Luna's Lounge

May 16th - The SpringLine Up at the North Park Festival of the Arts - Vendor Applications Now Being Accepted!

2010-02-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

That's right! The NP Craft Mafia will be hosting our Spring Line Up (SLU) at the North Park Festival of the Arts for the second year! Last year we partnered up with the North Park Main St. to combine our SLU event with their Festival of the Arts. Two great events that came together to be even better! The SLU is a combination of artisans, crafters, and entertainment. The Festival of the Arts brings a ton of musical and dance entertainments along with food and more artists. We'll be bringing together a fabulous collection of artists with fantastic products for sale. The 14th Annual North Park Festival of the Arts will place on, Sunday, May 16th, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. This FREE neighborhood event takes place in downtown North Park, along University Avenue between 30th and 32nd Street. Past year's events have seen more than 35,000 visitors coming to see the more than 100 specialty booths. Think you might want to have a booth this year? We are now accepting vendor applications! Get in on the "early bird" discount - offer ends Jan. 31st! Visit the NP Main Street's website for more info. about the event at - www.northparkmainstreet.com and use this link to get the Spring Line Up Vendor's Application!

Sunday, May 16th
10 am to 6 p.m.
University Ave. between 30th & 32nd- 92104

Sunday Crafty Sunday, Valentines Edition, Jan 31st

2010-01-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

Our crafty gift bazaar's return in January with a shopping event especially for your Valentine! Come and see us at our new venue - Queen Bee's in North Park! Find some fabulous gifts and meet the members of the Mafia.

Please http://sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com/events.html for the latest info. on which vendors you'll find at this event!

Sunday, January 31st
12 noon to 5 p.m.
*New Location!*
Queen Bee's Art & Culture Center
3925 Ohio St.- 92104

I'm Back!

2009-03-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I haven't written since before Christmas. I kept wanting to post and the I would think gosh, it has been so long since I have posted what do I even say?! Well Christmas as usual got a bit hectic so I didn't have time to write. Then I spent January exhausted and simply trying to recover from Xmas. Then in the beginning of February I hurt my spine again. I was out of work for a few weeks and pretty much just laid up in bed so then I didn't post anything either. Well now I am starting to recover and I am back to work again so I have no excuse! I am not really sure I have anything important to say, but I figure just writting something was a good first step!

We had our monthly Craft Nite with the Craft Mafia last night. It was fun, saw some new faces and some old ones! I made a cute pair of feather earrings and I tried to make a cute feather hairband, but somehow the craft gods were not with me on that one and after an hour of trying to decide which arangement looked cutest, I just gave up!

We have a craft show coming up the first Sunday in May. It will be a mother's day theme. I am in charge of running this one so I am excited, hopefully all will go well and I will post more details when I have them!

Craft Night and TV

2008-12-15T15:27:00.001-08:00

So tomorrow night (Tuesday, December 16th) is craft night where you can come craft with the mafia!! I will be showing people how to make cute glass ornaments! You don't need to bring anything, just your cheerful selves! And if glass ornaments aren't your thing feel free to come one by and work on whatever crafty project you are currently making, or even just hang out and have some coffee or tea!

Here's the details:

Tuesday, December 16th
7-9pm
Filter Coffee House
4096 30th St., 92104
Free Event

And here is a sneak peak at the ornaments I will be showing people how to make!

I will also be on "San Diego Living" on San Diego CW Channel 6 tomorrow, Tuesday, 12/16/08 sometime between 9-10am showing San Diego how to make a fun countdown to Christmas calendar using stockings, so tune in!

The Holiday Hit List was a Hit!

2008-12-15T15:16:00.000-08:00

Well we literally had people lined up around the building waiting for the doors to open! So I would sure say that is the sign of a successful craft show!! It was a very fun but busy day! We had raffles every half hour, a fashion show which had some super cute things in it and the 70 vendors that were selling had some super cute stuff! They had iPod cozies shaped like monsters, some awesome jewelry, shirts, plushies, there was a little bit of everything! Well I had fun, and I am sad it is over, but I need a rest so I guess I am also relieved!

Holiday Hit List!

2008-12-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

So I am putting on a HUGE craft show this Sunday, 12/7/08 from Noon - 6pm at the NTC Promenade at Liberty Station down in Pt. Loma.

If you came to my huge show last Spring, this one will be even bigger and better! This time we have 70 vendors! Also the aisles will be wider so there is more room to move around and shop! And we will have a DJ (live bands were just a bit too loud inside!). So hopefully we have improved on the Spring Show in every way!

We will be giving out free bags full of goodies to the first 100 customers again, people started lining up an hour early! If you want free stuff, I suggest getting there early! If you don't care about free stuff, then I wouldn't get there right at noon because that is when it will be the most crowded.

The website is www.holidayhitlist.com

Let me know if you have any questions! Hope to see you there!
~Amy

The Holiday Hit List will be held at the Corky McMillin Event Center located at the corner of Truxtun & Dewey Roads - 2875 Dewey Rd. S.D., CA 92106 . It's a large event hall with lots to offer.

UCSD Holiday Sale

2008-12-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

It's time for the UCSD Holiday Craft Sale again!

It is a really fun sale, there is TONS of cool pottery, plus jewelry, handblown glass, paintings, ect... Everything at the sale is handmade! It is a really great way for some of the teachers at the Craft Center to also show off and sell some of what they have been doing. I am also blown away by how good some of the prices are! The pottery starts at $1!!! Can you believe that? And they have everything from $1 - $100 and every price in between. Last year I got a neat handblown glass cup for only $8, I ws so excited! Ans the jewelry is neat too! Especially mine, hahahahah!
The sale is Tuesday 12/2 - Thursday 12/4 from 10am - 5pm each day.

The sale is located in the UCSD Craft Center which is part of the Old Student Center complex, here is a map!

I am also getting ready for the Craft Mafia's Holiday Hit List which is this Sunday, 12/7 at Liberty Station in Point Loma. What a busy week! www.holidayhitlist.com

Tonight!

2008-11-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight from 7pm - 10pm my Craft Mafia is appearing at the "Best of City Beat" because we were chosen as the best shopping event in town!

It sounds like a really cool event. It is $15 if you buy tickets online (and $20 at the door) but all of the proceeds go to benefit the Children's Museum!

For $15 you get to have beer samples from some of the City Beat Best local microbreweries (like Port Brewing Co, mmmm, my favorite!) And you get food samples from some of the City Beat Best restaurants (and there are some pretty upscale places included in here!). You also get a free CD of Best local music. And there will be entertainment including circus acts and music. So it sucks that it costs money, but a lot of similar things I go to (like a "Taste of Hillcrest") cost like $30 so this doesn't seem to bad. And it is for charity! It is being held at the brand new Children's Museum!

So if you are interested you can go to http://www.sdcitybeat.net/bosd/ to buy tickets.

You can plug an iPod into just about anything....

2008-11-05T18:09:00.001-08:00

Today I saw this advertised on the JoAnn website and I could not stop laughing!

It is the "Rock Paper Trimmer" by Friskars. It is a paper trimmer (like for scrapbooking) and you can plug your ipod right into it and play music on it's speaker. It's $99, but it is currently on sale at JoAnn's for $69. I mean I guess that is cool if you like music and cutting paper, but for $10 you can get a regular paper trimmer and for like $15 you can get ipod speakers, so I am just not sure I would pay so much to get them combined, but hey, I am a cheap bitch.

