DIYthing

I recall first reading a listserv post about a project to create a knit house in an effort to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness. My immediate thoughts turned to Katrina. It’s not that we don’t have a homeless problem in New York, but having been to New Orleans recently, I know that the residents of the Gulf Coast are still lacking in sufficient housing. And it seems my thoughts turn to home so often lately. Shortly after reading this post, I shot Ryan Kamstra an email to see if he would be interested in an interview, and so began our effort to document the building of Streetknit’s knit house.

Ryan does publicity/outreach for Toronto-based Streetknit. Steetknit is the organization founded by Sadie Lewis that encourages knitters to knit warm winter goods to be distributed throughout Toronto’s shelters to help keep people warm in the winter. Steetknit also helps to run events to draw attention to the situation of homelessness in Toronto. We were particularly interested in Ryan’s efforts to interact with the media and create a public face for homelessness. Ryan feels that the real upswing of this project is not only a knit-goods donation-drive for Toronto’s homeless, but to keep the crisis of homelessness in Toronto on the radar. Toronto is Canada’s largest urban centre and the homeless across the country tend to migrate to the city. Despite the issue being raised to the national level, many feel that Toronto hasn’t received the resources to deal with the influx of people. This year through Ryan’s coordinated outreach efforts, Streetknit plans to raise awareness to a higher level. The house will be part of City of Craft and will be made almost entirely out of scarves and blankets that will then be donated to homeless shelters around Toronto. City of Craft will take place on December 1, 2007 at The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West, Toronto.

We are going to take a peek at Ryan’s journal to see how the project is going so far.

Ryan Kamstra
StreetKNit

Week 1
City of Craft invites StreetKnIt to attend their reindeer games, Dec. 1rst, Toronto. Perusing the small-print of their email invite I see a “please notify us” if we intend to do an installation the day-of. It’s like asking a magic tree if it would like to produce an enchanted water melon in the midst of barren winter, with no seed, perhaps, if you have a little time? A magic tree of some years, I can’t resist the gambit.

Ok it with Sadie, StreetKnit’s head honcho. Sure. We are going to try to knit a whole house in the name of streetknit. Within moments the call goes out on the StreeTKnIT listerve for participants to help me knit a house. My invite appears here, there, on the Internet, on relevant blogs and sites based in Toronto and then in totally different parts of North America. Within days Sadie and I get a pile of interested emails. Some interested press, some people who live in Toronto, some people who will be commuting to Toronto day of City of Craft to add to our house. Cool.

Somewhere in our winter goods drive is usually the disclaimer “while we can’t knit shelter.” To hell with it. We might as well give it a try. The inaction on Toronto’s housing shortage is frustrating. The official Left doesn’t even pretend to be concerned anymore. What was declared a state of emergency was left a state of emergency. It’s quixotic, but I’m going to knit a house. I want to see a whole house knit. We’ll show them. I’m not sure what we’ll show them. But I’m in a fighting mood.

Week 2
I send an email out to the potential crew. None of these people I have met before. I am suddenly acutely aware of the fact I don’t knit. I mean, that I’ve planned a lot of stunts/interventions/attention-grabbing ploys of this nature for this and other activist in nature projects, I have proven radical stage-managing skills, but I have just proposed a whole knit house, and I don’t knit. I came to streetknit as the glee-clubish, jingoistic, fun, clever outreach guy and artist, that’s what I do. Get us in the media. Make sure everyone has heard of us. Throw a few events so the media doesn’t chew us up and forget us. I know a knit house is a great ploy in this regard. However, I don’t knit. A whole house, eh? Could be a liability?

