Polka Dot Robot

A Lovely Tea Party

A few weeks ago, my lovely lady friends took me out for high tea to celebrate my 30th birthday. We got dressed up and met at Lovejoy's Tea Room, an adorable place filled with doiles, mismatched china, antique furniture, and tiny delicious food. I was in heaven!

We had two kinds of tea, an assortment of sandwiches, scones, crumpets, sausage rolls, and fruit.

And just when we thought we couldn't eat anymore, the hostess brought out these beautiful Petit Fours. The little green hat was my favorite.

I made a wish and quietly acknowledged the last 30 years and my wonderful friends. My day-to-day life is fast-paced and emotionally taxing; this milestone birthday caused me to reflect on the bigger picture, feel grateful for what I have, and slooow down...at least for a little while. ;)

After tea time, we went outside to take some outfit photos. It's not every day that the Robots (and Lisapie!) are all dressed up and in the same place.

Is there a grannie-tastic tea room in your city? Please share in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

<3 Erin

So you have an Ugly Holiday Sweater party to go to?

So did Polka Dot Robot!
 
This kind of party seems to get more and more popular every year!  It's almost hard to find a good ugly sweater in the thrift stores in my town! 

Megpie did a fabulous job finding a white angora sweater with fake lace, fake pearls, Marbou feathers, and SHOULDER PADS! Good work Megpie!

But the rest of us were a bit stuck for ironic ugly holiday sweaters- so Viv and I did a DIY project!

How to DIY an Ugly Holiday Sweater:

1) Get a sweater you don't mind sewing things to (you won't be ruining it if you attach things lightly). Viv already had a holiday sweater with reindeer on it- but it wasn't ugly.  I took a red sweater of mine and a green one of my boyfriend's because I figured it would be fun to match in a disgustingly cute manner.

2) Go to your local cheepo Holiday store.  In San Francisco, all the 99 cents stores are exploding with Christmas gear.  Viv and I had an awesome time picking stuff out: we'd forget where we were, and say "how much does this ribbon cost?"  "99 cents!! haha!"  In total we spent $8 and outfitted 5 people!

We bought things like this

• Stockings with cute images on them, Santas, reineer, mittens, snowflakes
• Ribbon
• Garlands
• Big gaudy flowers
• Anything we could see that could be easily tacked down onto a sweater

3) Go home and get out your scissors and needle and thread!  We sewed a big glittery flower to the front of Viv's sweater (she was sprinkling glitter around all night!) I bought 2 matching stockings with santa faces on them, cut out the Santas and attached the faces to the front of the red and green sweaters for me and Andy:

PDR model Kara is in the middle- We took some holiday garlands and sewed them down lightly in a toy soldier pattern all down her cardigan.

The Santa Stockings had some mittens on them- I cut those out and sewed them to my friend Dave's sweater as mittens:

He also got a garland tie!

Just remember: when you're sewing, use big loose basting-type stitches, so you can cut the objects off easily and return your sweater to normal! Or sew them tight to keep them on forever hahaha!

Hope your holidays are full of fun parties!

<3

Laurel

Blog Party

My lovely blog friend Michelle is having a blog party today. I did a guest post on fashion and knitting!

Oh My Robots! Shop update TOMORROW!

The Robots had a great time this weekend doing a photo shoot at one of our favorite buildings in San Francisco- the Atlas Stair Building Co.

Image Credit: RadioNicole

They used to make spiral staircases there- now it's a residence- I'm so jealous! The photo shoot was super fun: we were leaping about and posing in our cute products entertaining the neighborhood.  There were a lot of people out and about as it was a sunny Saturday, we even met some firemen that invited us to a block party down the street (hee hee).

But, back to the most important news! SHOP UPDATE!!! Tomorrow morning Polkadotrobot.com will be filled with new knit and crocheted items, and new monsters!  You already saw a few of our new products in our Indie Mart post, here are 3 of the new monsters for you to meet:

This is Johnny Scotland, Richie the Ravenous, and Billy the Biter!

Special thanks to Kara, Erin's little sister who modeled for us.  Kara- here's a High-Five in thanks!

We can't wait for you guys to see our new stuff! Stay tuned til tomorrow!

<3

The Robots

 

Adventures in Cooking: Polka Dot Robot Edition

Viv's has been blogging about her cooking adventures on her personal blog, but last night I infiltrated her kitchen, and together, we had our own adventure. 

