XoXo

For Valentine's Day I gave Dave a few odds and ends--some books, a VHS copy of The Year Punk Broke (I don't know why it's not available on DVD!), and a tin of Jacques Torres hot chocolate. I made the valentine with a blank postcard and some wood blocks (those are really getting a lot of traction lately--see the T-shirt project), with a paper heart garland to decorate the wrapping.

Dave gave me some chocolates and this necklace I had wanted from Les Morceaux. He also brought carrot cake from Lloyd's and we enjoyed the evening re-watching Freaks and Geeks.

Spiky moccasin bracelet

I've been meaning to mention this bracelet that I got last week from Manimal. It's made from scraps of leather leftover from their moccasins, so not only does it look awesome but it's also a great way of re-purposing materials and reducing the amount of trash that they produce. I wish mine had a little bit more color (like the one pictured on the website) but I still love it. It kind of reminds me of the studded wristband that I wore when I was in high school, except made of colorful pieces of leather.

That time of year again

I've still got a lot of pictures from our trip that I want to post on here but I'm going to take a break to mention the Renegade craft fair last weekend in Brooklyn, which we came home just in time for. I always find great stuff every year, even though it's often the same sellers (and a lot of the same products and designs).

Every year I manage to come home with a new T-shirt. This one was from M. Carter (my own shirt is currently in the dirty laundry pile so I took this image from their website). I didn't remember seeing them at the last couple of fairs (could be wrong though) but I really liked a lot of their designs.

And of course the obligatory necklaces. The middle one I actually bought in Marfa at Fancy Pony Land--the woman who makes them puts pennies on the railroad track in town and then retrieves the squashed coins to create these necklaces. That story totally sold me on them--even though I could probably make them myself if I had a drill, I love the thought of these pennies sitting out on the tracks in Marfa with a train thundering overhead.

Anyway, the one on the left is from Brooklyn Rehab, and the one on the right is from Species by the Thousands. I don't know if either of them have any good stories behind their creation but that's okay because I just like how they look.

I really wanted to buy something a little out of the ordinary this year--I always seem to come home with T-shirts and necklaces, not that I'm complaining--which I found in the form of this geometric terra cotta planter. I can't find the business card for this seller, nor can I find her on the list of artists on the Renegade fair website, so I'm afraid I can't tell you where to get one of your own.

After the fair we dropped by Sprout Home and picked up this cactus to put in our new planter. I think it suits it pretty well.

Faceted necklace

Last week I decided to treat myself (my birthday is this week after all), so I bought a necklace I'd been eying from Brooklyn Rehab.

The packaging was gorgeous--of course, I am a sucker for that kind of thing. I took this picture right before putting it on and leaving for work, so the lighting is a little dark. But I wanted to preserve the way it looked--the chain wrapped around the tag, the feather peeking out of the tiny brown paper bag.

Later on I tried retaking it but forgot to include the paper bag and the tag. You see why I took the first one.

As for the necklace, I love it. It has a little bit of a patina on the metal, so it's not all polished and shiny (which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned).

Maybe I'll get this one next.

Embroidered lockets

I'd been trying to figure out what to put into the locket of this beautiful Erica Weiner necklace, ever since I got it last Christmas. I didn't want to go with the traditional photographs of relatives, but I just couldn't decide what it should be.

Once I started playing around with embroidery, I realized what I should do. I'm actually not sure these particular designs are going to be the permanent candidates. I was going for a kind of abstract nature theme, but I'm clearly no embroidery expert just yet so they seem a bit sloppy. But I'm happy with it for now.

My Renegade Fair haul

This weekend was the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair, the second one I've gone to. Last year it was in the McCarren Park Pool, but now that it's undergoing construction to actually become a pool again, the fair was held inside the actual park--which I think might have been a little nicer (not that I necessarily minded the pool). It was also an interesting experience to be shopping alongside people running around the track and stretching and performing various other exercises.

There was an overwhelming amount of cool stuff contained within a not-so-large space, so I found myself having to suppress the urge to spend all my money up front, passing up some really cool but perhaps not quite so functional items from Something's Hiding in Here (paint by number USA!) and Miniature Rhino (in hindsight, I really wish I'd bought the constellation embroidery). Even so, I spent a little more $$$ than I'd planned. Oh well, it only comes but once a year.


Onto what I did buy: this scissors necklace from Ach Ach Liebling. It not only opens and closes, but actually cuts paper!

In addition to the cool jewelry, the packaging was great too (I'm a sucker for the stamped brown paper bag--so simple yet so appealing).

Leaf necklace from Loyalty and Blood.


I've lately been into ships, so I picked up this letterpress card from Enormous Champion.


I guess I've also been into ampersands. Here's a pretty cool T-shirt from Lil Hop. I also really like the subtle gray stripes on the shirt itself.

And speaking of cool T-shirts, I bought one from Super Maggie for the second year in a row. Again, I not only love the design, but the actual shirt it is printed on.

A closeup of the design.

Dave picked up a little something for himself too: this silkscreened poster of the 1985 New York Yankees lineup (which was the lineup that was playing when he first got into baseball...ah, nostalgia) from Magick Outlaw*.

*Note: this seller is from Philly, so clearly the Yankees and Mets prints must have been made specifically for us New Yorkers (or so I'd think). Astute marketing skills, friends.

Pendant received

It's been so long since I last posted that my terrarium pendant (or should I say, pendants, since I unexpectedly received two) has already shown up in the mail. It's even tinier than I imagined:


The instructions say to give it one drop of water every two weeks--I guess I may need to invest in a dropper. (It does say that the excess can be soaked up with a Q-tip though.) Either way, I am quite pleased with my purchase.

More terrarium fun

A few weeks ago, I posted about how I'd been wanting to create a terrarium--and, of course, I still have yet to go out and purchase the necessary supplies. But I just saw these awesome terrarium pendants from this etsy seller, which reminded me that I need to go out and do this.


At first I thought it might be a little too bulky for my tastes but apparently it's only 1 1/4" inches tall. And there's just something intriguing about wearing something that's alive (in a non-creepy sense).

Available from the same seller is an interesting variety of larger terrariums that entail some creative use of glass containers, such as the above coffee pot.

I swear, one of these days I will be making a stop to the local gardening supply store. You'll see!