find us at the tinderbox at mid-main

i started selling some of my cards at the tinderbox earlier this summer. it's both a workshop and a gift shop, filled with hand-crafted goods from texas makers. it doesn't hurt that it's on the same street as sparrow, double trouble and continental club.. you really could spend an entire saturday on the block.

i took a few photos, but you really have to go in there for yourself! i have yet to do a workshop, but i'm thinking about planning a girls night -- the workshops are BYOB, after all.

the owner, ren, has done a fantastic job of curating quality good, thrifty find and bringing together the houston craft community.

falling hard for these waxed canvas totes by bexar goods -- i want the backpack.

there's my foxy mama.

loads of original art and pretty jewelry.

everything you want for a unique tablescape.

..and the hand-printed tea towels. i'm a tea towel hoarder -- i have my eye on the blue agave one now that we have some growing in our backyard!

garden dreams in the texas heat

i've been totally inspired by rose moss. it's a hardy plant with succulent leaves that can withstand the texas heat and days without water. the bright blooms are right up my ally: neon shades of pink, poppy, yellow and orange. my iphone couldn't event register the brightness of these colors... #nofilter, y'all.

when we purchased our house, i had no idea how much i would enjoy gardening. i've been turning down some late night partying in order to get up early and hit the dirt. must be growing up. 

i pinned this photo a few months ago, and i keep going back to it. we're definitely going to spend the next few months trying to re-create this backyard. it's sustainable and just looks so damn cool. kudos to my good friend elyse who coined the term partio.

i'm torn between creating a modern, sleek backyard and an overgrown hill country garden. texas wildflowers need to 'planted' in september for spring blooms. i've been reading up on planting wildflowers and they just say to drop the seeds on dirt, don't bury them. how easy is that? you can order seed packets from wildseed farms.

here's a little peek of our backyard. blue agave, african irises and rose moss so far. still so much that needs to be done. can't wait to share the full picture.. when it's complete.

free press summer fest 2013

i learned some video skills last month at the blogshop video class in chicago and i put together a personal video of my free press summer fest experience! it was a great way to see a bunch of friends, celebrate my birthday and listen to new music. enjoy! turn the sound up :)

want to see another fun video i did for work?! check my market square park  video, por favor. and if you're in the houston area, come visit market square park for one of our movie nights! they are so much fun.

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new digs & fancy flat sheet curtains

things have been really chaotic around here -- but all for good cause. we bought a house earlier this month... and i'm sure i'll be posting tons of home-related projects along the way.

we 'window shopped' for about two years on har.com (so addictive!) before the aggressive hunt began in early 2013. j & i instantly fell in love with our little house and cannot wait to make make some memories in it with our family and friends. the unpacking and decorating have just begun...

for now, our windows have these lovely sheet & dip-dye table cloth curtains held up with push pins for privacy. i'm sure our neighbors are thrilled. sewing curtains will certainly be one of my first projects... it's time to dust off the sewing machine and bust out a bottle of pinot noir.

december (!!! WHAT?!?!) ( + november re-cap)

unbelievable. this year flew by. and so much happened! still more to come, so i went rattle off all my sentiments of 2012 yet. december will rule because: one of my best friends is getting married to a wonderful man, jon's grandmother will celebrate her 70th birthday, my nephew will be celebrating his 6th birthday, there will bea small reunion of my favorite high school gals (eek.. 10 years almost!), and i will unabashedly participate in christmas time cheer.

here's what went down in november...

october instagrams & fake november ramblings.
my calendars went on sale! get 'em, now.
local holiday shopping at #designcraft

and other fun instagram happenings...

a pomegranate tree grows in montrose.

craft night with andie! making a geometric photo background for one awesome smilebooth.

confusing dining choices in montrose, but an awesome hand-painted sign.

custom holiday cards for a great couple (she was my first client ever.. two years ago!)

two texas boys: sweet max & uncle jon.

these frosty snowflakes will be covering some christmas wrap this year.

amazing "earthscapes" stamps from the USPS. satellite shots of the united states.

carving christmas tags - available in the shop! 

a pretty watercolor thank you night from amanda medsger. << check out her stuff!

fancy gin & tonic from mongoose vs. cobra. somehow managed to visit that place 5 times in the past four weeks. not complaining. 

pull your own prints from workhorse printmakers at the #designcraft market.  my new work with your hands poster will be hanging up in my "studio" corner in our apartment.

