Doll

Today (5/7) is the last day to vote on the Softies Awards… although if you haven’t already, by the time you read this it will probably be too late.

I am back at work-

a group (choir? gaggle? giggle? luncheon?) of big ladies in pastels.

I have been reflecting on how the internet and blogging community has become such a good part of my life.  In one week I met Ariana of Staindrop (Sunday) who gave me a fantastic walking tour of Portland. Then Sister Diane of Craftypod (Monday) for talk, coffee and recommendations for great places to visit in Portland.  Tuesday was spent visiting those places.

On Friday, back home, I spent the morning with Abby of While She Naps.  We  discussed all the favorite topics- kids, marketing on line, our blogs, other favorite blogs, the state of Art and art and the world.  Wonderful!  But not only that- we went out for a walk and stopped in a fantastic coffee/tea shop-  Look at this!

We split one of these-

Thanks Abby!

Sunday was a party to celebrate a little more then one year since Boston Handmade began.  It is my Etsy marketing and friends group.

Wow!  What a week!  And so many people look at me like I am some kind of nut when I say I blog, sell online, post on Flickr…  they just don’t know what they’re missing.

Remember this fellow?

He is tickled pink (groan) to be a finalist in the 2nd Annual Softie Awards in the category of Pink or Plaid.  I hope you will take a minute and go vote for your favorites!

Here is my original post with lots more photos.  Thanks for your support!

I’m having a fantastic time here in Portland!  I REALLY have to get out of my studio more often, eh?!

First, an amazing hotel-  Hotel Monaco.  Thanks Ben and Priceline…

We got into town around noon on Sunday.  That’s noon, west coast time- we had been up and traveling for 10 hours by that time.  Ariana, of Staindrop, met us at the hotel and gave us a wonderful walking tour of downtown Portland.  The  weather was perfect.  We got to spend several hours talking about art, craft, blogging, etc.

Monday morning was our tour of PNCA.  I have loved going on these Art School tours!  On Monday afternoon, I met Diane of CraftyPod.  I have to say that getting a chance to meet her was high on my list of why I wanted to come to Portland with my son!  I enjoyed talking to her so much when she interviewed me last fall.  Getting a chance to spend a few more hours with her was amazing.  She found my blog originally because of my tikis.  I wanted to make her a little gift and on Saturday, before I left, I got a flash of the perfect present-

a tiki pincushion!  As you can see, she liked it   There is nothing so satisfying as figuring out the right gift!  She gave me a list of great suggestions of crafty places to go and things to see- Thanks so much Diane!

The weather was beautiful and clear, so Pete and I decided to go to dinner at a restaurant described as a place for tourist- I said, Heh!  We’re tourists!  It was a wonderful way to see the city and surrounding area-

Today (Tuesday) I spent the day checking out craft wonderfulness and Pete did his thing.  First stop for me was the Knitten Kitten (a Diane recommendation).

How amazing is a craft supply thrift store?!  I left there with a bag full of goodies.  Then back into town to the Museum of Contemporary Craft.  Next stop- The Playful Needle.  And last, when I was worried that my feet were going to give out on me, The Button Emporium.

That place was heaven… well, actually I think Portland is an embroiderer’s paradise- I have never seen anything like the stores full of beautiful threads and embellishments that I’ve seen here.  Swoon!

Okay, so here was what was in my bag at the end of the day-

from the Knitten Kitten-

and everywhere else-

Tomorrow we go back home.  My stay has been a delight!

another trip, another bag!

I even added one of my printed patches to the pocket.  This bag is to put my computer and my other bag into.  Last trip, I didn’t take the computer and my regular bag isn’t big enough to hold it comfortably.  I am not going to leave it home this time though… I really missed it when I went to London.

The fabric was given to me by my niece, an interior architect.  Thanks Laurel!  I absolutely love it!

So, now that the update is finished and I can stop stressing about that, I’ve moved on to stressing about my trip to Portland, Oregon.  Not too much really- it is just that it is such a long travel time.  I am trying to figure out books and projects to bring.  I am hoping to meet up with some fellow artist/crafters … if you are interested, email me or leave a comment.

My son and I will be in Portland, Oregon for a few days- arriving mid-day Sunday 4/27 and leaving again on Wednesday, 4/30.  I know, very short visit, very long plane ride.  We will be visiting PNCA and I would love to meet up with some friendly folks out there. Leave a comment or email me at mimik(at)pobox(dot)com, and we can make some plans!   Otherwise, recommendations for totally amazing, not to be missed, fun places to go, eat, shop, etc. would also be appreciated.

these photos are for the family who know where this is-

That’s the roof of the gazebo.   And the island is back to the way it was when I first saw it.  I wonder if the beavers are still in the lodge on the right.

Pieces of the gazebo are now part of the beaver dam-

On the other side of the street, the water is really low-

Lots of water coming through the culvert though- we were surprised the beavers weren’t working on the dam.  We didn’t see any sign of freshly cut wood.

My new bag is done- another messenger/ schoolbag design. The last one I made was looking very worn out indeed. This is a very similar design. The changes- slightly bigger, longer and adjustable strap, slightly different pocket configuration, button closures.

I took these photos with the bag empty. The front-

You can see that I found my left-over pieces from the first bag and have used them up. With the flap up- 2 layers of pockets in the front.

