Well, I’ve been up to it again! Applications for The Big Chill arts, crafts and vintage sale are now up at The Big Thaw website. Is that confusing? I just didn’t want to make a whole new site to re-name the winter fair. It will be held on Saturday, December 3rd from 10am-4pm (9-5 for vendor set up, break down, etc.) at Mayo Street Arts Center at 10 Mayo St. in Portland, ME. Applications are $45 for upstairs spaces and $35 for downstairs spaces – and spots are limited! So send in your applications! 🙂
Tag Archives: arts
Piecework
my living room might as well be a tenement in brooklyn circa 1922
When I was in college I had one of the coolest jobs ever. I worked for a woman who had launched her own greeting card business and my job was to pick up a huge stack of cards, photographs, envelopes, plastic bags and labels, take them home with me, turn on awesome history channel and nature documentaries, assemble the cards/packaging while I learned cool stuff, put them in a box, deliver them to her and then get paid. Yes!
The thought of doing piecework (I was paid per piece, not by the hour) was super exciting to me. The more I streamlined my process the more money I would make. If I could make 100 cards in an hour and was being paid 10 cents for each – woah! Ten dollars! But then if I learned how to economize my motions (combine like tasks and repeat them as opposed to making each piece from start to finish before starting the next) then I could make 300 cards in an hour. $30 an hour for a college student?? Yah!!
So my skills have come in to play this last month while churning out bottle cap after bottle cap after bottle cap. It’s glamorous. I’ve been watching a lot of cop shoes since I’m sick of Netflix petering out all the time. I brew up a pot of tea, set up my workspace (coffee table: sorry, boyfriend) and my hands get to work. My mind wanders and I come up with new ideas while mixing epoxy. I don’t need to talk to anyone which keeps me focused on drilling little bitty holes in the caps. Then I come up with something like the picture above at the end of ‘a batch,’ breathe a sigh of relief and think “Oh my God I think I might be crazy!!”
That’s not really something the product development department needs to worry about. Human resources, though, better make sure there’s an ice cream cone and a walk up the Eastern Prom for employee wellness as soon as this order is over!
The spread above is my normal workspace. I’m brainstorming how to move it upstairs so the live-in, very tolerant boyfriend doesn’t kill me. In any case, for any of you interested in epoxy process here’s a little rundown: Underneath that big ol’ tupperware is a grid of bottle caps in various stages (some are drilled with jump rings in them, some are empty caps that have just been half-filled that will be drilled after they are dry. The half-filledness supports the drill and makes them break less frequently). Once I’ve mixed and poured the epoxy (with the windows OPEN!!) I put the tupperware on top to keep naughty little cats out and to prevent dust (and naughty little cats’ fur) out of the caps. Then I use the top of the tupperware as a workspace for my next task (gluing images in, assembling charms, gluing pins and magnets to the backs). That’s how I manage not to usurp the entire dingdong coffee table. If you have more questions about pouring epoxy please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
The Elections That Count – Phoenix Time
Like a mythological winged serpent that rises from the ashes, it’s time to thaw out Portland businesses, institutions and individuals from their winter slumber. I take it as a personal duty to vote every day (you’re allowed to vote once a day!) for my local favorites. After all – credit where credit’s due! That’s an easy mantra.
Convalescing, Craft Style
Hello everybuggy! I’ve just started this site to keep y’all up to date on the comings and goings of Little Eye Designs. We (Kate and I) just finished up PICNIC Music and Arts Festival and as my reward I’m taking the month of September to recline, clean up and regroup. The ultimate goal is to learn some new skills, see if anything sticks and take pictures all the while.
So far, we’ve learned how to roast coffee and I’ve started pouring soy candles in to mismatched tea cups and shot glasses. Pretty good! Next up: basket weaving, baking and t-shirt quilts.
In the meantime, why don’t you let your mind be blown by what I saw today?
Go Here and Drool
There are about a hundred things on this website I wish a) were still made today b) were semi-normal to wear in public. Not that I would let that stop me. The jacket shown is by a designer, Fortuny, whose estate’s website is www.fortuny.com and totally Italian and totally inspiring. In addition to making beautiful velvety clothes he was a renaissance man, photographer, and even made his own photographic paper. My kind of guy.
Little Eye Designs 