Tag Archive for 'love & rummage trunk show'

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INTRODUCING : JEN ANISEF

Published on January 30, 2009 in introducing, local and the workroom. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Jen Anisef helped change my life.

When the workroom was just a hare-brained scheme in my head, I nervously attended a Craft Chat held by Toronto Craft Alert. I had never interacted with Toronto’s craft scene in person, only lurked on local blogs and cruised a few craft fairs. I didn’t realize at the time, but this was a pivotal moment for me.

Attendance to the Craft Chat was much smaller than expected, but the quality of people was stellar. This is where I first met Becky (Sweetie Pie Press), Leah (Cold Snap Bindery), Angelune (Toronto Craft Alert), Marnie (girl number twenty), Johanna (the workroom’s esteemed quilting teacher!) and Jen. The chat ranged on topics from the American vs. Canadian craft scene, rallying local resources, creating more dialog (online & in person), and etsy. Although I wasn’t ready at the time to share my business idea, I left feeling that this small group represented everything I hoped to bring together in the workroom. I think this is just one of thousands of examples of the positive impact TCA & Jen have made for so many people in our community.

Toronto Craft Alert is just one of the major, local, craft-supporting projects that Jen is involved with. She is one third of the City of Craft team and one half of the Good Egg Industries team. This crafty lady is truly remarkable and she makes a mean patchwork, to boot! Thank you, Jen for everything you do.

Jen will be at the Love & Rummage Trunk Show selling her irresistable log cabin heart medallions, plus City of Craft tees and totes.

When did your life become all about craft? or has it always been that way?

JEN : I have always made stuff & bossed people around with regards to making stuff. I organized a group of my ten year old friends in a crafty collective of sorts – hawking our fimo hairclips and brooches to shops! I didn’t begin to identify as artistic or crafty until about 1999 when I spent a year living in rural Japan where everyone and their grandmother is engaged in the act of making at most times, or at least in appreciating the natural creative beauty that surrounds them. I was fortunate enough to hook up with an English-speaking farmer buddy who drove me around the prefecture, translating interviews with craft artists of all different sorts including master weavers, washi makers and traditional indigo dyers. It was heaven and I realized then that I was in love with craft.

All of your many projects are focused on the local craft scene – TCA, Good Egg, City of Craft… Why is this issue so important to you?

JEN : I think in the early years of craft engagement I spent A LOT of time on craft message boards, communicating with people halfway across the world about crafty crushes, trading tips & techniques, and generally being excited that there were other people out there (often far out there) that shared my interests. Eventually, as the craft movement/subculture grew I was able to connect with people closer to home, and I felt that this more traditional form of community was something I needed to engage with to be fully satisfied – I loved being able to physically share & touch & smell & see & hear what people are doing. Don’t get me wrong, I think the online, cross-border connection is extremely valuable and inspiring, but I think there is an increasing desire among crafters & humans to move back towards the local and my projects are a reflection of that.

You are a busy lady, what is next on the horizon for you?

JEN : The most immediate thing is getting the re-designed Toronto Craft Alert site launched (so soon!) and a very juicy giveaway contest I am hatching to celebrate. Also, Toronto area peeps may be excited to know that we are bringing Handmade Nation to town on February 26th as part of the DIwhy? show at the Ontario Crafts Council. Stay glued to the City of Craft site for details. Finally (well, is there ever a finally?!) the other day while doing dishes a really exciting & possibly huge idea occurred to me but I need to sit on it for awhile longer before busting it out. I’ll just say it has to do with offering targeted support to entrepreneurs in Toronto’s booming craft world.

I know how much you love colour and colour matching. Do you have a current favourite colour combo?

JEN : Oh, that’s a tough one! If I were fifteen years old, I would say purple & orange without hesitating. Things have gotten a little more complicated since then…I love the combination of superbright, saturated & neutral colours. I’m starting to explore neons & pastels.

If you had a day where you were not allowed to do any ‘work’ for all your ventures, how would you spend the day?

