Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Thursday, May 21, 2009

An Origami Wardrobe Would be Rad




This is by far the best Origami paper I have found in this city, at Hana Market. Check out the patterns! Aren't they delightfully pretty? I wish I could make a wardrobe out of these patterns and wear them on my boat on a breezy day. Also, I wish I had a boat.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Handmade's Tale

Hey buddies.


(kg + ab)

We're really excited for Crafty Bastards.


(elloh)

Many creative-type extraordinaires will be gracing our one-horse town this weekend, bearing boothloads of dazzling (and sometimes felt-y) wares. Read on and learn more about a few vendors that we went out of our way to stalk.

Megan Auman lives in Jonestown, PA, and does quiet, sexy exercises with steel, somehow turning it into this beautifully rhythymic, sculptural jewelry. "When I started working in steel," Megan tells us, "it just clicked."



"I work mainly in wire, and I love the welding process because at jewelry scale it has an intimate quality, like drawing or embroidery." She adds: "I started researching floral patterned textiles in grad school, and that imagery has inspired a lot of my current designs."



We are just oob-sessed with the repetitive quality of her work. We can't stop staring at these earrings.

Next: MICA graduate Val Lucas of Ellicot City, MD, masterminds Bowerbox Press, a business platform for her exquisite crafted books and tactile print designs.

"I treat all my handbound books as little sculptures," she says. "If I could, I would do every step of every process myself - even down to casting the type that I print from." While space constraints prevent her from doing all the work herself, she says, "It's magical to start out with a ream of paper, bookboard, type, and an idea, and end up with a finished book."



"As soon as I walked into the shop," Val says of taking her first letterpress class, "full of cases of tiny type, big old machinery, and the smell of ink, I knew that I was in the right place."



Val can make pretty much anything your heart desires - "If you want a journal with Helsinki on the front, just ask!" she says. She's currently working on a book of her prints. Excitement! We really can't resist her artisanal reverence to process and the clean beauty of her finished product.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Get To It



Get scholarly on Monday during the Graduate and Professional School Fair at GW. Dorksville, you say? Whatever. If you're just tuning in, I am an avid nerd and legitimately excited for this event.

Get serious on Tuesday when Dan Higgs plays at the Velvet Lounge. Never have such scary songs been so soothing.

Get wild on Wednesday when These Are Powers play at Civilian Art Projects with the Apes and Food for Animals. See above flier for further vibe details.

Get on Facebook on Thursday and join the Listopad Facebook Group! We are so very plugged in.

Get hungry on Friday at the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church's Greek Festival outside Baltimore. There will be FOOD.

Get the most excited you've ever been on Saturday because Listopad is having a party! Jiggle that!

Get crafty on Sunday at Crafty Bastards. (Keep your eyes peeled for a more extensive post on this later in the week!)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

"Mike Mulligan Lady"

is how I referred to Virginia Lee Burton earlier today after spotting my friend Jennifer's post on refineDesign, the Washington Spaces blog. Now, I am going to assume that we all remember Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, his unstoppable steam shovel, from reading-before-bed circa 1988, right? Anyone?



Well, what I didn't know until reading Jennifer's post (inspired by a piece in the current issue of Vogue) was that Virginia Lee Burton was equally unstoppable, founding a printmaking collective called -- wait for it -- Folly Cove (so smitten with her word choice) and being ten times hotter than pretty much everyone ever!



The Folly Cove Designers site (run by the descendants of the original Folly Cove-ites) is chock full of images, old photos, and a 1958 Life article about the collective.



A Rose is a Rose



Zaidee and Her Kittens



Fish Story

Woman power! Vintage!! Printmaking!!! DIY!!!! Gah!!!!! Did I mention the documentary about her that just came out?!?!?

(Insane awesome MMAHSS .gif from All About Symbian. All other images from Folly Cove Designers.)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Hand-made cards are better!





They are better than store-bought cards. We all know that. But if yours look like the work of a pre-schooler, take a look at Cam Cruz's lovely holiday cards at her store on Esty.com.

If you dilly-dally and don't get your holiday cards out on time, don't worry because Cam's Thank You notes will come in handy this time of year too! In fact, the Brooklyn-based artist does cards for practically all seasons and celebrations, and even does custom orders.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Quilts




The Renwick Gallery has an exhibition of quilts through January 28.

Quilts may be meant to keep you warm at night, but as this exhibition shows, they can also possess hypnotic, kaleidescopic beauty that changes shape before your eyes if you stare at them long enough.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Best Scarves on Etsy

Now that it has finally cooled down a bit in DC, we can all get to accesorizing our necks--and sometimes faces if it's really cold--with scarves. Etsy can be a bit mind-boggling to sift through, even if you love handmade things. I've narrowed it down somewhat for you:

Yokoo XL Scarves - OMG these are amazing



Sculptural Scarves by Victoria Jackman - They remind me of rocks on the beach in the winter



Hand Woven Silk Scarves by Spring Chicken - Maybe not as warm as the others, but still beautifully crafted

all pics from the respective etsy shops