Skylark Studio

sucked in!

2012-01-29T13:51:00.000-05:00

Heads up - I've been sucked into the world of Pinterest - a place where I can create mood boards of babies, geisha, motorcycles, Bruce Springsteen, and disco balls!

I'm also using it to create spaces for the inspirations for my little jewelry collections:

I'm just getting started down this black hole - wanna come along? you can follow my adventures here: http://pinterest.com/skylarkstudio/

hibernation begins

2011-12-30T14:18:00.000-05:00

I'm entering into hibernation mode - getting ready to tackle a new year with a bunch of new selling venues, also looking forward to adding a few new pieces to my collections. We're also in the middle of an epic building project for our new studio space - tackling monsoon rains, freezing temperatures and some serious first timer mistakes.

In my dreams, it will end up looking like this:

(Vermont Timber Works)

Realistically the only thing we will have in common with this barn is the fact that ours will also have four walls and a roof. But, it's what you do within those four walls that counts right?

this is not a classic rock tribute I swear

2011-11-17T16:16:00.001-05:00

So I'm making up some small little things for the show this weekend. It started off with this little guy ...

I know triangles are all the rage right now but I swear I was thinking a little more along the lines of this.

Hipster Triangles

Then along came these guys ...

so it's starting to look a little like this ...

NOT INTENTIONAL. Although I must say I'm not upset by this, I will always be a classic rock queen in my heart. Did you know that each member of Led Zeppelin created symbols for themselves? (Something about runes and possible occult (!) references ... here's more if you need to know.)

I was one of those little sisters that raided my older brother's room all the time - borrowing his Dungeons & Dragons manuals to sketch from, wearing his soccer jerseys, stealing his Jethro Tull and Rush tapes. I became a Zeppelin freak at the ripe old age of 12. We also only had 2 radio stations in town, classic rock and the Debbie Gibson one. ugh.

So I will wear these in tribute, to some seriously geeky rock gods (who apparently like to be shirtless) and to the millions of bad tattoos inspired by them...

If only my brother had listened to Adam Ant, my life could have been so different ...

it's all happening ... in philly this weekend!

2011-11-15T12:55:00.001-05:00

So this weekend is a big one in the city of brotherly love. First (and most importantly) I'll be vending at the Art Star Holiday show at the 23rd St. Armory.

It's all free and fun, 19th and 20th, from 11-6pm. There is a VIP party Friday night if you are interested (fancy!) Z-town will be out in full force - Chez Sucre Chez and Spread the Love will be there too ...

Next! the Tweed Ride is also happening! Saturday behind the Art Museum ...

pic credit

and last but not least, the Philadelphia Marathon! Our girl Robyn is running and I'm hoping to be able to cheer her on Sunday morning as she comes in first across the finish line ...

So it's going to be a mess of tweedy bikers, runners in short shorts and cool crafters all within 5 blocks of each other. Let's pray for easy parking!

cataloging myself

2011-11-01T16:37:00.016-04:00

The problem with having a library degree on top of an art degree is that I am constantly wanting to put things into categories and neat piles. This can get frustrating when you are trying to do it to yourself and your own work. What shows should I apply to? Who is my market? Where is the best place to sell my work?

It can lead to basically comparing yourself to everyone else - a dangerous road to go down. and throw in a heavy dose of art school indoctrination and you can find yourself saying, what's the point? it's all been done, hasn't it?

So I was really energized reading a piece of writing by one of the professors I work with (it's in this month's Professional Artist magazine, article by Matt Daub). The overall theme is about making your mark in the art world, but he had some good insight on the different ways that it can be done. While his approach was toward fine art making, I can see a definite parallel to anyone making anything.

Here's a summary of his nice neat breakdown of some the basics in this thought process ... (to note, I'm not sure if the visuals are exactly the best representation, just the first that came to mind and most easily recognized)

"The most highly regarded artists are those who invent something never seen before,

a new way for us to encounter our world and experience art ..."


Jackson Pollock

"then there are artists who break no new ground but still possess a singularly keen vision with enough insight and creativity to distinguish them from others working in the same fashion ..."

Van Gogh

"some artists are more pedestrian, yet through their discipline, diligence and

persistence have left behind a body of work that we cannot ignore..."

Monet

"others may be recognized primarily for their stunning virtuosity of craft ..."


Leonardo Da Vinci

"some lack craftsmanship but are refreshingly original in concept ..."

Duchamp

"and finally, some have no formal training but create obsessively with a

point of view so unexpected we have to take notice..."

Adolf Wolfli

While I'm not sure if I feel like I fit into any one of these groups precisely, defining these little groups is somehow reassuring. The world of marketing products is a whole different animal, but we're all trying to make something original and worthwhile.

So what do you think? too confining? too conservative? what's the point of labels anyway?! just make the work already!

are these the finalists or what?

2011-10-21T14:43:00.001-04:00

I never have any idea what episode or season even, we are all on with Project Runway. I don't have cable so I try to hobble together free online videos somewhere.

So did you know that the final 9 actually get to show at Fashion Week?! Something about the timing of the actual fashion week and where they were in the filming of the show.

I can't help but getting a little annoyed with the drama at the end of every episode - the tears, the why I deserve it stories, the over the top artistic journeys - HEY! guess what? everyone is going!

as always some stinkers and winners amongst all the collections but let's give some serious kudos to Laura for her way cool metal dress ...

I think this version below is a little more flattering and subtle - and check out that crazy awesome bracelet!

and while we're looking at wrists - I LOVED Anthony Ryan's bright blue wrist skin paint - all his models had that going on.

and let's give a shout out to the villain-turned-sweetheart Bert. This dress is so pretty and shimmery!

so maybe these guys didn't the home visit from Tim Gunn?

(here's the link to all the collections - click it just to see the nutso eyebrows Oliver put on his models!)

page 645 out of 789

2011-10-13T18:53:00.001-04:00

So right now I'm on page 645 of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. it's probably a cliche to say, but this book is changing my life. It's the exact book I needed for this exact time in my life. It's the longest book I've ever read but man, is it awesome. I think everyone needs to read this. Kinda mind blowing that it was written by a woman in 1943.

It's one of those empowering books about integrity and innovation and selfishness, really. basically a book about getting in your bubble and doing what you want to do no matter what the cost. and it doesn't hurt that it's a phrased within a giant architectural metaphor. My love of architecture is extreme. To create a structure that will stand for decades and subconsciously physically affect thousands of people is serious business.

I saw these pics on Miss Moss and I can't help but think it could be something like Howard Roark would build, the main character in The Fountainhead.

dreamy, right? (it's on the Isle of Capri, built in 1937).

I also just watched the documentary about Julius Shulman, the man who photographed all those amazing modernist homes that popped up in the 1950's in California. He helped bring the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra and Charles and Ray Eames and all those amazing mid century designers to the forefront of design. (and how about this, Howard Roark was based on Frank Lloyd Wright).

I'm always obsessed with people's living areas and work spaces, I don't think people realize how much of an influence it has on your psyche. Shulman really captures the spirit of these places.

Let's hang out here shall we? I'll wear my best vintage cocktail dress.

this sunday! what are you doing?

2011-10-04T17:36:00.000-04:00

getting back into the swing of selling at some retail shows ... so on Sunday October 9th I'll be at the Lancaster Museum of Art for their Tasteful Crafting Event.

I'll be there with my girls, Kimberly of Chez Sucre Chez, Melanie from Spread the Love, and Jen from Jen Lindsay Design.

awesome!

I'm excited to be doing an event in a mansion! with beer and wine too! fancy times ...

ultimate studio

2011-09-16T14:58:00.001-04:00

I sure wouldn't mind working here in this place - the studio of Teresa Elliot, painter of freaky dreamy steer ...

a quote for our times

2011-09-10T14:40:00.007-04:00

"During a period of financial crisis, an instinctive desire for authenticity is reawakened in every domain."

(Coco Chanel, 1932, upon the launch of her first line of fine jewelry.)

reassuring, yes?

p.s. big thanks to Anna from Door Sixteen for the circles tutorial. If things get real round around here that's why ... I might be obsessed.)

re-purposing

2011-08-12T11:03:00.006-04:00

it's been awhile friends! summer seems to fly by - what's with that!? I've been doing a lot of behind the scenes research on my products so it might not look like much is happening but let me tell ya IT IS.

I can't wait to share some big projects we have going on in our little village - it will drastically change the studio situation for my husband and I. anyone ever deal with a zoning board and engineers? NOT FUN. but we will plow through and stay positive!

(It's not this easy! don't be fooled!)

And for the "day job" I've been reviewing tons of applications for our big artist in residence. I've got installations on the brain so when I saw these pics from Miss Moss about this installation in Paris by Elise Morin and Clemence Eliard I kind of lost it a little ...

Those are hand stitched recycled CDs. Basically musical armor - I'd love to see what bands they are!

Re- purposing materials can be so tricky. It's the ultimate challenge to create something new and fresh without looking junky. This is quite awesome.

and they look like fancy fish scales - my favorite!

that shirt / my earrings

2011-07-04T12:40:00.003-04:00

I desperately want to wear this shirt (from etsy shop ConiMatta in Italy)

with these earrings from my shop.

Pants next? pants are optional these days - how about these incredible French tights instead?

I think this might finally satisfy my scallop obsession. too much? IMPOSSIBLE.

pics for your pleasure

2011-06-30T12:06:00.007-04:00

oooh I've been a little neglectful, yes? sorry , don't think I haven't been thinking about you. while I don't have anything profound to say I wanted to share some images just because.

Heads up - no rhyme or reason to these, just know that they are all influencing my life right now. weird.

dream house by dreamy Olsen Kindig

love the back of this cd, Nefarious Carousel by Manouche, designed by Bia van Deventer,
thank you for that Miss Moss

nice styling. nice bag. by Missibaba.

can I stay here forever? Ace Hotel NYC.

