Paperbag Swag

Posted on January 27, 2007 by mimik

I am doing a round robin project with 5 other blogger/artists. Theresa organized it. We have a flickr group and there is a description of the project there.

I started out thinking paper collage would be fun to try. This whole thing seemed very new to me- pushing me out of what I usually do. Not a bad thing. This is how I started-

I worked and pushed and tried all sorts of stuff. This picture is midway through my process. The left side ended up as the insert-

The right side collage ended up in the trash. I worked and worked on it. I thought it was finished enough that I even glued it onto the cover. I just wasn’t happy with it though. I kept trying to add more to make it better. Finally I decided I wasn’t willing to send out something I was so dissatisfied with- it would be embarrassing! I had to remind myself- Don’t be afraid to throw something away and start over! I scraped it off and did this instead-

Much better! It’s funny how smoothly things can progress once you are moving in the right direction. Sewing and fabric was much more comfortable for me- even when combined with paper and collage. Here is the rest of it-

back cover-

other side of the insert-

the edge-

My theme was me- a self portrait. I think because that’s what I wanted to try once I got into the collage thing. I will be posting about this project every so often in the next 6 months. I’ll be mailing it off to Kirsten tomorrow.

Yippee! They’re here!

Posted on January 25, 2007 by mimik

They were finished a day early! I have listed them in my Etsy Shop. They are large note cards- 6 1/4 x 4 5/8, blank on the inside. They are printed on a linen texture paper. $12 for 6.

They come from the printer scored, but not folded. I’m going to be busy. I’ve set myself up on the dining room table- sorry family…

I’m putting them together in packs of 6- one card of each image and tying them up with a ribbon- thanks for the great suggestion, Abby! And all your encouragement.

here is a close-up where hopefully you can see the texture on the paper-

I’m really pleased with how they look, although this project was very stressful for me- so many decisions… size, paper types, borders, etc. I am sure it will be a LOT easier next time- it is that first step that’s so hard. I have to admit, I love having them to touch and look at. I’m glad I ended up having them printed locally. So now, go and order some some you can send them out to all your valentines!

some things get done

Posted on January 24, 2007 by mimik

Here is the weekly progress report on my blanket-

let’s see, I started it on 1/9 and now it is 24 inches long. That might be half way. It is very drapey and warm to work on.

Well, I got a piece into the show after all! It turns out they are being very relaxed about accepting work so I brought over my piece today.

First though, I framed it up. I was lucky that the postcard fit perfectly into an 8 x 10 standard frame. I backed the postcard with linen. As I was pulling out various lengths and scraps of possibilities, I came across a reminder of why I like working with my Mom’s fabric-

It all feels like so much family history.

I also framed up this one-

and it will be going up to New Hampshire for the Lovely Hearts Show at Artstream.

Update on the cards- I have the original postcards back from the printers and that why I could submit them to the shows. The notecards are suppose to be ready for me on Friday… they had to order the paper and various other delays. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I will put them into my etsy shop then. Does anyone have a great source of the clear sleeves for packaging them? I am a real beginner at this end of things!

scarf for Julian

Posted on January 23, 2007 by mimik

The night before leaving for Minnesota, it became clear that he didn’t have a scarf. I made him a scrappy one out of woven cashmere from my mom’s scraps.

Here, I am playing around on the floor with design and color possibilities-

I nixed that brown check and added red.

Here it is, laid out on the front porch, finished (yes, we had a little snow last night)-

a close-up of construction-

It is 7 3/4 inches wide and 6 feet 8 inches long.

I’d like to make a blanket like this some day- wouldn’t that be fantastic, a cashmere blanket?!

making myself crazy

Posted on January 22, 2007 by mimik

I finished my valentine/ heart themed postcards. I wanted to make note cards from them. I also wanted to donate one to our local Art Center February show. I ran out of time. It took longer then I expected to make the cards. The time at the printers overlapped with the deadline to enter into the show- then I was paralyzed. What do I do!? Through shear ineptness (is that a word?) I managed to miss the drop-off deadline which helped me make a decision. The cards are at the printers now and hopefully I will have sets of the 6 images in my etsy shop by the end of the week. A bit late for Valentines Day, but really I think these cards would be good any old time.

blog related stuff

Posted on January 21, 2007 by mimik

so are you seeing my new banner? So much better!

And, there is now a link in the sidebar to click on if you’d like to receive my blog postings by email. Good if you don’t use a blog reader of some sort. It works. I’ve tried it.

And on Friday I spent the morning hanging out with Abby of While She Naps. We have gotten together a few times before, but I am always amazed how great it is to see her in person, see her work and just chat about what we’re doing- sewing, blogging, etc.

I have had only wonderful experiences meeting up with fellow bloggers. It is so easy. There is not all the explaining to do… “what do you do? why would you do THAT! what is that blogging thing anyway? why would you do it? … So much of what makes meeting a new person hard/ weird/ scary for me- we’re already past that. We have connected through our blogs. I put myself out in the online world in a take it or leave it situation. If you don’t like what I’m doing, easy. Don’t come back. The people who are interested, stay. When I meet up with someone I’ve connected to through blogging, there is no need to prove that what I do is valid, interesting, art, worthwhile or anything. We have already gotten past that before we met. So, phew, one more thing I love about blogging!

