A crafty challenge

My friend Dawn has challenged me to do a craft-a-day during August.
It all ties in to the Use What You Have Movement of crafters. You see, one of the habits of crafty people is buying supplies with projects in mind, or a terrific sale or a happening of Oh My Thats Super Cute, It Must Be Mine. (I suffer from all three cases. ;-P) And for some reason the inspired projected doesn't get finished, supplies go unused. So, the goal is to use the supplies I have in house and finish a project from scratch or from partials that have some how managed not to get done each day. . Here is number one, a wrap skirt that has been cut out for a couple of weeks, no longer a UFO (Un-finished Object).

Back from Brooklyn - Fuggettaboutit!

Wow, Renegade was a such a trip! There were 5 of us making the trek by van and car and a 6th (smart to fly) member joined us in Brooklyn. RCM had never done a out of town group booth like that before. Talk about trial by fire! Everything went relatively smooth considering 6 personalities all in one place for pretty much 24 hours a day for 4 days. Renegade was a very good show and it was great meeting people face to face, some I've chatted online with for a year.

We ate at a great eatery that was just around the corner from McCarren Park, called Enid's. Exactly the sort of place you picture in a hip/artsy area of Brooklyn. Super cool place, great drinks (yay! Harrison!) and apparently mac and cheese to die for. They were always out of it when we got there. Sadness. And I don't know if they do this every Saturday, but at around 10pm, they started showing a movie! That night, The Neverending Story. Enid's Rocks!
It hurt my heart a little (ok, a LOT) that I didn't get to go over to Manhattan, (So near, yet so far!) but time was crunched. I think it would have been worse if I had got over there and then had to rush through. I would have wanted to see everything and take in a show. I'll have to take Manhattan another time. :-(

I almost forgot my Renegade goodies. The Adorn magazine booth held several raffles during the two days of Renegade and I won a goodie bag!

I've been fixed!

Jen over at IndieFixx, a favorite read of mine, featured one of my aprons in her most recent post on stylish hostess aprons. In honor of Memorial day weekend and what I consider the official start of BBQ season my hostess aprons are currently on sale.

Grill on in style!

Days of May

New stuff for May. I had a couple of shows in a row and now gearing up for Renegade Craft Fair. YAY!!!!! RCM will be there with a group both. Its a biggy and in Brooklyn, NY. Nervous? Excited? YES!!!! So, I've been busy sewing and adding more clothes. Tops and wrap skirts...oh my!

Crafty line-up...

Lots of activity happening in Richmond this week. Saturday we assembled the swag bags that we are giving out to the first 200 customers to Spring Bada-Bing. Lots of great stuff in there. Monday, we had our group picture taken by Jay Paul for an article in Brick weekly. Very exciting stuff and last minute. Miracles of miracles, all 10 members were there, and with crafty props. And we did what we usually do when we are all in one place. Talk about what projects we are working on, men, craft shows, news, men, crafts, projects to try... our photographer was very patient, needless to say. We also squeezed in one last meeting before Spring Bada-Bing, hashing out last minute detail.

Whats this all about you ask? It's all about Spring Bada-Bing!
When: April 22, 2007 ~ 10am to 4pm
Where:
The Marquee
3015 Cutshaw Ave - 2 blocks west of Boulevard & Broad Sts.
Richmond, VA

BE THERE!!

Sew crazy!

Good news!...Richmond craft mafia got into the Renegade Craft Fair! Which brings my show count up to 4 big shows this spring. Man! I have lots of sewing to do! Time to burn rubber on my old faithful Brother sewing machine. So far, I've added a new dress style to the Soleil Rouge collection. Stay tuned for more clothing as I go sew crazy. :-)

Also new is, Style Conspiracy, a blog I'm writing, highlighting other indie designers and artists of color. Go check it out and shop indie!

On the Road...

The Richmond Loves Raleigh Valentine craft affair was such a blast last weekend. Richmond Craft Mafia is heading down the road to the Handmaidens territory in North Carolina for Raleigh Loves Richmond.


Rubbin' out the mass produced, because mall is a four letter word!

Skirting the issue...

