fall/winter collection

new product

Bow ties have been such a huge request over the last few months. I've been making them for custom orders, but clearly it was time to get some into the Etsy Shop. More are coming, but there are a few listed finally.

winners

I have a few friends who are riding the Aids Life Cycle this year. If you don't know what that is, they each raise money for Aids research and then ride from San Francisco to LA. That's like 500 miles! I cannot fathom the chaffing that must happen starting right around mile 6 and then the thought of another 494 to go. Over the weekend we helped these friends raise a bunch of money by donating goods to a raffle. The Heated of course gave some organic tote bags, and I made a bicycle print necktie and bow tie. I'm pretty sure the winners of each of my items were pretty stoked.

beautiful sky

I'm taking another photography class. I like the class itself, but mostly I like that it requires me to get out and make more images. I went for a walk the other night and felt completely uninspired. I was trying to catch the light during that golden hour before sunset. For 45 minutes I walked around the city not taking a single image. I kept thinking, I can take a picture of that, but why? Why would it be interesting? Just as I gave up and turned to walk home, the sky changed and all of the sudden I started shooting.

The temperature has dropped significantly in the last few days. Rumors spread widely about snow in SF which has happened about 5 times in the last 100 years. What we ended up having is intensely blue skies with puffs of clouds. They have a really wonderful texture that kept making me stop and gaze up yesterday. I spent several hours in the car driving to and from Napa, so most of these were taken from the passenger seat as we drove along.

new lighting rig

hey y'all

Graphic Designer Natalie Davis and Salumi Maker Ben Runkle are married and living in Austin, Tx. As if running two small businesses weren't enough, they've joined forces and together started Canoe, a line of men's "vintage American workwear and leather goods." To debut the line, they are hosting an evening Pop-Up event. They asked me to design and make a selection of skinny ties and pocket squares to go along with the rugged, manly look of Canoe. So fun! I seriously wish I could fly to Austin for the party. If you live anywhere around there, I highly suggest attending.

new promo shots

A friend of mine, who is also a model came into town recently. For the bargain price of a custom tie, he agreed to let me photograph him wearing ties.

i'm working on...

I guess I've been pretty quiet this month in blog-land. I'm busy with a lot of exciting things that I can't tell you about quite yet. Loving the color of this collection of apron ties which are headed to Home 101 in Berkeley. If you haven't been there, it is a great shop carrying a variety of fantastic antiques and some new, handmade stuff. In particular, they have tons of work by artist Sita Rupe, someone I am a huge fan of. They also happen to carry The Heated. And momentarily, they will have toddler aprons too. Ties are headed to Austin...more about this soon.

as seen on

How exciting to see some of the ties I made in a wedding feature over at Green Wedding Shoes. So often I work with a bride and groom in great detail, but never get to see the outcome.

January

I was hoping to feel like I closed out 2010 with a little time to turn off the brain, but instead I got all wound up with projects and ideas for this year. Lots of exciting things in the works, but none are really viewable yet. One thing you can see though, I'm sponsoring Poppytalk this month. It has been one of my favorite design blogs since I started reading them, so I love seeing my name there.

recovery

I promise to post new and interesting things soon, but for now well frankly, I'm exhausted. Even my acupuncturist told me my kidneys say I've been burning the midnight oil and drinking too much coffee and booze. Seriously. A big gigantic thank you to the many many people who came out and bought from us at Renegade Craft Fair. It was a huge success for us and we're entirely grateful.

this weekend

Renegade Craft Fair is this weekend. It's by far the biggest fair we've done, and this year we have some new products for sale. this humble abode will be selling neckties, pocket squares, toddler aprons, reusable ribbons and loveys (security blankets). The Heated will have white and natural flour sack dishtowels and...wait for it...drum roll...organic canvas tote bags! They are made here in San Francisco and are gorgeous quality. We chose big enough ones to take to the grocery store and actually be useful 'cause we're like that. Bags are printed on both sides and will be $20.
Please come see us if you live in the Bay Area! Booth #116, center aisle about halfway down.

infused syrup

Infusing simple syrup with fun flavors is easy peasy. I've been experimenting with it for the last few weeks as part of preparing for the workshop at Prairie Collective, which was a total success by the way. Usually simple syrup is made by heating 1 part sugar to 1 part water until the sugar has dissolved. What I found though is that getting a strong enough infusion for cocktails but not making it overly sweet required a proportion of 2 parts water to 1 part sugar. Here are the three "recipes" I used on Saturday.

Kaffir Lime Lemongrass Gin Tonic

Mix 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a pot. Add 6-8 kaffir lime leaves and 2 stalks of lemongrass sliced. Bring just to a boil over medium low heat. Turn off the heat and allow to cool fully. Using a sieve or slotted spoon, take out the lemongrass and leaves.
To make the drink, fill a cocktail glass (double old fashioned) with ice. Add 1/4 c infused syrup, 1/4 c gin (tanqueray was just right) and top with tonic and a slice of lime.

Star Anise Ginger Whiskey and Ginger Ale
Mix 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a pot. Add 2 whole Star Anise and thumb sized piece of grated fresh ginger. Bring to almost a boil over medium low heat. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Using a sieve or slotted spoon, take out the ginger and anise.
To make the drink, fill a cocktail glass (double old fashioned) with ice. Add 1/4 c infused syrup, 1/4 c whiskey (we though Crown Royal was good) and top off with ginger beer.

Tarragon Grapefruit Drop
Mix 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a pot. Add the peel of 1 grapefruit (no pith!) and 2-3 stalks of fresh tarragon. Bring to almost a boil over medium low heat. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Using a sieve or slotted spoon, take out the peel and herb.
To make the drink, fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in 1/2 c infused syrup,  1/2 c vodka (absolut citron was perfect) and juice from 1 whole grapefruit. How about using the same one that you just peeled? Shake it up good and pour into 2 martini glasses. A sugar rim is excellent here!
Drink and be Merry!

making things

It's been nuts the last two weeks. Like a whole new kind of busy that I maybe have never experienced before. Thankfully most of it has been activities and projects that I like doing, but I'm noticing myself having trouble finding words. So, how about some pictures instead?! Yesterday the ladies from Studio Choo came over and we worked on a piece for Design Sponge. It was great fun, and the photographer was a total joy to work with. His will be better, but here are a few sneak peak shots at what we were doing.

get your drink on

We've been "practicing" for Saturday's workshop at Prairie Collective for the last few weeks. By that I mean I've been playing around with flavor combinations which of course must be tried and tweaked. The Grapefruit Drop was a keeper. I highly recommend you try it!

Grapefruit Drop
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in 1/3 c vodka (we liked Absolut Citron), 1/4 c simple syrup (mine just happened to be grapefruit tarragon infused) and 1/2 c fresh grapefruit juice. Shake profusely and pour into 2 sugar rimmed martini glasses.

busy

it's officially crazy in our house. orders are coming in, and total mayhem has hit the dining room. but i'm grateful for sales so i'll just zip it. i am trying to list some new items in the etsy store, like the reusable ribbon shown below. i also have been working on a stack of pocket squares/hankies. if you're interested, email me and i'll get some images to you. ribbon is $7, hankies are $12.

it's market day

If you're ready to do some Christmas shopping, and you're in the Mission area, come to The Blue Macaw for Market SF. I even have some new products today (under $10!). We'll be there 12-6, Mission between 21st and 22nd.

black friday

I hope you'll join me in buying handmade this holiday season.

it's beginning to look a lot like x-mas