Month: November 2009

****** I ran all out of codes!!! Thank you so much for your interest and support!!! My brother works at Zazzle.com and is offering you guys some gift codes! You can either buy tshirts, mugs, skate decks, shoes, etc etc, that other people have designed, or you can design your own! The first code is $20 off when you spend at least $20. This code would be good only for this Cyber Monday, 11/30, before midnight PST! Sorry, I already gave out 30 of these codes and am all out! The other code is $10 off when you spend at least $10, and this code will last until 12/31. If you are interested, please leave a comment ASAP with an email address!!! I have 20 of each to give away and will email you your codes :). Remember to respond quickly for the $20 one because again that is ONLY GOOD ON MONDAY!

You guys. We just went to Goodwill to check out plates and candle sticks to make more ghetto cakestands, and I just bought the most awesome thing ever. BEHOLD! A BRAIN!!!!!!!!! This has inspired me to start a new collection of Goodwill/Garage sale school-project glazed ceramic objects. Maybe one day, I could have an art show with all my anonymous, grade-school “art” pieces, lovingly collected throughout the years. I need to find out if my parents still have my piece d’resistance from my childhood: it was a clay goblet that I glazed blue with little yellow fish all over it. It was really hard to keep its shape while I was making it, so then I just squished the cup part together and it was all deformed. It ruled. I believe the brain is signed on the inside, but it’s hard to make out. JTG? JT6? Why did you guys ever give this away??? This brain did not have a price tag on it, so when I went to pay for it, I told the lady. Me: This brain does not have a price tag on it. Lady: What is the cost of a brain? Me: (turning to Hairy) Priceless. Lady: (punches in $0.05) WIN!!!!

Linds let me model her new weenie tee!!! Which happened to perfectly match this felted yellow hair bow I am selling. I also got to show the world my Bobart the Weinerdog purse!! Here’s the quick story on Bobart: My friend Margaret took me to the mall in highschool or college and asked me to pick something out  for my birthday present. I picked this adorable weinerdog purse. We were walking around and trying to give a good name to this purse, and I said BALLPARK, like Ballpark Franks. Margaret thought I had said BOBART, and so it was. To pick up your own awesome weenie tee, check out Sick for Cute which is having a downright insane $12 tee sale! If you want the one and only yellow felted hair bow with rainbow pom poms, hit up My Etsy Shop which still has lowered craft-fair pricing until Monday! p.s. Check out Shrinkle’s latest blog entry for TONS of photos of the Hello Kitty Fashion show. Laughter. Tears. The whole shebang!!!!!

Hey gangalang, I updated my Etsy shop! Every item has lowered craft-fair pricing for those of you who could not make it to the New People Event, and I will keep this pricing until this Monday, 11:59pm, West Coast time! Enjoy! Here are some of my favs: Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!!!!

Last Friday night and all day Saturday, Hairy and I manned a table for New People Artist Village Vol 1. Friday night was the preview night with free food and booze. I sampled neither. I was kind of in a daze the whole weekend because I had gotten about 11 hours sleep spread over 3 days before the event. Not enough for me!!! But I had an idea of what I wanted my table to look like, and I was not ready to quit!! It’s hard to see because of the white on white….but my new display unit is in full effect!!! Our friend Paul made it. It’s supposed to resemble a fridge, but I didn’t have time to special order the right handle or really put together a good fridge-like sign for it. It wasn’t even painted, just primed! But we only had 2 weeks after the Hello Kitty insanity to get everything together! I really like my new fridge shelf. It actually goes down all the way to the floor, but since we didn’t have a lot of space at this event, I only loaded the top half of it and hid it behind the table. I want a little oven one, too! Here’s a pic that Michelle took. I told her I didn’t even remember this pic being taken. I know that I am waving, but I think I had sleep dep black-out problems. BTW, we made the little ghetto cake stands that a lot of my stuff is displayed on. I didn’t have a lot of time or money to spend on actual cake stands, so I glued plastic wine glasses and plastic plates together, and Hairy spray-painted them gold and silver. Initially they were going to be pink, blue, and gold, but the pink and blue paint didn’t stick on the plates!!! I do not really recommend this set-up because the cake stands were really light and flimsy and I kept knocking them over!!! So either (as Sarah, Amy’s sister suggested) weigh down the plastic wine glasses with rocks or marbles first before gluing them to the plates….OR….. what I’m doing now is shopping at Goodwill for glass plates and candle holders to glue together! I bought my first set on Sunday for $2.50 each. On Saturday, Hairy left in the middle of the day to clean the house because Cousin Vic was going to stay at our place for a few nights. Then Shrinkle and her sis pointed at me meanly. Bullies! Another side story about my table: I don’t know if you can tell from the pics (these are all mostly various people’s phone cam pics cuz we left our camera charger in L.A.), but I had just bought my table cloths on Friday afternoon. I decided to go to Ross cuz it was right next to the bank, and I picked up a flannel sheet set with cute pastel stripes and a regular white table cloth. When I went to line up, […]

