New Digs and New Items!

The past two weeks have been more than eventful. I went to Brooklyn, NY and left with all of my worldly possessions. I moved into both my new apartment and my studio space in Louisville.

My New Home!!

I started a job at the coolest hotel I have ever seen (21 C).  I also started work on some new items that I am crazy excited for.

I mentioned in my last post that the trunk show had given me some great inspiration and feedback.  Tiffany Embry had commented on how much her cat would love my tiny octopus creations if they were only filled with cat nip.  After some sourcing I've starting cranking them out.

They are filled with organic cat nip from local natural food grocer Rainbow Blossom.  Like most of my yarn creations, they are crocheted from old sweaters.  They also have eyes made of tiny jingle bells.  The dangly tentacles, jingly noises, and catnip psychedelia will be sure to make these things your cats favorite toys. I plan to grow my own catnip this spring/summer for future batches.  The fact that I have an amazing porch off my third floor apartment makes me want to get lots of gardening projects going.  I have room for quite a few planters.

A set of items I make regularly are plush dinosaur and octopi.  I recently started making a few GIANT dinos.  The FLNL & HNLY biz card is there for scale.  These cuties are HUGE!

I've also begun work on some textile wall art.  I'll share some photos as they progress.

I'll leave you with a few photos of the studio I am sharing with Joan Schulte.  

We are located at 1220 Bardstown Rd in Louisville, KY.

We are open 11-6 Tuesday-Saturday and 12-4 on Sundays.  I am around most days either in my apartment on the third floor, in my studio, or behind the front counter.  Come say hello and check out all the artwork this place has to offer.

Hitting the Road

The friday night trunk show with the Female Art Collective was a BLAST!  I sold quite a few items, got a few great ideas for new products (catnip octopus toys please!), and received a lot of positive feedback and enthusiasm from people who checked out my stuff. Here are some photos of the night.

My table sign courtesy of insanely hilarious and talented Tiffany Embry of Only Embry

I was happy to be there. Photo by Dana Rieber at Metromix Louisivller

The ladies of the Female Art Collective. Photo by Dana Rieber at Metromix Louisivller

I also scored these incredible tumblers by local potter Alex Adams.  His stuff is gorgeous.

I won't be posting for at least a week. I'm hitting the road and heading to Brooklyn, NY to get all my furniture and life belongings. I will finally make my move to Louisville official.  This means that starting Tuesday March 8th you can come visit me in person at my studio in the Highlands Art Studios.  I'll be on the second floor and will probably be sewing, bending wire, knitting and crocheting on site most days.  Come say hi! 

My public selling debut

I'm new to Louisville, KY.

Although I've been living in Kentucky on and off since last May (I can't believe it's been almost 9 months!) I have lived a life of productive isolation. I've spent the majority of my time in an old amazing farmhouse on a 140 acres of land about 40 miles east of Louisville.  

While this location has been extremely advantageous for creative output (no TV, no internet until a month ago, no easy way to run to entertainment or events) it has also left me a bit cut off from the artistic and crafting community of Louisville. It's about 80 miles roundtrip from the farm to Louisville. Heck, it's 14 miles roundtrip just to get to the grocery.

That's why I was so excited when my dear friend Lydia, who is the creative mind behind Lunar Laundry (I sew for her, check her FB page here or on my links tab), told me about the Female Art Collective.

The Female Art Collective is a group of female artists, crafters and creatives who make beautiful things and hold trunk shows, participate in local art fairs, and are just an awesome sounding group of ladies. After emailing Mary, the woman who puts everything together, I was warmly welcomed to participate in the trunk show they are hosting this friday.

Once a month Louisville has a First Friday Trolley Hop. Street trolleys take participants on a tour of downtown galleries and businesses for free!  Many local galleries and restaurants participate and offer free admission, drink/food specials, and other deals.  The trunk show I will be at is taking place at Nancy's Bagels on Frankfort Ave.  Not only is it close to Glassworks, their bagels are the best I've had outside of New York (and that's saying something)!

This will be my public selling debut.  I'm very excited and slightly nervous about the reception I will get.  I'm looking forward to having a live customer base to give me opinions and just to see what sells. It will be a great opportunity to try out the product displays I've made and see what works and looks best. I am most excited to network and meet the other women who will be participating.  I have a lot to learn and I can't wait to pick some of their brains.  

If you live in or around Louisville feel free to swing by.  There will be free wine and snacks and lots of beautiful, locally made art.

