1. Watch Top Gear.
2. Hug your dog and your boyfriend at least 3 times a day.
3. Eat ice cream.
4. Repeat.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tips for a Better Life
1. Watch Top Gear.
2. Hug your dog and your boyfriend at least 3 times a day.
3. Eat ice cream.
4. Repeat.
2. Hug your dog and your boyfriend at least 3 times a day.
3. Eat ice cream.
4. Repeat.
ShopRuche Blog
I stumbled upon this blog via Design*Sponge and I was totally inspired by all the pretty pretty things in their clothing line and all the great projects featured - including a step by step method for making gorgeous paper flowers and tips for using cornstarch to make temporary wallpaper adhesive - fantastic tip: if you use fabric as wallpaper and you get tired of the pattern, you can just remove the fabric, wash it, and you have a piece of material available for another project!
All of ShopRuche's items are reasonably priced - most items are under $50!
All of ShopRuche's items are reasonably priced - most items are under $50!
ShopRuche Blog
I stumbled upon this blog via Design*Sponge and I was totally inspired by all the pretty pretty things in their clothing line and all the great projects featured - including a step by step method for making gorgeous paper flowers and tips for using cornstarch to make temporary wallpaper adhesive - fantastic tip: if you use fabric as wallpaper and you get tired of the pattern, you can just remove the fabric, wash it, and you have a piece of material available for another project!
All of ShopRuche's items are reasonably priced - most items are under $50!
All of ShopRuche's items are reasonably priced - most items are under $50!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Handmade Detroit Visits Etsy HQ
Some of the HD peeps had the awesome chance to stop by Etsy's headquarters in Brooklyn this past April while on a trip to NYC. Their office is just as cool as you would think it is, but even cooler were all the friendly people we met there (even getting a chance to chat with Etsy's CEO, Maria Thomas!), all who didn't mind that we came storming through their work day with a video camera!A huge "thank you!" to former Mittenette Danielle Maveal for hooking us up and Adam Brown for showing us around.
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more about "Handmade Detroit Visits Etsy HQ", posted with vodpod
Handmade Detroit Visits Etsy HQ
Some of the HD peeps had the awesome chance to stop by Etsy's headquarters in Brooklyn this past April while on a trip to NYC. Their office is just as cool as you would think it is, but even cooler were all the friendly people we met there (even getting a chance to chat with Etsy's CEO, Maria Thomas!), all who didn't mind that we came storming through their work day with a video camera!A huge "thank you!" to former Mittenette Danielle Maveal for hooking us up and Adam Brown for showing us around.
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.927628&w=425&h=350&fv=clip_id%3D5289823%26server%3Dvimeo.com%26autoplay%3D0%26fullscreen%3D1%26md5%3D0%26show_portrait%3D0%26show_title%3D0%26show_byline%3D0%26context%3Duser%3A969200%26context_id%3D%26force_embed%3D0%26multimoog%3D%26color%3D00ADEF%26force_info%3Dundefined]
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Craftervidz: Screen Printing with Yudu
Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make. Use Vimeo if you want the best tools and highest quality video in the universe.
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more about "Craftervidz: Screen Printing with Yudu", posted with vodpod
Craftervidz: Screen Printing with Yudu
Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make. Use Vimeo if you want the best tools and highest quality video in the universe.
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.927619&w=425&h=350&fv=clip_id%3D3343859%26server%3Dvimeo.com%26autoplay%3D0%26fullscreen%3D1%26md5%3D0%26show_portrait%3D0%26show_title%3D0%26show_byline%3D0%26context%3Duser%3A969200%26context_id%3D%26force_embed%3D0%26multimoog%3D%26color%3D00ADEF%26force_info%3Dundefined]
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.927619&w=425&h=350&fv=clip_id%3D3343859%26server%3Dvimeo.com%26autoplay%3D0%26fullscreen%3D1%26md5%3D0%26show_portrait%3D0%26show_title%3D0%26show_byline%3D0%26context%3Duser%3A969200%26context_id%3D%26force_embed%3D0%26multimoog%3D%26color%3D00ADEF%26force_info%3Dundefined]
more about "Craftervidz: Screen Printing with Yudu", posted with vodpod
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Adventures With Patina
I became interested in working with patina or verdigris after seeing the jewelry created by We Dream in Colour a few years ago. Jewelry designer and artist Jade Gedeon creates delicate, colorful, and whimsical pieces. I especially love her use of plant and animal elements. She uses a lot of verdigris and sheer enameling. Because of the wonderful colors and finishes in her work, I spent time researching how to patina and enamel at home. Since an enameling kiln would set me back a few hundred dollars and a bottle of JAX patina would only cost $14 I decided to try patina first.
