Stitchify - Crafts and Fiber Arts Inspiration

Art Bra was really fun. Friday night they had an artists’ reception, the day before the big opening.

I’m glad the organizers set it up that way, because Saturday was a zoo!

Andy and I had our niece with us, who is visiting from Arizona. We met up with Aunt Susan and Great Aunt Bettie. Here’s a picture of us on Friday night. 4 generations of aunts and nieces.

Here’s Aunt Bettie in front of her “Winter Bra.”

Here’s one of the pieces that Susan donated, “Pretty in Pink.”

Here are Daisy and me in front of my “Busty Bustier.”

I hope that I get a few bids on my piece. All proceeds will benefit the Sac Food Bank and a local breast cancer support group. My friend Dennis placed a $30 opening bid, which was super sweet of him. He wants to use the Busty Bustier as a beer coozie. Ha!

The show is open until Saturday, so stop by if you get a chance. There are some really great pieces there.

Sacramento’s wonderful Second Saturday Art Walk is this weekend, and I’m going to have a piece shown by one of the most popular galleries in town, 20th Street. My mind is totally spazzed with excitement. This group show is comprised of donated art on the theme, “Art Bra.” Proceeds will benefit the Sacramento Food Bank’s Women’s Wisdom Project and the Albie Aware Breast Cancer Foundation which supports local women fighting breast cancer.The Second Saturday reception and silent auction is this Saturday, June 14 from 6-9 pm, at 20th Street Gallery at 919 20th Street (I’ll be there from around 6-7). I would be SO excited if you would come out to say hello!

If you can’t make the reception and would like to drop by later, the Art Bra show will be on display June 10-21st. 20th Street will be open from 12-5pm, closed Sunday and Monday.

My Aunt Susan and my Great Aunt Bettie will also be in the show. Susan’s a fabulous photographer, and Aunt Bettie is a talented artist of multiple mediums and has knitted a gorgeous “winter bra” with rhinestones sewn all over it.

I have donated my miniature crocheted freestanding bustier for the show. I have posted a free crochet pattern for the bra cups. Come on by the show and say hello! *Julie*

hey dudes! man here. i, too, am totally honored to have been asked to do a few guest posts this month here at stichify! i almost fell out of my chair, i was so flattered to have been asked. and then, after i gathered myself back up, i realized, oh, yeah, i don’t do ANY type of stitching, or knitting, or crocheting, sewing any of those fun fiber arts. i am a paper girl. that is definitely my medium of choice. painting on it, stamping and embossing on it, cutting it, gluing it, stapling it, folding it, whatever. i guess every once in a blue moon i’ve been known to throw a quick stitch on paper, but my god, it’s a rough looking stitch.

i have been hanging out at craftster.org and stumbled across a totally rad photo tutorial by girlypirate about making a folder out of an old record album cover. since i love making stationery and notebooks and paper treasures AND i love the earth, i thought this was an awesome way to recycle something found into something useful.

all you need are some basic crafting tools, a badass record sleeve, and a legal pad.

and voila! tres bon. click here to see the tutorial.

in my quest to make pretty things, sometimes it’s nice to have a friendly reminder to be gentle to this earth so that others can enjoy it long after we are gone.

{just don’t go cutting up your parents’ album covers, kids. that doesn’t exactly count if it doesn’t belong to you in the first place.}

oh, and be kind, rewind.

While I (Renee) was in school we had an assignment where we had to bring three website addresses to class that were good sources of inspiration. This is one of the sites that I showed the class. It makes for a fun project on a rainy day and a good craft for the kiddies… I have no kiddies just kitties so 100FACE and I did this on Easter! You can find out more about Cutnejo HERE and the template HERE. There is also a Flickr group where you can post your finished toys. I think it is so awesome how different everyones toys look and the crazy environments they put their odd toys in! The cutnejo pictured below is the one I made. Mine is in a rather boring situation! This is a really great interactive project to do on those dull days and best of all, it’s free!

