Smarts and Crafts

Smarts & Crafts has moved

2010-06-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

We have decided to move our blog over to a new host as of today, so for those of you who follow our posts via an RSS feed or blog reader, you may need to re-subscribe in order to see future posts. The url is the same: www.smartsandcrafts.com. See you soon!

Bandanapkins

2010-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

We recently bought a bunch of $2 bandanas to use as cloth napkins. I was impressed by the selection of greys and greens! Cheap, easy and classic- we couldn't ask for more.

Hey Youuuu Guyyyyyyyys!!

2010-06-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

This year marks the 25th anniversary of one of my favorite films of all time, The Goonies. Beginning today, folks in Astoria Oregon (where the film takes place) are kicking off a 4 day extravaganza called "Never Say Die: The Goonies 25th Anniversary Celebration". In addition to screenings of the film, there will be treasure hunts, cast Meet & Greets (with Chunk, Mouth, and one of the evil Fratelli brothers...), a 5K Truffle Shuffle run/walk, bus tours of Goonies locales, performances by Goonies-themed bands like Troy's Bucket, The Whiskey Rebellion (they have a song called The Ballad of Chester Copperpot), and Corey Feldman's group Truth Movement), plus a host of other awesomely geeky events. My sister and her family are on their way up there right now. Damn, I'm jealous.

C'est l'amour

2010-06-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

I am in love with the work of French artist Blexbolex. After receiving a copy of I Know How to Cook for my birthday, and finding a book called Seasons (cute promotional video here) at one of my favorite bookstores a couple days later, I knew he was my new all time favorite.

Psyched about Psycho!

2010-06-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ever since we moved back to San Francisco, we've been looking for the perfect excuse to go to the Symphony. When we heard they had open rehearsals (with coffee and complimentary donuts!!) we knew we'd found it. Since that first visit we've been keeping an eye out for other fun things the Symphony has going on, and it turns out, they've got a lot going on! Next month we're going to a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, with live musical accompaniment. The score is by legendary composer Bernard Herrmann who was such a bad-ass that there is a Society devoted to him. The man worked with the Best of the Best (his first score was for a little picture called Citizen Cane, his last Taxi Driver...) We can't wait!

The Derailleur Impaler

2010-05-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

If you're in SF tonight, please come to the Derailleur Impaler Silent Auction & Raffle- to raise money for the AIDS Lifecycle, a 7-Day bike ride from SF to LA this June. Catherine Kaleel will be doing the 545-mile ride, and has organized this auction with our pal Kylea Borges to help raise funds for this amazing organization.

We were happy to contribute a little grab bag containing 2 of our favorite books from the shoppe: The Selby is in Your Place and ReproDepot's Flora Clip Art book. These offerings are just one of many, many art and product donations from loads of local artists and businesses.

More information is available about tonight's event here and at the Derailleur Impaler website.
Derailleur Impaler Silent Art Auction & Raffle Fundraiser for the AIDS Lifecycle
May 26th: 5-11pm at Space Gallery, 1141 Polk Street, SF

With Love, SF Weekly

2010-05-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

SF Weekly's annual "Best of" issue came out last week, and we were sooo happy to find that both
The Curiosity Shoppe and Pop-Up Magazine made it into this year's round-up. Thanks for the love, SF Weekly!

Know-It-All

2010-05-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer for writing about the amazing Know-It-All Pencil Sets by Paper Pastries last week!! Of course we sold out right away, but thankfully we received another shipment of pencils today. Pick up a set for the know-it-all in your life!

Derek's First Sweater

2010-05-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's not Everest, or a triathlon or anything....but it certainly was a lot of work, and a lot of fun! Can't wait to cozy up to a campfire in it....

Ideal Bookshelves by Jane Mount Opening Friday!

2010-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Please join us this Friday, May 14th to celebrate the opening of "Ideal Bookshelves" featuring paintings, prints, and postcards by the talented Jane Mount. Many of the pieces in the show represent Ideal Bookshelves submitted by friends, both from San Francisco and around the country. It's an amazing and beautiful collection, and it's been endlessly fascinating to check out all the great books people are into these days.

PLUS: We're offering a $25 gift certificate to the first person who correctly guesses which of the above "Bookshelves" belongs to Lauren and I. (click the image to enlarge) Leave your guess in the comments*.

PLUS: It's practically Lauren's birthday, so come by and wish her a good one!

WHAT: Ideal Bookshelves, works by Jane Mount

WHEN: Opening Party Friday, May 14, 6-8pm.

WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe, 855 Valencia St.

(*Our moms and employees of the Curiosity Shoppe are not eligible).

How beautiful is this?

2010-05-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

I left something at Leigh's house and she sent it back in this. I mean, c'mon! How beautiful is this envelope?

Little Dog

2010-05-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I sent a box full of stuffed animals and other crafts to Amy for her new book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. This little dog was one of my favorites, and look! It's here on the preview cover for the book, which I just noticed is already available for pre-order on Amazon.

I'm not sure I can wait until November to see the whole thing!

Southern Exposure Auction This Saturday!

2010-05-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

A reminder to all that Southern Exposure's Annual Auction is:
THIS SATURDAY, MAY 8th!!
Click here for more information!
Click here to buy tickets!
Click here to see some of the artworks up for auction!
For those of you who can't make it, you can visit SoEx any day this week to check out the work and place absentee bids!

This is always one of the best, most exciting, most fun art events of the year! Can't wait to see you all there!

Here are a couple pieces I've got my eye on:

Jeff Canham

Scott Oliver

Marci Washington

Paul Wackers

Brion Nuda Rosch

Another Plaid Shirt

2010-05-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Got in a little more sewing practice today. Soon I will attempt a dress or shirt with buttons!

Homesteading Hootenanny!!!

2010-04-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Friends!

Join us at a super fun event happening this Thursday at Southern Exposure! It's a Homesteading Hootenanny put on by the fine folks from How-To Homestead and our pals at SoEx. In addition to all sorts of Homesteading activities (food, drink, films and such), there is going to be Square Dancing!! Not sure if you're aware of this, but it is physically impossible to not have fun square dancing. We know from personal experience.

Thursday, April 29, 2010
7 pm - Midnight

$10 / FREE for SoEx Members
Or FREE with homesteaded goods and items to share (including home brews, seeds, fermented vegetables, pies and more)

**ALSO** Another great reason to JOIN as a SoEx member!!

Hootenanny Schedule:
7:30: Screening
8:30: Tasting
9:00: Square Dance with Pearsons Pork Pies
11:00: Dancing with the Goat Family

From the website:

Join the How-to Homestead Crew, led by Melinda Stone, for a down-home hootenanny of movies, tastings, song, and dance! The evening includes free tastings of home-made beer, booze, fermented vegetables, and other homestead goodies; new homesteading movie shorts, some with live accompaniment by the How-to Homestead house band: the sk8 sisters; square dancing with Pearsons Pork Pies and the night concludes with free-form dancing with the Goat Family, a nuevo-traditional jug band on the old-timey exuberance and infectious tip.

Tagged!

2010-04-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Word on the street in San Francisco this week is that world-famous graffiti artist Banksy is in town, and new works have been sprouting up in various neighborhoods around town. The piece above (via SFist) appeared on the side of our building on Thursday, and it's been fun watching crowds of people taking photos of it the past few days. More Banksy photos can be found on the Flickr Banksy Pool, and you can watch a fun video here.

Birdhouses available online!