The back- more of the old fabric. A large slip-in pocket in the back.

It is a real mish-mash of colors and fabrics. The purple on the inside is a home decorating fabric sample. The brown is cotton twill from a pair of pants. I recycled the hardware from an old schoolbag.

I’ve put my stuff into it. It seems so roomy now … but that won’t last long, I’m sure.

Onto other news. First- Happy Valentines Day everyone! And Happy 4th blog birthday to me! That was yesterday actually. I am constantly amazed at the wonderfulness of the internet. I am looking forward to another great year!

I AM going to London- the tickets are purchased and the hotel is booked. I am tagging along on a business trip. If anyone wants to meet up, I will be there from Wednesday through Sunday. I can bring freezer paper as a bribe!

The trip has meant a bit of reshuffling of schedules and as a result, on Tuesday, my son and I drove up to Portland, Maine. We went to visit the Maine College of Art. I love visiting these art schools. It is so much fun to see what is being created, all the tools and equipment, the amazing studios. And it surprises me that mostly I have no desire to go there anymore- I have so much in my head that going back to school would be a huge distraction… even if it would be fun to play with the toys- hee hee! It was fun to see Portland too. It is only 2 hours away but I have never been there before. They seem to have an exciting, thriving art scene. I think it would be a great place to go to Art School. We will see.

On the drive up, an entire thermos of coffee managed to leak out into the bag with my computer. Of course I spent the whole visit with a niggling worry that I had fried my computer. I brought it home for Ben to look at. Not too terribly bad. Now, two days later, I have an odd splotchy pattern on the left side of my screen- not so awful, except when I am trying to look at photos… which is, of course, what I do a lot of.  Hmm.  Maybe we will take it to the MacHospital while we are away…

You might have noticed that I added some new categories last month. One of them is “my art history“. I figured that it would give me a place to show how little has changed over the years!

When the studio building where I worked burned down in 1999, it took me a while to realize that one of the biggest loses would be my sketchbooks- years of them. I have been thinking about the recurring themes in my artwork. If I post examples of the artwork with those themes, it is a way of remembering what was in those sketchbooks. And as I try to make some kind of order in my studio these days, I keep finding examples.

I figured this needed to be posted today, since I finished up another tiki yesterday.

1972, I think. Carved out of a scrap end of a 2 x 4. In an early 70’s definition of feminism, my 2 friends and I signed up to take wood shop in my senior year in High School. We were the groundbreakers- the first girls through the door. This was a little project I did then.
Combine embroidery, a Spirograph, a 14 year old and some really ugly color combinations-

It is 3″ x 3″. I did this the same year as my sampler. I have no memory of how I transfered the image onto the fabric, but I see on the back that I wasn’t happy with my first try.

and some other stuff- Last Saturday, I broke down and got myself a subscription to Embroidery. I was so excited when I got an envelope in the mail today- 2 magazines- yippee! And another thing- I am having problems with my comments and email. I am not getting emails when someone comments so I have to go check things out regularly and when I email back, it might look a little odd. It all has to do with over-zealous spam filters or something… arg!

pictures out the train window-

1/14- leaving Boston

and into Connecticut-

to New Haven- where there was very little snow.

and then it was too dark for photos.

I will start with the most fun thing- On Tuesday afternoon, I visited the Etsy Lab- it was great! I was very unsure about the whole expedition, wondering if it was going to be totally weird, but everyone was very nice and welcoming. I guess what I should have done was to take photos of me with all the people that work there… but I didn’t. Instead-

this is what greets you when you come in the door-

A wall of artwork from Etsy people. I left an atc to add to the wall.

Outside the offices, there is a giant poster with everyones avatar… I couldn’t find mine and I did look for a while!

Other stuff I did- I went to the Museum of Art and Design and saw Pricked, Extreme Embroidery. There were a few pieces that stuck with me- one by Paul Villinski of wings made of gloves. Another by Shizuko Kimura that was sketches done with thread. Also, Andrea Dezso. I have a hard time getting past the fact that this used to be the American Craft Museum and they felt they had to change their name. Please!

Across the street is the American Folk Art Museum- I love that place! They have a permanent collection that I always enjoy. When I visit, I feel like I am seeing old friends. They are having a show that included some amazing papercuts. I’ve been seeing a lot of papercuts in the greater internet world and was primed to really enjoy what was on display.

On Wednesday I went to the Metropolitan Museum- which is totally overwhelmingly huge. I did find the costume show I was looking for, but I think I had to ask 5 different people and it took 20 minutes to get there from when I started out. Wow.

Also, lots of walking, people watching, window shopping, fun, fun fun. Oh, such tired feet!

And then home. This is Penn Station, as we were leaving-

and out the window of the train again-

And home again, very late. I think I’ve been catching up on the computer ever since!

I’ll be in New York City next week.  Any ideas for meet-ups or shows I shouldn’t miss?  I haven’t been paying attention and now I am only remembering interesting shows that are over.

I got some treasure yesterday-  lucky me!  Now for the picking over and sorting fun.

I have put some stuff into my Etsy shop.  Some of it is artwork that came back from Craftland.  Other things are of the -clearing out for the new year- category.  Those include felted ball pincushions and also bug pins.  I’m not finished posting yet… hopefully the bug pins will go up later today.