Summer Colour Week

Poppytalk is hosting Summer Colours Week on her blog.

Here's the plan: Everyday we have a new colour (theme) where everyone will upload to their photo's to their blogs/flickr, etc. Join in and then upload to the Summer Colour Week flickr group. Each evening we'll post favourites from the uploads of the day here on the blog. Below find the colour schedule. You'll find more instructions at the flickr group discussions section. We hope you'll join us, it'll be fun!

June 28 - Monday: Pink
June 29 - Tuesday: Yellow
June 30 - Wednesday: Green
July 01 - Thursday: Red & White (Canada Day)!
July 02 - Friday: Blue

There are already TONS of lovely, colourful photos up on the Flickr pool, and also check out Poppytalk's picks for Monday/Pink here and here plus some Tuesday/Yellow pics.

Learn more about the project on Poppytalk's blog, then submit some photos to the Flickr pool!

Here's how I see the world today, through yellow-coloured glasses....

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Sweet Feet!

It doesn't beat the real thing, but if you're impatient (like me) to get your paper copy, you can flip through sample pages from Issue 6 of Uppercase magazine online. It looks choco-block FULL of interesting and inspiring articles!

I'm ALSO excited (again! ...or rather, still!) cause not only are my feet in the magazine, so are my sweetie's! We're the couple with our feet in the water, standing on pebbles. He took that pic on the way back from a fabulous road trip to the Okanagan last summer.

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Donna Wilson

I have just two words for these pillows by Donna Wilson: FUN and FABULOUS.

Donna Wilson makes a ton of cute things including blankets, ceramics, and softies (Charlie the tall monkey and Cyril the squirrel fox are great!) and more.

She also recently created a maze using thousands of strands of yarn! Now that's a place I'd happily get lost in.

(via Shayo)

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My Feet... in Uppercase Magazine!

SO EXCITED!

Uppercase magazine just posted some sneak peek photos of Issue #6... which includes my photo! And my feet! And my shoes!

That's me (and my shoes) on the first page of the article.

Photo by Uppercase

Photo by Uppercase

Uppercase put out a call for submissions for "shoegazing" photos... and mine made it into print! I cannot wait to get my hands (and feet?) on a copy!

It should arrive just around the same time as the new yellow shoes that I ordered! Sweet!

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Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is

Scoutie Girl recently posted a concise but thoughtful piece that definitely strikes a chord with me.

She writes about our society's disposable culture, and how the choices you make, even (or especially?) as a consumer, not only reflect your values, but contribute to community, culture and self.

Deciding we’re going to commit to spending money on an art class or music lesson, a vine-ripened tomato picked from the farm in the next town over, a professional to service our business, or a piece of handmade clothing is not so much a commitment of money, it’s a commitment to yourself and to the rebuilding of our culture. It’s choice to consume something of real value that nurtures others as much as it nurtures you.

Imagine if everyone operated this way... Imagine the positive effect that would have on artists, crafters, local businesses, farmer's markets.. Also imagine the impact on the environment from buying fewer disposable goods that use up energy and resources, just to end up landfill... Of course there's always the balance (or juggling) of income versus spending, but I think if this kind of thought-process became commonplace in our society at large could make a huge impact in many areas.

Read the whole post on ScoutieGirl.com.

Also worth a read -- and some thought! -- is her piece on "mindful spending":

Mindful spending is a way of treating yourself, your community, and your money with respect.

Mindful spending begs you to consider each dollar you spend an extension of your personal values, creating an individual economy that centers on what you love and not what society tells you you have to have. It means choosing not to spend money at all sometimes, choosing to spend more on high-quality, well-crafted items that support your community, and choosing to spend less on items that commercialism has put an unnecessary price tag on.

 Read the more here -- also with links to other related posts.

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Craft Rock Friday with Lenka

This week's Craft Rock Friday is a 2-for-1, as Lenka has a bunch of crafty stuff goin' on in her music... Here are a couple of her videos that use collage, paper cutting, drawing and painting...

"The Show"




"Trouble is a Friend"

Lenka's album artwork also has a nice crafty style to it - as do her site and MySpace.

(Thanks for the link, Alexandra!)

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A Dash of Cuteness

This felt flower brooch looks oh so happy and summery. The petal structure of dahlias really is goregeous.

Check out the tutorial on Holidash to make your own. Looks like a little patience is required. And some decent glue (to aid with the patience thing).

