Sweet Sixteen

My daughter Mel turned 16 in May.  An excuse for expressing love to my girl with
  handmade props to celebrate the occasion. 

Happy Birthday Mel! 

Happy Sweet 16 Mel
Love you ! 

A Valentines Tradition

A Valentines Tradition with this group of friends who we've known for 20+ years of lifes ups and downs. Everyone always brings such nice gifts for each other and this year I wanted to share my repurposed file folder bow in pink to celebrate the occasion- we all signed our names on the bow as a reminder and momento of our friendship and beloved tradition thanks to our host Bebe (owner of Le Cucina San Francisco) and her Big Heart!

Christa, Jodi, Laurie, Janet, Donna and Bebe
You are treasures! 

The lovely Bebe
Valentines was named in honor of you and your heart! 

Valentines with MUJI 2014

I've been a fan of MUJI since I discovered the store in Tokyo in the late 80's.  They are a retail company known of having a "no brand" minimalist design philosophy with emphasis on recycling and avoiding waste in production and packaging.  In many ways, they were ahead of their time conceiving of this idea when the concept of sustainability was not as well represented in the retail markets.  It had meaning for me especially to have an opportunity to do a Valentines gift wrapping workshop with my repurposed file folders at the Muji SF store showcasing how to wrap with minimal and repurposed materials.  Special thanks to Muji for the donation to Japan Society's Japan in the Schools program in connection with this workshop and for friends who came by!

MUJI Valentines Gift Wrapping Workshop 2014

Birthday Memories Captured in Cards Handmade

Love birthdays and especially love giving and receiving 

things handmade.   Made a wall in my studio to showcase the creations 

and meaningful words given to me for my birthday by friends and family. 

Inspiration in Santa Barbara

Reconnecting with my former work at Felissimo, I find myself in Santa Barbara working on a project bringing Master Artists from Japan in the field of Noh, Traditional Cuisine and Photograpy to UC Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.  Learned the value of upholding tradition and how culture is passed on from generation to generation through these very talented individuals.

Reduce Reuse and Recycle Seminar (New Year 2014)

Kudos to Manager Laura Petro who had the vision to include a Repurposed Gift Wrapping workshop to the lineup of programs for the Reduce Reuse and Recycle Seminar/Retreat for City and State Managers to inspire new creative ways to promote recycling policies and practices. Enjoyed working with those especially who considered themselves creatively challenged and wound up surprising themselves not only with experiencing the potential of repurposing materials but getting connected with the artist hidden within!

Inspired by Textile

Admirations to artist friend Ealish Wilson whose fabulous textile creations inspire wrapping ideas for me.  Worth exploring her work - Ealish Wilson:Design Bahn Textile Art and Design

Ealish's Booth @West Coast Craft Fort Funston

Repurposing a Coffee Bag

Had fun repurposing this Blue Bottle Coffee Bag!  Many possibilities!

Packaging Treats

Holiday Gift Bow 

Makes a great card! 

Playing Catch Up

I am playing catch up having suffered from two horrific bouts of the flu this past winter and New Year.  I do know it was going around as everyone around me seemed to be sick as well.  It was bad enough to have to miss my Scrap Workshop in December which I have to say might have been my first to miss a class. I was pretty sick.  Special thanks to my artist friends Monica, Dorothy and Jennifer to cover for me and for the participants who enthusiastically plugged along with understanding.  It meant so much.