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!

In the Works

 Currently I am trying to add some new items to my etsy page that are jewelry. I always love to make jewelry but hardly sell it anywhere because I feel like it is a saturated market. Right now there isn't much I can do with the upheaval on the kitchen renovations encroaching on my studio so I am focusing on what small things I can create, naturally jewelry is one of those. I think that my jewelry can stand out on it's own. It still has my aesthetic in combining textures and fiber elements.

This Saturday I am super excited to be taking this crewel work class at Wholly Craft (I know it seems like I am there every week but it is a really awesome store!). From everything I have read the only big difference between this and embroidery is the materials. Instead of floss you use wool thread and instead of cotton you stitch on linen. I think the wool will add a new element in texture that I haven't had a chance to explore yet so this will give me a kick in the pants. I mean how many times are you going to hear me say,"I think this wool will really do something for my Scabs". Anyways more about the class. All materials are provided (linen, wool, embroidery hoop, needle, book) and it will be taught by the Author, Katherine Shaughnessy. How amazing is that? It might be one of the more pricey classes but I think you will get more then your money's worth with all the materials being included. If you'd like to sign up and take the class with me Register here!

Lastly I am obsessed the the above instagram that I think it was taken by @ericazurmehly of one of the juices she was downing for a cleansing diet. It just looks so rich in the red color and a bit medical because of he starkness of everything else. I'm thinking of something I can do to recreate the feeling I get when I look at this. Something dark? Something Medical? Something dastardly bloody? Or just some fruit? The possibilities are many.

Is there something on Instagram that caught your eye that you can't stop thinking about or taking a second gander at?
Cheers!

TiLT - Random Happiness

This Thursday's edition comes to you from my congested and sickly mind.  I needed to think about things that make me happy as I muddle through this cold.

 1. Finishing a complex lace tatting project. 
Nothing has been more satisfying lately then finishing some of these lace tatting patterns from Japan.  Things can be hard to see and easily confused with where to join pieces. The pattern I worked on after this took me at least six tries to get everything lined up and connected to their proper places.  Now that I've done it I feel much elated.

2. Animals that look like Muppets.
My friend Claire pointed out animals that look like muppets from petfinder and then I went to the Vet's and this little girl was there.  She claims the vet office as her home.  She just doesn't look real and she also reminds me of an Ewok.

3. Passed out kitties. 
 I love it when the cats are just passed out, not loafing but utterly passed out on their backs. They look so peaceful and innocent.  They don't even understand how good they have it with loving owners, food and water always on paw and comfy couches, blankets, coats and beds to sleep on.

4. Vintage Fabrics. 
I may not enjoy wearing or dealing with second hand clothes much, but fabric yardage is ok in my book. The pastel like colors in this are perfect for the spring trends and I like the geometric ambiguous shapes dancing across it. I'm determined to take this 2.75 yardage and make myself a a nice little circle skirt.

5. Taking pictures. 
I just love to do this as a true hobby.  I am by no means professional but I like to capture the moment and take pictures of things to inspire me in my fashion an art.  In this picture I have my Nikon D3100 with a Diana plastic lens attachment.

TiLT - Fashion inspring me

I feel slightly obligated to post something more "fashion" oriented considering this is amidst New York Fashion Week and right before the Oscars. Let me tell you what you won't find here, trends. I don't really follow them the way the masses typically does.  I do fashion to the beat of my own drummer and go for inspiring and original rather then that new hot color or shape to wear.  Sure I follow the trends but I pick and choose what I like and what I think is really appropriate for me.  Doesn't mean it is appropriate for you, just me unless otherwise stated.  Having said that let's move on with my Things I Love Thursday for fashion inspirations!

 1. Pastels and Peekaboo maxi skirts.
 I love mint I always have and there is something about pastels that just screams for spring to start.  I could never personally pull off the Pink but I think with a contrast of Electric blue or black I could rock it.  That peekaboo maxi skirt I am in love with. It's not a leg baring slit, it's not a skort, simply a combination of long and short hems that give a little show as you walk or sit cross legged looking over all sophisticated when matched with the right fluid fabric.

