Out with the Old, In with the Awesome

If you read my blog often or follow me on Twitter you know that I like to party with a purpose. You may recall my post about the Art Raffle we held a few months back? Well, me & the same group of friends held a YART Sale this weekend @ BiRDHOUSE Gallery. There were maybe 15 people total who brought out their unwanteds for the public to dig through. Clothes, books, records & nicknacks galore! Everyone also brought some art they'd made. Small zines, large paintings, photographs, prints, greetings cards, & even some sculpture pieces. It was really amazing, totally inspiring & quite profitable! I sold a bunch of old clothes, lot's of my new jewelry & a few prints, yay! We sat on the porch soaking up the sun, haggling our tails off drinking Tito's all day. Oh did I forget to mention that Tito's sponsored YART & gave us a case of vodka?! The folks at Tito's are mighty generous. I'm thinking of asking them to sponsor my next breakup... Anywho... Let me show you some of the incredible booty that I scored at YART. Prepare to turn green with envy!

First off Larissa Swindle put this little shindig together. Round of applause for her! I know that getting all of us together had to be a lot like herding cats. She had these amazing photographs she'd taken with her Holga and I was lucky enough to make three of them MINE! I came home & directly hung this shot in my kitchen, so I can see it every day. The kitchen - most popular room in the house.

Clayton Kalman created these "semi autobiographical" greetings cards - which I instantly fell in love with! Sure, Clayton is sort of my brother-in-law, but that doesn't make me biased. Cross my heart. I love that these cards are written on left-over sticky pages from an old photo album. You get the sense that he just had to tell someone this RIGHT NOW & found whatever was near by. I can't count how many times I've run into an X & thought this exact thing. If only I'd had this card or the balls to tell them. This next one is straight out of a movie. "I almost lost my job because I over slept... because you were in my bed." This is a note anyone would love to find on a pillow in the morning. It'll give you goose bumps & make you blush. I purchased a third card that reads "I surrender... I'll do anything you say". See what I mean about the goosebumps? The other amazing thing about these "greetings" cards is that they require no signature. I'm trying to convince Clayton to put these up on Etsy... If you would like to help me persuade him please leave a comment here so I can point wildly at them and make my case. I do have one item for sale in my shop that was created by Clayton - The Sinking Ship earrings. There are only 10 pairs - so when they are gone, they are gone.


Last but certainly not least - I picked up this Fake Steak that was created by a cute little vegan girl named Michelle. This makes me so happy I can hardly tell you! A screen print of a steak resting in a styrofoam shell & saran wrapped for your giggling pleasure. Finally! A steak that is good for something!


YART was so incredible AND we will be doing it again! I hope this post inspires you and your friends to get your YART on!

xo!
Bonnie Rue

Whistle While You Work

That's what I'm going to do.

SXSW is moments away! I've been a busy B trying to prepare for the shock to my system. Busy & super excited! Guests are flying in Wednesday and the house is almost ready. My boss is out of town until mid week so I'm holding down the fort by myself... Plus I'll be distributing all copies of VICE Magazine's SXSW Music Guide! Oh right and I need to restock Hovercraft & The East End Craft Gallery with spring goodness. Hoodies & Tanks here we come!
*Have I bitten off more than I can chew?*

No Way!

So what's been getting me through this hectic time? Well I've been listening to a lot of ladies from the west coast.
Hailing from Sacramento - Agent Ribbons - would be at the top of that list. She will be performing @ SXSW 5 times!!!
DO NOT MISS HER!


Also passing through my ears these days? My all time favorite (!!!) Songs for Moms. *Listen to "My Skin is a Grave Yard" - it's my favorite to sing in the car while I drive too fast*
If Dead Milkmen had not been men and rather women - they'd have been Songs for Moms. I love this band so much I actually did mail them a fan letter. If you find yourself crushing hard like I did then drop them a line:

Songs For Moms
1127 Peralta St.
Oakland, CA 94607

I'll probably be tweeting more than blogging during SxSW. Not following me on Twitter? Why not? I thought we were friends.

xo!
Bonnie Rue

Where to begin?

Oh man, with so many things going on it's impossible to keep this blog up to date!
Let's see... Where to begin? Ah, the Second Sunday Sock Hop Beach Party! Having a cold did not stop me from making an appearance at the hop on July 13th. I went dressed as if I were straight off the yacht with half a voice and a head full of Claritin. What fun! Hawaiian shirts, vintage bathing suits, sand, boys with beards getting "laid", hula hoops & kiddie pools! The weather was hot and balmy - in other words - perfect for the event. If you live in Austin and want to DANCE - this is it, this is what you need. Forget about work on monday, just slip on your flats and "shake it like you do when you wanna get you some!" The hop is my favorite event that happens all month. It will help you work out your frustration, but sadly it will not help you get over a cold. I hope they have another beach party, it was a blast... cold or no cold. Here's some photos:











My cold took a turn for the worst which caused me to miss the Tilly & The Wall show - suck! But once I was on the mend Austin and I headed down to Padre for a little family time. I guess the sock hop beach party left me wanting some real surf in my life. We drove in and went straight to the beach, where we drank tequila, floated in the waves and saw some real deal sea turtles! They had the sweetest eyes and were at least a foot and a half long! It was magical. We also ate some cocktail shrimp that were boiled in red hots (yes the candy) instead of things like celery salt, mustard seeds, ginger, pepper, cardamom, etc.. and they were DELICIOUS! We could not stop eating them! The day at the beach left me with a serious sunburn. It was really red, totally blotchy and left me napping on the couch for hours... eek. Note to self: More sunblock!
Seriously!

Now that I am home it's business as usual. Booking tours by day and art + craft + make by night! Ive got a new bracelet up in the shop, it will be hard to part with because I am IN LOVE with it!



Oh! I found out today that Tiny Meat will be making some of their awesome wallets using my art! Which has been a dream of mine. Realizing dreams is the best drug ever! You can see what the wallets will look like here and here.

Speaking of things that are addicting - have you gotten yourself a Twitter account yet? Go, go now! Let me know so we can "follow" eachother :)
Austin keeps his tour blog through Twitter. It's a little gritty and soaked booze at times, but always entertaining.

until next time...
xo,
B