Porland Day Trip, Part 3, Cerise: the boutique

One of our goals on our Portland adventure was to make a little side trip to Lake Oswego to visit the second hand Boutique store "Cerise." Sadly, they are closed on Mondays. We do have a picture of Cerise in front of "Cerise" and will have to plan another trip!


We did find a fun British tea and gift shop across the street and enjoyed finding Turkish Delights, violet chocolates and some other genuine British goodies. Cerise tried hard to get the owner to say holiday (it was Martin Luther King day when we went) as she loves the British accent that comes out as 'alliday (see "Chicken Run", the movie. We did use the loo and would like to go back to Lady Di's for a formal tea. I will pass on the bangers.











Our very last stop was at Nordstroms to get our parking garage ticket validated in Portland. We purchased a couple of lipsticks from the Mac counter and then wandered past the shoe department to laugh at the ridiulous price of designer shoes. Ballet flats for $800? Really Prada? Tiny sandals for $900. Come on Manolo Blahnik. Jimmy Choo, I can't wear your shoes!

And that was part 3 of our fun day trip to Portland!
We can't wait to go again.
Theresa, OmMama

Meyer Imports Craft Crap Give Away!

In anticipation of our giveaway to come next week I thought I'd share the last (I think?) Give Away over at Meyer Imports. I love these guys. I just got some really great glitter samples in the mail today that I can't wait to play with!! Thanks John!!

Happy Winnings!

Cerise : )

The Biggest Give Away in the History of Mankind

I tried to warn you.

I told you this was going to be the month of Give Aways. First we gave away the Mega Mini Craft Set. Then theCrystal Glitter Set. And last week the Valentine Glitter Set. And I told you this last one was going to be big. How big? Well that it depends on the number of comments.

Cause we are giving away a

Small Mountain of KraftKrap.

Here is an FAQ on this offer:

1. What's in the pile? Who knows!
2. How much is there? A lot!
3. Is it new stuff or old vintage parts and pieces? Yes!
4. Does it include Glitter, Beads and Crystals or just Miniatures? Yes!
5. How do I win it? Leave a comment!
6. How do I make the pile even bigger? Tell a friend to leave a comment!
7. You mean, that with every comment, more items get added to the pile? Yes!
8. What if a million people leave comments? I'll rent a moving van!
9. How much will I really get if I win? A very large box!
10. Really? Yes!
    
11. Cross your heart and pinky swear? Yes!

Our iron clad promise to you. The Meyer Imports Pinky Swear!

Well, sounds great. Are there any more details? Yes read below!

I have lots of odds and ends I want to give away. Some items might be considered junk, some items might be treasures. I just can't tell, so you will need to figure it out. And, we are serious, the more comments we get, the bigger the pile will get. Kind of like a Mega Lottery. The larger the pool of players, the larger the prize for the person who wins!

So tell your friends, jump on to Facebook, Tweet, tweet, tweet away on this one. We are going to run this one for two weeks to give everyone a chance to hear about it, so on SUPER BOWL Weekend, the major announcement will be made and the winner will be unveiled!

Let's have some fun with this one, cause that is what it is all about!

Give Away

Coming soon! All you have to do is subscribe as a follower or our email feed AND leave a comment on a blog. We have a wonderful valentine item to give away in the next week.

Portland Day Trip: Part 2, the crafting

The best part of our day trip to Portland and our main goal was to visit Knit Purl (in the Pearl district!) and Josephine's Dry Goods.
Knit Purl is an amazing yarn and fiber store that has an incredible array of sumptuous fibers. It is very comfortable with cushy chairs, wonderfully helpful clerks and lots of books and patterns. Often there are people sitting and knitting and getting help as needed. An interesting fiber blend that was new to me is Seacell, a seaweed deriviative. There is a wool (70%) and Seacell (30%) blend in sock weight and a silk (70%) and Seacell (30%) blend in laceweight. There was also a blend with fique, a plant fiber from the Agavaceae family, closely related to agave and pineapple. This is an amazing fiber that was used extensively by pre-columbians to make rope, clothing, baskets and hammocks and has been "rediscovered." It is very strong and feels similar to hemp or linen. There was a silk and stainless steel blend, too.
I had to hold in my own hand a 100% Pashmina. This is the softest yarn ever, but at $55.50 for a 50 gram skein you'd have to knit up something really special! For more exotics they also carry bison yarn and qikiuk yarn. In the end Cerise settled on a nice bright red merino wool blend to make a shawl. I went to Josephine's Dry Goods mainly for their wall of buttons! But they also carry some splendid fine fabrics that you won't find in any chain store. Linens, wools, silks... unique patterns and if you ever were to tackle making a wedding dress that is the place to go. They are very helpful and are always working on projects so you can see patterns come to life. And they sell their samples, two of which I bought last time we visited. I stuck with the button wall and selected several buttons while Cerise chose a very cute cotton print to make a blouse and a pattern. Go to their facebook page to see some of their finished products. I LOVE the Vogue skirt in houndstooth wool.
Look for Part 3: Shops in Lake Oswego and Nordstrom's (is not so much for us)
Theresa, Ommama

Portland Day Trip: Part 1, the food

What a fun time Krafty Katina and OmMama had day-tripping to Portland! Although the boutique shop that we wanted to see, "Cerise,"in Lake Oswego was closed, we did manage to have lunch at The Thai Peacock, get to Knit Purl, Jospehine's Dry Goods, a quick run through Nordstrom's, and barely made it before closing to New Cascadia Bakery.

