New phase of Jewelry

If you read my second blog post you know about my little stamp collection. Well, I have been trying to figure out a way to incorporate stamps into my jewelry making for a while now and have just hit on something that pleases me much.

I didn't want to do much to the stamps, as not to destroy their beauty... so I tried just gluing two together and hanging it on the end of a chain and made a matching pair of earrings. They looked pretty, especially that scalloped stamp edge, but it seemed too delicate. One swipe to tuck back your hair and there goes your earring!

Well I hadn't investigated much more than that until a recent shipment of jewelry findings arrived. Here's what I made because I can't wait any longer to show you!!!

It's a flip top frame with stamps inside.

I mounted each stamp to a piece of chipboard (using acid free glue of course, mom)

And then made sure each one was double sided so you can flip through and change your necklace everyday!! How many options is that! It's a little treasure box so you can carry a little stamp collection around with you!

Then I pair it with a little nautical-but-nice charm and a vintage chain.

That's enough talk. I'm going to make more NOW!

Celebrating Independence

Here's a gathering of patriotic stamps I found quite fitting for the day. I've always loved the symbolism of the flag and it bothers me when people diss it. For me, the flag represents the ideals our country was founded upon. Our government might not always make decisions that make us all happy, but we can all look to the flag to unite us and remind us what we should carry in our hearts to live and strive for.

UnINSPIRED

Truth be told: I've been lacking in the inspiration department lately. Right after the craft fair, I had this major drop off in my drive to make much of anything. It's quite possible I just needed a break after all the late nights getting stuff together for my booth, but I was getting a little worried as to why I didn't feel like making things. Don't get me wrong, the craft fair was a great success and I'm super happy about it. I was also a little let down, because once it was over, I didn't have a "reason" to make stuff anymore! I was standing at the foot of a mountain I had no intention to climb, with no other way around it.

I didn't think I needed a "reason" to make things, it's just something I do by nature. All of a sudden though, the thought of lifting a finger was too much for me. Um, so had my previous course in life ended? What now, get a normal job and remember the good ol' days? What was wrong with me?

I wasn't INSPIRED.

It happens. But what do you do about it?

What a gift to have a break from making. Seriously. I love being uber productive, but getting ready for Renegade... I kind of went on auto pilot. I was cranking it out in a push to fill my tables. The pieces were inspired at one point(like the three months prior when I first thought of them!) but mostly I was just making different versions of the same thing. It would be silly for me to compare that level of production to that of a new creative period.

My suggestion on being unINSPIRED?

Pay attention. Notice it. Feel it. Then go out for a really good dinner and order dessert. Visit Maine (it's the "way life should be" after all.) Go to the flea market. Buy some new materials. (As much as I want to be thrifty, a few new jewelry findings seem to spruce my entire supply.) Drink a few beers if you want. Give yourself permission to RELAX. Oh and just wait.

In hindsight, I can easily see this time as an uninspired period of waiting. In actuality, it felt terrible and I'm only able to be writing all this because I found my pathway up the mountain. Some INSPIRATION!!!

More on that to come....

My Latest Pattern!!!!


My latest sweater for Blue Sky Alpacas! I made this for them in white and LOVE the version they made in green. It debuts their newest yarn, Suri Merino: a luxurious 60% baby suri/40% merino, single ply yarn, which comes in 14 inspiring colors. My favorite thing about this design are the 14 buttons up the collar which makes for a very sexy, Victorian touch.

I loved knitting with this yarn and want this sweater for myself!!!

You can view all of Blue Sky's patterns here.

Townie night out..

Fish & Chips at the Lost Seagull (YUM)

Mini Golf (I won!)

My .35 cent thrift store outfit:

A ride up to Brimstone Corner to watch the sunset.

My mom can open a bottle on the car door... what can yours do?

