myrnamay

When in doubt, bring pompoms.

Woo! Tonight is Craft Night with Jordan of Oh Happy Day! Can't wait. I've got my stamp-makin' supplies, my super-splurge Copic markers, and, just in case, pompoms. But I still don't know what to wear..

And some days, if you're lucky, Japan comes to you.

Maker of tea-set unknown, but the sparkles on the wall are from this project!

One of the nicest things about living in San Francisco is that when things bring you down, you can always run away to Japan. Japantown is so lovely, and looks its best on a pearly, foggy day.  Many of my favorite afternoons were spent there, and many of my favorite objects were purchased there.

However, the set of teacups you see above was not bought, but won! Generous Leilani, just back from Japan, held a drawing for this set of five cups & saucers. I would have been thrilled to win just one cup & saucer- or even just one cup- and couldn't believe it when I won the whole kit & caboodle. Can I confess something? I totally cried. You know how when something nice happens to you at the very moment you need it most, and it's so sweet & overwhelming & such a relief? Totally. I love my new tea-set soooo much. Thanks, Leilani!

Moderato ceramics, available at Rare Device & New People the Store (in Japantown)

This dreamy pitcher & mug from Japn were purchased years ago at Rare Device, and I'm thrilled to see they are still carried there! The mug I bought with my Easter-basket money, on my way to the festivities in Dolores Park, where I proudly drank a mug of Champagne. The pitcher was a birthday gift last year, and though I rarely have my act together enough to pour cream into the pitcher and then into my coffee, it makes me happy just to see it sitting on the shelf. When I have my new-teacups tea party it will finally have a chance to shine.

Belfort notebook & Sarasa Pen from Kinokuniya Stationery

And here we have my most recent Japanese treasure, a notebook the color of the telephone at my...brand-new job! Perhaps there will be details soon, but for now I have my pink notebook, soon to be filled with copious notes & diagrams & sweet smudges!

No time for games, no time for frames

"Spend some time in the kitchen with your friends" by Brooke Budner

There have been many projects & messes happening around these parts, but since they either will be published or I have a dream they will be published, I can't talk about them! Here are some hints: Barbie's dream closet, emergency poppies, Plasti-Dip fumes, as many baskets as I can carry, & the definitive guide to R.V.s from 1983.

There have also been days when I absolutely could not bring myself to make anything. Just couldn't handle it. Does that happen to you? On days like that, and so many others, thank goodness that other people make things. Desperate for some beauty on my walls, but lacking both patience and dollars, I found ways to get my three current favorites up on the cheap & the quick & let's face it, the dirty. 

The charming print above is by urban farmer Brooke Budner, of The Greenhorns. I found it at Gravel & Gold but if you're not in San Francisco you can buy this one and others- bikes! tools! produce!- from Brooke's Etsy shop My poster hangs above the sink and is the perfect thing to stare at while washing dishes. Everyday I see something new, and am reminded of the oil lamps my parents use during the holidays, or the collection of eggbeaters I used to have. I just stuck the poster up with a clip, figuring my love will protect it from splashes.

"Prairie kitchen Helpers" by Screech Owl Design

Screech Owl Design does some of the loveliest printing I've seen- subtle colors & rich inks on luxurious cotton paper. I love the naturalistically-rendered birds in modernist settings, especially these two little chefs and that amazing stove. That's an Aga, right? Like in Raffaella Barker novels! I bought this card a year ago just to put up in the kitchen, & it's finally on the wall thanks to a 50cent office clip. I'm now one step closer to that house (& Aga) in the English countryside.

   "I made this for you" by Leah Rosenberg

And finally, glowingly, a poster by dear Leah, one of an edition of 1000 posters made with the intention of being given away. Isn't that lovely? This is technically the back, but you can see the bright stripes of paint on the proper side showing through. I am quite fond of grey, so that hint of color is just right for me. In a moment of picture-hanging inspiration, I attached it to my eyesore-fusebox with magnets. Why did it take me four years to figure that out? Magnets!

