moving to wordpress

Hi everyone - just a quick note to let you know I have moved over to wordpress and am continuing my blog over there.  I just unveiled my knit wire line 'breathless' during my first wholesale trade show at The Buyers Market of American Craft - what a wonderful show filled with amazing artists - I was so excited to be a part of it and experience a trade show first hand!

Now that the show is over, I am working on a new design for my site/blog with the help of a wonderful designer (you'll meet her soon!) and hope to have the unveiling in the next month.  Feel free to pop on over now and follow me at my new home - oblinaknit - I would love to know what you think of the change.

I currently have one of the wordpress freebie themes and am working with a designer to create my own blog theme with additional pages for wholesale, etc...hopefully by the end of September it will be complete - yay!

Any Plans For Saturday??????

The Reston Market is the place to be this Saturday June 12th for some great music, local produce and shopping at the crafters' market - see you there!

oblinaknit hits the road for Independence Day!

It's official - oblinaknit will be a vendor at Bazaar Bizarre in conjunction with the Larchmere Festival on Saturday July 3rd in the Cleveland Ohio so get your summer plans in gear and prepare to accessorize!

This is my second time doing a Bazaar Bizarre show in Cleveland and I am oh-so excited yet again - I had a blast when I was there this past winter and cannot wait to see more of the city this time - don't tell my work, but I plan to make a LOOONG weekend of it....after all, this may be my only chance at a vacation this summer!.  So..... if anyone has suggestions on where to go and what to see...let me know!

See you in the Cleve!

The Reston Market Begins!

oblinaknit will be at her regular spot beginning May 8th at the Reston Market - stop by for local produce and plants as well as a great crafter's market.

I am excited for market season to start and see everyone again -lake Anne has such a wonderful community and the shops and restaurants make for a fun day out - see you there!

PS - don't worry about the clown, he is quite harmless!

bejeweled by oblinaknit

I have finally opened a jewelry shop to showcase my creations - whew!  Welcome to bejeweled by oblinaknit - I am in love with my new banner, cards, and logos from artinsomnia on etsy - she was fantastic to work with and I highly recommend her for your graphics projects.

The new shop is a bit empty while I prep for my upcoming show in Cleveland, but I am hoping to pop a new piece in from time to time so you all have something sparkly to peruse and enjoy!

See you soon!

It's Almost Here!

Well, okay it's still 2 months away, but The Bazaar Bizarre in Clevelend is approaching fast!  Yours truly is working hard on stock and new designs to bring to the Bazaar Bizarre West for the December 12-13th show.  They have also added a second show in East Cleveland - so check out the dates and mark your calendars - see you there!

oh, and if you are a fellow facebook junkie - you can view the invite and more....

Have You Heard of the Lunch Bunch?

I love facebook - I use it for my business but also to stay in touch with friends. I love discovering new shops as well as new artists and recently found Ana Bagayan. Her art has quickly become one of my favorites.

Ana is also one of the duo who make up the Lunch Bunch
- they pack and deliver lunch once a week to the homeless in Los Angeles, California. And, when there are funds left over, the Lunch Bunch reinvests it in the form of clothing and other supplies that the homeless community can use. I was more than impressed and decided to donate what I could for their lunches that week and future weeks.

I love to keep up with their blog and read about their progress - I hope you will too - its a great way to stay in touch with new friends!

I'm Baaaaack!

Well its been another long break since my last post and I am still dealing with the parental units and their health issues but things are getting better - day by day - hopefully things are settling down and I can focus on these upcoming shows:

I will be at The Reston Market every Saturday through October 31st form 8AM - 2PM so come on out for a great day at Lake Anne - there is a farmer's market adjacent to the craft market so it makes for a fun day!

My big holiday show this year is The Cleveland Bazaar Bizarre - December 12 & 13th so I am looking froward to that road trip as its partially the only thing even close to a vacation for me this year - so we are hitting the Rock-n-Roll museum as well on this trip - woohoo!

I am working on some new designs and can't wait to share them with everyone!

Road Trip!

The Pittsburgh Craft Collective is having a show at The Union Project over Labor Day weekend - Crafts-N'At - stop by and shop!

My Favorite Iced Coffee - A Tutorial!

Well, it is finally warm and not raining, so what could be better than enjoying my favorite Vietnamese Iced Coffee! I had always ordered this yummy treat when out a local Vietnamese restaurants, and then, I discovered I could make it at home!

It is very simple, just gather the following ingredients and wares:
Cafe Du Monde ground coffee (it's the one in that bright mustard-color can) - you can use other coffee but I have found this is the most popular used by restaurants here in the area)
Condensed milk - I favor the 'black & white' brand from my local Thai grocery - but you can choose your fav!
Metal individual drip coffee maker - these can be found in restaurant supply stores and are easy to find in the Asian grocery stores here

Okay, so now we have everything! Grab a tall glass (check to make sure your metal coffee maker fits on top) and add about 1/4-1/2" of the condensed milk to the bottom (I prefer less as I do not like my coffee really sweet - but add it to your taste as you test out a few coffees yourself!)

Place the metal drip cup on top of the glass (leave the filter insert out) and spoon in 2 heaping teaspoons of coffee.