 2. Sheer Oversized Sleeves
 If you know me and my design work you know I love an over sized sleeve. This one of course instantly struck me as amazing.  It makes me wish I had endless yardage of silk organza to play with.

3. Givenchy Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2012
 Firstly, yes! true Haute Couture not the pret a porter that most people assume is Haute Couture.  You can read my rant here.
Moving on, the attention to all the details, the elegant draping, this has got it all.  There wasn't a single piece in the collection I wasn't floored by. I am also reminded by a quote from Valentino "I have never made a dress where the hem shows the ankle as you walk that is disgusting". If you haven't done so already you should take a closer look at each individual piece here.

4. Making Lace
Although I am not so keen on this design it has sparked a wonderful DIY lace idea in my head.  I want to use satin stitch and free form sew some of my own patterns to an OOAK (one of a kind) lace for applique on my own pieces in the collection I am forming around Neurons. 

5. Sketch applique mixed with heavy beading
I am in love with this contrast.  The very sketch like light embroidery and applique matched with super heavy beading in coordinating colors.  It looks light and airy but the feel is weighted.  It reminds me of the Japanese squiggle coloring books turned adult

6. Striking Ombre
Yes Ombre has been around the block more then a few times but what struck me about these pieces is how potent the color is and stark.  Not to mention the careful selection of which part to dye.  Both of these pieces would of been just find on their own plain because there is enough detail going on with them to make them unique.  Adding in the ombre was a gamble, it could of been viewed as overworked and trend following but the above two pieces hit the perfect pitch in my book.  The first shows how ombre doesn't have to be just from one side to the other.  The bow was the basis for the garment and letting it bleed out organically into the rest of the jacket is poetic.  The dress/skirt on the right is a prim example of how you don't have to let the ombre take over the entire garment.  It is super saturated and then quickly disperses to the stark white of the rest of the garment.  This is just another example of how editing embellishments to any garment is key.




All the photos in this post were taken from various sources which I unfortunately didn't keep a great track of when I plopped them into Pinterest and Evernote (sorry)
Style Bubble, Park and Cube, Givenchy Facebook, Style.com

Antique to Summer Classic

I got this lace table runner a while ago at an antique store and thought I could cut it and use it for mini runners on my two side tables in the living room to protect cat claws ans spills.  The I saw a little label on the inside with the date and captions that all the lace was handmade.  I couldn't bear to cut into it so I left it folded quietly in my stack of fabrics.

I took it out last weekend determined to get some precious time in on my sewing machine. I laid it over my mannequin in a few different variations which ultimately gave me some ideas for other designs I'd like on on using my own tatted lace.

I settled on this simple drape of a peasant blouse with a deep drape in the back.  The fun thing is from this rectangle I only needed to sew four parts to keep this shape.  A connecting seam in the front, one tuck stitch under each arm to make arm holes and the fourth was in the back to keep it together a little more so it wouldn't slide off my shoulders.

I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can wear this out over a vibrant tank dress or with some skinny jeans and tall wedges.

Tatting Lace Lesson Book - Book review

Sorry about the wonky photos.  I wanted to get something up today and realized I didn't have any photos previously taken so I used my phone which isn't such a bad job, just a wonky size.   This Lace Tatting book is really great, it was one of my Christmas presents.  It has beautiful and clear photos of the projects, unusual patterns that I haven't seen before in other tatting pattern books (but I must admit I haven't looked through a ton of books yet). 

I'm itching to try this one out next.  I think they will make really pretty appliques on clothing and on dish towels for presents.  maybe if I get my hand on some glass coasters I will make some small lace designs to go inside of them. 

I like how it showed photo lessons of how to do some of the projects and tatting but also having the below instructional guide for how to do things.  I think this book would be decent for any level of Tatting experience.  If you know the basic idea and how to start it then this book is a breeze to understand.

The charts are also clear and easy to understand telling you which direction you need to be working on with the arrows.  They also don't get overwhelming by marking up every stitch, it only shows what is necessary and the stitch count. 