Vivs found this super delicious recipe on Lovely Morning that looked like this on her post:

After soaking beans over night, boiling, simmering, sauteeing, and mixing it all together, this is what our soup looked like: (I was having too much fun with my hipstamatic, and forgot to take real photos of it, so apologies for the quality)

It was pretty damn delicious. To the right, you can see Viv's pita chips (maybe the best thing we ate all night, though that also could have been these:)

Vivs also was baking PUMPKIN PIE MUFFINS. A happy accident led to moist, subtle muffins that paired well WITH THIS:

    A spin on my Momma's traditional Cinnamon Whipped Cream, we used some Pumpkin Pie Spice and a dash or two of Powdered Sugar...You can also see our little mugs of mulled wine, made by Viv's roomie, Julia. 

So, basically, I ate extremely well last night. And the best part- left overs. Lunch is taken care of, too. :) 

Hey, V, let's do this again...SOOOOOOOON!

Love, MegPie

Happy Birthday MEGPIE

You are AMAZING!

With love from all of us!

Sew in love: Leigh-Ann's Pin Cushion

Hi Robots!

I helped Viv make her own pin cushion using Leigh-Ann's tutorial a few weeks ago, and I had so much fun making it I made one for myself!

Front:

and back:

I made mine a little smaller (5x5 inches) then the pattern suggested (6x6 inches), just 'cause I like things a little smaller.

This was such a fun project, thanks for the free tutorial Leigh-Anne!  I noticed around the blogs that a lot of you crafty ladies seem to be getting sewing machines lately.  I wanted to recommend this pattern for beginning sewers- you learn a lot of good techniques, it's not too hard, and you make something to help you expand your sewing materials! 

Incidentally, as long as you sew everything on good and tight- they make great toys for young babies. My friend's little boy loved looking at the bright yellow color and made googly eyes at it in his bassinet.

Happy sewing,

Laurel

My Weekend in Photos: Friends in town!

This weekend Erin and I were visited by our lovely friends from San Diego and New York and took a pile of silly photos with them all across San Francisco!

We had a long wait outside the restaurant and spent some time being ridiculous:

I love photos of people jumping, mostly because they always turn out like this:

We enjoy being strong ladies:

We went to Beauty Bar where you can get a manicure and a cocktail, but mostly it's just fun dancing. They have some old-style hair drying chairs turned into lighting fixtures and we found a great way to pose in them- Here's Erin:

And our friend Linsay:

The next day we went to the Bettie Page store and tried on some dresses. Here's Erin in the dress Blair made famous in Gossip Girl!

I hope you had a great weekend!

<3 Laurel

Renegade San Francisco, 2010

Last weekend at Renegade was so much fun. I got to hangout and meet so many amazing people. I am a little sad because only four of my photos came out, the rest are blurry.

For most of Saturday, I got to hangout with Lehua and CAL. We met up super early for breakfast at my favorite morning spot Boogaloos

after breakfast we headed over to Renegade 

(last 4 photos from Lehua)

This is me trying to figure out what is going on with my camera.

(Chelsea photo)

Saturday night I got to have dinner with the most amazing group of ladies! Emma, Shawni, Liz, Chelsea and, Elsie went to Bin 38 for some good food and wine.

(Elsie's Photo)

On Sunday I got to hangout for most of the day with my friends Elsie and Emma. It was so nice to catch up and visit with them.

(Twinkie Chan's photo)

( CAL's photo)

Twinkie Chan's booth was really amazing!

(Elsie's photos)

I had a really great weekend! I want all my new friends to come back to San Francisco already!!!!

 

I wish that I could show you more amazing things that I bought at Renegade, but the only thing I bought was Uppercase magazines. I bought four of them and I got a free journal :) They are really beautiful and inspiring, but I wish spent my money on other things.  

This was my first Renegade and even though we did not have a booth, I had a great time :)

Guest Blogger: Andrea Inspired

This week our guest blogger is Andrea of Andrea Inspired. We love her blog!

If you would like to be featured or guest blog on Polka Dot Robot, please email us at info(AT)polkadotrobot(DOT)com

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When trying to come up with an idea for this post, my mind was scattered with miscellaneous ideas when it hit me--why not do just a little bit of everything? Here are some things I have been enjoying lately.

BAND: Still Corners

Imagine if Phil Spector and Broadcast did an album together. I'm pretty sure it would sound something like Still Corners.

MIXTAPE: Stylus Magazine's Girl Groups Mixtape

The now defunct Stylus Magazine put together a bitchin' mixtape of 60s girl group tunes, replete with background info on each track. You can download the mixtape here.

