today was a mix of sunny and rainy, so i guess we can say march is going out like a lamb. this needle felted sheep is from the book 'felted wool small things'. there's one copy left in my etsy shop. if you want to see more photos from this book, the flickr set is here.
check out these sweet sleepy sheep from etsy seller namolio.
march has flown by, and i am proud to say that i was able to successfully post here every day of it! i enjoyed the discipline of daily posting, and i think i will try to keep it up for april. my other goals for march were to join and attend a yoga class regularly (i did that too!). cutting out sugar and drinking less coffee are ongoing projects... (wink).
heather moore of skinny laminx is a genius fabric designer from cape town, south africa. her new collection, sevilla rock, is based on cave paintings, and it's gorgeous. these are just a few of the patterns and colors.the sevilla rock collection will be available for sale as tea towels, aprons, cushion, shopping bags and zip pouches. tea towels are available now in the skinny laminx etsy shop. via design*sponge.
it rained all day. but something i was waiting for in the mail finally arrived, i had a great trip to ikea, and a lovely dinner and evening with friends. and i made the midnight deadline to blog today. just barely!
check out these lovely pieces made by mummysam. using 100% wool felt, she creates soft sculptures with free motion stitching and hand embroidery. i love the little felt houses, of course! and she also makes flat works. she sells all of it in her etsy shop, and i first heard about mummysam via jars of cute.
my walk to the post office is very short, and these days there are always lovely flowers along the way. and the winner of the felt flower giveaway...lucky number 2! congratulations yamani, your flowers will go out in tomorrow's mail.to pick the winning number, i used a die from monopoly, a game i haven't played in years (although i did play one time after college, and my friends got into a huge fight). but i love the game pieces, from when my brother and i used to play monopoly for hours and hours as kids. here's the wheelbarrow, for everyone thinking about spring and gardening.
in addition to curating one of the must-read design blogs, grace bonney of design*sponge has done a lot to support young designers and women in business.
today's 'biz ladies '09' feature on d*s is all about PR, with this great overview by alisa carrol, and more detailed advice about putting together a media kit from the smart ladies of BAKERY. really great concise and insightful advice for anyone with their own crafty business.
the cooper hewitt design museum currently has an exhibit entitled 'fashioning felt' that is all about felt! the image above is from the exhibit website, and features the work of andreazittel, one of my all-time favorite felt artists (white felt dress, center top) and also the lovely felt/lacquer work of joriejohnson (lower left) as well as other stunning felt creations.
it's so great to see felt getting showcased like this. from their website:
This exhibition will explore the varied new uses of felt—an ancient material, believed to be one of the earliest techniques for making textiles. Made by matting together wool fibers with humidity and friction, felting requires little technological expertise and is an extremely versatile material. The exhibition will begin with historic examples of felts, showcase innovations in handmade felts, and feature contemporary uses of industrial felt in a range of fields, including product design, fashion, architecture, and home furnishings. The exhibition is being organized by Susan Brown, assistant curator, Textiles.
check out their blog about the exhibit to see a comprehensive felt video that serves as the introduction to the show.
and also these fabulous sketches by feltmakerjanicearnold who has created a mongolian style felt yurt for the exhibition! yes, that's right, a yurt. awesome.
this shows looks like it is truly amazing. it will be at cooper hewitt through september, and i think that it may travel after that.
i love these new pear designs from yoola, made of crocheted wire.
you may have seen the striking work of this israeli artist before, like these pomegranates. so pretty, and such a wonderful combination of material, form and craft.
yoola also makes smaller items and sells tutorials and kits if you want to try this fabulous idea yourself. in an article for the etsy stork shop makeover series, she talked about the process of diversifying her shop. i love that she weighed the pros and cons of making tutorials available, went for it, and was successful.
happy first day of spring! flowers are blooming everywhere. the crocus have been up for a while, and now wee daffodils are all around. we had a sudden downpour, but now the skies are blue.another sunny springtime mix–yellow wool roving. part of the great spring destash of '09 happening in the shop. i'll be listing more roving today and tomorrow.
hmm, suddenly i have the urge to make felt daffodils.
i finally got around to buying and reading craft inc.by meg mateoilasco. it's gotten a lot of rave reviews in the blogosphere, and rightly so. this book is an indispensable guide for any crafter thinking about running a business and valuable for whatever stage your business is at. i read it pretty much straight through, and plan to keep it nearby.