PARTY!!!!!

2008-10-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

The San Diego North Park Craft Mafia is celebrating our One Year Anniversary!!!

Yayy!!!

So in honor of this momentous occasion we are throwing a party!!!

It is tomorrow (Friday, October 10th) at the U31 Bar & Lounge in North Park from 7-9pm.

We will have cake, catered appetizers, and of course great shopping! We are not providing alcohol, but there are great Happy Hour Specials!

So come on by and celebrate!!!

Costumes

2008-09-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

Not sure what I want to be for Halloween yet, but this is a cute idea! hahahahaha

http://superpunch.blogspot.com/2007/10/make-lego-brick-costume.html

Crafty Vendors needed!

2008-09-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's that time again! We've getting ready for our Holiday Hit List event happening on December 7th in San Diego! This is a holiday shopping event that is sure to please. We have a new venue this year - the NTC Promenade in Pt. Loma! Interested in being a vendor? Visit our website for all the FAQs ! http://www.sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com/ There's a link to the online app. on the FAQ page. Hurry, the deadline for apps. is October 3rd.

This is going to be a great show with entertainment, giveaways, craft demos, fashion show, and more!

Art + Fish

2008-09-16T12:37:00.001-07:00

Ok, so my UCSD annual performance review was yesterday so I worked all week last week on my presentation for it which is why I have not posted anything here!

So the weekend before last Trevor and I drove up to LA to see his parents. On Saturday we went to see the La Brea Tar Pits, I went once when I was like 5 years old and I remember there being dinosaurs. Well Iguess the tar pits are only like 40,000 years old and Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, so bummer. When I went when I was 5 I also went to the LA Natural History Museum that day, I guess that must be what I am remembering....? Well the La Brea Tar Pits are neat and all, they have a giant lake of tar and the animals used to think mmm that looks like tasty water and they would walk in and then get stuck so now we have a ton of fossils. They had lots of Wooly Mammoths and literally 1000's of dire wolves, but the museum was actually quite small overall and a bit disappointing.

So then I also wanted to go to LACMA (the LA County Museum of Art) because my co-worker told me they have an entire exhibit on costumes and textiles (yayy, you know me I love sewing!). And how perfect, LACMA is in the same park as the tar pits (I know, lets put an art museum on a field with tar seeping out from under it....). So we went, but the textile/costume exhibit was CLOSED for renovations! hahahaha, just my luck! Well we walked around other parts of the museum, it is pretty big, there are several buildings. I really liked it overall. It had a lot of variety, like they had Asian Art, and a lot of times that just means Japan and China, but they had pieces from Indonesia, Nepal, Tibet, Malaysia, ect..... They had a lot of neat Islamic Art, African, European, American, ect..... I went to the Ghetty once, which is world famous I guess, and yeah it was neat, but they had very little variety, they would have an entire floor with 17th century paintings of animals, it was just row after row of the same thing, ugh! They had really neat European furniture that was just completely over the top and lavish, but after seeing 20 rooms of this stuff eve that got old! So I liked how LACMA had just a little bit of everything!

Then Sunday we went to the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon and saw Shakespeare's "As You Like It." It was cute! And then after a long weekend we drove back to SD! Then I spent a long week reviewing resumes for a new assistant at work and preparing my presentation for my annual performance review. but phew all of that is over.

This past weekend I went snorkeling in La Jolla Cove with Trevor and Analee. I LOVE to snorkel, but I don't go very often here. Even though San Diego has nice weather the ocean is still really cold because our water comes from up in Alaska. Also the water is somewhat choppy so the visibility is not very good. I went snorkeling because the leopard sharks were supposed to be in town, the migrate here once a year to reproduce. One of my coworkers went a week ago and saw tons. Well I did not see any sharks, but I did see tons of garibaldi which is a neon orange fish with a really angry looking forehead, hehehehe.

We only went for like an hour since it was cold and the visibility was poor, but it was fun! Then we met my friends Evelyn and Katie for lunch for lunch at Lotsa Pasta which was fun becasue I don't get to see them nearly often enough. Evelyn has 2 kids and Rhiannon is 3 now which is CRAZY and Michael is almost 1, where does the time go!? Then I spent most of the rest of the weekend cleaning my house which was not very exciting, but I feel I got a lot done. I had an impormptu party where we p layed Wii Mario Cart while drinking, hahahaha. Driving drunk is hard, even on the Wii! ;)

This Weekend

2008-09-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

I am STILL just a little bit sick! Ugh! I have a lingering cough that just won't go away! I have been sick for TWO weeks!

Well the lovely ladies of the San Diego North Park Craft Mafia are having another great show this Sunday, it is part of our monthly series, the first Sunday of each month we have a craft show at the Filter coffee house in North Park. I am so bummed, I won't make it to this one (I have to go visit Trevor's family in LA for the weekend) but the rest of you should go have fun, drink some coffee and check it out. (Ok, I don't drink coffee but I highly recommend the white hot coco!)

For detail check out http://www.sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com/

Sick....ugh

2008-08-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not been very active on my blog lately. I have had a sinus infection all week so that has been a bummer, then on Wednesday night for no apparent reason my entire ankle swelled up!

It sucks being sick when it is hot and you have no air conditioning, ~sigh~

Well I am on the mend!

Ups & Downs

2008-08-10T01:57:00.000-07:00

Well all in all it has been a pretty horrible month. I went to the emergency room for my spine, then my turtle ran away, then my Grandpa passed away. So just when I thought things couldn't get worse, they did. So Friday was pretty awful, but Saturday two of my good friends, Kean + Tammy, were visiting from Seattle, and I haven't seen them in like a year so that was nice. I spent pretty much the entire day with friends and I think I needed that. Sunday, Aug 10th I have a art show, it is called "More Super Sundays" and it is in Hillcrest, we are on University + Richmond right in front of the Alibi so I am hopeful about that. For more info check out my "events" page.

Trying to get my sh*t together

2008-08-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we had our "Sunday, Crafty Sunday" this past weekend at the Ken Club down in Kennsigton. It was pretty wild! This is the first craft show that I have ever participated in that was 21&up so that was very different. It was in a bar, so everything was all dark and crazy and stuff. The music was really good! I REALLY liked both the bands, but it was a very small space so my ears were still ringing on Sunday! The Burlesque dancers were both fantastic! That is not something you normally see at a craft show!
Well, just being at a craft show has me all fired up to get more of my crafts on the internet. So I took a whole bunch of photos and I am going to list some stuff on Etsy this week. I also looked into taking community college classes so I can learn more about Dreamweaver so I can make my own website! Yayy!

Sunday, Crafty Sunday

2008-07-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

I have a craft show coming up this Sunday! I am pretty excited, it has been a while since I have done craft shows I have been so busy with other stuff lately! I think the last one I did was the UCSD Craft Show at the begining of June!
This craft show is also quite different from anything I have done before! It is in a bar, hehehehehe, so it is a 21 & up craft show which I find funny. I think it will be pretty cool, I am excited just to go and hang out even if I don't sell anything. We are having a bunch of cool bands, DJs and even a burlesque show! My friend Lyn is in a burlesque troupe here in San Diego called "A Bit o' Burlesque" and she was saying she might be dancing this Sunday and I was like oh where and she said at the Ken Club, which is where my show is! hahahaha So my friend might be dancing at my show and I didn't even know it!

