Happy birthday to the Sampler!
September 27, 2007 at 11:20 am | Posted in crafty to buy, reviews and interviews | 2 CommentsCan you believe that this month is three years since The Sampler started up?!
So I’m sending my best wishes for a happy birthday to Marie, Jennifer, Lynn, and Judieann — you do such a beautiful job with the Sampler each and every month. xo
I got my September Sampler last week and it is just phenomenal. Here’s a snapshot of the lovely contents:
The upper section is all paper goods and cards, the lower left side is jewelry and accessories, and the right side is magazines and a coloring book. So many cool things! My absolute favorites are the Manic Trout necklace, the Wabisabi Brooklyn pendant, the Absolutely Small print, and the Lizard Press letterpress and Imagine That block printed cards. To see some other reviews, check out the Adorn staff’s picks, Natalie’s CRAFT review, and Diane’s Craftypod posts about their Samplers, too!
Meanwhile, to celebrate the big 3, the Sampler is offering a limited edition Sampler Select — only 3 are available! There’s a house theme and and the super cute box is filled with cool handmade things for every room of your home.
Viva Sampler!
Saturday crafty
September 21, 2007 at 11:08 am | Posted in crafty events, oregon | Leave a commentThere’s a lot of cool stuff going on in Portland this weekend! Saturday has back-to-back free events on tap: the Oregon College of Art and Craft‘s Century Celebration and then the Fir Fest (featuring an itty-bitty Crafty Wonderland) at Doug Fir Lounge.
At the Century Celebration, “the wooded campus comes alive with fun and interactive activities for all ages, including hands-on art and craft activities, an alumni art sale, lively entertainment, and food, beverages, and OCAC memorabilia for purchase. This event is our way of thanking the community for their generous support over for the last 100 years!”
The Fir Fest features live music by Derby, Boy Eats Drum Machine and The Sort Ofs as well as a runway fashion show by Same Underneath and Johnny Sole. The entire outside patio and courtyard area of the Doug Fir and Jupiter Hotel will be blocked off and will be gated for 21 and over. They will also have a mini-Crafty Wonderland there with 12 crafters (including two of my all-time favorites, Ryan and Lucy Berkley!) selling their handmade wares.
If you go:
Century Celebration at OCAC
11am-4pm, Saturday
8245 SW Barnes Rd, Portland
Fir Fest at Doug Fir
5pm-10pm, Saturday
830 E. Burnside, Portland
Hope to see you at both events!
Art + Craft Supply Swap coming up
September 19, 2007 at 11:10 am | Posted in craftivism, crafty events, oregon, recycled crafty | 1 CommentI went to the last one of these and it was amazing! If you haven’t gone to a big free-for-all swap like this one, do yourself a favor and mark your calendar now.
When: Sunday, October 7th, 12-4 pm
Where: The 100th Monkey Studio, 110 SE 16th Ave (SE 16th and Ankeny), Portland
Admission: Bring any craft supplies you want to swap, and a $5.00 donation for 100th Monkey’s Art Scholarship Fund.
What happens: You’ll drop off your stuff at the entrance, and then head inside. We’ll give you an empty bag, and you can take any materials you can use from the swap tables.
We do have some guidelines on what to bring. Here they are:
- This swap is for yarns, beads, buttons, papers, rubber stamps, fabrics, sewing notions, art/craft books, paints, drawing materials, and anything else that relates directly to making art or crafts.
- Please don’t bring discarded items that could be “reclaimed” into other projects. We’re big fans of reclaimed materials, but they aren’t the best items for this kind of swap. (But you might consider donating them to SCRAP instead.)
- Fabrics must be at least 1/2 yard. Please do not bring smaller scraps, or finished or half-finished garments.
ps: I seem to be locked out of flickr at the moment, but once I’m back in I have some pretty photo posts ready to go… Viva Sampler!
