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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 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!
I’m really not sure what it is, but this last week or so I have been having this urgent feeling like I’m forgetting something and there are not enough hours in the day. Or minutes. And then I slow down, remember that this moment is all I have (yeah, a little existential for this mind/crafty lady/blog — but it IS true, right?) and then I relax and enjoy what I’m doing and remember that it will all get done and whatever is happening, is what is happening. Whatever I’m able to accomplish in a day is what I am able to accomplish.
I know I’ve mentioned him here here before, but I think Michael Neill’s books and radio show and overall personality and work have helped me with this — I’m striving toward the idea of “being done for the day” and remembering that no matter how cranky I am and how bad anything seems to any one of us, that usually it is actually all ok. We are not about to be run over by a bus or attacked by a rabid wildebeest. So… like I said, I’m not sure why I’m still having this feeling of not getting it all done, except maybe I’m just realizing that I WANT TO DO IT ALL. This has been a big problem for me my whole life — I’m what some might call a “maximizer” — I want to do it the BEST way, anything must be totally worth it and done just right or I don’t see the point. I’m trying to overcome it, but it’s not easy.
This is all to say I’ve been meaning to come here and tell you all about Twist and how wonderful it was last weekend and how many fantastic artists I met and what wonderful goodies there were for sale and all the yummy beers and tasty tidbits we were fed by the organizers and all the general goodness of Northampton (and on Pride weekend and a gorgous sunny day, at that!) BUT I just haven’t seemed to have the time to tell you about it! So here’s a quick rundown on a handful of my favorite artists there, which is by no means an exclusive list, because I pretty much loved EVERYONE! (click the images to go to their websites)
Alison Tauber, who makes wonderful screen-printed clothing and accesories and who was kind enough to mention my work on her blog this week — I have been drooling over her work since I first saw it at Twist in November. Gorgeous organic shapes and patterns.
Miaow. I am so lucky to have come home with one of thier little stuffed birdies. I couldn’t resist! Mine is orange on orange, which looks fantastic on the top shelf in our green bedroom, where no dog or cat can get hold of it!
I’ve mentioned Maeg of Ranunculae before; a fellow gocco’er who also makes smashing pillows and art prints and pincushions and more!
I also came home with this gorgeous necklace from Donnabelle Designs. Enameled glass, Gorgeous!
Also enamel, but on copper, is Angela Gerhard’s gorgeous jewelry. She was one of my neighbors at Twist (on my other side was Storey Publishing!) My little green mascot birdie happily went home with her and a few pairs of her fabulous earrings are happily hanging from me and my helper Sarah’s ears!
Directly behind us were the lovely ladies of the Spun Monkey Fiber Shoppe; drapey and colorful felt scarves and yummy yarns. Too bad my knitting hobby is sitting very very still lately, or else I might have allowed myself to take home some of her wonderful yarns!
Erica of Vonica Designs makes funky handbags, wallets and pouches from uniquely textured and often vintage fabrics. Vonica was across from me at the last Design Hive market I attended, a lovely neighbor to have!
RecycleMoe; undefineable (kinda like me!), Moe makes lots of things from lots of things. She recycles plastic bags, fabric, books, board games, sweaters and more into funky fashionable items. Sarah and I both scored coffee cup cozies, and my water bottle is currently sporting it right now, looking very swank.
Just looking at the Twist Vendor list is reminding me of all of the other super splendiferous vendors there; take a look and be prepared to be awed! Thanks also to everyone who came out and bought some of my work. Lots of my cards, tiny needle-felted birds and artwork found great new homes!
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.
&
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!
[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!
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.)
But sometimes the bigger birds make a good splash, too.
Here’s one of my newest creations, a sweet cotton bird named Lola, who is now available in my shop.
She is about 6 inches tall, made from a green floral cotton and upcycled grey-green fabric, with a wool felt beak and hand-embroidered eyes.
hey hey I’m back from Boston — what a fun time! We really enjoyed Design Hive (Kari and Sarah joined me for the day, and Jaclyn, Vanessa and some other great friends stopped by!) — thanks everyone for buying my goodies and all the smiles and great feedback. It’s so fun to see people’s reactions to my work. And I’m happy to say that two of my new needle-felted birdies found a good home, which really makes it all worth while. 
Also a few of my Peace Cranes made it to the Design Hive blog — thanks Val!
