Holiday Party at the Maker's Market

Last Sunday, while at the Maker's Market, I was chatting with a customer about the show.   It was a dreary, rainy day and yet there was still a decent amount of foot traffic.   We were both happy about that, and then he said something about that really caught my attention...

"It's like being at a museum.  The quality of the work is so amazing!"

wow.   I've always thought we were a pretty classy, talented bunch, but that was even higher praise than I'd ever expected.   But if the shoe fits....

If you'd like to get a taste of our "museum" quality work, this weekend will be a fantastic opportunity to do so.  Here are a few of the fabulous people who will be showing and selling alongside me.   Wipe that drool off your computer, put your party pants on, and come play with us!

Christine Vasan Jewelery

May Luk Ceramics

Fisk & Fern

MOS Atelier

Schoolhouse Kitchen

Wabisabi Brooklyn

The challenges of booth set up at Gifted

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of spending the day with Felicity of Wish by Felicity and Debbie from Milk Made at the Brooklyn Flea's Gifted show.   The {NewNew} team had arranged to purchase a table that their members could share for the day.   For those of us with a thin wallet but big hopes, this is a fantastic opportunity.   The challenge was how we'd fit us all on one table!

We're each used to having at least a 2'x4' table to spread out our goodies.  At Gifted all we had was one 2'x6' table.   Which, divided by three people, gave us each 2' square.   It seemed ridiculous.  I know I thought it'd be a disaster.

But it turned out great!   Limitations sometimes push you.   And this pushed each of us to find the essence of our lines.   As you'll see in the pictures below, we found ways to make our products look great while keeping the table top from falling into chaos.

Walking in from the front door, we were towards the back wall by the Lafayette Street side window which gave us fabulous light (which my poor lamps fought against...).

 

Felicity had fun rearranging her set up all day, but she really caught the essence of her fun and colorful jewelry with these pieces.

Debbie and Felicity's work is very different, but since I was the 'non' jewelry person (and the last one to show up for set up...heh), I got the pleasure of setting up in the middle of the table.   It actually worked out well as your eye seemed to rise UP the table following the increasing heights of our displays.

And then there was Debbie's milk bottle cap inspired jewelry mountain holding down the end of the table.   I love that she brings along an old fashioned milk bottle with cap.   I didn't know you could even find them any more!

The view for us was pretty great too.  We had a good angle to observe the crowds and see people shopping handmade!

If you were one of those people... I hope you had a fun time and found lots of goodies!

An invitation to the Brooklyn Collective and more...

I'm thrilled to announce that warpeDesign will be available at two stores in the very near future.

Starting on December 11th, Brooklyn Collective will be hosting several new artists and designers including yours truly. Sharing store space with General Nightmare Antiques, the Collective is a great place to stop and shop for the holidays. If you want to meet the artists, come by the "Holiday Opening Event" on Friday, December 11th from 7pm-midnight. There'll be wine and refreshments all night as well as a special live performance by The Static Jacks. And yes, I will be there... just look for the little redheaded girl with a silly grin.

Later this month, you'll be able to find warpeDesign tea light covers and lamps a little north of the city in Beacon, NY at Clay, Wood, & Cotton. This hot, new shop is the brain child of Kristen of Cakehouse and Kristy of Beacon Bookmarks. After paying their dues selling on the craft circuit in many a fair, they joined up with Kelly, the creator of beaconcitizen.com, to create a home online and in the real world to house and sell the kind of products they love and to represent the people that make them.

I am so thrilled to be a part of both of these stores.  They are not only the kinds of places that I want warpeDesign to be in... but they are the type of stores that I myself love to shop in.  

Happy Holiday Handmade Cavalcade!

Just wanted to send a quick little "THANK YOU" to everyone who came to the 2nd Annual Holiday Handmade Cavalcade.  We felt very loved.   With over 1000 visitors showing up in the rain even before our 1/2 way point...   It couldn't have been a better show.   We were happily exhausted at the end of the day, but that didn't stop some people from talking about what we want to do in 365 days for 2010 Holiday Cavalcade!   So, thanks again for making it a great day!

December Craziness ensues!