I purchased the JAX patina and a variety of brass shapes at Metalliferous in midtown NYC - their website will give you a small taste of the treasures in the store. If you are ever in NYC and like to make jewelry this place is giant playground. It is filled with all sorts of brass, copper, and pewter bits - they also have a great deal of tools, manuals and other resources. They only have sterling and basemetal findings, which is my only complaint because I prefer gold-filled findings. I love the story because you have to poke around in the bins to find anything - its a hodgepodge but a surprisingly well organized one.
At first I was disappointed in the results I got by using just the patina on some leaf shaped brass charms. I decided to do some more research on patinas and found a company called Sculpt Nouveau that manufactures a variety of patina related products. After calculating that the shipping costs would be about $43 if I ordered from their website, I found a store called Compleat Sculptor in NYC that carries Sculpt Nouveau. A kind employee pointed me in the direction of Dye-Oxide Patina in the bright blue I was looking for. This was a liquid I could layer over the JAX patina to alter the patina color. I was able to get much more variation but I wasn't thrilled.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="Verdigris Process Photo from LivingPast.com"]
[/caption]
During this time I found the following website - http://sca.livingpast.com/verd.html - I was mystified as to who wrote the site but the research and photos were fantastic AND the examples had the brilliant blue I wanted to create.
The website includes a great step by step description of cultivating verdigris on some scrap copper and hilarious descriptions of historic accounts of how to create verdigris (which was used for a variety of pigment needs).
The process was simple enough - enclose metal in container with cider vinegar and leave for a few days. The metal should not touch the vinegar but be suspended above it.
I sacrificed a small Tupperware container to the art/craft gods and put a few metal pieces on an overturned bowl inside the Tupperware, added an inch of vinegar and waited about two days. The metal pieces developed small bright blue dots but nothing like the thick bright color in the example to the left. The dots were bright blue, but fairly translucent. I wasn't super excited about the result so I decided to add a layer of JAX patina and then left in the covered Tupperware for a day or so. This process created some some wonderful results.
[caption id="attachment_52" align="alignleft" width="165" caption="Firefly earrings with gold-filled earring wires."]
[/caption]
My next patina project involved some brass leaves with variegated texture. I got beautiful blue and green patina on one of the leaves and finished that with a little slow drying acrylic glaze followed by some Renaissance wax. I also tried finishing a patinaed leaf with some clear acrylic spray. This resulted in a charm that mimicked the look of transparent green enamel. The third round of patina experimentation included several brass pieces and one copper piece in the shape of a bird. I covered these pieces with some JAX patina before putting them into a tupperware filled with cider vinegar. This time I suspended the metal pieces over the vinegar using a piece of nylon stockings. This technique - JAX then vinegar exposure - resulted in one of my favorite necklace centerpieces I've created in a while - a copper bird completely covered in verdigris with a large range of tonal variation. The other pieces turned out nicely as well - my only complaint is that I wish I had pulled out one or two of them earlier before the pale green effect from the JAX had turned completely into the bright verdigris teal color that develops after exposure to the vinegar.
My plan is to continue experimenting with different metal shapes - I've found that the mixture of metal as well as the shape affects the results. I also need to continue to refine how I finish the pieces to make the patina permanent.
[caption id="attachment_67" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Raw brass and copper pieces."]
[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pieces with JAX patina after being exposed to vinegar for approximately 24 hours."]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_68" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A variety of finished pieces."]
[/caption]
I purchased the JAX patina and a variety of brass shapes at Metalliferous in midtown NYC - their website will give you a small taste of the treasures in the store. If you are ever in NYC and like to make jewelry this place is giant playground. It is filled with all sorts of brass, copper, and pewter bits - they also have a great deal of tools, manuals and other resources. They only have sterling and basemetal findings, which is my only complaint because I prefer gold-filled findings. I love the story because you have to poke around in the bins to find anything - its a hodgepodge but a surprisingly well organized one.
