MIA

Sorry friends and blog watchers. I have been seriously MIA on here because big HUGE changes have happened in my life.

1. Quit my day job
2. Took new day job
3. New job started the same week as the organizations biggest yearly fundraiser, a gallery opening and the following week when I needed to process and balance everything from fundraiser event and opening there was another Gallery closing.

Suffice to say life has been BUSY!

Let me start with saying I LOVE my new job. I love it so much and what it means to me that I took a pay cut to be where I am. Gallery Manager and Organizational Administrator for the Ohio Art League.
It is everything I was looking for in a job. Working in the community, working with other artists and organizing events and meeting new people to make opportunities for other artists and friends.
I learned from my years being a part of Independents day and this year amping up what I do with Craft Alley that this was the kind of work I really enjoyed. More importantly it was something that didn't kill my passion for my personal art as well. Instead it enhanced and inspired me more.

2012 has held a lot of pitfalls and disappointment for me in the professional area with my missed teaching opportunities, failure to get into an MFA program and financial woes. At the end of 2012 it is looking like a very bright and happy future for me.

My friend Erica who I can't thank enough for always believing in my fashion work and promoting me. She helped get me into the Dead Island 2: Riptide music video. It is my linen skirt and silver halter top that you can see at:

Marks 2:45, 3:08 and 3:15




Directed by Don Tyler
DP: Noel Maitland
Art director: Erica Stewart

Costume designer: Erica Stewart
Wardrobe stylist: Dagmarette Yen
Key makeup artist & hair design: Erica Stewart
Key hair stylist: Jessica Stadel

8-harness symphony

My most recent weaving project at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center is this two tone Swedish geometric weaving. It will be a very long scarf for me. It was meant to be double the width but my counting was off since I was working double stranded. It'll happen, setting up a weaving loom is one of the more difficult crafts I have done in my life so far. It is much more involved then smocking or my knitting machines. Once it is set up and you are weaving it is a little of bliss and a lot of satisfaction knowing that you set up this complex pattern (unless of course you find mistakes).

A  close up of my pattern being tested. You can see how amazing it is with every single strand in place. The yarn on this is also a cotton flake so I am excited to see how the different textures are going to turn out while I weave.

These pedal however are the guts to this pattern more so then the heddles that the yarn is fed through. It took me a total of about 6 hours to get just the pedals set up and tested properly. I had to make around 36 tie ups for this pattern. Previously I had never chosen a pattern that involved any tie ups what so ever so this was a BIG change for me. I pretty much jumped right into the fire with this project.

This is the belly of the beast where I laid on a yoga mat on my back staring for those 6 hours. The first time I tested it I was really sad when I found out I had done some of these tie ups wrong and had to undo half of them to get them set up again and yet more time on the floor on my back.

Once it was done right and I tested it again after a hiatus I was so happy! You can see where I messed up from the first test after all the tie-ups to testing it to just weave. I like on this picture you can also see some of the texture variances from the flake yarn being used.

Just another close up for posterity so you can see the mistake I made at the bottom a little better and just how lovely this pattern is. I am really happy I chose these colors. I was a little concerned that they would be too close to each other and not give enough impact but they are looking just lovely as they are.  I have about 2ft woven and I am hoping to get at least 5ft to make this extra long scarf for myself. Perhaps even some place mats that I can give someone for Christmas like my Mother in law.

The only problem with weaving is that I want a loom of my own pretty badly now.

Triple digit Jeans - OOTD

You know how your friends with a bit more money or those fancy fashion bloggers coo over their new denim that is easily 1/4 of your paycheck? Yah I'm sick of hearing about it too. But I got a pair. Of course I didn't spend the whole amount, in fact I lucked out in getting these black stretch G-star raw jeans from Brigade for only $50 on super duper clearance (as in we need to make room for winter!). I can report back that ok, maybe these are the softest pair of jeans to have ever touched my legs, yes they make my butt look good and they aren't so super tight in their sizing to make me feel like a monster (although I've given up caring what a size label says years ago). I certainly won't endorse putting yourself into questionable debt over a pair but if you can swing it you should really try it. 

As for the rest of my outfit it's also on the cheap.

