hot chocolate party

One of my coworkers mentioned yesterday that she likes to make flavored hot chocolates by infusing herbs into them- lavender and sage were two that she mentioned. Now I'm lusting over the idea flavored sipping chocolates, and of opening a 'Cafe Spa'- giving chocolate and coffee infused facial and body treatments and serving delicious and unique coffee, chocolate and tea concoctions.

Maybe it's just me, but it feels like the most delicious idea I've had in a long time!

I'm not actually so chocolate-obsessed as this post might suggest, but just the idea of infusing milk with fresh sage and pairing it with a not-too-sweet cocoa, then pouring a round of deliciousness for my friends just sounds... amazing.

The first meeting of my business class is tonight, so I'd better start jotting all of these ideas down!

spring flowers

Ranunculus- one of my favorite flowers, no matter what time of year. I picked these up from my local grocery last week- even though the Bay Area was in the middle of a blistering heat wave. I knew they wouldn't last long (and they knew it to) but I felt the need to rescue them from the dumpster, where they were surely headed. It was a win-win situation: they brightened up my studio for a few days, and they got to enjoy a little shade, a fresh cut and some cool water in the process.

Gardening has been tough this year, with water rationing and the lack of spring rain (April showers there were not.) I've planted a few things, but there are no showy blooms to display here. I can, however, live vicariously through the gardens of others. To name just one, there is the lovely Amy Shutt, whose blogs I have been following for years.

Her catch-all weblog, day-lab, chronicles her adventures as a mother, business owner and lover of all things vintage. She's also lovingly restored rooms in her rented Baton Rogue home, and carefully cleared overgrown gardens and is bringing them back to life. Read through her past entries and see some amazing 'before & after' photos of the spaces she's renovated. I hope you'll be as inspired as I am.

recycled charm

Despite my humble, pre-teen DIY beginnings selling beaded bracelets on the playground, I'm not really one for jewelry. I have a few choice pieces- Maya Brenner's silver California necklace, Monique Leon's Magic Wish Bean necklace- but in general, I just don't wear it.

But when the eco-friendly shop 2ReVert was featured on Etsy.com's front page a couple weeks back, I was smitten. The goods? Fresh pendants, earrings, bracelets and other goods made from recycled skateboards. The jewelry did more than just appeal to my inner 15-year-old tomboy: the 7-ply maple is a throwback to my teenage years, when my father was making a living producing skateboards. The 'board business has since died down, but the sentiment remains. The piece I chose combines some of my favorite elements- woodgrain, the color orange, clean lines, recycled materials- with a nice reminder of the Good Old Days.

How can you beat that? See more at 2ReVert.etsy.com.

a little help from my friends.

clearly i'm not a very diligent blogger, these days. but there are a few folks out there who are keeping rather interesting and refreshing accounts of daily life and the joys held within. while i don't think i'll be able to live up to the goodness of these weblogs, i'm happy to call these folks friends..

first off is a new-ish blog dedicated to featuring independent artists and designers. san labels looks promising so far, and i can't wait to see what new things she discovers.

you can't bring up indie artists and designers without giving props to the ever-awesome taryn hipp. her blog, aptly titled one girl, lots to say is a collection of awesome indie links, personal anecdotes, and witty observations.

one of these days, i'm going to actually make it up to portland to visit my dear friend summer. but until then, i can follow her lovely world by stopping by design is mine, her oft-updated, always amazing collection of favorite things. design is mine is chock-full of things you swear you didn't know you needed- until now!

if you're anything like me, when you're not drooling over handmade goodies and tasty art pieces, you're probably thinking about food! sure, lots of people like food. some people even love it. david takes things to a whole new level with his blog, horny for food. don't let the title scare you; this blog is totally work-safe. while you won't find questionable images of your favorite dishes, you will find smart, irreverent commentary on the state of consumption. david touches on all sorts of topics- from primers on choosing wine and a "how-to" for amateur diners to restaurant reviews and an exploration of the link between california cuisine and gangsta rap. go, read. really, i promise you'll love it.

recycled goodness

i've found that the best cure for a chilly, grey afternoon is to be productive. today, i dug into a huge bag of fabric scraps from the the blissen studios and put together some patchwork pot holders using my favorite patterns.

these little gems are made from 100% recycled materials- the scraps, some old towels for the padding inside, and even the little loop of rick-rack trim.

i've made a bunch of these for myself, friends and family. today's efforts can be seen in my etsy shop, along with some other handmade goodies.

