E Cubed Arts

DCLSA Craft Show

2010-11-18T07:57:00.001-05:00

We'll be in Hanover at the Hop tomorrow (Friday Nov 19th) for the DCLSA Craft Show. Stop by and say "Hi".

Bow St Fair 2010

2010-07-15T21:46:00.004-04:00

Hi all, we'll be at the Bow St Fair this weekend, July 17th and 18th, from 10am to 5pm. Come on down and see us, along with a bunch of other neat stuff, and support the Seacoast Repertory Theatre.

Leather bracelet with words

2010-04-23T17:35:00.003-04:00

I'm still doing remedial metal work to catch up with the other two. This time I cut a rectangle of brass, stamped a few letters, gently rounded it and drilled two holes. I cut a length of leather that I had bought for purse handles (and never used) to work as a bracelet. The leather was too thick for the snaps I had on hand, but I shaved it down enough to pound the snaps through it.

The metal is currently just held on with thread, but I need to work out some sort of rivet or something.

Finally

2010-04-10T19:46:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time coming, but my garage is finally clean! (Well, the important half is, at least). This means that I have a more productive place to craft and to store supplies! Check it out:

Crafting in a small apartment, part 1

2010-04-08T18:05:00.003-04:00

Necessary items for crafting/metalworking in a small apartment:

Craft closet - you'll need a place to stash all of the crafting supplies with which you will make wonderful things. Make sure it's large enough to accommodate the results of your semi-delusional shopping trips where you tell yourself "I can make that!"
Plastic lap desk - who needs a jeweler's bench, or even a worktable?? The ones with the beanbag/polyfill on the bottom are great. Get one that's small enough that you can hang your sheet metal off the side when you're sawing.
Damp paper towel(s) - they make a great substitute for a concrete floor. Instead of sweeping up the metal dust, you fold 'em up, give the plastic lap desk a swipe, and toss 'em in the trash.
Understanding neighbors/no neighbors at all/neighbors you can blackmail - the hammering and the high pitched whine of the rotary tool can bring out the crazy in people unless you a) have no neighbors, b) your neighbors are rarely home, c) your neighbors are deaf, or d) your neighbors have a hobby that's just as loud - say, for example, inviting their tone-deaf friends over for some country karaoke.

ELEPHANT!!

2010-04-07T19:46:00.004-04:00

So, in an effort to prove the adage of "practice makes perfect," I've dug out all my old metalworking tools - or at least those I could locate with relative ease - and started to dust off my metalworking skills. It appears that I'll need to replace my files and upgrade my rotary tool, but I did manage to come up with a decent first effort. My intent is to make a couple more elephant figures and put them together (with jump rings?) into a bracelet. My sister suggested interspersing circular copper punchouts as if the elephants were playing with circus balls.

And I only snapped one saw blade making it =)

Challenge!

2010-03-25T17:56:00.002-04:00

I am throwing down a challenge to my partners in crime. I know you both have PMC to play with, and I have heard many a "Oh, I could make that out of PMC." Your mission, as it were, is to make something fantabulous out of PMC with which to dazzle our customers.

2010-03-12T21:35:00.003-05:00

As promised I have made some new earrings which we will be selling this weekend at the Spring Sampler in West Springfield, MA (in the Young Building at the Eastern States Exposition fairground - don't let a little rain keep you away!!!). The first pair are the ones inspired by the gift from my friend in Switzerland. The copper circles are larger and the earrings are not as long. Also I have put them on niobium ear wires since I worried that people would not want to put copper in their ears:

The second pair was inspired from a picture I saw recently in a book. They are copper and sterling silver:

I plan on making one more pair tomorrow at the show - they will have a somewhat Bohemian theme if I can pull them off! Hope to see lots of people at the show tomorrow!!!

Website gallery

2010-03-09T13:13:00.002-05:00

I just finished moving some stuff around on the website, so now all the sold stuff is on a Gallery page, and the pages of earrings/necklaces/bracelets no longer show the sold stuff. We can do custom items similar to a sold item, for example a different material in a particular style, or a different style with the same materials, just let us know!

Riveting

2010-02-22T20:47:00.003-05:00

While EP has set up a metalwork area in her garage cum studio, and EK took jewelry classes in Florence, I am just a beginner when it comes to metalwork. Behold, my first rivet:

Inspirations

2010-02-18T18:06:00.003-05:00

Recently I received a pair of earrings as a gift and they have inspired me to try and make similar pairs - not exactly the same, certainly, but they gave me some good ideas. I found myself on the Metaliferous website today buying metal. Hopefully the creations will be ready and for sale at the Deerfield Spring show. Here are the earrings that were given to me:

Deerfield Spring Sampler

2010-02-18T12:49:00.003-05:00

We'll be at the Deerfield Spring Sampler Craft Show in West Springfield MA on March 13th and 14th from 10am to 5pm each day. If you'd like a coupon or two mailed to you, let us know ASAP and we'll drop it in the mail. You can also print a coupon from their website, and find a small map to the Eastern States Expo Center.

The show is held in the Better Living Center:

From Eastern Mass via Mass Pike: west to Exit 4, south on Rt. 5 to Rt. 147, west 1 mile
From Albany Area via Mass Pike: east to Exit 4, south on Rt. 5 to Rt. 147, west 1 mile
From Connecticut via I-91: north to Exit 3 to Rt. 5 north to Rt. 147, west 1 mile... or north to Exit 3, follow Rt. 57 west to Rt. 195, north to Rt. 147 east
From Vermont, New Hampshire via I-91: south to Exit 13B, south on Rt. 5 to Rt. 147, west 1 mile

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-30T12:38:00.002-05:00

So we recently had the 2009/2010 E Cubed Arts Meeting of DOOM. This meeting comes around once a year and we don't always look forward to it. We spend time recapping the previous year, getting ready to prepare our taxes, and set our goals for the coming year.

This year we have decided to apply to a few new shows including a couple of the Old Deerfield craft shows. More to come with our schedule!!!

All three of us are going to make a concerted effort to post here more on E3 happenings! Keep an eye out for pictures from EA and EP with some of the newer things we are trying with metal -we're excited to experiment, especially with some PMC.

Finally, we are still working on our Abstracta Fiasco from last fall. We like the product - the display looks nice and is easy to put together... but it was a nightmare to take apart and we managed to break several connectors on two occasions. Once we have more info we'll let you know!

DCLSA Show in Hanover on Friday

2009-11-18T19:53:00.002-05:00

We'll be in Hanover, NH at a show on Friday Nov 20th. In Hopkins Center just off the green, on the second floor in Alumi Hall, there should be signs. If you park in the parking garage, the back entrance to the Hop is right across the street. The show is open 10am to 4pm.

Update on the Abstracta display

2009-11-16T19:38:00.004-05:00

It looked absolutely incredible, especially with the strips of diode lights for inside the case, the fabric choice for the interior of the display (go Emily!), and the gorgeous busts/earring displays/bracelet ramps.

