Craft Bar in Craft Magazine Online!

Hooray! Craft Bar, the monthly crafting workshop that I run in conjunction with Etsy here at the MOCFA, was featured on the Craft Zine blog this month!
Here it is!

Things I've Done Recently - April 22, 2010

I'm really enjoying the whole process of wedding dress-making - I love working with a bride on a design and choosing fabric and sharing tips (most valuable tip for any bride: even if you love your mom/mother-in-law and get along with her really well, you should ALWAYS appoint a trusted friend to act as a "mom wrangler" - well-meaning moms tend to add an element of stress to an already stressful day).

The best moment is when we get to the point in the design process where the bride looks in the mirror and unconsciously smiles at herself - that's how I know that we've designed her perfect dress. And then it's off to the races with all the fittings, trying-on, and more fittings. And then more fittings, tweaks, tears (usually from me), lint-rolling, and more fittings. During the months when I am working on a wedding dress (I only do one at a time), my living room is covered in a maelstrom of pins, fabric scraps, spray bottles, stray scissors, spools of thread, and newspaper. Truly, the life of a designer just oozes glamour.

I wouldn't trade it for anything though - I had two weddings and tried on squillions of dresses before having my former assistant make mine (and what a job she did, yowza!)I just can't speak highly enough for having someone make you your dream dress. Knowing that an off-the-peg dress, even if
it is gorgeous, is going to cost as much, or more, as a custom-dress, it just makes sense to have one made.

I made this wedding dress for a fellow Brooklyn-to-SF transplant last year, and I'm really proud of it (and I really need to find out who took these photos so that I can give her some props, are they not gorgeous???).
This bride is rocking some serious retro glamour. The dress is silk shantung with a lightweight cotton muslin underlayer. My favorite detail is the back bow, which is a detachable obi belt that I beaded with flowers from the bride's grandmother's veil.
The wedding was held outdoors, in the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park.
Let me know if you want your own!

And...We're Back for 2010

The sun is out which means that it is time for me to peek my head out from under my rock and bask in it a little bit.
The other day the wife turned to me and asked what was on my mind, and i waited a few beats before saying "mischief. that's what's on my mind". Spring is a time when I typically get super-restless and want to change up my routine, not just a little bit, but completely. I took a second job as the buyer for the Museum of the African Diaspora, which has been challenging and exciting, but I think the sea change that my world needs is even bigger.

My travels around the country (and the world, like PARIS!) seeking out fabulous finds for the MOCFA has given me the chance to unearth some of the most incredibly talented, charming, wonderful artists and bring their goodies to the larger public.

This has made me realize that I really want to resurrect the Ladies Independent Design League here in the Bay Area. Anyone who knew me in New York might remember LIDL from the heady days of 2003-2005, when we collaborated, shared, and even planned a fun craft fair, IndieLicious. We even got a mention in the Handmade Nation book!
The most exciting thing about LIDL was the chance to meet other crafty business ladies to talk shop, commiserate, and everything else. It was the business version of a Stitch and Bitch. As I meet more women who are talented but unsure of how to take their businesses to the next step I want to find something, notably a FREE something, that we can use to help each other, and ourselves. With drinks.
So I'm putting out a call to women who want to start or further a business to please contact me. Let's get started!

Delicious Crush on Wendy Hacker Moss

What is it about the warmer months that makes a girl want to throw on a little floral dress (or seersucker pants, whatever) and the strappiest shoes she can find? Is it, as many would suggest, a desire to mimic the nature that is suddenly bursting from every nook, cranny, and sidewalk planter? Is it that we get so excited to be shedding the more somber colors of fall and winter that we feel the need to cover ourselves in pretended foliage? I don't know what it is, but I know that I happily succumb to it, and make no excuses, which is why I was so excited when the work of Wendy Hacker Moss came across the counter here at the MOCFA. Wendy's pieces are unlike anything I've ever seen, and, since I'm a girl, I fancy myself a jewelry expert.
These are the ultimate in "double-take" jewelry - Ruffly, delicate, by turns shiny and matte, these delicate-seeming pieces are made with the most unlikely jewelry material ever
- steel mesh.
That's right - Wendy and her sister Elisa have elevated the humble window screen from utilitarian to high art, creating lightweight origami blooms accented with freshwater pearls and gleaming sterling silver.
The Bouquet Ring sits on your finger like the sweetest bunch of tiny blooms, while the decadent Wreath Bracelet covers your wrist with a garden of lush flowers that move slightly and just beg to be touched.And for those whose tastes run more towards the bright and punchy, Wendy offers the Rock Candy collection, tiny semi-precious stones and seeds beads on sterling silver that look just like those elegant sweet treats you loved as a kid. Try not to taste the tiny black spinels, red rubies, and turquoise chips - these are strictly candy for the eyes. Whether you pair these with jeans and a tee shirt, or a favorite floral print, if you're not careful you might find yourself attracting legions of butterflies as well as admirers.

