Shop Update: Antique Fork Bracelets

I received a surprise package in the mail containing these 3 antique forks from my mother. She knows the "siren" pattern is one of my favorites to work with and also has a knack for finding them.

I've also had a stash of vintage forks from various hotels around the globe and had a chance to work with two - one from Hotel West and another from Hotel Mayfair. I believe the Hotel Mayfair dinner fork is actually from the destination in Paris, France. The full stash of these hotel forks contains souvenirs from numerous destinations which leads me to presume they may have come from a collector with a "slight of hand" to put it politely...

I can only imagine the true story behind them and love their one of a kind nature.

The following fork is one I've had that's just simply over the top in depth and detail. The grapevine pattern runs through the entire handle including a coordinating but different depiction on the underside.

And finally, with love in mind I made the following fork bracelet from an engraved "first love" silverplate dinner fork. I love how this hidden message wraps around the wrist of a loved one as a sweet token of love.

For a deeper look into the process of how I make these bracelets, see this fork bracelet tutorial I put together a while back while in the studio.

How To: A Dog Bed for Basil

I will admit something here - Tim and I made a dog bed for Basil before we even knew we were getting him. We knew we wanted a dog and had been on the lookout for some time without much luck - this didn't stop us from preparing though.

One weekend this past summer, yes - summer, we decided to make the bed with some of the fabrics we'd picked up along the way including a burlap coffee sack from Blanchard's Coffee (like the one I used to make this laptop sleeve) and heavy duty canvas from an army tent we came across at a local flea market.

It's a simple square design bed consisting of the following basic steps:

1. Cutting and sewing upper and base fabrics in matching square shapes. 2. Sew lining onto each fabric backing. 3. Face outer fabrics against one another and sew securely around edges leaving a small opening on one side. 4. Flip fabric inside out from opening - you should now have your basic unstuffed dog bed - like a giant pillow. 5. Fill bed with desired stuffing. We chose a mixture of cotton and cedar chips to keep the bed both comfortable and fresh smelling. 6. Fold in edges of opening and pin together. 7. Sew opening closed.

The finished bed sat empty in our basement corner for months and we always talked about whether or not our future dog would like it. Now we ask ourselves if he will ever leave it.

We love the fact we were able to make something together from recycled fabrics that turned out to be so much more meaningful than picking up one of the generic mass produced versions from the pet store. We think Basil agrees.

Take a Break With Gifted Magazine

One of my favorite indulgences is curling up on the sofa with a glass of red and my latest magazine. I'm the type that likes to read the entire issue in one sitting - it feels like such a treat.

Earlier this week I was delightfully surprised to see the launch of Creature Comfort's online holiday magazine and gift guide, Gifted. It's chock full of Etsy designers, new bloggers I could add to my reader, holiday gift ideas for everyone, DIY projects, tutorials, and simply inspiring images all around - the whole piece of work is an obvious labor of love and just visually pleasing to *virtually* page through.

If you need a diversion throughout the day today or if you're more like me and want to take it all in at once - Gifted will make for an unexpectedly nice weekend read just in time for holiday inspiration and planning.

My Prized White Pumpkin

Well it took me two years instead of just the one I had originally hoped to procure that white pumpkin, but oh - how it was worth the wait.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending the day with my sister along with my adorable niece & nephew at the Farm to Family fall market festival where I just knew I couldn't go wrong scoring these locally grown white, orange, and gray pumpkin varieties.

In keeping with tradition, we set out to carve these beauties earlier this morning. I'll have to admit the white and gray pumpkins were a much more difficult undertaking than I imagined. They both carried thick stubborn walls and my grand plans for master carving had to be tweaked into the polka dot designs pictured.

After painstakingly puncturing each hole manually and testing with the candles, Tim came to the rescue with a power drill and larger than life drill bit. I cannot tell you how quickly he fleshed out the original holes in the pumpkins and while I wished I had thought to do it in the first place, I was more thrilled at the end result for it to matter at all.

Note to self: consult Tim with pumpkin designs before starting next year.

Here's wishing you a Happy Halloween to you and yours!

Shop Update: Cabinet of Curiosities Necklaces

As previously mentioned, I came into a limited stock of these antique porcelain German doll legs over the summer. After a long stint of gazing at them each day in passing by the studio, I finally got a chance to sit down and get personal with these little curiosities. I gently filed open the joints just enough to slip a delicate chain through and finished each with a wire clasp for a simple understated look.

