Sean | 365 Days Handmade

March 15, 2015
by FC5 1 Comment

Day 74/365: The “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty” Exhibition

Even though Sean loves to tease me (prime example: see yesterday’s post), he really is a good husband and I think I will keep him. Especially since he did procure those tickets to the Hello Kitty Exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

We went to the exhibition after lunch yesterday. I was so excited to be there that I let my inner grade-school self just take over and squeal and exclaim in delight at the awesome display of everything Hello Kitty. To his credit, Sean was a good sport through it all. He indulged my fanatic picture-taking and cries of “Sean! Look at this!” every time I took a step to the next display case. He even let me take his picture a couple of times.

Sean says, “Hello, readers of my wife’s blog.”

Um, eighteen?

There were so many collections of Hello Kitty things. Stationery, office supplies, kitchen stuff (including dishes, a toaster, microwave, rice cooker, waffle maker, soda maker, pots, and pans), a sewing machine (by Janome!), shoes (including a white faux-fur-covered platform pair with six-inch heels), clothes, jewelry, motor oil, toilet paper, braces (yes! for your teeth!), a skateboard, roller skates, dollhouse miniatures, and so, so much more. Like Sean said, “If you could think to put Hello Kitty on something, it’s already been done.”

After the collections, we turned a corner and walked into a gallery displaying various artists’ contributions of Hello Kitty-inspired pieces. We were allowed to take photographs as long as we didn’t use any flash. You can bet I took a ton of photos to share, since not everyone would have the opportunity to see the exhibition in person.

Here are a few of the many dozens of photos that I took:

A whole wall was devoted to Hello Kitty backpacks. The one with the mustache was my favorite.

Hello Kitty bento boxes and food molds. I am all about the food.

Hello Kitty KISS dolls! Note the Gene Simmons one, complete with tongue sticking out.

Hello Kitty Gummy Candies! The bag was encrusted with little crystals, and the gummy candies really looked good enough to eat. I would have loved to own this.

This was a really interesting painting. I am still trying to figure it out.

Hello Kitty as fashion model?

Hello Kitty and friends painted on glass (the one on the right) and Hello Kitty underwater, wearing what appears to be an upside-down fishbowl helmet (to the left).

Now this one was really cool. The photo doesn’t do it justice. The artist made this out of a collage of pieces cut from t-shirts and other fabrics. Up close it was very impressive. I also liked the spider-web quilting design.

Uh-oh, it’s Hello Kitty Godzilla!

This appeared to be made out of pieces of meticulously arranged vintage buttons and brooches.

Hello Kitty by Junko Mizuno.

Hello Kitty Lincoln.

Hello Kitty Power Ranger? Robot? Action Figure? I have no idea.

In addition to the Hello Kitty Gummy Candies, this is the other piece that I would have loved to own in my home. I guess I really have a thing for sugar and sweets.

I get that not everybody is a fan of Hello Kitty, and I am aware of the political arguments against what Hello Kitty represents, and blah, blah, blah. But you know what? Sometimes it’s just nice to feel like a kid again in the best possible sense: happy, and full of wonder, joy, and awe at the things that other people have thought to create.

March 13, 2015
by FC5 1 Comment

Day 71/365: Shell Stitches Close-Up

Today was my Friday at work. I’m taking tomorrow off because I’ll be driving down to Ventura, and then Sean and I will head into Los Angeles. He’s giving a presentation at a conference on Saturday. After that, we have plans to do a bunch of fun stuff in L.A., including eating at a couple of really good restaurants, checking out some cool Japanese shops in Little Tokyo, and going to the Japanese American National Museum to see an exhibition called Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty. (Doesn’t the name alone just make you want to see it?) Sean is in charge of getting the tickets, and if he actually pulls it off and takes me there, he is going to win my Husband of The Year award. He knows my love for all things kawaii.

I told my buddy the lieutenant (who was a key character in this post and this one) that I would be taking tomorrow off.

“Didn’t you just take the day off?” he asked.

I thought about it. “You’re right,” I said. Three weeks ago, I did take a couple of days off. And the nice thing about having written a daily entry since January is that I can go back in the archives to see what I did on those days. Turns out it was this and this.

“I had a seminar that time,” I said. “And I’m going to a conference this time. My license is up for renewal this year. I have to earn 36 continuing education units. Don’t worry. I get some paid education leave.”

“I knew it,” he said. “I shoulda stayed in school.”

March 8, 2015
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Day 66/365: Not A Nothing Day

“I don’t have anything to write about for tonight’s blog post,” I told Sean. “Today was kind of a nothing day.”

“You could write about how you got up this morning and your husband made you breakfast,” Sean said. “And then how later on we walked down the hill and went to the Otter Rock Café and had lunch with a view of the bay, and we watched a sea otter cracking open an oyster. And after that we walked down to the library and found a couple of good deals in the used book sale, and afterwards we went and got some really good frozen yogurt downtown. And tonight we went out for a delicious sushi dinner. Today wasn’t a nothing day.”

