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FAT Friday recap
FAT Friday was fun last night. Sales were kinda slow, but I sold a few t-shirts, handed out a lot of biz cards, and got to hang out with my Craft Mafia sisters Suzanne (pictured below on the left) and Maranda (on the right).
That's my set-up in the pic on the right - I forgot to get them to take a pic of me with my stuff. Oh well. Many thanks to Nancy of Nancy's Bagel Grounds for letting us set up there.
Next weekend, Louisville folks can find me, Suzanne, Maranda and the rest of the Louisville Craft Mafia at the Highlands Douglas Art Festival, in Douglas Park, 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. So you have plenty of time to come on over and check us out. Hopefully it'll be a pretty weekend.
That's my set-up in the pic on the right - I forgot to get them to take a pic of me with my stuff. Oh well. Many thanks to Nancy of Nancy's Bagel Grounds for letting us set up there.
Next weekend, Louisville folks can find me, Suzanne, Maranda and the rest of the Louisville Craft Mafia at the Highlands Douglas Art Festival, in Douglas Park, 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. So you have plenty of time to come on over and check us out. Hopefully it'll be a pretty weekend.
Killer Cotton
Just a quick plug here for a cool, new indie biz search engine/directory website called Killer Cotton. It's an enormous undertaking and I commend the good folks over there for even trying - damn! But it's a pretty cool website where you can find all kinds of indie businesses, including tons of indie crafters, artists, designers, etc. And if ya wanna do me a favor, you can rate and/or review me so my score can get even higher!
BazBizSF recap
I found out I sold 10 shirts out at the Bazaar Bizarre/Maker Faire last weekend, which I think is pretty cool. Given that there were hundreds of vendors trying to sell their crafty wares, it's a miracle I sold anything... so I'm pretty pleased. And since then I've had a few folks who picked up my business cards out there buy stuff from me via email, too. So big thanks again to Miss Malaprop, aka Mallory, my sister in Craft Mafia crime, for hauling our stuff out there and staffing the booth all weekend. And to the good folks at Etsy.com for helping our Mafia get out there.
After a bit of a slowdown, things seem to be getting busy again. Tomorrow, the Louisville Craft Mafia will be setting up shop in front of Nancy's Bagel Grounds at 2101 Frankfort for the monthly FAT Friday Trolley Hop. Nancy's won't be open, due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but we'll be out front on her sidewalk with all our wares starting at around 7pm. I'll be bringing mostly t-shirts and patches, as I don't think there's enough room for me to set up the clocks. But come on down and say hello and check out my current stock of silkscreen and stencil t's and tanks for summer.
After a bit of a slowdown, things seem to be getting busy again. Tomorrow, the Louisville Craft Mafia will be setting up shop in front of Nancy's Bagel Grounds at 2101 Frankfort for the monthly FAT Friday Trolley Hop. Nancy's won't be open, due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but we'll be out front on her sidewalk with all our wares starting at around 7pm. I'll be bringing mostly t-shirts and patches, as I don't think there's enough room for me to set up the clocks. But come on down and say hello and check out my current stock of silkscreen and stencil t's and tanks for summer.
Bazaar Bizarre SF/Maker Faire
Though much of my time these past few weeks has been spent oiling the PR machine for the Derby City Roller Girls, I'm still churning out the crafty work. This morning I'm packing up a box of t-shirts to ship off to San Francisco for the Bazaar Bizarre/Maker Faire happening next weekend. The New Orleans Craft Mafia is lucky enough to have a table there this year, thanks to the kindness of our star fashion designer Mallory Whitfield, who won the spot via an Etsy.com "upcycling" contest with her blue tarp dress design. Mallory offered the table up to our whole group to have stuff for sale, so I'm sending limited quantities of these 3 shirts:
So if you're in the SF area, stop by next weekend and check out our booth! Show some love for the N-O-L-A!
So if you're in the SF area, stop by next weekend and check out our booth! Show some love for the N-O-L-A!
silkscreen tutorial from etsy.com and make: magazine
here's a fun tutorial from the folks at make:/craft: magazines and etsy.com on how to silkscreen. of course, they assume you have access to silkscreen equipment, but it gives you the basic idea. ignore the part at the end if you're not interested in sewing in led lights and sound playback apparatus. (though that is kinda cool!)
mp4|mov|hd-appletv|3gp|3g2|pdf|itunes
silly, yes, i know, but i thought they did a good job of taking you through the basic process of photo-emulsion screen making and printing. it's not the way i do things (i hand-paint my designs onto the screen with a resist), but it is the more popular method of doing things.
silly, yes, i know, but i thought they did a good job of taking you through the basic process of photo-emulsion screen making and printing. it's not the way i do things (i hand-paint my designs onto the screen with a resist), but it is the more popular method of doing things.
stencilling how-to on etsy blog
so for all of you who wonder how it is that i do my spray-paint stencilling, here's a a how-to video i found on etsy's blog that kinda covers the basics of making a stencil and spraying it (diy printmaking). this demonstator only prints on cardstock, but the same concept can be used for fabric and really anything.
unlike some of the commentors, i find that using spray paint on fabric does work 80% of the time - you just have to test out many brands of spray paint you have available to you and try different methods of spraying. i've found over the years that the spray adhesive really is the key, when dealing with fabric... as is cheap spray paint. don't bother with the expensive stuff - the thin, runny spray paint actually works better as a dye, i've found. you just have to be more careful spraying it. the more expensive paint, like krylon, just gets crusty on your fabric, due to the higher pigment level.
