Exhausted, but happy

This was the view from my tent the entire weekend at the Bucktown Arts Fest. Non-stop people both days. The weather was gorgeous (the cooler temperatures work well for my stuff!) and the people were great, as always. This show is like a homecoming for me-comfortable and familiar. The organizers really know what they're doing and are great folks, to boot. It's been so fun and gratifying to see many customers coming back from other shows and to hear the kind and effusive comments from people. Sometimes working alone in the studio, you wonder how your new pieces will go over.

I've been so busy felting that I haven't had time to photograph my new styles. Fortunately, my customers were kind enough to let me take their photos with some of my favorite pieces that they purchased:

Between the non-stop felting the past few weeks, the busy days, late nights and schlepping all my stuff for the show, I was beat down tired.

I treated myself to a massage last night (Chicago Touch--I highly recommend it!) and was explaining to the therapist why I was so sore. He had been to the show and asked "Did you see those cool wavy felt scarves?" I smiled and said, "well, yeah...those are mine. " He immediately turned to the receptionist and started telling her how she just had to see my stuff. What a cool surprise!

Bucktown Arts Fest this Weekend!!

This is one of my favorite shows of the year and it kicks off my busy Fall/Winter season.

The show runs from 11:00 - 7:00 m both Saturday and Sunday. I'll be at my usual location: Booth #181 on Lyndale Avenue, right by the information tent.

This has been such a wonderful summer for experimenting with felt. I have all sorts of new designs with hand-dyed silk and merino, cool new silks from the NYC garment district and my new addiction, vintage sari silk! The colors and patterns on these sari silks are just amazing and are so much fun to work with.

Thanks to my customers' requests, I also will have more wraps, shawls and capes. But don't worry, I'll also have my classic designs, along with the geode pincushion, bowls and felted flowers.

I may be jinxing myself, but it looks as though the sun may make an appearance this weekend! in case it doesn't, I'm offering a "Rainy Day" coupon: if it rains while you're at the show, take $5 off your purchase!

Complete Sensory Overload

I've been back several days now from my trip to NYC and I don't think I've recovered quite yet--I'm both mentally and physically exhausted. My primary purpose was to visit my cousin and to see the "Fashioning Felt"exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design.

The exhibit was really amazing--wonderful background of the origins of felt in Central Asia, to its contemporary applications in craft and its industrial uses. To top it off, the other exhibit there was on Design for a Living World, sponsored by the Nature Conservancy. The premise was to take 10 internationally known designers from various disciplines and have them explore the use of a sustainable resource in their work. While all of their projects were amazing, the one that sticks in my mind is the evening gown made by Isaac Mizrahi. He uses salmon skins (a waste product from the fishing industry) to make pailottes (a type of sequin) to cover silk chiffon. Elegant and amazing. For more on the exhibit, the projects and their designers, see this link from the Nature Conservancy.

Then there was the garment district. Oh, where to start? I was like a kid in a candy store--a really, really big candy store. Found some wonderful silks for my nuno felt, as well as wool lace and wool gauze (which I didn't even know existed). I can definitely see making a trip back here for fabrics--maybe even a day trip with a cheap fight. NYC style pizza makes for great sustanence during marathon shopping jaunts.

I wish that my hands would work as quickly as my mind--I'm trying my best to create as many pieces as I can in preparation for the Bucktown Arts Fest this weekend. Between the new silks I've purchased, the silk and fibers I've been dyeing and the sari silk I am now using, I have so many ideas and projects to make. But I guess I shouldn't be in such a hurry--I do have 8 shows this fall--plenty of opportunities to debut new items!

Hmm...maybe I AM a bit of a Luddite....

So, I just got back from a fantabulous weekend in Cincinnati visiting my big brother, sister-in-law and adorable dog, Andy. It's been a while since I've done a long road trip and I was really looking forward to it.

A few days beforehand I thought--hey, I should get some books on tape from Cracker Barrel (back in the days of frequent road trips, I did this a lot). So, thinking that I was being organized and all, I called a Cracker Barrel just to make sure they still rented them. Sure the person said, we rent audio books. Audio books---so that's what they call them now.

I stopped at the first one outside of Chicago and sauntered up to the kiosk where to my dismay I learned why they now call them audio books: 'cause they aren't on tapes anymore. Damn....

My 10-year-old car only has a tape player. Reminds me when I learned the hard way that Blockbusters didn't carry VHS movies any longer. After my initial disappointment, I realized that I probably wasn't missing anything--the selection appeared to consist of self-help books and Danielle Steel romance novels.

Never fear, I foraged through my car and came up with a rockin, if not eclectic selection of tapes: Madonna, Led Zepplin, David Bowie, Gyspy Kings and others. Oh, I travel in style...

What's Old is New Again

No, this is not a comment about my birthday!

I taught a felt scarf class last month (Lacy Lattice Felt) and realized right before the class that I no longer had any samples. Lattice scarves had been one of the first scarf styles I sold and over the years had grown tired of making them. Plus, it was a fussy technique that didn't always work quite right.

So when I hurriedly made some scarves for the class, I ended up playing around with the layout and realized how much my felting has improved over the years. The result was fuss-less and I really had fun with it.

Here's a view of my original designs:

Well, it's sunny and my birthday, so I'm off to bike along the lake and swim!

Signal-less Summer

It's been waaay too long since my last post--lots of family stuff going on. I do have fiber-related stuff to post, but in the meantime I thought I'd share one of my highlights of this summer so far--life without the TV.

When the digital transition came about, I realized that my 14-year-old tv didn't merit the $40 converter box. A new tv isn't in the budget right now and it's summer--I shouldn't be wasting time inside!

The transition has been great--aside from the initial "It's 10 o'clock I should put the news on" reflex, I haven't missed it at all. Especially during the Michael Jackson non-stop coverage.

After about a week, I got tired of looking at the defunct box gathering dust. So I removed the rabbit ears and covered it with an Indonesian batik that has been languishing in the closet. Much better!

Hyde Park Community Art Fair this Weekend and $5 coupon!!

Oof...I didn't mean to be offline for so long, but I had some technical difficulties. A Trojan virus, to be exact. When I heard this verdict, aside from fearing for my files I immediately thought, "Dang, why can't I have an encounter with the other Trojan?"

So this weekend is the Hyde Park Community Art Fair, which is held in conjunction with the 57th Street Art Fair. I'm really, really looking forward to this weekend, as I have shopped this show for years, but this is my first time participating. As usual, lots of my artist friends will be there as well, which is always a lot of fun.

I've made more Nuno felt scarves and many colors of the Trellis scarves-- both are styles and weights that take you from season to season. Stop by this weekend and receive $5 off any Felt Inspired purchase by mentioning this blog.

To appease the weather Gods I waterproofed my tent this afternoon, so plan on stopping by to stay dry in case the clouds open up! I was on the lakefront to spray my tent and when I was struggling to open the tent, a complete stranger came to my assistance. The same thing happened when I was trying to close the tent. Gotta love Chicago people!!