TV SHOW: American Pickers

I'm addicted to this show on the History Channel that follows two "pickers" named Mike and Frank as they travel the backroads of American looking for what they call "rusty gold". The dynamics between these two childhood friends are hilarious and the things they find and stories they come across are heart warming.

MOVIE: The Maysles Brothers' 5 Films About Christo & Jeanne-Claude

I recently watched two of the films (Christo's Valley Curtain and Running Fence) and have been dying to get my hands on the other three. These films document the process of Christo and his partner Jeanne-Claude as they create and install their environmental works of art.

STYLE: Mori Girls 

A somewhat official definition of a Mori Girl is as follows: "Mori Girls (森ガール) look like fairytale forest wanderers in their loose dresses, vintage prints and quaint accessories. Mori girls choose to live their lives on their own terms, stopping to appreciate the little things that others overlook amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life."...isn't that AMAZING?!

Thank you Andrea for guest blogging today! We hope to have you back soon. :)

One Life online photo class

My lovely friend Kim is teaching an online photo class.

In this class, we'll be playing around with both Film and Digital, and making our own rules for capturing your beautiful life the way you see it.

The nitty gritty details:
-Starts on the 16th of July and runs for 3 weeks (ending about Aug 6th).
-Cost: $40. Sign up here.
-It will be held on a private blog, and there will be new posts at least 5 times a week. You will have access for over a year after.
 
-We will cover 3 basic sections of taking pretty photos,
1. The cameras/film and what you can DO with them!
2. The 'Basics' that have changed my life, like camera settings, how to use ISO properly, flash (friend or foe!). AND shooting tips- how to capture your life the beautiful way it is (low lighting, locations, being sneeky etc).
3. Storing tips/my go-to photoshop techniques and my experiences with prints vs scans.
 
-In between advice (from the 6+ years I've been taking pictures everyday) I will be sharing experiences that will hopefully save you some heartache plus examples of what is a 'mistake' and what's a GOOD mistake. 
- 3 Chats with me, and an extra week after the class finishes to ASK ME ANYTHING you want to know.
-A group on Flickr to share your photos with me&your classmates.
-Some ideas to get you shooting.

This class would be great for you if:
-You don't feel like you have a good handle on your SLR for everyday shooting.
-You don't have enough pictures of your real life!
-You feel awkward taking your camera out and always regret not doing it.
-You've got a film camera(or want one!) but are too scared to use it.
-You like Lomography.
-You always think 'i wish i could do that' when you look at my photos.
-You want to HAVE FUN with photography!  

What you need:

-A keen eye and a camera (doesn't matter what kind, but here are the cameras I use.)

 

The class has already started, but you can still sign-up

 

(click the image to sign-up)

All images and wording belong to Kim Smith

Meet Me on Thursday with Laurel: Li'l Monsters

Hello and happy Thursday! It's Laurel and I like Monsters!

I've been making some Mini-Monsters on commission lately, and thought I'd share the results with you!

I made these in December:

And these guys I'm working on right now! I love the idea of a little shark running around:

(Vivs' kitten Maybe is of course being very helpful)

One of the questions I get all the time (as do the other Robots) is "Why don't you make childrens' items?"
Well, I suppose I do! On commission, and so far when the hoodies are provided for me (children come in so many sizes!).

But the main reason is one of the reasons Viv and I started Polka Dot Robot in the first place: 

Children have a monopoly on cute! When you go into a children's store, everything is cute and adorable! Not so much when you shop for yourself.  So at Polka Dot Robot we want to make amazing, quirky, whimsical, one of a kind items for amazing, quirky, whimsical, one of a kind people like you! 

That being said, maybe PDR will expand to doing children's goods in the future, and if you are super excited about anything you see here and would like a kids or baby hoodie (or an adult sized shark!), contact me at laurel@polkadotrobot.com, and we can put together something special! 

Because my favorite thing is making people (big or little) into happy monsters:

Meet Me on Thursday: Monster Hoodies Preview

Hi Everybody!

It's Laurel, writing for the first installment of Meet Me on Thursday, our new Thursday feature where the other Robots take over the blog.

I am so excited for our mini winter line of products, I'm hard at work on a couple of new monster hoodies and.... hey, what's that over there, behind the tree???

 

Oh My goodness! It's MAX

A Monster Hoodie inspired by Where the Wild Things Are!

