mini house update

I don't really have much to show for it yet but wanted to keep you posted on our progress with our home. We found a dining table, which was from the as-is section at Ikea. It has very minor scratches you can even hardly see them. We had to disassemble it so that it'll fit in the car but I think it's a good trade off. We got it for about $100 off.


We also found these Bertoia counter stools on Craigslist, another score I must say. I have to give all the credit to my husband though, he's the one who's very patient about going online and checking many times a day and jumping up to seal the deal. I am planning to add cushions to make them more homey. You can also see more images on my flickr set.

tgi (summer) f

One of the perks that we get at my new job is Summer Fridays. We each get 4 fridays off between Memorial Day and Labor Day (isn't that awesome?). Today was a Summer Friday for me. The goal was to make as many yoga mat bags as possible. Alas, I was too distracted by the gorgeous weather and my new neighborhood, I was only able to make a grand total of 1 bag. Oh well, 2 more weekend days to go, right?

Mati's yoga mat bag.

My breakfast, rice cakes on a pretty plate.


I spent most of the morning hanging out at our porch and making the bag. After lunch, I took a walk around the 'hood and did some grocery shopping. I'm planning another yummy dinner for the hubby tomorrow night. Here's a pic that I snapped during my walk.

Weeds can be pretty.

Ok, I'm off to happy hour with some friends and then maybe dinner somewhere afterwards? Tomorrow is the 14th Annual Hillwide Garage Sale. Hopefully we'll score some wares, I'll post them here if we do. Have a great weekend!

inspiration around the web

Been blog reading today and wanted to share delicious pics that I happened upon.

Shabby Chic dining via decor8. Love the white, white, white. Incidentally, I picked up plates at Shabby Chic during my recent trip to NY for $2 a pop! They were heavy but well worth it. Thanks again Lenny for helping me lug them around NYC and the airport. Love ya!

Shabby Chic chair via decor8 as well. I love the fabric and dont you just want to sink into the chair like right now?!

Very pretty dresses via love forever. I myself am in a dress mood these last few months and been hitting up the vintage stores whenever I can. I was just thinking during my lunch time walk that i will start a flickr set of my vintage finds.

Lisa Congdon's latest masterpiece. I love this one, there's a sense of calm, beauty and simplicity in it.

weekend report

I made some claims about grand plans for the weekend. Unfortunately, there is no finished product to show - yet. There are beginnings though, and they are promising ones.

Priming the walls.

Cut fabric, getting ready to sit down and sew! The 4 on top are my purchases from Pearl Purl (doh! thanks Lenny) during my recent NY trip.

Creativity of a different kind. I made dinner a few nights ago and this was the finished product. I used our new deep fryer which was a christmas gift from a friend.

the burning question

Well it's not really "burning" but that chair has been sitting at our house for a few months now. AT:SF posted my question that I wrote about the chair that we picked up from the street. I still haven't had time to research this at all what with all the moving, unpacking, travelling and working long hours at my day job lately.

In other creative news, the plan for this weekend is for us to paint my sewing room and the living room. I'm so excited to go to the paint store and pick the colors! Not so much excited about the manual labor, but it's part of the deal. I will definitely post the finished product here and on flickr. If I'm lucky enough to have time, I am also planning to make a few yoga mat bags to sell and also one to give to a new friend. My shop has been very empty lately and even if I don't sell any, it'll make me happy just to have more than 2 things there. I also just came back from NYC with my dear lenny, we stopped by the Purl Soho store and bought a few yards of ultra adorable fabric.

Stay tuned for finished products!

revelation, oh and i'm a pro

I mentioned in this previous post that changes were happening in my life. Well, it's time to reveal what that big change is. We moved in to a new home! We love this home, we were anticipating our move for weeks and when we finally did, it was a relief. We just have to unpack, tidy up and buy a few key pieces of furniture. We're being very picky with the pieces that we pick. One rule is that we have to love it! If it's just so-so we pass it up and move on to the next furniture store or antique shop or craigslist ad. One thing I'm really, really looking forward to is to set up my sewing room. I have a few ideas floating in my head for the walls and a few great pieces of furniture, I can't wait to put this room together!


I started a flickr set (where I am now a pro, woohoo!) to chronicle the work in progress, please make sure to come back and check periodically. I also plan to post any major developments in this blog. I want to use interior decoration and my sewing to compliment each other and inspire me to create and be surrounded by very lovely things. Wish us luck!

going, going, gone

I'm out of yoga mat bags! I've sold them all. I'm so happy - it's time to make more. Yipppeee. That's it, just a quick note :).