i have many more ideas for ways to use these fabrics scraps, so stay tuned.

knit works.

i've been doing my fair share of making, lately: knitting, sewing, cooking, photographing. it's been a very productive year, so far. most of my crafting efforts can be seen (and purchased!) from my etsy shop.

the red and pink scarf shown here is knit up from my current very favorite yarn, Malabrigo Kettle-Dyed Merino Wool. the yarn is incredibly soft and cozy, a real treat compared to many other pure wool yarns out there. i can't help but snap it up in every color, and rest assured that i will be knitting with it for a good while.

speaking of knitting, i'm slowly putting together a profile on ravelry.com. i'm hoping to use the site to keep track of my yarn stash, track my projects and maybe learn a few new tricks!

among my goals for the next month are to get a minor thread's main shop up and running again, and to update typewright.org with many, many photos. keep an eye out!

tea fortunes.

i've been drinking a lot of tea, lately. and i've noticed that my normally-silent beverage has had some choice pieces of advice for me.

you can see more tea fortunes and other lovely cups-- and add your own-- at the cup of the day group on flickr.com.

the passage of time.

it's hard to believe that a year has come and gone, so fast. it's winter again, and almost time to ring in a new year.

it has been a year of many, many changes and i am looking forward to a great 2008.

just a word of thanks to everyone who has lent a moment to be a friend, and given a word of support. i couldn't have made it, without you.

one of my resolutions for the new year will be to take more photographs. be they polaroids, lomo shots, pinhole, digital- there will be more to share.

be well, everyone.

out on the weekend

*blink blink*

oh, right, a weblog. i almost forgot!

fear not, i've been keeping myself plenty busy. i've been taking a ton of photos, as always, and spending plenty of time with my sewing machine. the holidays are ramping up and it'll be 2008 before we know it!

i've had a lot of good things happening lately- a great new job, a great sales season in my shop and tomorrow i'm celebrating two years with a wonderful guy. and folks have had some rather nice things to say about A Minor Thread lately, including Michelle from the blog Scribbit. check it out:

back in the saddle

well, hello! many apologies for the long absence. i have been remiss in my duties as a recordist, but i have a good excuse: i was on vacation.

but now it's back to the daily grind, as it were, and catching up on what's been going on.

the opening of my solo art show went quite well, and i was really charmed to see some familiar faces. i wrote an guest entry in the doe-sf.com blog about the event, and the remaining unsold work is available to browse and buy at the doe website.

shortly after the opening of the show, i was whisked off to north carolina to spend some time on the Outer Banks. the trip was full of new sights and new people, and was interesting to say the least.



see a collection of photos from my vacation, here.

the home stretch

well, my solo show opens up on friday evening, so i guess this is the home stretch!

i still have a decent amount of work to do, but i'm armed with glue, some great pieces of salvaged plywood, and the biggest stack of polaroids i have ever seen in one plce!

i spent some downtime today with my copy of Walker Evans' 'Polaroids' book- a posthumous collection of works that he created in the very last year of his creative career. i hadn't picked up the book in a long time, and it was really fascinating to see the similarities between his work and my own. all of these images- 2,650 of them- we taken when the SX-70 camera was just a couple of years old. his subject matter wasn't "new" or "daring" - but he found ways to highlight the mundane and really make it exciting. if you've never had the chance to see Walker Evans' work, do try to find it.



here's a digital version of the flier for the show. i picked up a stack of postcards, today, and they look great. had i had more time to think, lately, i would have made up some postcards with more of my images, on them. no time for that, now, but it's definitely something that will happen as part of a larger project for postmarks, my long-distance Polaroid exchange project that i've been a part of since 2002.

well, back to my Polaroids and glue. for now, i'll leave you with a little joy.

new things + news

today marks the official launch of my new photography website, typewright.org. i've been sitting on this domain for a while, and i haven't had much time to do anything with it. the gallery is still a little sparse, but i will be adding more images over the next few weeks- some new work, in addition to old favorites.



click here to visit typewright.org.

also, a date has been set for my solo show at *doe*, in san francisco. please join us on august 3rd, from 7 - 10 pm, for an opening reception. i was the guest blogger today on the *doe* blog, giving everyone a sneak peek into the show:



click here to read the doe blog.

upcoming art exhibition

at the end of this month, i'll be showing my photographs - mostly polaroids - at *doe* boutique in san francisco. there isn't a date set for the opening reception, yet, so stay tuned for more information about that.

in preparation for the show, i've been going out and taking a ton of polaroids. it's really nice to step away from work for a while and remember that i live in a really wonderful and amazingly photogenic part of the world.