Looking for a little Halloween inspiration or nostalgic feel? Check out the full line right here in the shop.

Etsy's Offices

Did you get a chance to see the photos of Etsy's Brooklyn office space over on Apartment Therapy? As we grow bigger, I hear the space will be expanding too. Rumors of reclaimed hardwood floors and a rollerskating party to break them in before moving the furniture in were all abuzz in Brooklyn recently.

See the full set of photos and original architecture plans on the Hangar Design Group's site.

Hand Painted Antique Porcelain Doll Parts

I get teased here at home for my adoration of vintage porcelain doll parts. It must have come down from my paternal grandmother's side, her house is literally filled with different dolls from all over the world -- the majority of them being creepy. Essentially, my fascination resonates with the limbs, and how I can re-purpose them into jewelry or art.

With this in mind, you can imagine how tickled I was when I stumbled across a limited stock of antique German bisque doll legs. I was told that similar to the Frozen Charlotte dolls, these detached parts were dug out pieces from the remnants of the doll factories in Thuringia, Germany and date between 1890-1920. I'm not a history buff when it comes to dolls, but the story seems pretty compelling if true.

I'm thinking they'll make curious little necklaces and am looking forward to spending some studio time with them. Until then, they'll be on display in my little collection ready for the cringes of passersby who just might not quite get it.

How To: Recycled Laptop Sleeve Project

My coworker and friend, Jay, asked me to make him a laptop sleeve for his new MacBook Pro. Having never made one before, I told him "Of course, I'm sure I can figure it out..."

So, that's what I did. Using vintage upholstery fabric from my collection and portions of a large coffee sack Tim brought me from Blanchard's Coffee, I fashioned my first laptop sleeve.

I went about it by ironing fusible interfacing in between the two layers of fabric to keep the sleeve smooth and durable. After a simple edging and right side out rectangle sewing through the trusty Singer machine, I attached a strap recycled from the fabric scraps and hand sewed on a couple of vintage metal snaps.

While I don't think laptop sleeves will be a regular thing for me, it was inspiring to try something new and rewarding to make a tangible reality out of a vision in my head.

Shop Update: Vintage Letterpress Initial Necklaces

Last weekend's studio time evolved into this weekend's shop update. After working with the antique wooden letterpress sticks on hand, I came up with the above simplified pendant design.

Here's a peek into the process:

I worked with each wooden stick in a series of clamping, sawing down, drilling, and finally sanding smooth clean edges and sides. Once the pendants were complete, I threaded a single skinny chain through the hole and fastened together the clasp to complete the necklace design.

Each of the necklaces in the collection above are one of a kind and available in the shop. They make for a personalized and unique initial, monogram, or other meaningful customized type of gift.

Additional letter options should be making their debut soon!

Vintage letterpress blocks

I've had these antique wooden letterpress blocks sitting in my studio for months now just waiting for their weekend on the bench. I've finally got their destiny up my sleeves. Stay tuned.

Stop Motion film: Alison Sudol, Angela Kohler, Ithyle Griffiths

If you haven't heard, Etsy has just launched two new international blogs in Germany and France. A UK series was also newly introduced on Etsy's main blog. In honor of these international debuts, Etsy's been promoting Euro Week over the past several days.

Included among the features was Lost Things, a great little stop motion film written & directed by Angela Kohler and Ithyle Griffiths. It grabbed me because I'm already a fan of Alison Sudol's music, the fact Angela Kohler has an Etsy shop, and she used other Etsy artists in the film. You might recognize the similar stop motion work this team has put together for an Amazon commercial.

Hope you enjoy this little 2 minute break as much as I did.

Help Build a Whale at VCU this Week

In or near Richmond, VA? Love whales? This just may be a project for you:

help wanted: whale builders

Tuesday, February 23rd any time between 12pm-5pm at 1000 W Broad Street, Fine Arts Building lobby. Help Shay Church & the VCU School of the Arts students of Craft/Material Studies build a life-sized whale. Come dressed formal in your Sunday best ready to get dirty. Learn more about whale building and see video of past installations by visiting Shay's website.

Oh how I wish we'd built a whale back when I was in this program.

Judging for the 2010 Handmade Olymics

Have you heard about Rikrak Studio's 2010 Handmade Olympics yet? If not, scurry over now to partake in the handmade competition, nomination process, and claim your stake in the $2000 USD worth of handmade and vintage prizes to be had. Kristal, the brilliance behind the Handmade Olympics, graciously asked me to participate in the judging portion of this year's events.

