Spooky Jam 2007
Friday, July 3, 2009 at 09:13AM My pillows will be part of the upcoming "Home Sweet Home" market on the delightful Poppy Talk Handmade website.
Click!
July 20 - August 14th so STAY TUNED!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 08:49AM 
Honey, will you fetch me that muppet's head on a pig-pole?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 09:02AM Yesterday, I tweaked and uploaded a design to Spoonflower. This is terribly exciting. In about a week or so, I will have a fat quarter of self-designed fabric in my mailbox. It was insanely simple.
The impetus behind designing and printing my own fabric was necessity. I use remnants, swatches, one-of-a-kind finds for some of my pillows. ;)
When I found out one of my favorite fabrics was going the way of the buffalo, and, my jobber wasn't giving up his source, I had to take matters into my own hands. I had a design in mind, something basic, traditional, with a few of my personal flourishes. (I am partial to arrows and circles). DIY Magazine had a post on The Facebook about Spoonflower. Perfect! I drew up my design, scanned it in, futzed with it in Photoshop a bit and uploaded it to spoonflower.com.
I knew I wanted a mirrored repeat, so I only uploaded a quarter of the actual drawing to make sure the repeat was truly mirrored. Spoonflower gives you multiple repeat options and converts it for you. I could have done this in Photoshop, but, eh.
Next I wanted to see what kind of fabrics these guys had. I had a quick email volley with Gart at Spoonflower, and less than a week later, there were three fabric samples in my mailbox. Even better, the samples were printed with the Spoonflower color chart so I could see how the printing came out on each fabric, the colors they used and how each fabric finish impacted the final color of my design. For the record, I went with a cotton-linen blend (it was a heavier weight than I expected - good - and has a great natural tone - even better as my design will be printed without background and rely on the fabric's natural color), in T28/Y2. Don't be afraid, that is just the color designation - which I downloaded from the Spoonflower site. And that, my friends, was that.
I ordered a fat quarter swatch for something like $5 bucks. I want to see how the design is represented, what the bleed is, and how the full color prints in earnest. I will keep one and all posted - hope to get the fabric late next week.
Ultimately, Spoonflower may not offer the quality I really want for my pillows. I have fantasies about beginning my own micro-lending woman-powered community in India to foot weave my designs. But, I figure, may as well use Spoonflower, test the look of my designs for an incredibly cheap price, before I take that leap...xx A
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 10:02AM ;)
This is a page of one of my Grandfather's letters to my Grandma Ruth. I have a pile of about 40 letters from 1940ish - 1944ish, chronicling Grandpa Bert's escape from my mom, her 4 sisters and my granny. From Austin Minnesota, to St. Paul, to Seattle, to a shipwreck off the coast of Canada, finally to Alaska. Bert was the Forrest Gump of Drunks. I am painstakingly and painfully working my way through these letters, hoping to plan a trip to follow him on his route to Alaska. Baby steps. First things first.
This letter is uber-inspirational to me. Not because he talks about getting teeth pulled or packing on a few pounds, but because of his sign off. It propelled me and has burrowed it's way into my writer's brain with an overwhelming immediacy.
I never met him. I don't know if he died before I was born. How can a person's absence so impact my life? I hope this is what I am going to find out.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 08:22AM 
May Luk Ceramics make me weep with joy. Check her out! Click and love....
Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 09:09AM Sunday, May 3rd - come on down - I will be at the DUMBO FLEA! xx A
CLICK ABOVE IMAGE FOR MAP/DIRECTIONS/SUBWAYS!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 01:45PM You know the searing, burning, eye-distroying cuteness some things bring? Rendering you speechless with their beautimosity? This is Lou Lou & Oscar. I first came across this lovely shop on Etsy when creating a treasury. Lou Lou & Oscar is helmed by a self described "former mild-mannered librarian". Her creatures are delightful, and some what menacing in a wonderful way. Additionally, her blog is magnificent. Please, by all means, check her out!