Fall classes and free events at Cool Cottons
September 17, 2007 at 2:18 pm | Posted in crafty events, oregon | 1 CommentI adore Cool Cottons (especially since I can walk there from my house!) — the owners, Pam and Marie, are both so sweet, and their fall line-up looks pretty amazing.
Here are some of the highlights of the current schedule from their newsletter:
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Beginning Sunday October 7th… every Sunday afternoon from 12:30p – 2:30p is Sit and Sew at cool cottons. Bring in any hand sewing project to work on… embroidery, appliqué, binding to attach, hand quilting…heck, even mending! Whatever you’re working on and need some uninterrupted time to complete, bring it in! It will be very informal… just sitting around and sewing… oh and homemade cookies too!
Thursday Oct. 11th. 2 sessions…3p-4p and 630p-730p. We are looking forward to the start of the first cool cottons Block of the Month Quilt Club. For those of you who are interested in trying quilting, or if you are already “hooked” this will be great! For just $10 you will receive your first block kit (fabric and pattern) and a demonstration from Jolyn Buhl on how to construct it, along with other tips. We meet again each month on the 2nd Thursday of the month, same two time slots. As long as you bring in your completed (9inch) block from the previous month you will receive the next month’s block kit at no charge. Let us know by email, phone, or in person if you think you’re interested so we can have enough kits ready! You can also stop by the shop to see the patterns and pick up an information sheet.
Saturday Oct. 13th, 10am – 12noon. Buttons and Embellishment… a workshop put on by the Portland Chapter of American Sewing Guild. Cost is just $7.50. ASG members will teach you how to make button jewelry and/or how to apply buttons and trim to your favorite pair of jeans or bag! Hmmmm…could be another holiday gift idea!
Thursday Nov. 29th, 230p-430p or 630p-830p. Beginning Embroidery… Cost is $25, taught by Jolyn Buhl. Learn some basic embroidery stitches to embellish tea towels, pillow cases, whatever! You got it, yet another holiday gift idea!
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I love the quilt block of the month project, and it’s so cool that each month’s kit is free if you’ve completed the last one in time — such a great incentive! Speaking of quilting, as I’ve mentioned before, Pam and Marie were kind enough to let me baste my entire quilt on their big, beautiful cutting table, saving me hours of crawling around on the floor at home. Their shop is such a lovely place to work and the sit-and-sew Sundays sound like a plan to me.
If you go:
cool cottons
2417 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland
503-232-0417
Flourish Fashion Show tonight
September 13, 2007 at 3:14 pm | Posted in crafty events, oregon | Leave a commentJust a quick passing-it-on post since I’m about to leave for our show — but if I weren’t already tied up tonight, this sounds very cool:
Flourish Fashion Show at the Mississippi Social
The September Mississippi Social will feature Flourish, a collaborative fashion show with new looks from Phlox, Gypsy Chic, Sameunderneath, Pin Me Apparel, Blue, Amalee and Black Wagon. The event, held at the corner of N. Mississippi Ave and N. Beech St right next to Amnesia Brewing, will begin at 6pm with a silent auction and raffle. The fashion show will begin at 7pm. $2 suggested donation. Proceeds to benefit the Historic Mississippi Business Association and Albina Youth Opportunity School. Everyone is invited to celebrate the diverse and creative culture of the independent businesses on Mississippi Ave.
Thursday, September 13, 2007, 6pm.
Cherry-pecan pound cupcakes
September 12, 2007 at 3:57 pm | Posted in cooking is crafty too, I love to make things... | 2 CommentsI’ve been craving my grandmother’s pound cake for the last few days, but I’ve had no luck finding anything like it anywhere here — so today I went through all of her recipes that my mom gave me for my birthday and halved the pound cake recipe to make a batch of cupcakes. They turned out really nice, I love the crisp, buttery brown crust especially.
