TCC: Little Big Pants

It was so fun to meet Terra of Little Big Pants at The Creative Connection Marketplace. When she was unpacking her softies, I knew one of her creations would be coming home with me. Although I was torn between her elegant dolls and their stories of love won and lost, I was pursuaded by a little art thief carrying off a mini Van Gogh (my last name, Vangool, is sometimes mistaken for Van Gogh). I'll have to take a better picture of him (he now resides at Art Central, so Finley can play with him when he has to come to work with me.)

Please visit Terra's blog for more images of her beautiful dolls, such as this wonderfully stylish doll with chic mohair-sculpted coif!

Thanks, Mom!

The dottie angel book has many extra little details that make it very special—and labour-intensive. The stitched scalloped-edge postcards adhered to each cover had to be stitched by machine. With a print run of 3000, that's a lot of stitches! Over 3km of stitches, actually!

Thank you so much to my mom and to Paige for taking on this arduous task. Mom stitched her way through 2200 postcards, so chances are high that the book you order will be her stitches on the cover.

Above are some images of my mother's workspace which is just off the family room. The sewing area is designed to fold up and fit behind a closet door, but I can only recall a handful of times when it has been completely stowed away. Which is a good thing because my Mom always has a project in the works.

She recently put up a flannel wall so that she can view her quilts in progress:

Below is a hand-hooked rug that she made. It is one of my favourites; I like the graphic design and use of black.

My Dad holds up a recently completed quilt (he's got quite the wingspan!:

Finley admires some flowers:

Thank you again to my skilled, talented and hard-working mom.

Locals only: I'm hiring some helping hands!

I am looking to hire some students to help with the assembling, making, collating, stuffing and other handiwork required for various UPPERCASE projects. Projects include preparing envelopes of goodies, assembling handmade books, button-making and other hands-on tasks as required throughout the year. Work will begin immediately and be concentrated in August and once the school year begins, it would be on a per project or as-needed basis. Please email me if you are interested. janine at uppercasemagazine dot com.

Please note this is for local Calgarians, with preference given to students. Most work will happen in the UPPERCASE studio downtown.

dottie angel: thank you

Thank you to the wonderful helpers who stuffed envelopes of goodies on Thursday: Ana, Paola, Janice, James, Paige, Angela and Kendra. Thank you to all who have preordered so far!

Thus concludes "dottie angel week" on the blog, but I'll be posting more previews of the interior page design, cover mockup and more in the next few weeks. I guess our "dottie angel week" was the same days as "shark week" so I will leave with this image of Tif's shark... Mr. Shark that is, her heavy-duty iron! (Tif has the endearing trait of naming all her appliances.)

Mr. Shark, the ironPreorder the book here!

First Thursday: Help, please!

It's the First Thursday of August! UPPERCASE and Art Central will be open until 9pm for festivities and activities.

I would really like your help: now that all the goodies such as the lucky bunny postcard, thread cards, fabric swatches, doily bits and vintage buttons are assembled, they all need to be inserted into the glassine envelopes and sealed with washi tape. It's fun and pretty to look at, I promise! Especially with more people helping out to make the work go quickly. UPPERCASE will be open from 3pm - 9pm... I hope to see you soon!

A snapshot of my workspace, calculating just how many bits and bobs are needed to fill each glassine envelope...

Doilies, doilies, doilies!

Once again, eBay was my source for getting vintage en masse. I spent quite a lot of time searching for the best lot that would make including bits of vintage doilies in the book possible... My score was a lot of around 70 doilies and tableclothes that have been cut up, by the wonderful Janice (see post below), into little bits that will be included in the glassine envelope of goodies (for preordered copies only, while supplies last.)

Thanks to the anonymous granny who made these doilies. I'm sorry that your family sold them on eBay, but now they are going to many appreciative and crafty hands around the world!

dottie angel: doilies

The use of doilies and found lace, whether in whole such as the background for this applique, or as a decorative bit on a curtain, blanket or slip, is a hallmark of dottie angel style.

'To doilify' is one of Tif's expressions that is included in our book's dictionary.

thank you Janice & Papier Valise

As you can see, we need an awful lot of thread cards! One in each book x print run = 3000! These photos are by Janice of the lovely blog Scissor Variations. Janice's online shop, Papier Valise, is THE place for vintage ephemera for scrapbooking and collage-making.

dottie angel: little string of happy

Every dottie angel book comes with a card of dottie thread and swatch of vintage fabric with which you can make a 'little string of happy'.