Pamela Des Barres and Jimmy Page. {sigh}

future kitchen? YES.

My ideal uniform: striped apron/jeans tucked into combat boots. Martha Tifflin, owner of Utility in Brighton.

I officially despise ironing ok? (stay tuned for that story...)

if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road

2011-06-15T10:03:00.006-04:00

Just wanted to share this great pic that my cousin sent along - they took their kids to Homer, Alaska for a 5 month vacation/life swap. The kids went to school for a little bit up there and the rest of the time they are fishing for king salmon and hiking through Denali National Park. Can I just say that this renews my faith in humanity?

So as I sit here contemplating the evilness that is paypal, chase mastercard, stock markets, and global currencies - I reeeeeeaaallllly want to figure out a way to be a luddite Alaskan mennonite within driving distance of NYC, with a rockin' online retail biz.

possible?

hello there little lamp

2011-06-06T16:44:00.002-04:00

We're thinking the same thing ...

(Circa Lighting ad from High Gloss magazine issue II)

Let's be friends.

super pretty treasury!

2011-05-31T16:07:00.005-04:00

here's a lovely greige treasury from etsy featuring my good ole buckhorns in the bottom right. It's so sad (and great) that this collection is titled "missing you"...

I love everything here - that phone is dreamy!!

THANK YOU

2011-05-20T22:10:00.001-04:00

(Dolly Parton and Keith Haring)

YOU'RE WELCOME.

libraries of the future?

2011-05-18T21:11:00.010-04:00

I'm really into books (the more pictures the better!). Most of my design inspirations come from "date nights" at Barnes & Noble (exciting life we lead I know).

Most of it happens by accident, I go looking for one book and find something else. I'm looking at a book about Falling Water and next thing you know I'm paging through a book on Moorish tiles ...

(Zellige tiles from Morocco)

... and then you know where that leads ... to some big crazy hoop earrings.

But I love this process, the accidental discoveries, so I was dismayed/intrigued/amazed at the new library at the University of Chicago.

(The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, University of Chicago)

They've made it a virtual library only - no books on shelves, no perusing the stacks. All the books are underground in the giant vault that can be accessed by a giant robotic arm. All 3.5 million of them ...

I'm all over the place with my opinions on this one - I love cutting edge architecture, but hate sterility. I love a streamlined process, but I'm all about fortuitous findings. I love the idea that the books still exist (albeit underground), but what if the power or internet goes out? no robot to retrieve my book?

(Candida Höfer, Trinity College Library Dublin I, 2004)

What do you think - do you want to roam the stacks or would you rather do that Kindle thing?

i dig it when people do that

2011-04-13T16:11:00.005-04:00

I have a thing for landscapes - I especially dig it when people put designs and quotes n'stuff over them, like these:

(wayne white via sfgirlbybay)

(chief and crown on etsy)

and mix it up in modern day motivational poster style and I'm SOLD:

(julian bialowas via bedlam of beefy)

(Jen Renninger)

Paint by number? Motivational quotes? AND a landscape? YES PLEASE. I bought this little poster from Hello Bluebird, it's a good reminder when I rush out the door every morning ...

portfolio review

2011-03-30T15:28:00.006-04:00

At the university where I work, the graphic design students have this great class their final semester called "Portfolio".

They basically take every project they have ever worked on since freshman year, review it, see if there is something there that needs to be reworked, then combine it all into a final portfolio that they take on interviews. I think this is a genius idea. And time is usually the only thing that can solve some design dilemmas.

So with that inspiration, I'm embarking on a serious re-evaluation of these guys in particular:

So I guess there are advantages to being so swamped with "other work" that you don't have time to create anything new - it really gives you some space to think just because I did, doesn't mean I should. or more importantly, there is something there, it just needs work ...

I'm pretty excited about this actually - before and afters are pretty much my favorite thing on the planet!

aloha sion

2011-03-22T17:51:00.005-04:00

So, I'm not going to fake it and say that I'm into surfing or even know anything about it (unless watching Blue Crush a hundred times counts) But this weekend I heard that big wave rider Sion Milosky drowned.

This guy was known for paddling into "the biggest wave ever". He was pretty intense. He had a beautiful family too. His death sparked a lot of commentary along the lines of "I would never surf if I had kids ... I don't even ride a motorcycle because of my family". Those comments really bummed me out. Made me really think about life and the pursuit of happiness ...

But really, sometimes I feel like life is so hard, ya know? and then here's this incredibly talented guy with a gorgeous family doing something nuts and great because he just has to. Jeez, it's not like my life requires putting myself into situations where I could be pummeled to death (although it sometimes does feel like that). All I want to do is make stuff, sell it, and go hiking. My life goals seem so easy of a sudden.

Anyway, stay true everybody. stay safe (relatively).

shiny!

2011-03-18T15:03:00.004-04:00

while I'm usually a silver kinda girl - the spring is here and all I can think about is the sun!

So here are some amazing pics of Erica Tonav's boutique in Marlin, California:

(images Erica Tonav via Bedlam of Beefy)

note to self: keep it simple. and repeat repeat repeat.

jewelry vs. the stock market

2011-03-05T12:03:00.003-05:00

I never thought I'd have to really study these stock type charts for my business, but let me just share this with ya'll:

So, one year ago an ounce of silver was about $16 dollars. now it's around $35.

If you invested in silver a year ago this chart is amazing. you are most likely vacationing on some beach somewhere with your earnings.

But for a fledgling designer this chart is horrifying. Pricing can be so hard to start off with but when you've got this going on it's a whole other story. Especially when you are trying to justify your price with customers. and it keeps going up and up and up ...

any advice?!

look what I found!

2011-02-27T15:37:00.008-05:00

LOOK! I called it - apes made a showing during my Baltimore trip!

ok so these guys weren't at the ACC show, but they were at the Walter's Art Museum. which is an excellent free museum if you ever get a chance to visit.

The ACC show is always hard to sum up. I'd say about 1/2 of the stuff was awesome. the other half leaves me searching for an appropriate adjective. But a nice showing by Peg and Awl, Rebound Designs by Caitlyn Phillips, Beth Pohlman, and Silverball by Maxwell Furniture.

all in all these shows are pretty interesting, it's such a different vibe than I'm used to. Some of the outdoor summer shows have such a great fun energy - they can be SO fun and wild. Convention center shows are ALL business ... which is good for sure!

There are some incredibly talented people all over this country - quilter Ann Brauer summed up some things nicely on her blog:

One feeling is that we need to have that connection with the maker in today's world. How true that is when we can just go down to the local mall and buy whatever we want made in China or maybe Singapore--does that even matter.

But I think there is an even more important reason we need fine craft and that is that we need something to aspire to. By being well made it reminds us of what we as a people are capable of making. We need to marvel at the creative process and the creator and feel humbled by them.

word.

my schizo style

2011-02-22T19:17:00.006-05:00

I think I may have "SADD". otherwise known as seasonal affective design disorder. I feel it coming on in December and my color palette starts to go all greige ... which I love ... then I get the touch of spring and all of a sudden I'm obsessed with:

hipstamatic landscapes

black and white ticking

natural edge walnut

and last but certainly not least, Walton Ford.

huh? yes that's right. Lounging apes and summer landscapes and country decor are flooding my brain.

I'm off to visit the American Craft Council show in Baltimore tomorrow. that should help me focus. though I'm secretly hoping to find a kindred spirit with some ape themed items.

cheers!

omg Google. you are killing me.

2011-02-11T14:11:00.001-05:00

Have you checked out the new Google Art Project? Kinda like google maps but for art, it is UNREAL people. The zooming feature is out of control:

mind=blown.

thank you. i needed that.

2011-02-10T13:35:00.003-05:00

saw this on Stone & Honey's blog yesterday. I can't imagine she needs this kind of encouragement, but alas maybe we all do sometimes.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

-Ira Glass

possible retirement?

2011-02-02T19:24:00.006-05:00

well, I think I'm about to retire these babies:

fear not! I think they may be reincarnated into two different designs. One a little more:

(ceramic tiles from Made a Mano via Bloesem)

and another a little more:

(egyptian patterns from Taschen's World of Ornament)

Although this does make me a little sad since I just ran across this fabulous intense design from the Pattern People (click for free downloads!):

These surface designers are blowing my mind! um hellooooo KITTENS!

I want to wrap myself up in that! brainstorming as to how to actually make that happen ...

Friday mix up

2011-01-14T11:00:00.002-05:00

so lately I'm inspired by several really way out things:

paintings by Casper David Friedrich:

native american chiefs:

and this blanket:

random indeed.

deco decline

2011-01-05T11:12:00.001-05:00

check out these crazy photographs of Detroit by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. I can't believe there are still abandoned places like these in major U.S. cities - such potential, such a mess.

Detroit’s Vanity Ballroom with its unsalvaged art deco chandeliers. Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey once played here.

The ruined Spanish-Gothic interior of the United Artists Theater in Detroit. The cinema was built in 1928 by C Howard Crane, and finally closed in 1974.

The biology classroom at George W Ferris School in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park.

East Side Public Library

Pretty unbelievable ... here's the whole series. As a colleague said, "Photographs for the illustrated edition of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire..."

yikes.

branching out

2011-01-02T18:06:00.004-05:00

So as I take down my pine needle dropping christmas tree, I can't help but be a bit sad. I love having a tree in my house. Reminds me of my old tree house days ...

Not sure if I really want THIS much of a tree in my house, but it's pretty darn awesome don't ya think?

(from Chrysalis Woodworks)

ok, I agree, awesome minus the creepy black snake in the branches. I'd add a cute little owl instead.