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StudioShop: Open Studio Sale at the Mergatroid

I'm looking forward to the the open studio sale at the Mergatroid this weekend!

StudioShop
Saturday June 26th and Sunday June 27th
11 to 6pm 5pm

Mergatroid Building, 975 Vernon Drive, Vancouver

Featuring work by a collective of artists in the Mergatroid Building who include, Su Foster, Eikam, Laura McKibbon (Cul de Sac Design), HeyDay Design, Dahlhaus, Braden Hammond, Bronsino, and on Sunday only, Karin Jones.

UPDATE: A couple of revisions to the above info, thanks to Dahlhaus: "Our time for the studio shop will be from 11-5 (instead of 6). And unfortunately Braden Hammond won't be able to open his studio doors this weekend as he was planning on. The rest of us will be there so if you are in Vancouver, please do come by for a glass of wine and some nibblies while you shop in our studios."

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Loving the Wheel

I just finished a ten-week pottery course at my local community centre. I'll write more about it later, but for now I just wanted to say that I love it.

LOVE it.

I'm picking up a whole pile of glazed stuff, fresh from the kiln, on Saturday, but in the meantime, here are a couple of my bowls... Filled with a delicious snack of mangoes, yogurt, granola and honey. Mmm...

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Quilting on my Mind...

The inaugural meeting of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild was last night. It was a good event, with a lot of energy in the room. Not to mention a lot of people - I think the headcount was 43!

The show-and-tell portion of the meeting was really interesting - there were so many different quilts on display - all with different approaches, patterns and colour-stories - made by a range of quilters from veterans to total newbies. The crowd was super supportive and excited - I loved the communal 'oooohs' and 'aaaahs' when the quilts were held up!

It's definitely nudging me to start on one of the quilt ideas I've been thinking about in the past little while... I have 2 that are on the must-sew list - and after last night, I now have an idea for yet another quilting project...

Which reminds me: I never posted photos of the last quilt I made. I made this quilt just before my nephew was born... and he's about 15 months old now. Better late than never! :)

I wanted to use a palette of modified primary colours - something bright and fun - rather than whites or pastels often found in baby quilts. They have a chihuahua (Hello, Nacho!) so I knew I wanted to use this awesome puppy fabric. Love the teacup chihuahua detail!

UPDATE: Great photos from the meeting here and here!

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Craft Rock Friday with Breakbot

Get your funk on, it's Craft Rock Friday!

This fun, trippy, watercoloury video was created for the song, "Baby I'm Yours" by the French band Breakbot.



Directed and handmade by Irina Daveka at Wizz Studio, the video is composed of approximately 2,000 watercolors painting placed one after another.

A perfect  way to kick off summer.

(via Black Eiffel)

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Making a Quilt from Photos

Here's a fun project from the fabulous Victoria & Albert Museum in London.... V&A's Patchwork Pattern Maker.

Just upload a photo and the Patchwork Pattern Maker will create a custom quilt pattern for you! You can even use images from the V&A's collections, which is pretty awesome.

The results can end up quite abstract or detailed, depending on the image you choose, plus how many squares and colours you want to use. Check out the gallery to see what patterns people have already created - at least virtually. It would be interesting to see some of the finished, fabric results!


If you're looking for a comparable program to make knitting patterns from photos, have a look at MicroRevolt's KnitPro application for creating custom intarsia patterns for knitting.

(via the ReadyMade blog)

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Sewing in the News

Top Stories: controversial bike lanes, Obama on the oil disaster, and... sewing!

Nice coverage from Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge on the CBC News...

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Miranda July's "Eleven Heavy Things"

"We’re just hugging for the picture.
When we’re done I’ll walk away quickly.
It's almost over."

I'm loving Miranda July's new art installation in NYC's Union Square.

The collection is called "Eleven Heavy Things" and consists of empty pedestals with just a few handwritten words. Alone they don't make much sense, but once they draw people in, it's a whole other story. The pieces invite you to interact with them - standing on top or sticking your head or a limb into a hole or nook - and then they really come to life.

Like a lot of her other works, these pieces are a balance between humour and something a little more serious and melancholy.

"What I look like when I'm lying."

You can see a lot more photos that people have posted on Flickr tagged with "Eleven Heavy Things".

Read more about "Eleven Heavy Things" on Flavorwire and an interview with Miranda July about the project on ArtInfo.

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Low Tide

Vancouver textile artist Kirsten Chursinoff has a new exhibit opening this week. If you've ever walked along the beach at low tide, and crouched over a small pool to see what's living there, you're going to enjoy this show...

