"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"
- Barbara Bush, 3/18/03

librarians & archivists
who knit

   random   

menu »
war »
rings »

/journal

 

  

happiness in mid-december


posted 13 December 05 & filed under busy bee, lots of links

hi there ~ woke up this morning super chirpy and happy – phew, it’s been a while! of course, it can’t hurt that i got ten hours of sleep last night, yay. i just crashed after eating a quick dinner (that even my mom would’ve approved of, for once) and woke up gloriously stretching in that very satisfied-sleep kind of way. there’s a lot of work to do today, but bring it on, i’m ready ;)

ok, so here’s evidence of my crazy shopping spree this weekend - instead of studying and writing papers, i shopped. almost all on sale, and all totally unusal and mostly handmade, but still, all together, a heck of a lot of stuff. and i broke the golden rule of christmas, at least in my family, “don’t buy anything for yourself right before chirstmas – we might be getting it for you!” ah well, sorry family. couldn’t resist.

so here we go. first off, the weavers’ cottage had their tremendous annual “buy it so we don’t have to inventory it” sale with 40% just about everything, including almost all fiber and yarn. amazing! i limited my self to only fiber and a book, see?

at less than a dollar an ounce, that’s five ounces each of merino top in coral, gold, plum, and white. then 6 ounces of white soy silk that didn’t photograph very well but is one of the softest things i’ve ever touched in my life. deb menz’ book on color – she has another excellent one, but for now, this one is knocking my socks off. and last but not least, the luxury fiber grab bag seen in the basket – from left to right, there’s baby alpaca in brown and white, cashmere top in white, baby camel in brown, yak cloud in black, and some white silk hankies. wow! now if only i had a spinning wheel.. ahem.

next, the bazaar bizarre haul: first off, i’ve always been into spindly delicate looking necklaces, but for some reason on sunday, all of a sudden chunky pendants were all that was catching my eye. see, three of them! one very gothic-y risque (by photomonium), another just glittery and weird (by soopajdelux), and the last, my favorite, a snow scene (by sproutstudio) to keep my company in this l.a. land. aren’t they all beautiful! i love them – each so different, both for me and from each other.

then, some hair decoration. i’m all about bobby pins, love love them. so these three special ones make me happy.
i love the way the blissen one will, i know it will!, shape itself to my head in a really pretty way. and the crocheted cherries, what’s not to like!

next up, buttons! went a little crazy, couldn’t help it. so cute, so cheap (all the ones on the right came from boygirlparty – i love the birds especially.) then, some art. if i ever write a children’s story – and though i emphatically denied it for years and years (“i’m a reader, not a writer!”), it has crossed my brain a few times this year – i would choose jaime zollars as my illustrator. isn’t that picture lovely? the detail and color choices are lush and mysterious and sweet.

then, clothing time – just a very nice shirt with weird green monkey plants (from crowded teeth), i’m wearing it right now. and that cute wristband (from chebang) that looks like it grew in the jungle. and, the whole reason i went to the bazaar in the first place, my new wallet! i just love jill bliss’ stuff – and this wallet is just another great thing of hers. made of bedsheets, so it’ll just get softer with time, i love it.

phew! that’s it. a whole lot of shopping, i know. i probably won’t do something like that again till next year, but boy it was fun. ;) lastly, my trouble cat here – isn’t she sweet? she had an exciting but scary trip out to the vet yesterday and everyone was cooing over her, she’s such a sweetie. this pic is for you, lalitha ;)

happy mid-december ~ remember, it’s the process that counts! grrroan, i know, but still. it’s true. see you later ~ ~

Comments

i bought myself a new bag the other day – it’s hard to put yourself in the gift-buying mindset without also getting in a buying-stuff-for-oneself mindset. and anyway, heaven forbid.

i love jill bliss’s stuff too but i’ve never bought anything from her. this is a nice reminder.

~ karen (Dec 13, 02:18 PM#)

Nice haul. Next year I’m coming with!

~ Julia (Dec 13, 03:28 PM#)

Oh, I’m SO jealous. Bizarre Bazaar was in Boston last weekend, and Little Man and I were packed into the car when I got a frantic call from Wifey about our red-as-Emma bank account. So we turned around and went home. :-(

So THANKS for posting these pictures. I can live vicariously through you. I love the necklaces, particularly the woman (surprise, surprise…). I must show my friend MamaRoo (http://thewholeself.blogspot.com) the wristband. She makes wool felt flowers with buttons very much like this. Maybe I can convince her to make me a wristband too. Who’s the artist of the buttons, particularly those on the right side of the photo? I recognize the art, but can’t place it.

Sending mucho crafty love!

~ The Feminist Mafia (Dec 14, 07:09 AM#)

I am green with envy! I love craft fairs, and this one was huge! All the fun stuff you got too – wow. Love the buttons! Thanks for all of the links too – buy DIY ;)

~ Lolly (Dec 14, 10:43 AM#)

Love, love everything you got…but mostly the fiber. I’m in a major “good fiber” deficit around here. I’ve got to wait until Feb for SPA.

You’ve got to love anything called the Bizarre Bazaar ! ;)

~ Liz (Dec 14, 11:26 AM#)

Wow, nice haul you got there! I wish I was on your Christmas List! I love the tee shirt! Can’t wait to see what you spin up.

~ beth (Dec 14, 01:42 PM#)

holy crap! shopping spree, indeed ;). Good for you! I do that, too, buy things for myself before Christmas. It makes me feel good. Lots of great finds!

~ moni (Dec 14, 05:37 PM#)