I’ve been up all night making stuff for New People, and I’m still going!! I wonder how much I have left in me? While crocheting some cherry dangly zipper pulls, I decided to make a crocheted strawberry ring. Marissa introduced me to the idea of making rings, and I’m kind of into it! They really are comfy! And washable! I’m not sure I love the strawberry on a ring. It’s really 3D and sticks out kind of awkwardly, but it was a fun experiment. Back to the grind!! Hoping to pop out a few tissue box cozies in the next 24 hours!!!

Hi Gang! First off, check out this super amazing drawing by ZambiCandy!!! I cannot believe it! And now onto business! The New People Artist Village event is this Friday/Saturday, but I am also gearing up for SF Bazaar Bizaare on December 12-13. I noticed at Renegade that lots of people wanted to pick up and play with the savory scarves like Bacon n Eggs, Popcorn, and Pizza, but that most people wanted to buy the sweets-themed scarves like Cupcakes. This made me think that perhaps my December show should be sweets-only, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, gingerbread men, etc. What do you think? I think that the cutesypie sweets are just one part of what I do, and that the humor of the savory scarves is another big facet of my work. So, I usually like to show both. However, I ran out of cupcake scarves at Renegade, so I wondered if I should have taken more time to make more cutesy stuff, rather than spending time making the savories. In the end, I sold the rest on Etsy anyway, but, I just want to bring stuff to the show that people will want to see and buy! I don’t want people to be disappointed if I run out of the thing that they wanted. Anyway, if you guys have any thoughts (especially from people who might actually go) let me know!!! Tonight I will be felting like crazy (pancake purse!), and probably making gingerbread men like crazy, cuz my yarn just arrived today!! EEP!!!!!

We are back from going down to L.A. for the Hello Kitty Fashion show. It was such an amazing and interesting experience, and I’m so happy and honored to have been a little part of it! There will be professional pics of all the outfits and also video of the actual show (there were two shows that night), so I think I will wait for those to appear before really posting anything!!! But just so my blog is not vacant, here are a few things from Saturday night: Me and Shrinkle being cute and sexy as always: I forced Hairy to sit down and have the special Hello Kitty High Tea with me which included mini desserts and mini Hello Kitty sammiches!! Here’s me after we took a few bites out of the Hello Kitty cookie head: I believe so far I sold my felted Hello Kitty bow purse and this tube top that I made giant crocheted Hello Kitty bow/brooches for. The gal who bought the purse came up to me and told me she bought it. She was also holding another red Hello Kitty bow purse that she already had!!! I’m so tickled that she wanted another! I still have a Hello Kitty scarf and fingerless mitts to sell. I believe that they will be posted online via JapanLA for sale, but I’m not sure exactly. I will let you guys know! I gave my sample cake-purse a test run that night. It held up perfectly well. The dangle cherry zipper pulls were like soft and fuzzy stress balls. I felt like I was holding a stuffed animal the whole night. BONUS. After the fashion show, we went back to our motel so I could change clothes (I was wearing a really cute cake-inspired dress by Nicole Lindner but I wasn’t wearing the right bra for it and was getting a little nippley….yikes….I didn’t know until I went to the ladies room…. also I am not confident in my ability to pull off an asymmetrical-topped dress, it somehow made me feel extra naked?), anyway, after getting back into some jeans, we watched Saw 6 finally and then ate at Canter’s Deli after that! Late night! I tried to work on my crochet projects as much as possible whenever we had down time. I didn’t get a whole lot done, but something is better than nothing! Waffle cowl in progress! The dark brown part is sparkly!!!! I’m calling it CINNAMON. This apparently was in the men’s bathroom at one of our pit stops on the way home. The ladies did not get anything like this!! So for the next few days, I will be furiously making stuff for the New People Artist Village on Friday night and all day Saturday!!! Don’t forget to come to J-Town and say hi! (But you need to RSVP and email New People if you want to receive an invitation to the preview night/Friday night from 6pm-8pm).