I'm on a branch kick apparently, I've been obsessing over this bell & branch display that Etsy featured a few weeks back. A little bit more realistic:

SO perfect right?

Shall I sum up this post with some blatant plugs for some of my branch inspired work?! YES! get your own blossom branch here or birdie on a branch here!!

reindeer kisses to you

2010-12-30T12:05:00.005-05:00

wow! it's been awhile! I'm just getting my brain back on track after a super holiday! great xmas sales, grand wine parties, energizing solstice spirals ...

great new things on the horizon for the new year as always - exciting times!

some whispy remnants

2010-11-11T20:37:00.008-05:00

I've been accumulating this little pile for the last few days ...

These are the little tracings that I peel off my silver after I've cut them out. They've been staying so perfect lately I can't seem to bear to throw them away. For those of you who don't know about my ridiculously high maintenance way of doing things, this is how my jewelry starts out:

The patterns are traced onto vellum, glued to sheet silver then cut out by hand with a mini mini teeny tiny hand saw. (yes, I'm nuts. and I am actively pursuing more effective manners of production so I can actually do this thing for real.) This batch is headed for Art Star Boutique in Philadelphia, if you live around there stop in!!

So a little visual summary for fun:

I cut out the general shape of the design, then for the inner parts I drill holes with the tiniest of drill bits ...

Then I fish the blade up through (for stability reasons I cut the insides first) ...

zoomy zoom cut around the insides ...

then I cut the around the outer edge. eventually it looks like this (after hours of filing, sanding, soldering and polishing):

not exactly magic but each piece is quite well loved and attended to - spoiled little things.

exploding peonies (and the longest post ever)

2010-11-02T18:00:00.000-04:00

first off, I'd like to thank the Swedish poet who left 100 lines of german and french poetry in the comments of my Black Swan post. an ode to natalie portman or zeppelin? both equally deserving I suppose ...

second, take a look at this exploding peony jar by Miranda Thomas. It surely deserves poetry written in its honor:

It's painted in 24K gold and is hand thrown and is about 20" high. it's a beast. I'm in love. Miranda Thomas is yet another one of my Vermont crafting heroes. She's associated with the Simon Pearce company that I blogged about ages ago ...

She's one of those artisans that blows my mind, like how exactly does one get to be the go-to potter for the White House?

She's the other half the super design duo of Shackleton-Thomas. Charles Shackleton being her husband, the furniture maker.

A little tid bit I never shared with you readers was that we got to tour his 3 story (!) furniture studio in Bridgewater, Vermont this summer. and Mr. Shackleton was our guide, how cool is that?! it was totally by chance on a Friday afternoon, we were the only ones there in his showroom and he was closing up shop. random and awesome.

Now his furniture is amazing, and I can go on and on about his craft credo of showing the hand of the maker, nature vs. machine, slow living, etc. But at the time all I wanted to do was ask him about his grandfather, Ernest Shackleton.

You know him right? His adventures are somehow burned into my subconscious, it's just something I know. I have no idea how - a movie? a book? an exhibit? however it got there it stuck. well ironically, he's the guy who got famously stuck.

Stuck on an iceberg in the Antarctica for 22 months.

Here's the Cliffnotes version: Grandly titled the "Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition", the ship The Endurance left port in September but was frozen in the waters of the Weddell Sea by February.
They lived on the boat until October, but the ice was crushing it to bits so they set up camp on the ice.

After days Shackleton decided that they better go look for help since they were in the middle of nowhere. Now this is the really epic part, he and a few of his mates took a tiny little life boat and went to find Elephant Island, 800 miles away, to get a rescue from the nearest whaling station.

Now they are soaked in -40 degree weather in a dingy in the middle of the ocean using the sun to navigate. oy. and to think that I dread the walk from my car to my office some days.

so they actually made it! then when they get there they had to hike mile over these mountains that no men had ever been across. geeeez, could it get any harder?!

YES!! just as they saw the little tiny whaling station in the distance their path came across a waterfall. So what did they do? Since they were totally crazy they went over it. and made it!

So 3 months later they finally get some help ... the rest of the team was eventually rescued.

"..... we had entered a year and a half before with well-found ship, full equipment, and high hopes. We had 'suffered, starved and triumphed, groveled down yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the bigness of the whole.' We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man."

And the best-est best part is that no one died, I think there were rumors that even every sled dog made it!

So come on, furniture is totally awesome, but maybe fearless perseverance is what we should really be talking about ... I need me some of that.

elegantly elonganted ...

2010-10-29T19:47:00.007-04:00

I am so loving this bride's style for her wedding, I'm particularly in love with her long necklace look:

It works SO perfect with that dress. Many people have been requesting my peacock feather design on longer and longer chains so this length is tempting! sometimes it's so hard to design something that seems unrealistic to wear in my current life - weird right? I need to get outside that box fast ...

those drapes are pretty dreamy too ... (thanks to Feather Love Photography and Cup a Jo for the inspiration).

this movie really better be good ...

2010-10-22T14:17:00.005-04:00

I know I already blogged about this Black Swan ballet movie with Natalie Portman - but it just got so much better! check out these fab new posters that were just released:

I'm generally not a red/black kind of person but I did just order this poster for my hallway (in huge subway size!)

I know it's cheezy to love Zeppelin but damn it all, I do. I can't help it. The seventh grader in me will not let it go (I stole my older brother's cds).

(I am also totally going to a Zeppelin planetarium laser show for Halloween. not lying.)

Slow and Steady ...

2010-09-23T17:19:00.005-04:00

I reached a milestone the other day, 100 etsy sales. No big whoop I suppose. but I do remember thinking back to the day I started selling my pieces and 100 was a goal. and I did this without any advertising or major blog features. Just good ole word of mouth or striking a cord with a stranger - that feels pretty good.

So what's that proverb - slow and steady wins the race? That's what I like to call my strategy - slow and steady.

not to be confused with slacking or procrastinating! I feel like I am really trying to plan out all aspects of my business from production to branding to finances - and do it responsibly. And on top of that, design pieces that will stand the test of time. I think it takes awhile to weed through all the advice that's given on blogs and in books and figure out what will work for you in the long term. So that's where I'm at, planning for the long term.

I'm a big fan of the Slow Design Movement ... comprehensive, holistic, inclusive, reflective and considered. That sounds pretty trippy - I'm really hoping it's not a movement that justifies counterproductive talking in circles.

This pic makes me really want to drop everything a eat a hot dog. Is that counterproductive?

think this is a bit much?

2010-09-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

I think I maybe be part magpie - you know, those birds that are attracted to shiny objects. I have an odd obsession with really shiny flashy things.

I'm not talking about traditional bling here - I'm talking sequins, disco balls, crystal geodes, silver jewelry, etc. etc.

Like this:

(via the wonderful City Sage)

too much for a fixer upper in rural Virginville, Pa?

p.s. I just googled magpie to make sure I was referencing the correct bird. (I was).
But this pic came up:

Isn't he beautiful??

I might use him as my living room color scheme ... with a disco ball that could be genius.

stockist update

2010-09-19T17:08:00.002-04:00

I'm really excited to be one of the artists part of the Brooklyn Women's Exchange this season ... I've just sent off a nice assortment of silver goodies for their lovely cases.

They are a wonderful non-profit volunteer run shop in Brooklyn Heights (55 Pierpont St, between Henry and Hicks St). The organization was founded in 1854 to help support women by selling their embroideries and handcrafts and have continued to support independent crafters since then -- they are SO GREAT!!

Here's a lovely video about them:

and click here for hours and more info!!

I'm there ...

2010-09-07T19:44:00.011-04:00

I have a small confession - it's not really a confession, just a statement. I'm a movie freak. serious movie freak. I don't have cable so any chance I get to zone out with some cinema I'm there. I have pretty high standards for what I consider a great movie but I'll watch anything for that zone out factor.

and it's a guarantee that I'll cry no matter what - heck I even balled through the preview for Hachi. (I dare you to not tear up)

So when a good looking one comes along I get WAY excited. Now I'm not saying that this movie is going to be a great story or anything (come on, when has Natalie Portman ever been really good? in that movie when she was 13?) but who cares, look at the poster!

watch the trailer, it's crazy good:

ballet! crazy moms! creepy stalker friends! and killer costumes!!

let me clarify that -- killer swan costumes by RODARTE. Yes, my heroines of Pasadena, those art school nerds with impeccable craftsmanship and some way out there aesthetic.

I love them. I would secretly stalk them at the Pasadena library if I lived out there. (They have a habit of hanging there to do research for their collections ...)

I love that they still live with their parents. that's awesome. and THEY MAKE EVERYTHING THEMSELVES. what?! yes!! I can't even describe them in one post, you gotta just read this or this or this. ok thanks ....

drool.

2010-09-02T19:06:00.001-04:00

I want this.

(via Remodelista)

Although I fear there may be ticks there. bummer.

bye bye every last once of free time ...

2010-09-01T17:13:00.008-04:00

so I have a new domain to master:

I was recently offered the gig as Gallery Director at the local college. I'm pretty excited. It was something that I just couldn't pass up "in this economy" (man I hate that phrase!) I'm not sure how I'm going to fit it all in with the other million other projects I'm working on but it somehow does all seem to relate.

I've been reading a lot of biz advice this summer, alot of it on CraftMBA. And wouldn't ya know it one of the guest bloggers from this great site is in our upcoming show, Wendy Edsall-Kerwin:

I haven't even unpacked her work yet but just meeting her the other got me really inspired to kick it up a notch ...

we're going to have an ecclectic mix of work in our space this year - everything from this:

TO THIS!!

I'm kinda hoping for one of those experiences where all these influences come together and BAM! it all makes sense and you know what to do with your life ya know?

whew!

