Adding Art-o-Mat: Phoenix Collection

           I've been meaning to post this for a month, but here's a few behind the scenes look at our new Phoenix Collection for Fall 2013. These are custom orange fire bracelets inspired by the idea of turning death into life. Because we will all fall, the question is if we choose to stay down or get back up. Me? I think there's a wealth of possibility waiting to learn and improve from failure (our own or others). Each one is individually designed and sewn. A lovely piece of art. And hopefully a message worth being inspired by.
           You can find pieces at in local art vending machines across with country with Art-o-mat for $5.00 each. Taking my love of leather and sewing to the next level. May it inspire you to try something new or step outside your comfort zone.
            The past month with Techshop RD's closing on short notice (3 days) and just general fall-out, Nash and I have had a number of occasions to look at each other and be grateful to have each other in the fox hole with us. I'm not going to pretend it's all been easy, but hey a little sharpening of the soul and craft is never a bad thing. Happy July 4th weekend.

PS- Will try and post more of our store and designer collaborations this month. If you're interested in having us produce for your store or private label work, short us an e-mail at: DaraPage@lisashay.com.

Melsie Glass

             There are certain people I just like being around. I always walk away from hanging out with them feeling better. Melanie is one of those people for me. She mixes a background as a corporate warrior before she walked away to pursue her craft on glassmaking with the whimsy of an artisan. Everything she makes is meticulously crafted with an attention to detail, while still having a lot of fun in the process.
              Whenever I have a long day or am feeling down about my craft, I wander over to her shop and a few minutes later I find myself chuckling. Just take her latest Christmas necklaces. Totally precious. I hope you have a chance to check out her booth at the show.
             And a warm congratulations to her for being picked for the VAE's retail incubator program in 2013. You completely deserve it!
             Check out her Etsy shop and look for some new pieces at the show in a few weeks.

              

Fall Shows: Craftland and Acorn to Oak Handmade

              I love to watch Nash smile at me. He's got a look just for me, that's mine alone. He has sea eyes that change with his mood, and for me they turn a brilliant shade of green. It's often accompanied by a soft quiet, "I love you." I would probably walk naked barefoot in the snow for ten miles for that look (and we all know I hate cold weather.). Thankfully for the eyes of little children everywhere, that level of sacrifice has not been required. There's an even better version of this whenever I wear lace or leather and he sees me. His eyes get gold flecks of happiness in them.
             This season we are sold out until at least January with a particular client doing private label work in utilitarian fashion which is saving lives. I'm really enjoying it. It has given me some unexpected flexibility to follow Nash's smile and make a collection simply to make people I know happy. And hopefully see some more happy Nash eyes. It is my wish for you too to see you loved one's eyes light up this season.
            We will be showing at two holiday shows as well as posting a small selection online. I want to stress that these will be very limited edition collections with a small sampling of looks and pieces so hopefully people will enjoy their pieces of art as much as I did making them.

Craftland, The  Scrap Exchange, Durham, NC November 16th- January 18th- This is an annual holiday collection of local artists and crafters focusing on reused and recycled items. I will be showing a small collection of handmade accessories there.

Acorn to Oak Handmade Etsy Team Arts and Craft Sale, The Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC- December 8th from 12-6 pm- A one day show of fun looks and custom designers here in the Triangle. I love the variety of this show our team puts on semi-annually. This time we are partnering with the Visual Art Exchange in downtown Raleigh which promises to be a fun new twist.

For Everyone who is local, can't wait to see you at one or both shows. For everyone else, please feel free to follow online. We look forward to seeing you this season.

50% Off Summer Collection for Sparkcon

                Hey guys! Welcome to the blog. This week we are dusting off the tables for SparkCon. We have two really great announcements. The first is that we are putting our Pearls of Wisdom summer collection on sale for 50% off in person this weekend. So if you missed out on getting the perfect hat or scarf this summer, nows your chance to pick up a really great last minute deal of the season.
      Because who doesn't love a sale? Check back tomorrow when we give you a taste of our new fall collection: Beloved which we will be unveiling at SparkCon. I'll give you a hint, lots of leather and lace.

Have a great day one and all.

PS- Please note this sale is only available in person for the show. It is not available online.