I try to arrange a meeting. Everyone—really digs the house idea, really digs the working individually idea–doesn’t quite dig the meeting idea. I set a Sunday meeting. A local fair trade coffee shop, near my house. Two people ok to it. When I get to the coffee place, very crowded for there is a large patio and it is an abnormally balmy day for autumn and I have a little handwritten sign in front of me “strEETknit” and an old laptop bag full of knitting needles. A boy, I feel conspicuous. Eventually only Kate shows up. She eats an empanada on a park bench while I wax poetic about the idea. We are going to knit shelter. Damn it, if three levels of Canadian government won’t do anything to address the chronic housing shortage in Toronto, we will, admittedly quixotically but symbolically and symbols are very important in media-drive political terrain, draw upon collective effort to knit an entire house just to say, see, you know, see, see, this is where collective action will bring you! I have brought Kate plans, blueprints. A fold-paper habitat for humanity house designed by some artist that I found on a google search, and several designs for gingerbread houses, suggesting we could blow any of these up in big. Kate is not much of a knitter either, or rather, she prefers crochet. I don’t want to get involved in any internal craft rifts, so I confess my ignorance of both crafts equally, trying to be democratic. Kate takes the news in stride. She has the frame of, basically, a hardware store ready-made wood shed which she has used in other displays at crafts fairs that we can use as a frame. Cool. We have our start.

We also devise the plan to knit in blocks of scarves and blankets so the whole house can be deconstructed later on and the goods donated to shelters to distribute among the homeless.

I share this plan with the crew via email. People are excited to get working. And apparently are. My inability to get an in person meeting going means I will have to take it on trust that the house is being produced.

I revisit my old mantra of “trust no one.”

Week 3
SKETCH, a cool arts program for street involved youth, invites me and my knit house to sit at a crafts fair with them. “Creativfest” in the capacious Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Problem is there isn’t much of a house yet. But we do now have a frame and the first donations of wool: Sadie drops off about 8 huge garbage bags full of wool. Yikes. The craft fair is deep, deep underground in the convention centre, a bomb-shelter depth away from sunlight. The house-frame I assemble with the help of Rebecca, the one-staff-person from from Sketch here. It looks nothing like the mild-mannered shed that I picked up from Kate’s apartment, but something exaggerated and out of perspective instead, straight out of a German expressionist nightmare flick. Rebbecca and I decide this is a suitable effect. Homelessness: Spooky.

I find it all a little tedious, the fair, but I meet Christian a fantastic artist originally from Quebec who makes trees out of wire and I talk up all the knitters at the fair. It was a skill he learned from a Quaker, he says, to make quick money instead of panning. Now he works and volunteers at Sketch, and gives demonstrations on how to produce these actually pretty realistic-looking trees.

Our knit house right now is but a skeleton with a tonne of information of homelessness taped to it, draped in a hodgepodge of knit hats and scarves, and up to it’s ankles in donated wool which I pour from the eight bags around for effect. A sign written in knitting needles says “street knit” and “under construction.” A scary amount of the craft aficionados, bargain-seekers and tourists promise to donate their wool stash, the stash they’ve had since their mother passed on, etc., and I am being promised seven boxes-full at a go. I sign people up to be involved. Rebbecca starts knitting a tea cup for the house. She’s a knitter, and has already smelled out my weakness. She shows me how to cast on. I pretend to learn, concealing that I feel like weeping in frustration, like back in elementary school gym class when I realised, spatial-visual-wise, I didn’t understand which right or left they were ordering my limbs to move in, at any given moment, and would never learn, and was condemned to a life in the liberal arts. Another knit-ringer stops by and seems amused at my fumbling, showing also how to cast on and knit. I nervously demonstrate what she has just shown me back to her. She smiles approvingly and says she will be back to check on how I am doing later. I live in dread of this for the rest of the crafts fair. I take a break from knitting to chat up the Vogue Knitting people, and when I return to our booth, promptly have forget how to knit.

Week 4
Try to get people out for a meeting again, but give up because no one can commit to a single date. Teresa, who has been our strEETknit go-to person for any number of projects (teaching teens to knit, to be the smiling face of knitting for a feature on the evening news, etc.), has not heard that I canceled and shows up to my place. This is our first meeting in person after reams of email correspondences. My apartment, which is really just a room with a bathroom, is slightly buried in wool at this point. Teresa has a crew of five at work working on the knit house apparent. Her work at desk is filled with wool. I load her up with more wool, all the wool she can take, say she can come back any time to replenish. She is on my secret, my Achilles heel. But by some feat of magic and humor and patience, Teresa manages to teach me to cast on and then to knit. I have knit a row of a scarf. My loops are nice and loose, I secure each new loop with a lot of effort and an unreasonable amount of commentary and self congratulations, but, look ma, I have knit one row of a scarf. I am feeling confident about the project again, even a bit cocky. This is going to be a great house.

