So usually when I go to the Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo, I browse the Japanese knitting & crocheting books. Today I happened to be browsing around the other random things at the front of the store and found, OMG, a crafting section right at the front! They have these Hamanaka kits for a bunch of different crafts...
There were whole kits for these amigurumi animals, either as small stuffed animals or keychains, for $14.45 each. They even had tools, like the pom pom maker I bought a while back, as well as a needle felting starter tool kit, a felted ball maker, crochet hooks, clay sculpting supplies, bags of different colored wools for felting, pom pom animal kits, and these freakin' basketweaving kits to make these cute little piggy baskets.
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
crochet photo
Photo of my lace doily being blocked on a board with 60 pins. An overhead shot of the same doily. The lace doily I finished blocking yesterday.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Renegade Craft Fair - or - OMG, where did my money go?!
This weekend was the first time the Renegade Craft Fair came to Los Angeles. [Becky: if you haven't been to it before, you should definitely check it out when it' in SF...which it will be actually next weekend July 18-19!).
I went to check it out today since it seemed to be the kind of indie craft stuff that's right up my alley. It was held in downtown Los Angeles, and while not directly accessible from the Metro rail lines, I had a decently easy time getting there by switching to a bus. Note to self though, wear walking shoes instead of 4-inch platform heels next time. The fair was held on the top floor of the California Market Center, a building which apparently showcases the latest in fashion, home accessories, and gift items.
There were a lot of vendors, which made it a great shopping experience. You get a lot of variety and can easily spend several hours exploring all the cool stuff. Products included jewelry, clothing, screen printed t-shirts, posters, greeting cards, pet items, baby clothing, handspun yarns, novelty buttons, natural make-up, soaps, and tons more. A lot of the vendors sell on Etsy.com and I even recognized a few.
I ended up spending a ton of money here. Some vendors didn't take credit card, so I took their business card instead. I also picked up the business cards of vendors that had stuff that looked interesting but didn't have anything that immediately caught my eye. The following are the vendors I bought from.
Rebe
http://www.myrebe.com/
$87.80 - I bought a thin sweater made of a knit fabric. It opens in the front and has a single button under the bust. The bottom is angled so that it's longer in the back, and the neckline has a slightly ruffley collar. I didn't expect it to look good on my since I usually avoid thin stretchy fabrics, but this sweater is definitely very cute. I think I'm a little too busty to wear it buttoned, but it looks great open too.
Jake & Micah
http://www.jackandmicah.com
$16.46 - I bought a collar with a bell for my kitty. It's made from a red fabric with flowers on it. I like the idea and if I ever am productive enough I may try to make one myself.
fomato cards
http://www.fomato.com
$20 - 8 cards. These people sell some totally cute, random, weird greeting cards. Most of the ones they had on display were birthday cards with themes ranging from tea, potatoes, pessimism, eating whole foods, cheese, sushi, to evil figures in history.
Spincycle Yarns
http://spincycleyarns.com
$84.98 - I bought a "Sparkleface Scarf Kit". I think I've seen this store mentioned on Ravelry before. There were a ton of handspun/hand-dyed yarns in all colors. I couldn't decide what to get since all the colors were so beautiful, but I knew I had to buy something (knitters represent!). What ended up catching my eye was a sample scarf. The yarn is a handspun made from 75% merino wool and 25% kid mohair. The kit is actually a collaboration between Spincycle Yarns and Moth and Squirrel, who makes cute felted critters from recycled thrift shop wool sweaters. The kit comes with a cute little felted bird with a button on the back so you can use it as a scarf pin. It comes with a pattern too, awesomeness!
Figs & Ginger
http://www.figsandginger.com
$21.95 - Their items were simple and few but all totally cute! Their necklaces & earrings come with either birds, deer, or bunnies and I bought the little bird stud earrings. I really wanted to get the birds sitting on the circle, but this was the last vendor I bought from and I already spent wayyy too much.
traveling rhinos
http://www.travelingrhinos.com
$32.00 - "Character" handspun yarn in whites, blues, and greens. This is a corriedale wool yarn with bamboo, tencel, and angelina sparkle fibers. This was the 2nd handspun yarn vendor I saw, so I had to buy a skein! :)
jane e roberti
http://janeeroberti.etsy.com
$52.44 - Sakura Branch earrings. Jane makes jewelry from sheet metal pressed out into shapes, and then cuts in designs with a jewelry saw. The necklaces and earrings she makes are beautifully delicate looking!
meander
http://meander.etsy.com
$50 - I don't see my receipt for this one so I guess I'll have to look at my credit card bill. (ETA: I looked at my bills!) I bought a pair of dangly hoopy earrings. The girl at the booth was awesome - she commented on my earrings too (I was wearing dangly hoopy earrings too). She also loves the long dangly hoopy stuff! I ended up switching out my earrings after buying the pair.