Surprise Packages In the Mail

This week, a long overdue package arrived in the mail for Nash. He's started doing some of the cutting for Sparkcon in a few weeks! He's awesome like that! In one of those crazy blow-backs to the past, I found him a pair of Vintage THOR electric scissors on eBay. Yeah, now he can channel his Viking tendencies in fabric. Hope you are also having fun getting ready for the show in a few weeks!

July 26th: Counting Metal: Cash and Jewelry

         Alright, weather permitting, we will be talking about money infrastructure and practicing casting jewelry in kilns this coming week. Of all the things the business does, one of the things I consistently struggle with as a business owner is accounting. When you're getting started, the money part is easy, mostly because you don't have any. As you grow it becomes headache inducing stomach flip-flops.

7-8 Show Me the Money: There's some basic steps you need to take as a business to make sure you are pulling a profit

First, you need to buy some accounting software. The industry standard is Quickbooks. You can buy the basic software for $26 off Amazon, you can also upgrade up to $186 for the deluxe package. Most people just use the basic stuff. Some banks offer this for free to their businesses. The major advantage of using Quickbooks is it is cheap, industry recognized, and most accountants love it so they're easier to work with. Win-win for everyone. The downside to me is I hate bookkeeping. I've tried to hand it off to Nash repeatedly for a year, and he doesn't like it any more than I do. I'm in the process of getting an accountant to help with our growing pains.

Next, you have to use the actual tools. Ah, the hard part. For this Quickbooks and Excel are your friends. But they can only help you if you use them. There's a great number of accountants, banks, and people to reach in the area that can help your business grow. We will be touching on some. This is by no means a complete list, just the most well-known. For banking we will be talking specifically about Federal Coastal Credit Union and Harrington Bank.



8-9 Jewelry Kiln Pouring: We will have some wax molds for people to practice making into jewelry. If you are planning to do this part, you will need to come back later to pick up your final piece. :-)

 Note: If it is over 85 degrees, we will reschedule for later.

Have a great day everyone!

July Acorn to Oak Handmade Events: Websites and Banks

             Alright, I am so excited to see that our summer bootcamp is up and running! We had a great time at the first meeting where we went over the basics for the summer sessions. Now, we are going to talk about specific elements people get stuck on. For July, we have two meetings.

July 10th: Setting up your online presence/Microwave Crafts: When I was getting started, I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to get a website, store, blog, etc. and made a TON of mistakes. Some of what I did was good, other pieces were problematic. We will be going over how to do the website portion of your online website ($10-20 year annual cost): registering a domain (dreamhost, godaddy), using a web platform (weebly, ipage, wordpress, google, big cartel, shopify, etc.), starting a blog, making a facebook page, and linking it all together so it functions smoothly as a whole. This can be done easily barebones in a night, but it takes time to build up a website persona. Blogs often require several hundred or thousand posts to get a following over several years. Please bring your laptop if you have one as we will be doing this in real-time. I will have what has and has not worked for me and others. We will also be doing papermaking/stamping art with the shop microwave. Because paper is just so cool! Above is a stamp I made for my fabric from a really great blog for the Animazement talk in May. Look forward to seeing everyone there.

July 24th: Banks, Accountants, and Jewelry Kiln Making: There are two really good banks in the area for small business owners: Harrington Bank and Federal Coastal Credit Union. SCORE recommends Harrington Bank. I have more experience with Federal Coastal as you can open a business account with them for free if you have a $25 checking account. We will also discuss the other big players: BB&T (bad rep), Wellsfargo (new local player), and some of the others. With Charlotte being so close the good news is small business owners have the ability to shop around. I will also be handing out business cards of local area accountants we know: pricing tends to break down by gender. Men tend to ask for monthly retainers and women charge hourly rates. I'm partial to using female accountants as they seem to be more detailed oriented and charge me 1/2 a year what a male accountant wants to charge a month for the same percieved work. This is probably a lack of understanding on my part, but it can often add up to a couple thousand a year which is significant savings. I meant to do this back in April for tax season, but we ran out of time. Lastly, we will be using the jewelry kiln to do some beginning metal casting. This is a scaled down version of the free weekly pours Evan does at Techshop geared towards making jewelry specifically.

Look forward to seeing everyone this coming month. It's going to be a great time.

Big Thanks to Ruthan for Our New Signage!