Pink sparkle flats by Steve Madden from DSW

Jolly Roger belt from Express men's section with 50% coupon

Tobi Polka dot sleeveless blouse from the 30% markdown section

Leopard print Grey Cardigan that I have had for so long I don't remember what I paid for it.

Brand spanking new hair cut from my friend Amie Vonderloh at Blake Rose Salon

Speaking of my cardigan and how long I have owned made me remember this smart little post my friend Jess Gambacurta  had about Cost Per Wear which I also think is appropriate to think about when investing in a fantastic pair of jeans that makes you feel and look amazing despite it's price point.

Now with the art studio set up and place for me to take photos in a regular spot I hope to continue to add to the Out of the Day posts. I am not however going to promise a steady stream of posts. I still have a lot of work to do in the real world and I am working on making time for things that make me happy such as Video games and kitty Cuddle time which I have less of now that I do have an out of house art studio to work in.

Wool Gathering 2012

Every year there is this festival called the Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs at Young's Dairy Farm. It's a cute event where fiber enthusiasts can get their geek on about Llamas, Alpaca, different Sheep varieties and my all time favorite of the Angora rabbits. Aside from there different weaving guilds are there to represent as well as 3 tents of dealers selling everything from raw fibers to spin and kettle dyed yarns.

 I was sucked into the beautiful assortments of roving and  picked up a few balls which I now need to spin..... just another craft task I didn't really need to get back into.

 Alpacas being friendly and nonchalant as people tried to chirp to get their attentions. These fellas stayed put right in the middle just out of arms reach.

 The terrible lighting inside of the tents due to the red stripes. I'm sure it looks festive from the outside but the interior is a little abysmal with the red glow.

Still gorgeous wares from a myriad of vendors such as Creatively Dyed Yarn, whom I am always a sucker for. 

Various Rigid Heddle looms and spinning wheels. All of which I have no place for in my home so I was able to safely navigate away from them. I've decided spinning is one of the crafts I can do but I don't want to spend more of my time on when I could be tatting or knitting. You gotta pick and choose your fiber art battles and crafts.

Of course there were angora bunnies! I was said I didn't see as many of them as I had in years past. I think there were only 2 vendors that had bunnies and none of them seemed to have more then 2 or 3 out. There was a display of Angora rabbits in the Alpaca and sheep shearing tent but I felt bad since they were all crammed in together in these small cages.

 The ranges of raw fibers at this event are always astonishing. There is a vendor from Granville, Ohio called Lucky Cat Craft who had some angora's and silk that felt like you were touching a cloud.

 Being the enabler friend that I am, I was getting my friend Laura of Ajumama Food Truck to try her hand at weaving. I'm hoping she'll join me in the weaving studio at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center with Pat Bullen as the teacher.

It was great to see some bobbin lace up close and personal and as in a way where I could touch it. If I hadn't started down the shuttle tatting route I would of tried my hand at bobbin lace. I'm a bit glad I didn't because at least shuttle tatting is portable where as I don't see this pillow, pins and bobbins fitting inside my tote bag very easily.

To end it all we had to chow down on the squeaky cheese curds, especially since this entire event went down on a dairy farm.

I know my blogging has been spotty to put it nicely but I am working on getting back to it. My studio is mostly settled into now and so are some of my plans for the yarn pop-up shop. Now I just need to work on making it through this holiday and hopefully putting in my first order for Yarn It & Haberdashery!

The Little things

A few months ago Rivet Gallery had some pieces from Dalton Ghetti. It was amazing to see his precise and meticulous work in person. You see the pictures and the postcards but to get the real appreciate for how difficult this is you gotta see it in person.

These are my craptastic photos to try and capture how seriously tiny this all is.

The chain really is amazing more so then I think some of the others because there are so many tiny linking pieces. I'd really like to see how his work shop set up was to complete this piece. Amazing how he uses just a sewing needle and sharp triangular blade to work on these. I love that it is just for him. He doesn't sell a single piece or do this for money. He has purely been doing this for fun and his own meditation.

