spark*west

2007-09-26T17:45:00.000-06:00

- Image from Two Straight Lines-

I just have to share this post- it is pretty freaking smart-

http://twostraightlines.typepad.com/two_straight_lines/2007/09/minimalist-bird.html#comments

Excess? Indeed. Everywhere. And I am guilty of daydreaming about it- thankfully, our one-income budget keeps me from over-indulging.

I am guilty of encouraging it, too, as a designer/artist who sells stuff. Buy this! Buy mine! Put it in your home! Buy more!

One thing I have been conscious of for a long time, though, is the notion of buying for keeps. Like, lifetime keeps. Buy the best thing that you really love and plan on keeping it for a long, long time. Use it and enjoy it. Love it. Let it find roots in your home, in your visual identity.

Shoot- daydreaming again- minutes have gone by and I've been mentally writing a "contract" that customers have to sign when they make a purchase at a shop called "For Keeps". How great would this be- "I, the undersigned, here do solemnly swear that I am making this purchase for keeps. I promise that I have thought a lot about it, and I seriously love my purchase, and I plan on keeping it in my possession for a very long time. I am not making this purchase for the cheap thrill of impulsive consumerism. I am making it because I truly love it, find a connection with it, and/or plan on putting it to use for many years ahead. I promise I will not get rid of it just because it doesn't "go" with a decorating trend I am following. If I do become tired of it or need to get rid of it, I promise to donate it to a charity, give it to someone who needs it more than I do, or loves it at least as much as I do. Signed, ______________ "

For Keeps... this would be a great shop. I wonder if Courtney from Two Straight Lines would consign her minimalist gourd birdhouses with me? :)

On being tagged...

2007-09-18T15:59:00.000-06:00

Eva tagged me to share 8 things about myself that you might not know... egads! And this is perfect timing- truly- it has been a rough summer, and I have been struggling with where to begin again with blogging. Thank you Eva, for giving me a much-needed push!

1. I have an unreasonable fear of being chased. I hated playing tag when I was a kid, and only excelled at sports where the opponents were always where I could see them (tennis, volleyball, air hockey, bring it on! Basketball, soccer, even baseball- forget it). If my husband walks up behind me with loud footsteps, or the dog runs behind me into the house, I damn near hyperventilate and fall to the ground in the fetal position. I am that lame.

2. I have never seen Gilligan's Island, but the actress who played Marianne lives in our valley, and I've seen her dressed as Ginger on a float in the 4th of July parade. People think this is funny, but since I've never seen the show...

3. I have a serious weakness for Cheetos, puffed or crunchy.

4. My first job after college was as a furniture & interior designer at a shop on Beverly Blvd in West Hollywood. Stephen Gaghan & I had a madly flirtatious relationship while he obsessed over a coffee table- we were mere breaths away from dating, and then he made the critical mistake of telling me I reminded him of his ex-wife. Buh-bye. Two years later I was watching the Oscars, and he walked onstage to accept an Oscar for best adapted screenplay or something- maybe for Traffic? Yeah, I had NO IDEA that's what he meant when he said he was a writer.

5. I'm a Christian. Heck, I'm helping to start a church. Double heck, I'm the chair of the Adult Ed committee- and no one is more shocked by this than me!

6. I used to dye my hair a color called Carribbean Mahogany, and I picked the color for the name cause I thought it was so funny for a furniture desiger geek to, you know- haha- sigh. I was a geek.

7. I worked in the buying offices for a kabillion-$ retailer based in Menomonee Falls, WI, and it was heinous. Made some great friendships, but the place, the retailer, 99% of the 3500 people in that hellish place- heinous. Picture Devil Wears Prada, only in a grey expanse of a building with people who shopped for fashion in the malls.

8. I would drink 2 pots of coffee and 2 pots of tea a day if I could.

Bonus nugget! 9. I just came back from a trip to Montreal!

