the Blazer blazer for boomshakalaka
February 17, 2011 at 1:56 pm | Posted in art and craft, button it up, chatty, craft to wear, I love to make things..., oregon, vintage crafty | 12 CommentsI am a huge Portland Trailblazers fan, and it was downright thrilling when Clifton Burt asked if my husband Andrew and I wanted to be part of his group show, Boomshakalaka. I’ve been a basketball fan since long before I could thread a needle or even hold a crayon, so… yeah.
The show has work from 30 artists and designers (or 29 designers and artists and one crafty duo, more like) and it opens on Friday, February 18th at 6pm at Land Gallery! Clifton posted this awesome sneak peek at some of the other pieces, and I can’t wait to see it all in full glory.
Andrew came up with the concept – a Blazer blazer – and I spent all 22 games in January and February planning, stitching, gluing, embroidering, and embellishing a dark red blazer that looked straight out of Meier & Frank the year the Blazers won their NBA title, 1977. I like to think the original owner was wearing it at the victory parade on Broadway. By the time I was done, it felt like a cross between a real Blazers uniform, a Pearly Kings and Queens suit, and a Shriners/Elks/Lions extravaganza. (By the way, any unevenness, glue streaks, asymmetry, or other homemade-ness are 100% thanks to some good freaking games the last two months! Six-game winning streak, anyone?!)
I started with a ton of vintage buttons (of course).
That part was fun.
Black and silver rick-rack and quite a bit of wool felt were my next go-tos.
The 20 honors Blazers legend and assistant coach Maurice Lucas, who passed away last year.
I also made tiny embroidered replicas of all 12 retired jerseys. Loved that part too.
Since this is a heartfelt fan love letter in blazer form, we thought we’d sign it. Both of the kids have Blazers jerseys (Everett has #30 Rasheed Wallace and Pearl has #7 Brandon Roy) but neither of us do… so now we have our very own hyphenated-name jerseyesque craftstravaganza for the rec room instead.
The last big push was sewing buttons, buttons and more buttons on the front. This is when it really started to feel like itself! I stitched a Blazers flag over the original striped lining as a little finale, and I’d probably still be adding more stuff if there wasn’t a deadline.
Hope to see you at the opening – I think it will be awesome! A huge thank-you to Clifton for including us in the mix.
ps: if you come to the show and want to try the Blazer blazer on, you are more than welcome to. Boomshakalaka!
summit of awesome!
June 16, 2010 at 10:39 am | Posted in art and craft, books and mags, chatty, crafty events, oregon | 2 CommentsI’m super excited about the Summit of Awesome starting up in a few hours — hope to see you over there! I’ll be around all three days, and I’m covering it for CRAFT:. There are so many great workshops, demos and talks going on (four things at once most time!), and I’m going to do my best to make it to as much as I can, but if you enjoy a particular session and want to let me know about it so I can quote you in my CRAFT: posts I would love that! I’d also be grateful for including (and crediting) your photos — please say hi at the Summit or comment here if you have things you’d like to share, thank you!
I can hardly believe all the cool stuff on the schedule. I couldn’t possibly list all the things I’m hoping to check out, but there are great panels, demos and sessions from crafters like Diane Gilleland, Lee Meredith, Jen Neitzel, Rebecca Pearcy, Torie Nguyen, Cathy Pitters, Ryan and Lucy Berkley, and Heidi Kenney. Just check out the site for all the details! There’s also a great article in this Sunday’s Oregonian about the Portland craft community and the events going on this week.
I’m excited that I’m leading two sessions — I would love to see you at one or both! The first one is a jewelry-making workshop on Thursday from 10:30am to noon, in the Kennedy School gym — I’m bringing lots of vintage beads for us to make stuff with!
And the second is a talk on craft writing and publishing, from 1 to 2:30 in Parsons. I’ll be talking about my experiences writing for magazines, websites, and book publishers, taking questions and doing my best to widen the path for everyone else!
