New necklace design-Vinyl heart necklace

I'm usually not one for sappy stuff but I just couldn't help myself when I found this translucent cherry red record. I made the cutest heart shaped pendant with it. It's dripping with sticky sweetness and I love it! The red color is super vibrant. I polished the silver behind the vinyl to a high-shine to help reflect any light hitting the back of the necklace. After all, if I'm going to do the lovey-dovey thing, I'm going all out. It's posted up in my Etsy shop now, and was featured on Modish last week!

Quick update!

Ahh...happy January! I'm sad to admit that between a cold, then a sinus infection, and general winter blahs I'm having less than a stellar beginning to 2008. I am finding it difficult to muster the motivation for posting as well as creating! I did manage to pump out a bit of work for AVC, some of which are brand new designs. So, I have a few new necklace designs and a couple of new designers to share!

Nature vs Machine was also recently featured on its first blog! I like that I was recognized both for my art and the fact that a portion of my art is recycled. Unfortunately, metal work does not typically lend itself to "green art" because harsh chemicals are involved in production. I've not heard much along the lines of eco-friendly polishing compounds but if they exist, I will find them!

I hope 2008 finds you all happy and healthy! I will return with fun updates soon!

New pendant: Sterling and vinyl lotus

Here's the new custom piece I just finished last week! I riveted hand pierced sterling silver sheets to vintage vinyl. There was a lot of precision cutting to do on this piece and I was skeptical that I would be able to recrate the vision I had for the design. I usually don't try to pierce areas that are too small for my file to fit into, but this particular design demanded it. I utilized my saw blade as a make-shift file and it worked really well to clean up those small areas. In the end, it turned out a lot nicer than I imagined it would. I hope the recipient loves it as much as I do!

Art vs Craft!

My friend and I got our Art vs Craft acceptance email last week! I am excited about being accepted but I am kind of freaked out. I know how much work goes into art fairs and it scares me a little. I think I put too much off until the last minute the last time around and it caused me a lot of stress. I hope I can learn from my past experience and get motivated to accomplish as much as possible early on so I don't have a hundred lose ends in December.

When: Dec 8th 10am-7pm
Where: Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center (click for a map)
790 N Van Buren St Milwaukee, WI

My necklace: Flawed and I love it.

Here's the flawed necklace that I decided to keep for my own since I haven't found the time to make anything specifically for myself. I ended up making another unflawed version that now belongs to someone else.


I set two of the rivets and was drilling the rest of the holes for the remaining rivets when the drill bit snapped off inside one of the holes! I tried ripping it out but it was stuck. I ended up having to widen that hole which was really hard to do since the new drill bit was reluctant to drill into another bit. After finishing the riveting I sanded the face and rest of the bit down as far as possible. In my attempt to sand the flaws away I ended up exposing the rivets a bit too which is something I've been trying to get under control lately. The original flaw is barely a speck now...but the finish is still marred . All flaws aside, I'm happy I eventually decided to finish the pendent completely rather than destroying it (as I tend to do) because now I have one too!

Sterling and vinyl pendent.

Here's a revamp of an older design of mine. I have finally perfected making the rivets disappear and it has improved the design tenfold. The prototype of this design was originally intended for ME but I gave it to a friend as a gift and ended up taking a different design for myself. Yes, I took the one with the flaw. A drill bit broke off in the metal and I wasn't able to remove it. So, that's the one I wear (no pics of that one here with me, unfortunately). So, this one will have to find a new home. I listed it on Etsy last night:

New earrings!

Here's a new pair of earrings I made which are now up in the shop. This shows the 5th and (hopefully) final alteration to the pattern. The last pair I made (which I own) are a bit bigger than these (1.25" diameter) and tend to weigh down the ear. I made these a little smaller so they don't tug as much. They're my favorite earrings!

R.I.P.

AAH!

I have a very valid excuse for the lack of posts in the past week(s). My computer died! I don't know what's wrong with it but I have a suspicion it may be the motherboard which will cost at least a hundred bucks to fix. I anticipated something like this happening soon so I bought an external hard drive a few months ago. At least all of my important information is still accessible to me on other computers. I have plenty of friends who love working with computers and have offered to lend me a hand. Soon...very soon I will be back up and running from the NVM Headquarters, aka, HOME. Luckily I have finally managed to find a way to post on Blogger from a location that I was previously unable to log on from. So, more posts to come! HOORAY!