2010-04-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

People visiting our shoppe gallery over the last couple weeks have been all a-flutter over the amazing birdhouses that Jeff Canham and Luke Bartels created for their "For the Birds" show. They are now available on our website! Check them out here.

Pop-Up Round Up

2010-04-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

A huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to Pop-Up magazine #3 last Friday. It was so great to see so many of you there, and we hope you had as much fun experiencing Pop-Up as we had putting it together. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We purposely don't record Pop-Up. We like to keep in spontaneous and intimate. So for those of you who couldn't make it, here's a super quick play-by-play:

-Laura Brunow Miner from Pictory kicked things off with a special collection of funny, moving, and mischievous pictures on the theme, "Sorry, Mom."

- Steven Leckart (Pop-Up's resident gadget guru, and self-proclaimed Gallagher) killed with a hilarious (and physically demanding) demonstration of some state-of-the-art sleep aids.

-Author and chef Bryant Terry demoed a custom cocktail using ginger-infused vodka, and meyer lemons from his community garden which he christened the Cleanse-tini (hilarious AND delicious!). SKYY Spirits was kind enough to donate the vodka, which meant everyone at the afterparty got to enjoy his tasty creation as well.

-Artist Allison Smith told the crazy and scary and beautiful story of Trench Art.

-Wired magazine's research staff regaled us with amazing facts (and awesome props!)

-Writer, and (obviously insane) adventurer Josh Harkinson took us on an eye-opening, gag-inducing canoe trip down the horribly, horribly polluted Houston Shipping Canal.

- Jennifer Kahn shared the story of her notoriously lazy 80+ year old father's unlikely successes in the world of professional weight-lifting. Impossible to really describe this one. Let's just say the audience laughed, and cried, and gave Jennifer and her dad a standing ovation.

-We had a brief message from the owner of Midpoint Wine Cellars , another one of the evening's sponsors.

-Acclaimed author Rebecca Solnit used a beautifully detailed map to trace the historic and creative convergences of two men who helped make San Francisco famous and great: Alfred Hitchcock and Eadward Muybridge.

-Here we snuck in an unforgettable tribute to legendary photographer Jim Marshall by Zana Woods and photographer Michael Jang. Jim was scheduled to appear for an onstage Q&A with Zana, but sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

-LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne made a compelling case for Dubai (with its crazy buildings, and unique blend of the world cultures and politics) being the best, and perhaps last place to successfully carry out an assassination.

-Writer Jon Mooallem charmed everyone with a story about luck, miracles, serendipity, patience, wallets lost and wallets found.

-Filmmaker Jamie Meltzer created a beautiful short film about Sign Spinners, that was accompanied by a live soundtrack from these guys.

-Writer Elizabeth Weil thrilled and disgusted the audience with her hilarious and extremely convincing argument against French kissing.

-Inspired by Jamie's film, we had a brief ad for another sponsor BrewDog, which featured a rockin' Sign Spinner doing his thing live on-stage.

-Academy Award-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman treated us to an exclusive clip of their upcoming film HOWL, starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg.

- Radio Diaries creator Joe Richman and Bridgette McGee-Robinson shared a moving and maddening story about Bridgette's grandfather who was executed by a traveling electric chair for a crime he may, or may not have committed.

-Artist Tracey Snelling created a video tour of Bordertown, her multimedia installation which features meticulous miniature versions of often ignored and out of the way places.

- Mirissa Neff, a dj and reporter for PBS's Sound Tracks, gave us a gorgeous lesson in Fado, the traditional music of Portugal.

-Here we featured a message from another sponsor, the W, who gave away free stays at their hotel and free dinners at their XYZ restaurant to 4 lucky audience members.

-Writer Justine Sharrock told the mind-boggling story of how some American soldiers have used Facebook to reconnect with prisoners they tortured at Guantanamo.

-Artist and experimental geographer Trevor Paglen explained how Humans are sending extremely mixed messages into outer space to potential intergalactic neighbors.

-What magazine is complete without a lively Q&A? This time we had the always captivating Lisa Margonelli in discussion with the Douglas Long, the fascinating Chief Curator of Natural Sciences at the Oakland Museum. You'd be amazed how much you can learn about Turkey Vultures in such a short amount of time.

-Finally, we closed with a wonderful piece by NPR correspondent Alex Cohen about the mysterious disappearance of Bobbie Gentry during the height of her career as one of the most popular and respected recording artists of the 1970s.

And then there was the After Party!!! Which to tell you the truth is a bit of a blur. (Having so many generous sponsors can be dangerous!!) But no one could possibly forget the amazingly delicious food from Bento 415, and the ridiculously tasty treats from Pinkie's Bakery. Yum!! And of course it isn't a party without music, and we were thrilled to have DJs M&S Treatzone spinning great tunes.

The Curiosity Shoppe + THE THING!!

2010-04-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to pass along an invitation/reminder to please join us for an exciting and fun event with our pals from THE THING!

On Friday, April 30th as part of Joseph del Pesco's Society of Secrets event at the Berkeley Art Museum, The Curiosity Shoppe will be partnering with THE THING to host a secret undisclosed back-room parallel black jack tournament using Ryan Gander and Europa's Issue 9. Not sure how to play? Don't worry, it's really simple, we'll send you the rules ahead of time...or you can always purchase the cards (which come with playing instructions) from THE THING or the Curiosity Shoppe.

The games will begin at 5:00pm and go till 8:00, and admission is free for players. We are looking for 64 participants in the tournament, which is first-come, first-serve. The ranks are filling up fast, so we're not sure if there are any spots left, but if you're interested please send an email to Francois at: support (at) thethingquarterly (dot) com. The winner will receive a cash prize of $100 from THE THING and a $100 gift certificate from the Curiosity Shoppe.

Even if you can't be in the tournament, it's gong to be a great event and a great night, and we'll hope you'll come join in the fun with us!

A little decorating

2010-04-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

One Sunday a couple months back, we set out early in the morning with our friend Paulina to do a little decorating on the side of a big empty building in our neighborhood. She had the idea to make pennants out of some colorful vinyl she had laying around her studio, as part of a larger project she has been working on, called Tu Y Yo. Tu Y Yo focuses on public art collaborations, community and positivity. We say yes to all of the above!

Unfortunately our installation didn't last more than a couple days before someone removed it, but here are a few pics for you to enjoy.

Small Stakes book launch party and signing!

2010-04-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends:
Wow! Busy week! In addition to our gallery opening tomorrow evening (see post below), we are also super excited about an event we hope you will join us for on Saturday. Our friend Jason Munn—the wonderful wizard of rock posters—will be launching his brand new, utterly amazing book The Small Stakes Music Posters at our Shoppe. We are truly honored to host Jason and can't wait to celebrate his incredible work. So come on by and meet The Man, buy his book (and get a special limited-edition print!!). There will be snacks to eat, and posters for sale.

WHAT: The Small Stakes Book Signing with Jason Munn
WHEN: Saturday April 10th, 5-8pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe, 855 Valencia St. (btwn 19th & 20th)

For the Birds Opening!!

2010-04-06T17:20:00.001-07:00

Hello Friends!
Please join us this Friday evening to celebrate the opening of our new gallery show, For the Birds! Our talented pals Jeff Canham and Luke Bartels have created an array of amazing abodes, perfect the urban bird. There will be refreshments to peck at.

