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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Mokuyobi Threads Bedford Bag Kickstarter

If you haven't heard, my company Mokuyobi Threads is running a Kickstarter for our new Fall 2012 bag line.  It's called The Bedford Bag and is an all in one backpack, over-the-shoulder, and tote bag.  There are 2 pattern bags and 2 solid.  The solid bags come with 3 travel themed iron on patches for all of you DIY enthusiasts to make the bag yours!


Click the image below to go to the Kickstarter to see our video and pledge!



Solid: Blue Nylon


 Solid: Red Nylon


Pattern: Lighted Arrows w/ yellow nylon


Pattern: Rad Sack Limited Ed. Print by Adam Smith w/ black nylon


The transformable Bedford Bag covers all ground for wherever you day takes you.


Friday, May 18, 2012

NYC Crafty Classes Part 2

Recently I have been exploring the world of crafty classes in NYC. So many that I had to do a 2 part blog post! I thought I'd give them a bit of a review in case you were looking to step up your crafty skills and take a class. This is part 2!!

Beginning Knitting- Purl Soho
459 Broome St, Manhattan
Three 2 hr. classes - $140

Thomas Duncan was the teacher in my class. He was great! Amazingly helpful and patient. Both me and the other woman in the class (there were only 2 of us, yay!) hadn't knit before and with his guidance we picked it up so quickly!! This class is perfect for someone who has never knit and wants to learn everything to start their first knitted project. It's 3 classes so you get a lot of info.

 
Your materials aren't included but everything you need you can buy right there at the store (just not during class, have your materials beforehand).  Above is the first thing we knit, just some stitch practicing.  First we learned how to knit creating a garter stitch and then we learned how to purl and we had a lot of time to practice both.


Next I moved onto knit 2 purl 2 which creates a really nice texture that I hope to continue on this piece until it resembles some kind of scarf. Knitting is very time consuming compared to sewing. I hope to post about it again when it's done but it'll be a while...

Intro to Woodworking 3rd Ward
195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn
Six 3 hr. classes
Members- $485 Non-members- $585  

Buck Jackson teaches this super sweet class that no matter what level you're at you get comfortable with using all of the machines and safety surrounding them. You make an end table which takes up the majority of the class but you also make a wood mallet where you learn some techniques you don't learn making the table. All of your materials are included and you get a 'tool bag' that has very useful items like a set of chisels, ruler square, safety goggles, dust mask, tape measure, sandpaper, and earplugs. All of which you get to keep post class.

 
Here's one of my classmates working in the student workshop designated specifically for classes.  They have a whole new beautiful woodshop upstairs that you can use after the class is over and you go through the safety info with Jeff the woodshop manager.  


I wish I took more photos of the process and the finished product before I painted it, but I didn't so you can just imagine it half built and not painted. In the class you have time to get the table built but the finishing/painting/staining is up to you on your own time. I did spray painted stripes by taping off sections.


I didn't paint the bottom cross bar and I think it looks pretty cool. The contrast of natural wood and bright colors is awesome. Even though it took a really like time to paint with all of the gesso layers and then I sprayed the paint with a UV matte finish so hopefully it will stay nice.


Now I use the side table as a place for my tools next to my work table so I'm not always losing them under the fabric I'm working with.  Perfect!!

Fire the Lazzzzor!!!- NYC Resistor
87 3rd Ave, Brooklyn
One 4 hr. class- $75

Having access to a laser cutter is always beneficial if you're planning to do any kind of project with small details that you can't cut out by hand or that are too time consuming.  This class teaches you all about the laser cutter and how to operate it.  You learn what materials you can and can't laser cut and how to test them if you're not sure.  You can bring an image file or idea to laser cut or you can think something up when you get there.  It helps to bring your computer and a flash drive. 



People in my class made things like a wooden bow tie, vinyl necklace, name keychain, and business card.  They provide all of the materials for cutting.  I made a stamp!!  After a few tries of figuring out the settings on the laser for rubber we finally got it!!  (I brought my own wood block to glue it on).

 
Now I have my very own logo stamp and thanks to this class I have the know how and tools to make another whenever I desire.  They have open hours twice a week where you can use the laser cutter and pay by the minute.  Very fun, you should try it out!!  Fire the lazzzzzorr!!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cupco Bozwangler

For the release of Cupco's vinyl toy The Four Boob Bozwangler, they asked a bunch of artists (me included) to paint a Bozwangler to their creative liking for a show at Grass Hut Gallery in Portland.  Below on the left you can see what the original one that I received looked like and the complete transformation on the right!!


Firstly those four exposed boobs made me very uncomfortable so I had to make that poor Bozwangler a tiny shirt just for him!


So little!


Front View



Side View


 Back View


Top View



Foot & Claw


Head Detail


Arm Detail


Work in Progress


If you're in the Portland area on June 7th go check it out!!  If not be sure to check out Cupco's site in the near future for show pics!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Crafty NYC Classes Part 1

Recently I have been exploring the world of crafty classes in NYC.  So many that I had to do a 2 part blog post!  I thought I'd give them a bit of a review in case you were looking to step up your crafty skills and take a class.  

459 Broome St, Manhattan
Two 2 hr. class - $95

Jessica Marquez teaches this super informative class on all kinds of different types of fancy embroidery stitches.  This class is perfect for someone who has never embroidered or someone who just wants to widen their embroidery vocabulary.  It's a very organized 2 week class (one class a week) that teaches you tons of different stitches and gives you time to practice each stitch.  You are required to bring your own materials but they sell everything you need in the store if you come a little before the class.


You start with a template and learn one stitch at a time.  If you have trouble getting any of the stitches, Jessica is super helpful (and patient).  At the end of the 2 weeks you have your very own embroidered dictionary that you can admire and look back at for a stitch refresher.


The different stitches create different shapes and textures that are each useful in their own way depending on what kind of embroidery project you plan on completing next!


Some of the more complicated stitches from week 2.


195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn
One 4 hr. class - $65 member, $75 non-member

Artist Iviva Olenick teaches this much more free form embroidery class.  I would not recommend this class to a newbie embroiderer since there is hardly any stitch basics covered and lots more stitch experimentation.  This class is very learn as you go.  Iviva planned class depending on what each student was interested in learning.  


We learned some stitches that some students had requested and then the last half of this 4 hour class was free time for working on your own project you brought in.


She had brought a lot of embroidery books to look though for inspiration or to learn about different stitches.  The best part of this class is that all of the materials were provided but if you're working on a specific personal project I recommend you bring your own materials for work in class time.


I got a new macro lens which is AMAZING for close-up embroidery detail shots.


For free time I worked on a super secret embroidery project that I hope to share with you soon!


High Speed Tee Printing- Gowanus Print Lab
54 2nd Ave, Brooklyn
One 3 hr. class - $80

Corey Fleming teaches this screen printing class which is more about learning to use the 4-6 color manuel press than printing at high speeds.  Perfect for a screen printing refresher, definitely not a beginner course. All materials and ink are provided.  We did a 4 color process print on a white t-shirt but he accidentally burned 2 cyan and 2 yellow screens.  Whoops.  We ended up printing one of the cyan screens magenta just for kicks.  It turned out... interestingly.  Aside from the mix up it's a great course to get you ready to come in and prepare & print your own 4-6 color designs.  Bonus: you get to take your printed tee home although you really won't want to.  I would've rather taken a blank tee.


The End!!  Get ready for part 2!