I believe I'm supposed to tag other people, but Miss Lovely is waking up so maybe I'll tag people next time-

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a little tangle

2007-06-30T16:11:00.000-06:00

As it turns out, making tangles that look like tangles is not as easy as one would think.

Tangled Up

2007-06-29T16:35:00.000-06:00

After a little sketching on an empty brain, I carved up this nice tangle. I really, really am beginning to love this lino thing- and the printing is so fun! The subtle variations in the ink make my heart jump. All these tanlges are clearly the same, but they all have a little personality- do you know what I mean?

I think there will be many more tangles to come. Just a hunch. But what to do with them? I often resort to messy circles a la spirograph when I have a pen & paper and nothing coming out. And I have surely been feeling tangled lately. But really- WHAT to do with them? Cards that say "What a mess"? I'd buy that- it would crack me up. But would anyone else crack up?

Wouldn't tangles be neat-o beads? Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I think I might be tangling some thread tonight. (Dang. I'm old and boring- I'll be tangling thread on a Friday night- woohoo! par-tay!)

Will keep you posted of developments as they untangle themselves from my brain.

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how cool are these???

2007-06-24T21:45:00.000-06:00

From Domino magazine's blog.... Wishes in the Sky! Chinese lanterns that you light and they float up into the sky. The company sells them in boxes of ten along with a marker, you are supposed to write a message to heaven, and the lantern will carry it up for you.

I love it. I wish I could send one up every night...

inspiration overload!

2007-06-21T17:03:00.000-06:00

I have been a big, big fan of Rae Dunn's work since my husband & I went for coffee one night when we were dating. We were sitting in the shop on Prospect Ave, having a big, wonderful discussion about our big picture goals, regrets, hopes & wishes. I was wearing my favorite camel coat with the industrial sized snaps, and it was snowy. I knew I loved him, and definitely wanted to marry him, but this night made those feelings multiply by at least 843- we weren't just dreamy and lovey-dovey, we were honest about our faults but filled with hope nonetheless. Anything- everything- seemed possible.

My lovely date said he would go get the car, and I wandered through the tea pots and mugs and tee-shirts absent-mindedly in the shop... and then bam! Two mugs that absolutely encapsulated that perfect date were sitting right in front of me- ivory, perfectly imperfectly shaped and simply stamped, one with the word "create" and the other "begin".

I presented them as a prize that night, and they are cozily tucked into our kitchen- still very much prizes.

The mugs were designed by Rae Dunn, and I found more of her work and just went nuts for it. Wabi sabi, simple, lovely, heartfelt and not too cute (know what I mean?)- it is all just right. When I finally got to open my (now defunct) shop, I was all excited that I could sell her work from Magenta Inc- but darn it, my pal Hayden up the street had beaten me to the punch.

Ok- my point is this- I just discovered that Rae has a blog, and she is just as wonderful as you would hope of someone whose work you admire. Indeed, I am on inspiration overload!

Even more overload? As if this isn't enough? Rae & her friend Basak just launched a new line of letterpress goods. They, too, are just right.

bookish bag

2007-06-08T23:47:00.000-06:00

Update: This project was posted a few weeks back, but I wanted to share it with WhipUppers! In a nutshell, it is a library tote & the design references (ha ha) books on a shelf.

I pieced 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 inch wide strips of fabric for the books & added length of my background fabric (white) to extend to the top of the bag. I simply folded the sewn strips in half & stitched up the sides to create the tote. I added a lining with a pocket & a nice long strap.... voila. Read on for the rest of the story!

(Begin original post)

Am so excited to share this!

Will be giving it as a belated gift to my mother for mother's day tomorrow when we arrive home for a visit. Finally can write about it!

My mother works in tech services in a library, and she is forever lugging books back & forth. In keeping with the library theme, the design is based on a shelf of books. Can you tell? It's lined, and I have one little pocket for a libray card inside.