              Wow, after 2 years... we officially have snazzy office signs. Now when you walk up the stairs you'll know where to actually go. Pretty awesome. These are long overdue, but I tend to invest in the obvious last and focus on the making first. Probably not the best idea, but I do have great sewing machines! A girl has to have priorities.
              Now customers won't get lost trying to find the studio which is great. The front office is our sales office and the back office is the sewing "Sweatshop." If you need to reach the sales office, please e-mail me at: dsmcginn1@lisashay.com
               We are currently booked at full-time capacity so we are limiting new clients and designers to clients we feel are a good match. Primarily, designers that are ready to make the jump from one-offs to short production runs for light garments and store owners interested in carrying a local designer. Our minimum order for short runs is 100, but we prefer to do 1,000 on accessories in 4-6 styles. Full deposits are required up-front. Average turn around time is 2-6 weeks depending on the order size. Current times are averaging around 2 weeks, but now that we're fully booked this may go to 4 weeks.
                Have a great day and look forward to seeing what the week brings. And Ruthan, you are awesome! Thank you so much! The signs look great. You are our hero! Whoot! Whoot!

Day Three: Dunne Dittman: A Legacy of Fly Fishing

            June 16th is Father's Day this year. I love to hear father stories because so often when a person tells you about their father, they tell you passions that have been passed down to them from their dad. It may be their favorite sports team, their love of suits, or simple drink. This week and next if you head down to a local bar and grab a beer, you'll hear a thousand stories.

             Today, I will share with you one of the stories I've enjoyed hearing. Dunne Dittman is an Irishman of the old school. The kind of man that drives an old green truck, loves his dog, and most days of the week after his art, sits down to call it a day with a pint of beer before heading off for the night. If you're lucky enough to catch him on one of these brief stop-overs between work and home, he'll tell you about his dad. A part-time leather carver, once a year growing up he would pack up Dunne and his brother to go fly fishing in Wyoming.Cold water flies are tied with tuffs of thread, carpet, fur, and countless other fabrics to create a final snack to tempt the trout. As adults, Dunne's brother learned to tie flies on his own for salt water and the two of them hit the Gulf Coast to try their luck.
             If you talk to most fisherman, they'll talk about the deep water, the legendary storms, and the fish that grow with every telling. If you talk to Dunne, he will tell you about the shelf that runs hundreds of miles out from seas were the waves flow in shallow swells and a man can walk to the horizon in chest deep water with a reel in one hand fly fishing while the sharks wave by. It's an awesome silence.
             The twist in an afternoon's beer roughly ten years ago when tying his next fly his brother made him, Dunne stopped to look at the fly in his hand and thought, "What if I painted this?" Each fly is individually tied and designed by a fisherman from his own personal experience. This is a collection of his history and life experiences like individual fingerprints. A couple months later, having finished stretching his canvas, Dunne picked up his paintbrushes and started painting.
              Fast forward ten years, and Dunne's collection of custom fly paintings had grown one each year. Painters are slow artists. I think they run on silence and introspection. I love how they hang around our studios adding beauty to where I work every day. Cool paintings with a story demand cool design. For father's day this year we are collaborating to do a short-run of custom keychains of Dunne's paintings for the man in your life. Each piece is natural leather we have handcut, punched, and engraved a painting on each keychain. A small piece of art for your pocket. You can pick one up in our Etsy store for $8.95 with free shipping this month. Be sure to get one before they run out. A great piece of local art for the wild man in your life. To fathers and their children. May you enjoy the season and happy Father's Day.

Etsy Summer Boot Camp: Day One

           Welcome to a bright and early Monday, ladies and gentleman. Our Acorn to Oak team is working on improving our online shops for the fall season.  A lot of  fun behind the scenes work and for the 3 summer months, we have agreed to post 1 new item to our shops each weekday or 5 new items total a week. Some people are planning to post daily and others are posting weekly. I am really looking forward to tackling this challenge and seeing what everyone makes. I love getting to pump the juices and create magic.
            So today, monday, is the first day. You can see our fun corduroy newsboy hat for $28 with free shipping.

If you are coming here from the Etsy team, please post your daily listing here. Come back each day this week for a new surprises. I hope that you enjoy the summer's journey with us. If you are a maker or a lover of handmade goods, join us.