WHAT: For the Birds opening
WHEN: Friday, April 9th 7-9pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe 855 Valencia St. (between 19th & 20th)

*More images and a write up on Cool Hunting right here.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

The shoppe will be closed today for some much needed R&R... hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Typewriter Love

2010-04-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Say hello to our Sears Junior Portable Typewriter, the smallest lil' typewriter in the west! If you want to see some gorgeous typewriter specimens (that are sure to inspire some insane typewriter envy) check out this site. You can search by brand, by period, by author... it's amazing!

Our new secret hide out.

2010-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Seriously Curious Confections

2010-04-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

We've always admired Mary and Matt's great taste in art and design, music and fashion, and so on and so forth... And then—as if to prove their excellence in a whole different realm of "taste"—they started making mind-blowing, explicative-inducing chocolate. They recently sent us some samples which we shared with customers throughout the day. Everyone fell in love. Now you can too!

National Park Quarters

2010-04-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

We can't wait for the National Park Quarters to come out! Hurray for the little joys in life...

What Lauren Made This Weekend

2010-03-30T20:08:00.001-07:00

This shirt.

What Derek Made This Weekend...

2010-03-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Oars!! Thanks to the lovely Mariah and the fine folks down at the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, Lauren and I are now the proud owners of 2 beautiful douglas fir ready-for-rowing oars. The icing on the cake was the leather straps we laced on to protect the wood in the oarlock. So pretty.

The class was amazing and fun and educational and I can't wait for more. If you're interested in taking a class down at the Historic Hyde Street Pier, get in touch with Mariah at mgardner(at)maritime.org.

Two of our favorite things...

2010-03-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

A celebration of craftsmenship + CBS Sunday Morning.

Pop-Up Magazine Issue No. 3!

2010-03-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends:

We wanted to give you all a heads up that tickets are going on sale TODAY (Thursday) at noon for Pop-Up Magazine Issue No. 3. For those of you not familiar with it, Pop-Up is an evening of readings, photography, documentary film, facts, art, and radio performed onstage by an amazing group of extremely talented folks. Lauren and I are the magazine's Creative Directors and it's been a wonderful experience helping to curate and organize this very special event. I encourage anyone who's interested to check out Pop-Up's website for more information and ticket information.

The show is one night only, Friday April 16th, and if you're interested in attending we recommend you check your calendar now and get tickets as soon as possible. We have done Pop-Up a couple times, and it tends to sell out very quickly. We've moved to a larger venue this time, the gorgeous Herbst Theatre downtown, so we're hoping everyone who wants to make it can get tickets. There is going to be an after party at the Herbst immediately following the event, with tons of drinks and delicious food.

We hope to see you there!

Badminton!

2010-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

We made our way down to the badminton courts on our day off this week, and I think we might have a new hobby in the works...

Music Lessons

2010-03-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

We're huge music lovers. We listen to it constantly of course, but we also try to play it on a regular basis. It's relaxing and inspirational and fun. And though it's been a while since either of us actually studied it in any sort of academic sense, we've recently been loving (and learning a ton from) the dvd set of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts.

If you've never heard of it, Leonard Bernstein gave a series of televised performances beginning in 1958 in which he filled Carnegie Hall with young kids and then taught them about music. You can find little snippets of the concerts/lectures on YouTube, but I highly recommend checking out the entire series (we got ours from the library). I love how he doesn't talk down to the children, and takes his time using numerous examples to illustrate a musical point. He even gets the kids involved, doing sing alongs and such that are so magical they'll break your heart.

On a slightly related note (oooh, a pun!) I recently had the pleasure of re-watching Amadeus. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, but there is a genius scene in which Salieri transcribes a Reqium for Mozart (who isn't feeling so hot) that is so amazing and moving it has been permanently burned into my brain.

Great American Cakes

2010-03-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I love the super simple photographs in this Bon Appétit story on "Great American Cakes".

The Family of Man

2010-03-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

"People! flung wide and far, born into toil, struggle, blood and dreams, among lovers, eaters, drinkers, workers, loafers, fighters, players, gamblers. Here are ironworkers, bridgemen, musicians, sandhogs, miners, builders of huts and skyscrapers, jungle hunters, landlords and the landless, the loved and the unloved, the lonely and abandoned, the brutal and the compassionate–one big family hugging close to the ball of Earth for its life and being." -Carl Sandburg

The Family of Man. "The greatest photographic exhibition of all time." 503 pictures from 68 countries–created by Edward Steichen for The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1955.

How I would have loved to see this exhibit! Someday I will have to make my way to Luxembourg where it is on permanent display.

Drawing, and drawing, and drawing...

2010-03-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Almost missed this article from the LA Times about our very talented pal Jason Polan. He's on a mission to draw all 8 million people in New York (amongst other things). The article also mentions the Taco Bell Drawing Club, of which we are proud card carrying members...

Jason was nice enough to create some very limited edition art sampler packs for us recently. There are still a couple left here.

Comforter at the Curiosity Shoppe!

2010-03-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

We're very excited to invite you to the Shoppe this Friday, March 12th to celebrate the opening of Comforter, our new gallery show featuring drawings, sculptures, and a gianormous quilt by the multi-talented Emily Sevier. Emily is an amazing artist and curator whose colorful (and often cuddly) works play with notions of personal comfort zones and emotional attachment to objects. She has created a beautiful collection of pieces for our space and we're thrilled to share her show with you. Please join us Friday to check out the work, meet Emily, and have a drink and a snack. See you then!!

WHAT: Comforter, works by Emily Sevier
WHEN: Friday, March 12th, 6-8pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe (855 Valencia St. btwn. 19th & 20th)

*There's so much great art happening this Friday, why not make an evening of it? Come check out Comforter here at the Shoppe, and also make sure to hit up "It's A Sign" at Adobe Books Backroom Gallery featuring work by the amazing artists from New Bohemia Signs (the folks who made The Curiosity Shoppe sign and sandwich board thankyouverymuch!). And then of course there is an epic show at Southern Exposure called Alchemy curated by our pal Sarah Smith.

Wunderkammer Crochet Workshop!!

2010-03-02T15:51:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, March 6th, we are thrilled to welcome the amazingly talented Jessica Polka of Wunderkammer back to Shoppe! Jessica will be hosting a crochet workshop based on the delightful Seahorse Crochet Kit she created for us! If you already crochet, come on down and learn some new tricks while Jessica walks you through the pattern. If you've never picked up a hook in your life, now's your chance to learn from a very friendly, very patient pro. We'll have all the kits and supplies on hand, and there will be snacks!
WHAT: Crochet Workshop with Jessica Polka
WHEN: Saturday, March 6th, 2-5pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe (855 Valencia btwn. 19th & 20th Sts.)
COST: Workshop is free. Kits $20.

See you Saturday!

Neighborhood walk

2010-02-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

Every time we drive past the neighborhood of Forest Hill on our way across town, we are tempted to stop the car and look around. Finally the other day we did stop, and spent some time climbing the grand staircase, admiring the beautiful craftsman style architecture and the pristine yards of the homes there. (If anyone's got a couple extra million clams to spare, this Maybeck beauty is for sale! One can dream...)

When it rains... we craft!

2010-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

All this rain we've been having means lots of time indoors. And since I've been making a valiant effort NOT to spend every waking hour working on the shoppe or some other random work project, I've been doing lots and lots of crafting. First I made a new pillow for our sofa out of some gray wool I had. The scarf pillow we made over a year ago had started disintegrating (it was an old scarf!) so it needed to be replaced. We just finished a project for a friend's book that involves knot tying, so I was feeling inspired to stitch one in the center of the pillow.

