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Hopefully for the last time, at least for a while, this blog is moving on over to my sparkly new website, www.lauriecoyledesigns.com! Come on over and say hi! And then be sure to update your feed reader (or go ahead and subscribe!) {And be sure to give me props since I designed it myself using wordpress!}
love and hugs and giggling and friends and art tears and and fun and craft and joy and water and trees.
It is so hard to put into words the magic (yes, I said magic! Alchemy? Sparkles? Joy?!) of Squam Lake and the Squam Art Workshops. So until I can put it into words, even though this was my second time there and I should be able to synthesize it into words now but I can’t, you can see my photos on my flickr here. This session was similar but also so different, so special in its own way. Some of the same people, many new faces and quite a few folks who I felt like I already knew. I kept having the “don’t I know you from somewhere?” conversation, and it went both ways; we both felt familar, but there was no way we had met before. Ahh, the bliss of kindred spirits.
I also want to say a huge thanks to everyone who came out to the Squam Art Fair and loved on my crafty goodness and took home some goodies. I am so thrilled that a handfull of my birdies will be living in loving new homes and my art will be gracing the walls of some really rockin’ creative souls’ homes. You all blow me away.
And the teachers, the Teachers!
Lizzy House (top) and Marisa Haedike (above), you are so amazing beyond words. Thank you for imparting your knowledge to us in such a kind, thoughtful, joyful, eloquent way. You are both such fantastic artists and it was a joy to meet you. I am a better person for knowing you. And I hope to be a better artist, armed with some super tips and techniques that you brought to us in your classes. These women are both forces of nature to be reckoned with, but bring such compassion to their interactions and relationships, and every piece they create has such meaning and feeling behind it. I can only hope to expand on what I learned from each of you.
We also had the honor of being joined by the fantastic Ms. Jonatha Brooke again this session, who continued the tradition of serenading us by the bonfire on the first night, and brought tears to our eyes once again with her songs of trust and pixie dust throughout the weekend. Lovely seeing you again, dear soul!
I am so thrilled to have been mentioned on the Fiber Farm blog and the sweet “loving it” section of SouleMama, Amanda Blake Soule’s blog as a result of being at the Squam Art Fair. Fiber Farm was part of the Art Fair on Saturday, and Amanda was part of the books and authors forum on Friday night at Squam, and I had the pleasure of meeting her at the book signing. What an amazing and lovely woman; I so plan on using her creative-family-raising ideas someday with my own family. She is such an inspiration!
ok, I guess I did have some words to describe it. And I’ll bring you more later, but for now be sure to enjoy my photos. Here are some of the work I created, too (top two from “Create a Painting in a Day” with Marisa Haedike, and bottom is the result of both “Pattern Design” and “Block Printing Fabric” with Lizzy House):
In June, John and I are planning to take our first EvEr trip together where we have no other agenda but to go somewhere and be together. All of our previous trips have involved either a friend or family member’s wedding or a trip to visit family or moving me across the country. These were all fantastic trips, but this time is really very different for us. We have no agenda, no where to be on a certain day, no one to bother with our vacationy-needs, just us, self-reliant.
Oh, ok, we did go to Montreal, but that was for our honeymoon. It was great, but also carried with it a lot of expectations of grand romance and starry-eyed hand-holding. And it delivered, but this time… this time we’ve been through a few years of marriage and we are really just going for the heck of Going. Somewhere. Together.
We chose Washington, D.C. — mostly because I could use my saved up train miles (from long-ago trips across the country using Amtrak Guest Rewards!) to get us there without paying too much, plus there is the perk of all kinds of nifty museums that are FREE. Additionally, there’s this thing where we’ve not wanted any part of that city for the last 8 years, and really haven’t considered it any kind of destination ifyouknowwhatImean. I have been there a few times but haven’t really seen the patriotic-kind-of-sights, so maybe this time, with a renewed sense of hope in all this democracy-shmocracy (I for one, am a big fan of Socialism) we’ll get all flag-wavey and visit our pals the Obamas in their fancy house. I’d love to see the White House garden, though, for reals.
My mom reminded me recently that it might be horridly hot by then down there, but I think the flowers and free (air-conditioned) museums will make up for it!
