Silly Shadows

Something to make you smile on this Monday morning...



Head on over to Color Me Katie to read more about The Shadow Project from Brooklyn artist Katie Sokoler.

a Creative Genius for your weekend enjoyment

From the "how come I didn't think of that?" files: an ice cream cozy! Yes. This is fantastic. Nice work, Vintage Songbird. Made of new & vintage fabrics, quilted & layered with thermal batting, a button closure to ensure a tight fit - pure genius. Thanks for alerting me to this, Mama Rose!

What's Growin' On: Caterpillar with the Munchies

We've been planting a butterfly garden in one of our large beds in the backyard, which we affectionately named "The Monarch" after this guy.

Yes, we've named all of the flower beds in our garden. It really simplifies things when you're trying to discuss & plan things and shop for plants and stuff. It's way easier to say, "Let's plant a hyssop in The Monarch" than to say, "Let's plant a hyssop in that bed that's on the far right when you're looking out into the yard from the back door, you know, the one where we're going to plant all the butterfly-attracting plants?"

You'll be hearing more about all of our other beds & their names in future posts; for now I just wanted to share our fantastic little visitor with you. He'll (she'll?) be pupating in a week or two, then about 3 weeks later emerging as a beautiful monarch butterfly.

I have to admit that I was scared when I first glanced it shimmying across the ground. I'd never seen a monarch caterpillar up close - it's not exactly friendly-looking! But when Patrick informed me that it was a monarch, I immediately started oohing and ahhing at it like it was a precious newborn baby, and then ran for my camera. The bright yellow & black & white stripes are a warning to would-be predators: "Don't eat me! I'm highly toxic, so step off!"



Milkweed is the monarch's preferred food. This little guy stripped off entire leaves.
In about 20 seconds.









As it eats, the caterpillar derives toxins from the sap of the milkweed that will deter predators from eating it, in both the caterpillar & butterfly stages. We've already seen quite a few butterflies flitting around our new butterfly garden, so I can only imagine how amazing they'll be when The Monarch is fully grown in!

Local Talent Tuesday with Jamie Dorfman

Today I bring you an interview with Jamie Dorfman, the designer behind ax + apple. Jamie has a great eye for vintage pieces that she turns into fabulous, one-of-a-kind jewelry. Her table at shows is always one of the prettiest, too, with her pieces cleverly displayed on vintage books & picture frames to draw you in.





Beth: First, please give us a little background on your studio.

Jamie: I have been a chronic thrift/antique/estate sale shopper since as far back as I can remember. I remember being 14 and buying tees at the thrift store and chopping them up or reinventing old clip-on earrings into brooches. As I got older, I started getting more and more compliments on my personal style and "where'd you get that?" sort of attention.


I decided about 2 years ago to take a stab at making pieces to sell. I started ebaying and selling in random boutiques wherever I happened to be living. The ax+apple line has only been around for about 6 months, but the reaction has been incredible. I have finally honed in on a look and feel that encompasses my passion for vintage fashions while keeping everything modern and fresh.

You can find ax+apple jewelry at www.axandapple.etsy.com, in Feather's Boutique on South Congress, and at Kick Pleat on 12th.

I work out of my one bedroom apartment, which can get a little intense. But I love that my work is always accessible. I get inspired at the most random times.


Beth: Where do you find the inspiration &/or motivation for your creative work?

Jamie: Antiquing antiquing antiquing. I can spend all day everyday in antique stores and never get tired of it. I let the charms and links I find speak to me. For example, recently I have been working mostly on my Pen Knife Collection.

Pen knives were originally invented to sharpen the tips on quill pens and designed not to interfere with the appearance of dress clothes. They were attached to the end of a watch fob chain and slipped in a pocket. So what I do is find old watch fobs and repurpose the links into necklaces. Then I very selectively find pen knives to hang on the chains. So the concept and materials are the same. But now they become neck pieces instead of being hidden away in a pocket. Vintage and fashion forward at the same time. The knives are so beautiful. They are statement pieces all by themselves.


Beth: Describe how a really productive day of making art goes for you.

Jamie: I have my studio set up in my kitchen. It is the simplest process ever. I pull all my materials out and lay them on the table, put my ipod on shuffle (I have to have my music) and stare at it all until something jumps out at me. That really is it.


Beth: What are your big-picture goals for yourself as an artist & your art-related business?

Jamie: Brick and mortar baby. The reaction to the ax+apple line has been overwhelmingly positive. And I would love to start sewing again. I do a lot of vintage alteration. I am hoping in 2 years time. Knock on wood!!

Tutorial: Hammered Flower & Leaf Prints

While skimming through my latest Craft Magazine email update, my interest was piqued by the entry "How-To: Simple Botanical Prints." I love botanical prints & illustrations. Flowers are one of my favorite subjects to draw, and I've a tendency to want to capture their EVERY detail.


A lot of times when I see a flower or leaf that has interesting contours, I'll think about what a cool illustration it would make, but then I decide not to do it because I know I will get obsessive about the detail, making it a time-consuming & somewhat frustrating drawing exercise. Isn't that silly of me? It's ridiculous, I know, but it's true.

So imagine my delight when I saw this tutorial for hammered flower & leaf prints, written by Wendy of Build/Make/Craft/Bake. Seems like a great way to capture all the gorgeous details of a flower or interesting leaf, with their original colors, even! You hammer the plant to release its natural dyes, resulting in a beautiful, life-like image. Great for those artists with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, like me. I can't wait to try this awesome idea.
P.s. All the pics here are Wendy's.

