I LOVE discovering a blog that covers something that appeals to several facets of what interests me in the art and design world.

That's why we were thrilled to meet Jeremy of ToyCyte this past weekend at Maker Faire.  Jeremy stopped by NifNaks table to discover all my recent creations in wool , and in doing so, I found out about all about ToyCyte, and their devotion to art and toys. What a neat site!

From designer toys and plushies, to action figures and papercraft, there's interesting coverage of up-and-comings for both boys and girls alike!

With only one week to feverishly felt, replenishing my stock of critters and wearable art, I was offered the delightful opportunity to participate in the innagural Mission Bazaar event in San Francisco.

This craft fair will meld the structure of art&craft fair, with the excitement and entertainment of a typical San Francisco performance/music event. From the producers of the Edwardian Ball and Spectra Ball, Mission Bazaar brings the San Francisco creative community together to celebrate art, design, music and performance.

Just going to shop is reason enough to go, but if you need another reason, this will be the first opportunity for the public to visit the inside of The Armory in 30 years! Cool, huh?

Stop by -- Mission Bazaar will take place on Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th from 10 am – 8 pm at The Armory at 14th & Mission in San Francisco.

There was too much to see and do at Maker Faire , witnessed by record number attendees. Luckily, I asked my partner run around to scope all of the cool stuff for me, so that during my break I could squeeze in as much cool Makers as possible. My highlights were playing with ferro fluid with super strong magnets, scale model battleships that really shoot each other down with tiny bee-bees, a vacu-form demonstration, getting zapped by a tesla coil, beautifully crafted steampunk art by Nemo Gould , watching the delight of members chosen from the audience as they explore the fire art of Interpretive Arson, 2piR .... and MORE.

Of course, Bizarre Bazaar was a huge success, thanks to the organization of Jamie Chan of Mary Jane's Attic , as well as the tireless efforts of Blas, Ana, and the rest of the Bizarre Bazaar volunteers!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table to pet my soft fuzzy critters and other creations!

All the vendors at BizBaz were again as cool as ever. I especially had fun working next to the awesome guys at Social Studies , Aldo and Sean. They make cool silk-screened designs for housewares, t-shirts and accessories, in addition to some AWESOME plushies (some complete with tiny nipples & umbillical cord, hee-hee!). I snagged a zipper-pouch from them which captured my eye (note the perfectly matching zipper!), and check out one of their totally rad dolls that I picked up last year:

Now I'm gearing up for my next show, Mission Bazaar , but more on that

BUTTON!!

I almost forgot! I also want to mention I now have a 6 pack of buttons, featuring some of the favorite NifNak critters! 

Pick them up at a steal for only $6 a pack.

I must once again give props to the wonderful design skills of my partner, Colin, aka. CatCubed , I now have 4 new spiffy business cards for NifNaks.

Remember those bubblegum cards we collected when we were kids, where the backs of the cards fit together like a puzzle to make a larger picture? Well check out the new design of my cards below!



Collect all

In need of a NifNaks photo/promo book to showcase my products at Maker Faire, a friend suggested using iPhoto. I know I'm probably THE LAST person to know this, but I discovered how I can create a photo book in iPhoto, and have Apple print and ship it to me in less time than if I did all the work myself! It seemed hard to believe, but I just submitted my layout minutes ago, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the shipment of my first few books. I'm feeling confident that it will be all that I hope it to be!

Today was a whilwhind of activity, as I jetted on my motorcycle from one side of the city to the other to meet with each of my models. What a stellar bunch friends I have -- and so stylin' too! Check out these snapshots from my second ever NifNaks photoshoot, featuring Prof. NifNaks Patented Moustachios:

Tyson sporting The Edwardian

Evilee is adorable in The Walrus

Steve23 is so dashing in The Zeppelin

NifNaks was featured in it's first ever print magazine! Today, the April issue of XLR8R hit the stands, and there within the Elements section, a couple of cute fuzzy NifNaks can be found.

With my own personal DJ living in the house, DJ Chiral of MK2 Systems, San Francisco , it was quite an honor to be featured in this premier magazine on music and culture. In fact, DJ Chiral was gracious enough to model my tentacle scarf for me.

XLR8R magazine publishes both print and online. Check out the latest issue at a store near you, within featuring GIZZY the Dataworm and Paisley the hair-clip in all their fuzzy glory!

Happy International Women's Day !

Such a timely holiday, for I've been thinking a lot about how far I've come in just a little over a year into NifNaks.

I think much of this reflection was spurred by the wonderful article in the San Francisco Chronicle written by Patricia Yollin on the Women's Initiative 's 20th Anniversary. You see, if it weren't for the wonderful businesswomen, entrepreneurs, and visionaries at Women's Initiative, I don't think there would be a NifNaks today. Before I enrolled in the Simple Steps to Business Success program at the Women's Initiative, I was overwhelmed by the daunting task of starting my own business.

But soon after I started the classes, I already became more confident and excited about the possibility of making my dream into a real working business. In the program, I learning the value of interacting with other entrepreneurs like me. I have fond memories of the time I spent in the program collaborating and learning from the other women in my class. By the end of the 20 week course I was proud to have written my own business plan, and to have a focused direction of where to go and the steps I needed to take to get there.

I recommend any woman who is out there considering the possibility of carving out her own future to seek out the Women's Initiative. The staff, instructors, and guest speakers at Women's Initiative are informative, supportive, and excellent in their jobs. And of course, your peers that you will meet in the class will inspire you and motivate you to finally realize your dream of starting your own business!

Congratulations to everyone at the Women's Initiative on our 20th anniversary!

Hey all you fine readers out there using RSS feed readers to follow NifNaks. I apologize about the repeat posts coming your way the past couple days. We did an upgrade of our blog system and it unfortunately shot out repeats of recent posts.

 Everything is in order now so you shouldn't see any more repeats.

 Now we bring you back to your regularly scheduled