The fruits of my labor and a softbox tutorial!

Guess what I did tonight? I stayed home and made this:

It's a softbox! And it literally cost me $10 thanks to a very easy to follow (and funny) tutorial on Strobist that I found today. I have a box of about 15 pieces of jewelry just collecting dust because I've lacked the ability to take high quality photos of them for my portfolio. I knew I needed a solution; I've been meaning to make one of these for a long time. It was ridiculously easy to create, even if it was a bit time consuming.

Here's a before and after photo of the earrings above. The after photo only has alterations to the brightness/contrast and I rotated the canvas since my camera was at an angle.

For my first go at it I'd say it was a success! The original photos are still turning out pretty dark so I'll need to tweak the lighting. Though, with a little help from PS everything looks beautiful. With some practice, I hope this light box will eliminate hours spent in front of the computer removing backgrounds from photos. How exhausting!

AVC time already?

I just got word that the applications for the holiday AVC are due in within the next month (AAAH!) and that they have considerably less space than last year. Why do they have less room, do you ask? Because they have a spiffy NEW VENUE!!!! And it's GORGEOUS!

It's basically a thousand times better than the last venue. Also, it's smaller. A lot smaller. I can tell already that I wouldn't need to wear my brimmed hat again to shade my sensitive eyes from the fluorescent lighting. Now, onto the hard part of getting accepted...

Nature vs Machine: back in action? Not yet.

I tried forcing myself to be creative today. There's nothing quite like it in the world. OK, well, forcing yourself to eat brussels sprouts at 25 may come close (that is, if you hate brussels sprouts-but then why would you be forcing yourself to them in the first place?). I decided, instead, to work on a custom pendent that was put on hiatus during my move since I apparently have an aversion to forced creativity. I should have finished it today. Except that my only small drill bit broke in half in the middle of the first of six holes. And that bit would have created a hole that was too small for my 20g wire to pass through. Even if the bit hadn't broke, my reamer, and half of my other tools, are still packed away. Their exact location being in one or more of the dozen boxes still partially unpacked in different rooms of my house. Yes-I completely jumped the gun. I guess I should have finished unpacking first...which is exactly what I was trying to avoid by forcing my creativity in the first place. Back to square one. Tomorrow: unpacking. Ugh.

BACK UP!

PHEW!

You never realize just how much you depend on something until it's gone. The internet is finally hooked up at my new apartment. Our service request was misplaced so it's been three long weeks without internet here at home. I feel as though I can breathe again, and that frightens me a little!

One of my favorite things to do to "kill time" is answer questions others have in regards to crafting, art, tools, etc., so I've decided to start showcasing some of those answers in upcoming posts. In the past I've mostly linked to tutorials from other sites so I'd like to get some of my personal knowledge in here just to shake things up a bit. Because, and let me be modest here for a minute, I like to think that I have the skills to pay the bills.

Moving destroys my creativity.

I've been taking some time off from creating because I burned myself out preparing for and attending AVC. Now that I'm ready to get back into the swing of things I have to move! I have a few pieces of jewelry and at least one bag that are completed and ready for a photo shoot, I have the pieces for at least 4 bags completely cut out and ready to be assembled, and I have two vinyl pendants and about twice that many earrings ready for their finishing touches. I fear it will be weeks before I'm settled enough again in my new home to let the creative juices flow. For the time being I'll have to be content with imagining my next new project...

I've been thinking a lot, as usual, about printing my own fabric. I already screen print designs on some of the fabric for my bags but I want to do more full-on fabric design; multiple colors and/or prints on a much larger scale. I have several ideas in mind-some done by me, and some done by "my artist". My artist and I have been preoccupied with our own art while trying to collaborate on prints. Perhaps once I've managed to catch up on all of my current projects I'll have the chance to dive into my latest fascination.

New bag!

Here's another framed clutch I created for AVC that is currently housed at Niche.

