New Craft Coalition: Boolah Baguette

How cute is this face? It's a creation by Erin Weiss from Saskatoon, who will be heading to Calgary this week for the New Craft Coalition show.

"I have always been creative — I love drawing, design, painting, rearranging my house, crochet, cutting and pasting, you get the idea. My mom taught me how to sew when I was was young, but I specifically remember balking at the idea of using patterns — I always wanted to make my own version of everything. Sewing machines came in and out of my life, and along the way I made a lot of oddly constructed fabric gifts for friends and clothes for myself. But I was learning to love fabric — the patterns and colours and the fact that a good trip to the fabric store could totally make my day. It all started to come together when I was first introduced to the idea of soft sculpture while in school for a Fine Arts degree. I saw it as the perfect way to bring my drawings of little people and wild creatures into something you could hold. 

After my first child was born I began making and selling children's clothing, and I called my little business boolah baguette — after a favoured childhood doll that was named by my dad and I. With this new creative outlet I let myself experiment once again with cloth dolls and plush creatures of all sorts. I both smile and cringe when I see those original dolls - eyes and arms at odd angles. In my fourth year of doll making I feel like I have come a long way. I take in all sorts of inspiration and the dolls change with the seasons and with my creative needs. It is what I love best about what I do.

I love making these dolls and it is a huge part of my life. At this point boolah baguette is still a one-woman show, and I make each unique doll in my home studio. My time to create is short and sweet, in the middle of raising a young family. I am drawn to natural fabrics like wool and cotton, but I am also quite fond of a super plush fleece or luxurious faux fur. I create by feel and can't stop until I feel like I've finished something that falls into the 'ridiculously cute' category."

Kristina Klarin: beautifully designed for fall

I've always been a fan of Kristina Klarin's large painted wooden beads. Her colour choices are always so interesting. She has just released a new collection, styled for fall, the entire design experience of her online shop is great. 

Kristina was the cover artist for issue 15 a few years ago. Here's an excerpt from our article:

This is no ordinary production line: skewers of freshly painted wooden beads pierce magazine stacks and finished necklaces hang from any available hooks or frame corners of the room. It is awash with vibrant colours, almost as if someone had popped open a fantastical bottle of champagne, its bubbles filling the room with pictorial joy. 

Beyond the immediate sensory overload, one rapidly notices the subtle elegance behind each colour combination. There is not a single faux pas as colours marry each other and respond to each other but never clash with each other. This is a delicate exercise in assembling the right shapes with the right hues, one that Kristina Klarin excels in. 

Born in Belgrade and now living in Milan, Kristina has always been a colour enthusiast, and her experiences with cultural cross-pollination have helped shaped her take on it. Her home country, Serbia, was historically located at the crossroads of different cultures, and it is there that she believes she gained the ability to use colours in bold, unpredictable ways, as well as appreciate “the beauty from spontaneously mixing different aesthetic influences in a more casual way,” she says. On the other hand, her Italian education and professional experiences urged her to focus more on details—“on perfection,” she muses. “I started designing when I was very young. My passion for it brought me first to study textile design at high school and then drove me all the way to Italy where I graduated in fashion design,” she explains. “It’s indeed in Milan that right after my graduation I started working as a fashion designer. Over the years I saw myself shifting from sartorial and elaborated pieces of clothing to more basic, neat designs with a strong focus on their graphical composition and a flair for striking and eloquent details and accessory.” 

Read the full article, written by Olivier Dupon, in issue 15 of UPPERCASE.

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair will be happening in Manchester this week, from October 9 through 12th. I was introduced to the Fair by an UPPERCASE reader, Cherry Chung, who will also be exhibiting her work at the Fair. Cherry is a basket weaver who incorporates ceramics into her basket-making process. She also creates amazing willow outdoor sculptures that I look forward to learning more about... I'll be featuring her work in the winter issue of UPPERCASE. (You never know where one simple email with lead!)