Well what a better combo? Crafts, alcohol, music, and dancing, YAYYY!

If you want more info, check out our website: http://sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com/events.html

Comic-con 2008!

2008-07-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well Comic-con was pretty fun overall this year. I was a bit worried because of my injury that I would not be able to go, but I did manage. I maybe did not stay as long as I would have liked to, or gotten to do as much as I might have wanted to, but at least I got to go at all. On Tuesday I had absolutely no feeling in my foot and I couldn't walk so at that point I figured no way could I go, but then I regained feeling in my big toe, now I know that does not sound very important, but even if you only have feeling in your big toe, at least you can feel where you are putting your foot and then you don't accidentally twist your ankle.

Well my friends and I did decide to cosplay this year, I dressed up as Princess Peach from "Super Mario Brothers." I look kinda creepy as a blonde!

My friends went as the video game "Super Smash Brothers" which is neat, it is a fighting game with all sorts of famous video game characters in it so it allowed us all to go as things we really wanted to go as from different video games. With such a large group it can be hard to pick just one thing to dress as!

So starting from the left I am Peach, Sherief dressed as 'Snake,' Megan is 'Daisy,' Blue-gelica is "Ice Climber", Eirikr is "Mario", Brook is "Pit", Sean is "Ness", Sarah is "Zelda", Brion is "Marth", Josh is "Ike", and Trevor is "Link."

It was fun! I had so many little girls go, 'look look mommy, a princess' as I walked by, and I would wave at them and they would get SO EXCITED. It was funny!

Our friend Analee also came as Aeris from FFVII, so cute!

I have sooo many photos, I will have to upload a slideshow or something, maybe later. Well all in all it was a fun year despite the injury and despite the fact that there were not as many panels that I wanted to see as normal.

Last year I was angry because it was SO crowded, but I don't think it was any worse this year, so that is good at least.

Emergency Room Woes

2008-07-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well I saw "Batman: The Dark Knight" on Friday evening, it was ok. I liked Batman Begins better but this one is still worth seeing. I was in a lot of pain when I got home (sitting in a movie theater can be difficult on my spine sometimes) so I took some vicodin and got a ziploc bag filled with ice to put on my spine. I woke up at 4am in HORRIBLE pain (and I was wet and laying in a puddle, I guess I fell asleep with the ice still there). Normally when my spine is in pain, laying down is what feels best. But this time it hurt to lay on my back, it hurt to lay on my side, and it REALLY hurt to lay on my stomach. Well I guess I was crying so that woke Trevor up. Then we were trying to decide what to do. With my insurance the emergency room is $50, but if I waited until the normal offices open at 9am then I can get an urgent care appointment for only $15. Well I thought about it for like an hour and decided I was in too much pain to wait so we went to the emergency room. We got there at 6am, it was EMPTY! My biggest fear was going to the emergency room and then having to wait several hours to be seen anyways. They admitted me immediately. They said my spinal disc was probably inflamed, normally when my spine is bad I have pain shooting down the from of my leg and into my shin and foot. This time I had pain down the back of my leg shooting into my buttock. Normally it hurts to sit, this time sitting actually felt 'good' and it hurt to lay! They gave me a injection into my butt of some pain reliever. It made me sooo nauseous, but it also made me sleepy so that was nice. They didn't want me to stand because they were worried I would pass out, but I told them I didn't want to lay becasue it hurt, but they made me! I had some interesting times flopping about the bed trying to get comfy, I flashed everyone my underpants 100 times (I was in those stupid ties-in-the-back hospital gowns) and I almost feel off the gurney once! After a few hours of observation and tests they sent me to the pharmacy, they sent me home with steroids to helps the inflamation and to strengthen things up, they also gave me some percocet for pain. When I got home I was able to sleep for several hours, that was nice. But when I woke up I was in terrible pain again. I took the percocet and it did not kick in for 1 1/2 hours!!!!! It only helped the pain barely, plus I think it made me nauseous again! So I tried to lay down to go to sleep that night, but it hurt soo bad. I tried sitting in my computer chair, which felt better, but I just could not fall asleep sitting up (it is too bad I don't have a recliner chair). So I got into bed and was in and out of sleep all night.

I decided to go back to the doctor on Sunday, this time I waited until 9am to go to urgent care (I just couldn't afford $50 again for the emergency room). The funny this is even though I had an appointment it actually took me longer to be seen this time! I told the DR. the percocet wasn't helping at all. Also Saturday the pain was just in my spine, butt, and the top of my leg, today my whole right foot underneath had gone numb. It made it very hard to walk, I am very worried I will twist an ankle before all is said + done. He gave me another shot in the butt (I guess it is a hydromorphone solution) and then he sent me home with MORPHINE and muscle relaxants (flexeril I think). Well this time the injection helped a LOT. I went to bed right away, stayed asleep for hours and never felt nauseous! It helped so much I did not need to take pain killers all day! I did take a morphine and flexeril as I went to bed that night, but I fell asleep right away so I did not know how much they helped.

Now it is Monday and my Dr. told me to stay home all week to rest up and get better. Makes sense, especially since my foot is still numb and it is hard to walk. Also for some reason, they did not want me to go to work on Morphine, heheheeh. Well at noon I took a morphine and I did not notice any difference until 1:48. Then I felt a slight flush and my pain was slightly better. I am somewhat disappointed. I thought Morphine sounded very powerful, hey now I am finally using the big guns I thought, but nope!!! Morphine helped a little, but it was hardly much better than anything else I have taken! At least I am not nauseous today! So I am not loopy, or anything, does that mean someday I can go to work and take morphine!!! Still seems kinda weird! I really think there must be something wrong with my metabolism! Well all-in-all I do feel better than this weekend, still in pain, but nothing like before. Maybe the injections helped? Or maybe the steroids are starting to take effect, who can say?

Well one other thing I wanted to say was this last weekend was Gay Pride Weekend in San Diego, and obviously I did not get to participate in the activities and show support for my friends that are walking a different path in life than I am, but I did want to say to everyone, "Have a Gay Day!"

Distracted by Cake

2008-07-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

I am working on my costume for comic-con so I have been Googling "Princess Peach" images so I can get some inspiration for my costume, well I found the funniest picture of a Super Mario Brothers wedding cake! Then suddenly it was an hour later and I had been doing nothing but looking up funny video game cakes on the internet and here they are!

Martha even shows you how to make your own Wii cake (this is NOT a joke)

And even a Zelda ice sculpture!

Then I decided to give a shout out to Trevor and look up Star Wars cakes, but all in all they are not nearly as creative with a few exceptions.....

And now I am hungry, ~sigh~

Back from Yosemite

2008-07-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I am back from Yosemite and I had a very awesome time, I will write more about that when I have the pictures downloaded off my camera....but for now you can hear about my dining adventures on the way!