Nate Duval
http://www.nateduval.com
$35.00 - 2 printed tees. They're actually new designs, just printed a week ago. Both are thin low v-necks with floral line drawings printed on. I wanted to get more of these types of thin tees after I found I really liked the one I bought at Macy's.
__________________________
darling bud designs
http://darlingbuddesigns.etsy.com
This was the third vendor I saw that was selling handspun yarn. I wanted to buy some but they didn't take credit cards and I didn't have enough cash on me. I did get a free sample of the yarn with the business card, which is pretty cool.
dee&lala
http://www.deeandlala.com
This vendor sells letterpress stationary and greeting cards. I love the art style of the work - very simple and geometric. The paper is thick and the letterpressing, which creates a textured surface, makes the work even more unique. If I hadn't already bought 8 cards, I totally would have bought more here. They were selling $4 each, $10 for 3.
mehoi.com
http://www.mehoi.com
This was the first booth I saw at the fair. What caught my eye were the cute little ear studs (which weren't actually that little). There's a cute cute pair of sheep - perfect for a knitter. Unfortunately they were cash only, or rather, essentially cash only as the credit card processing would convert to Canadian $ and charge a ridiculous percentage. There was no BofA atm nearby so I didn't get to buy these earrings before I left the fair. :(
Sweet Meats
http://www.sweet-meats.com
When I saw this booth, I couldn't stop smiling. Becky, I thought of you at several of these booths, but none of them channeled you as much as this one. The girls at this booth were selling plush meats. Ham, t-bone, bacon plushies = teh awesomeness!
tanya aguiniga
http://aguinigadesign.com/
Some of the booths seemed less commercial and more artsy, as in they were showcasing an artist's designs. This was the one that caught my eye the most because the artist used fibers. There were felted birds and bracelets/necklaces from looped yarns.
There's probably more I could write about but I'm tired now. Whew, what a day! After coming home, I ran multiple heroic dungeons with the guild...Utgarde Keep, Utgarde Pinnacle, Azjul-Nerub, Ahnkenet, Nexus, Violet Hold, & Culling of Stratholme. I wrote this blog entry in the downtime. I am thoroughly tired now and do not look forward to seeing how much money I spent today. OMG, it must have been over $400. I just spent $250 on yarn from Artfibers too... :( OMG OMG OMG.
Tomorrow I am seriously going to plan out my meals for the week and buy stuff super cheap from the market so I can cook my meals, even if that means spaghetti every single day. OH MY GOURDS! ;_;
I went to check it out today since it seemed to be the kind of indie craft stuff that's right up my alley. It was held in downtown Los Angeles, and while not directly accessible from the Metro rail lines, I had a decently easy time getting there by switching to a bus. Note to self though, wear walking shoes instead of 4-inch platform heels next time. The fair was held on the top floor of the California Market Center, a building which apparently showcases the latest in fashion, home accessories, and gift items.
There were a lot of vendors, which made it a great shopping experience. You get a lot of variety and can easily spend several hours exploring all the cool stuff. Products included jewelry, clothing, screen printed t-shirts, posters, greeting cards, pet items, baby clothing, handspun yarns, novelty buttons, natural make-up, soaps, and tons more. A lot of the vendors sell on Etsy.com and I even recognized a few.
I ended up spending a ton of money here. Some vendors didn't take credit card, so I took their business card instead. I also picked up the business cards of vendors that had stuff that looked interesting but didn't have anything that immediately caught my eye. The following are the vendors I bought from.
Rebe
http://www.myrebe.com/
$87.80 - I bought a thin sweater made of a knit fabric. It opens in the front and has a single button under the bust. The bottom is angled so that it's longer in the back, and the neckline has a slightly ruffley collar. I didn't expect it to look good on my since I usually avoid thin stretchy fabrics, but this sweater is definitely very cute. I think I'm a little too busty to wear it buttoned, but it looks great open too.
Jake & Micah
http://www.jackandmicah.com
$16.46 - I bought a collar with a bell for my kitty. It's made from a red fabric with flowers on it. I like the idea and if I ever am productive enough I may try to make one myself.
fomato cards
http://www.fomato.com
$20 - 8 cards. These people sell some totally cute, random, weird greeting cards. Most of the ones they had on display were birthday cards with themes ranging from tea, potatoes, pessimism, eating whole foods, cheese, sushi, to evil figures in history.
