8 things I know about me

I had an entirely lovely evening last night. I went to an opening reception for the H.C. Westermann early works exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts. Seeing some of the artworks in the exhibition felt like seeing old friends, as some are part of collections I know well.

After that I flew down to the south-siiiiiiide to hang out at MB's chateau with Leya, Dustin and new-friend-Leah. I saw my first lightning bug of the season and had some thoroughly delicious strawberry margaritas.

I find myself becoming more at ease with this city, more oriented with my surroundings, comfortable with friends and more willing to assimilate. Such things happen with time, and since it's almost a full year of being here, I'd say it's about time.

I'm full of ideas and excited about a lot of things- upcoming weddings in country towns, new patterns, no working at the day-job on Saturdays for the summer, and more.

Ok, I've been tagged by Leya and commanded to name 8 random things about myself.

1. I disclosed this fact last night: I know how to fence. Not this kind.....but this kind.

2. I have decided that this summer, in the mornings I will now only drink cold-brewed iced coffee. Thank you New York Times.

Recipe: Add 1/3 cup coffee grounds to 1 1/2 cup water and let stand overnight. Strain through a coffee filter twice. Mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water. Yum.

3. I can't stand the sound of phones ringing. In fact, I don't even like talking on the phone.

4. I can barely swim.

5. I wish I were a writer.

6. I met my husband in the 7th grade in band class.

7. We haven't had a car since 2005, when our sweet little gray Volvo started falling apart and then some neighborhood kids threw a rock through the windows. We sold it to a scrap metal company for $75 (minus the towing cost).

8. I'm eating a cruller right now, even though yesterday I said to myself sternly in the mirror: "CUT IT OUT WITH THE SUGAR!!!" It's not my fault. The cleaning ladies at work brought them in.



(Illustration by Kathleen Voute.)

books n' blogs

Did you know that the magazine Sew Stylish has a blog? They have some really informative posts about stores, books and new patterns. I am pretty excited that they mentioned my booth in their Renegade wrap-up.

I was reading through my recent issue of a magazine called Selvedge (thanks to Jessica for the subscription!!) and saw a review of a book called Soviet Textiles: Designing the Modern Utopia. Sounds totally fascinating. I want this book.

Or maybe Bauhaus Textiles: Women Artists and the Weaving Workshop. Or both.

Reverse Applique

Part of what makes sewing so much fun is that there is a million possibilities. Once you make the monster choices about fabric, thread and design, then you can always add buttons, beading, or embroidery to make your garments even more interesting.

I found a website, Alabama Chanin, that sells shirts, corsets, tablecloths and more with reverse applique, which looks a bit like quilting. They also feature kits and tutorials for reverse applique on their site so that you can get started right away if you're a big DIY type.

I love the beautiful photography, the thoughtful projects and the love that comes through for where they are from. Head over to the website to learn more about Project Alabama, a really interesting project that the founder of the company, Natalie, founded a few years ago.

They also feature some absolutely beautiful jewelry that is absolutely out of my price range.

Non ! Je ne regrette rien...

A few things I am inspired by this week:

Edith Piaf, Angie Lewin's "Dandelion" fabric, tin switchplates, making your own satin rosette award ribbons, the cool giraffe fabric I got from Reprodepot, Leya's sunprints, Marissa's octopus watercolor.

renegade craft fair: booth snaps

photos were taken by curiousbird.

NEW PATTERN!!!

I'm pleased to say that my newest pattern, 012 Snappy Clutch, is now available on the website. It's designed to be super easy and something you can finish in a few hours. It's also cheaper than the others- it's priced at only $6....so get going!

renegade

Hey everyone! I'm back from Renegade with many stories to tell.

Firstly, big ups to my pal Leya of Curiousbird and her man Dustin. Not only did they help me stuff all my goods into their car, helped me tote the stuff from here to there, offered me a ride up and put up with my incessant whining about the heat, but thanks to them we had a place to stay. Thank you thank you thank you!!

Secondly, I have to say thank you to my booth-mate, Reprodepot Fabrics. I had a great time talking to them and was honored that they would consider letting me be there with them. Sharing a booth with them meant I got the best picks of fabric, as I saw when new ones were put out on the table!

I managed to not spend more than I made, which was no small feat with so many great indie businesses at the fair. I got an awesome tote bag by Cram Cream from Reprodepot and some beautiful letterpress coasters and cards from Sesame Press. But here's a list of what I wanted but didn't buy:

*Something from Erica Weiner, preferably a bear necklace.
*chunky ring from something's hiding in here
*Monster stamps from Small Object

Keep in mind that I barely walked around at all, so that's only what I saw in about 15 minutes- what I could cover on my way to get food and back.

I might have some photos to post in a few days.

In addition to crafty times, Leya, Dustin and I went to see their friend Aaron play with his band, Opsvik & Jennings. I loved the show, and I think you should immediately go to their website and buy the album.

Looking back at last year's Renegade, I think this year went so much smoother. Probably because I knew what to expect. I am also amazed about how much as happened in the last year. It was last year at exactly this time that I visited Philadelphia for the first time and made a decision about moving here. I remember being really hot. I remember being a little freaked out. At that time we were living in Chicago and were unsure about so many things. The year has really flown by...

review on Indie Fixx

Just a quick note to say that Betsy Ross has been reviewed on Indie Fixx, a great website that promotes all sorts of things made by indie designers. The site will keep you occupied for awhile with their great reviews and huge list of links.

Thanks for the nice listing, Jen!

spooooon.

Spoon's new release, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"= good music and a cover that features one of my favorite artists, Lee Bontecou, welding. Were they stalking me when they made this album?

next big thing contest

Well, Fred Flare posted the winners of their Next Big Thing contest, and although yours truly wasn't picked, I do love their choices! Here's some images of a few things I especially like.

