canadian.

thank you, jill.

handmade, nation.

image courtesy sublime stitching

the crew at city of craft is very happy to be teaming up with the ontario crafts council and the toronto craft alert to present a very intimate canadian premier of handmade nation, faythe levine's brand new documentary about the indie craft movement throughout america. i meant to announce this before last thursday when the film saw its world premier (in faythe's home town of milwaukee, naturally) but then got distracted with the diwhy opening and trunk show and didn't do it. regardless of my tardy timing, faythe deserves a big huge pat on the back for her accomplishment, and i don't even have to see the film to know that.

i first met faythe in 2006 when she was shooting her first round of footage for the movie. it was the first craft tour that aitor i did (at a humble three months) so we were all converging at just about every event. i think i ran into faythe and michaela (who was behind the camera) in cities from chicago to austin. i shot some interviews with her (which, i believe are now on the cutting room floor) and mostly marveled at the massive surge of independece that was swelling up all around us. it was a recent but different time when things still seemed possible and growth was in the air.

i am hugely thankful to faythe for taking the time (not to mention the physical, emotional and debt-amassing financial commitments) it took to make a document of the craft movement we are now experiencing.

i have also been asked to introduce the film, which will be followed by an informal discussion about whatever strikes our collective fancy (hopefully crafts).

you can visit the webpage we made for the event here. jen and i are meeting up to make tickets on monday so that in-person presales can start up to the ontario crafts council gallery tuesday morning. if you can, i strongly recommend geting tickets in advance as the gallery we are screening in is pretty small and it's hard to say when you might have another chance to see this movie...especially with a group of your fellow toronto crafties.

a felted stone gathers some moss.

...well, lichen.

look what the postie brought me today! a brilliantly composed felted stone with french knot lichen by ottoman (aka oregonian fibre artist, summer hamel). she sells these as pin cushions, but i am going to keep mine just as is. i think it has a sculptural loveliness about it that i just want to stare at. hopefully the lavender in it will keep the moths at bay, too.

with the covered stone i just got from resurrection fern, the mushroom terrarium i got from holly procktor and some little assemblages of my own makings, i am accumulating quite a little natural history display (or unnatural? quasi-natural?)

as for my own real-life lichen collection, some molds have taken hold to the ones i put under glass. does anyone have any suggested cures before i haul out the fungicide that will also kill any mushroom spores that may be hiding in the moss of my terraria? i am glad i did not give the small ones to my most plant-insecure friends. they would have blamed themselves. but, no. it's not you. it's me. and now we all know for sure.

love and rummage trunk show, after the fact.

heart garland by girl number twenty

another february, another crazy trunk show at the workroom. this time, we got a massive amount of press. big thanks go to the toronto star (and tabassum), toronto life, cbc metro morning, the national post and all the blogs that hyped the show up. it was non-stop for the first couple of hours with ravenous rummage-hunters scooping up all kinds of deals on fabric, paper, trim, yarn & other crafty surplus. as per usual, i wished i had more time to look around. it made me extra thankful for my mother's assistance at the big december city of craft show. i might seek out a helper for the first hour or so of the next trunk show (which is already percolating in the group mind of me and karyn). i was also kind of hit-and-miss when it came to photographing everyone's display. amid all the photographers present, i think we catalogued just about everything, though - especially marnie's daughter who was very good at entertaining herself for the entire five hours of the show (okay, with some help from her dad).

here's a sampling:

more stuff should begin pooling up here as everyone recovers and starts to go through their pictures.

although i missed a lot of key rummaging, i did end up going home with one of margie's coveted covered stones and two choice pieces of fabric from jen's stash. all in all, a totally satisfying haul. it was also really satisfying to send so many of the vintage things i have been clinging to into new, loving homes. i hope to do even more getting-rid-of next time around. but i always hope to do more next time.

photo by the workroom

the end.

famous day!

karyn and i were interviewed about the love and rummage trunk show for the toronto star and it came out today. i have to say, i don't know those quotes about domesticity should really be attributed to me (i think it was karyn), but i don't disagree.

also, look what i found on the very opposite page (aitor says i make that face a lot, but i have never seen it before):



the caption reads:

"We don't put prices on our drawings, Billy."

how is billy supposed to pay his rent?

speaking of putting prices on things, i will be spending this evening at the ontario crafts council gallery for the opening reception of diwhy? the security envelope installation that i have in the show is the most expensive thing i have ever offered up into the world (which is not saying very much). i feel for billy's awkward situation. it is hard to attribute value to one's art. for my part, i based my pricing mostly on math (since i have a pricing basis for the buttons to begin with). but had i arrived at a less articulate sum, i would be thankful to any curator who didn't scold me. i wonder if billy even knows the woman shaming him.

late night screen prints.

i spent last evening happily finishing off the city of craft print run with the always lovely shannon. she hates when i take pictures of her but i thought that one up there was funny. it's not really funny - she had ripped part of her lip off with some packing tape. okay, that's a little funny. but it really bled a lot. see? crafts are risky business. i can't even count how many metal shavings i have pulled out of my fingers from the buttons. tough stuff.



we hammered out the rest of the shirts which will be available this sunday at the love and rummage trunk show (their real world debut) as well as the shiny new city of craft etsy shop.

if you have any particular shirt size requests, feel free to let me know. i can't pormise we will be able to fulfill all wishes but...you know...knowledge is power.

i made slippers.

look at these.

they are the result of last night's wool slipper class at the workroom as taught by one miss reva quam.

i was very excited to...

a) finally have slippers again
b) conquer my fear of sewing machines and irons with computers in them (well, kind of conquer)
c) finish something that was just for fun

the class was nice and easy, even for a rusty sewer like me and reva is a very clear and patient teacher. three hours = two new slippers. what a splendid way to spend a monday evening.

these ones were made out of an old cut-up blanket that was at the workroom, and are not quite felty enough (ie. they are fraying and shouldn't be). i might try another pair out of something more felty, but these will offer me a good opportunity to play with some embroidered edging if they keep unraveling.