The traditional 1800s version calls for a pound of sugar, a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, and a pound of flour, which would make an incredibly decadent, luscious cake — but my MeeMee’s recipe is still plenty rich with a fraction of those quantities. I added chopped cherries and pecans to the “plain” batter since I had them in the house, but one thing I will do next time is cut down on the sugar a bit — it’s nice and sweet without the full amount.
This half-version makes 16 cupcakes; if you’re doubling it for a full cake, use a buttered and floured bundt pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, checking on it after the first hour.
You’ll need:
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
1/6 cup canola oil (optional)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs (if doubling the recipe, use 5)
1 1/2 cups flour (I used spelt) and 1/4 tsp. baking powder, combined
1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring (I used vanilla since I didn’t have any almond), combined
1/4 cup each chopped cherries and pecans
1. Cream the butter, oil and sugar together and add the eggs. Now alternate adding the flour + baking powder and milk + almond/vanilla mixtures, stirring well, until it’s thoroughly mixed.
2. Stir in the cherries and pecans. Fill cupcake papers about 2/3 full and place the pans into a preheated 325-degree oven.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, checking for doneness at 25 minutes. I turned the oven off and left mine in for a few extra minutes to brown.
The Storque, Queen Bee, + Handmade Nation
September 10, 2007 at 4:04 pm | Posted in books and mags, craftivism, oregon, reviews and interviews | Leave a commentEtsy has just premiered its new online magazine, The Storque, this month! They’re posting an ever-changing mix of features like This Handmade Life, How-To, and Craftivism, and spotlighting the crafty goings-on that they’re most excited about.
I’m interviewing Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee Creations for an upcoming Storque article, which I’m really looking forward to. By the way, Queen Bee has a new feature: some amazing one-of-a-kind bags posted in a special monthly flickr set. If you see one you like, just call them up and order it over the phone. Plus, you can get free standard shipping on any Queen Bee or Chickpea purchase online (just enter FREEQUEENBEE at checkout) and 20% off all purchases made in the studio through September 20…
In other crafty news, Faythe Levine has just posted a new extended clip from her film, Handmade Nation, featuring even more crafters and business owners. I love the film excerpt and I’m so eager to see the full-length movie — Faythe has done an incredible job. Don’t forget to stop by the HN Etsy shop to see all the cool handmade stuff for sale and support the film project, too.
Crafty Overload
September 8, 2007 at 11:30 am | Posted in reviews and interviews | 1 CommentI’m a huge fan of Craftypod, Diane Gilleland‘s fabulous blog and podcast. I just marvel at her energy for all things crafty and the sheer volume of her writing, crafting and podcasting — so inspiring! But let’s face it, we all burn out at some point. It’s so tempting to keep saying yes and doing more and more and more cool things until you realize that you haven’t had a weekend, or made or written a crafty thing just for fun — that’s not to be published, blogged, or spoken for immediately — in months. Oops.
So Diane rounded up six uber-productive crafters and asked them how they balance life, work, and creativity, and the result is her latest podcast, Crafty Overload. Some of my favorite designers, like Cathy, Linda, and Kayte, weigh in with their insights about staying organized and staying sane in the face of it all. Don’t miss it!
Speaking of Diane, she has just overhauled and streamlined her brilliant Portland-centric project, DIY Alert. The newsletter is now totally free of charge and has a more stylish, magazine-like feel, and the site hosts details of all the ongoing classes and events, so the email announcement is freed up for more fun stuff and visuals rather than an endless list of each time and place.
On that note, I’m off to get things ready for our first show later tonight! Hope to get my crafty equilibrium back sometime next week… I definitely hit that crafty overload wall recently, with our show looming and a decent number of high-maintenance deadlines hanging over me, and just shamefacedly realized that I’ve had this skirt cut out and waiting for me to sew it for a month. I can’t wait to finish it and wear it in triumph! Soon, I hope.
