Introducing CrafterAlt!

This has really been a long time coming, and, while I'd thought about waiting until we had a really full lineup, I'm so pleased that we've got the first few things ready for you and I just can't hold it back any longer.

My dear friend, Kendra of No Moniker (formerly Green Post), and I have teamed up to create a new offshoot of Crafterall. Call it a branch, a grafting, an offshoot, a hybrid, or just one heckuva clever collaboration, and know it by its name: CrafterAlt.


CrafterAlt is a new body of work made completely from my paper scraps. The line will include frameable 8 x 10" art pieces, foldover cards, bookmarks, journals, tags, and loads more. Between Kendra and I, we've jotted down close to 50 different items that we could make and market, all of them entirely recycled, entirely handmade, and entirely gorgeous.




We've started with the simple beauty of the silhouette of my home state, Minnesota, and we will work to produce more themes and images as we go along. Stay tuned for more posts about the process we have to produce these pieces, the other ideas we have floating around in our minds, and updates as we continue to roll out more works.


I'm thrilled with the quality and beauty of these pieces so far. Everyone I've shown them to remarks that they look even better in person too. The best part? I get to work with an amazing artist and paper wizard to create something new and beautiful out of what I'd otherwise dump in the recycling bin. How many people can claim that?

Shows & Things to Show!

Whew! It's been a while!

While I'd like to be able to say that my hiatus is due to an extended snorkleing trip in the Fijian islands, I'm even more happy to say that I've been crazy busy with lots of awesome paperwork! I'm not being sarcastic. How can paperwork be awesome? When it's working with paper to churn out some of these pieces:


Above is a massive 4-piece, segmented work depicting the water of and land surrounding Lake Attersee in northwestern Austria. Each piece is 12 x 12" and at the thickest portions, there are 14 layers of cardstock. I would love to see this after it's matted and framed!

I've done quite a few sets lately. Another genius idea was this set of four places that traces four key locations that the buyer and her husband visited or inhabited in their young lives so far, and includes (clockwise from top left): San Francisco, Baja California, Amsterdam, and the Sunderbans of India.


Someone else ordered something akin to a "family pack" with different colors of the same lake:


Other fun custom pieces include Prince of Wales Island at the bottom of Alaska's "tail":


Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri:


And New York's Long Island done up in rich, harvest golds:


I finally worked out my plan for plastic-free packaging for my card sets:


I still have to incorporate them into my listings, and they could endure some more refining, but I like them for their simplicity, practicality, and recycle-ability!

Last month marked my second gallery exhibit, this one as part of a super cool show fronted by the brilliant Mr. Curt Lund. Curt just wrapped up his artist-in-residence term at the charming Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley and for his grand finale, invited four other artists to join him in creating Geographies: a multi-media investigation of place. As fun and thrilling as it is to be part of any show, Geographies is so near and dear to my heart and what I do every day, that it is and will always be extra awesome to me. Here are some shots from the show:

Three all-white pieces (from left to right or west to east, if you will): San Francisco Bay, Lake Minnetonka, Manhattan


A bright, extra-dimensional piece called "Buoyancy":


This piece, two 6 x 6" layered "halves" of the same stack, I titled, 'Touched."


I invite people to touch this piece in the hopes that over time, it will begin to show the dirt and grime of a thousand hands. In a way, this reflects how we both connect to and corrode the land around us.

The show is up through the end of April, so if you're in the Twin Cities area, do check it out! There are more of my pieces than what I've shown here, and lots of other amazing pieces by the other artists in the collection.

Last Saturday, I joined Curt again, as well as a dozen other artists as an elite group vending our work at the beautiful Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. It was a very simple set-up: we were each allotted a single, simply draped 6-foot table, set in a line along a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows. The Walker staff treated us to some morning goodies, a lovely lunch, assistance whenever needed, and a free and amazing selling venue in exchange for half of our earnings that day. The turn out and response far exceeded my expectations and I sold out of a few things. You can see how spotty my card display looked below when my hubby and the kids stopped by in the afternoon:

I didn't intend to take my zip-up hoodie off, or have my hair pulled up, but it was warm and I was busy! It was a great day! One of the personal highlights for me was when an older gentleman asked me if I was from Bemidji. When I told him I was, he said that he knew my Dad. I pressed him for more information and he said he saw my last name on my info card, had a hunch, and then saw my blue eyes and knew I was my father's daughter. I was so chuffed to think that my eyes were the giveaway clue to my identity. I called my Dad after the show to tell him and he thought it was pretty sweet too. :) It was wonderful, too, to hear all the very nice comments people shared about my work. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love what I do!

What's next? More custom pieces, each one different, each one with a story behind it. I am so lucky to be able to make pieces for people who find these so special. Who knew it would become so huge since my very first custom piece about two years ago?

Also, up next, is the very fun, very crazy, very awesome, St. Paul Craftstravaganza! This year's event is held in the same place as in recent years, the Fine Arts building of the MN State Fair Grounds. The event takes place one day only, on Saturday, April 30th, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. I'll be in the same place I was last year as well, just off to the right side from the main entrance.