This vacation I crossed a new bridge with my Mom, drinking the beers. I was at the grocery store and was like, "Hey Mom, do you mind if I get some beers?" I know I'm 27, but have never really had alcohol in front of my mom. Anyway, I thought it would be kinda cute to ask her... so I got three beers. The trouble is, we don't have a bottle opener! To my surprise, my Mom apparently knows how to open a bottle on the car door! After all, back in the day, she reminded me, even sodas came in glass bottles!


Maine

Right now I'm at home visiting my Mom in MAINE!
Yeah, it's super hot, but I'm having a lovely time... even though the fridge looks like this:

Today I visited the hospital thrift store, where everything is priced under a dollar. This pile cost $4.35. The winners are a fluorescent pink and yellow Umbro running shorts circa the 90's; two lovely flower mumus and an awesome 90's shirt with writing and hightop sneakers all over it.

Then later I pulled out my coveted, much used, 17 year old copy of Nintendo Power with all the secerets to Super Mario 3. Yeah, it's totally cheating, but totally awesome.

I love my Nintendo dudes!! I only got to world six before I got tired of playing and wanted to stop. Too bad, because I had racked up about 4 panels of power up items and like 20 lives. Maybe tomorrow... Here's a photo of my favorite Mario... Cutie in the boot!!!

Neighborhood

Today I walked by two, coming soon additions to my neighborhood... just steps away!

#1= Maternity & Kids Store
Pros: Sure to be lovely cause I can already peekaboo beautiful, clean white shelves. Maybe I can sell my baby stuff there? Cons: um, it's a baby store! More reminders of how not close I am to being a grownup...

#2= Organic Foods Market
I couldn't believe this one was for real. I've been looking down the street and have just assumed the construction was a new development or part of the movie set that has been taking over the street lately. Pros: organic food closer than any other grocery store; it's not a Whole Foods. Cons: Organic foods closer than any other grocery store, more $$!

So Maternity Store + Organic Food Market signal to me that our rent will, without a doubt, be going up soon. It's just an inevitable part of a growing city, I guess.

I'm not complaining about these lovely additions. I love the idea of supporting community businesses. I would love to get my groceries at a local, organic market, rather than dragging them in from a huge Whole Foods in Manhattan. Hopefully the increase in my quality of life will be greater than the decrease in my wallet.

When I moved here four and a half years ago I would tell people, my fingers crossed, that I thought this would be an up and coming neighborhood and that in about five years we'd see more amenities. I never really thought I'd be a witness to the change though. Here it is, less than five years later! To me this whole organic market thing is a sign of a new phase of development. I just hope it doesn't bring any more Miami-esque condo/lofts, cause, come on!

New Label topic: Single Girl Stuff

A friend recently told me that I might earn more readers if I started my posts... "So I met a guy last night...." and maybe this is true considering most of my posts have to do with small children and needle crafts... maybe I should explore more things my age... and so the birth of Single Girl Stuff.

Well, I don't have anything too juicy, but I do go out from time to time and come home with funny stories. Like this Friday night, I met my rooms Lauren for drinks in D.U.M.B.O. (How annoying am I with the periods!?) It was a fun night. We were sitting next to these dudes who work at Steiner studios. Well, I know a guy who works there and it turns out he's kind of a big wig to these guys. They immediately treated us like one of the bros... well, more like cute ladies and insisted on buying us drinks. Then the cute bar tender started paying a little closer attention to me, which equaled more free drinks. Um, so this is my question. When a tall, handsome, tattooed bartender asks your name and offers you a drink on him, does he think you're cute or is it something else... like he wants a tip?

Well, I left without really finding out the answer to that question and all I know is that my hair was super awesome the next morning and I wished someone else could see...

Recovery week


This week I've been trying to recover from the craft fair. This includes finally unpacking and cleaning up my room, which was just I just finished moments ago. Honestly I haven't been up to much. The weather has been lovely, though. Here's a photo of a beautiful day on Gates Avenue...

Many ladies were eying my baby bonnets at the craft fair and wanted one in their size... so I've been making some. I think they're pretty cute, right?

