a new little friend

a new little friend make his way into my workshop this week. i guess it is a sign of spring.

working...

although my shop is looking so sad and bare right now, i am working this week. i did a major clean up of my craft space... maybe i will take pictures of that tomorrow... and i am busy with pouches, clutches, etc. i am in love with the colors on the bird clutch, above. i have some more of this wool that i machine felted, but i'm holding onto it until i decided what i want to do with it. i have made several ipod pouches from up-cycled sweaters. i'll try and post those soon too. they are pretty cute. i need to hit some more stoop sales next weekend o find more sweaters. after a horrific trip to the fabric store this weekend (i didn't know it was possible to get lost in your own borough), i think i'll stick close to home for a while!

the last image is a new wall hanging. it is cut out and waiting to be sewn together. i think i will add it to the shop when finished.

looking a little different

things are looking a little different around here! i have decided to change my name on etsy. i am now, little love blue. i know, a lot of moving around- but i think i'll settle here:) i wasn't ever really in love with my old name, brooklyncrafts. it's not a bad name, it just felt limiting. so i have a new name, and new look- and hopefully a little bit of a new feel. i think it will express who i am, and my work, a little better.

the shop will be a little bare for a while, while i am hard at work on the renegade fair. i am creating lot's of new pieces, that i will share here.

thanks for hanging in with me!

love to all,
cary

renegade craft fair

i'm so excited to find out i will be participating in the renegade craft fair this summer, june 14th and 15th in brooklyn. I will be there as part of the brooklyncraftcollective. as a new group, this is great news for us. the renegade craft fair is a very large event, held 4 times a year, around the country. it should be a lot of fun! check out their website for more information:

www.renegadecraft.com

i hope to see you there this summer (now i have to get busy crafting!)

new york times brooklyn flea review

i was reading the "review" of the brooklyn flea market in the sunday style section, and i was bothered by how much criticism the crafter's received. i think it was a little bit unfair. the overall tone of the article was pretty positive, until the remarks about too many crafters being present. critics argued there was too many crafts and not enough junk, and quote the flea market organizer as saying "I think the criticisms came from people who felt the balance tipped too much toward crafty people."

they did spend a good deal of the article on a vendor who gave up teaching in order to sell ceramics, and came as far as indiana for the flea. i think it's great the flea market has a lot of variety of sellers from all over, but i also feel it is important to support locals. it's so difficult to be an artist or crafter in the city these days and there are so few forums for getting your work out locally to a lot of people. a flea market should have a lot of "junk", one of the terrific things it does is to encourage people to buy beautiful, useful, interesting, and weird things already in existence. things that would end up in the trash while we simply buy more and more to replace it. however, if we are going to fight mass consumption and homogenization wouldn't also be great to support local, handmade, one of a kind items that are produced on a small scale with care and attention. plus, it was the first week... give them a break.

obviously this is coming form a crafter, so take it as you will:)

the {new new} york etsy street team

speaking of the {new new}. i thought i'd mention their blog. it has a great series of earth day related posts. there are some cool crafts posted that encourage re-cycling or up-cycling, and they are all written by ny locals!

it's a very cool blog that supports artists and crafters from ny.

brooklyn flea market

okay, it's not in paris, but the image from their website seems appropriate for capturing the feel. check out the new brooklyn flea market in fort green. i went to the first one last weekend and thought it was pretty cool (and packed!). they had some good vendors, and we met some really nice people (and scored a great piece of furniture). there were a lot of crafters there- at the etsy table and the {new new} york etsy street team table. i wish i had a chance to meet and talk with some of my fellow crafters- but two little ones in tow keeps you running instead. i'm definitely going to head back again soon.

wool felt animals

i love, let me repeat that, LOVE, making wool felt animals. i haven't done it in a while (for some reason) and i forgot how much fun they are. so i am busy sewing these little guys into life. hopefully someone will love them as much as me.

i'm trying to figure out what sizes are best? i usually make them smaller than the ones now in my shop. i plan to do some experimenting and hopefully i will get some feedback from someone?

inspiration

one of my biggest inspirations is, of course, my children. not only is it their everyday play, sweetness, creativity and outlook on life that inspires me... but the way they embrace my crafting. they are both so proud when i make something new. they love to see it online. my son proudly points out what i have made when friends come over, and my daughter assumes that everything is made by me (or her). i love that. i love that they don't automatically assume everything comes from a store. they don't ask to buy things all the time. they still believe that anything you might want could possibly be made. i guess that's why my son suggested my next project be a luke skywalker out of wool. i better get on that.

children of the forest

please check out my new etsy treasury, children of the forest. it is inspired by the work of elsa beskow. i think it's a lovely treasury! it also features some sellers from the naturalkids street team.

needle felted cards

i got the great idea for these cards form my dear friend and fellow craftcollective member kristin. she gave me a lovely card with a needle felted and felt cupcake on it for my birthday. i'm not selling these cards but i have been including them as a thank you for buying something from one of my shops. i leave them blank so you can use them how you wish, or i'm happy to write a gift message. the design received is a surprise. here are some past examples i've made (the one on the left was for a baby gift). they are really fun.

thanks kristin!