Textile Friday: Advice on Starting A Small Business

             "Many people think that the most important part of a startup is the initial idea (you often hear ‘I want to start a company but don't have any ideas'). What they don't realize is that coming up with ideas is actually the easy part—the hard part is executing on them." ~Dave Gilboa in "Goop"
             
              Today is my birthday and I would like to give you a gift of the most important article that I have read in 3 years since starting a small business. I know I normally post about textile topics on Friday, but it's been one of those weeks where I've been reminded of the stark difference between ideas and reality and wanted to give you the best wisdom I have read this year. Apt advice is rare and often overlooked due to it's simplicity. The longer I am in business, the more I come to believe that an ability to understand if a thought is worth executing is the difference between chasing a fantasy and building something of value. And it gets down to a fundamental question that must be asked: "Is there any real value in producing this idea?"
         
              I hope this gives you value today. Especially to my fellow designers and small business owners. So go read the article and ask yourself, "What do you believe is worth producing? How do you measure your creative spark?" It is a question I am forced to answer again and again in this business. I hope reading this article helps as much as it has helped me. And happy Friday, today I am 31.

April 21st: Guest Lecturing at the Visual Art Exchange

        This week, I will be downtown speaking at the Visual Art Exchange on Saturday, April 21st at 3:30 pm on selling online, specifically on Etsy and our local Acorn to Oak Handmade Team which is dedicated to helping local artists and craftsmen make a living selling online. A lot of people as me why I created a local team for this purpose and why I mention Etsy repeatedly as a good venue for up and coming artists to get started on making a living.
         Mostly, it gets down to money and time. Of the 24 some places I opened an online shop the first year I had a design company, the only place I ever sold art or crafts online was Etsy. There's a saying that without money, artists disappear. I don't know if it's true, but I do know that hunger is a great driver both into and out of a given field. As a designer, in a wonderful co-op, surrounded by great talent, I feel it is part of my job to help my fellow friends and companions grow. Since 1994, online sales are the only venue that's growing. That means for the last 20 years, the only pie that's growing is the internet pie. Having spent a decade in sales before starting Li Sashay, I can tell you that the internet is having a pervasive, eroding effect on traditional sales outlets. Traditional sales associates are being slashed out of the process as it becomes cheaper and easier to market to the online crowd. Why give 70% of the profit away when you can reduce it to 5-8% online?
        And therein, lies the problem, most artists find when they set up their webpage. You can set-up a store now for under $100 a yr. that will be interesting, well-designed, and protected. It will not however, get you traffic or sales. It is simply too easy and the bar too low for most people to be effectively heard online at this venture. Even with buying advertising on google, facebook, or starting a blog is generally useless for getting direct sales. So where can you be heard? In general there are three main selling platforms: Amazon, eBay, and Etsy for an artist to be heard on from a financial aspect. Of these, Amazon and eBay are so big, they are controlled mostly by larger corporations. 38% of eBay's income comes from a mere 14 companies. That leaves 1 place for an up and coming artist to be heard effectively: Etsy.
      No system is perfect, of the available platforms, this is the best at this time for getting traffic if you make unique or handmade items. Two years ago, a person needed between 25-50 items in their shop to make consistent sales. Today most people have increased the number to 100-300 items in a shop to sell effectively. I would place the number closer to the 200-300 mark if you want daily sales. For many part-time designers...this may represent a year or two of work, but still doable if you are willing to be patient. Etsy is a great place to get started and I highly recommend it. Alright, stop in Sat for the full lecture if you want specifics. I will have hand-outs with websites, names, and contact info for people who are looking for details. Hopefully this will help some of my fellow artists in the area. I won't claim to know it all, but am happy to offer up some wisdom from what has and has not worked for me. Please be aware that there are much more talented designers and artists in the area making a lot more than I am on Etsy at the moment. If you want to know more, I suggest talking to/contacting some of the other forum members if you want to find a good mentor or coming to one of our Tuesday night meetings.

