Need Something for Your Valentine?

Come see us today at the Craft Mafia Valentine's Day show, at the Big Top (Carondelet and Clio) from 2-6 pm. Lots of vendors with very cool stuff, not just for V-Day. We will have the shirts, and some new stuff, like these great little brooches I just finished up last night!

Newly Formed New Orleans Street Team

Hello all-
I am super happy to announce the birth of the New Orleans Etsy Street Team, featuring fabulous local artists and craftspeople from the metro area. Most of us participate in the regular markets around the area, so stop by and say hello! We will be meeting on the first Thursday of each month, so let us know if you would like to stop by! In the mean time, please support your local artists and buy handmade gifts for those you love this holiday season (hell, by handmade for those you don't love too, and maybe they will be your new best friend). Anyways, check out our blog...
etsyneworleans.blogspot.com

Why Is Everything So Difficult?

Ok, I know that much of the world things there is nothing going on in New Orleans right now, but they are wrong. There is a thriving and vibrant art community happening here, but in many cases we can't get supplies. Why is every store out of everything all the time? Are they not shipping supplies to NOLA? It seems as though they all washed away in the flood and nobody thought to send new ones for the local artists. Grr! There are a couple really nice little independant art stores in town, which are great for basic items, but what happens when you need something a little more crafty and less artsy? You are forced to shop here, which in my opinion, is one of the worst places to shop ever. Why? You probably know, but just in case, because no one can help you and no one cares. Oh, and when you finally find the aisle of your choice, they are out of the items you need. And so is the other store within close proximity to New Orleans. It seems like perhaps if both of your stores are completely out of the same item, and you appear to be the only place in or around NOLA that carries it, maybe you could actually have some to sell on the shelves! So, I am begging now, if you have art/craft supplies to sell, could you please please please send them to New Orleans. I want so much to support local businesses, but it is so hard when they don't carry what you need, and then you end up ordering everything online. So please support the local art store, and maybe they will be able to increase their inventories, and if you are a big box store, really, there is no reason to be out of stuff! Order enough for people to buy and you will make more money!

P.S. sorry for the diatribe. and the ridiculous cause of this diatribe? inkjet shrinky dinks. i know, don't even say it...

New York Delis Have Nothing on Guys!

So the long wait is at last over. Today was the day. The day when a 6 month sandwich craving was fulfilled. Guys Po-Boys is back! They had a fire in the kitchen back in April, and have since been closed for remodeling. Today was the grand re-opening. Couldn't wait for that delicious roast beef po-boy with swiss cheese dressed (minus the tomatoes - yuck!). We called from work to see what the new hours were - still close at 4:00. Phil said, "Ok, but I can't make it until 4:15." The response - well, we can wait for you. I love New Orleans. So Phil walks in at 4:00 (he actually got there a few minutes earlier than the ETA). The lovely lady at the counter says, "I am so sorry, but if you didn't order a sandwich ahead of time, we are completely out of bread." Not a problem, we know better than to not order ahead of time - but they must have been really busy. Anyway, so we ordered the roast beast and a cheese po-boy, and Guy says, "You know what's really weird - I had an order a couple of hours ago for the exact same thing, and the guy's name was Phil. We even double checked and everything to make sure it wasn't you." Phew - our sandwiches were almost given away to Phil #4(?) by mistake. Catasrophe averted. So, I get home from work, and the feast is awaiting me on the table. It was exactly as I remembered, except for the way my sandwich was cut (Phil swears he didn't cut it like this). I guess they really did run out of bread.

I love Mid-City!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out yesterday! It was our best show yet, and we sold a ton of this new design, and only have 2 left right now, but more should be up in the next couple weeks. Also, we will have a limited numbers of women's spaghetti strap tank tops available real soon (It's already 85 here in New Orleans!) Thanks again for making yesterday so wonderful!

New Shirts Up Just in Time for JazzFest

I just posted our 2 latest t-shirt designs in the shop. please check them out and grab them up if you like them. Also, please take a break from JazzFest-ivities tomorrow and stop by the Mid-City Art Market and visit with us. Have a great weekend and let us know what you think of the new designs!

Come Out Tomorrow!

