Selling warpeDesign in stores

Selling at craft shows is tough.   You're lucky if it is only a 9 hour day... on a weekend.   It's lots of standing.   And I don't always eat too healthy.   (Those darn cupcake & chocolate booths are my doom!)

As an alternative, I've started looking for some bricks & mortar locations where I can vend warpeDesign.   It's great for customers who need to think about a purchase.  They don't have that worry that the item they want wont be there tomorrow (hehe... unless it sells!).   I know this is especially true for the lamps.  It's hard to buy one at a show.  You want to make sure it fits your decor... and your budget.   I'm all for making good decisions with your money and your home.   By getting my products into a few select places, I hope to give you the opportunity to take that time.

To start you can see the tea light covers at Clay, Wood, & Cotton in Beacon, NY.    They've been there for a few months.   The store is pairing each one with a free candle & glass.   It's an awesome deal.

And as of last week I have lamps at Homebody Boutique in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY.   At the store you'll be able to purchase a full lamp - not just a shade as on Etsy.   They are running from $120 to $140 depending on the size, materials, and detail in the shade.   It's another great deal.

I'll do my best to keep posting new locations and products as they get out there.   Have fun shopping!

Making it BIG

My first commission of a large scale lampshade.   Learned a few things.  Like, these big things are BIG.   This shade was 14" in diameter by 15" high.   My NYC Skyline lampshade is a mere 6" diameter by 8" high.    When I look at the picture of the original BIG shade next to the NYC one I have to laugh.... it's like Papa and Baby!

Now that I had this frame home... I had to get brutal with it and strip off that frightening (plastic) ribbon that was bound around it.   I needed to get a sense of the scale and what was underneath.   This made for a perfect shot of it 'caging' the NYC Skyline shade.   It made me realize, this wasn't just 2x's bigger....   this was more along the lines of 4 times bigger than anything I'd tried before!

But I persevered...    And punched and punched and punched holes and more holes into a strip of paper that was almost as long as I was tall!   The final results were a lovely, sophisticated shade with my "Snowfall" pattern.  At home I could only see it on a chair, but the texture looked lovely in the natural light from the window.

When I brought it to my client and they were kind enough to let me photograph it lit up in their place.   Hurrah!  The big guy is done and home!

He's traveled around New York - Manhattan to Brooklyn and back again, but I think the makeover was well worth it all!

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! 

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!

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.

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? 

Fontspiration!

Ever been overwhelmed by your font choices? Serif or sans sarif? Modern or caligraphy? Italics or not? Outline or Underline? Oh man... the options... the designs... I do love them. And while I wish that they all translated well to my punctured paper technique, I've had a few fumbles... and several hurrahs. I hope over time to post most of the alphabet here. While not everything is currently available on my etsy shop, I can remake almost everything I post here. Just ask me! Starting with "A is for..."

And then, of course, there's "B is Beautiful"


and "C is for Cookie"!

On Friday, September 18th from 5-9pm, the very cool people at Craftland at 235 Westminster Street, Providence, RI are hosting a shindigity-party to celebrate the opening of their store. They've got amazing handmade arts and crafts for sale (including my cards and lamps!)

So go check them out, enjoy the food and booze, say "hi", and shop!

Beginning the season

The Fall Handmade Cavalcade was a great way to get back into the swing of things. As much as we all love time off (which August was for me), it's never easy to start working again. But when you have to do it, it doesn't get any better than Beacon this weekend.

The friendships I've made and continue to build in the {NewNew} are a fantastic support group to lean back on. They are wonderful people who I can bounce ideas off of, who's creative spirits keep inspiring me, and who continually challenge me to keep looking towards the horizon instead of just at my feet.

This weekend was the most difficult show I've ever done. Never before have I been so deeply involved in the pre-show development. It was a big learning experience on what goes into the networking, advertising, socializing, pamphleteering, posting, chatting, emailing, etc, etc, etc! Add into that it was my first show out of town... in fact, my first one off the Long Island (and, yes, for those of us who forget, Brooklyn & Queens are on the tip of LI!)

All I can really say is: Thanks, guys, for inviting me into the fold!

The Market at the Old American Can Factory

One of the best things about New York is how much old architecure exists... and how often people rejuvenate it with new purposes. The Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Brooklyn is a great example. As part of XO Projects Inc, it's being recycled into a creative center with studios, offices, and now a market for all types of creative people. The building houses ceramicists, chefs, sculptors, film makers, painters, writers, and so much more.

On alternating Sundays in September, and then every Sunday in October through December, they will host The Market, a "curated Makers Market of Art + Design Products + Services", of which I'm flattered to have been invited to partake. There are many other amazing artists showing, so it's a wonderful place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Hours are 11-6 pm. And both dates this September - the 13th and the 27th - will have live music in the Courtyard from 4-7 pm. On the 13th it'll be curated by the Issue Project Room.

I'll be at the Market on the following dates:
September 27th

October 25th

November 8th

November 22nd

December 13th

Mother of Invention is in the Gut

I started making lampshades a few months ago using basic circle wire frames. At it's simplest, it consists of two rings set a certain distance apart with paper wrapped around them to form either a column or a cone. The wire circles dictate the shape as well as supplying the support and method of attachment. Add base and bulb and - TA-DA -You have a lamp!

A few weeks ago I was working with a piece of paper I'd punctured (say that 3x's fast!) with the pattern I call "Melting". It was supposed to fit around a 10" diameter wire frame but somewhere I'd measured something wrong and it was too short! There was no way I could hide a 1" gap. But there was also no way I was going to junk this beautiful paper I'd spent hours creating!

I happened to have a 6" diameter frame sitting out for another piece. I had laid down the "Melting" paper beside it. Without thinking too much, my hands reached for both and began assembling... (The mother of invention must be in the gut, not the brain!) There was a good chunk of painstakingly punched paper I was going to have to cut off for this smaller frame, IF I made it into the standard column. If. If. If...

And that's how I created the Melting Teardrop Lampshade!