 

local holiday shopping on the bayou: #designcraft market

photo by son of a sailor 

black friday sounded awful to me. which, is why I'm shopping the AIGA’s DesignCraft Market at market square park. the free, designer-driven market features designers from houston, austin and beyond, selling hand-crafted goods at the award-winning park nestled in downtown’s historic district.

shoppers can start the day with breakfast pitas and lattes from niko niko’s, or just hit the ground running with a pint of saint arnold brew. more than just a market, there will be printing demonstrations from houston’s workhorse prints, live music from young girls (i've seen them before, they are awesome!), poor pilate (another great houston band, and cool friends with cool girlfriends) and grandfather child and plenty of sparkly trinkets to ohh and ahh over.

here’s just a few shops i'm excited check out:

evens – the brainchild of the lovely kate de para, a great girl whom i've had to pleasure to see every now and then. she's a textile designer who just made her way back to Texas after studying at SCAD. evens offers silk textiles for men and women, digitally dyed in the united states and hand-sewn by ms. de para herself.

son of a sailor – a sweet jewelry collaboration with a nautical twist, from husband and wife team jessica tata and william knopp of austin. their brassy treasures necklaces and pastel leather bracelets have been featured on designsponge, NYLON, SF girl by bay, daily candy and more.

bonsai terrariums – the names says it all, but vernon caldera’s luxe terrariums are something to be seen. His artfully-designed succulent wonderlands have been showcased at BHLDN, lawndale art center and in lonny and luxe interiors + design magazines.

CVela Design – christopher vela’s designs span across every medium out there – motion graphics, print, web and beyond. shoppers wear his playful print on their sleeves, by snatching up some of his screen-print tees.

.. and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  for more information and a full list of vendors, click here.

AIGA designcraft market

 saturday, december 1, 2012

10 am – 6 pm

market square park

301 milam, houston texas

77002

street parking is free on saturdays and $5 parking is available at the market square Garage. market square park is located one block north of the preston METRORail station.

note: a version of this article was published on the plugged in blog for downtown houston.

november ( + october wrap up!)

oh hey, october.. you came and went. here's what you we did:

september re-cap & instagrams

neon striped & stamped personal stationery

texas lakehouse wedding invites

modern baby shower

for november.. i predict spare blogging (because in reality, i'm backlogging this from december 2nd!) and lots of food with my family & friends. and better weather, come on houston! show us what you got. let's whip out those cardigans (and not just for our cold offices). 

enjoying eatsieboys at the city hall farmers market

jumping in front of the waterwall

tomato & avocado on toast.

the super precious elizabeth street cafe in austin, texas

want, but obviously don't need. a picture will do.

my frida halloween get-up. it pays to have an overload of cheap mexican jewelry from your grandmother.

andie the droodge

a sparkly number

and hooray for a husband who loves to cook! breakfast crepes & espresso.

it's september - i'm outta here. (+ auggie re-cap)

ah. we're at the beach. on plane. climbing a volcano. catching a wave.... living la pura vida. (ok, maybe in 12 hours we'll be there).

thrilled that i'll be spending the first part of september in costa rica.. the middle part of september in the hill country celebrating one of my best friend's bachelorette and bringing in cooler weather as october nears. bring it on! so ready for fall. and ready to run in some cooler weather. (did i mention i signed myself up for a half-marathon?!)

here's what you missed in august:
a very pathetic july re-cap
new couples shower games at charm & fig - good for baby shower or weddings
some custom work & moving announcements at charm & fig
my countdown to costa rica - etsy treasury and a wipe out!
taking time to make some freaking lemonade.
neon & neutral moleskine journals. made with lots o' love & hand-carved stamps.
a very one-of-a-kind shower invite: tex-brit baby!!

some fun instagram photos along the way... (are you following me yet?)

a view of buffalo bayou park from my mothers -- looks like a 1950's architect's rendering of a model park.

working on a FUN project. will reveal the full thing in late september.

jon & i's attempt to recycle some wine glasses.

goodies from the pinpoint method. check 'em out.

mas projects. neon & neutral.

favorite donut. shipley's strawberry sprinkles. donuts are better than muffins in every way. (taste, calories, joy, etc.)

a good running day for me.. 5 miles.

sprinkles cupcakes - houston, texas.

picking out postcards from penguin books collection.

bracelets made from recycled flip-flops. these colors make me happy!

jazzed up my already peeling mint manicure with some color. just in time for costa rica.

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summerfest tie-dye

it's one of my favorite weekends in houston -- free press summerfest! here's a pretty festive shot of the flaming lips letting loose with all their colorful balloons...

like any music festival, summerfest is always a little fashion show... but once you get there you sweat your brains out and laugh at the idiots wearing leggings, skinny jeans, stilletto heels, etc.

this year i hadn't really planned what i was going to wear so i took a couple of jon's white cotton shirts and made some tie-dye tank tops with my friend andie. for the colors, i used rit dye. i only had scarlett red, royal blue and yellow on hand.. but did some guessing on mixing colors and came out with these results.

for andie's we dipped the sides vertically leaving a little biased white strip inbetween the indigo and chartreuse.

(also, thanks to andie for bringing over some starbucks vanilla scones. choice tie-dying nibbles!)

 for mine, i dipped the bottom, tied off sections on the top for some starburst and shredded the back because a: it looks totes 90's and b: it will keep me cool! breezes of all kind are welcome in 90+ degree heat. 

here's the final looks after we cut them up a bit... what do you think?

but, wait! there's more... check out the summerfest posts i've written for other blogs around the internet:

pre-show tips on transportation & more at downtownhouston.org.

highlights & post-show tips at chevydriveshouston.com.