By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

If you're a handcraft design enthusiast in the San Francisco Bay Area, here's your evening's  agenda.

If you're outside the region, check it out online.

What: 2007 “Tides and Trees” exhibition by Jill Bliss (acclaimed West Coast illustrator, author, and designer)
When: 7pm-10pm tonight (artist reception/exhibit unveiling) *Work will be on display through December 29, 2007
Where: Relish At Home Boutique, 2703 7th Street #112, Berkeley, CA
Info: FREE & open to the public, (510) 981-9400

About the shop: Relish At Home is a gallery and boutique located in Berkeley, California showcasing a wide variety of emerging, independent design from the Bay Area and afar. Owner Kelly Sperbeck and team exhibit and sell handmade work and limited edition products in addition to manufacturing their own signature line of accessories designed exclusively for the boutique. Supporting local talent is vital to them and defines who they are in the community. They strive to carry work that is innovative and expertly crafted, while also creating and sustaining a unique network of artists. Their exhibitions rotate every 10 weeks and the boutique offers a wide selection of limited-edition accessories, handmade jewelry, stationery, ceramics and gift items.

Kelly's product selection is as thoughtful as her personality is adorable.

(Pic above is of the store pre-redesign for the exhibition unveiling tonight)

Event/exhibition details: In conjunction with the shop’s 2 year anniversary, tonight’s event launches Tides and Trees, a solo exhibition by West Coast artist Jill Bliss in her first comprehensive East Bay show. Tides and Trees is the first of a bi-monthly series of engaging artist exhibits on display and for sale within the Relish At Home boutique. The exhibition will be shown from September 29th - December 29th, 2007, with an opening reception held tonight, September 29th, from 7-10pm. Come celebrate the show, enjoy refreshments, and meet Jill Bliss.

About Jill: Bliss, a native of Northern California who recently transplanted to Portland, Oregon, draws her inspiration from the natural world that surrounds her. Meticulous lines and attention to detail are native to her farm life childhood, while her sparse use of color and design stem from her academic and professional career in fashion design, illustration and design theory at New York's Parsons School of Design and San Francisco's California College of the Arts. Tides and Trees is a collection of Jill’s work from the past two years. Utilizing mostly drawn lines on paper, the artist has been preoccupied with design repetition and small details, both real and imagined, found in her two favorite places: near the water’s edge and deep in the forest.

More than 50 pieces of original work by Jill will be for sale.

Also featured at the shop: Planter pots by Joanna Mendicino, letterpress products from Satsuma Press, Lotta Jansdotter designs, Tampopo ceramics, and a great selection of new lifestyle, home, stationery, accessories and gift items from from local talent and beyond.

Not to miss.

By Daniel Gregory, Sunset senior editor/home

It's hard to believe that the mkLotus green prefab designed by Michelle Kaufmann for the West Coast Green home building expo has already been and gone. But mirage it was not, as the many thousands of visitors can attest.

They asked for information on everything from the recycled ceramic shards used as gravel to the peach pit mulch.

A major attraction was the sleek "mail slot-style" bathroom sink made of concrete and recycled pulverized toilet porcelain—an example of cradle-to-cradle recycling or, better yet, call it bowl-to-bowl!

Another draw was the green furniture, including a sofa bed made of woven craft paper (shown below), and an alcohol-burning fireplace (also visible below).

Get the complete resource list.

By Sheila Schmitz, Sunset online editor

Sunset's grounds manager Rick Lafrentz designs and plants dozens of containers for courtyards and walkways around our Menlo Park HQ. We never know what he's cooking up until he quietly wheels out the latest show – a shock of giant white tulips in spring; ornamental peppers in late summer; azaleas, cyclamen, and heathers around the holidays. Old favorites appear between experiments with new varieties of grasses and blooms.

In Rick's latest roll-out, pink Gaura lindheimeri petals flit like butterflies above fiery Celosia, a 2007 All-American Selection winner called "Fresh Look Gold." Dwarf purple Heliotrope fills in around the base.

Here's a quartet of them around a fountain.

Like the magazine, Rick plans months in advance. In the works now as replacements for the cool season: pots of flowering cabbage and kale, growing from seed (left) under shade boards in the nursery.

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home & design writer

Michael Jordan has his own line of shoes. Jennifer Lopez has her JLo branded jumpsuits. And thanks to San Diego-based furniture maker Miki Iwasaki, I hold my head a little higher knowing there exists something called the "Jess table."

I wrote a piece on Iwasaki a year ago, in our September 2006 issue, just as he launched his design studio. For the photo shoot I told him we wanted to shoot a table of his with a top edge that cantilevered over one side, but it turned out that piece had already been sold. Because all his works are one of a kind, Iwasaki created a similar table for the shoot, and during the interview when I asked him the piece's name he said: "I was thinking maybe I'd call it 'Jess'...I name my pieces by who they are inspired by or who they are reminiscent of..."