Week 5
The Globe and Mail, Canada’s only national paper, contacts me for an interview about the knit house. I cover all the bases. What streetknit is. The radical nature of craft: how all knit goods, in a consumer society, take the nature of surplus goods, because we have produced them with our own labour. That people who knit can cover this town in free hats, mitts, scarves, blankets because these self-made goods exist outside the normal modes of our economy. Contrast this “boon economy” to three levels of government inaction on Toronto’s housing shortage and our city’s nearly decade-long homelessness crisis. I flesh out the raison d’etre of our central symbol, knitting a house. This is what non-elected democratic volunteers can do, with minimal planning, and no expert criteria. Clearly, she just thinks knitting a whole house is kinda cool, and also likes what I can only term as the “charitable” aspect of this work. I cross my fingers I just got a few good quotes in. And feel less nervous of becoming Toronto’s “KnitBoy” now that I have a whole one row of one scarf knit and so have a modicum of knit cred. Note to self: I haven’t touched my scarf in a week.

Note to self also: We are being mentioned in the national press. We need a house!

Stay tuned as we follow the progress of Streetknit’s knit house and peek some more into Ryan’s journal.

Bunta Block

Are you looking for the best holiday markets in NYC? You may have visited some of the markets that seem to offer the same wares year after year. If so, you are probably looking for something a little different as the holidays approach. The Brooklyn Indie Market is one market that you will want to check out. It offers a regular sampling of indie designers with fresh new designs.

DIYthing stopped by this past weekend to meet some of the indie designers in this collective. Many of the designers are regulars at the market, finding the location a great spot to market handmade wares. BIM found a home in Cobble Hill, a fashionable neighborhood and a popular shopping scene. The designers sell a variety of goods from fashion items and accessories, including children’s fashion, to home decor. Most of the designers are housed under a large tent, but there are also three kiosks that are very popular. The market is prominently located on the corner of Smith and Union Streets.

We also had a chance to talk to Kathy Malone and Johanna Resnikoff about their growing business. Kathy has been busy booking designers as this is the busiest season as the holidays approach. The kiosks are all booked from now through the holidays. BIM has developed a real following as the sellers have come to appreciate the value added that Kathy and Johanna bring to the market. Often the sellers are taking their first steps selling to a larger audience and BIM has been able to offer tips for marketing and displaying the wares. Other markets are often run by non-designers who aren’t as familiar with the needs of indies. Talking with the designers at BIM this past weekend, we would have to agree. All seemed to value the unique supporting efforts that Kathy and Johanna provide.

We found a wide variety of sellers during our visit. Take a look at a few of those represented:

Rocks and Salt

WRecords by Monkey

Hey Punkin

Ombre

If you are interested in selling your indie designs visit www.brooklynindiemarket.com for more information. And if you are gearing up for holiday shopping, drop by this weekend.

We at DIYthing had the chance to catch up with designer Brian Bergmann recently to find out about his “Hand Turned Crochet Hooks.”

DIYthing: How did this love for designing crochet hooks begin?

Brian: It began as a challenge from my wife, Anne, who asked if I could make her a wooden crochet hook.
As I love to create things with different materials (Metal, Wood and More…) this was the
first time in a long time that I returned to woodturning. By turning wooden needlework items I found it quite relaxing and rewarding as well as challenging at times.

DIYthing: Is there a particular wood that you use and why?

Brian: I started turning crochet hooks with Black Walnut and now have an inventory of 27 different woods I use for various needlework items: 5 domestic and 22 exotic hardwoods. Each wood is chosen for their color, texture and their turning and finishing qualities. The process of revealing their natural beauty is especially rewarding. I use no dyes or stains on any of my items as I can’t improve on Mother Nature.

DIYthing: Can you describe the process and how long does it take to make one hook?

