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!