I felt the tinniest bit like a celebrity. And still do. Check it out:

Jess Table:
Solid domestic walnut hardwood table top and supports. Natural knots filled
with pigmented eco-resin inlay and hand rubbed oil finish. 49.5 x 16.5 x 16.5

This week I was thrilled to hear Miki's works are on display at DWR in San Diego. The exhibit closes Sunday, so if you're in the neighborhood, get there quick. Otherwise, check out his works here. 

EXHIBIT DETAILS:
Local Forms that Function II
September 13-23
DWR San Diego Studio
393 7th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

INFO: DWR is excited to showcase the work of three local modern furniture designers during our second annual Local Forms that Function Show. Design firm Bells & Whistles makes furniture from the inside out, combining theatrical fantasy with utilitarian practicality. Miki Iwasaki of mi-workshop builds each piece by hand, using environmentally conscious methods and materials. Spacecraft is a gallery and studio collective that designs and builds pieces from concept through construction.

A few other of mi favorites:

Clockwise: Phil Ladder Clothes and Linen storage ladder made from bamboo plywood supports with domestic walnut hardwood rungs and white oak inlays. Hand rubbed ultra low VOC water-base finish. 18 x 2 x 72.  Ray Shelf Solid domestic black walnut hardwood frame, shelf and dowels. Pigmented resin inlay and hand rubbed finish. 9 x 32 x 4.5.  Spare Time Clocks Various remnants and reclaimed woods. Hand rubbed with low VOC finish. Quartz movements.  Pencil Holder Reclaimed and remnant domestic hardwoods with remnant acrylic sheets. Hand rubbed low VOC poly oil finish. 5.75 x 4.5 x 3.5.

By Daniel Gregory, Sunset senior editor, home

The Mayor's view has changed...

Dominating the vista of Civic Center Plaza from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's balcony is Michelle Kaufmann's mkLotus, the greenest prefab around. Sponsored by Sunset and West Coast Green building expo, the contemporary, solar-powered, green-roofed, less than 700 square-foot house  is all set to welcome the Mayor and thousands of other WCG attendees to the City's version of the Governor's Puffing Tent (for green tea, not cigars, of course—this is San Francisco!). Here's a taste of what you can see at the event, Sept. 20-22:

Beaux Arts to Bauhaus in 50 feet—Make that 50 feats, when you consider that this house was constructed in the Xtremehomes factory in Oroville, then driven to the site and set into place between 1 and 5 a.m. last Sunday, then fully landscaped with more than $75,000 worth of donated and loaned plants and trees, raised beds, decking, koi pond and wrap-around decking, and completely furnished and decorated with similarly valued furnishings and artwork (all on loan) in two round-the-clock days.

At least 50 people worked on the house and now it's open and full of visitors. Remember Virgil's famous metaphor of the beehive in The Aeneid? Well, update it with a sleek modern design instead of a battlefield and there you have it: All action figures, all the time. Arthur Brown's big beautiful baroque dome is looking down at all the activity and beaming.

Outside and in. A zig-zag promenade leads through drought-tolerant plants and grasses to an ngawa-like entry deck (a Japanese form of slim deck) made of composite wood. A rainwater cachement system is used for irrigation and there's even a gray water system that recirculates water collected from sinks and shower to the toilet. The entire landscape and bioswale roof was designed by Nick Thayer of Late Afternoon Garden Design.

Setting the stage for what lies within is a rectangular lotus pool with a centerpiece made of 500 recycled Grey Goose vodka bottle bottoms. (How's that for a little liquid serenity—it brings to mind Herb Caen's affection for what he called "vitamin v.")

Open the front door in the cement board and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified wood-sheathed wall and to the left is the main living space containing kitchen and dining area; to the right are the bathroom and the bedroom. All three rooms open to decks. Windows and doors use double pane, low-e glass. A Green "living roof" is the icing on the gateau—I mean chateau.

A Gallery of Green. All furnishings, fixtures, and finishes are as environmentally friendly as possible.

You'll see:

FSC-certified wood cabinetry and flooring

Concrete counters using recycled fly ash and rice hulls

Bathroom sink made of recycled pulverized toilet porcelain

Recycled glass tiles in the shower

The latest low-flow plumbing fixtures (including a dual flush toilet)

Walls covered with no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint

Energy Star appliances

Furnishings and artwork from a wide variety of green-oriented manufacturers, artists and websites. For example the sofa bed in the living room is made of woven Kraft paper and the living room rug is 12% wool and 88% paper.