Now, a question. When you click on a link in a posting, do you like a new page to open up or is that annoying? I like having a new page open up but what about you?

weather, update, projects

Posted on January 17, 2007 by mimik

We are having winter today-

It was cold in my studio, but it was cold everywhere else too, so I worked anyway.

Here is the one week update on my blanket project-

technical information – I cast on 155 stitches with worsted weight wool. I am doing only garter stitch. I am using size 10.5 plastic circular needles, 29 inches long. It is about 50 inches wide and so far about 18″ long. It weighs 1/2 pound so far. My design- knit irregular rows (ie 3 or 5 rows of each color except when I run out of yarn), 2 shades of similar colors and a dark brown stripe between. The goal- use up what I already have.

I am working on Valentines with several thoughts in mind. I am thinking of doing the cafepress cards. And several galleries I know are having small works February Valentine’s themed shows- some for charity, some not. We’ll see where I end up going. These are similar to ones I’ve done before-

and here is an idea I’ve been playing with with the robots- sweetheart robots?

starting up again

Posted on January 14, 2007 by mimik

This is my desk after I cleaned up. Yes. It is.

I know it really isn’t cleared off. It must have been for a minute or two, but then I got started on something. While I was clearing things, I kept finding little sketches that I’ve done in the past few months- things I was thinking about, but I was in the middle of something else.

Now that it is time to get back to work, there are so many possible directions to go in. Which ever one I chose will very likely lead me down a path where these other ideas get forgotten or at least delayed a lot longer. They are all calling to me! So, I freeze up. But I know it is important to do something, anything, start somewhere. Start on the thing that has a deadline of sorts. So I am making Valentine postcards and Valentine robots-

above, that is my work table. Below, the ironing board. All surfaces are covered again. In my studio, that seems to be a good thing.

Thursday in January

Posted on January 11, 2007 by mimik

Thanks so much for all the feedback on the photo loading- things seem to be working again and I am SO relieved! Now, hopefully I can spend some time making the rest of the page look and work better. I’ll be researching some of my visually favorite sites and try to figure out why I like them.

In the meantime, some pictures-

I made these 2 ornaments after Christmas and brought them down to Connecticut… where I left them. Oops. Now they are back home. My list (the one I’ve got taped to my sewing machine) includes making more of these- especially the robot and children- and making a pattern. I thought it would be an easy pattern to make and maybe not too scary… why do I find the idea so overwhelming? I don’t know… ask my son why he hasn’t written his English essay and the answer or non-answer is probably the same.

And I’ve got a knitting project started-

Yeah! Inspired by Cassi at Bella Dia and Jane at Yarnstorm and all the other beautiful blankets around the blog world, I’ve got one going. I am looking forward to having it be long enough to keep me warm while working on it… yes, it got cold again. It is soothing to work on. Sort of how I felt about coloring books when I was little. All I have to think about is color. The pattern part is so easy- just straight garter stitch until I think it is done.

and some links- Sharon has again made me think with her inspired thoughts about blogging. And, Happy 3rd Blog Birthday to her! She is an amazing resource and supporter of the community of the craft/art end of the blog world. In another post she talks about the bloggies and choosing favorite craft blogs. I’m not going there, but I find I am most attracted to the blogs that are not so wildly popular- maybe I feel more likely to be able to have a real connection with the person writing (that community thing again). If I go to a blog and see something wonderful but there is 50 comments on a post, the likelihood that I’ll add my 2 cents is very slim.

Lastly- I love the YouTube Moleskine here.

deflated balloon

Posted on January 7, 2007 by mimik

That was how I described my creative drive at the end of last January- one of the good things about blogging is the record of such things. Now I can chalk it up to a yearly cycle and feel as though I am making progress if I get back to my studio before the end of January!

Hard to believe, but I’ve been gardening- doing the fall clean-up that I never got to in the fall. It was 70 degrees outside yesterday- which is just too very strange for Boston. I guess I can’t use the too cold up in the attic excuse for not working.
A few things that the blogging world brought into my house over the Christmas season-

Shobana‘s wonderful knitting book- lots of inspiration in it. Knitting often gets me past a slump- I should start a project…

and this wonderful pin cushion from Betz White–

I love pin cushions!

I was excited to see that Forest Rogers has a new blog. Her work is amazing, the faces especially. And beautiful photography.

So I’ve got a question- is this blog working better for you, oh reader? Are the photos showing up? Is it unbearably slow? Better then before or worse? It is better on my end, but I have to admit I don’t know how badly broken it has been… I kept finding new problems over the last 6 weeks. Feedback would be very helpful.

Some things I’d like to get to this coming year-

-write up and publish at LEAST one pattern.
-make cards, probably through cafepress shop
-go back and finish the many unfinished dolls sitting around my studio- they are all untouched since I showed them here and here. For the most part, they need clothes.
-teach a class- wool dolls
-more linking, more commenting, spend less money, make more dolls, go on a real vacation, laugh more, garden more, make a new friend, worry less… I’m sure there is more but that’s all for now.

Doll

the art and craft of Mimi Kirchner