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I’ll be bringing these to the Sowa Open Market this weeked — yippee!
The first two are on mahogany, both about 3 or 4 inches, and the last two are on amazingly lovely maple Plywerk panels, both 5 inches square, 1/2″ deep with a little keyhold in the back for hanging flush to the wall. They are both in acrylic and gouache (oh, I love gouache, too!) with collaged fabric accents. The Oriole’s black feathers are fabric and the yellow mommy bird’s tree branches are plaid flannel. She’s actually quite a bit more yellow than the photo, but I thought this one showed you a good glimpse of the surface variations and the fabric.
Three little birdie sculptures, made mostly from scrap fabric from Marcia’s bags, are up in my Etsy shop now. These made their debut, with a few friends who found new homes, at the Squam Art Fair.
I can’t resist. While processing pics for my upcoming stuffed birdie listings (up soon in my Etsy shop!) I came across a few more shots from around the farm lately that I need to share.
Our pretty HappyDog likes to help me garden. At least she wasn’t lying directly on top of anything I was growing on purpose. I don’t mind if she lies on the weeds, though. (check out the sweet railroad-spike sugar snap pea trellis my darling Johnnie made for me!)
And JaneCat just looks on, pretending not to know there’s work to be done. She’s really slacking on her mouse-terrifying duties lately. 
And this is a for real scene, nothing staged here. Turns out the goats actually like us (when we bring them food, that is)! This is from before we moved the chickens in with the goats. Apparently they have now taken to laying their eggs all over the place and in the goat barn. Oops. We’re going to have to work on the chicken-training, I guess. 
I am so loving reading everyone’s impressions of Squam. That’s one great thing about getting a bunch of bloggers together — the event will be well documented, for sure! Some of my favorite accounts so far are Betz’s and Maya’s.
One of the new things I sold at the Squam Art Fair was my littler version of stuffed birdies. They were a hit, and I’ll be listing a few in my Etsy shop later this week (maybe even today?).
Maybe I’m biased, but I think they are such cuties. I really loved making them and you can be sure there will be many more to come. I got some fab. hand-dyed fabric from my cabin-mate Tracie Lyn Huskamp, who taught Painted Prayer Flags. The students in these classes made some really amazing work, and many of them hadn’t ever painted before. I’m sure she was a very nurturing and fun teacher to have, and I just looove her style. Can you guess why? hehe, bird nerds unite!
Tina Seamonster tweeted one day recently that she was looking for a Hello Craft podcast submission for an episode sponsored by Readymade Magazine, and since my latest upcycled bird sculpture projects have included scraps that I’ve gathered up from my friends’ craft projects, I thought when better a time to begin my foray into the world of podcasting? You can hear my episode here. {FYI, I recorded it on the (free!) Speakeasy app for my iPhone, then sync’d it to my mac with Speakeasy Connect (also free!), then edited it in GarageBand, hence the less-than-ideal sound quality, perhaps, but hey, a good start, eh? (and I’ll try not to rock the lispy s’s next time… not sure where that came from!?)}
The friends I mention in the podcast are:
Bella Bags by Marcia: Marcia’s bags are beautiful, well constructed and sturdy, as well as being made from the most fantastic selection of colorful and boldly patterned fabrics; I’m using her fabric scraps to construct the birds’ bodies, wings and tail feathers. She sells wristlets, totes, cosmetic bags, sunglass bags, messenger bags, and re-useable lunch bags, as well as accessories such as headbands.
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Crispina ffrench: Crispina is a master recycler in her own right, and I’m constantly learning from her amazingly sustainable business practices and strong eco-warrior convictions. She makes gorgeous rugs, pillows and blankets as well as clothing and soft sculptures from repurposed knitwear. She collects sweaters, washes them until felted and cuts and sews them into all sorts of shapes. The scraps from the work she produces are available at her studio for $5/lb, and you can choose your own colors! Using these scraps is kind of like a twice-baked potato, only, er, twice-recyled? I’m using these scraps for the little leaves on the metal trees.
I so love everything about Hello Craft (who’s tagline is “the future of making is in your hands” and who’s podcast is entirely listener generated!) and I sooo wish I could make it this weekend to the Summit of Awesome and Show of Awesome (um, crafts, music and cake?! count me in!), but alas, I will be bringing my crafty goodness to another wonderful crafty opportunity, TWIST!
Twist is a “fresh kind of fair” in Northampton, MA at the Northampton Center for the Arts at 17 New South Street on Friday May 1 from 5-9 for a spcial opening party, and on Saturday May 2 from 10-5. There will be over 60 amazing vendors; see the vendor list with links here. Come visit and get yourself (or your moms? it’s Mother’s Day NEXT WEEKEND May 10!) some crafty goodness!
New prints are up in my Etsy shop, a series of four prints from original watercolors of hand-illustrated type and sweet little birdies:
Available as 8″x10″ high-quality archival giclee prints (slightly smaller than the original paintings in these photos) for $15 each in my Etsy shop. Each print will only be available in a limited edition of 50; contact me for info on the originals.
