Triumphant Return!

Hello Lovely Readers!
I'm back from Portland & in a super-duper good mood! Vacation will do that to you *wink*
My arrival to the City of Roses was a late one indeed. I rolled in around midnight on Monday and my friend Eli picked me up from the airport. What a doll! We got up fairly early on Tuesday and hit the ground running. Breakfast @ Paradox was Eli's call and a delicious call at that. I had the vegan "eggs" benedict, so filling, so yummy and totally affordable. Then we were off to visit a ton of fabric stores and to take a stroll across the St. Johns Bridge - which I was totally into and then I sort of wimped out over the height. It's a TALL ass bridge and I'll admit it - I was scaredy fraid. BUT the photo ops from that height we're uh-mazing! See? It was so beautiful it didn't feel real. How many places can you say that about? Well, sure there are others, but c'mon you know what I mean.
There are a lot of reasons to LOVE Portland. The people are friendly even when they're in traffic! On top of being friendly, they are also crafty, stylish, well read & well fed! We went to get bubble tea (the best I've EVER had) one afternoon and I picked up a the Microcosm Publishing catalog! It is filled with crafty and informative zines - TONS of them! I wish Austin's zine scene could compete, but Portlands zinesters are in a league of their own. If you love zines I suggest you give the Microcosm catalog a thorough flipping (or clicking) through.
Unfortunately I arrived JUST after Crafty Wonderland, it's just how the dates worked out, but next year I think I'm going to try and participate. Portland NEEDS some Model Citizen action AND I am happy to report that they won't have to wait until next year for that to happen! Soon - Naked City on Hawthorn will be carrying Model Citizen Clothing! I stopped by one afternoon to met the owner and we are a go! I'll keep you all posted as to when the goods get there.
I also met with Michael @ Tinymeat and got to see their awesome space in the Mississippi neighborhood. We went to lunch and talked about crafting and what is to come next in the craft scene. Enlightening and fun! Before we parted ways Michael gave me a few wallets that I had designed for them and in the coming weeks I'll be giving one of those wallets away to one very lucky reader. Stay Tuned!

A week in an amazing city leaves me with too much report, but here are some other highlights from my trip:
*Seeing Austin's band (LIONS) play a show at the East End with Red Fang! I picked up one of the coolest band t-shirts I've EVER owned!

*Visiting Voodoo Doughnuts in the middle of the night and loading up on crazy deliciousness! We got one TEX-ASS doughnut which was just a big-ass doughnut! Like the size of a dinner plate. We also got a Maple Bacon eclair kind of thing that everyone fought over due to it's extremely tasty nature. Then there was my favorite - The Old Dirty Bastard. Oreo cookies, chocolate & peanut butter. Watch out! It was incredible & edible & undeniably my favorite. This place could keep Portland dentists in business.

*Taking a lot of photo booth pictures with some of my oldest & greatest friends. See:


*The afternoon I spent with Austin @ The Portland Classical Chinese Garden. It's a living museum tucked into the middle of downtown. Once you enter you just forget where you are & it's uh-mazing! Perfect date place, if you ask me.

*And last but not least, my friend Russ from Seattle came to see me for a few days & we drove out to Multnomah Falls. Again - it was so lovely that I just couldn't believe it was real. Strange Magic indeed. I say that because I had Strange Magic stuck in my head for the entire trip. Thanks ELO.


To see more photos check out my flickr PDX 2009 set.

Where did YOU go on vacation this summer? Do I need to add it to my long list of places to see before I die? Tell me all about it!

xo!
Bonnie Rue

Creatures of Delight

I was checking out some of my blog posts from last year when I came across Making Old Art New Again & realized it was high time I do some creative recycling again. Over the past few days I've been working on these Creatures of Delight Earrings (seen above). If one of these ladies looks familiar it's because she lives on the cover of a Tinymeat wallet!
Perhaps you are familiar with my scribblings & know that I rarely draw pictures of actual people. When I have in the past it's always been practice for the autobio"graphic"al novel I plan to put together one day. For the most part though I draw imaginary girls. Girls who are missing limbs, faceless bitches & anthropomorphic ladies are my favorite things to draw. Oh & hairdo's - always hairdo's! That's where this Creatures of Delight series started, with big colorful hairdo's. I'm from Dallas, big hair is in my blood. The bigger the better! *that's what she said*

When sporting a massive do you need BIG earrings and thus - Creatures of Delight Earrings were born! They are still in production & are not in the shop just yet, but they will be very soon!

I decided to photograph the jewelry before I put the hooks on because geometrically they look soo good together. They wanted to have their picture taken right away & I never say no to a pretty lady who wants to be in pictures. The first batch of these new gems are going directly to Sparrow Collective in Milwaukee, WI (previously called Fasten Collective) which is having it's grand opening on May 16th, 2009. I've been hearing amazing things about this shop, so if you are in the area you should definitely swing by & help Sparrow Collective become what really made Milwaukee famous.

Other drawings are being turned into wearable pieces of art as we speak (er, type)! I'll photograph and post as soon as they are ready to hit the stage.

Crafty Wonderland!

I was struttin' my stuff at Crafty Wonderland in Portland, OR and I didn't even know it! My dear friend Eli snapped this photo of the Tinymeat set up for me, because she rules. Know this. I am so thrilled to see my work sitting right next to Emily Martin's! Woo Hoo!
I do not participate in many craft fairs unfortunately. Between the day job and running Model Citizen I don't have a lot of time. On top of that there are just so many to keep track of! Thank heavens for sites like Indie Craft Shows Dot Com and Taryn Hipp's Indie Craft Fair Guide. If it is crafty and happening on this planet you will find all the info you need on one of these two site. Incredible amounts of information! Color me seriously overwhelmed.
In 2009 I hope to do more shows, be a bit more free, travel more... If you are in Austin and would like to travel out of town for another show but feel that you can't afford the travel expenses and booth fee's then you should hit me up, maybe we could go together, split the booth, gas cost, all that stuff! What better way to make friends?

Everything hits at once!

September is slipping out the door and now it is crunch time for Bazaar Bizarre!
Luckily for me Austin has returned from his tour (!!!) and now I have some helping hands, which are much needed!
He got into town @ midnight on Sunday, so last night was our real first night together. Austin made vegan tortilla soup*, we watched Heros, & I showed him how to make some jewelry. It was very relaxing. We both needed a night of puttering around. He's been living in a van on tour with the Toadies for a full month & I spent the weekend roaming around ACL, drinking vodka & vitamin water. More on this later...

Pretty exciting news!
Just as Austin & I finished dinner last night I got word that Tinymeat has finished one of the wallets I designed for them! It's now available in their shop - check it!


Also, remember the coloring book I told you about a while back? Well it's done!
It's called Peer: 25 Artists 25 Self Portraits
Who else participated? Here is a sneak preview of the each artists page along with their names & a link to their personal websites. Pre-order for the book begins now & shipping will start on October 1st.
When you get your copy & color it there is a Peer flickr group for you to post your fun to. There is a Peer 25 Vol. 2 in the works, so if you are thinking to yourself "I would love to be a part of a project like this!" all you have to do to throw your hat in the ring is email Rene of Wolfie & the Sneak with 3 images of your work.
nobiting [at] gmail.com



*if you would like our Vegan Tortilla Soup recipe I am happy to share - it is TASTY!