Where have I been?

That last posts looks so strange to me now over a year later, living in Canada. So much has happened since then. I wish I had posted more photos of us in Seattle. I wish I documented more of the things I made.  I've invested 10 years into this blog though so I shouldn't stop now. It looks like kokoleo is kaput but that's not the case; I'm pretty sure I'll always be doing kokoleo to varying degrees for the rest of my life. Here are some things I've made:

I'm still doing pillow commissions:

 

as well as pillowcase commissions...

 

and some banners...

and a special commission kokoleo first - a personalized reversible pet bed:

I was in a holiday group show at a gallery in our neighborhood:

 I made Annette, the owner, this banner as a thank you for being so nice.

She gave Erik a solo show this month and his paintings are currently filling the space floor to ceiling.

I made a custom plush from a kid's drawing:

I made some beanbags for the Town Run Brewery, a new pub my friend's Todd and Jessie opened in Shepherdstown: pictures to come


 I also manically made a ton of hair accessories one week:

and a few necktie headbands for the holiday show:

Last week I was getting my car tuned up on Danforth and decided to walk down the street. I found a children's clothing store called Merrily Merrily. They specialize in "New, nearly new, and upcycled whimsy for kids." That's what I specialize in too! I struck up a conversation with the co-owner Jane and gave her my card and by the end of our conversation I knew that the massive hoard of handmade kids' clothes I've been carting around needed to move into their store.

We set up a day and time to bring them in (last Friday) and the night before I went through the suitcases and trunks I use to store all my kokoleo creations. I separated out the grownup clothes and home decor and unfinished projects and filled my biggest suitcase full of kids clothes - stuff I made for crafts shows (that lifestyle seems so foreign to me now), stuff I retrieved from shops before I left L.A. and then Seattle, stuff I made for no apparent reason. Why do I hoard all this stuff? It does me no good to hide it all in a suitcase in my studio. I figured they would pick a few things to have in their shop. Nope. They picked EVERYTHING! I can't express how wonderful it was to see them love every single item I pulled out. What's more, they offer the most generous commission I've ever gotten from a shop plus they list everything online on their web page.

So now my kokoleos have a new home in Toronto. This may just be the encouragement I need to get back in my studio and make some more.