Spincycle Yarns
http://spincycleyarns.com
$84.98 - I bought a "Sparkleface Scarf Kit". I think I've seen this store mentioned on Ravelry before. There were a ton of handspun/hand-dyed yarns in all colors. I couldn't decide what to get since all the colors were so beautiful, but I knew I had to buy something (knitters represent!). What ended up catching my eye was a sample scarf. The yarn is a handspun made from 75% merino wool and 25% kid mohair. The kit is actually a collaboration between Spincycle Yarns and Moth and Squirrel, who makes cute felted critters from recycled thrift shop wool sweaters. The kit comes with a cute little felted bird with a button on the back so you can use it as a scarf pin. It comes with a pattern too, awesomeness!
Figs & Ginger
http://www.figsandginger.com
$21.95 - Their items were simple and few but all totally cute! Their necklaces & earrings come with either birds, deer, or bunnies and I bought the little bird stud earrings. I really wanted to get the birds sitting on the circle, but this was the last vendor I bought from and I already spent wayyy too much.
traveling rhinos
http://www.travelingrhinos.com
$32.00 - "Character" handspun yarn in whites, blues, and greens. This is a corriedale wool yarn with bamboo, tencel, and angelina sparkle fibers. This was the 2nd handspun yarn vendor I saw, so I had to buy a skein! :)
jane e roberti
http://janeeroberti.etsy.com
$52.44 - Sakura Branch earrings. Jane makes jewelry from sheet metal pressed out into shapes, and then cuts in designs with a jewelry saw. The necklaces and earrings she makes are beautifully delicate looking!
meander
http://meander.etsy.com
$50 - I don't see my receipt for this one so I guess I'll have to look at my credit card bill. (ETA: I looked at my bills!) I bought a pair of dangly hoopy earrings. The girl at the booth was awesome - she commented on my earrings too (I was wearing dangly hoopy earrings too). She also loves the long dangly hoopy stuff! I ended up switching out my earrings after buying the pair.
Nate Duval
http://www.nateduval.com
$35.00 - 2 printed tees. They're actually new designs, just printed a week ago. Both are thin low v-necks with floral line drawings printed on. I wanted to get more of these types of thin tees after I found I really liked the one I bought at Macy's.
__________________________
darling bud designs
http://darlingbuddesigns.etsy.com
This was the third vendor I saw that was selling handspun yarn. I wanted to buy some but they didn't take credit cards and I didn't have enough cash on me. I did get a free sample of the yarn with the business card, which is pretty cool.
dee&lala
http://www.deeandlala.com
This vendor sells letterpress stationary and greeting cards. I love the art style of the work - very simple and geometric. The paper is thick and the letterpressing, which creates a textured surface, makes the work even more unique. If I hadn't already bought 8 cards, I totally would have bought more here. They were selling $4 each, $10 for 3.
mehoi.com
http://www.mehoi.com
This was the first booth I saw at the fair. What caught my eye were the cute little ear studs (which weren't actually that little). There's a cute cute pair of sheep - perfect for a knitter. Unfortunately they were cash only, or rather, essentially cash only as the credit card processing would convert to Canadian $ and charge a ridiculous percentage. There was no BofA atm nearby so I didn't get to buy these earrings before I left the fair. :(
Sweet Meats
http://www.sweet-meats.com
When I saw this booth, I couldn't stop smiling. Becky, I thought of you at several of these booths, but none of them channeled you as much as this one. The girls at this booth were selling plush meats. Ham, t-bone, bacon plushies = teh awesomeness!
tanya aguiniga
http://aguinigadesign.com/
Some of the booths seemed less commercial and more artsy, as in they were showcasing an artist's designs. This was the one that caught my eye the most because the artist used fibers. There were felted birds and bracelets/necklaces from looped yarns.
There's probably more I could write about but I'm tired now. Whew, what a day! After coming home, I ran multiple heroic dungeons with the guild...Utgarde Keep, Utgarde Pinnacle, Azjul-Nerub, Ahnkenet, Nexus, Violet Hold, & Culling of Stratholme. I wrote this blog entry in the downtime. I am thoroughly tired now and do not look forward to seeing how much money I spent today. OMG, it must have been over $400. I just spent $250 on yarn from Artfibers too... :( OMG OMG OMG.
Tomorrow I am seriously going to plan out my meals for the week and buy stuff super cheap from the market so I can cook my meals, even if that means spaghetti every single day. OH MY GOURDS! ;_;
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