L.A. sentimental

prior to renegade, i stitched up a few california/l.a. specific pieces.
first there was this one: which i forgot to take a proper photo of -- this is just a crappy shot taken with my phone:


ugh -- it's such a bad photo -- sorry. it sold pretty quickly - and the girl who bought it was exactly the kind of person i was thinking of as i stitched the piece. she was really excited about it - she's following her dream of doing costuming here in hollywood. awesome.

and then there was this piece:


which didnt sell. (boo.) the reference may have been a little too obscure. it's from the morrissey song "first of the gang to die" which, i do believe, is set in or about L.A. that's how i read it, anyhow... i assumed the reservoirs were the ones out here. i still really like the piece. i'm thinking that i'm gonna make it one of the key pieces for a show that i'll eventually be doing at THIS gallery here in L.A. -- and i'll stitch up some other pieces with L.A. inspired lyrics to go in a grouping. there've got to be tons of L.A. songs; if you can think of any especially good ones, please let me know!

i also had two "listen to your heart and follow it, even if it takes you all the way to california" and both of those sold - which made me happy.
currently, i've got a commission for a "listen to your heart and follow it, even if it takes you all the way to montana." boss! (as my montana friend r. rudd would say....) i'll show it off when it's complete.

renegades in the city of angels

thank you so much to everyone who stopped by my booth at renegade this weekend. it was, as usual, a great event. (those renegade folks really know how to do it right!)
here was my little set-up --
day one:


day two:


super huge thanks to josh, who helped me to put my display boards together (using the design that my pal melanie linder did for brooklyn renegade -- beautiful!). i definitely enjoyed the ease of using just two boards, and the fact that L.A. was nowhere near as windy as philly or brooklyn. i was able to easily move things around when pieces sold or when i thought it needed a freshing up.
thanks, too, to my wonderful boothmate -- mia of 'ticings, who does edible design "stickers" for cakes and cupcake decoration (which are very cool - you should check them out.) she and her daughter were sweet as can be and i got to be around cupcakes all day! perfect!

awesomeness

over the weekend i had the opportunity to see a show of some of ed emberley's work.
as if that wasnt amazing enough, i also got to meet him and do a collaborative drawing with him:


on the left is my raccoon, the way i've been drawing them since discovering mister emberley's "how to draw" books a few years ago. on the right is his raccoon. i did the heart.
the show is up at scion installation l.a. - and it runs through to august 7th. i HIGHLY recommend that you go see it if you can. there are prints and drawings done by mister emberley as well as the prep sketches for several of his books. there's also work done by more contemporary artists who have been influenced by ed emberley's work.

coming clean

finished up the second one of these that i started, and then i went back to the first one and, with a little bit of oxyclean (thank you for the suggestions!), finally got the coffee spot out; it's completely gone! so, i finished up that one, too, and now i have an extra to go with me to renegade. woo-hoo!

ready set

stitched and set out up this group of monogram towels the other day. i love the thought that angela put into the colors for her order.
and now - i'm taking a day off; all of my orders are stitched, my renegade stockpile is looking pretty good, and i've been invited to explore some california swimming holes. me thinks that's an offer i can't refuse. have a great wednesday!

ribbons and boughs

the newest piece:

grrrrr...

really really really frustrating -- being over halfway finished a piece for an order and then dripping coffee onto it. and the spot wont come out. grrrrr. not a happy way to start a morning.
anyone out there ever tried tea-dying a piece after it's been stitched? that's the only way i can think to salvage the work that's been done already. or i'll just have to scrap it. oh man. oh well, in the meantime, here i go -- starting over again from scratch...


happy monday.

this necklace...

...is also rad.


it's made by my friend karen, of skylark studio, and i scooped it up before heading west. it makes me happy to be wearing the pennsylvania dutch distelfinks out here, so far from home. (karen has a lot of other really amazing pieces in her line -- you should check it out here. hmmm, i just noticed that this necklace isnt listed in her shop - nor are her other new PA dutch inspired designs.... well, if you love it, contact her - she's great and i'd bet that she'd be able to work it out for you!)

this book...

...is rad.


i picked it up at 826LA -- the storefront for this place here that is doing amazing work with school children of the local communities. they do tutoring and workshops with kids - mostly writing - and they collect works done by the children and publish them and put out these beautiful little books. i couldnt pass this one up -- it's all works of writing done by kids from first to eighth grade based on names of smiths/morrissey songs. it's really sweet. (want one for yourself? you can read more about it and then get it here.)
and currently, i'm working on the design for a custom piece with totally different smiths lyrics on it -- i'll post pics when it's finished.

new order, new border

this one's a quote from new order's "vanishing point." i'm quite pleased, quite pleased indeed, with it. oh, and when i finally finish painting the walls of my house (the grey that you see there is just the teeniest little test patch), it'll look so darn good all hung up and stuff -- and then the piece will go with me to renegade - just three weeks away!

in progress

i hate to admit it, but it's taken me waaaay longer than i had anticipated to get all set up and acclimated and back to life and work as normal out here. in my head, i had seen this time as three months that i would work-work-work -- stitching away in my little house under the lemon trees, working on new designs and inspirations. it doesnt seem to be panning out that way -- which may just be okay. i've found myself in this beautiful foreign place, surrounded by wonderfully loving friends who are helping me remember how to relax a little and have fun. i think i'm a little bitten by the california bug -- all sunshine and laid back attitude and so many places to explore.
work is still happening, though! i'm just not having as prolific of a time as i had imagined.


renegade L.A is in three weeks and i'm starting to stockpile the goods in preparation. i have no idea what to expect, having never done a fair on the west coast, but i'm feeling okay about it none-the-less. vendor packets arrived yesterday and i'm happy to see that my booth, which i'll be sharing with mia of ticings (check it out -- she does designer edible icing sheets - i'll be around cupcakes all day!), seems to be in a good location, right in the middle and on a corner. yee-haw! my product line offering is going to be a little smaller, since i'm sharing the space and i didnt want to have to ship out EVERYthing. but i'll have sandwich wrappers, and d.i.y. cross stitch kits and patterns, and strawberries, and the boyfriend hankie kits. i'll also have the finished cross-stitch pieces, of course - which means i gotta get back to stitching!