House of Stacks

Art in progress

I was reading my friend Pamela's blog, CappuccinoAndArtJournal, yesterday when I saw her post about stacks because of The Altered Page's 'call for stacks'. I was super excited, not only because other people have stacks of stuff but also because I share a two bedroom apartment with 2 other artists/collectors of stuff, and our apartment interior design motif is more or less defined by our stacks. That said, here are (some of) my stacks:

Art in progress, top view

Zine pages

Books to read/finish reading

More books and whatnot to read

Stuff to put away

Dirty dishes

Saturday night is often family game night for my husband, roommate and I

Books that don't fit on the shelf

More books that don't fit on the shelf

Lemon Cake

Yesterday one of my co-workers had a going away party with a cake and bourbon theme. I had the day off so I made this lemon cake with lemon glaze frosting. The batter tasted excellent. I didn't get a chance to taste the actual cake but, since everyone ate it, I think it's safe to assume it was good!

Grown Gifts

Last Sunday was my 26th birthday and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with my friend Susan. She cooked a delicious lunch for me and we spent 4 hours talking about anything and everything. Besides purchased gifts (a seal and wax and a wand!) she sent me home with some gifts grown in her yard.

I had been admiring the centerpiece flower on the table while we were eating and then I got to take it home in a cute little former balsamic vinegar jar. A week later this little guy is still going strong. 

These handpicked apples are truly delicious. I didn't think there would be that much of a difference between the store bought apples, but I'll take these little ones any day. They are flavorful, juicy and not at all mealy--just the way an apple should be.

*All photos in this post were made with a Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S camera. 

Fried Zucchini

Tonight I made dinner. It was quite a change for our household. I really don't enjoy cooking but my husband loves it so he's generally in charge of all things kitchen, except the dishes. Tonight Charlie was busy trimming photographs and asked me to cook. Although the food, fried zucchini with marinara sauce (from a jar) and mozzarella cheese wasn't exactly healthy, I managed to not chop off a finger or get severally burnt so, I'd say it was a success.

Zucchini frying

SF Zine Fest: Day 2

Annnie Yu of Curbsidetreasure and her zine, Paper Suitcase

I know this post is a couple days late but yesterday was my husband's birthday so I took some time off for those festivities before posting about the second awesome day of SF Zine Fest.

It was another successful day for me but I was also able to sneak away, check out and buy some of the goodies at other vendors' tables. Tonight I'm posting about all the awesome things I picked up.

This bike illustration was the first item I bought. It's by Brooke Appler and it had been calling to me since the day before. It's just so quaint and, well, I do love my bike.

At the end of the day I traded one of my bookmarks for this lovely one by Jennie Yim. She also makes great prints.

I shared a table with the ever energetic Yumico and I traded for this zine at the end of the day.

My table neighbor was Stephanie of NerdJerk. After spending 2 days in such close proximity, I really couldn't help loving her and her stuff. Besides this wicked awesome calculator phone case I also bought a Polaroid barrette and a crocheted Nintendo character for my little brother.

After staring them down from across the aisle, I finally caved and bought these bookmarks, zine and comic from the collective Crazy Apple Studios. So fun!

Just one table down from mine was Laurie Coughlin of Motomouth Press. I know Laurie from the San Francisco Center for the Book and I'm always charmed by her personality and her work. Instead of cards, this time I got this cute little donut book, D is for Donut.

Making Friends by Odd Fauna

Parade by Odd Fauna

Odd Fauna had many amazing things including beasts sculptures and shadow boxes. I had to contain myself and I left with just these two little accordion style books. They are adorably morbid and I love it!

I have a T-shirt obsession and I was hoping I might find a great one at SF Zine Fest. I was not let down when I stopped by the Monkey and Seal table and saw this great shirt combining two of my favorite things, unicorns and narwhals.

The Wind to My Sails by Jennifer Parks

Spread from They Met in a Dream

Unicorn puking a rainbow wallet

I was wishing I lived in Portland when I stopped by the Pony Club Gallery table. The illustrations for everything were fun and inspiring and the unicorn wallet was so amazing that my husband took it from me!

All in all, I had a great time at the SF Zine Fest and I can't wait to be back next year!

SF Zine Fest, Day 1

neon sprinkles studio (that's me) half table

Today was the first day of SF Zine Fest and, I must say, it couldn't have been more amazing. I debuted there as neon sprinkles studio selling my artsy wares. 

Some of my cards and zines

Bookmarks made from paper scraps: fun and cheap!

The foot traffic was great and my sales were more than I had expected for my first time selling. I managed to make back my table fee! Customer feedback was encouraging as well and I can't wait to get back into the studio and make more stuff.

My mini journals

Though I didn't sell any today, my mini journals in their cute French basket from Daiso Japan, wound up being great attention grabbers, drawing in folks who ended up either buying something else or at least taking a business card. 

My neighbors across the way

Fellow vendors to the left

Fellow vendors to the right

I wasn't the only vendor, of course. I only managed to visit about half the vendor tables in the room I'm stationed in but everything was amazing. My fellow vendors were also super supportive, offering constructive feedback while being amazing craftspeople. There's inspiration a plenty at this event.

View from behind my table

While I mostly only saw the back of my own sales table today, I can't wait for Day 2 tomorrow and I hope I have a chance to sneak off and visit more of the vendors.