One of my favorite parts about taking a road trip is stopping at Sonic Burger! We don't have any in San Diego (the closest one is 100 miles away!) but we still have the delicious commercials playing on TV here which lead to intense cravings for Sonic Burger. The best thing about Sonic is their drink selection, it is CRAZY!!! They have soooo many options you could go over and over again and never order the same thing twice. Well I am a big fan of the cherry lime-aide, but this time I decided to try their "real fruit slushies" I got lemon berry, it was SO GOOD!!!! I have a favorite new drink!!!! I highly reccomend it! There is real strawberries and lemons in it! I also had the cheddar bites!!! It is a lot like the 'cheese-on-a-stick' from "Hot-dog-on-a-stick" except bite sized, mmm!

Shoe Trauma!!!

2008-07-01T16:04:00.001-07:00

The age old question, comfort or beauty?

Ok so I had a long weekend of walking around all day and my feet got kinda tired by the end of all of it. This got me thinking maybe it is time for some "actual" sneakers instead of the cutesy colored ones I buy. My favorite pair is "Sugar" brand so I am sure that hardly counts as an actual athletic shoe!!! Also I am going to Yosemite next week and a better shoe to hike around in might be smart, and I am going to the gym more so I guess a good shoes would not hurt there either...

So I heard Road Runner Sports has this thing where they "test" your foot and then tell you what shoe is best for your specific foot. Well you have to sign up, then wait around for them to call your name, then they do it and they give you the results (which don't really mean anything to me) and then you wait around AGAIN for someone to help you. Then they help you and they have to have your shoes brought up from the warehouse so then you wait around AGAIN.

So the first pair was soooo cute, it was gray and purple! But it was very uncomfortable.... The second pair was kinda ugly, it was white (I hate white, it gets too dirty) with a bright blue Nike swoop on the side which I also find kinda silly!

I told the guy the Nikes were more comfy but the purple pair was way cuter and he yelled at me that cute doesn't matter and immediately took away the purple ones! He brought me some purple and white ones, not as cute, more comfy but not great and then some brown ones that were ugly and uncomfortable. They also recommended some insoles to mee, and they had them available to try on, but somehow I never got that far....

So it took an hour and I had only tried on 4 pairs of shoes so I decided to go, the Nikes were $92 which is a bit much! Even if they are comfy. I went to Big 5 and tried on some shoes, but they were not any better than my "Sugar" shoes.

So I went back to work very dejected.....then I decided to see if I could find the Nike's anywhere else... I looked online and I can get them for $80 but I kinda want them immediately so I can wear them to Yosemite! Places in town, like Footlocker & Sports Authority all seem to be $90. Then I looked at REI and they have them for $60!!! Suddenly that is a price I can handle (kinda, my normal cutsey shoes are ussually only $20 but I gues quality costs more)! I called and they only have one in my size so I don't know if I should run and buy them now, or if I should go home and get my "sugar" shoes and try out the insoles at Road Runner, but I feel really silly going back....especially since I don't intend to buy anything (I have seen the insoles cheaper at Kaiser of all places, but I can only try them on at Road Runner).

Ahhh, such tough desicions!

Too Hot

2008-06-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

What a long hot weekend, this weird part of me is happy to be back to work because my building here has air-conditioning and my house does not. It was over 90 degrees in my house! It gets this hot in August all the time, but never in June!! I mostly feel bad leaving my poor cats their all day! And they have fur! Well it has cooled down a little so hopefully they are doing better!

The UCSD Craft Sale starts today!!!!!

2008-06-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

I am very excited because the UCSD Craft Sale starts today! I just set all my stuff up, the best part about that is I get to see everybody else's stuff before it goes on sale!

It is a really fun sale, there is TONS of cool pottery, plus jewelry, handblown glass, paintings, ect... Everything at the sale is handmade! It is a really great way for some of the teachers at the Craft Center to also show off and sell some of what they have been doing. I am also blown away by how good some of the prices are! The pottery starts at $1!!! Can you believe that? And they have everything from $1 - $100 and every price in between. Last year I got a neat handblown glass cup for only $8, I ws so excited! Ans the jewelry is neat too! No 2 artists have similar items, it is nice to see how everyone has a very different style and you can really tell by looking at their work!

Today is the 'preview day' of the sale so the hours are only 2pm-6pm but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the hours are 10am-6pm.

The sale is located in the UCSD Craft Center which is part of the Old Student Center complex, here is a map!

Crafts, TV, Karaoke, & City Beat

2008-05-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well my Craft Mafia has been very very busy!

We have monthly craft shows the first Sunday of every month (that's THIS Sunday)!!! And the TV station Fox 6 asked our founding members, Svea, Penni, and Teresa to come on and promote our craft show! They got a whole 5 minutes to demonstrate how to jazz up some eco-friendly shopping bags! It was awesome!

Our next craft show is this sunday:
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
1 2 Noon to 5 p.m.
@ Filter coffee house
4096 30th St., SD 92104

I am so bummed I cannot be there, I will be getting ready for my UCSD craft show which runs Monday-Thursday on the UCSD campus. But there will be many other neat vendors, check out our website for a list! http://sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com/events.html

We were also asked to sponsor a karaoke night at U-31, a neat bar in North Park. So that will be lots of fun, it is Tuesday June 10th, but I will have more details soon!

Also we made it in the City Beat's "Summer Guide" as one of the 6 coolest Summer Shopping Events! (we were number 2, yayy!)

What an exciting 2 weeks it has been!!

Hot Weekend!

2008-05-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well I had a long hot weekend! I had a garage sale Saturday and no one came because it was SO hot! Then Sunday I was selling at the Escondido Street Faire, but it was 100 degrees!!! I did not sell much, but I met some other crafters and I got very tan!

An Early Weekend is Coming!

2008-05-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Escondido Street Faire is this Sunday!! I am very excited, I think my spot is quite well located! I am on Grand Ave, right in between Escondido and Maple, closer to Maple. I am on the South side of the street. Overall this seems quite centrally located so I am happy! I am ~not~ happy about my set up time, by oh well! My st up time is 6am, which means I should leave my house at 5:30am, which means I should wake up at 4:30am. EEEKKKKKK!!!!!! Too early! Oh the torture I endure for my art!!!! If you are in the area com check me out! The faire is from 9am-5pm in downtown Escondido on Grand Ave. It is the 2nd biggest street faire in the whole state with over 600 booths! Cool, huh?

And Saturday I am having a garage sale at my house, so I have to be up by 6am!! So it is a very early weekend for me!

Becasue low-cut jeans are just not enough revealing!

2008-05-10T01:09:00.000-07:00

These are bikini jeans!!!!! That's right, now you can have the comfort of wearing jeans, but the (awesome?) fashion of wearing a bikini. I just simply cannot believe that these exist and I really have nothing further to say on the subject, I am just too horrified!

My cute little cat is creeping me out!

2008-04-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

So my cat Sophie has HUGE eyes! In the light they are a very pretty soft green, although sometimes her pupils are so large that it looks like she has black eyes! Normally she is very cute!

But she likes to sit at the end of a dark hallway just inside my bedroom door. Her eyes are so reflective that all you see is 2 giant yellow glowing things staring at you! And then they BLINK which is even creepier somehow!WOW! I mean I know cats have reflective eyes, and I have had a lot of cats, but this is just crazy!