Hey Stitchify readers! I’m honored to have been invited to do a few guest posts this month. Let me tell you a little something about something. I stumbled across an article on a crew called Knitta Please a few years ago in a knitting magazine. It was a short write up that left you hanging and the group was still very much a mystery. I came across another article this past month in another magazine (I’d love to name it but I can’t, I’m a magazine junkie so there are just too many possible reads it could have been in) which inspired me to do a bit of online research about this group of knitters… it goes something like this. Knitta Please began in 2005 with a group of frustrated knitters who had a bunch of unfinished projects lying around. I know I have them, tucked away in corners, in baskets under bookcases and in the backs of closets but I would have never dreamed of creating a group that tagged the streets with knit graffiti. They hit the streets of the cities around the world with chapters in Stockholm, Houston, New York to name a few. Their goal is to make your average street sign, bus stop, parking meter look like art. Are you ready, get your needles out and round up a crew.. you’re gonna need a look out!

Check out GasPenny.com - you input your zip code and it tells you the current gas prices at stations all over your area.

The West Coast is apparently the worst for gas prices. Hopefully you’ll have better luck.

If I drive across town I can get gas for as cheap as $4.33/gallon for regular. Woohoo. The highest price in Sacramento right now is $4.60/gallon. Eep!

Where will you put the dollars you save? How about in your own handmade cereal box wallet? Awesome! Click here for the tutorial.

Congratulations and Thank You to Jody of Javajem for posting the most comments during the month of May. As the winner of the Comment Contest, Jody will soon be receiving a fun package as a thank you =)

We will soon be enjoying a few posts from a some crafty guest contributors (Jody may be one of them!). I’m really excited to see what kinds of awesomeness they will show us. Thank you in advance, chickadees!

This isn’t so crafty, but it’s creative and fun. And the happy chappy at the end is excited about sewing! Looks like the same guy who can lick his knee. Must have been a funny kid =)

Click here to check out all of the Young Me Now Me photos. As the name implies, they’re pictures from the past recreated with the same subjects, and it’s really cute.

It’s high time that I profile my talented friends Renee and Paul of Love One :: World Zero and Re Loved Boutique. About 4 years ago Renee and I started commenting on each other’s blogs. Since then our friendship has blossomed into sending each other Christmas cards, surprise packages, phone calls, and hopes of actually meeting some day. Profiling Renee and Paul and their huge talent on Stitchify will introduce you to some very cool people selling some very cool swag; and as a bonus, it gives me an excuse to pick their brains! Enjoy!

When did you start crafting?
I (Renee) was mostly interested in fine art and photography during high school. I was also crazy about music and owned 3 guitars by the age of 13. I spent most of my teen years painting, drawing, silk screening, making ceramics, taking photographs and doing metal work. It wasn’t until I was employed full-time, totally broke and had made a nest with 100FACE (A.K.A. PAUL BURKE) that I began “crafting”. I started knitting, sewing, quilting, photographing and making jewelry again because of his encouragement. As far as 100FACE being a crafter… Nah.. He is a maker of great things, such as music, art (in a billion different forms), photography, and he is also an amazing writer. I remember back in the day drooling over his stickers and watching him spray paint designs on t-shirts that he sold on tour with his band The End. Rochester punk scene at it’s best circa 1997-2001. They released two 7″ and 2 (killer) demo cassettes released on 100FACE’s independent record label JIM WANTS TO GET OUT OF THE CAR AND WALK HOME RECORDS, founded in 1997.

What were the first crafts that you made?
(Renee) Pillows, origami, painted boxes, purses, magnets, silk screened punk patches, quilts, plush animals, jewelry and cut up t-shirts… what a combo!
(100FACE) cassette art, stickers, t-shirts, making/augmented clothing, painting/drawing/collage, photography, found object/recycled art, digital, handmade books/zines mostly in the vein of surrealist and abstract forms.