What is alarming to me is the prices- knowing how much time and effort goes into making things by hand, I cannot believe how cheap this stuff is! I mean, yes, it's nice to get your stuff on that site, but if you are up all hours of the night making a sweet little earring tree set but in the end you end up only getting $10 per piece, that's kind of crazy.

Consider: Scissor Sisters' "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" actually does makes me feel like dancin'. It's gonna get me through the next few days. No sleep till Brooklyn, indeed. See you at Renegade!

uhhhhh.

I am very deeply mired in craft fair preparations...a sandwich board that is driving me #$%^& crazy, about 5,000 patterns that need to be printed, signage that needs to magically make itself...and so forth and so on. It's going to get done, but right now I feel like I have a billion things to do.

I did get some good news today from the Philadelphia Development Partnership, and am so excited. It's not something I can blab too much about here, but I can say that it's going to really help give Betsy Ross patterns a nice little kick in the pants, and owe Bonnie and the gang over at PDP a plate of brownies.


Ok, three things:

1.Have you seen that "Mindfreak" show? Criss Angel is hovering over some city right now magically, and it's kind of freaky. I. don't. like. magic. Unless it's done by Gob on "Arrested Development."

2. I have 1,000 gray hairs that have instantaneously sprouted out of my head like some sort of Chia pet. Where did they come from? It's not like I'm really seriously bothered by it, but I'm surprised at the seemingly overnight transformation of my hair from reddy-brown to browny-gray. What the fudge???

3. Caribou Cafe on Walnut at 13th is the perfect place to duck out of a sudden thunderstorm to sip a pastis until everything blows over. It was a good afternoon- hanging out with a New Yorker, sipping a drink, hearing rain fall, empty French bistro.

wish list

Want. Marni. Clothes.

(And clutch.)

smocking

I love the way smocking looks, but have always been too intimidated to try it myself. I found a blog today called Pins and Needles that has a very nice smocking tutorial. It looks time consuming, but not that hard.

This amazing dress with smocking on the back is by Bottega Veneta. I love love love their clothes and bags.

There's a nice little mention of Betsy Ross patterns on this cool website you should know about, The Crafty World. Lots of great links and ideas.

projects involving lumber are none of my business

Marissa was kind enough to take me to get some materials for my new fair display idea last night. We ended up stuck in this Home Depot-Lowe's black hole. Why is it that when you go to those stores, you can never find someone to help you? Those places are so huge, and it seems like they never have enough people working in the lumber section. Customers are all wandering around like zombies, trying to find someone in an orange shirt.

Look, I don't know anything about lumber and screws and hinges and bolts. It's none of my business. I get really excited about projects like this but have very little knowledge of how to carry them through correctly, so I feel like there's a strong chance that the display is going to cave in on itself. I guess you'll have to come to Renegade Craft Fair in a week and a half to find out.

Enough about that. It's freaking me out to think about it. Too much to get done in a short amount of time, so I'm going to just hope that little elves do all of the work while I'm sleeping.


Now, on to some things I like this week:

*This vintage Butterick sewing pattern cabinet from Dig Modern in Reno.


*From Ikea, a cool red thing with clips



*Indiana canal hunting



*Furochic gift wrap (thanks to the Print and Pattern blog)



*Paper fortune cookie kits and wrist corsage kits from Paper Source


*The colors in this kitchen. Photo by Michael Eastman, from an amazing series of Cuban interiors he was working on.

quote of the day: me and you and everyone we know

Richard Swersey: I don't want to have to do this living. I just walk around. I want to be swept off my feet, you know? I want my children to have magical powers. I am prepared for amazing things to happen. I can handle it.

art star craft bazaar re-cap

I'm back after a hectic weekend. Art Star Craft Bazaar was so much fun! Huge thanks to Megan and Erin of Art Star for putting together such a well organized and smoothly ran event.

I was super excited to be placed next door to my girl Leya of Curiousbird and her partner-in-crime, Dustin. Doing a craft fair is so much more fun when you get to chat with friends the whole time. I was sure that on Saturday evening I would just want to go home and crash out early, but instead was lured into having dinner and drinks at the Abbaye, which devolved into a situation where we were all so loopy and tired we were laughing to the point of crying about Leya's poor lost dogs from her childhood, Snicker and Winston. I know, I know, it's not really funny. I guess you had to be there...

I have to complain, as usual, about the wretched, wretched heat. I get real cranky when it's hot and my skin is burning, but I was having a lot of fun so I forgot about the hotness for the most part. Unfortunately, on Sunday it rained at the end of the day. Mr. D. gets a big, shiny gold star for helping me save the patterns from the rain and then break down the tent!

It's totally like me to forget to take photos of my booth. If I get any shots from friends I will post them. I also saw some really great things and picked up some cards but am still sorting through everything. I will mention a few soon.

Finally, I have to give a special shout-out to all the nice people I met at the fair! Enjoy your patterns, and let me know if I can be of help.

fabric shop

Some of you might already know about this great fabric site, Fat Quater Shop, but I just found it through Keri's fun blog. In addition to the beautiful, bright fabrics they have for sale, I also really love how nicely designed the website is. It's very easy to use and very well thought out.

I have been looking at a lot of websites lately- trying to see what works and what doesn't on a site as I continue to make changes to my own. Needless to say, my eyes are getting tired, but I'm getting excited about some ideas I have.



Ok, now it's time to reiterate that if you live in Philadelphia you have no choice but to attend the ART STAR CRAFT BAZAAR tomorrow and Sunday in Northern Liberties. Specifically, it's taking place on Liberties Walk, which is just south of Girard on 2nd. Please find me and say hello! I will be offering fabrics for sale for the first time, which will be really fun.



...and cross your fingers that it doesn't rain!