More coming for Fall!!

Renegade Craft Fair

Oh my golashes! What a fun weekend! Seriously, I had so much fun spying on the cute customers to see what they were into. It's quite lovely to have people come into your booth and like what you make enough to buy it from you. I have a special place in my heart for every piece I make, so seeing who takes it home is really cool. LikeFaith who bought my antique lace necklace. It looked so great on her I had to take a picture!

Here are some shots of my booth:



Many familiar faces came through my booth, which was so nice. I mean, Renegade is kinda huge, with all these vendors right?? But when loading in the first day I bumped right into this girl who had been right next to me at Puces Pop, the craft fair part of the Pop Montreal Festival. It made the crafty http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifworld seem kinda small and I like it. I ran into many crafty friends I haven't seen in a while and got to check out the latest goods by some of my favorite crafters. I always love Marcie McGoldrick's ceramic charms and my new favorite this year= Fernworks check it...



Thanks to all the people who stopped by my booth. A special shout out to the hardcore ladies who bought harfs in 90 degree weather. You are my heros!!!

Also to my buds Anne & Seth, who had a dance party with me when it rained...



THANKS!!!!!!

And thanks to Dave for helping me build the awesome earring display stand and for keeping me company on Sunday!

Summer Favorites

Today I got totally inspire to make some of my very favorite summer flavors. It's pretty much all about the lime!!

Fresh Salsa!!!

I like it very limey with just a little bit of spice. I put it in my tacos and I love a very cold spoonful or two on my eggs in the morning! I don't cut anything up that small because I like it chunky. They key is adding salt, which draws the water out of the tomatoes and makes it all juicy. It's pretty great as soon as you make it, but gets better as it sits. Ingredients: 3-4 tomatoes, juice of 2 limes, 1 pretty colored pepper ( I choose yellow today), 1 onion, 1-2 spicy kind of pepper, cilantro (which the store didn't have today!) and salt. Mix it all up people, it's that simple.


Holey Guacamole!!!


For all of you sillies who think a pastry blender is just for making pie crust... think again! I use it all the time for 'creaming' ingredients like butter and sugar for cookies and guacamole! It is an awesome tool, as long as you get one with sturdy blades that are a little sharp. I love my grandmas vintage pastry blender, but the wires don't work as well as my newer, more modern version. See, you can use the side of the bowl to your smooshing advantage...

Limeade & Coffee Ice


I totally can't make it without my summertime iced coffees! What makes them even better are coffee ice cubes! There's a place on Grahm Avenue called Cafe Capri, right across the street from Treehouse that makes the best iced coffee ever. They crush up their coffee ice and serve it up with milk and sugar. I think I'm going to start doing that...

Limeade: 8-10 limes, 1/2- 3/4 cup sugar, water. I usually squeeze all the limes, fill half way up with water, add 1/2 the sugar, mix it and then taste. Then I know what more to add. Usually a little of both!

!!!!!!TACOS!!!!!!!

I put all of these fresh, limey items to good use in my dinner tonight! T-A-C-O-S Tacos!

Coney Island Kids

I still have sand in my hair! Today I took the wee chickens out to Coney Island for an all day adventure. It was so fun to ride the Wonder Wheel and gaze off at the horizon. It's very windy at the top of the the ferris wheel dudes! Our hairs were standing straight up now tell me!

Even though the children are not mine... I kept getting these swells of emotion... watching them ride together and say "we want to do it by ourselves." I was so proud of them for being adventurous and brave, but totally sad at the same time.

My Favorite Moment is a toss up between watching Luke and Eleanor twirl around together on the tea cup ride, Luke winning the water gun race and giving Eleanor his prize (which she hugged the whole way home) or taking these photos in the photo booth.

New Job!

