our ocean should be blue

since i saw this photo a few days ago, my need to do something to help out in the gulf has increased greatly. i'm always one of those people who runs in the direction of trouble to try and help out (often to my husband's chagrin), and it's really hard for me when i just don't know what to do.

i've always felt a special attachment to the ocean, often finding myself making the 3 hour drive there as a younger person needing to clear my head. i hope one day to be brave enough to try snorkeling or scuba, because i need to see the brilliant colors that lie beneath the surface of the water.

i can't ignore what the water in the gulf looks like now, but i can try to hope that it will once again be the brilliant blue it always is in my mind. i'm still not really sure what to do myself, but i'm going to try and help out the people who do know what to do.

the audubon society is working to help rescue and protect the wildlife and habitats of the area. to help them, i'll donate $5 from the sale of each of these ocean blue flowers. they're made from eco-felt, which is made entirely of recycled plastic bottles, so they're environmentally friendly as well. you can choose your flower to have a 2" silver plated barrette attached, or a bar pin, so that it can be worn on your shirt, hat, or bag.

if you'd prefer, donate directly. every little bit helps.

rainbows!

this year was the bean's first year of school, and it was a year she developed her artistic skills unbelievably fast. she went from drawing scribbles to drawing our entire family. and for the last few months, everything's been rainbows. when she graduated from preschool, i wanted to commemorate the occasion with something special, and i knew she'd love this rainbow necklace from my talented friend tamara over at block party press.

she did love it! and she's been wearing it nonstop. i have to admit, i was a unicorns-and-rainbows kind of girl myself, (was? maybe still is!) and her love of rainbows has sort of rekindled my love affair with them. and so my new rainbow headband was born.

i knew it was just right, because she snatched up the first one i made and put it on, claiming it for herself.

i'm going to post the headbands, made to order, in the shop now, and it's also available in a brooch version.

wow. rainbows still make me happy. nice.

more to come

two posts in one week, can you believe it? well, i've been kind of overwhelmed with the amount of ideas i've had, so i've kind of been just playing and making all kinds of new things. i'm trying to photograph them a few at a time, since my computer time's a bit precious these days.

these little hand-sewn felt earrings are reversible, so you can wear them with a few shades of green. just switch sides and a different color is visible.

here they are in a pink and wine combination. they are hung from really comfortable oxidized sterling ear wires.

i'm loving these so much. they actually are pretty difficult to make, and they require a bit of precision, but they are so beautiful on. i'm still fine-tuning the process, though i should have several pairs for Pile of Craft.

i have more to come, maybe if i'm feeling extremely ambitious i'll post more this week!

a quick preview

just a few images of some of the new work i'm making. (there's a bunch, i'm really excited!) the little guy started walking and he's keeping me pretty busy, but i was able to get these two necklaces photographed this morning.

this one and a few others, which i'm calling "peek-a-boo" necklaces, will be making their debut at Pile of Craft in a few weeks.

and this little one, made from embroidery thread and a secret new ingredient i've been experimenting with, will be posted in my etsy shop later this week.

hope you're enjoying your spring, which feels an awful lot like summer here in baltimore!

art star, here we come!

my east coast tour 2010 continues with art star craft bazaar this weekend!!!! i'm super excited, it's the first time i'll be there, since this is the first year i'm doing more traveling. i've got a ton of work to take, already packed and ready to go. i'm still working on some new pieces, but here's the new stuff i have so far.


this is an updated version of the vintage flower headbands, with some newly found vintage plastic flowers.


i'm loving these new felt feather barrettes! these have a vintage button accent and are secured to an alligator clip. and yes, i cut each of those notches by hand, separately!

the bean is trying to make off with these new flower headbands (which is always a testament to cuteness.) they're tonal felt with czech glass seed beads sewn to the center. they're stitched to the nice stretchy headbands that everyone has been asking for.

so, i hope to see you in philly this weekend, may 15th and 16th, down by Penn's Landing on Walnut Street (click here for directions.) i'll be in booth 113 with my friend jennyjen42. hopefully i can manage to be in the same tent with her all day without buying this.

see you there!

national press

so, this issue of southern living magazine has been out for a few weeks now, but i'm still super excited about it! look at my little flowers, just popping off the page there. thanks to everyone who let me know they saw it before i did!

in other news, back to working and enjoying the sunshine. spring bada bing is next weekend!

at last...

under the heading of "things i've wanted to do for going on two years now but haven't had the chance to do"- a new swatch sheet! now i'll be able to take more specific custom orders, rather than guessing whether your idea of chocolate brown is the same as mine!

does this picture make anyone else as happy as it makes me? oh, the colors!

and yes, i'm singing etta right now.

a break from the norm

i love what i do, i love playing with color, i even love cutting the same shapes over and over. and over. but once in awhile, while my hands are busily cutting, my mind is working in an entirely different way. so i took a break in the last few months, and started playing around with those ideas. the ring above is just one of them. my friend sherry of dandelionblu took the pictures for me (in addition to making some pretty amazing enamel jewelry she's a very talented photographer) and i'm so happy with the way they turned out. the pieces may be popping up somewhere in the future, but for now, i'm back to work on my flowers. spring show season is coming!

