i'm in japan!

it was a long trip, but i made it. after my connecting flight was delayed 4 hours (!) in san francisco, the flight itself was rather pleasant. and i have to say, i think i interacted with the nicest and most helpful united employees ever throughout the day. of course, the fact that the plane was less than half full helped a lot, as i had a row of 3 seats by the window to stretch out it.
i brought a stack of magazines after i realized that i would be flying during the day, and sleep might not be an option if the movie selection was lacking. (it was, but i watched 2 anyway). one magazine i splurged on was selvedge, a gorgeous textile publication from the UK.
it was totally worth it, and i want to share a few finds from it's pages later this week. but for now, here's the lovely easter craft spread from this issue and from their website.

and now for the jet lag update: i woke up after 5 am, which is infinitely preferable to a few sleepless hours between 2-4 am, in my opinion. today i'm off to the handmade market in kyoto!

easter weekend

i dyed wool felt eggs!
using paas egg dye.
it was super easy.
and making felt eggs is pretty easy too–just make a felt ball, and then squish it while you are finishing it.
i had a wonderful last weekend in town, filled with friends and meals. this souffle was from brunch yesterday,
seen in it's entirety here.

lisa hannigan

lisa hannigan's beautiful solo debut, sea sew, is complemented by some amazing and beautiful craft projects. for one thing, she stitched ALL the words from the liner notes onto linen.

in the first of the two videos below, she turns the pages of a wonderful handmade pop-up book, and in the second, she creates an entire landscape from cut paper.

and the winner is...

wintunancy! email me your address to feltcafe@gmail, and i will send off your felt flowers. i've enjoyed doing a few giveaways, and i plan to continue them...from japan!

felt by matte stephens

all together :D, originally uploaded by matte stephens.

matte stephens is a etsy star, and you've likely seen his paintings before online, or at one of his many art shows.

and now, he's making felt sculptures!

via design*sponge.

another felt flower giveaway

i have 2 more felt flowers to give away! these were such a fun way to play around with felt scraps i am always accumulating.
they are both small, around 2 inches in diameter. leave a comment for a chance to win them both! i will mail them on saturday, so that's the deadline.

one more amazing portland shop: olio united

olio united was one of the best finds during our one day tour of portland. olio united is a wonderful shop that showcases ethical and socially responsible designers, many of them local to portland. it's also a very well curated shop, that spans a wide range from fashion to housewares to paper to jewelry.
this folded miso bowl is made by portland's pigeon toe ceramics. so pretty!

sweet necklace by portland jewelry designer, appleseed designs.
and of course i fell in love with the felt bags by feel design, also from portland!
you can see their other bags on sale at olio united here.

if you are looking for the new best showcase of independent designers in portland, i think it may just be olio united! and on top of that, they have a great commitment to ethical craft and supporting local artists. AND, you can shop online from their website! does it get any better than that??

portland recap part 3: shopping

here's a little peek inside the lovely garnish store.
owner and designer erica lurie creates her own line of very pretty clothes, and also does custom work. i love this little framed example of fabric swatches.

while we were wondering down alberta street, we also visited bolt fabric and next door close knit (how great is it to have an independent fabric store and yarn store next to each other!), ped x shoe store (i am a sucker for campers), tumbleweed (with kids version grasshopper next door).

portland recap part 2: craft museum!

i got to see this exhibit that i missed last time. unfortunately the handmade nation screening was completely sold out before we could get tickets, but the crochet-a-thon with mandy was awesome!

mandy greer's new project is called mater matrix mother and medium. it will be installed in seattle's urban forest and will also include a performance by zoe scofield.
here's a photo from the project website. it's all about water, and so the work will incorporate shades of blue fabric and yarn. for the crochet-a-thon, everyone joined in to create some blue crocheted elements that will be incorporated into the final piece. it's a wonderful art creation process, that involves people coming together to create, and maybe to learn a new craft. beginning crochet lends itself especially well to this kind of free form art, as there are no 'mistakes.' i am a complete beginner at crochet, but now i am really curious to try more.

portland recap part 1: food

first stop: broder cafe on clinton street. this wonderful scandinavian restaurant does it right, from the proper brunch (above),

to delicious hash with trout.

the menu also has swedish meatballs and aebleskiver, the tiny scandinavian pancakes. i am willing to bet they are both excellent. clinton street was an old hangout when i lived in southeast portland, and it's nice to see that dots (ohh, the late night cheesy fries and velvet paintings) and clinton street video (i spent many nights picking movies from their small but excellent collection, back when we rented VHS tapes) are still around, and also cool new places like broder.

i also had the pleasure of introducing my friends to an old favorite, nicholas lebanese restaurant. this is the food to which i compare all other lebanese and middle eastern food, and it's hard to beat. i would have photos, but we were too busy stuffing our faces with pieces of the gigantic homemade pita bread straight from the oven, with all the tasty treats that come in the mezze combination. heaven.