I just came back from Ikea with supplies... will need to hit the ribbon store and get some light bulbs too.   And make lots more tea light covers, cards, and lamps!    So much time, so little to do... wait.  no.  Reverse that.   (I hope someone remembers what movie that came from, because I don't!)

Tomorrow I'm heading over to the Bowery Bazaar to set up several hanging lamps in the unofficial {NewNew} space.   I'm thrilled to be sharing the space with several other fabulous artists including:

Better Than Jam, who not only sews her own clothing designs, but creates and prints the fabrics for them too.

and KnitKnit, who designs and creates wonderful fiber jewelery and accessories.  One of my personal favorites is her Knitted Power Cord Scarf/Necklace. 

Next on the list will be this Saturday's 2nd Annual Holiday Handmade Cavalcade, created and hosted by the {NewNew} in the New York City's Nolita.   With nearly 50 artists designing  paper goods, t-shirts, jewelry, stuffed animals, soaps, and art...  there's going to be something there for everyone.

And that's just this week...  More insanity ensues next week!  Stay tuned, my warped ones, for further details on my plans...  some possible shop appearances are planned as well as plenty of shows!

Holiday Cards, New and Old

I introduced the  Light Up My Tree card in a previous post.  Now it's time to introduce you to the rest of the Holiday card gang at warpeDesign!  Some of them you may have met before, but the classics never die!

The dainty yet oh-so-darling Wee Ornament.

His big brother, Ornament:

The veteran tree card, Deco Christmas Tree:

 

and the latest card to join the team,  Two Stars:

10% off Black Friday through Cyber Monday

To start things off right for the holidays, the {NewNew} NY Etsy team is hosting a Black Friday Weekend Sale!  There are sales across etsy, but you can find specific {NewNew} team members by typing "newnewteam" with "etsyholidaysale" into the search or taking a look at our new digital catalog.

For me specifically:

Friday November 27th through Monday November 30, 

Everything from warpeDesign will be 10% off!  

The story behind Light Up My Tree card

Did you ever have Christmas tree lights duty?   You know... where you are the one who wraps that lovely pine in strands of winking electricity?   Where the needle scratches on your hands are forgotten as soon as you see the lovely lines twinkling through the branches?

In my family it's usually me and my dad who have light duty.   It's one of those few traditions that have built up, unspoken, unplanned.   Somehow, as an adult, it's almost always the two of us dragging the tree inside, him setting it up in the base, me holding it straight as he clamps it in, and mom coming in to tell us how it's leaning to the left...

And then it's on to the lights.  First plugging them in to check that they still work, and then I squeeze behind the tree and dad stands in front of it.   We wrap it in strand upon strand of lights, passing them to each other when we can't reach any further around the tree.   Nowadays they're mostly white solids, but I remember as a kid having different sizes and colors and blinkers...   Wow.  It would look like a carnival ride.

But no matter what lights go on, I always treasure that moment when its just bark, needles, and lights.   That moment before we toss on all our wonderful, gaudy ornaments.  It's like seeing the star of a play in their dressing room, in lingerie, face makeup on, but the costume still hanging on the door.

My newest holiday card celebrates that pause in decorating.  That moment right when we Light Up My Tree.

Breaking News: warpeDesign to be at the Bowery Bazaar

To quote them:

"A hip, new indoor market has just opened. The "Bowery Bazaar" will be home to 30 plus vendors of designer clothing, home goods, rare trinkets, vintage and new jewelry, unique candy, and much more."

I'll be there this weekend, Friday & Saturday 12-8 and Sunday 12-6.   At 351 Bowery in Manhattan, it is right down the street from the former CBGB's and across the street from Marion's.  It's soooo convenient and a great space.  

I hope I'll see some of you there.   I know I'll need the moral support as it's going to be my first 3 day show, so if I seem sort of dazed and confused on Sunday, I'm really sorry! 

Save the Date - Holiday Handmade Cavalcade!

Mark off December 5th on your calendars.  You've got a little over a month before the {NewNew} invades Nolita with our 2nd Annual Holiday Handmade Cavalcade!