The abstracta was difficult to disassemble properly, even with the special tool that they recommend - difficult to the tune of 3 more connectors snapped off at the base. We consider ourselves strong women, but I'm pretty sure we didn't eat that many Wheaties that morning. . . The metal rod that is suggested at a couple of places online works great, only you still have to disconnect one end before it can come into play. I have to say, it was incredibly frustrating after a long day to have the display come apart in our hands in ways it was never meant to.

Boston Christmas Craft Festival.

2009-11-05T20:14:00.002-05:00

We'll be in Boston Friday through Sunday, come on down and see us. The Show Hours are Friday noon-7pm
Saturday 10am-7pm
Sunday 10am-5pm

Here are the directions to the show: http://www.bostonchristmasfestival.com/directions-and-parking.html

Come check out our new display and all our new jewelry.

Abstracta Display Issues

2009-10-27T13:06:00.002-04:00

We're having terrible trouble taking apart an Abstracta display, anyone have any suggestions other than throwing it in the trash? We're using the disconnector tool that we bought from them, and we put it together and are taking it apart exactly as described in the directions. So why have we already broken two connectors? Sheared them off completely at the base? We're afraid to take it any further apart because of this, and come on, we're girls, how can we break pieces of metal unless the metal is crap?

New Metalworking Toys

2009-10-21T12:57:00.003-04:00

I got some new toys in the mail! Both of the Emilys have experience with metalwork, like cutting, riveting, using a torch, etc. I have none but would like to make all sorts of metal things. First step is learning how to cut, drill, rivet, and polish. Not shown are the hammers and clamps I already own, the metal sheet/tubing I bought at the hobby store, and a weird cut-rate flexshaft like thing that I got at a yardsale for $5. It doesn't have the footpedal for changing speed, but I think it will work for practicing. I'll upgrade to a real flexshaft eventually. I'm still waiting for the alphabet punches from artbeads. Time to start practicing!

Creating new things, and making a mess

2009-10-18T20:54:00.003-04:00

Making some earrings today, apparently making a couple pair requires every tool I have plus looking at all the bags of beads I can easily grab.

Tomorrow at the Big E

2009-10-04T15:01:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is the last day of the Big E, and therefore the last day to find our jewelry in the NH building. Stop by and see items by all sorts of NH craftspeople, from jam to woodwork!

NH League Summer Fair

2009-08-17T19:37:00.003-04:00

I visited the NH League of Craftsmen's summer fair last weekend. Wow. More than 300 of the state's top craftspeople all in one place. This is the 76th year they've had the fair and it seemed pretty busy. Lots of nice stuff, a bunch of demos, and of course fair food. The League also sets up an area called "living with craft" showcasing a selection of items in simulated rooms so you can see how items might be incorporated into your decor.

The fair is over for this year, but check it out next year or visit one of the League's craft stores around the state.

Annual Meeting (if you can call it that. . . )

2009-07-17T22:21:00.005-04:00

Who knew setting goals was so much of a process?? But we did it, finally!! It took a fascinating mix of dogged determination, three brilliant minds, and the tantalizing promise of a reward to drag us through it. There may also have been some amazing snacks from the local food co-op. . .

For myself, I've always found it easier to just create than to actually make some conclusions about where that creativity is or should be taking me. Seeing how our goals had evolved over the past year or two was impressive, but what really made me sit back and ponder how all of us had changed was the way that the discussion took place.

It seemed like we just sat down after a seriously tasty breakfast (food creativity is a skill I envy) and started talking about where we were now - product-wise, time-wise, etc - and suddenly, we were making some fairly definitive statements about what we hope for for E Cubed in the coming years. It's almost as if in our previous discussions, we had forgotten to talk about the "now" and simply jumped into talking about our company ten years from now. It makes sense that you'll have a better idea where you're going if you have at least half a clue as to where you are. Now, since we know where we are and know to give ourselves several avenues to allow for the mutability of the coming years, it's MUCH easier to define (even if it's broadly) where we want to go.

The next day, all 3 of our kayaks went onto the car (3 kayaks, 1 car, no problem) and we indulged in some good old fashioned head-in-the-clouds dreams as we drifted across Grafton Pond in the sun.

All in all, a highly productive and endlessly entertaining weekend!!! This weekend will be a great follow up to our meeting - our first show (come see us in Portsmouth!) with our new goals in mind. Can't wait!

Bow St Fair in Portsmouth NH

2009-07-16T21:17:00.002-04:00

We'll be at the Bow St Fair in Portsmouth NH this weekend. Come on down and see us, 10-5 Sat and Sun. Bow St will be closed off for the fair, we recommend parking in the garage on Hanover St. Rain or Shine! A suggested $2 donation for entry goes to support the Seacoast Repertory Theater.

Important Meeting

2009-07-13T21:05:00.002-04:00

We had a goal setting business meeting last weekend. The others may chime in with what we learned, but I think we got some good relaxation out of it.

Books

2009-02-10T18:13:00.002-05:00

It has fallen to me to forge ahead in our bookmaking experiment. I seem to have an overabundance of supplies (not at all unusual) and a dearth of time in which to create.

I've acquired some books on the cheap to try deconstruction/reconstruction again, the deconstruction having not gone so well the first time I tried. It's harder than you think to deconstruct a bound book so that it can then be re-bound!! I'm experimenting with ways of thinning out the cardboard cover so that it can be punched, while maintaining both the structural integrity and the overall artistic effect.

I desperately want to try with the Nancy Drew books that I've gotten - I think the combo of the covers with all the different kinds of papers that I've acquired will make excellent journals.

Pictures of my early attempts to follow!

2009-02-09T12:20:00.003-05:00

As we progress in our jewelry I am itching to work more in metals using cold connections at first and also some PMC. I would also like to learn to solder with a torch! Previously this idea terrified me as my setup was in my future in-laws basement. I could just see me burning the house down. However, I am now (finally!) a homeowner and will soon be setting up a work area in our garage. Here's how it stands now:

Not a good picture, but that is probably a good thing! Hopefully by this time next week it will be a workable space!

New Jury Photos

2009-02-05T20:51:00.003-05:00

We decided we needed some new jury photos, since our work has started to change and our booth has had the full makeover (more than once!) so we spent some cold time in the garage setting up a booth just for a couple of shots. We still flubbed the lighting a bit (the garage is not tall enough for the full setup) but the shots came out okay.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:29:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We'll be at a show with our jewelry on Saturday from 9am to 3pm at the Mascoma high school on route 4 in West Canaan NH. Take exit 17 off of I-89, go east about 7 miles, there will be a sign for the high school on the left.