i snapped this shot while hiking through the woods in Mill Valley, a few weeks back.



this photo was taken in yountville, also a few weeks ago.

through the rest of the month, i'll be sharing some more of the images that will be on display at *doe*. but first, i need to spend some quality time with my scanner!

it's raining lens(es)

so, this past week was a good week, for cameras.

i recently had the opportunity to 'foster' a nikon d70 digital slr, for a few months. it was a wonderful machine, with a great lens, and a great opportunity to get to know a wonderful camera. i worked hard, saved my pennies and finally picked up a digital slr of my own- the d70's big brother, the nikon d80. it's got a fantastic lens on it- an 18-135 zoom- with lots of creative room to move. and it's really, really fun to shoot with.



(i snapped these poppies up in the berkeley hills, on grizzly peak. being a california native poppies are, of course, my favorite.)

my only complaint about the d80, thus far, is that it just isn't heavy enough, which gives me trouble in the image stabilization department. i guess that's one of the great things about the old bricks that we shoot film with!

speaking of film, i also picked up a second canon a1- it was a great deal on ebay and, well, i simply can't find my other one! it came with two lenses- a 50 mm and a 20-85 zoom. i haven't shot a test roll yet, but so far the camera looks to be in perfect shape. i'll report back once i've developed some film!

in the meantime, here's a snap i took with my (original) canon a1 this past september, on my trip to chicago:


(click to view large)

on fruit and film cameras

so last night, despite my stay-home tendencies, i dragged my better half's roommate out to T-Rex to meet up with said better half, and another friend. we don't go to T-Rex much, even though the boys all qualify for a 25% discount there. but, you know, sometimes you just need a good order of mac n' cheese with house smoked pork.
i wasn't really in a drinking mood, so the bartender whipped up her current favorite non-alcoholic beverage. i'm not sure if it had a name, but it was basically fresh grapefruit juice, fresh grated ginger, sugar and tonic water. it was simple, unassuming, refreshing and really freakin' tasty.

ginger and grapefruit was not a combination that i had really thought of before, but it certainly sits well with me. i've been eager to do some baking- or at least eager to think about doing some baking- so i started looking up some recipes to work with. a search for "ginger" turned up this recipe for ginger + grapefruit cheesecake.. um, yes please? i'll have to give it a go, and report back.

of course, i'd be doing this baking in my new kitchen, since i moved recently. another great thing about moving? losing stuff! well, maybe not so great. i cannot, for the life of me, seem to find my beloved Canon A1, a gift from the college photo lab, years ago. i mean, it has to be somewhere, right? but i have no idea where. a quick peek at eBay turned up a great deal on an A1 in excellent condition, from an estate. two lenses, original manual, strap, et al. so, i went for it.

another camera may the last thing that i needed, but i do love the A1, and it's a good piece of equipment. i'll be sure to put it to good use.

new adventures in film

so with the idea of a solo art show looming in the distance, i knew that i had to hunt down some film for my baby- my Polaroid Sonar One Step camera. silver with black leather details, folds, looks good on my arm- you know the drill. the catch being, Polaroid stopped making the film, last year. i had heard about this elusive "SX-70 Blend" film, but had not yet tried to track it down (still had a pack of Time Zero in the breadbox, but i used that up around the time of my last move.)

well, after sitting on the idea of ordering $200+ worth of film from unsaleable, i finally discovered that there is a gem of a vendor, based in new york, who is the exclusive US distributor for the film. bingo!

i placed my order, got my film a few days later and started shooting. and i'm more than pleased with the results.



the film has great color tones and good contrast. no overwhelming blue tones- unless, of course, you wanted them. in which case, just snap your pic, and toss it in the freezer:


(click image for details on the process, and a non-freezer comparison shot.)

all-in-all, i am thrilled that Polaroid caved into the needs of us art geeks, and gave us something to play with. i'm almost done with my second pack, and i can't wait to scan 'em all, to share.

caught me in the spotlight.

so, i'm still working on the initial design for typewright.org, but i realized that i needed to find my footing on the blog front, once again. so here we are. ever-embarking on web adventures.

typewright.org will, indeed, be a mix of traditional, digital and toy camera photography. reminiscent of the late grassfire.nu and maybe not quite as interactive as uglygeek.com. but it will (hopefully) be a beautiful gallery of images. and hell, if nothing else, i'm eager to get back to the "shoot, shoot, shoot" attitude of my early 20's.

well, on with the images!