Link Love #1

Hello out there!

If anyone is still reading me.  I haven't stopped or given up just been ultra busy.  Some of you know I have a Delicious site and some of you don't.  It's not very complicated but it can be daunting to go through. 

I've decided to Break it down by new or just wonderful things I have that are ling to places and things that I love that you might be inspired by also.

First is Tokyomade!  It is this amazing site of japanese artists and their wares made available to the world.  It gives me a little pop of artist infushion from across the sea. 

I'm always in love with the Resin Jewelry, and their Amazing home Designs Items such as this book cover

My Next Discovery is this Clothing shop called Anarchy Street, Who I found through Song of Style (one of the blogger's I follow).   They have some amazing pieces for some incredibly cheap prices.  I was blown away that 90% of it is under $100.00  I'll be ordering from them for sure in the upcoming winter.

I'm in love with this Faux Shearling Jacket for only $79

And this Silk Blouse  for only $39

And for my Knitter's out there this very simple and great Tutorial on the Purl Bee on Mobius Scarves.  I know it's a simple concept and I always thought I knew what it was but this reconfirmed that I was Right.  It is just a simple purposely added twist in the scarf as you knit in the circular.  All those older ladies from the knitting stores trying to confuse me making it sound so much more complicated then it really is. 

So here you go!  Mobius Cowl Tutorial.....

Photo taken from Zakka Life

Independents day Pre-game

So tomorrow is Independents day!  Am I seriously ready to wake up and be there by 8 AM to start set up?  It's kind of a huge deal that I am in charge of keeping 32 vendors in order and timely.  I need to get my stuff out together and positioned ASAP and then just be there for everyone else.  Is this the kind of stuff being a mother will feel like?

You should all come out and visit me it's from noon till midnight downtown around Pearl and Gay Street.  Craft Alley will be open from noon till 10 pm and we have an AWESOME line up of Craft Vendors.  Lot's of representation from the Crafty Cotillion.

Today I finally caught up on my blog reading and it's fun to see what all the "Big Blogger's" have to say about fashion week and their grand experiances.  Little ol' me just worked my ass off at the gym and sewing a frenzy.  I feel so disconnected with what is going on fashion wise.  It used to be my dream to do a runway show and now I wonder where it went?  Now I am just super happy to make things, anything all the time. 

I also realized while going through the blogs I haven't taken any pictures of myself in the past few months with outfits.  I promise that will change.  I might even keep a little trip pod set up in my cubicle for this.

I did see ONE thing that makes me want to get intensely involved in making some jackets/coats at least something for myself this fall.

Images from atlantis home

Something about the construction of this jacket is divine and I really want to try my hand at leather ruffles.  I've done pintucks and pleating and even the mutton sleeves but this seems like so much fun and I do have some leather sitting around.

P.S.  for wedding stuffs I did try on dresses for the first time and you can hear my thoughts here!



As the World Turns

Whilst the rest of the world is obsessed with the going ons for NYC Fashion week I am patiently awaiting the publications to follow.  I find hardly any time to keep a firm grasp on what is in style and what is not.  Sadly I am most involved with the consumer ridden publication that is "Lucky"  I feel it is the ultimate trickle down with a pinch of straight off the runway fashions.

Aside from my patience in Fashion coverage I am working dilligently on new items for the coming fall craft shows and how I should set my display.  I am this odd wonder at the shows.  I am walking the line between crafty and fashion.  Trying to bridge the gap with accessories that are both unique and me yet useful.

My new thing that I LOVE to make is these pincushion rings inspired by coral and anemones.

I'm also doing these knitted cord necklaces which I had been wanting to do for myself for years but now I figured I would just do them for the craft shows as well.  I know there are some other people out there doing something similar from t-shirts and such but these are knitted and with embellishments such as my Kanzashi flowers, freshwater pearls and Swavorski crystals.

My Next upcoming event is this Saturday where I will be selling at Independents Day in Downtown Columbus.

It has been really interesting experiance for me as the Group I am with "The Crafty Cotillion" trusted me enough to spearhead the Organization of Craft Alley.  I feel awesome that they trust me to do it but also flustered because it is a lot of work.  I tried to delegate some things but then I ended up being able to figure it out or do a lot of it myself.  Definately and experiance and I think if I didn't have so many other things going on I would be happy to do it again. 

NYC ain't the only garment District

It sure is not.  There are a multitude of other cities and countries even that have wonderous collections of fabrics, ribbons and notions. 

Most recently I was in Toronto (well actually it was months ago but most recent travel excursion).  On Queen's Street is a long section of fabric, yarn, notion and ribbon stores and it was just ever so inspiring and much different feel then the NYC garment District.  I felt not so cramped with looming sky scrapers and a cleaner feeling as I walked into each one.  It also helped that my American Dollar was worth a bit more while I was there.

I can't wait to go back and plunder my credit card!  The ribbon stores were incredible and immaculately organized.  For me coming from an area where we do not have such resources it is very important to make those few trips count.  But also thanks to the wonderful World Wide Web I'm still able to get top notch fabrics and notions from all over.  You can check out my Delicious list of Fabric and Notion Supplies here!

My Delicious Links!

Crochet going beyond

On Craft today I found these gorgeous art crochet vegtables.  I know the japanese have a certain handle on crafts to make them something more beautiful but this work is exquisite.

The big differences between craft and art are the refined details and color choices in my opinion.  Sure some people make these same veggies out of felt or even their own crocheted versions but what make these so unique is the super fine gauge and the attention to detail.  I love on the carrot how the root hairs are still there trailing off of it.  Also how much volume and lushness is added to the greens on the radish and carrot.  Usually when someone has done these vegtables they don't pay as much attention to detail as these have.  People also tend to focus on just the part that we as people eat normally and not to the excess greenage that you would feed to your rabbit.

The original website is here.

Published

Late last week my knitting pattern with Lark Books was published!
You might of remembered when I submitted it nearly a year ago for their capes and cowls book submission.  It is an amazing feeling to have made a mark somewhere out in this great big world.  Even better is that I was one of the two featured designers whose pattern was posted on their website, Lark Crafts.

They dubbed my cowl Reckless.  Which I found to be a good fit.  It was a great experience having to write out my pattern when I've been traditionally a total free style knitter making things up as I go along or having my patterns memorized.  I hope that you enjoy it and I'd love to see pictures if anyone out there ends up making it. 

P.S. We're Engaged!

Yup About two weeks ago my lovely boyfriend Andrew and I got engaged!  You can read the whole story here at my wedding blog "To Muse on Wedding"  So that has been the biggest reason why the posts have slowed down.  Also because I am a bridesmaid for my cousin's wedding this Cotocber and the Maid of Honor for my best friend Hyemi's wedding.  My own Expected date isn't for another year so I relatively have a lot of time still.

Several things important about the wedding are that we are trying to make it as wasteless as possible.  Meaning nothing that is a stupid one time use or that can't be used to decorate our house with after the fact.  So no cute flowers whatsoever.  We can do planted orchids, air plants and succulents there is a mass array of other options.  Colors are Dark Brown, Gold and some shades of Green.  I'm looking for an art deco look with some cute under the sea representation; anemones, ocotopi, squids, coral etc etc.

The big endeavors sewing wise are going to be my reception dress and my wedding dress.  My fantastic friend Larissa from Wilde Hunt Corsetry is going to be working with me to make a corset for the day.  Which means no other corset apparatus underneath so I need to make or at least design my own dress.  So followers you will for sure be getting updates on that as it happens.

Enough of that more of the RING!  It is by Verragio and I love it!