can i get a veggie around here? i'm in fort worthless right now ending a week of starch, meat and a complete lack of fiber and vitamins.

i'm trying my best to survive this dreadful place with my ususal wandering of local craft and art supply stores.

a few good links in the mean time....
Otsu this is a really cool store with a handcrafted focus.....all vegan...which is interesting!

free clutch purse pattern: kwiksew clutch. i'm totally obsessed with all things sewing right now.

more to come later...

the crafty bi-otches just left and i have to say WOW....thanks girls, for popping me out of that mood! we had such a great time eating (beth taught us how to make calzones....rather....beth made calzones for us and we sat back and ate the results...works for me!).

with rachel and beth's guidence we made humming bird feeders from recycled glass bottles and lots and lots of glitter, buttons and sequins. mine, selfishly turned into a sequins container...
the swap with susan is going well....she posted a pic of the yarn she's spinning up for me and i gotta say I'MMMM SOOOOO EXCITED! i've never knit with yarn spun by someone i know and i can't wait. the colors are so beautiful too! yay! last night i did some planning and sketches of the pillow that i'm going to make for her...and i think i'm going to go with a denyse schmidt quilting style of modern design....is this cool with you, susan?

*photograph shamelessly stolen from susan. let me know if you want it back, it's so beautiful...i couldn't resist!

THE SECRET PAL GODS MUST BE SINGING B/C I HAD A LITTLE COINK-A-DINK WHEN I WENT TO THE P.O. TO MAIL MY 2ND SP7 GIFT....SOMETHING FUN WAITING FOR ME FROM MY OWN PERSONAL SECRET PAL!!

does anyone really know the splender of 100% pure baby alpaca? ooooh thank you sp for this wonderful pink and brown goodness! i'm on a yarn-fast right now, so it's good to know that i have people willing to sneak this contraband directly through the bars of my knitting cell. also included were some lotion samples...and ever so useful tapestry needles (w/ case! yay! needed that!) AND a cute little note book that will serve as my projects journal. how did you know that i LOVE grid paper?
THANK YOU MYSTERIOUS-SP7!!

finished object to announce....
(sorry the photo sucks)....finished off my sewing class with a ....green velvetized roses purse...and i'm so proud of it...it's lined, velcro'd and everything. lining:
i'm thinking of adding a knitted pocket for my cell (using the yellow silk/wool stuff that my sp sent last month). hubby rolls his eyes everytime i'm launched into frantic search-ness when my phone rings. i feel confident enough to join back-tack now...in the mean time, check out this fabric resource and this pattern for bags and wallets. it's been really fun so far with the exception of the minor mis-hap with the rotary cutter...damnit that shit is SHARP! here is the artist rendition of what went down last night:
i came across a crafter last night that wrote "the rotary cutter is the best thing that's happened to me" (i might be exagerating again). can't remember who that was...but she forgot to mention that its the best thing, until it ever so sligtly taps you in the wrong place inciting blood gushing craziness. thank God it wasn't a major artery.
I found out via Mrs. Pilkington that LollyGirl put together the coolest inspiration group and postcard swap...project spectrum...which is all about color!! check it out and join up!

tomorrow....crafty bi-otches are coming over...and we're making bird feeders!

Sorry, I know this is becoming like a "what-cristina-did-this-past-weekend-blog".....but I just couldn't resist these pics....In the news this past week.....

I had an eventful weekend...it started with a trip to Sacramento to witness my mom's swearing in! She's a judge now!! How exciting is that....I've been selfishly scheming up ways of how I can exploit this new position of hers. My 2 hour trips home will now be collapsed to a breeeeezy 15 minutes!

My 8-ish year old cousins, Bubba and Jake learned how to drive. Kids start younger and younger each year.

We topped it off with a trip to Lake Tahoe...one of the most beautiful places on earth. Okay...so, maybe I need to get out a little, but really, Tahoe is soooo gorgeous, and if you haven't been yet, you need to!!

Even Mark Twain thought so!
"Three months of camp life at Lake Tahoe would restore an Egyptian mummy to his pristine vigor and give him an appetite like an alligator. The air is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious, the same as angels breathe."
Mark Twain, 1860's

ON THE CRAFTING FRONT:
I finally finished my mom's red-hot-birthday socks....I did the tacky-crafter thing that EVERY knitter has done one time in his/her life (don't deny it!!)...and wrapped up one and a half socks for her to open on her birthday. She was a little confused...but figured it out pretty quick after getting poked by 4 dpn's as she ripped open the package!
My last Sewing 101 class is tonight, and I'm signing up for the 202 class at Stonemountain & Daugher Fabrics....buttons...zippers...seams...ooh my!