Survival

This year I barely survived the festival that is Independents day fully intact. For whatever reason this year it was much harder then the past years for me. I left feeling upset even for a few days. Not because anything failed but because I knew it was such a great event and I didn't get to enjoy it like I normally would at all. I wished there were two of me, one to run my parts and the other to enjoy and wander and take in all the great new things that happened this year. It was on all counts quite successful and I'm happy for that.

One of the good things that came out of Independents day for me was working on my tags and branding for future craft shows and just in general for my Fashion design. I'm always in love with using Moo mini cards as tags and they come out looking so great!

 In other news I have moved many more things into the Studio and it is starting to look like my space. Both knitting machines up makes me very happy as I can freely work on projects without worrying about kitties and tear down. I also brought in one of my sewing machines and  most of my painting supplies. I'd really love to get back into a little oil painting and mess around with gouche. I think gouche could be a great flat medium format for me in more controlled ways then water color has been.

 I'm still organizing but I'm happy with what I've got so far. I brought in my little vintage knitting needle collection to hang for decoration and a jewelry chicken wire frame  for when we have open studio to put some of my jewelry pieces on.

The addition that I am most excited about is the pegboard wall panels that my friend Adam put up for me and I painted what is call a Caribbean blue. It's most like a grey toned baby blue.

I've also been making time to work on a  new wound embroidery that I am very excited about. It was from when my friend Jen took a hard spill on her bike on the way to work. I think as I make them I am going to just give them the title of what the wound's cause was from. This will be Bike to Work and the previous one is Self Defense. Having a narrative title will be fun for the viewer or at least I hope it will be.

I'm not Dead yet!

Nope still here. Just uber busy with Independents day! Also branding myself a little more and working on my website and figuring the logistics of hosting and what I need to pay.

I am the Craft Alley essentially for the upcoming Independents day Columbus which means managing 40 arts/craft vendors, Interactive make and take tent and Crafty Death Match on the Stage from 6-7pm.  What that also means is hauling around tents, tables, materials for all said things which also includes a 6x4' plinko board, 2x2.5' table vending machine, lights, 6 chairs, 2 tents, 4-6 tables and all of my booth materials to vend as well. Then there is all the intense PR work I am doing to make sure EVERY single one of my vendors is being represented in a promotion and the vendors giving us Donations for the prizes are getting as much promotion on facebook and twitter as I can crank out. It is a ton of work. Next year I will demand an intern. Even with all this hard work I love this Festival. To me it really embodies and spirit of supporting local and upcoming artists all around our community.

Do me a solid and please follow @CraftAlleyCbus and retweet all my vendor promotions or just your favorites.

Also in more Independents Day news I will have two pieces up for Raffle with the Ohio Art League tent. They are some of my early works from my new study on wounds and human emotions. These are small works 3x3" and 4x4". Perfect for a little desk or office space art to remind you whatever hurts you will heal eventually.

I am unfortunately ill prepared as I am overflowing with knitwear and the weather looks to be about 80 degrees that day. I'll need to get my butt moving on some new skirts to sew, flower hair pins and my new lace tatted necklaces I've been itching to debut.

I have a very busy weekend ahead of me with much sewing and crafting.
I hope you have a great weekend and see you next week!

Figuratively

Light at the end of the tunnel? 

Is there a light? 

Do we make this tunnel up ourselves?

Sorry for the heavy thoughts but several conversations with different people over the last month have got my wheels turning on some issues in my life professionally and slightly personally.

I am currently putting a lot of caution to the wind with my ideas and I am not doubting myself but I am doubting what do I need to get what I want out of life right now. That to me means a balance and happiness. I want the freedom to do the things I love which are crafting and art, being a part of the community and contributing back. Am I doing that right now? The answer is yes, but it's not balanced. I am exhausted with little time to relax for myself or spend time with my husband. My day job fulfills it's need of paying my bills but once again it isn't balanced because I am incredibly unhappy with it. Then the questions come with no answers. Will I really be able to have more freedom with my own business when I start this yarn shop? All signs point to no. In terms of freedom lost it looks to me like traveling freedoms which I don't do a lot of as it is and perhaps some time at home. I will however be able to spend more time doing the things I love sewing, knitting, crafts and I could play my video games when I have my own downtime the perks of being the (boss and sole employee for awhile).

