hibernate

The dreaded illness has come over me. Is there such an illness as just purely exhausted? I feel so sleepy that I slept for 14 hours straight last night, and 12 hours the night before. Nyquil may have had something to do with that too. Maybe.

I did find the energy to post this pillow to my etsy shop. It took me a while partly because I was considering keeping it for myself.

Can you believe I found this poor little original Knoll Saarinen Tulip side table with a sign taped to it that said "TRASH"?! Me, neither. It's a bit roughed up, but that's just the way I like 'em.

Back to sleep for me - have a good week!

finest

outtakes

hello again

exploding mountains

New pillow! I am not yet sure if this will go to etsy or not...

Also, a wedding invitation I did recently:



I am working on this year's calendar and some more pillows and pin cushions this week - this is the busiest time of year for me to get ready for the holiday season, and HOPEFULLY Art vs. Craft in November. Wish me luck!

creature comforts

My Neighborhood Pillow was featured on Creature Comforts earlier this week!

Thank you Ez & Melissa!

muchas gracias

Big bowl of gratitude for Jan DiCinto of Scoutie Girl / Daisy Janie for featuring my pillows today.

"Totally Digging" feature on Scoutie Girl.

:)

new

I am slowly adding things to my etsy shop this week...

productive amy

i have been doing some serious nesting lately. The pillows above are for someone else, but I kind of want to keep them for myself!
Tom got a new light for my studio - a giant lightbulb so I can always have bright ideas. It makes me smile.
I finally hung some artwork above our couch. We have lived here for three years already, but everything I did there just seemed not right. Finally I collected all the small pieces we had all over the house and decided I liked them much better all together. I can list where the art came from if you are interested, but for now I need to get back to sewing!

Also, I really want to paint our fireplace white, but Tom is very against it. Any other ideas as to how to make it less....dark and outdated?
have a happy week ~

new year

detail from a new pillow

2009. I usually mark my years by my birthday rather than NYE, so my time for reflection and goal-setting happened in November. I try to keep my goals pretty simple - for instance when I turned 28 my goal was to participate in an exhibit in a gallery. That year I was part of a group show in Chicago and I was pretty satisfied with having set that one goal. Last year my goal was to leave my job and find happiness through independence and resourcefulness, and in May I did leave my job and now make my living through freelance design and my etsy shop.
This year I didn't really set a solid goal with defined steps. This year what I want most is to consistently follow through with what i have started. I want to grow my business and continue to make things. I want to muscle through any feelings of insecurity and keep my focus on what is important to me, above anything else. I want to keep moving forward, but at an accelerated pace, maybe stepping out of my comfort zone even more and taking risks and making opportunity for myself.
My goal for 2009 / year 30 is to not hold myself back. That is also my wish for you - what can you do to propel your self forward today? What do you really love, and how can you create more of it in your life?

aftermath

wow! Art vs Craft was a blast - thank you to everyone who came out. We had a record number of 3,500 visitors!

special thanks to my sister Jodi and my main squeeze Tom, who were a big help to me all day.

I ran out of calendars about half way through the day, so I am prepping fresh ones to be sent out tomorrow to those who ordered at the show.
I hope to have my etsy shop fully updated this week, depending on sunshine + photo opportunities. Have a great week!

art vs craft!

please click on this image for a full view.

Don't forget to visit me THIS SATURDAY at art vs craft!!!

I am so excited to be a part of this event, and still have quite a bit to do to get ready. That said, I have to get going! I am off to the post office to ship a calendar all the way to Norway. Norway!

Event details:
Event address: Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 790 N Van Buren St.
Between Wells & Mason in downtown Milwaukee
(The street is a one way heading North)

10am - 7pm. Bring me snacks.

There are 69 vendors, and I will be on the lower level. I will be the one smiling so hard my face may crack in half.

Have a great Turkey Day - I will be enjoying the company of my family and trying to not mentally obsess over my to-do list. Or I will torture them by verbally checking things off my to-do list for the first part of the day until I am satisfied I have it all covered. That's what sisters are for. and moms. and nieces and nephews. and brothers in law and stepdads. get ready, suckers.

the remote stylist

Here is a nice little article on my etsy shop that actually appeared last month on The Remote Stylist.