Currently I am working on my second heart. I haven't decided if I'll make a chain of them or just keep them separate to put on V-day cards.  Overall I'm very satisfied with this book.

Pretty Windows

The only big thing I envy about people living in NYC are the endless possiblities of different kinds of apartments and being up high with gorgeous large windows to let the light in.  I wish I had someplace with a gorgeous gran window for hanging up clothes for the next day leaving lovely silhouettes and shadows across a wooden floor.

Photo from Song of Style

I remember when I was in High School I saw a TV show that showed amazing apartments in NYC and one of them was Betsey Johnson's and I went gaga over it!  I promptly went out and bought rolls and rolls of holiday sparky wired ribbon in blues, greens, and golds and draped them across the ceiling in my room to give me that same decadent feeling.  But if you were taller then 5'6" you had to beware coming into my room or else you would be bumping into baubles of glass ornaments, and ribbon hanging down. I know I have a picture of it somewhere.  It was quite excessive for a High Schooler's room in the mid 90's and when the internet was not such a vast see of information and google. 

Photo is a scan from Gala Darling

Even now as an Adult I see myself picking up lacy slips that I will never wear myself but I just want to hang in front of somg window or use them strung together as a curtain.  Unfortunately my studio is in the basement with tiny Windows and I need all the light I can get, also boy demands that he not live in a princess palace of frilly lace and pastels.  Not that I am really the pastel and frilly type, more the deconstructed creams and greys with shots of bold blues and greens.

Speaking of my Dark Dank Studio here are the most recent pictures of the Hurricane of a dungeon that I sew in.  If you are surprised by this, I'm sorry but it is what it is and reality is often times not very pretty.

This is actually my new little drawing/painting station I set up in a separate section.

Here is a view of some shoes in their boxes stored to the right

 Clothes rack filled with my designs and patterns and garment bags in the middle

On the left is stuffed with fabrics and projects I need to deconstruct

This is my pattern table Covered in pieces of projects the need to be started/finished and patterns in use hanging from various pipes. 

I told you it was a Dark Hurricane Dungeon of a Studio

Lastly my row of Sewing machines.  Well...... Serger, Sewing Machine and Embroidery Machine.

Also stuffed underneath and behind piles of trims, thread racks and my collection of Gingher Scissors.

You might wonder how I can find anything but that table top is glass so I can see everything underneath and grab at it as needed.

2011 Inspirations

As I slowly trudge into this new year kicking and screaming to get out of my holiday slump I snatched up some pictures to put me back in mood to sew and create. Once again I am at a lose to tell you where they all came from but I'll try!

Wonderful Tentacles Knitted into a wreath, I'm love the idea of this into a collar of a sweater or jacket

I believe I got this off of Craft:

 Gorgeous texture and shape on this knitted Pineapple bag that I randomly found on the net.

Delicate spidery effect on this crocheted Hanger makes me want to do unpatterned lace panels into strech knit garments.

I just love the way this looks.

(Found on Stylebubble)

This shape just calls to me and the craftmanship of the wood is divine

This was an entry from Etsy for the contest of sending a craft to the Moon.

Her unconventional freehand embroidery on this gives me so much mojo for hand emboidery goodness.

By Average Jane Crafter

I want so badly to create a little hanging plush city like I keep seeing all around. 

 I feel like this came from the same place as the Pineapple

Speaking of that Devilish Pineapple here he is again with closer look at those sublime knitted stitches

Something a little more class in Embroidery

No yearly inspriation can be complete without a look back at some Alexander McQueen

I think I saved this because of the Orgnaza Collar on the chick on the left side.  It made me want to do some more work with Organza while I am working on my wedding dress.

Goergeous ruffles in layers and layers and layers. 

This came from once again Style Bubble

Gold Paillettes Dress also from Style Bubble

The layers of these discs just looks like luscious scales from a dragon

These Images are from Park & Cube

I just love the knit wear inspriations of doing something a little bit different to something so simple and the gauzy layers with the open knit work.

Lastly no year for me can be without a little octo friend.  This image was taken from National Geographic site about strange new animals found in the year 2010.  This is a purple breed of Ocotpus.