JEN : When left to my own devices I am a pretty lazy gal…I would say sipping loose tea in sweatpants & reading my fantasy novel on the couch (got hooked on a recent trip to Cuba). Maybe followed by a potluck/clothing swap with friends which my husband would cook for!

Are you planning on selling some rummage at the show? if yes, what might that be?

JEN : I am planning to tackle my unruly fabric stash and emerge some scrap bags & larger pieces. I will also have some vintage clothing on offer and old craft hobby magazines.

What Valentines gift would melt your heart?

JEN : I am a sucker for a carefully orchestrated (re: colour palette) bouquet. Handmade (by him) jewellery would also weaken the knees.

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INTRODUCING : SHANNON GERARD

Published on January 28, 2009 in etsy, introducing, local and the workroom. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , .

If you invite Shannon Gerard to your trunk show, you are pretty much guaranteed that she will be the first to arrive to help set up and when she opens her trunk you will be simply amazed at the things she has made out of yarn. People say that crochet is ‘so easy’, but I can’t quite wrap my head around how you go about making plants you can’t kill, sprouting avocado seeds, strawberry-topped tarts, mustaches (or plushtache in Gerard-speak) and other anatomy from a couple sticks and ball of yarn.

Of course, this is just a small fraction of Shannon’s talent. I would encourage you to snoop around Shannon’s blog, her website and her etsy shop to learn more about the lovely, humourous, but deliberate work she creates.

You are involved in a lot of diverse craft – crochet, comics, screen printing, etc.. Where did it all start for you?

SHANNON : My crafting started with storytelling– I used to think of myself as a writer before anything else– which led to bookmaking and drawing. I started to make books that weren’t traditionally structured and got into the sculptural qualities of book binding materials. Then I learned crochet because I wanted to create the Boobs and Dinks as a side project to a book I was writing. But since then, crochet has taken over my whole life! Once I started, there was no stopping.

What is the story behind your Boobs and Dinks project?

SHANNON : Boobs and Dinks was first just a side project to Hung no.3; Lonely Tylenol, a comic book I wrote that tells the story of my boyfriend finding a lump in his testicle. We were pretty scared about it and tried researching online, but found very little information for men. Of course there are millions of resources available to women about breast health, but not so much for guys. So I asked a friend to teach me to crochet because I had this vision of wanting to get at the fear with some useful information that was delivered in a soft and humourous way. I really wanted to make plush warm-up toys that educated people about body awareness and crochet was the perfect medium. Although it is definitely still connected to the book, Boobs and Dinks has become a huge multi-dimensional project of its own– people really respond to it! Since it started, I’ve found out about so many other amazing craft related projects that deal with cancer and human frailty and fear. I’ve also connected with so many other crafters and video artists and writers and organizations that deal with very similar issues.

Oh and, my BF was fine– the lump turned out to be just a dilated vein– but that fear when we discovered it was so intense, and I hope the project humanizes that kind of panic in a way that people can understand.

Is there anything you can’t make with crochet? Seriously!

SHANNON : Well, I want to make cowls, but I can’t read or write patterns. I’ve made a few attempts at learning, but just gave up. The beautiful and addictive thing about crochet is that you can just think of any shape you want to build and then make it up as you go along. There are only a few different variables but no end of ways to combine stitches to get the design you want. But sometimes the math is a bit tricky to work out the first time. You should see some of the prototypes for my projects- they are so hilarious and lumpy.

What was your biggest craft triumph?

SHANNON : Crafts mostly always feel triumphant! There is such a strong community spirit in crafts. Ideas are constantly evolving and growing because of the inspiration of others. Because there isn’t a lot of “mine mine mine”, you can work on projects with friends (at a workroom Stitch and Bitch for example) and always know that your work is respected. And many times ideas become strengthened by the input of others. Last year at the Valentine’s Trunk Show, I was talking to Ayalah at the workroom and since she is a medical illustrator, she gave me lots of tips for making my plush hearts more anatomically correct– so this year I have a whole new and improved pattern! Stuff like that is my favourite thing about crafts. Everybody triumphs!