I’m hoping to include at least one of these originals in the “Vision of Squam” art show at Artstream Gallery in Rochester, NH in September, along with one of my birdies on a branch. This series was no doubt inspired by my trip to Squam Art Workshops in September, if you remember all the soul searching that it spurred in me and other attendees. [btw there's still room to join me (and my pal Sarah G.!) at the June session -- register now!]
I think these prints would make lovely gifties for a speical friend, or maybe even your sweet mama? Mother’s day is right around the corner, May 10! I’d be happy to expidite shipping to you if you need it for Mother’s Day, just let me know in the “notes to seller” section upon checkout.
the 12 days since my last post have gone by in a blur. A BLUR I tell you! Well, I’m here again. A happy new owner of an iPhone (happy dance!) which has also made me a new owner of the wordpress application for iPhone. That I haven’t yet figured out how to use. But I will. and then maybe (just maybe) I’ll blog more often. Wouldn’t that just be the bees knees?
Things that have happened to me lately:
#1 sold my wares at Design Hive! It was a fun time, and I got to chat with lots of fellow makers including Marcia and Brandon of Bella Bags by Marcia from out here in the Berkshires and Elise Towle Snow of Argyle Whale. It was pretty busy, not so very lucrative for me, but a nice reminder on how to pack my car, schlep my stuff and how very wonderful my boston-area homies are; thank you thank you thank you to Jaclyn, Vanessa, Courtney and Heidi — what would I do without you?! I am so very blessed to count you as my friends and my craft-fair helpers. Next up in the Boston area is the South End Open Market on May 15 & 16.
Design Hive, Cambridge MA 4.5.09 — in the lower left corner you can see one of my new birdies looking out over the sea of craftiness.
two of my intrepid helpers, who will probably hate me forever for posting their photo to this blog. but I will love them forever for their help, so it’s all good, right?
#2 Did I mention I’ll be vending at Twist Fair 2.0 in Northhampton May 1 & 2? So excited for this fantasic opportunity. The floorplan and vendor lists are out and I will be in some VERY good company, including some of my favorites ever, MIAOW, Ranunculae and Sarah Ahearn — super!
#3 Easter. I have a chocolate hangover. But I might have still eaten more today, but as they say — bite that durn dog that bit you, right? Plenty of the three f’s yesterday: fun, family, food. And more food. Everyone came through with old favorites, and I managed to sneak in some quiche made from our backyard eggs and some jello “salad” (I’ve been warned that it’s not really a salad if it has no, um, vegetation or remote nutritional value, and I concur) — it’s an old time favorite family recipe passed down through the ages. Ok, well, maybe just from my Grandma, but we all like it!
#4 Holy CROW — I just looked up to see a gigantic (maybe it just looks gigantic right next to the chickadees and goldfinches?) Crow in the tree outside my window — it’s HUGE! ….Sorry, that was clearly a tangent; get used to it. This is twitter’s influcence on me, clearly.
#5 This afternoon shall be learn-to-make-websites day. Ok, really it’s a beginning day. A day where I delve into the depths of Lynda for a little techie tutorial help perhaps? Wish me luck.
[via CasaSugar} "The word 'upcycling' was coined by William McDonaugh and Michael Braugart in their book on ecologically intelligent design, Cradle to Cradle. In the simplest terms, upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value." (I'm halfway through that book, btw, and it's great!)
Today I'm sharing with you a new creation that I'm super excited about, and that I just entered in the CraftStylish Crafty by Nature contest (in the running to win a Yudu screen-printer! fingers officially CROSSED for that one!!):
My first completely Upcycled Bird Sculpture. This one doesn’t have a name yet — any ideas? She’s made from fabric scraps from Bella Bags by Marcia, the leaves are sweater scraps from Crispina, the metal is scrap from my darling hubby’s metal-working (he built the tree! isn’t he fantastic?!) and the wood is scrap from our house projects ’round here. All re-purposed, all stuff that could have just as easily (ok, much more easily, actually) ended up in a landfill somewhere.
Doing a happy-earth-day-dance a little early. She’ll be available for sale this weekend at Design Hive, possibly with a few new friends, if I get my act together!
I hesitate to post this because I don’t want you to ruin my chances of winning (kidding!): Kathleen at Twig and Thistle (one of my new favorite blogs) is having a giveaway for a sweet adorable li’l tweet stitch kit (in any of four colors). Go on over and join the fun, and look through her other fantastic goodies for sale in her Etsy shop while you’re there!
In honor of BerkshireMade’s official Team Launch earlier today on Etsy, I am offering two sales in my shop:
This one is extra special because it is today, Saturday March 14, ONLY:
Buy one 8×10 print and get one 5×7 print free! Any design listed in either size in the shop is available, just tell me what print you want in “notes to seller” at checkout ::::: {Does not include gocco/silkscreen prints}
AND through March 31, every order over $10 receives a free card (of my choice, though I will do my best to honor special requests in “notes to seller”!)
Other members are offering great deals such as free shipping or other discounts — visit the member page at BerkshireMade.org for all of our members and click the banners for their specific shops. Also see this thread in the Etsy forums for more info on what we’re all about and up to.
Che-check it out! (Below is our table from the Feb. 27th Berkshire Creative Spark! networking event — with work by most of our members on display, including my cool-colors Alphabet Soup print and some birdie sculptures.)