I adore this bag- so, so fun to make! I love wing-it sewing projects- no pattern, just a spark of an idea and go! Wouldn't this be great as a quilt?! One "shelf" of books stretching across the top (or bottom?) of the blanket? For a quilt, this might work better as applique.

This blog will be very quiet until we return... happy June!

I'm on a roll!

2007-06-08T10:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm turning into an aceo geek. Added this little embroidered number to the shop, too!

What I love is that they are small enough that I can finish an idea while little Miss Lovely takes a nap. Have I mentioned that she rarely naps longer than 45 minutes? Often only once a day?

We're heading back to the land of beer to visit family... fingers crossed we get to go here! But I adore this place too... there were many, many lingering breakfasts & dinners there when we were dating...

mini quilt for May's whiplash

2007-05-31T16:25:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to see that mini quilts were the challenge for the May whiplash- a great way to try out a quilt without committing to something I would never finish.

I'm definitely a wing-it sewer, to say the least. I have a degree in furniture design/making & had a studio for a little while, but in the absence of having a place to build, I pulled out an inherited Necchi and the rest, as they say, is history! Regrettably I've yet to take any classes, so I sew the way I approached building furniture.

I saw the challenge on Mother's Day, and The Idea fell out onto paper very quickly (I almost never sketch anything, so this was a novelty!). Long before I was even pregnant, I had always thought I would name my theoretical kiddo Blue, because Blue is everything I would like to give my kiddo- the peace, expanse & freedom of the sea, the sky & space/eternity. My daughter was born last October, and my husband put the kibosh on Blue for a boy or a girl. I couldn't even convince him that Blue was a good middle name.

But I still want to give her these things- thus, a triptych of mini quilts, sea, sky & space/eternity/infinity. I have finished Sea- hooray!- and the other two will actually follow, because I have absolutely loved every bit of making this first one!

The quilt is a wavy-seamed log cabin (hard to tell in the picture, sorry). I used the machine to piece it, but handquilted the rest. In the center patch, the "waves" are also wavy-seamed strips, and I used white thread to piece them with the idea that gently pulling/pressing the seams, the white thread might look like the white spray on the crest of a wave. Not, um, sure that that translated as it just looks like I used white thread...

***I am having a problem with the 3rd quilt & need your help!!!! I can't decide if I should embroider the word space, eternity or infinity... please de-lurk yourself and let me know which you think fits the concept the best!

And this is Miss Lovely, whose name is Kate (admittedly just as lovely a name as Blue), though she did get some seriously Blue eyes...

Thanks for viewing- please don't forget to leave a comment casting your vote for the third quilt!

feeling bookish

2007-05-28T21:33:00.000-06:00

I just finished this book- yes, I know, everyone else on the planet has already read it, I know... but I HAVE to throw my 2 cents in- this book was amazing. Like, jump-up-and-down-shouting-woohoo-I-want-all-my-friends-to-read-this-so-we-can-talk-about-it good!

Liz's journey is familiar and exotic and heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny at times. She just blew me away on so many levels; I give her heaps of credit not only for searching as she did, but for being so (apparently) honest about everything (including the unflattering and downright embarrassing).

I devoured this book, and kept thinking "I have to get a pen" while I was reading it, but I never got the pen because I was plowing through to the next paprgraph, pulled forward into her narrative. I will be rereading this book pronto, and will have my pen with me- guaranteed every page will be marked up like a preacher's wife's bible.

And while we are on the subject of books, go check out Julia Rothman's blog Book By Its Cover- it's like passing blissful hours in your favorite bookstore... only better. Joy posted about it, I am officially on inspiration overload, here!

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sugarloop high

2007-05-11T10:13:00.000-06:00

I'm all weepy over this mother's day- I just cannot believe that I am Miss Lovely's mother. What an honor! I am so, so blessed... it is simply stunning the way God works, often when you aren't even paying attention...

