inspire :: daisy lew

(found via Eclectica)

Check out these New York City mixed-media, pop-up books by designer Daisy Lew. Pop-Up NYC is a series of books inspired by New York City icons (the Big Apple, the Chrysler Building). From one angle (top view), the image represents an icon while another icon, represents the cityscape (side view).


Check out Daisy's full portfolio on her website by clicking here. I highly recommend it.

buy handmade :: rosie music

When I was running my Japanese supply store over on Etsy, I was contacted by this fine lady asking if I was interested in a trade. To be honest, I am always a little hesitant with trades. What if you don't see anything that you like? Do we trade dollar by dollar? What if I want the money and not more stuff? You know, concerns like that.


Of course, when I visited Rosie Music, she took all of my concerns, packaged them into a bag and slapped me in the face with it, because her work was that amazing. All of her prints are fantastic especially the ones which she prints on a paperbacked natural wood veneer which uses less renewable and unrenewable resources to manufacture than the material required to make ordinary paper. That, teamed up with the $1.00 wood frames I picked up in Portland from a random shop, just makes them the perfect wall piece. As a matter of fact, I just sent her a message to see if she is interested in doing another swap. Loving this and this.

inspire :: miniature masterpieces

found via Tanis Alexis Laird and telegraph.co.uk

Dalton Ghetti is a Brazilian born, Connecticut based artist that carves miniature masterpieces from the tips of pencils. Using a razor blade, sewing needle and a sculpting knife, each piece takes anywhere between a few months to a few years. You can see more of his work here.



You can read more over at craftgossip.com. Simply amazing!

buy handmade :: Huiyi Tan

found via cargoh

Loving these colour pencil earrings by Huiyi Tan. Her new collection, Pencil Lover, is inspired by one of her childhood hobbbies, collecting colour pencil sets.

An accredited jewellery professional (GIA), Huiyi uses the best quality of colouring pencils she can find and applies a special treatment to them to make them suitable for jewelry making.

Next time you are left with pencil stubs, think twice before throwing them in the garbage!

Track and Field Designs - feature #39

Name: Track and Field Designs
Website links: Etsy, Blog

What do you make?
I make a variety of items, currently sewn & screen printed accessories - laptop bags, messenger bags, pouches and brooches. Sometimes purses and mittens. I have a very short attention span, making a lot of different things keeps things interesting for me.

What or who inspires you?
I find inspiration everywhere! I get inspired by fabric. I adore fabric. I even get inspired on my daily walk through my neighbourhood - all the heritage houses! I totally want one!



How did you get started?
I have always been a maker-of-things. I grew up sewing and knitting thanks to my Mom who is an expert sewer/knitter/crocheter.

What are your favourite materials to work with?
I have a serious fabric addiction. I can't get enough of the stuff! My favourite fabric is linen. It's just the best.

What is the hardest and most favourite part of crafting?
The hardest part for me is marketing. I am shy and awkward and not at all comfortable with promoting myself. My favourite part is the creative & creating part! The whole making-something-out-of-nothing thing. I find the process of building something from a heap of fabric pretty satisfying.



List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them
I check these websites obsessively:
Etsy: Obviously
FaceBook: Because I am nosey.
Twitter: I still don't "get" Twitter, but I find it facsinating
Typepad: Home of my blog
Modcloth.com: It is very dangerous. You've been warned.



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
I don't even know what I am doing half of the time! But I think it's important to make items that you love. Continually improving your line and creating a strong "brand" will make your line stand out.



Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
I will say....designer. All my patterns are my own..dreamt up and made by me.

(photo images courtesy of Track and Field Designs)

If you are interested in being featured, please send us an email at info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Check out our past features...
Irit Sorokin Designs - feature #38
Clockwork Fantastica - feature #37
Divesin - feature #36
Flight Path Designs - feature #35
Plantscapes - feature #34
Olive - feature #33
Uncle Phil / Flipside - feature #32
Kim Werker - feature #31
Haiiku - feature #30
Smidgebox Designs - feature #29
heyday design - feature #28
Smeeta - feature #27
ACageyBee - feature #26
Maked - feature #25
Firefly Notes - feature #24
Florence Ann - feature #23
Him Creations - feature #22
Jenny Hart - feature #21
district thirty - feature #20
tinywarbler designs - feature #19
telly designs - feature #18
Cabin + Cub - feature #17
Rachel Hobson - feature #16
Green Couch Designs - feature #15
Tanis Alexis - feature #14
Sweetie Pie Press - feature #13
Fibre Manipulator - feature #12
Sam Made - feature #11
All Things Paper - feature #10
Owl + Pussycat - feature #9
Bliss in a teacup - feature #8
It's Your Life - feature #7
Faythe Levine - feature #6
Coco Cake Cupcakes - feature #5
pomomama design - feature #4
GroovyGlassGirl - feature #3
Bueno Style - feature #2
The Beautiful Project - feature #1

buy handmade :: Nora Aoyagi

Nora Aoyagi is a California (Berkeley to be exact!) based artist and illustrator. She draws inspiration from common folklore and fairy tales, Japanese wood block prints and children's book illustrations to draw, print and paint her work. I spent much of our trip to Renegade last December oohing and ahhing over her work. If it wasn't for the fact that we are paring down for our big move to the UK next year, our walls would be plastered with many of her prints such as this and this.


