Month: June 2013

Sara from SoulCandyCrochet (the jar cozies pictured are hers) asked if I had any advice about finding a signature style for her crafting and her shop. In various q&a’s, I talk a lot about how I think it’s super important to have your own voice, so your work can stand out, but how do you find and cultivate that voice? Sara has a pretty clear idea about her work’s manifesto/philosophy, but she is uncertain about how to develop that into something tangible and physical in her crochet pieces. I think there are probably blogs and books about this very topic, and there are probably like “10 Steps to Blahblahblah” exercises that may or may not be helpful. I don’t fancy myself a small business guru, and I don’t pretend to have all the secrets to success, but I’m certainly open to sharing my story and some stuff I’ve learned along the way! For some people, finding your signature art/craft style is organic, and you just kinda do what you do, and it’s kinda different and out there, and people notice it, and you get featured on Etsy or Huff Post or Make:Craft blog or what have you. For others, there may be a creative urge and an artistic talent, but figuring out where you stand in the world needs more strategy or intention. For me, I think there was sort of a mix between organic and intentional. The women in my family always encouraged us to be creative and “go home and make it” (you may have heard me quote this before!). What I found myself doing was not necessarily making things I wanted to buy, but making things I wanted to HAVE and was not able to find in stores, whether they were presents for other people or just presents for myself. When I worked in an office, my boss always encouraged me to open up my own shop for handmade goods, but I always knew in the back of my mind, that my crafting was all over the place – real cereal picture frames, personalized pillow cases, funky Dr. Seussian hats, handpainted rocks – and that I wanted to have  a more refined concept before thinking I could sell anything to a complete stranger. So crafting had been in my blood for years, on a casual level, usually as a way to give unusual and memorable gifts to people. But the intentional part came from working in publishing and learning about branding (authors). I had learned that it was important to represent something specific and something unique, in order to appear like a sellable commodity, and since I hadn’t figured that out yet, I didn’t feel ready to put anything out into the world. In my “about” page and various bios, I talk about how moving to San Francisco inspired me to make myself some scarves. This is 100% true. I started making scarves for myself because the evenings here are chilly, but I wanted to wear something […]

When the flowers start blooming in my back yard (the weeds, that is), I start feeling like I ought to make more of an intentional effort to beautify my garden. The thing is, I know myself, and I know that I don’t put in the time to take care of anything out there. I’m like the goldfish-mama who will birth the babies and then completely ignore them and maybe even EAT them. So I planted some stuff in the backyard, but the big experiment right now is my front porch. My mom bought me this tall, black planter to put plant-stuff in, and I have tried all sort of plants in it, and they ALWAYS die! Potted flowers: dead. Topiary bushes: dead. I call this phenomenon, The Curse. All green things are cursed on the porch! In my backyard, I have this generic ready-made pot of succulents that I bought at Home Depot last year. I don’t water it or anything, and it looks just as perfect as the day I bought it. I almost wonder if it’s fake. Succulents/cacti seem super trendy right now, and I’m one of those angry people who try to steer away from what’s trendy, but if succulents are what survive in my yard, I’m gonna go with that. So I selected a bunch of them and potted them and put them in the Tall Black Planter of Doom, and I’m crossing my fingers. The thing is, I don’t know that they really make the visual statement I would prefer! But I’m going to hold off on adding anything else right now. I want to see if these new guys survive The Curse…

Do ya like to bake? Do ya like professional wrestling!? Bake and Destroy has got the contest for YOU! Sugar Slam IV: Ready to Crumble is here! check out this page for deadlines and contest rules! You have until August 31st! Yummy You! is excited to be a prize sponsor!  

Just in time for 4th of July! Check out my crochet pattern for Rocket Pop Brooches/Hairclips here in my Etsy shop!

Head on over to one of my most favoritest bloggers, AgentLover, and enter her giveaway! One lucky winner gets to go home with a Yummy You! x Sanrio Character-Cupcake scarf! Woohoo! Sorry for the radio silence! I was in Las Vegas this week for the big Licensing Expo. I don’t think we were really supposed to take photos inside there (although everyone was taking photos with the mascots running around, like the Power Rangers, The ICEE Slush Puppy, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and some random guys I didn’t recognize!), but it’s really cool to see the booth designs for big companies like Nickelodeon, My Little Pony, Sesame Street, stuff like that!

It’s gonna be Betty Turbo week at The Drawing Board in Corvallis, OR, from June 17 to June 22, and I made two tiny (4 in x 4 in) crochet paintings for the Awesome Tiny Art Show with a reception on Friday, June 21, from 6:00pm – 8:30pm. It’s summertime, and that means, ice cream time!   I kind of have a crush on those little cherries!!! You might recognize them as game pieces from Hi Ho Cherry-o :P.

Last weekend, we headed down to LA to celebrate JapanLA’s 7th Bday, the launch of JapanLA Clothing’s Kitty Party line, and also to take Manda to Disneyland for her graduation! On our drive back home, we stopped by the Skirball Cultural Center to check out Gary Baseman‘s show “The Door is Always Open.” I’d seen a bunch of my LA friends post pics of the opening night on Instagram, plus when we had dinner with Onch and lunch with Amy on our trip, they both gave it a ringing endorsement! On the walk to the exhibition, there were big cut-outs of some of his characters.