Brian: As long as it takes till I am satisfied which is usually 3 hours for a “plain” turned hook:

on up to 10 hours and more for a highly turned and decorated insert hook:

A bone specialty hook: 19 separate pieces to the design (seen and unseen):

I start with seasoned wood that I cut into blanks as for the millimeter size needed. It is then put into a lathe for the turning where I use various tools to make the turned design. A captive ring (or not) has to be added at this point. When I am satisfied with the design I start the finishing process with various sandpapers, polishing and sealing. I use various tools and files; a lot of touch, feel and see; and “elbow juice”. This polishing and finishing require about half the total time in making an item.

DIYthing: How has the internet helped you as an artist?
It’s amazing! BrainsBarn crochet hooks and other needlework items have gone from local to worldwide! What an adventure it is…and continues to be! BrainsBarn is known for high-end custom work…buyers have sent in jewelry items, puppy teeth, special beads, etc.

Above: Puppy teeth from a favorite dog encased in a glass vial

Above: A grandfather’s special pipe stem…

DIYthing: I noticed you are a machinist by trade, has this played a part in your designs?

Brian: Absolutely! I am used to working within “aerospace tolerances” and so this is carried over to my turning of needlework items. Since I do many decorated hooks using many pieces, the structural fit of many of the components is necessary for the strength and integrity of the item. The design conceals this technology as it should; it becomes a balancing act between form and function. The design is what I enjoy the most…the “machinist’s challenge” to conceal the structure.

So if you are settling in for winter and decide you want a special hook for you crochet projects you should check out BrainsBarn

Tiffany Teske travels to the chosen environments of her portrait clients, whether they live down the street or halfway around the globe. In her travels she has captured people’s lives and put them together in several documentaries.

Tiffany visited Haiti in June 2003. She went with friends who have established a child sponsorship program and served as the Official Project Photographer.

Tiffany’s love is in fine art photography, specifically in Polaroid transfer. Tiffany teaches these techniques in workshops. She is drawn to any photography technique or process that is hands on and that allows her to take a photograph and make it a true original. Tiffany is grateful for digital photography, but enjoys the process of hands on techniques that allows her to be more creative.

My favorites are Tiffany’s Polaroid Transfers - the process is quite interesting and the look is mysterious. She first captures the image on slide film, and then it is projected onto Polaroid pack film, but the trick is to peel it prematurely.

I hope you enjoy browsing her site as much as we did…enjoy!

Vist Tiffany’s Flickr site or Etsy shop also.

We asked Tiffany what inspires her: “I would say I find inspiration everywhere! Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t so inspired, because I feel I will never have enough time to create all the ideas that I have. To name a few I am inspired by nature, by civilization and how it invades nature, in patterns and textures both organic and inorganic, by all things vintage and historic, by my child and my relationships with others, by animals in the wild… I see beauty not just in “beautiful” things but find immense beauty in entropy, in the process of things breaking down and decaying.”

“Art Slam” - an art journal project - where there is no such thing as a mistake.

Art Slam was created by Lucrecer Braxton of “Life is the Art.”

Stop for a second and really think what those four words are saying “Life is the Art.” …they are so true, look around you, where do you draw your inspiration from? We take things from life and turn it into art. Lucrecer started “Art Slam” a few months back and when i read about it i could not help but want to know more. There was one line that grabbed me…” there is no such thing as a mistake.”

DIYthing: What is Art Slam?

Lucrecer Braxton: The Art Slam is an art journal project. I have four rules all participants must agree to:

1. You can not under any circumstances remove, rip out or accidentally lose a page in your journal. Because there is no such thing as a mistake when you are art journaling.

2. There is no “falling behind” with your journal. Creativity and inspiration hits people at different times.

3. You are not allowed to compare your journal to someone else’s and talk about how much you suck. You don’t suck. Simple as that.

4. Finally, you must have fun. What I love the most about my journals is that they allow me to be free. They are a creative sanctuary.

DIYthing: How does one overcome the fear of the blank page?

Lucrecer Braxton: Paint is the fastest way I could think of to cover the page. It is also relatively inexpensive and you can’t complain about the blank page if it is covered with paint. Paint is also not a perfect medium, this is the first opportunity for the participants to let go and not be perfect. I call this perfect imperfection.

DIYthing: What is your weakness so to speak in the creative field…ha or do you have one?