and contrary to this demonstration, ALWAYS wear a respirator if possible. yes, it's a pain in the ass, and often sweaty, but your lungs (and nose and throat) will thank you. and always do your spraying, including spray adhesive, outdoors, where there is ample ventilation. (if you need to get off the sticky from the adhesive on your table or whatever, fingernail polish remover does the trick - it's basically acetone, which is what commercial screen printers use. but again, be careful with it, and do so in a well-ventilated area.)
eventually etsy will post a version of the how-to-stencil-a-tshirt demo i did back a few months ago with erin haldrup... she tells me it will be in an issue of the storque, their upcoming online newsletter. but i'm still waiting on that one. of course i'll link to it whenever it's up.
unlike some of the commentors, i find that using spray paint on fabric does work 80% of the time - you just have to test out many brands of spray paint you have available to you and try different methods of spraying. i've found over the years that the spray adhesive really is the key, when dealing with fabric... as is cheap spray paint. don't bother with the expensive stuff - the thin, runny spray paint actually works better as a dye, i've found. you just have to be more careful spraying it. the more expensive paint, like krylon, just gets crusty on your fabric, due to the higher pigment level.
and contrary to this demonstration, ALWAYS wear a respirator if possible. yes, it's a pain in the ass, and often sweaty, but your lungs (and nose and throat) will thank you. and always do your spraying, including spray adhesive, outdoors, where there is ample ventilation. (if you need to get off the sticky from the adhesive on your table or whatever, fingernail polish remover does the trick - it's basically acetone, which is what commercial screen printers use. but again, be careful with it, and do so in a well-ventilated area.)
eventually etsy will post a version of the how-to-stencil-a-tshirt demo i did back a few months ago with erin haldrup... she tells me it will be in an issue of the storque, their upcoming online newsletter. but i'm still waiting on that one. of course i'll link to it whenever it's up.
mother's day
this year for mother's day, you'll see no big sales or discounts or even new products specifically targetted to moms here on my website. no, i'm not a big party pooper, and of course i want to acknowledge my friends and lover who are moms. it really is a fucking hard job, being a mom, and a really important one. probably the most important one. but due to losing my own mom at age 10, it's just not been one of those holidays that i've felt a part of for most of my life. and it was always just yet another reminder of how much i missed my own mom.
i struggle with the consumerist culture we live in, and with the fact that even the indie biz community goes overboard for every holiday out there on the calendar, trying to reel in the sales. i'm of the belief that if we just respected and loved and valued each other, all of us, every day, it'd be a lot better world.. not just on isolated capitalist-exploited holidays. (yes, i'm aware of the irony here, that i'm an indie biz owner myself, selling "stuff" that i want people to buy. i said that i struggle.)
me, i try to buy gifts for folks whenever i see things that i think they'll like. and i don't usually wait to give it to them on some gift-giving holiday. but that's just me. and i don't fault anyone else for how they live their life, but this is just how i live mine. and how i run my business. so yeah, no mother's day specials here... though of course i think a lovely recycled vinyl wall clock or tshirt would make a fine gift for anyone's mom! any day, not just mother's day.
instead, i'm offering this video i found online, which has some hollywood actresses and gloria steinem talking about the origins of mother's day as an anti-war occasion. i like the idea of "taking back" mother's day, and of women joining together to promote peace and to try to end the violence of war.
so here ya go. you're herstory lesson for the day:
happy mother's day, everyone.
i struggle with the consumerist culture we live in, and with the fact that even the indie biz community goes overboard for every holiday out there on the calendar, trying to reel in the sales. i'm of the belief that if we just respected and loved and valued each other, all of us, every day, it'd be a lot better world.. not just on isolated capitalist-exploited holidays. (yes, i'm aware of the irony here, that i'm an indie biz owner myself, selling "stuff" that i want people to buy. i said that i struggle.)
me, i try to buy gifts for folks whenever i see things that i think they'll like. and i don't usually wait to give it to them on some gift-giving holiday. but that's just me. and i don't fault anyone else for how they live their life, but this is just how i live mine. and how i run my business. so yeah, no mother's day specials here... though of course i think a lovely recycled vinyl wall clock or tshirt would make a fine gift for anyone's mom! any day, not just mother's day.
instead, i'm offering this video i found online, which has some hollywood actresses and gloria steinem talking about the origins of mother's day as an anti-war occasion. i like the idea of "taking back" mother's day, and of women joining together to promote peace and to try to end the violence of war.
so here ya go. you're herstory lesson for the day:
happy mother's day, everyone.
Jazz Fest to Derby
I'm back from New Orleans and a gloriously sunny-hot Jazz Fest weekend, just in time for a rainy Kentucky Derby here in the bluegrass. The show at Creative Outlet is still up; I've sold six clocks so far, and we replaced the sold ones with new and different clocks, PLUS I hung several of my new mixed media pieces (two pictured below)... so NOLA folks, if you haven't been back by Ponce de Leon @ N. White since the opening or even the first weekend, drop by and see the new stuff.
Also, in Louisville, I've now got shirts and clocks over at the Atomic Saucer on E. Oak St, in addition to the "Home" shirts at Why Louisville on Bardstown Rd. So stop in and check 'em out!
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Also, in Louisville, I've now got shirts and clocks over at the Atomic Saucer on E. Oak St, in addition to the "Home" shirts at Why Louisville on Bardstown Rd. So stop in and check 'em out!
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