You. Guys. You guys you guys you guys. You have to check out the Fab.com sale happening right now from Japanese brand Gladee. The sale ends in 6 days!!! Here are some of my favs from the Gladee site. Not all of these are available on Fab, but Fab definitely still has a great selection! So, note to friends and family: you can’t go wrong if you wanna buy me a Gladee present….! 😛

My Round Ups aren’t usually themed, but I started noticing there were kind of a lot of creatures and animals on my list! Chibi Owling gadget case by TomoIsland on Etsy. I am in heart with this little owl baby! TomoIsland also has tons of other cute stuff, like shoulder bags! Crochet Llama phone cozy by CuteMoonBunny on Etsy. I have almost bought this several times because he is so cute and pink and delicious! Of course, since it’s crocheted, I always tell myself I can make my own just for me, but…. who has time, right? Pastel Kittens printable garland by Mel Stringer. Don’t you have artist-crushes sometimes? I am definitely crushin’ on Mel Stringer! This men’s Workaholics Bear Coat from 80sTees is totally blowing my mind. I have never watched the show, but this coat is so pimp! Eager Achiever beaver bag on ModCloth. Amigurumi Seedlings by hellohappy on Etsy. I just love the idea that these are the little guys that are growing under your plant! And here’s a video Hairy sent me today with a bunch of local mascots in Japan dancing.

Hello, Italian friends and Italian-reading friends! I am in the latest issue of Cucito e Ricamo Magazine, a cute crafty mag available for you in the app store for iPhone/iPad. Just search for “Cucito e Ricamo” and you’ll find the “Casa Creativa” app. The app is free, and then you can decide which magazines you want to purchase. I also found this link to make a purchase, but I don’t know if they send you a PDF, or if it’s still app-related. I can’t read the instructions :P. The magazine looks really cute, though, and there’s 4 pages of Q&A in there with me!    

Wow, today’s post is like a triple whammy!!!! 1) Free crochet pattern 2) Experimenting with a new fabric glue 3) Pimping out 2 cool Etsy shops. Let’s go! So if you couldn’t tell from the blog title, today’s post is all inspired by LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. The younguns may not remember this, but us olduns do! It’s the funniest, goofiest, BFF  TV show! Joy from Lucky Cupcake Hair Clips sent me this amazing Laverne & Shirley hair bow, and I scrambled to think of what outfit I could put together to do it any amount of justice. I don’t have a lot of Laverne-y pieces in my closet (YET), so I sort of improvised … by making my own Laverne-inspired cardigan! To create the “L” for my Laverne cardigan, I used Norma Lynn’s “Love in Cursive” crochet pattern for inspiration. You should grab her pattern to spell out the whole word! Here’s what I busted out for the Laverne “L” : ch 71, sk 1st ch, 2 sc, (2 sc), 10 sc, (2 sc), 2 sc, (2 sc), 2 sc, (2 sc), 18 sc, sc3tog, 2 sc, sc3tog, 2 sc, sc3tog, 2 sc, sc3tog, 10 sc, (2 sc), 3 sc. Then, I experimented with Surebonder Fabric Stix: hot glue for fabric! That’s flexible! And washable! I can’t vouch yet for how it washes. Only time will tell. I was just excited to try this out. It kinda stinks that it’s white and not clear, but for this project, it was fine. It also, kind of literally stinks. It’s a bit smellier than regular hot glue, so you might want to pop open a window if you’re afraid of chemical smells. It’s no way near as bad as E6000, though. Ultimately, I think that hot fabric glue is an easy solution for some quick embellishments, but since it’s GLUE, it is kinda bulky and not as delicate as hand-sewing. Here’s an action-packed video I made while using the Fabric Stix for the first time! I would say that it is certainly a quick n convenient way to glue stuff to other stuff, but I felt like I was being too messy with it, and it was kinda stringy, and……..it’s WHITE. So, there are some definite down sounds to working with it. I’m interested in how it would hold up to gluing bows to jeans and stuff like that. More experimentation later!

I hope you guys get to have fun adventures this weekend! Last weekend, Hairy and I drove down to Big Sur. Big Sur is neat cuz it’s like a bunch of different environments all smashed together…. grassland, forest, and beach. I am not really a nature/camping kinda gal, because I hate sweating, bugs, and getting dirty, but I’m game to hang out in nature for an hour or two. I made a video of our journey, so you can come with us on our hike! So this is basically the outfit I consider my sporty/hiking outfit. I tried on a bunch of my shorts, and it’s like … my thighs are SO JUICY that they don’t really fit in any shorts!? WTH? Where do juicy gals buy their shorts?! These red ones are from Victoria’s Secret. My very sporty muscle shirt is from Urban Outfitters. I told Hairy that in this outfit, nobody would invite me deer-hunting, which, is a good thing anyway.  Pfeiffer Beach is really beautiful, but if you watch the video, you will see why the sign says, “VERY WINDY. NO REFUNDS.” Ok, bye! Go somewhere outside this weekend and smell some fresh air and inhale some tiny bugs and stuff. Love you guys!