Add the filter on top (do not press down to compact) and add your hot water - I have a Japanese hot pot that keeps water at a high temperature all the time - I love it - great when you need water for tea, oatmeal, etc and you never have to deal with boiling it.(My cat Dahlia loves the hotpot too - she thinks it is her new hot date!)

I add enough water to the top of the rim, and then a bit more for some extra yummy coffee - once the water flows through the coffee grounds into you glass , carefully remove the metal drip container (it will be hot from the hot water - doh!).

Now, before you do anything else grab a spoon to mix the milk (which is layered on the bottom) and the coffee - stir and swirl til you get all the condensed milk mixed in,

Grab some ice (I like to buy the big bags of ice from the grocery since I go through so much ice during summer making these)and fill your glass, add a fun straw, and you have a yummy, Vietnamese Iced Coffee to enjoy!

Feel free to add any variations you enjoy in my comments section - this is the recipe that works for my taste and I would love to hear others!

Day 5 Da Vinci Mode Challenge

Well, we are going strong with our 365 day challenge and have made it to DAY 5!

Da Vinci Mode 365 Challenge

I am starting a new challenge with a group of friends I met on facebook - we just finished our 30 day challenge to create something every day and post about it - whether its a studio organization, a new project idea you started, or actual items you made - its all about having fun and creating every day. The first group started out as a 30 day challenge and some of us wanted to keep going - so we did!

Our group can be found on facebook and is described below:

"We are a fierce group of individuals seeking to live more creatively on a daily basis using Leonardo Da Vinci as our role model. We vow to hold each other accountable, to inspire and to push ourselves in new creative directions."

See you there!

Spring is Finally Here!

This past month in northern Virginia we have had some pretty crappy weather days - but what a wonderful few days/weekend we are having! My plants are thriving and my cat Dahlia loves sunning herself on the window sill! As the weather gets nice, I am starting to make some things for myself in between sewing for markets - I am hoping to make at least one new thing for myself per week so check back for pics!

The Reston Market - Coming Soon!

Hi all - just a reminder that market at Lake Anne in Reston, VA will be starting the first weekend in May! The adjacent farmer's market will begin the 2nd week so come on out for a beautiful day of great vendors - hope to see you there!

And for those of you who are not in the northern Virginia area, there is a great site to locate farmer's markets close to where you live - Local Harvest - they have info on local CSA as well - check it out!

City Paper's Best of DC 2009

Congratulations to Beth Baldwin of tigerflight for winning top honors as best local crafter and tinaseamonster who came in second....and guess who came in third - oblinaknit - that's me!!!! My sincere thanks to everyone who voted - I truly am honored that I placed in the top 3!

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated - DC rocks!

Congratulations Julia !

Julia was the winner of one of my Botanica Totes via The Wickedly Chic Sunday Night Giveaway. You can sign up for emails and receive future giveaway info at Wickedly Chic.

Congratulations Julia - your new tote is on the way to you!

Emerald City - Here I Come!

I have been adding to my wire wrapping skills and came across a wonderful seller/shop that is one of my newest favs on etsy - solivio. Not only does she offer great tutorials on more detailed wire-wrapping, she has some fabulous semi-precious beads! Her other site - make101 - has additional tutorials and a wealth of information for jewelery designers.

These are the emerald earrings I made using the techniques from one of her tutorials - I think I will be keeping these all for myself!

It's here, it's here!!!!!!

Okay - maybe it's the coffee I have been drinking ALL DAY, but I am very excited to announce the first of my patterns available for sale in my etsy shop! I managed to get the PayPal widget onto this blog as well so people can purchase the pattern directly from here if they would like - the widget adds some time to the page loading - anyone have any thoughts?

The pattern is for my Sniffle Travel Tissue Holder and it would not have been possible without the graphics help of my friend from etsy - flashwithclass - she is the best and the first person I go to when I need banners, ad logos, web design help - absolutely wonderful to work with!

This is the first in a new line of patterns I am working on - it is perfect for beginners with a basic knowledge of sewing. You will need to know how to straight stitch and zig-zag stitch with your machine in order to complete the project.

This pattern can be a jumping off point for your creativity. You are welcome to make the tissue holders and sell them online and at craft shows. I encourage you to add your own embellishment to the pattern - there are all kinds of great trims and buttons out there!

The Sniffle pattern makes use of smaller pieces of fabric - you just need two (2) pieces of cotton fabric that are at least 7 x 7" (to lay out the pattern template), along with scissors, pins, thread, 1/2" double-fold bias tape, an iron and a sewing machine and you are good to go.

Breathless - Part Deux

Introducing the Breathless Necklace - a stunning, airy creation in my 'oblinaknit bejeweled' line - this one incorporates sparkling Swarovski crystals with a sprinkling of black spinel and ripe red rubies for the glamor gal in you!

These knit wire pieces grace your neck and are custom made to the length you want - be it a choker or a collar necklace. Available exclusively at The Artisans of Mclean and in my etsy shop as a custom order - Contact me for details and pricing.

Breathless

What a great weekend - the weather here was beautiful - I got alot of stuff done around the house and was able to work on some of my hand knit wire jewelry line - Breathless. Here is a peek at some of the bracelets I finished yesterday - They are available at The Artisans of McLean - more to come!