Hey Look!

Hey! I’m featured in the Storque on Etsy, thanks to those loveable characters at Renegade doing the Etsy Picks in honor of the fair! They’re so swell! Check it out here!!

P.S. Also check out the amazing company Mr. Glass is in– I LOVE me some Berkley illustration! We have two prints already and I’ve been eying space dog as well

Renegade Picks

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be putting the finishing touches on the half-million things I’ve been sewing up for Renegade– I’ve got some tagging to do, and packaging of the last-minute puppets. Oh yeah, I’ve also gotta, you know, pack everything into boxes, haul it down three flights of stairs and pack up the car (praying that it all fits). Minor details

In the meantime, even more exciting that selling this weekend may just be the shopping opportunities (I know, I mentioned before, but it’s worth mentioning again). Browsing through some of the vendors that will be there, I put together a collection of a couple of the coolest things I came across–

Top left: Have I mentioned yet my love for Moth Designs? Well, let me make it clear: I LOVE Moth Designs. I bought this tote for my best friend’s birthday this summer yesterday and it was quite a hit. We sell out of her totes at work so fast I haven’t been able to get one for myself, so I’m thinking of trying to snag one this weekend. I love Moth’s mission to promote dialogue with the Arabic-speaking world, and I love her illustration and sense of graphic design. Really, really great stuff.

Top right: Ashidashi “Back to School” socks. Really, how awesome are these? I can totally imagine giggling quietly to myself in the middle of a particularly boring lecture just thinking about the fact that inside my shoes I’m wearing a Number 2 pencil.

Middle Left: I just recently discovered Earth Cadets and have been smitten by her totes and things as well. A particular favorite is this Pear and Whales design. I’ve always had a thing for pears. And whales.

Middle Right: Have I mentioned, also, that I’ve been on a total necklace kick recently? Luckily I’ve been able to keep my purchasing in check, but my coveting has definitely been in high gear the last month or so. I got a necklace in New York from a designer at a little flea market and, okay, another one from another flea market. Plus that one I bought at work in August. Okay– crap– it seems like maybe my purchasing isn’t as in check as I thought. At any rate, I’m totally into this Copper Circles Necklace from Brown Sparrow’s Nest’s shop. Super cute and autumn-y and the color combo is great.

Bottom Left: Mis Napoles seems to have an entire flying animals motif in their shop and I was torn between this winged bear shirt and the slightly perturbed flying pug. Looking back, maybe the pug is my favorite. I do love that bear, though. He just looks so unhappy to be in the air. Why is it that makes unhappy cartoon animals so adorable?

Bottom Right: We just got this poster in at work and I’ve been eyeing it like crazy. Mat Daly makes all the posters for the Renegade Fairs (this year’s is particularly gorgeous, but there aren’t images online, so you’ve just gotta nose around Chicago to see for yourself), and his other paintings are fantastic as well. For this selection, it does help that I love Fleet Foxes, but I think I’d still want to hang this poster in my house even if it were for Van Halen or Sisquo or something.

Anyway, the weather looks like it’s going to hold, so I am looking forward to a super fun– and sunny!– weekend at Renegade! Come say hello!

It’s Renegade Time!

Hey, do you know what next weekend is? It’s Renegade Craft Fair Chicago, that’s what! I’ve been sewing away every spare minute the past month in preparation, and I’ll be sharing a booth with Cakespy, who makes THE most adorable pastry-inspired crafts.

Seriously? Zombies chasing a frightened cupcake? I love it.

There’s a potential for a cute-overload in our booth, but I think it’ll be probably just the right amount of adorable to make for an awesome weekend. I’ve already been talking about all the awesome crafters I want to check out and the purchases I want to make– Renegade is a little like Christmas for someone like me

I’ve spent the last year crossing my fingers that we’ll have good weather this year and not a repeat of Rain-agade 08. Here’s hoping… Anyway, we’ll be right across from Renegade Handmade just east of Damen, so come say hello!

Start Spreading the News

During my break between summer classes and fall classes in August, we were able to go to New York City for a couple days for visit an old friend of mine who’s been doing an internship in the city this summer. I hadn’t seen her in way too long, so it was great to catch up, and we found plenty of adventures to keep us busy for a few days. I did forget to factor in that, traditionally, everyone leaves the city during the month of August, and for good reason, so it was a little toasty but we made it work. Between a picnic in Central Park, bus tours interrupted by sewage leaks, Upright Citizens theater, some (extremely) minor celebrity spotting, cheap rush “9 to 5″ tickets, multiple Pinkberry breaks, thrifting in Bushwick and some Nathan’s Famous.

