Flowers, Craft Fairs and Photo Shoots

If you follow along with my Events page, then you know this past weekend I had two fairs: First Friday at the 25th Street Collective and Jack of all Trades in Jack London Square (both in Oakland.) Both events were great fun. I always love meeting new people at these fairs, and courting new customers!

The display pictured above is from my Jack of all Trades booth.

Part of my display from First Friday.

This last week I also finished up taking photos for my next collection. Above is an outtake from my second photo shoot for my spring/summer collection. I can't wait to release all of these new pieces officially!

It's really been warming up here in Oakland these last few days. Flowers are blooming everywhere and their gorgeousness simply makes me pause. Above, periwinkle in my backyard.

A flowering aloe on my afternoon walk. 

I took some time on Sunday to re-pot some of my indoor plants. This succulent got a new home in the pot pictured. I found it at a Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.

Lastly, some handmade components that went into orders that shipped out last week. 

I've gotta get dinner finished up for the family. I hope everyone is having a great start to this new week!

High School Art Teacher

This week's listening, wearing, making. . . 

I think I've regaled all of you with country music for enough weeks in a row. Today I wanted to share this decideldly pop song from my high school days! I was in love with this song when it first came out but didn't think it was "cool" enough back then so I pretty much kept those feelings to myself. Now, I don't really care if my music tastes are "cool" enough, so I'm sharing it here for the entire world to know about. (Those teenage years! When I look back I wonder how any of us survived!)

Wearing. . . Here's where the title of this post comes in. I got this dress for a mere three bucks at the Treasure Island Flea a couple of months ago. (Yes, I love to shop at the same events that I sell at!) This dress just seems like the perfect dress for a high school art teacher. And I've been told by a few friends that I dress like one. Which I take as a HUGE compliment of course =). 

Making. . . I think I've been saying this for the last few weeks, but I'm still mostly working on the new collection. That's going to change soon as I make the time to make more of my classics and build up my inventory stock for my many spring and summer craft fairs. Here's what will be my last sneak peek of the new collection until I release the look-book and put the items up in my Etsy shop. It's always hard to say which pieces are my favorites, but in this photo I'm loving the necklace on the far right and the earrings on the far left. 

Yesterday I finished taking all of the photos of the new pieces. Today I'm back in the studio. Tomorrow I'll be at the 25th Street Collective for Art Murmur in Oakland. A Tangleweeds trifecta of very different types of days! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. And don't forget to enter the Tangleweeds Giveaway if you haven't already!

Tangleweeds Giveaway

Hello hello everyone! I've been teasing all of you long enough! This month marks the first Tangleweeds Giveaway for 2014 (most likely to be monthly from here on out.) I have to say, it was hard picking out just one piece to offer up to a lucky someone, but after much deliberation I decided to offer my Sky Above necklace in cream. A piece inspired by lazy summer days watching birds soar overhead in a bright blue sky. I have been day-dreaming lately about how I want to spend my summer "break". . . 

To enter this contest, simply leave a comment on this blog post about what your favorite season is and why.  I'll be randomly selecting a winner towards the end of the month and will post the results here on March 26th. Only one entry per person please!

Good luck!

Mercury Retrograde is Over!

Has anyone else been feeling the Mercury Retrograde? This last week I had so many technical difficulties and strange mis-haps that I was starting to think I'd be better off spending my week in bed with my cats and a few books. Not really, but I did do that come Wednesday evening! At least Mercury went direct on Saturday. Phew! While I'm not a hard and fast astrology believer, I think it's a nice metaphor for talking about how everything relates to everything else. . . 

Below, my week in snapshots. (Also, read to the bottom for important Tangleweeds Giveaway info!)