Cherry Chung

The event website presents images and links to all the exhibiting artists, which is a benefit for us unable to attend. I'm bookmarking a lot into my idea files! I'm sure the Fair would be amazing to see in person, so if you're in the UK, please go enjoy it on my behalf.

Katherine Lees

Jill Shaddock

Stuart Jenkins

Lucentia

Etsy Made in Canada

The Etsy Made in Canada event was held at Symons Valley Ranch, at the city's northern outskirts.

Amy from Quadrophonic Image.

Heather from Cosmikgoo.

Sleepy Holow Leather and Beading.

Carly of Folly a Tet.

Sassy ladies of Bubblegum Sass.

Envy Camera Accessories

The highlight of the Creative Stitches show this afternoon was meeting Lisa Griffiths from Envy Camera Accessories. I was immediately drawn to her booth—her display of the colourful strap designs caught my eye and I had my (heavy!) Canon 5dmkii slung around my neck. I've coveted a more stylish camera strap and thought someday I'd make my own, but that's so far down on my to-do list, I might as well forget about it. Lisa to the rescue!

Made with pretty jacquard ribbon, each strap is reversible with contrasting or complementary designs. She has various kinds of straps and harnesses and wristlets for a variety of cameras and uses. The patterned part of the straps can easily be clipped on and off, so if you want to change straps to suit your mood or outfit, that's easy to do.

Lisa's a mom of three and also runs a day home, so she gets her sewing done in the evenings. Her straps were inspired by the need a photographer friend and she likes that she's able to make them fairly quickly—important since she has limited time but wanted to launch a creative sewing-based business.

Envy Camera Accessories is local (based in Okotoks) but if you want to be the envy of your friends, Lisa has an online shop (free shipping in Canada.) She'll be at the Creative Stitches show on Saturday and then some holiday fairs as the season approaches.

Here's the lovely camera strap that came home with me! Thank you, Lisa!

Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive Show

Some details of things that caught my eye at the Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive show continuing tomorrow at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. The scrapbooking Carnival is part of this larger fair, so you can satisfy paper and fabric needs.

The Great Canadian Scrapbooker Carnival

Katharina Doyle, co-founder and publisher of Canadian Scrapbooker is dressed to preside over the Carnival!

Letters always catch my eye... particularly here when they're glittered stickers.

Jackie Ludlage, Canadian Scrapbooker co-founder and editor-in-chief strikes a pose with Katharina.

Crystal Reynolds, the art director of the magazine, is new to scrapbooking but has all the design experience. Here's a page in progress.

More type. What can I say? My eyes are always drawn to letters.

Carnival participants bring their own supplies to work on their books, but lots of vendors are close at hand to inspire ideas and tempt wallets.

It's interesting to see surface pattern designs in the scrapbooking industry and see how those trends relate to quilt fabrics (a hobby that I'm more familiar with.)

The Great Canadian Scrapbooker Carnival is organized by Canadian Scrapbooker magazine and runs through Saturday at 5pm.

Etsy Made in Canada: September 27

Canadian craft vendors are exhibiting in events across the country on Saturday, September 27 for Etsy's Made in Canada. In Calgary, the event will be held at Symons Valley Ranch. Here's a list of vendors. For event details, click here.

Big event this week for scrapbooking fans!

Celebrate paper crafts at the 7th Annual Great Canadian Carnival in Calgary this week: Friday and Saturday, September 26 & 27th! Join the Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine team and friends at the interactive market place with technique-rich make-and-takes, classes and, of course, shopping! (The Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive show is happening concurrently at the same venue, so lots to fuel your creative fire.)

Thank you to Katherina Doyle of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine, a fellow Calgary-based publication, for her support of UPPERCASE magazine through a purchase of a Calling Card. And shoutout to my friend Crystal Reynolds who is the designer for Canadian Scrapbooker magazine of the fall issue, pictured above.

Lemonni.... yum!