Entitled 'Low Tide', this collection is inspired by the amazing creatures living along the shores of British Columbia: anemones, birds, starfish, and more.

Low Tide

The exhibit celebrates the details of tide pools and treasures of beach combing with the traditional and contemporary techniques of embroidery and quilting. By layering and combining materials such as cotton, silk and wool, the artist uses the natural texture and unique surfaces of thread and cloth to their full potential.

The opening reception of 'Low Tide' is on Thursday, June 17, 6-8pm at the Craft Council Gallery Crafthouse at 1386 Cartwright Street on Granville Island, Vancouver. Kirsten's also giving an artist talk on Tuesday, June 22, 7pm (RSVP to kirsten at chursinoff dotcom).

Keep up with Kirsten's work on her blog and flickr.

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Cary Grant Knits

From the movie, Mr Lucky.

(via Kim Werker)

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The World Cup... with Crayons!

Soccer fans, get ready to freak out, just a little.

Look at these amazing sculptures of soccer players.... made from crayons!

The pieces were created by artist Diem Chau - who you may know for her lovely work combining ceramics and embroidery.

She carved a whopping 66 crayons for this year's Nike World Cup press kits, on a commission from Wieden + Kennedy - the same ad agency that created this year's epic Nike World Cup ad.

Each kit contains 6 crayon sculptures of soccer players: Fabio Cannavaro in Antique Brass, Didier Drogba in Copper, Franck Ribery in Gold, Robinho in Silver, Cristiano Ronaldo in White, and Wanye Rooney in a colour called Timberwolf.

Check out more photos of the sculptures on Diem Chau's blog, The Pleasure of Tiny Things. (She also does supercute crayon sculptures that don't involve soccer!)

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Call for Submissions: Unexpected Embroidery

Do you create unusual embroidery?

Leanne Prain, who co-authored the subversive knitting book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, is turning her attention from yarn to floss.

Her new book, Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, is due out in Fall 2011, and Leanne is looking for needlework designers to contribute projects.

Do you design unusual or unexpected pieces of needlepoint? If so, you should design a pattern for Hoopla, The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, to be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in fall 2011.

Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery rebels against the traditional notions of quaint embroidery with motifs of flowers and songbirds. The book will feature unusual stitch work on a variety of surfaces and textures. With off-beat patterns including subway maps, feminist Girl Guide badges, and metal band letterforms; Hoopla will demonstrate that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles that they work with. If you describe your stitch-work as arresting, subversive, quirky, or conceptual, Hoopla should feature your design work.

To find out more about how to submit a project, visit UnexpectedEmbroidery.com. Go quick though, as the deadline for submission ideas is June 15th, 2010.

On a related note, the Drawing in Thread exhibit at Mount Ida College in Massachusetts looks awesome. You can see some photos of the show here and here.

Pictured here are Bren Ahearn's Sampler No.5 and Andrea Dezso's Embroidered Walk Cycle from the Drawing in Thread exhibit.

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Craft Rock Friday with Admiral Radley

Today's Craft Rock Friday is quiet and lovely.

"The Thread" is a song by the newly created band, Admiral Radley, a collaboration between Jason Lytle and Aaron Burtch of Grandaddy, and Ariana Murray and Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart.

The road ahead is like a thread,
still attached to the unknown.

You can watch a couple more videos from the band's performance at SXSW on the NPR All Songs Considered blog, and also download the track, "I Heart California" from Admiral Radley's site.

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Vancouver Draw Down

One more for the June event calendar... This weekend is Vancouver Draw Down!

Described as "a celebration of drawing in everyday life", Vancouver Draw Down runs Friday June 11 to Sunday June 13. All kind of events are planned, including a comic jam at the Roundhouse, button making at the Museum of Anthropology, and chalk street drawing across the city.

The "Making Place" event at the Vancouver Art Gallery sounds like lots of fun: join in the creation of a gigantic, collaborative, chalk pastel drawing of the perfect neighbourhood. Also, over at the Roundhouse, you can even ride your bike or skateboard through paint to create a big collaborative painting.

Check out the Vancouver Draw Down site for the full schedule of events.

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Crafty Cover Story

Nice cover (!) story in the WestEnder today about so-called "hipster homemakers" in Vancouver - featuring Spool of Thread, Coco Cake, Baker’s Market and the Modern Quilt Guild!

