Friday, November 30, 2012

Holiday shopping this weekend

The postcard is ADORABLE!

Today I am guest blogging over at the Etsy NY Team blog, formerly the newnew of NY.  Today's blog post I am talking about the fabulous and very unique artists and crafters you can find in the Etsy NY Team. This weekend is the 2012 Handmade Holiday Cavalcade, 35 crafters selling their wares in Williamsburg. If you have the time check it out.  You will be sure to check some gifts off your list!

above terrarium from Roots in Rust


flax and lavender eye pillow from ADornmentsNYC

Be sure to check out the post for other beautiful holiday items.  I will be working at Purl this weekend selling to all of the crafters for the holiday season. Hint: yarn is the busy section now! But I am hoping to swing by the Cavalcade Sunday afternoon.

Have a great weekend!

Tracey

Thursday, November 15, 2012

First Holiday Market This Saturday! in Soho!

My first market of the holiday season will be this Saturday, November 17th, in Soho.  Not only am I excited because it is for the holiday season but also because a friend is one of the organizers and I am so impressed and excited for her!  Two Fair Ladies is run by two artists/crafters so they have mucho experience.  Not only will there be over 50 vendors but also entertainment and food. Tarot card readers, musicians and face painters will be among the entertainment.

I will be selling my usual wares of aprons, napkins and a variety of totes. I also have some new Liberty of London scarves to sell.


Full Apron with ticking stripe
Here are the details:

Nov. 17, 2012 
11:00am-6:00pm
St. Anthony's 
155 Sullivan Street at W. Houston

Hope to see you there!


Friday, November 9, 2012

New class! Holiday Workshop; Make some ornaments!




I am so excited about this class coming up on December 9th.
And I am so excited to start making samples. I love Christmas! So much that my sister calls me Tracey Christmas.  I love Secret Santa, love leaving cookies out for Santa, love the real Christmas Tree, the list goes on.  On December 9th I will be teaching a Holiday Craft Workshop at Purl Soho.  Don't worry if you don't know how to sew because I will be teaching hand sewing and machine sewing techniques.  We will be making three projects; a felt star tree topper, a felt snowflake ornament and a fabric stuffed bird ornament. You can choose whatever colors and fabrics you want to adorn your tree with. Or why not  hang the bird as a desk ornament. It just doesn't have to be for the holidays!



Photos from the Purl Bee website.

Are you a Christmas fanatic like me?
What is your favorite part?






Monday, November 5, 2012

Tula Pink, incredibly creative and fresh designer

I wanted to write today's post about a fabric designer I recently saw speak.  If you are not into sewing of any kind or using fabric I think you will still like to see the interesting and whimsical artwork this young woman produces.
This past year I have gotten really into quilting. Although I grew up with a mother who quilts I never really was interested in it. However from working at Purl Soho I became interested in a different type of quilting, patchwork. My mother is a whole cloth quilter, this is when a whole piece of fabric is used and quilted into. The act of quilting into is sewing your design thru 3 layers; 2 layers of fabric and the batting.
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to see a woman named Tula Pink speak at the City Quilter.  I have never heard of her before but  I'm always into learning about new artists.
Tula worked in the music industry before settling down in the mid-west.  She spoke of how she creates prints, develops them and then chooses her color.  Since I have a background in designing prints and yarndyes I was already familiar with the process. However hearing about her creative process and how it works in the quilt world was extremely interesting.

Tula starts everything off with a pencil drawing which is the foundation of the fabric.  While she is creating she is constantly thinking of how the art will look on the fabric at every stage. For example how will it look on the bolt sitting on the shelf and once a customer opens it, how will it unfold.
In her fabric, color is the most important thing so she only works in black, white and gray until the very end.  This seems opposite of what you would think but only working in neutrals helps her concentrate on the art and once the piece is complete she then plays with the color.
Color is the first thing the customer reacts to. I went to see Tula with a colleague from Purl and we agreed. Customers, even us, we are first attracted to color. 
Each collection has a story which helps keep her on track.  Her line Parisville was based on Marie Antoinette the movie from a few years ago by Sofia Coppola, a personal favorite of mine. 

 

I love the little mice running around the circles in this one.

One of her recent collections is called Nightshade. It is a story of 3 sisters, Neptunia, Bella Donna and Scarlett. Neptunia becomes a pirate at age 9.  You can read more here. 



 



Tula and a finished quilt using the Nightshade collection,

I do have to tell you I was so inspired by Tula and immediately purchased some of the Marie Antoinette fabrics. Now what to do with them.
Do you have a favorite fabric designer? Have you seen Tula's work?
What do you think of the large scale prints?



Thursday, November 1, 2012

After the storm....Sandy

Well it's been a while since I wrote, honestly I haven't been feeling that great.  Hopefully it will pass soon. I did want to check in because here in NYC and on the east coast we have just been hit by a pretty big storm, Sandy.  My husband and I just bought a place in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn this past April. In August there was a little flooding in our ground floor so naturally we were quite worried about this storm.  Everything in my office was lifted off the floor. For the remainder of our ground floor, the guest room and storage room, we had to raise the furniture and anything of value.   It was stressful, every few hours during the storm we were checking the drain to make sure there was no clogging of leaves or back up of water.   Fortunately we lucked out.  Many people were not fortunate.  Lower Manhattan has lost power and almost everything, residential and business below 42nd St in Manhattan is without electricity.  We were lucky.

Here is a photo of the Williamsburg Bridge, one of the bridges that crosses over into Manhattan from Brooklyn.  This photo just captures the magnitude of when the power went out.