Top to bottom:

1. A shot from my lookbook photoshoot. Boy oh boy was that day interesting. It was raining all day, which made for an interesting and challenging photo-shoot. But it came together and I can't wait to share it in early April.
2. Arlo and Otis and a good book. This is how I spent a few of my evenings. My week pretty much demanded it!
3. Raindrops on calendula flowers in my backyard. I planted these a couple of years ago and they're doing marvelously. I planted them so I could harvest them for tea but so far I haven't had the heart to cut these gorgeous flowers down!
4. Really awesome owl tumblers and ice holder at an antique mall in Sacramento. Jeff and I had a brief getaway this past weekend. We spent a couple day and one night in the capital and did a bunch of thrifting, antiquing, and record shopping. 
5. A shot of me busy at work. My work bench is always a mess of scrap metal and pieces in various stages of "almost finished."
6. The last two are my parents' dogs. The first one is Avery and the second shot is of my mom and Amber. Amber was a dog they found on the street recently and took in. She's getting along quite well with Avery (who's a bit of a senior-doggie).

Lastly, I'll be offering my first Tangleweeds Giveaway this month! Tomorrow morning I'll post about it and how to enter. Anyone is welcome to enter!

New Favorites Old Favorites

A quick edition of Listening, Wearing, Making as I have to run off to the city soon. As the title suggests, this post is all about new and old favorites. Starting with a new (to me) favorite band, I See Hawks in LA. Loving their most recent album, Mystery Drug. This song is off of that album. (Think country-rock with great harmonies.)

Wearing: two old favorites. This bear-print dress and these boots. The boots are great what with all the rain we've been having and the dress is so so comfortable. 

Making: lots of new designs! Here's a sneak peek at some of the colors and shapes you'll be seeing in the new collection soon. 

Gotta run to the city soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

Full Week, Full Heart, Full Life

This last week was full of great stuff. Visited my sister, visited my folks, vended at the Treasure Island Flea, went on a hike with a good friend and more! I'm pouring over craft fair applications today, so this entry will be a bit brief. Enjoy your week everyone!

Photos (from top to bottom)

1. Early morning me before heading to the Treasure Island Flea
2. Early morning kitchen window
3. Me and my sis hanging out at her house
4. A WONDERFUL meal I came home to Sunday evening after the second day of the Treasure Island Flea. Jeff and Sera cooked up a feast!
5. Pretty flowers outside my Oakland studio
6. Some vintage hanging in my booth this past weekend
7. My friend Alice and I on our afternoon hike
8. Mending my boyfriend's favorite sweater
9. Lastly, my booth at the Treasure Island Flea

(All of these photos are from my Instagram feed. Follow me at if you like to see photos of my works-in-progress, cute cats, flowers and other pretty things!)

Inspired By Neutrals

Apparently there's a color theme to my posts this week. Purple on Tuesday, neutrals with this week's edition of Listening, Wearing, Making. Not that those colors have much to do with the music I've been listening to. . . I discovered Carrie Rodriquez just last week. New country, singer-songwriter, and she plays the fiddle! Pretty much music perfection if ya ask me. 

Wearing. . . I've been quite inspired by Gretchen Jone's Neutral Territory project/blog. She's basically decided to wear only neutrals for a whole year, and each month she eliminates one color until it's pretty restricted by year's end. I really am already a neutral lover, but her project is inspiring. I love it when people create personal challenges or experiments and then share their endeavors with the world. Check her blog out if you're interested! My outfit below is pretty much a mixture of 100% thrifted finds. 

Making. . . Some new variations on my Egyptian style necklaces. These aren't available in my Etsy shop yet, but will be once I get them photographed. 

Lastly, I'm announcing today that I'm going to start offering a monthly Tangleweeds giveaway here on my blog. I'll start the first one in March, since this month is already more than half over (how the heck did that happen!?) It might be one of these beauties. . . But I'm not sure yet, so you'll just have to check back the first week of March =)

Have a lovely rest of your week and weekend everyone. I'll be back next Tuesday!

Purple Flowers, Purple Jewelry, Purple Everywhere

Looking back at my last week there seems to be a purple theme going on. . . rather unintentionally. Funny how things like that happen sometimes. My next collection has some purples and pinks in it, not two colors I thought I'd be wanting to work into a collection anytime soon, but it has just felt right. Purple was my favorite color as a kid and into my teen years, but was eventually usurped by greens and browns. I love how things come full circle without our even trying to make it so. 

