Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Hello. Did you have a nice thanksgiving? Or nice weekend if you don’t celebrate thanksgiving? Things were low key around here. Our first thanksgiving just the four of us, at home. We had lots and lots of food with a little flu thrown into the mix for excitement.
I had some time to browse the internets, and I’ve seen many great sales on lovely handmade items. My gift giving list, like many I assume, is quite pared down this year. I plan to make some gifts, and purchased gifts will be primarily be from small independent designers and makers.
Jan at Poppytalk has compiled a great list of indie makers offering cyber monday sales here. And for the next few weeks I will be posting more gift guides focusing on handmade items.
Tonight I just want to point you to one sale, Stock the Stocking, at my friend and artist Heather Smith Jones’ shop. Heather makes beautiful letterpress cards, watercolor paintings, photographic prints and so much more. She has many very affordable things right now, including these cute letter press gift tags. Please think about where your limited funds will go this season, and buy handmade.
Tomorrow (Monday, 11.30.09), I will restock my HANDCRAFT holiday collection and I will be offering free shipping all day. Because who doesn’t love free shipping? And for all of you scarf lovers, I’ve added gossamer scarves as well, with a few in the popular mustard gold color.
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
dipped horizon print, marfa path print + asphalt grass denim wool pillow
HANDCRAFT holiday 2009 collection
I’m glad you all liked the ORIGAMI wrap pattern. A few people have emailed me to say they have already made it! See, I told you it was easy:)
Thank you again for your support of my holiday collection. There are a few prints left, but otherwise everything has sold out. wow. Just a reminder that everything will ship on the 28th. I will be restocking all of the items again on November 30th, so if you missed something you were looking for, check back then. I hope to be able to restock once more after that as well.
I have one other little holiday surprise planned that I will tell you about after Thanksgiving, which I can’t believe is in 3 days. And I will also be posting some more gift guides. I really enjoyed putting together the one focused on geometry.
Twitter update: I think I like it. It’s a little noisy at times, but one of the best things is the interesting articles, tips, goods, giveaways, etc., that people link to. It’s like being able to see a huge number of blogs with interesting info all at once on one page.
Hope you all have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, if you are celebrating. I am very thankful for all of you.
Friday, November 20th, 2009
ORIGAMI wrap sweater
Thank you all for your sweet comments and emails about HANDCRAFT and to those of you who purchased something in my shop yesterday. It was a fun collection to put together and I’m so glad you liked it.
And now, as promised, I have a gift for you. There were a few things I had planned on for the HANDCRAFT collection that didn’t get realized. One of them was this wrap you see here, which was inspired by origami folding and the cocoon poncho I made for my last holiday collection. Since it didn’t make it into the collection I thought as a gift to you I would offer it as a free pattern. That way you can make one for yourself or for gifts for the holidays. It is super simple to make, even if you don’t have many sewing skills or even a sewing machine. Really. There are 3 seams that are quite short and can be sewn by hand. The most complex thing is figuring out the folding - just like in origami:)
added: I have already had a few questions about fabric. This is for a knit fabric. I used a mid-weight knit that is very drapey without a whole lot of stretch. I think it would work with a variety of knits, from t-shirt weight to something as heavy as a fleece. The weight/thickness and also stretch of your fabric will effect the size so do pin it together before sewing and try it on. In a lighter fabric or more stretchy fabric will make the fit bigger and looser, heavier/less stretch will make it fit closer.
So here it is as a downloadable PDF file. There are two pages, one with photos and instructions and one with some diagrams. Just click on the pages below and it should start the download (each page has to be downloaded separately).
Please let me know if you have questions -I think the diagram looks complex at first, but once you start working with the fabric directly it will make sense. If you make it, I would love to see photos. Maybe if there are a few people who do, I’ll start a flickr group. Oh, and one more little thing: this is a free pattern, and you are welcome to give it out freely to anyone who might like it. But please don’t sell it, or make garments from it to sell.
Thank you all again and enjoy!
ORIGAMI wrap pattern - click on pattern to download
ORIGAMI wrap diagrams - click on diagrams to download
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Here is a little slideshow of images from my HANDCRAFT holiday 2009 collection. This collection is made up of small items and accessories perfect for gift giving. For this collection I wanted to work a little more slowly, focusing on labor intensive processes done by hand. I also wanted to use up some scraps of yarn and fabric I’ve been saving.
Each piece is made individually in a small batch, and so each one is slightly different and unique. The prints and fabric are block printed, the necklace/scarves are made from fabric scraps that are wrapped with waxed linen thread, and the texture on the pillows is sewn from small wool yarn scraps.
I am also offering a special on the prints: if you buy one of each, you will save $5. I will refund after purchase (unless I can figure out how to set it to do the discount in big cartel:))
You can currently view all of the items in my
shop and they will be available for purchase starting at noon CST today, 11.19.09.
Thank you all so much for your comments and support. And don’t forget to stop back here tomorrow for a gift from me.
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
My holiday collection, HANDCRAFT, will be available tomorrow, 11.19.09. I’ll have a slideshow of images here in the morning, and you will be able to view the items in the shop at that time. Everything will be available for purchase starting at noon, CST.
And in the spirit of gift giving, I have a special gift for all of you. Stop back here on Friday to see.