I know I say this every year, but this year I'm determined to get better at sewing. I was working on some soft sculptures for another friend's book last week and I feel like it's a slow road but I am learning a lot... so first up are TIES. More wool from my fabric stash and lots of pattern altering to get it just skinny enough but not too skinny... and here we have the first of what will hopefully be a series of new ties for D.

Finally, I am trying to use up all my leftover yarn to make small little projects like hats and gloves. Here are 1 1/2 pairs of fingerless mittens (finished the last one yesterday) which are easy, fast, and are one size fits all, which I love. The pattern for the two-tone ones with the buttons can be found here.

And since the sun did make an appearance on Monday, we made sure to eat lunch outside on our favorite bench in Glen Canyon. In other crafting news, Derek only has one arm left to knit before he is done with his first sweater! At which point we will regale you with photographs and you will see that pretty much everything we've been making these days is grey and brown and woolly. Those are our winter colors, I suppose.

Mail bag

2010-02-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

I know I'm not the only one out there who feels like they are tethered to their computer all day writing emails. The amount of time I spend on my laptop and on my phone checking and writing emails could be spent doing soooo many productive things! I do miss physical mail and have started trying to write and send letters again- though I know I'll never give up email. I just have a weird love/hate relationship to it is all. I went back into my "sent mail" folders earlier to see just how many messages I send per day, and it appears that I average around 20, which doesn't actually seem like that much to me. I'm sure if I only checked my inbox 2-3 times a day I could still manage to get that many replies sent out. How many emails do you send each day?

(Envelopes from Kiosk.)

Reminder: Plant Exchange tomorrow morning!

2010-02-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

Aurora has organized another plant exchange that will take place in front of the shoppe tomorrow morning from 9-12. Come by with your plant starts or cuttings and trade them for something new for your garden! More information here.

Behold!!!

2010-02-17T13:57:00.001-08:00

Aya Brackett "Kyoto"

We finally got the chance to do something we've been wanting to do for a long, long time. Thank you so much to Suzanne Shade for inviting us to be Guest Curators at the Beholder! It was so exciting and fun and inspirational to check out all the amazing work on the site. We had to keep our choices to 10 (which was HARD!), but we managed...So go check out our little curated collection and spend the rest of the afternoon exploring all the other great artists on the Beholder.

Fabian Geyrhalter "Precision"
Lisa Bartleson "the couch, the chair, the rug, the table"

My little sister's all grown up!

2010-02-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last month, my younger sister Jessie and her boyfriend (now husband) Ian got married at City Hall. Our friend Jessamyn took some beautiful photos!

Jess, Ian, and little Lennon

Beautiful bouquet from Studio Choo

Me and Jess at Presidio Bowl, where we worked up an appetite for our delicious dinner at the Presidio Social Club.

Many, many more pics can be seen here and here.
Congratulations again Jessie and Ian!!

Survival Annex items online!

2010-02-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

For the last two weeks of the show- all the items in the Survival Annex are available for purchase online!! Prepare to be amazed...

And for those of you in SF, there will be a plant exchange and all day closing party next Sunday, February 21st. C'mon by!

Calling All Soup Lovers!

2010-02-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

We are majorly in love with SOUPLOVE, a new recipe book we are carrying at the shoppe. Especially now that it's mid-February when the contents of our CSA box pretty much consist of leafy greens, root vegetables and even more leafy greens. When this book arrived at the shoppe last week, we flipped to the "Winter" chapter and there was an amazing recipe for Potato Leek and Winter Vegetable soup that pretty much used up everything in our box and fed us for an entire week. For more, check out this awesome review at 101 Cookbooks!

(All the recipes are vegetarian, but that didn't stop us from adding bacon to our soup... it was even better the next day when we pureed all the leftovers. Yummmm!)

A good day.

2010-02-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

We took a little field trip yesterday to the town I grew up in, where we visited with family, took a hike in the glorious sunshine, visited our town's historical museum, ate ice cream, visited a cheese factory, took a drive to Pt. Reyes, and ate more food. A lovely Valentine's Day!

Someone posted these signs up and down Valencia Street- a nice way to start the day as we got coffee and headed out of town.

Jessie gave Lennon and I matching pigtails.

Oak trees (and Derek) at Helen Putnam Park

Pt. Reyes

Two reasons to be excited!

2010-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

We received our shipment of UPPERCASE Magazines this week, and are super excited to have issue #4 in the shoppe for so many reasons... Aside from the incredible cover illustration by our friend Leigh Wells and and great profile by Victoria Smith about the folks at Three Potato Four, as well as the story about our pal Lisa Solomon, there is an amazing piece about one of our favorite things, the Squam Art Workshops.

You'll probably remember that last summer we were lucky enough to go to New Hampshire and teach a couple workshops at Squam, and we couldn't resist the opportunity to go back later this year in September to teach a couple more!

Registration for the Fall session is now open, and you can click here to see our class descriptions. (We're offering a workshop on apron making and another on ukulele making, also known as "Band Camp".) An entire long weekend dedicated to art, creativity and relaxation in one of the most serene and beautiful places we've been to?? Sign us up!

Squam Lake

The cutest cabins, with fenced in porches and private docks!

PS- Extra special congratulations to UPPERCASE Magazine for their Society of Publication Designers' Magazine of the Year nomination!!

Gifts for Valentine's Day

2010-02-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

Still looking for the perfect gift for your sweetie this year? If you're in the neighborhood this weekend, we've got you covered.

Megan Dempsey from Letter Paper Flower will be in the Shoppe from 12-3 this Saturday and Sunday selling beautiful (and affordable!) Valentine bouquets, so come by and pick one up!

We've also got some great merchandise in the shoppe for loved ones, including:

Sweetheart Patch Kits from Chikabird

Tactile Poetry from Leafcutter Designs

"Yours 'Til Niagara Falls" postcards from Brooklyn Rehab

New Art

2010-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

After watching Herb & Dorothy last night, I got to thinking about collecting art, and remembered that I haven't shared the most recent additions to our own modest collection- recently back from the framers and hanging in our dining room! On the left is a print by Wayne White, and on the right are 3 prints by Tom Bonauro. Don't they look great together?

Speaking of the dining room, we wallpapered one wall with our Lena Corwin wallpaper last Fall, and painted all the other walls in a lovely shade of blue/gray that matches the ground color. It feels sooo much better than the glossy white paint that was in there before!

Classes On the Waterfront!

2010-02-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

Our good pal Mariah, aka The Landlubber, is helping the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association put on some fantastically fun and exciting classes down on the Hyde Street Pier. Seeing as though we San Franciscans are practically surrounded by the stuff, it makes a heck of a lot of sense to get more acquainted with the beautiful bodies of water we're lucky enough to have right down the street. There are a bunch of maritime-related classes and activities to choose from, we're looking forward to Oar and Paddle Making in particular. Space is limited so register now!

(That picture up there is from a LIFE magazine story about the Oakland Women's Rowing Club. You can see some more awesome images here.)

Survival Annex - Plant Exchange!!

2010-01-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

Come one, Come all!!! In conjunction with her amazing Survival Annex shop within the Shoppe, store manager Aurora Crispin will be hosting a Plant Exchange tomorrow, SATURDAY JANUARY 22ND. We've arranged for a break in the rain, so please arrive promptly at 5pm at Mission Playground Park (directly across from the Shoppe on Valencia btwn. 19th & 20th) with your favorite Cuttings, Clippings, Starts, and Foraged Plants.
See you there!