I've been busy behind the scenes at Soleil Rouge. New items added to Soleil Rouge...Skirts!!
I currently have four fabric options for this style.

Yep, I've been drawn to florals lately!

And more kitschy hostess aprons.

Richmond Loves Raleigh: A Valentine Craft Affair

Do you know how cool it is to find like minded people? I do! My fellow Richmond Craft Mafia familia. I feel very lucky to have found a group of crafty, talented and fun people to hang around with. Do you know how cool times 2 it is to find a whole separate group of crafty, talented and fun people to be around? The cool and talented Handmaidens. Bring them together in the same place for a joint event in Richmond? Freak'n Fantastic!

Move over June Cleaver!

These aren't your average aprons. I've been inspired to make hostess aprons, so I'm in full on sewing mode. Must be the holidays, with all the cooking and entertaining that goes on this time a year. You just have to look good while you do it all. Even if you aren't heavily into the cooking part, you can look like it and be stylish too.

Here are a few I've made so far.

Indie Finds Holiday Guide

Looking for something different to give for the Holidays? Then head on over to Indie Finds. Think outside the mall.

The Ultimate Holiday Guide

Indie Finds is a collective of over 150 indie designers. As you begin your holiday shopping, look to these talented designers for unique gifts and handmade items!

• Accessories


• Bath & Body


• Clothing


• Crafty Supplies


• For Kids


• For the Home


• Handbags


• Jewelry


• Stationery

NaNoWriMo...

So, I "participated" in NaNoWriMo this year. The goal, 50,000 words in 30 days, a Novel/Novella. I put participated in quotes since I got about 400 words in and just died. On the page that is.
I like to consider myself a closet novel writer. I have plots, a list of cool titles, some starts to a couple of synopsis/outlines all on my handy dandy flash drive in a folder titled Novels. Did you catch the plural novels not singular. Yeah, I have high hopes.

I was jazzed, I had a plot sort of, but I just couldn't get passed those first couple of paragraphs. There are tricks to expand your word count, of course. My favorite suggestion I read on the forum was to type potato after every word. i.e., He potato walked potato gingerly potato across potato the potato damp potato foggy potato field. Nice! I could do that, I still have until midnight, (evil laugh) but I won't. The point is the journey not the destination as the great thinkers say.

In my defense, I didn't do the prep work. I didn't have a synopsis, no outline, charactor names...title. Two days before November 1st I signed up. I jumped in both feet. It works for some, but didn't for me. I could have just hit the 50,000 word count and "won". Which is fine, it does jump start creative juices and thats the point. But me being me, I would like to have a semi-complete first draft of a novel on my hands and not mashed potatos.

It was fun though, and here at the end, I have a plot, some very cool character names, and a rough and I do mean rough outline. Next time I'll be prepared, yep I'll do it again. I recommend everyone try it. They are going to do a scriptwriting NaNo in June. hmmmm...I'm going to try it!

Bird is the word.

She's Crafty...

I try to keep crafty doing other things than sewing handbags and clothes. It helps to keep things interesting. So, I've been looking for the perfect camera case and haven't found one I liked. Of course, I hade to make one.


I didn't need anything bulky since when I take my camera its in my purse. Its a blanket stitch. I know its backwards, but I like this look better. What you don't see is a little button hole at the top for the strap to go through.

Music Meme: If your life were a soundtrack...

I am a big time music lover. I use it to concentrate, to relax, to amp myself up for a project, just about everything. I also like a diverse range of music. So, when I saw the post on Lark Studio's blog, I knew I had to see what my soundtrack would be.

Media Player Meme

If your life were a soundtrack, what would the music be?