In other areas I am a bit exhausted of reaching for something that now seems unattainable because of other people making ill decisions and there is nothing I can do. I don't want to become completely jaded or disgruntled so I think I need to step away from this goal and be content with all the other amazing things that I am doing and have going for me. The biggest part of my reason for going back to school was interlinked with this goal so now I need to re-evaluate that as well.

Graduate school is still heavy on my thoughts but not in the same way it was before. I've been slowly working  my way into viewing myself in larger terms then just labels of Crafter and Fashion Designer. How to put into words my goals currently and how much they have changed in the last year since I have put aside one goal while forming another one not as clear but more profound to me.

I feel it is all a race right now to see what comes first. Yarn store, Grad School or starting a family (yes totally from left field).

Another difficult pill to swallow is that will I really be happy? All three of those choices means giving up a sense of luxury that I have had most of my life, whether it is apparent or not. The one thing my current job allows of me is knowing that I can feed my carnal bliss of clothing, accessories , books and supplies. How hard will it be to give that up? I've been diligently attempting an out of sight out of mind standpoint and only viewing what is current through the troves of pinterest and the monthly Lucky magazine I get (don't even ask why). I have somehow over the past year managed to only do majority of my "trend" shopping when I am traveling which has been good. I can not deny that I have a joy in consumerism.

I think all these points are what make up my tunnel right now and I'm not so sure there is a defined light at the end of this. I know I am not alone in this as I have talked to many friends and strangers over the month within my age range (early-mid 30's) who are just as perplexed as I am. People are no longer viewing jobs as their life long careers the way that our parents did. I think this whole analogy of light at the end of the tunnel for our hardships isn't quite right, there are too many variables and layers. We as a society have infinitely better and more opportunities now then ever. Which is also making it very confusing to decide which "tunnel" or "path" is the right one for you. Perhaps we have more ambition as a whole then past generations. It's hard for me to say definitively, but that is how I feel.

This all still leaves me shooting for three different courses of action and just getting over myself and as it were "treat yo self" attitude.

And now I will just pause and continue again after Indepdendents Day. Maybe some magical mystical light will shine on me as I gruel through the preparations of new attractions and setting up a new syllabus for my CCAD class.

Just for Ewe - and eventually me!

It's been a while since I have had the time to make a post. I've simply been very busy between Independent's day Organization, moving into the new studio space and the Columbus Food Truck Fest. Now that two of those 3 things are pretty much done with I find myself picking up other things. These are important things that I hope will be the foundation for my life in the upcoming years. Re-applying for Grad school and working on a business plan for my own yarn store. If you remember in my "Craft Wars" episode I talked about wanting to open a yarn store. It was not a lie to sound meaningful on TV. It is something that I do really plan on doing.

There is this sweet little Yarn Shop up around the lake house called "Just for Ewe". It is a very inspiring place where the yarn is like waterfalls of color through out the store. Not that I want mine to look like that but it's fun to go in there.

They also have Sheep!

And an Alpaca!

The quaint little storefront is set back away from the road in the back lot next to the sheep and alpaca stable. In the front lot is a small craft gift and candy store.

The entire place is just dripping in colors and fibers

There was even a place for the boys to sit down and relax amidst it all.

I've been reading a ton of small business books and contacting potential vendors about price lists and working out the details in my head of going from pop-up to brick in mortar in two years time frame. I feel good that I am well prepared when people ask me the serious business questions that I can give them complete answers without hesitation. A few other business owners have told me I've been doing my research and off to a really good start. The problem is just making that final leap to start this. I have a handful of forms and documents that I need to send out with checks to get this party started.

NYC Craft Swag

Finally after a bit a time and many meetings I've had the time for myself to work on this post about my crafty purchases in New York City from the beginning of this month.

These were my luscious purchases from Purl Soho. My hubby actually bought me my two half yard pieces of Liberty of London.

I got a good collection of crewel wool to add to my supplies and I was good enough to only buy myself two skeins of yarn both by Madelinetosh .

I went for Florals in Liberty because this is what they are known for. Amazing robust patterns with an array of colors, never looking tacky but so much details into every square inch. I also got this cute Japanese polka dot bias tape which I hope to use on a blouse I have plans to make.