2010-08-17T19:48:00.003-04:00

I feel like I just spent a hundred hours in front the computer - just edited up some new photos and listed them all on my etsy and big cartel shops:

Check them out here and here!!!

hey! I remember you!

2010-08-10T19:18:00.004-04:00

So folks, this right here is the FIRST piece I ever made.

I gave it to a great friend of mine who helped with my wedding. It's made its way back to me since it suffered some damage by the hand of a very awesome but very rammy one year old.

If you are a stickler for details you'll see that the design has changed a bit, here's the new version where I added a little bursting bud and chopped off a low lying limb.

Aw man! I think I'm preferring my original version now! Thoughts??

cloud density

2010-08-06T17:28:00.000-04:00

Can I just tell you that I feel incredibly dumb right now? For the past several months I've been making this "asian" cloud pattern thinking it was definitely Japanese:

um, this is Tibetan. It's all over Tibet. It's in every rug, every mandala, every thangka. It's pretty much the design that defines Tibetan art.

It's what plaid is to the Scottish, what stripes are to fisherman, what gingham is to farmgirls ... (got any other pattern relationships?!). I feel like a fool! As much as I research art historical patterns, some big ones just slide right by ...

I walked into this gorgeous Tibetan rug shop in Hanover, New Hampshire last week and it was everywhere!

They call that pattern an amulet - it's used in clouds, fire, and general curly-ness all over.

They claim that amulets "speak of luck, longevity, and protection from negative energies." That pretty much covers everything!

whoah.

double whoah.

just as I was discovering this whole new world of google images, etsy popped up in my email with a Bohemian treasury. and guess what?

this lovely up-cycled bag from Fumbleson. so cool. quite serendipitous I'd say.

grrrr!!!

2010-08-05T16:45:00.006-04:00

or roar or whatever. It's my birthday week (yes, week)! I live in two-Leo household so grrr is more like it actually.

I spent the day lounging on my parents lakeside dock in New Hampshire, eating lobsters and cupcakes, surrounded by many little people, pretty grand.

I had an especially good horoscope on that day from their local paper:

Wow. creepy right on. and I met the other Leo in my house in 2001. so what could THAT mean? amazing business developments? spectacular job offers? a new kitchen? a puppy?

While I'm not that old, I've decided I am officially too old for:

thrift store clothes (although if I hire a tailor I might be there more often actually)
boxed mac and cheese
jealously
ruffles (this is debatable)
being afraid to call my creditors
being afraid to call my debtors
cap sleeves
watching Valley Girl once a week

what else? I might have to scratch that Valley Girl entry, come on:

scratch that off the list. for sure.

OMG you guys!

2010-07-19T10:00:00.002-04:00

I feel I've neglected you little blog ... I promise I won't be away long enough for this to happen:

To be honest I've been struggling yet again with product shots and photo shoots, kudos out there to all you people with gorgeous photography. much respect.

I'm going to have my hands full ...

2010-06-16T14:02:00.008-04:00

literally and figuratively I suppose! This is very exciting:

When I was craving raspberries last year but bumming at how expensive they were in the store, I went out and bought 6 raspberry bushes instead - 3 black, 3 red. Little did I know I would have almost a billion berries by July. These are the black berries - the red raspberries haven't quite turned yet. now to get them all harvested, eaten, canned, or frozen by the time they turn to mush!

and here's another overplanting example:

not sure what I'm going to do with 24 giant garlic clusters! Roast 'em? add them to canning more likely, and maybe make some pretty wreathes to keep the vampires away!

and here are my favorites! my baby brussel sprouts!

If I'm lucky they'll end up looking like this ...

hmmmm, I see some design inspiration in those funky veggie towers!

history lesson: the cloud painter

2010-06-12T08:48:00.000-04:00

So I teased awhile back about another history lesson - this time inspired by the wonderful folky dutchiness of Berks County. I'm going through a funny phase of being obsessed with American History. I can see now why my parents dragged me to places like Williamsburg and Gettysburg. If I ever have kids I forcing them to appreciate it too!

So Eric Sloane is one of the few things that my husband and I agreed on unequivocally. I'm into Eric Sloane for his illustrations and historical wit, and Ben is into him because of his collection of early American tools and historical wit. He's got that Little House on the prairie thing down.

Born Everard Jean Hinrichs, Eric Sloane changed his name early on so he didn't have to be associated later in his life with his early inferior works (genius!) He went to work for the sign painter Goudy (yep that Goudy, inventor of the typeface) and thus began his prolific career. He started off as a cloud painter ...

He was fascinated by weather and the early American farmer's ability to interpret "weather signs". You can see that Goudy influence ...

From there he became the foremost authority on Early American rural architecture and Early American tools.

This is where my visual literacy issues really come into play - Ben can explain to me over and over how some tool works or some wood warpage concept and I can never get it. Finally we have to break out Sloane's "Reverance for Wood" and everything becomes crystal clear!

and Eric Sloane really loved Pennsylvania too!

What is most striking about Eric Sloane is his exploration into his philosophy of awareness. The basic concept centered on his belief that the men and women of yesterday were more aware than his or her modern day counterpart. They were more aware of illnesses, the weather, man's effect on the earth - they worked a lifetime to build barns and homes to last generations. They practiced responsible husbandry and forestation. Most everything was done with an eye toward permanence and most everything was made by hand. AMEN TO THAT.

As the early American families looked around them, their sense of awareness was reinforced - the giant barns, the stone walls, the bountiful gardens, the healthy animals, the handmade blankets - all made by family and friends in a community effort of love and support.

How far we've come from this concept really wants to make me cry - oils spills, Walmart, Mcmansions, bioengineered meat, etc. I really hope the handmade movement can spark some change.

and a guy who was known to wear bow ties and denim jackets on a regular basis just deserves the respect don't you think?

whew! thanks everybody!

2010-06-09T20:08:00.012-04:00

It was great to meet so many new people this weekend at the Renegade Fair! New Yorkers are awesomely fun and appreciative! I had so much good feedback this time around, it's really lighting my fire.

(photo by mareri, thanks!)

I have to send a big shout out to my booth neighbors, all who helped out in various ways, especially when the mini cyclone of armageddon passed through McCarren Park! Kimberly of Chez Sucre Chez ...

... Mel of Spread the Love ...

and Mimi Kirchner who is an Etsy celebrity! I can see why - check out these amazing tattoo dolls! (Here's a video about her) I am so crushing on her mustachioed circus men ...

oh, and I how can I forget to thank the awesome marching band, the "What Cheer? Brigade" ...

and the amazing Magnolia Photo booth that was parked across from us!

Fun times all around! Funny how when you are in the middle of car fire (not ours) traffic, covered in sweat, it's about to hail a tornado, and your feet are so ungodly dirty you say how you'll never do one of these fairs again. But now when I look back it was so fun and I can't wait to do another one!

Let's hang in Brooklyn!!

2010-06-03T18:10:00.002-04:00

if I have any NY readers out there - come see me this weekend!! I'll be at the famed Renegade Craft Fair at McCarren Park in Brooklyn ...

I'm booth #142, right by the entrance to the park on Union ... let's hang!!

sucker for a story

2010-06-02T20:34:00.008-04:00

Don't you just love the stories on Vitamin Water?! they are so fun, and I think it really makes it tastes better. I'm such a sucker!

(I also buy wine based on the graphic design of the label, I'm SO bad I know)

The whole story thing inspired me to work on these little buggers - I've made little story tags to go with my pieces. I feel like it might help people make more of a connection to the designs, and I think it helps with the whole gift idea thing.

So this one in particular says:

Art Deco Bellflowers

I would thank you from the bottom of my heart,

but for you my heart has no bottom.

~unknown

The bellflower is the symbol of gratitude. Designed with a nod to the

elegant art deco style of the 20’s, these bellflowers send a sweet simple message.

I think my years writing labels for museums had a something to do with this project! I'm all over the map with my random stories - sunflowers and the Inca Empire - Peacocks and cobras - Napoleon and bees - and of course some Grateful Dead lyrics! I'll be posting all these stories over in my etsy shop next week when I do my store re-vamp.

I also wanted to include some more educational-ish info for my new Folk Series based on Pennsylvania Dutch designs. I realized at the Art Star Bazaar a few weeks back that most out-of-towners don't really know what PA Dutch is. and I didn't want to succumb to the dreaded "curse of knowledge" predicament (everyone read this article!!!) So for my craft shows I wanted to teach people in an un-used-car-salesman kind of way that didn't require me giving a lecture to everyone who walked up to my booth.

Adding these cards also helped me re-think my table layout a little bit - somehow at Art Star my booth looked like a wedding tent! The combo of damask, light green, plum, and the cheesy plastic gothic windows on my tent sides was ghastly! I'm going back to my good old stand by's of wood, black, and linen.

I've also grouped and labeled my "collections" which I've been wanting to do for awhile. So far I have the "Garden Collection" for my florals, the "Modern Classics" for my patterned designs, the "Folk Collection" for my PA Dutch work, and of course the "Wild at Heart Series" for my birds, bucks, and bees - and it's my little homage to David Lynch and good ole 80's Nick Cage:

Sailor: Did I ever tell ya that this here jacket represents a symbol of my individuality, and my belief in personal freedom?
Lula: About fifty thousand times.

how long does a full moon last?

2010-05-28T12:33:00.004-04:00

... can full moon craziness last for two weeks? what about this mercury in retrograde business?

I feel completely out of wack - and throw in some drama with neighborhood vandalism - and I can't get settled. The only thing keeping me together is making jewelry! I can go down into my little studio and block out the madness of the world ... wearing giant headphones and a leather apron I can slowly plot out my future ... and I think my future looks like 100 acres of completely secluded wilderness. with a big dog. and a fully equipped airstream studio!

this would be pretty much perfect.

35 cups of coffee later ...