The last time I was in New York was before I’d moved to Chicago, so after 2 years in Chi, I found myself constantly comparing the two cities while I was away. I tried to keep as many observations in my head as I could, as I know they weren’t nearly as interesting to my host as they were to me Mostly, I noticed that having a mayor like Daley who’s so hyper-vigilant about the city’s appearance does mean that Chicago is crazy clean compared to New York. There was waaay more graffiti (Apparently Bloomberg doesn’t have a “Mayors Graffiti Blasters” truck like we do.) However, New Yorkers are required to recycle and, for all Daley’s boasting that Chicago is such a green city, half of us still don’t have recycling pick-up. Also, I definitely appreciate that the El is above ground and open to the air– even when it’s hot outside, it’s a pretty good bet that it’s even hotter when you’re cramped and underground. I do like that in Manhattan everything is so compact, which means there’s something to do or see on just about every block. Even living in the “City of Neighborhoods,” it becomes pretty clear that the Midwest mentality of streeeetching everything out is alive and well, even in this urban center. At any rate, it was a nice little compare and contrast opportunity, and a good vacation to boot.

Now, where to go next?

Oh, hello there!

Have you missed me? I was doing so well there for a couple months, but it has been a while since I last wrote. I’ve been working through a bit of a transitional time over the last few weeks. I started a new job and quit my one-day-a-week gig and, even though the new one is only 1 day more a week, it’s been a bit of a challenge figuring out where everything will settle in the new schedule. I’ve also been dealing with some issues with my eyes– the doc at the Cheapie Eye Place told me my prescription was fine, but I’m still having problems so I’ve got a referral to go to the for-real Eye Clinic and see what’s really going on. Hopefully it’ll get sorted out soon because it sucks not feeling good enough to sew as often as I’d like. I’ve got orders waiting and fairs coming and I hate when my favorite job, crafting, feels like just that– a job. It’s supposed to be fun, dammit!

Some Lloyd Doblers, in progress

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So, I did it.

I finally broke down and joined twitter. At The-New-Job last week they’d just set up an account and wanted the employees to Tweet every day, so I finally got around to really learning it and decided that maybe it was time for me, too, to join all the cool kids out there tweeting back and forth to each other. Anyway, are you one of those cool kids? Yeah? Well then follow me! I’m abbey_christine on there.

Sidenote: “Abbeychristine” was aready taken. I’ll admit this upset me a little and kinda threw me for a loop, but I settled finally on an underscore. Sigh. Not perfect, but it’ll do.

Crafty News from the Ocean State

The internet is so amazing and funny. With all the zillions of bits of information out there about each of us, half of it we probably don’t even know exists. When I google myself (yes, sometimes I google myself, and you do, too), I can take a little walk down memory lane about that band I used to love and who’s message board I frequented (The Verve Pipe) or jobs I used to have (A children’s museum in Indiana where I’m still listed as Volunteer Coordinator), and it can be a little embarrassing when I’ve moved on from some of those interests, yet know that they will remain online forever for the world to see. What I really like about the web, though, is when you get a fun little surprise of something you never knew was out on the internet to begin with and are reminded of how you used to be or something you did long ago that you’d totally forgotten about.

Tonight I was browsing the Craftland blog and came across a post from January talking about unpacking boxes of goods sent for the Holiday Sale. The post included a photo of all the thank-you notes that crafters had included in their packages, and as I’m looking at all the sweet little notepaper and messages the crafty folks had included, there was my own handwriting staring back at me! I know, I know, this isn’t really such a big deal– a crafty blog for an event I’ve participated in included me in their blog? Not such a stretch– and I’m only 7 months late on the uptake, so it’s not so long-lost or such a long shot, but it was still a nice little discovery for my Sunday evening

(You can see my note with the giant Shapie writing and even larger "Thanks" block letters in the top left of the photo)

AND, speaking of Craftland, I got an email the other week and they are, at long last, opening a year-round brick-and-mortar shop in downcity Providence. I am so, so thrilled to hear about this! I love Craftland, I love all the amazing and talented ladies who give so much of their time to make it happen, I love their awesome selection of artists, and last but certainly not least, I LOVE Providence. I hear they’ll be opening up in August, so I need to get my butt in gear to get a box of puppets in the mail to them. I really think it’ll be a great addition to the ever changing and growing streets of downtown Providence, and with such an established artistic community in the city, I have no doubt that they will thrive. This seriously makes me miss the Rhode Island, though– I’m hoping to go to NYC in August and this makes me want to try to plan a swing north to reunite with Lil’ Rhody. We shall see…

Fallen Princesses

I was totally knocked out today when I discovered the “Fallen Princesses” series by Dina Goldstein featured on the Fred Flare blog. She said about the photos: “These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The “…happily ever after” is replaced with a realistic outcome and adresses current issues… I began to imagine Disney’s perfect Princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues.” I especially love the militant Jasmine. So so brilliant.

Imaginary Best Friend Forever

I discovered the blog of Maira Kalman on the New York Times website over the weekend and was so blown away. Her mixture of painting, prose, history, plus her ability to expand the definition of what a blog can be is so inspiring. So far I read this month’s entry about Thomas Jefferson and April’s about the Supreme Court and women’s rights. Amazing. I cannot wait to read the others.