BAKERY is also a great new resource for today's crafty business owner. the women behind this new site have a wealth of experience in publishing and marketing, and their blog regularly offers concise tips that are smart and easy.
of course, the switchboards, founded in 2004 to support women in business, is the classic go-to resource for any question you might be having about running a small business.
i'm having a spring sale in my etsy shop, including this ipod cozy. for readers of my blog, i would like to offer you an additional 20% off any SALE item. just type '20percent' in the notes to seller, and i will send you a revised invoice. feel free to share this friends and family discount!
i'm also giving away 2 felt flowers! leave a comment on this post, and i'll pick a winner at random on march 25th. international entries welcome.
happy st. patrick's day! i had a little early luck o' the irish last weekend, when i happened be in portland for some friends' early st. patrick's day dinner. (a little head's up for vegetarians: there's a pretty meaty image at the bottom of this post). there were 2 kinds of soda bread, plain and the 'american' version with caraway seeds and raisins. both delicious.
by the way, i just saw the soda bread recipe on CRAFT, which i definitely want to try. cabbage and potatoes, of course!and corned beef! yum.
i've been a huge fan of mandy greer ever since i saw and was blown away by the silvering path last year. which by the way is on the cover of the new issue of fiber arts. one of the things i was most excited about seeing in portland was mandy greer's installation at the museum of contemporary craft. entitled 'dare alla luce,' it was originally commissioned for the bellevue art museum last year, but i missed it then, and have been waiting to see the portland installation. i was also really looking forward to my first visit to the museum of contemporary craft, which is an amazing addition to the pacific northwest art and craft scene.
unfortunately, on sunday when i tried to go with a few crafty pals, we found out too late that they have seasonal hours (=closed on sunday as well as monday through may!) boo.
i stopped for a little road trip treat. i came into portland when the late afternoon sun was lighting up the town. between two trips to powell's books (ahhh, wonderful powells) i had really yummy (and super healthy-organic and vegan) lunch at the blossoming lotus in portland's pearl district.
i'm off to portland for the weekend, and i am so excited to see some old friends and some cool stuff.
before i leave, i wanted to share this amazing jewelry by cythina del guidice, from argentina. they are made of fused plastic grocery bags! using fused plastic to make this and that and totes and jackets has been going on for a while, but this use of the material is the best i've seen.
the indiefixx shop is closing it's (online) doors, and you have until sunday march 15th to save up to 50%! jen will still be running her indiefixx blog, but this is the last chance to pick up some goodies from her shop at a great price.
the show last night was great! and today i visited the exhibit at the henry (runs until may 3), which i highly recommend. there are prints, drawings, stereoscopes (very cool!) and multiple video installations.
his work is also on display at the greg kucera gallery until march 28th (image from the gallery website). and what looks to be the most amazing, kentridge is also directing 'the return of ulysses', the first opera for the brand new pacific operaworks company, which includes life size puppetry by the south african handspring puppet company. wow. the first show is tomorrow night (march 11) at the moore theater in seattle, and there are also shows on march 13, 14, 20, and 21st.
william kentridge is one of my absolute most favorite artists of all times. from south africa, many of his artworks deal with issues of apartheid and capitalism.
he works in a variety of media, but what i find most striking is his video art, which he makes by drawing large charcoal sketches and altertering them by smudging out, erasing, redrawing, and layering. he then creates animation by photographing these drawing as he alters them. the results are stunning. he also make lovely shadow puppets.
the image above is from the henry art gallery, where an exhibit of his work is on display until may 3rd, 2009.
tonight i am going to see his performance, "I am not me, the horse is not mine:"
This performance, first presented by exhibiting artist William Kentridge at the Sydney Biennale in 2008, combines live performance, animation, narration, and a vocal and instrumental soundtrack. The work continues Kentridge’s investigation of the roots and trajectory of modernism, drawing on instances of censorship and brutal artistic repression from the Stalinist era of Russian history.
http://belokrinitski.etsy.com is the shop of elena belokrinitski, who was born in moscow, and moved to israel when she was 12. her designs are so sweet, including this felt jewelry! via etsy's spotlight feature in the stork.
someday i want to try this: homemade ricotta cheese, link via CRAFT. i haven't tried it yet; the photo is from the same source as the recipe: kat baro of a good appetite blog.
my mom went through a cheese making phase when i was little. i just remember slicing through the curd (?) midway through the process. and being fascinated by the texture, and process of slicing into even cubes both horizontally and vertically. strange, but i can't remember tasting the cheese at all.
today was a mix of sunny and rainy, so i guess we can say march is going out like a lamb. this needle felted sheep is from the book 'felted wool small things'. there's one copy left in my etsy shop. if you want to see more photos from this book, the flickr set is here.
check out these sweet sleepy sheep from etsy seller namolio. 
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