How not to do photographs

2008-09-26T17:49:00.003-04:00

This is a postcard sent to me to advertise some wearable art. This scan of it hides some of the issues since my scanner apparently does some color correction. The photo is mostly grey, very washed out. The area of highest contrast in a photo is what draws your eye, and in this photo it's the model's face, not the wearable art. Too bad, since the coat is pretty fab.

Below is the same postcard, same scanner, scanned in black and white to emphasize where the contrast happens, and how dark the original (non-corrected) postcard is. Don't do this, make the colors stand out!

Now I just have to figure out how to get the scanner to sop with the color correction.

E Cubed Arts on Vacation

2008-09-13T19:24:00.001-04:00

E Cubed Arts (yes, all three of us) will be on vacation the week of Sept 14-21. Catch us at the Big E on Sept 22 in the NH building!

The Big E

2008-09-11T19:20:00.002-04:00

We've got stuff at Santa's Workshop in the NH building at the Big E! Our jewelry will be there the whole time, and we'll be there on Sept 22.

Directions to the Big E

The Big E is open Sept 12-28, come see what it's all about!

Bow St Fair in Portsmouth

2008-07-03T20:08:00.001-04:00

We'll be down in Portsmouth NH on July 19th and 20th at the Bow St fair. It's a great show, and Portsmouth is a great town so come down and see us!

Press coverage

2008-07-03T20:03:00.002-04:00

We had a nice story in Upper Valley Life magazine a few weeks ago. I should start a press section of the website for our press mentions. Here it is, though I'm not sure you can read it at this size.

Supplies for Sale

2008-04-08T12:40:00.003-04:00

We've got a spare EZ-UP (express II) cover for sale, white, it's water resistant but not waterproof. Great for shade and for places where you only get a light rain. It leaks along the seams in a heavy rain.

Also a cash register, works but will need new ink/tape soon (it's light). It is missing one of the spring arm things that holds the money down, but the others are intact. We got it secondhand so we never had a manual.

If you're interested, let us know. They'll go on ebay soon and I'll put a link here.

On creating business credit

2008-02-13T15:31:00.003-05:00

There's an interesting article in the NYTimes Small Business section about establishing business credit. How to Improve Your Business’s Credit. It has a list of steps to take, none of which sound that hard, that will help your new business establish a credit rating. The basic steps are:

Name and establish your business
Get an EIN from the IRS
Get a business phone number
Open a business checking account
(all of these steps so far make sense even if you never want credit)
Take your business phone bill and checking account info to your local Staples *(or any local/small town merchant who knows you personally) and get a line of credit.
Ta-da!

My bookses. . .

2008-01-23T20:25:00.001-05:00

photographed by my fantabulous sis!!

This is a "half-size" book, about 4x3.5 and totally blank inside.

Another "half-size" book with a sparkly cover!

Iron-on/wash away

2008-01-09T17:26:00.001-05:00

Does anyone know of an iron-on, wash-away adhesive for fabric? Preferably one that comes on a 1/4 inch wide roll and is slightly tacky to hold things in place before you iron? I was using some iron on fusible (that was narrow and tacky) but it is permanent and makes things a bit stiff and bulky.

Also I recently found this, on beauty, which is making me happy for some reason.

Couple of New Coaster notebooks in our Etsy store

2007-12-15T09:50:00.000-05:00

Check out a few new coaster journals in our etsy store.

Two shows this weekend...

2007-11-23T09:17:00.000-05:00

We have two shows this weekend, since we're hauling our turkey-stuffed bodies there, you can too!

Saturday: Nov 24th at the Mascoma High School in West Canaan NH. From I-89 take Route 4 East a bunch through Enfield and on out into Canaan, about 6.5 miles. The school is on a hill on the left, there will be signs. The show is 9am-3pm.

Sunday: Nov 25th at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua NH. The show is 10am-3pm.

Come see our beer books, along with a selection of handcrafted and recycled journals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-20T12:29:00.000-05:00

We all want to wish you a happy day full of turkey (or vegetarian product of your choice).

Our show in W. Leb (LACA) has opened and is in between CVS and Hallmark in the Kohl's plaza. Open 9:30am to 9pm Mon-Sat and 9:30-5pm on Sun. We're closed on Thanksgiving but otherwise open every day through Dec 24th. Come on down and buy some gifts! Plenty of stocking stuffers.

Speaking of stocking stuffers, how about a beer book?

Show Tomorrow!

2007-11-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

Come on down to Dartmouth College and see our new journals, along with our fabulous shell jewelry. We'll be in Collis Center from 10am to 4pm. Collis Center is on the South West corner of the green, diagonally across the intersection from the Hanover Inn. There should be plenty of signs up, but good luck with Hanover parking!

If you can't make the show, you can check out some of our stuff at the LACA show in West Lebanon. The LACA show is in the former KBToys store, between CVS and Hallmark in the Kohl's plaza. Open 9:30am - 9pm Mon-Sat and 9:30-5:30 on Sunday.

New Shell Line Debuts this Fall

2007-10-24T19:01:00.000-04:00

We're still searching for a final name for the line, suggestions welcome.

Anyway, here's a preview of our new line, made with glazed shell. The glaze catches the sun and sparkles in many colors, though out of the sun each appears to be one solid color (unlike these photos).

A limited amount of the shell line can be found in Enfield at All Things Creative on Main Street. The main debut will be at the show in the Boston Seaport World Trade Center. Come on down and see us! (Feel free to email if you'd like a coupon for several dollars off admission.)

This one is light blue, really, with an onyx center:

Green:
Pink:
Purple:
Brown with chalcedony:
All of these are on sterling silver hooks, though I know EP made a few with fresh water pearls and gold-filled earwires.

Items will be available for purchase on the website at a later date, stay tuned for details (you can also email if you want to purchase something you see here before the Boston show...after that it may be sold).

Gallery Opening tonight, Show in North Conway this Weekend

2007-10-12T13:34:00.000-04:00

Come on out and see us! We have an opening at the gallery in Canaan from 6-8pm tonight (Free food! Meet the artists!) and a two day show in North Conway this weekend. We've got some new glazed shell stuff, as well at the popular cherries and new "oranges". If you can't make one of those dates, new stuff is going to All Things Creative in Enfield as well.

More cool journals

2007-10-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple more journals that I've had a chance to make. I can't take credit for the beer coaster one, that was definitely a group idea. However, my slight obssession with "The Wizard of Oz" and an abundance of old calendars gave rise to the other two covers. Once I have more bindings, I'll post more of my efforts.

Last Farmer's Market!

2007-10-02T20:51:00.001-04:00

This Wednesday is the last Enfield farmer's market for the year! Come on down and buy cider, apples, veggies, pies, dinner, meat and much more. Come see us and start your Christmas shopping early.

