we have a lot of catching up to do. since we last talked i've driven across the country. i have seen, oh, i have seen so much... but more on that later, for now let us celebrate the spring with a spring sale! this saturday, May 3rd is the RISD alumni sale & i will be there with teresa & a tablefull of delicious creatures.
this was my half of the table at the Alumni Sale saturday morning - we were steadily mobbed for the rest of the day. sales were slow for me at first, but picked up later & amongst other things, i sold the slug messenger bag! the weather was gorgeous, i had fries from the Idaho potato man & my thermos of coffee to get me through the day. we had a surprise visit from alison of wonderlandQ which was awesome. bob & ginny of OrangeBags came by with their new little baby, so did my former boss Michelle & i got to see anna of annabuilt who is totally pregnant. am i finally at that age? babies everywhere!
since the sale on saturday i have done nothing! absolutely nothing! okay, not entirely true: teresa & i went to our friend josie's house for a little bbq saturday night, but i didn't last long. sunday morning we went to breakfast & were joined by stacy & allison. afterwards we checked out a sewing machine/fabric yard sale extravaganza jenine had spread the word about & then there was a trip to savers. i added to my button collection, stacy almost bought some cool shoes & teresa convinced me to buy a little round, turquoise suitcase.
to entice you to stop by the Risd Alumni Sale this saturday, here are the messenger bags i have made so far. they are all fully-lined with an inner pocket, adjustable strap & heavy-duty velcro enclosure:
i am completely in love with the one i made myself & take it with me everywhere i go. i put the pocket on the inside front so it's quick & easy to find my keys & cell phone. the strap is strong webbing so it won't stretch out & stays put at the length you choose. i added more velcro so the bag will stay closed even when over-stuffed. this saturday i'll also be bringing a pile of ipod sleeves & tons of wrist cuffs in the favorite styles & a couple new ones, too! here is a sneak peek a some of them:
i might have a few clutch purses with me - depends on how fast i can sew this week... the weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend so come on by & check out my new haircut! Benefit Street, 10am-4pm (rain or shine.)
oh, hello there! sorry i've been falling behind on my updating - i have many things to share with you, but for now a quick announcement:
May 5th teresa & i will be at the RISD Alumni Sale. it's probably your only chance to come see us for a while because we have decided to not apply for the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this year. the first year it was miserably hot & dusty & there was a softball game going on (people & dogs actually got hit with foul balls!) then the second year the weather was better & we were thankfully under the trees, but this time they've moved it to a giant cement pool. no shade. anywhere. i hear it's a great place to have outdoor concerts at night... despite the possibility of making money, i'm not risking another weekend of dehydration & heat exaustion. i've done enough of these outdoor sales to know that they can be a hell of a lot more fun than that! speaking of which, we applied to Somerville's ArtBeat Festival in July. we did it last year with a whole mess of crafty newengland ladies & it was a great show. keep your fingers crossed we get it...
and some sad news: tara closed Plain Mabel! i'm sorry, i meant to tell you earlier so you could make some last-minute purchases, but maybe i didn't want to believe it was really happening... i'm so very happy i got to meet tara & sell things with her over the past few years. out of everyone i've dealt with, tara has been the most amazing, she's always been prompt & organized (which i am not) so it was a dream to do business with her. although i'm sad the website is over, i understand tara's reasons & am thankful for the real-life friend i got out of it. so thanks, tara, you're awesome!
since my camera is broken & i haven't had a chance to take it somewhere to be repaired, you get drawings of my bazaar purchases! i assuaged my guilt about not selling with a sickly green crocheted zombie by Pepperberry & a sweet little fern animal by ashley brown. i also bought a small print & some jewelry, both of which might be presents so you can't see them yet... not having my camera feels like i'm missing a hand or something! it's awful. i've been over at the other library doing book repair while my friend Jim is away & i wish i could show you what i've done. i'm really proud of the work & it feels so wonderful to just sit & repair an entire book, taking it all apart & putting it back together...
also last weekend was the end of the Foundry sale - i think it went
quite well for my first time & i hope they'll let me back in next
year. i leave for my holiday adventure this saturday, there will be flying & driving & visiting of families involved. i'm pretty excited about it, only a little nervous. if i don't see you before then: happy holidays!
uhm... sooo, you may have noticed that i haven't really been talking about the Bazaar Bizarre Boston. that's because, well, i got nothing. absolutely nothing. it was too much, i'm sorry. before i started working full time, i had grander plans for all my holiday sales. i kept thinking i'd adjust to it, but i basically craft all day at the library & my hands are too tired to stay up crafting all night! i gave craftland everything vinyl i had & i've barely even been sewing quilts. oh, then there's that whole dating thing which i joyfully neglected all my crafting to pursue... i hope you're not mad at me! kristin of scrapsofpaper.net & teresa of sewingstars.com, my table-mates, have been very understanding. (thank you, ladies!)
