Category: Blog

I can’t remember if I ever posted info for the fair! It’s July 18-19, in Fort Mason here in San Francisco. Here is a link to the Renegade site. I went to this fair last year as a shopper/visitor, and I was AMAZED at how many vendors there were! So Much stuff!!! Bring lots of cash!!! We ran out! Manda and I will be at booth 92, which will be nearish to the frontish. I’m starting to feel like there are 12 stages of planning for a craft fair. At first I felt anxious, then I felt relaxed (about having plenty of time to make stuff for my table), then I was in denial (about having no time to make stuff for my table), then I was FREAKED THE EFF OUT, and now I’m excited. I wonder what tomorrow will bring! Probably more freak-the-eff-out before this event is done. Please come say hi. If all plans turn out well, I will have a really cool booth display, and LOTS of new, fun items!

I’ve a feeling the happy, white teeth will sell first. Ahahahaha :P. I’m thinking of putting treats in them. Like dental floss in the happy tooth and candy in the sad tooth, so that the sad tooth will get some love!

Just jeans on the bottom! Dainty June top (I LOVE this line! Sold at All Mighty and other boutiques), Applenoggin necklace, holding a berry made by me! The shirt is making me a liiiiittle self-conscious about my little belly and muffins, but, whatever, it’s comfy and cute! So Hairy has been cooking at home a bit more lately, which is delightful. 1) It’s helpful to not have to go out to eat as that sort of wastes time and I’m really pressed for time before the craft fair, 2) It’s nummy! One of his concoctions is made of frozen peas, and it’s REALLY good. He calls it “smashy peas,” but I feel like I’ve seen something like that at restaurants, and it’s served hot and tastes more like a chunky pea soup. What he makes is cold, refreshing, very “green” tasting, and is more like a lemony hummus, but with green peas, and does not have that sort of mealy, grainy mouthfeel that bean dips can have. It’s 100% delightful and not at all pea-soup like. I think he pretty much transformed peas. We couldn’t think of a good name for it. I’ve been calling it Peamus. Here’s the recipe!!! HAIRY’S TASTY PEAMUS Whole bag of frozen peas, defrosted 1/2 cup olive oil salt/pepper to taste juice of one lemon 3-4 cloves of garlic big handful of fresh mint big handful of fresh parsley half of a shallot Put all this stuff into your food processor/blender, until you have the desired consistency, you know, hummus-like. Hairy served it with a baguette. I think it could be a yummy alternative to mayo or mustard on a sandwich. I also just ate it with wheat thins. I almost feel like I could live on peamus and brownies and be happy. EDIT!!: We’ve just been informed by CurvyQ that Peamus is in fact known as MOCK-A-MOLE!!!! Doh!!! I’d never heard of mockamole before, since I am not really knowledgeable at all of the world of food substitution!

It’s funny what sounds Bibi is aware of: 1) Hair Spray = keep a distance or you’ll start sneezing. 2) Hairy’s cell phone = someone’s ringing the door bell & coming for a visit. 3) Egg shell cracking = yummy boiled egg snack. 4) Reverse beeping sound on the car = parking = soon time to get out of car and go play! 5) Banana getting peeled = snacks for Bibi!!! We don’t feed our dogs at the table. Hairy was very insistent upon this when we first got Bibi as a baby. So now when we eat, they might get curious, but they’ll usually go and sleep on the couch instead of bugging us. We do feed them human food, fresh, unseasoned human food like fruit and veggies and yogurt and cottage cheese, but these usually go in their doggie bowls so they know that our food is our food, and their food is their food. However, boiled eggs and bananas seem to be the exception. I cannot shell an egg or peel a banana without Bibi getting all up in my face. So that’s where this video came from! Hairy had put out some tea, a pecan roll, and a banana for me for breakfast on Sunday, and once I hit the banana….I couldn’t shake the Bibi and ended up giving her the rest of it! Today is all about sewing zippers and buttons = 2 of my least favorite things ever!!! It’s really hard for me to sew zippers onto the cute-tility packs. It’s a small amount of space to work with, and I have pins sticking all over the place, and I’m not a great seamstress to begin with. so I end up sticking myself a million times. Fun fun fun! Today’s victim = Sweet Tooth cute-tility packs!! I’ve never sold teethpacks before. I only ever made one for my friend Elysse for her birthday. But I will be selling happy white teeth and sad yellow teeth at the craft fair! Time to return to my personal zipper-hell! Later I’ll try to post a really yummy “Hairy Cooks” recipe!