Lucrecer Braxton: I would say one of my weaknesses is I am extremely critical of my work. I am truly my worst enemy and my biggest cheerleader. Turning that weakness into a point of strength, I always try and do my best. I give myself praise when needed and I am able to admit when I have half-assed something. Being honest with myself is really important to me.

DIYthing: Please share with us your favorite blogs for inspiration.

Lucrecer Braxton: I have always wanted to be a great storytelling writer. One blog I really like for this purpose is Dooce. I have followed Keri Smith’s blog for a few years now. I like her way of thinking. Strategy Avenue is a great business resource.

Check out Lucrecer’s Life is the Art blog
and her Flickr stream to see more of her work.

“He hoots, he flies, he watches you. Spooky!” This somber owl puppet is laser cut from heavy matboard with wings that flap up and down.

the stories behind the designers are always what grabs me - sure i’m a visual person, so first i must like a designer’s work, but then i always ask for the story. this is where the fun begins with Owly Shadow Puppets

Andrea worked at a model making shop in Chicago that had a laser-cutting machine. She was hired to make little trees and flowers and furniture, and she stuck around long enough to learn how to use the laser cutter. Boredom soon set in for Andrea, so she started to doodle to pass the time, soon her desk was filled with sketches. One evening she stayed late to see if she could make her own “drawing” in Autocad. She spent 2 hours trying to draw a Dinosaur on her computer. She cut it out and made the connection– “cool! I cut out my drawing!” and then “oh, wow, this is like a shadow puppet!” She showed them to her family and they helped her buy her own laser cutter.

Andrea likes to work with ink and brush because the black lines are so satisfying. She has a stack of big, cheap paper and she clears off her table and just draws. Sometimes none of her drawings are keepers, other times she makes something and loves it and tapes it to the wall.

“When I have an idea I pull out a card and draw it. The cards are all over my house–on my night table, my desk and in my shoulderbags. These little drawings help me filter out bad ideas, I guess, but they also are a form of therapy for me. Sometimes when I’m really overwhelmed I just stop what I’m doing and draw something to make myself happy, like a plan for the garden I hope to have someday. Theres no way I can have time for a garden right now, but when I draw it I can kind of posses it, and this soothes me.”…i know where she is coming from with this, i too have little drawings and ideas everywhere. i think most creatives can relate.

“One of the most rewarding things about these puppets is hearing back from people who have bought them. Sometimes I hear from families that have put on their own shows– and its just lovely to think of them turning off the TV and spending time together like that, in the dark making shadows.”

When people ask Andrea what she does: “I always take a deep breath and start explaining. It usually starts with me saying: “I make shadow puppets–you know, shadow puppets?” And then, if they are really listening to me they usually say “huh?” and think I’m trying to be smart with them. But it’s the truth– I make and sell shadow puppets, and I’ve been doing it for about a year.”

I asked Andrea if the characters have a story…

People always ask me about the puppet characters. They want to know what the story is behind them- like why is the yeti yelling? Does the tooth fairy have special powers, etc.? They do have stories to me, but I don’t have a show or anything that I perform with them. It’s more like I was sitting at my job drawing a tooth fairy on the sly, wondering what she would look like; and I drew her with molars on her skirt and a big beehive hairdo. That’s just the way she looks to me.

see more of Andrea’s designs at owlyshadowpuppets.com

his coat1, originally uploaded by danny mansmith.

We had an opportunity to ask Danny Mansmith some questions recently about his work. We have been in love with it for some time now. Danny is a Chicago fiberartist who uses fabric to make collages - collages that we find represent life and space in a most creative way.

DIYthing: Your grandma had a considerable influence on you, I can say the same about my mother. Are there others that you are influencing today?

DM: oh gosh i don’t know but it is so nice to hear from strangers on the internet that email me and say that my work has inspired them and i do kinda hope i can
help people see that they can make things and don’t worry about the mistakes just have fun and that will be a good beginning…

DIYthing: I see that you taught yourself to sew - do you recommend this to others?

DM: for me it was the right thing to do–i didn’t think about it too much i guess i just got so excited about sewing

DM: that i just went for it. funny though the 1st month i started at the end of that month i had no more store bought clothes because i had taken them all apart to follow the patterns–for me i needed to find my own way of sewing and not take classes to teach me the right way…

DIYthing: “Clothing for me is sculpture.” Tell me more about your affinity for the human form.

