Author Archives: alyson

blocky in a snow storm.

Written on December 23, 2009 by in blocky, my artsy stuff


we’re celebrating our xmas tonight by exchanging presents and eating tapas (including some jamon iberico that slipped into our bags from Barcelona), then off to celebrate with my family tomorrow. I’m *very* excited to give steve an awesome gift that I made over the last week or so. Will post about it in the new year.

I finally got around to making a 3D blocky, and I couldn’t be happier! Made from air-drying clay. The trees are from a model-making kit. I have no idea where the bird came from, but I’m super happy that I hoarded it. Snow is that great corn-based “styrofoam” which dissolves in water.

I’ll be back in January, so happy holidays!

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spilling is the worst

Written on December 18, 2009 by in blocky, everythingistheworst, my artsy stuff, watercolor
original 5×5, watercolor and ink on 90lb watercolor paper

I’m a recovering klutz.

Growing up, I seemed to spill everything. all the time. I also had an uncanny knack for whacking the shit out of my elbows on doorframes, you know, just walking around the house. I’m going to go ahead and blame that on what must be exceptionally narrow door frames in my childhood home in Texas, since I haven’t done it my apartment here in SF.

But the spilling….yeah, that still happens. I used to get really upset when I spilled things, like it was proof of something wrong with me. ( I think I was really hard on myself growing up). Now, I don’t care. Which is much better. At least for my psyche….not for the carpet (which, now that I’m thinking about it, has a new largish coffee stain, courtesy of yours truly from last weekend.)

At least steve has become an absolute pro at spill alleviation and stain removal. Add that to the old resume.

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wood trees at penpencilstencil

Written on December 17, 2009 by in other people


Love this handmade wooden forest, by Mark Giglio. Great smooth shapes. I think this would make an awesome little vignette on a shelf…maybe with a tiny wooden bear?

$200 at his online shop, penpencilstencil

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winning FAIL

Written on December 12, 2009 by in everythingistheworst, my artsy stuff, watercolor


(Not) awarded today to the rain and my popcorn kernels, which refused to gracefully transform into kettle corn. Thank you so much for the wet clothes and burned sugar pan. I appreciate it.

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Illustration Friday – Crunchy

Written on December 9, 2009 by in Illustration Friday, my artsy stuff, watercolor

No surprise that my mind when straight to food when I heard this week’s IF challenge “crunchy.” Also no surprise that I couldn’t pick just one.

1. carrot; 2. bacon (one could call bacon crunchy, right? one step past crispy in my mind); 3. peanuts; 4. celery; 5. pretzel; 6. apple; 7. bean sprouts; 8. biscotti; 9. nuts (almonds, peacan, hazelnut, cashew, walnut); 10. iceburg lettuce; 11. fried chicken; and, in honor of the holiday season, 12. candy cane joe joes.*

*I had to avert my eyes from them the last two times I was at Trader Joe’s. They are crack. If I don’t wait until mid-December, I can go through multiple boxes before xmas. It really isn’t a pretty sight.

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art in the age of awesome.

Written on December 8, 2009 by in city life, food, other people

Kate of For Me, For You had a great post today about gift ideas from AITA that reminded me of this post I’ve had in draft mode for a few weeks. So here it is!

I learned of the company Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and their root beer liquor, Root, from DesignSponge last month. At the the time, I was enjoying the wedding-induced overpurchase of Virgil’s Root beer. I have a fondness for almost all root beers, but Virgil’s is my favorite, because it isn’t super sweet and it is fairly complex, with flavors of wintergreen, herbs, vanilla, and spices.

The descriptions of Root sound similarly promising (“Incredibly unique in flavor, fairly clean on the palate with strong notes of birch, peppery herbaceousness, spices, citrus and vanilla bean,” “Imbued with notes of tobacco, vanilla and allspice,” “truly divine stuff, very much a root beer flavor but much more herbal and grown up,” “Straight up, it smells like birch and vanilla beans suffused with gentle wisps of pipe smoke. An ice cube releases some of the spices, dominated by the allspice.”)

And as if the concept and packaging design wasn’t enough, this little gem of a watercolor animation greets visitors to the website.

Love it. I’ve been contemplating a series of drawings related to adult beverages (with bourbon leading the pack) for a while now. This might be the push to get me to do it.

Aaaand… lucky for everyone who lives in SF, you can just head on down to Cask to pick up a bottle.

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smokey clouds

Written on December 2, 2009 by in blocky, everythingistheworst, my artsy stuff, watercolor
watercolor and ink, 5.5″ x 3.5″

Third in the “everything is the worst” series. It’s quite fun to draw these clouds. I imagine they are leftover from an explosion of some sort. Or something invisible burning. yep.

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tin cans are the best

Written on November 30, 2009 by in Uncategorized

Ugh. Why are the coolest things not for sale (yet?) when I am making my Xmas list?

Loving these tin can toppers from Jack Bresnahan, submitted to the New Designers Show in London. The combo of the tin with the white almost rubbery looking tops is excellent.

I already save (aka “hoarde”) almost every tin can I buy, and have re purposed them into vases and pen holders. See the moustached proof:

I picked up these jar tops from Jorre van Ast last December in the Netherlands, but despite the claims of “universal jar tops” they only seem to work with European jars (and we fortunately have some, but not many).