'zines

I have made the decision to subscribe to as many magazines that I can afford. I will use it for inspiration in my decoration and purse making. I have a short list of zines, I need suggestions from y'all as to what magazines you read and what you like about it the most. Here's my list: Lucky, Vogue, Domino, Martha Stewart Living, Budget Travel, Dwell, Ready Made, Elle Decor. I think that represents the variety of my interests. Anything else you love?

my new shirt

yay! so i did purchase this shirt after thinking about it for a while. the great thing was that when i finally made up my mind, it went on sale! perfect. i finally wore it today and here's a pic!

snapshots

Hey there, I've posted a whole bunch of pictures on flickr. As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been busy with life these days. However, I still had time to go to the Alameda Flea Market last weekend and walk through Golden Gate Park yesterday. Ever since I started sewing and blogging, I've been taking more pictures. I take pictures of things that I see and go back to them periodically for inspiration. Here's a few that I took, please go to flickr for more.

We picked this desk up from the street a few months ago and we're finally painting it.

Taken while walking through the Rose Garden at Golden Gate Park.

TV at the Alameda Flea Market.

changes make life interesting

Lots of changes happening in my life as of late. That is partly why I haven't posted here or made anything recently. I'm in transition, sort of. I will keep you in suspense for now but I promise to reveal the newness at some point. Speaking of changes, I've been spending a lot of time on design blogs recently. Blog like D*S, SF Apartment Therapy, SFGirlByBay, decor8, etc. I've also been going to a lot of furniture stores just to check out what they have. I've noticed that my design style is evolving, changing. Here's one item that I desire, I swear I will have this in my house at some point preferably the original.


We went to the Alameda Flea Market yesterday. Later this week, I'll post images of our finds and some other interesting things we saw.

(cool) grandma goes to market

Right after working on the the yoga mat bag (see previous post), I proceeded to work on this bag. The experience of making it was the complete opposite of what I talked about in the post below. Everything just clicked in my head and I was going at it, stitch after stitch. It was a very fulfilling experience.


I actually thought up the concept of this bag in my head on my bus ride to work last week. The idea came out of nowhere, sometimes the best ideas are the spontaneous ones. I decided to call it grandma's bag because the fabric makes me think of a shawl that a very cool grandma would wrap around her shoulders. This bag is now available in my shop.

modish yoga

I spent some quality time with my sewing machine this weekend after not having touched or even barely looked at it for a few weeks. This is one of the finished products.


For some reason, I had some trouble making this yoga mat bag which is bizarre because I've made quite a few of these. I had to do and redo almost every stitch 2-3 times. In the end, it worked out and I'm pretty happy with the finished product. This one is not going to the shop since it is an order from a friend. She picked the mod fabric herself and I actually really like it. I only bought enough fabric to make her bag and I'm kinda wishing that I bought some extra to make other things.

things that excite me

Oh-my-word. I think I just found the perfect little shop! Everything about Frecklewonder is cute from the merchandise, to the name, to the model (and proprietress, too I think). This is just the kind of shop that I myself would want to open one day and the kind of shop that I want to shop in today! Gosh, I wish, wish, wish that those kiddie dresses were for gown-ups! I want all of them. Via Lena Corwin's blog.

I'm seriously thinking about getting this blouse, what do you think?

my favorite things (of the moment)

Because I don't have any new creations to post (I know, I know I'll get back on the sewing mood soon, I can feel it coming). I figured it's a good time to post my next set of favorite things. You will begin to notice that I have a fascination for (and a growing collection of) ceramics. You can always click on the image to see a larger version.

My own moleskine sketch book. I mentioned earlier that I bought one, as you can kinda see, I've been drawing on it but I'm not quite ready to show you a close up of the drawings yet. Perhaps you'll catch a glimpse of it about a post or three from now.

8 oz cup by Diana Fayt. I actually met her when I picked up this cup. We talked about blogging, her art, and about this post. I was a little bit star struck. It's always so cool to meet and have one on one time with someone you admire.

Another addition to my tea cup collection. This one is from Anthro, of course. Edit: Look, this cup made an appearance here!

The lamp shade is from the fave store, vintage lamp base is from eBay. I'm still trying to decide if I love it. I posted it here more just to show it off :).

A very awesome bowl that I bought from a flower store/vintage shop at the Lower Haight neighborhood of San Francisco. This bowl is so lovely and was very inexpensive. What a great find!