I stayed mostly in blues and greens in my selection since I am still planning to work on bruises for my embroidery but I added in a few choice colors just for me to play with.

Here is a close up for the gorgeous yarns I got in Tomato and Robin's Egg blue. One day when I have my own yarn store I am going to make sure I carry this yarn company. It is just so beautiful and artful.

For yet another hobby that I love which is beading and making jewelry I got myself a new little tool that I thought I would try out and some copper Swarovski encrusted beads for a bracelet.

Of course I had to get some Crafty books while I was at Kino Kuniya and I picked up a Stumpwork embroidery book and fingerless glove book. Also the most recent Gap Press Haute Couture magazine. I've giving up mostly on getting all the pret-a-porter versions of this magazine because they never wow me as much as the Haute Couture does.

Through our many subway rides I came upon this quirky little women's room turned convenience store. I just had to take a picture and share. The men's side was not in good shape and seemed to be turned into a subway maintenance closet.

I love that we have started to finish each trip to NYC with Dim Sum in the City at the huge banquet hall Jing Fong. Got to spend time with one of my favorite people Juyon and see my friend Julie who I don't think I've seen since we were at Yonsei together in 1999 (yes I am old if you didn't know that already). With Hubby in tow of course.

Now the problem lies with what will I do with my fantastic little Liberty of London Fabrics and what to knit with my new yarns?!
Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Nerdy New York

One of the many interesting spots I visited while in NYC was Nintendo World. I don't usually make this a stop except that I wanted to make sure I got on the Nintendo WiFi to collect my extra street passes and get some Pokemon plushies for my niece and nephew as they are just old enough now to enjoy the wonders of playing pokemon on their Nintendo 3DS (yes this is sounding like total product placement, I won't be mad is NINTENDO picks this up and sends me fan service). Honestly I've never played Pokemon, what little I know of it is from the cartoons I might of watched intently here and there. What I do know is ZELDA!

It's tough when you are an interesting looking girl who is dressed nicely and into video games amid a store full of boys and their toys or mom waiting for the boys to finish playing games. I had of been approached by every worker in the store to ask me if I needed help and then start a conversation about what thing I was holding including my 3DS as I kept it open doing street pass and switching between games to gather weapons in Kid Icarus or Dark Notes in Theatrhythm. I was asked so many times to old the Master Shield from Zelda I finally gave in since they went out of their way to bring it to me. It was HEAVY, whomever made this was a skilled craftsman, the front was all hand painted and the dimensions are real for the woodwork on the tri-force and metal decoration.

This year marked the 25th anniversary for both The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy Series. Both of them have been strong in collector's items and the displays at Nintendo World were put together by many of the worker's from their personal collections. Seeing ye olde Nintendo Powers really takes me back to my NES days of up up down down left right left right select start.

Also ICARUS KILLS MEDCUSA ANGELS

The new displays at the store are really great. They were made my the employees who put their personal collections into the store. This was The Legend of Zelda's 25th anniversary so a special book came out in Japan which I also saw at KinoKuniya but it was about $70 bones. You can see it right here at Epona's feet. I totally also had that Legend of Zelda Nintendo Power from the late 80's.

Majora's Mask Link

Goron from Majora's Mask

Zelda four Swords links and signed golden Nintendo GBA system.

also little pixel pins made by a worker's girlfriends for the display.

Close up of the rad Epona and Link Statue.

Another great display depciting Kid Icarus and Metroid. Both classics that I loved and remember growing up playing.

I love the new Kid Icarus but the original will always have a soft spot in my heart. I used to play it so much I would get nightmares of the eggplant wizard chasing me down through a dungeon. The music was really great and quirky for the original as well.

They also re-vamped their console system display since I saw it two years ago. I would of gotten pictures of it but there was just too many people crowding around it. If you are a Nintendo fan of any capacity I would highly suggest making the trip to Nintendo world, if for nothing else the nostalgia. It's weird to think NES was my first console and my first love in gaming. The original gameboy I held onto until the Nintendo DS brick came out. I still have our NES and all the 47 games my brothers and I collected.

Are you a gamer? What was your first console/Game? What is classic to you?