We also had a fantastic time shopping the Bazaar Bizarre, which was so inspiring to me. I brought home a few handmade holiday gifts as well as maybe a few things for myself (I only have so much willpower, really). There were some wonderful vendors there, including some of my favorites:
Ranunculae silkscreen cards and fabric goodies
Swallowfield Intricate art and fantastic-ness
1Girl1Boy Hand block-printed fabric goodness
Argyle Whale little illustrations of hedgehogs and goats and things
Campfire Goods T-shirts a-plenty for the type/geography/pop culture nerd in all of us
Egg-a-go-go Illustrationy crafty goodness {we all love the Button Collecting Bird!!!]
Family Dinner for One super star cliparty T’s
Fern Animals tiny soft sculptures
Mean & Wroughten welded art pieces (he was set up across from me at Design Hive, too!)
Miaow wonderful whimsical softies, so huggable!
Sewing Stars adorable plushies
Soto Softies more adorable plushies (sensing a theme?)
Traveling Rhinos Yarn and fiber goodies
Twigs and Heather gorgeous silver jewelry — my favorites are the maple seeds, I don’t think I’d ever take off a necklace so beautiful!
I also got some gorgeous earrings and a necklace at Design Hive from Erica Walker at Walker Silverworks, who was set up right near me — I’m wishing I had picked up a few of her star ornaments, since we’re about to decorate our tree tonight or tomorrow — they’d be so fantastically sparkly with the lights reflecting on them!
This is where I’ve been all week. Hoping to get it cleaned up next week before I take off for a week in Arizona, visiting my Grandparents, my aunt and my cousin who had a baby recently!
To Do list before the trip:
• Sell much Crafty Goodness at the Richmond School Craft Fair tomorrow! (Nov 1, 10am to 3pm)
• Do much homework to hopefully be able to slack off while on “vacation”
•Clean up studio
•VOTE
• Help start a Berkshire Etsy Street Team — We’re meeting Tuesday at 4pm, at the Elm Street (Pittsfield) Juice and Java; all interested in being involved are welcome!
Here’s a peek at my makeshift craft fair setup in the kitchen:
These little stuffed budgies are now named after characters from “The Office” and some old friends — they make me smile! “Hello, I’m Jim and I like Tuna Sandwiches.” “Hello, I’m Andy and I love flannel shirts.”
And, lastly… it’s Halloween! Not one of my favorite holidays, and we just hung out and handed out candy (I tried a tactic of buying candy I don’t like, and I have to say I only tried one piece so I think it worked… ) and HappyDog wore her first ever semi-outfit, and I think she looks adorably festive. We actually got this bandana to keep her safe from bow hunters out in the state forest we walk in by our house, but I think it might have to become a regular fashion statement — isn’t she the cutest?
“You are a dork. I can’t believe you’re making me wear this.”
Happy Halloween! Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow if you’re around the Berkshires!
I have to admit that as much as I love so many of the things for sale on Etsy.com, I am not the best customer. I have been trying to make most of the gifts I have given in the past year or so, and therefore have not had the chance to buy much since my great Etsy shopping spree of holiday 2007.
But recently I decided to buy myself a little, um, we’ll say it was an anniversary present? I found Cary and her shop Little Love Blue when one of her darling pumpkins was featured on the front page of Etsy a while back. One night I decided that I couldn’t live without owning one, and naturally that pumpkin needed a companion hand-sewn mushroom. Well, maybe you didn’t know, but my darling John is really into mushrooms. Of any kind. For eating, for looking at an looking up in books and general adoration. So, I made the purchase from Cary and just a few days ago received this lovely little package, including a sweet note, a moo card of one of her darling birdies, and a cute-as-a-button hand-stamped tag.
Aren’t they adorable?
Here the mushroom completes our little shrine to mushrooms. That red one is a clip (from now-defunct Fuchsia Home. tear.) and the fat gray one is cement, from the Pine Cone Hill store in Lenox. That print is by my exceedingly talented brother Thom, who isn’t currently selling them, but I’m working on him. That one is called “Bedtime, Bitches.” Of course it is.
…and here’s the little pumpkin on the other side of the shelf, jazzing up a Snow & Graham calendar, perched atop a stack of Alyssa Ettinger coasters, which I also nabbed from the lovely late Fuchsia Home. She sells them in her Etsy shop tho, so you too can have some of your own!