2010-05-13T18:53:00.004-04:00

copious amounts of caffeine and an ipod full of T.Rex helped me crank out my stock for the upcoming show at Penn's Landing this weekend. I managed to bust out over 100 pieces ...

The past week has been the sort where you just pull your clothes on over your pajamas because it's just not worth the time to change. and I think I've eaten cereal as a meal about 15 times in the last 7 days.

But I'm way excited to finally see all my Pennsylvania Dutch designs together, I'll be officially launching them in my etsy shop in a few days, once I peal off the layers of polishing compound (and pajamas). Hope to see some of you at the Art Star Bazaar!

"Teen Says Earring Saved her From Bullet ..."

2010-05-03T16:41:00.003-04:00

WOW! But more importantly, who designed the earrings?!

CRAZY! Check out this insane story from The Philadelphia News!

hearting hearts (?)

2010-04-30T11:02:00.007-04:00

so when did "heart" become a verb? from that movie I Heart Huckabees? from the etsy hearting feature? Well I feel it's a little like air quotes, it's all of a sudden this thing that is used everywhere! anyway, I'm a big romantic, so the plain old verb LOVE is good enough for me!

Since I'm on a PA Dutch kick, I wanted to talk about the lovey hearts that are found all over Berks County. so, this is how rosettes and hearts were made back before compasses:

This amazing drawing is by Eric Sloane, I'll be doing one of my nerdy historical write-ups on him soon enough, stay tuned.

I've never been a big fan of hearts, I always thought they were kinda cheezy and baby-ish. but check me out, now I'm obsessed:

Hearts are going to be a prominant motif in my new Folk collection (official reveal TBA! ha!) I've made little studly hearts and big flowery heart necklaces and earrings, and even little hex signs with hearts in the middle. Ah, so cute!

(great phila photo by Mingtaphotography)

While we're on the topic of love, I'll be in the city of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia) in 2 weeks for the Art Star Bazaar on Penn's Landing:

It will be a big old love fest with Melanie from Spread the Love (see?) and Kimberly from Chez Sucre Chez!

Come get some lovin' at booth 51 and 52!!

new collection teaser ...

2010-04-15T12:30:00.013-04:00

a few weeks back Sara Smedley and I headed on over to the famous (infamous?) Deitch Eck restaurant in Lenhartsville to get inspired by some artsy Pennsylvania Dutch library books during lunch. We actually opted out of dining there because if the bizarre smell and the fact that all the food seemed, I don't know, damp somehow. Although I've heard the nothing-but-scrapple entree is amazing.

We ended up eating at the country-line-dancing place next door - but in between those two restaurants is some awesome folk graffiti:

I'm not really sure what or why Ascension Day is, but you seamstresses out there BEWARE!

Part of living in and loving Berks County is coming to terms with the fact that it is straight up dutchie around here. There's some bad dutchie, as there probably is in most rural parts honestly: trash burning, monster trucks, not taking care of beautiful old barns, etc.

BUT to balance out all that bad-dutchie, there is good-dutchie: amazing country-side with fabulous back roads, really cool old folks with fun old wisdoms and wife's tales, a slight sense of lawless-ness, and great folk art around every corner.

In the Deitch Eck restaurant there are these fabulous murals (painted in the 30's but based on the folk art of the German immigrants of the 1800's):

This folk art is the inspiration for a new line I've been working on, soon to be released this summer. Sara has already finished up her new gorgeous folk inspired silkscreens:

Aren't they amazing? so dutchie!!

stay tuned for more dutchie craziness and sneeks peeks!

greige?

2010-04-11T16:36:00.009-04:00

My new favorite color, favorite blog, favorite "motif" is greige ... technically defined as mix of grey and beige, which sounds sounds so blah when you say it like that but it is soooooo all around awesome.

I guess I am subconsciously a greige kind of gal since I notice my latest product photo experiments are so very greige ...

Many people would say BOOOR-ing but for some reason I can't get enough of this - very industrial / Swedish / Japanese / Farmhouse ... a natural raw clean kind of thing - kinda like silver in a way. I think I must also embrace this color since my previously super dark grey curtains have now been sun faded to this lovely shade of natural un-dyed linen.

I love that it can go a little purply-blue-grey ...

or greeny-grey (my absolute dream) ...

or straight up grey-black-brown ...

so what other great color combo's are out there - brownage? ochred? pinkhaki?

that pink floyd wizard of oz thing

2010-04-07T21:20:00.000-04:00

Did you ever hear that urban legend that if you play Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in sync with The Wizard of Oz it links up and makes sense together? well I've never tried it but I do believe it could be true.

I had a similar experience the other day when I watched the wacked out movie Badlands (holy smokes watch this trailer) then immediately proceeded to go down to my jewelry bench to work and put on Panda Bear's album Person Pitch - in my head I pretty much flashed back through the whole movie scene by scene song by song. it was awesome.

Badlands has some legendary style in it - Martin Sheen in James Dean denim suit mode ...

and Sissy Spacek doing that beautiful alien thing she does so well, sporting lovely ruffly smocks and farm dresses ...

They go on this murdering spree and end up setting fire to her home, but saving her Maxfield Parrish print! the one I have! I even blogged about it months ago!! creepy!!! they even end up taking the print to this treehouse they built ... (see the print up there in the background?)

The whole thing is pretty gorgeous and weird, just like the Person Pitch album.

so while you're zoning out watching this, think of fast cars racing through the desert, denim jean jackets, setting things on fire, tree forts, and ruffly dresses.

spring cleaning tutorial ...

2010-04-02T11:53:00.007-04:00

I'm just getting over a nasty cold/flu thing and my first thoughts are to do a massive cleanse of my house -- I want everything to smell like oranges, mmmm!

But first, I will start with a little silver cleaning. I've been meaning to do this for while. I have some old cheap-ish jewelry around that has been stored in various ways but I've recently noticed how tarnished and gross they are looking.

SO, a little disclaimer, I am not a scientist. I am in no way responsible for any ill-will that you may inflict on yourself in some freak occurrance. This is a natural way to clean silver but for gosh sakes don't burn yourself on boiling water and DO NOT stand over and sniff any fumes!

That said, here's a supplies list:

baking soda (not powder!)

tin tray

spoon

boiling water

Here's the before pic:

Ewww. First, start some water boiling on the stove. Next gather your buggered up silver and place it in your old pie tin - be sure the tin doesn't have any holes in it. Sprinkle your pieces with baking soda - be sure to cover the tarnished parts fully ...

You'll probably have to do this process 5 or 6 times to get some good results so spread out the baking soda ... next pour boiling water over your pieces ...

(This is the part where you don't want to be standing directly over the tin, there's a little harmless chemical reaction happening here.)

and the finally the big reveal ...

MUCH better! this was about 6 soakings later. Be sure to wash everything off with a little natural soap and water when you are all finished.

Some tips for keeping sterling silver shiny:

DO NOT:

-store silver with your change (quarters, pennies, etc)

-wear silver when applying soaps, lotions, perfume (wait for it to dry)

-store jewelry in or on wood (too much acid)

-store with rubber or other crappy jewelry

Storage tips:

-store in an airtight container

-store alone in a ziplock bag

-store with a small anti-tarnish paper strip

And remember, the oils in your skin help prevent tarnishing so wear your silver often!!

monochrome anyone?

2010-03-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm loving the collages seen on Poppytalk last week from Anthony Zinonos ...

I feel like I want to go make one of these right now! I'm digging the white space too - not too filled up ... gets me thinking about color and the effect it can have. pretty powerful.

and I just came across this flickr pool of people who organize their books by color:

I'm loving this so much! but my librarian background is nagging at me - so beautiful! but so ridiculous! so calming! but so illogical! ah I'm torn!

let's go off on a different tangent for a sec - this reminds me immediately of the Australian Bower Bird - he's like, my favorite bird. (what? you don't have a favorite bird?)

See this here little bird is a obsessed with collecting things. not just cool things to impress the ladies, but cool things of all the same color. what a freak!

He's builds these great little huts and then decorates them all monocromatically in hopes of attracting a special lady friend --

He's just the sweetest don't ya think? and then the lady birds all go on a little house tour and choose their guy based on his house and collection (how shallow).

(I would totally live there ... )

see? art - decor - nature - mating. it's ALL related.

but I like these diamonds ...

2010-03-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

Now I'm not a big fan of diamonds but I am loving the "idea" of them:

this gorgeous enameled piece is from the book 500 Necklaces, which I was working on at my "day job". Sorry I forgot to write the artist name down before it went out the door ... whoever you are, my apologies. A kid I went to college with was featured in this book, made me feel instantly inferior. ugh.

So as I said, I love the "idea" of jewels - but the mining practice is just so nasty and don't get me started on the cost ... but these diamonds are affordable!

(from ArtGoodies)

and the irony translates so well into jewelry form ...

(from UntamedMenagerie)

the perfection of this laser cutting makes my numb thumb very angry - why are you torturing me?

two thumbs up

2010-03-17T13:13:00.005-04:00

so I think I'm developing carpal tunnel from hand cutting this silver ... my thumb meat feels like this:

I feel like my thumb is this huge throbbing appendage. Much like Sissy must have felt in Even Cowgirls get the Blues.

What? you haven't seen this movie? It's one of Uma's firsts, based on the great Tom Robbins novel. Sissy was born with giant thumbs, so naturally she was drawn to hitch hiking - taking her back and forth across the country to have adventures with the likes of a dickie-wearing Crispin Glover and Keanu Reeves as a Mohawk indian, and let's not forget the peyote induced antics at the lesbian dude ranch . This movie has one of the best lines ever:

Dear lady, please remember the words of the painter Paul Gauguin

who said "The ugly may be beautiful ... but the pretty, never."