i'll still be heading up there to see everybody, get some holiday shopping done since i have yet to do any, maybe listen to some christmas carols on the theremin... i'd take more photos of the cool bathroom at the cyclorama, but sadly i broke my digital camera yesterday! i think it can be fixed i just have no idea what it will cost... anyway, i'm sorry again & hope see you there!
i worked a shift at the Foundry Sale yesterday: i met more of the other artists & they were all very encouraging & said wonderful things about my quilts. i sold a couple pieces over the weekend which is very exciting to me because i'm finally raising my prices closer to what i would like to get for them. i've been looking around & they're priced similar to actual paintings which i think makes the most sense. it's hard to do, to raise the price & not know if someone is willing to pay that much! i've been spending much more time on these pieces - especially the quilting & embroidering, there are finer details beyond fabric choice... i have more of a process now, they grow organically instead of being planned out & executed.
i rewrote my little bio for the show, printed it out & hung it in my booth because i'm not actually there most of the show & i wanted people to know a little bit more about me as a person & an artist. i incorporated it into my about page here. i think it's the best one i've written so far!
don't let these foundry related posts fool you - i continue to be distracted: i had an awesome weekend as i got to go to the Harmonix holiday party, meet lots of cool people, eat tons of tasty food & stay at the swanky Hotel@MIT for a night. hopefully i can get a few things sewn this week, otherwise teresa & kristin will have the table all to themselves at the Bizarre Bazaar Boston on saturday...
we began setting up for the Foundry Artists Show yesterday in the Pawtucket Armory Building. i'd never been inside before & it's an incredible space! i went there yesterday afternoon to check out the booth that Greg Stones is graciously lending to me for the sale. it has a very nice wood frame, but is carpeted in a dark color that i'm afraid my quilts won't stand out on so i spent some time measuring & dreaming about what i could do to make it just right. in the end i decided to go with what i know - fabric. i bought several yards of un-bleached muslin & hopefull my draping plan will look as nice as it does in my mind... either way, you'll only be looking at the quilts, right?
i need to make up some little signs & labels today to pin up next to my quilts. i should also write down the 'artist statement' type thing i've been crafting in my head all week. and i need to price & tag all my quilts. and i need to go back over there & hang it all up...
Opening Reception Dec. 7th 5p-9p
Friday Dec. 8 & 15th 12p-8p
Saturday Dec. 9 & 16th 10a - 6p
Sunday Dec. 10 & 17th 10a - 6p
this quilt is 6" square & made out of teeny tiny scraps.
i haven't been able to decide which way it should hang:
i hope to have quite a few mini quilts for the foundry sale in december, but i haven't decided if i'm going to put any of my vinyl stuff there. i wasn't planning on it until i met gail ahlers at the alumni sale & she asked if i'd considered doing the foundry sale & i told her i just got in for the first time this year. the thing is i only had my vinyl work with me so she thought my cuffs & purses were a good fit... in the end it will probably be based on what i'm able to make because i also have Craftland to stock! 
last night i made another little one, about 9" square, it's all dark & muddy greens. i haven't decided what else it needs, it needs something, embroidery perhaps... i'm still waiting for it to tell me.
despite my coming down with a really bad cold (pretty much immediately after my last post) & teresa selling out at Crafty Bastards the weekend before, we managed to pull together a great table full of goodies for the alumni sale on saturday. thank you to everyone who came by to shop or just visit! i had a lot of people ask where else they could find my stuff so here is a little list of upcoming events:
Dec. 1-23rd, Craftland in Providence
Dec. 8-10th & 15-17th, Foundry Artists Sale in the Pawtucket Armory Bldg
Dec. 16th, Bazaar Bizarre Boston in the Cyclorama
and a few shops where you can find my work:
PlainMabel & My My and at Frog & Toad in Providence, RI
i have finally made significant progress in the whole studio cleanup! (let's not discuss how long i've been working this) there is still quite a pile of stuff on the side of the room you can't see from the doorway, but most of those drawers & cabinets are empty. yes, empty! the organizational possibilities are overwhelming... with all this organizing comes inspiration to work on all my projects, which is good because, as you already saw, i have a quite a few tables to fill in the month of december! and, yes, i have noticed that i arrange everything in rainbow order... isn't it better that way?