I received a suprise order this a.m. in my shop (I am always suprised and delighted when anybody purchases something from me- so flattering, I blush every time!), and this sweeet print has been on my mind... so I just had to buy it for Miss Lovely's nursery today. I hope she'll love it when she's grown- a reminder for her that she will always, always be my cherished baby girl.

You should pop over to see Sugarloop's prints- I could eat them with a spoon. Seriously.

Happy mother's day!

almost forgot!

2007-05-10T16:34:00.000-06:00

when we were on our trip home (wisconsin), matt & i happened upon a little estate sale. it was in a tidy little bungalow in a nice little neighborhood. it was a little sad, because it was pretty obvious a nice older lady was no longer, um, living there. i felt kind of creepy going through her things... know what I mean? we were there at the very end on the last of the sale- everything was 50% off. woohoo! so i found 3 treasures-

1. a lovely hemstitched table runner in ivory. cost? bah. $1.50.

2. a lovelier hemstitched set- square table cloth and 4 cocktail napkins. cost? $3.00 (nope, not lying!)

3. the score to end all scores- not 4, not 6, not even 10- no no! 12, yes, count them, 12 hand embroidered cockadoodledoo cocktail napkins! cost, you ask? yes, you are dying to know, i can tell... well, i am so pleased to report... $3.oo for the whole set! i was so excited i was damn near trembling when i paid the weird lady who was running the estate sale.

i had been thinking that i would embroider some lovely things on the plain hemstitched sets and give them as gifts- but seriously, as giving as i ought to be, i cannot force myself to even consider giving them up. such a find- such a score- such great booty! and imagine my suprise when i found the 'pure linen, made in ireland' stamp upon closer inspection of the booty when i got home. yay!

wow- you know you are grown up when you use the term "such great booty" to describe old linens instead of a hottie in 501s at a gig.

miss lovely would go ape for this!

2007-05-10T13:15:00.000-06:00

really- she would go crazy for this mobile! frankly, so would i.

http://www.atypyk.com/home.html

Great site, great products- some are goofy and ridiculous, but super fun- enjoy!

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some paper napkin love

2007-03-29T12:45:00.000-06:00

from knitsquirrel! thank you Carlene- to be mentioned alongside those lovely things. Wow. I'm flattered!

And Uniform Studio is one of my favorites, too. That Martha, I tell ya...

xoxo

a problem i'm grateful for

2007-03-27T22:31:00.000-06:00

No really- it's a great problem: creative overload!

Not too long ago I was in a creative funk, and hot-cha, the pendulum has swung back my way!

I have childrens books on my mind, dresses for Miss Lovely, handmade projects for people I love, and collages... oh sweet collages. And this fantastic tutorial has me spinning! After I read it I thought "duh, Annie, why haven't you figured this out yet?" And it turns out that it is a whip up submission- maybe I'm biased here, but I think Kathy should win hands down.

Time to go have a glass of wine and read some books my sweet husband picked up for me at the library- all about the world of publishing... so I will leave you with a super duper loosely sketched scene from the story I'm working on.

Good night!
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Absolutely Lovely

2007-03-11T14:00:00.000-06:00

I had to find out who the people were that made the napkins from the previous post. The brilliant responsible party is Les Indiennes - their products are gorgeous. If I ever have a shop again...

Here's a peek at 2 other prints I love- the trees! The grande paisley on the couch! I love the vibe. I love cotton. I love the prints. I could live with this stuff forever. Its the perfect blend of handmade and modern....

(Images from lesindiennes.com)

Have a restful Sunday...

bonjour, etsy!

2007-03-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Big news- I have opened a shop on Etsy! It really is such a relief... they make it soooo easy.

You will likely find things that I have been talking about here appear there- think it will be fun!

Right now there are the ever-popular paper napkins and button rings. More items coming- I will keep you posted of updates.

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new obsessions!