Not just Rory's teacher/Lorelai's former fiance

I have never ever been the type to call people by their last names, but for some reason the magical Ms. Medina is simply "Medina" to me, about 60% of the time. Yesterday was her birthday, and I thought perhaps she needed a signature stamp, a sort of calling card, a feminine, poppy-red version of Zorro's "Z". Watch out, San Francisco!

The shavings you see here are only from the final detailing. A much bigger mess was made.

Medina is one of those rare women who can wear a bright red flower in her hair and have it look almost understated, and just exactly right. Gorgeous. I love Medina, I love poppies, poppies are magic: there you have it, the entire creative process. I was especially inspired by this amazing poppy wallpaper from Plants and Their Application to Ornament. This is a recognizable poppy, right? I saw so many poppy illustrations that were just roses with seed pods stuck on- sacrilege!

I also brought the birthday girl the ingredients for her brand-new signature cocktail...

La Medina!

-1 part Columbia Gorge Organic Cranberry Raspberry Juice

-2 or 3 parts Champagne (you know, sparkling white wine)

-Pretty glasses

Um, that's it!

Happy Birthday, Medina! You get mas picante every year. 

Hot Date Turnover: even better than it sounds

 

Courtesy of 7x7, produced by Leilani Marie Labong, photos by Joe Budd

I don't even know what to say. How is a person supposed to deal with all that cuteness? Michelle is the pastry chef for Range, and is as delightful as she looks. Just look at that magical world she's created! Yes, created. Michelle did not just stumble upon a perfectly preserved vintage dream kitchen- she & her husband installed the tile, counters, & cupboards, and carried the rest home on their bikes.

And, the dress, the look! The apron, the sparkles, the tattoos! Seriously. I can't even type full sentences.  The little handmade potholders on the stove are crocheted with skulls!

This was my very first styling opportunity, under the guiding vision of the tireless & talented Leilani- see her blog here, her work with ReadyMade here, the best of San Francisco design here, and oooh, this one is a particular favorite. Tireless! The photographer Joe was a mellow dream to work with, and he takes such pretty, pretty pictures. It was a fun day, if you can't tell. My first gig & I'm spoiled for life.

So, did the final photo turn out anything like my preliminary sketches?

 

One of these things is NOT like the other

Look, everybody, I know wax seals are awesome. They're pretty & Lord-of-the-Ringsy & make your mail look irresistible, and now there's even that sealing wax you can stick in a glue gun. Wax seals are the best.

But I Don't Know How to Make Them. I only know how to make rubber stamps. I wish I could make custom wax seals for everyone but I think that would involve having access to a foundry, so for now you're just going to have to make due with a stamp. For now...

Anyway. When your friend's initials are B.A.T. you can see why she'd want to strut that on her correspondence. Get that girl a monogram stamp!

 

But! Mistakes were made. Since I hate cutting the carving blocks into smaller, inevitably crooked rectangles, I thought I could use nice neat little erasers instead. They're both white & kinda squishy, right? Same, same.

Not The Same. Kind of a stamp carving disaster. Do not try to carve stamps out of erasers. They are plasticky & full of bubbles & delicate lines are not an option. But I ended up kind of liking the woodblock-look of it....

Hey, want to see something scary?

Aaah! I would think this was super-stalkery-scary if it wasn't, you know, my sketchbook. Don't worry, Brianna! I just have crazy handwriting.

Let's look at something pretty to recover from that... Like tiaras, or dahlias. Better.

Let's hear it...

 
Crystal does so many nice things for me. She cooks me dinner, bakes me cakes, gives me rides, brings me back vegan moon pies & fancy-French-meals-in-tins from her travels, and is happy to talk when she can tell I'd like to just sit quietly and listen.

So when she told me she needed a poster for her upcoming fundraiser to save some birdies, I was more than happy to help. Thrilled, in fact. Always the good student, I love an assignment with a deadline. 

Serendipitously, I had signed up for a Midnight Screenprinting class at Workshop SF with a friend, and had yet to figure out what to print. Posters it was! I just converted the original design to black & white, bumped the contrast waaaaaay up, and hoped for the best. (I think our rad teacher Nicole tweaked them a little, too- thanks, Nicole!) All things considered, I think they turned out pretty well. And thank goodness the birds still look like birds!