This is what my coffee table/work table looks like right now! I love spring-y, candy-like colors. I really want a coat in a cute candy color but all the coats seem to be in fall colors right now, and fall colors/jewel tones are NOT MY FAV!!!! I’m prepping a bunch of zipper pouches and hair bows to be felted. I need to make a few more pouches before these are ready to be popped in the washing machine! In other random news, I’d been wearing my hair in pigtails a lot with the bangs down because I am lazy. A) I don’t have to draw on my eyebrows. B) I don’t have to curl or fluff my hairz. Today is the 1st day in a while that I actually fluffed again! Last night, I was on the hunt for a particular kind of red button, but then I fell in love with LOTS of buttons on Etsy! I really want the heart-shaped ones, but I am holding back since the fundages run low whenever I prep for shows! Finally, please check out this very cute giveaway at My Paper Crane’s blog!!! It’s really awesome. You won’t regret it. I never win giveaways. I don’t know why I keep trying :P.

***** So basically, there is an art show opening, and a bunch of crafty vendors will be piggybacking the opening in the form of the New People Artist Village, so if you go, you’ll get to see some cool art, and maybe do some cool shopping with us! Looks like you need to RSVP if you want to come to the preview night on Friday! You can sign up in the lower right corner of the New People home page. The only other Artist Village vendor I know is Shrinkle. Come visit us and we’ll talk about our big heads. The vendor list with pics and bios can be found HERE! Hope to see you Nov. 20-21st! ***** Saturday, November 21st – January 17th at SUPERFROG Gallery TOKYO CREATORS MARKET: SUPERFROG Gallery presents an exhibit of the works of seven unique artists from Japan distinctive in their mastery and originality. These creations come in many dimensions and reach ambitious heights of expression. Get invited to the private opening party! Sign up to receive the NEW PEOPLE newsletter ASAP and get invited to the private party on Friday, November 20th 6pm – 8pm and meet the artists from Tokyo! NEW PEOPLE ARTIST VILLAGE will also have its sneak peak on that night! Its an all-floor event! sign up into the email slot on our homepage (bottom-right) ! NEW PEOPLE ARTIST VILLAGE: Starting the holiday off in festival fashion, NEW PEOPLE and Bazaar Bizarre SF create an all-day, all-floor vertical art village. Come join the shopping fun! Information is available on our event flyer. A New Store is Born! A new shop for NEW PEOPLE! Art makes us grow our imagination, our creativity, our wisdom. Enjoy a stroll in our new GARDEN of art gifts and enjoy the bounty! GRAND OPENING! Also on November 21st, we open TOKYO CREATORS GARDEN accompanying our TOKYO CREATORS MARKET exhibition. The new store is located on the 2F of NEW PEOPLE. TOKYO CREATORS MARKET Artists Introduction: Junko Mizuno Kim Songhe Mikito Ozeki NORITAKE ON ZA LINE KAZMO YUICHI YOKOYAMA

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Yesterday, we had an arts/crafts-tastic Sunday. After walking the doggies (here’s a boring but recent video of them! Videos will lack sound fx or music today. I’m not allowing myself fun-video-making time today!) we headed over to Indie Mart to check out the goods and to meet Vivianna of PolkaDotRobot!. You should check out their site because they are having a 24 hour sale, and it ends at midnight tonight PST! Hairy and I also both bought shirts for $5 from VintageVantage.com. Here’s mine! I would have worn it today, but I have a thing about washing any clothing before wearing it!!! Afterward, we went to check out a new studio space for Hairy and his screenprinting stuffs. It’s a shared work space/art gallery, and I think he’s really into it. Right now, his stuff is in some other dude’s basement. Sorry for the crap quality. It’s from my phone! In other news, check out the little Q&A I did over at 84area.com! Okay, this is really random, but here are my thoughts on 2 Kiehl’s products (I LOVE their Ultra Facial Cream btw, especially now that it’s getting drier outside): So my hair stylist Jules gave me permission to NOT condition my hair all the time. We of the coarse, straight, flat Asian hair, desire to wreck our hair as much as possible so that it has texture, and, for me, VOLUME! The not-conditioning thing was like this brilliant stroke of genius! The downside: static!!! But while I was at the Kiehl’s booth, I picked up a volumizing Rice and Wheat shampoo, and just picked up the Rice and Wheat conditioner, too (we were trying to spend enough for the free gift). I’ve had it since Houston and never tried it. The other day I tried the conditioner…and WOW!!! I was really afraid I would have the dreaded FLAT HAIR that stupid Pantene gives me because my hair was feeling SO SOFT. But after my regular styling and drying, I was pleased to discover that SOFT does not have to mean FLAT. I was really impressed with this product!!! I was less impressed with one of the free samples we got of the grapefruit shower gel. While I am not a big fan of citrus scents to begin with, I really felt like I was rubbing the scent of armpits all over my body. Maybe I’m weird and my B.O smells like grapefruits….who knows. But this was definitely not my fav! Alrighty, I am going to make me some cake-inspired pouches/purses now! Thanks so much for your thoughts and feedback! As someone commented, you can’t please everyone, and that’s for sure. Usually when I design things, I design them to please MYSELF and I think about what I would actually use and like, so it’s interesting to hear what others use and like, too.