2007-03-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Wow- I knew I loved Selvedge Magazine, but I love them even more now that they have a shop! These 3 products are my favorites. But I love these too. I want the brush just to look at- I wouldn't dare dirty it with dust or crumbs. As if.

images from selvedge.org

neat-o

2007-03-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Too cool -

check out Behind the Curtain at Kate Spade

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lovely stuff

2007-03-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

I was in a mean funk yesterday afternoon due to Mlle. Cranklee McStinkbottom. She just... I don't know. It wasn't the teething. She is just being a crank- and going from 0-60 on a dime, with no warning. Not happy in my arms, in her bouncy, in the sling, in the bjorn, playing on the floor, in her crib, reading, eating- I think she's bored with babyhood. Seriously. I don't mean this in a "My child is soooooo advanced!" way, just in a gut feeling way. She wants to sit up, stand, crawl, grab the dog's nose all by herself. She's sick of it.

I've started picking up the camera when she & I are in a funk. It cheers me up to be creative with her, and it cheers me up even more when I see one or two pictures that just go ping! Forget the 435 that I delete... the one or two fill me with pride - that this amazing creature is my daughter, that we have fun together and that she likes me! (evidence= smiles)

Above are two from yesterday. The Lovely Belly is surely lovely, isn't it? And the lineup of pals in her crib cracks me up- all have wacky-assed eyes! The Cookie Monster was her daddy's (recently given a shampoo & blow dry, no kidding, by Grandma), OX was from her Mama, and the chicken just arrived from Gramma Kc.

feeling like an artist

2007-03-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

(image from betzwhite.com)

what a relief- i am finally feeling like an artist again. or whatever i am. i owe a lot of this feeling to sketchyartists- throwing myself into a creative pursuit, hanging it out there, making connections with like-minded people- i have gotten back so much more than i would have imagined. and it is, God willing, only the beginning!

i found this neat-o wisconsinite yesterday via shelterrific. i invited her to join sketchy, but she is much wiser than me, and wrote back, "My first reaction was to right back and say YES! but now I am rethinking things. I am truly swamped. I have to say no to something and at this moment it has to be to this. I have to be realistic."

i am so appreciative of this. Appreciative of her enthusiasm, and appreciative that I got a sneak peek at a lesson I have yet to learn- how to seriously evaluate my commitments.

-wife
-mother
-daughter
-friend
-artist (for lack of a better term)
-Christian
-aspiring web mogul

Now, over the next days of my life, I will be working on what order these come in, and I imagine 6 of the 7 will regularly compete for the top spot. But the 7th will always be 7th.

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old school

2007-02-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

I just found these this a.m. in a sewing basket I haven't peeked in for a while. I started these probably 7 or 8 years ago (egads!) when I was just starting to give in to the idea that the "crafty" stuff the women in my family did might not be so lame after all. I was fresh out of design school, armed with an intimate knowledge of making furniture with really big tools that had spinning blades that could chop a whole arm off. Dainty thread and silly things made in front of the tv weren't 'real' artistic endeavors. I was the authentic one in the family, for Pete's sake!

So I dipped a toe in the this girlie crafty stuff with these little embroideries. They were supposed to be a series of the 'formula' I so despise that people have for a living room: couch, love seat, matching recliners with matching antimacassars in place, a coffee table, two end tables, a floor lamp and two table lamps. I have no idea what I though I would do with them, but they sure were fun. I definitely need to finish them.

And I sure am glad I got over my big self and started exploring what these women were doing. There is a great, tender history in what the women who raised me have made and shared.

shoes from daddy

2007-02-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

Miss Lovely received the most inspiring little shoes from her doting daddy for Valentine's Day - just had to share. I cannot wait until she is big enough to wear them!

And, lucky lady that I am... I received this treat from a most indulgent husband. Have been wearing it nonstop! (when it isn't in the washing machine because a certain Miss Lovely, a.k.a. Mlle. Cranklee McStinkbottom, keeps yarfing on it)

the whiplash - finally!

2007-02-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

It has been completed. It has been tested. It will soon be washed (since it was tested- yuck)! It was photographed.... and the verdict is... it works! My shirt is clean!

