crime because v.v. would never have existed without her...and that's a fact. so when you read the text, just whisper "and dana" quietly to yourself. (good job)

pps. i feel like i'm famous, YAY!!!

hope to see you at finch's boutique next weekend!!!
dates and times: sat. dec. 13th 11-5 / sun. dec. 14th 12-5

happy engagement!

erica weiner's herkimer diamond ring (six-sided, double-terminated quartz crystal)

congrats to my cute bffs on their exciting recent engagements!!!
2009 is going to be a lovely wedding-filled year...i cannot WAIT! :)

to the happy couples, we are SO excited for you and your big day. cheers!

steph + court
missy + peter
megan + nick
dana + mike

HI.

ok, lots of BIG BIG BIG things have been going on over here...sorry for the long hiatus! i will try and catch up on all the super fantastic interesting news as fast as i possibly can.

(right after i eat my delicious dinner)

xoxo,
vunny + milo