Start saving your pennies because this will be the best of holidays when you give someone that wonderful handmade gift that they cant find anywhere else but at the Cavalcade!  At 201 Mulberry Street just south of Spring at the Openhouse Gallery.

Tea light covers to sparkle day or night!

Introducing warpeDesign punctured paper tea light covers!   Using the same hand punching technique as in my cards and lamps, I've now created these lovely tea light covers.   I've only got two posted so far, but I will be adding more over the next few weeks. 

One of  my favoring aspects (other than how cool they look) is that they are just so simple.   I've designed them as basic strips with a tab and slot. 

Assembly is as simple as curve, tuck, and straighten!

And when you're done, just reverse the steps, slide it back into the cellophane envelope, and store it anywhere without worrying about dust or damage.   It'll be fresh as new when you take it out the next time! 

Just one caveat - these are paper, so using them directly with an open flame is not safe.   All you need is one of those glass tealight containers, something tall enough to block the fire from the cover. I've used glass tumblers I found at flea markets for a few pennies.   Or....   an electronic, LED tea light is completely safe on its own and they're available at most hardware stores.

I will be debuting them tomorrow at the Market, so if you are going to be out for the marathon in Brooklyn, come over and check them out.  I'll have a bunch of different designs offered in three colors: gold, silver, and bronzed chocolate!   Hope I see you there!

warpeDesign on PapernStitch

For the next month, warpeDesign will be one of the visiting artists on Papernstitch, a wonderful online exhibition space celebrating handmade arts and artists.   It's lovely to be in such fabulous company.   There are amazing things to see and it's a fun site to hop around.   It's also a great way for me to display 20+ pieces at a time.   Check in a couple times over the month because I'll be tossing in new images (maybe some new product).   Everything here is for sale on etsy...   this is just a fun new way to get an overview of my work.   Enjoy!

NYC Marathon and me

I'm not a runner.   Never have been.  But I can certainly appreciate how hard it is to do.  And especially how hard it is to run 20+ miles in one day, much less a few hours!   This Sunday, Nov 1st, the New York City Marathon will be sending a hearty bunch racing through our fair city.  Part of their route will take them up 4th Avenue in Brooklyn...  right past the Market at the Old American Can Factory.   You can see from the map that we couldn't get much closer to the route (in yellow, blue, & green) without tying on our sneakers and running in it ourselves!

If you are going to cheer on the runners on Sunday, stop by the Market during the wait and check out some of the fabulous stuff for sale.

Fun stuff to do this weekend!

Two very cool things to do this weekend.

#1 is visit me at the Can Factory Market on Sunday!

and #2 is the delicious New Amsterdam Market!

If you go, I'd love to hear about what you see and what impresses you most.   Tell me about the amazing earrings you buy or the fantastic chocolates you snarfed down from the samplings!  (I'll be super jealous of the chocolates... yum!)

Materia - Invention, Innovation, Inspiration

"Where do you look for inspiration?"  It's a question every artist hears at least once.   Most of us find it in our everyday lives, our environments, our friends.   But we each have somewhere else we go, usually a couple somewhere else's, to add that extra spice.   Somewhere that breaks us out of the box that is our usual, safe parameters.   One of my personal favorites is Materia.

It is a fabulous Danish website and business that is all about new materials and technologies.    It celebrates the creative turned functional.   The innovative turned useful.  The unuseable turned applicable.   But always with an eye to beauty too.
While it is aimed at inspiring architects and designers, I think anyone would enjoy it.

Some of the recent items that caught my eye include these fabulous, crazy felts by  Beatrice Waanders' SuperNature collectie:

Luminoso, the wood and fiber optics blend from  Litwork GmbH:

And the insanely fabulous twisted metalwork of AlgoRythm from  MILGO/BUFKIN:

Joining the site is free... and then you can sign up for their newsletter and wait to be amazed!   The worst part is the fantasies I build of my ideal house using these amazing products... the house I couldn't afford in a million years!   But that's what dreams are based on, and seeing the wonderful things people make keeps me excited to see what will come next.

Weather Woes

I've done several outdoor shows in the cold.   If I wear the right clothes, bring my heavy jacket, hat, scarf, gloves... it's not so bad.   But rain...   rain is very dangerous.   Once my work gets wet, there's no recovery.  I have to write it off as a loss.   Risking a few cards is one thing....  but a big part of my inventory is another. 