Making

2010-01-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

We have been crafting up a storm around here, and I'm excited to share some of our recent projects with you! Unfortunately when our computer died in November we lost tons of photos of our apartment redo, (we've completed the living room and made some serious progress on the dining room) but I'm planning to reshoot some stuff this week. In the meantime here is my first pair of socks, made with "Mega Boots" wool that D gave me for Xmas.

"New Trees"

2010-01-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

I was flipping through a recent issue of Condé Nast Traveler (is anyone else getting subscriptions to all kinds of weird magazines now all our favorite ones are closing?) and came across these photos of "new trees" by photographer Robert Voit. Every once in a while Derek will point out a cell phone tower disguising itself as a piece of the natural landscape while we are out driving, and I find them so interesting. The evergreen "tree" with the streetlights coming out of its trunk is my all time favorite. A new book from Steidl comes out at the end of the month, and there is currently a show of this work up at the Amador Gallery in New York.

Survival Annex Opening

2010-01-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time at the opening of the Survival Annex on Friday night! Thanks to all who came out, and congratulations to Aurora and all the amazing artists who created work for the show. More pics here.

Survival Annex Shop within the Shoppe!

2010-01-07T11:17:00.001-08:00

Signs advertising the wide array of objects for sale in Aurora Crispin's Survival Annex (a shop within the Shoppe) that opens tomorrow, Friday January 8th 2010.

2010 is definitely starting off with a BANG here at the Curiosity Shoppe! Our wonderfully talented Shoppe Manager Aurora has curated an insanely ambitious show in our gallery space. A super artist herself, Aurora has wrangled up a long, long list of the most exciting and talented folks around to contribute to her shop within the Shoppe called Survival Annex. She and the awesomely talented Jesse Schlesinger have built an amazing structure in our gallery space that looks like some sort of surreal Gold Rush-era general store. It's beautiful and jam-packed with all manner of creative and unique and gorgeous objects. To learn more about the project, and see the list of participating artists/vendors check out the Survival Annex blog. Lauren and I also contributed to the Annex. I'm offering up 100% Raw Honey from my beehive ($10), and Lauren has created a series of crocheted spiderwebs ($25).

We hope to see you at the Grand Opening of the Survival Annex tomorrow, Friday January 8th, from 6-9pm inside the Curiosity Shoppe (855 Valencia St. btwn. 19th & 20th sts.)

Calendar-of-the-Month Postcards

2010-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, you can't ever have enough calendars (I've already got 3 going for 2010) and you know we love wallpaper, so this monthly "calendar-of-the-month" postcard subscription featuring a different vintage wallpaper on the front of each one is right up our alley. A one-year subscription is only $15 and is available for purchase at the mail order pals etsy shop.

We're back!

2010-01-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, friends! I didn't realize how long it's been since our last post here at smartsandcrafts until I sat down at the computer this morning. December is always a bit nuts for us at the shoppe, and we hightailed it out of town as quickly as we could on the 24th for our annual week away from all things work-related. Headed up to our favorite cabin on the Russian River again for 7 days of relaxation, hanging out by the fire, watching movies, taking walks among the redwoods, and visits with family. We have lots of exciting projects planned for 2010, and we're looking forward to a great year!

Coming in January...

2009-12-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

A shop in shoppe, also known as the Survival Annex, featuring work by dozens of amazing artists and curated by our very own Aurora Crispin. Stay tuned for more info! And in the meantime, check out this website!

Lauren's Wishlist

2009-12-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

All right, folks- one week and counting until Xmas day....
I was inspired by Derek's list of favorite items in the shoppe to put together one of my own- and here it is!
1. Crayon Rings by Timothy Liles
2. Chartreuse Tea Pot by Russel Wright
3. One Inch Necklace by Nous Savons
4. Yours 'Til Niagara Falls Postcard by Brooklyn Rehab
5. Stuffed Log Kit by My Imaginary Boyfriend
6. Wishbone Card by Threefold Collective
7. A Field Guide to Weeds by Kim Beck
8. Cats Let Nothing Darken Their Roar 2010 Calendar, by Noa Bembibre
9. Wooden Magnifying Glass by Singgish Kartono
10. "Brick" Rest Pillow by Linnea Blomgren

Thursday Photo Assignment: Blue

2009-12-17T17:30:00.001-08:00

Wow- look at all these incredible "blue" photos! The color ones are always my favorites. We're going to take a short break from photo assignments during the holidays, but please check back after the first of the year for our next theme. Thanks again, everyone!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Tony's photo

Dana's photo

Sparkie's photo

Linda's photo

Lennon's photo

Gregory's photo

Andrew's photo

Katey's photo

Leigh's photo

Kalli's photo

Tom's photo

Joelle's photo

Beth's photo

Deb's photo

Walnut Crafts

2009-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last night at the market I couldn't resist picking up a bag of walnuts, and I had fun making crafts out of the shells while our soup was simmering on the stove. We've been so busy with work the past couple weeks that I haven't been making much, so it was nice to bust out the ol' hot glue gun and take a little crafting break. Instant gratification!

A Few of Derek's Favorite Things...

2009-12-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

It's true that it's my job (and pleasure) to shop for the Curiosity Shoppe. But that doesn't mean I really get to shop in the Shoppe. So this Holiday Season I thought it would be fun to do a little shopping in my own Shoppe. Here's a handful of items I want to take home with me at the end of every day (clockwise from top left, sorta...):

1. Birdie Light by Kiel Mead. Kiel is a very talented young designer working in Brooklyn. He's got a wonderful aesthetic, and hits all the right notes for me: funny, functional, beautiful. (And I just realized he has 2 items on my list! Go Kiel!!)

2. Eye Clock. This is one of those things we sell here that if you get it, you really get it. If you don't, you don't. I love this clock. It's magically expressive and makes me happy. (For those of you asking yourself, "How is that thing a clock??", the one in the photo above reads 10:20. Get it?!))

3. Comb USB. I've been looking for a reason to carry a comb around in my back pocket since 1987. This is the excuse I've been dreaming of. Looks totally badass and holds 2 Gigs of data. And it keeps my hair in check.

4. Jason Polan Curiosity Shoppe Holiday Sampler. One of the biggest thrills of owning a business is collaborating with people you admire. I'm a huge fan of Jason Polan's work. He's an amazing artist, and an all around cool dude. He's always got a million projects going, so I'm especially thankful that he took the time, energy, and effort to make something super special for us this Holiday Season.

5. Handmade Baseball. Not many people know this about me, but I used to be a total "sport". Spent the first 14 years of my life with a baseball in my hand. But you don't need to be athletic, or even like sports to appreciate this gorgeous object. The lemon peel design is based on ye-olde baseballs, but the stitching gives these beauties a real contemporary edge.

6. Rope Money Clip. Hey, it's that Kiel Mead character again! I think money clips are classy. And I love rope. So there you go.

7. Wrench Bottle Opener. Looks like a cast iron wrench, feels like a cast iron wrench, opens bottles in a snap.

8. Letterpress Coasters. I love these super fun "Put It There Pal"coasters designed by the talented Matt Singer. The shape, the colors, the sentiment...right up my alley.

9. The Thing Issue #7. The Thing is a quarterly art subscription started by two amazing local artists Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan. We are 1 of 3 stores in the world lucky enough to carry Issue #7 which consists of a pair of glasses related to a new book by one of our favorite novelists, Jonathan Lethem, and designed by Selima (of Selima Optique) and Matt Singer (Oh wait, that makes 2 people who are on my list twice! Go Matt!!). The frames are super stylish (you can have your own prescription put in them) and the concept is great and fun and totally intriguing.