There will be loads of other handmade goodies there from all over the state and region, with some of the most unique and high-quality items you'll find in this area. Please stop by and say "hi!"

Until then, I'm busy, busy, busy prepping more fun stuff for the show, as well as crossing off pieces from my custom to-do list. New orders from my shop will be shipped beginning early May, and my turn-around time on all my work should shorten considerably soon thereafter.

Thanks for reading through this meaty update! I hope to see you soon!

Locally Harvested

Yesterday, I dropped off some work to be included in my first, official, fine art show. I've been slow to adopt the title "Artist" and have come a long way from making greeting cards to what I do now. This show marks my foray into gallery shows, and I'm pretty excited about it.

The Show: Locally Harvested "small art - big beauty". Held within the Capstone Gallery at 4325 Nicollet Ave S. in Minneapolis, November 12 - December 28. Opening Party will be November 19, from 6 - 9 p.m.

The Works:

"Reincarnations No.1" & "Reincarnations No.2"


These pieces represent an idea I've had rumbling around in my head and in my sketchbook for at least a year. I wanted to play with the silhouette trend that's been hot lately, and yet do something new and maybe meaningful with it. For this work, I've tried to capture the sense that we go through a series of different selves as we age, and that somewhere inside us, there are traces of ourselves as younger and younger "reincarnations."

These are some of the first pieces I've designed digitally for the Silhouette cutter. The newer software application is so much easier to use and has opened up a new world of cutting possibilities for me. So far, I'm quite pleased with the results.


"Flow"

This is another idea I've had for a long time: to create a topography-type piece in sections for a puzzle-like look. The result turned out better than I expected. I am digging the "friction" caused by seeing the flow of the water subject interrupted by the separation. Perhaps it's a comment about how we've disrupted the land around us. Or perhaps it's just neat.


"Elevated"

This piece is similar to "Flow" in that the subject has been sliced apart, but here, I've mounted them on a single piece of cardstock, and then elevated two of the pieces for more depth. I'm playing with the idea of topography, the height of the land, and the disruption of the status quo.


"Harvest"

Cut from 14 layers of brown and cream cardstock, this work has both the mountain and the quarry from which it was "mined" as equal halves of the same material.


"Clary Lake"

My last piece is an homage to Mr. Charles Clary, a contemporary paper artist to whom I've been nicely compared by some. I tried to mimic Clary's technique of layering with space in between the layers, while still maintaining my flair for topography, land and water.


This was my first experiment with this and I have to admit that my respect for the precision and complexity of Clary's work rose immensely throughout this process.


While working on these delayed my production of some custom requests and general shop stocking, the show is exactly the motivation I needed to work out some of these ideas, and feel a little more worthy of the title, "artist."

I'd love to hear what you think of these. And I'd really love to see you at the show!

Eight Hundred Cards

What does 800 cards from Crafterall look like?

Something like this:

Sorted, counted, ready to package:


Making the cards is the biggest part, but by no means the only part of filling such a large order. There's packaging the individual cards and/or sets with envelopes and inserts, completing and printing necessary packing and billing paperwork, packing the entire order to be shipped, and obtaining postage for the whole deal.


I really like this part. It's relatively mindless and it lets me do something I love: play with packaging!


This is starting to feel kinda "big time." I'm exhausted, proud, and thrilled all at once. Phew!

*edited to add: Did you know that there is a wiki page for the number "800"? At first, I thought it was a bit ridiculous as I read, "800 (eight hundred) is the natural number following 799 and preceding 801." Um... duh. We need a wiki for this? Then, I read this: "It is the sum of four consecutive primes (193 + 197 + 199 + 211), " and proceeded to geek out. This is actually pretty darn cool. See here for more on 800 or choose your own number.*

I Put the "Hole" in Wholesale

Pardon my papercutting pun; I couldn't resist.

Recently, I had the pleasure of accepting a wholesale re-order from the delightful folks at Shoppe Local. I'm excited by how quickly the request came after the initial order, and by the fact that the shop itself seems to be doing well. The downside, if there is any, is that it's a lot of work to turn out a big batch of topographic pieces and card sets, especially when I try to make my turn around time as short as possible. Still, I do enjoy my work and I love the business, so no complaining from me! This time around, I thought I'd snap a quick before and after shot of my work. Here is the stack of colored cardstock, white cardstock, white pre-scored cards, and my two well-traveled tools for cutting and sticking:



And here is the finished work, piled up once again on my studio table, this time as completed and packaged pieces ready to head to the shop:



I relish the satisfaction of completing a project like this. I'll admit that I do a little dance, raise my fists in the air, and make obnoxious crowd-cheer noises when I'm done. I figure I've earned it, right?

Business Card Holder - a simple, little tutorial

As a seller, I know that it's important to place a few business cards with every order from my shop. As a buyer, I love getting fun packages and neat little extras. Marrying these two ideas, I've come up with a simple business card holder that doubles as a sort of goodie bag for my lucky and lovely patrons. And here, for your crafting delight, is a tutorial to make your very own business card holders.



