uncommon ephemera

Berkeley and Friendship

Last week my dear friend, Mary, came to visit from Maine. Originally from California, Mary makes the trip out about once a year to visit friends. We have known each other now for about 30 (gasp!) years. We met when we were both single moms and working as counselers at a Family Planning Clinic. Our friendship - though long distance has survived all of these years - and her infrequent visits always prompt a trip to Berkeley for the day. Somehow, our drive there always ends up longer than intended. We talk so much, I always manage to miss the turn-off to Highway 5. We did eventually arrive and our first stop is always Tail of the Yak. I don't wait for Mary to come to visit this wonderful shop - but it is always first on our trek agenda when she comes. Every year Tail of the Yak offers a beautiful calendar to customers. I have collected a number of these over the years and was very happy that they still had some available...These beauties always find a place in my studio. Although I didn't buy much there on this trip, I found some pretty taupe bias tape ribbon to add to the stash, some beautiful paper (how can one resist?) and some green paper flowers.
No trip to Berkeley would be complete without a trip to 4th St. With all of it's offerings - 4th St. can be an all day destination. Anthropologie, The Paper Source, Crate and Barrel, The Gardener, Restoration Hardware and last, but not least, Castle in the Air make for a full day of shopping. My favorite, of course, is Castle in the Air. I didn't need much in the way of supplies this time, but I did purchase some red and white twine... We had a tasty lunch at Bette's Diner. We ended the day at Ikea, as usual and had dinner in their cafeteria before heading home. For those of you that have never done so, Ikea's cafeteria features a wide array of flavorful entrees at unbeatable prices. It's not fancy - but a salmon dinner for about 7 bucks, including the trimmings is hard to find. Somehow, after all of that, I am able to put the car on auto pilot for the trip home. Good thing, because I am usually too tired to re-navigate if I miss the turn off. We had a great time and I look forward to Mary's next trip out.

Paper Craft

Waaay back in September, I had an entry singing the praises of one of my favorite blogs, Agence Eureka. Along with ephemera of all sorts, Pita offers wonderful vintage paper models. Here's one that I downloaded a few weeks ago.... I thought it looked so charming, I decided to give it a go and set about putting together my own - and here it is.
I glued the pieces to some posterboard before assembling and was quite pleased with the results. Sometimes these little projects, though not "useful" in a strict sense...provide a little bit of "Zen" time to relax. It was fun to take something one-dimensional and make it three. Sorry for the bad lighting. I took this indoors at night and the light was not the best.

Hello and Happy Easter

Greetings out there. I know...I have been absent for quite awhile. Although I love the interplay of blogging and the wonderful creative aspects, it has been a challenge to keep it up of late - I did manage to revamp my site a bit with a new banner. I have done a lot of "browsing" on other blogs - but not even leaving comments. My "real" job continues to be a challenge - and I come home pretty spent. As a result, my blog has suffered. I have been trying to get in some creative time to work on jewelry. I will be posting some pics of vintage button bracelets I have made.

In cruising the Internet for Easter themes, I came across this site. It explores the Ukrainian craft of creating pysanky eggs. Easter in the Russian Orthodox church is probably their most important holiday. Years ago I lived in the Sunset District in San Francisco where there was a huge Russian emigre population. During Easter, the Russian delis always had all manner of Easter delights. Here are some pictures from the Pysanky Showcase site...

The designs for these eggs are made by using melted beeswax to outline the design - then they are dipped in dye. The beewax is removed, another beeswax layer and dye bath follows - for as many steps as required until the finished design is achieved. The pysanky website has many pictures and information on supplies, lore and traditions.

Here's to Easter and the wonderful season of rebirth, Spring. Ciao for now.

Spring is Bustin' Out All Over

It is a stunning day outside. I've been watching the blossoms being blown from the ornamental pear from my window. Things are starting to bloom around the yard, including this muscari - planted in pots on either side of the gate leading to our utility yard. I have photos to process and a blog in dire need of revamping and having it's links updated - but the siren song of Spring is pulling at me. I'm leaving you with a creation by Joana Vasconcelos found via La Cameleone via Ulla's amazing list of links. Being a Cancerian, this crab really appealed to me. His covering being crochet work on steroids! There are other interesting (and sometimes bizarre) crocheted pieces on Vasconcelos' site.
Happy Saturday!

Spring Colors

I have Spring Fever...it's making me want to throw everything out the front doors into the patio and spray out the house with a fire hose. I don't know where to start first...the yard is crying out for much-needed TLC as well. There is just not enough time in the day - I will be very happy for Daylight Savings' Time to start once again - at least it will give me a couple of hours after work to devote to giving the flower beds and veggie patch some attention. Then there is my much-neglected creative side. I really want to sit down and sew, paint or just do something with my hands, but my attention has been elsewhere. Lots of changes at work...quite draining at times, so I'll just have to muddle along the best I can.

I have been cruising Bloglandia - but not being very good at commenting, please forgive my lack of blogging manners. I found the pictures I am posting on All Things Bright and Beautiful, a lovely blog devoted to style and COLOR. Not only are there wonderful photos of incredible interiors and fashion - this blogger also offers great blogging and photography tips. As for these beautiful photos from the October 2007 issue of Korean Vogue by Kim Kyung Soo, she found them at the flikr site of Nihilistic Youth. I thought the colors are so spring-like - they remind me of hyacinths and lilies.

I'm also inserting a couple of other shots because I loved the styling and imagery. The first one because of the drama of the black and white and negative space - the final one because the Pierrot look is so terrific.

All of us that have a creative bent get out ideas from so many sources. These images make my "creative bone" vibrate, as it were. The Asian theme and colors have me yearning to get out the paints or buttons or fabric or SOMETHING. Stay tuned.