10. Poem Cup and Saucer (with pen and notebook). My morning ritual consists of coffee drinking and list making. This was made for me. And it looks great.

Thursday Photo Assignment: Trees

2009-12-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

Phew- these 12 and 14 hour work days in December are a doozy! Sorry I didn't get these up earlier! Looking at these beautiful tree photos, which are so lovely and quiet, are the perfect way to end a very busy day. Thanks to everyone who sent in their pics!

Next Thursday's photo assignment is: "blue". Please email your pics to smartsandcrafts@gmail.com before next Thursday if you'd like to participate.

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Natalie's photo

Brooke's photo

Leigh's photo

Kalli's photo

Caroline's photo

Beth's photo

Caitlin's photo

Kathy's photo

Tom's photo

Joelle's photo

Sparkie's photo

Andrew's photo

Mission Holiday Block Party!!

2009-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

We are so very thankful to have a shop in such a wonderful, vibrant, and unique neighborhood. Much of what makes the Mission District of San Francisco great has to do with our fantastically creative and hardworking neighbors. We are very excited to be participating again in this year's Mission Holiday Block Party. Please come down this Friday, December 11th and visit each and every one of the friendly, independently owned businesses in the neighborhood participating in this festive and fun event. From 5 to 10pm we'll be offering 10% off everything in the Shoppe, as well as free drinks and snacks. We've got tons of great new stuff arriving every day, so now is the perfect time to come say hello and pick up a little somethin'somethin' for all your friends and family. See you Friday!!!

Wooden Gift Tags by Miss Natalie

2009-12-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is in full force, and we are hard at work packing and shipping orders, making sure we have lots of fun items in stock, and helping customers pick out the perfect gift items for their loved ones this year. You all know by now that one of our very favorite things is working with artists to create exclusive items for the shoppe, and we are so excited that our friend Miss Natalie created these special, limited-edition wooden gift tag sets for us this year.
Natalie created a set of 4 hand painted, wooden gift tags that can be used to adorn your presents, and then be kept as Christmas Tree ornaments for years to come. There are only 36 sets available and they're going fast, so get yours while you can! (Click here to purchase.)

Stencil 101 Workshop this Thursday

2009-12-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

Ed Roth knows a thing or two about decorating with stencils. His how-to books, Stencil 101 and the new Stencil 101 Décor, are favorites of ours at the shoppe, and not only include awesome project ideas and instructions, but tons of plastic stencils that are ready to use. And we're not talking grape leaves and teddy bears here- Ed's designs include muscle cars, birds, and houndstooth prints. Actual patterns that we'd be happy to decorate our walls and furniture with.

Lucky for us, he will be stopping by the shoppe this Thursday. December 10th, from 7-9 pm to host a Stencil 101 Holiday Card Making Workshop. It's free to the public- no reservation required. Just stop by after work for a glass of wine and a little craftin' with Ed. It's guaranteed to be a blast.

Strange States of Matter Opening Reception Tonight!

2009-12-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

We have spent the past week ooh-ing and aah-ing over Tom Bonauro's amazing prints in the Shoppe gallery, and we'd love for you to join us tonight from 6-9pm to honor Tom and celebrate the holidays with a glass of bubbly. What makes this show particularly exciting for us is that Tom has created a variety of works that are not only beautiful, but affordable. From the framed works, to the limited edition "What the Hell" prints, this is the perfect opportunity to join the ranks of the SFMOMA and add a piece of Tom's work to your own personal collection.

Oh yeah, and we're offering 10% off all items in the Shoppe!!

Here are the details:
Tom Bonauro/Strange States of Matter Opening Reception
at the Curiosity Shoppe
Tonight! Saturday, December 5th, 6-9pm
855 Valencia Street, San Francisco
415-671-5384

Hope to see you there!

Coin Purse Love

2009-12-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite new items in the shoppe this holiday season is the handmade Kisslock Coin Purse from eleen. (I plan to "gift" one to myself for Christmas.) We met Eleen at the Renegade Craft Fair last year, and she was kind enough to make some of her lovely coin purses for us to sell in the shoppe. They are made out of grey wool with a cute wool ¢ appliqué on it, and you know we're all about appliqué right now- and she even let us choose the interior fabric design. (We chose woodgrain of course!) I have had a kisslock coin purse closure in my craft bucket for a couple years now and still haven't made anything with it, and these little purses have inspired me to find the perfect fabric and give it a try.

Speaking of Renegade, they are putting on some holiday craft fairs this month in Chicago and SF. Check their website for more info!

Thursday Photo Assignment: Hands

2009-12-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving- was that already a week ago?? These "hands" photos are great! Next week's theme is: "trees". Email your photos to: smartsandcrafts@gmail.com before next Thursday if you'd like to participate!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Andrew's photo

Tom's photo

Joelle's photo

Caitlin's photo

Janet's photo

Hana's photo

Beth's photo

Sparkie's photo

This Just In!!!

2009-12-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

As we mentioned in our last post, our friend Lea of Leafcutter Designs (and the World's Smallest Postal Service fame...) is a never ending source of wonderfully creative ideas. To prove that point, Lea just invited us (and therefore YOU) to participate in a super exciting and fun new project.

This one involves the 500 Colored Pencils Subscription Set from Felissimo that we've been drooling over. Well, Lea won herself a couple subscriptions and would like to share the love with all of us. Instead of keeping the beautiful set to herself, she is going to be sending out pencils to anyone interested in contributing to "With A Pencil In My Pocket". She explains the project in detail on her site, but basically you sign up (for $35) and each month (for the next 20 months) you will be sent one of these very special pencils. You will then be tasked with doing something that you feel represents the color of your particular pencil, and then writing a very short story about your experience. Check out her site for some really good examples.

Spots are limited, and filling up quickly, so head on over to Lea's site and sign up now!

We can't wait to get started! This is going to be awesome!!

Lea's Curio Search

2009-12-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

You may know Lea Redmond of Leafcutter Designs from her monthly visits to the shoppe with the World's Smallest Postal Service. She is also the brains behind the ever-popular wiggly eye dice and earrings for spontaneous seeding that we sell. Every time we see Lea, she's got a new brilliant idea that she executes to perfection, whether it's a matchbox theater, a teacup lending library, or a"noodle performance kit". A new service that Lea offers through her website is the Curio Search, which operates as follows:

You give her a list of 20 descriptive words and a price limit, and she will search high and low for the perfect curio to send to you in return, along with a letter explaining the history of the object. Genius, right?

Here are some examples (and results) of recent searches:

Words: new orleans cat vintage paper lantern flower lunch box texture floaty pen creative mermaid shoes tea towel art flirty romantic

Result: Mermaid Fishing Lure

Words: Josh, creative, orange, green, glasses, left, loved, loving, diligent, hilarious, gadget, Apple, Fall, Christy, Cade, Clara, parent, fourteen, cat, computer

Result: Folding Heart Glasses

Lea will be at the shoppe this Sunday, December 6th with the World's Smallest Postal Service (her last visit of the year) from 1-5pm. Stop by, say hello, and don't forget to bring your holiday notes and addresses for Lea to transcribe onto microscopic stationery and envelopes!

Craft-a-thon

2009-12-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Our friends Jen and Josh came over last Friday for Thanksgiving leftovers and an evening of crafting. Lucky for me, they left their felt beet and pie pins here, and I've enjoyed wearing them on my sweater the past couple days.