What was the progression into other crafts and the story behind your discovery of the different crafts?
(Renee) I remember seeing things that I couldn’t afford, whether it was clothing, accessories or home decor stuff. It made me kinda bummed and then a light would go off in my head… DUH! You can make that! So if I saw a knitted hat I’d go out and buy a cheap ball of yarn and a cheap book and sit down and learn. I did that with everything that I became interested in, with the support of 100FACE saying, “You can do it!”
(100FACE)I was a really advanced artist (they tell me;) starting at the age of five and then I hit my head when I was 13 and flatlined for 2 minutes. When I came back I could no longer see the images. I could only see words. I started writing; started playing drums and skateboarding. Art came back in the form of a friend telling me to “Just start making art again” at a diner 13 years later. The art poured out of me; 100’s of pieces. I was couch-surfing and in a punk band and a hip hop outfit at the time so I had no place to work. I used mailing labels and paint markers because they fit into a bag. Sticking the mailing labels here and there, selling them for food, smoke and beer money, giving them as gifts, etc… Once Renee and I hooked up we had a place to make art and I went bigger and started working in a billion mediums. The music has always been there and I continuously write.

Tell us about all the different places we can find your art, music, tutorials, etcetera.
1. Etsy: Love One :: World Zero is our main shop where we sell all of our handmade items and art. We just recently opened another Etsy shop ReLoved Boutique where we sell vintage and retro awesomeness!
2. Sound of Tomorrow: Craft Korner is a snippet featuring Renee from L.O.W.Z. that gives simple tutorials that you can do at home!
3. We have several wholesale accounts for shops across the US and are always interested in creating more. We are also open to consignment depending on contract details. We encourage people to contact us if they are interested in our products.
4. We have participated in shows that integrated many different types of artists. 100FACE was a co-founder of 4 events under the name Synaesthesia here in Rochester with the exception of the fifth and final event, held in Toronto by 100FACE alone, with the aide of the Pin:ksox crew. He urged me to sell at these events. It did really well. Also, he single-handedly threw an event called Physic 1.0 which was the first in a series of events he plans and installs solo. Physic carried some of the concepts of Synaesthesia but focused more on the social and celebratory importance of dismantling the boundaries between the artist and spectator. Imagine.. it was awesome! I (Renee) along with selling the L.O.W.Z. merch, catered 2 of the events. It was a trying and awesome experience all at once!
5. We are also hoping to participate in craft fairs in the future, but no plans are set in stone as of yet.

What is your ultimate vision for LOWZ?
Live and be successful enough to not have to live by the clock or work for the man. While maintaining our integrity and staying connected to the community.

What crafty blogs/communities/forums do you love?
1. Stitchify: DUH!
2. Whipup
3. Craftster
4. Print and Pattern
5. Flickr

Where should visitors to Rochester visit?
1. Mt. Hope Cemetery, because it is so beautiful! Many photographers find this location to be great for photo shoots. It was founded in 1838 and is the United States’ first Victorian Cemetery. Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass are among the many well known people buried there.
2. If you are a musician, Sound Source is by far the best place to go for all your musical needs, like buying, ordering, repairing vintage gear and even trades.
3. The House of Guitars, the messiest, largest record/instrument store in the whole wide world.
4. Java’s for a good cup of joe, the nice atmosphere and mix of culture. They also support the local artists.
5. The Artisan Works for an endless array of art by 100’s of artists including the works of Picasso, Ramon Santiago and yours truly, 100FACE.

Biggest lesson learned since starting up your business?
Confidence, patience, organization are all really important things for obvious reasons. Do what you love and love what you do… that is the most important!

Check out Renee’s awesome video tutorial on image transfers

To find out more about Renee and Paul’s lives/art/crafts/photography/everything, check out these links:

Love One :: World Zero, Re Loved Boutique, Flickr, MySpace, You Tube, Blog, and MySpace