I must not forget this one to. You know how much I love my silhouettes!

Thanks to poppytalk and guest contributor Eva Jorgensen of Sycamore Street Press for reminding me about her wonderful work on your Renegade Spring 2011 post.

things to do :: Handmade Market

Astrosatchel Accessories and friends will be heading up the Handmade Market @ Artful Sundays coming up this Sunday, August 22nd on Commercial Drive.

Vendors include Cul de Sac Ceramics, Bliss in a Teacup, Laura Bucci Handmade and Sumiya Clothing.

Here are the details:

When:
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Where:
Britannia Community Centre 1001 Cotton Drive - Napier and Commercial Drive, Vancouver

For more information, visit astrosatchel.com

inspire :: post-it installation

(found via Ads of the World and Apartment Therapy)

The world's largest artistic billboard made of post-it notes was made using 112, 640 post-it super sticky notes to celebrate the 30th Anniversary Student Design Contest hosted by Post-it Brand from 3M. The installation, designed by Allison Hilgert, 17, and Ysanne Taylor, 16, from Lecanto High School in Florida, was open to the public for 5 days in the Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall.

buy handmade :: Blue Diamond Stamp Company

The Blue Diamond Stamp Company was one of the vendors at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle. Even though, I hadn't done any stamp projects since I was a teenager, their booth set up caught my eye as I have never seen anybody hand make stamps before. Liz Rosino, owner of the Blue Diamond Stamp company, creates clear art stamps from photo-polymer using a mixture of her own drawings and unique, found imagery. There are over 120 designs to choose from including Victorian ladies, tattoo themes, nature themes and robots!

For you stamp lovers out there, Liz explains the benefits of clear polymer stamps versus red rubber mounted stamps on her website as well as tips for stamp placement, storage and cleaning. Visit her Etsy shop here to purchase one of her stunning designs. Happy stamping!

image from Blue Diamond Stamp Company

things to do :: Market at Eugene Choo V.3

vendors clockwise:Banquet, heyday design, daughters of dawn, Solis Jewelry

The Market at Eugene Choo number 3 will include the local vendors pictured above as well as the return of the Rumble Fish Taco Truck, homemade pies and the Eugene Choo refreshment stand. Flower Factory will also be on-site doing what they do best, so come hungry and ready to shop!

Here are the details:

When:
Saturday, August 14th, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Where:
Parking lot behind Eugene Choo, 3683 Main Street, Vancouver

For more information, contact market(at)eugenechoo(dot)com

Irit Sorokin Designs - feature #38

Name: Irit Sorokin
Website links: Irit Sorokin Designs

What do you make?
Jewelry

What or who inspires you?
All the artist I meet at all the markets I vendor at, they are amazing and some of the ideas I see blow me away.



How did you get started?
I was going thru a rough time with a family member about 6 years ago and a relative suggested we bead. I was sitting there beading away with these amazing colorful stones and I was entranced. I started researching out places where you could buy beads so I could get my own stash and I discovered a whole new world of bead suppliers, jewelry and the artist who design them. I went a little crazy and bought so much stuff and then realized that I had to do something with it so I got busy… I walked into one of vancouver finest jewelry stores called Object Designs ( no longer in Business) they liked my stuff, it sold and the next month I got a cheque for $500.00, I was inspired, and the rest is history.

What are your favourite materials to work with?
Whatever appeals to my eye and sense of color I will buy it and figure out what to do with it when I get into my studio. I love to travel so I tend to get things that you don't often see in Vancouver.



List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them

New York Times: best read and up to date info on the world, I love their book reviews.
Any Time Out: travel website for London, New York etc… best up to date info for what is happening in that city.
Daily Candy: for fashion info.
Nanette Lepore: I love her designs.
Whitney Museum of American Art: great museum and fun website to look thru.



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
Don't copy other designers, be creative in coming up with your own designs. If you cant get inspired to come up with your own original designs than find another medium to express your creativity. Keep at it.



Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
For me, the process of creating any thing and the method you use to express it is the same whether you call it a craft or art. The two are inseperable.
I am both.
How your creation is used is up to the buyer. They can hang it on a wall , wear it, eat from it...