Visual Art Exchange
309 West Martin Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

Textile Friday: The Fashion 40%

       Ahhh, fashion...the wardrobe spark that makes you, you. This is your voice to express your taste. The hardest, most fickle part of building a wardrobe. Most fashionistas, stylists, and who's who scramble each year to pull out the trends for the season. If you watch the runways, people will talk about this or that being in. How, every 6 months you throw everything away and start over. While this is not true for your core wardrobe, it is often true for a handful of "in" items that are in every season. 99% of the waste and fun of the fashion industry comes from "fashion." Fashion is the little things that make you, you. Think of style as the canvas and fashion as the paint. Fashion is the flirty shoes you have for your date night, your favorite bracelet cuff you wear with your jeans, the hot little top you just can't live without.
         Style.com makes a great "shopping guide" you can see here. These cute earrings are from their spring guide. It will tell you what prints are in and accessories. In general, fashion has a 2 1/2 year turn cycle so you will need to buy 1 piece every season to stay current. This will be 40% of you overall shopping budget. However, the point of fashion is to express your taste not slavishly follow what the "experts" say. In general taste changes with time. The you of today will not necessarily like the things you do 5 years later. And that's fine.
         If you are in love with butterflies, or a particular movie, or something in particular speaks to you, buy it. Don't second guess yourself. This season I'm into the concept of lunch escapes, this fall it will be something different. Fashion accessories are traditionally:

1. Jewelry- Your watch, earrings, necklace, bracelet, etc. Many people will buy an entire set (matching necklace, bracelet, and earrings) instead of just 1 or 2 pieces at time. There's some really great jewelry talent in the area. This is something I particularly love to shop for at arts and crafts shows as a small unique piece of wearable art.

2. Hats- Come and go. Some people never wear them, some people are never without them. Hats in general are the fastest changing items of fashion. They provide a perception of elongating the face so people with short necks or particularly round faces often do well with hats. Choose a hat that goes with your face.

3. Summer Bag- While your everyday leather bag should be the highest quality you can buy, many people have a second summer cloth bag or purse to drag to the park or on vacation that they will switch out every few years. It is often wise to have your bag complimentary to your spring scarf in case the weather leads you to a cross over.

4. Fashion Shoes- I like to think of these as flirty date shoes. But then I have like 12 pairs so no comment. The women's shoe department is called the "shark tank" in retail for a reason. Many guys have summer sandals or tennis shoes.

5. Athletic workout gear- Have a favorite sport, budget it in your fashion wardrobe part. Athletic gear rarely works as long as core wardrobe. Much of it today has spandex which tends to fall apart.

6. Sexy Lingerie/Swimwear- Summer swim trucks or that hot little number? Apply here.

7. Scarves/Prints- Many of the season's prints are lovely on a silk scarf and much cheaper than in a dress. These go really great if lighter colored to flatter your face in the spring when you're washed out from the pale winter season.

8. Winter Scarves, Gloves, Mittens, and Specialty Wear- Alright, I've mentioned the basics, now remember that accessories vary according to your taste. If you live in the tropics, you may want to pick up some beach sarongs, or in New York...a beautiful pair of leather gloves.

             Whatever you buy, enjoy. This is my grandfather's gift to me. I hope that it will keep you in good company as well. I miss him very much and this is my regift to you, my readers of a small portion of the wisdom he lent me. Have a great week and check in next week when we go motorcycle racing.


       

February Acorn to Oak Etsy Team Meet-ups

          Hey Everyone, so excited about the new space. This coming month we will be splitting our time between our normal Techshop RDU and our new expanded space team studio as we get ready for our 3D printing class in March. We will also have one class at the Durham Scrap Exchange on Feb 18th. I am so excited about this, great people one and all.
           I really think that 3D replication is where the industry is headed as a whole in the next 40 yrs. and Luis Freeman is coming for 4 weeks in March to teach us to build, replicate, and program 3D printers. 3D printers allow for rapid prototyping, especially of metal. Nash and I can't wait to make our own and we hope that some of our other fellow artists can do the same. I've wanted to be able to print my own custom buttons, zippers, and hardware for my clothing. WHICH is awesome! Ok, I'm getting sidetracked in my excitement.I'm just so happy about our cool classes this spring. Note, I have decided to not hold a meeting for Valentine's Week so everyone can have fun eating chocolate and being with people they love.


