New Kokka Fabric IN!

Got all excited yesterday when the delivery man stopped by. I was not expecting the new fabric from Kokka so quickly.

The fabric is imported from Japan, many of the designs are a linen cotton mix. The Japanese designers have really got a handle on the retro look. Fun to look at and wonderful to work with.

Just got it uploaded Kokka Fabric.

For your ease the Kokka fabric is sold by the half yard.
Happy Shopping!

Last Call for ICE

Last night we gathered at Youngblood Gallery to fill swag bags for the upcoming ICE show this weekend.

If you are not at Centennial Park Saturday at 11:00 when it starts you will miss out on these awesome bags filled with handmade trinkets and crafting supplies.

Some Art Fabric Bags

I screen printed these yesterday to give to my buddies when we go down to the Indie Craft Experience on Saturday in Centennial Park!

Don't miss it there will be stuff to make, stuff to buy and always stuff to see.

Dolly Dress Up

Here is a great pattern for an 18 inch doll or a baby doll ala American Girl, Dolly Dress up by Indygo Junction. We made the outfit using Lila Tueller's line Woodland Bloom. My girls love it.

Can we Go Swimmin'?

This is my children's favorite refrain. The pool opened this weekend and they are waiting none too patiently to GO.



I am not soo ready.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Yummy Good Fun !

We went over to Harry Stacy's Farm to pick some strawberries. The girls loved it. Our models for the "shoot" include my hubby, the "girls" and a special appearance by Indie Craft Goddess Miss Shannon.

I made jam this morning and at the request of my #2 child fresh strawberry pie. We still have 3 of the small baskets in the fridge. I think one more batch of jam tonight.

Harry Stacy's Farm

Before you take your off to pick, call and know that the google directions were not good and that the roads have real names and gangster names. We had to get directions. Try to arrive as soon as they open cause they get picked out fast.

IMPORTANT NOTE!! Keep an eye out for LOST MOUNTAIN NURSERY it is on Dallas HWY on the left as we were heading to Harry Stacy's it has an amazing variety of plants. I failed to take any pictures cause I was overwhelmed by the abundance but I will be heading back to both the farm and the nursery soon.

Toilet Paper Faces

I originally saw this up at Loudreams.
It was inspired by the work of Junior Jacquet.



This is totally me trying to find something good to do with toilet paper roll. I am ever the art teacher. Unfortunately I may not be the sculptor, at the very least I need more practice.



To create the faces I dampened the TP roll let it sit for about 10 minutes than started to push, pinch and bend. Many were unrecognizable.

BUT you can see it RiGHT?? My students helped me paint these and they are a bit garish. One student was particularly complementary and asked how I could be so good at something I just tried, those are great teaching days. I think I might do this with my campers, I need to check the with resident children and see if they can make these with out destroying the rolls integrity.

Indie Craft Experience

This is an amazing event that is happening right in my backyard (kinda). Two days of fun, shopping and seeing.

From their Blog:

Join us May 30 & 31 from 11am - 7pm at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta for two days of indie crafts, live music, craft workshops and guaranteed fun!

ICE was recently in USA Today as one of "10 great places for a hands-on craft experience"

List of Vendors

I will be there early Saturday cause they ran out of swag bags before noon last year!

Paper Mill Market

If you are local and looking for a fun shopping experience the market is on until Sunday ( it is covered in a large tent). $3.00 entry, which goes to Sunshine Camps(?). Here are few of the vendors I likes.


1. The Doodle Store, 2. Jam of Love, 3. Yours Dy Design, 4. Rinse Bath & Body

You might need a tailor if...

you really want to copy your favorite top using your favorite fabric and you don't have a clue.

or

you need lots o samples and you are out of time.

or

you want to support those who MAKE.



or all of the above.

In January I started looking for someone to help make samples for the spring shows. I love showing off the fabric in finished bags, quilts and garments but there are only so many hours in the day.

I found someone, she is a wonder. She is actually my dad's tailor as I was very clear that I would never fix or alter one of his Santa suits. She made many of the skirts at our spring sales and now she has impressed me even more by remaking my favorite shirt and she did not even have to take it apart. My grandmother could do this and although she taught me how to sew I think I must have blocked out some of the more difficult lesson.



I love Tula Pink's Fabric Designs, the fabric for the shirts is from her Flutterby Collection, so I am wearing snails and butterflies. My tailor is making me a few more but those will be out of solids, linen and the like.

Amy Vanderbilt would be so happy!

I was a bit behind the eight ball on my mother's day offering. I pulled through with a great project that saved not only me but about 35 teenagers from certain parental doom and disappointment.

Thursday evening the wonderful UPS man dropped my Accucut order and I was off to the basement to make SOMETHING!.

These flowers are so beautiful and classic they gave life to my Amy Vanderbilt "Complete Book of Etiquette." I am sure she would be proud.

I cut a bazillion flowers and brought them to school on Friday were both of my classes indulged me and made gifts for their maternal units. The kids got really creative and added them to cards and made bouquets.



Kinda interesting my photo kids loved them plain and my younger basic art kids wanted to add color to them. This is one of the projects I will use this summer at camp.

I need to go to the big box and get another wire wreath cause I need one of these to keep for myself.

Family Photo Ball

There was a time....

When I thought that I could sell postcards of my photography work, so I picked 6 of my best images and sent them off to be printed. They were a hit but this was well before Etsy or even online. When I left Nexus (now "The Contemporary") and started having children they got stashed. I pulled them out this past year determined to make something with them.

Sell them (you say), well to be honest, the info on the back is no longer correct and some of them are starting to yellow on the edges. They might still show up at the store but I love what I made with them, this will certainly be up at the store very soon.


Here is one of the images that I used and you can see the rest of them up at our main site.

YUDU Screen Printing

I am really enjoying my YUDU screen printing machine. I don't use it properly, cause I am coating my own screens and just using the exposure part of the YUDU machine. IT works super great so far.




This is a sneaky peak at something cool I am working on for the summer. The paper I am screening onto is made from my fabric scraps.

Plarn Basket

UPS dropped off my newest dies from AccuCut today, I am well pleased. I wanted this die for my summer job as an art teacher at the Mable House, our theme is "the Mean Green Time Machine". We are going back in time and creating art projects that use recycled materials. A tall order. Anywho, this is a proto type for Ancient Civilizations week.





I was thinking about spinning newspaper but I think the plarn will be easier for the kids to make and less likely to rip and there are color choices depending on where you shop.



Have I mentioned that I love my die cutter;-)