(photo images courtesy of Irit Sorokin Designs)

If you are interested in being featured, please send us an email at info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Check out our past features...
Clockwork Fantastica - feature #37
Divesin - feature #36
Flight Path Designs - feature #35
Plantscapes - feature #34
Olive - feature #33
Uncle Phil / Flipside - feature #32
Kim Werker - feature #31
Haiiku - feature #30
Smidgebox Designs - feature #29
heyday design - feature #28
Smeeta - feature #27
ACageyBee - feature #26
Maked - feature #25
Firefly Notes - feature #24
Florence Ann - feature #23
Him Creations - feature #22
Jenny Hart - feature #21
district thirty - feature #20
tinywarbler designs - feature #19
telly designs - feature #18
Cabin + Cub - feature #17
Rachel Hobson - feature #16
Green Couch Designs - feature #15
Tanis Alexis - feature #14
Sweetie Pie Press - feature #13
Fibre Manipulator - feature #12
Sam Made - feature #11
All Things Paper - feature #10
Owl + Pussycat - feature #9
Bliss in a teacup - feature #8
It's Your Life - feature #7
Faythe Levine - feature #6
Coco Cake Cupcakes - feature #5
pomomama design - feature #4
GroovyGlassGirl - feature #3
Bueno Style - feature #2
The Beautiful Project - feature #1

check it :: craftgawker

found on craftgawker via Bobbi's Art

A spin-off from their original food gallery - foodgawker, craftgawker uses the same elements to showcase art, crafts and photography. I came across this website a few months ago. It was one of those things where you click one link which leads to another link which leads to another link and so on. So my apologies for not knowing where this was originally found.

Tons of inspiration can be found within each page and if you are ever in need of finding new blogs and flickr feeds to follow, this is the place to be. In their words, craftgawker is a place for you to discover new artists and handmade goods to inspire your own creations.

Do you want to be involved? Keep reading for submission guidelines.

1. Register online.
2. Submit one image per post. Make sure you choose one that is clear, has good composition, has good lighting and is craft related.
3. Include a link back to the blog post or flickr account where the image is posted. Please note that only posts with content associated with the image will be accepted - no photo only pages.
4. Submissions are moderated. If your submission is not accepted, you will receive feedback on the reasons why it was not included.

inspire :: packing tape web

found via web urbanist

You may be asking yourself what exactly is this an image of? Well, it's a picture of 117,000 feet and 100 pounds of duct tape.

Starting in a small Croatian gallery the art installation, which has been growing larger and larger, then moved inside an abandoned attic before finally moving into the former Viennese Stock Exchange building pictured above. This won't be the final resting stop either. In September, the installation will travel to a public space in the center of Frankfurt, Germany. * whew * I'm not even going to ask how in the world you move something like this!


The spider web large enough for a human family to set up furniture and make a home inside, is suspended five feet in the air from surrounding walls and pillars. Visitors are welcome to crawl, lounge and experience what a human sized spider web would feel like.

This is the 5th tape installation exhibited by the design collective For Use/Numen. The installation took approximately 160 hours and was erected by six workers. You can check out this link for images during the build.

read :: The Handmade Marketplace

This post started out as not being a book review. Why? I was saving my copy of the Handmade Marketplace. For what? The perfect time of course! I'm a saver. I have been all my life. Toast with jam? I turn the piece of bread around and around and eat the crusts first, saving the middles of jam goodness. Lasagna with cheese on top? I eat all the layers of pasta first and save the crunchy baked on top last. A part of it probably comes from growing up and being told that I had to eat the entire dumpling and not just the outside. So, I ate all the insides of the dumplings and saved the outside "dough skin" for last. Funny thing is that when I got older, I still do this until one day, Robert said "You paid for that dumpling. You don't have to eat the inside if you don't want to". Wow. That was seriously a lightbulb moment!

Sorry for the side note. Getting back on track ...

A friend of mine raved about Kari and her book when it first came out. She's not only one of the amazing contributors in the Handmade Marketplace, but she flew to Etsy's headquarters in New York City to be a part of a panel discussion for the Etsy Speaker Series along with Kari Chapin, Betsy Cross, Jennifer Judd-McGee and Liz Smith (all featured in the book). After hearing all these great things about Kari, I was a bit star struck to finally meet her at her Putting Together A Press Kit session in June as part of the Summit of Awesome. At the end of class, I sheepishly made my way to the front, introduced myself and tried to stay cool.

So eventhough I wanted to save the book and read it at just the right moment. I ended up devouring it last night which is why I said that the post started off as not being a book review.

This is a fantastic resource to people who make stuff and sell their items at fairs or online. She talks about developing your brand and logo, pricing your work, marketing, using social media and selling at craft fairs / online marketplaces / retail stores. The book is well laid out and easy to read with cute illustrations by Emily Martin (a.k.a. The Black Apple) and Jen Skelley. Kari also includes a few Q&A sections with some amazing people in the handmade industry including Matt from Etsy and Holly from decor8. Check out Kari in the picture above signing a copy for me in Portland last June at the Show of Awesome. Actually, I forgot to take a picture when she was signing, so I made her pretend to re-sign it for the blog. Ha!

buy handmade :: anna joyce

During our visit to the Show of Awesome, a friend of mine bought a throw pillow to add to her collection from Anna Joyce Designs. i didn't pay much attention at the time, but on the car ride home, I realized that this was one of the most beautiful works of applique I have ever seen. Handmade from start to finish, Anna Joyce uses a mixture of vintage and new fabrics to create modern looking clothing and home accessories.


I'm loving her hoodies right now and of course, the throw pillows!