pile of craft, tomorrow!

it's my favorite-est local show to do, and not only will i have lots of new work never-before-seen in baltimore, but i'll have a bunch of stuff on super major sale, since i'm streamlining my line a bit and already thinking about work for the fall (yikes!)

it's happening tomorrow, june 26th, from 10-5 at 2640 St Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21218, inside St John's Church. for a complete(ly awesome) vendor list, visit cccm's website.

hope to see you there!!!

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!

a first birthday and other randomness

it's hard to believe it's been over a month since i've blogged! we've begun what i'm calling our "east coast tour 2010," which so far has included richmond va, for the spring bada bing show, and new york city (or as the bean says "you nork") for a belated birthday trip for me. we were lucky enough to get tickets to the tim burton show at moma, and spend a day in the super cool natural history museum. i am a longtime fan of tim burton (at 14 i already knew i wanted to live in a house just like the one in beetlejuice), and rick and i have a very special attachment to the nightmare before christmas. i'd never been to the history museum, but am now totally obsessed with it. the dioramas... love.

then we settled in back home for a relaxing (ha!) weekend at home to celebrate the little guy's first birthday. it's amazingly hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that a year has already gone by. i made this super sweet little dinosaur cake, inspired by the one here, though i think that one is cuter.

anyway, wow, a year. it's been a rough one, an amazing one, there's just not enough words to describe it. but we're lucky, very, very lucky, to get to see a smile like this every day. we love you, boo!

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!