Arquitectura y Diseño

The husband, featured in Spain's "Arquitectura y Diseño" magazine. Nice one, Scot!
(Now ... if only I knew how to read Spanish)

And the winner is...

Thanks for your wonderful comments on my URCHIN bowl giveaway post!

The winner is.... Thought & Found, who commented: "I don't really do anything particularly large to give back, but I do lots of little things. I give money to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (I was a patient once upon a time...), I always give to the Canadian Diabetes Association when they do a pick-up, and I have a bag of food waiting for my next trip to the supermarket, where I'll drop it in the bin for the local food bank. Every little bit counts!"

Nice work, and congratulations!

You can check out yummy fabrics and other goodies on her blog here: thought & found

Happy Monday everyone!

Thrifting Thursday

Look what I scored at the thrift shop this morning:

This lamp is in excellent condition. And for $15, I just couldn't resist!
Anything new at your place?...

Giving back + Giveaway!

Although we're all beyond busy during the Holidays, I think it's super-important to find time to give back to the community, pitch in and generally do good.

Here's what I've been up to :
-Last week I sewed labels on 20 cut-and-tied fleece blankets for Project Linus (and there were TONS more that others made and labeled - go PL 'Blanketeers'!)

-I helped load a big-rig with lots of bikes and helmets for a local non-profit called Turning Wheels for Kids (although I can't volunteer at their 'bike build' on Saturday now because DH has to go to Seattle. Boo.).

 -And, I helped sort a mountain (no kidding) of toys for the group Toys for Tots.

All of this volunteering only took a couple of hours of my time, but was so fun and rewarding. In addition, I am making an effort to be more kind to my friends, family...and myself. I know I could do more to give back, but at least it's a start.

Sooo... In the spirit of the Season and inspiring others to "do good" I am thinking a giveaway is in order!

You could win one of my handmade, 100% wool felt 'Urchin' bowls (as pictured above in a lovely soft orange called "nectarine"--jingle bells NOT included)

THE DETAILS: Just leave a comment below telling me what you've done to give back, OR something nice you are planning to do, OR a link to your favorite charity or non-profit organization. Please be sure to leave your email address. I'll select a winner, at random, next Monday morning 12/13/2010. Do good ... and good luck!

P.S. If you're interested in making your own URCHIN bowls you can purchase the pattern here.
:-) Amy

Goodies for the Quilt Museum Shop

Well, the bunny rattles that I made up for my Etsy shop just hopped over to the Gallery Store at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and textiles. And along the way, they grabbed a couple of new Matryoshka pillow doll friends.

I'm having fun using up of the fun fabric from my stash , that has gotten out of control. I'm glad I was finally able to get it together to make for the Quilt Museum shop. South First Friday in downtown San Jose is tomorrow (Dec 3), and I hope they have a great turnout. If you're in San Jose the Quilt Museum (and shop) are definitely worth checking out.

Now, off to start sewing labels on the 20 fleece blankets that I picked up this morning from our Project Linus chapter. (20 doesn't sound like much,... but you should see this bag of blankets(!). Project Linus volunteers are amazing!).

Happy Thursday! ~Amy

GIVEAWAY on Facebook!

We are trying to spread the word about our toy business, Kaiku Design.

 Become a fan of Kaiku on facebook and tell me what you are thankful for on our contest post. You could win a set of my handmade designer felt URCHIN bowls. Although we only ship Kaiku products in the U.S. lower 48, I'll ship the bowls to you anywhere in the world. Pass it on!

URCHIN Felt Bowls

I've been having fun with thick "designer" wool felt.

These bowls came to me after playing with paper shapes and structure. I'm calling them "URCHIN" bowls because, well, they remind me of sea urchin shells.

The bowls are simple to make. The thick wool felt has a sculptural quality and it feels great--soft and squishy. The best part is that the bowls are relatively unbreakable (an important feature around our house!).

Filled with your favorite sweets, I think these felt bowl sets would make fantastic Holiday party hostess gifts.
If you're interested in making your own I've posted the pattern for sale here in my shop. Cheers! ~Amy

**OH! I forgot to mention... become a fan of Kaiku Design on Facebook and you could WIN a set of my URCHIN bowls! Contest Nov 19-30th.**

Believe it or not.... sewing for my shop!

