Category Archives: General

to minnesota and back

Posted on by

So much going on!

We’ve been to Minnesota and are back. Another child graduated from college. I think we are getting pretty good at this!

Let me see- so much to report. An article/interview about me was published in my local weekly paper and is online here. The article happened because of the firemen with dolls photo that my husband forwarded to the local paper.

I had a wonderful blogger meet-up in Minneapolis and I am sending a HUGE thank you to Kristin! Firstly, although I brought my camera, I forgot to take any photos- typical. She did not forget and did this lovely post. She hosted 4 of us for a delicious lunch and we talked craft and internet and blogging and kids and thrifting and … yes, on and on. There was Erika, Susan (and her post on the day) and Susan’s daughter Hannah who has a blog but I didn’t catch the name. Then, after the party broke up, Kristin showed me her school and drove me around to meet back up with my family. Terrific!

Then, lots of graduation festivities. I’m not really sure how much Julian wants to be outed so I’ll just show a piece of him-

Hurray! Or, as he would say, Huzzah.

Sunday was spent doing some Minneapolis things- a farmers market, the Walker, the sculpture park, the downtown library, an Eleanor conducted tour of the Guthrie and a lot of just walking around.

I am exhausted now but tomorrow it is back to work- only 2 1/2 weeks until Renegade!

renegade and doll club

Posted on by

Hurray! I found out that I will be going to Renegade Brooklyn. See you there in June!

Yesterday was my doll club meeting- topic, making doll hats. Lots of ideas, styles, examples.

Two people showed up with dolls made from my patterns- so neat!

Lois made Purl girl-

And Pat made 2 fish-

Obviously I should have spent a minute taking one good photo, but I did not. So, here are 2 bad photos and maybe you’ll get the idea.

meet-up, portland, etc.

Posted on by

The next crafty meet-up is this Wednesday, March 10 in Davis Sq. in Somerville (MA). 10 am. Other meet-up reports.

Ben and I drove up to Portland to pick up Peter for Spring break, see his new dorm room, have a great lunch, walk around on a beautiful day. There are some wonderful signs around the town.

I’ve got a lot of things on my mind and am in a bit of a funk. We are having beautiful weather though and that means I can spend some time in the garden doing the clean up that I never had time for last fall. Spending time in the sun at the end of winter is therapeutic.

I am trying to schedule another class for the end of April. Tiny World or Fresh Fish? At my house or a roomier venue? Any thoughts?

buttons

Posted on by

buttons

We had an afternoon of buttons at doll club yesterday. I learned so much! One thing I learned was about old celluloid button and how they deteriorate and damage other buttons in their vicinity. I saw examples of what a deteriorating button looks like. I came home and went through all my buttons again. I have now separated out the bad buttons and will decide if I can bring myself to just throw them away. An afternoon of button talk couldn’t have come at a better time for me- since I’d just organized all of mine.

Thanks for all the advise about having my quilt done- I stopped at a local quilt shop yesterday and got the names of several people to call. I’m excited about it!

I actually spent a little time on a doll today. I want to finish my December, before changing to Christmas present mode, dolls. There are a few cut out and even 3 that are stuffed and ready to finish. It would be so easy to leave them and get started on something new but then they haunt me. I know I will feel better if I finish them up.

*Update* photos of those BAD buttons–

the celluloids-

buttons1

I hope this is clear enough. I will also post them to flickr, where you can look at them very big. Do you see all the little cracks? They get bigger and bigger and then the buttons crumble.

the metals-

buttons2

Funny thing is, I was looking for this kind of green corrosion when I was making this robot.

I understand that both of these types of deterioration are “contagious” and affected buttons should be removed from the rest of your collection.

January love

Posted on by

buttons

I am coming to love January. Consciously. In the same way that many people loved September when they were kids. It is the beginning of new things, a time to contemplate the hopes for the year ahead, think about the year past. For me it is also a time to clean up the mess in my studio from the (minimum) 6 weeks of madness that always seems to precede Christmas.

I am sorting through piles, putting things in their places or finding a new place for them. This involves collecting all the pattern pieces that seem to be scattered everywhere and getting them back into their folder and file drawer. Sorting through fabric that is everywhere into- too small to keep, the right size for applique decorations, big enough to cut a doll part out of. Also the very important”what-was-I-thinking, I’ve-got-to-get rid-of-this” pile and the”how-could-I-have-forgotten-this-treasure” pile. Putting the various threads back into their drawers- embroidery floss, sewing machine threads, embroidery wools. It so inspiring to go through and touch all my materials.

buttons2

I have been working on the buttons. When I moved my studio, I knew I had a button problem. They were everywhere and what happened was there were the buttons I used and the buttons I’d forgotten about. I have buttons from my mom, from friends, from Yard Sales, from all the clothes I disassemble. Way too many. It has been fun and relaxing to sort through them all. My goal is to end up with one drawer. Everything together. I now have a big bag of buttons that need a new home. As I sort through the buttons, I keep asking myself, would I ever use this? On Anything? The good ones engender visions of dolls with coats and sweaters, earrings, shoes, hats. And there are the good ones that I  love just for their color, design or how they feel in my hand. You see why I am having so much fun?