At first I was disappointed in the results I got by using just the patina on some leaf shaped brass charms. I decided to do some more research on patinas and found a company called Sculpt Nouveau that manufactures a variety of patina related products. After calculating that the shipping costs would be about $43 if I ordered from their website, I found a store called Compleat Sculptor in NYC that carries Sculpt Nouveau. A kind employee pointed me in the direction of Dye-Oxide Patina in the bright blue I was looking for. This was a liquid I could layer over the JAX patina to alter the patina color. I was able to get much more variation but I wasn't thrilled.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="Verdigris Process Photo from LivingPast.com"]
[/caption]During this time I found the following website - http://sca.livingpast.com/verd.html - I was mystified as to who wrote the site but the research and photos were fantastic AND the examples had the brilliant blue I wanted to create.
The website includes a great step by step description of cultivating verdigris on some scrap copper and hilarious descriptions of historic accounts of how to create verdigris (which was used for a variety of pigment needs).
The process was simple enough - enclose metal in container with cider vinegar and leave for a few days. The metal should not touch the vinegar but be suspended above it.
I sacrificed a small Tupperware container to the art/craft gods and put a few metal pieces on an overturned bowl inside the Tupperware, added an inch of vinegar and waited about two days. The metal pieces developed small bright blue dots but nothing like the thick bright color in the example to the left. The dots were bright blue, but fairly translucent. I wasn't super excited about the result so I decided to add a layer of JAX patina and then left in the covered Tupperware for a day or so. This process created some some wonderful results.
[caption id="attachment_52" align="alignleft" width="165" caption="Firefly earrings with gold-filled earring wires."]
[/caption]My next patina project involved some brass leaves with variegated texture. I got beautiful blue and green patina on one of the leaves and finished that with a little slow drying acrylic glaze followed by some Renaissance wax. I also tried finishing a patinaed leaf with some clear acrylic spray. This resulted in a charm that mimicked the look of transparent green enamel. The third round of patina experimentation included several brass pieces and one copper piece in the shape of a bird. I covered these pieces with some JAX patina before putting them into a tupperware filled with cider vinegar. This time I suspended the metal pieces over the vinegar using a piece of nylon stockings. This technique - JAX then vinegar exposure - resulted in one of my favorite necklace centerpieces I've created in a while - a copper bird completely covered in verdigris with a large range of tonal variation. The other pieces turned out nicely as well - my only complaint is that I wish I had pulled out one or two of them earlier before the pale green effect from the JAX had turned completely into the bright verdigris teal color that develops after exposure to the vinegar.
My plan is to continue experimenting with different metal shapes - I've found that the mixture of metal as well as the shape affects the results. I also need to continue to refine how I finish the pieces to make the patina permanent.
[caption id="attachment_67" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Raw brass and copper pieces."]
[/caption][caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pieces with JAX patina after being exposed to vinegar for approximately 24 hours."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_68" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A variety of finished pieces."]
[/caption]
Adventures With Patina
I became interested in working with patina or verdigris after seeing the jewelry created by We Dream in Colour a few years ago. Jewelry designer and artist Jade Gedeon creates delicate, colorful, and whimsical pieces. I especially love her use of plant and animal elements. She uses a lot of verdigris and sheer enameling. Because of the wonderful colors and finishes in her work, I spent time researching how to patina and enamel at home. Since an enameling kiln would set me back a few hundred dollars and a bottle of JAX patina would only cost $14 I decided to try patina first.
I purchased the JAX patina and a variety of brass shapes at Metalliferous in midtown NYC - their website will give you a small taste of the treasures in the store. If you are ever in NYC and like to make jewelry this place is giant playground. It is filled with all sorts of brass, copper, and pewter bits - they also have a great deal of tools, manuals and other resources. They only have sterling and basemetal findings, which is my only complaint because I prefer gold-filled findings. I love the story because you have to poke around in the bins to find anything - its a hodgepodge but a surprisingly well organized one.
