Recommendation: MARTY

I have decided that I am going to try and post a weekly recommendation of things that I want people to know about. My first installment is the movie, Marty. This is a great flick from the mid 50s about an unglamorous single guy trying to find his way. It is about being lonely and society's pressures when it comes to relationships. An excellent mix of happiness and melancholy. I could tell you all the ways that I love it but really I just want you to watch it. So watch it already!

It is good enough to eat.

The main project that I have been working on the last few months is felt food. It is totally fun to make and personally I like to make things that are useful like toys. I think that it is a throw back to my desire as a child to own and operate one of those little plastic pretend kitchens. The closest I ever came was little pretend stove top. I did not have a lot of play food so I remember that I ended up using this mini Mr. Potato Head from some fast food kid's meal. The only thing that you could remove was his feet so I had to cook a potato that was smiling at me. I think it left scars. These are some of my favorites: frozen treats, sushi and pigs in a blanket (with tater tots)

With Fabric....the sky's the limit

I think that it is about time that I start talking crafts since that is the whole point of this blog. For now I am going to talk about some of my creations but in the future I would also like to include the work of some of my friends who do some amazing art. I have a business called Pickle Things. Mostly I make things out of fabric or felt. A lot of what I sell is bags, coin purses, games and play food. I use 100% second-hand materials. I like to give materials a new life. You should check out my Etsy site to see some of my stuff. www.picklethings.etsy.com or click on the link over to the side. Lately, I am really into making wall hangings. I have just made them as gifts but maybe I will try to sell them in the future. I think of them as fabric collage. For example I found this vintage towel with really cool owl images.
My roommate really likes birds so for her birthday I used one of the images to make her a wall hanging.
It is really easy to make. I am hoping to post tutorials soon so I will take pictures of the process next time in case someone is interested.

I moved to portland to get away from the snow

I am happy to report that after almost 2 weeks of living in a winter wonderland, the snow is finally melting. I know that many people deal with snow all the time but this city (Portland OR) is not prepared for snow. No one shovels their walks, many streets are not plowed and most businesses shut down. A big pain to say the least. It was nice to get out in the world today without having snow filled shoes (I do not own snow gear anymore), waiting forever for a bus, or digging out my car. It was not even worth thinking about biking. Now that the ordeal is over I will try to remember it fondly. These are some pictures that my roommate Bece took of Portland covered in snow. I particularly like the snow buddha at the temple near my house.

What have I gotten myself into?

Now, I have gone and done it. I started a blog. I am not so sure how this is going to work out. In truth I don't know that my life is interesting enough to warrant a blog but I suppose time will tell. If you happen to stumble upon this, I hope I do not bore you too much. Once I get this set up, I will try to post something interesting. Probably it will mostly be about crafts but I will throw in some other stuff to try to spice it up. Until next time......