a lovely weekend

i took a day trip to portland on saturday, and it was truly wonderful. a full day of crafts, local shopping, and delicious food. i don't want to leave anyting thing out, so i'll tell you all about it tomorrow, when i am less sleepy. for now, here's a little bunny i saw there.
some bread rising today, which was an early preview of a perfect summer day.

parker house rolls

these are my first attempt at parker house rolls from last week. i used this recipe, multiplied by 1.5. the results were pretty tasty. the recipe is meant for a stand mixer, which i used and definitely made it easier. and then i also kneaded it by hand for 5 minutes like they said to. i think i rolled out the dough a little thinner than called for, and next time i will leave it thicker. they were super soft and puffy, perhaps because a 1.5 batch has 3 packets of yeast!

japanese fabric sale: part 3 sneak peak

a few japanese obi fabrics, more details on monday!

going to japan fabric sale, part 2

i have several pieces of this lovely plum pattern on silky crepe. if you are interested in any of these fabrics, please email me directly.
3 pieces are 13" by 19", $10 each plus actual shipping; 2 smaller pieces that are 7" by 17", $5 each. all 5 pieces, $25.

orange crepe, 12 inches by 22 inches, $10 plus actual shipping cost.

these 2 images are of one long piece of crepe fabric, made up of 2 pieces with the fan design and 1 piece of the flower design with the grey background sewn between them, 48" x 14" total. $10 plus actual shipping cost.

a mixed pack of rayon chirimen crepe fabrics that i never opened! 7 pieces of fabric with different patterns, 23 cm by 30 cm each. $25 plus actual shipping cost.

i'm going to japan!

and i am ever so excited!! i've decided to move back to japan for a year, and teach english while i ponder my future. hee hee, that sounds so deep. sometimes (mostly in the middle of the night) i wonder if my plan is a little too wacky, but i really do believe that it's a great idea that makes sense for multiple reasons, and i am so fortunate and thankful that i have this opportunity. i'll be flying to osaka in 1.5 weeks, and staying with my lovely friends in kobe. i'll be teaching part time at the wonderful conversation school where i worked while i was an exchange student in '06-'08. and of course i will continue to explore japanese handmade crafts, and also to make felt.

however, as i am packing and organizing my things, i have decided to have a little blog sale. starting with these japanese haori coats, which are traditionally worn over a kimono. they could be worn as a jacket, or used as a source for beautifully patterned fabric. i'll post a few more times today and tomorrow with other japanese fabric. email me directly if you are interested, feltcafe@gmail.com, and i will update each item to note when it is sold.

plum haori coat, pattern of waves (detail at the top of this post), crepe fabric. $35 plus actual shipping cost.
purple haori coat, polyester fabric. $20 + actual shipping cost.
red stripes haori coat, silk, $45 + actual shipping cost.

house portrait tea towels printed by leanne graeff

check out these excellent tea towels printed by leanne graeff and available in her etsy shop. they can be ordered as a custom design based on a picture of your own house. what a lovely housewarming present!

out like a lamb

today was a mix of sunny and rainy, so i guess we can say march is going out like a lamb. this needle felted sheep is from the book 'felted wool small things'. there's one copy left in my etsy shop. if you want to see more photos from this book, the flickr set is here.

check out these sweet sleepy sheep from etsy seller namolio.

march has flown by, and i am proud to say that i was able to successfully post here every day of it! i enjoyed the discipline of daily posting, and i think i will try to keep it up for april.
my other goals for march were to join and attend a yoga class regularly (i did that too!). cutting out sugar and drinking less coffee are ongoing projects... (wink).

twilight roosting felt works by elizabeth armstrong

Twilight Roosting , originally uploaded by studiofelter.

these lovely creations were made by the very talented felt maker elizabeth armstrong. you can see her flickr stream here.

sevilla rock collection from skinny laminx

heather moore of skinny laminx is a genius fabric designer from cape town, south africa. her new collection, sevilla rock, is based on cave paintings, and it's gorgeous. these are just a few of the patterns and colors.the sevilla rock collection will be available for sale as tea towels, aprons, cushion, shopping bags and zip pouches. tea towels are available now in the skinny laminx etsy shop. via design*sponge.

rainy saturday

it rained all day. but something i was waiting for in the mail finally arrived, i had a great trip to ikea, and a lovely dinner and evening with friends. and i made the midnight deadline to blog today. just barely!

don't forget...earth hour tomorrow night

where ever you are, on saturday march 28th, you can be part of earth hour by switching off your lights for an hour, at 8:30 pm your local time.

felt art by mummysam

check out these lovely pieces made by mummysam. using 100% wool felt, she creates soft sculptures with free motion stitching and hand embroidery.
i love the little felt houses, of course!
and she also makes flat works. she sells all of it in her etsy shop, and i first heard about mummysam via jars of cute.