DM: i did last a year in art school and in that year life drawing was the one thing that is a great memory for me-i was going to be a painter i guess, but school wasn’t for me-but drawing the human figure was a little beginning my 1st art classes i got from my grandma when i was little on how to draw hands and faces-than when i started making clothes it opened my mind up because in a sense for me covering the body with fabric was like making sculptures that can move- the clothes i wanted to make were always filled with details and lots of textures and they became the 1st steps towards making soft sculptures and dolls…

DIYthing: We laughed when we read your comment, “I look for things out of place-broken pieces left behind as i walk down the street” - funny Deb and I do that also, we are often fascinated by what others leave behind. What draws you to use found pieces in your work?

DM: well again it’s my grandma she decorated her whole house with stuff from the dumpsters-she would take me in the alleys growing up where, well lets say the rich people lived and find beautiful things-so since then my eyes have always been focused on the alleys as i walk by -also i think being an artist i see details that most don’t bother to see during their day and i have to say picking up a piece of junk and making something out of it is just fun for me…

DIYthing: Your resume is impressive, what is it about showing your work you find most important?

DM: oh there are times when it’s just hard but i feel artists have to try to show their work because then how is anyone going to know about them, it’s important-i feel i want to share what i do with others and even if they don’t understand what i’m doing i hope to at least make someone smile and enjoy looking…

DIYthing: We are fascinated with what we’ve read about your creative space - your studio. Do you have other spaces that you work in?

DM: for the most part my studio is it for me-i have had the space now for two years on the northside of Chicago. the studio is my sanctuary, my cushion against the outside world…

DIYthing: You often use multiple lines of stitching in your collages, do you start with this look in mind when sketching out your design?

DM: it’s my way of a gesture drawing in a way–but i want to have a very free feeling to my work-that there are no rules and that you can do anything and that the drawing is not perfect and it shows a human did it, with all it’s flaws but it’s still beautiful…

DIYthing: “It’s more interesting to make things with the wrong tools-adapt and to be engaged with your work.” Can you tell us more about this statement?

DM: i just don’t think you always need the right tools for the right job–don’t let the lack of things you have stop you from making–for me in the past and now when i want to make something i just do it with what ever i have around and that process always makes the end result much more interesting than if i went out and bought what i needed…

We asked Danny to tell us more about the Boys Meet the Girls Panel that he will be a part of at the Symposium on contemporary Textiles at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. He shared that he was asked by a dear friend, Elyse Koren-Camarra, to be involved. She is a fiber artist and the president of the Illinois State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts {ILNMWA}. The idea of the panel is to talk about textiles today and that more and more men are involved in the fiberart field. Well we are glad we discovered Danny’s work and hope that you explore more of his work at his website and his Etsy site where you can purchase some of his creations.
You can also check out his blog and his Flickr photostream.

Concentric Hoop Earrings

Some indie designers would like to turn the stereotypical image of suburban life – cookie-cutter lifestyles, exclusive neighborhoods, homogeneous – on its head. Why shouldn’t suburban shoppers enjoy unique and eclectic fashion accessories? Stevie Ballow is one of the designers heading the revolution. Stevie caught the attention of DIYthing through her brand Eutectic. In a recent interview, DIYthing spoke to Stevie about the indie design movement, design values, shopping habits, and balance. Eutectic is one of several brands that this indie designer has created as part of her larger business venture. Stevie choose Eutectic as the name for this brand because it refers to the point at which individual elements combine to form a unique substance. The key is balance; elements must complement each other.

Of course, brands have stories to tell. I asked Stevie what story Eutectic wanted to tell. Her goal is to gain mainstream recognition, but with an unexpected twist. At the heart of Eutectic is changing the mindset that one needs lots of stuff. She wants to start with the minds of the people in suburban Houston where she lives. She feels that DIY culture hasn’t yet reached out that far. Typically, a suburbanite buys everything from the mall or similar shopping outlets. With mainstream recognition, Stevie hopes to gain entrée for her message to the suburban consumer that handcrafted items have extra value in the fact of their uniqueness. Too, changed shopping habits will mean economic support for the local community as well as the artists who live and work there. Stevie is a firm believer that when consumers purchase handcrafted items they benefit because they’ve bought something that will last.