Anyway a few people have suggested that I get one of these things:

um, NO! What am I, a bowler? Although I work in the privacy of my own dark basement I'm not sure I can actually sport that thing. Although the image of Jesus Quintana does come to mind, and it's all of sudden a lot cooler:

Again, all of my life's moments can be linked to movies. yikes.

I love this girl

2010-03-10T12:08:00.001-05:00

I love this mystery girl:

(unkown woman, Alfred Steiglitz - 1907)

she could be an Irish immigrant cleaning lady for the Great Gatsby, a modern mennonite (with a cigarette!), an extra on Big Love ... who knows, but she's awesome.

morphed (again)

2010-03-09T10:14:00.004-05:00

I have a small problem with committing to my designs - I'll do one up, love it, photograph it, list it online and then weeks later I'll decide that I need to change it.

It first happened with my little buttercup drops and now it's happening with my Asian knot necklace. I couldn't get enough that little cloud motif so I multiplied them and made them more symmetrical ...

I wanted to make one of those long dangly necklaces that goes almost down to your belly button but I realize that I would have to charge A LOT for that and to be honest I don't think it would be a big seller.

SO. I changed it up a little making a larger pendant type thing at the end point:

Those earring were a bit blingy and glam too - not very realistic unless you go to the Met on a regular basis so I just made the bigger pendant into single danglers ... soon to be photographed and listed of course.

if I commit to them that is ...

please don't melt yet ...

2010-03-02T14:06:00.005-05:00

I'm hoping to get in a few more days on the slopes before everything turns to mush - these super dreamy photos by Tim Irving are helping me to get motivated and get out there ...

and then I'll be ready for:

and then for:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gold medal worthy craft

2010-02-28T16:05:00.001-05:00

so as the Olympics wrap up I can't help but be completely overwhelmed, yet again, by the crazy talent and heart of these athletes ... I really seriously cry at almost every sport (ok, except curling, sorry)

(hellooooo fancy pants!)

But I think we all forget how easy these folks make it all look:

In a super sad turn, one of the US's top snowboarders, Kevin Pearce, was seriously hurt on New Year's day, just weeks before he was to head off to Vancouver to go head-to-head with his pal and competitor, the famous Shaun White.

Kevin Pearce just seems like the sweetest most talented wholesome Vermont boy, he lives in the next town over from my parents. I can't figure out how to embed his incredible story so

Please watch this video

Interestingly, his father is the founder of the Simon Pearce glass and ceramics studios. If you've spent any time in New England you'll know that this is a crafting institution. It represents everything that craft is supposed to be - an old school apprenticeship style education, an incredible community presence, a dedication to teaching the world about the worth of a handcrafted item, and some serious branding.

Everything is made in house here. It can take from 3 - 8 years to become a master potter at Simon Pearce. Each piece has it's own distinct handmade character - this ain't no assembly line. they have a whole room of "seconds" that you could stare at for hours and still not find anything wrong. talk about standards!

I remember being 13 years old and watching the potters and thinking: this is it. this is what makes sense to me.

The apprentice glass blowers work 2-5 years under the guidance of a master. Glassblowers work in teams of two to create one piece at a time.

I think what makes Simon Pearce such a household name in the north country is it's dedication to educating the public. In any of their complexes you can watch the potters and glassblowers in action - it's seriously mesmerizing. It's a nice laid back kind of voyeurism though - no dumbed down lessons, you just watch these people do their work. and it's damn impressive.

And let me tell you it totally works from a business aspect. After watching the craftsmen in the studios customers have absolutely no qualms about spending $400 on a vase or pitcher ...

and lucky for us PA kids they just opened some locations in West Chester, PA and Lake Park, Maryland. At least we can peruse, right?!

But back to the Pearce family for a sec, it's always a crazy experience when a big brand becomes human. It's easy to think these super successful people have it all made, but they have huge issues to deal with just like everybody else. It's their perseverance, integrity, and plain old sweat that get them far. I have no doubt that coming from such incredible roots will aid Kevin in his recovery.

Check out his facebook page to keep updated on his status. Take care out there everybody ...

hi hi

2010-02-26T21:39:00.005-05:00

so I couldn't stay away long - I'm out of my rabbit hole and have a full on caffeine high from too much tea ... (warning: cuteness overload ahead!!!)

not to be confused with ...

(that's not rabbit fur, btw!)

2010-01-30T13:32:00.003-05:00

hey kids - I'm going down the rabbit hole for awhile ...

I'll be back in spring with new photos, new work, new website. if you don't hear from me send a search party!

an ent goes down

2010-01-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

last week this stoic timber succumbed to Dutch Elm disease. "Herbie" stood in Yarmouth Maine for over 200 years. He was a 110 feet tall Elm, the largest in New England.

and oy, this adorable 100 year old man has been it's care taker for about 50 years. It's a little heart wrentching ... "Of course I'm sad, but everything's got to go," said Knight. "It's pret-near my time, too. I'm just glad we had Herbie all these years." Luckily, albeit sadly, Herbie was cut down and his wood will be auctioned off to local craftsman.

I think everyone has a thing for big trees, right? there is something so intense about them. Luckily the biggest Yellow Oak in Berks County is alive and well and not too far from us. (it even has it's own Facebook page!) Being the gracious host of field trips galore and the occasional wedding or two ;)

So you've heard of ents right? come on, it's a sci fi thing! well, a Tolkien thing. The ents were these humanoid tree things created by Eru Ilúvatar at the behest of Yavanna: when she learned of Aulë's children, the Dwarves, she foresaw that they would fell trees, and desired creatures to serve as Shepherds of the Trees to protect the forests from Dwarves and other perils. ok, I totally took that from wikipedia, I'm not that much of a geek! dwarves are sneeky little jerks though ...

they had cool names like Fangorn, Beechbone, and Bregalad.

(I'm totally naming my first kid Bregalad)

anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this. You gotta a tree? take care of it. hang pretty bird feeders on it's limbs. trim it's dead branches. just don't carve your initials in it, ok?

new little collective member!

2010-01-27T17:50:00.005-05:00

our girl Jen produced this amazing little guy last week! say hello to Hayden!

he is going to be a fabulous little man I can tell already. So us z-town girls got together and whipped up this character filled quilt for him:

We each made a square, Mel (Spread the Love) made the great Little Brother piggy, I made the denim patched papa and bambi, Kimberley (Chez Sucre Chez) stitched up the little fire red chick, and Sara Smedley screened the distelfink. I honestly can't believe we pulled it off! and with no major drama!

Many hands do make light work, those darn Mennonites were right again!

these are blowing my mind

2010-01-13T12:09:00.009-05:00

so I'm back in the office for the semester after a great long (but not-as-productive as I had hoped) break. Luckily I get to work on these beauties:

(click on them to get a bigger better view)

(loving that little subversive leg swing!)

I'm kind of at a loss here.

torches are hot

2010-01-05T19:35:00.008-05:00

in more ways than one ... (he he). in college if you really wanted to impress a guy you would casually tell him to swing by the metal studio during open hours ... and you would conveniently be doing something really tough like raising a bowl or soldering with a super hot torch. while wearing a leather apron. if he wasn't impressed, he wasn't worth it.

case and point with Cal Lane. I came across her work through a Stumble Upon email (what is this random search thing anyway?) The title of the guy's post was "The Hottest Smith in the World." I was intrigued.

She is indeed every steampunker's dream girl. Torching beautiful designs out of discarded hunks of junk, and looking totally tough, cute, and personable while doing it.

As I contemplate just exactly how delicate I can get with my designs I look at these and these and think "oh yeah, I can go thinner ..."

I love the lacey effect ...

and the "dirt rug" stencils she makes are totally gorgeous too ...

I wish the ghetto burn barrels in my neighbor's yard could be made into something this pretty!

a little late I know ...but happy new years just the same!

2010-01-05T18:05:00.007-05:00

howdy kids ... just getting around to a little belated new years wishes. hope you had a great decade!

so we woke up to an icy New Years morning, made some waffles, and popped in Beautiful Losers. pretty nice inspiring documentary. although sadly nostalgic. made me want to get the 90's back so I could have a do-over. I wish I had found a tribe like this earlier in life, I think things would have been much easier for me.

The above "graffiti" was done by one of the artists featured in the movie, Steve Powers, aka ESPO - it's a current series of 50 lovey dovey murals on the Market-Frankfurt line in Philadephia. just finished up the last one 2 weeks ago.

They make me feel good. happy. lucky. And optimistic about things to come ... you too?

last minute festive-ness

2009-12-25T19:46:00.006-05:00

I had to share this - some last minute gorgeous holiday fashion ballet pics from a photo shoot with the principal dancers from the PA Ballet:

(kinda genius idea - considering it's coming from the Lehigh Valley)

this is so incredibly nerdy and I can't believe I'm admitting it, but I found these images on the website for the Lehigh Valley Mall (don't ask) They have a pretty amazing behind the scenes video of this shoot as well - I've never wanted to be a photo shoot person until now holy smokes! Check it out here!!

parka days ahead

2009-12-23T13:12:00.003-05:00

I'm taking a little hiatus to take some time to get outside and wear my furry parka hood ...

(Mick Jagger photographed by David Bailey, 1964)

happy holidays folks! see ya in the next year - big things brewing for Skylark Studio - stay tuned!!

how cute is she?

2009-12-16T11:34:00.005-05:00

this girl's adorableness is almost too much to handle. that haircut? pleeeez. it's so not fair.

I feel way behind the times on this project - apparently it's been going on since May. Where have I been? This little bundle of cuteness, Sheena Metheiken, has pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Each day she reinvents the dress with vintage and handmade accessories/layers - with hopes that people will donate maybe a dollar a day to the Akanksha Foundation, a fund for uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.

so far she has raised over $42,000!! that's nuts! Here's the adorable video too:

The Uniform Project Trailer from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

I'm loving this idea - of course because I have a negative budget for clothes, but more because it makes me feel better about making accessories!

the bees knees!

