DIYthing

Compai Design Studios is releasing a new book - 99 Ways to Cut, Tie, and Rock Your Scarf. If you want to meet the authors (Ellen Schultz and Faith and Justina Blakeney) you can stop by Spoonbill and Sugartown at 218 Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg on March 6th. The festivities will begin at 7 pm.

Kate Karchner of OhSoSuite has started a new column here at DIY City entitled “I Heart Paper.” We have launched it today on our new DIY City Blog. Kate’s idea is to give paper artists of all varieties a visual voice and a way of introducing themselves to all you DIY City readers.

First up, Kate interviews Cheryl from ScotiaMade paper goods, based in Halifax, Novia Scotia.

We will also have other bloggers joining us with regular posts on the new blog. So stay tuned.

The DIY Salon with the Church of Craft - NYC Event

Thursday, March 6, 2008, 7:00 - 10:00 PM

Join MAD and the Church of Craft for a night of hands-on art-making, music and refreshments in celebration of the Museum’s current exhibitions Pricked: Extreme Embroidery and Cheers: A MAD Collection of Goblets. Local do-it-yourself artists will demonstrate their personal skills and help guide you in creating your own projects. Techniques will range from unconventional embroidery to button-making to fiber text and many other contemporary twists on classic crafts. In addition to do-it-yourself workshops, the Salon will include hand-decorated snacks and live DJ. The DIY Salon is a free event, open to the public with all
materials provided. Guided tour of Pricked: Extreme Embroidery at 8:00 PM.

The Church of Craft is a non-denominational organization that promotes a connection to humanity, a love of life and proactive spiritual practice through the art of creating.

Participating artists include:Cal Patch, Alison Shanik, Iviva Olenick, Mary Izet and Callie Janoff, who will each provide instruction for the beginner to the advanced creator. DJ Brett Webb will spin all night and Elaine Cohen will serve up artistic treats.

Call 212.956.3535 - Education Department with any questions.

jeansweddingdressback300, originally uploaded by St Vincent de Paul Society SF.

OutsaPop posted this wedding dress today over on DIY City community - The denim wedding dress was made for “Discarded to Divine” -Discarded to Divine is a recycled clothing design competition hosted annually by this charity organization. Recycled Fashions - Renewed Lives -Donated clothes transformed into one-of-a-kind couture creations, auctioned to benefit the poor and homeless.

Who is OutsaPop you might wonder - “I´m a crafty fashionaddicted girl from Espoo, Finland. I´ve studied clothes making for four years and graduated in 2000. My studies included pattern making, sewing, fabric printing, fashion drawing, ect. Nowadays I´m most into customizing clothes for myself and making my trashion inspiration books. The future of fashion is in sustainability. Repair, reuse, recycle.”

See the whole story.

calenderpants2, originally uploaded by calamity kim.

I love these pants! What a great way to reuse and reconstruct something old and make it into something great! I so remember calendars printed on fabric. I will have to pay a visit to the thrift store tomorrow.

Little Shout out for Faythe over at Handmade Nation - They are selling Raffle Tickets to raise money to keep production going. Jump on over and help them out by buying a few tickets or donate a few items so they can sell in their Etsy Shop!

Handmade Nation the book is in the design edit phase, Faythe has been getting to see mock layouts - which I’m sure is very exciting. Cris has been working hard on the editing of Handmade Nation the documentary.

We are so excited for Faythe and are eagerly awaiting the release of the book and the documentary!

Well the dust has settled a bit and Deb and I are back at it full force. We have started planning our New Orleans issue with lots of great DIY resources and designers on the list!

DIY City mag News:
We will feature a new desinger from the community weekly on DIYthing - today is Mergirl that sells over at Smashing Darling! From dressed up to dressed down and throw in a little fun - Mergirl has the outfit sure to please. So if you up for a little shopping and you are in Chester, Connecticut stop by Mergirl.

Well we’ve launched our first issue of DIY City mag. Our mag is dedicated to all of the independent artists and the DIYs that we’ve met in New York and around the globe this past year. We hope that DIY City mag, the Web site, and DIY City Community will be great resources for New Yorkers as well as those traveling to the city for a little DIY fun.

DIY City mag is available in three great formats to meet your needs:

Flash based magazine style - just make sure you have your broadband kickin’ (diycitymag.com/flash/2008-diycity-mag-nyc.html)

Web based Magazine style blog - this one is searchable and you can find posts in all of your fav categories - diycitymag.com/themag

PDF - for the price of a movie rental ($5) you can get a pdf version that you can print out - that way if you are looking for some of your favorite shops in town you will have a handy reference. Just send us an e-mail (diycitymag@gmail.com)and we can arrange a download for you.

So there you have it, a DIY mag for a DIY City! And stay tuned as each day we will bring you tidbits on what’s happening in the DIY world. We will meet artists from around the globe. Our next mag will focus on New Orleans - and after that - we may be coming to a city near you.

In our first issue you will find NYC themed products, as well as some of our favorite DIY resources. We will also bring you an inside look at some indie designers living and working in New York. We also have some DIYs from outside the Big Apple because the world is a big place you know. Look for the NYC symbol – this will be an indication that the indie designer or shop is located in NYC.

Be sure to join our DIY City community at diycityguides.ning.com to help us build the most comprehensive resource guide for DIY. DIY City Community will be your place to locate do-it-yourself supplies, resources and indie artists in a city near you.

We are always looking for contributors and DIY project submissions – e-mail us at diycitymag at gmail.com with your ideas.

Special thanks to all our contributors, designers, shop owners and friends that we have met along the way – without all of you DIY City would not exist.

Deb and Wendy

well the secret is out - DIY City mag will launch it’s online mag on Valentine’s Day! All details about the launch will be posted here on DIYthing. NYC is the city and DIY is the focus - be sure to visit us at diycitymag.com on V-day and share in the DIY spirit!

Join our DIY City community at diycityguides.ning.com to help us build the most comprehensive resource guide for DIY stuff in your favorite cities!

We love finding great art from New Orleans. These shotgun houses are made by some artists that we met via Etsy - Kerry and Heather. They have made them in honor of the Make it Right Foundation’s drive to rebuild homes in the lower 9th ward. And the great thing is that the artists have committed to give 50% of the purchase price to go directly to the organization.That we find just wonderful. You may be familiar with these efforts as The Pink Project which Brad Pitt has been promoting.

As many of you may know, New Orleans is known for its shotgun houses. You can purchase the houses which are made of wood salvaged from 9th ward debris piles and are signed & numbered, at bayousalvage.etsy.com

Check out their shops for more great Louisiana art.

Kerry’s Shop bayousalvage.etsy.com
Heather’s shop nolasalvage.etsy.com

Also, Wendy and I will be launching our 1st issue of DIY City mag on Valentine’s Day so stay tuned. The first issue will highlight New York City - then we will head to New Orleans next. So stay tuned. We will keep you posted.