New Cascadia is a dedicated gluten free bakery in Portland. We heard a lot about them and were anxious to see their offerings. Their website has photos of luscious cupcakes. Sadly, the shelves and trays were empty except for 2 chocolate chip cookies, a galette, four orange scones, two small loaves of bread and 2 large loaves of bread. You notice these things when you rarely get to eat baked goods! The lady in front of us ordered coffee and got one loaf of bread. I yelled for the galette while Cerise was asking questions and a lady walked in behind us with two little girls who wanted cupcakes. Her mom said, "Oh look, two cookies left." Damn, I wanted those! I let them go and waited to get the clerks attention again to get the rest of the bread; Cerise got one and I wanted the other two. Before I could ask, the lady with the two kids got another clerk from the back and got "my" bread. They didn't even get the cookies! Still, Cerise and I split the galette (yummy with almond paste and fruit) and took our small loaves, vowing to stop at New Cascadia first next trip. Their seeded bread is pictured above. It is fantastic!

The Thai Peacock really was some of the best Thai food we ever had. We had the Thai Peacock Curry and Mango Paradise. We could have split one dish and had plenty of food left. They will make it hot to mild. Ours was pretty hot and only made us cry a little! I highly recommend them if you get to Portland.
More on the craft portion of our trip later!
Theresa, Ommama

Trippin' in Portland

We are on a day trip to Portland! Our big city neighbor is full of lots of great places to visit. Last week, my beau and I went to Portland to visit for a friend's birthday and discovered some great places to eat for dinner and breakfast. I found a cute little flower shop on Alberta and got a sweet little spikey vase. I can't wait to get flowers for it!

Today we will be going to some crafty spots. We will be visiting Knit Purl on Alder (their Shibui yarn is divine!) and a fabulous fabric store around the corner, Josephine's Dry Goods (go see the wall of buttons). Hopefully we will find our way across the river to New Cascadia Traditional bakery for some yummy gluten-free treats for a sugar recharge. They look like they will be worth the trek! If we can muster up some extra energy we just might make our way into Powell's Books. Last time we were there we didn't even make it past the new books section in the front entry way! I'm sure there will be other great stops during our day. Maybe we will stumble upon something wonderful and unexpected. Check back to see what we found today!

Happy day-tripping!

Cerise : )

Meyers Imports Giveaway Week 3!!

WEEK THREE Give Away! Valentine's German Glass Glitter Set

We have now closed WEEK TWO's giveaway and are moving into WEEK THREE! This one will be open for comments until next Saturday (Jan 22) when we will then announce the winner and round the corner into Week Four!Remember, week four is going to be really, really big, that's when we give away the Small Mountain of KraftKrap. Yep, it is going to be big, but that one is next week......

This weeks give away is just in time for all our Valentine's Day Crafters! It is our world famous set of Glitters THAT YOU JUST MUST HAVE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY (ok shouting all done...)

This set includes Four 1 ounce packages. Colors: Old Rose, Red, Deep Red and Rose Pastel. All in our most popular grain size, or 90 Grit. You can see more about it in our storehere.

To win, all we ask it that you leave a comment to this post, maybe tell a friend, and share a picture of what you create with this beautiful set. And remember, next Saturday we will announce the one lucky winner of this great set!

Birthday Book Review

My birthday is something I rarely and shyly share with people but this year I got a really great book from my long-time best friend and I had to share it with all of you! I was so excited that my friend once again got me a really great fiber-related book for my birthday. (Last year I got a copy of the fabulous math-nerd crochet book Crocheting Adventures With Hyperbolic Planes!) This year Mochimochi Knitting surprised me in the mail. This book has been on my top 10 wanted knit books list so you can imagine I was thrilled to see a Mochimochi slipper monster staring at me when the gift wrap was torn away. I can't wait to start knitting one of the adorable critters from this book. The first one to come alive off the needles already has a well deserved home with my best friend! Thanks!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. MLK, Jr. and everyone else celebrating today!

Cerise : )

Leather Craft

When my father passed away in August, one of the things we found amongst his belongings was some leather crafting tools from the 1960's. I remember most of them were from a 4-H project that my Dad helped to lead. My father, being a wonderful woodworker, also made an incredible stand for all the stamping tools. Just before Christmas, Cerise and I took out the box and went through it. Besides all the tools there were many books with information and patterns, including some very ridiculous and non-PC pre-cut projects you could order to make Indian costumes and all sorts of "authentic" apparel and accessories.

