Bohemian Mermaid Palace

Hey I did pretty well with my Christmas scores this year. Luckily, I got to ask for what I need... so it worked out well. Ok so first on my New Year agenda is to get my biz records in order. Stu got me Quickbooks for Christmas. Yay! I have used it at a couple jobs in the past, but now I'm learning all the ins and outs. I'm going to use the inventory tracking... so (theoretically anyway) after a show I will type in each item that sold and be able to see updated inventory levels. That will make quick supply orders so much easier. Rather than unloading the whole van and d oing a physical inv each time, or trying to do it at a show. Argh. Lots of other neato features, and it cost less than I thought. Oooh I also got a few gift cards from Mom... one I used to buy 3 new craft books. Heehee I get all giggly looking at them. I guess it's been a while since I added to my (awesome) craft library. I decided I needed some specific beading and jewelry maki ng books. I want to start maki...

Yep I know. Hey I have been doing stuff... I had to wait for particular gifts to be received before I could post photos. Man, I had some fun crafting this Christmas. It was great to do some crafts I haven't done for a while, some totally new ones, and none of them dyeing (which my friends probably appreciated too). So, woo! The big ones of course, were the long awaited Bacon Scarves! tada! I first found this idea at the super awesome Monster Crochet Blog . My brother A) loves bacon and B) questions the wonderfulness of crochet...so I sent him the link, and he made me promise to make him one. I didn't use her pattern though, I printed out a bacon photo and just looked at it while I went totally freeform. Really fun, but they took forever (I actually made 3). Good thing I got that nasty cold so I could sit around and crochet for a whole week. Hmmm... where's that other photo? I'm sorta between computers these days. Anyway, I made Stu a duck tape wallet. I ordered him some...

I don't think I have mentioned this... I was waiting until I had a photo to go with it. But, my dear friends Tom & Dimitra Chase have opened a new restaurant in old town Eureka, Cafe Nooner. Oh man it is good! Located at the site of the old Opera Alley Bistro... in Opera Alley, sort of behind ChinChin around the corner from Ramone's. They are open from 11am - 6pm daily. The food is really really good and interesting. Focus on local fresh ingredients, the menu is Greek & Cajun inspired but very California. So far my favorite has been the falafel... either as a kabob with red bean hummus, veggies, and pita - or on top of a big spinach & feta salad. Oh man. Ok so that's my plug. These are very old and dear friends of mine, they've owned two other restaurants... the Vista was theirs a number of years ago, then the Afternoon Deli in Nevada City (which they sold as a thriving cafe, still open to my knowledge). Really really great food, fresh and different. Outdoor...

Ok that was really fun and exciting... I'm still a bit stunned. Now let's keep Obama from being killed by idiots, ok? On the other side, I'm also stunned and saddened by the passing of prop 8. I really don't get it. Look, people... nobody wants to go to your house and sleep with YOU ok? Why would my little sister's marriage affect YOURS?? Oh wait, IT WOULDN'T! Argh. And trying to say it's not discriminatory is just ... well I can't buy it. Clearly we have a ways to go. But what an exciting time! Wooo! (Still a few Obama shirts left in the ebay store .)

I'm practically vibrating right now... I'm so pumped up for election day! I was out the door by 10am to vote. No crowds, no problems. I even turned in Stu's absentee ballot with no issues. Oh man, I am so full of um... a mix of excitement and fear, I almost can't stand the wait. Either way it goes, it will be a huge deal. Aaaaahhhh I just want to watch cnn all day. But alas I must dye some stuff... Speaking of coverage, the CNN web site has some great maps of results & polls. Not only for the national election, but state issues as well. Looks like locally, the Journal and khum radio will be covering results together. North Coast Journal website will turn into an interactive live chat-blog-thing today at 4pm. I'm all over it.