So… I still haven’t booked us a place to stay yet. Any reccomendations are greatly appreciated. I have a few friends working on some leads. And I’ve been searching the interwebs for hostels and such. I would really like to stay in a funky or at least fun (and safe!) neighborhood, and we’d ideally like our own room. No dorm rooms for us, thankyouverymuch. And of course availability is limited just a month in advance. Here are my two front runners:
The American Guest House in Dupont Circle. Looks gorgeous and old and full of character. More a bed and breakfast, including the price, which is more than we were planning to spend. It looks to be in a great neighborhood, though, and close to all the attractions downtown, which is really what we’re there for. (Still cheaper than hotels I’ve found, too)
The Allen Lee Hotel near Georgetown in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. Also close to downtown, but without as much character, and seems like a less funky neighborhood. More businessy and less personal. Less pricey, though.
What’s your checklist for choosing a place to stay? Sacrifice some $$ for character and personality, or save the money and use it toward some good eats and maybe transportation to the more exciting neighborhoods?
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!
I love your thoughts on homesteading/our house, etc. — thank you!
I have yet to wrap my mind around the rest of my thoughts regarding this, but I surely will get back to that one of these days.
Today, I’m here:
It’s actually in much better shape now, this was a shot (with my new fisheye lens adapter!) from last week when my studio re-hash project started. I’m working AT my desk now, which is very exciting. The hall is full of stuff looking for a new home, but the studio is in pretty good shape. And now all mine, after I moved John (with his permission of course!) and his computer down to the living room. I had a heck of a time getting a wireless adapter to work with the PC, but it’s now working and mostly reliable. And now I can make as big a mess as I want and not worry about John having to navigate it, just to do his homework.
Last weekend, we were here:
In Burlington, Vermont! Having fun playing with the new fisheye (I hope my nose isn’t that big in real life…?) and visiting the lovely Sarah G. and her man CPCC, who recently celebrated a birthday on San Patricio’s day — happy b-day, CP!
We had a great time, resting, rejuvenating, trying to pretend it was spring and walking too far in cold wind along lake Champlain. We even got souvenir rosy wind-burned faces! It was sunny the whole time but really really still winter coldness. Sarah’s apt. has a great view of the lake, the Adirondacks and the sunset — lovely!
As I mentioned previously, Twitter has been helping me express myself more concisely — but, not being online for a few days was really nice. Therefore, I’m here to say I’m taking a little blogging break. Not that I’m so frequent a blogger anyway, but I’m often feeling a little guilty about not posting more often. I also have a fair coming up soon — The Design Hive Market in Cambridge on Sunday April 5th. This all leads me to the conclusion that I’m going to be back to posting here around then, maybe before the fair, maybe after, or maybe I won’t be able to contain myself and will be back even more frequently or soon — who knows!
see you then, then!
(re-blogged from The Poppytalk Handmade Artists Blog, here)
I had the wonderful pleasure of attending the New York premiere of the new documentary film by Faythe Levine and Micaela O’Herlihy “Handmade Nation” last night at the Museum of Art and Design.
What a wonderful museum, and a fantastic film! I had been completely excited to watch this film in a room full of super talented artist and crafters, and the energy didn’t disappoint. Many of the artists featured in the film were in attendance, as well as other great makers that I spied in the audience from Etsy and blogland. The space was actually quite small, probably holding only 130 people in the sold-out crowd, so it had the feeling of an intimate event. We were all able to look around at the other makers, just as excited as we were to be there. It would have been so great if there were a little reception afterward, because I would have loved the chance to meet more of the talented makers in the room. I did manage to meet Kate Bingaman-Burt, the illustrator of the book Handmade Nation, which was very exciting for this illustration nerd and hand-lettered-type geek. She was giving out copies of her Obsessive Consumption zine, which we were lucky enough to snag. Thanks, Kate!
I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, because you’ll have to see it for yourself when it’s released near you; there’s a list of screening dates on their blog. There was a great panel discussion after the screening with Faythe, Kate, Mandy Greer and Callie Janoff, which was streamed live in the Etsy virtual labs. They shared some insight into their processes and thoughts about the film, as well as a short but interesting discussion about where the D.I.Y. movement is going. A few audience members voiced concern about the cost of crafting, and Mandy and Kate reminded us that we can all create with the objects often cast off by our modern culture, for instance by spinning thrift-store clothing into new, usable fiber. There was a huge exhibit in the museum entitled Second Lives, which really brought this point home; all of the beautiful work in this exhibit was comprised of ordinary and everyday manufactured articles, most originally made for another functional purpose. The questions regarding the fate of crafting and D.I.Y. (people are afraid it’s over or going bad places after being co-opted by mass marketers and retailers) was met with enthusiastic comments reminding us that humans have always and will always create, and the movement is really just gaining steam in the mainstream.