“You’re right,” I said. “Thanks for writing tonight’s blog post for me.”

And I got this much done on the afghan, along with everything else we did today.

March 7, 2015
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Day 65/365: Counting Down to the Time Change

Over these last few months, I’ve been staying late at work and typically leaving the prison between 5:30 to 6 PM. Normally I have no problem being inside a prison, unlike Sean who absolutely does not enjoy the idea of being locked inside a penitentiary surrounded by electric fencing, barbed wire, and gun towers with armed guards. But when it’s 5:30 PM in late November and outside of my office it’s like night time and I have to navigate my way through a prison yard where inmates are freely walking to the chow hall– I become acutely aware of my environment and the fact that I am a petite woman walking outnumbered among convicted felons who are potentially violent. It is a downright creepy, nervous-making feeling.

Now that it’s March, the days have started to stretch out longer so that it’s still bright outside when I leave my office, and I’m easily spotted by the correctional officers as I make my way through the facility. It’s also nice to get home and still have enough natural light to take a photo for the day’s blog post and show you a little bit of our view from the deck.

Ahh, fresh air and the ocean. Such a contrast to the work environment.

March 3, 2015
by FC5 1 Comment

Day 61/365: Working in Prison Has Ruined Movies for Me

Sean and I were hanging out in the living room after dinner. “I’m going to put on a Netflix movie,” he said. “Do you have any preferences?”

“Not really,” I said. I was knitting and wouldn’t be looking at the TV screen anyway.

He chose a movie called The History of Future Folk. It had something to do with a guy who was an alien and landed on Earth with a mission to wipe out the human race, but then he heard music for the first time and changed his mind about obliterating the population. I guess he decided to stay on Earth and met a woman, and they had a child, and somewhere in between he learned to play the banjo and played what were apparently popular nightly sets at a New York bar.

I sat there knitting my sock while the movie played out, and I didn’t make any comments or really start paying attention until there was a scene that involved the main characters going to jail.

I looked up at that point and stopped knitting. I noticed something about all of the men who were supposedly arrested and were now incarcerated in the jail.

“None of them have tattoos!” I said. “That’s so unrealistic. That wouldn’t happen in real life.”

“Really?” Sean said. “That’s the part of this movie that you’re going to find unrealistic?”

March 2, 2015
by FC5 4 Comments

Day 60/365: How to Upcycle an Old Bureau into a Shabby Chic Beach Cottage Credenza

As you know, on Valentine’s Day I found this little gem and rescued it from the trash. I gave it a makeover and shared a sneak peek. I promised a big reveal in two weeks, so today I give you the full deets! (Click on each photo to enlarge.)

The poor little bureau only had two working drawers, and they were missing their knobs:

Narrowly missed being sent to the landfill!

I bought some aqua paint (Clark + Kensington Good Life) and four faceted glass knobs, and then I got to work.

Paint ($10, but free to me because Sean paid) + glass knobs (4 x $6 each) = A damn good deal for the final product, if you ask me.

I put wood putty over the extra holes in the front of each drawer, and then I painted them.

Sean built a shelf into the empty space where the missing drawer would have gone. He also drilled a couple of new holes into the top drawer for me.

Empty, hollow, and a little sad.

Getting measured for a new shelf…

… and waiting to dry.

I was hoping for a nice sunny day today where we could carry the bureau out to the backyard for a pretty photo shoot. Of course it was overcast all day and rained instead.

At about 5 PM, I’d had enough waiting and decided to take photos on the front porch, clouds and rain be damned. It did sprinkle a little, but I think the bureau did a nice job posing for the grand reveal.

And here it is, in all its upcycled glory:

Ta-da!

Before:

After:

I think it would make a great credenza for the TV, DVD player, and DVDs. It would also look great in my craft room where I store my yarn and fabrics. Either way, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. It’s got me thinking of doing a lot more trash picking and upcycling. Stay tuned!

February 23, 2015
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Day 53/365: Beach Striped Socks (4th Completed Pair for 2015)

A view of the Ventura Pier. That water is cold.

Today was overcast with sporadic rain, the kind of Sunday where you just stay inside and do things like read and knit and stay warm and dry. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, Sean and I picked ourselves up off the couch and went down for a walk along the Promenade.

Meanwhile, Sean’s feet are nice and toasty in this 65-degree weather.

We didn’t have any real adventures, except on our way back home down a side street, when a little brown Chihuahua came running out of nowhere, yapping and barking and making a beeline for my ankles. I thought it was going to sink its little teeth into me. (As you’ve already probably figured out from this blog and my lifestyle, I don’t keep pets or children. I can barely keep a plant alive.) Luckily, the owner appeared and called for the dog to come back before any real damage could be done– to me or to the dog, depending on your perspective.

Interesting rock formation near the pier.

View from another angle. All I need now is a panoramic lens. And maybe a more expensive, professional camera.