Embossing is cool

2007-09-27T00:02:00.001-04:00

So it hit me while I was in the store of a major crafts retailer in New England (which shall remain nameless but has possibly become my most favorite place on earth!!), I had a brilliant idea - emboss designs onto board for journal covers. The photos below are three of my first attempts:

From this experiment, I've learned a couple of things:
1. Don't get the ink on your fingers - it'll end up somewhere on the board, and screw up your design.
2. Don't over ink the stamp, or you'll get the edge of the stamp on your cover as well as your image.
3. Tap the embossing powder off sharply - excess embossing powder will screw up your design and maybe mess up your heat source. If you put the embossing powder on your image right away, a sharp tap isn't going to hurt it and will save you a giant mess.
4. If you're using your gas burners as a heat source, wear mitts - I particularly like the silicon grabbers (think: your hand in an alligator shape covered in silicon) - and open a window. Warm board/ink/embossing powder stinks to high heaven.
5. Don't overcook the embossing powder - it will boil and scorch eventually (look closely at the center 'flower' of the fleur-de-lis on the red board above.
6. Keep an eye on the shape of the board - you may get some warping with extreme heat.
7. BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR HEAT SOURCE!! EK's first two rules of crafting are "don't get dead," and "don't bleed on your crafts." Blisters are bad too...

Journals First Attempt

2007-09-25T21:47:00.001-04:00

Look! It's Silas Marner...

As a journal! We've been tossing around ideas for journals/blank books, and here are 2 of the first attempts. We're using a Zutter Bind-it-all to construct them - pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. This one took extra time because I wasted several pieces of paper trying to get the holes to come out in the correct places.

This one was my second attempt. Still trying to find the right glue, the one I used for this was a bit too... wet? Dunno, but it turned out okay. For the cover I used an old Camp Fire Girls certificate that I bought several years ago at a Flea Market. More to come soon! We're hoping to pilot them at some of our fall/winter shows.

At the Gallery Yet Again.

2007-08-19T10:25:00.000-04:00

We (the CMAA) need to figure out how to bring more traffic into the gallery. People who stop in always compliment the art, and often buy something small even if they had no plans of making a purchase before they stop. But on an average Sunday we get about two visitors. So it's a pain for me to sit here all day and sell four dollars worth of stuff. If we got twenty visitors, each of which bought a $2 card, I'd be happier about spending the whole day. If one of those twenty bought a necklace or a painting, I'd be even happier.

So how to drive traffic in? There are three kinds of traffic...people walking around Canaan, people driving by on Rt 4, and people who come out here specifically looking for the gallery. It would be nice to increase the last category, since they seem most likely to buy something over $5, but just getting more of the walkers and drivers in would help. Everyone needs the occasional card, and once they know we're here, they should come back to see what else we have and to buy gifts for folks. We also need to get more stuff in that $7-25 range. Currently we have some earrings and a few other jewelry bits, but not much else. That's a key "small gift" category.

Handmade toys would also be nice, since we have very little for kids. Heck, even baby clothes (which aren't really gallery fodder, but would be something for people to purchase for others). Maybe we should reach out to a couple of the LACA folks to drive in more traffic, especially those that live in the Canaan/Enfield area. Maybe I'll bring it up at the next meeting (though that's probably too late to get anyone for Christmas season since the LACA meeting is usually the day before the CMAA meeting. Oh well.

Anyone out there with ideas?

Other purses

2007-07-28T10:38:00.000-04:00

This is the second little purse I mentioned before.

And here's one that I almost finished a while ago but just put the last touches on recently.

These guys plus the one from the last post are available at All Things Creative in Enfield NH.

Cute little purse

2007-07-11T12:53:00.001-04:00

Doing a little bit of sewing recently...made two little purses but only took a picture of one of them apparently. The other one is a teal fabric with circles on it.

Finished Pearl Project

2007-07-09T14:29:00.000-04:00

Finished Pearl Project:

You can see this beauty (along with some of our other jewelry and many other fine items) at the CMAA gallery. The opening for the new show is Friday, July 13th, 6-8 pm. Its free and open to the public, refreshments are provided.

We also have a show in Barrington, NH on Saturday, and a show in Portsmouth next weekend. Busy season is starting!

Farmer's Market Starts Wednesday!

2007-06-25T14:39:00.000-04:00

The farmer's market starts this week! Here's our schedule for this year:
June 27
July 11
July 25
Aug 8
Aug 22
Sept 5
Sept 19
Oct 3 (last market)

Basically every other week...

Article: Not So Starving Artists: 4 Tricks.

2007-06-06T14:43:00.001-04:00

Interesting blog post: Not So Starving Artists: 4 Tricks

At the Gallery Again

2007-06-03T10:43:00.000-04:00

I'm at the gallery again, and have no camera. So no gallery pics and no pics of the (long since finished) pearl project. So in lieu of that, here's a couple sites I've been enjoying recently:

And...now you can see why I haven't been getting much done...

Pearl Project

2007-04-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

I started a new project while sitting in the gallery on a wonderful afternoon. Unfortunately it was so nice out we only had a few visitors. Oh well, it gave me time when I had to focus on doing something rather than chatting or going outside. Here is the beginning of what will hopefully be a multistrand pearl necklace. I am very "matchy-uppy" (which is apparently quite a sin in quilting, but not so bad in jewelry) and have real trouble making something balanced without making it symmetrical. It seems to be working out here:
Just a shot of the gallery with the door open to the nice weather. Lots of nice things, come see! (Hours and directions in this post.)

Something New From EP

2007-04-24T12:54:00.000-04:00

Something new from EP in the gallery now. If you're passing through Canaan on Route 4, drop in and check it out.

Unrelated earrings, also by EP...

All Things Creative

2007-04-13T15:59:00.000-04:00

Diane's store All Things Creative now has a website. Stop in and see our stuff. Her current hours are 10-6 Wed-Sunday.

Gallery Opening Tomorrow

2007-04-12T21:06:00.000-04:00

We have a gallery opening tomorrow at the CMAA gallery in Canaan. The official reception is 6-8pm on Friday, Apr 13th, but the gallery is open normal hours as well (Wed-Sat 10a-6p, Sun 10-4). So come on out and see us!

From I89 take exit 17 to Route 4 East (towards Enfield and Canaan). Continue on Route 4 for a while (about 11 miles). Once you're in Canaan, there is a blinking light by the town library (just before the junction with 118). Turn right onto Depot Street at the light, the gallery is right there on the left. Google can give you directions if this isn't clear.

PMC

2007-04-03T16:30:00.000-04:00

I have a small amount of PMC (wow, the price of silver these days) and I'm kinda afraid of it, but I know what I want to make now.

A calla lily with a pearl as the center.

Craft Boston

2007-04-03T14:34:00.000-04:00

Two of us were at the Craft Boston show over the weekend. Wow, lots of good stuff. We met author and jewelry artist Joanna Gollberg (who had a booth). I would scan a pic of some of her work, but since EP has stolen my book, I can't.