I was delighted to see this fruity rainbow tart at Whole Foods just now. Also, a neat surprise: a ginormous arch of rainbow balloons at the Home Depot in COlma!!! Sorry I didn’t get a pic of it. You’ll just have to make a rainbow balloon arch of your own!

I will debuting all new t-shirt designs at Renegade (if I get all my shizz together). Here is the first one! Three scoops of ice cream and a cute banner that reads: Triple Scoop Troop. Yes, it’s based on my tattoo! The whole idea was inspired by all the other ladies with triple scoop ice cream tattoos. I don’t know most of the girls, but I figured we were now all part of some loosely organized posse! I wanted a shirt for us and all the other people who just love ice cream! I am still adjusting the colors, so this one is just a tester that I will be keeping. I’ve decided how I will print this design for the fair, but I need to figure out how to keep this in stock in the future without costing me a fortune! Anyway, I have some more cute designs cooking up. More sneak peeks of those as they come in! I think that Hairy and I will be screenprinting the rest ourselves, at his “shop,” the Fondu Pot.

What the “craft bench” looks like right now. Someone asked me what my craft area looks like, and, you’re kinda looking at it. I live in a loft, so there are no separate rooms for organization. I basically take over the living room. I have yarn stash in one corner, photo lights in another corner, and some crafty supplies in another corner. I like to sit on the floor and work, so I’m usually on the living room rug, leaning against the couch. If I have to lay out my work, I use the skinny table/bench behind the couch. My official craft table is a bit of a wreck right now. I usually don’t work at it unless I’m doing something with beads. Otherwise, it’s storage and a place to put crap down! In more administrative news, you may notice a change in the way comments/replies work on my blog. I really wanted you guys to be notified if I or someone else reply to your comments here. If I leave a comment on someone’s blog, I usually won’t check back on that entry to see if I got a response. I just won’t remember. So I like when I get notified if someone replies to me. That is why I made that change here. Hairy told me that without notifications, commenters are encouraged to return to the page to see if they got a response, which would increase your site traffic numbers(?). I understand that from a numbers standpoint, but from a user’s standpoint, I’m personally just not going to check back! So if you hate this change, I can also give you the option of deciding whether or not you get a reply message. But I like it this way because I feel it creates more of a dialogue between you and me (and others), and that’s what I feel that blogging is about, at least for myself, at this moment in time. With blogger, I can check a box to get a notification or not, but sometimes I forget to check the box! So I like the default. Let me know your thoughts. Anyhoo, today I decided to curl my bangs under! It looked better before I brushed them out. I prefered it a bit piece-y, since I curled them in three sections. Oh well! Now I know for next time! Finger-brush, not brush-brush! Last night, Hairy made pho! I think it’s exciting we also get the dish of greens n things just like at a restaurant! Now I’m going back to sewing pepperonis onto pizzas!!!

The beautiful and creative Elsie Cake who also runs the online shop and brick-n-mortar Red Velvet Art listed my blog on her list of Top 10 Colorful & Crafty Blogs to Inspire for blogs.com. I’m so surprised because Elsie’s blog on typepad is one that I look forward to reading every day for inspiration. Her drawings, photos, crafts, and words of wisdom are a treat! Check her out!

Sooooo I ordered ONE shirt (not pictured today…but soon!) from All Mighty. When they first announced their Dainty June sister line and I saw pics, I was like, I NEED TO HAVE ALL OF THIS. So I was a little proud of myself for only getting one shirt from Dainty June. When my package arrived, it was BIG, and I was confused! Turns out, they threw in a bunch more shirts from their damaged/sample bin. WOWEE!! I might do a give away including a shirt or two, or just give some to friends. I’m not sure! I tried on the green one, and then, I just left it on because it was so soft and comfy. Generally, I must wash all new clothing before putting it on my body, but, seriously, SOFT. On for the rest of the day. Originally I was wearing my “I hate children” puff sleeve shirt from Locher. I don’t really hate all kids. Just ones that are crying and screaming…. Anyway, I must also share the other half of my big dirty 40% off Betsey Johnson sale secret. THIS HOODIE!! O.M.G. Okay, it was really spendy, but 40% off!! Stiiilll spendy….but….I had to have it and I have no regrets. Puff sleeve, ruffle bottom, gold zippers even at the wrist, beautiful pattern and colors. Also, it’s really warm for a hoodie. Maybe too warm for the current weather! We’ll see. Finally, here’s a tiny peek at what we’re working on for Renegade. I still have a crap ton to do. It sort of overwhelms me. So yesterday I scrubbed down the bathrooms to avoid my to-do list. Today I have to get back on the horse! I’ve been working on t-shirt designs a lot the past few days. I’m kind of stuck on which to print and bring to the fair! We’ll see. More updates on that soon!