Photos form top to bottom:

* Purple anemones at the Lake Merritt farmer's market in Oakland
* My worktable in my studio. Last week as I worked on the new collection, things got a bit messy and chaotic. 
* An old RV in my neighborhood. Inspiration for the series of art prints Tangleweeds will be releasing in the late spring.
* A mug of chai and some new crescent moon designs. These are a variation of of this moon design and will be part of the new collection. Pretty excited for these, especially the double crescent moon lariat-style necklace.
* Jeff with Arlo in our (pink) kitchen. That cat loves him some love. 

I've got Etsy and Shoppe orders to work on today. Hoping everyone is having a good week so far!

My love for Country Music

This week's edition of Listening, Wearing Making!

My love for country music (and all derivations of it, be it bluegrass, americana, old-timey, etc) runs deep. It's not a love that has ben life long, no. Rather I "found" country music about seven or eight years ago. I felt like I had found home. At least that's how I describe it when I try to describe how the music makes me feel. A new find for me this month has been Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison. They put out the album Cheater's Game just this year and I can't stop listening to it. Below is one of my favorite songs from the album. 

Wearing. . . well, I have been putting a cursory amount of attention towards getting dressed in the morning. This last week I've simply wanted to jaunt off to my studio as quickly as possible because my new designs are simply begging to be realized. I'm actually starting to understand the appeal of simply wearing one's work-out gear (for me it'd be yoga pants, a tank top and a sweatshirt) all day. But, I'm not that gal (usually) so I've been tending towards comfy vintage pieces that can be thrown on with some earrings and I'm good! Like this Mexican embroidered piece I found at Goodwill recently. 

As far as my making goes, I think I've already said it a bajillion times, I'm working like a fiend on the new collection, which I am beyond excited about. I'd love to share some photos of finished pieces here, but until I solidify the line, I'll leave you in suspense. In the meantime I'll tease you all with a photo of some of the components going into the new line. I absolutely love these pale green stones, the color and their irregular shape. 

Alright, I think it's time for a coffee break. I seriously cannot believe how warm it is here in Oakland today. It feels like 70! (Yikes, global warming?!) I feel lucky considering what so much of the rest of the country is dealing with. Stay safe and warm everyone!

New Designs, New Ideas

I have been so pleasantly busy in the studio so far this year! There are literally more ideas for new designs knocking around in my head than I have time to realize. My spring/summer collection is coming along nicely, you can see hints of it in some of the photos below. Certain colors and shape elements. 

The above piece were part of a re-stock at Oak Common in Oakland. If you haven't checked out this great shop on Grand Ave, you should! It'd be a great place to pick up a Valentine's gift for a gal or a guy.

The above two photos are from events from the past weekend. On Friday I was at the 25th Street Collective for First Friday (local folks, keep in mind I'm there EVERY month if you want to know where to come and see me and the designs in person). On Saturday I was at Jack of All Trades. And any time you want more info on where you can find Tangleweeds, simply head on over to the events page.

Above you can see hints of the new collection. A lot of the jewelry above are vintage or antique pieces (I'm a bit of a collector/hoarder when it comes to jewelry). While these pieces won't actually be re-made into new pieces, they sort of act as a "moodboard" for me. I love to lay out a bunch of supplies and pieces of jewelry that I'm vibing with in a strong way and see where my imagination takes me. 

These brass earrings are all classic Tangleweeds designs. Sold quite a few of these at Jack of All Trades. 

Bangles that were shipped out to new homes last week. 

Part of my workspace yesterday. If you saw my work table today you'd laugh. It's a disaster! When I get into full-on designing mode things can get a bit messy in the stuido. It's all part of the process!

I know I've been teasing you guys with the mention of a men's collection too, and it is coming! There's been a bit of a slow down on some areas as I source just the right supplies. I hope to debut a small selection of the men's pieces at March's First Friday. Keep checking back here and you'll be the first to know when the pieces are available.

Alrighty, it's back to the workbench and the work table for me!