Besides the amazing Summit (Wednesday-Friday at Kennedy School) and Show (10-3 on Saturday at Doug Fir) of Awesome, there are a few other great crafty things going on this week I wanted to mention. Thursday night at the downtown Stumptown Coffee at 7 pm, my friend Julie Forward Demay has an opening reception for her photographs, called Last Show. Julie passed away last year but her artwork and poetry are full of life and beauty. I hope you can make it to her show, which is up for the whole month of June.
Also Thursday night is the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting at PNCA from 7 – 9. I hope to make it to both.
Finally, Kari Chapin is hosting a signing for her great new book, The Handmade Marketplace, at the downtown Powell’s at 2pm on Sunday. Whew!
Hope to see you around Portland this week!
two stellar art shows tonight!
April 2, 2010 at 1:23 pm | Posted in art and craft, crafty events, oregon | Leave a commentPortland has two amazing art openings going on tonight! If you’re in town I hope you get to visit both of them!
From 6 to 8 pm, Land Gallery hosts Kate Bingaman-Burt‘s Obsessive Consumption show — I love her work. And I can’t wait to see her new book!
Land gallery will present Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?, a new exhibition from Kate Bingaman-Burt to accompany her brand-new book of the same title, which will be published March 31 on Princeton Architectural Press.
Everything we buy has its own story to tell. Obsessive Consumption represents a selection of three years of delightful ink drawings of sundry items. It presents a microcosm of consumer culture that will appeal to everyone.
The exhibition will feature almost a thousand drawings of purchased goods along with illustrations of mixtapes, receipts, credit card statements, shoplifted items, internet passwords and security envelope patterns.
Meanwhile, from 6 to 10 pm at Redux, don’t miss the stunning group embroidery show, “One Stitch Forward, One Stitch Back,” curated by Pamela Davis. Love the concept of this collection.
High Tension, by Cathy Pitters
The domestic arts have a long history of resourcefulness, often salvaging and reclaiming materials, turning scraps into treasures for future generations. The 24 artists showcased here will take needlecraft back to those roots incorporating repurposed materials while adding a contemporary twist to the art. Curated by Pamela Davis.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Emily Rose Baier, Berkley Illustration, Diem Chau, Pamela Davis, Jessica Friday, Kate Greiner, Rachel Hunnicutt, Iron Pony, Tracy Jager, Emily Katz, Carla Madrigal, Andrea Majot, Johnny Murder, Beth Murphy, Penny Nickels, Lucy Peterson, Cathy Pitters, Kristen Rask, Kristen Rupp, T.J. Sabatini, Charlotte Schwennsen, Cindy Steiler, Becky Stern
If you go:
Obsessive Consumption
6-8 pm, Friday April 2nd
Land Gallery, 3925 N. Mississippi Ave. in Portland
One Stitch Forward, One Stitch Back
6-10 pm, Friday April 2nd
Redux, 811 E. Burnside St. #110 in Portland
Value 101 and the Buckman Art Show + Sell!
March 10, 2010 at 10:30 am | Posted in art and craft, crafting with kids, crafty events, free crafty, oregon | 3 Commentsokay, I am re-entering the world of blog posting slowly after being way too busy for the last while, and have a quick couple of things to share with you guys! One is global and the other is local, so there is something for everybody… two somethings for those of us in Portland.
First, Diane Gilleland of Craftypod is hosting a free online class all day today called Value 101.
To join, simply visit her site and click the link. There is lots more about it in her post yesterday, too… here’s a snippet of her description:
The beauty of online classes is, you can take the material at your own pace, as you have time. So, the class space will be open for sixteen hours – 6:00 am – 10:00 pm PST. You can pop in at any time during those hours, stay as long as you like, and even pop in and out.
If you read, watch, and listen to all of the content, it should take you about an hour in total. Nobody, not even me, has to stay for the full sixteen hours.
Closer to home, Buckman Elementary School’s 20th annual Art Show and Sell is this weekend! This such a cool fundraiser: kids at the school and local artists and crafters sell their artwork to benefit the school, plus there’s live music, food, and activities for kids.
my favorite find from the Art Show + Sell two years ago – a print by Berkley Illustration
Stop by Friday, March 12 from 5-9 pm, or Saturday, March 13 from 10-5. Buckman is at 320 SE 16th Avenue in Portland.
