Category: thanks

little thing magazine

I’m so pleased to be featured in “Little Thing”  (China) magazine .  It’s a beautiful issue – all about mushrooms!

The article features some of  my early things – when I was just beginning and it’s nice to visit those ideas again. You can see the interview here.

And right next door to my interview is another with The Fabulous Mister Finch!

The magazine  is beautifully put together – there is even a pop up.

And  in keeping with the fungi  theme I’ll leave you with a little preview  of  a Sri Threads mushroom I’m working on.

sri textiles

Stephen Szczepanek  of Sri Threads has fabulous timing and he’s also pretty psychic about what I might be needing.  His packages are always a surprise and they always seem to turn up at a moment when I’m in need of  a boost.

This gorgeous collection of scraps turned up a few days ago and I’ve already begun a mini collection of  Sri toadstools,  little owls and spiders. Please join the shop mailing list if you would like to be notified when this collection is available.

You can see more of Stephen’s treasures  on his blog and the Sri Threads facebook  page.

thanks

seashell folkseashell folk, off to celebrate

Thanks to everybody who showed up for the shop update yesterday – I’ll be packing everything up this weekend and getting things on their way right after the holiday. I’m working on things for Tuesday’s owl and ship update ( there will be one more songbird too) – here are some things in progress:

pale pink songbird

This is the bodice it’s made from- I bought it years ago and have been using bits of it ever since.

antique pink bodice

A  grey owl – fabrics courtesy of Sri Threads.

sri grey owl

And a pair of turn of the century wool swim bloomers I’m about to turn into an owl.

antique swim bloomers

I got them for next to nothing – the seat is terribly moth eaten. The fabric is wonderful- weight, shade, fading , texture – everything ideal.  Also, in the unlikely category,  technically, I’ve just posted a picture of myself on the internet in a bathing suit.

the new artisans

I can hardly believe I’m included in this book – it is magnificent in every way. I think Olivier Dupon has created something very special.  In less expert hands this wealth of  information might  have been overwhelming or the spirit could have been lost but Olivier presents it with simplicity and real elegance – you are never distracted from the central idea: that this is a book about love of craft, process and materials or Olivier’s true affection for the subject.

Find the book: http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/new/fall11/551585.htm

on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-Artisans/108346249261751

Olivier’s blog:  http://dossier37.tumblr.com/

the new artisans

the new artisans

the new artisans

“This book captures the new mood – a return to a preference for the unique and the handmade. Design expert and acclaimed blogger Olivier Dupon has sourced the cream of the contemporary design world from all over Europe, Australia and the United States, profiling 75 artisans who use craft techniques, rather than mass-production methods, to create stylish, whimsical, covetable objects. Hundreds of colour photographs feature a huge variety of crafts, including art, ceramics, furniture, glasswork, jewelry, lighting, metalwork, papercraft, textiles and woodwork. Complete with a directory of products, and Dupon’s personal recommendations for inspiring shops and websites to visit, this is the perfect resource for discovering unique and beautiful objects made by new, talented artisans from all around the world.”

paper mache teacup pattern

A paper mache teacup pattern to  mark the 5 year anniversary of my blog, my experiment.   A  perfect time to say thank you and give you a present.

There is a template you can download here.

And lots and lots of photos and instructions.  If you do make teacups I’d love to see and you can use #annwoodpattern on instagram or leave a link to your photo in the comment section below.

ann wood teacups

What you need:

  • Click here to download the template
  • paste –  I use golden harvest wheat paste ( wall paper paste)
  • light cardboard – cereal or frozen pizza box is great and a bit of thicker cardboard for a base
  • newspaper – it’s nice to have different colors
  • scotch tape ( not the invisible gift wrap  stuff- the shiny sticky stuff)
  • glue – elmers, glue stick, hot glue  – whatever you like
  • pencil, scissors, exacto knife, and paint and brushes, glitter, fabric – whatever you’d like for decoration.

Click the photos for larger images.

Cut out the templates for the teacup, handle and bottom  and trace them onto your cardboard. I had the best results with a Kashi frozen pizza box.  Cut out your pieces and  very lightly and  gently score the the teacup where the dotted lines are on the template with the BACK of your exacto knife.

Make a very  tiny snip  – really tiny -just a 16th of an inch or so where the sections meet. Next bring the bottom sections together one at a time and tape together on the outside (the printed side). Then turn it over and taper the bottom inside.  Do this for each section – always taping both sides…….

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treasures from sri

Stephen Szczepanek of Sri Threads sent over another surprise package of magnificent things. Exquisite, inspiring things, thoughtfully chosen and gathered and kept for me that  just  magically appear on my doorstep.  Here are  a few  highlights.

japanese garment fragments

There are fragments of garments with wonderful surprise linings.
lining

sri garment 2

And beautiful wear and eccentric mending.
 eccentric mending
I already have owls in progress and I’m thinking about using the blue silk bits below for spider bustles and some new flowers I’ll show you soon. Thanks you, thank you Mr. Szczepanek!

silkblue

goodbye 2010

I hope 2010 was a fabulous year for you and wish you a happy 2011.  I’ll end the year with photos of  a few favorite treasures I discovered on deadhorse beach this year.

A tiny perfume bottle  and a bit of sea green net,

deadhorse perfume bottle

a wonderfully detailed little spaceman,

deadhorse spaceman

and a  pretty ceramic shard.

deadhorse shard

Happy New Year!!!

(and thanks for showing up)

sri and the spider system

I had a lovely time this morning with coffee, chet atkins and a big box of Japanese textiles. Stephen Szczepanek of Sri sent over another  surprise box of wonderful things.

japanese textile fragments

When stuff like this shows up I can’t think fast enough or sew fast enough. Thank you Stephen!!

sri fragments 2

And the beginning of the new spider system .   Spiders take me forever to make and that’s mostly fine, I like making spiders, but it isn’t practical.   As I make more I get better at it  and  things begin occur to me that speed up the process;  having the wire cut to length for each part makes a big difference and next I need to make  jigs for forming the leg shapes . I’ll probably need help with that.

spider leg wire

I’ll show you more highlights from the Sri box  later and maybe some new things in progress – I’m finishing some things over the weekend that will be in the shop early next week – some spiders, an owl or two and some little birds, if you would like to be notified when the new things are available please check back here or join the mailing list at my shop.
*p.s. -I’ll also be spending some time this weekend getting caught up on email and if you’re waiting to hear back from me  thanks for your patience*