Locations: 

Acorn to Oak Handmade Etsy Team Studio
5825 Triangle Drive
Raleigh, NC 27617


Techshop RDU
5900 Triangle Drive
Raleigh, NC 27617


 Feb 7th from 7-10 pm: New Studio

7-8 pm Finishing Quilting from the Linus Foundation: Come finish our quilts for the Linus Foundation blanket day on Feb 25th. I have 5 quilts that have been sewn together and simply need to be hand sewn at 4 inch intervals to complete them. You can also bring back any quilts you finished to put in loft and backs. We will be hanging out in the lobby of our new space and putting them together over coffee and dessert.

8-10 pm Making Origami Jewelry for Valentines: This week we will be making jewelry from the ancient Japanese art of paper folding. There are two really good books that cover this topic that I like which you can get off Amazon (the book cover pictures come from there). The first is more traditional paper jewelry making by Ayako Brodek and the second is the popular metal silver clay origami which is folded and then fired in a kiln by Sarah Cole. They will run you $10-15 each and are great investments for people into paper crafting. I will have lots of paper and jewelry findings available which have been donated so you can make your loved one something special for Valentines. Paper jewelry is often sprayed with a lacquer finish to give it strength in regular wear.
Cost: Free and Open to the Public 
Register on Skillshare: http://www.skillshare.com/Origami-Jewelry-Making-Class-for-Valentines/1009706890 

Feb 18th: Sock Monkey Making Class- Durham Scrap Exchange

For anyone who enjoyed out sock monkey making class in the fall, we will be having it again at the Durham Scrap Exchange this spring. You can check it out on their website here: http://www.scrapexchange.org/programs/classes.htm. Use EventBrite to register. There is a $10 cost which goes directly to support this wonderful institution.

Feb  21st from 7-10 pm: Techshop RDU Conference

7-8 pm: Clark Whittington with Artomat: I am really excited about this partnership with established graphic artist and designer out of Winston-Salem. He does vending art all around the country that allows local artists to reach people in everyday venues. Clark is a lot of fun and I hope this will help our artists gain more exposure in the marketplace. With over 700 artists, I feel we need to work on growing sales as a group. You can listen to him on youtube. I love this quirky fun concept and can't wait to part of it. Starting in April, 1 meeting a month will be for making art to feature in his machines. Hopefully this will help the group in many ways and be a great partnership for everyone.

8-10 pm: Using Bamboo As A Natural Wood to make Beer Mugs: Tonight we will be using the rotary turner on the laser to show people how to make cool, one of a kind products from naturally grown local bamboo donated by Mike Shaperio. Thank you Mike! Everyone is welcome to bring a design or lineart to put on their own bamboo pieces. We will also discuss other things you can make with bamboo such as rain sticks, planters, audio sound systems, vases, planters, etc. There is lots of bamboo that has been cut so please feel free to come and take some. All left-over bamboo will be available through the 28th for artists to come and get as much as you want. I can't wait to see what everyone makes.

Cost: Free and Open to the Public
Register on Skillshare: http://www.skillshare.com/Bamboo-Beermaking-Glasses/1954327458

Jan 10th: Linus Foundation from 7-10 pm

Location: Conference Room of Techshop RDU
               5905 Triangle Drive Raleigh, NC 27617
Time: 7-10 pm

Hey Everyone from the Acorn to Oak Handmade group, this coming week we will making quilts to donate to the Linus foundation for the children at Wake Med Hospital, Duke, and children of soldiers who need blankets during deployment. We will have lots of fabric and quilts in various sizes to finish. The three sizes we will be making are:

Baby 30" by 36"
Child 40" by 60"
Teen 45" by 72"

No prior experience is necessary. You are welcome to take home any quilts you do not finish and bring them back by Febuary 7th completed if you would like to finish extra details. We will be taking the first hour of that meeting to handsew together any remaining quilts that need it. We will be monogramming the names of everyone who works on each quilt in the bottom before giving them to Susie Holmes so the kids can know who gave them this gift. We will be focusing on making the larger blankets, specifically for boys and teens with cars, animals, and other applique motifs.

Please feel free to bring a portable sewing machine from home if you have one. We will be doing 2 primary things during the event.

1. Hand-sewing some of the blankets that have already been cut and sewn at 4 inch intervals so the blankets will hold up to repeated washing. This is important for parents and hospitals who have sick children, the blankets need regular care.
2. Taking fabric that has been pre-cut and making it into blocks that we can sew together into children's blankets. Given the huge need for boy's blankets, I will be trying to focus on things like xbox controllers, popular sports, videogames, travel, etc.