2009-12-15T13:25:00.010-05:00

I love to think about little knees on little bees ... for some reason they are kinda popular lately. they've been rather dormant for a year, but they've been brought back to life by Robyn at Grow Indie:

and a good post by Tara over at Scoutie Girl, featured with awesome Mel and Sara:

and we just got a lovely bee postcard for a friend/client/colleague's show up in Cortland, NY

Fiery Skull Bee! Evan spent a time photographing bugs from the Reading Public Museum's collection, we framed them up for a show there. The Reading Museum has an fab exhibit right now of the clothing from Gone with the Wind - I'm so there!

Sparkly! that's kind of holiday-ish right?

2010 color of the year goes to ...

2009-12-10T15:13:00.003-05:00

Turquoise! Pantone chose it based on it's "connection to feelings of serenity, protection and luscious escapism."

sweeeeet. As I sit and cut peacock after peacock my mind is awash with bright blues and greens, I couldn't agree more...

hand made hair braid

2009-12-05T15:21:00.014-05:00

{ok obviously hair braids are handmade - I was going to title the post "hair-made" but that's just lame. }

ANYWAY, I met up with Nene Humphrey this week to discuss an art installation she's doing at Kutztown University this spring. She'll be working with students, staff and whoever else wants to participate (sign up here!) to create a large sculptural sound installation. I still have no idea what to expect - kinda fun in that way. Here's a small sample of her some of her work:

The upcoming installation is based on the practice of 19th century Victorian mourning braids. what?? that's what I said. I think we'll all be making the braids ... I had no idea about this practice - apparently when a loved one died they would take the hair and make mourning jewelry out of it. like this:

These kind of freak me out but they are quite beautiful when you look up close. I think it's so bizarre that hair continues to grow after you've passed on - that's kind of intense to think about. This brings to mind all the hair rituals involved with death - shaving heads, cutting braids, growing beards, shaving beards, since when did hair have so much symbolism? and mostly with men ...
weird. I could never get that Amish ritual straight - you shave your beard until you get married? but mustaches are bad? But Mennonites never have facial hair? can they even grow it? do they shave every morning before milking the cows? at 4 am? I'm confused.

When I think of hair braiding I instantly think of Yulia, I can't help it:

Yulia Tymoshenko is the prime minister of the Ukraine and frankly she makes me nervous. Anytime "oligarch", "KGB", "natural gas imports" and "engineer-economist in a machine building plant in Dnipropetrovsk" are used in one's wikipedia entry my mind conjures up all sorts of devious images. But I think we can all agree that her fashion sense is waaaaay far out. Can you imagine Hillary dressing like this? dang. She kind of rules for that.

FIEEEEEEERCE. Are you getting some Martha Stewart vibes? me too.

that would be amazing if they were secretly related - I somehow wouldn't be surprised.

tulips and baby cows named Viola

2009-11-28T16:49:00.005-05:00

man, I wish I could come up with cheeky cool blog post titles! I'm just cutting to the chase on this one. Here's another set I made up - another matchy matchy necklace & earring pairing:

I really feel like I haven't gotten my fill of this pattern yet - I might have to tweak them a little more, I'm thinking about a little charm bracelet as well. I love the curvy shapes, I'm calling them deco, they might be more nouveau but whatever.

Check out the similar curves on these pretty boys from Art1Modern:

I like to tell myself that I'd be alright with having some hides in my house. But in the end I don't think I would be. come on, seriously. Viola?

oh man, let's move on to another topic, that's too sad. Let's talk wallpaper! One of my favorites is from the good ole D-Po:

It's some kind of 20" border paper, I don't get it. maybe along the bottom of a room? mysterious.

I'll leave you with this awesome snowflake lady, she's more nouveau than deco I guess. but festive nonetheless:

you rule Priceszna Hyacinta ....

super duper clouds

2009-11-24T11:41:00.005-05:00

I am SO into these new earrings of mine ... I'm not really one to boast about my stuff but I think they are darn crazy beautiful. I've been wearing them nonstop for 2 weeks - officially product tested!

They remind me of this gorgeous pillow from Homemaker's Movement:

These are so impeccable and well priced (too cheap actually!) I don't even understand how they are made but I think I need a few!

psssst ... I have a teeny crush on you ...

2009-11-21T18:29:00.000-05:00

Our kick butt craft collective got together to do some non-business crafting - Sara (of Julia Child apron fame) brought the supplies to make these darling little elves spotted in Martha Stewart - we turned them into skiers (on scraps from Mel's amazing veneer postcards) after realizing that we were snookered by Martha's sneeky photo stylists into thinking they would stand on their own. Kimberely was up to her ears in orders (lucky bugger) so she opted out of elf fun this time around and worked diligently on her handcrafted miscellany. and poor Jen was dealing with a child tantrum ... ahhh the holidays ... check out everybody's stuff on our website!

verde!

2009-11-20T18:05:00.007-05:00

Rich deep dark green has been on my mind since my little jaunt to new england last week. We by accident happened upon a great landscape photo show by Neal Rantoul at the Photostop Gallery at the Tip Top Art Center in White River Junction Vermont:

I think these were taken from a helicopter - and they were printed out h-u-g-e. nice stuff ...

it got me thinking instantly about my obsession with malachite and jade! I pulled out this ad from a magazine years ago, mainly because of the "branding" -- the bottles are amazing, and the ads were kinda earthy and classy. and it smells SO GOOD. I'm pretty much obsessed with perfume.

their scent collection included malachite, alabaster, rosewood, and jade. I would totally buy the whole collection if I could.

This whole thing really pushed my over the edge to go ahead and start collecting some teeny jade and jasper beads to experiment with:

I fear I may be treading on cheesy territory here. thoughts?

little flyers

2009-11-11T11:09:00.009-05:00

here's some new little birdie earrings I whipped up last week, new in the shop ...

not feeling any cheeky commentary today, I'll just leave you with some cute bird stuff I found around the web:

(eggagogo)

(regeneration)

(Weinberg Design)

all these guys will be at the Boston Bizarre Bazaar December 6th if any of you are up in the area ... lucky!

she sells sanctuary

2009-11-05T16:18:00.000-05:00

In my imaginary alternate universe fantasyland, me, Brett Anderson and Juliette Lewis would be super best friends. We'd drive around in Juliette's Ford Eagle blasting The Cult while shopping for leather vests at grungy thrift stores.

then we'd drop off Brett at the back door of the Joan Jett concert she'd be like: "hey K you can totally borrow this necklace tonight if you want" and I'd be like "oh no I couldn't" and Juliet would be like "omg you have to. you can totally rock the cliche spiderman irony. I'd wear it myself but I'm still rocking my controversial spandex feather native american headbands. it wouldn't really go, ya know?"

and I'd be like "oh awesome, you rock Brett. Joan Jett's got nothing on Donna A!" and then Juliet would peel out and we'd go off to some crazy beachside bonfire party with Jonathon Richmond and we'd run into Drew Barrymore who would commission me to make big chunky necklaces inspired by tibetan wind chimes ...

oh jeez, I'm sorry. are you still there? I spent alot of time alone as a kid, I have a big imagination. See what happens when I get inspired by something as bizarre as a spiderweb necklace?

So I've decided that I've become pretty obsessed with using hella chunkier chains. hence, my tibetan wind chime inspired necklace/earring set:

and here are some actual tibetan/chinese windchimes ...

when we lived with Mennonites we hung this in the tree and they were totally freaked out by it. We found it stored in the garden shed a few weeks later ... pretty funny. We originally found it in the attic of the old farmhouse. CREEPY.

This set is actually an amped up version of the asian cloud - it's like my asian cloud and scalloped earrings got together and had really big babies.

I'm thinking of adding some turquoise and maybe some red coral dangly beads. giving it some tribal bling. might be a bad idea, not sure yet -

So Drew, what do you think? you could totally rock the tribal bling.

llamas in the living room

2009-11-03T12:35:00.008-05:00

what are the chances of llamas becoming a theme in your life?

This painting arrived in our living room last week - as well as being a jeweler, a librarian, a bicycling geek - my hub and I also frame art on the side. I'm really liking this one - it's huge and gives off such great fresh fantasy vibes. It's by Cheryl Hochberg, a prof at Kutztown University.

and oddly enough I went sheep shearing last night ... my friend is an honest to goodness shepherdess. She sells the wool on etsy, it's SO beautiful.

and here's the stoic llama who watched over his little dudes as they got flipped over and buzz cut:

here are the velvety clean ones taunting the dready ones that won't get sheared until the spring.

the smell was equal parts wonderful and gross. all around good times!

the antlers get split

2009-11-02T21:21:00.009-05:00

Here's another deer themed item - this time earrings!

They are a little funky and hopefully they will make sense to people - I just split the antler necklace in half. literally.

I saw this crazy awesome deer tattoo on an etsy model the other day. NUTSO. but awesome. but just a weeeeee bit scary.

RAD girl. This shop offers the most insanely fabulous headgear. check it out.

I wish I had some lumberjack roaring 20's party to go to - this would be perfect.

hexerei, braucherei, hexa marrik, gruttafoos, etc

2009-11-01T17:09:00.016-05:00

these are all dutchie words for witchy-ness, healing by potions, marks to ward off spells, being a hippie in general ...

The hex sign is a pretty big part of Berks County lore and I've begun to really adore them when I see them ... especially the "real" ones on the old barns around here. One of my favorites is just over the bridge in Virginville:

(thanks for the pics Mary!)

