Art in the Barn this Weekend!

This weekend is the Art in the Barn show up in Barrington. As the photo will attest, my booth is indeed in a barn (former, and without animals).

The show runs both Saturday and Sunday and is on the campus of Good Shephard Hospital off of Route 22. I'm working furiously to finish everything up--I think my hands are permanently wrinkled from all the felting.

(UPDATE: Just got back from setting up my booth tonight and I have the same space as last year: A-5 in the lower barn.)

I actually have two deadlines this weekend: one for the show and the other is for Uncommon Threads in October--the runway items are due tomorrow!

A BIG thank you to Mary for doing the photo shoot this afternoon of my runway pieces! If only the "model" were better looking....

Montage Monday

I came across this montage of my Flamenco Scarves on an Italian design blog several months ago--I think they did a great job on the photo! And here's the descrition they provided:

"Che dire, infine, delle spettacolari architetture di Felt Inspired? Personalmente, quando cado in crisi mistica alla ricerca della stola perfetta su un abito da sera, d'ora in poi saprò a chi rivolgermi. Le creazioni de Felt Inspired le potete trovare in vendita su Etsy, un bel sito dedicato al mondo dell'handmade!"

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Translated:

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"Finally what shall I say about the the spectacular architectures of Felt Inspired? Personally, when I fall in mystical crisis to the search of the perfect stole for an evening dress, now I will know who to address. You can find the creations of Felt Inspired on sale on Etsy, a beautiful site dedicated to the world of handmade!" '

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I was tickled to find such an effusive review from the country of fashion! And I'm thilled to know that I can be of assistance in the case of a "mystical crisis"....

Meet What's-his-name

So, I finally adopted a new studio mascot last week. I highly recommend the Anti Cruelty Society here in Chicago--great folks and animals. I ended up adopting a three-year-old tabby (funny how I don't really have a "type" of man, but I do have a "type" for cats--this is my third brown tabby). The photo is from the shelter--I haven't gotten around to taking any shots here at home.

I also haven't gotten around to naming him yet. His shelter name was Snoops, but I'm not really fond of that name, so I'm looking for another. He doesn't really answer to that name anyway, so I don't think it's that big of a deal. I have a bunch of names in contention, with a few front-runners. Thought I would run them by you all for feedback. So here they are in no particular order:

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Rufus -- no real reason, except that the "oo" vowel sound matches Snoops, which is apparently what animals recognize in their name (in case he actually does recognize his name)

Leo-my sign, plus it is a feline name

Mocha--I like chocolate, I like coffee.....

Dude --he's a really mellow cat, plus it has that "oo" thing going for it

Motor--he constantly purrs

Murray--I was thinking of something fiber related and ruled out Merino, which led me to Murray. And I always liked that character on the Mary Tyler Moore show.

Monkey--the cat does this weird splaying of his limbs when he's happy and I swear that his front limbs kinda look like monkey arms. You'll just have to trust me on this.

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Or, he could just go nameless for a while....

One Week 'til Big Shoulders

Just one week until Big Shoulders, Chicago's only open water race on Lake Michigan. I'm doing the 5k this year and think (hope?) that I'm prepared for it. I've done more long distance swimming than in previous years, plus I swam during the winter with the Evanston Masters.

One of my greatest pleasures during the summer is swimming in Lake Michigan. There is something so peaceful about open water swimming (usually--sometimes the weather adds excitement). But being in Lake Michigan in the city is something else--seeing the skyline every time you take a breath...well, that is just something you have to experience.

And swimming with other open water folks is just the best. I've been swimming with a group called Open Water Chicago--great group of people. It's all about the lake and enjoying your swim-no competition and no posturing that you often see with the triathlon crowd. I'm generalizing here, but it seems that most triathletes are not as comfortable swimming, so there is a lot of nervous energy when they are down at the lake. And don't get me started with the primping and preening over their wetsuits--honestly, I think many spend more time squeezing themselves into their suits and fussing with the zippers than actually swimming.

As for me--I don't have a wetsuit. I am blessed with *ahem, cough, cough* my own natural insulation and padding :)

By the way, this is me in the photo- you'll just have to take my word on it.

Photo taken by Steve Hernan of Open Water Chicago

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!