Lemonni always has such nice things! Designer Annie Chen writes, "I love creating things with my hands. All the paper goods are designed and handmade by me. The whole production – from printing, cutting, folding, assembling, to packaging – happens in my studio. I handmade my textile products as well. The fabrics were printed with eco-friendly, water-based pigment inks. I'm a pattern fanatic. I'm always drawn to bold colours and interesting colour combinations. It's fascinating to me that the same colour can appear quite differently when paired with different colours."

School House Craft Conference

School House Craft is an annual conference (September 27 & 28) in Seattle whose aim is to "school you in the business of craft." Check out the class schedule here. (bonus: registrants will receive a complimentary copy of UPPERCASE at the event.)

See you at Stash!

I'm looking forward to Inglewood's Night Market tonight! First on my list is going to my favourite yarn store, Stash. From 6 to 9pm, there will be additional fun such as vintage wares, the jewellery of Jennea Frischke and sewn goods by Leave it to Cleaver.

Stash will be offering a 10% discount off of your total purchase all evening long. Store owner Veronica says, "We will also be releasing some of our newest fall and winter products for you to fondle. And there will be giveaways and door prizes. Be there or be square!"

Beautiful Books by Bari Zaki

UPPERCASE reader Bari Zaki makes these gorgeous books using traditional European and Japanese techniques. In addition to blank books, box-making, she also binds photography portfolios and photo albums.

Bari writes:

I have been a hand-bookbinder for 25 years and so your recent newsletters had a particular resonance with me. My career began with a simple yet intense curiosity; I saw a blank book that was made by hand and it sent my heart into a pitter-patter of delight… How do you do that, I wondered?!  I went in search. Since then I have made literally hundreds of books and have several stacks of them in my home, which have become permanent fixtures.

"Many people say to me that they love my books but they are too special to write in… I hear that a lot in fact. I thought about scribbling on the first page as an ode to making the first mess, so to speak." Whether they are left blank to be admired for their integral beauty of form and construction, or filled with sketches and notes, Bari's books live up to the ultimate goal of any book: to inspire.

Visit Bari's shop to see more. 

Marbling: the "tie-dye" of paper

For the Makers offers creative kits of supplies to make a curated gathering of themed crafts. Their latest offering is named Veritas and inspired by paper marbling. With the kit, you'll make a marbled notebook, marbled pens, a locket as well as an old school felt pennant. Their site offers all the instructions and the kit themselves are a delight to receive—beautifully curated and nicely presented in small kraft boxes of a limited edition. I received of couple of their previous kits recently and look forward to some downtime to immerse myself in assembling and making.

My picks on BRIKA

This silk scarf by Shana Frase pairs well with the colour charts article in this issue.

These bangles are made by artisans in Swaziland, but could be a good idea for older magazines (if you could bear to cut one up!)

These earrings by Upper Metal Class remind me of the colour wheel motif on the current issue's spine pattern.

I've got a guest post up on BRIKA today! Here are some other picks that match up with the current issue. UPPERCASE readers can enjoy 15% off their purchases on BRIKA with the code UPPERCASE15 until September 1, 2014.

Printing 3d objects with water, oil-based ink and gravity

Kirsi Enkovaara‘s Landscape of Gravity:

Landscape of Gravity was inspired by distorted reflections on a surface of water. The phenomenon that enable to capture this almost invisible movement is oil paint floating on top of water. The technique developed to this projects combines this phenomenon and movement of water effected by gravity. All the objects made for the collection are vessels with a hole in the bottom. The vessels are filled with water and topped with oil paint and drained. This phenomenon of gravity pulling the water down transmits the movement of the water to the surface of the vessel while the water level goes down. After this the vessel is transformed in to a object as the inside of the vessel turn inside out revealing the natural pattern.

Read more on Confessions of a Design Geek and the artist's website.

Making a Tartan with Donna Wilson (and friends!)

Donna Wilson was recently honoured with the task of designing a tartan for Aberdeen, Scotland, the area where she grew up. "Tartan is such an important part of our tradition and heritage, and we should never lose that," she says. "I hope to be able to make a difference to the manufacturers who will be weaving it and create something that will be a lasting symbol of Aberdeenshire.”