Thanks for the write-up! When I read things like this about myself, I always seem to read it as though it's about someone else. Strange?

pecha kucha night

Last night I attended Pecha Kucha (pronounced pe-SHAW ke-SHAW, i think) at the Sugar Maple bar in Bayview. The idea was formed by an architecture firm in Japan, and has spread all over the world as a way for a variety of people to share ideas following a set format. Eight people are invited to give a presentation on whatever they choose, and they each show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. While a few fumbled with this format, I found it to be really refreshing and interesting. The presenters were writers, artists, musicians, and....I'm not entirely sure but I don't think they all had creative backgrounds. One guy just talked about the CSA farmshare that he uses, and a woman presented the idea of forming an LLC with your partner rather than getting married. that actually made a lot of sense and was hilarious.
Of course my favorite was the lovely katie martin-meurer, who is not only a good friend but a wonderful artist. She spoke about her work as it pertains to a gyre, and i will just let you look that one up on your own. I do recommend spending some time on her website though, because the images of her installations are amazing, especially if you can't see the work in person.

also, have you ever seen this website? It has been a great time-killer/enhancer for me lately. mmmm.....art......
fecalface.com

here's some studio action:

sadly, i like the design better before I actually sew it the the fabric, so I will have to figure that one out.

edit: wtf, Blogger? My images are all getting cut off, so you can't even see what I am talking about because the design is to the far right! you will have to pretend.

edit, again: Here is a link to Katie's presentation, as well as many other Milwaukee presenters on YouTube.

new print

I made a new print for fall - it is a very dark plum with golden orange swirled through.



this one is a little crazy. I'm not sure what is going on here yet, but I'll let you know if I figure it out...

I am working on a lot of different things that will happen in November:

art vs. craft on Saturday, November 29.

Design Within Reach in Milwaukee will be hosting an Art and Design Book Sale on November 8. Several local bookstores will be featured, as well as myself! I will be showing some large scale drawings and prints and whatever else I come up with by then.

my weekend

sun pillow

a new pillow!
I am experimenting with different ways to combine drawing and pillow making, and until I can silkscreen, stenciling has been fun.
I have two more pillows coming up next week, at which time I will add them to my etsy shop.

Have a great weekend!

Mary Flanagan Woolens

As I was saying, on Friday I had the pleasure of visiting the workshop of Mary and Scott, of Mary Flanagan Woolens. I have been using their wool exclusively on my pillows for about a year, purchased from Purl.
They are located in Pickett, WI in a house surrounded by farmland and green fields with hay rolled up neatly and cows grazing quietly. As my mother and I navigated the back roads, we relied on a GPS tracker/map/stern voice of reason "No, turn RIGHT on Hwy B! You missed it! Turn around!" Of course, looking at a tiny screen in my lap (I was not driving) rather than the real life scenery and directional signage caused us to drive in the wrong direction for 20 minutes, but oh well. It was still pretty. I love driving through the country and imagining rebuilding the interior of a beautiful barn to be a multi-functional studio with sky lights and vast fields of wildflowers and maybe a few chickens.


It was so interesting to learn a bit more about the process and background of Mary and Scott. They hand dye all of their wool, giving it a consistent dye saturation and reliable color. I am always drawn to the "Party Mix" collection myself, but the range of other colors is really impressive. I brought home a 6-pack of patterned wools, dyed to match my usual solid Party Mix collection - I think it will be perfect for the Fall collection of pillows.


If you would like to catch up with Mary and Scott, they will be at the Hand-Hooked Rug Show in Green Lake, WI. It is open to the public and will be at the Green Lake Conference Center on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm and all day Wednesday the 17th from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm. You can also see their traveling schedule for trade and non-trade here.


Thanks again Mary & Scott- I hope to stop by again in the near future!

field trip

Today is a very exciting day - I am heading to Pickett, WI to visit Mary and Scott of Mary Flanagan Woolens. I have been using their wool felt on my pillows for the past year and I love the color saturations and quality of the hand-dyed wool. After purchasing from Purl repeatedly, I did a little research and discovered that Mary Flanagan is based in my neck of the woods!

So off I go on a little field trip. I will share my experience here next week - have a great weekend!

new pillow, etc.

I have a new pillow ready to go to Blush (located on the corner of Water Street & Buffalo in Milwaukee). I will also be updating my etsy shop in the next week or so...