I saved this photo for last. If you click on it and look closely at the larger image, there’s a rainbow in the center of the photo, right above the pier. It also occurred to me how much the colors of the socks work nicely with the overcast-day-at-the-beach thing going on here. That’s some nice synchronicity. Unlike me and the Chihuahua.

February 22, 2015
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Day 52/365: Luckily, Sean Has Big Feet

Almost done with the second sock!

Yesterday I realized that I’d left my sock knitting instructions back at the Morro Bay house, and I was pretty bummed out about that. Then, last night I remembered: Those same instructions were typed on a Word document that I’d saved on my laptop. Hooray! (It doesn’t take much to make me happy, apparently.) So I was able to knit the gusset, turn the heel, and start the ribbing for the cuff on the second sock this morning.

When I’m in Morro Bay, I just take photos for the blog by staging my work-in-progress on the back deck or front porch, usually. Since I’m at the Ventura homestead this weekend, I had to get creative with my photo shoot locations. I took the above photo by placing the socks on a low hedge outside. I also tried photographing the in-progress sock on the sidewalk. I like the way this one came out, so I have to share it:

See? Pretty, right?

I originally started knitting this pair for my older brother, who may or may not be reading this right now. As I was knitting the second sock this morning, I had a feeling that this pair might be a little too big for my big bro. So I asked Sean to try it on. My brother wears a size 9 men’s shoe. Sean wears a size 11. He pulled the sock onto his foot, and it fit him perfectly:

This photo tells you a lot about us. Skateboard. Dolls. Books. And I’ll admit that mess on the floor is all me. I’m too busy being creative to bother with cleaning.

So it looks like Sean just got himself another pair of socks. Tomorrow I’m making him be a sock model again. (Remember the first time?) I’m thinking the Ventura Promenade will make a nice backdrop. Stay tuned.

February 15, 2015
by FC5 3 Comments

Day 45/365: Happy Valentine’s Day to Me

Sean and I were taking a shortcut to the Embarcadero by way of a side street off Main. We were passing a parking lot of a commercial building when I noticed some furniture that had been put out near the dumpster.

“Hang on,” I said to Sean and ran across the parking lot to check out the furniture—or more specifically, a bureau that caught my eye. It had exactly the kind of curves that I like. At the same time, the front panel of the bottom drawer was missing, along with every single drawer knob. Still, it had potential. I could remove the broken bottom drawer and rearrange the remaining two drawers so that the top section could be an open shelf.

I ran back to where Sean was waiting on the sidewalk. “Can we go home and get the car and come back and take that dresser home?”

“What do you want that old dresser for?” Sean asked. “It’s all jacked up.”

“Please,” I said. “Humor me.”

So Sean, being The Most Patient and Best Husband in The World, went along with my plan and we walked back up the hill to our house. Then we got in The Rental and drove a half mile back to the dumpster in the parking lot, only to discover (when I went to lift one side) that the bureau was coated in grime and filth, and there was no way that The Most Patient and Best Husband in The World was going to agree to slide that dirty old bureau onto the clean carpeted trunk of his car.

So we got back in The Rental and drove the half mile back up the hill to our house, where I ran into the garage and grabbed a bunch of rags and an old bedsheet, and then we drove back down the hill to the commercial building’s parking lot, and this time we successfully loaded the bureau into the back of the car.

The Most Patient and Best Husband in The World drove us back home and unloaded the bureau into the garage.

“This is your project,” he said. “It’s all you.”

“Okay,” I said, already thinking about my paint color choices and whether I should go for Shabby Chic off-white or Beach Cottage aqua/turquoise. I also thought it best not to say any more, because I was still going to need his help to get the job done. Someone’s going to have to build a shelf in that space where the missing drawer should be.

Click on the image to get a better look!

February 10, 2015
by FC5 2 Comments

Day 40/365: Broken Wing’s Wife Feels the Pain

Okay, so remember the story of how Broken Wing broke his wing riding his skateboard?

Well, I guess it would be hypocritical of me to tell that story and then not share mine, which I’m embarrassed to say happened for pretty much the same reason: yesterday afternoon I tried to ride a board that was faster than I expected.

Anyway, it’s not much of a story. We took the skateboards out and went riding with some friends, and I was cruising on my longboard and having a pretty good time. One of our friends had a shorter board that wasn’t really suitable for his build, so he was having to work harder to make it go. I offered him the use of my longboard, and then Sean suggested I try his other board, which seemed like a perfectly good idea until I stepped on it and the thing quickly slid out from under me. I tried to break the fall with my left hand and landed on my palm with the full force of my body weight.

Luckily I didn’t break anything, but goddamn, it hurt like a sonofabitch. But you know what? I got back on my board as soon as the pain subsided a little, because you can’t let shit like that stop you. No point in sitting around, crying or sulking or blaming the board or your husband for suggesting you try something new. When you fall down, you got to dust yourself off and get yourself back up.

And anyway, I still had to roll my sorry ass home, because sure as shit wasn’t nobody gonna be carrying me.

See? Nothing broken. Maybe a little bruised and swollen. That hand will be punching again in no time.

365 Days Handmade

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