Vacation Progresses!

I'm still in Philadelphia, enjoying my lengthy vacation, but I've been putting some time into projects too!  For example, Saturday morning I searched out a nearby needlepoint store, Fireside Stitchery and did my best to color match some new silk embroidery floss to the wonderful (but not nearly long enough) skein I got from Treenway Silks Montano Series.  Turns out the floss I picked had an extra strand, but was a pretty good match otherwise, so I'm working on finishing one of my bracelets.

Let me just say, that when I walked into Fireside Stitchery, I was floored by how large it was, and how absolutely enormous the selection was.  (I think my boyfriend may have wept in fear at the thought of how long he might be trapped there, actually, if he hadn't brought a video game to entertain himself with.)   They've got silk ribbon and everything, and I was absolutely thrilled with the selection.  If you need it, they've probably got it, or something almost indistinguishably close.  Silk embroidery floss in every color of the rainbow, and different hues of it as well.  (This is the right color, and here it is in five saturation levels.)  The only thing missing was an unlimited amount of money to spend there.

I also picked up a few shades of cream floss so that maybe I can start the embroidery on my second bracelet on my train ride home.  (Tentative goal is to have the embroidery on the first bracelet done by then.)  On the plus side, I think the second bracelet won't have beads on it, so that should be a real time saver.  And I'm doing it in cotton and not silk, because I'm planning on keeping it for myself.  (Dear world, if you buy this first bracelet quickly, I will switch back to silk.  Until then I have a stash of cotton to dig into.)  It should have some nice silk ribbon in it though, so that'll be fabulous.

I think that's about all that's been going on, except that the Senior Crafts Show that I mentioned here is coming up this Friday, and I'm super excited to see what everyone has been doing since I graduated.

Philadelphia Art Vacation!

I've high tailed it off to vacation in the great state of Pennsylvania until the end of the month.  Unfortunately, my productivity has taken a total nosedive because of it.  On the other hand, there are a lot of good things going on here, so I'm pretty excited.  I expect by the time I get back to my studio, I'll be completely ready to explode into creating lots of things.

As for things I'm already excited about, I'd definitely count the fabulous new necklace that my boyfriend bought me as an anniversary present.  (Best ever?  I think so!)  It's a Margaux Lange necklace with a sweet little mouth and moonstone drops.  Let it never be said that I don't spread handmade love wherever I go.  I've been wearing it around everywhere since I got it, and it's a pretty sweet little piece. 

The next thing I'm excited about is the giant stash of embroidery floss I've acquired by way of Craigslist.  I started using some of the silk floss from Treenway on the inside of one of my felted bracelets (and the outside as well, but the seed beads make too rough of a surface to put on the inside so it's primarily embroidery floss on the inside.)  And I've been absolutely loving it, except that if you know anything about silk, and hand dyed variegated colors, you know that if you want a good selection of colors to pick from, your price jumps drastically.  I haven't got a local needlepoint shop, and it's really a problem when I need embroidery floss in a hurry.  So I did what any frugal, city-wise member of my generation does: hopped on Craigslist and posted a plea for something cheaper than four or five dollars a skein.  And Philadelphia came through for me.  I've now got a hefty stash of 160 skeins of cotton embroidery floss in an excellent range of colors.  I'll still be searching out a skein or two of silk floss to finish the bracelet I've already started, but the next few will be done in cotton.  (It's got a little less of a shine to it, so we'll see how that works out.  But I think it's going to come out nicely.)

Speaking of cotton embroidery floss, I was surfing the internet and stumbled across this gem.

 

It's by Claire Taylor, and it's called New Natural Occurrence.  And I love, love, love it.  I spotted it on the Society for Contemporary Craft website, and freaked out.  Because this is something like what I want to be making.   (Also, I really need to learn some embroidery stitches, and soon.)  It completely addresses the issues of man vs. nature, and the strange cross pollination of the two.  But I'm not completely terrified by it, because it's addressing our debris, while I want to talk about us, humans ourselves, down to our very bodies.

And I nearly forgot!  In addition to being in the lovely city of Philadelphia for my anniversary, and my boyfriend's birthday, I'm also here for some wonderful things that are happening at my alma mater!

You see, the Preview Party for the Art Unleashed Exhibition and Sale is this Thursday evening, the 22nd of April, and the Public Sale is Friday and Saturday.  Mallory did a great write up on it over on her blog so you should pop over there and read about it.  I've got three pieces on display (and for sale!) and I will be at the Preview Party, looking fancy and talking to people.  (Probably wearing my fancy new necklace as well!)

Not only is the Art Unleashed thing going on this week, but next week is the UArts senior crafts show!  It's at the same place as the Art Unleashed Exhibition, but the public opening is on Friday, April 30 from 5 - 7 pm.  I have no doubt that the work is going to be absolutely awesome, and I'll be there as well, slightly less fancy like.  If you're a Philadelphia native, or in the area, you should certainly check out both shows.