wise craft

blogging 101 panel

Last weekend's Schoolhouse Craft should call itself a big success. There was plenty to get excited about (the venue was perfect, loads of people attended, lots of great networking opportunities for independent artists). Our Blogging 101 panel was fun and casual, we had a really great open discussion about this great big blogging world we all navigate through in our own way. We answered questions for most of our time, and everyone had lots of great questions. As I said at the panel, blogging, the act of blogging, being a blogger, its just not something I talk about with others out loud very often, so it was great to have such a lively, focused conversation about something I love and is such a big part of my life. I thought about how to talk about it here, and its just such a huge topic, how to start? What to focus on?

Thank you for creating this wonderful conference Kristen and Andrea, and for allowing me to participate! And thank you Megan and Molly (you can see them on the right side of the photo, being their charming selves) for joining me on this panel.

And probably hands down the number one cutest piece of SWAG I have ever gotten in my life, EVER, a ceramic lollipop rest-

A nice reminder to eat more lollipops

(Extra credit if you can spot Martha's totebag in the top photo!)

Have a lovely weekend! Oh, don't forget Tif will be signing copies of her new book at Assemble tonight from 6-9:00. I can't wait to finally meet this incredibly creative lady!

 

where's the missoni?

I went to Target with the family on what turned out to be the day after the Missoni for Target launch. We were going specifically to get a Lego set that Ian had saved up for, but I thought I would check out the Missoni stuff while we were there. I looked around the store, seeing nothing resembling Missoni stripes, colors, nothing (it can't be THAT hard to spot). Maybe it hadn't launched yet? Finally I asked someone and was told it was all sold out.

"REALLY?"

"SERIOUSLY????"

Maybe I'm just an foolish for not anticipating the popularity of this line and camping out at the front entrance the night before, but I really just wanted to see it. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to buy any of it. I was motioned over to what has to be the saddest little display of color and pattern the Missoni family has ever seen. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that Seattle is buying and shopping and all that (I am, our family business depends on it), but couldn't Target have ordered a wee bit more? A couple more pieces?

Was it cute? It looked cute. I suppose I have missed out, unless I catch a random piece the next time I'm over there.

But then last night when I was going to bed I realized that I can easily turn the Friendship Bracelet quilt into a Missoni striped quilt.

 

 I may have to make myself one, what do you think?

design mom

 

I had such a lovely exchange of emails last week with Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom and I am beyond honored to be part of Gabrielle's newest feature Living With Kids. She gave me such a fun q&a to go along with the photos. Enjoy! Thank you Gabrielle!

an early holiday treat for you

I had a treat last week (well, several treats, but more on that later), I got to preview Betz White's new online workshop, Fab Felt Holiday Crafts. I have taken Betz's previous holiday workshops and have used so many of her easy, clever holiday project for gifts, I love that her projects are doable with few materials, and infinitely customizeable. Once again, she has outdone herself, not only is this workshop full of more easy, original, totally doable holiday crafts, its being offered through Craftsy.com, a new video platform in High Def, with a very user friendly interface. I was able to skip easily to the individual crafts and hear the instructions for just those when I was ready to start making them. I chose to make the "Flower Ornament" but, because the holidays are a little too far away for me to really start thinking about them (read that as procrastination or denial) I strung several of them together as a new bunting/garland/hanging strand for my studio.

**Wise craft readers can click this link to preview Betz's course and register for $10 off the course price.**

And, because I was feeling nostalgic for Bench Monday, one last photo-

xo,

Blair

P.S.- I can't wait to tell you about Schoolhouse Craft!

coming up for air

The weather has been so nice here. Ian and I are walking to school every morning and then I'm walking to pick him up in the afternoon. (And I will tell any stranger I meet that I do this cause I need the encouragement, I would like to keep it up.) When I get back home each morning, I've been retreating to my studio in the basement to work on projects galore. When I caught myself dancing to disco tunes yet again, it felt suddenly like I'd slipped into a special type of crazy, and that it would probably be good for me to go above ground for lunch and mingle with the outside world for a bit, just to check myself. Whew! I immediately felt better. Amazing what a little window shopping and color inspiration can do for the soul.

I spotted this lovely and calming display made with books in J Crew's wedding window. My original fabric flower tutorial (wow, I made that tutorial in 2006!) can easily be made with pages from a book as well.  Maybe I'll try some soon.

Cotton mop heads, and what appear to be disks of dyed parchment paper with possibly some fabric spotted at Anthrolopogie. Hanging mop heads on my walls would never look that good, I am sure.

 

I loved the use of sticks and twigs in Free People. Interestingly I don't really care for their clothes, but their displays have drawn me in more than once.

 

And this gorgeous, sequined appliqued textile. In fact, I'm really loving all these bright neon colors with the woody browns and dark twigs.

The window boxes seemed to be following the trend of the dark shades with the almost glowing brights.

Thank you all for the great comments and questions about blogging over on this post. Lots of things to think about. I will take all of this with me for Friday's panel. I'm really looking forward to the discussion!

halloween diy project sheets at value village

A friend on Facebook alerted me that Value Village and Savers stores have in-store free tear sheets available for several of the Halloween DIY projects I've done for them over the past several years.