At first I was disappointed in the results I got by using just the patina on some leaf shaped brass charms. I decided to do some more research on patinas and found a company called Sculpt Nouveau that manufactures a variety of patina related products. After calculating that the shipping costs would be about $43 if I ordered from their website, I found a store called Compleat Sculptor in NYC that carries Sculpt Nouveau. A kind employee pointed me in the direction of Dye-Oxide Patina in the bright blue I was looking for. This was a liquid I could layer over the JAX patina to alter the patina color. I was able to get much more variation but I wasn't thrilled.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="Verdigris Process Photo from LivingPast.com"][/caption]
During this time I found the following website - http://sca.livingpast.com/verd.html - I was mystified as to who wrote the site but the research and photos were fantastic AND the examples had the brilliant blue I wanted to create.
The website includes a great step by step description of cultivating verdigris on some scrap copper and hilarious descriptions of historic accounts of how to create verdigris (which was used for a variety of pigment needs).
The process was simple enough - enclose metal in container with cider vinegar and leave for a few days. The metal should not touch the vinegar but be suspended above it.
I sacrificed a small Tupperware container to the art/craft gods and put a few metal pieces on an overturned bowl inside the Tupperware, added an inch of vinegar and waited about two days. The metal pieces developed small bright blue dots but nothing like the thick bright color in the example to the left. The dots were bright blue, but fairly translucent. I wasn't super excited about the result so I decided to add a layer of JAX patina and then left in the covered Tupperware for a day or so. This process created some some wonderful results.
[caption id="attachment_52" align="alignleft" width="165" caption="Firefly earrings with gold-filled earring wires."][/caption]
My next patina project involved some brass leaves with variegated texture. I got beautiful blue and green patina on one of the leaves and finished that with a little slow drying acrylic glaze followed by some Renaissance wax. I also tried finishing a patinaed leaf with some clear acrylic spray. This resulted in a charm that mimicked the look of transparent green enamel. The third round of patina experimentation included several brass pieces and one copper piece in the shape of a bird. I covered these pieces with some JAX patina before putting them into a tupperware filled with cider vinegar. This time I suspended the metal pieces over the vinegar using a piece of nylon stockings. This technique - JAX then vinegar exposure - resulted in one of my favorite necklace centerpieces I've created in a while - a copper bird completely covered in verdigris with a large range of tonal variation. The other pieces turned out nicely as well - my only complaint is that I wish I had pulled out one or two of them earlier before the pale green effect from the JAX had turned completely into the bright verdigris teal color that develops after exposure to the vinegar.
My plan is to continue experimenting with different metal shapes - I've found that the mixture of metal as well as the shape affects the results. I also need to continue to refine how I finish the pieces to make the patina permanent.
[caption id="attachment_67" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Raw brass and copper pieces."][/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pieces with JAX patina after being exposed to vinegar for approximately 24 hours."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_68" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A variety of finished pieces."]
[/caption]
I purchased the JAX patina and a variety of brass shapes at Metalliferous in midtown NYC - their website will give you a small taste of the treasures in the store. If you are ever in NYC and like to make jewelry this place is giant playground. It is filled with all sorts of brass, copper, and pewter bits - they also have a great deal of tools, manuals and other resources. They only have sterling and basemetal findings, which is my only complaint because I prefer gold-filled findings. I love the story because you have to poke around in the bins to find anything - its a hodgepodge but a surprisingly well organized one.
At first I was disappointed in the results I got by using just the patina on some leaf shaped brass charms. I decided to do some more research on patinas and found a company called Sculpt Nouveau that manufactures a variety of patina related products. After calculating that the shipping costs would be about $43 if I ordered from their website, I found a store called Compleat Sculptor in NYC that carries Sculpt Nouveau. A kind employee pointed me in the direction of Dye-Oxide Patina in the bright blue I was looking for. This was a liquid I could layer over the JAX patina to alter the patina color. I was able to get much more variation but I wasn't thrilled.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="Verdigris Process Photo from LivingPast.com"]
[/caption]During this time I found the following website - http://sca.livingpast.com/verd.html - I was mystified as to who wrote the site but the research and photos were fantastic AND the examples had the brilliant blue I wanted to create.