Thank you to Kendra, Erin, Ana and Janice for winding the paper bobbins.

All of them!

Tif is amazing to work with. She would send me surprise images such as this arrangement of all her chapter stitches!

lots and lots of buttons!

An eight-pound lot purchased on eBay!

dottie angel: more buttons

A button card from Tif's collection (above) and a detail of how she uses buttons as a design element.

dottie angel goodies: vintage buttons

The dottie angel book is part biography, part storybook, part crafty how-to and entirely inspirational. Tif is so generous in spirit that readers will be motivated to pick up a needle and thread, hook and yarn and paper and scissors. dottie angel expounds on the "goodly and righteous path" of crafting and thrifting. So to get you on that path with ease, the book includes a glassine envelope of goodies:

• lucky bunny postcard

• dottie angel card of colourful thread

• swatch of vintage fabric (either pretty sheets or barkcloth)

• vintage button(s) (preorders will receive a vintage card of buttons, while supplies last)

• doily bits (preorders, while supplies last)

Here's a photograph of some of the button cards, composition inspired by Lisa Congdon, author of my other recently published book, A Collection a Day.

Type Tuesday: Letter Boxes

Wonderland Room sells Korean papergoods such as these lettered and numbered boxes. (Though most letterss are out of stock, this would be an easy DIY project.) Lots of washi tape, stickers, fabric and decorating items.

Type Tuesday: Nice

Caitlin Halcomb was our neighbour at Renegade San Francisco. She sells these banners for all occasions in her Etsy shop in addition to vintage apparel, housewares and lamp shades.

Cathy of California

photo by ModClothimage frcom RetrorenovatioCathy Callahan, aka Cathy of California, loves crafty things from the 60s and 70s. Her new book is a fun take on old crafts—contemporary artists interpret old kitchy crafts from these past decades and bring new inspiration to them. I had the pleasure of meeting Cathy at the Renegade Fairs.

"Macramé, appliqué, decoupagé, and more! Cathy Callahan, founder of the popular blog Cathy of California, brings a fresh look to crafts from the '60s and '70s in Vintage Craft Workshop. With an eye toward style, not kitsch, superstar contributors including Diane Gilleland, Jill Bliss, and Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith offer their unique interpretations on 24 vintage projects. Brimming with inspiration shots straight from Callahan's vintage craft books, color photographs of the finished projects, profiles of the original crafters, and tidbits about this unforgettable era, this spirited book makes vintage crafts perfectly stylish for today. Plus, it's easy to get started with step-by-step instructions, how-to illustrations, perforated template pages, and a handy back pocket. Papiermâché never looked so good!" (Chronicle Books)

There's an interview here and the book is available at ModCloth, The Curiosity Shoppe (both stock UPPERCASE publications as well!) and other crafty booksellers.

Renegade LA: Navajo trend

Random Renegaders paired with jewellery by Julie NolanThe San Francisco Fair had its succulents and plants trend, and although Los Angeles had its share of terrariums, a more prominent trend was Navajo-inspired motifs, Native American-esque designs and ethnic triangles. Numerous vendors had these motifs, some done with more sophistication than others.

Renegade LA: Cursive

Cursive DesignChicago-based Sarah Fox and her partner Jon of Cursive have had a busy season of craft fairs. Cursive's jewellery can also be found at Orange Beautiful in Chicago, The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco (both of whom stock UPPERCASE) and Anthropologie stores. (I wish they would stock UPPERCASE!)

Renegade LA: Christine Haynes

Clothing designer and author Christine HaynesChristine Haynes has launched a Kickstarter project to help fund the release of new sewing patterns.

"I have had successes with my business, but coming up with enough money to launch sewing patterns is beyond my means. I am literally a one woman operation. I do all the sewing, designing, writing, and everything myself, and while I’ve been doing all this work for the last few years, I’ve maintained a day job to keep things afloat. I know it’s too much for one woman to do, but I love it and am ready to see it to the next level!"

Check it out here.

Renegade LA: Kattuna

Cute cross stitchKattuna makes simple cross stitch and embroidered silhouettes of animals. If you need a daily dose of cat and stitchery, check out her blog.