Nicolette’s Design Diary

A while back I posted a blog entry about a fantastic artist I met while exhibiting at the Frederick Festival of the Arts in Frederick, Maryland. Mixed media sculptor, John Petrey makes some amazing sculptures out of materials like roofing tiles and french maps and he won Best of Show at the Frederick Festival of the Arts last year. I just found his web site, so you can go see his work yourself.

Technorati Tags: sculpture, mixed media

Wow…three posts in one evening…this some kind of record!

Back in October, I wrote a post about felt artist extraordinaire Betz White and her cute as a button Cupcake Pincushions she makes. Well now she’ll demonstrate how to make one of those cute as a button Cup O’ Joe pincushions on The Martha Stewart Show. The show’s scheduled to air on Friday, February 9th, so if you want learn how to make one of these tune in on Friday.

The Martha Stewart Show and your own book deal….you lucky dog…congratulations Betz!

Technorati Tags: felting, Martha Stewart

I don’t have any children, but I do have two godsons and a nephew. And I recall a couple of times when I could have used one of these! It would have saved a couple of shirts and the ottoman in the living room. Designed by Lisa Malcic of Beba Bean, go check these cuties out!

Technorati Tags: baby

So I love books and I love to knit (when I have time, and I hadn’t for a while…but I digress). So I absolutely love this handmade album with the knitted cover by the fantastic Dennis Yuen. I stumbled across this artist’s work while catching up on the Greenjeans blog. Dennis Yuen also has a blog of his own, and more images of his great handmade albums. So be sure to check them out!

Technorati Tags: handmade books, knitting

The one piece of jewelry that I’m not too fond of making are rings. I’ve never really enjoyed making them ever since I’ve made a set of three in my college Jewelry and Metalworking class as part of a series assignment. Bracelets can be hard enough to size, but it almost seems like everyone has a different sized finger, in which to create a single design.

So I’m always admiring someone who’s willing to take on the job of designing really cool rings. This particular ring is made by Crazy Dreams Studio and is called the “Be Mine Ring”. It’s made out of buttons and sterling silver wire. Very cute!

Technorati Tags: jewelry, rings

Okay, file this under too cute. Artist and queen of felted wool Betz White recycles discarded wool sweaters by felting and “artfully” stitching them to make these cute enough to eat cupcake pincushions. In addition to these pincushions, she also makes felted journals, blankets, pillows, wall hangings and she just made these new felted bowls that are very cool…all out of old sweaters! I just want to get a bunch of these pincushions, stack them on a plate and display them on my kitchen table. With Betz’s clever designs, it’s no surprise that she recently landed a deal to write a craft book on felting. Check out her web site to look at more of her felted designs…she also has a great little blog too.

Thanks to the Make It blog for the 411 on Betz.

[tags]felting, recycling[/tags]

Friday show days are usually slow days. Most everyone is at work. In general, the people that attend a Friday show day are retirees and stay at home moms and their kids. And while it’s great talking to retired folk (I get a ton of advice on carpel tunnel, restaurants, and travel tips) and it’s fun to look at the adorable children the mommies have in tow, there’s not a whole lot of y’all out there on Fridays. So, Fridays are the days that we have leisurely talks with our customers and it’s also the day that we artists visit our neighbors.

At every show, you meet someone really cool and interesting, and everyone seems to have a story. This weekend, I seem to be located in the international section of the Sugarloaf Craft show. My neighbor to the right of me, Ivetta Moore is originally from Russia and now lives with her husband and kids in Maryland. She immigrated to the U.S. when she was 18. She does these lovely pictures out of pressed flowers and plants and handmade paper. She was even featured on HGTV’s show “That’s Clever!” last April.

The lady across from me, Wioletta Marek Hada is a photographer who is originally from Poland who now lives in Connecticut. She and her husband met on a airplane when he was taking a trip to Poland. She takes photos of a variety of subjects including nature photos and the coolest photos of children. She has a framed photo of a little Mexican girl selling bracelets on a street corner in her booth that’s one of the adorable photos I’ve seen in a while. Her web site is currently under construction, but hopefully she’ll have it up soon so you can take a look at her photos yourself.

To the right of Wioletta’s booth are a husband and wife jewelry team, Jos

I love reading blogs that deal with craft, art, and graphic design for inspiration.

One of my latest inspirations comes from a blog about illustration called Drawn!. One of last week’s posts featured the work of Brazilian illustrator Renato Alarc

The hits just keep on coming…I’m addicted to blogs…addicted I tell you!

This link came from a blog I just started reading called Modish, it focuses on products, jewelry, and accessories made by independent craftsmen and artists. A recent post focuses on the work of Brisbane plastic artist Liana Kabel These are bangle bracelets made of vintage knitting needles.

And she makes stuff out of old Tupperware too!

Cool…no? And a trip to her web site uncovered some links to other cool jewelry artists. A fellow Australian Mark Vaarwerk makes jewelry…no, in Australia, it’s jewellery, out of plastic shopping bags. Check it out.

[tags]crafts, jewelry, bracelet, knitting, mixed media[/tags]