My newest little hexy tulip earrings are loosely based on the dutch tulip, but honestly they were primarily created to complement the dutch tulip necklace:

I'm pretty into that little tulip design ... here's a sample of a funky hex with those funny roadrunner birds and the "trinity tulip".

This triple tulip is supposed to represent faith in yourself, faith in what you do, and faith in your fellow man. pretty good stuff. The distlefink was a goldfinch that ate thistle seeds ... the good luck bird of the early Pennsylvania Dutch settlers. "thistlefinch" was dutchified into "distlefink". go figure.

But by far the best modern interpretation of that little bird and those tulips is on the logo for the Dutchland Roller's derby team the Distelfinks!

and here's a funny cool article in the paper about one of Virginville's many heroes, Ernie Miller - and the witches that dance in his corn field.

I love me a good walpurgisnacht ceremony!

if I was dressing up for Halloween, which I am NOT

2009-10-27T15:22:00.011-04:00

I would totally be:

How cute would that be right? I'm not sure what is going on with this animal-in-people-clothes obsession of mine. Maybe it's some kind of biological clock gone awry? I can't help thinking that my cat is having conversations with other animals in the neighborhood. it's weird.

anyway, you must revisit the work of Beatrix Potter if you haven't lately. it will leave you with warm fuzzies ...

I kinda love Beatrix herself too. She was kind of a bad ass, well, as much of a bad ass an illustrator of bunnies can be. She was determined to become an artist, and despite her priviledged family's wishes, ended up getting engaged to her "lower class" publisher. But she had become financially independent from her illustration work by then so she told them to stuff it - the poor guy died before the wedding. bummer. (check out the Renee Zellwegger/Ewan MacGregor movie, Miss Potter, it's good I promise!)

What is SO awesome about her is that she invested all her money in preserving fell farming (grazing on hills) by purchasing over 4000 acres in the Lake District of England (now part of the national historic trust.) What an awesome thing to do with your earnings...

(that road looks like the sickest biking path doesn't it?! click to enlarge)

So, on the bunny theme ... here's an oldie but a goody from fellow Z-town'er, Spread the Love (you know if I dressed up as a bunny Ben would totally have to be the fox)

and how can we talk about anthropomorphic animals and not talk about etsy superstars Berkley Illustration? here's an interview with them about their superstardom. how is 11,000 sales in one year even possible?!

and how bizarre is this?! Beatrix Potter ballet:

those full on animal helmets are a little extreme don't ya think? dang. i LOVE it!!!

Stockist update

2009-10-24T20:50:00.005-04:00

I love that word "stockist" don't you? it sounds so darn professional and European or something. so much better than "a store that carries my stuff".

So here are some stores that are now carrying my stuff:

Hello Bluebird, West Reading, PA

The lovely Alex has outfitted a new little boutique in Berks County with the best crafted goodies, I'm proud to send locals to this lovely spot!

Art Star, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia

These girls just celebrated their store's 5th anniversary - I can't express how awesome and inspiring that is. They also hold the excellent Art Star Bazaar on Penn's Landing every summer. kudos ladies.

Sabrina Butterfly, Edmonton, Canada

And as we speak a little package is soaring through the sky on it's way to hopefully soon adorn some Canadians. Sabrina opened this adorable store to showcase her clothing line ...

I've got a little crush on Canada, it seems all empty and wholesome. it could fulfill my little house on the prairie fantasies. I love it.

This is me lagging behind on a hike at Banff National Park in Alberta. hello asthma and altitude! but it made for awesome pics right? man I wouldn't do for free health care and mountaintops like that .... ahhhhh.

might be worth $150. seriously.

2009-10-19T21:02:00.004-04:00

I've been out of the loop a bit ... brainstorming, making plans, changing plans, etc. Looking for inspiration in general.

I think I found it:

HAHaHAHAHAaahahaa! Point Break commemorative plates from etsy seller ShafeiCeramics.

isle of naxos

2009-10-07T10:48:00.009-04:00

I got this pretty wonderful and hilarious feedback from a buyer who's a big fan of my nouveau hoops:

"love these! i lost one on the lovely isle of naxos on vacation + like to think of that beautiful earring lolling about on the beach or laying by a remote windmill -- the island + the earring locked in mutual admiration of each others' beauty. anyways, had to buy a new pair immediately on return."

I've never been to a place with an X in it's name. You know this makes me really feel like a hick. But I do love the idea of someone finding my earring washed up on the shores and thinking it's some ancient treasure!

I'm sure you all have heard about that treasure that was found in the UK this summer. For some reason that find filled me with huge happiness, kind of like storybook happiness. At a time when I thought there was nothing left to discover - no new lands, no new tribes, no new animal species, some old guy comes across one of the most important discoveries ever!

kudos to those old men scouring the beaches with metal detectors, the old farmers still searching for indian arrow heads, the Dutchies who still think they're going to find a rare antique for $1 at an auction ....

it's on

2009-10-02T11:51:00.009-04:00

Ben: (coming up the basement steps) Hey! Are you ready for all of your wildest dreams to come true?!

Me: Well heck yes I am already!

My lovely man finally got around to hooking up all these random tanks and regulators and buffing wheels, etc etc to make my very own home studio! Until now I've been renting space at a local art center, the Goggleworks, which was totally cool, but really not cool when you have one lone piece that needs soldering and only a bike for transportation and it's 30 miles away.

no more excuses for procastinating!

ok this is really not my bench but it looks surprisingly a lot like my own. It's a studio shot from HOORSENBUHS, a jeweler "to the stars" whatever that means. I'm not a huge fan of their work but I'm monster fan of their space:

They have this great industrial quonset hut studio/shop where all the celebrity types can shop without being heckled by commoners. and while they are customizing their jewelry they can hit a punching bag or play drums or play wii or do whatever those celebrity types do to entertain themselves.

(All these pics were nicked from Gem Gossip's studio visit)

These studio pics are getting me back into my airstream dreams - we have a decent place right now but it's definitely a "starter" home so I don't want to set up a mega perfect studio then have to dismantle it all when we move on. so what's the solution?

trailer studio! somewhat portable - somewhat permanent. My own private girl space where no boys are allowed, I can decorate with my own weird thrift store finds, play whatever records I like - a general space for privacy and progress!

Check out this amazing hotel rooftop at the Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa -- 7 separate airstreams all decorated in different themes:

How did they get those up there?! so ok mine will look nothing like these but I can dream right? I can see my experience turning out more like this:

better get working on those leg muscles ...

double take

2009-09-28T10:53:00.011-04:00

so I posted about the great new book covers last week by Coralie Bickford-Smith - and of course I was seriously checking out the peacock cover:

and I thought for a sec that maybe it was inverted, or backwards or inside out somehow -- isn't that little center circle swirly part upside-down? I quickly had a heart attack thinking that I was making all my peacock necklaces backwards! an "oh snap!" moment for sure but not nearly as bad as this design decision:

I did a quick google search just to be sure!

alas, I was correct! (thank god). Good thing because this last week I made up some new smaller peacock earrings, just to round out "the line" a little bit:

these babies are about 4" long and swingy - until I can find a ear model here's a pic of them in my hand for a little perspective (please ignore my old lady hand, it looks all long and creepy)

I had a light table freak out last week - on a mission to create a dozen new designs for the holiday craft season, but do it without re-inventing the wheel. So my new approach is to take each of my existing designs and make small versions, big versions, earrings, tweeked, altered, etc.

Hopefully this isn't some form of disguised procrastination ... I'm waiting for my new home studio to come together so I am biding some time I guess. I have spent the l0 minutes watching and re-watching this video so procrastination is probably the most correct term actually:

dude best barrels ever dude ...

99 Luft Balons

2009-09-24T11:14:00.006-04:00

Kimberley of ChezSucreChez stitched up these great red balloons for a project called Spoonful.

She's donating the sales of these lovies to sponsor her mother's MS Bike Ride ... kudos all around to crafting, biking, moms ...

(go go Candy!)

I'm loving that "older" people are getting way into bikes, my in-laws did something similar by biking to Atlanta from Lancaster, PA to raise money for AIDS research.

(Harriet and Lin coming into Atlanta)

They ended up at the Names Project Foundation where the all the AIDS quilt panels live. Interesting fact on wikipedia: "Weighing as estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2009". HOW AWESOME IS THAT??

I have this vision of a huge warehouse of textiles, each one meticulously cataloged and cared for by a lonely librarian/seamstress and a handful of volunteers - oh if I only lived closer to Atlanta, all my mad skills could be used - my librarian skillz, crafty skillz, folding skillz ...

So go do some good in the world and get over to Kimberley's shop and get some red balloons ...

and because I know you need some of Nena's 99 Luft Balons, here's a blast from the past:

But you might need some Falco a little more so here ya go:

that was SO good admit it.

bunnies, birds, waves ... 3 of my favorite things

2009-09-23T11:27:00.003-04:00

thanks to Uncle Beefy for sharing the beautiful illustrations of Raquel Aparicio

those little bits of red coral are pretty darn nice too ...

more book fancy books, ahhhhh

2009-09-22T14:00:00.006-04:00

I did my monthly perusal of Design Sponge today and I see some more amazing book covers were featured. They are designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith who is a fab illustrator.

I'm TOTALLY in love with some ...

not so much with others ...

I bet if I saw more of the front jackets I'd be convinced but until then I'm going to say officially I wish she had gotten funkier with the Alice in Wonderland design, but I guess it's one of those things where there's almost too much inspiration to draw from. I mean jeeez, look how nuts Tim Burton got for his upcoming movie:

Now that is some serious eyebrow action!!!! yea!

Here's the trailer, looks pretty good, but as usual, I'll wait for it on netflix...

the Future (part 2)

2009-09-18T20:58:00.004-04:00

I know I just posted about the future, but come on, check this out ...

VW release date 2013: 170mpg deisel hybrid.

sick.