Tools and Materials:

- Cardstock or thin paperboard (I'm using a 12 x 12" scrapbook-type cardstock. Try cereal box paperboard or an oversized postcard)
- Ruler
- Paper Cutter(s) (I'm using my big paper slicer for the straight cuts and a small swivel blade for cutting the notch)
- Scoring tool (I use a scoring blade on a paper trimmer. A bone folder can work as well)
- Some sort of adhesive to hold the holder closed (I use a sticker. Try ribbon, decorative tape, glue dots, double-sided tape, etc.)



Instructions:

Step 1: Cut the cardsctock into 2" x 8" strips. A 12 x 12" piece yields 8 strips and a 4" square.



Step 2: Mark scoring points at 2.25" and 6" along a single strip.



Step 3: Score the cardstock on these two points across the strip.



Again, a bone folder and a ruler work fine here too. If you lack a bone folder, a lead-less mechanical pencil can do in a pinch.



Score any remaining strips you cut along the same points. I usually use the first strip as a guide to cutting the rest by leaving it in the trimmer and laying the next strip beneath it.



Step 4: Cut the notch. This notch is what holds the business cards more or less in place. Star just below the 2" score line, pull down about half and inch, go over about an inch, and then finish lust below the score line again to look like this:



Then, fit in your cards by slipping 3 or 4 of them under this notch.



Step 5: Fold sides to close and seal.



Ta-da!



I really put mine to task, filling each one with a folded thank you note, two regular sized business cards, two mini Moo cards, and a coupon made from an old business card (I'll show you how I make those another time).



I like to keep a stack of these handy so that when I get an order, all I have to do is write a personal note in the thank-you card, put it all back together, seal it up, and nestle it in the package.



You could certainly dress these up more to your taste, adding ribbon, making them bigger, rounding the corners, etc. Me? I like 'em simple. Do let me know if you try these out. Happy crafting!

Custom Work

I know, I know, I really should be working on building up my inventory for the final Uptown Market this Sunday. Or, I should be adding new pieces to my dwindling stock in my shop. Or, I should be making prototypes of season-based pieces from the sketches I've drawn. But, I've been having way too much fun working on some very cool custom pieces.



The first one is a "downward" topography of Joshua Tree National Park in California. It is to be a wedding gift from the bride to her groom. I think this piece ended up with a perfect blend of accuracy and abstraction.



The next custom request was a fun and challenging project that involved incorporating maps from various games into five separate yet similar 12 x 12", topographic pieces. I've never before used anything other than my own stash of cardstock, so working with/around/through the maps sent to me was a go at something new.





I also made a custom collection of topographic card sets in the shape and depths of my hometown lake, Lake Bemidji, in northern Minnesota. They turned out really well, and I was so excited to send them off that I forgot to take pictures of them. Ah well.

When starting a custom project, I really try to make sure I understand what the project means to the buyer and I try to get a clear description from them as to what they're expecting the piece to be. When the piece is complete, I still hold my breath a little each time I notify the buyer, hoping that what I've created is close to if not even better than what he or she had in mind. And when I get glowing feedback from the patron when all is said and done, then I feel awesome about the whole thing!

I keep a small blackboard in my studio. This is where I write my custom orders, what they are, and when I promised them to be complete. Currently, it's a blank slate. And even though I have so many things I should be doing as I mentioned earlier, I get a strong urge to ask the world, "What's next? Whatchya got for me?"

After Craft - a match made on Etsy

I love paper.
I like treating the Earth with respect.
And I'm hopelessly hooked on Etsy.

What do these three facts have in common? A little something called "After Craft," that's what. Let me explain.

One of the many dear souls I've met via Etsy is Kendra Zvonik. She's the genius behind Etsy shop Green Post, a source for art, magnets, papers, cards, and badges all made from paper scraps. Kendra and I have a tendancy to think alike, and one day a couple of weeks ago, we had simlutaneous light bulbs lighting over our heads. I had loads of lovely paper scraps, she had a nifty method for recycling paper pulp. Ding!

Here's how it all works:

I make these:



Over a couple months, I end up with a decent stash of pretty paper scraps:



I send them to KZ who sorts them by color:



Then she shreds them to prepare them for pulply goodness:



Kendra then works her paper making magic to produce smooth sheets like these:



Rougher sheets like these begging for a collage project:



And, my favorite, PLANTABLE cards with wildflower seeds imbedded in the paper:



Kendra's glassblowing husband came up with the name, "After Craft." It's snappy, no? I don't think I could be more delighted. It's paper, it's recycled, it's handmade, it's the product of a partnership, it's beautiful, and with the plantable cards it keeps on growin'!

Everyone who orders from my shop will receive a plantable card from me and Kendra. You can also buy your own cards and After Craft paper at Green Post.

Thank you, KZ, for rockin' my world. I've got another stack of scraps started already.