When Tim and I first started spending serious time together at the condo, he pushed for a proper TV. I had resisted having one for quite a while. As a singleton, I certainly watched my fill of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon prime on my little laptop, so it's not out of snobbery. I guess I just didn't like the looks of ...
For years I resisted the concept of "coastal" interiors. The typical nautical themed decor and dried coral accents can seem a bit trite--or worse, if you live nowhere near the beach--out of place and a maybe a little sad. That being said, now that I live in Seattle and have had the opportunity to refine my interior style, I've really come ...
As you can see, I am exceedingly proud of my latest soft sculpture: a gastropod shell. There is likely nothing in nature that is quite like it, but it may be closest in shape to a "channeled welk." Image from Pam Rambo of iloveshelling.com The trickiest part to get right was the tip. As you can see I have a hole ...
My parents have finally (more or less) installed their leaf table top on the desk in the sunroom. The design is pretty much identical to the leaf coasters, although I had to stretch the pattern somewhat so that the vertical and horizontal pieces are not in fact identical. Each piece was laser cut from 1/4 inch birch plywood, dyed with ...
I'm pretty excited to present my latest design, a 3-dimensional nautilus! This guy was pretty challenging, since I had to figure out a means to pattern it and sew it so it would retain its interesting shape. For the patttern, I delved into the world of Blender--a free software that is used for 3d graphics. Sea shells can be described ...
Happy new year from Quirkshop! There are definitely obvious currents in the crafting world. Every year before the holidays I head Seattle’s Urban Craft Uprising. I do buy gifts but I also like to spot the latest crafting trends. Several years ago plush monsters were everywhere, followed by foxes, octopuses, and yetis. This year there were a lot of hand dyed/indigo shibori goods, ...
I've learned you can lean a lot on awesome materials to elevate a simple project. This infinity scarf is one such example. It's made out of this beautiful teal and black striped fur from Mood Fabrics. I got a yard--enough to make two scarves. A few years back I made a similar one in the plum colorway and I wear ...
I've been fascinated by sea anemones since I saw them first in the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a small child. They are showy, weird, and colorful--what's not to love? My friend Hilary offered up the challenge of creating a sea anemone softie after a recent trip to the Point Defiance Aquarium. I really had to think outside of my usual box ...
This is exciting! I made my first downloadable pattern for yet another octopus. Can you really have too many? Nellie's pattern was sadly lost when my computer crashed, so I made an entirely new one from scratch. We call him Henry. His head is a bit rounder (and he may look a bit more octopus-like in shape than Nellie.) They ...
Introducing...Nellie the ice-dyed octopus. Hand dyed, self-drafted. She's very playful!