So kids, I have a new job!
Well, part time for nows. I'm going to be packing/shipping boxes at fredflare! I helped them out during Christmas last year and it was super fun. They blast fun music and I can dance around while I pack things up. I loved working there because I felt totally free to be me and knew my efforts were being appreciated. Keith and Chris, the cuties who run the joint, are super nice. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone who works there. It's going to be hot as hades in that warehouse, so I'm just going to get some roarsome summer clothes and rock em!

One great thing is that they're located in this big warehouse in Greenpoint. My buddy Niegel, who I hardly ever see anymore, lives right around the corner so we can have play dates! I visited with him after my interview Friday and we made sandwiches and smoothies!

The other great thing is that the office is painted with lovely hearts by Chris Uphues...

who I totally have a crush on! I stole this photo from a fred blog entry by Keith. He loves his job and I have a feeling, I will too!!!

Jewelry displays...

As the craft fair approaches, I've been thinking up ways to display my jewelry. I didn't want to spend much $$$ on fancy displays so here's what I came up with:

The frame on the right is fabric slipped into a brass frame and the one on the left is one I made out of cardboard! I put a little batting in there to give it some puff and it's important to use a fabric that's easy to poke through. For mine I use a terribly distressed old silk slip that I cut up and then some pretty vintage lace to cover up the card board edges. It's pretty ghetto, but I like being resourceful!

Idea #2 was so easy I thought I'd give you how to instructions.

Materials needed: Regular scissors, Wooden spool, Floral foam or Styrofoam, 24 gauge copper wire:


Step 1
Cut wire 14" long. Fold wire so ends are together, leaving a loop at the top.

Step 2
Twist wire together leaving a 2" loop at the top. Just do a little bit at first to hold the place and finish the rest after top loops are made.

Step 3
Smoosh top loop as shown in picture then twist into two side loops as shown.


Step 4
Finish twisting base and cut even.

Step 5
Cut floral foam into a tiny rectangle and press into hole of wooden spool. Use your finger to make foam level across top of spool.

Finish
Stick the earring stand into the foam and enjoy!

Over time, with wiggles a jiggles , the hole in the foam might grow bigger and not hold your earring stand up properly. Push out the old foam and replace it with new. These would look great with thread still on the spools too!

Green Machine

So, I am trying to make the best of this left over yarn from a sweater I designed for the next Stitch and Bitch Book (Name drop, name drop) and need your opinions about what I'm making with it.

The sweater that produced this excess of yarn was a Fair Isle vest pattern done in a bunch of different greens. I wish I could show you the photos of the project, but you'll see them soon enough in the actual book! I will tell you though that the book is all patterns for MEN and the model dudes are super cute! Oh Mans!

The editors of the book helped pick the yarn: Nature Spun Sport weight from Brown Sheep Company. It comes in a zillion colors and isn't too expensive, which is always a concern when designing for a book. You can't really expect people the pay $400 to make your sweater! All together, the greens look great together, but individually, they are not my favorite.

The Nature Spun is 100% wool, which I can't complain about, but the color just does not have the depth that I am used to with the smaller dyelots of, for lack of a better word, expensive yarns. Commercially produced yarns are like Crayons. The colors are vivid, opaque and will not vary from box to box or store to store. Smaller companies like Koigu, dye their yarn in very small dyelots of about 24 skeins. It just makes it so every store gets a totally different looking yarn! Look at the photo below of two different skeins of Koigu Painters pallet in two dyelots:


I like this kind of yarn for many reasons, but mostly because it supports others artists like me. The colors seem to glow and I'm fully convinced that when the spirit is given room to move... things are just better! You know what I mean? I commend the Brown Sheep Company however for making natural fibers affordable, since most inexpensive brands are all fake.

So I made a harf using my left over yarn and think it turned out ok. The plain green seemed a little bland to me, so I added contrasting white trim. I also did a curved edge for the button band, which I like better than the straight version on all the others. It reminds me of stuff my mom and teachers might have worn in the early eighties. Maybe a wrap around skirt with contrasting piping or a monogrammed sweater... that's what I was going for.

What do you guys think?