Are you planning on selling some rummage at the show? if yes, what might that be?

SHANNON : Yep, I’m combing my stores for rummage– so far I have a few odds and ends of yarn, a batch of 35mm colour slides, some old blank mini-journals, and maybe some fabric squares I cut out for a quilt that never happened.

What Valentines gift would melt your heart?

SHANNON : For Valentine’s Day this year I’m dreaming of a collection of security buttons from Sweetie Pie Press– I want to get some of the rare pink ones before they’re gone.

The Love & Rummage Trunk Show will be at the workroom on Sunday February 8, 12-5pm.

All photos courtesy of Shannon Gerard. “Last Year’s Heart” photo by Alison Westlake.

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INTRODUCING : RESURRECTION FERN

Published on January 27, 2009 in etsy, introducing, local and the workroom. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Once again, we’re approaching another trunk show here at the workroom, in collaboration with the City of Craft ladies. The Love & Rummage Trunk Show will be a little bit different than our previous shows, as we’ve asked our vendors to also go through their crafty closets and package up some vintage supplies and goodies, as well as making their special wares. I have a strong suspicion that many of them have a treasure-load of stuff and I can’t wait to browse through it.

I’ll be profiling vendors every day up until the show, so I hope you drop by to take a peek at what’s in store. Today I’m super excited to introduce you to Margie Oomen of Resurrection Fern. I first discovered Margie on flickr when I saw a picture of one of her crochet covered sea stones. The first thing I did was check to see if she had an etsy store, so that I could buy one. Alas, at the time she didn’t – but her etsy store opened recently and seems to be doing really well. If you want one of her stones, you have to be mighty quick, as they sell out shortly after being posted. I have a feeling the same will be true at the trunk show.

Nature plays a big part in your work. How did the play between craft and nature develop for you?

MARGIE : I have always been a nature girl and also a maker of things from a very young age but it seems only in the last year or so that the two have really become covalently bonded. I have been doing a great deal of reading and thinking about how we can do our part to help increase awareness of the effects of global warming and unregulated consumption on our little planet and what I came up with was the concept of helping people see and experience what it is that is worth saving. To put this more simply, I really want to do my part to motivate people to go out there in the woods, meadows, seashores or even there own backyards where they can then slow down, and see what nature is trying so desperately to show them in the hopes that it will motivate them and inspire them to be creative.

Tell me the story behind your delightful crochet-covered rocks.

MARGIE : The story started with me crocheting the “rock babies” which were two little smooth stones I half covered with crochet one day and then my daughter said they looked like little babies wrapped in blankets. I smiled and then decided to add very simple facial features with a permanent marker and thus they were christened the “rock babies”.

I loved the look of an eyelet fabric covered stone I saw on flickr made by Stephanie ( little bird ) and decided to crochet some lace like covers for some sea stones I collected on my summer vacation in Cape Breton. The rest is history.

What/Who is inspiring you these days?

MARGIE : Nature is and always will by my greatest source of inspiration. I have made some great friendships through flickr and my blog and this creative community feeds and nourishes me everyday and also keeps me grounded.

What was your worst crafting disaster?

MARGIE : There is no such thing as a crafting disaster, they are only lessons to learn.

Are you planning on selling some rummage at the show?

MARGIE : I have been cleaning out my storage craft area and will have some vintage buttons, ribbons and trim and some vintage fabric bundles for sale and again a few surprises. I am not sure how all of this will fit in my vintage suitcase but maybe it will be a magic suitcase like Mary Poppins carpet bag.

What Valentines gift would melt your heart?

MARGIE : The best Valentine’s gift would be to spend the day snowshoeing or cross country skiing in the forest with my husband and having a winter picnic with a small fire. Our hands, feet and noses might get cold but our hearts would be toasty warm.

All photos by Margie Oomen

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