I like fish, but not Long Beach

2008-04-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so a week ago it was Trevor and my 7th anniversary so we decided to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific! I had never been there so I was excited! Well we were still quite tired from last month (see previous post) so Friday night we were like, well should we set an alarm clock? Well, yes we "should" but we are so tired, lets just see if we wake up in time we will go, if not then it was not meant to be....

So we woke up at 9am, not too bad actually so we decided yes lets go! Now of course the down side is that it took me 2 hours to get ready (I had to wash my hair....I have a LOT of hair). So it is 11am, suddenly it almost seems silly to go, but we were all excited so we decide to go anyways. I have a bag with knitting that I like to bring in the car (why not get some crafting done if I am stuck in a car for 2 hours?). But I am rather clumsy so as we are leaving and my hands are very full, I bump into the wall, this drives the "knifty knitter" hook into my thigh. It took out a chunk of flesh 1/4 in wide by 1/4" deep! Ouch!

We also decide if we are all the way up there, we might as well stop at Sonic Burger for lunch! There is not a Sonic burger closer than 90 miles to my house, which is very sad because despite this they play the commercials on TV here in San Diego all the time and it makes me want to eat there! I really love Sonic Burger, they have so many drink options, and cool things like tater tots instead of fries! Anyways, we get to Sonic, and you drive or walk up to the menu, press a button and wait for someone to take your order. Well it was so crowded every drive-in slot was full so we went to the walk up tables. We pressed the button and after like 15 minutes no one had taken our order, so I decided to go to a different button, and then our order got placed after like 5 minutes. I guess I am saying we were there for longer than I had wanted and I was feeling like we were already late the the aquarium! It was also at this time that I discovered that during the painful hook into leg incident that I had dropped my hair clip as I was stabbed and while Trevor gathered up everything I had dropped he failed to get the hairclip, it was like 90 degrees Saturday and I have waist-length thick curly hair so I was DYING of heat without my hairclip...

So we get to Long Beach and the freeway just sorta dead-ends into downtown Long Beach, there are these stupid forks and google maps tells us something like take the left fork, right fork, right fork, left fork. Well clearly we missed a fork at some point because we ended up in the wrong part of town, we followed the signs to the Aquarium so we thought we'd be ok, but these actually led us back on to the freeway, Trevor said well I will just stay in the right lane so we can take the first exit, well I guess in Long Beach they have exits on the LEFT side! So we see a sign that says for the Aquarium you need to exit left and U-turn (wow that is stupid) so we cut across three lanes of traffic, we finally make it to the stupid Aquarium and the parking is full, so we park across the street in the "Pike" parking garage (I still am not sure what the Pike is...).

Yayy, we are finally at the Aquarium! Wow, they had the BIGGEST sting ray I have ever seen in my life! It had spots like a leopard, not I know many people say "spots like a leopard, and they just mean it had spots, but this sting ray really really looking like it had leopard skin (minus the fur).

The seahorses were so cute and tiny!

They had the most magnificent collection of jellyfish! My favorite was this one neat tank where they had res lights in the front which made the jellyfish glow red, then in the middle was white lights and in the back was dark so you had this neat mix of red, white, and shadowy jellyfish floating about.
So we finish looking at fish and we decide it is time to go, we go back to the "pike" parking garage and there is a line to leave (we are on the top 6th floor) so we are like dang this could take forever! Well we did not even realize the extent of how horrible it was.... After 20 minutes we had only moved one car length!! We saw an open parking spot so we decided to go park again and go kill time somewhere instead of sitting in line. As we were in the elevator going down the doors would open and you could see that the traffic was totally jammed on floor as well. Floor was jammed. The doors open on floor and it was completely empty, we were like, woah, where did all the traffic go???? We figured that there MUST be a traffic accident on floor 4. So we go to a Borders across the street to kill time, I bought 3 cookbooks, hehehe, opps! So we go back an hour later and the traffic is totally cleared, we see a security dude and we ask him hey was there an accident earlier, he said no it was crowded because people were leaving the aquarium, movie theater and something else all at the same time. Well that just did not make sense to us, then why was there no traffic on floors 1-3? Well as we were driving out we found out why, for floors 4-6 you have to drive through the garage to get out but at floor 4 they send you out to some funny little loop exit on the side of the garage. So everyone on floors 4-6 has to wait to get in the loopy exit as people from floors 1-3 also are cutting in front of them, what a poorly designed garage!!!

So we are finally leaving and Trevor asks what we want to do for dinner, I say lets just get the heck out of Long Beach/LA/Orange or wherever we are. Lets go home to San Diego where the roads are labeled and there are no weird left lane exits. Well then Trevor points out that it is 7pm already (I have not adjusted to daylight savings I guess) and that by the time we get home it will be too late to get dinner. So we decide to go to "Amazon" which was a Brazilian place that we had seen across the street from Sonic Burger. It was good, they had all sorts of funny meats like alligator and the waiter comes to your table with a sword of meat and spears you off a slice. We ate our meat, we went across the street and got a cherry-limeade and then went home to San Diego (which I have a new appreciation for) and fell promptly asleep.

I'm FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

So I am always a busy person. I am an only child and I think that being an only child has been fantastic! People say, oh weren't you bored or lonely as a child? No! I could always come up with something to do, this led to several robust hobbies that I have kept on into my adulthood, like crafting, cooking, gardening, video games, reading, costuming, theater, ect.....

Well this past month I took being busy to a new and unholy level. But I am FINALLY finished with my crazy commitments and I am FREEEEEE! Don't get me wrong, I am still quite busy, trying to schedule anything on a weekend for the next 4 months is a joke (I do have some free days coming up in August). But that is my normal state, rather than the work all say, stay late, then go home and work until I drop from exhaustion! I normally don't have this many CRAZY huge things all lumped at once, here is what I have been up to:

March 25th was our "site visit" at work. I work in a Bio lab at UCSD and every 5 years the federal government (NIH) comes to inspect us to see if we deserve more money for the next 5 years. So needless to say this is a HUGE deal for my work, we have to have everything ready and perfect.

Then March 30th was our Spring Line Up! Craft Show. This was a blast! I can't believe how many people came! I was on the PR committee so I am glad to see all our hard work getting the word out paid off! The only downside is right when we opened the doors it was so crowded people could hardly shop!!! If you stopped to buy something everyone behind you bumped into you!!! Well we are working on that for next time! Check out my pictures! I also hate to say I am glad it is over! I enjoyed doing it, but it was also hard because I was simultaneously trying to start up my business so I had to also do things like design and order business cards, get my tax license, try to make a website, ect.......... I also had never done PR before so I had no idea what that would be like! Then I made a 100 pairs of earrings to give away in the swag bag, and I had to make stuff to sell too! So it was pretty crazy, but it was worth it. Also I bet it will get easier with each show I do!
Then on April 5th I had to cook a medieval feast for 80+ people!!! The UCSD medieval club (otherwise known as the College of St. Artemas in the SCA) was having it's 20th anniversary extravaganza so I wanted to do an extra-special feast this year! I decided that the main course would be a beef Tri-Tip roast, it came out SO GOOD! The beef melted in your mouth! We had two ziploc bags of meat leftover which they decided to auction off and they went for $40 each! I cannot believe we made $80 auctioning off leftovers!!! A lot of people told me it was the best feast that they ever went to so I guess I am pretty proud of myself! We did not quote sell out, we were selling 80 seats and we were about 15 short so that means we had about 65 people. Well I cooked 120lbs of meat! And there was not very much leftover! So that means on average people ate 2lbs of meat each PLUS side dishes. We did not have many side dishes left either! It was crazy! Here, check out our crazy menu!