A lot of gals, espesh on MySpace, have asked me about my makeup and how I do it. I do not know how to put on makeup at all, and I just do what I do because it’s fast and simple for me and hides what I want to hide! 😛 I have always wanted to be a low maintenance gal. I didn’t wear any kind of makeup in highschool. I dabbled in eyeliner in college, and then when my mom and I went to get fun makeovers at the Prescriptives counter sometime shortly after, she said I looked better with my eyebrows done! I was never a lipstick girl. I think it brings more attention to my crooked teeth! I have hardly any eyebrows or eyelashes, so I feel like a big old alien when I have no makeup on. I do not leave the house without eyeliner! When I was 14, I was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder which also gave me the bug eyes that I have today (I used eyeshadow in order to hide the appearance of my upper lids puffing a little bit over my eyeline). I think the hyperthyroidism, plus years and years of lack of proper sleep, have given me wicked under-eyebags, which are embarrassingly obvious in this video (yes, I photoshop them in photos…who needs to see that?! yuck!). If anyone out there has any pointers about eyebags, please let me know!!! I’ve tried many creams, etc, and nothing really helps at all, so I’m thinking that nothing really works anyway! Okay okay, enough dancing around the topic of my gross, un-made-up face! On to the video. Super Janky Makeup Video from Twinkie Chan on Vimeo.

1. Polka dot Bib Dress by BonjourPierre on Etsy. 2. Amazing Tree Bed by Shawn Lovelle Metalworks. 3. iKaraoke! 4. Goblin Hood Dress by Malam on Etsy. 5. Reconstructed Striped Dress by heidiandseek on Etsy. 6. Cat Messenger Bag by decora on Etsy. 7. green Mazeppa top by Dainty June at All Mighty. 8. Birdhouse Trio bry Frippelous on Lollishops.

MMMM okay this is just me being grumpy or annoyed. HAHA. While I was going thru the video clips a few days ago, I noticed I was more grouchy than I thought. Sleep deprived. Sweaty. Had the doodoos. I do my best. Hahah. Here’s a short collection. Actual video montage to follow later! Oh and PHOTOS! Sheesh. Sometimes I’m Grumpy from Twinkie Chan on Vimeo.

Hairy has said I am officially “bad.” I am not “bad,” I am human!!! A mere human girl!!! When I got the email telling me that Betsey Johnson’s bags were 40% off, I had to take a look…. and I fell deeply and hopelessly in love with this amazing ice cream tote bag. The handles are pink sequins, the giant ice cream on the front is a zipper pocket, there’s a magnetic snap closure, tons of room for my crap. WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE?!??! I MEAN REALLY!?!!?? (please excuse my terrible hair. sometimes it just does whatever it wants to do…)

When we were in Paris, we ran into a Pierre Herme shop which is supposed to be famous for its macaroons. They had all kinds of crazy flavors like wasabi or rose! I got 4, but I decided after all that I don’t really like the taste/texture of macaroons. They are really cute, though, so I started thinking of ideas for macaroon-inspired cowls. And tonight, I thought of a strawberry creme puff cowl I want to make. So I sketched them out to remember. (Yes, I know, I can’t draw. I’m ok with that and I don’t even try.) I probably won’t be able to make any for quite some time as I have so many big projects lined up, but hopefully I can sneak one in! I know exactly how I want to do them so that they seem to have a nice rounded edge. Anyway, that’s all from me! Back to work! Today I am writing notes on my book contract!! I kind of wish I could also have one of my old colleagues go over it with me, but I don’t want to burden someone who is not my actual agent. My agent already wrote notes, so if she and I go over it, we’ll probably have most of our bases covered. Blah blah blah. Okay, off I go!