This is the Quilted Spit Up Smock I whiplashed for the February whip up- it was super fun! Here is the whole story- from sketches to completion.

Miss Lovely, my satisfied customer

Materials used: A torn, tattered, stained old flour sack towel that had just been sent to the rag stack, leftover flat cotton quilt batting, thread & pearl snaps.

Category entered: Household Waste

ReForm School? With a modified design, I'd love to do it.

What is a Quilted Spit Up Smock, you ask? It is a solution to the age-old issue of a baby wearing a bib, spitting up, and somehow defying all laws of physics, completely missing the bib and instead soaking you with watery cottage cheesey spit up. This smock is long enough to put over your shoulder when holding your babe, protecting your fine threads, and long enough to drape over the front of the Baby Bjorn (when carrying facing forward) so the babe isn't puking/staining/gnawing all over the carrier.

The smock snaps at the neck for quick on/off, and it is as long in the front as it is in the back for reversing when one side gets clobbered.

Side One
Side Two

Tatters, tears, holes & stains- in other words, the interesting parts- were cut out of the towel and pieced together. The perimeters of the holes & tears were stitched to stave off unravelling & provide a little stability, as well as to emphasize the beauty of these marks/imperfections. To me, they are an elegant record of function and utility.

Edges were also left raw; the cotton will fray at the edges through washings, and the flat cotton batting can be seen. I love that you can see exactly how the piece was constructed and what materials were used- sweet, unabashed honesty.

Detail of exposed edge & stitched tatterDetail of tatters & piecing

Detail of big tear & small hole.

Big tear was stabilized with aquick running stitch (by hand).

So there you have it! Miss Lovely didn't mind wearing it, it was convenient, it is soft, it is absorbent, it isn't so precious that I won't ever let her wear it, my shirt didn't get spit on, it was fun to make, I am proud of it, and maybe someday one of her babies will wear it. And best of all, I rescued a lovely old towel from the rag stack!

Thank you, whip up founders for starting this site & inspiring thoughful projects- you have given me pause to exercise my "real" brain in the midst of sometimes mind-numbing adventures in teething...

spit up smock, con't!

2007-02-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics from my whip up adventures last night. I've never really done anything piecey, so this was pretty fun...

First- I picked the best tattered parts of the towel to use -

Then I made sure my choc chips were close by (the only sweet thing in the house, I was jonesing), took some measurements off of other bibs that fit Mlle. Lovely pretty well, and guesstimated how long the smock should be to cover her belly and be able to drape over my shoulder.

First cut - the back of the bib. I just drew on the neck hole spot. I loved that I didn't need to worry about wrecking the fabric.

Detail of the pieces I cut & puzzled together.

I decided to pin the neck & stitch before cutting the neck hole since I was leaving seams raw anyways. Easier to handle.

Yikes, photos/light was pretty rough... at any rate, I also stitched around the tatters to stave off unravelling, as well as highlight that these imperfections were the endearing focus of the design. Kind of like birthmarks, they are beautiful...

Mlle. Lovely was asleep, so I borrowed a model from her. Bad image, sorry, but it gives an idea of the layout.

And now my big dilemma is which fastener to go with. I've ruled out using strips of the towel to make ties- too cumbersome, I think snaps would be better. I have wicked vintage snaps that were my great-grandmother's (she was a seamstress), I have been saving these for years for only the most special of the special projects... but I also have a few pearl snaps. I love the cards that Nani's snaps are on- so incredibly cool. But I think I will go with the pearl snaps- a shout out to the wild west we call home. Plus, they are stronger than the dainty snaps. And I'm thinking that I need to frame Nani's snap cards & keep them just like they are in my studio!

Hopefully I will have a picture of Mlle. Cranklee McStinkbottom modeling her new recycled kitchen towel quilted spit up smock posted this evening. Teething be damned, she's gonna model it and look adorable for her tired mama!