Stop by Lafayette Square tomorrow, as we will have a booth set up with t-shirts and other goodies for the Wednesday Concerts in the Square. This week's musical guest is Cowboy Mouth, so stop by, listen to some live music, and buy some t-shirts!

Easter Zombies

Hello all, hope you are having a wonderful Easter holiday. The weather here is horrible, cold and rainy. But don't worry, we met some new people today.

Meet our new friends, just turned undead. Yep, that's right, instead of a traditional Easter, Sara and I spent the day creating this little zombie family and eating bad pizza for lack of delivery options. We had so much fun and are quite pleased with our little undead horde. We plan to create other people(?) too, no hints (that wouldn't be fair), but for now, these are the first of our little creations. Enjoy - can you guess which one is Shaun? Please please please let me know what you think!

Hello Again

I am back and keeping myself busy. Mid-City Art Market was a great success yesterday-it was our best show yet! Thanks to everyone who came out and bought shirts and other goodies! There should be a new shirt debuting next month, just in time for the May market, which happens to take place during Jazz Fest, but we are expecting lots of people to be there.

In the process of doing Spring Cleaning this week (it already feels like summer, as it has been 85 degrees this week!), I put on the new quilt that Aunt made me - I love it! It is like walking into a tropical forest. She made these amazing pillows and dust ruffle to go with it, and it is so happy! Look at how beautiful!

I promise to post pictures of the garden soon. It is shaping up nicely - I am just waiting for a few blooms before I show everyone! Happy Spring!

Au Revoir

This has been a horrible week. Phil and I are so sad, as we lost our beloved, amazing dog and friend (Mr. Sanders) on Monday. At the age of 13, he went to sleep and never woke up. He has been with us for our entire adult lives, and was a gift from Phil on my birthday (the first year we lived together). Sanders was with us through moving around the country, (he lived in Chicago, Seattle, and New Orleans) our engagement, our marriage, college, many jobs, and was such a part of those ever so important years of early adulthood. He shared so much with us and taught us so much. It really does feel as though we have lost our best friend.

Wednesday night, Phil and I planted a garden in our backyard and have deemed it the 'Sanders Memorial Garden.' We will also be giving him a small jazz funeral tomorrow, the only attendees being me, phil, and gatsby (our other dog), who is very lonely right now. These things have seemed to help. We miss him so much, but find ourselves flooded with happy memories of Sanders and laughing at all the silly things he did. And I know that this can only get easier with time.

We are going to make a donation to the Louisiana SPCA in memory of Mr. Sanders, and are raising money through sales in our online shops to help fund it. Shana has decided to do the same. Sanders loved her very much, too. Please tell your friends and please shop at any of the links below through April 15, and know that 20% of your purchase will go to help other animals find happy homes, and that other humans can learn as much from these amazing creatures as we did from Sanders. Sanders, we love you, and miss you so much.

Au revoir and je t'aime.

.

http://www.whitmorephotos.etsy.com

http://www.pbwhitmore.com

http://www.inexplicableconfetti.etsy.com

http://www.pixierolls.com

http://www.shanasays.etsy.com

http://www.cookoorikoo.etsy.com

In Which the Elephant Meets the Bird

I received this adorable elephant (of doom) as a birthday gift this year, seeing as elephants are my favorite animal. And who wouldn't want a purple floral printed one with very cute wobbley legs? He makes me smile.

Then tonight, I made this little bird to welcome in the spring. I am quite pleased with birdy, as she carries a small stack of letters to someone special. She may end up in the shop, along with some friends in the near future. I am trying to decide if I should part with her. Happy Spring everyone!

This is for Aga...

My friends and what they have taught me.

1. Shana: that having OCS (only child syndrome) is perfectly acceptable and legitimate, and that I am not alone. Also, that you can make amazing friends at any time.

2. Jacub: that Polish men can be really sweet and their wives don't even mind when they bring you pretty little pieces of jewelry from the Motherland.

3. Aga: that thirty-something white girls wearing chicken hats can really dance to "Grillz" on cold Chicago streets at 3:00 in the morning.

4. Shawn: that Phil is not the only one who is completely charming. Apparently there are two of you who people cannot resist. Also, that it is desirable to have your midnight breakfast served to you by a man in a leather collar telling you to simmer down, after you've spent the entire night carrying around a bird of paradise as a mascot.