Lots of jewelry. I mean lots. All of it was nice and VERY well done, but still. I was loving the metal and pearl combinations, and by the end was enamoured of the chains too. There was a fair amount of dyed silk and women's tops as well. I like dyeing fabric, but apparently other people do as well.

The rest of the stuff had plenty of variety. This guy had the most amazing furniture. The end tables looked like melted chess boards.

Only one person had any paper items (other than the book publisher). Handmade books are something we'd like to try, and haven't seen too much of. I'm not sure how expensive it was to get into the show though, because a lot of booths had more "art" and less "craft" (judged by prices) and someone selling journals or photo albums might not make enough to cover booth rent.

There were several quilt artists, but most had either traditional style quilts often in miniature, or with a modern slant. There was one with some framed fabric pieces, and one that was fairly abstract.

Winter Fun

2007-03-19T15:45:00.000-04:00

We're up to a 100 posts, wow.

Here's the interesting pattern on the side of my car:

Up close it's like little waterfalls. I've never seen anything quite like it.

Quilt Update

2007-03-13T14:05:00.000-04:00

Here's the finished quilt (okay, I finished it a long time ago for a show at the gallery, but alas it did not sell).

Pic taken on the floor this morning under overcast skies:

It's about 35 inches wide and 39 or 40 tall, with a hanging wire (picture wire) across the back.

Here it was in the gallery along with it's mate (similar but not the same size) and some little framed pieces:

Card Pics Example

2007-03-13T13:56:00.000-04:00

Here's an example of the earring cards, taken in fairly bright light (overcast day, but directly in the light from the window. You can see how the grey card might be very hard to distinguish from the white cards in the dim lighting at some shows, especially if they're not next to each other. Also note how bright the logo is compared to some of the earrings. So, now all we have to do is flip all the cards and assign inventory numbers. Ick.

Earring Card Issues

2007-02-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

We had a great idea for our earring cards. We designed the card so it could be punched at the top to hang on a hook, and the earrings would go on either side of the punch. In the center of the card was the logo, and the name/website at the bottom. The card was correctly sized to fit inside the earring boxes we bought. Materials for each pair of earrings would be printed on a little sticker that would go on the back of each card. Earrings would go in two price categories, one on white cards and the other on gray. It seemed like such a good idea. Unfortunately after we printed 900 cards and put earrings on half of them and hung them all up, we noticed some problems.

1. Under poor lighting, it was impossible to tell one color cardstock from the other, and this caused lots of issues. At one show I ended up selling all the earrings for the low price, since no one could tell them apart.
2. The bright logo, the shiny chrome gridwall, the shiny hooks, etc, were very distracting and you couldn't really see the earrings unless you picked up the card. It was overwhelming and lots of people just walked on by rather than coming into the booth.
3. Inventory nightmare...we had no idea what we'd sold, and what might have been lost or stolen. We had a list of what we made but it was often difficult to match the earrings to the list.
4. Setup/teardown mess. In the future we might have to figure out a way to store/transport the earrings on the hooks so we could just pop the hooks onto the gridwall.

So our first year in the big leagues taught us a bunch (you can never go wrong with more lighting) and we're getting ready for another busy year.

Step 1 is to flip over all of the cards so the logo is on the back and the earrings sit on a plain card for better visibility. I don't think we can afford new gridwall right now but our next purchase will be white gridwall & hooks. Then we're going to assign an individual inventory number to everything we have (which will involve changing out everything we have at All Things Creative and the CMAA gallery) and link those numbers to our list. Hopefully then we'll know what item went where, and what we sold at each show. Hopefully we'll start to do enough shows that we can get a feel for what sells where.

CMAA Gallery

2007-02-11T18:11:00.000-05:00

I was just out at the gallery this morning, doing my sitting hours. It looks really nice. The shows this year are much larger, with a better range of prices than last summer's/early fall's shows. More things to see, and while there are still some paintings and other art nudging up against 4 figures, there are also plenty of things near the bottom of the price range, in case you just want to go home with a handmade card or a pair of earrings. Come check us out:

CMAA gallery

Corner of Rt 4 & Depot St, in Canaan NH
Wed-Sat 10a-6p
Sun 10a-4p
Through mid April

All Things Creative

Main St in Enfield NH, between Twigs and George's
Wed-Sun 10a-6p

My computer is basically dead, which explains why this blog and the website have had very little updating in the past few months, but the new one is on order and may have already shipped! So more updates soon (and maybe the website will have something other than our December shows).

Orange County Roundup

2007-02-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

I was in southern California for work recently (and boy, is Orange County different from New England). I did stop by some bead stores, so here's a quick review.

The Beading Place, 604 El Camino Real, Tustin
Bright airy place with a big selection of glass and some semiprecious. Also a fair amount of shell, in natural and various shapes/colors. A good selection of tools, and some interesting specials. The glass and tools are reasonably priced, the rest is a bit expensive, but we've been spoiled by Gemstar. Tustin itself was cute, there's an oldtown section and I wandered around for a bit. Best selection of glass of any of the shops here.

Bead City, 1932 S. Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa
Lots of metal, and some swarovski. Nice strands of pearls, but more expensive than I could get elsewhere. They have a huge number of charms, all separated into different categories. Of all the places I visited they had the largest selection of Sterling Silver toggle clasps. And copper! Nowhere else had copper out, though I didn't ask for it. They had several varieties of copper toggles, and several spacers. There were strands of many semi-precious stones behind the counter. Overall a great selection and helpful people, but a bit on the pricy side.

Kristalle, 875 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
This shop was an accident, I was really looking for the two stores below (notice the S. vs N. in the address) but it was fun anyway. No beads here, just crystals and finished jewelry, but there were some fun fossils and free cookies. The shop has been in Laguna since 1971.

Beadline, 995 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
Friendly people, happy to make change for the meter. Lots of variety, from african glass and wood to japanese ceramic to shell and semi-precious. Prices were high, but selection was good, and if you only want a few of something in most cases they'll break up a strand for you. The best selection of beads of all five places.

The Bead Shop, 889 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
Smaller shop than the one above, but had some interesting stuff. Prices vary from some strands of pearls and garnet on special for $4/strand to strands of vintage glass pearls for $400 (and I'm sure some of the things in the locked case were more than that). Lots of individual beads if you want to make one special necklace to remember your trip. I bought more here than anywhere else.

Accounting

2007-01-14T17:43:00.000-05:00

This weekend is devoted to accounting (last weekend was inventory). Hopefully we'll have a system set up for next year and this won't take nearly as long. My head is full of random stuff, like "section 179 deduction" and "add lines 9 and 10 but not more than line 11".

The lesson to all this is to keep better records. I've just started to taking Accounting 1 because I think I'll need it. EP keeps asking me "right?" after whatever she says, and I have to keep reminding her that the class has only met once.