Hey wow... I am way behind on my updates here. Jeesh. Suddenly a whirlwind of creative activity and it feels so good! Let's see how much I can summarize here... Well, the big one right now is the mall store. That's Schatzi's Hidden Treasures near the food court center in the Bayshore Mall. This is my friend Timotek's shop full of fair trade imports from Vietnam, Ghana, Thailand... AND my own locally-dyed Bohemian Mermaid clothing and jewelry. Woo! The store just opened up and will remain through December. I'll be setting up the rest of my display Thursday. It's a beautiful store, not your usual importy stuff... an interesting variety of very high quality artisan goods. (You may have seen their store last year in old town behind the gazebo, this one is 3x the size!) Oh, we (Timotek and I) also have some Barack Obama T-shirts for sale on ebay . Free shipping, adult and kids sizes... now is the time, my friends. I have this great new print I want to share... ...

Holy smokes! Was anyone else totally amazed by the weather this weekend?? Who could have predicted so much warm sunshine, after the cold grey week we had before it? Nobody that's who. That was by far the most miraculous thing about the weekend to my mind. I couldn't shut up about it. No wind, very few clouds or fog. Party perfection. Of course, we all know what follows the sun... everything. Tons of smiling people came out to festivize with us at the fair. It was great. I heard multiple vendors saying sales were great as well. Saw lots of friends, plenty of regular customers, made some good connections. My sweety hung around all of Sat, which was extra fun. Oh, and my friends Kulica finally played on the stage near me! They are usually on the other side of the plaza... so I got to dance a little. In my booth, between customers. lol. Yes, another awesome North Country Fair. I'm all aglow... I took some pics of the parades, I'll post them shortly. For this upcoming weeken...

Yes, once again I'm up to my elbows in dye baths and mermaids as I prepare for another North Country Fair. Takes place each year on the Autumnal Equinox weekend at the Arcata Plaza. That's this coming weekend by the way. A great great festival. Tons of local and area artists, great quality of crafts every year. Music and dance on 3 stages. Local food and brew. Really a showcase of local talent, everyone comes out to play. You are sure to see friends you haven't seen since last year's festival. So so much fun! And entrance is free. Oh and the parades. Saturday at 1:00 is the Samba Parade, which is fun to watch. Steel drums and dancing women, hello. Sunday the All-Species Parade, anyone can join this one. Kids and adults in creative costumes, kinetic sculptures, and who knows what else. On the vendor inside tip... this year for the first time (at the last minute), they required vendor liability insurance. I know at least one vendor who withdrew, hopefully it didn't im...

Hey, another fun year at the Blues by the Bay festival. Check out my sorta panoramic view from the booth. That pointy thing just to the left of the glare spot is the stage. As usual the music was awesome, the crowd fun, the sun shining. We were only a few booths from the stage in one direction, and 2 booths from the beer in the other. Perfect! Well, the only imperfection was the wind. Wow. Super super windy, especially Sunday. I know there was at least one tent taken by the gusts, and setups were definitely shaky. And it was quite cold. But the sun shone and that was all we could really ask for. Saw some friends too... like CJ here, who turned out to be one hellofa sales woman. Jeesh. Who knew. She's just a natural schmoozer, and cute as a button. Who can resist? We had a great time visiting with her and her hubby. I also got to see Sarah at her booth nearby... found out she and her man are expecting a baby!! yowza. They will be opening a temporary store in the Bayshore Mall from O...

Wait! Don't forget about Blues by the Bay in Eureka, CA this weekend!! I'll be there with tons of goods, my new color and prints... we'll all dance and have a great time in the sun. Wooo! Hm well I'm not usually good about posting my creative updates here. So I thought I'd share my latest color adventure... Rust. I've had lots of requests for orange, so this is my version. Happily, it turned out exactly as I pictured. Rich and earthy, but with lots of orange light... a bit brighter on the rayon than the cotton. I was a little shocked by the orange dye bath... it was practically neon orange. Barney would call it safety orange. Most of my dye colors begin with a bright under color, much like underpainting. I think it gives my fabrics an energy, some of them sort of vibrate. (or maybe I'm just a dye geek... ) Then I overdyed it with my favorite dark brown, and I'm really happy with the result. Oh, and I have a couple new prints I've been using... um tw...