In short, there's a whole lot of green going on. Like an architectural version of compressed files on a zip disk, mkLotus expands horizons the moment you enter. It remains in place until the end of West Coast Green—this Saturday.  And then, like San Francisco's famous fog, it moves on.

Green delicious kitchen: pale green no-VOC wall color from Yolo Colorhouse; concrete counter containing recycled rice hulls by Concrete Works; wall art by Lisa Bartleson;  bamboo-themed elements from Dandelion; cork bowl from Branch.

Weaving eco-friendly materials together: curved chair made of sea grass from McGuire ; leather and wood chair from Palecek; wool and paper rug from Merida; vase from Dandelion; bamboo coffee table by Alex Suvajac.

Shower power: The walls are covered in recycled glass from Bedrock Industries.

Dream of green: sustainably harvested cherry bed from Room & Board; 100% wool bedspread from Fold Bedding; pillows from Branch. (That's Sunset photographer Tom Story, shooting for an upcoming issue.)

By Molly Watson, Sunset food writer

When I saw Jess Chamberlain carrying this pillow and its kit (from Pick Up Sticks and featured in the October issue of Sunset) around the office, I planted the seed.

“Hey Jess,” I said, “what’s going to happen with that?” I hoped that instead of having it languishing in the corner of someone’s office, I could take it home. The pillows on my living room couch are in desperate need of an update. I made them using vintage black-and-white check material and oversized vintage buttons. They were awesome. Now, 7 years and one 4-year-old later, they are not so awesome. They are lumpy, ripped, and missing buttons.

The instructions were easy to follow (I would categorize myself as an advanced beginner knitter—I can knit killer baby booties and scarves, but the few sweaters I’ve done are ill-fitting at best!) and before long I had the pieces done. I had never felted anything before, but that went as smoothly as can be with hot water in a front-loading machine.

Two changes I made to the pattern: I did not cut the “flowers” into shapes, but left them in cheery little circles; and I embellished the “back” by knitting up brown versions of the stems and flowers to appliqué onto the cream side, making a nicely reversible pillow.

I’m so pleased with the results that I went right out and bought yarn to make another one. This time it will be chartreuse and fushia, and I think I might knit opposite color stripes right into the pillow instead of doing the appliqué (sewing felted wool onto felted wool is tough business—my index finger is still sore). I’ll let you know how it turns out.

By Monica Ewing, Sunset senior designer

You’ve seen them, right? They’re everywhere. Sunburst mirrors have made a comeback in a big way. They’re usually gold or silver, and pricey.

Clockwise from top left: Treadway Gallery, BJ's Home Accents, CB2, Colee Hammock Home, Chiasso, Plantation Home Accessories.

I decided to make my own sunburst mirror out of a lazy susan. I followed Steps 1-4 from my previous post, with a few exceptions:

1. I arranged the 7" mirror ($2.29 from Michael's) and wooden teardrops, glued everything down except the mirror, then painted the entire surface white. (I know. White again. I can’t help myself.) Then I glued the mirror on last.

Tip#1 Don’t glue your pieces right up against the mirror. With three coats of paint on them, the mirror won’t fit. Believe me, I know. I had to shave off a bit of paint with a razer blade from each piece touching the mirror. And don’t try to force the mirror (like I did). Who needs seven years bad luck?

2. Finally I attached a picture hanger to the back, and hung it on the wall.

For more DIY projects, visit Sunset's step-by-step page.
 

In two weeks: Train-station clocks.

By Sheila Schmitz, Sunset online editor

Margy Lutz lives much of the year in a floating cabin on Powell Lake in British Columbia.  "I love to garden, but my lake surroundings make it a little difficult," she wrote in a recent post to our community boards. But with the help of her friend John, she grows vegetables and strawberries in raised beds on floating cedar logs. Pulleys allow her to move her garden away from shore (and critters) and back again for summer harvests of lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, potatoes, radishes and asparagus.

Here's the garden pulled in to the dock. A solar panel runs the water pump.

Here's the garden in its protected position along a log boom.

Margy and her husband Wayne J. Lutz still keep a home in Pomona, California, and maintain another residence in Bellingham, WA. "But the place we want to be most of all is at our floating cabin in Powell River," she says. "Living on the lake has been the most exciting experience of my life."

You can read more about the lake life in Margy's blog and Wayne's books.

The pair discovered float cabins on Powell Lake in 2000 and quickly found the one for them.  Most cabins on the lake float like theirs on cedar logs anchored in place or tethered to the shore; water rights are leased from the province.

Porous heavy-duty mesh cloth covers the bottoms of her garden beds, which stay just above the lake surface. 

"I plant my kitchen garden in the beds just like you would if they were on land," she says. "I just have to be careful that I do not put anything in the soil that would be harmful to the water.

