Visiting Etsy Lab in Brooklyn, NY!

I hope everyone had a very good New Year's Eve and that 2012 will be a healthy happy year for all! 

DUMBO -  "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass"

I wanted to show you a fun evening that a friend and I had before Christmas in the Etsy headquarters located at 55 Washington Street in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The Etsy website is the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace for handmade articles made by independent sellers, as well as vintage article and craft supply sellers.

Etsy hosts free weekly craft nights in their Etsy Lab in Suite 712 (7th floor) in the same building as their headquarters.

A friend and I were here to attend a workshop being sponsored by Simplicity to show us how to make felted ornaments from roving, yarn and other scrap fabrics.

Michele Muska from Simplicity Creative Group was demonstrating one of the six deluxe 12 needle felting machines Simplicity was donating to Etsy Labs.  The machines can work with one to twelve barbed needles at once, enabling fabrics to mesh together to create new color and texture combinations . It requires no threading or sewing.  You can watch a video on how the machine works on the Simplicity web site here, or you can watch the video below of Michele as she demonstrated the machine in the Etsy lab:

Watch live streaming video from etsy at livestream.com

We admired Michele's beautiful felted examples, some of which you can see in the photo collage above, and then got to work to try out the machine and make our own.  My first attempt can be seen in the lower right corner of the photo collage. I combined different colors and shapes of felt and yarn to make a Christmas tree shape ornament. The machine was fun and easy to use and I saw some beautiful creations being made by the more talented artists around me.

I have to admit I also enjoyed watching the subway trains passing by on the Manhattan Bridge right outside the Lab's window, and my friend enjoyed perusing the large collection of craft books on the Etsy bookshelves. We also had a nice time chatting with the different workshop attendees and seeing examples of past craft night projects.

Thanks Etsy and Michelle -- we really enjoyed the class and made a vow that it would not be our last one.  Etsy Lab is closed for the month of January, but will be open afterward with a whole new program of fun classes and events. Etsy is always full of good craft ideas -- check out their blog's idea pages, and of course they have the most wonderful variety of handmade crafts made by independent artisans for sale on their website.

When we departed the workshop night had descended and the bridge was glowing in its spotlights.

Brooklyn's view of Manhattan at night is a beautiful one, especially on a misty night when the lights are soft and dreamy.

Make sure to come back for my next post where I'll show you a ethereal view of the Statue of Liberty I saw earlier that same day -- it was stunning!

I'm linking to the following blog events:

Mosaic Monday

Our World Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday

Many thanks to all the blog hosts!

Rocky Mountain Christmas High

If you are a long time reader of my blog the poinsettia tree above might be a familiar sight that you see this time of the year.  Every December, Denver International Airport is beautifully decorated with poinsettias and they are a happy sight for me as I begin a long holiday visit with my children and grandchildren.

My husband and I love the Rocky Mountain views we see in Colorado, no matter what time of the year we visit, but we agree that they are especially beautiful when the high peaks are snow capped.  The weather was wonderful for our visit, with cool, not cold, crisp air and mainly bright blue skies.

My oldest grandson had a birthday while we were in Colorado and there was a face painter and a balloon artist at his dinosaur themed birthday party. His little brother had lots of fun watching all the party festivities. Look at the stegosaurus birthday cake that is in the upper left corner of the photo mosaic above.  What a special treat!

We all had lots of fun doing many more things together as a family in the past two weeks. In the mosaic above from top left to bottom right is: my daughter's Christmas tree, together for my daughter's first bridal dress fitting, my daughter and her fiance's three cats, my grandson pretending to be a fireman at the Denver Children's Museum, another birthday dinner at the very kitschy "Casa Bonita" theme restaurant in Lakewood, my son and daughter-in-law's dog, a tour of Hammonds Candy Factory, where candy canes are still made by hand, and the Colorado Governor's Residence Christmas tree! 

We had early family Christmas celebrations and saw the beautiful Denver City and County Building all lit up in its annual splendor for Christmas!

The beautiful life size Nativity scene on site.

When my husaband and I returned home this evening we saw an unusual, but quintessential NYC sight as we waited for our luggage in John F. Kennedy International Airport.  Do you see it?

Another view

Yes, it was a rather plump and totally content pigeon sitting next to the luggage carousel belt!  What a funny "welcome home" sight to see.  It cheered me up a little as leaving my family in Colorado is always bittersweet. I already miss them so much, but I'm grateful we were able to celebrate an early Christmas together. I hope you are also enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

I'm linking thsi post to Mosaic Monday, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, and the Rednesday and Skywatch Friday blog events.  Thanks to all the blog hosts!

Solvang -- Danish Capital of California

Snuggled in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, is the charming town of Solvang, which translates a "Sunny Meadows," and is known as the 'Danish Capital of California."  One of my husband's co-workers told us to make an effort to take a detour east from Santa Barbara to visit this town on our trip north to San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway. She knew that we'd enjoy its friendly, fairy tale appearance.

Solvang was founded in 1911 on almost 9,000 acres of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant, by a group of Danes who traveled west to establish a Danish colony far from the Midwestern winters. There is still a significant Danish population in Solvang, and a number of bakeries, restaurants, and merchants offering a taste of Denmark. The architecture of many of the facades and buildings reflects traditional Danish style.

 
There was so much to see and do there that I'm sorry we could only spend one afternoon walking around town.

On the top floor of this charming little book store called The Book Loft, located at 1680 Mission Drive, was the Hans Christian Anderson Museum.  Hans Christian Anderson was Denmark's most famous writer.  Although Andersen wrote travel journals, plays, novels, and poetry he is best know for his endearing children's Fairy Tales, which have been translated into more than 100 languages.

