meh, by the numbers.

Along with my crazy work schedule (two separate practices, sort-of adjunct faculty at one college and various temp jobs within a 20 mile radius) I've been attempting to get back a little to my arts and crafts roots. Whenever I have moments to spare, I've been making wine bags and tie purses. And kind of experimenting with headbands, but that's a whole 'nother story. In a couple of short months, I've amassed quite the collection: 62 wine bags and 7 tie purses. But while working on all these bags, I literally had no goals in mind. I was like "I'll upload them all to Etsy and see what happens!" Well....

Nothing happened. Which I was expecting... I guess. It's nice to have no expectations, and then when those non-expectations are shattered when someone buys something, you're super happy. But I guess I was expecting that too, and I was disappointed when no one purchased anything. Therefore crushing my expectations. Does that make sense?

So I started to embark on looking for craft fairs! Nothing is better than some solid one-on-one connections! The first one I participated in was more of a flea market than a craft fair. To be honest, most people were there looking for deals, not handmade items. But remarkably, I sold two wine bags! Then again, three people also asked me where the ties were that I was selling (which I don't sell individual ties). Then, on two separate occasions, people called my stuff decent.  Fucking decent. What the hell is that supposed to mean?  Here's my interpretation of decent.

I was supposed to participate in another fair today. It was cancelled because of the rain, and I can't make the rain date (poo). But, since that one was cancelled, it gave me the opportunity to sign up for the TRENTON PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET! The spaces sold out in like, less than 10 minutes, so I'm jazzed that I am going to be participating!

I'm trying to go in with no expectations, but you can already guess that that's going to the shitter pretty fast. So during now and then, I'd love to be able to really really work on my table display. Maybe go to the Salvation Army and get an old fashioned coat rack to hang up some of my purses! You know, make that shit look professional! Cause honestly, if I don't sell much, EVERYONE IS GETTING SOMETHING MADE OF TIES FOR CHRISTMAS AGAIN.

projects, projects!

I'm happy to say that I've been busy: Not the same type of busy when I was in school, thank goodness. But busy like, "hey I'm busy with stuff that I actually want to do instead of stuff that I'm being forced to do while being silently judged by everyone!".

FJÄDRAR: A soft pillow that sounds like slang for vagina.

A couple weeks ago, a co-worker of mine mentioned that she had a friend, who in turn, had a bag of ties. They were her late husband's ties, and she was looking for someone to make pillows with them for herself, her mother-in-law, and her three children. I haven't made pillows in YEARS, nor have I ever made tie pillows. But of course I'd do it. Soon after, I received the bag of 32 ties and began thinking about what I would want to do. The easiest way for me to make pillows is, of course, buying a pre-made pillow. So off to IKEA I went, and I purchased 5 FJÄDRAR, 20x20" feather pillows.
 
So to make 5 pillows, I'd need to use ALL of the ties twice. And there was no way to make them double sided: I'd need WAY more ties to do that. So I found a nice black velour fabric (on sale, naturally!) to be the back of the pillows. Since the pillows were 20x20" I cut the ties into two, 22" pieces. With the ties cut down, it was time to assemble them into "sheets" of ties. Using a zigzag stitch, I alternated big pieces of tie with little pieces of tie until I had a sheet that was again, about 22" long. For the veloooour, I cut 10, 14x22" pieces. Why? So I could make the pillow covers into envelopes. That way if they ever get soiled, you can throw them into the washing machine without the inner pillow part. I know... you can high-five me, it was a great idea that I celebrated by eating copious amounts of Campbell's Chunky Soups. (not pictured.)

Here's the trick with pillows: You want the covers to be snug as hell. If the pillow is 20", you want to cut your fabric down to 20". (I always allow for an extra inch or two when cutting down fabric, you never know if you'll need more, so it gives you a bit of a safety zone.) When you sew your pillow case together, it will be about 19": This will give the pillow a more plump look. Also, it's time to admit that I was lazy as hell with the camera for this project. I kept thinking "this is the moment I should take pictures! Look at the stitches and the glorious colors!" but then was all like "the camera is downstairs, f*** that." Even now, the camera is downstairs. I will go get it, but I will also get a piece of Halloween candy, thank you very much. Take that, motivation!

 Without further ado, here are the five pillows. In no particular order.

 

 

 

 

phl -> atl

Recently a good friend of mine departed the Philadelphia area to start life anew with his beautiful fiancé in Atlanta. As sad as I am when friends leave the area, it is always exciting knowing that they are literally embarking on a new phase of life. I always wanted the balls to pick up and move. I mean... I'm only an hour away from home home, but it's not like I moved to an area that's easier to get to by plane then by driving. How cool would it be one day to be like I'M SELLING EVERYTHING I HAVE AND MOVING TO A DAKOTA OR IDAHO BECAUSE WHY NOT.

Anywho, I wanted to give them a going away present. I failed miserably getting it to them on time. The thing was... I couldn't figure out what the f*** to do. He sent me some photos of things that they liked. Which I guess I pretty much ignored in the end. Sorry about that John.... just realized that.

I was like, if I were them, what would I want to remind me of home? That it's not too far away? So here's what I came up with: A painting that you could flip.

I started with blocks of color, which I haven't done in years. Truth is, my hands aren't as steady as they use to be, so some lines are wobbly. <--- that could be symbolic, like "just as these lines aren't straight, neither is the road in life... HA!

Then I decided to paint the skylines of Philadelphia and Atlanta. The area in between was a little harder. I originally wanted to put a couple walking hand-in-hand to both skylines, but there wasn't enough space. So I decided to paint a PHL-> and an ATL->. One day, if they're back in Philadelphia, they can always remember the home they made in a new city. I'm happy with the way it came out, and I'm hoping that it reminds my good friends that no matter how far, home isn't that far.

NOW I JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT TO THEM.