But enough about that junk, we have a show we are all involved in, Jan-March at the CMAA gallery in Canaan. The opening is next Friday, Jan 19th, from 6-8pm. Come on out for the free food! This is a bigger show than the ones during the summer or fall, more like the Christmas show, with lots more stuff in more price ranges. Take exit 17 off of I-89, follow Route 4 east for a while, through Lebanon and Enfield, into downtown Canaan. Turn right at the blinking light (Depot St) and the gallery is the first building on the left.

Normal hours (if you can't make the opening) are Wed-Sat 10am to 6pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm, closed on Monday and Tuesday.

The Holiday Rush

2006-12-06T23:11:00.000-05:00

Or something. The other two E's have excuses, they have jobs that get hectic in Dec. Me, I'm not sure where the time goes. But anyway, we've got stuff:

CMAA gallery

Corner of Rt 4 & Depot St, in Canaan NH
Wed-Sat 10a-6p
Sun 10a-4p
Through Dec 30th, look for new stuff in Jan!

All Things Creative

Main St in Enfield NH, between Twigs and George's
Wed-Thurs 10a-6p
Fri-Sat 10a-8p
Sun?? (I know she's open, don't know the hours)

LACA Show

Rt 4 in Lebanon, under the grocery store near the green
Mon-Sat 9:30a-8p
Sun 9:30a - 5:30 p
Through Dec 23rd

I'll be at LACA some Friday mornings, and some Wednesday afternoons (hello stalkers!). Come on down and check out our stuff.

High School...

2006-11-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Considering that high school and I parted ways after 10th grade, this is interesting. I'm really not sure where I picked up any of the history knowledge that I have.

More Shows, Come See Us

2006-11-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

Hey, if you're in the area, stop by the Collis Center at Dartmouth College in Hanover NH tomorrow (Friday) from 10a-4p. There's a nice show there, we'll be there along with some other arts & crafts folks. Get your shopping done before "Black Friday"! The Collis Center is at one corner of the green and is diagonally across the intersection from the Hanover Inn. I suggest the parking garage a block away, since Hanover doesn't have much in the way of available street parking and they'll get you for being 30 seconds over the meter.

We've also got some stuff at the gallery in Canaan that will be there through the end of Dec. I must say that this show looks much much better than any of the previous shows. I was very impressed and I have to hand it to our hanging folks, they managed to put lots of stuff in there and not have it look too crowded. There's more stuff in appropriate price ranges as well, not just high-end art. Stop by and see us on Depot St in Canaan. Take Rte 4 to downtown Canaan, turn Right at the blinking light (as you turn, you will see the gallery on the left side of Depot St) and find some parking. Hours are Wed-Sat 10a-6p, Sunday 10-4, closed Mon & Tues.

Sorry about the long silence, we're re-grouping after our show in Boston. It didn't go as well as we hoped, but we more than covered our immediate costs so we've decided to call it a success. It was still a touch depressing to not make what we expected, so that's part of the silence. Anyway, we've learned enough that I think we'll do much better in future shows. Lighting is important, for example, and the fact that our booth was crowded without much space for shoppers, and all three of us in it didn't help.

More Necklaces up

2006-10-26T12:23:00.000-04:00

We're trying to get lots of stuff on the website before we're off to our big show in Boston, because we'll be handing out business cards like mad. But some of our items are one of a kind, so if you've seen something you really, really must have, please order by the end of Oct, since we're packing everything up Nov 1 to take it to Boston. Or just show up in Boston and meet us in person! If you email us by the end of this week, we can get a coupon for $2 off admission out to you before the show starts.

As usual, the newest items are here

New Bracelets Up

2006-10-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

More of our good stuff, finally photographed. Some (okay, all) of the descriptions are a little sparse, but we're busily working towards getting stuff finished for the show in Boston, so it will all be fleshed out later...see them here.

More earrings

2006-10-20T13:28:00.000-04:00

We have some new earrings on the website this week, and hopefullly after the weekend we'll have a bunch more (borrowing a tripod and some other stuff this weekend).

You can see our newest items here.

Websites and Such

2006-10-16T13:44:00.000-04:00

I was in the library today looking for something on marketing, and came across a book called The One Minute Millionaire. It is 377 pages long. I'm a fast reader and even I can't read 377 pages in one minute. Maybe I need to work on turning the pages faster, limber up my arm or something.

As a followup to my post where to spend the (nonexistent) money, here's one on websites. A question many startup businesses ask is "should I have a website". Well, you need to think about why you'd have a website (to sell direct, to advertise another way of buying like phone or craft fairs, to solicit special orders, to be a gallery for retail stores to see your items, etc). Then you need to allocate your (nonexistent) cash to the various things you need to do, and decide if a website is something you can afford. Ours is hosted on the cheap, and that means I spend more time trying to make things work (my kingdom for a database) but right now my time is cheap compared to a full service hosting site. Maybe next year we'll have enough cash and my time will be better spent making more jewelry rather than fiddling with xml files, and we'll upgrade to a better server.

Related article: Is Your Website a Money Maker or Money Pit?

Where to spend the (nonexistent) money

2006-10-16T13:36:00.000-04:00

I've found an interesting article What Should My Business Buy When. We're in the process of growing, and we have two added factors (above those mentioned in the article):

1. We're in a seasonal business. Most of our sales are done in Nov and Dec for Holiday gifts. We may get a bump before Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day, and we sell a bunch of our lower priced stuff in the summer at the Farmer's Market, but the bulk of our sales are Holiday season.
2. We are able to finance the business personally, without really taking out loans. Our business is small enough that if one of us can loan it a thousand dollars through Christmas, it can make a big difference. A bank would require a longer history, interest payments, and a repayment schedule that might start before our big sales.

Anyway, the article is worth reading if you have (or plan to start) a small business.

Too True

2006-10-16T13:05:00.000-04:00

Saw this on someone else's blog. It about sums up the crazy that is going on right now. The upcoming show in Boston is larger than we've ever done, so in order to make it all go smoothly we're changing everything we do. HA! No, we're changing everything in order to get it "right", which means smooth is the last thing that will happen. Anyway, my living room is full of boxes and piles of stuff that needs to get organized and boxes that are "organized" (i.e. labeled with contents). No picture, since it's, um, messy.

How not to pack things

2006-10-15T16:58:00.000-04:00

UPS is not the gentlest way to send packages to me, but it really helps if you pack things correctly to start with. I ordered some stuff (display stuff for the upcoming Boston show) and it came packed thusly.

Re-used, wrong size box:

Crossed out label (use a Sharpie folks!)

Interior packaging...items in a plastic bag with some peanuts and bubble wrap tossed on top.

Close up:

Surprisingly nothing was broken, bent or otherwise mangled.

Another Gallery Opening

2006-10-01T10:04:00.000-04:00

The gallery in Canaan has another show opening this week...I'm sure EK will chime in with the details.

