Renegade Craft Fair this weekend! Booth 106. If you're in Chicago, stop on by!

A bit of creative inspiration to keep you going

Sometimes making things is HARD. If you're a fellow creative maker and find yourself in a dry spell, and you're giving yourself a hard time about it, DON'T, and listen to this TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert. It'll warm your spirit and make you feel better.

Daaaaang

Check out the latest craziness from my day job! Our hand wax carver just whipped this up. You know, no big deal. It's just a skull...wearing a crown...with a ROSE in its mouth! If I had skills like our carver...oh the things I would make...

The other day it was a foggy and misty morning. I think the moon was still out.

Experimenting with a new finish: satin + silver black + brass brush = AWESOME.

It's a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it.

The great thing about having friends who own and operate their own ceramics studio...free gorgeous pottery! Above is my most recent acquisition. My lovely friends, Chris & Paige, started the local ceramics studio, Penguin Foot Pottery, 2 years ago. If you're in Chicago and want to get your clay on, check out them out. Oh and on Saturday nights, they have 'happy hour'. Clay + booze = fun.

Progress

Weekday morning rituals: coffee, file, coffee.

Packaging & Props

Renegade is going to be my first craft show and right now planning my table seems to be the most challenging part. So I'm trying to prepare my booth and packaging supplies as early as possible. There's so many things to think about! Banners, props, concepts, color schemes, is my table going to be visually stimulating? how much is too much? how can I do this on the cheap?? 

My first stop this weekend was American Science & Surplus.

From the outside, it looks like your typical strip mall, brick and mortar shop. But the inside is a magical, treasure trove of oddities, hobby and tech-y science supplies. If you live in Chicago and need random supplies, this place is a must. I didn't find everything I needed but I did pick up these two little guys below. Not sure what their purpose is yet but I do know they will serve some function on my table. Holding price tags perhaps?

At my second stop, Home Depot, I picked up this textured, metallic black paint by Martha Stewart. Enough said. Let's see how it looks on these two random drawers I have. Ok!

And last but not least, I took advantage of one of Renegade's thoughtful exhibitor gifts: free mini business cards from Moo.com. Oh! Maybe those two little guys can hold these...

So many ideas, too little time...but I'm on the right track and can't wait to see what the final table results look like!

Time for an art break

I've been staring at my jewelry for too long and need a visual snack. These tech-y mandalas by Leonardo Ulian seem to do the trick. I really like that I can get lost in the infinite patterns created by these objects. Is this a map of the cosmos? Is this a meditation guide? Will gazing upon this 'map' lead to spiritual awakening? Upon closer inspection, I realize these objects are familiar to me and actually created by mankind to aid in technological endeavors. Interesting contrast don't you think?