You can read the full article - including a nice close up of the amazing yardstick counter at Spool of Thread (not to mention Lili and Henry!) - on the WestEnder site.

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Parties and Quilts and Cupcakes, Oh My!

June is a crafty month in Vancouver! Here are just a few of the fun happenings around town this month...

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Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is holding its inaugural meeting!

Thursday, June 17, 2010
7pm to 9pm
Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge
101-649 E. 15th Ave.

Join us on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 for the inaugural meeting of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild at Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge! This is the place to be if you love fresh, modern quilts!

Come to this informal meeting to meet other fabric lovers, show us your modern quilts, and share your ideas for what this guild could become! Stay tuned for more details (door prizes anyone?).

Find out more about the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, the larger Modern Quilt Guild movement and get more deets on the Vancouver meet-up.

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Etsy Party!
Friday, June 18, 2010
2 pm to 5pm
East 15th Avenue, between Fraser and Kingsway

Got Craft along with Collage Collage, Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge and RubyDog's Art House; will be opening their doors for the Vancouver Etsy Craft Party! Bring a craft project and join us for a day of making, good conversation and support your local community.

Get all the details and RSVP here.

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Cupcake Challenge
Sunday, June 20, 2010
11am to 3:30pm
Yaletown Roundhouse Community and Recreation Centre
Free Admission

We are inviting you, the cupcake connoisseurs and lovers of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, to join us in sampling and judging Vancouver's Best Cupcake! Through collaboration with notable Foodies and Bloggers in Vancouver, as well as the general public, we will present awards and notoriety for the business voted as baking the most favourable cupcake at the event.

Mix and mingle with yummy bakers and test a variety of cupcake flavours and recipes! With prizes awarded throughout the day, this is a tasty event that you will certainly not want to miss.

Get all the sugary details on Miss604 and Eventbrite.

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Swap-O-Rama-Rama Vancouver
Saturday, June 26, 2010
11am to 4pm
Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street
Admission: $6.00 at the door or $5.00 in advance plus a bag of clean clothes and / or a bag of craft supplies to swap. (Leave with all the clothes and supplies that you can carry!)

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a clothing and craft supply swap in which a community explores reuse and creativity through the recycling of used clothing. A series of DIY stations will be on-hand to unleash your creativity including screen printing by Blim and sewing stations by Plush On Main. Take as little or as much as you like! All remainders will be donated to local charities.

Heaps more deets over on Got Craft? and on the Facebook event page.

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Craft Rock Friday with Josh Ritter

What's more romantic than the love between an archeologist and her mummy?

Awww.



The video for Josh Ritter's song, "The Curse", was created by the band's drummer, Liam Hurley, who also happens to be a puppeteer. Multi-talented!

You can read more about the making-of from Josh on NPR's All Songs Considered blog.

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A New Life for Old Magazines

This shelf made from old National Geographic magazines is just brilliant.

Doesn't everyone have a huge stack of old issues collecting dust in their basements?

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Spool of Thread - Vancouver's Sewing Lounge

Vancouver crafters have something to celebrate! Spool of Thread is finally opening!

After a few months of teasing (and a ton of hard work!), the shop is all set up, with the Grand Opening happening this Saturday.

Grand Opening of Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge!
Saturday, June 5th
11am - 6pm
649 East 15th Ave, #101 (at the Fraser/Kingsway triangle)
Treats and giveaways throughout the day!

Spool of Thread is a sewing lounge, offering classes (here's a PDF schedule for their June workshops), as well as drop-in sewing time, where you can use the machines in the shop. They'll also be selling some lovely fabrics.

The concept reminds me of The Workroom in Toronto. I'm glad Vancouver now has something similar!

You can read an article about Spool of Thread on Yoyomama.ca, and get a sneak peek of the shop on the lovely Rachel's blog. LOOOVE the front counter which is covered in vintage yardsticks!!

Keep up with Spool of Thread on their website or on Twitter.

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Beyond Green Eggs and Ham

It's wet and dreary here in Vancouver... Luckily, there are still some rainbows...

The Globe and Mail has a fun article today about the trend (at least online) of multi-coloured rainbow food.

Rainbow food is the latest experiment by those looking to inject playful pizzazz to their plates. Using bright new food colouring gels and dusting the cobwebs off old colouring kits, professional and home cooks alike are using dyes unsparingly to turn everyday edibles into eye-popping creations that make Lucky Charms literally pale in comparison.

Maybe a few too many chemical additives for my taste, but these rainbow treats sure do look fun.

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