I'm very concerned about the weather tomorrow.   If this Nor'easter really does come through, I am going to have to reconsider showing at the Crafts in Chelsea.  I feel horrible about that because I don't want to disappoint you or the sponsors or the {NewNew} team.   But I'd rather have product available to sell in the future, than risk losing most of it to the weather!

I do have my alternate line of crocheted wearables: warpeDesignWear.   I'm debating bringing that instead.   I've been focusing more on the paper goods lately, but I still have lots of bracelets, rings, brooches, necklaces, key chains, etc to show and sell from this....  

So I leave it up to you if you want to brave the elements.   I'm still debating it, with regular checks of the weather channel.   This is the hard part about outside shows.   Weather control.   I'm waiting for that magic wand that I can point at the sky and say "Presto-ala-kazam- Sky be blue!"

If you want to know what I end up deciding, stay tuned to my Facebook and Twitter as I will post there what the final situation is.

The Alphabet Cards continue!

Gimme a D!   Gimme an e!   Gimme an F!   Gimme a g!   What does that spell?  Well, nothing really... but it's the next 4 letter cards that I promised I'd keep posting.   Enjoy!

The Delicious Letter D

 

e is excellent

F is Fun Fun Fun!

 

Grand Old G

 

Crafts in Chelsea

Has autumn got your shopping juices flowing yet?   Thinking about needing some cold weather clothes?   Or new lamps for your living room?   Or presents for the kids at the holidays?  (It's never too early to talk about holiday shopping!)

The fabulous {NewNew} artists will be selling our handmade labors of love at the Crafts in Chelsea  on October 17th from 10am-5pm on West 21st Street (bet. 8th & 9th Aves) in Manhattan.   We've got a great Flickr page to tempt you with an idea of all the great stuff that will be available!

"There will be something for everyone with free food for kids, games, bouncy castles and a petting zoo inside the school - all to occupy the children, leaving the parents free to shop the best handmade goods in the Metro New York area!" - yelp.com

Winner of the Nerdlike giveaway!

A very big congratulations to Karen Pease for winning the Nerdlike.com giveaway of the set of 3 Snail cards!   I'm packing them up right now and will be dropping them in the mail tomorrow.    

I wish I could give something to each of you who has joined or is now following me.   Stay tuned for more giveaways...    I think a holiday one would be appropriate, no? 

New recycled colored envelopes for my handmade cards!

For the last year I've sold my white, handpunched cards only with matching white envelopes.  They looked great together, but the cards on display didn't always read well from a distance at shows.   I've been wanting to try a darker layer under the cards to help the detail show through the punched holes.   It's hard to tell from the pictures... but believe me, it makes a difference!

In addition, as some of you may have noticed over the last year, I've focused my collection into 4 distinct categories:  romantic, abstract or any-day, letters & numbers, and holiday.   I've picked envelope colors to match those themes.   Red for romantic.   Classic Kraft bag brown for any-day.   Denim blue for letters & numbers.  And soft green for the holidays.  They've always been sorted by category at shows, but now you'll be able to see it much easier!

Best of all - these envelopes are 100% recycled!  The red, green and blue envelopes include 30% PCW (post consumer waste), while the kraft brown is 100% PCW!  

If you are interested in seeing the new envelopes in person, I will be debuting them at the Crafts in Chelsea fair on October 17th.   And don't worry - if you still want the classic white envelope, just ask me!

Win a set of Cards

I'm very excited to announce a give-away of a beautiful set of 3 warpeDesign Snail cards on Nerdlike.    Here's a picture of those three beauties.  Closeup and more info on how to win is available on Nerdlike.

Teasers for this weekend's show

One of my favorite things about getting involved in the handmade and craft world is the wonderful, creative people I meet.   I'm constantly inspired by their determination as much as by their talent.   How can you resist this stuff?

May Luk Ceramics:

Fisk & Fern:

 

Wabisabi Brooklyn:

 

This is just a small taste...  Join us for the full meal and see what I mean about inspiration.