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Showing posts from November, 2011

Hot One Inch Action Vancouver 2011

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It's been so busy recently ( helloooo, Christmas! ) that I haven't had a chance to share a few pics from the Hot One Inch Action button show . Until now! I was happy to see another dessert button in the show! And even more pleased that they placed our buttons side by side! :) You can check out all the Vancouver 2011 buttons on the H1"A site. The show was a lot of fun. Lotsa people, lotsa buttons - even some brought in from previous years! After we left the busy gallery, we were happy to see that the delicious Nicli Antica Pizzeria - where they make real Neapolitan pizza - was just a couple of doors down. So it was a good excuse to celebrate with a magherita pizza and wine! Mmm...

Dust off your lapels...

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A reminder that the Vancouver edition of the Hot One Inch Action button show is tomorrow night! Did I tell you that the button design I submitted is going to be in the show? Well, it is! Pretty cool. Mine is the one with the slice of pie, called "I Heart Pie." I originally designed it as a part of the button collection for guests at my wedding this summer. Lotsa pie, losta love. You can already see a gallery of the buttons from Seattle's H1"A show in November, but you'll have to go to the show tomorrow night to see -- and trade! -- the Vancouver buttons in person. Hot One Inch Action - Vancouver 2011 Saturday November 26, 2011 from 8-11pm Gallery Gachet , 88 East Cordova St, Vancouver, BC with DJ Darwin Meyers Invite your friends on Facebook The Vancouver show features button art by: Ada Fu, Adelle Bueno, Amanda McCuaig, Andrea Hooge, Anne Emberline, Becky McEachern, Ben Worth, Brian Bredonia, Carelle B. Dunn, Carita Ho, Charles Ferguson, Colin Moore, Dacosta!,

Cake and a Cup of Urban Planning

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Photo via CBC.ca Cake: sweet, delicious, and a great tool for Urban Planning. Wait... what? A group of McGill University urban planning students think that cake is a great tool for dialogue. They baked a huge cake that mimics the surrounding neighbourhood and set up outside a metro station, trying to get people to talk about their community. "Chocolate cake is an opportunity to kind of radically re-think how people talk about an issue...you just can't get upset about chocolate cake," said Gilliam. So true. And really, who doesn't love a chat over a piece of cake? Read the whole story on CBC.ca.

Craft Rock Friday with Hudson

There's always something really lovely about pencil crayons. Simple cylinders of distinct colours. You can hold every colour in your hand, spread them out on the table, arrange them in infinite colour combinations... and, of course, draw with them to create whatever you like, in whatever colours you want. Today's Craft Rock Friday features Melbourne musician Hudson 's song "Against The Grain". And a whole rainbow's worth of pencil crayons.

11/11/11: The Date That Most Resembles Corduroy

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Today is 11/11/11. The Date That Most Resembles Corduroy. Yes. This is for real. And it is brilliant. Read up on this fabulous fabric Friday on the Guardian , then check out Corduroy Club for more details  and maybe even an event near you. I would also highly recommend celebrating by donning your cords and curling up to read the Corduroy the bear picture book .

Small Pleasures: A Book Review of Microcrafts

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I like tiny things. When I was small myself, I had a dollhouse (inhabited by bears and bunnies ) and also a few shelves and a  type case filled with little items like a glass hedgehog, tiny teapots, little shells, and other miniature treasures. And while I've since tried to reduce the amount of clutter and knick knacks in my life, I am still partial to a few cute, tiny touches here and there, like the penny-sized plastic antelope that grazes atop a picture frame in my kitchen and the micro hippo that lurks on my desk. (But seriously, who doesn't want a house hippo ?! Seriously.) So I think I was already pre-conditioned to enjoy  Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share , a new book by  published by Quirk Books. Compiled by Quirk editior Margaret McGuire and crafters Alicia Kachmar and Katie Hatz , the book presents 25 projects for crafts dreamed up by a dozen or so crafters. Like the book title implies, the projects are not only smaller than bread box, they're smalle

More Hoopla!

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If you're in Vancouver tonight , Leanne Prain will be speaking at the central branch of the library 7pm about her book, Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery . There will also be a little craft-in at the event, as Leanne will be demonstrating how to do the project from the book that I designed, Photo Feelism . There are more details about tonight's event on Leanne's site , where she's also posted some great examples of Photo Feelism in action at her San Francisco event! So fun. If you can't make tonight, there are a couple more Hoopla vents coming up later, too .

Hot One Inch Action 2011

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Hot One Inch Action is back on again this year, this time hitting up three cities: Seattle (Nov 5), Vancouver (Nov 26) and Portland (Dec 1). If you haven't heard of it before, Hot One Inch Action is an event that that celebrates the 1" button: 50 tiny round artworks are selected, made into buttons and displayed on the walls. You can also buy a bag of buttons at the show and trade them, which is fun and hilarious. Really interesting to see which buttons become hot commodities on the trading room floor! Submissions for the Vancouver and Portland shows are due by November 16, 2011 . Get more info on how to submit here. For a little inspiration, check out the H1"A Presents video series . They are really lovely glimpses into some artists' studios and processes. This one's about Vancouver artist Arleigh Wood , who mixes photography, painting and printmaking, and there are more online on the H1"A site .

Etsy Treasury: Mountain Love

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I just made my first Etsy Treasury. It's a pretty fun process, getting to curate a little collection of Etsy items. My Treasury's called "Mountain Love: Art prints for rock climbers and mountain lovers..." Click here to see it on Etsy!

Craft Rock Friday with Kina Grannis

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Craft Rock Friday is still on a sugar high from Halloween. This video for Kina Grannis' song, "In Your Arms" should take care of all our candy cravings... considering it's covered in jellybeans. 288,000 jellybeans, to be exact. The style of stop motion animation reminds me a little of the popular Oren Lavie video . But with more candy, of course. Also check out the "behind the scenes" video. Seriously, that is a crazy number of jellybeans, a ton of jellybean mosaics and an INSANE amount of work. P.S. Speaking of Halloween candy, also check out Jimmy Kimmel's challenge to parents: tell your kids you ate all their Halloween candy . (Thanks for the link, Linds!)

Legwarmers Warm My Heart

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image via Anushka Tay / Ravelry Recently I've had legwarmers on the brain. It doesn't take many cool, dark autumn mornings to get me thinking about knitting again, wishing I had some warm woolies to keep me warm. And this year I've been thinking a lot about legwarmers. I bought new boots this year, and totally love them: Puffin boots from Merrell . I have a crush on my own boots, they're so damn cute. Plus, cozy and comfy. And they do remind me of puffins. Which is awesome. I think they would go great with some cute cable knit legwarmers. I am leaning towards trying out the Tree Trunk Legwarmers by Anushka Tay , but may go with the non-cabled Legwarmers by Jane Richmond , both free patterns on Ravelry. What's more, last week's Purl Soho eNewsletter featured a pattern for rad and hilarious legwarmers that look like tube socks . Not enough legs, I tell you.... nor enough time to knit!