Thank you all for your supportive comments about the collection. I’m excited to show it to you and hope you’ll be able to find a few gifts for your lists.
Here is another little peak, of something I’m especially excited about:
HANDCRAFT holiday 2009 collection, wrapped necklace/scarf
Friday, November 13th, 2009
marfa path print scarf, HANDCRAFT holiday 2009 collection
note: I now have a twitter account. This is just an experiment-I’ll see how it goes. It is here, although I haven’t actually posted anything yet….
I’d love to hear your thoughts on twitter. Do you use it? how and why?
Yesterday I had some “found time”. Does that ever happen to you? Where something that is scheduled gets canceled, and you suddenly find yourself with time you weren’t planning on? I used part of this time to clean my studio, which was a complete disaster. It helped to clear my head, and in a time where I’m feeling overwhelmed with work and life and other projects, this was exactly what I needed.
My holiday collection, HANDCRAFT, will launch next Thursday, November 19th. Since I’ve been thinking so much about holiday and gifts lately, I thought I’d post a few “gift guides” of items I’d love to give (or receive) this holiday season.
Since I love all things geometric, this first one is all about geometry:
- Geometric laser cut prints by molly m designs. I love every single one of these.
- Honeycomb necklaces by smallthings. These remind me of the pinhole piece that Heather Smith Jones made me.
- Hive cuff bracelet by silvercocoon. I can’t decide between the white or grey…..
- Cubeoctahedron ring by Bandada. I’m not normally a gold person, but this gold plated sterling silver has a nice dull finish that looks burnished.
- hope SEEDS lithography print by Heather Smith Jones. Heather does such exquisite work. I’m enamored with what I call her “Buckminster Fuller” geometric work.
- Faceted Vase by etcArts.
- Where I End and You Begin print by Lisa Congdon. Such beautiful, bold colors.
- A mountain for president wall vinyl by Principals of Geometry. Also see the video here.
- Lattice pamphlet blank books by Orange Beautiful. Great stocking stuffers.
- Oversized Optical Sweater by Micaela Greg. WANT.
And if you’d like to make something geometric to give this season, here is a tutorial for making your own geometric necklace. I actually like the one that Park and Cube made better…
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
asphalt grass denim wool pillow, HANDCRAFT 2009 holiday collection
Thank you to all who placed orders yesterday in my shop! If you emailed about the gossamer scarves and everything bag, I will be making more soon. There are still some of the mottled scarves available.
I wanted to give you a little glimpse of my holiday collection, HANDCRAFT, which I’ve been working on since early fall. This collection came about through a desire of mine to work a little more slowly, focusing on labor intensive processes done by hand, like printing and piecing. I also had in mind using up scraps of fabric and yarn I’ve been saving.
The collection will contain items perfect for gift giving in a range of prices, including pillows (like the one above), totes, scarves, prints t-shirts and wraps.
I’ll show a few more preview images here, and the collection will launch on November 19th.
I also want to thank you all for stopping by here to read and leave comments. I really enjoy hearing from all of you. I’m not the best at replying but I do try to respond in the comments section, and if you subscribe to the comments feed I think you can see the replies.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
U N mottled scarf tied “cowboy” style
So back to the fashion posts. Scarves. For the last few years scarves have been the fashion accessory. I remember in high school and college seeing cute girls wearing scarves around their neck or in their hair, and wishing I could pull it off. Whenever I tried it, it looked silly and forced. I was wishing for the Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday look, but it felt like I had a sign tied around my neck saying “dork”.
When scarves came back into fashion a few years ago, I tried them again and fell in love. I think one of the big reasons they seem to work for me now is that they’re bigger, and can be tied kind of messy. You don’t have to worry as much that they are “just so”. I also love that they keep me warm! I am always cold, no matter the season, and scarves allow me to wear short sleeves in summer and still not get too chilly.
One great thing about scarves right now is that they are relatively inexpensive and can make an outfit. You can pair a fantastic scarf with a t-shirt and jeans and look fabulous for not a lot of money and not a lot of effort or time.
I have lots of the long rectangular scarves, but lately I’ve been acquiring a few square shaped ones, which I really like. I like to tie them in what I call a “cowboy” style: basically folded into a triangle with the point in front, wrapped once around the neck and then tied under the point. Did you see Maria’s post at 3191 on tying scarves? Fantastic.
I just updated my shop with some more mottled and gossamer scarves and a few clothing pieces as well.
some of my favorite scarves at the moment. the one on the right was handwoven by ah yi.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
It’s November! We’re having some wonderful weather here in MN. Sunny and cool and beautiful color everywhere. This weather always makes me want to knit and I’ve uncharacteristically started several projects at once and have several others on the waiting list.
I recently finished this vest, and am working on this one by Tom Scott, one of my favorite knitwear designers. And I really want to make this shawl which is super cool and might have to move up in the line.
Not that I need any more projects to add to my list, but I’d love to hear what you’re knitting or want to knit right now.
I also wanted to mention that the talented Jennifer Parry Dodge has opened her shop Ermie, with beautiful knitted cowls and hand printed clothing, all done in a wonderful fall color palette.
I’ll be updating my shop with a few items tomorrow, at 12:00 noon, CST. And my holiday collection HANDCRAFT, will launch around November 19th.