A warm thanks in advance to everyone who participates. We are accepting extra fabric/yarn or batting donations for anyone who would like bring their extra stashes from home.

Check out the local chapter website here: http://projectlinusraleigh.blogspot.com/

Textile Friday: 3D Printed Clothing

    I loved the idea of replicators in Star Trek, the idea that you could take base molecules and make them into real things. Today I wanted to show you that clothing became 3D printed this past year by designer Iris van Herpen. We're seeing a concept of plastic used as clothing this season. It's beautiful to watch and exotic. I love the idea of going home from a long day and simply dropping your old outfit in a bin to have it recycled into a new clean dress for you to wear the next day. Imagine what you would do with all that extra closet space. If you've ever seen Lady Gaga, you've seen her handiwork. The rest of us would probably prefer something more normal today. However the future is an open book. What looks normal today will probably look strange or exotic to our future descendants.

Now before you see this video as the wave of the future, this technology is still several years out (probably closer to decades) and even on these only a portion is made using a 3D printer. Most of the 3D effect is very time consuming (it took 1 printer 7 days printing 24 hrs. a day to produce even the smaller pieces)and very uncomfortable. So, a lot of the pieces are still fabricated using traditional methods and equipment with portions made with a 3D printer. This makes it more of a exotic animal than a real mainstream method. 

The major drawback to this besides current technology that I see is that plastic for most people isn't that great of a material. It doesn't breath well and sewing it tends to give people headaches. Also, 3D printed parts are extremely delicate. They tend to lack the advantages of strength that weaving a garment provides. Nor does plastic last as long as most natural materials. I think either the printing time would have to come down significantly or the materials would have to improve dramatically for clothing. Probably both.

However, there are very few of these drawbacks in the accessory market (items are more static and there is less need for motion or touch). As a result you are already seeing 3D printed shoes by several houses and I predict bags as well in short order. Such as this pair which walked for Mercedes Benes Fashion Week by Andreia Chaves. I think that this is a more commercial twist that has promising trends. The guts are still handmade which shows that the technology still has a way to go...however if you're a fashion icon with money to burn you can own something very few if any other people in the world will be able to.

Have a great weekend everyone, see ya next week. 

Day Sixteen: Acorn to Oak Holiday Craft Show

We're back from the show this past week and wanted to show you this fun video Melsie Glass took of the Acorn to Oak Handmade Etsy Team Craft Show. I'm going to start shortening Etsy Team Craft to ETC for laughs. We loved everyone who came out and made us laugh and can't wait for the next one in the spring right before Mother's Day.

It was so much fun to have you.

I can't believe we're at 670 members for the year. We have grown so much. We started with just 16 good friends at the beginning. Glad to have met each and every one of you and so looking forward to seeing what the new year brings.

Day Fifteen: Pieceables Basic Kit

Today we're covering the basic 43 Pieceable Kit. This basic beginner kit features enough Pieceables to get you started making accessories: bracelets, necklaces, small bags, wallets, hacky sacks, and small flying robot space craft. The large easy to snap buttons go together easily and are machine washable. Katie is sporting a Pieceable necklace that took 10 pieces to put together.
Lots of fun! I love how it matches her eyeshadow.

You can get your own kit on Kickstarter here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lisashay/pieceables-make-art-anywhere

One of the things that constantly suprises me about having people betatest Pieceables is that you can make a tremendous amount from a small amount of Pieceables. Here's some typical things people make with just a few Pieceables:

6 Pieceables:

Bracelet
Cat Toy

 Book Mark
Hacky Sack
Pot Holder




12 Pic
Necklace
Wallet
Coin Purse
Vase
Child's Belt
Snake
Gauntlet
Shoe
Bra

And various other fun experiences. I can't wait to see what this Friday's group comes up with.