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jars are the worst

Written on November 30, 2009 by in blocky, everythingistheworst, my artsy stuff, watercolor
3.5″ x5″ watercolor and ink

Seriously. They are. Don’t let them fool you with their “usefulness” and “canning ability. Pure evil.
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holiday ideas from 7X7

Written on November 28, 2009 by in city life, holiday


Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way, it’s real holiday time!

7X7 magazine recently came out with a list of some great holiday ideas for celebrating in San Francisco…or as they dubbed it, “The San Francisco Holiday Survival Guide.”

Here are some of my favs:

3. Stock up on See’s lollypops for stocking stuffers (not to mention the perfect cross- country–flight oral fixation) at Simply Gourmet, Terminal 1. [Love the butterscotch.]

8. The miniature hand-pies from Bike Basket Pies—in apple, apple-cheddar, pumpkin and pumpkin-pecan—are small enough to eat after you’ve sworn you can’t eat another bite. bikebasketpies.com

10. Tartine’s bûche de Noël—a log look-alike made of chocolate chiffon cake and toasted-almond ganache, garnished with meringue mushrooms and pistachio “moss”—is a must. 600 Guerrero St., 415-487-2600, tartinebakery.com

11. Though you could drink the Tiger’s Milk No. 11 any time of year, this concoction of Spanish brandy, rum, sugar, cream and nutmeg seems perfectly appropriate for a rainy night. At Heaven’s Dog, 1148 Mission St., 415-863-6008, heavensdog.com

13. If the idea of combining calvados, amaro, apple butter and lemon strikes you as delicious, sample the Apple Bottoms Up, Hot Buttercup. At Conduit, 280 Valencia St.,
415-552-5200, conduitrestaurant.com

14. Heat up with a Fog Lifter (brandy, amaretto and coffee, topped with whipped cream) to help you shake the winter chill. At Range, 842 Valencia St., 415-282-8283, rangesf.com

17. Ton Kiang/Four Star Theatre
Dim sum first (don’t miss the delicate egg custard tarts), followed by a matinee—this is the gift you give yourself. Four Star Theatre, 2200 Clement St., 415-666-3488, hkinsf.com; 5821 Geary Blvd., 415-752-4440, tonkiang.net

19. Xiao Loong/Empire Theatre
Go to Xiao Loong for the soup dumplings and the Empire for the holiday matinees—tickets are only $7.75 before 2 p.m. Empire Theatre, 85 West Portal Ave., 415-661-2539, cinemark
.com/empire; Xiao Loong, 250 W. Portal Ave., 415-753-5678, xiaoloong.com

21. Tom Taylor and Jerry Goldstein’s home, located up one of the steepest streets in the Castro, is decorated to the kitsch hilt—make the pilgrimage once, and it will become a family tradition. 3650 21st St.

22. Take the guesswork out of everything with Lights of the Valley. This Web site catalogs the best and brightest throughout the Bay area—complete with a Google map—beginning Nov. 27. lightsofthevalley.com

23. If you’re going to do the tree-lighting thing, go old-school: At Macy’s in Union Square on the evening of Nov. 27 (the day after Thanksgiving), artisans’ wares and free entertainment will keep you amused until the 85-foot tree lights up. macys.com/pressroom

25. For a ritual that’s literally “only in San Francisco,” watch 17,000 bulbs light up the four iconic skyscrapers of Embarcadero Center on Nov. 21, preceded by a winter carnival and ice-skating at the Embarcadero Ice Rink. embarcaderocenter.com

26. Proceeds from the sale of trees at the Guardsmen Lot at Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion benefit at-risk youth, and they have bouncy houses for the kids and will deliver your tree. 415-771-7747, guardsmen.org

28. Cliff’s Variety has it all—fake trees, tinsel trees, lights, ornaments and scores of last-minute stocking stuffers. 479 Castro St., 415-431-5365, cliffsvariety.com

29. Go guilt-free this year by purchasing a “Christmas tree” from Friends of the Urban Forest and SF Environment. Choose a non-traditional variety (we’re partial to the small-leaf tristania), enjoy it during the season, then give it back to be planted on an SF city block. sfenvironment.com/greenchristmas

31. Hip little Heartfelt in Bernal Heights has every stocking stuffer you never knew your friends needed (Japanese erasers? Vintage dish towels? Kids’ bath toys?). Wrapping is artful and free. 436 Cortland Ave., 415-648-1380, heartfeltsf.com

32. Local website Foodzie is your go-to site for foodie gifts. Artisanal edibles include Rick’s Picks pickled beets, Oakvale Farmstead Gouda and organic Whoopie Pies from
Little Laura’s Sweets. foodzie.com

39. Just when you’ve begun to weary of holiday shopping, the Bazaar Bizarre comes to town, with its cool-kid collection of hand-crafted wares. Dec. 12–13, County Fair Building at Golden Gate Park, bazaarbizarre.com *

43. There’s no better deal than renting a house through VRBO. Where else can you find an old, four-bedroom farmhouse in Bernal Heights for $400 a night, or a Noe Valley Victorian big enough for all the visiting relatives? vrbo.com

49. Hike the seven-mile Dipsea Trail—one way. Have your good friends pick you up in Stinson Beach and then down a round of beers.

50. Get a little culture in with your exercise for one of dozens of architectural walking tours with SF City Guides. sfcityguides.org


* There’s also the Etsy Handmade Ho-down on December 3rd, Drinking and handmade gift shopping? Count me in.


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