The patterned fabric contains all of my favorite colors and even has a bit of sparkle! I got the fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics; it sold out in about 2 weeks! I bought two yards and have already cut out the pieces from it for my next project. I found out about the new fabric store on Pattern Review. Pattern Review is a great resource for anything having to do with sewing. I found Gorgeous Fabrics there (the shop was reviewed by a member of PR) and I found great reviews on a "how to sew knits" book I bought for $2.50 online (that I have yet to crack).

New stuff!

I made some new stuff for the Art vs Craft show that I completely forgot to post! ¡Ay, caramba! Here are a couple of the flex-frame clutches/wristlets that I adore so much. I got a lot of positive feedback on them at the show but nobody bought any...The blue floral clutch is on my Etsy page and the neutral clutch is at Niche.
Though neither of those are my favorite as far as print goes, they ended up being the most popular style I brought to the show. The bag on the right was made with vintage floral fabric that has splashes of neon pink, which I love.

I also made some of my sterling and vinyl pendants for the show.
I sold this one at the show. The other design I brought is currently
at Niche.

AVC craziness over. PHEW!

Wow. Not only is it by far the hottest and most humid weekend of the year but it was also one of the busiest (for me, at least). I'd say the Art vs Craft show was a minor success; our table did pretty well as a group and individually. The crowd was a little different than last year's Christmas crowd. Most of the things sold at our table are geared toward young adults and have a definite street vibe. I think our stuff was a bit too much geared toward that genre-which I feel is good-except when that genre doesn't show up to the fair. Regardless, we had an exhausting but good time; and I'll be applying for the next show, along with Niche and Flux, as well.

I think the most disappointing part of AVC is the venue. It is held in an empty school building
and is very institutional. The ceilings are low and have extremely bright florescent lighting so you end up feeling drained after an hour or two; a feeling that dissipates immediately upon leaving the building. The bathrooms are dark, dreary, smelly, and rarely clean. I feel the venue is a poor contrast to the work that is showcased within. However, it was very well promoted and there was a good turn out because of it. I don't find that level of dedication from Madison independent artist fairs. I can't decide if the lack of interest lies with the promoter or the artists...

New business cards!

Last week a designer friend of mine and I collaborated on a new business card design for me (I mostly picked out the colors and fonts then gave thumbs up or down on new additions.) The cards just arrived looking GREAT! I immediately shipped 200 off to a little store in Milwaukee called The Paper Boat Boutique and Gallery. They are involved with AVC and are adding items to swag bags to be given out to the first 200 people in the door at the show. Unfortunately I just didn't have the time to construct a fun freebie for the bags...though I did toss around the idea of magnets and pins, but, in the end, scrapped all ideas due to money/time constraints. Perhaps once my business is more lucrative I can invest in fun promotional items (I'm still a bit sad about not having pins). I'm also using it for the new hang tags that I'll be printing today. BEHOLD:

SOLD!

P.S. I'd like to mention that at least half of my inventory at Fashion Ninja has sold already!
It sold much quicker than I had anticipated, truthfully. I was a little nervous at first so I let an entire month go by before checking up on my wares. Finally I bit the bullet and got the response I wanted!

AVC!

My friend and I found out yesterday that we were accepted into the Art vs Craft show in July! There were tons of great tables there last year so we're very flattered and excited. I didn't participate last year; I just went along to help out and get a feel for the environment. There were about 80 tables with a huge variety of seemingly random hand made items; most of them extremely well made. I think four of us are sharing a table this year so I feel we will be able to offer a lot of diversity. All of us sell (or will sell) items at Niche Milwaukee, which is co-owned by one of the people sharing my table. I don't have too much specific information on what we'll be offering at this point since the show is still pretty far away. However, I believe an element of surprise is beneficial so I'll limit the posting to my items for now.

Raspberry Lipgloss

Here it is!

Awww, I love that little guy! I whipped that one up yesterday. Wow. It was hard to do it all in one day. I tend to get a little looney after sewing for 5 straight hours. I made that exact bag in black/electric blue last week. Both clutches are now at their new (hopefully temporary) home @ Fashion Ninja. I am thinking of doing one in black/yellow for my Atlanta trip. You know, for promotional purposes...