Filed under: BirdDog Press, Craft Biz, Handmade Revolution | Tags: Boulder, gift, handmade holiday, Holiday Market, Knoxville, Open Studios, shopping, Tennessee, twenty-ninth street
Usually, when I check out of twitter and neglect the blog here it means that there are some extra exciting things going on that are keeping me busy!! That is certainly the case right now, I’m happy to report! We have been busy little elves around here, and I must implore you to buy local and buy handmade this holiday season.
Open Studios is presenting a juried Holiday Market this year in Boulder’s Twenty-Ninth Street shopping district. Please join us for a wine & cheese reception from 7 to 9pm this Friday, December 4th – get your ticket here! Or pop by for some great gifts any time during the first two weekends of December.
At the same time, there will be a reception for my hometown Handmade Holiday trunk show in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee on historic Gay Street next to Yee-Haw Industries from 5 to 9. Big, huge, thanks to Jill of Duchess Craft for putting her heart & soul into promoting local artists and for always calling me home & including me in her crafty plans. I wish I could pack myself into that big box of BirdDog paper goods that I just sent to her.
Buy Local! Buy Handmade!!!
Filed under: Feedsacks, Inspirations | Tags: cleveland, feed sack, feedsack, Tennessee
My latest eBay feedsack find. Check out where it’s from! A little something from my home state of Tennessee brightening the studio.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Craft Biz, Friends, Handmade Revolution | Tags: Downtown Wine & Spirits, Duchess Craft, Handmade Autumn, Knoxville, Metropulse, Tennessee, Yee-Haw
My hometown loves handmade! Friends in Knoxville, Tennessee are hard at work putting together a seasonal handmade trunkshow for the coming weekend. BirdDog Press paper goods will be featured for sale alongside other local handmade goods, in fact, it is the debut of the Feedsack of the Month Club gift set and our new feedsack fabric Flag Greetings just posted in our Etsy shop will be there too. Big thanks to Duchess Craft, Yee Haw Industries, Downtown Wine & Spirits and the Metropulse for making it all happen. Get yourself to Knoxville and buy some handmade goodness!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * SEPTEMBER 18-20, 2009 * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HANDMADE AUTUMN TRUNK SHOW 409 South Gay St. Knoxville, Tennessee
Local and Regional crafters convene in Downtown Knoxville for a weekend to offer their one-of-a-kind handmade wares in conjunction with weekend events including the Market Square Farmers’ Market. Support the local economy by buying handmade! For more information or to apply for participation, e-mail duchesscraft@yahoo.com
HOURS:
Friday Noon-9PM / Saturday 10AM-9PM / Sunday 1-5PM
Reception – Friday, September 18th – 5-9pm
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Feedsacks, Handmade Revolution, Inspirations, Life | Tags: Bozeman, family, feed sack, Feedsacks, genealogy, Georgia, Montana, Sweet Pea Festival, Tennessee
IMG_5171.JPG, originally uploaded by theHandmaiden.
Earlier this month, I finally did something that I had on my to-do list for years. Enter the Sweet Pea Festival poster design contest. I have a connection to Bozeman, Montana. First of all, it is an incredibly scenic place and a really cool town, but it was also named for an ancestral cousin – John Merin Bozeman. In short, the Bozeman family {aside from being Dutch} hailed from North Georgia near Ellijay {one son eventually moving his family to East Tennessee where I am from}. This John Merin character went on a wild west trip and ended up leading wagon trains, eventually getting himself killed by the Blackfeet tribe. I could break out the family tree to prove it, but you’ll just have to take my word for it this time.
Alas, I didn’t win, but I did receive an honorable mention. I have more ideas already for next year, including some covered wagon paintings that I did back in my college days at the University of Tennessee.
My poster was created with layers of letterpress patterns and vintage sweet pea illustrations, feedsack fabrics and machine stitching. I printed panels on my hand-fed C&P using patterns derived from my feedsack collection and antique wood type to print the words Sweet Pea ‘09 and Bozeman, Montana. Cut swatches of feedsacks to create the fabric flower and then stitched it all together on my sewing machine. It was a satisfying process and I love the combination of these tools and techniques, I will continue to develop this way of working. More photos from my Flickr Set here.
ps. it seems as though Oh So Beautiful Paper had her eye on our poster today too! Thx. Nole!
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Green, Inspirations, Letterpress, Life | Tags: family, Hammerpress, Hatch Show Print, Kansas City, Nashville, pzev, road trip, South Carolina, subaru, Tennessee, Yee-Haw
The BirdDog is going on a road trip! Home. Home is where the heart is. Home is the South. Home is Tennessee. We’re heading that direction tomorrow morning. Me, my husband, C and Siler {the BirdDog} are pushing off in the new PZEV, low-emission Leave No Trace Forester with a lot of visits along the way. My little boy has 3 great-grandparents and we think that is pretty dang special. They are entering the 90’s and the more visits we can fit in the better. My grandparents have been a HUGE inspiration in my life. I am close to my cousins, aunts and uncles as well. Thrilled to be mobile enough to spread our visits from Nashville, Tennessee to River Falls, South Carolina and many a holler in between. Not only will I get some much needed family time, I will be squeezing in some fabulous visits with my very favorite letterpress shops along the way. The goal is to make it to Kansas City the first night for some mouth-melting BBQ and a morning meet-up with the ecclectic and brilliant Hammerpress, then once in Nashville I’ve set up a visit with the end-all-be-all of presses, my very epitome of inspiration – Hatch Show Print – and heading further east, my hometown of Knoxville boasts the clever, energetic and creatively cultured bunch at Yee-Haw Industries who printed my wedding invitations way back when. Have you realized that I will essentially be in heaven yet? Oh how I can’t wait to tell you all about it. In the meantime, I’ll be giving you long-awaited little tid-bits on my studio progress.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Bozeman Collaborative, Design, Friends, Green | Tags: Amanday Jaynes-Ray, collaborate, Graphic Design, Tennessee
Twitter is awesome. I just met Amanda Jaynes-Ray and it turns out that we are not only fellow designers with collaborative projects in our future, but we’re also fellow Tenneseans! Check out her work here, and notice how she gives back both charitably and on the eco-friendly front. Loving the illustration on this re-usable tote bag.