And lastely I'll leave you with this little number by Knit Daisy Knit from the Melanie Falick Handknit Holiday Book. And....this cute little wash cloth knitted up by Pink Purls, originally designed by KnittingKnonSense. KnittingKnonSense also has patterns for letters too!!

Of course I do, SP7....how could I forget you?? And thank you for making my day!! I got this wonderful and super unique postcard from my SP7 today....I've never seen anything like it...and it's amazing, I love it!! The scan doesn't do it justice, but let's just say that this thing will be riding around in my purse the next few weeks for easy pull-out-show-off action...before it ends up in its permanent place on my craft wall for inspiration.
This is soooo great...thank you!!!
Wow what a beautiful day in the city! I can't help but feel sorry for all the poor saps on the east coast drudging through 12 inches of snow as I spend the weekend frolicking about with my friends...sisters....and hubby!
hubby....sisssser and kyle re-enacting the infamous beetle crosswalk shot...except that i was too chicken to stand in the middle of the street to take the shot....
my sisters and i taking a shot at the top of the coolest park ever...overlooking the bay - awesome! we're so super goth...yeah...totally...
my gorgeous cousin susan...wow what a hottie....posing o-so-european style at my front gate. she's soooo damn cute with her little retro necklace!!

You say "boi-ssss-y".
I say "boi-zzzie"...
you say potato....
i say..."what the hell am I doing in Boizzie"?

Just checking in to say hello...some cute stuff I came across....
Yard stick shelf by Merwing.
Gifty gift exchange, by the Paper Princess.
Tag Sale Tales, a running dialogue of the crativity found in yard sales.
Back Tack exchange.
Very Mom. Okay, I'm more of "does-that-book-have-pictures" type of blog "reader" (I know Beth can sympathize), but this one is really really funny! Check out the shirts she's selling to attend....
BlogHer. Where the women bloggers are.
Martha's at it again! Check out what she's doing with crayons...
These are gorgeous and unique necklaces designed by Pashupatina ....wow! what talent!
Beth made some changes to her banner and added a button!

and I took my little aq-curious to the sea (thought that was appropriate) to celebrate his 29th birthday....

here we are in the little hansel n' gretle village of carmel-by-the-sea. breakfast...so romantical...

...and a swim with the fish and sharks....feeding time with the "dale the diver" at the monterey bay aquarium. check out their webcam, too...feeding time is 11am and 4pm pacific-ocean-standard-time.

no-one around to take your picture? try using the reflection of an aquarium! a little fish...a little sea....a lotta smoochin'. perfect!

we took lots of picture of the beautiful marine life....jelly fish are always so much more pleasant when behind some protective glass!

In the news the past week....

I recieved a few more lovely postcards this week! Upper left hand one is a line drawing by Krafola (or photo-shopped) picture of a dog....its very cool and so is her blog....so check it out!
The upper right is from Lil Fish and is a photograph of a super cute eye-patch dog she made. It's not really called an "eye patch dog"...but it looks like he has one...like a pirate...aaarrrr!!
Last and not least we have Little Moochi...and how cute is that?? Wow...thanks! She drew a bunch of different animals representing other years of the chinese calendar. I feel extra special because not only do I get to have a peice of her art in my house...but because she's the organizer of our swap..and wow what a great job she did...it was sooo much fun...THANKS MOCHI!.

Knitting Olympics is coming up fast (cast-on is on Feb. 10th at 2pm!). Beth has been kind enough to loan me her Yarn Girl Guide to Beyond the Basics , so I'm going to be knitting my first ever sweater..."a sweater for the ages" pictured above in a dark aqua color (the color, I'm sure will change 5 or 6 times before I actually cast on)...but hey...that's what physical training is for right?

I've made a little progress on my Red Hot Socks for the KAL...and my mom's birthday! (this is will my first knitted item gift to my mom!!) I'm pretty happy with them so far...but I'm a little afraid that the ribbing isn't going to be tight enough for my mom's taste...she likes her socks TIGHT. Ooh, well, I imagine she'll do me the courtesy and just fake it!

Last but most certainly not least...I'd like to make a shot out to Susan. She's my SP6 spoiler...and she has agreed to share her craft with me and engage in a swap..yay!! So, she's going to spin me some yarn, and I'm going to (attempt) to make her a pillow....I have lots of ideas...but I know if this should be a surprise kinda thing or not..what do you think Susan?

P.S. Is this cool or what, I guess you can buy your own stamp-making kit at Michaels!. A cheaper way to do it, is by making shapes out of craft foam and glueing them to wood....a project for the crafty bi-otches....perhaps???!!