I'll be judging event #6, Favourite thrifty-forward, sustainably-minded blog, shop, or site. Learn more about how to get involved in the overall event here, the specific event I'll be judging here, and more about the other judges involved here.

Quit Your Day Job in The New York Times

This post is tad overdue, but better late then never, right? Over the holidays I was thrilled to see a highlight on the Etsy Quit Your Day Job series I write for on the front page of online Fashion and Style section of The New York Times. It's a great read that digs deeper into the reality of what it takes to run all aspects of your own DIY business.

Interestingly enough, this article turned out to be the #1 most emailed/shared article the day it published.

How To: Fancy Favors with Recycled Studio Bits

It's no secret I take great care in the presentation of packages I deliver from Contrary orders. What most folks don't realize is just how simple it can be to take fancy packaging to another level with studio supplies you may have overlooked. It's not only one way to help make the most of materials, but a solid means of owning your brand and wowing your customer every time.

I make most of my shipping supplies by hand using recycled menus from a french restaurant. It's so simple to find fancy paper all over the place that would have otherwise gone straight to the landfill, not to mention many places are happy to have the extras taken off their hands. Lately, I've been sewing up these decorative little paper garlands with the menu scraps I have on hand to use as favors included in select shipments.

Love them too? Here's how to make a set of your own:

Materials:

• Scissors
• Craft shape punch (optional)
• Paper or fabric scraps
• Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Typewriter or Pen (optional)
• Cellophane bag or wax paper (optional)
  

Step 1: Cut or punch desired shapes for your garland out of your scrap paper or fabric. Quantity of shapes is up to you in order to create desired garland length. Use additional scrap paper to create a label insert for the garland's final package. Below, I used a typewriter with the text: a little garland made just for you...

Step 2: Once desired shapes are cut, sew them one by one using a sewing machine. Make sure you have a little extra thread at the start for final garland to hang freely. Continue to hold down the pedal after shape has passed through the needle to create space between each shape. Once all shapes have been sewn, make sure again you allow extra thread at finish for slack on the garland.

Step 3: Finish your garland favor by bundling it flat in a cellophane bag or folded wax paper. Include your
label and voila!

I hope you'll enjoy getting creative with the free resources around your studio in order to add a little punch to your packages.

For those of you that love these little paper banners but don't want to make one, I'll send a free version to the mailboxes of the first three commenters on this post. Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you for shipping info.

Large Felt Whale

White Whale in Industrial Felt:
Swoon.

By artist Tristin Lowe, found via the Craft Blog.

Free DIY notebook

...brought to you from me via the blah blah blahg.

Head on over here for instructions on how to print and craft your own little book o'notes.

Process Piece: How I make fork bracelets

I just finished making a new batch of fork bracelets which you can find in the shop, here. I always get a lot of comments and questions from shoppers and other artists pertaining to how the forks are made, and what goes into the process. Today, I thought I might give you a little bit of a peek inside my studio when I'm making a new batch.

While earning my bachelor's degree in fine arts from VCU, I took a series of jewelry making classes, which taught me the skills for heating and working with metals, as well as the knowledge I needed for the types of equipment and tools that go into working with metal.

When I'm working with forks, I much prefer antique silver plated versions. They are a little tougher to work with than solid sterling, but I tend to get more of an antiqued quality to the finished bracelet from the base metal showing through in areas of wear and tear, which is something I'm going for.

To prepare the forks before working with them, I heat them through to their cores using a jewelry torch in a process called annealing. Basically, this is a process that changes the chemical makeup of the metal to make it easier to work with and shape. Safety note: Working with a gas torch and hot metal is a pretty dangerous process, so if you are considering trying this at home, please wear protective gear and take some metalsmithing classing in order to make sure you have all safety precautions and proper equipment set in place.

After heating and cooling the metal, I'm able to start working with it in a series of steps that consist of flattening, cleaning, shaping, and hammering out the shapes of the bracelets. This is the part that requires a little muscle, so I like to convince myself that making batches of bracelets counts for exercise.

Once the bracelets have taken shape, I run them through a series of polishing steps to make sure they get that perfect sheen. Making fork bracelets from start to finish is certainly a process, but one that is very meditative and something I have grown to love.

You can always find the newest batches of bracelets I've made right here in my shop.