Hope to see you at both events — and I’ll be back soon with actual crafts to share, too!
i heart art – tonight!
February 26, 2010 at 10:10 am | Posted in art and craft, free crafty, oregon | 2 CommentsCraft powerhouses Etsy, PNCA, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, and the Portland Etsy Team are hosting a very cool event tonight — stop by if you’re in town! There’s lots more info here on their blog, too.
Etsy, PNCA, Museum of Contemporary Craft and the Portland Etsy Team welcome Portland’s vibrant community of makers, PNCA students, Portland craft guild members and the general public to connect during I Heart Art: Portland Meet ‘n’ Greet.
The event is a great opportunity for Portland-based makers to network and learn more about this burgeoning partnership and future opportunities for professional development. Featuring light food and drink, music, button making, Gocco printing (with Cathy!) and more.
Such a cool partnership — since I teach at PNCA, sell (occasionally) and shop (lots) on Etsy, and got married at the craft museum, I am a big fan of all parties involved! I’m so hoping to make it — see you there?
handpulled for haiti + hearts for septap
February 17, 2010 at 2:02 pm | Posted in art and craft, craftivism, crafty to buy, oregon | 2 CommentsThings have been a little crazy lately and our Valentine’s Day/long weekend kind of evaporated, to say the least. Trying to catch up with all my work in the meantime hasn’t left any time for fun crafts, photos, or other things to share over here. I’m excited for March on all those counts! So I thought I’d post about two local craft fundraisers you might enjoy supporting (one is now exclusively online, so no worries if you’re not in Portland) and then vanish for a bit until things smooth out again.
Andrew, Pearl and I went out to the First Thursday art openings downtown this month and saw both these shows in a very happy back-to-back. Wieden+Kennedy hosted a Handpulled for Haiti opening this month to sell prints of original designs created by their studio artists, with all sales going to Mercy Corps.
I am a true lover of screen-printing and seeing what a few dozen super-talented graphic artists can do on a dime, with a worthy cause to inspire them, was absolutely stunning.
All the money raised goes to Mercy Corps and W+K is matching 100%, turning your beautiful $25 poster into a $50 donation for our local heroes making a difference in Haiti. We chose three posters and I love them all:
Each print is signed and numbered and you can scoop yours up here. Thank you to W+K for their generous support of Mercy Corps, and thank you to the artists who did such beautiful work for such a worthy cause. So inspiring on all counts!
Equally lovely is the Valentine’s Invitational at Reading Frenzy, with dozens more local artists and crafters pitching in. The artwork was unveiled via silent auction at the beginning of the month and is now for sale at a set price, with 50-100% of the sales going to a cause dear to Chloe Eudaly‘s heart, the Special Education PTA of Portland.
I snapped a few quick photos but you should really go in and enjoy all 60 or so pieces in person in their sweet salon-style collections… it will all be up through the end of the month. I have a little piece in there along with some of my favorite artists, and as far as I know it is still up for grabs, along with lots more artwork.
The Valentine’s Invitational benefitting SEPTAP is up through the end of the month, and the Handpulled for Haiti show is now living over here until the shop is empty and Mercy Corps’ coffers are full.
p.s. one last update: I am sorry to report that SB 1032 was caught in a deadlock in our state senate yesterday, and the bill that would have banned BPA in certain children’s products in Oregon is no more. I am thankful that activists in Washington, Minnesota, Connecticut and Massachusetts have had better luck, and I hope we will see some progress at the federal level soon too. My deepest gratitude to everyone who worked on this project, contacted their reps to support the bill, and supported me in my efforts to spread the word. Thank you.
the valentine’s invitational!
February 2, 2010 at 3:42 pm | Posted in art and craft, craftivism, crafty events, oregon | Leave a commentReading Frenzy is hosting their 11th Annual Valentine’s Invitational with a silent auction of artwork by dozens of contributors, including me. Thank you for inviting me, Chloe!
The show will benefit the Special Education PTA of Portland, and the opening should be a lot of fun! Stop by the shop on Thursday, February 4th between 6 and 9 for free beer and Valentine hugs and kisses.