Fashion Advice

2006-09-25T14:33:00.000-04:00

I've just found Kathleen Fasanella's blog on fashion manufacturing, Fashion-Incubator. By that I mean clothing, and not the retail end of it. Still it has a lot of useful info for us, and makes for great reading. Do not miss the comments, she's got a group of experienced, thoughful readers.

So I'm skipping over the posts on things like 'paper patterns, soft or hard' (what does that even mean?) but there's lots of useful info for us all in posts like "How to get publicity":

If I were you, I would try to get as much local press as possible. Try to get local newspapers and publications to mention the fashion show to get better attendance. I would hire, or barter with, a photographer to take pictures of the show, and send those to local publications (along with a press kit) with the hopes that maybe it would fit in with a story they were running, or maybe they would be interested in doing a special piece on a local designer. In other words, crawl before you walk, walk before you run. If you're hand-making 42 pieces since January, you aren't even ready for the type of potential attention that editorial coverage from a publication like that could attract.

Another useful post is Advertising 101: Part 1:

There is only one purpose for advertising, and that is to result in a sale. I’m painting it with a broad stroke, but realize this: Advertising is the vehicle in which you send your message to your customers.

It's a long post on advertising, and contains lots of useful info on what to analyze first and what the various terms mean (marketing vs PR vs advertising).

Friday's Opening

2006-09-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

So our opening on Friday went really well. The show technically opened Wednesday, Friday was the official "opening" with all the artists there, munchies, etc.

EP and I arrived to find that we had each sold a piece prior to the "opening" which made us happy. I think we were both secretly scared that A) we would be the only people there for three hours and B) we wouldn't see anything. Okay, maybe EP is calmer than I am, but those were my secret fears.

Some of EP's stuff (and in the mirror, bits of me and EP):

This little framed piece is a study for something I wanted to do but ran out of time to do (and also failed to dye the fabric correctly...this is very pastel and I wanted something more vibrant).

The show was well done, the people doing the hanging really know what they're doing. I didn't take any pictures of the whole show because I felt weird about photographing other people's art. But I made sure to photo all of my stuff. Here's one where you can see that they arranged some of the like colors together.

Opening Tonight

2006-09-08T12:54:00.000-04:00

Tonight is the opening of the show EP and I are in. Come on down and see us, we'll be at the gallery in Canaan from 5 to 8 pm. Munchies and soda provided!

If you can't come tonight, the show runs through Oct 1st, W-Sa 10-6, Sun 10-4.

Almost finished

2006-09-07T13:10:00.000-04:00

What is this? Could it be Unfinished Business nearly finished? On the cutting table ready to be squared up? After all these months? Amazing.

The underside with some batting and the light shining through looks like a stained glass window. The camera doesn't capture it very well and I didn't have another pair of hands around to hold it up.

Project Complete

2006-08-31T12:19:00.000-04:00

This wallhanging is finished except for the hanging sleeve.
It's actually a bit more square than this, but the table is only 30 inches wide...

If you want to see it or some of my other recent quilting projects (or purchase one of them), come on down to the CMAA gallery. The group show I'm part of runs from Sept 6 to Oct 1. The formal opening (very informal, but a chance to meet the artists) is Sept 8 from 5-8pm. Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 10-6 and Sunday 10-4. The gallery is in Canaan, NH on Depot St. From I-89 take exit 17 and get on Rte 4 East towards Enfield/Canaan (right turn from the exit ramp). Follow Rte 4 for quite a while (approx 11 miles) to a blinking light in downtown Canaan. Turn right at the light onto Depot St, and the gallery is the first door on your left.

Oh yeah, EP will also be there with some of her metal and beaded jewelry. Come on down and see us, there'll be munchies and soda.

New project

2006-08-22T16:33:00.000-04:00

So I finished the yellow section of the modern quilting project last night. I still have assembly of the top, layering, binding, quilting etc to go, but will that stop me from starting a new project? No! Here's the next thing, in a similar piecing method but different shapes.

Dangle Earrings

2006-08-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

Sterling silver with blue crystal. The top crystal hangs straighter when it's not leaning against my finger. Thoughts?

They take a while to make, so they're not going to be cheap (and chain is expensive compared to the cost of those blue beads)! I guess I've found something for our more expensive category, and a way to use up some chain I ordered and found to be too thin for my original project.

Website Redesign

2006-08-16T10:52:00.000-04:00

We're on step one of the website re-design, i.e. the design itself. Step two involves paring down the un-essential stuff (e.g. things we only make one or two of like the cards or fabric bowls or whatever) and taking those items in to the consignment store or putting them up on etsy. Step three involves taking pics of all the new jewelry and re-taking the bad pics of existing jewelry.

Here's the old site:

And the new one:

I think the product pages are looking pretty good, but the homepage needs some work. Also the links at the top of the page don't seem to be working. Hmmm...needs some further adjustment.

A new bag

2006-08-10T21:53:00.000-04:00

New tote bag. This one finally stands up on its own (two layers of interfacing!). There is one pocket on the outside (you can't really see it so I stuck pens in it), heavy denim fabric for the bottom and straps, a zipper at the top to keep it all in, and several pockets on the inside.
Full body shot:

From the top, showing the zipper:

Inside, there are pockets all along one side, in various sizes.

The zipper was giving me fits, as was the topstitching, but other than that it went pretty smoothly. Took a few hours but if I knew what I was doing ahead of time and didn't have to fiddle around and make decisions while I was working it would have taken half the time.

Dark yellow done, on to the last color!

2006-08-07T12:09:00.000-04:00

Finished the dark yellow section over the weekend:

And started on the light yellow section. I might finish before winter!

Modern Quilt Index Post

2006-08-07T11:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a post for me to list the modern quilt entries. I'll keep updating it with new entries and you can just bookmark this one.

Quilting
Modern Quilt Update
Strange Snow
Argh.
Weekend
Modern Update
Dark yellow done, on to the last color!
Almost Finished

Meow?

2006-08-03T06:59:00.000-04:00

So I was playing with my jeweler's saw last night in the basement... and this is what I came up with. Technically it's a shield, but it makes me think of a kitty. Maybe it needs eyes?

Oops, it's sideways. Anyway, you get the idea. You can see the holes where the rivets are going to be (done with copper wire) and the middle part is copper mesh. This is fun!

Almost time for Spring Cleaning

2006-08-01T18:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, if you know me, you know that I'm slightly organizationally challenged. My house is a teensy-tiny bit cluttered. However, one baby step at a time I'm moving forward. This is the top of the cabinet that is supposed to hold all my fabric (please ignore the faux-wood, renovations will be occurring someday).

And after!

Modern Update

2006-07-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

Did the topstitching on the bag this morning. Here are my dark yellow centers for the Modern Quilt. Slowly I'm making progress again (recap for those that have forgotten in the long interval since I last posted about it...the red, dk orange and orange sections are done, I have the dark yellow and light yellow to go.)