St. Artemas 20^th Anniversary

Feast Extravaganza!

~Course One~

St. Artemas Veggie Platter

Featuring green veggies and special yellow St. Artemas carrots!

Tzatziki Dip

A refreshing yogurt based dip with cucumber and dill

~Course Two~

Capon Rosted

A roasted chicken where lemon and rosemary infused butter is rubbed

under the skin with moist and delicious results

Fenkel in Soppes

Fennel and onions are sautéed in olive oil and seasoning and then turned

into a very light and tasty soup

Bread & Butter

A classic staple! The butter is flavored with honey, fresh parsley, and basil

~Course Three~

Malaches of Pork

With eggs, pine nuts, currants, ground pork, and seasoning this medieval

quiche is basically sausage pie which is extremely scrumptious

Salat

A salad of mixed greens, red onions, glazed walnuts, gorgonzola, and

a balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Couscous

A grain dish that is actually made of very small pasta spheres, added to

this is dried apricots, almonds, and olive oil for a pleasantly sweet flavor

~Course Four~

A Roste

Beef Tri-tip is roasted to perfection for a melt in your mouth consistency

and covered in an exotic array of sweet and savory spices

Garlec

Garlic cloves boiled with a rich array of spices

Hummus

A dip made of mashed chickpeas, garlic, tahini, and pine nuts

Pita

A slightly leaved wheat flat bread with a subtle onion flavor

~Course Five~

Fyne Cakes

These cute little cakes are shaped like mini castles and taste similar to modern

shortbread with cinnamon

Glazed Nuts

A delightful mix of sweet spiced pecans and walnuts

AWESOME Swag for "Spring Line Up"

2008-03-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ninjas, Robots, and Earrings, OH MY!

Look what fabulous swag we have to give away at the "Spring Line Up!"

If you want to see more great pictures check out my Picasa Album!

My kitchen has literally been overrun with swag!

So for my part in the great swag giveaway I decided to make earrings! We are giving away 100 swag bags to the first 100 people at the Spring Line Up! Well that sounded fine and good, but I had no idea how much work making 100 earrings would be! 100 pairs of earrings actually means you need to make 200 individual earrings! (duh) But man are my hands tired!
I think they came out pretty cute, so it was worth it!
I wanted to show off some of the other great goodies we recieved! These are some of the plushies and cards from www.sweetandsourgoodies.com I am just amazed at all of the cool things she is giving away for FREE in our swag bags! I cannot imagine the time she must have put into these!

She just has such a neat variety of stuff, there are tiny ninjas, medium ninjas, and huge ninjas for our raffle (not pictured). My personal favorite is the geisha! there are also neat cards and pin cushions!

These SUPER cute cards from www.heartsandlaserbeams.com They are so funky, I love it!

BEADS!!!! The pack on your left is a "build-a-bracelet" kit from www.p-starr.com (what a cute idea, now people can participate in the DIY fun!) The pack on your right is a huge bag of beads from www.southsunproducts.com a local bead shop here in San Diego

These elegant cards are from www.invitapaperstudio.com I love the sift colors, it makes them so classy!
Fun stickers!!! From sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com www.bellepeppercouture.com www.velvetklaw.com and www.iwishihadapenguinfriend.com
I love the UGLY=CUTE movement, and I think these darling little monsters qualify! They are from www.bognogginz.com
Everyone loves buttons!!! From www.madewithluv.com www.longbeachcraftmafia.com and www.poseurink.com
The comb is from the fabulous stylists at www.hairdrezzersonfire.com and the cute candy bracelet is from www.jewelrybyallison.com
These are SO CLEVER! It looks like a little matchbook, but it is actually a cute little notepad! They are from shindigshirley.etsy.com
These cards are so witty and clever! They are from www.iwishihadapenguinfriend.com
What a funky and fresh card! It is made by staceywinters.etsy.com
I am sad that you cannot see these earrings more clearly, I tried to take a clear picture but they are wrapped in parchment paper and I did not want to open them! They are from asilomarworks.etsy.com and I cannot believe sh made so many, I love them!
This cute little magnet is from alteredprovisions.com and this yummy smelling soap from sparkledarkko.etsy.com is fantastic!
Well www.pixelknit.com makes these coffee cozies to go on your coffee cup, but quite frankly I think they make excellent arm warmers too!
These are cute little stitch markers from itscute.etsy.com
Great coupons from www.theweeset.com and sewhut.com
These are lip balms from naiad.etsy.com and they come in such neat unusual flavors! each one also comes with a cute little button!
Ohhhh, I am soooo jealous I don't get a swag bag! I'll have to see if my friends get any, maybe I can do some trades, heheheheehehe.

Spring is here!!!

2008-03-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

Well in the past 2 weeks my garden has exploded in floral activity! The whole San Diego county has it seems like! As I drive down the freeways every hill is covered in neon yellow, purple, and orange! It is very exciting because most of the year our hillsides are brown because it is so hot and dry!

I bought the above asiatic lily 2 years ago and I had no idea of was the type of plant that goes dormant each year (I don't have any of those!). So when it withered up I thought I had killed it!!!!! I put the pot around the side of my house and I figured when I had time I would plant something new in the pot! Well it is a good thing I was so busy last year that I never got around to doing that!! Imagine my surprise when I went around to the side of my house last spring to get something and there was a whole huge plant again!! I was so amazed!!! My parents of course late looked at me like I was stupid, "of course Amy, those go dormant." Well it looks like he is sprouting up again for this year!!! It is very exciting because even now I know he goes dormant I am still always a little worried I killed him!
Yayy! Purple is my favorite color!

My geraniums have grown so much this month they are as tall as my 6ft high fence, that's craziness!! I had no idea they were such a fast growing plant, it keeps sending little seedlings out into my lawn. I ripped some out when we put the pond it, I threw it in a trash can for 3 days, then I changed my mind and planted it in a pot and it is doing great! How many plants can do that? I still have some in a trash can and it keeps blooming! it has no dirt, I am not watering it, and yet it is blooming!

Just got these! So pretty!
These are Azaleas, they are becoming one of my favorite new plants!
Some daisies I dug up from my parents garden (with their permission), they were dormant, so I was not sure what color I was going to get! The bloomed yellow, I have one more plant I am waiting on. It is good, since purple and magenta are my favorite colors I tend to buy too many purple/magents plants so I am happy for some variation!

Calafia/Gyldenholt Friendship Tourney

2008-03-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well I had a fun day Saturday! One of my many hobbies is the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) which is a medieval and renaissance reenactment club. It is a lot like a Renaissance Faire, except we are a non-profit organization so we do it just for fun and education. Like people seem to think in Medieval Europe that the King sat around eating giant turkey legs,.... well no, turkeys are from AMERICA. That's why we eat them at THANKSGIVING! We are 100% participant driven, at a Faire they put on a show for you, for example they might sword-fight. Well in the SCA if you are interested in sword fighting, you pick up a wooden sword and you learn how!

