Hello, Ginger!

Adrienne stopped by on Friday night with a surprise for me...

My very own dress form!!! I'm so excited to try my hand at some more clothes. First thing's first: she needs a name. Elliott said she needs a sassy redhead name, so we settled on Ginger (Steffi's suggestion).

She was looking so naked and indecent that I had to make something for her to wear. I've been wanting to make a ruffle top from Happy Together. I'm still quite new at the clothing thing...it's harder than bags and holders because it requires adjustments and math according to my measurements. I'm a little rusty on the math stuff...so I had to make some changes as I went along with this. The pattern called for knit fabric, so I pulled from my old t-shirt stash. And I figured, why not make it all patriotic and stuff for the bbq at Merideth's on Saturday?

I totally plan on arriving with a matching dessert.

But it might look better on Ginger...

A tiny project - an eye mask for Ian. Also made out of my old t-shirt stash!

And Ian made me something in return - delicious poached chicken in a white wine lemon dill sauce. YUM. By the end of work today, I was feeling quite hangry (Elliott's term - hungry/angry) so it was just the gourmet trick. Look at this spread! We're making good use of the CSA that Elliott, Steffi and I are sharing from the downtown farmer's market. Mmmm mmmm good. Love Farm Fresh.

Happy crafting!

Happy Birthday, Britni!

Today is my soon-to-be-sister-in-law's birthday! Britni, I'll send this to you in the mail as soon as I can! Something for your new apartment...

Inspired by the reaction to our use of recycled materials last weekend, I'm getting more and more into reusing and repurposing things. I made this framed piece from a my junk mail - but I think it looks colorful and classy. Check out the tutorial at Apartment Therapy.

This afternoon I'm headed to Ian's friend's wedding here in Providence. I made this cute apron for the bride...I hear she loves to bake.

Also reversible. It's all about the details. Of course I had to throw in something for the groom. Ian insisted that he would never wear an apron (even a super manly one). So I got him a book about grilling.

And I still have Kristin's apron waiting to be picked up. I've decided to package all of my things like this - brown paper wrapped in a piece of selvage. And a business card (from the few I have left!). I think it's very clean looking.

Looking forward to resting this weekend, but I just know I'll end up sewing something. Happy crafting!

Providence Art Festival!

Adrienne and I had an awesome time at the Providence Art Festival yesterday. We were so lucky that the weather held out - so many people were there!

Our booth setup was just like we planned, and her landlord's suitcases were such a funky/fun way to display our work. So many people asked us about the suitcases alone! Shown here are the hottest items of the day - the milk carton coin purses, fused plastic bag wallets, and the plastic bottle flowers. I was surprised how the kids were so taken by the tuna can pin cushions.

Adrienne's silverware jewelry was also a big hit. She even has pre-orders for more!

Everyone loved checking out her tie skirts. So many people said "Oh man, I have so many ties I need to get rid of..." We happily take donations!

The whole street was full of amazing artists and crafters. We were lucky to have a chance to each take a break to check it all out!

Like any good Providence festival, this one had a Big Nazo parade. So fun!

My Dad was trying to get photos of our booth, but there were too many people! (Hooray!) At one point, someone walked in and said "This must be the best one...it has the most people!" My friend yelled from the back of the crowd "It is!!" Woot woot! Up until the fair, only our friends had seen our work, so this was really validating.

I'm laughing because he finally got one where you can see me. Plus I was just so excited. All. Day.

My boss came by, and lots of other people from the Museum and Adrienne's work (AS220). Lots of friends too!

At the end of the day, we were pretty happy with ourselves. For our first time selling our stuff, it went great. We got such a great response to our recycled materials, and people were sharing stories about things they make out of junk or asking for our advice about how to reuse things. If we had a nickel for every time someone said "Isn't that clever" while checking out our stuff! We even got a few business cards from galleries and online shops that want to sell our stuff. Cool! We were just so happy...

...and exhausted. It was an interesting experience to be making stuff not just for the process, but the product, and to be playing the "salesman" for our art. It's so different from our regular quiet crafternoons at my house, and creating just to learn. That being said, I'd definitely do it again!

So, after one day "off", I'll be back to crafting as usual!

A new look!

Spent the majority of my free time this week/weekend getting ready and super excited for the Providence Art Festival next weekend. Come visit my table anytime between 10:30 and 5:30 on Westminster Street downtown! There will be over 100 booths of art, crafts, live local music, delicious food, craft stations for kids, and Big Nazo puppets! Wahoo! I've finished creating and preparing all of my products, and now I just need to get my display and logistics in order. I'm in good shape!

Part of getting ready for the festival also includes getting my "crafty business" in order. My business/blog have a new look thanks to Kristin from my book club! Kristin is a super talented graphic designer, and she agreed to design a logo for me in exchange for a custom made whatever-she-wanted. The logo has two versions - the banner at the top of this page, and a circular shape (below) that I'll use for my business cards and hopefully a rubber stamp to stamp all my packaging. She had so many fun designs for me to choose from, but this the circular one is reminiscent of my "signature earrings" (as Scott & Britni told me). I got the business cards printed yesterday, and they look great!

In exchange for this fabulous logo, Kristin wanted an apron. This is my first full-apron from scratch, and it's reversible! I got the super fancy fabric from Country Treasures back in Vermont - I think she's going to love the orange. And I made two bonus matching hot pads! Can't wait to deliver them at book club tomorrow!

Thinking about the Art Festival so much and pumping out lots and lots of the same four things has left me feeling ridiculously un-creative. I had to make something different. Ian needed some coasters to use on his lovely new coffee table (which he still hasn't paid me for...), so I used the old jeans that he donated to my crafty-cause to make him some very masculine coasters. They're all different! Fancy stitches! OooOOoo!

Used the same pair of pants to fashion myself a "Connect the Dots" money apron for the Art Festival. Adrienne and I will kind of match - but we each have an apron that's our own style!

Hopefully no more crafting for me this week - I need a bit of a break. Just logistics, and having a great time at the festival!