Holiday Windows!

2009-12-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, our friend Kate Pruitt (a regular contributor of incredible DIY projects to design*sponge) came by with a car full of amazing props to deck our our windows for the holidays.

She whipped up this cozy, miniature bear den, complete with a chair, gift pile, pendant lamp, and (best of all) framed Wayne White and Curiosity Shoppe Small Stakes prints.

These ingenious paper trees were a breeze to make, using fringed paper, wooden dowels, and our trusty hot glue gun.

Bear paws by Derek, and wallpaper background by Lena Corwin!

Here's Kate, among her forest of paper trees.

Apple Place Settings

2009-12-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, and used apples as our place settings.

Scenes from the workshop

2009-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to Kayte Terry for a great workshop last Saturday!
Make sure to check out her amazing book and craft kits, now available in the shoppe.

They're Baaaack!!

2009-12-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

It has become a holiday tradition here at the shoppe to showcase the work of our pal Jason Munn of The Small Stakes during the month of December. This year we have 10 new posters from on display, all screen printed by hand in beautiful Oakland, for bands such as Andrew Bird, Death Cab for Cutie, The Dirty Projectors and the Monsters of Folk. Awesome!! I mean, just look how excited Derek is in the photo!

Available in the store only (if you'd like to purchase them online, please visit Jason's site.) C'mon over and check them out!

Stufffing? or Mashed Potatoes?

2009-11-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Appliqué Workshop with Kayte Terry tomorrow!

2009-11-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

Please join us at the shoppe tomorrow for a super fun workshop with author and crafter extraordinaire Kayte Terry. She's got a great new book out called Appliqué Your Way and will be on hand signing books and demonstrating how to make an adorable felt ornaments. The event is free, and no reservation is necessary. Just come on by!

Appliqué Workshop with Kayte Terry
Saturday November 21st, 1-4pm
855 Valencia Street (between 19th & 20th)

Wish We'd Known Ya...

2009-11-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

Glenn Remick (January 21st, 1951—November 2nd, 2009)

"He also threw darts in his garage, pausing to sip the beer he made in his home brewery."

Thursday Photo Assignment: Home

2009-11-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

Another wonderful collection of photos this week! Speaking of "home", I hope you are all able to spend some quality time at home with friends and loved ones on Thanksgiving next week. We're going to take a break from the photo assignment next Thursday, but will be back on 12/3. The photo assignment for 12/3 is: "hands". (We haven't done that one, already, have we?) As always, email your photos to: smartsandcrafts@gmail.com if you'd like to participate. Thanks everyone!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Lise's photo

Kalli's photo

Sparkie's photo

Christine's photo

Camilla's photo

Leigh's photo

Andrew's photo

One more pic from last week's photo assignment

2009-11-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

Don't know how I missed this one, but the ever-talented Mr. Andrew Paynter submitted this amazing photo for last week's "upside down" assignment! I'll be posting the "home" photos in a couple hours, so if you've got one, please send it over!

More love for Wallpaper Projects

2009-11-17T19:06:00.001-08:00

Check it out! Wallpaper Projects made it into the new issue of O!

Jazz on a Summer's Day

2009-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite movie, and it is called Jazz on a Summer's Day. Somehow Netflix knew that I would enjoy it (don't you love when that happens?) and as soon as I saw the DVD cover art and read the description I was sold. "Filmed at the 1958 Jazz Festival at Newport, Rhode Island, this easygoing documentary affords an intimate, atmospheric glimpse of a historically significant musical event. Performing at the festival were jazz heavyweights such as Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Thelonious Monk, Mahalia Jackson, Dinah Washington, Gerry Mulligan and Anita O'Day. Fascinating viewing for jazz and documentary fans alike."

This film is so beautifully shot and the music is sooo good, that I watched it twice in a row while I was working at home the other day. Director Bert Stern is probably best known for his beautiful photographs of iconic female actresses such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. It's his photographer's eye that makes every shot of this film look like a still from the pages of LIFE Magazine circa 1958, when all the ladies wore red lipstick and the gents looked dapper with their clean haircuts and cool shades. Couldn't recommend it more.

Thursday Photo Assignment: Upside Down

2009-11-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

My whole world's turned upside down! Thanks everyone for submitting another collection of awesome pics this week. Next week's photo assignment is: "home". Email your pics to smartsandcrafts@gmail.com before next Thursday if you want to play!

Lauren's photo

Tom's photo

Aurora's photo

Sparkie's photo

Lise's photo

Leigh's photo

Joelle's photo

Beth's photo

Conn's photo

When in doubt, flat-iron it out

2009-11-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Derek's solution to getting wrinkles out of your tie when you're walking out the door on your way to a dinner party? A quick run through your wife's flat iron. Works like a charm.

Tom Bonauro Shoppe Exclusive!!!

2009-11-07T12:11:00.001-08:00

Hooray! We've got two very exciting new items in the Shoppe by one of our favorite artists of all time, the lovely and talented Mr. Tom Bonauro. The first is a brand new set of works created exclusively for the Curiosity Shoppe! Each of these 3 gorgeous silk screened prints features images from an ongoing body of work entitled "The Third Stage of Matter". The set also includes a beautiful vellum cover sheet and comes in a specially made die-cut case. The whole wonderful package has been masterfully printed and produced right here in San Francisco by John Sullivan of Logos Graphics. We were lucky enough to visit John and see some of the prints being made...

(images from logosgraphics.net)

The second is a very special limited edition book of Tom's remarkable photography. Before Zero features dozens of magical images captured on his Polaroid SX-70. From dreamy colorscapes to remarkable "portraits" of artwork, icons, and nature scenes shot on the clever canvas of a television screen, each image exemplifies Tom's fantastic eye for color, form, and beauty in the everyday.

We'll be hosting a celebration of his work here in the Shoppe on December 5th, but more on that later...In the meantime, check out Victoria's fantastic post about Tom over on sfgirlbybay.

Thursday Photo Assignment: The Road

2009-11-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

Well you never know when I'm going to get swamped and need an extra day to gather and post all the photo submissions for the week... oh well, that's life!! This week's collection was well worth the wait though- these "road" photos are incredible!! Next week's photo theme is: "upside down". Please email yours over (to smartsandcrafts@gmail.com) before next Thursday if you have one you'd like to submit! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Victoria's photo

Lise's photo

Tom's photo

Andrew's photo

Lydia's photo

Kalli's photo

Joelle's photo

Isabel's photo

Eran's photo

Beth's photo

Elizabeth's photo

Conn's photo

Christine's photo

Audrey's photo

April's photo

Disco Street!

2009-11-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

Disco Street from Smarts & Crafts on Vimeo.

There is a disco ball installed in a tree near our house, and on Halloween night they had colored lights shining on it that we'd never seen before! The music (by a band called Timber Timbre) adds a little Twin Peaks element to it, don't you think?

Absolute Sellout

2009-11-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

The folks over at Absolute Sellout have got a good thing going. Fun, thoughtful, and totally covetable items presented with perfect simplicity. Their first collection was called "Objects and Literature", and they've recently moved on to their 2nd, entitled "Going Out Of Business" (hehe). Lots of great stuff to buy (or regret not having bought)...