I was merchanting! Here is my cute little booth:

My other pop-up was missing poles so I just had the one, but we had a nice little tree so it was ok. It was a good practice run, I have my big Spring Line Up show on March 30th and I have to make all my jewelry fit onto one table so I was able to test that out here!
I think my new PVC earring rack is much better on the table, at the Crafty Debs I had in on the floor and it looked awkward for people to have to squat!

The event was at Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center, CA. This was fun because they have a cute little shop, I bought English Toffee (YUM!!!) and a cute new tea strainer (I seem to have quite the tea strainer collection these days).

Crafty Debutantes was FUN!

2008-03-07T11:57:00.001-08:00

Well we had our first San Diego North Park Craft Mafia show of the year! It was the "Crafty Debutantes!" craft show! It was named thus because we were "presenting" our new members (including me!) to society! We all dressed up for the event and our founding Mafia members presented us all with tiaras and the most beautiful corsages!!! It was silly but very fun!!! It was a small show, very casual, but it was a good trial run as our group gets ready to host the Spring Line Up on March 30th which is going to be a HUGE craft show, we have invited 50+ vendors, we are having some really great local bands play, we will have a fashion show, we are going to serve beer & wine, and the Other Side Coffee House is going to serve coffee and tasty treats and sandwiches! I am so excited, but I have a lot to do first!!!

Kick your butt Flu

2008-02-28T15:51:00.001-08:00

Hello! You all may be wondering what the heck happened to me because I have not posted anything lately, I had a really terrible flu or cold or something. It was just awful! My throat hurt so much I couldn't talk, I couldn't eat solid food, I was going through 2 Kleenex boxes a day, which means I had no skin left on my nose. My lymph nodes in my armpits were even swollen so it hurt to have my arms at my sides. I could go on, but you really don't want to hear about this... Normally I would think if I was not going to work, I would have even more time to blog, but I did not even feel up to that!

But the good news after 2 weeks of communing with my Hello Kitty humidifier I am doing much better! So now I feel up to writing about all the quirky things I notice about the world...

My new sewing machine!!!

2008-02-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

Well I went to an estate sale yesterday because I heard they had 2 sergers for sale and I have been thinking about getting one for awhile... They also advertised great vintage fabrics and lots of notions so that all sounded good. They also said they had one sewing machine for sale which I did not even give a second thought to because I already have a sewing machine that I LOVE... Well I got there took one look at the instructions on how to thread the serger and I was already lost! I decided I am probably better off waiting and saving up money to someday get one that automatically threads. So I spent some time digging through the farbic and found some real wild pieces. Someone else was asking about the sewing machine and the seller said oh it's a Bernina. Well then my ears perked up so I asked, Really?! What model is it? They said, oh it's the 930, we're asking $350 for it. I was so excited, because that is the EXACT model I was originally looking for originally!

2 years ago my sewing machine broke (it was a Singer and while everyone I know is like oh, I have heard of them, they are good right? Well no, they are pretty awful, I only had mine for 2 years and this was the 2nd time it broke!). So I went to my backup (it's a 30-year old Kenmore) and it broke too! I decided it was finally time to fork over real money and get a real machine. My friend had a Bernina 1030 which I really really loved, she said that the 930 was the same but slightly better. So I called around to all my local shops looking for one, then I went looking on eBay. They go for about $800 on eBay. I noticed they had a 1630 on eBay for $750 "but it now" price. The 1630 is 'fancier' then the 930, it has a computer and you can program it to do simple embroidery stitches! The 2 things the 930 has going for it is that it is more durable (it has all metal parts) and it sews just slightly faster. In the end I decided to go for the fancy bells and whistles of the 1630 (which I admit I have hardly used!!!). I have been 100% satisfied with my 1630, but when I saw the 930 at this sale for half the price it should be (and then they went down to $300) I knew I had to have it! It still had the original carrying case with accessories box, 16 presser feet, 28 bobbins, the knee lift, instruction manuals, and the clip on table thingie!
Well the only disappointing thing is that while they said it definitely still worked and they had just used it to sew a pillow last week it is unfortunately partially broken. It does sew in a straight line, so yes you could make a pillow and think it worked, but the zig-zag stitch does not work. Also the knob to select other fancier stitches is broken, so right now sewing is a straight line is the ONLY thing it can do. Well as soon as I have some money saved up I guess I will bring it into the rapir shop and see how much fixing it will set me back!

Sale Alert

2008-02-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

Mervyn's is having a clearance blowout today only! All clearance is buy ONE get TWO free. Last week when they had the 2/4/6 sale (all clearance that was 12.99 was now $2, everything that was 124.99 was $4, ect) I bought 33 shirts! Damn, that is a new shirt everyday for over a month, I also got a pair of shoes, pants, a skirt, 7 pairs of cute socks, and 2 sweaters for Trevor and I only spent like $230!!! Well now that it is buy 1 get 2 free if it was $4 on clearance, now it is $1.33 essentially! Damn!!! I am heading out now to do more damage to my credit card!

Crafters Needed!

2008-02-05T22:33:00.001-08:00

The North Park Craft Mafia wants you in our Line Up -- the Spring Line Up craft event! Vendor applications are being accepted until February 22nd. Sign up now! Go to: www.sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com

Well, purple IS my favorite color...

2008-01-31T00:30:00.000-08:00

Well apparently the cats did not like this toy... Or maybe they realized the fake mouse was dead and were trying to give it a burial at sea... Well it doesn't matter how it happened, all that matters is we now have proof that cat toys are not colorfast! And oh my, what a strange sight to walk in on!

They sure don't make it easy...

2008-01-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

So I was shopping at my local Ralph's grocery store on Mira Mesa Blvd. here is San Diego when I turned the corner into aisle 11 and I noticed this sign.
So you might be saying gee, that's nice, that looks like a normal grocery store sign to me, so why are you bothering to post this on the internet??!!! Well, look again more closely....Wow, I think that is kinda messed up. The diet food is all on the right side of the aisle, and right behind you the candy is on the left side of the aisle.... I would really think that the grocery store would be more considerate than that. Then I started to wonder, ok was this just a complete oversight on their part? Or are they doing this on purpose to try to 'tempt' the poor dieting customers? Either way it does make me a bit mad... I am not on a 'diet,' but I am a rather, hmm.... let's just say 'curvy' girl, so I do totally try to make good decisions about the food I eat. When I grocery shop I very carefully turn over every item I buy to read the nutrition facts and I don't count carbs, but if something has an obscene number like 40 carbs then yes I put it back. I have made some interesting discoveries this way. For instance a rice crispy treat is actual healthier than a Quaker granola bar! The rice crispy treat has less fat, less calories, and the same amount of sugar.... I find this funny because rice crispy treats are marketed as a bad for you snack and granola bars are supposedly 'healthy.' What a sneaky world we live in!

Asian Inspired Quilt

2008-01-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

So I laid out all of the really cool Asian inspired fabrics that I bought at the Ontario Quilt Show to try to see what my quilt will look like. As I mentioned I am using the "County Lines" quilt pattern so it is a pretty easy one to try to visualize. I am happy overall with all of the fabrics I picked out, but I think I went a little further into the purple end of things then I meant too. (what me? I bought too much purple, no, never...). Obviously purple is my favorite color, I am an absolute purple fanatic but the very first two fabrics that started this whole fiasco were teal!