dreamy

you may not know, since i rarely have the time to blog these days, but i am crazy about photo styling. crazy. we get a catalog once in a while that has such completely abysmal photo styling that mr bean dreads its arrival. while i'm paging through pointing out bad color combinations or misplaced props i know he's wishing he could run away... on the other hand, when i get a new magazine that has some amazing photo shoot in it, he's desperately afraid that i'm going to decide that our dining room needs yet another new dramatic installation or that the hallway must be repainted in stripes.

when janelle from baltimore magazine asked me to give her "lots" of pieces for a photo shoot, i was completely floored by the concept. i've told her before that being an anthropologie display veteran has totally warped my sense of the word "lots." my mind started racing and i imagined the most amazing sets and clothing. for me, after a job where spending a 40 hour work week stringing gumdrops is completely normal, a project that uses "lots" of anything has the kind of attention to detail that i go crazy for.

the magazine came out last week, and it surpassed even my fairly overactive imagination. just check it out for yourself.


this beautiful photo shoot was a collaboration between the lovely people at red tree and baltimore magazine. you can see the whole shoot here or go here to see more photos from behind the scenes. and of course, make sure you pick up a copy!

thank you!

to all of my wonderful customers, friends, and family, thank you for letting me do what i love! as a special thanks, i'll be offering free US shipping and $1 international shipping on any order over $10, from wednesday, november 25th through monday, november 30th. just checkout as normal, use the code "thanks" in the "notes to seller" section at checkout. i'll refund your shipping via paypal once i receive payment. have fun!

happy thanksgiving!

taking a breath. i think.

i'm super excited because my brain is just whirring away... i have about 5 weeks until the next show, so i'm able to take a breath and make some fun new things... here's a preview of one of the wall pieces i'm making, and i'll also be working on some christmas pieces that i've been thinking about for some time.

i'll also be delivering an order to double dutch, so if you're in hampden you'll be able to find barrettes, headbands, and brooches there, plus i'll be working on photographing a ton of one-of-a-kind stuff to put up on my etsy shop.

maybe i won't be taking a breath after all.

i didn't rest.

so, i was packed up yesterday, but instead of just letting it be, i had to make this necklace for crafty bastards tomorrow...



...and these earrings.

and in case you wonder where the bean is while i'm taking these photographs, now you know.

see you saturday!

just a sampling of my brooches available at crafty bastards this saturday... if you see one you want and won't make it down, contact me and i'll post it on etsy for you. i also have new eco-felt barrettes and headbands, lots of new large flower wool headbands, and some sweet new necklaces.

see you saturday! booth 3. crafty bastards.

on sunday, we sleep.

halloween is coming

well, not really, unless you are in your local craft supply store. (in which case thanksgiving and christmas are right around the corner, too.) but these take a while to make, so i'm listing them now. you pick your colors, i'll whip up a one-of-a-kind brooch just for you!

more new work!

new one of a kind necklace... 100% wool felt, vintage plastic, and embroidery.

new adult headband... i'm loving reds right now, i guess...

i wish i had more time to write... but right now i'm busy hugging (and smelling) babies, playing with preschoolers, trying to enjoy the summer, and... oh, getting ready for artscape!!! which is a mere 11 days away. this is some of the new work i'll have there, and more is on the way!

coming soon!

i just picked up some eco-felt, perfect for my vegan friends and so very environmentally conscious. this felt was purchased especially for a secret new project i'm working on with sweet pepita, but i'll also be making brooches and barrettes with it soon... i'll keep you posted!

some of the new work i mentioned...

gotta run, but there's more in my photostream!!!

last week's work

i've been spending a bit of time thinking about what kind of work i'll be making this spring and summer (and probably fall too) since i'm not exactly sure how i'm going to find time to make as much work as i did last year... one of the things i'm considering is making more detailed work that i can cut in one sitting and embroider in another... i did some experimenting this week and came up with these:




these will be available to be made into brooches or headbands (since people inevitably want the opposite of what i've made.) i'll be popping them in to my shop this week, a few at a time.

what do you think?

where did february go?

ahh, the end of the weekend, and the month. geez. can't believe it's march already, and on top of it, it's snowing. ug. february was pretty busy for us around here... we had a nice vacation, then we got home and started re-arranging our entire house, and then i started making new work again. finally.




i worked on these most of the week/end, and i'm really pleased with the way they turned out. and the bean loved them so much she actually cooperated while i was taking the photos. they'll be in the shop tomorrow, hopefully.

on a totally unrelated note, i am always happy when the ACC show rolls through town. this year, i was asked to participate in a informational session at the show about selling on etsy, which was great. (thanks for lunch, matt!) and friday, my friend kristy and i spent several hours walking the show and i was able to catch up with some artist friends i hadn't seen in awhile. all good.

so good-bye, february, and hello march! (snow, good-bye to you, too!)

embellishments!

we've been spending a lot of time moving things around in our house in preparation for another person to be added into the mix... and one of the things that had to be done was to move my studio, again. i've had some trouble getting back into the swing of things after the holiday madness, especially with my materials scattered all about, but now i am ready.

it didn't hurt that i had a deadline, either. my friend shannon, of sweetpepita, will be at the AltCraft section of ACC this week, and that meant i needed to make more little felt bits for her adorable pixie hats. (as she puts it, they are the chocolate to the hats' peanut butter? i probably screwed that up.) anyway, i think i ended up with somewhere close to 80 of them, and they just look so awesome together i had to share.

i've got lots of new work in progress, and have a lot of work on sale in my shop now to make room for the new, so stop by!

and if you're in baltimore, stop by and see the ACC show!