I am also refolding all the cotton fabrics that somehow spilled out of their bins during December. It makes me wish I had twice as many hours in my day to work with all these beautiful colors, patterns, and memories.

cottons

btw- I was never one of those kids that loved September. There might have been a day or two at the beginning of each school year when I hoped that some magic would make the year a good one. It never happened and I grew up and discovered that life isn’t school- Thank God! Label that as confessions of a creative, ADD, artistic, school failure.

and now- 2010!

Posted on by

I’m going to write some goals for 2010. Not “resolutions” which somehow seem about personal discipline, but more like hopes. I skipped doing a list of goals last January and find that I am disappointed- it is fun to reread what was on my mind a year ago.

room

Yeah, well… Every year at this time, I have the same goal. Get my studio back into work mode. Right now, bits of every Christmas project I worked on litter the studio. Not to mention bits of all the other work I did in November and December. Now is the time to find the floor again!

And, realistically, I need to start with a resolution after all. I promised Peter a quilt, on his birthday, last April. Got to get working on that.

Onto the goals!

-Write up more patterns to sell. Give more away- free tutorials and patterns. Or maybe just more giveaways.

-that ties in to improving my comfort level with Photoshop and InDesign.

-Get rid of stuff- I’ve been saying that since we cleared out my parents’ house 5 years ago now? Here is an example of the kind of thing I really should just throw away, but…

legs

I mean, how funny are they? Just the legs! These are from the edges of my Spoonflower fabric. Ideas anyone?

-Open a new Etsy shop to help with the clear out- supplies and vintage stuff.

-teach more classes. I’d love to do some travel teaching but am not so sure how to make that happen. For now, the dining room table teaching is working very well for me.

-do a major blog redesign. I have been thinking about that for a LONG time, but it is one of those things that is very easy to put off.

-get to a place where my studio feels like home again. That includes getting things more organized, going through the unopened boxes, finishing hanging art up. I want to do a photo/video open studio.

-And my biggest goal- Spend more real life social time with people who are trying to figure out this art/craft/internet business and life thing. Start a coffee shop meet-up to make that happen. I am so tired of trying to talk to people who have never heard of Etsy or read a blog. Too much explaining and no communicating- you know what I mean?

I might add some more to this list in the next few days. I am getting excited about this new year.

I bought myself one little present this Holiday season. A wise little owl to watch over my desk. I found him at Crystal‘s booth at the Bazaar Bizarre in December. I absolutely could not walk away from the table without him- it was funny really. I love him- Thanks, Crystal!

owl

HooT!  Happy New Year Everybody!

planning what comes next

Posted on by

Here is a horrible photo of my booth in the midst of setting up-

booth

The show was wonderful. The South End is always fun- knowledgeable customers, incredibly nice fellow vendors. As always, I met great people and came home exhausted but also inspired. And, I have 9 fewer dolls then on Friday morning when I started packing up (sold at the market and on Etsy).

Today was spent unpacking the car, listing dolls on Etsy, packing and shipping, storing my show supplies, making a small dent in the mess I’d made preparing last week. I need to get to work on my Christmas presents. First I have to clear a path through the mess in the studio though. And bake some cookies. And finish a few more dolls that never quite got done for the show. Tomorrow I will start on all that.

More planning- another Tiny World class. I’ve had several requests. Anyone interested? We could do it the last Saturday of January (1/30) or the last Saturday of February (2/27). If I get at least 4 people interested in one or both, I will write it on my calendar.  Details about the class here.

Lastly, today is my Mom’s birthday. She is 93- amazing. I have been thinking of her all day. There is nothing much I can do to celebrate- she is not local to me and she no longer knows who I am so no phone call.

Thanks!

Posted on by

Thanks to everyone who jumped in on my Halloween sale! It was great fun and got me feeling excited about starting into the Holiday season.

And here are some strange postcards for this November 1, All Saints Day-

dod

I found them in a desk drawer when I was clearing stuff out of my parents’ house. I think my Dad probably bought these postcards in Mexico, in the early 60’s.

And one more thing-  here is a link to a bat graph- obviously I should have put that up yesterday!

etsy update and vintage fabrics

Posted on by

I am going to be listing the three tattooed ladies on Etsy around 3pm (ET) this afternoon. Yesterday I cut out 6 more. I’m having fun with these ladies!

I didn’t want to post just that announcement- so boring and no pictures. So here are some photos of a few favorite vintage fabrics in my collection- I know, I probably should have ironed them…

fabric1

What is that cloth called with the texture of little squares? Waffle weave? This (above) is a remnant with a small amount of this very cute border and a lot more of the square dots.

Below is a silky fabric- maybe rayon? I’ve never tried testing it. It is an unfinished dress as far as I can tell. From someones wip pile.

fabric2

And this little piece is a real favorite- I keep it hanging in my studio. I can imagine a tablecloth, but much more fun would be a little girls’ puffy skirt.

fabric3

I hope to post more fabric photos, every once in a while. I’ve got some great ones! They have come to me from 3 places- my mom’s stash, my doll club, and from a friend who bought a house that had an attic full of a former seamstress’s collection. She had a sale where you could fill a bag for $10. So many treasures!

October plans

Posted on by

BH2-1

I will be at the South End Open Market on October 18 with my pals of Boston Handmade.

On Oct. 17, I am doing a Tiny World class- yes, there is still space available- info here.

I am working on a new pattern-

kitty

Kitties! I am working on a pattern for this kitty that will include clothes to make it either a girl or boy kitty. I find this pattern writing thing to be very difficult, in case you are hearing some screams coming from my window.

kittyface

Here are some of the original kitties I made.