Dropped Dolls!

An update on the little adventurers.  They have been dropped around town and have hopefully found good homes.  I really hope that the new owner notifies me or The Toy Society because it's so much fun to hear about their find.  If not, I'm not going to get hung up on it.  It is what it is, right?

The first one was left at our local supermarket, with Snoopy.

I left the second one at the downtown mall.

I can't wait to make some more toys to drop around town.  I have a few ideas in the works and need to draft up some patterns.  See you later!  Going to eat some food and head back to work...boo!

Watchful Eyes

So, I see things a little differently than most people.  I'm ok with that.  

For instance, we usually take the same path when we walk the dog.  (He leads the way.)  One of my favorite parts of the journey is getting to visit the alligator.  For everyone else, it's just a smear of paint from someone's tire.  Left there many moons ago, when the parking lot was redone.

For me, it's a gator.

 

Can you see him?!

A Little Tequila Time

Not the liquid kind, blech!  The furry kind!  This weekend we had a break in the rain...finally.  So we took advantage of all the sun and spent some quality time with the baby.  Since our neighborhood is home to a college and a high school, it's pretty much deserted on the weekends.  It's nice and quiet.

Another pro to having a college nearby, gorgeous landscaping.  About a block away, I can feast my eyes on this.

And this.

Dillon was pretty click happy with the camera on our adventure so there are some really silly photos.  Many of them should never be viewed by anyone....ever.  However, some are really nice.  This one really captures what a beautiful day it was.

I love my neighborhood, for a variety of reasons.  On our walk we were discussing how much we like living here and somehow we came upon the topic of anti-zombie fortification.  Typical course of conversation, right?  According to the guy, our neighborhood is perfect for it.  And I have to admit, he had some good points.  So yeah, one more reason I love it here, we'll be able to keep the zombies away relatively easily.  Do you have a plan for when the zombies come?

Thanks for checking out my neck of the woods.  Have a craftastic day!

Local Yarnbombing- Part 2!!

 So, a little more about Cast Away.  The cute, local shop behind The Pole Sweater Project I mentioned last time.  I love everything about this place.

From the friendly owner, Justine (check out the cross stitched top she's wearing- lovely)

to the window displays!  Everything, people.

Even their printed promo stuff is wonderful.  Ackkk, my favorite color green!!

Helpful, too!  The back of the business cards have a little needle chart, so you know exactly what you need.  How clever is that?!  Since I'm not a knitter, it's all Greek to me, but I still think it's great.  Us stitchy folks need something similar...hmmmm, we'll have to start brainstorming.

In addition to tons of fabulous yarn, they have lots of books and magazines.  There is also a great button selection.  I could spend hours... and hundreds picking out the perfect ones. 

But you want to know the best part?  There is a huge selection of classes and activities to participate in.  I can't wait until I have time to pick up yet another hobby.  There is even a cozy little place in the store where people can hang out and knit.  So fun.

 Local folks- there are few cool things coming up this month.  On October 28th there will be a Be Sweet Trunk show.  Don't you love to support companies that are doing good?  I know I do.  There will also be a workshop with Sonoma County artist, Rosemary Hill.  Her patterns alone are enough to make me want to learn some new skills, they're just gorgeous.

Hope you've enjoyed hearing a little bit about one of the places that helps to make my community so unique.  I also hope that you are enjoying a creative Friday, thanks for looking.  I'll be back in a while with Snapshot Friday, I need to refuel with some Spinach Lasagna...yum, yum.

p.s.  Remember- shop local!  (Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now.  It's just important, you know?)

Local Yarnbombing- Part 1

I love the subject so much, I'm going to make it a two part post.  I think it's always a good idea to double up on colorful goodness.

As an artist and all around craftastic person, I appreciate things that put creativity into the public's view.  It's one thing to discuss work with your fellow artsy friends or to share projects with your fellow craft lovers.  However, when art is created in public or displayed in a communal area, it adds a whole new dimension.  People who wouldn't normally experience that culture are forced into the middle of it.  Perhaps forced is too harsh a word but I mean it in the most positive context.  This exposure leaves people enriched and curious- curious about the materials, how it was made, it's creator.  Often people are inspired to makes something of their own and in most cases, they are left wanting more.  

I am also a person who believes that there is a fine line between Art and Craft.  There is certainly work that fits into both categories.  Knowing what you do about me, you can understand why I completely fell in love with Yarnbombing the first time I ever heard about it.

Just imagine my excitement when I heard that good ol' Santa Rosa had a bunch of yarn-filled fun happening at the moment.  I was practically beside myself with delight.  The Street Pole Sweater Project was created when Justine of Cast Away, a sweet little yarn store, teamed up with other local businesses and knitters to add a little excitement to a downtown area known as Railroad Square.

Check out their results!  Pure Awesome.

Bikes are EVERYWHERE in Sonoma County!