Etsy store open for Business

It has been a week of sewing for other people. I put up a craigslist ad in hopes of getting a few small sewing jobs and got several responses. I sometimes forget that my sewing skills are a money making commodity. It's been fun making everything from crib skirts, to flags for this rad inventor, to sewing labels in shirts for a local clothing line.  I'm going to NYC the first week of March to get the rest of my furniture and belongings for my legit move to Louisville, and all this extra cash is going to help me pay for that moving trip.

I've also been hard at work photographing my wares for submissions to some regional craft shows as well as my new and improved ETSY STORE!

Finally!  My new etsy store is finally up and ready for orders.  I had forgotten how long it takes to post items well.  But now the hard part is done and I can share it with everyone all over the globe.  Maybe I can get an order from Helsinki or Dublin or Taiwan.  A girl can dream can't she?

You can get to my shop from both the "Online shop" tab at the top of the page as well as the rad looking widget on the right.  Or you can also just follow this link.  Happy shopping!
FLNL & HNLY at Etsy

Things Made From Old Sweaters: Super Bowl Edition

I have a shameful confession to make. Family members and Wisconsin friends please either brace yourselves or turn away.

I don't care about the Green Bay Packers.

Let the cries of "BLASPHEMY!" ring.

I was born and raised in the land of cheese heads where you exit the womb wearing green and gold. Upon birth parents sign their children up for the season ticket waiting list, which currently has a 30 year wait! In Wisconsin it is a regular interior decorating choice to have an entire room of your house dedicated to the Pack. I personally know more than one family who has done so.

(photo courtesy of TribLocal.  See the full article it's from here.)

The fervor of Packers fans is unrivaled in the NFL. This may be partially credited to the fact that the Packers are the only community owned sports franchise in all of American professional sports. When a fan says, "the Pack are MY team," they aren't kidding. This obsession with a football team is something that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Go to a Packers bar in any city away from Wisconsin (or just any bar IN Wisconsin) on game day and you'll see what I mean. These people are insane! I say this in the most loving way possible.

Seeing as the team of my birth right has made it to the super bowl this year, I figured I should do a football friendly post. No matter your team preference, beverages will be consumed on game day. So lets all go drink some beer with the help of my new creations!

One of my goals for FLNL & HNLY is to be as eco friendly/green as possible. I've been trying to find all sorts of fun ways to upcycle. Lately I have been liberating hideous sweaters from their purgatory of Goodwill and charity shops to give them life in the form of stuffed animals (I'll talk about them in another post) and the subject of today's post: coozies.

*I start by taking the sweater apart by the seams creating flat pieces.  

*I then crochet the yarn as I unravel the sweater. 

*Next I trace one of the stencils I've made on felt and carefully cut it out.

*I then apply some glue to the felt piece and position it on the coozie. I hold it under a few heavy books until it is dry. This keeps it in place for when I stitch it.

*My last step is carefully putting it under the sewing machine and stitching the felt in place.

I'm pretty excited about how darn cute these dudes came out. They are all made out of 100% cotton and are machine washable for those times you jump out of your seat screaming to celebrate a touchdown and spill all over your sorry self. They also stretch so they fit snugly over a variety of things from cans to bottles to those to-go coffee cups. I've even stretched one over a pint glass.  

I'll hopefully have my new etsy store up and running soon. These guys will be on sale along with several others not pictured. 

I would love suggestions on other creatures and images you'd like to see on these. What kind of thing would you most like on a drink coozie? 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone. Even though I won't be watching the game I hope the Packers beat the crap out of the Steelers.

And So It Begins

A blog you say?! A forum in which to capture thoughts, ideas, and projects likely to be deemed uninteresting by most people except my mother?

Well it's happened folks. Something I thought I'd never do. I'm blogging. Right now. For reals.  

Why the change of heart?  

Well it all started when I found myself deciding to fully relocate my life from Brooklyn, NY to Louisville, KY. What began as a rock 'n' roll summer camp recording an album with my late band The Dead River Company, turned into a love affair with the landscape, the people and the thriving artistic community of Louisville. It also didn't hurt that I found the love of my life and that his mother just so happens to be an amazing local artist who has opened the door to countless opportunities for me. You should seriously check out her work.

I've always made stuff. From the time I was a girl of five years old in Wisconsin making clothing for my stuffed animals, I've never felt truly happy unless in the process of creating something. I was fortunate enough to have spent the last three years of my life earning a paycheck creating costumes for Broadway and film in the Big Apple, but I was subconsciously over stressed and creatively stifled. Being back in Middle America has brought not only a calm sense of well being, but a wave of creative inspiration I never knew I had.  

I'm hoping to use this blog as a place to share my new ideas and creations. I want to share things that inspire me and learn what inspires you. I want to make a contribution to the thriving DIY and crafting community that has exploded these past few years.  

So stick around a while.  Maybe we can learn something from one another.