I shrug at this entire post. I don’t like to abandon my blog for too long, but I have too much Photoshop homework to do on a time crunch, so I haven’t been crocheting much or taking any pictures or going through vacation stuff. I kind of don’t remember why on earth I bought this Maneater shirt. I probably thought it was funny at the time, but now I’m like, Hunh? So here’s a really horrible video for you to enjoy today! I guess the other moral of the story is: don’t ever take me dancing. I *will* snap my fingers. A lot.

On Saturday, Hairy drove down to the Peninsula with me to pick up some yarn from Los Altos. I had called all around the city and nobody had Plymouth Encore worsted weight in bright yellow!!!! So we went down there and also visited Manda to drop off her prezzies from Europe. I got her three French fashion/lifestyle magazines, a fancy jar of peas (joke, but she really does eat canned peans with mayo!), and fancy dark chocolates. Afterward, we drove back up to the city to walk the pups and buy foods for dinner. Hairy made a yummy salad and a little bit of pasta. Then we stopped by the Comet Club in the Marina to say hi to Michelle who was promoting Sailor Jerry rum. I have decided I definitely am not a rum and coke girl! I was already feeling tired around midnight, but the Comet Club was still an amusing place. I really want to take Manda. I think she would like it. I am always fascinated by the way people act at clubs, when dudes grind on girls, when everyone acts silly. Good people watching! Hairy drank three rum & cokes and then Michelle and I visited the photobooth. I never know what to do with myself in one. I think it’s clear that “grumpy face” is a go-to.

Doing a lot of work in Photoshop today, so I decided to break in my new shoes that Hairy bought me in Milan (god that sounds pretentious!!!). We had a free day in Florence, so we decided to hop on a train for two hours to see if we might check out The Last Supper in Milan. However, the church/tour was booked 3 weeks ahead!! So we just decided to wander around a little bit. We ran into this little shoe store called Les Lolitas that I really loved. I should have gotten more than one pair! Oh well! They are kind of like little old lady shoes because the heel kinda looks funky, but they are really comfy and breaking in really quickly, which is awesome. I can never find shoes because I have duck feet: fat and wide in the front, and narrow in the heel. This is why I wear a lot of chunky maryjane-ish shoes: to accommodate my chubby fronts! I don’t know from shoes or whether or not these are well made. I guess we’ll see!! It is kinda gloomy in the loft today, so I went on the patio to take some pictures. I really love our green mossy stuff, but Hairy and I are really itching to get rid of the rock “garden” that came with the place when we moved in, because Bunny keeps pooing in it and I think it’s kind of an eyesore. Anyway, if you are ever shopping in Milan, you also have to go to the store Love Therapy! I did not buy anything in there but I was lusting over everything, espesh a pair of golden, open-toed platform wedgies!!! They did not have my size, tho. Soon after looking around, I had a super stomach explosion and we ducked a small camera crew who asked us to say “HELLO, DOCTOR!” for TV so I could find a bathroom!!! HAHA. It was super duper hot in Milan, and I wasn’t feeling well, so we got on the train back to Florence, and then had a very yummy dinner at a rando cafe that gave us free prosecco when we sat down, and also left a free bottle of Limoncello for us after dinner. Hairy drank all my alcohol since I had yuck-tum and then he fell off a curb while we walked back to the hotel and I made fun of him. Anyhoos, maybe I’ll start sorting all the pics and vids from the trip tonight. Or not. I am super busy with Twinkie Chan work, so we’ll see how fast I can move. Right now I have to try and pick up our mail from the post office and mail off a baby turnip scarf! I hope they have our mail! I think they kinda screwed up on our last trip!

taken in a metro station in Milan Hairy, the fam, and I are back from our Florence/Paris trip! There are lots of pics and lots of video clips, which = MONTAGE!!! But 1st things 1st. Picking up out babydoggies tomorrow. Nosediving back into Twinkie Chan work. And UNPACKING!!!! Fave moment from Florence, in our hotel bathroom: Me, “These face-towels are REALLY weird!” Hairy, “That’s cuz they’re BUTT-towels!” AHHHHH BIDETS!!!!!

