The find of the day

I'm not revealing what it is yet, but this little beauty had me giddy
with excitement. I was literally jumping up and down.

More later. :)

Japanese embroidery book

One word: YUM.

Japanese Craft Book jackpot

This was about 1/4 of the Japanese craft books they had (I'll have to
dig up the name later) and the selection left us breathless. It was
dizzying. I ended up with a few gems that I'll be blogging about when
we get home.

Knitten Kitten: craft heaven

I tried going here last year, but they were closed. It was absolutely
worth re wait.

"Craft supply" and "thrift store" are some of my favorite words. And
most of what we found was vintage! Major, major scores that I'll be
sharing when we get back to Texas.

If you are in Portland, you must visit the Kitten. It's clean, well
organized, and an absolute treasure trove for crafters.

Tablecloth in progress

It appears I've figured out the photo blogging a day late, but here
are a few highlights from the best crafty day ever yesterday here in
Portland.

This table cloth was hanging at the Knitten Kitten (a.k.a. Dreamland).

I've seen half-completed projects in thrift strores before, but never
still in the hoop with needle and floss still attached ....

SuperFun Crafty Day in Portland

In just more than 10 hours, I'll be meeting Diane to start our crafty tour of Portland. It's a day that has been *months* in the making, so to say I'm excited is an understatement. I won't likely be able to fully blog tomorrow's trek through Portland's craft highlights until we get back to Texas, but you can bet I'll be tweeting tomorrow. You can follow along over on Twitter.

And really, what I'm looking forward to more than hitting crafty hot spots, is hanging out with some fabulous folks. I'll get to meet Susan and Lee, hang with Sarah & Josh, and of course - I'll be spending the whole darn day with Diane! Can't get better than that ... except to follow tomorrow up with a day at the Oregon Brewer's Festival.

Did I mention I love Portland?

'Cause I do.

Another reason I love The Cure

I can't remember if I've mentioned this here before, but my husband is a huge fan of The Cure. We're talking hard core, own every album on vinyl, see every concert he can, kind of fan. Considering the fact that The Cure was the soundtrack to our courtship, it's no surprise that over the years, I've become a big fan as well. And I'll even admit that we have Cure lyrics inscribed in our wedding rings. Yep. There I said it.


Last month, we saw them in concert here in Texas. I'd never seen them before, but was determined to make at least one of their Texas shows with Chris. He's the kind of fan who will see every show in the state when The Cure is on tour, so when they announced their shows in Dallas, Houston and Austin, we snagged tickets to all three shows. I ended up just seeing them in Austin and Houston, but he went to Dallas as well. I was floored by how good they sounded, and what an amazing show they put on (more than three hours straight of fabulous music). It really gave me a whole new appreciation for them.


I also knew that guitarist, Porl, is an amazing artist - he's done several covers of Cure albums. His work graces the covers of their latest single, Sleep When I'm Dead. My husband has pre-ordered singles from The Cure's upcoming album, and they are being delivered one each month until the album is released. He received the Sleep When I'm Dead single today and just showed me the cover. What did I find mixed in with Porl's beautiful watercolor art?

Embroidery.



That's right. He's included running stitches and a star stitch. It's gorgeous and adds a really cool texture to the art. I just taught an emrboidery class tonight, and wished I had seen this before class so I could have shown them. How cool to see embroidery creep up on a Cure album! Thanks, Porl.