A handful of scrappy bunny rattle toys for my Etsy shop!

A Waldorf Dolly

I am so lucky that my little girl LOVES Waldorf dolls. Not that she wouldn't go for a plastic dolly, if given the chance mind you. But with all the bad news on plastics, I've been trying to steer clear of the ubiquitous PVC-made-in-china dolly types if possible.

She has a tiny little German Kathe Kruse Waldorf-style doll named "Friend" that she sleeps with and takes lots of places. She loves Friend so much, for her 2nd, I decided give Waldorf doll making a go.

I bought a Waldorf doll kit from Weir Crafts . It was fantastic! It only took me a few hours to make the doll (really, I made it the night before her b-day), and it turned out so cute. Sure, there are a few things I'll do differently next time, but over all I'm thrilled with how she turned out!

And of course, the best part is the little one loves her too! Forget plastic, there is just something so special about a cotton and wool handmade doll. :-)

Wonderland quilt for my Little one

I've been meaning to post this...

FINALLY finished a strip quilt for my littlest one. Made with two charm packs of Wonderland by Momo for Moda. It ended up being a bit smaller than a twin size, but just perfect for a two-year-old... and snuggling on the couch.

I didn't have any of the Wonderland fabric for the backing, so I added a Robert Kaufman print (I think I'm remembering that correctly), with a few blocks of the fabric on the top, to tie it all together.

I put a strip of the binding fabric across the backing, because I never could get the print to line up the way I wanted it. Also, I love the idea of a "reversible" quilt. :-)

Oh drat.

Well, just an update to let you know that I didn't follow through with my plan to participate in the 100 km event ride with my friends. :-( It seems as though life had other plans for me that included a sickness called the "stomach flu", or "food poisoning" (??). I don't know. It was bad. REALLY, really bad. And on Saturday morning when I was supposed to be riding my bicycle I could hardly get out of bed.
The situation could've been much worse, but luckily (for me), the hub got back from his business trip just in time to take care of the kids. The bright side is that no one else seems to have gotten it. Of that I am truly thankful.

Getting ready to ride...

OK, first off I've decided to stop beating myself up about taking long breaks from my blog and Etsy shop. My life with two little ones is still crazy and chaotic and challenging and wonderful and I'm doing the best I can. There. I feel better now! :-)

Lukily, I have been able to get some recent crafting in and that's tied to something exciting I'm doing this Saturday... I'm riding a metric century! Yep, 100km on my bike. The first time I've participated in a ride like this in at least seven years. It's part of my "2010 I'm not having any more kids and I'm ready to get my body back and be more like my old self" program. Woo hoo! Now, let's just hope I can still move on Sunday!

Here's the fun part...

I made a new handlebar bag for my bike! It's cordura and quilted cotton and I love, love how it turned out. (Lots of ideas after making this one). 

There's even an optional shoulder strap so I can use it as a purse. The best part is that the stars were aligned and I already had ABSOLUTELY everything to make this bag in my stash. Isn't it great when that happens?

While on the subject of bicycles, I do want to mention "peopleforbikes.org" a nonprofit trying to collect a million signatures "to let policy makers, the media and the public know that bicycling is important and should be promoted." Your voice counts! Sign the pledge here.

Hope you're enjoying Spring! Ta for now...

Craft Hope for Haiti

Thanks to Jennifer Casa for spreading the word about Craft Hope for Haiti.

I am donating this pleated purse to Craft Hope.
The lastest report is that Craft Hope has raised over $7000 in 48 hours with 100% of the profits going to Doctors without Borders in Haiti! Please visit http://www.crafthope.com/ to find out how you can help.

Knit a 'LOOP'!

I've been meaning to post this for awhile...

... a knitted 'loop' baby toy! Made by fellow (super-talented) crafter Alli. So clever! Alli says that she followed my 'loop' baby toy crochet pattern, but used a set of size 6 DPNS to knit the toy instead of crocheting it. I LOVE it (and wondering why I didn't think of it ;-)). Check out her lovely blog at: "one pearl button". Thanks Alli!