Well, then I said hey, I could make a teal quilt but throw in a few purple accents, that would be cute.... And then suddenly purple had taken over! So I guess it is back to the quilt shop to spend more money, ~sigh~.

Ontario, CA Quilt Show Report!

2008-01-24T11:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a very fabric-filled weekend up at the "Road to California" which is California's largest Quilt Show up in Ontario!

This was my first quilt show ever! I have been sewing for over 10 years, but much of that has been apparel and accessories. I made my first quilt in 2000 (it was just a bunch of squares, but I love it anyways!). I have been working on a log cabin quilt for a few years now but I think I am not 100% satisfied with my fabric choices so I have not been very inspired to continue. Well I found some of the most gorgeous fabrics at the quilt show, so now I am all fired up to finish my log cabin so I can start my next quilt!

Now the sad part is I really did NOT intend to buy much fabric. I wanted to get a few new prints for the wrist cuffs I make...
...but I was not really going for fabric for a quilt. I mostly just wanted to take in the new experience. Well, at the very first booth (Sweet Treats/Pincushion Boutique) I found the most gorgeous asian fabrics in bright bold beautiful colors. Well I was like ok, I guess I will buy a little fabric, I'll find something to do with it.... Well then I kept seeing more gorgeous fabrics that coordinated with my first 2. Well then I started getting ideas for a new quilt and then I was on a mission tearing through the quilt show (and my wallet, eek!). I found some fabrics at another booth called "Monica's Quilt & Bead Creations."

Well my friends Katie was like, "Hey, their store is in Palm Dessert, we can go there tomorrow!" Well, all this fabric buying is a bit difficult if you do not have a pattern in mind (which I didn't). We were at the store when I looked up on the wall and said, "yes, that is the pattern." So I bought the "County Lines" pattern which is perfect because my fabrics are so bold, I think this pattern will really show off the beautiful prints. I also think it will look nice to have black edging around each bright square and I love the stained glass look!

Well, all in all the quilt show was fun but expensive, hehehe, opps! If you want to see more pictures check out my Picasa Quilt Show Album! There are some simply amazing quilts, I would be lucky to have a fraction of that kind of talent someday! I am sad I did not take more pictures, my camera ran out of batteries!

Chuck Norris

2008-01-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

Because EVERY blog needs a post about Chuck Norris, right?

Well I was on my way to work this morning when I heard the funniest radio commercial. It was Chuck Norris and he was trying to get you to join the border patrol. He starts out by telling you how compassionate the border patrol is and how they save 1000's of lives every year by rescuing people who got lost or stranded while crossing. Then he does a complete 180 and says how cool the border patrol is because you get to be a tough guy and you have to use your cunning to take down the evil drug cartels.

So for all the compassionate tough guys I know out there (um, none?), Chuck Norris says you should go work for the border patrol!

Time to get organized!

2008-01-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, now that the craziness of the holidays has passed I guess it is a good time to clean and organize my jewelry studio (as you can tell!)

I also bought a ton of beads right before the holidays and they do not have homes yet so I guess that means it was time for more organizers! My FAVORTIE bead organizer is actually from Home Depot. I went to the one right by my house in Mira Mesa and they did not carry my favorite organizer (gasp!). I though OH NO, did they stop carrying it ack! Well the other day I was at the Home Depot in Clairemont and YES they had them. I bought 3 ( I totally only need one, maybe two but I figured grab em while I can)!

So basically it is a little bucket with 4 organizers in it. It is nice cuz it has a handle so you can take it on the go.
The organizers have little dividers you insert which is cool because then you pick the size of each compartment.

Then when you want to use it in it’s home setting you just put it on it’s side and the dividers become like little drawers you can pull out.

Ok, so now I guess it is time for me to fill this cool contraption with beads. Oh and I will mention that while it makes fantastic bead storage, it is not so great for tiny beads or seed beads because they can slip under the insert dividers. I guess maybe you could try to glue them in, I dunno!

Music Musings

2008-01-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

So whenever you fill out an online 'profile' it always wants to know what kind of music you like and I always say well I mostly listen to alternative rock but I do enjoy good techno from time to time. I always forget to add one other category that I really do enjoy and that is bad 80's music! This got me to thinking, many people always listen to the music that was popular when they were young for the rest of their lives. My parents totally still like rock from the 60's and my grandparents totally listen to music from the 40's. Does this mean that someday when I am old that I am going to be sitting in my nursing home listening to "Whip It" by Devo and reminiscing about old times? There is something that is just a little embarrassing about that!

Soapy Slogans!

2008-01-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, how about:

RPC Soap- Role Play Clean!

Now you too can role a 20 on your cleanliness check!

I like this, but it only works for the d20's, what do I write for my d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12 dice??

Hmmm, still thinking!

Nerdy Soap coming soon to Game Towne in San Diego, CA

2008-01-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

I am VERY pleased to announce that the store Game Towne in San Diego, CA is interested in carrying my 'nerd soap.' Ok, you are probably saying what is 'nerd soap' and why should I be excited? Well, here are some example:

The one on the top has an actual d20 (like a nerd like me might use while playing AD&D or other roleplaying games). So when the nerd is done washing his/herself they have a shiny new d20 to use! The one on the bottom has high elf spearman.

I am very excited by my nerd soap. I could NOT think of what to get all my male friends for Xmas this year. I really like to make handmade gifts, but that is so much harder for guys. With my female friends I give them jewelry or something. I just learned how to make soap this year and I was like "cool, now I can make all my girl friends cute little handmade soaps, but darn I don't think the boys want my flowery handmade soap." Well I was going along, using my flowery molds and making soap for my mom when I saw a little plastic Darth Vader head (we got a pack of Darth Vader heads filled with Halloween candies from target) and I though, hmm, I wonder if I could use that as a soap mold. Lo and behold, you can! Now there are many kinds of nerds in the world and not all of my nerds are Star Wars nerds so suddenly I was making soaps in AD&D, Hello Kitty, Lego, Batman, ect... Sadly I don't think I can sell Darth Vader Soap, I have a feeling Lucas Arts might not appreciate that but do look forward to some other non-copywrited soaps in gamer store near you.

If you are not familar with Game Towne is is located in "Old Town" in San Diego, CA at:
3954 Harney St
San Diego, CA 92110 (619) 291-1666

It is my favorite game store in all of San Diego! They really have a wide variety and decent prices!

P.S. If anyone thinks of a better name then "nerd soap" I will be ever grateful.

Esty Shop

2008-01-09T18:29:00.001-08:00

Ok, my Etsy shop is back up and running and I will be slowly filling it with all sorts of fun creative goodies! I took my listings down during a craft show in November for innventory and then of course I did not put them back up til now becasue the holidays were so hectic. Now wait Amy, doesn't that seem silly? Isn't November when people do a lot of shopping? YES!!!!! Oh well! I consider myself a good crafter, but I am not always the best buisness-woman. Well I am learning!

DesignsDeLuna.etsy.com

Here is some of what you will see!!!

New Blog!

2008-01-09T17:57:00.001-08:00

More coming soon!