1. Gold Ruffle Skirt by Skycreations on Etsy 2. Sprinkle Bangle by Starsprinklez on Etsy. 3. Jelly Bean earrings by Roscata on Etsy. (I WILL get a pair of these!! If they sell out before I get to, I am going to harass Roscata!!) 4. Panda Top by radclothing on Etsy. 5. Hot Pink Rose Hairclip by emandsprout on Etsy. 6. Big Rainbow Taffy hair bow by Sassafrasgifts on Etsy. 7. Barbie T ennis Bubble Dress by 123LaLaLovely on Etsy. 8. Cute Foodie Cabochons like this lot sold by SweetStrawberryLand on Etsy. I want to glue these all over everything in my bedroom! AAAAaaaand cuz you won’t be getting any Bibi for two weeks (and neither will I!!!!), here’s Bibi from this afternoon, hoggin’ up my space. Convo with Bibi from Twinkie Chan on Vimeo. Okay, everybody take care!!! When Hairy, my family, and I get back from Europe I am sure I will have fun pics and food adventures, and hopefully, my favorite, an awful vacation montage! YAY!!!

Sometimes it happens. When you have dogs, they chew up stuff. I think they were after the radish’s eyeballs. This radish already had its green stems and leaves and everything, but all the dogs wanted WERE THE EYES!!! This radish was supposed to be for a commission. Oy! Luckily, Marissa sent me an extra radish head, so I performed a stem and leaf transplant. The patient seemed ok with his new prosthetic! If I were Howie, I would have bought scrubs, and some operating tools, and would have had a really exciting ER-style movie about emergency veggie surgery!! But sadly, I am me, and I’m lazy. All you got were these sad snaps. At least the patient is upright and alert. Obvs, the donor from the first pic is looking a bit busted, but, you can’t save them all. You just can’t save them all!!!!! *facepalm*

So one of the things I liked about shopping in Hong Kong were BLINGED OUT T-SHIRTS!!!!! Cute tees decorated with rhinestones. I’m totally going to make some myself for Renegade. That’s the plan anyway! Hairy has his screenprinting set up so we’re gonna see about making some Twinkie Chan tees!

I got up on Saturday and declared an unofficial Princess Day! Dress: I’m Your Present Cardigan: Tarjay! Necklace: Kid Pirate We didn’t do anything special. We had to go to Sacramento again to check out another dog kennel since we are leaving on a family trip to Europe in less than a week and the babies have to stay somewhere. We are not going with the cleanest/nicest/most expensive place, but this place suits our needs: space. Good sized runs with inside and outside. Grass yards to play in. And if your dog is deemed well-socialized, they will put your dog in a play group and not charge extra. We hit A LOT of traffic, and we were running WAY LATE. The girl who worked at the kennel was really nice and let us come in late. Again, it was not the fanciest place, but I think it was the one that both Hairy and I liked best for our pups. We’ll see if they come home missing ears or pooping butt-pudding or something…..!! Then Hairy wanted to eat nutburgers as this rando drive-in place called the Sunflower SomethingorOther. I got a millet burger!!! We ate outside on benches and were surrounded by CHICKENS AND ROOSTERS. They kept coming around to peck food off the ground, and I was SCARED. I assume animals like chickens and squirrels and raccoons are mean, so being surrounded by a cackling posse was like something out of a horror movie :P. On the way home we stopped for MickeyD’s soft serve and all was right in the world!

My thought for the day based on the contents of this photo: sometimes you have to let go and just ask for help! I am so lucky to be surrounded by supportive people, and I am so lucky to have met people who believe in what I do. I am a control freak and I am super independent, and I want to do everything myself. I think many people can survive this way, but I know that I had hit a wall for some time, so it was time to let the garden grow. Today my thanks go out to Marissa and Rita. You’re my team and I heart you! (Travis, you’re out there, too, but, yeah, you know :P)

So I’m printing out shipping labels and packing boxes. Our “office” set up is a bit weird, so I have to haul my laptop over to where the printer is, and right now, my laptop is on the floor. Meanwhile, Bibi wants me to play fetch with her and her cowbaby. So we play a little fetch and I print out some labels I get up to pack boxes and tape some shizz together and what do I see when I come back to the laptop?!?? And Bibi is nowhere in sight.