The back of each tear sheet has the instructions and supplies needed to make the project. I am so excited to see this! Once the projects are completed and the photoshoot is styled and done, often I don't know what happens after that (i.e., how the photos and project content are used, where they end up). I have to say I think this is a genius idea, to have the project ideas available in the store when the inspiration hits, and I hope you all will stop and take a look if you're planning to go to a Value Village store to do some Halloween decor and costume shopping (they have these same types of tear sheets for costume ideas as well).

There are some of the new projects on these sheets, like the Bleeding Candles, and the Forgotten Fruit (that was my favorite project of this last batch).

The vampire doll got a mixed review initially. It was really meant just to be a fun way to reuse things like old toys, and I think they finally warmed up to the idea (I thought he was kind of cute).

I believe there are 25 project tear sheets in all. I'd love to know if you see these at a Value Village or Savers store near you.

 

 

schoolhouse craft conference, blogging 101

(My flower arrangement idea came from Design Sponge At Home.)

I had a great lunch get together with Megan and Molly to talk about our Blogging 101 workshop coming up this Friday at the Schoolhouse Craft Conference (12:30-2:15pm). Talking about blogging is something we girls can do. Its a funny thing, this blogging journey. Its not necessarily one I talk about out loud too much. I mean, I think about it plenty, but who really wants to talk about blogging in our every day lives.

Today I was sitting and talking with these creative friends, and I realized that so much to say. Upon reflection, this whole blogging journey of mine makes sense to me, at least in hindsight. Everyone who writes a blog comes at it from different angles, with different intentions, and that what keeps them interesting to me. With twitter, facebook, pinterest, flickr, tumblr, etc, I have often wondered what will happen to blogging. Will it adapt, change, or simply fade away. I lamented many times that maybe a blog isn't a viable source of communication anymore. But I love it, love the places its taken me, and love the opportunities its led me to, and I truly hope it will remain vital. Its different from all those other forms of online communication in that it provides us with a true home on the big huge web of people and places, our own place to talk about things, issues, ideas that 140 characters just can't. Today we decided if facebook is the buffet line, and twitter is the cocktail party, then blogging is the intimate sit-down dinner. Yes.

I'd love to hear what your thoughts are about blogging. Do you write a blog? What kinds of things would you like to know when it comes to blogging? If you're local, I hope you will join us on Friday, but feel free to leave a question here on this post and I'll promise to answer. (Although there may be a delay in my answer, my computer's going into the shop tomorrow, but hopefully not for long.)

over at neatloaf: how my favorite creative people live

(Lisa Stickley, outside her South London shop)

I am over at Neatloaf today, talking about how 2 of my favorite creative people live.

Thanks Andie and Emily!

the right shoes

-are everything, even when you're in middle school. She has done this before, but with the kid markers we used, they sadly didn't make it through the first Fall rain shower with designs intact. We learned our lesson. Here's how Emma made this new pair custom shoes-

You need a pair of white canvas shoes. Emma and Ian almost always wear Vans, and these are the classic white slip-on style.

Sand the canvas lightly all over with sandpaper (I believe this removes the sizing or surface protection).

Lightly sketch your design with pencil. In our case, that would be dragons.

Using a combination of fabric markers and craft paint, Emma applied the design. We were advised not to use Sharpie markers (which is in abundance around here) because the ink bleeds and doesn't leave a clean line.

Allow to dry overnight. Touch up and reapply where necessary. I would advise leaving as little white as possible, just because it keeps them from appearing dirty too soon (but I'm a mom, I think that way).

When completely dry, spray the surface with any sort of suede or shoe protector spray. We did 2 coats.

Viola!

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Schoolhouse Craft is a week from Friday. Will I see you there? I hope so, cause I'm not tweezing these eyebrows for just anybody.

 

string art

There have been questions about the "The Girl With The Pearl Earring" string art on our dining room wall that I've been meaning to answer. I don't remember where I originally read about the masterpiece pattern sheet from momantai, because the minute I saw it I gasped and ordered (in that order). I have seen so much simple, yet gorgeous string art all over the web, in retail spaces like Anthropologie and at last year's Little Winter handmade market in Portland. It was on my list to attempt, so ordering this pattern sheet seemed a fantastically easy and logical kick in the pants to get me started. I emailed the company because I could not make a bit of sense from their website, and Ulrike quickly emailed me back and told me what to do to place my order. Easy!

I struggled to find the perfect place to put this art, but finally decided on the dining room wall, where I originally had the embroidery hoop art. I still have those, but they were never meant to be permanent pieces of "art" in the dining room. The eye is drawn immediately to this wall upon entering our house, and I knew subtle would still work great there. Plus, when dealing with 300 or so tiny nails, I don't recommend putting this art somewhere it will be run into!

The tiniest of nails will work. I actually ran out and continued on with dressmaker pins (shorter, stronger than the pins I use for quilting, and the silver heads blended with the tacks). You tape the pattern sheet to the wall, (pick your design first), hammer in the nails to follow the pattern of your chosen design, wrap yarn or string around each nail, in order, following the design, then carefully remove the paper from behind the design. Take your time doing this step, use tweezers, gentle pulling, a few chosen words, whatever works. It is definitely worth slowing down for this step. Step back and admire your "masterpiece"! The whole process took me about 2 hours.