Stevie describes herself as a DIY rebel. As with most indie designers, Stevie comes to her work through a non-traditional path. She is an engineer by training. Although she has never used her engineering degree in the traditional sense, the training is evident in her work. In fact, Eutectic is an engineering term.

White Wrapped Teardrop Earrings

DIY rebel is a mindset for Stevie. She has never let the fact that she wasn’t educated in a certain field stop her. When she started designing jewelry, she had to teach herself about the business so she looked things up and did her research. This attitude reflects a view that “back in the day” people not only self-education complemented formal education. To get her business going and to market her brands, Stevie has been pretty much a self-contained, one-woman show.

Stevie considered spending money for a PR rep or distributing samples everywhere, but she has found successful alternative strategies. Currently, she uses two methods for making her art visible. One way is to sell her handcrafted items at the local Midtown Farmer’s Market, which is open to craft vendors and artists from the local community. Her other marketing method is the Internet.

The Eutectic brand is available online at Stevie’s website as well as several indie web showcases including (Smashing Darling and ararething.etsy.com). Her work will also be carried soon in the Hi Art gallery in San Marcos, TX. Hi Art is a unique showcase providing venues for painting and sculpture, performance, transmedia, alternative media, functional art, and jewelry.

White Charm Earrings

Many of the artists highlighted on DYthing are discovered through online communities like Stylehive, Etsy and Flickr as well as other indie blogs. We find that indie artists support each other and their mutual support is a good thing for the indie arts community.

Stevie’s message for other DIYers is to make yourself visible by visiting the blogs of other designers; people have to be able to find you. For her part, she has invested in networking rather than ads. So, she visits and makes comments on Flickr as well as blogs such as Switchboard among others. She participates in traditional support communities such as WIVLA (Women in the Visual and Literary Arts) and Houston Craft Mafia. She finds support in going to the meetings and hearing other people talk about what they do. Stevie encourages other creatives to join groups that will support them through both hard and good times.

Visit Stevie’s company, Rara Avis. Rara Avis is a Graphic Design and Creative Projects company.

Do you ever long for that special accessory that will set off your outfit? Well, after you see Rachel’s designs you may have found the source for that one-of-a-kind accessory that will make you stand out. Rachel describes herself as a creative that is always thinking about design.

DIYthing: Tell me a little about you and your work.

DIYthing: I love your piece - Art For Your Head – “Calla In Rain” – your hats are more than accessories for your body, they truly are wearable art. You must spend so much time designing your hats. I take it you enjoy what you do.

Rachel: LOL…. Yes……… I do enjoy what I do and it seems like sometimes all of this ‘designing’ just comes welling out of me and spills itself across what ever materials are in front of me. I love fashion… not always the ‘fashion’ of the moment, but ‘fashion’ in the sense of costumery. I think things can be worn that will give you a sense of whatever mood, feeling, ideal, etc. you want to portray and I love being able to get a sense of whatever it is, when an item is complete. Basically I am designing all the time….. the thought process never stops!

DIYthing: You describe yourself as eclectic, you enjoy a bit of this and bit of that from knitting, crocheting, sewing, jewelry, to photography – how did you learn all of these creative endeavors?

Rachel: I guess I learned them all because they interested me. I never thought there was anything I couldn’t do… and that goes not only for my creative side but for my business/career orientated side as well. I do not do all things equally, but I am fairly proficient at most of them and there are still so many things I want to try…… but I do know where my best abilities are and I try to give them the largest amounts of my time.

DIYthing: You have several shops on Etsy as well as other web sites you maintain, how do you find time for it all?