Happy Etsy Day!

I just learned about Etsy Day yesterday, so I don't have any outrageous plans for it or anything. I do think it's a cool idea, though! It's a day to raise awareness about the amazing, worldwide, online marketplace known as Etsy. I'll be checking in with Etsy to see their reports of the best guerilla marketing ideas, and blogging them here if they are supa-cool.

Here's more info from the Storque article about Etsy Day:

To learn more about Etsy Day, check out the latest forum post by Shugirl here.

Here are some ideas from the Etsy Admin:

1. If you get people to sign up for Etsy on Friday make sure they mention your Etsy username in the Referrer Username box at sign up! If we see a user who really rocks this, we'll automatically include you in our Etsy Day follow up post. So if you print out flyers, get on the news, or get Ashton Kutcher to tweet about Etsy, make sure you get your username in there, too!

2. Tweet your endeavors via Twitter and make sure to add the hash tag #EtsyDay. (And send it to @aplusk. Let's get Ashton Kutcher's attention on Etsy Day. Ha! Mr. Most Twitter Followers.)

3. Support a new seller on Etsy Day! Buy an item from someone with no sales (you can find them on Pounce Undiscovered), and wish them a "Happy Etsy Day" in the Message to Seller field when you check out.

4. Print out schugirl's Etsy sign to stick in your car window or download and print out the design Anda made for Etsy Day!

5. Get an Etsy tattoo!

6. Dress your family in all orange. When you get weird looks, whisper "Etsy."

7. One final clarification..."Etsy" is pronounced like "Betsy" with no B.

breaking news: 4/25 Austin Handmade Market postponed

The Austin Handmade Market scheduled for this weekend (April 25) is being postponed until the following Saturday (May 2). That will be the weekend before Mother's Day, so it should be a good one!

Another Austin Handmade Market this Saturday!

Etsy Austin | Austinites on Etsy: Austin Handmade Market April 25th noon-6p

Here are some pics taken at the last Austin Handmade Market on Easter weekend. Click on the pics to see each of these EtsyAustin members' shops!

What's Growin' On: Suspended Flower Pots

Happy Earth Day!

On Sunday we went on a plant shopping spree at one of our favorite locally-owned nurseries, The Natural Gardener.

The cute little 1955 house we bought last December came with quite a blank canvas in the back. So we have a TON of ongoing gardening projects, which we'll be blogging about in the What's Growin' On? column here.

We used those colorful flowers on the bottom rack of the cart to make this potted plant stand, which I am quite proud of. I can't stop staring at it from my kitchen window.



It was super-easy to make, too. You just thread some terra cotta pots onto a piece of re-bar (we actually used a piece of metal conduit, but I wouldn't recommend it; re-bar will be much more stable). Use a hose clamp to hold the bottom pot where you want it. Sink the pole into the ground 12 - 15 inches for stability. Then comes the fun part: filling 'em up with pretty flowers and stuff! We put drought-tolerant sedums on the top 2 levels, and thirstier flowers on the bottom where they'll benefit from the overflow of water from the upper pots.




Admittedly, we stole the idea from similar pre-made pot stands for sale at The Natural Gardener... but seeing as how we are regular customers there, I'm hoping they won't mind. ; )



What's growin' on in your garden? Tell us about it in the comments below, with links to photos if you have some. We'd love to see!

Local Talent Tuesday with Jen Bryan

Welcome to the second edition of Local Talent Tuesday! This time we're featuring Jen Bryan of Lucy Blue Studio. Jen creates really cool jewelry & accessories, using mainly her own photography & original, digital collages (although sometimes she uses vintage illustrations). She also keeps a great blog called Crafty Redhead. Thanks for talking with us, Jen!

Beth: First, please give us a little background on your studio.

Jen: My studio is in this weird little second living room. We think it used to be a bedroom or a formal dining room but the former owners added a wall and some weird 70's half walls with banisters. I knocked those out and put in shelving. I am now doing my art full time, though I prefer having a job. Makes it easier to not sell consistently, plus the less time I have for a project the less likely I'll procrastinate. I got my DBA in Oct of 2006 but didn't really do much with it until the fall of 2007. I mainly sell on Etsy. I do a few shows when I can and finally started approaching stores to carry my work.

Beth: Where do you find the inspiration &/or motivation for your creative work?

Jen: I find inspiration everywhere. I know this is the most common answer, but it's true. Nature, my friends, movies, museums, my favorite restaurants. I think all creative people soak in their surroundings like a sponge only to regurgitate it later in some recognizable (or not) form. The best ideas always come at 3 in the morning when the previous day's events finally gel into those weird little thoughts that randomly pop into your head when you are tired or half asleep.

Beth: Describe how a really productive day of making art goes for you.

Jen: A really productive day requires that there be no one home but me, as in, Wes has gone out of town. I get distracted by housework, dinner, [and] various domestic things if I think there is going to be someone around to appreciate those things. I always get on the computer first thing though I'm starting to think I need to make that the last thing I do in a day, then I go into my studio and hunker down. I focus so much on what I'm doing that occasionally I can forget to eat.

Beth: What are your big-picture goals for yourself as an artist & your art-related business?

Jen: My big picture goal is to be able to pay the bills with my art. I'm not sure I want to license it out or anything and I'd always like to be able to handle the labor end of it without having to hire anyone, yet still do well financially. To make a stable living would be a good thing.