I'm probably the last person to realize this, but screenprinting is super fun. You make, like, a real thing! Just print, print, print away. Ink on paper. Timeless.

Printing at midnight, making mistakes, falling asleep on my feet to the sweet sounds of A Tribe Called Quest: for all I knew I was back in the University of Illinois photo lab, circa 2001. Perhaps I was.

And there he is, the star of the poster. I never guessed I would own a ceramic bird, let alone buy one, but that's how it goes. I rescued him from Community Thrift (for 75cents), but there are lots of real-life birdies that need homes, too. Donate stuff, buy stuff!

A thousand years of good luck

I was walking home the other night with a friend, immersed in the summery midnight hush of leafy residential streets & our ambling conversation. So immersed, in fact, that we walked three blocks farther than necessary. Of course, even after four years here, the diagonal San Francisco streets still confuse the hell out of me, but on this occasion I don't think I was to blame.

Along with cake, paintings, wine, & the rhythm of a great meal, we discussed living alone versus living with roommates. We're both 30-ish; she lives in a wonderful house with roommates, I find myself living alone for the first time in eight years. She is currently fond of her living situation, and I asked what she liked about it. She said she enjoyed the way things change.

Though I could be very wrong, I took that to mean the way objects and moods migrate around the house, the way things are different when you get home than when you left. The tiny clues that help you solve the mystery of other people, and let you piece together their day & their lives. Someone made a pot of French press, but had to rush to work before finishing their coffee. Someone has a bowl of bread dough rising. Someone opened all the windows in the warm afternoon, but now that the fog has rolled in they need to be closed.

It's surprisingly startling to have nothing change. When I arrive home everything is exactly as I left it. Obviously. There is, of course, the soothing cacophony of my street, the cozy evening sounds of my neighbor across the way fixing dinner & laughing with her children, and the surreal late-night festivity of my next-door neighbor shout-singing along with "Los Caminos de la Vida". But I'd like something more. 

On my unintentionally daily walk down Valencia, I happened upon an estate sale at the sylin' atelier House of Hengst. They were selling rad ceiling lamps, vintage sewing machines, a tempting Nagel, and hundreds of yards of mirror garland that once hung in their window. Because I am both a Valencia & a window dressing nerd, I remembered the display. I bought all I could carry, and walked home like a jingle-jangling disco ball.

There are worse ways to spend an afternoon than sitting on the floor, carefully untangling sparkles.

I draped about 1/3 of the garland in my window, and am enchanted with the effect. The reflections move across the otherwise standard ceiling, breezes produce bouncing lights & the softest tinkling.  

And what else, to create change? Flowers that bloom & fade rapidly? Twinkly lights on a timer?

And this is my youngest daughter, Aubergine.

My friend Caitlin can rock a smock like nobody's business. Dresses that make me look dowdy & frumpy look adorable, elegant, & Frenchy on her. When I found this handmade dress at my friend Maggie's sale, I knew it was meant for Caitlin, and for her alone.

There were originally two gold-green buttons at the neckline, but when I tried it on (just to make sure it would fit Caitlin, of course) my big head popped one of the buttons off and it was lost forever. The cool vintage white button was generously donated to the cause, and I think adds some nice zest. Ah, my big head comes in handy again!

 

It would be super-embarrassing to have a dress without a stamp to match, so I traced one of the little eggplants, carved a stamp, and mounted it on a scrap of walnut. Does anyone know where this fabric comes from? My hunch is that it's Japanese. I'd love to get my hands on the cauliflower version, if that exists...

Thirty is the new Ten

My favorite 10-year-old is learning Cantonese, and last Christmas she made me this blue magnet, with her name  in Cantonese characters.

I figured she needed a stamp- if I remember correctly, 10-year-old girls have an insatiable need for stamps, stickers, those multicolor clicky pens, art supplies, lipgloss, & books.

Huh. If you throw in a bottle of wine & high-speed internet, that's exactly what I spend my money on now.

 

Japanese ink pad (I forget from where!), an old bag from Paper Source for festive packing material...

...little cardboard box & Japanese binding twine (the coolest!) from Flax. The top of the box is also stamped with her name, so everyone knows to Keep Out. Very important.