The website includes a great step by step description of cultivating verdigris on some scrap copper and hilarious descriptions of historic accounts of how to create verdigris (which was used for a variety of pigment needs).
The process was simple enough - enclose metal in container with cider vinegar and leave for a few days. The metal should not touch the vinegar but be suspended above it.
I sacrificed a small Tupperware container to the art/craft gods and put a few metal pieces on an overturned bowl inside the Tupperware, added an inch of vinegar and waited about two days. The metal pieces developed small bright blue dots but nothing like the thick bright color in the example to the left. The dots were bright blue, but fairly translucent. I wasn't super excited about the result so I decided to add a layer of JAX patina and then left in the covered Tupperware for a day or so. This process created some some wonderful results.
[caption id="attachment_52" align="alignleft" width="165" caption="Firefly earrings with gold-filled earring wires."]
[/caption]My next patina project involved some brass leaves with variegated texture. I got beautiful blue and green patina on one of the leaves and finished that with a little slow drying acrylic glaze followed by some Renaissance wax. I also tried finishing a patinaed leaf with some clear acrylic spray. This resulted in a charm that mimicked the look of transparent green enamel. The third round of patina experimentation included several brass pieces and one copper piece in the shape of a bird. I covered these pieces with some JAX patina before putting them into a tupperware filled with cider vinegar. This time I suspended the metal pieces over the vinegar using a piece of nylon stockings. This technique - JAX then vinegar exposure - resulted in one of my favorite necklace centerpieces I've created in a while - a copper bird completely covered in verdigris with a large range of tonal variation. The other pieces turned out nicely as well - my only complaint is that I wish I had pulled out one or two of them earlier before the pale green effect from the JAX had turned completely into the bright verdigris teal color that develops after exposure to the vinegar.
My plan is to continue experimenting with different metal shapes - I've found that the mixture of metal as well as the shape affects the results. I also need to continue to refine how I finish the pieces to make the patina permanent.
[caption id="attachment_67" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Raw brass and copper pieces."]
[/caption][caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Pieces with JAX patina after being exposed to vinegar for approximately 24 hours."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_68" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A variety of finished pieces."]
[/caption]
SMart Camp - Social Media for the Arts
This Saturday I attended the first day of Social Media Art Camp aka. SMart Camp, a two day conference at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City. The conference focused on how artists and arts organizations are using social media to promote their work, build communities and enthusiasm for their work, and inspire others. I had a wonderful time at the conference. I particularly enjoyed the Social Media Case Studies panel that included my friend Adam Smith (@Adam_Smith) from Dance Theater Workshop, Molly Crabapple of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, and Allegra Burnette of MOMA.
After hearing her presentation on social marketing, I am a huge fan of Michelle Shildkret (@miishi) from Cake US. She is wicked smart and funny and seems like someone that I would like to have a beer with. Here is a link to her awesome and witty presentation.
Planning for social media by Michelle Shildkret @SMartCAMP:Recorded on 3/6/10 recorded on USTREAM.
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.926974&w=425&h=350&fv=loc%3D%252F%26autoplay%3Dfalse%26vid%3D5234400]
more about "Planning for social media @SMartCAMP,...", posted with vodpod
SMart Camp - Social Media for the Arts
This Saturday I attended the first day of Social Media Art Camp aka. SMart Camp, a two day conference at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City. The conference focused on how artists and arts organizations are using social media to promote their work, build communities and enthusiasm for their work, and inspire others. I had a wonderful time at the conference. I particularly enjoyed the Social Media Case Studies panel that included my friend Adam Smith (@Adam_Smith) from Dance Theater Workshop, Molly Crabapple of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, and Allegra Burnette of MOMA.
After hearing her presentation on social marketing, I am a huge fan of Michelle Shildkret (@miishi) from Cake US. She is wicked smart and funny and seems like someone that I would like to have a beer with. Here is a link to her awesome and witty presentation.
Planning for social media by Michelle Shildkret @SMartCAMP:Recorded on 3/6/10 recorded on USTREAM.
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.926974&w=425&h=350&fv=loc%3D%252F%26autoplay%3Dfalse%26vid%3D5234400]
more about "Planning for social media @SMartCAMP,...", posted with vodpod
Friday, March 5, 2010
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