Viv is modeling one I custom-made for a lovely PDR reader last year. I loved the movie so much that I thought it would be awesome to make some for you guys! Right now I have a pile of ears, claws and tails sitting on my work table, but pretty soon....

You could dance the wild rumpus! And be the King of the Park!

Or King of the Whole City!

Sigh, these were taken in the park by the Robots' house, right now it is pouring rain outside, but look how gorgeous the city is! I love living here. I can't wait for the rain to ease up a bit so I can go outside and stomp in puddles!

Anyways, I'm hoping you guys are as excited as I am for PDR's new products! They will be out on February 3rd, rain or shine!

Give Angelina a run for her money!

Hey there. It's MegPie. If you like Laurel's monster hoodies, check out these adorable creatures from fostermonsters.com!

Made by Meredith Macleod, who resides in Oakland, CA, she 'births' these cuties and finds homes for all of them! Feel like being the Angelina Jolie of the Blog-world? Perhaps you should adopt one of her bebes! www.fostermonsters.com

I'm going to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox tonight with the robots and friends! Yay!

Monsters LOVE Halloween!

Hi Robots!

Laurel here, posting about Monster Hoodies of course!

This weekend, we went down to Half Moon Bay to go get us some pumpkins, and of course a monster came along.  The newest monster in the crew was a gift to my boyfriend this month. Check him out!

I'm putting the name to a vote here on the blog: which do you like best?

1. Bloodthirsty Bernardo
2. Barbarous Bernardo
3. Ferocious Frankie
4. Formidable Frank
5. ???

Of course I had to try it on too:

The pumpkin patch had a corn maze! I had never been in one before, it was so fun!  I also fell in love with every other pumpkin there, so we ended up buying 15!  Just wait for photos later this week of the pumpkin carving party we're having on Thursday.

In other Monster Hoodie News: The hoodies will of course be attending Indie Mart with the rest of PDR next Sunday Novermber 8th!  And hoodies will be on sale for $75!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Rawwwr!

Photo's coming soon

I have over 300 photos to edit from my weekend at the beach. I will post some very soon. My to do list is crazy and unorganized  but with a little help from LA I am getting my stuff under control. Thanks LA I love you ;)

Hi Tree

I am sooooo excited to write about Hi Tree today!!!! Here are a few things that I want really bad It might because my friend Lu really wants one but I have a new love for the "Fanny Pack" Who wouldn't want to rock this cute little fanny pack. Wow! I need this for my knitting!!! The Apple Tote Guess what this is.... A retractable Tape Measure Little Mushroom Tree Pouch Hi Mr. Giant Sequoia I would love for my room to be full of these lovely trees I love you! I love you and you are all mine ;) You are mine too and its for my little knitting supplies all images belong to Hi Tree

My Life Via iPhone Love

Jenny Janel Jari Kimi on the way to AZ last week I love you soooo much! You make me laugh! I <3 you ;) the best Indie family I could ever ask for. $3.00 gold

Tuesday Playlist

Today's Playlist

1. The Funeral: Band of Horses
2. No Ones Gonna Love you: Band of Horses
3. No Cars Go: The Arcade Fire
4. My Moon My Man: Feist
5. White Winter Hymnal: Fleet Foxes
6. Over The Hills and Far Away: Led Zeppelin
7. On The Radio: Regina Spektor
8. Skinny Love: Bon Iver
9. Easier: Grizzly Bear
10. Gobbledigook: Sigur Ros

funny all the numbers are cut off...oh well ;)

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It has been so HOT here in San Francisco! Things that rock my world: 1. Swings 2. Dresses 4. Joanna Newsom 5. Round sunglasses from RVA Flickr Love: Cross Process 1. Poppy dune, 2. Camper, 3. En t'attendant..., 4. she's a dancer when she dances she is free., 5. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, 6. Cosplay-Zoku, 7. watercolored balloons, 8. stripes I, 9. I hate summer (part two), 10. Falling Up, 11. hello*love, 12. {SF Buildings} I found this group on flickr a few years ago but never uploaded photos. Whats in my bag: 1. Juicy Couture bag 2. Round sunglasses from RVA 3. Hobo wallet 4. Altoids 5. Hello Kitty eye shadow M.A.C. 6. Karite-Lips 7. Keys 8. Makeup bag 9. The Confessions of Noa Weber from NPR Next week I am going to this I can't wait to meet her and this lovely lovely Elsies photos Thanks for this photo of my bows Elsie!!! ;)