Ali Z

entering shows

I find it really difficult to write things about myself in the third person, or even describe what i do on a craft show entry form. I also worry about picking the exact right photos or pieces to enter in a juried show.  So to avoid all this, i tent to put if off until the last day. You know what happens then, i sometimes forget to enter at all. Well, today i remembered to enter one of my all time favorite craft shows, the Bazaar Bizarre. I could only submit 3 photos with my entry, so i chose these. I thought it would be cool to do a split screen image, hope the judges don't hold it against me. Is that really 6 photos? 

wish i was wearing

this today:

My favorite color is chartreuse green. It makes me really happy. I thought if i was wearing this outfit today, it might make the last of my cold go away. See the full set and details here.

sniff sniff sniff

I'm feeling very under the weather this week. My husband had a bad cold and lucky me, now so do i. Looks like the big craft space re-organization will have to wait a few more days. 

photos: left: James Baigrie ; right: Kate Sears

etsy find

I love this sweet artwork by Aliette, a graphic designer from Paris. I also love that etsy makes it possible to browse little shops of independent artists from all over the world. 

stamp inspiration

Thanks for all the great comments and questions about my handmade stamps. The stampings I made were just on paper, not fabric, and i used regular old stamp pads, no special ink or paint. I have heard that some stamp pads are better than others but i have a mismatch of brands and they all seem to work just fine. My favorite color is "bluegrass" which is a Martha Stewart Crafts ink pad. I was just testing out my stamps pretty quickly, but you can certainly stamp on fabric, or make wrapping paper, all sorts of things. I thought I'd show just a few pages from the book that inspired me. I wish i could tell you the name or what is says but it's all in Japanese. I hope you'll share with me any stamps you make, I'd love to see them.

my handmade stamps

Here's my finished stamps from my friday art project. I can't believe I've never made stamps before. They are so easy and so fun. I can tell I'll be making lots more in the future. 

friday project: handmade stamps

I'm finally getting around to trying some handmade stamp carving. I had to special order the speedball carving set from my local art supply store. It was only $12.00, a bargain. I found a cute Japanese book about stamps on my field trip to Japantown a few weeks back where i also got some carving surfaces. They are very much like a giant eraser. All that and my sketchbook should be all i need. Wish me luck!

the domino cover that never was

I came across this stunning mock up of the Domino Magazine cover that never made it to the newsstand because the magazine was shut down. So Pretty. Love the bright colors. The Bedroom is designed by Sara Gilbane Sullivan and the photo is by Max Kim-Bee. I saw this on the wonderful blog Style Court. I'll miss your inspiration Domino.

wish i was wearing

this today:

I'm yearning for spring, how about you? Honestly, i hardly ever wear dresses, but wish i did more often. You can see the details of this outfit here.

new earring design

I just finished making a pair of my sweet new "twig" design earrings. You can find them here on etsy. 

obsession: flag garland

You might have noticed in both of my new pieces of art {here} and {here} i incorporated a flag garland pattern. I thought I'd put together some images for you that I've been collecting them from various magazines, flickr, and other blogs for my inspiration. I really love the postcard garland from Lobster and Swan. Don't you want to hang some in your house? Or at least at your next party.

Photos: from top: Living Etc. Magazine, byLottakind flickr, Lobster and Swan, afieldjournal.blogspot, byannalehart flickr

so lovely, i can't take it

in the new issue of Country Living Magazine they showcased artist Tamar Morgendorff. i'd love an entire wall of her fabric covered birds and birdhouses. i think they would look lovely in my kitchen. That one wall I can't quite decide what to do with. These are a few of my favorite images from her website. She's also been featured in two of my most adored magazines, Blueprint and Donna Hay. 

i'm okay, you're okay

I was feeling a little beaten down by life last week until a friend sent me the greatest twitter with a photo of a piece of art that said "everything is going to be okay". It really cheered me up! Then i started looking on etsy and there are so many uplifting messages out there. i love it. Here are a few of my favorites from studio mela and my zoetrope. 

wish i was wearing

this today:

But it's really more about the tropical location. What i should say is "i wish i was on a splendid beach vacation today".

If you want to see any details about the clothing or that pretty yellow ring, go here to Polyvore.

a little field trip

i went to one of my favorite places, Japantown in SF, this week and i thought i'd share some photos with you. i had a yummy lunch at the Suzu noodle house and then spent some time browsing the craft and home section of Kinokuniya book store. I could seriously spend a whole day there but i only had my lunch break so I had to make it quick. I always love looking at their sewing books, but this time i spent most of my time looking at all their paris lifestyle *mooks. So cute and inspiring. Then my friend found the DIY stamping section and i got the best book all about making your own stamps. i even picked up some supplies there too. i hope to try my luck at making some stamps this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

*mook: sort of a book, sort of a magazine.

i wanna

i wanna make my own handmade stamps! I saw the craftiest handmade stamps on on this great blog and fell in love. How do you do it? I think all you need are some carving tools and a bunch of erasers to carve into, easy peasy. Oh yeah and some drawing skills.

photos: top left and bottom right from Geninne's art blog, top right from AnetkaK, bottom left from DIY Obasan.

more new art

Here is another piece of art i've been working on. It makes a nice mate to this one. The next steps are to mount it on a piece of wood and pour some resin over it. I've never done that before. . . scary. If anyone has some tips for me please share! I'd better do a few tests first.

wish i was wearing

this today:

The gold "Oui" necklace is one of my designs and you can get it here in my etsy shop! As for the rest of this outfit, you can see all the details here on Polyvore.