Hey Gang, I’m gearing up for the New People event and am wondering about sumthinsumthin! Would love to know your thoughts! Pouchy Preference! from Twinkie Chan on Vimeo. The Gods Who Decide Which Shot to Use for Movie Previews are never kind to me, are they? Sheesh! Snaggletooth much? I’ve also been working on my ruffley salad scarflette. Here’s where it was at last night. Today I’ve been building on the ruffles and making them BIGGER! There’s almost two skeins of Malabrigo in this sucker right now!!!! Ok I just took a pic of the bigger version: I’m still going to edge the leaves in dark green, and then maybe add some radishes and tomatoes! It still doesn’t look that much bigger in the picture. But if I keep adding to the leaves, this thing will weigh a kajillion pounds! I’m also eager to try making the waffle cowl I’ve always wanted! I need to pick yarn for it! (Oh no….MORE YARN SHOPPING…..). But I guess having the perfect color and perfect weight and perfect texture are more important to me than using up the old stash. Onward!

Today I shot a few photos for a few peeps. If you want to see it bigger click HERE. The above collage was for I Love Cookie Party.com which is a crafty supply site that sells fabrics and buttons and stuff. They were looking to replace one of the monsters on their site with an actual person and asked if I might want to give it a whirl. I kinda had no idea what they were actually looking for, so I just threw together a bunch of stuff and we’ll see if anything sticks! Also I bought this giant pink bow from Puppycatmeow on Etsy, and she asked if I’d take some photos for her shop, so I said OK! The last one on the right is so awesome, am I right? Also today I visited Imagiknit to get more yarn for the upcoming show at New People. I ended up buying like 7 skeins of YELLOW, but all in different brands and materials. Everyone was like GIRL WHY YOU BUYIN SO MUCH YELLOW!?!! Sometimes it just happens!! I sent most of it off to my helpers, but here is what stayed with me: I figure if I have any readers who are into yarn porn, I can start documenting what I buy on my yarn outings if it happens to look at all exciting!! I keep wanting to stop buying so much yarn and use up my stash, but somehow, you just end up having to buy more anyway!! I recently went thru my stash and pulled out stuff I know that I will never use. Is it kosher to sell your stash on Etsy? Anyhoo, I am off to make two watermelon scarves tonight!!!! xo OH p.s., if you knit or crochet afghans and know anything about framing them properly (i.e. so they don’t sag) please let me know!!!

Hey Gang! Sorry for the lack of commenting and updates. I was unable to do either, and I thought it was just a momentary glitch. But then I asked my webmaster/brother tonight, and he said it looked like the blog had actually been hacked!!! I think it’s better now, tho. I seem to have a lot of problems with this blog breaking! Anyway, I hope everyone had a fun Halloween!! I was so involved in my projects that I had NO brainpower to spend on Halloween. We ended up going to a bar with Manda who dressed up as Punky Brewster and we people-watched. Then we ate some foods at Baghdad Cafe after closing down the bar and did more people-watching! This is basically the only entertaining pic from the evening: Manda at Baghdad being the guinea pig for Hairy’s animated-gif app on his iPhone: I was going to post the rest of the scarf pics that I took on the day I had to email my manuscript, but, then I figured, if I showed pics of everything, it wouldn’t be a very fun surprise!! (However, the pics I’ve been showing you will not be the final pics for the book. I have to plan those shoots out and take them a bit later!))  So here’s just one more. I had basically been up all night, worked until noon, shot pics, edited them, and went to sleep from 2pm-6pm before I had to meet my friend Pickle for dinner in San Leandro. It was a long day!!! So now, my next project is making goodies for this event at the New People building . SF Bazaar Bizarre is teaming up with New People to bring you “New People Artist Village Vol.1: New People x Bazaar Bizarre”. This artist’s village will be in celebration of a new art exhibit at the SUPERFROG Gallery entitled “Tokyo Creators Market: An Exhibition by 7 artists from Tokyo.” If you haven’t visited the New People building yet, here’s a great opportunity! WHEN AND WHERE Friday November 20th 2009 6pm-9pm Saturday November 21st 2009 10am-8pm New People 1746 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115 When there’s a banner, I will post it to my MySpace, etc! In other news, I got a few pics from Margaret from her wedding. I will put them behind a cut! xo!