Weekend

2006-07-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

This has been a productive weekend for me. Up early on Saturday to drop off a big box-o-junk with some people doing a fundraiser yardsale (cleaning out junk is good) then EK and I were off to pick up new junk from other yardsales:

Cordless iron: $2
Blank decal stuff for making cling-ons (one and a half packages worth): 50c
Tailored shirt, fits: $1
Nice cotton/ramie sweater (I'm allergic to wool): $1
Large piece of cotton with morning glory pattern: 25c
Set of metal punches in a neat metal tin: 50c
GFCI outlet I need for the bathroom: $3
Half of a Flex Shaft (split with EK): $5
Huge book on needlecraft and such: $4
Risk: $2
Music CD: $1
Huge bag made of of tarp fabric with zipper (great for storing stuff in the garage or toting around 20 yards of damp pre-washed dyeing fabric): 50c
Three quilting books when a yardsale was closing: free
Two huge round tubs for fabric dyeing/rinsing: 75c each
Two large enamel pots for boiling out wax after batiking: $1 each
Three white high-thread-count pillowcases for dyeing: 10c each
$24.55 (went a little over my $20 budget, but hey, we found a flexshaft for $10, how can you beat that?)

Spent a chunk of the afternoon playing Risk (I won! But to be fair EK had never played before and you learn a lot the first time) and eating brownies. Off to somewhere else to shave a dog, then home again to choose fabrics for a quilted purse, iron them, and cut them out.

Then ironed all the dark yellows for the Modern Quilt (which had been sadly neglected and piled up in a corner and therefore needed ironing again).

Today I got up late but have quilted and assembled the quilted purse and made a cute pin and labels for it. It still needs to be topstiched around the top opening. I also inventoried the rest of the stuff I'd already made for Boston, and dyed a few more things (needed some more pastels).

The quilted purse front, quilted. I cut the back the same size (but all one piece) and somehow after quilting the back was smaller than the front. I quilted the front about three times more heavily than the back, so the front should have been the smaller one. Oh well, I can just trim to fit.

Then before assembly can progress, I had to stop and figure out how to do the tags. I bought blanks online that can be printed with a laser printer, but I had some designing to do. Here's the result:

Not perfect, but I have some good ideas for next time. Here's one installed in the lining of the purse, plus a flower pin I made to go along with the purse:

The purse with handles and pin, (pocket and magnetic clasp inside), all done except the topstitching.

And I got the front section of the lawn mowed. I meant to do the rest, but I went back in for a break and started dyeing, and now it's dark outside.

Next modern quilt update here.

Dyeing Results 3

2006-07-21T18:44:00.000-04:00

Okay, I thought I should chime in before I head out to Utah and Vegas for vacation. A few years back I made some tie-dyed underwear (mmm, boxer briefs) for a few of my male friends for Christmas. Then I got jealous. I wanted tie-dyed underwear, too! So partway through our dyeing weekend we took a trip to Kmart and I got some quality cotton undies. Here are the fab results:

Wearing them, it makes me happy :) And I put my favorite pair on top, of course.

EK - when are you going to post a pic of the underwater shirt???

Feeling the love

2006-07-20T17:55:00.000-04:00

So I got a call today...the gallery we've been involved with has a show in early August and they are apparently desperate for stuff. So we've been invited to bring a few things each to fill out the space. It's always nice when people call us rather than the other way round.

Dyeing Results 2

2006-07-19T12:36:00.000-04:00

More things have been ironed (ironing is not my favorite task...)

Some pastels:
The two on the left were in the same dyebath together, but the far left was white on "natural" and the center was white on white. So a nice range of lavender, though the picture makes them look grey.

Another purple and a blue:

Some yellow/orange mixes:
They are much more pastel than I expected. The one on the far left is a strange color. Like a pastel neon, it is very bright and yet pastel. I can't describe it and the photo doesn't pick it up.

This is one of the two big pieces (2yds) that I did on the table:
It was done folded (as you can see). You can also see where the air bubbles between layers make neat little craters.

We've dropped off our stuff at the consignment store that opens August 4th. Those items have been pulled from the website (a couple necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc and some purses, plus the big orange totebag that I never did take a picture of). Very exciting, I can't wait to see it open.

WIP Friday

2006-07-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

Today's work in progress: A multi-strand necklace in pink. I am both attracted to pink as something I think I should work in, and at the same time unable to work in it. As I was working on it this morning I originally had decided to use mostly rose quartz with a bit of pink FWP and pink opal, and a bit of hematite as a dark accent. As I worked on it, I ended up adding some garnet, lots of silver, more hematite and suddenly I had a dark necklace with a pink accent. So this is round two, I'm just using the garnet as one dark strand and all the rest will be pink! Or so I plan...

And another dyeing result. This is the traditional tie-dye pictured in-progress in a previous post. Originally a boring shirt for our local farmer's market, now it's a hippie statement about local food!

Dyeing results number 1

2006-07-13T22:29:00.000-04:00

The first results from the dyeing: The blue on this one turned out a lot lighter than I expected. Still pretty cool. You can see my great pile of (clean but unfolded) laundry.

This one is okay, I love the color but the pattern is not the greatest. Also most shirts marked 100% cotton still are sewn with polyester thread, and there is a bunch of overstiching down the sides that I didn't really notice when I bought it.

Fabric Dyeing weekend, part 1

2006-07-09T13:13:00.000-04:00

Lots of fun and mess this weekend. The neighbors thought we were nuts (you shouldn't breathe the dye powder, so we started the day in masks, in the yard - lots of little containers of powders, plastic bottles, and latex gloves do look a mite suspicious).

First up, a traditional T-shirt tie-dye:

Some solid colors for quilting projects:

You can overdye the white/light fabric part of anything that's printed on, and the printed part (the thick ink) isn't affected. So white flannel with black spots from the clearance rack becomes this (and subsequently some outrageous pajama pants, or perhaps a pair of pillowcases):

Procion dyes will dye anything with cellulose (plants) so cotton yarn works just as well as T-shirts:

Some fabric, a la Fibermania:

Be careful you don't get a hole in the finger of your glove:

Kind of looks like we went voting in Iraq. . . . it came off later, after rinsing out some of the fabric that still had the alkali fixative on it. Not necessarily the best way of dealing with it, since the alkali in the fixative essentially removes the top layer of your skin by turning it to soap, but the rinsing needed to be done anyway :) .

And finally, some batik attempts on the stove:

Will post pictures of de-waxed, washed, and dried items later!

A Poodle Is...

2006-07-06T16:23:00.001-04:00

Overheard at the Farmer's Market yesterday:
"I don't think he knows what a poodle is. {name of small kid}, do you know what a poodle is?"
"Yeah, a poodle is a horse that eats people."