My favorite little bit.  I have no idea what this pattern is called, but I love it!

This last one makes me think of Little Italy.  How about you?

Doesn't it look great?  It makes me happy every time I see one.  Next part of this post I'll tell you a more about adorable Justine and her awesome shop!  Stay tuned...

Hope that you're enjoying a creative day.  When you get a chance go outside and find something inspiring.  Better yet, leave something inspiring for someone else to find!  You won't regret it.

Update.

Last weekend the boy and I were walking the dog around our neighborhood and the college campus nearby.  On a whim I picked up the school newspaper.  Later back at home, Dillon was reading bits and pieces of it when he casually asked if I had seen the police blotter.  I knew it had to be something good because while I was reading it he just sat there staring at me with a strange little smirk on his face.  

When I got to the very end and read what I'm about to show you I flipped out.  I started laughing so uncontrollably hard that I almost fell off of my chair.  Soon tears were streaming down my face.   I was laughing that hard.  It was so great, in fact, that even after I calmed down the laughter would start again just thinking about it.  Ahhhh, it totally made my day.

It's the "Please Pass the Macaroni" Flier that I found!  Remember?!  I hope that you find it as hilarious as I did.

Thanks for looking, I'll be back later with some swappy goodness.

My Bag o' Fun!

Last Thursday, April 1st, I filled up a bag with goodies and set out to beautify my neighborhood.  Armed with toy and flowers, it was a feel good kind of day.  The weather was gorgeous after raining on and off all week.  I figured a break in the rain was a good day for the flowers to come out.

I live in an historical neighborhood located near the local Junior College.  I love it because in spite of the flurry of activity going on a block away, our neighborhood is nice and quiet.  Walking across the campus, I decided that was where I would leave my flowers.

Don't get me wrong, most of the campus is beautiful and it has lovely grounds- check it out.  It's a great mixture of old and new, brick and tons of greenery.  It's a very lovely place should you make your way to Santa Rosa.   However, there are a couple spots on campus that aren't so nice to look at.  Thankfully there are very few, but they do exist.  So, that's where I put my flowers.  Like attaching a felt flower would really negate the ugliness before you but hey, it makes it more interesting to look at.  You'll see what I mean by ugly...  Their placement is random but you can only do so much with a staple gun.

So, you're walking along.  Pretty, pretty, pretty then BAM!  Ugly, gnarled telephone pole... I mean it doesn't even have interesting posters or stencils or anything.  It's in serious need of some yarnbombing but since I'm not that cool, I whipped out a flower.

Ugly brown wall that doesn't match any other place on campus.  

(Tune in later to see the awesome found object of the day.  It was located here.)

Hideous restrooms located near the baseball fields.  Even a flower can't help this one.

Okay, so now that I feel really bad about making my local school look terrible.  I'll show you some nice pictures of it because it really is a wonderful school with great teachers.

If you go the site that this one is from you can see other places on campus too.

The new library.

Burbank Hall- The Drama Department is located in here.

Ok, enough with the school. I'm not trying to subject you guys to an infomercial.

One more flower picture!

I used wire on the back to attach these.  I liked that method a lot and will do more of it next.  I didn't realize how limiting the staple gun would be.  There are a lot less staple friendly surfaces than I thought.  Oh well.

There is entirely way too much barbed wire on this stretch of the road.

So, yeah, I thought you guys would want to see where I put my silly flowers.  Hope that wasn't too boring for you.

Thanks for looking!  See you again soon.

Join The Toy Society!

Okay, so that sounded a bit like an order.  Sorry about that, I'm just really excited!  

Have you ever heard of The Toy Society?  Well, it's all about handmade toys and smiles.  People make toys and then leave them public places so they can find a good home with a kid.  Isn't that fun?  It started in Australia but has spread around the world.  In fact, it's come right here to good ol' Santa Rosa, California!  I made some toys and dropped them off.  I had a lot of fun doing this and will participate again.

These are the toys I made-

This is the back of the little girl bunnies.

I used a freebie pattern from Wee Wonderfuls, I just embellished their outfits a bit so that each one was unique.  Another de-stashing project, I had everything on hand.  Including the vintage fabric I used for them.  I loved that the patterns were so tiny because I was able to salvage the front, blue fabric.  A large portion of it was discolored from sun damage. ( Of course that was conveniently hidden when I bought it...shady people, lol.) Because of the way it had been folded the ruined part was a very odd shape so I thought I would never be able to use it.  Thankfully these worked out perfect.  The color is so gorgeous it would have been a shame not to get any projects out of it.

I dropped them off on April 1st.  I put them out early enough that they could have been found that very day.

My 1st Drop!

My 2nd Drop!

I hope they went into happy little hands!

So, now that you've seen how much fun it is don't you want to join in?

Thanks so much for looking!  Have a craftastic day!