What do you think the fate of D.I.Y. and crafting might be? It’s hard for some people to imagine the future and not think we’ve come as far as we will, but I think there are infinite possibilities for expansion and evolution of the movement, of technology and for trends and techniques. I’d like to see everyone buying their holiday and birthday gifts from crafters in their hometowns, if not making them themselves.
Another quick apology for not getting back to posting regularly this week. I think it’s been a many-factor situation, which includes getting back from a great trip and not having time to tell you about it, catching up with lots of life and school-related stuff piled up from said trip, going on another mini-trip, plus having too much I want to tell you and not finding the time or images to show and tell you. Add to that a bit of internet malaise I’ve noticed floating around – vast overwhelm about the super amazing amount of wonderful stuff out there to tell you about and look at and enjoy, and you’ve got yourself a very quiet little blog. Oh well. I know you’ve already forgiven me, so why are we still talking about it?
I’ve also been doing some crafting. I know, right? crazy. I learned to knit from my wonderful Aunt Pat while away in Arizona, so I’ve been enjoying that non-moneymaking craft, too. It’s nice to use my hands and mind in such a completely different way than I’m used to. I really like it. Haven’t made anything of note, but that was exactly how I approached it, without much intention of “producing” anything. At least not yet.
I made a fun little garland from the felted acorns — how ’bout that? It’s for a special order, and I really like it. Not sure if it’s done, maybe need to add another little bit to make sure those acorns stay put for many moons. I also lowered the price of my calendar and the holiday card sets in my Etsy shop, just so’s you know.
I think I have time for one or two more custom holiday card orders, so contact me asap at maylaurie@gmail.com if you’re interested in cooking something up with me. Options include computer printed or silkscreened, and on your choice of colors and size cards.
I’m back from my lovely jaunt to Arizona, and now off again tomorrow for a few days in the Boston area, hanging with some lovely friends and going to an Ani Difranco concert at Symphony Hall on Sunday. I’m excited! But of course, that means I won’t be posting much again these next few days. Will hopefully be back in the swing of normal routine (and some major crafting!) on Tuesday or Wesnesday.
Till then, enjoy this lovely video that might bring a tear to your eye like it did mine. 
I’m still out in Arizona for another few days, but I finally sat down to the computer for a few moments and I had to post something exciting, at least for me — My “Don’t Forget to Have a Good Time” print was featured on Apartment Therapy Boston on Tuesday! Click here for the full post.
Super thanks to Kayla & Wes for the kind words, and to Robyn for sending the love along!
Ok, so first we went to San Francisco. It was wonderful to be back, and I instantly felt at home. We went to the beach on our first full day there, after eating crepes at the Crepevine and strolling around the Inner Sunset. We took the N-Judah down to ocean beach and it was sunny and lovely and like old times. Although I didn’t know the beach off the Sunset was more dune-y than from the Richmond district, where I used to live with Davey and Joey. It was super beautiful!
Sam and Jeremy were wonderful, gracious and generous hosts, and they even took us to a Memorial Day BBQ back out by the beach, where we got to play with dogs and miss our dog, who stayed home with my mom and her buddy Mickey.
It got a little chilly when the fog rolled in (ok, it was cold, I was wearing a jacket!), but down south of the city where Joey and Ariel’s wedding hotel was (in San Mateo) was sunny and warm. The Wedding location on the top of a mountain in Woodside, CA, was not so much warm as really really cold. But we dealt just fine in our groomsmaids’ dresses, thankyouverymuch. It was fun to see some old friends from The College Years (yes, I was on that Saved By the Bell season. it rocked). I didn’t get a chance to take any pics of the wedding, so you’ll have to make due with these professional shots… And normally I wouldn’t post so many pics of myself, but I had some requests. So, here’s a little photo-essay of the wonderful-est wedding ever (ok, ‘cept ours of course!). Aren’t they the cutest (handsomest!) couple?
yay! Thanks Joey and Ariel, for a wonderful weekend!!