The Book Loft also contained a large collection of books about all the Scandinavian countries,  books in the various Scandinavian languages, as well as book in English, and a large selection of children's books.

The museum is devoted to presenting the author's life and works. Displays include models of Andersen's childhood home and of his The Princess and the Pea fairy tale.. The museum also contains hundreds of volumes of Andersen's works, including many illustrated first editions.

We also took some time to visit the Mission of Santa Ines located at 1760 Mission Drive in Solvang.  Santa Ines is the nineteenth of 21 missions established by Franciscan priests from 1769 to 1823.  It was founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estévan Tapís. Santa Ines is the Spanish version of the name "Saint Agnes." Early English settlers changed the spelling to "Santa Inez" when naming the mountains surrounding the area. Saint Agnes was a Christian who was martyred for her faith in Rome in 304 AD. 

The interior of the church is beautiful and very decoratively painted. The statue of St. Agnes, dating from the 18th Century, is located in a niche above the main altar, and almost appeared to glow, as the soft afternoon light shone upon it.  The mission is still an active parish.

The historical museum at Santa Inés is one of the best in the mission chain. It contains an extensive display of Latin missals and handmade parchment music books, some far older than the mission and many magnificent works of art work, vestments, statuary, documents and mission  artifacts.

As with all the missions we visited on this trip, the gardens and cemetery of Santa Ines were lush and peaceful. We really enjoyed visiting this "Hidden Gem of the Missions," as it is also known.

Before we departed Solvang the next morning we stopped at Olsen's Danish Bakery for a Danish pastry and coffee.  There were so many delicious pastries to chose from that of course we had to have more than one!

We went back on the road, headed towards San Luis Obsipo.   I had to visit a fun location there that I read Susan Branch blog about ... I love Susan's cheerful  blog! I'll be sharing more about that in my blog post for Pink Saturday .. you won't want to miss it!

I'm linking this post to:

Mosaic Monday
Blue Monday
Ruby Tuesday
Our World Tuesday
Rednesday

Many thanks to all the blog hosts!

Autumn In Park Slope, Brooklyn

It was a very blustery Autumn day last Friday, and before all the leaves blew off the trees here in Brooklyn, New York, I thought I better go out and take some photos to capture their beauty.

I was in Park Slope, walking around Fifth and Seventh Aves.  As you can see more than one tree grows in Brooklyn, and they were scattering golden and  red leaves all over the stoops and sidewalks.

There is an eclectic assortment of homes in this neighborhood, many dating back to the 1800's. This charming house looks like it may have been a carriage house at one time, judging from the large doors.

A block of vintage apartment houses.

Another block has brownstones in different color hues.

Don't these wood clapboard homes look like they could be found in Colornial Williamsburg?

 These views remind me of an Edward Hopper painting.

I found this small public corner garden charming!

The avenues in Park Slope, Brooklyn are full of interesting shops and boutiques.

And some stores cater to Brooklyn pride.

Park Slope is considered one of the most desirable neighborhoods, and it is easy to see why!

I'm adding this post to the following blog events:

Mosaic Monday

Our World Tuesday

 Ruby Tuesday
                                

A French Flair in Brooklyn, New York

I love strolling around the Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York.  There are many beautiful brownstone homes from the 1800's along the side streets to admire.  Lately, I've been seeing many bicycles and Vespa scooters being used as transportation by the local residents, giving the area a European flavor.

Many of these neighborhoods have seen a strong French immigration since the late 1990's.  "About 3,000 French families have settled in the Carroll Gardens-Gowanus-Park Slope area of Brooklyn in the last 10 years," said Fabrice Jaumont, the education attache at the French Embassy to the Wall Street Journal.  Much of this is due to the recent French/English dual-language programs in the local public schools.  One of the nice aspects of the surge of French immigrants living in this area is the upswing of French bistros, bars and patisseries in the area, especially on Smith Street in Brooklyn, New York.

Cafe LULUc located at 214 Smith Street, near Butler Street is one such establishment.

It is a charming little bistro and has the soul of a diner with red leather booths, painted-tin ceiling, a large rear-wall mirror, water carafes, and magazine racks. Most importantly, their prices are moderate and their food is good!

Provence en Boite, located at 263 Smith Street, is a cozy patisserie and bistro. 

source

The owner and chef, Jean-Jacques Bernat, states on his web site that his bistro offers home made croissants, coffee and espresso, artisan breads, fine home made pastries as well as lunch and dinner prepared in the traditional manner of the French country household, using simple, fresh ingredients specially chosen to enhance each meal.

                           

Bar Tabac, located at 126 Smith Street and Dean Street, is a French styled bar and bistro. It will also be one of the hosts for the 8th annual Bastille Day celebration held in Brooklyn, beginning Sunday, July 10, 2011. Bastille Day, is the French national holiday that celebrates independence and freedom. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789. There will be two live bands, drinks by Ricard, French food, and a guillotine. Smith Street, between Bergan and Pacific, will be closed for traffic on Sunday and transformed into sandy petanque courts. The Pétanque Tournament is the largest in North America. Players from all over the country will form 80 teams and compete in the tournament.

If you'd like to see how the Bastille Festival is celebrated in both Brooklyn and Manhattan you can watch this short promotional video by Ricard:

There is certainly quite a bit of "joie de vivre" to enjoy in Brooklyn, if you know where to look!

I'm linking this post to Mary's "Mosaic Monday" event of her blog Little Red House, the Mellow Yellow Monday, "Ruby Tuesday" event on the blog Work of the Poet and the"'Rednesday" event on Sue's blog It's a Very Cherry World.  Please visit all these wonderful  blogs and join in all the fun!