Wendy Hacker Moss jewelry, available at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, 51 Yerba Buena Lane, San Francisco. Visit www.mocfa.org for more info.

MOCFA Store Fabulous Finds, Vol. 1

In February, I became the Buyer/Store Manager for the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco. If you know me at all, you will understand that this is the PERFECT job for me - I get to scope out independent designers all day long and get paid for it. As someone who is always trying to expand the crafting community, having the chance to share the work of independent artists with a broader audience is a dream come true. In many cases artists that I am working with have never sold in a retail space before; I have even had a couple of people create products especially for me to sell. Needless to say, I have sometimes been the store's best customer. I can't help it though - we have such a fabulous array of people represented, including Loreto Remsing, the brains (and nose) behind L'Aromatica perfume, a line of hand-blended perfumes often made with organic flowers and perfume oils. Our entire staff is enamored of the Gardenia, Yellow Rose, and Kulfi scents, though the new shipment of summer scents has made me obsess over the Madcap Violet and Pink Peony. Loreto, a graphic designer by trade, blends her creations in her gorgeous, sun-filled home in Haight-Ashbury, and when she's not making the world smell better, she will also design a mean set of wedding invitations for you (including mine).
Also new to the MOCFA store is Jen Hewett, creator of the extremely popular Michelle Obama Paper Dolls and fishnet silkscreen prints (favorite quote "Before I went on a job interview a few years ago, my mom called me and begged me not to wear fishnets with my suit. Please. As if I'd ever wear a suit"), and Julie Brookman, who looked at a plastic bag marooned on the beach and decided to use it as inspiration for a series of glass vases.

Lately I've become enamored with a couple of fabulous finds from the home-decor and jewelry worlds whose work will brighten up any corner of your casa, or your cuerpo.

One of the most recent jewelery additions to the stable of artists in the store is Florabond of Idaho Falls, ID. Made by the wonderful Nicole, these necklaces are little works of art featuring repurposed vintage buttons and flowers combined with delicously textured fabric foliage, plastic beads, lace, and stainless steel chain. Putting one of these babies on will instantly class up an outfit, and they are sure-fire attention-getters. I sold the Strawberry Lemonade necklace literally within ten minutes of unpacking it from the box (the best part is that I was wearing it when I sold it). Florabond's MOCFA pieces retail between $60-$80 and employ at least twice that in terms of creativity. I love the romantic feel of them - having them on makes me think of drinking lemonade and doing the Charleston on a wet summer lawn at twilight, which since I now live so close to Golden Gate Park, is within the realm of possibility.
Also new on the horizon is Kellie McCool, who translated her beautiful drawings of scales, umbrellas, and antlered people to blank greeting cards for the store. The scales are currently the most popular of the bunch, though I love the "quotation" card, which has a little space on the front for you to add your own greeting. Genius!
If you find yourself in the San Francisco area and need to find a gift or just want to treat yourself, please stop by the store and visit us - most items are under $100 and we feature mostly Bay Area talent, because this city is just bursting with crafty goodness!

New Blog Mention

Oh gee, thanks so much to the loverly folks (folk? I don't know how many of you there are!) at PaperMichelle for the bloggy mention about the Anne Dress. I have been an Anne Dress factory lately - I'm even sending one to Paris in a few weeks for a wedding in Greece. The dress is officially better-traveled than I am.

But if you are feeling like looking at some beautiful stuff online, the PaperMichele blog is the place to go.

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but...

Please forgive me by joining me on Saturday, May 16th at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in SF for a book launch and crafting party hosted by the amazing Lotta Jansdotter!

More deets:

Time: 1-4 pm May 16th

Place: 51 Yerba Buena Lane, SF

Why: Lotta, cupcakes, and crafting! The holy trinity of DIY!


If you are a fan of modern design, you will understand why this event is such a huge deal for me (besides the fact that I am the one throwing it, of course). Hope you can join me!
UPDATE!!!!

The event was SO much fun! The lovely Christina and Kate from Chronicle Books even made a little YouTube video of the day so that you can see the fun for yourself:
cupcakes, crafting and Lotta, oh my!