Here’s the little piece I made for the show — I embellished a vintage postage stamp print with lots of sparkles and hearts (just like the ones I made for the blondies, minus the toothpicks, I seem to be on a hearts kick this month) and put it into a secondhand reclaimed wooden 8 x 10 picture frame.
You can see the list of all the other artists and find out lots more about Reading Frenzy here! I have some other exciting news but I’ll save it til tomorrow… see you then! (and hopefully on Thursday too!)
under her wing
November 19, 2009 at 11:15 am | Posted in art and craft, chatty, craftivism | 1 CommentMy friend Nicole pointed me to this beautiful whales gocco print from Kids Haus this week and I wanted to share it over here, too:
Michelle of Kids Haus designed and printed this lovely piece in honor of her dear friend who passed away this year, leaving an 8-year-old daughter. Michelle wrote a very moving post about it, explaining that 100% of the proceeds from “Under Her Wing” will go directly to the little girl’s college fund. I ordered one this week for Pearl’s room, and there are five prints left if you would like to support her very sweet fundraiser too!
I also wanted to say how grateful I am to the folks who have bought a copy of the Crafty Tree Trimmings ornament e-book. Our Project Linus donation is growing daily! And thanks to Diane and Patricia‘s arrangement to offer each contributor a share of the book’s sales, I was able to use my first payment this month to buy this print the same day — something that means a lot to me, especially as the mother of a little girl. So thank you, again, to everyone who has bought a copy. I hope you are enjoying it!
crochet, creatures, + cinema
August 13, 2009 at 2:04 pm | Posted in crafty events, art and craft, oregon, california, washington, books and mags, free crafty | Leave a commentI hardly ever get to use all three of my mighty Oregon, Washington and California tags for a single post, but today is an exciting exception!
Here in Portland, we are in for a treat tonight: Linda will be at Powell’s at 7:30, talking crochet and signing copies of Crochet Adorned! You can also check out this interview with her on the Oregonian’s knitting blog, and her live segment on this morning’s AM Northwest show — and she took this lovely photo of her book while visiting the Rose Garden yesterday. So pretty.
I’ll be writing more about her beautiful book tomorrow with some photos from her event…
And tomorrow night August 14, Ryan Berkley has a fantastic art show, Creature People, opening at Schmancy in Seattle!
I wish I could make it in person, but luckily for those of us not in the Evergreen State there will be plenty of online awesomeness to admire.
And all weekend, Handmade Nation is showing at Cinefamily in Los Angeles! Woo hoo!
Check out the Cinefamily site for lots more info on the gift bags, giveaways, book signing, mini-craft fair, and more!
If you go:
Linda Permann at Powell’s, 1005 W. Burnside St, Portland
Thursday, August 13 at 7:30 pm
(and at Yarn Garden, 1413 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland on Saturday August 15 from 1 to 3 pm)
Ryan Berkley at Schmancy Toys, 1932 2nd Ave, Seattle
Friday, August 14 from 6 to 9 pm
Handmade Nation at Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax, Los Angeles
Saturday, August 15 at 12 noon and 7 pm
Sunday, August 16 at 3, 5, 7, and 9 pm
squirm at visage tonight
August 6, 2009 at 12:30 pm | Posted in art and craft, crafty events, oregon | 2 CommentsMy friend Jamin London Tinsel is having a show at Visage tonight — she’s showing work in clay along with photographs from Julie Forward, a really lovely pairing.
I helped Jamin set things up yesterday afternoon and I got to install the piece on the postcard, bit by bit! It was so much fun to arrange all those tiny cups within the vessel, and see her beautiful work up close. If you are free tonight (or later this month), please stop by to see the show. We’ll be there tonight to celebrate with her.
If you go:
Squirm at Visage
1046 NW Johnson St., Portland
Opening tonight, August 6, from 6-9
Portland’s sweetest record store, Q is for Choir on SE Clinton St. also has an enchanting show of Julie’s luminous photographs right now… stop in to see them if you are in the neighborhood.
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