"The first harvests for lettuce and green onions begin in June and last throughout the summer.  Potatoes, carrots and my early strawberries come in July. As I harvest, I replant.

"This year my second planting included zucchini and tomatoes which will be ready for September picking. I am trying a few bush beans but don't know if there will be enough time before the frost this year to get them in.  We eat everything fresh, but I do dry herbs for use in winter stews and soups."

Read about Sunset's own ultra-local harvest.

Have an interesting story about living in the West?  Email us.

By Monica Ewing, Sunset senior designer

I decided that I needed a big, beautiful clock to make a statement on my wall, and couldn't find anything like what I imagined, so I figured out how to make my own clock out of a $7 lazy susan from IKEA. And—surprise—I got two for one. Here’s how I did it…

Big Red
This one is made from the top of the lazy susan. It’s 15” in diameter.

Step 1 Play
The fun part about this project is that the possibilities are endless. You can use paint, decoupage, stencils—the list goes on and on. I chose to use wooden shapes that I found at Michael’s. After I tried out several patterns on the clock face, I chose this flower design. I’m also making another with this circle pattern.

Step 2 Sand & paint
After lightly sanding the top and sides of the lazy Susan and the edges of the wood shapes, I removed the dust with tack cloth. Next I covered my work surface with a drop cloth, and painted a primer coat on all the pieces. (Special thanks to my neighbor Kristi for priming the petals for me!) Then I applied 2-3 coats of paint. For the big clock, I used Benjamin Moore paints: Umbria Red (1316), Space Black (2119-10), and a custom white created by Susan Delurgio. For the baby clock, I used Behr paints: Prelude (740E-3) and Lake Stream (PMD-24). Finally, I let the paint dry overnight.

Tip #1 Don’t disassemble the lazy susan until after you’ve painted it. It’s a cinch to paint the sides by just rotating it around.
Tip #2 Some of the pieces require a light sanding along the edge after the paint dries.

Step 3 Deconstruct & drill
I flipped the lazy susan over, and used pliers to unscrew the nut. Then I pulled the base straight up and off. Next I removed the four screws holding the turning mechanism. Using a ruler, I drew an X by connecting the screw holes. Then I drilled a hole through the middle of the X with a 5/16” bit.

Step 4 Glue
I applied a thin coat of wood glue with a toothpick to the back of each wooden shape and lightly pressed it down. For the flowers, I glued the centers down first to provide an anchor for placing the petals. 

Step 5 Assemble
I bought quartz movements with free hands from Klockit, and assembled them according to the instructions. I used 7" hands (#66981) for this clock and 3 1/8" hands (#66930) for the Baby Blue clock. The movements came with a heavy-duty hanger, so all I needed to do was add a AA battery, set the clock, and hang it. 

Baby Blue
This one is made from the base of the lazy susan. It’s 7” in diameter.

I followed the same steps as the big clock, with a few exceptions: 1) I drilled through the existing smaller hole. 2) I painted the sides a different color. Using a small paintbrush, I painted from the center outward to get a clean line at the edge where the two paint colors met. 3) To glue the blue dots in exactly the right spots, I measured with a protractor and placed them every 30 degrees.

In two weeks: Sunburst mirror.

By Sheila Schmitz, Sunset online editor

Reader Eric Howes of Thousand Oaks, CA, planted this Big Max pumpkin in early June. "To my great surprise and pleasure," he says, "a pumpkin was born right on the edge of my koi pond waterfall."

The plant has taken over half his backyard and is on its way over the fence to his neighbor's house. Once it began growing over the falls, he added a plank scaffold to support it. (Eric designed and built the pond and waterfall himself, creating his own concrete blocks inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Alice Millard House in Pasadena).

With almost two months until Oct. 31, Eric should have a hefty backyard Halloween display. He promises to keep us posted.

Meanwhile, do you have a great Halloween photo to share? Send it to us at home@sunset.com, and watch this space.

By Jess Chamberlain, Sunset home writer

Check out my "Stuff You'll Love" column on the My Home Ideas website.

They asked me to put together a small collection of some of my current marketplace favorites.

Wanting to keep the price ticket low, and always eager to promote eco-friendly finds, I shared 5 products that'll make your daily life a little greener.

(Pictured above)
Eco-chic Bag
Made of 100% Ecotec™, a blended cotton yarn produced from the excess fabric of newly made clothing, this bag is the perfect size for packing your lunch, and in turn helps break down the paper bag waste phenomenon—all while keeping you oh-so-stylish. Recycled Canvas Mini Tote Bag by Good On Paper Design, $14. (Oakland, CA-based artist Lisa Wong also designs gorgeous stationary and adorable baby goodies.)

See all my picks here, and breathe a little better.