Couch Saver

2009-11-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Over the years we have tried all kinds of tricks to try and get our kitties to stop scratching our furniture. For a short while we even laid aluminum foil over the back of the sofa when we weren’t home! (Someone told us that the sound would scare the cats when they jumped up onto the couch.) But they have always found ways to thwart our efforts, and therefore we have lived with shredded furniture for as long as I can remember. Store-bought scratching posts always cost way too much money and are usually pretty ugly, and who knows if your cats will even use them? They’re so picky and would always rather scratch up the furniture anyway. Softpaws worked for a little while, but were too high maintenance, and somehow Carter can still destroy fabric with them on!?

Now hopefully we have come to an agreement. We recently cleared out our closet (more on that later) and installed a little homemade scratching post on the inside wall which is basically a piece of masonite with rope wrapped around it that attaches to the wall with screws. Thankfully, they have been loooving it and seem to have forgotten about the sofa, at least for now....

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"? or "A Charlie Brown Xmas"?

2009-10-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday Photo Assignment: Trick or Treat

2009-10-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treat, everyone! Hope you all have a very festive Halloween. Next week's photo theme is: "the road". Please send your pics to smartsandcrafts@gmail.com before next Thursday!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Lise's photo

Jonathan's photo

Aurora's photo

Beth's photo

Tony's photo

The Doors? or Led Zeppelin?

2009-10-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday Photo Assignment: Sticks & Stones

2009-10-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Oops! All day yesterday I was walking around thinking it was Wednesday, and I completely forgot to post our "sticks & stones" photo assignment! Here they are....

Oh and PS- next week's photo assignment is "trick or treat", in honor of Halloween and our new gallery show. Send 'em over to smartsandcrafts@gmail.com and they will be posted next Thursday. Promise!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Karen's photo

Jonathan's photo

Beth's photo

Lise's photo

Joelle's photo

Christine's photo

Audrey's photo

Aurora's photo

Passport Event at the Shoppe this Saturday!

2009-10-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to be one of the local merchants participating in the San Francisco Arts Commission's Passport 2009 event in the Mission this weekend. It's a great way to support the arts in San Francisco and the perfect opportunity to meet many of the most talented and exciting artists working in the Bay Area right now. There's tons of information below, but basically this is how it works: 12 awesome artists will be hanging out in 12 locations around the neighborhood this Saturday from noon to 4pm (artists and locations listed below). You purchase a special moleskine "passport" and are given a map indicating the various locations around the Mission. Then you tour around the neighborhood collecting the special stamps each artist has created for the event in your passport.

Passport 2009
Saturday, October 24, noon–4 p.m.
Passport 2009 home base: Mission Playground, Valencia between 19th & 20th (directly across the street from the Curiosity Shoppe).
Stamps located at various locations in the Mission District, San Francisco
Pick up a map, purchase a passport, or bring family and friends to relax on the lawn and enjoy a hot dog and soda. Nice.

Participating Artists: Libby Black, Michelle Blade, Lisa Congdon, Maria Forde, Colter Jacobsen, Veronice De Jesus, Sean McFarland, Barry McGee, Tucker Nichols, Maria Proges, Clare Rojas, Andrew Schoultz, Marci Washington

Participating Locations: Aquarius Records, Bombay Ice Cream Company, Paxton Gate, 826 Valencia, Mission Pie, Box Dog Bikes, Needles & Pens, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Casa Sanchez Restaurant, Dynamo Donuts & Coffee, Curiosity Shop, Schmidt’s. Click here for a map of the locations.

How to Buy a Passport
Passports are $25. Available NOW at locations including the SFAC Gallery, Electric Works Gallery, Silverman Gallery, Rare Device and at the Passport 2009 kick-off party or you can buy Passports online by clicking here or here! Passports may also be purchased the day of the event, at Passport 2009 home base, located at the Mission Playground, (enter on Valencia between 19th & 20th).

Passport 2009 is organized by the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. Proceeds from the event go toward the SFAC Gallery’s Programming Fund, which supports artist honoraria and exhibition costs.

The Catcher in the Rye? or The Great Gatsby?

2009-10-20T17:52:00.001-07:00

Making stuff at home that you can buy at the store

2009-10-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that while we love living in the city, we have dreams of someday moving to the country and learning how to live off the land. In an ideal world, we'd figure out a way to enjoy country life without giving up our connection to the culture, art and community that we love so much about urban life, but for now the best we can do is embrace the city while learning as much as can about the art of making things at home. First step: cooking.

We are fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood that is chock-full of amenities, including some of the nicest restaurants in San Francisco. We live within walking-distance of some of our very favorite places to eat, which means we eat out... a lot. There is an appreciation for food in this town that we've never experienced anywhere else, and the opportunities to enjoy incredible produce and artisanal meats, dairy products and prepared foods are plenty. Of course once you have tasted the amazing flavor of $6 yogurt and $8 preserves, it's really difficult to go back to the bland, watery stuff that comes from the supermarket. And so we have started making stuff at home, which is not only educational, fun and rewarding, but even MORE delicious than the fancy stuff from the local market.

Aside from home-grown honey, which we have been enjoying for a year now, we roast coffee beans at home, make yogurt and granola weekly, and have recently been experimenting with bread, sauces and preserves. Since we don't have our own garden, we happily accept donations from the bounty of our families' gardens, which have provided us with pounds of apricots, apples, tomatoes and squash over the past year.

Making yogurt is ridiculously easy. We take a quart of milk, put it in a saucepan and heat it up to 180º. Then we let it cool down slowly to 110º, stir in a tablespoon or two of yogurt from a previous batch, and let it sit overnight, maintaining a temperature of 110º. Our stovetop has gas burners with pilot lights that are always on, so we just put the hot milk/yogurt mixture in a jar, and place it in a cast iron skillet on a burner. By the next morning, we have yogurt! You could also place your jar in the stove or in a cooler filled with warm water.

The super delicious and super simple granola recipe came from my Mom, and you can download it here.

Derek orders a few pounds of green beans from Sweet Maria's every couple months, and at around $6/pound for pretty much the best beans around (our current favorite is a Yirga Cheffe from Ethiopia), you can't go wrong. The roasting takes about 10-15 minutes per batch, and he roasts them in our "coffee" table in the living room every couple weeks.

My sister let us fill up a bag of tomatoes from her garden last weekend, which we turned into an amazing tomato sauce with the help of a KitchenAid strainer attachment that we borrowed from Leigh & Andrew. Derek cooked down the tomatoes, which we ran through the strainer and then thickened up with some onions and spices. Delicious!

Thursday Photo Assignment: Curl

2009-10-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the curl photos of the week! I love 'em!! Next week's theme is: "sticks & stones". Please email your pics to: smartsandcrafts@gmail.com before next Thursday!

Derek's photo

Lauren's photo

Lise's photo

Jacqueline's photo

Tony's photo

Beth's photo

Leigh's photo

Aurora's photo

Jonathan's photo

Lydia's photo

Trick-or-Treatzone!

2009-10-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

How excited are we to be hosting an art show by our friends from Treatzone, Sandy & Matthew Davis? (And how lucky are we that we get to be friends with so many of the talented artists and designers whose work graces the walls and shelves of our little shoppe??) Next weekend they will be in the shoppe gallery installing their show, Trick-or-Treatzone (just in time for Halloween!), and we would love for you to join us at their opening reception a week from this Friday. I promise we will have candy corn. And maybe even mini-Snickers. Here are the details:

Trick-or-Treatzone
Spooky new work by:
Sandy Lynn & Matthew Davis (aka Treatzone)

October 20-November 22, 2009

Opening Reception:
Friday, October 23rd
6-8pm
at The Curiosity Shoppe
855 Valencia Street, SF

Sneaky peeks of some of their artwork below...