Donna worked with schoolchildren to select a palette that reflected the natural beauty of the region. They selected and refined the following colours:

Old Meldrum: A gold/copper inspired by the stills at the Glengarioch Distillery, and as one pupil point out-—it's also the colour of whisky!

Stonehaven: A pinky red seen in Aberdeenshire sunsets, and a colour often spotted at the infamous 'Aunt Betty’s' sweetshop in Stonehaven.

Aboyne: A frosty lichen green found in the Ladywood Forest.

Fraserburgh: A lilac/blue symbolizing the seas and skies around Fraserburgh.

Kintore: A forest green from all the woodlands around Kintore.

Harvest: A barley colour that reminded Donna of the farm where she grew up, and her favourite time of year.

Peterhead: A minty green from the seas and sea spray of Peterhead.

The tartan can be purchased by the yard or as a scarf on Donna's website.

Heather Dahl

Heather Dahl is a ceramicist from Vancouver whom I had the pleasure of meeting quite a few years ago at a Renegade Craft Fair where we were both exhibitors. Her ceramics, known under the name Dahlhaus, are beautifully simple—her designer's eye adds just the right amount of decoration and colour.

We feature Heather's work in Issue #21's Snippets pages where I ask her about the now-iconic rounded stripes that she uses to decorate her vases:

“I had made stripe paintings in art school and at some point translated stripes onto my ceramics. I liked the idea that my design grew vertically from the base of the pot (this references the action of throwing a vessel on the wheel from the bottom up). I was trying to find a solution to how far the pattern would extend on a piece and wanted the end of a stripe to just suddenly stop, but to curve back to the next stripe. I use a lot of masking tape to play with pattern in my work so was cutting different patterns and lining them up on my bottle vase form. The pairing of the curved stripes on the oval bottle vase just seemed like a perfect match!”

Heather's work is available through BRIKA, a curated shopping site that celebrates makers, crafters and quality goods. You can read more about Heather on BRIKA.

UPPERCASE readers can enjoy $10 off BRIKA purchases by using the discount code “UPPERCASE10” on the BRIKA website. (Valid with minimum purchase of $40, expires July 31.) 

The square photos in the post are all from Heather's Instagram. (Make sure you look for her colourful popsicle portraits!)
 

Saskia Wassing's bright and colourful textile work

Saskia Wassing is a textile artist who lives and works in Toronto, Canada. She attended the Embroidered & Woven Textiles program at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Saskia submitted to our recent open call for submissions “What Does Colour Mean to You?” and we’re pleased to share more of her beautiful work with you today.

Saskia’s unique fabric pieces reflect the work of an extensive traveller. Influences from Britain, Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, India, and Canada are visible in her colourful creations. 

"Colour means everything to me. It is the most important element in my creative life. I realize that sounds extreme but I love colour. I live and breathe colour and as an artist and designer, colour is the driving force behind all of the work that I produce,” says Saskia. 

"If I had to live and work with only two mediums it would be my fabrics and my threads. Cutting, piecing and embroidering with these wonderful, tactile materials allows me to translate my sketchbook diaries into my personal colourful language so that other people can see and feel colour the way I do. Turquoise and reds, purples and oranges, chartreuse and pink, I am in love with colour and all it’s possibilities. The richly coloured fabrics and threads in my home studio are always yelling out “pick me” when I sit down to work. My past experiences, memories and personal identity are always presenting themselves in vivd colour. Black is not an option in my life or my work. Take a look at my sketchbooks, open my portfolio, come visit my studio, look through my online gallery and colour is everywhere in my work and my life.”

For Saskia's and other colourful musings submitted by our readers, please subscribe here. Issue #22 will be shipping soon!

the season of handmade

Creativebug is an online source for craft and design video workshops. They have just released a video introducing their June classes with instructors Marisa Lynch, Maggie Pace, Elke Bergeron, and Lia Griffith teaching a range of crafts–from how to make a braided leather bracelet, to knitting a pair of baby booties. 

For more information on Creativebug, click here.