Textile Friday: Alibaba

         If you ever read Arabian Nights as a child, you remember Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. As an adult, it's the largest small business internet platform based out of China with supposedly over 65 million users. It was launched as a way to connect Chinese manufacturing with business entrepreneurs. As a small business, it can seem like an incredible tool to access much lower than typical retail rates in the US. The math generally puts at you around 1/17th of the cost. But like the cave of wonders, the cave holds both treasure and thieves. Trust the Chinese to offer such a tongue and cheek warning.
        First the treasure: unlimited access to world-wide manufacturing. You can outsource your ideas on a budget. The treasure is pretty obvious the first time you log on and comparison shop.
        Now the warning: It can not be under-estimated how dealing with Alibaba opens you up to dealing with thieves to come into your home. Thieves are not your friends and the same rules of fair business do not apply with someone halfway across the world who likely will never meet you. There's an old proverb that states that "A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy". Switched packages with inferior products, low quality goods masquerading as higher quality, and worst of all artist theft.
        The last part is the hardest to combat against if your artwork is stolen off your website and ripped. China has a "embrace, extend, and exterminate" policy used by Microsoft in the 80s and 90s which seeks to create a monopoly and drive other competitors/players off the field. Dealing with them is best like Ali Baba, sneak in at night, get what you need, and leave without telling them where you live. Many people set up a separate account just for dealing with Alibaba to prevent information theft. Watermarks are rapidly becoming obsolete as technology gets more advanced. So what is an artist to do? The problem that has plagued name brands like Chanel and Polo has come home to roost for smaller artists as well. Etsy seems particularly plagued by this infestation of late. Frankly it's been something I've struggled with and failed at. The only solution seemed to be in trying to stay ahead of the curve as much as possible. And then I ran across this little gem this week that seemed worthwhile to share with you. Please note, this applies primarily to your PHOTOS. Sad, but true. Your photos are one of best protection you have these days.
         One of the best articles I've seen was by the Nelly Van See family run shop out of Canada. The following is reprinted with their permission from the forum threads: 
        
"Someone on Alibaba stole my pictures... After 3 days, I managed to get my pictures taken down. Here is how." :

"On alibaba, there is on each product item : ' Report Suspicious Activity '. You need to go in the company's profile, go in product, find your items ( you can use search ) and then on top of the picture there is this link.

Report suspicious activity
--->
Alleged picture copyright infringement
This supplier is using a product picture(s) that does not belong to them. Note: Please provide the URL (website address on Alibaba.com) and specify the location of the picture(s).

--->In the box you write a description why its your item. Say you made it, nothing more fancy then that.
--->You need to send links that prove this is your item, a very good proof is transactions on etsy, as they state the date of purchase. I sent the oldest transaction link for each item stolen.
--->Then I also sent a link to the item listed in my shop. If you have multiple shops, send links from all your shops: artfire, shoply, flickr, photobucket, deviantart, etc
--->A link of the picture on etsy they stole without the watermark.

And a very good proof, a picture of your photography set up.
I take all my pictures on the same small black rocks, I took pictures of those and took pictures of my hands. I sent those also as a proof.

Then in the box, to upload a picture, I just sent the original picture, straight out of my camera that hasn't been photoshoped yet. If you don't have that, just send the original picture without their watermark on it.

There... this is how.

Now everyone who got their pictures stolen, please do this"

Pretty simple. I don't know if you can actually do business with Alibaba and come out ahead. Paypal just ended their year long partnership and Yahoo is currently in disputes with them over the financial gutting of their company to create Alipay. I've had artist friends who tell me about the great deals they have gotten and more quietly mention sheepishly the equipment that never works right or materials that fall apart literally as the fabric is being sewn together. As Wired Magazine pointed out in one of the best thoughts I've read lately there's a growing trend to substitute American automation for Chinese sweat labor. Working smarter, not harder seems to be the US thought lately similar to the Germans and it's a trend I approve of. :-) Well, that's all folks. So the next time you have to deal with Alibaba ripping your artwork, remember these simple steps to stop it by the NellyVanSee family.

Day Fourteen: Linen Labels

      Well, Friday was a big crazy day. Nash spent most of the day bottling. And Roth released their much anticipated newly bottled FoeHammer Beer. While I can't take credit for the delicious beer, the cool linen tags sitting on top come to you courtesy of our little shop. Each label is hand-printed using 12th century traditional techniques developed as a quality seal to by shipping merchants. I hope that this beer has an equally long and profitable career ahead of it. And if you get a chance, pick up a bottle at your local store.

I have just been informed that people are using the labels as Christmas decorations! Awesome! Glad to see people enjoying a little holiday flare.