Sell Out premiere this weekend
September 6, 2007 at 10:26 am | Posted in art and craft, crafty events, oregon | 4 CommentsI’m very excited to announce that my husband Andrew and I will be premiering our new show, Sell Out, at the PICA TBA Festival this weekend! As with the AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller show, he will be performing and I will be running the PowerPoint side of things.
If you are in Portland, I hope you can make one of the performances: Sept. 8, 9, 13, and 14, at 6:30 pm each night. The festival is just amazing and I can’t wait to see some of the other work on our nights off; we have the Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Claude Wampler, and Reggie Watts shows circled on our calendar.
This year’s festival honors Sekou Sundiata, a remarkable poet, artist and musician who performed at TBA: 04 — his solo show, Blessing the Boats, was incredible. Three years later I am still thinking about it and marveling at his talent. He passed away in July and festival director Mark Russell, a friend and enthusiast, has chosen to dedicate TBA: 07 to him and his work.
Here are two recent previews if you’re wondering what the heck a show called Sell Out might entail…
Chas Bowie of the Portland Mercury:
Sell Out
Most Portlanders need little introduction to Andrew Dickson, whom I’ve frequently called the funniest man in town. A local staple (excepting a short jaunt to Los Angeles), Dickson has seen his stock rise tremendously over the past decade. A DIYer in the truest sense, Dickson previously garnered a diehard following with a series of hilarious character-driven mockumentaries. But Dickson really started to hit it big at TBA:04 with his autobiographical performance AC Dickson: eBay Powerseller, in which he extolled the virtues of online auctions, which provided him enough income to remain a not-so-starving artist, free of a day job. The performance was a hit; after success on the festival circuit, Dickson moved to LA, but was lured back to Portland by, among other things, a posh job at the monolithic ad agency Wieden + Kennedy. Suddenly our scruffy local artist was playing the corporate game, writing ads for Fortune 500 companies. And how does Dickson feel about that? Just fine! In fact, he’s prepared an unapologetic performance about the redemptive power of selling out, including tips on when and how to do it. Sure to be both thought provoking and hilarious, this is one of TBA’s definite “don’t miss” performances.
Grant Butler of the Oregonian:
Andrew Dickson’s Sell Out
In 2004, Dickson’s hilarious PowerPoint presentation “AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller” was a big hit, skewering US commercialism and our online obsessions. After a stint in Los Angeles, Dickson returns to Portland with another PowerPoint monologue, this time about his transition from being an independent filmmaker to an advertising copywriter. No doubt it will be sly, and since it’s being performed in an epicenter of the advertising world — the Wieden+Kennedy agency — there might be a delicious “biting the hand that feeds you” irony.
And Andrew recently appeared on OPB’s “Live Wire” vaudeville radio show, which you can hear as a podcast here (August 25 show). He goes on at the 22:30 mark and performs an insert from Sell Out and does a mini-interview about the festival and the show.
If you go:
Sell Out
6:30 pm Sept 8-9 and Sept. 13-14
Wieden+Kennedy Atrium, 224 NW 13th Ave., Portland
$15-20 or included in a festival pass; tickets available at pica.org, the festival box office, or at the venue one hour before showtime.
Art Yard Sale at the Ace Hotel
September 5, 2007 at 7:17 pm | Posted in art and craft, crafty events, oregon | 1 CommentJust wanted to announce that there will be a gala Art Yard Sale-show-party-hoedown at the Ace Hotel event space in downtown Portland this Saturday, hosted by PNCA, Crack Press and Plazmfonts. It sounds amazing and I am very excited to check it out — they’re also accepting donations of artwork and art supplies, so if you have something cool to pass on, this is a perfect opportunity. All proceeds go to a new printmaking scholarship at PNCA in memory of Elizabeth Hawthorne Hunt.
I hope to see you there, and please spread the word!
ps: sorry I have been mostly MIA lately. Our internet connection has sucked this week, and we’re rehearsing and working on the show a ton. More on that tomorrow!
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