DreamWovenSupplies.etsy.com – Supplies & Extras
KidletConnection.etsy.com – Higher-End baby/toddler/children clothing
BadGirlsGoToHell.etsy.com – A Safety Conscious Shop
You also administer your husbands shop: WBEckertStudio.etsy.com
http://xanga.com/rachelsent
http://www.dreamwoven.com

Rachel: Actually I found that it was a lot easier for me to separate out the different types of things that I do. The Art For Your Head hats/Attitude Hats and Art For Your Body stuff all fit well in the DreamWoven.etsy.com shop… what didn’t work in there was the supplies or the children’s clothing… so voila’, the other shops needed to be. The BadGirlsGoToHell.etsy.com shop most definitely needed its own place… I just couldn’t reconcile selling condom cases with the Art For Your Head stuff! I’m not sure how I work it all…. But what I do know is that for most of my life I never finished a project because I was bored with it. It took quite awhile before I realized that if I had at least 9 projects going (all different kinds) that I could move from one thing to another and they would ALL get done. It’s just how I do things…..

DIYthing: Tell me about your supplies, what are must-haves for you to make your gorgeous hats?

Anything and Everything!…. If I like something I buy it. I do not need a project in mind for it. I have years and years of collecting all kinds of things that have interested me…. Yarns, buttons, fabrics, doodads, beads, paper, books, antiques, trims, tassels, belts and buckles, etc. I just make sure that I buy them if I am drawn to them.. .whatever it is. It was a great revelation for me to realize that everything I have ever bought somehow goes together and will be used at some point, somewhere down the line. But the biggest thing about having all this ’stuff’ is to have it so that I can see it. The yarns have to be out so that I can see colours and textures together, all the other things have to be readily accessible so that I can put things next to each other to see if I like the combo. If I can’t see it, I don’t use it…. So……………. You can imagine what my house looks like!!! ( Between myself and my husband (he is an artist, fine art & graphics & woodworking & photographer, etc., etc., etc.,) you can’t walk into our house without wanting to create something!!!!!!!!!

DIYthing: Have you always been such a creative?

Yes…… in one way or another… some constructive, some destructive.

DIYthing: Is DIY a movement that you feel will be around a while in the U.S. or is just a fad?

Rachel: It has always been here and I don’t believe it is going anywhere. I tend to think it is cyclic and sometimes almost disappears, only to come back stronger. I also tend to think that whenever there is political turmoil in our country, people want to get back to basics… something that they innately understand… something they can do with their hands, something that can make them feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of a job well done… a sense of closeness with others through a mutual appreciation of things created with our own hands….. and if the political turmoil continues the way it is going in this country right now, and my theory is correct, we will be one helluva creative, DIY country soon (snicker).

DIYthing: Tell me a little about how you go about planning a design for one of your hats.

Sometimes it is something I’ve read, or something I’ve seen in nature, or a thought, a word, a sensation, something from another time or location, history…….. it could be anything really that inspires a design…. Sometimes it is just touching the fabrics/yarns/whatever and seeing where my hands take me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t…. and that’s why I don’t do custom pieces that often of my Art For Your Head pieces….. unless I have a spot on understanding of what a customer is looking for, or an idea of what I really want something to turn out looking like, I do not go into the creation phase with an exact idea. I go in with a ’sense’ of it… and I prefer that mode of creating… so that things can change during the whole process and sometimes I am thoroughly surprised by their outcome.

DIYthing: Art For Your Head – “Bromeliad in Fog” – I love this one. Tell me about your customers – how do they find you?

Rachel: Etsy has been a great source of Promo for me…. And I’ve gotten a lot of customers from selling on there. I’ve also had my things in boutiques and that has brought me some customers as well. My website and blogs have helped out as well… but I think the biggest way that I get customers is word of mouth. I’ve also had an internet presence for about 15 years, in one form or another. Finished fiber goods have been notoriously hard to sell online mostly because a customer is unable to touch the goods. For some reason, the Art For Your Head projects haven’t been… and that may be because of their uniqueness….. but selling knit sweaters or childrens’ knit clothing is much harder….

DIYthing: Any tips for other DIY indies looking to break into selling their works?

Rachel: Yes……. I do.

..If you want to sell your works, make sure that your works are worth selling.

..Believe in what you create, without a doubt. There is no time in the business of selling your own artwork for self-doubt.

..Remember that you can not and will not be able to please every person out there. Be true to your own art.

..Alot of people can not be creative AND think like a business. If you intend to sell your art, educate yourself on how to run your business as well….

http://DreamWoven.com
http://DreamWoven.Etsy.com
http://xanga.com/rachelsent