5. Deb: that all friends need code names.

6. Jackie: that it is completely legitimate to with that certain evil people, who are carrying large vases of flowers out the front door, might fall and imbed shards of glass into their face.

7. Anne: More good things than just potatoes come from Idaho.

8. Sara: that 'fuck you, you suck' is an acceptable answer to any and every question that someone might ask you on a tubing trip down the Bogue Chitto River.

9. Camille: that it is possible to avoid the work lunchroom 99% of the time. Whew!

10. Mike: that we are not the only crazy people to move to a seriously damaged, yet completely amazing, city after a huge natural disaster. And that some men are completely secure in the size of their package.

11. Nick: that blowing bubbles at work is billable to clients.

Shop Update - Updated!

There will be a couple new things added to the pixierolls shop tonight, so please stop by and check them out!

Tree-land

Since everyone seems to be in such a springtime mood over the last few days, and with temperatures in NOLA reaching into the mid-70s, but without the famous humidity, I thought I would post some pictures of the amazing trees we painted on our bedroom walls. There is one on each side of the bed, which is under a stained glass window. They are certainly happy trees!

Things I Like and Don't Like

Things I Like: cheese, tim curry, my sweetheart, large dogs, art, the 1920's, traveling, sewing, sunlight, black nail polish (i know - contradicts the sunlight), live oak trees, scuba diving, photography, the ocean, fireplaces, cupcakes, this, mental health days, snowflakes, friends, stingrays, black and white movies, Anna Karenina, music, zombies, flowers, cursters, and surprise packages (in no particular order).

Things I Dislike (again, in no particular order): my job, crime, peas, popcorn, keanu reeves, country music, cell phones, people who never make eye contact with you when they are talking to you, napolean dynamite, chores, and weeds.

I'm making my own tagging game! Shana, Aga, and Phil, you must do this too! Just because I said so!

Crescent City Craft Market Success

Phil took the T-shirts to the Crescent City Craft Market yesterday, to much success. He sold some shirts, but also was offered the opportunity to teach a linoleum block printing workshop, to make prints like this, and was given an art show here, for his paintings! Congrats, Phil! All in all, a successful day!

Knitty v. Pixierolls

Thanks so much Knitty! Shana and I just got a really great review for pixierolls from Knitty! So please, go into our shop and buy up! We will be adding new stuff in the near future, such as knitting totes and stitch markers, but in the meantime, see what we've got!

Birthday Cake

Yesterday was Sara's birthday. She had just thrown the most amazing surprise party for me, which resulted in much confusion the following day over the activities that took place, and so I wanted to give her something amazing too. So, I decided to make her a fabulous birthday cake. She is fond of bugs, so I chose fireflies to decorate it with. I drew out the fireflies, made them out of chocolate, and then made a yummy vaguely chocolatey cake with chocolate butter filling and buttercream icing.

It turned out beautiful!
Oh - and she did wear the birthday hat as well.

Surprise to Me!

My dear new NOLA friends decided to throw me a surprise party for my birthday yesterday. It was fabulous, and I truly had no idea. My sweetie told me we were going here for crepes, and we needed to be ready to leave promptly at 5:00. At 4:30, as I am getting ready to leave, and thinking about what to wear because I am really comfy in my jeans and hoodie, but know that this is not appropriate for crepes, the doorbell rings. We were expected Tom to drop by, but when I opened the door, there was everyone with birthday hats, balloons, noise makers, etc. (oh, and lots of drinks which is why my head weighs 50 pounds today). It was such a great night, and one of the best birthdays I have ever had. So, thank you so much to Sara, Nick, Jackie, Anne, Ben, Jamie, Jane, Tom, Mike, Christina, and Phillip (plus Camille who couldn't make it) for planning such an amazing night. I love you all!

Not a Leap Year

Almost happy birthday to me today, as it is not a leap year, and yes, I was born on February 29. True birthdays for me only come every four years. So, today is celebratory day. It kind of snuck up on me this year, though. I was sick last week and now all of a sudden it is here. My sweetie has planned a lovely evening for us, going for crepes, and then whatever else I want to do, or maybe a movie. Simple, which is exactly what I am up for.