Here's how it works:
1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that's playing
5. new question -- press the next button
6. don't lie and try to pretend you're cool

opening credits:
"Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op.[movie score from The Life Aquatic]" by Mark Mothersbough
(told you I like music from all places)

waking up:
"Danger" by Erykah Badu

first day at school:
"Suga Baby" by Cee-lo

falling in love:
"Rusty Cage" by Johnny Cash (hmmm, interesting!!)

breaking up:
"Let Go" by Frou Frou

prom:
"Black Sweat" by Prince(I didn't go to my prom, maybe I missed something! lol)

life's okay:
“Rock Star" by N.E.R.D (Rock on!!!)

mental breakdown:
“I Want You" by Erykah Badu

driving:
“Play" by David Banner (This one doesn't make sense. I haven't listened to this one in months.)

flashback:
“I'll be Around" by Cee-Lo and Timbaland

getting back together:
"King of the Dancehall" by Beenie Man

wedding:
“Broken" by Seether

birth of child:
“Get Up" by Ciara (well, that one is way off)

final battle:
"Hips don't Lie" by Shakira

death scene:
“Soul Survivor" by Young Jeezy

funeral song:
"Gold Digger" by Kanye West (LOL!)

end credits:
"Sinnerman" Nina Simone and Felix Da Houscat

This doesn't even touch on all the songs I have. Weird how some of the songs popped up but fun.

Keep A Lid On It!

leopardJaguarhat
Originally uploaded by designerdiva.

I am such a hat person. I can't wait for the leaves to start to turn and that slight chill in the air that signals Fall. I then can drag out my many hats from the closet and go on the hunt for more. Of course, I can't go without making some myself. I am a designer after all. So, I've added a couple of winter hats to the Soleil Rouge repetroire. Faux fur...of course!! I'm planning to add more hats before Jack Frost gets to town.
Just call me the Mad Hatter from now on 'til Spring!

Still in de-clutter mode.

I'm in a de-clutter mode. I took a ride down to the local Goodwill this weekend and donated a haul. Some 10 books, a tv stand, some curtains, 2 fans, etc. The attendant there asked me if the fans worked, of course! What heartless S.O.B. would donate something that didn't work? Apparently it happens. Way to help out dude, NOT! There are still lots more I need to donate/sell/purge but its a start.

Fabric Withdrawal

I am a addict... a fabric addict and I'm going through withdrawl. I haven't stepped foot into a fabric store in 2 whole months. Its a push to get me using my substantial fabric stash, some of which has traveled cross country from La-La Land, Los Angeles, California. I do have my favorites and for the life of me, I-can-not-cut. Crazy, I know. But I'm on the right path.
To start it off, I made this one of a kind dress. I bought the snazzy, retro, high heel fabric from a fellow craft diva and fabric addict.(ENABLER!) ;-) She lightened her stash and I brought it home. ha-ha!! Right now, I'm day-dreaming of going to Mood, the fabric store featured on Project Runway. I could get lost in there for days! More to come later.

Its too darn hot!

As if you don't know. I still had to throw my 2 cents in. Record high heat across the nation.

Today I have a gripe about the amount of bugs flying around. I must be sweeter than I thought because I've been stung twice by mystery flying bugs this weekend, on my head! Since I am anti-bug but don't want to gas myself with bug spray all the time, or not outside long enough to deal with lighting the cintranella candles, I'm going to share a tip I heard of somewhere that works. Dryer sheets!! Dryer sheets will repel the flying buggies. Great for the porch, a screened sunroom, etc. Just leave a sheet or two in the middle of the patio table. They will repel for about a week or so as long as they still have the smell. After this weekend I'm contemplating hanging them off my ears, but I'll fight the feeling. :-P

Knee deep in mud...cloth!

I have a new handbag listed on Soleil Rouge. YAY! It features authentic Mali, West African mudcloth.

For those that don't know what goes into making mudcloth, it’s a loong process.
The Mali men hand spin and loom weave the cotton into 5 to 9 strips of cotton. These strips are then sewn together to create a panel and boiled to shrink it down to size. Then the mudcloth design and dyeing is handled by the Malian women. The panel goes through a process of 2-3 mud "dye" layers, then dried in the sun to ferment for up to a year! Symbols are then painted on and washed and dried in different natural herb and leaf solutions (depending on each Malian artists' technique) to set the design that can take several weeks from start to finish. No panel is ever the same and each tells a story through the symbols on the cloth such as family history/status, proverbs, etc. The mud cloth I used in this design features the symbol depicting good fortune/wealth and the symbol representing a spindle (the 3 lines) a traditional mudcloth design.