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THE WIND AND THE SAIL

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I'm stuck.

I've had a creative jam lately.

photo by louis capwell

I'm trying to overcome it with lots of blog reading, lots of bike riding and lots and lots of home projects. Like rearranging furniture and making new curtains. Soon, hopefully very soon, I'll be back in the swing of making.

Until then, you can find me in a few places:

CraftSanity just put out there fall issue!  Inside you can find out how to make your own Jefferson Camel!

And! I'm over at MollieMakes today! MollieMakes is a craft lifestyle magazine from the UK! I absolutely adore it! I feel so privileged to be a part of their blog! 

And keep on sewing! I'll be back at my machine in no time. 

I really am alive.

One quick update:

I'm alive. I'm working my fingers to the bone. I have been accepted into Detroit Handmade at Maker's Faire at the end of July. And Renegade Chicago, September 11 & 12. I'm SUPER BUSY! It's really, really fun. But also, really, really time consuming. I have thankfully  been blessed with an intern who will be helping me in keeping my social media alive. I miss blogging and sharing and posting. I hope to get back to it soon! Until then, just envision me sitting at a long white work bench in front of a sewing machine late into the night watching doogie howser marathons and listening to npr news updates.

that's all I've been doing.
and secretly I love it!!

And one other thing: Meet Elsie. She's a new addition to the family. And AWESOME, if I do say so myself.

Today I: went to the greenhouse.

After the Indieana Handicraft Exchange yesterday, I looked at my calendar and realized we are in the second week of June. Crafting has seriously gotten in the way of my outdoor adventures that happen once our frozen tundra thaws and begins to sprout new life.

I also realized that as of this glorious Sunday, I don't have anything planned for the rest of June. What's that you say? YES! My calendar is a variable smorgasbord of nothing. I have taken this as a sign to get all my spring stuff done even though it is almost officially summer. Like decorate my front porch and spruce up my bike. And my favorite of all favorite hot day activities, get my garden officially planted.

When I bought my house four years ago, I did so for three reasons: 1. it was cute! 2. it was cheap and 3. it had an ENORMOUS backyard. And this backyard quickly  became an enormous vegetable garden. Some years have been successful, others not so much. (or at all, shame on me.)

So, today I got myself dressed, put on my gardening shoes and drove to the sweetest green house that I know of, Country Acres. It's located up the road from me off Hwy. 231. And every spring, right before mother's day, Kate has the place PACKED with flowers for what seems miles. The colors make the corners of your mouth turn up and there's such hot energy floating around every little bloom that it makes you feel invincible. Or, at least, just like Martha Stewart.

Even though spring has mostly passed, she still had flowers and (even more important) vegetables left. I bought some ornamental grass and flowers for my pots on the porch. And luscious rosemary. (oh, rosemary how you delight me.) On the vegetable end I bought; warm weather cabbage, tomatoes (yellow, pink, cherry and red), broccoli, and peppers. On the seed side, I came home with turnips, beets, corn, bush beans, parsnips and pumpkins.

This is the week of hard work. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Oh! And isn't this impressive? Mum starts! Surely a sign I'm WAY behind. sigh.

Alligatorsssss

Whilst I was standing in my perfect little spot in Philadelphia at the Art Star Craft Bazaar, a lady asked me, "do you have an alligator?"

And then I thought to myself, "Laura! Why DON'T you have an alligator???" So, I made one.

May I present to you, Mr. Alligator himself.

Of course, he had to be colorful. He had to have scary (but sweet) chomping teeth. And he just HAD to have movable legs.

So, so in love.

My Rennovated Craft Room: An Adventure

Hi.

Craft Show Season has thrown me for a loop. But, I've been chomping at the bit to share with you my beautiful new crafting space. My darling Louis, who is a wonderful photographer (seriously, his pictures make my heart warm, just go look.), brought his camera with him on his last visit and stunningly captured my new space.

Some high points:

• The $1 yard sale find ironing table. That would be the picture with shoe organizer filled with fabric and trinkets. The lady that sold it to me didn't even know what it was! I built a table frame to the perfect ironing height. 
• My sewing table (the top came from menards, the base I built myself.) has room for a cutting mat and two sewing machines.
• Above the sewing table, there's some organizing tools that came from ikea. Plus my cool as hell thread holder that I've blogged about before.
• My mustard colored crushed velvet vintage chair that I snagged at a thrift store. It perfectly hugs the shoulders and is so comfortable for long nights of sewing. 

Some things you can't see in the pictures:

• There's a HUGE chair in the corner that is perfect for cat naps and sitting and hand sewing.  (it was a hand-me-down from a family friend)
• There's a big box store 5-shelf unit that has fabric stacked to it's gills. 
• On the floor under the sewing table is a heavy duty power strip with a on/off push button on the front. When you touch it with your toe the radio, the light, the sewing machine all come on at once. It is brilliant. (I kind of stole the idea from Louis's darkroom set up.)
• Under the ironing table, there are totes for storage that is covered up by skirt that I made from a vintage sheet. 
• My clothes closet is in this room as well. It's a walk-through to my bedroom. (My house is 110 years old. there's some odd architecture going on.) However, because I don't really care about clothes storage, I emptied half of it out to put up an industrial shelf that holds all my other miscellaneous craft supplies. Like stamps and paper and styrofoam and beads and glass melting equipment and shells. 
• I have one large window that faces north. There isn't much window light in the room, however, I do have a view of a bird feeder and I can open it and listen to the rain.

So, yeah. that's my new craft room. I love being in it. It's a haven.

Art Star Craft Bazaar!

you may be wondering where I've been lately, and if I could accurately take a picture of my fingertips to show their calloused, thickened skin, you would understand. I spent weeks, late nights and days, borrowing time of dear friends and family members, to prepare for the six hundred mile journey to philadelphia to attend Art Star Craft Bazaar. I will tell you, I was nervous. While I truly believe in the things I make and design, I also know that my work doesn't really speak to everyone. I was worried about the acceptance of my vision and even more worried that I'd spend the money to make the trek only to find my money box empty. 

but that didn't happen. in fact, my box runneth over. even after a saturday afternoon filled with rain. 

my darling louis loaded me up in his car, drove me across state lines, enlisted the help of his sweet family and even helped me sell my wares to the waiting public. 

and we got such good reviews! even this little guy loved it! 

I was also overly excited to meet some of the crafters I've idolized over the years. particularly Jay McCarroll. he's been such an inspiration to me over the years. while his specialty is hip fabrics (CHECK THIS OUT!) and even hipper fashion, and I specialize in cute; his need to create has always made my heart hurt. I made him a cat. he was gracious to talk to another fan girl. he was also hilarious and I'm fairly certain tried to hit on louis. I bought a tote bag with some of my earnings. I sit and look at it a lot and smile that I got to meet him!

I also REALLY wanted to meet Jordan Elise. she is the creator of Horrible Adorables and I stalk her online on a weekly basis. her aesthetic is so different than anything I've seen on the crafting circuit and I just adore her. turns out, she's pretty fabulous to say the least. her sweetness fills the air around her and you just want to take a piece of her home. she let me take a picture of her. isn't she beautiful? sigh.  

so, yeah. Philadelphia is filled with a WIDE range of fun, crafting types. Megan and Erin, who run Art Star, are a dream to work with! both very friendly and sweet (and SO organized!!). 

oh! AND! four different stores want to sell my things! soon The Wind and The Sail will be in Art Star, Tall Cow, Hello Bluebird and Vix Emporium! 

To sum up? Best. Weekend. Ever.