There was a little bit of leather in the boxes and Cerise picked up some additional scraps from a craft store. She opted for cutting and hand-sewing a passport cover which became another hand-made gift. I opted to mess around with the stamping and carving tools to make some coasters, one of the items still in the box. So far I have two silly coasters, one with a gnome and one with a mushroom on it. I treasure this small gift from my father.
Theresa, ommama

Spring Is A Brewin'!

I had a little extra time off this afternoon so I decided to get started on a recent idea for spring. I picked up some great milk glass stemmed glasses this weekend and ran out and found a few more fun milk glass and tea cup containers from my two favorite thrift stores (sadly slim pickin's around here). Then the kitchen went from clean to a hot, crafty mess in a matter of seconds. These are a fun spring decoration and are also a great place marker and gift for a party (I am definitely making some for my garden party thisyear). I was inspired by Paper + Craft but I wanted to add a found look and make my creations more gardeny so I added bugs. To keep this exciting, I didn't want to giveaway what these will look like when they are completed so stay tuned for the full details when I get something on those sticks. Can you guess what they might be??

Happy Crafting!

Cerise : )

Re-Purposed Terrariums

Going with the theme of red leading up to Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to make more terrariums. Only these ones are in bigger, re-purposed jars! The lids are covered with a wonderful dark red felt and they include the fabulous German moss and vintage German mushrooms like the tiny ones you saw back in December. These ones were slightly easier to make since I could get my fingers into the jar, but they were definitely no less fun! These would make a great gift for a friend for Valentine's day or a little something to put on a self to remind you that spring will soon be here. You can even put a little critter in the jar (preferably not living though...). Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Happy Crafting!

Cerise : )

Meyer's Imports Giveaway!

Meyer's Imports is continuing Give Away January with a Great Set of our Five new Glitter Crystals.

These are a different look from our standard glass glitter, Translucent Glass Glitter Crystals! This is what our glass glitter looks like without it's sterling silver coating. Use to layer over other colors or use on a white or light background for a pure, pastel color!

We will only run this Give Away for one week, so get your comments in to make sure you are in the running for this really nice set! The winner will get a package that include a generous amount of EACH of our five Glitter Crystals.

We have had these in our catalog for a while, but most people go for the more sparkly Glass Glitter, but you have to give these little Crystals a chance! Play with them, create something wonderful.

Picture a Love Kitty

Need more ideas for your Valentine? How about a cute little kitty picture holder to show your Valentine how much you care? This fleece kitty is snuggable, huggable, and shows off a picture of you and your sweetie in a big stuffed heart. A perfect present for someone who loves kitties!

Happy Crafting!

Cerise : )

Love Terrarium

Looking for a gift for you Valentine this year? Check out my new heart terrariums on Etsy. Get a big one or a little one or both! They are hand crafted with wonderful glass corked heart jars layered with cork and German moss. And to make these terrariums perfect, little mushrooms "growing" out of the substrate (yes, the wonderful little vintage German mushrooms you've seen before!) Brighten up your Valentine's day or even your own little special nook with a sweet heart terrarium. Check out the new re-purposed jar terrariums too! Don't miss out, these are going to go fast!!

Happy Crafting!

Cerise : )

What Lies Ahead

Well, the end of the year quickly caught up. Time to wrap up holiday projects, enjoy all the great handmade gifts, and clean out the hut to gear up for late winter and spring holidays. I've been keeping a drawing journal of craft ideas for Valentine's Day, Easter, and garden party decorations.

I've got some heart themed ideas for Valentine's Day but I'm thinking more gifts than decor since it's not really a party occasion. My most exciting upcoming crafting ideas are for Easter and spring garden parties. I am planning a Mad Hatter party (yes, you must have a fabulous hat to attend) that will be held outside in a wonderful fabric tent. This will hopefully be complete with handmade napkins and bunting and whatever else I can think up for this party.

Though the hatter party and bunny bunting are beckoning, tonight will be reserved for knitting and heart terrariums.

Happy Crafting!
Cerise : )

Man in a Robe

Here is the final product on the gift recipient. He wears it every day and loves it! Homemade and handcrafted gifts are awesome!
Theresa, OmMama

Homemade Gifts: The Robe

One of the Christmas presents I made was a new robe for my husband. His old robe was a store bought one he wore out years ago (and continued to wear). I found some wonderful Terry cloth on sale and was able to cut the pattern and do a lot of the sewing when I was home sick before Christmas so he never suspected a thing! Here I am trying it on for size. Since I am 5'3" and he is 6'1" it ended up calf-length on him. The nice thing about making to was that I was able to customize the arm length. He has very long arms and can never get things with long enough sleeves.
Theresa, OmMama